Of course he couldn't just go out and kill them all, no matter how satisfying that promised to feel. Alek picked up a few of his maps, ignoring the curious look Badger gave him. Flipping them open he looked one in particular over and nodded. He needed to trap them, get them in an area where he could be sure that what tools he had were usable. Finished with his preparations Alek stormed out of his home, barely managing to remember to close the door behind him. Candy swooped onto his shoulder from above with a curious expression. “Hey, just saw the hunt coming in!” The goddess chirped. “Looks like you are in the clear now.” Alek shook his head. “I'm not in the clear until I leave or they are dead. Since I can't leave yet, it's the second option.” Candy blinked. “Isn't that a spectacularly bad idea? I mean you really don't have much combat potential.” “I can manage something.” Alek moved into the burned sections of the city, some areas still smoking generally. The wreckage was piecemeal. Some places were burned to the ground, others were nearly untouched. Candy had placed the small firebombs perfectly in his opinion. The casualties were as minimal as he had hoped, and the confusion it had caused had put up a near perfect smokescreen. Removing the hunt would cause even more panic and make his escape unnoticeable. This notion was secure in his mind. Everything hinged on it now. The ruined buildings were of little use to the people who had fled. But to a Twilight Solar who knew how to craft and to build, it was a perfect place to create a deathtrap. Alek felt his mouth curl into a wicked smirk. He had plans. – The sun was just starting to wane as Dochik burst into the medical tent for Xihotui. The Maiden of Endings had been tending to the injured for the past few days almost non-stop, and had been spending all her waking moments in the area. In fact, only the fact that she was still involved in the hunt kept her from expending all her power in her ministrations. Thus she was still coherent enough to see the man rush in. “We've found her.” The Dragon-Blood reported to her. “There have been reports of flashes of light in the major burned area.” Xihotui immediately got to her feet and began to follow him out of the area. No words passed between them as they exited the makeshift hospital and met up with the rest of their compatriots. Just strict, professional movement. They were all eager to get to the end of the hunt. The burned area of the city was a husk of it's former self Xihotui noted. The frames of some of the buildings looked more like charred bones of some ancient beast rather than the dwellings they once were. Unfortunately this made it difficult for Dochik to get a proper vantage point for his archery since he couldn't be always sure of his footing. Not that it would hinder him much, but every little bit helped. “It's going to be difficult to track her.” The Dragon-Blood rumbled as he looked around. “She's probably gone to ground again.” “Perhaps.” Xihotui looked around. “Movement over here!” One of the mortals of the hunt gestured. “Into that cellar there!” Dochik began to sprint towards where they indicated. Placing himself at the entrance he gestured to his companions. “Check around the building. Be sure this is the only entrance.” He placed an arrow on his bow and began to focus in preparation. At his side Xihotui took a deep breath, anticipating a final end to the hunt. “Nothing obvious sir.” The men reported back quickly from their search. Several of them hefting their weapon of choice now. “All right. We are going in. You six stay out here and catch her if she attempts to go around.” Dochik directed his people and began to descend into the cellar with a wary Xihotui. It was dark and foreboding inside. The fire hadn't gotten to the area, but neglect had. The dying light from the sun barely enough to light the area. It was enough however to see movement ahead. Not wanting to get the wrong target, the two slowly stalked forward and deeper into the cellar. Once they got to a certain point, Xihotui stiffened as her charm of fate began to warn of danger. “Attack her now!” The Sidereal began to dash forward with unnatural speed even as she spoke. Dochik didn't need to be told twice, and lunged forward. Only to back up with a cry of surprise as the figure they were chasing pulled off it's cloak. Whatever it was, he couldn't determine, because as soon as it did this action it pulled something. And something snapped, and cracked. The entire cellar began to collapse around them, and a sickly sweet scent of something made both him and Xihotui stagger momentarily. The figure disappeared in the chaos, but the effect lingered even as the floorboards came down on their heads. A howl came from outside, but the two Exalts ignored it in their attempt to escape. Dashing to her friend's side, Xihotui's body blurred unnaturally. The falling wood shattered in response, and Dochik grabbed her hand and heaved, throwing her up and directly into the falling building. Her body glowed with purple, and with a shout she kicked through at the bottom of the building, and it exploded in a shower of power. With a flip she landed outside the building. The building caved inwards around the hole, and sagged ominously. In crumbled inward more. Yet