So as foretold in the prophecy, this is happening again. I've got another Exalted write-up for you. At some point I need to start doing the Promethean post updates again as well, I've just had a lot to juggle creatively and they've fallen by the wayside because there isn't any real urgency to talking about a game I ran a decade and a half ago at this point. But I digress.
Also, as I mentioned in the last session, Lathe is a new location in the third edition of Exalted and we have very little detail about it. There's a decent chance an upcoming supplement is going to touch on it some, so I'm going light on some details for ease of integrating my notes with a canon interpretation. I mention this mostly in case anyone goes back over these, sees my material on the city, and is confused by any discrepancies. I'm not opposed to maybe even going back and retconning a detail or two (like the location of the Immaculate temple), but these write-ups may conflict with official text and I wanted to at least offer that as a disclaimer.
One last thing before we get to it. In case I've forgotten to mention it here (and a quick skimming of the blog's front page suggests I did), Prometheus Unbound, a supplement I worked on for Trinity Continuum: Æon, is now available in print-on-demand!
So we pick up where we left off, with the trio and Scroll in Xương's place, trying to figure out what to do now. The group came to Lathe to do some specific stuff, and while some of it dovetails somewhat with the research they'd been meaning to do, not all of it does. Xương feels a little overwhelmed by all the stuff ahead of them: Finding out more about the Ashen Umbra, figuring out what's happening with the books, getting a better idea of what was going on with Vaihil (which will almost certainly require getting information out of the Immaculates), and also finding someone who can connect them with the Three Devil Princes.
So they decide to split up and divide their efforts.
So we start with Shango, who's going to reach out to the Immaculate temple. Once upon a time, he himself was a follower of the Immaculate faith so he figures he's the best option to go case the joint and get the lay of the land there. And nothing against Hǎifēng or Xương (the former probably a bad 'fit' for a bunch of reserved monks, and the latter being of Obvious Lintha heritage and a known menace), but Shango would blend in best in that sort of environment. So he gets out some of his nicer clothes and puts on his 'Sunday best' as it were[0] before heading out to the temple, located in a structure that appears to be the preserved heart of the beast.
The temple is pretty open, with locals coming and going, acolytes sweeping and such, though he does immediately peg a couple of monks who are clearly on discreet security patrols. He looks around for an acolyte who doesn't seem to be terribly busy and asks her for help. He introduces himself and begins by asking about the local Immaculate calendar, what deities are having festivals going on and such. (This week, it seems, is mostly dedicated to Baxishun, also known as the Lord of the Surf and the Wise Crab) He asks if there are any scheduled feast days or anything dedicated to gods of disease or medicine, and she looks confused. He explains that he just came from Sarahan, where there was an outbreak of autumn fever possibly connected to a disease god named Vaihil and he wants to know if there's something he can do to alleviate their suffering.
The nun, Amber Dawn, offers to get him someone more knowledgeable in these matters. She directs Shango to a bench and asks him if he'd like some tea or a bowl of rice or something while he waits, and he says some tea would be fine. She leaves, though she doesn't seem to be in any real hurry, and while he spends a few minutes scoping out possible exits if things go badly. An acolyte brings him some tea, which is decent but not so nice as to be an unreasonable indulgence. About twenty minutes later, an older man with a long, thin nose (that sort of 'sharp' nose often associated with the Vulture in Marvel Comics) and far more ornate robes approaches Shango.
He introduces himself as Mnemon Arima and asks about this disease god that Shango told Amber Dawn about. He explains that he's a merchant and the ship he was on docked at Sarahan for a brief time, and he encountered the populace who were sick and found out about the disease god Vaihil. Shango explains that he knew there was a temple at Lathe and wanted to talk to someone more enlightened than himself about making sure the people there got some help, or at least convince the god to assuage the suffering of the people there. As he talks he's got his arms behind his back and his chest puffed out, emulating his father in his business dealings as he tries to sell this story.
Arima ponders this momentarily, and if this were a TV show the audience would be treated to a special effect of a map of the region as he works out where Sarahan is. As he and Shango talk, they mention that it's odd that this would be happening on an island as autumn fever is a little more of a mainland thing, especially this time of year. Arima asks Shango if he's shown any symptoms, and Shango explains that they took safety precautions and made sure nobody was showing symptoms before they wound up anyplace else. To help smooth things along, he tosses a qian (a paper note worth about a week's wages for a skilled commoner) into a donation box -- generous, bordering on obvious bribery for Immaculate favors, but not to the point of vulgarity.
