Tales of the Moonlight Maiden: Record-Scratching Noise (Exalted)

Hey there, folks. Guess what.

Yup, more Exalted. Speaking of which, for those of you interested in the game line, this Wednesday Crucible of Legends comes out as an advance PDF. Some folks like to joke that it's the infamously-missing Storytelling chapter from the 3rd Edition core, and maybe they're not wrong. To quote this week's Onyx Path blog, it's got "useful story hooks, alternate rules, and guidance for running games in Creation," as well as "a preview for Alchemicals." So keep an eye out.

Also, in case you've missed it, Trinity Continuum: Aegis is crowdfunding on Backerkit. It's about adventuring in Greece's Dark Age, straddling the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age where heroes have been blessed by ambrosia to become Champions, Oracles, and Olympians. It's a game about epic deeds and equally-epic drama, and if that sounds like a good time to you, go check out the Backerkit link!

And now, let's get on with the show.

Previously on Tales of the Moonlight Maiden...

(Imagine a montage like when a TV show does this bit)

Hǎifēng listens to a demon relaying a message: "Hǎifēng, it's Copper Orchid, I'm cashing in a favor."

...

Hǎifēng spawns a bunch of clones to get the ship ready to go. "Pack up, boys, we're going to Zhaojūn!"

...

The ship arrives in the harbor at Goldenseal with a dramatic camera shot showing off a packed, cosmopolitan city with estates and palaces and monasteries in the hills overlooking it.

...

A shot of Hǎifēng's kimono, depicting an Impressionist-style image of an undefined figure in a boat gazing longingly at the city in the background.

...

Xương puts on his 'lime merchant' turban and Gou dresses shabbily for once, looking thoughtful.

...

The group arriving in a fine suite as Hǎifēng rushes towards Copper Orchid, excited.

...

Copper Orchid explaining that he's trying to get a singer's contract so she can perform at a wedding in An-Teng, but the Guild currently holds the contract. His voiceover continues accompanying shots of the group approaching the Guild's pleasure barge, and of the party going on on the boat.

In the voiceover he gives a rundown of their competitors for the contract, with accompanying quick shots. The first three depict characters we haven't seen yet in what looks like either deleted scene footage or shots from upcoming 'episodes,' while the rest are glimpses from the crowd scene at the end of the previous session: V'neef Boru, the satrap; Sesus Chay Darim, the garrison commander; Princess Chulin, second daughter to the High Queen; the Snakefire Syndicate (with a shot of a dark-skinned middle-aged woman at the party with harsh features, glasses, and her hair tied up in a bun); and a local theater called the Transcendent Peacock (a shot of an older man at the party with lighter skin, white hair, with a Fu Manchu mustache and short, well-trimmed beard).

"Oh, by the way, the Guild negotiator's name is Jotaro of the Flowing Silk," Copper Orchid says as we see a shot of Jotaro lounging on a pillowy chair. There's a cut to his kimono, which has an Impressionist-style image of an undefined figure on a balcony over a city, looking longingly out into the harbor.

...

A shot of Hǎifēng's wide-eyed look of recognition cutting briefly to a shot of Jotaro (sort of) in a hazy flashback, an Eclipse Caste mark shining on his forehead before cutting back to Hǎifēng's shocked face, lip trembling.

"Oh, shit."

...

Hǎifēng holds back near-panic as flashes of old memories come to them, which is awkward enough when so much of their mundane past is spotty, let alone the past of their Exaltation.

"Oh shit, oh no," they mutter over and over. Gou asks what's wrong and Hǎifēng grabs him and spins the two of them around to keep Gou between him and aristocratic pretty-boy (whom they don't yet realize in-character is the Guild negotiator Orchid has been dealing with). They're smooth enough to keep from causing a scene, though not smooth enough to come up with a quick explanation for Gou as their mouth just opens and closes.

Gou starts to turn to look until Hǎifēng grabs his face. "Don't stare," they hiss.

"What, are we in danger, what's going on?"

"I don't knowwww... how I know that person over there... and I do know how I know that person over there, and that's the problem. I've never met him before in my life."

"Okay, but I know--"

"I know them." Hǎifēng interrupts. "Very well. That man over there is a Solar."

"Wait, how do you know?" Gou asks. Then there's a confused beat as it clicks: This is Hǎifēng's Solar mate from the First Age. "Oh, oh... Oh."