with a shout, Dochik followed his companion, simply breaking out and in a spray of wood and dust, dragging himself out by sheer will. He ended, just barely out the destruction, and next to Xihotui. He coughed out once, and got to his feet, whatever poison that creature had afflicted them with had hit him the worst. Yet he was still far from being done. The same couldn't be said of his companions. They were on the ground at the entrance, blood flowing from their ears, and either dead or near dead. The ground around them was cratered as if from some enormous force. Both of the Exalts had but a moment to contemplate this as another howl resounded. Xihotui blurred as she dodged, but Dochik was far less nimble, and he felt the full force of it. A cacophony of sound impacted like the fist of an angry god against him. He staggered, blown backwards by the strike. Yet he still stood. “THERE!” Xihotui pointed into the distance at a glowing figure. “Fire there Dochik!” The Dragon-Blood couldn't hear it. Couldn't see it past his pain. Yet despite this, he knew somehow that she needed something. Duty called to him. It was in his blood. He refused to fail it. So he gathered his bow, and knocked his arrow. It was a magnificent bow. Handed down from generations. It had served as his family had served. It refused to fail just as he did. Not here, and not now. With a prayer and a flare of his power the arrow went off into the distance. An impossible shot. The figure had already started to go, and despite the glow he was giving off, it was dark now. He was injured. The poison was already starting to cause him to drop. He knew it hit regardless. Dochik had done his duty. That was his only wish ever. Even as his vision faded to black, he knew that he had done his very best. All he had ever asked... – More stuff! Have decided that Xihotui was using a resplendent destiny as herself. Also have decided that Sidereal are confusing as hell and their mechanics definitely need a total rewrite so things can be friggen understood >_< I never stated out Dochik you know, I'm not sure if it shows. I did Xihotui and picked like a whole buncha random things I thought looked cool, but not Dochik. He wasn't supposed to be that important, but I had to name him because he started to actually be part of the story. Not sure if I did good with him to be honest now. Meh this is all for fun anyway.
Even with what little was shown, I liked Dochik. He's one of the rare few dragonbloods who seem to actually try to serve up to the responsibility of power.. or so he's death scene made it seem.
Just in case you weren't aware, the Sidereal charmset recently received major errata (near total rewrite), which is available for free here. There's also a set of simplified Astrology rules in the new book, Shards of the Exalted Dream.
The simplified stuff I haven't seen and wanna get at some point. The errata I have seen. The Sidereal stuff is still a convoluted mess, but I hear it's playable now so it's all good. Thanks I do like Dochik too. This is just a for fun story, but I did wanna try to emphasize the whole shades of gray thing thats in Exalted. Not sure if I managed.
Alek cursed quietly to himself as he staggered back. The arrow hadn't done a serious amount of damage, but still it had lanced across his ribcage with an alarming scrape. It would have actually been a kill shot if he hadn't been supernaturally durable. As it was it was damage that he could ill afford. A quick direction had Candy watching the bodies of the hunt, and he began to wait. The first trap had given him more casualties than he had hoped for. Unfortunately he was exposed now, and what was likely the most dangerous of the Wild Hunt was still out there. That didn't mean he was defenseless, but he was already thinking that this was a very very bad idea. One part of Alek's mind noted that he was glowing rather brightly. The other part was noting that he was probably only going to get one shot at hitting with his first trap. His current position was carefully chosen to give only one major entrance, a stone stairway. The trick was hoping that the Exalted was angry enough to fall for it. That he needn't have worried about. She stepped into sight in the exactly correct area, and in fact was going so fast that Alek almost didn't have the time to trigger the trap. A dozen sharpened stakes flew across the stairway and directly at the woman. Her fists blurred in response, and what she missed she sidestepped with incredible ease. It was almost insulting how trivially she bypassed it. Alek hadn't waited, and in fact had almost expected it. As soon as he had triggered the first trap, he had started the second, leaping off the building and grabbing onto a rope. There was a tremendous snapping sound, and the building he had been in collapsed into itself. He spared a brief moment to look back. There, almost on his tail was the woman still, her brow aglow in purple light. She soared through the air after him, landing just behind his running form and almost catching him. Alek huffed to himself, half panicked and half outright glad he had spent the entire day planning this. If he hadn't he would be dead now. He ran down an alleyway, the Sidereal on his tail, and just as she was about to catch him, he turned, deliberately