Hey there, folks. Sorry these have been so last-minute, I've been trying to get a better jump on them but life has just interfered.
But let's not dwell on that, let's share some Exalted shenanigans!
First, however, just a reminder that today at 2pm Eastern Time, the Backerkit crowdfunding campaign for the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide begins! I talk a little more about the book here, but in short this is one I contributed to and my writing in this is probably tied for the work I'm the most proud of. (I'm proud of all of it -- well, the final drafts, at least -- but this book was a special challenge and I think I rose to meet it). I'm assuming this link will take you to the crowdfunding page itself after the appointed time, but if not I'll fix it later.
And now that we're past that, let's get on with Exalted!
We pick up in the aftermath of last session's battle, with healers in the room stabilizing both Sombre Crane and Shango, both of whom are severely hurt -- like, 'took enough damage to kill a human' hurt. Fortunately for Shango and the people wanting to figure out Sombre Crane's deal, Exalted are made of sterner stuff. One of the healers asks Shango if he'd want to keep any scars from the savaging her took, but he declines and they pretty much bandage him up, give him a cup of celestial wine, and prescribe him two more over the course of the day.[0]
Once Shango's back on his feet, Xương and Hǎifēng collect him and start to go, and just as they're about to open the door, it slides open.
It's her, the 'Empress.'
She gives a sweeping look to everyone in the room, and then her gaze snaps to Magos. "Explain, Godling."
Magos quickly steps up to her, code-switching their voice from the flirty emcee that's been chatting up Hǎifēng to full customer service mode. They explain the situation in the broadest of strokes and ask if she knows anything about her 'assistant.' She says that he piloted her ship to the arena, so she assumed he was with them. They say they'll give her new chambers and a new, trustworthy, properly-vetted assistant.
As near as the group can tell, she seems to be telling the truth. In addition, she comes across pretty much exactly how someone might expect the Scarlet Empress to be -- not that Hǎifēng or Xương would have much reason to have such expectations, but Shango with his Realm-approved education certainly would. But as Magos handles her, the group's ready to go and get a drink, and Magos lets them know that the event's going to be suspended for at least a few more hours so they should take their time relaxing.
They get back to their chambers to find Bageru passed out from drinking. Hǎifēng wants to draw on him with makeup, but Xương stops them. But anyhow, the group rests and recuperates a bit, there's an announcement that formal matches are being pushed back to the following morning but there will still be 'festivities' in the evening.
Time passes. There's a beep at the door. Hǎifēng answers it to find Magos there, dressed in something a little more casual than his usual getup but still quite fancy by Creation's standards. (I imagine they've got a very South Asian-inspired aesthetic.) They start to go into what they learned from the Organizers, and then they stop themselves and ask if Hǎifēng wants to get a bite to eat. It's late, basically night at this point, they figure that Hǎifēng might not have eaten yet, and it'd be better to sit down and have a real conversation about this over a meal. Hǎifēng, who's in their pajamas, pauses a moment out of surprise and says "Let me put something on."
We cut to them heading out, as Magos asks if Hǎifēng's got any requests, which they don't. So Magos asks them to narrow it down 'restaurant or street food-y.'[1] Hǎifēng chooses the latter and Magos takes them to a place that's sort of a casual diner, sort of like that one little 'hole in the wall' restaurant that's not particularly themed or anything but is just good. You know the type. (We've got a local Japanese place I used as model.) So Hǎifēng gets a beef bowl and Magos orders sushi.
So once the food is there, Magos explains that they finally got some answers from the Organizers. Apparently they didn't know as much as they could have about the Faux Empress, because Sombre Crane's presence was throwing a lot of stuff off, and they didn't want to admit they were under-informed. But as near as they can tell, her origin seems to be as Magos expected -- she's one of the con artists taking advantage of the Empress' disappearance, who is a martial artist, and is definitely an Exalt (as opposed to some sort of empowered mortal). They also take a moment to comment that whomever this woman is, she's good at this -- while they wouldn't claim to have met the real Empress, they've been in Her Redness' presence a few times, and the woman in the black dragon mask really nails her. Magos goes on to point out that sometimes the Organizers don't give them a full profile on a competitor, likely because something about them would really upset Magos and they don't want to cause an incident. ("As if that would ever happen," the god scoffs.)