Hǎifēng doesn't know what to do. The snarky confidence they brought on-board with them is gone. Whatever plan they had to schmooze their way through this whole thing is gone, as if blasted out of Hǎifēng's head by the sudden flashes they got last session.

"Don't you dare talk to him," Hǎifēng whispers to Gou as he starts to suggest something.

"I could try to lure him away so he's not looking in your direction so you can use your... I'm going to stop talking now."

"Forever," Hǎifēng says, wanting very much for Gou to remain silent.

We cut to Xương. He's remained out by the riverside, doubting his ability to maintain his composure on the Guild pleasure barge, not wanting to be the weak link among his comrades who are surely handling everything smoothly with no problems. (I'm teasing, slightly. Seriously, though, if Xương has to spend too long around rich assholes, he might eat one.) So he just looks around what's going on on the bustling street with vendors and food carts and people going to and fro.

He spots a noodle vendor that he's pretty certain is a drug dealer in disguise, probably working for the Snakefire Syndicate. Which isn't notable in of itself, except for the sheer convenience of a Syndicate member being in such close proximity to this social event. Nearby is also a petite woman with blue hair, wearing robes suggesting priesthood in the local Marionette Cult (a cult to a local god of puppets), panhandling and putting on puppet shows for people tho toss money in the bowl. But what stands out there is a man he spots with obvious 'undercover cop' vibes keeping an eye on her. He goes and tosses her some coins and stands between her and the cop to see what she does if the view is blocked, and notices that she's also surveilling the barge like she's expecting something to happen.

And whatever she's looking for seems to be on the verge of happening, as her focus snaps to a wiry, olive-skinned man with kind of a vacant look dressed in government functionary robes (the sort that suggests that either he works for the city or for the royal family, tough to tell from a glance) approaches the barge and is allowed up the gangplank. Xương can also tell that the undercover cop is trying to look around him at what the beggar-priest is doing.

The camera then follows the man in functionary robes (whose name is Sadi, so I don't have to keep describing him) up the gangplank to the salon being held on the party barge. As he approaches the front of the room, the camera drifts over to Copper Orchid, reconvening with Gou and Hǎifēng and pointing out the middle-aged woman from the 'previously on' segment above. Her name is Suzhao Ginger, a local businesswoman who runs a handful of dens of vice, but is also a member of the Snakefire Syndicate and acting as their proxy in the matter of Nha Beh Banin's contract.

Copper Orchid then picks up that Hǎifēng's disturbed, and asks if everything's alright. Gou steps in and explains that it's complicated. Orchid offers to get Hǎifēng out of there discreetly, and they say they're good, and Orchid starts to pick up on the broad strokes of what's wrong.[0] He asks what Hǎifēng needs him to do -- cause a distraction so they can get away, introduce them to Ginger, just get them a drink and let them go to work?

Hǎifēng says they can do this and they take a deep breath and ask what strictly needs to be done. Orchid reminds them that the plan is just to try and get the Snakefire Syndicate out of the running for Beh Banin's contract. Hǎifēng asks a few questions about her like is she married, has she eaten her young (she does have that look to her), is she reporting to anyone who'd fire her if things go badly, and so forth. Turns out she is married and has a few grown children, though none with her current husband[1]. And while Orchid doesn't know to whom she'd be answering, she's certainly working for someone -- she's not a higher-up in the Syndicate, she's just a proxy and public face. Hǎifēng asks if she's a dedicated wife, and he snorts and says "Fuck no."

So now Hǎifēng has a plan. They ask Gou and Orchid to huddle up and say they need to get her someplace private and secluded, needing either Gou or Orchid to seduce her and lead her off somewhere. Hǎifēng will perch on whomever does that, and once Gou or Orchid gets her alone, Hǎifēng will assume her form and ruin her reputation. Orchid asks if they need to do anything serious to her to do that[2], and Hǎifēng says they need their blood. Orchid pales at that[3], and Gou is quick to clarify that Hǎifēng doesn't need all of it. Hǎifēng says that normally it's the heart's blood, but they can take her form without killing her. Orchid and Gou both say "Thank you" with some relief at that addendum.

