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As the two Sidereals move through the halls to Kenji's office, there are several aides standing in the corridors, many of which are talking amongst themselves trying to come to terms with the disaster that has happened that morning. Most of the time, the conversations come to a halt as you approach, and they give you both a look of profound sadness, and a few even try to offer up some kind words of support for the two of you.
Once you get to Kenji's workspace, the fresh smell of coffee comes from inside, just brewed by Roygan, one of the lesser spirits that work to keep your office cleaned up and ready to use. He offers the two of you a hot cup without any comment, knowing that you both have a very long day ahead of you and you'll need all the help you can get. When Roygan finally speaks, he doesn't waste any time with simple platitudes. "Noble Exalts, as always, I am at your service. But, with what that is ahead of us, I fear that I will need to expand this work space and add on some more staff to help. I have a short list of spirits that I believe would be a good start that I am willing to call in at your convenience to have them meet with you."
As he speaks, the young Jontom taps on the door before walking in. "Despite the objections of my doctors, we have too much work to do for me to spend my time lounging around in a hospital bed." He takes a seat with a slightly audible grunt of pain, then looks up at the two of you. "So, where do we start?"
Valeren gives the spirit a tired smile as she takes the offered cup of coffee. "Mmmm. Thank you." She takes a deep sniff of the aroma coming from the cup before taking a drink of the rich, black liquid with a sigh. Then, when Jontom comes in, she looks at the younger man with concern. "Are you sure you are ready to be up and about? I appreciate the thought of any helping hand we can get right now, but we need you at your best, and can't stop to take time to coddle you. I do not mean to offend, but we are at war, and have been dealt a staggering blow. There cannot be any hesitation from you when the time comes." No matter what she says, Val is quite certain that Jontom will power his way through his pain, and be a stronger man for it.
"To answer your question, start at the very beginning. We need allies from the ranks of the Solar Exalted, and we now have a list containing the names and locations of several. We will have to go to them and make them understand that they will now be working for us. Also, we have to find out from the security forces if we do have another member of our Fellowship still alive, and if so, who is it, and why were they not at the meeting? Did Jupiter send this Exalt a letter the same way she did to us? Or is there a more sinister reason for the Exalt's absence? We have to know what we are dealing with."
Valeren holds up her hand and starts counting off fingers as she speaks. "As much as I'd like to go straight to the Imperial City and take the Demon Empress' head, she was able to stand toe to toe with several of the best fighters of our ranks and come out victorious. But while we can't do that, we do need to see what is going on in the Realm right now. Another ally we can hope to get on our side is Mnemon." She looks over at Kenji. "Remember the message I got earlier?" She waits for him to nod, then goes into a summary for Jontom. "Apparently, she was the whistle-blower that started all of this, bringing information about the Demon Empress to the Sidereals of the Heptagram. We have to find out where she has gone and make sure she is on our side in this."
Val takes a deep breath. "So much to do, and there is only the three of us. Damn. Kenji, lets get that data crystal out and see what assets we can tap into from it."
Valeren looks at the screen with a mix of relief and stress. "I don't know if it is a good thing that we have these Exalts close on hand, or disappointed that there are so few." She leans back in her seat with a sigh. "I would also say that with the attack that just happened, we need to work together and stay as a group to watch each other's backs. Lets approach these training camps all together, and tell them the complete truth. If we tell them any lies, that will come back to haunt us in a bad way." She then looks over at Jontom. "The good news is, you now have two new Sifus. We will begin a rigorous training schedule with you as soon as you are recovered enough to deal with the stresses of the workout."
As you ponder your next action, there is a knock at the door. Looking out, you find a security officer. "Noble Exalts, I have a message for you from the Captain." He hands over a file. "We have identified the bodies of all the fallen, and there is one of your order that is missing: Axtis Jen. The file is what we have on hand about her. I hope it helps."
Jontom thanks the guard and takes the folder and waits for the door to shut before opening up the folder. "Hmmm. Lets see. Axtis Jen, a Exalt of the Maiden of Battles and, according to this, she was affiliated at one time with both the Gold and Bronze factions, and is currently not actively working with either faction at this time. Born in the city of Kingsport in the Western Isles, she Exalted roughly 1,200 years ago. Limited knowledge of magic, but she has dabbled in Necromancy. She knows several Celestial martial art techniques, having mastered the Celestial Monkey, Violet Bier of Sorrows and Ebon Shadow, and her Sidereal styles include Charcoal March of Spiders and Obsidian Shards of Infinity. Her last known posting was with the Convention on Deathlords, working to gain more information on the various power struggles in the Underworld."
