Going Underground...Again!

So, it's been a while since my last entry, and I'm very sorry for the delay! I had a lot going on at work, and I actually have two session to report on this time around, as Jaime was unable to run his Fate game last week. Which brings me to a bit of sad news.

Jaime won't be able to game with us for the foreseeable future. He's been assigned a new work schedule that will conflict with his time with the group for the next few months. This will bring our number down to three; one GM, and two players. Now, I'm perfectly okay with running games with two players, but I feel too much is accomplished per session with only two players. As such, we have come up with a tentative plan for the next few months. I'll run Burn Legend for one more session, and then Blake will run a few weeks' worth of Don't Rest Your Head (truth be told, I'm seriously looking forward to it). At that point, we'll invite some people to join us, using a short D&D campaign run by Blake as sort of a "mixer" game. Depending on how long that lasts, we'll return to Burn Legend until Exalted 3rd Edition releases. So, the next session this week will probably be the last one for quite some time, maybe the last one for good. Whatever the case, I'll resume blogging once I start running Exalted 3rd Edition.

Anyway, onward!

This session began with the fight between Shiver, Papana, and the wolves on one side, and Crush and his gorillas on the other. Shiver paired off with Crush, Papana with one of the gorillas, and six of the wolves against two gorillas. Eric knocked one of the gorillas away and took care of it in the alligator enclosure (Jaimie was not present for this session).

Papana did well enough against the gorilla and managed to dispatch it after several rounds. The wolves did not fare well. One of the gorillas knocked a group silly and joined his companions to harass those remaining. Papana rushed in and knocked down both of them before the other wolves were taken down.

Shiver and Crush had an interesting fight, however. Crush's opening attack dropped Shiver's first health stock (Blake laments that it didn't drop Shiver then and there; would've made for a more interesting story, he feels). Shiver came back from that initial attack, however, and the two managed to exchange solid blows for several rounds. Shiver used a powerful counterattack technique that dealt 8 damage to Crush at one point. Appropriately, Shiver dealt the finishing blow with his Overdrive. Drawing energy from the Moon itself, Shiver's claws gleamed with silver ki. He then slashed inward with both of them, sending twin arcs of silver ki on an intersecting path. Crush rampaged right into them as they intersected. The force knocked him back into the enclosure, where he bodily connected with a boulder and dropped, reverting into his human form (he made it all the way to his last health stock, and was only two points away from using his Overdrive--booooo!)

Shiver then asserted his superiority over Crush and convinced him to be their eyes and ears in this area, in case any new Scrolls of Power showed up. They were on the same side, after all, allied against the Shinigami and the forces of Yomi Wan. The group then parted ways: Papana and Shiver returned to the United States, while Eric went to visit his prospective business contacts while he was near China.

When they returned, they found the Dojo of Fallen Stars smoking. Sensei explained that demons had attacked the dojo, thinking a Scroll of Power was housed here, but he and Bitter Opal had managed to drive them away. They explained the situation, but suddenly realized that they didn't have the Scroll--Eric did. Bitter Opal went into a tirade, which Papana soundly retaliated against. Sensei broke them up, sending Bitter Opal to focus on rebuilding the incense room. Papana then called up Eric, but received no connecting signal--it didn't even ring. Knowing someone was wrong, Papana called up Alice, Eric's assistant, and had her send a plane to take them to Eric's last known GPS location.

They ended up having to dive out of the plane because the pilot had been nearly shot on sight when he had dropped off Eric. They succeeded in style, and carefully approached the unassuming, squat. facility. Papana then threw caution to the wind and boldly approached. He nearly received a machine gun to the face, but managed to talk his way out of it, threatening the offending guard with Eric's wrath if any harm came to him. The guards then took a blindfolded Papana and wolf-form Shiver below ground. Shiver saw many people working on mechanical somethings, but he couldn't figure out what. The lighting was dim, with bright lights in the development rooms to minimize shadows while working. Green running lights bordered the walls near the floor.