Hǎifēng decides that Gou is going to seduce Ginger[4], and in the meantime... Hǎifēng draws Copper Orchid's attention to their Solar mate. Before they continue, Orchid blinks and points out that of course he's aware of him -- that's Jotaro, the Guild negotiator.

Hǎifēng starts to yell "Godsdamned son of a whore" before they stop themselves, because this is now much more complicated. Orchid is trying so hard not to ask if Hǎifēng knows him that Hǎifēng just goes ahead and tells him that he does know Jotaro, but not in their current life. Gou says that Jotaro is Hǎifēng's Solar mate, and Orchid has no clue what that means but he's rolling with it. Hǎifēng tells Gou that Orchid doesn't know everything, but to his credit Orchid just asks what Hǎifēng needs him to do. All Hǎifēng needs is for Orchid to keep Jotaro busy for 15 minutes, and their mortal friend snorts and says "That's easy."

Hǎifēng then shifts into mosquito form (which startles Orchid slightly) and hides among the folds of Gou's clothing. But once he realizes that Hǎifēng turned into a bug and didn't just vanish or something, Orchid heads up front where Sadi is relaying a message to Jotaro, and bumps into the guy and spills a drink on him, beginning the distraction.

Gou then goes over to Suzhao Ginger, straightening himself up, and asks her if she'd like him to buy her a drink. She just eyes him up and down and says, unimpressed, that the drinks are free. He stammers and says he meant for later, and she's just intrigued enough at whatever his 'pitch' is going to be that she says she's listening.

He spins her a tale of being an up-and-coming merchant who's getting into the scene and starting to make a name for himself (name-dropping some people that know him as Shango), like he's building up to suggesting some sort of alliance. But he also makes sure to spin it that he could take good care of her (financially and otherwise), if she were so inclined.

And because he rolled a ridiculous amount of successes, she leans into it and asks if he's looking for a partner for the next leg of his journey, starting to get a little grabby. She offers to take him somewhere quiet to talk, and all but grabs him and drags him off.

We cut back to Xương a few minutes later as Sadi comes back down the gangplank, dripping wet and muttering, and he stalks off. The beggar-priest who's been watching the barge watches him go. And anyone paying attention (like Xương) might think 'Okay, if she's going to follow him, she'll get up to do so in three, two, and... there she goes. Right on cue.' as she does indeed quickly pack up her puppets and begging bowl and rug and goes to follow.

She accidentally leaves behind a scrap of paper, and Xương quickly scoops it up -- it's a list of four people (written on the back of what looks like a paper warding seal) with short, vague descriptions, one of whom is Sadi. It looks like she's supposed to be watching for one of those four people. The undercover cop comes over and asks Xương if he knows her, and he says that he's talked to her a few times and offers to take that note to her. It's obviously a story, but Xương gives it to him and he rushes off after her. 

In the wake of the brief commotion, he notices that the food vendor/drug dealer he spotted earlier is paying a little too close attention to the barge to be simple curiosity, as is a pale-skinned, silver-haired woman in the crowd he's pretty sure is another undercover agent of some sort.

We cut back to the barge again, as what at first appears to be Ginger slips out from where Ginger and Gou slipped off to, except her shadow dances around of its own accord -- indicating to the audience that this is Hǎifēng, having gotten a sip of her blood with their mosquito form to temporarily assume her shape and snuck off with her clothes. 'She' loosens her top a bit to show off a little cleavage and grabs a drink to dab some booze on 'her' neck so she smells like liquor and goes down to the area where Nha Beh Banin is performing.

On the way, Hǎifēng notices a woman sitting on the floor behind Jotaro's seat, leaning against the back of it. She's in her 40's and looks weathered in a messy ponytail. She's wearing nice clothes that obviously aren't her usual style as she sits there, reading a paperback book with a lot of pictures held in one hand while occasionally taking swigs from a metal jug with the other. She's got a sheathed sword draped across her lap. A bodyguard, most likely?

But with that filed away, 'Ginger' steps up onto the stage where Beh Banin is performing, looking at her all cross-eyed and splashing her drink in the singer's face. There's that sort of non-diagetic record-scratch noise as 'she' then slaps Beh Banin across the face and calls her a 'fucking bitch' before stomping off-stage. 'She' then rushes back to the rest of the party as the guards approach. 'Ginger' slips out of public view and shifts back to their normal form before bursting in like Kramer on Gou and Ginger, interrupting them. They then close the door behind them and start changing back into their regular clothes as the real Ginger begins screaming. 

