Story Assistance [No Golden Wings Allowed]

Sheridan Boyce

Sheridan Boyce

New Member
Alright, I'm not done reading through DB yet, and I haven't even tackled Air or Wood for more on the Roseblack, but  think I have a very vague idea of how I want the story to run.


The PCs are sergeants in the Vermillion Legion following the battle at Sharptooth Bay.  The Roseblack has decided to return to the Blessed Isle and see things fixed, though she doesn't exactly know how yet.  She sends the Talon (or maybe Wing) the PCs Fangs belong to to the nearby towns to scrounge up some rectuits while she gets the matter of organizing and transporting her troops underhand.  The PCs have some adventure during this period, perhaps encountering the Lunar I was thinking about.


Eventually the Vermillion Legion leaves for the Blessed Isle, they do some stuff while at sea, and land in some as yet undetermined port.  The Legion begins to march for the Imperial City, under the pretense that they're returning for some kind of festival or something.


Along the way they meet up with a magistrate from House Iselsi, his scribe and a few guards.  The scribe is actually a Fire aspected spy for the All Seeing Eye, sent to watch the magistrate and to spy on the Roseblack, but he's maintaining an aire of mortality.  Both the spy and the magistrate are pretty loyal to the Empress though, and the magistrate wants to see his House's honor restored.


Through the course of the journey the PCs will discover a plot to plunge the Realm into civil war, so that some Anathema can steal into the Imperial Manse and attempt to use the Realms defenses against it.  Probably a Solar or an Abyssal, operating under the pretense that, as First Age technology, they should have a chance at using it.  The PCs, with the help of the magistrate and the spy, will find a way to stop this, ending in a great clash between the bad guys and the Vermillion Legion.  The regent and the Dominion, seeing the Roseblack and the Vermillion Legion as saviors of sorts, will put what trust they can in them, allowing the Roseblack to manuver her Legion and pull various strings to save the Realm (at a later time, possibly in another story).  House Iselsi will throw in it's lot with House Tepet, who now has a better shot at the throne.


The Roseblack basically intends, eventually, to capture the Imperial City and act as dictator until the Empress returns or a suitable heir can be enthroned, before returning to the business of stomping around the Threshold looting and pillaging in grand Red Piss fashion.


That's what I've got now.  Input would be great, and even jsut typing this up has helped out some.  I plan on dropping hints early on and working to give them as many possible foes as I can handle, and just generally being tricksy and false.  I just don't know what any of that is yet.  I'd also like to maybe work in the Immaculate Order if at all possible.


Edit: Tweked the outline after reading it and being inspired.
 
Thanks for the compliment.


I'm not really looking to improve it, but more to add to it.  I like the basic structure, I just need to flesh it out more, come up with the specifics of the plot itself, the Anathema, etc.


One idea that just came to me, is to have the Lunar be related to the Anathema trying to access the Imperial Manse.  He may be an old mate, an employee, something along those lines, who is tasked with stoping the PCs early on.  I don't know if there are any precendents for prohecy in Exalted, but it's an interesting idea to work into the story.
 
Maybe the players might have problems with th Wyld Hunt, as it tries to compete bureaucratically and physically with the players, since they think it is THEIR responsability destroying the Anathemas.
 
That's a good idea!  I have access to Cult of the Illuminated too, and now I've a reason to flip through it, beside looking for Solar charms.
 
Maybe it's a bit of a cliche, but you could introduce the whole "captive" moral dilemma. As your players capture the Anathema/Anathemas, they have to decide what to do with him, and he may also try to talk his way out, by explaining his side of the story. So, what do they do: hand the anathema to the Wyld Hunt, execute him in name of the Immaculate Order, set him free, or join him in a crusade to tople the despotic Realm?
 
Having just re-read the section in DB about the legions, I've decided that the anathema villian in question is going to be a Solar, with at least one Lunar ally and possibly some other Celestial chums, and perhaps even an Abyssal that owes him one (somehow or another, possibly they were pals before the Abyssal embraced his angst and started playing Vampire), but he's certainly going to have one of the vanished legions at his disposal.