When asked, Shango confirms that the god he heard about is named Vaihil, and Arima is hard to read but Shango can tell that not only does the monk recognize the name, he's very concerned about it.[1] Shango gets ready to take his leave, and says he may return the next day to talk some more. Arima wishes him well and he takes his leave.
Next we go to Xương, who's gone downhill to one of the watering holes near the docks that caters to sailors just stopping off at Lathe for supplies and have little interest in the primal beast from the dawn of Creation or the weirdness within. He picks a bar at random, the Vagabond Panther, and goes in. It's your typical joint for sailors and fishermen, with a number of your nautical folk out of central casting. There's even a parrotfolk drinking booze out of what looks like one of those wide, shallow sake bowls. He gets a drink (one of those 'liquid bread'-style beers) at the bar and listens in as people are talking about the increased House Peleps traffic, issues with pirates, and a few things about a fight out on Talipan Island.
He also hears someone talking about the Ruby Wren, a known ghost ship, and he uses that as an opening to ask if anyone's heard about a ship called the Ashen Umbra. He knows that it's a thing that exists and there's a story about it, but it's one of the few nautical tales he doesn't know.
A pale, sickly man down the bar perks up at that and speaks up, as he's heard of it. Xương asks him about the ship and the guy says that nobody gets a good look at it because it's constantly wrapped in fog or substantial shadow, and sometimes has been seen sailing in the clouds. He says that it's sometimes a herald of volcanic eruption. Xương finds that interesting, as he just came from Marabel. The man remarks that Marabel is always smoking but hasn't erupted in living memory. Xương says he wants to learn more about the Ashen Umbra because it's one of the few stories he doesn't know. At this point the guy swaps seats with someone sitting next to Xương so they're not talking around people between them, and he pays for Xương's drink and asks where he heard of the Ashen Umbra.
Xương says that it's associated with the downfall of Dutan Island, and that gets more than a few reactions as many of the sailors there have heard versions of the Dutan legend. Xương says it's interesting that the Ashen Umbra is associated with volcanoes, as the Dutan family had an arrangement with the volcano gods of the Cinder Isles to learn sorcery. The man finally gets around to introducing himself as Kim Sơn and is certainly intrigued, as he's heard stories about Dutan Island but nothing associating it with the Ashen Umbra before. Xương then produces a dried chili pepper that he says came from there, to prove that he'd been there. Kim Sơn asks if he can have it, and he eats it with some difficulty. The bartender discreetly hands him a fresh drink, and the man gratefully drinks it before taking out a hankerchief and blowing his nose now that the pepper has loosened his sinuses.
They talk a little more about Dutan Island as the others in the bar listen in to hear more of the story. Xương says he's been in the mansion, and he describes the list of names of the dead Dutan family that had the phrase 'Captain of the Ashen Umbra' on it.
Kim Sơn tells Xương about how he's seen the Ashen Umbra. It was late, and he was taking an extra watch shift on a ship because he couldn't sleep, and as they were passing by an island with a volcano he saw it emerge from behind the volcano, wreathed in some sort of mist. It'd be easily mistaken for just a fog bank, but it moved against the breeze and he could glimpse a ship's hull through it -- not in enough detail to describe the ship in detail, but enough to know there was something under there. He watched as the ship glided along the water, and then drifted up off of the surface to sail among the clouds. Xương asks him how sleep-deprived he was, mostly as a joke, but then he asks him about the island where this happened.
Kim Sơn asks for a map, and the bartender produces one he can use as he tries to remember exactly where. It was a while ago, and he's not the navigator, so he can only narrow it down to a handful of islands further to the southwest, closer to the Wyld. He knows the island in question is called Naibron Island. Xương, however, recognizes that wherever Naibron Island is, it's very close to where the plague ship leaving Sarahan was going. It's tough to tell from the crudity of the map he saw before, but it could be the same cluster of islands.
The incident with the disease god on Sarahan comes up, and Xương mentions that the people headed that way were part of the cult of Blackened Bone Whispers, one of the regional volcano deities, and that gets him some looks. Clearly this is a known name. Kim Sơn says he doesn't know of any connection between Blackened Bone Whispers and the Ashen Umbra, but Xương can tell he knows more than he's letting on -- if nothing else, this seems to have confirmed a suspicion for him. So as they talk, Xương earns Kim Sơn's trust by sympathizing with him about being exposed to a number of dangerous things out on the water (as he's a pretty visibly-worn Lintha, this is a pretty easy sell)[2] and eventually Kim Sơn has to go lie down for a bit but they agree to meet up later to talk more about the Ashen Umbra.