They were then seated in a windowless room with a pleasant-looking man with a slow voice. They bantered for a while. The man, who called himself Alpha, told them Mr. Anderson was just fine and was in the middle of a tour of the facility. Papana politely declined a tour of his own. The organization, called the Eye of the Maker, lamented that the Exalted were given powers beyond mere mortals, and while many used their abilities righteously, many more used them selfishly. The group made it their goal to equip the common man with the means to defend themselves against the Exalted if necessary, through a genetic engineering program and a biomechnical augmentations program. Alpha then received notice that Eric had completed the tour, and he would escort Papana and Shiver to his location. As they exited the room, they heard a loud hum that decreased in pitch. The overhead lights faded, and the green running lights turned to yellow, and then blinking red. Alpha panicked and ran down the hallways, Papana and Shiver following closely after.

As they rounded a corner, Alpha stopped dead in his tracks. Shiver could smell the fear rolling off of him. Blue mists then poured in from the far end of the hall. Shiver smelled a new scent from Alpha, and Papana could smell it, too. He put a reassuring hand on Alpha, who screamed and ran forward into the mist. Realizing his mistake, he turned around and tried to run away. The mist lurched forward and skeletal hands shot out and dragged Alpha into the mist. Papana and Shiver heard him scream, but muffled and as if from far away. The mist lurched forward again, launched something into the wall, which fell and broke against the floor. It was Alpha, but all vitality had been drained from his body. Emaciated figures with blue flesh limped out of the mist, an unsettling hunger in their dead eyes. Papana stepped forward and fired a bolt of solar ki at them, which passed right through them as if they were made of mist.

"Nope!" Papana exclaimed as he and Shiver took off in the opposite direction.

Everyone Needs to Calm Down

Last session ended with the group planning on ticking off Tepet Jeht to the point that he would attack them out of rage. As they made their way from Lord Tepet's chamber to Jeht's, a large, broad man burst out of Jeht's room and roared back, "You promised me that scroll, Tepet, and I'll take it or your life!" He then stormed past the group, seething. However, Shiver caught his scent and it was not human.

Ignoring this for the time being, the group entered the chamber. Papana sneaked up on Jeht, who was in the middle of grandstanding for his minions. By degrees, the group riled Jeht up, until Eric fired the last shots that sent Jeht over the edge: Comparing his business practices to Wal-Mart's. Enraged, Jeht flung fire at the group, who challenged him then to a battle of honor. Papana took the lead on this fight. The battle strongly favored Jeht at the beginning. He managed to take down Papana's first health stock within the first two rounds of combat. Papana then made a moderate comeback, until the two started trading blows without too much disparity between success. However, Jeht charged up his Overdrive a little faster than Papana.

Jeht dropped back into a pulled-away stance, his two hands hovering from each other and cradling the air between them, about the size of a man's head. "You think you're so strong, Mugen? You're not the only special one!" Crackles of golden energy sparked around his hands as an orb of pure sunlight grew in the space between his hands. When it expanded fully, Jeht roared, "HEAVENLY DESTROYER BLAST!" He thrust his hands forward, and the ball detonated with solar radiance.

All objects within the room were shattered, and all occupants knocked down, badly injured. When the debris had settled and people had managed to blink the sunspots from their eyes, they found that Jeht was nowhere to be seen. As if he had simply vanished.

Eric's first instinct was to go and check the Scroll: safe and sound. Shiver then joined him and the two decided to stake out the room and guard the Scroll in case Jeht had not been vaporized and wanted to steal the Scroll. Eric had a spark of inspiration, and swapped the Scroll with a fake. Papana, on the other hand, trudged up to his room and crashed onto the bed to sleep off his injuries.

In the dead of night, Shiver was woken by something. He did not know what, but he did not wake up without good reason. Soon enough, a smokey figured materialized out of the shadows. Shiver waited until the shadow had reached three-quarters of the way between the door and the desk that both sheltered Shiver's wolf form, as well as the Scroll in its glass box. Shiver then transformed into his mighty spirit werewolf form, sending the desk into splinters. Eric woke with a start, and the shadow hesitated. Shiver dashed for the door, surging right past the shadow, to block the exit. The shadow seized its opportunity and sprinted forward, grabbing the Scroll, and leaped headlong through the window. Shiver and Eric looked at each other in surprise, then gathered at the window. Within moments, they heard a voice scream "Son of a bitch!" The voice undoubtedly belonged to Jeht.