Then Magos repeats their offer from earlier to Hǎifēng to spar, using Dreaming Pearl Courtesan techniques. Hǎifēng waffles on it for a moment, knowing that Magos likely wouldn't be able to teach them anything new, but it comes up that Magos at least wants to observe their technique and maybe there'll be some insight. No Charms or anything, just moves. Hǎifēng agrees, and the two of them finish their food and head out.
Magos, after asking Hǎifēng if they'd prefer a private match (no preference), takes them to a square that's been cleared out. There's already an event going on -- it looks like Jaspio Tesa, the lion-masked Dragon-Blood that Hǎifēng fought before is there with the rest of her gang, the Shimmerside Corsairs. They seem to be doing a series of one-on-one matches against students from... oh, the Suntarankal school.[2] Standing next to Tesa is the middle-aged woman the group saw restraining Rashmi earlier.
Hǎifēng waves to Tesa (whose name they don't know, as a reminder), and she waves back to them and bows to Magos. In the square, one of the Suntarankal martial artists beats the Corsair, at which point Magos steps up and asks if they can have the square for a few minutes, and upon the crowd's unanimous agreement waves Hǎifēng out. Hǎifēng slides their fans seemingly out of nowhere and flicks them open to take a stance. Magos, with a grin, produces a pair of chopsticks and a cloth napkin they took from the restaurant -- improvised weapons are a big part of the Dreaming Pearl Courtesan style.
They begin sparring, and go back and forth for a couple of minutes, Magos proving as adept with the chopsticks as Hǎifēng is with the fans, exceedingly graceful though Hǎifēng is still faster and has the upper hand on them. After about the first minute or so Magos 'gets' Hǎifēng's rhythm and while the fight is still going on, it more closely resembles a choreographed dance[3], so much so there's whispering from the audience asking if that is in fact the case.
At one point, Hǎifēng tosses their fans up in the air, and then reach down to grab the sash around their waist to use as whip to snag Magos and pull them close, causing them to drop their implements. The fans come down as they close the distance and Hǎifēng catches the fans in one hand and strikes a pose with Magos, and the crowd cheers. (And Hǎifēng winks at someone in the crowd saying "That's kind of hot" loud enough to be heard).
Magos picks up their stuff and asks Hǎifēng who taught them that as they pick up their stuff, and Hǎifēng says "Omari-Khenti."[4] At this point the woman with Tesa steps forward, saying that she thought she'd recognized Sonorous Festival Style. She introduces herself (at least, if I recall correctly she does) as Anys Syn (a canon character), and compliments Hǎifēng on their prowess and asks a little about their techniques. Magos takes a few steps back to let Hǎifēng have a word with the deadliest living martial artist in Creation and beyond.
As they chat she mentions that she knows Omari-Khenti from 'back in the day,' though she doesn't dwell on details[5]. She thinks she can guess why Hǎifēng has had difficulty with the Form Charm, though. Namely, Hǎifēng learned a version of Dreaming Pearl Courtesan that's designed to be melded with another style, and requires some instruction from a genuine master of the style. She says she'd love the opportunity to teach them herself, as she hasn't mentored a Lunar in quite some time and would appreciate the challenge. However, unfortunately, the two of them don't really have the time she feels would be appropriate to give Hǎifēng instruction worthy of their talent.
But she knows someone who might be able to help. She takes a moment to confer with a figure who's been standing next to her -- Bahal Hesh, Preceptor of Ten Thousand Styles, the god of martial arts -- and confirms with a knowing smile that she knows of a master of Dreaming Pearl Courtesan operating in Zhaojūn. She says she'd offer to spar but figures they have better things to do. She rejoins Bahal Hesh at the side of the ring, and Magos is like "Well, that happened," and the two of them take their leave.