And after a quick commercial break, we turn to Hǎifēng in the libraries of Lathe, where they seek Si Du-Ho and find him teaching a class on anatomy, humors, chakras, and so forth to a bunch of young alchemists. Hǎifēng leans up against a pillar where Du-Ho can see them, and get his attention, using Predator-and-Prey Mirror to come across as 'prey,' and this like something vulnerable and valuable. Then they use Glance Oration Technique to get the idea across that they want to speak.
Du-Ho brings the current subject to a spot for a break, and goes to talk to Hǎifēng, recognizing them from Xương's clinic. Hǎifēng basically kinda starts off the conversation by talking about it being odd that those books were found in Xương's place, and that there's still more out there. They ask if there's any connection between the texts. Du-Ho says that mostly they're older books about history, legends, geomancy, and a little bit about necromancy.[3] There doesn't seem to be much of an obvious connection, and Du-Ho has been trying to sort that out himself but he hasn't had time to look over the ones he'd retrieved yet to get a better handle on it.
Hǎifēng expresses an interesting helping him, and goes out of their way to say they aren't doing anything tonight, but Du-Ho doesn't seem to be fully noticing the flirtation when the subject of books is on the table. But he's still interested in Hǎifēng's help, and while the books are someplace safe he can arrange to make them available for examination. The sorcerer remarks that he feels like he can trust Hǎifēng on this matter, partially because Hǎifēng and their companions don't appear to have been in town when the first thefts occurred, and even if they had been the fact that they turned over the books right away suggested their innocence -- it would have been all too easy to hide them or just not let Du-Ho and the others in.
Hǎifēng points out, though, that Du-Ho did show up with a couple of monks for muscle, to which the sorcerer points out he was just being cautious given Xương's dangerous reputation. People don't call Xương 'The Bonetaker' because he's really good at cleaning up after dinner. Hǎifēng argue that Xương's not that bad if you tickle him under the dorsal fin, which immediately gets an 'ew' face from the sorcerer, which is why Hǎifēng said it.
But either way, their ability to go over the books will require access to said books, and Du-Ho says he'll make arrangements to have the books made available the following morning. Hǎifēng agrees, and Du-Ho tells them he'll see them at the Immaculate temple, then. Because that's where the books are. Du-Ho, naturally, takes Hǎifēng's sudden nervousness as excitement. Before the two part ways, though, the mystery of who's taking the books comes up -- I can't remember exactly why off-hand, but it's probably in the whole "But you know what sticks in my craw about this" sort of parting comment. Du-Ho tells Hǎifēng that, between when the books were taken, what books were taken, why only a few were found at Xương's place... it would almost make more sense if multiple people were taking the books. Which paradoxically makes it make less sense, because why would multiple people hit on taking them at all?
But after that, Hǎifēng returns to Xương's place and knocks on Scroll's vase. Scroll unfolds itself into humanoid shape upon seeing it's safe, and goes to retrieve some papers it stashed on Xương's bookshelf. Hǎifēng asks Scroll how it was able to guess what books were being stolen, because the selection seems so random.
Scroll talks vaguely about how it's been researching old manses and noticed that a lot of the books it wanted were turning up missing. In particular, they were generally older editions, ones with information that may have been removed from later editions for being outdated, but would still be useful for historical purposes. These would be books on history in general, old legends and myths that could be used to pinpoint places of power, geomancy with records on old dragon line flows, and so forth -- even the stuff on necromancy would have been useful less for the necromancy itself but more for charting the Underworld and how it lined up with Creation at the time.
Scroll thinks that someone might be looking for an old manse, one that may not exist any more because there's something there the person wants (perhaps an artifact inside). At one point it tested its theory by identifying one of the books, taking it, and then watching to see if anyone came looking for it. Shortly afterwards a couple of people turned up clearly looking for the same book (though Scroll acknowledges that could have been a coincidence).
Hǎifēng asked Scroll to describe the individuals, at which point Scroll informed them that while it didn't know their names and they were dressed to downplay this fact, it could tell that the people in question were clearly members of the Lintha.
And we left off there, with Scroll describing the two Lintha and Hǎifēng drawing a picture of them.
[0]-- Of course, Creation has its own calendar, so on and so forth. In-setting, their version of Sunday is... (checks notes) ...'Sunday.' In honor of the Unconquered Sun.
[1]-- It's worth noting here that Arima also got a read on Shango and while he doesn't know exactly what's up he does know that there's a deeper agenda at work.
[2]-- If it matters, in this system one does this by making an instill roll to give someone an Intimacy of trust.
[3]-- I might be slightly mangling the timing of the first mention regarding texts on necromancy. Either Du-Ho mentions it or Scroll is the first to bring it up later, I'm actually not sure. But if I'm wrong, nothing is hurt by accidentally fudging it earlier.
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