pulling something and ducking. Xihotui was forced to stop as what looked like hundreds of spears burst through the wall and embedded themselves around him. “This won't stop me Anathema.” She spoke the first words in the fight as she began to shatter the spears. “It doesn't have to.” Alek finally got to the end of the alleyway, and pulled yet another rope. “I've had all day to play after all.” Oil fell everywhere around the alley around the two and all over the still stalled Xihotui. She didn't have to be smart to guess what was next, and even as Alek caused a few sparks her form was already blurring to dodge. The alleyway lit up in flame, and the Solar began to run again. He had one more traps left, and it required a very distinct place. He just had to get there. Through the alleyway, and into a warehouse. He stopped there. It had been abandoned long ago, dust filled and empty. A barren floor, and nothing around. In fact, it was deliberately empty of anything that could be considered dangerous. A last stand as it were. The Exalted walked to the center of the place slowly. With very deliberate motions he knelt in the center of the warehouse, and waited. He even closed his eyes against the glare of his still blazing aura. “Praying for salvation?” The voice of the woman came from the shadows of the warehouse. She was obviously wary of the place being trapped yet again. “Or perhaps waiting for me to walk into something that you think might kill me yet.” “Perhaps.” Alek shrugged and kept his eyes closed. “Perhaps I wish to talk?” “Do you think I would allow a demon such as you to speak?” Came the mocking reply. “Then again, you obviously have little talent other than the irritating little deathtraps.” “Well, we are speaking right now aren't we?” The Solar smiled briefly and opened his eyes, spotting the woman almost instantly due to the still glowing purple sign on her brow. “We speak because I'm making sure that you don't have something else up your sleeve.” Xihotui snapped back. “In fact I know you do, fate is warning me about it.” “Ah, your fate warning charm.” Alek smiled at her widening eyes. “It took me awhile to decipher it, but you've kept it up since you entered this section of the city. Interesting thing, but it doesn't warn you exactly when it is happening does it?” The Sidereal made a small noise of frustration. He was correct in this instance. She knew something dangerous was happening soon, but she couldn't for the life of her determine what it was. The warehouse was large enough that if it dropped as the others did, she would be dead. He had a plan, that she was sure of. “Can I have your name?” The Solar continued to smile from his area. “After all, with all the murder attempts we should probably be on a first name basis.” Xihotui rolled her eyes and continued to look around the area. It wouldn't matter really if she bothered to answer him. Even if he escaped, her nature as a Sidereal made her very difficult to remember. “You may call me Xihotui. Though you will be dead soon. Perhaps you can use it to comfort you while you writhe in pain like the damned thing you are.” “I'm hurt.” Alek chuckled slightly. “What makes you think I would be the one dying here?” “Because as a Maiden of Endings it is my duty to bring endings.” The woman replied back with a narrow look. “And your time is ending Anathema.” She stopped talking then and blurred forward, striking at Alek's head. The man's body snapped back in pain, and the woman wrapped her hands around his throat, lifting him into the air. She glared at him. “Remember this as you pass on.” The Solar gurgled as he reached into his robes, and pulled out his last trap, and it fell to the floor. It was a kludge of a thing, inelegant in it's appearance. All it was was a metal ball really. A container for something that he had summoned. You see there was a very specific elemental who's only purpose was to burn. Nothing else, just to burn. It was useless for most things. Yet Alek was a Twilight. His talent lay in creation and sorcery. With enough power, and prayer, he could work miracles. Like in this case. An elemental designed to do nothing but burn, and his power. All the rest of his power. The former golden bonfire that was his aura leapt into the air. A massive figure looked down at the two, indistinct, with six arms. A manifestation of being a Solar. The figure leaned down, and with a curiously gently motion, it touched Alek. The little fire elemental began to do it's job. It began to burn. It burned through the metal with a sizzle, and it grew. It consumed the air around itself. It ate, and ate. There was nothing around it but air, but powered by Alek's essence it expanded still. And it caught Xihotui. The woman dropped Alek, ripping off her clothing immediately and darting back. Still the fire burned. Around Alek it went, and began to expand even further. Xihotui's form blurred as she dodged with the last of her power, and the fire expanded with terrific speed, just barely missing her. The warehouse lit up in fire. The died just as fast. In the center of the warehouse Alek chuckled and coughed. Since it was his power mostly it hadn't harmed him, but the smoke almost had done him in. Unfortunately that didn't mean Xihotui wouldn't. Just as quick as the woman had blurred