Having decidedly ousted Jeht, the group set about promoting Magdeline as the next leader of House Tepet. They made great progress, convincing many of the higher-ups to abdicate their position to her during the next hierarchy structuring at the winter solstice.

Afterward, they decided to reward themselves by taking a look at the Scroll. As they opened it, white lettering on the gold leaf glowed with inner radiance. Ancient sigils explained the three lines of characters showing the process of martial techniques, one of which Papana realized was the same as his own Heaven Thunder Hammer, while Eric observed that one of them closely matched the technique Jeht had attempted to use. They summoned a Tepet scholar, who translated the sigils:

"The first line reads...Destroyer of Heaven." indicated the technique Jeht had used. "The second...Fist of the Heavens," pointing to the technique that matched Papana's. "And the third...cancel the ending." This third technique was confusing in its process; it appeared as if the Mugen picked up another being and hurled it into a third. "And the fourth line: From the Sun this Scroll draws power. Unto Sun shall it return."

"So, Jeht learned a Mugen technique from this Scroll?" Eric asked.

"Learned, maybe. But he didn't understand." Papana observed quietly.

[Mechanically, the Scrolls of Power allow an Exalt to learn additional Overdrive Techniques, even those of other Exalt types. While Jeht had learned the physical aspect of the Technique, he hadn't internalized what it meant to use the Technique and to be Mugen. Finally, using the Scroll in this way would cause it to vanish...and rematerialize at certain sacred sites. No one decided to use the Scroll, however, though Wade was very tempted to pick up Cancel the Apocalypse, which would have allowed him to hurl an opponent into another and damage them both. However, the Technique would've began at 1 dot, and they didn't want to risk upsetting the mission.]

The group then decided to follow Shiver's curiosity concerning the man with the strange scent. Shiver managed to track him down, following the scent to a zoo. The scent became muddled, but Shiver pushed through the obstructions, arriving at the gorilla enclosure. Sure enough, a mighty silverback paced menacingly, and gave Shiver a dark glare when they locked eyes. Communicating on threads of ki, the two exchanged enough information to agree to meet again at night. Before they left the zoo for the day, Shiver slipped into the wolf enclosure and asserted his dominance over the softened pack.

That night, the trio returned to the gorilla enclosure. The silverback leaped over the tall fence, transforming into his human form and slapping on a pair of athletic shorts. He admitted soon enough that he was an Okami, like Shiver, and his name was Crush, the Relentless. Where Shiver was sent to Earth to combat needless violence, Crush was sent to bring down the self-righteous. In fact, Jeht had been his current target, and the Scroll was going to be a reward for a job well-done. That, and he planned to increase his strength through it. The group was not about to part with it, and Crush wouldn't take no for an answer. So, he summoned his gorilla allies and then transformed into a massive 10-foot beast of pure brawn. Shiver then called his new wolf minions and the two groups faced off.

Read the next session here!

Seeing Scarlet

After making the resolution to recover the Scrolls of Power, now at risk from theft by the Shinigami, the trio began making plans to visit an old friend. Not too long ago, Papana had been taunted for his unsuccessful attempt to reclaim a golden scroll from Tepet Ymol. After successfully and destructively defeating him, the thought of the golden scroll was lost, along with Tepet Jeht. This Tepet, however, owed Shiver a life debt--which the trio now intended to collect.

Eric called his, er, business associate, Tepet Magdeline. "Okay, here's the plan. You. Me. My private jet. Flying over the ocean. And then landing in the Scarlet Realm and having a chat with Jeht."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. I liked the first part." Magdeline said, "Can you repeat that so that I know you're not crazy?"

"Sure! You and me are going to be in my private jet, alone for several hours, and then when we land in the Scarlet Realm, you're going to take me to see Jeht."

"You're insane. Jeht is...well, it would take too long to explain on the phone. Why do you want to see him so badly?"

"You remember, don't you? He owes us, well, Shiver a life debt. We're going to collect on it."

"That's...a really, really bad idea. What do intend to ask from him?"

Papana took the phone at this point, "He has a scroll that we need to keep in safe hands."

