Chronicle of the Scavenger Lands (Exalted 3E) - IC

[Rykon]

Ryan draws Warden and levels the blade at the Ettins. He takes a step forward and bellows. "Too little, too late. I've seen you for who you are and you have no blame for this mess. So, I grant you three options... let us pass and continue your lives as they are, resist our departure and suffer the wrath of myths and legends, or join my army and acquire might, dignity and prosperity the world will weep in envy of." Ryan's speech and glowing brow pierced the very stone of the cell. The faint torchlight would even tremble as it was overtaken by the light of Dawn that broke from the soldier's forehead.

[Ryan uses an inspire action on the room to invoke both fear and awe. Rolling... 10 successes thanks to Tiger's Dread Symmetry. 5m spent to elevate Ryan's anima. I forgot to apply appearance bonus and penalty for influencing more than one person, it's a 3 die penalty, but it would probably be offset from the appearance modifier. ]

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

With an audible sigh, Quill raises his hand, and calls Sun's Brush into his hand, appearing as it does from thin air. But unlike Ryan, he stands as if the mighty Artifact is no more than a staff to lean on.

 

[jaydude]

Upon seeing Ryan and Quill with their weapons, and Ryan holding Warden as if it were no heavier than a stick, as well as the glowing sun symbol on his forehead, the ettins all react in alarm, some even taking a few steps back in fear.

"The sun symbol! He is Anathema!"
"How did they get their weapons?!"
"Are they all Anathema?!"

Rakash is unable to think of anything to say, clearly not expecting to have to deal with at least two armed Anathema. He does at least do a decent job of hiding his fear, and both his heads look at you warily. After a few seconds, the bearded one speaks.

"Will you truly leave us be if I agree to let you go?"

 

[Rykon]

Ryan lowers the blade, truly preferring an outcome where he wouldn't have to take lives without just cause. "Would I really have much to gain from taking your lives?" Ryan stated, not meaning to sound insulting. "You're not responsible for this foolishness, and I have no interest in pillaging for profit. Point us to the nearest city or village, then speak nothing of us or this mess, and there will be no need for bad blood. All I'm interested in is reclaiming my homeland."

 

[Esbilon]

Joy slides from Ysandre's scabbard and rests in her hand as if it had been made for her and her alone. The realization that there are at least three Solar Anathema among their small company disturbs her, but her face is untouched by her inner turmoil at the state of her own soul and that of her fellows.

"That and tell us everything about the people who delivered us into your hands. We do have a grudge against them," she adds to Ryan's demands, her voice calm and her countenance unafraid of Ettins and Solars both.

 

[jaydude]

After some hesitation, Rakash's bearded head begins describing the five people who bought you here, but his descriptions are almost immediately contradicted by his bald head, who apparently remembers things differently, and then the other heads all join in with their own memories. None of them can agree on what any of the five looked like, and what you hear doesn't tie in with how you remember your kidnappers to look. The only thing the ettins can agree on is that the five kidnappers all looked like bandits, and claimed to be bandits who wanted to join the Twinskulls.

 

[Rykon]

Ryan held a hand to his chin in thought. "Given the magic at play here, I don't think this line of questions will be of much help since none of us really agree on what these miscreants looked like. Looks like we won't have much to go on unless we manage to run into them by chance." He trailed off with the sound of disappointment in his voice. All this trouble just to leave the five of them in the room with more questions than answers.

He sheathed his Daiklave and began to exit the cell. "It's time we left. For my part, I need to drum up more work for my company."

 

[jaydude]

The ettins make no attempt to stop Ryan as he leaves the cell, or any of the others if they wish to follow him. Rakash doesn't look too surprised to see that the cell door has been unlocked, though he does turn a suspicious look in the direction of the bandit who'd been guarding the door. Said bandit is nowhere to be seen, however. Your instincts tell you that he must have silently fled once it became clear that you weren't going to kill the ettins as agreed, lest his treachery be discovered.

If you choose to leave the Twinskulls fortress, the bandits will make no attempt to stop you. That in mind, what do you all want to do?

For talking your way out of your imprisonment, the lot of you each get 5 experience points.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Quill starts to exit the room, having sent Sun's Brush to wherever it goes when he sends it away. But as he passes by Rakash, he stops. "I know things might not have turned out the way you may have hoped when those strangers delivered us to you, but, if you ever find yourself in trouble, and need my help, seek me out, my name is Quill. I have to say that I find the lot of you far better than I did Saverush from Kilgar Keep." And with a bow, he leaves them behind.

 

[jaydude]

"Er, sure." replies Rakash as Quill passes him. Zen'th and Opal Child also get up and make to leave, the latter giving Ysandre a backwards glance before turning to look at Rakash.

"As I warned your treacherous guard earlier, find another line of work. Or at least pick your targets with care. Otherwise, I'll be back." she warns. Rakash looks like he hopes to never have to see her again.

 

[jaydude]

With the bandits now willing to let you all go, the three of you and the other two Solars leave the cell and head down the other end of the corridor, finding yourself at the foot of a large set of stone stairs. Heading up them, you emerge through another set of double-doors into the courtyard of a small fortress that has clearly seen better days. Looking up, you see that it's night, with Luna in the sky once again, signalling the end of Calibration. A cool breeze blows over you, but it's to the winds of the North what a raindrop is to the Elemental Pole of Water.

A number of bandits stood on the walls and scattered around the fortress look at you with curious and suspicious expressions, but after a few words from Rakash, they give you no trouble. The leader of the bandits leads you to the fortress gates, and once he sends you all through them, he has them closed and barred behind you. A few bandits on the walls continue to observe you as you walk away from the fortress. Looking down, you see a narrow dirt path leading away from the fortress and into a forest. With little in the way of better options at this point, you decide to start going down it.