out, she moved in. Sparing nothing she darted in, kicking at the near comatose Alek. The man just barely dodged it, but was unable dodge the stomp the Sidereal followed up with. His supernatural endurance just barely managed to resist the attack, and the woman screamed in frustration. “What's next?!” She yelled. “Come on, I've taken everything else. I know you have more!” She kicked at him again, almost too exhausted to do more. Alek chuckled in pain. “Wouldn't you like to know?” He had nothing, but if she believed he had more he would let her. The woman pinned him to the ground with her legs, panting with rage. His durability made this far more difficult than she would like, but she would end this. The attack came out of nowhere. Snarling, raging fury impacted the Sidereal's side, and ripped into her. Merciless, it bit and tore, and the woman was just barely able to roll out of the way. Bleeding and near dead from just one attack. The attacker perched in front of Alek, growling through a bloody muzzle. A large badger. The Lunar that Xihotui had first began to hunt. She had completely forgotten about the original target. Xihotui backed away from the two. She could possibly deal with one or the other, but not now. Not like this. Alek looked at the Sidereal with almost no expression. He was near dead himself, but he began to lever himself up. “Perhaps... You should run.” The lunar made no move to intercept the woman as she slowly crawled away. Alek coughed out as Badger began to nuzzle his side in worry. He was done with this city, he really was.
Comments time! Comments bolded and underlined. Also, why the hell is constanly calling them "Anathema", and why does she consider them damned? While reading this, I kept on thinking "but your an Anathema as well!" And what the hell is this afterlife stuff? There are three fates for the soul when you die: Lethe(reincarnation), The Underworld(ghost) and Oblivion(it's in the name). And I'm getting the vibe Xihotui is following the Immaculates line that Solar's and Lunar's are demons possessing the righteous, but that makes absolutely no sense for a Sidereal. She knows what happens with Solar and Lunar exaltations, and she nows what happens to the souls of the dead, so things just aren't adding up here.
And their isn't even any surviving people for her to have to try to be heard sticking to the party line.. but the Immaculates do, to my knowledge, have a pretty good idea of how exactly the after life works.. which includes the fact their is no real after life unless you hang around as a ghost.
Yeah, I was going to go into that, but I cut most of the things I was going to say. I really didn't want to start ranting at the author. I'm trying to help, not insult him/her/it/them!
It could just be propaganda, both against the solar (a lot of the young ones don't know the Anathema stuff is BS), and to anyone who might be watching unseen. The latter actually happens fairly often around Exalts, as Narrative Causality is explicitly one of there 'powers'. Noticed a few spelling errors, mostly tenses, and stuff the autocorrect likely did, 'The' instead of 'he' when he noticed his anima banner was flaring, and 'Speak' instead of 'Speaking', when he tried to bluff out the Sid. Very good overall! It's good to see Badger finally showing signs of recognizing Alek as an 'ally/friend'. Likewise I loved the grenade. Now he just needs to make a napalm version (maybe something that will relentlessly hit a enemy with Perfects for a few rounds? That'd be a hell of a mote tap).
It took longer than he would have liked to get out of the warehouse and onto the beach. He wasn't critically injured thankfully, but he was injured enough that moving was painful. It took long enough that the bonfire that was his aura had died down to a low light instead of the intense, attention grabbing, figure. At least Badger had decided to be actually friendly now instead of the paranoid wreck that she had been. She was still mute of course, but he would take his victories. “That really was close wasn't it?” Candy poked at a scratch on Alek's face. “To get past that toughening charm you have is no mean feat.” “It's good, but not perfect.” The Solar replied and waved off the fairy. He was in enough pain, she didn't need to exasperate it. “I'm honestly lucky I stood up as well as I did. Against one who focuses on combat I can only hope I have prepared enough.” “Well, on the bright side you managed to get most of them. That should give you some time.” The little goddess tried to point out the good points. The man nodded in reply. “I've got a week, worst case scenario. I did enough damage that she will probably call reinforcements. At bare minimum that's the travel time to get to this city from any major population centers. Of course, that doesn't take into account if I have really got someone mad.” He grimaced at that thought. “If I have, I have maybe a few days. I doubt that, I might be important for being what I am, but there are far greater threats.” “I dunno if you are being humble or underestimating yourself.” Candy finally replied. Alek shrugged and continued to trudge down the beach. Normally, he would have taken the time to go home, but that would be a spectacularly bad idea. He might have won versus the Sidereal, but she was