"I assure you, as long as Jeht has it, it's perfectly safe. Is this the Dude impersonator? You know you could put this on speaker, right? Wait. You know what? Jeht's an asshole. If you want to take a scroll from him, I'll help you out. It probably won't end nicely, but...Jeht deserves it. I'll send you coordinates to an air field. Meet me there in three hours."

In the downtime, Eric called up his perpetually overwhelmed assistant, Alice, who wasn't pleased that he was skipping down, again, but perked up when she informed him of a new business venture based in China that had asked for a meeting at their headquarters. They had been secretive, saying they would only speak with the head of the organization, and no one else. Shiver and Papana, on the other hand, went down to the park. Shiver went to blow off steam; Papana went to build up steam. The Mugen threw balls that broke the sound barrier, while Shiver streaked by in a silver blur and used a slide as a ramp to catch the balls in midair. Some local kids recognized Papana and begged him to give them a spin on the merry-go-round. Luckily, Eric showed up just in time to use Airbinding to bring them safely to the ground once they went flying off.

Three hours after the call, the trio rolled up on their motorcycles to find an abandoned, flat, level strip of ground. There was a red car there waiting for them, with a stylized flame insignia emblazoned on the hood and sides. A woman slid out of the car, her hair rippling fluidly in the light breeze.

"Good to see you again, handsome." she greeted Eric. Eric's jet touched down not too long after, and the group set off for the Scarlet Realm, located in northwestern China. After a successful Lore roll on the part of Papana, the group learned quite a bit about the Scarlet Dynasty and House Tepet. The Scarlet Realm hopes to be for Ryuujin what the Vatican City is for Catholic Christians: a central body that lightly governs those a part of it, but mostly providing a strong, central foundation. As such, the Realm is currently trying to create a position for an individual to act as the executive of the Realm. Until then, however, the Realm and the Great Houses are ruled by a council of the heads of those Houses. House Tepet, being a mostly militaristic group, has established its central Hall within the Scarlet Realm. Other Houses are located elsewhere around the world, such as House Peleps, a naval group, being situated in Japan.

On the way, Magdeline explained that House Tepet is an intense group of people. They are primarily Fire Ryuujin, and are, naturally, hot-headed. To prevent their passions boiling over, especially where ambition is concerned, they follow a very rigid hierarchy. Everyone is put onto the same, linear hierarchy. Magdeline herself is #20, while Ymol used to be #2, but was then replaced by Jeht. Magedline's father, Lord Tepet, is #1. She also explained that Tepets do not tolerate drawn-out conflicts. If an argument cannot be resolved within one hour, the two parties duke it out on fighting strips in the great hall.

After they landed, they went immediately to breakfast. They noticed, however, that there were no cars on the streets at all. "It's a government policy." Magdeline explained, "We found that pollution tampers with our ki. Though, I guess growing up in a polluted environment, you've built up a tolerance to it." she added, looking at Eric. "Everyone here either walks, bikes, or uses the metro system." They saw a couple of landmarks on their way toward Tepet Hall. In the distance, the Scarlet Pagoda gleamed with stones like red marble. They passed by the Hall of Heroes, where Ryuujin throughout history received praise for their exploits. One landmark in particular caught their attention especially. Magdeline began discussing its beauty and significance for a good five minutes before they reached it. The Convergence of Elements, she said, was meant to show the beauty of each element individually, as well as the beauty of their harmony. As the streetcar turned the corner, however, the Convergence was a wall of flame, while Ryuujin of several stripes worked to put down the flames. "We're thinking about renovating it, honestly." Magdeline said in defeat.

At last, they arrived at Tepet Hall. Whereas the Scarlet Palace was a bright, beautiful construction of red marble and jade, Tepet Hall was a squat, minimalistic building of dull, crimson stone. Using her authority as #20, Magdeline was able to escort the trio through the spartan corridors of the Hall and past the multitude of guards, two for every door. Soon enough, they came upon Tepet Jeht, who was deep in conversation with a squad of his goons in a room that was unexpectedly lavish.

“Good to see you again.” Papana said amicably, settling himself on the desk beside Jeht.

“Shit! Where the hell...?” Jeht stammered, “I mean, it’s good to see you, too! I was just thinking how I needed to get into contact with you and, you know...”

“Yes, I think I do know. You owe my dog a life debt.”

“Ah. Yes. That.”