After a few minutes, you start to hear footsteps coming from the woods on your left. Moments later, a man in the apparel of a soldier or a mercenary steps out onto the path in front of you. Though he has weapons, he isn't holding them, and he isn't radiating any kind of hostility. Ryan soon recognises the man of one of his own men.

"Boss? Is that you?" asks the man, looking surprised to see him.

 

[Rykon]

Ryan grins at the soldier as he approaches, "Of course it's me. They stepped aside as soon as they realized what they were up against. Good job following us this far though. Mind taking us back to camp?"

 

[jaydude]

The soldier gives a nod. "Sure thing boss, though we had to break camp when we started trying to track you down. We set it up a few hours ago once we'd tracked you to that fortress, and figured that we might have to break you out."

After saying this, his attention then turns to the other four Solars. "Who are these people, boss?" he asks with curiosity.

"Opal Child." replies the former Dynast in a polite-enough tone, as if she doesn't want to give any more information.

"I am Zen'th, of Chiaroscuro." replies the dark-haired southerner, giving the soldier a friendly nod. "Your 'boss' here...well, he and the others helped get each other out of that fortress."

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Still adorning himself with his jewels, Quill looks at the man, and extends his hand "Pleasure to meet you my good sir, I am Quill, a master jeweler and a part-time scholar."

 

[Esbilon]

"My name is Ysandre," the woman replies looking at the soldier with a pensive expression. "How exactly did you track your... boss here? And from where? There are quite a few unanswered questions regarding how we all got here."

 

[jaydude]

The soldier shakes Quill's hand, but at Ysandre's question, he turns to Ryan with a pointed look, clearly asking if it's okay to discuss such things in front of the other Solars.

 

[Rykon]

Ryan laughed, "Might as well, if they were going to kill us they'd have tried by now. Go ahead."

 

[jaydude]

The soldier gives Ryan a nod, and leads him and the other Solars into the woods. As you walk, he answers Ysandre's question, though he speaks to Ryan rather than the one who asked.

"It happened a couple of days ago. You were meeting with a client near the city of Marita, to discuss the possibility of us taking up some work in the northern half of the Hundred Kingdoms. Well, you never came back from the meeting, and when we realized that something was wrong and started searching the area, there was no sign of you. Eventually we found an old farmer who told us of a musclebound young man who looked like the client you'd met with, who was riding a horse up north, with you hogtied on the back and unconscious. He was wearing your Daiklave on his belt."

"The farmer assumed that the man was a bounty hunter and that you were his latest catch. We figured otherwise, and went after him, picking up his trail as we went. By the time we managed to catch sight of him for ourselves, however, all we could see was him carrying you inside the Twinskulls fortress alongside four other people, each of whom was also carrying an unconscious person."

After he says this, his eyes widen in sudden realization as he looks at Ysandre. "You...you're another of the people who was carried in! I'm sure of it!" he exclaims. "I'd...I'd recognize you from a mile away." he says a bit more quietly and softly. Although it's too dark to see, you get the impression that he's slightly taken with Ysandre's beauty.

 

[Esbilon]

"I was," Ysandre confirms with a nod and smiles slightly in recognition of the compliment. Turning to Ryan, she asks, "do you think it would be worth the effort to try and find the man who captured you? Whoever our original captors were, they have a talent for disappearances."

 

[Rykon]

"Aye, and not a single person has been able to corroborate a consistent appearance. I don't think this will be a hunt that bares any fruit, I'm afraid. Not if we can't even tell when we've found our marks." Ryan grunted in thought for a moment before continuing. "If they still pursue us then I expect we will cross paths with them again, but for now I have plans to prepare for. I can't keep this company together if I can't keep them paid and fed after all."

 

[jaydude]

Shortly afterwards, the group arrives at the edge of Ryan's camp; a clearing within the forest that is currently filled with dozens of large tents, enough for an army of around 100 and all their supplies. Torches and campfires dotted around the camp light up the area. Scattered throughout the camp are Ryan's troops, or at least those not currently guarding the perimeter, most of whom are either sharpening or practicing with their weapons, or just sitting down, talking and/or drinking with one another.

"Everyone, look! The boss is back!"

It doesn't take long for one of the soldiers to notice their boss's arrival, or those of his new companions. Word of this soon spreads across the camp like wildfire, and many soldiers come over to get a look at the group. The majority are glad to see Ryan safe and sound, but a good portion are curious about the newcomers.

 

[Esbilon]

"I see you have the loyalty of your men," Ysandre says to Ryan, low enough to not be heard by the aforementioned soldiers. "Admirable."

 

[Rykon]

"We were just militia once..." Ryan said quietly, "Been one unit too, up until our homeland fell. We got cornered at the end, and should've died. Then, the power came over me, and we cut our way free of enemy lines." He explained as he stepped through camp to find the cook pot and claim some stew and a skin of water. "Not much later, we find ourselves here."

 

[jaydude]

After a few seconds of consideration, Zen'th and Opal Child decide to follow after Ryan. The Dawn Caste's soldiers glance at them, but make no attempt to stop them, having guessed that the two are friends of their boss.

The Solars soon find the cook pot, where two of the soldiers are nearly done cooking some beef stew. Once done, they hand Ryan a bowlful of stew, and another tosses him a filled waterskin. Zen'th and Opal Child stand around, making no attempt to get some food of their own. Ryan gets the impression that they're being polite, and waiting for him to give his approval before they do so.

 

[Rykon]

Ryan waves over the rest of the former captives. "Well, I'm not just gonna let you starve. Get some food and rest and we'll figure out where to go next. Speaking of, Sergeant Tannis, how far out from civilization are we?"