Jontom looks up. "Can a Infallible Messenger reach into the Underworld? If Axtis is there now, and the message to return to Yu-Shan never reached her, perhaps she doesn't even know about the attack." He looks between the two of you. "Is that even possible?"
Val nods, looking grim. "Yes, Infallible Messenger can go to the Underworld, either from Creation, Yu-Shan, or even the realm of Malfias." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "I am doing my best to keep from jumping to conclusions here, but I am having trouble not thinking the worst about Axtis. But I have to remind ourselves that if it were not for Jupiter stepping in directly to vouch for Kenji and myself, we would be regarded with suspicion for not being at the meeting with everyone else. She may be an innocent victim of this, but we must proceed with caution when dealing with her, especially with the many years of experience she has over us."
As a side note, Val looks over at Kenji. "I need to learn that Constellation of the Rising Smoke, too. I'm sure that it will become a useful method for the three of us to stay in touch. We'll both be your pupils for that."
It takes about thirty minutes for Kenji to get a reply from his message. It reads, "I can meet in one week's time in the city of Gateway in the Wavecrest Archipelago. Be at the docks at noon."
Val gives a wry smile. "Well. Quite a chatty one there, isn't she?" She shakes her head. "No asking why. That bothers me, especially with all the messages that have been sent out saying 'drop everything and come now' and 'a disaster has hit'. Not a good sign in my eyes. We should all go there to meet her together, and possibly bring some additional back up with us. Lets move to one of these training grounds so we can get a handful of Solars as support."
"Shall we meet at the Gateway, say, in three hours time? Will that give everyone enough time?"
He responds with the same level of professionalism that drew him to you initially all those years ago. "As you wish. I will keep things here under control and gather up a few good candidates to assist in the extra work load that will be coming through this office. Safe journeys, sir."1. I'll make sure to notify Roygan that I'll be living on a mission and have him manage my office affairs in my absence, keep track of those new spirits that wish to be inducted in my staff, liaise with the Captain in case any new information come up etc.
Neither person is currently available for a face to face meeting due to their own work in putting Yu-Shan back together, but they both reply to you. Nara-O thanks you for the update, and will begin to compile what information on Axtis Jen that he can for you and will have it ready in the next day or two. He also wishes you luck on your recruitment efforts, and warns you to use the utmost level of caution when meeting with Axtis.2. I'll also see if I can get an audience with the Department Head of the Forbidding Manse of Ivy, Nara - O, to update him on the latest developments, request his advice if any and ask of information regarding Axtis Jen. Ideally, I'd wish to speak about that to Hu-Dai-Liang (the Department Head of the Crimson Panoply of Victory) as well, since we were informed that Axtis Jen is a Chosen of Battles, but I do not think that given our tight schedule that would be possible.
Your message is sent, but in the time you currently have before meeting with Jontom and Valeren, there is no response.3. I'll send a message in the most urgent and secretive way possible to Verumipra, Warden of the Exiles in the Demon City, to let him know of the conspiracy of the Yozis and the Scarlet Empress and to secure his communication and cooperation, as well as to request from him to re-double his efforts in watching over the denizens of Malfeas, in an attempt to gather additional intelligence on our enemies.
Messages are sent to your contacts, but they will not be able to reply to you in Yu-Shan before you leave, but at least you have the orders given to gather up intelligence and report to you ASAP.4. I'll send a message to my contacts in the All-Seeing Eye as well, under my alternate identity as a high level Dragon-Blooded operative, to get an update on the status of the Eye, the operations of the Wyld Hunt etc. My reasoning is that since those organizations were responsible to track down Anathema, perhaps we could use any information they uncover, to our benefit, in order to approach first potential allies, to recruit them to our cause.
Once more, your message has been sent, and the only response you receive is a perfunctory one of good luck on your recruitment efforts.4. Finally, I'll send a prayer/message to Jupiter, the Maiden of Secrets, to inform her that we are initiating our counter-strategy against the enemies of Creation.
In the crowd in front of you, there are five Exalted. One of them that appears to be a Fire Aspect Dragon Blood shows to be Essence 4, while the other four there are all Essence 3. One of those E3 Exalts is a Lunar; you can see his tattoos that are easily visible under his vest. Of the last three, one has several bits of Jade on him, while the last two both have the distinctive gold Magical Material of the Solars.With Telltale Symphony, I want to try to identify which of the people here are Exalted, and what their Essence level is.