Gou covers her mouth and tries to shush her as it occurs to him just how bad this looks. Hǎifēng, lacking any better options as they hear guards coming, tells Gou to knock her out or something and just birds out the window (yes, using that as a verb). While Gou's skill in Falcon Style was lost as he uncovered bits of his past life, he's still got enough muscle memory to put her in a sleeper hold until she loses consciousness. At that point he grabs his clothes and fleets out the window in frog form, going into the water.

We cut back to outside, as Xương is hearing all of the commotion on the barge. No anima banners (or flame piece bursts) yet, so he doesn't go in swinging, but just as he's starting to question whether he should anyways he sees a bird and a frog escape out a window. A couple of minutes later, guards are dragging a disheveled Suzhao Ginger down the gangplank, and as they do so he spots one of them planting what looks like an envelope of drugs on her. In the aftermath, he notices that the noodle vendor has suddenly vanished.

After that it's clear the party's over as people are filing down the gangplank, having suddenly found better things to do. Copper Orchid comes down with them, getting Xương's attention and asking if he knows where Hǎifēng or Gou went.

Before he can answer, Hǎifēng comes strolling up from an alley as if they just arrived here, innocently asking about the commotion. Gou comes back as well from the other direction, a little wet now, acting similarly innocent. Copper Orchid is flummoxed, and Hǎifēng points out they've certainly eliminated an option from the running.

Orchid sits on a ledge nearby and says "That's one way to do it." Hǎifēng asks what he wanted them to do -- scare her, kill her? Orchid pales and says "Definitely not that!" Hǎifēng shrugs and says the group has a particular set of skills. If he just needs them for a heist he doesn't need them specifically -- though maybe he does, as there's a big problem now.

Copper Orchid admits that he thought the group would just be smooth enough to plow through the negotiation, and Hǎifēng says they're not sure how they could have done that, though Gou may have the skills for it. But Hǎifēng didn't want to interrupt Gou's first time (see footnote 4 again), and there's some back and forth about that before we get back to the matter at hand.

Orchid asks what the problem is that Hǎifēng just referred to, though he's quick to add in a question about whether that's a private[5] conversation, or... Hǎifēng says they're not sure how much that'll help, and Orchid clarifies that 'private' also means someplace he can have a drink handy. Gou mentions there's booze up on the barge, but Orchid says that the party's over for today, and waves down a rickshaw to get the group back to the hotel.

So soon enough they're all back at Orchid's suite, where booze is being delivered into the room -- jugs of swill for Xương, top shelf for everyone else. Orchid mentions that Xương probably would have liked the stuff that Jotaro's bodyguard was drinking. I'm blanking on exactly what I had him say about it, but I think he said if he didn't know better he'd think she'd been drinking sword polish. But speaking of Jotaro's bodyguard... he turns to Hǎifēng and simply says "So. About Jotaro."

Hǎifēng then explains the Solar Bond in pretty simple terms, and Jotaro's kinda like an ex. Orchid's takeaway, naturally, is "He's a fucking Solar?" Hǎifēng says he's missing the point, and Xương dismissively says "Yeah, Solar, Chosen of the Sun, less powerful than the Chosen of the Moon."[6]

Hǎifēng says "Yes, but not just that. We're linked, connected. And I remembered so many things from our past lives. And that's... intense. If he sees me in any form, he'll immediately know who I am as well. And I need that to happen on my terms."

Orchid takes that in and offers to arrange such a meeting. Hǎifēng considers it and says they want some time to think it over. Xương adds they could probably use the shock to their advantage at the negotiating table, and Hǎifēng says they still want to think about that. Orchid reiterates there's no pressure, but it'd be really easy for him to set something up -- invite Jotaro over to the suit, propose a dinner party, stuff like that. Hǎifēng says they want a day to think it over, because it's a lot. Orchid almost says "You'te telling me," but he stops himself and just quietly agrees with his friend as he finishes the bottle he's drinking.