“We’re going to add interest to the debt, since you’ve missed a few late fees. The Shinigami have taken an interest in your scroll. We want to make sure it’s protected.”

“The Shinigami? A story meant to frighten little Ryuujin. Besides, that scrolls not going anywhere as long as I’m alive.” Jeht said with a defiant gleam in his eyes.

The negotiations then broke down into a shouting match. Threats and snide comments escalated the tension to the point of Jeht drawing his sleek pistols in rage, and Eric countering with secretly funded ICBMs. Jeht refused to back down, inviting the trio to instigate a new world war: a missile from America destroying a fledgling nation? Not a great public opinion stunt.

“Look, I think we’re all getting a little carried away.” Papana urged. “Back to our original offer: Give the scroll to us as protection, or give us the funds to find another.”

“Or this:” Eric stepped in, “Give us the funds to find as many as we can. We’ll split them with you, fifty-fifty. You provide us the means, and we’ll do all the heavy lifting.”

“Half, you say?” Jeht’s eyes lit up. “That sounds like an equitable arrangement. Let me discuss the matters with my companions here, and we’ll get back to you.”

Papana snorted. “We don’t have time for this. We’re going to talk with someone around here who can actually make decisions on his own and help us. We’re going to see Lord Tepet.”

“Good luck with that.” Jeht said with a bitter smile.

Magdeline led the way to the second and topmost story of the building, growing visibly uneasy as they approached the Lord’s chamber.

“What’s wrong?” Eric asked, not totally oblivious to her discomfort.

“There’s something you need to know about my father.” she said, opening the doors without knocking. The room was bare except for a bed, a small table, and an ancient red spear. At the far end of the room was a large window overlooking the Scarlet Realm. An old man in a wheelchair sat staring out that window. Magdeline crossed the room and knelt by the man. “Daddy? It’s me, Magdeline. I brought some friends of mine who wanted to talk with you.” The man’s eyes continued to stare blankly with glassy eyes out over the Realm, his breaths coming in slow, steady rasps.

Moved to pity, Papana introduced himself and began having a one-sided conversation with the man. At some point, he mentioned that he himself was a Mugen, finding no reason to hide the fact from this frail old man.

“Mu...gen...” Lord Tepet wheezed, his words hardly more audible than a whisper. Papana then began going through katas, channeling his sun-ki quietly. Lord Tepet felt rather than saw Papana’s building ki. The glass over his eyes faded, instead replaced with happy mists that precipitating down his gaunt flesh, while the ghost of a smile haunted the corners of his lips. When Papana had finished his katas, the vivacity faded out of Lord Tepet once more. Papana, disheartened by the old man’s condition, made to leave, when suddenly an arm like iron shot out and grabbed hold of his shirt. A raspy voice whispered, “Jeht...cannot...rule.” Lord Tepet then slumped over in his wheelchair.

Magdeline screamed and assaulted Papana, “What have you done?” she cried, tears already streaming down her face.

Eric checked for a pulse, and found it, as well as felt the bioelectricity in the old man still flowing, albeit feebly. “He’s fine. Just tired.” he observed. They laid Lord Tepet on his bed and left the room quietly.

“He’s just a figurehead.” Eric said. “Jeht’s just waiting until he passes away to preserve the hierarchy.”

Magdeline nodded. “My father always wanted to become a Mugen, or at least befriend one. Not only were they powerful, he also felt they were shining examples of righteousness. Having one on his side would be a great asset for his bid to rule the Scarlet Dynasty.”

“What about you?” Papana asked. “Why can’t you rule the Dynasty?”

“Only those on the Council are the serious contenders. I would have to usurp Jeht.”

“We’re going to make him mad.” Eric began, something crackling in his mind, “Mad enough to challenge Papana to single combat. Papana will kick his ass, of course, showing off as many of his Mugen abilities as possible. Not only will he knock down Jeht a peg or two, or all of them, but we’ll be able to take the scroll away from him, establish himself as a Mugen in alliance with House Tepet, and, as a result of his more personal alliance with you, promote you as a stronger candidate for the leader of the House.”

“That’s...brilliant.” Magdeline complimented.

“So,” Papana began, a cold determination setting into his usually carefree face, “let’s go piss this guy off.”