The way I figure, the Solar hooked up with the general in charge of one of the legions that vanished off the map after the Empress dissapeared, promising to help them avenge themselves upon the Deliberative, the Houses, whomever; perhaps to even repair the damage caused to the Realm by their actions.  He now has a legion that he can throw into the fray with someone to cause the great big diversion he needs in order to gain access to the Imperial Manse.


Now comes the even more far fetched part.  I'm thinking that maybe the Empress knew that this Solar existed, and knew of his hunch that he could use the Realm's defenses.  As such, she let him live but kept an eye on him, waiting to see what he was going to do, knowing that a being that could possibly use the Manse besides her could be a powerful ally, or an terrible foe.  The problem then though, is simply this: Why would she let him live, and not have him wiped out in some horrible and possibly smelly way?


Also, I was reading the thread about gods in the settings board, and it got me thinking about the possibility of a god who's only been in his position for a few days or a week or so, and is still getting used to being a river god or something.
 
Maybe eliminating him would be more problem than it's worth. Perhaps he was mantaining stability in some region the Realm had problems with, or something. Or he could have access to some hidden First Age stash, which the Empress disired. Also, there's the issue of him being powerful; sending out the Wyld Hunt is always expensive. That and other stuff which might make his death not so useful.
 
I like those ideas Lurker.  I'm thinking too that the Empress might even have been in contact with him, some sort of secret deal where she didn't allow the All Seeing Eye or the Immaculate Order after him, or know about him perhaps, and he kept things stable for her.  Since her dissapearance, he's set his eyes on the Imperial Manse, perhaps he even plans to do it to somehow aide the Realm, although working that out might be tough.


I kind of like this because I had an idea a while ago for a former concubine of the Empress, who's a Twilight caste Solar with the Heart of Tears limit (I like him being a cry baby) that the PCs would need to look up for assistance.  Perhaps he knows of some way to contact the villian Solar, but in exchange for his help the PCs have to protect him from the Wyld Hunt, or at least the Eye, because they're after him for pretty much the same information.


As for the PCs capturing the villian Solar, I had fgured they'd just do him in in battle, but I'm really liking the idea of giving them some choice in what to do with him, especially if his intentions are actually good.  Maybe he wants to take the Manse to keep it from going off and causing untold damage to the Realm.  I'm not so sure about that, but it's a thought.


Another idea could be that, with his help, they could effectivly hold the Realm hostage and enforce some kind of order in the Empress's absence.
 
Quite possibly the empress is using this set up so as to trick the solar into revealing himself and coming into an area where she can capture rather than just kill him.  The realm defences are powered by sacrifice after all so maybe now the defences require the sacrifice of a solar, possibly this specific one so the wyld hunt has orders to back off when it comes to him.  Ahh the joy of complicated plots with villains whose long term goals involve more than just kill maim destroy.
 
That's some pretty good stuff Shicato.


I had a thought this morning that during the battle against the Solar's legion, the PCs will capture him, and he'll try to convince them that he can use the Realm's defenses to aide the Roseblack in gaining control over the Realm to stabilize things.  Once inside the Manse though, the PCs will discover that things aren't going to work that way, possibly that the Realm defenses won't work for them and will backfire horribly.


I was also thinking that he might betray them, but I'm not entirely sure about that, I don't know if I like the idea of him being about killing lots of people, but he could be doing things for the same reason as the Roseblack, but planning to use them for the sacrifice.


Either way, when the PCs and the Roseblack appear to be able to control the defenses, or at least access the Manse, people will sit up and pay attention.


The Roseblack's plan, by the way, is to seize control in the name of the Empress and stabilize the Realm until A) the Empress returns or B) the find a suitable replacement to take her throne (not the Roseblack herself).  This works really well because my DB character, Sheridan Boyce, was told, along with companion Helm Bismarck, that a new empress had been born, or the Empress had be reborn or something along those lines, so it might work with my friend's campaign as well.
 
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