He then asks Xương if he saw anything interesting outside. Xương mentions he saw a lot of people watching each other and gives the group the rundown of what he saw. Orchid contextualizes the beggar-priest -- there's a god of puppetry that resides in Goldenseal, and used to wield a lot of influence until the Immaculates put the boots to him (medium-style) and wrecked up the theater he used as his base of operations (the rubble being covered in sealing scrolls and wards). So now his cult are all desperate beggars and such. The undercover cop stuff, according to him, is weird and different. The Guild isn't especially powerful in this corner of the world, as it's really hard to move through the Southwest without having to deal with the Realm on one side and the scorpionfolk tribes on the other, so it's not like there's that much need to watch them like that.

He then admits he's still reeling from the Solar stuff, because he's heard stories. Sure, he knows stories about Lunars, too, but it's different when you know one. But An-Teng used to be a major center of the Solars' power, so there's a lot of Solar Exalted stories floating around An-Teng. He wonders if it's just luck that he wound up in a business venture where he's up against a Solar Exalt.

Hǎifēng says it's fate, and goes into how powerful the Solar Bond can be and what a big deal it is. Orchid says he can actually kinda wrap his head around that, because it's like the stories you hear about loves persisting across reincarnation and such. Even if those stories are fiction, it's still a concept he can understand. He says he's also glad be asked for help, because he doesn't know how he could have gone up against a Solar without the Circle's assistance.

Hǎifēng says it all comes down to whether Jotaro plays fair. Copper Orchid says he grew up in a Realm satrapy, he has certain assumptions about what the Exalted consider 'fair.' He mentions again the Immaculates' stories about the 'Solar anathema,' and Hǎifēng says they lost their way but they're still good people. Xương points out that the Immaculates' stories are just that. Orchid concedes that, and says the monks are usually full of shit, but if you hear the stories over and over enough times stuff sticks.

But anyhow, with that, Suzhao Ginger (and thus, presumably, the Snakefire Syndicate) is off the negotiating table. Xương talks about the planted drugs, and everyone remarks that that's definitely odd. The group talks about planning the next step, but they all decide to save it for the morning.[7] Orchid offers to let them stay there or he'll get them a ride back to the inn or wherever, but for now he's gonna go fall over. He grabs a bottle and shuffles off back to his room. Xương would rather stay back at the inn, but Hǎifēng wants to sleep on the boat tonight, and Xương and Gou agrees to join them (with the former offering to sleep in the hammock).

And we leave off there.

-----

[0]-- In case you need the reminder, Copper Orchid's been Hǎifēng's friend and manager for a long time, so he probably knows Hǎifēng better than almost anyone else in Creation (and vice-versa). So if he takes Hǎifēng to a party and something feels 'off,' he trusts Hǎifēng's gut and has no compunctions about bailing for the sake of his friend's comfort.

[1]-- I don't think I state this in the session, but the current husband is a younger man than her grown children, to just give you the sort of vibe she's got going on. Let's just say it's the sort of informative detail that contextualizes some stuff a little later on in the session.

[2]-- While Copper Orchid trusts Hǎifēng and is certain the Immaculates' stories about Lunars are overblown, he's still heard some variation on "Lunars kill people and drink their heart's blood to assume their form" story enough times that it's still the first thing that comes to mind...

[3]-- ...which is why Hǎifēng's answer to his question, while truthful, is still one of the worst they could have given at the time.

[4]-- This is part of a running bit where Hǎifēng is certain beyond all sense of logic and reason that Gou is a sad virgin who has no 'game,' and they've decided they want to help with that. (I should note that their players are married to each other in real life, and this is the sort of dynamic I'd gently discourage in players who don't know each other well.)

[5]-- 'Private' meaning 'Exalt-related,' in this context.

[6]-- Somewhere in the Jade Pleasure Dome in the Heavenly city of Yu-Shan, the Unconquered Sun suddenly looks up from the Games of Divinity and asks "Who said that?" and Luna says "Nobody, quit stalling and take your turn."

[7]-- Putting this here so as not to break the flow of the scene, Orchid also clarifies Jotaro's relationship with the Guild from his own research -- Jotaro's parents are master artisans and he grew up within the Guild. And while he's holding parties aboard the barge, the barge is in the hands of a woman named Olasinba, who's running it on behalf of a Guild factor named Majestic Khadra. Also, Jotaro's been in and out of the area for a while but has only been really living in Goldenseal for a few years, and he speculates as to whether Jotaro might have moved to Goldenseal after his Exaltation because it'd be a good enough place to stay under the radar without suspiciously vanishing from affairs.