Hǎifēng thanks Magos for the evening, and the god says they'd gladly do it again, any time when Hǎifēng is in Heaven or maybe even if they run into each other in Creation. They've been meaning to visit the Southwest, after all. The two of them grab a drink on their way back to their quarters[6], while Magos takes a moment to explain who their father is -- Handsome Ashav (a canon character), a guardian deity of camp followers from the Court of the Crimson-Tailed Banner (a collection of war gods in the Southeast). Hǎifēng, unsurprisingly, has heard of him. But among other things, he's a master of a bunch of martial arts styles seen as uncouth by more 'civilized' gods.
The two of them get back to the group's chambers and Magos asks if they can come in and check up on Shango. Hǎifēng invites them in, the knock on Shango's door, and he invites them in. He's awake and bandaged up and still pretty groggy, but he seems to be healing up okay. He says he doesn't know what's in the wine, but even though he's still a little sore he should be back to normal by tomorrow.
Magos explains that the wine is basically made from magic grapes grown in Heaven, but it's extremely potent so their supplies are limited. Shango asks how secret the tournament really is, and Magos explains that it's kind of an open secret, but the arena is located on an island a distance from the main continent of Yu-Shan. If Yu-Shan is the Blessed Isle, the island on which the arena sits is like Wavecrest (to those of you who know Exalted maps). Technically, on paper, the arena is a storage warehouse.
He also confirms that Shango's dropping out of the tournament -- not to pressure him, but just to check now that he's had some time to think it over. Hǎifēng, in the doorway, says they've been pressuring him to stay in it. Shango rolls his eyes and says he's still dropping out. Magos understands and respects that, and asks if things went out with Ingenious Flame. Shango says it went alright and she looked over the artifact. He takes out Weirdflame and looks at it and says that it's one of those situations where the problem isn't with the item, but the wielder. He needs to learn restraint and might need to make a few changes to himself. He turns to look in the mirror, and takes a few strands of his hair (which is long to show his former aristocratic station) to consider it, and says he has a lot of thinking to do.
He does have a question, though: Is there anyone in the tournament selling weapons, armor, anything of that nature? Specifically artifacts?
Magos is a little surprised, more by the idea that Shango has to ask, but yes. They give him some vague directions and says that Bageru can take him in the morning. Shango asks them to tell the others that he'll be fine and he'll see them in the morning.
After that, Magos address the group and says they're going to take their leave, and that someone's probably going to give them grief about spending so much time with specific competitors, but eh... what are they going to do, fire them? Then they pause and reflect that 'they' might actually do that. Before they go, though, they ask where Xương is.
Xương's currently stalking through the corridors, and we're seeing through his eyes in something like Predator-vision or the hunting scenes from the old movie Wolfen. He finds what he's looking for -- a place where he can get some food and drink. It's kind of a Southwestern pirate bar, or at least a sincere attempt at one, and he gets his drink on.
He comes to notice that a number of people are watching him from a couple of different tables. Someone with actual masks -- but he doesn't recognize them, so either these are lesser competitors he hasn't paid attention to, or they're accompanying proper competitors and haven't fought yet. He rolls an eye around in that shark-like way and picks out one to stare at until it's clear he's noticed her. She gets up and wanders off, suddenly feeling very awkward, and he pegs her as being in her 30's, female, bird mask, with short dark hair (which, I can't remember when I mention this, appears to be a wig covering a shaved head), kinda-generic 'civilian' clothing. She's got pale skin, suggesting she's from the Blessed Isle or maybe the inner coast of the Threshold.
He looks around at the half-dozen or so people divided up across a few tables, whom he's 99% sure are monks in disguise and up to something. He waves over a server and tells them to bill him for the mug, and they're like "What?" before he crushes the thick wooden mug between his hands like a beer can -- except naturally it crumbles into a pile of splinters, being wood and all. He takes one of the splinters and picks his teeth with it.