still alive. That meant that she was capable of tracking down his place. He would have to hide until he managed to craft the boat... The solar blinked as he came into sight of the shack. The shack was still standing at least. It was what was next to it that was making him wary. He distinctly remembered requesting materials and not to be noticed. Not an entire yacht to be stolen. “Master!” The Water Elemental came into sight suddenly and without warning, provoking a growl from the now human Badger. “I hope I have pleased you with my work.” “Please explain what part of my orders lead you to believe that a ship would be appropriate to steal?” Alek began to rub the bridge of his nose. “You specifically said to be unnoticeable.” The Elemental pointed out reasonably. “This ship was simply laying unattended and unwatched. I believe the owner died, and the dock-master was going to scuttle or sell it. It was trivial to steal it, and it fits your requirements for materials for a boat perfectly.” “I admit that.” Alek sighs and shakes his head. “This actually moves up my timetable quite a bit. How are you at sailing?” “That is sadly not one of my strengths.” The naked creature bowed again. “If you like I can still try.” “No, that’s fine. You are a stealth specialist. It was unreasonable to expect it.” Alek waved his hand and ignored how Badger was warily watching the creature he had summoned. The Solar waved to Candy. “Candy, be a dear and show her how to get to my house. I need the travel supplies that I had been hoarding. You should be able to carry it all at once, but you can make multiple trips if necessary.” The goddess nodded and began to slowly fly off, the elemental following without a word. She knew an order when she heard it. “Oh.” Alek's voice made the two stop for a moment. “Good work. I owe you more than you might know, and I never asked your name.” “My name is Black Tide.” The Elemental replied back with a curious expression. She usually didn't get thanked. “The rations are what I need in my house. However, if you have time, take the clothing too. There are a few very expensive rolls of cloth that I want. If you can manage to take them, I will make you clothing that will conform to your will.” The Solar replied seriously. “Something that will be a proper reward to you.” Black Tide's face took on a slightly stunned expression, but she bowed quickly and began to hurry away. A new trinket would make her a very happy Elemental indeed. – Xihotui sat and watched. She had done what she could, but the poison that had afflicted Dochik was just enough to make her worry. She was injured and near death, but her compassion drove her onward now. She had lost her anger somewhere. Her pride lay shattered at the feet of the Anathema. She refused to think of him as anything more. He had burned and destroyed. He had killed. Only luck and toughness had allowed Dochik to be spared the fate of the rest of the hunt. It didn't matter in the end though. She would hunt him now. There was nothing else that her mind would allow. He would be made to pay for this in blood and pain. ---- Thank you for the help all! I've done a bit of editing to the last post. I removed the afterlife comment, but kept the Anathema thing. It's her way of making sure that she de-humanizes them. Also, this is the end of the intro. Hope you enjoyed it. I could actually continue, but this was actually an intro piece of an actual character I am playing. If there is some interest I could start on an actual another adventure.
Well, Sidereals may know the solars aren't literally demons, but they're well aware of how horrible the things they can do (and have done) are and she is of the faction that holds those are worse than the wonderful things they can do and have done. Plus, if she's spent enough time around Dragonblood, acting as a dragonblood, certain habits and turns of phrase may have become ingrained beyond conscious thought.
I think you mean "exacerbate", unless Candy was annoying the injury. Also: nice story, it feels "Exalted" without having to drop the names of specific places/people/things in Creation. Alek seems to be a pretty chill dude, hes taking all this remarkably calmly. I'm not sure this was deliberate, but Alek's prologue also functions pretty nicely for explaining why he knows Sorcery. As a Twilight the Salinian working will ensure that it is possible for Alek to learn sorcery if he desires to do so, but he has to pass through the five stations like everyone else. Technically, hes not supposed to sling spells around until after that's done, but Sorcery is weird enough to get away with the occasional causality violation. His work in the library qualifies for Humility (1), and some combination of library research and Candy (which wasn't mentioned because "the main character reads some books!" isn't particularly exciting) can do for Tutelage (2). Hes about to leave on a Journey (3), and his fight with the wyld hunt involved some Fear (4). The last stage (and the most important) is Sacrifice: he has to give something up or forgo an opportunity specifically to learn sorcery. He doesn't seem that attached to his live in RandomRealmCityVille, but if you work something in about something hes sad to leave then you would have made one pedantic Exalted fan happy .