That draws a lot of stares, but he's sent the message he wants to send -- that if they try anything, their training will not help them. They all shrink away from that or lean away, suggesting the message is received. Xương seeps the whole mess up into a napkin and leaves it on the table with a sizable tip, and leaves. On the way, the monks all converge at a table, presumably to confer among themselves. And as the door closes we see the server scoop up the tip and the pile of wooden splinters and dumps the latter into the toothpick bin.
On his way back to the room, Xương bumps into Magos, who was just looking for him. They ask if he'd be up for an exhibition match in the morning. They promise no pathos, nothing where his opponent is going to be dramatically pointing at him across the arena and hissing "You!" as he put it before. Xương's not worried, as he says that if his family was there, Magos would know. Magos is like "Yes, I would." And Xương realizes that they in fact would know.
Magos then remarks they haven't had any Lintha in the tournament in a while, then they stop and look around to make sure nobody heard them give away identifying info. Xương reassures them that it's not a problem -- normally you're not supposed to call Lintha by their names anyways, but as an exile he doesn't conform to that taboo. Magos still apologizes, as they try to be much better about that to cut down on incidents like what happened with Shango and his brother.
Xương says he hopes someone got what they wanted out of that. Magos says they did, but it still didn't go down the way they'd hoped or expected. They knew it was a risk, but nobody could have foreseen the teahouse encounter right before the fight, and Xương says that's assuming nobody caused it. Magos reassures him that nobody on their side of the table, as it were, is responsible for that, but Xương says there are a lot of forces that could affect peoples' lives -- he and his companions have enemies of their own, after all.
Magos acknowledges that's fair and gets ready to leave, and they say they'll see Xương in the morning, barring incident. As they go, they mention that the chaos has actually been worse than this, but we leave off on them taking off into the night.
[0]-- There aren't any firm mechanics for celestial wine in third edition, so for the moment I'm going off of the second edition version, which says in so many words that three cups of celestial wine will pretty much fix anything short of death or the Great Contagion. Honestly, if I'd remembered how good it was at healing, I might've gone ahead and dispensed with the 'points' system for the tournament, had it go to first blood, or first person into wound penalties loses, or something like that. Though as I type that out, I think making the event bloodier than it needs to be would sell the wrong tone. So forget I said that.
[1]-- Maybe 'fancy or casual' would have been a better way to put it, but screw it, Magos is from a different corner of Creation -- and, y'know, a god -- and whatever magical translation they've got going on isn't exactly going to make them talk like a Southwesterner.
[2]-- Yes, that's right, a group of martial artists based out of Heaven (Yu-Shan) is sparring against a group of martial artists based out of Hell (Malfeas). I'm very clever.
[3]-- So Dreaming Pearl Courtesan style is all about using clothing and everyday objects in fights, and normally is very graceful and dance-like. While the fight in this session isn't as flashy, normally an oft-cited example of what it looks like can be found in this scene from House of Flying Daggers. (I know it's a long clip, and while I prefer to link the whole sequence, if you want to jump ahead to the action go to about the halfway point in that video. Or, y'know, just watch the movie. It's good.)
[4]-- Y'know, it occurs to me I'm not sure I ever actually established this in a blog post. But when the group spent those few hours with Omari-Khenti back on Shasaman Island, the old Lunar ghost taught them some of the local dance stuff -- which included some of the basics of Sonorous Festival Style, a regional blend of Dreaming Pearl Courtesan and Swaying Grass Dance styles. This is where Hǎifēng picked up their first moves in Dreaming Pearl Courtesan.
[5]-- She's a Bronze Faction Sidereal who was around back in the First Age. She is absolutely not, under any circumstances, going to reminisce about that time period out loud in earshot of a Lunar, let alone to their face.
[6]-- I should point out somewhere that while Magos has been trying to flirt with Hǎifēng, the Lunar has subtly indicated a lack of interest, and Magos has picked up on that and respected it.
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