>>1252867
>Start singing in the streets for money. The city was full of musicians playing for loose coins, and you learned to follow their example.

>>1252867
>>Join the street fighting circuits, where men and women gambled on fights held out of the city guard’s sight. You were young, but certainly not the only young and hungry mouth seeking a chance to make money.

>>1252867
>Start singing in the streets for money. The city was full of musicians playing for loose coins, and you learned to follow their example.
hmm last exalted quest I sorta read had a physical bruiser female mc and more polyamory than I thought possible, lets see how this one turns out.

>>1252867
The city’s streets were always abuzz with music, one of the city’s many prides. Talented individuals played for coins, always hoping that the next listener would be some rich noble that might enjoy their music enough to hire them. You had no instrument, but you did have your voice, and after listening to the many other musicians on the street, you started to memorize the lyrics and tones. With nothing but the clothes on your back, you found a free street in one of the less poor sections of the city and began to sing. You weren’t terribly good at it at first, and sometimes your forgot a word or two in the song, but you kept at it. A few generous souls passing by were kind enough to toss you some money, and you bought yourself a warm loaf of bread; The first warm meal you’d had in ages.

As you grew older, your talents got better and better. You were still poor, but as you got better more and more people were willing to grace you with a few coins. If there was one thing the city of Thorns loved, it was music, and those with talent were often rewarded. You went to sleep hungry far less often now than before, growing more optimistic with each passing day. The city’s streets were cold, but its people were not. Even other musicians, who technically were your competition, would sometimes toss a spare coin your way.

Finally, in your teenage years, you began to see opportunities to get off the street and live a more comfortable life. Like many musicians, there was always the hope that one of the city’s wealthy would patronize you, giving you a job and a roof over your head. There were places where the rich and affluent often frequented, you could always ply your trade there and hope one of them noticed you among the many others trying the same. Alternatively, among the many faces that came across your path during performances, there was one you saw nearly every day. An old man, a blacksmith by trade from what you’d heard, who came by nearly every day and left a coin or two for you. You’d heard that he recently lost his wife, and had no children to speak of. A few times, he told you there was a place you could sleep if you were willing to help him around his workshop, and you’d given it some thought before. However, strangely enough, there was a part of you that almost didn’t want to leave these streets. It was crazy to say, but as hard as it was living out here, you enjoyed what you did, and given time you may even be able to afford to support yourself. It would take a long time, but it was possible.

>Seek out a wealthy patron
>Help the old man around his workshop
>Continue playing in the streets
>Write-In

>>1253052
>Help the old man around his workshop

>>1253052
>Help the old man around his workshop

>>1253052
>Help the old man around his workshop

>>1253052
In the end, a roof over your head was an offer too tempting to turn down. Besides, even though the old man always seemed to smile when he passed by, you couldn’t help but feel there was a sort of sadness in his eyes. The night you knocked on his shop’s door, however, you could see nothing but happiness in his eyes as he ushered you in and asked if you were hungry.

The old man had a long grey beard and green eyes, with arms that betrayed a lot of muscle for one as old as he. You found out that night that his name was Grey Ox, though no one called him that until he grew old enough for his hair to turn a silvery grey. You felt somewhat ashamed to not know his name before. When he asked you for yours, however, you were shocked to realize you had never really given yourself one. If your parents had named you anything, you would not know. You were not one of the wealthy though, who had names and family names fashioned after the distant empire of the Realm, so when Grey Ox learned you had nothing to call yourself, he gave you a name just like his own. Golden Sparrow, like the unkempt blonde hair on your head, and like the birds which sang and chirped outside in the early morning, much like you did on the streets.

The years passed, and you continued to help Ox around the workshop. At first, you only performed small, menial tasks like sweeping the floors and greeting customers if Ox was too busy to do so himself. Over time though, you started to learn by watching Ox work. Soon you were helping him with the forge, handling small orders for things like nails and basic tools. It was long, hard work, but you were glad to help.

As you grew into an adult, however, you found yourself wondering where to go now in life. Over the years, Grey Ox had become more and more like a father to you, and though the work you did in the forge was hard, it was fulfilling work. Yet you sometimes found yourself looking out the shop’s windows, at the musicians playing on the street. With money you’d saved up, you managed to buy a lyre and learned to play it along with a few other instruments. But music was always a pastime, one you only had time for when there was no more work to be done around the shop, and there was almost always more to be done. You wondered if this was how you wanted to make your living from now on, toiling in front of a hot forge like Grey Ox, or if you should go out and try to find work with one of the noble families like you once dreamt of doing. Neither option seemed terrible, but your heart was split between which path you should take.

>Continue working the forge with Grey Ox
>Strike out as a musician once more
>Write-In

>>1253156
... can we forge instruments? Like do regular black smith work for pay, make new weird instruments in our spare time and play in taverns on the weekends etc?

>>1253156
>Strike out as a musician once more
Can't give up now!

>>1253171
Hmm, this seems good if it's allowed.

>>1253171
You could certainly give it a shot. Since that's currently the majority vote, I'll give it a whirl.

>>1253156
Supporting this >>1253171

>>1253156
One evening, after all the other orders are done and you find yourself with some spare time, you come up with an idea and head back into the forge on your own. Some time and effort later, Grey Ox steps into the forge to check on you and finds you there with the finished frame of a lyre. Excitedly, you ask him if there’s a chance you could go out to the taverns this coming weekend, when business usually slows down. Seeing how eager you are, he can’t help but chuckle and give you his blessing.

For the week leading up to the weekend, you kept working on that lyre until it was completely finished, strings and all. It took a few attempts before you were satisfied, but the final product played notes that sang sweetly to the ear, and you looked over your creation with pride. That weekend, you went into the tavern and offered your services, even offering to play for free if they would let you. They agreed, and when the patrons’ reacted well to your playing, they offered to pay if you came back again.

From then on, you continued working in Ox’s forge during the week, and played in the nearby tavern on weekends. In those rare moments of spare time you had during the week, you started brainstorming ideas for entirely new instruments altogether, including one design which looked like a long, curled flute made from brass and given a wide cone at the end, with little levers to alter the sound made when one blew into the instrument. You’d given the design a try, most of the time the result was something that sounded off, but you were steadily getting better and better until you supposed your idea just might come to fruition. Surely, this would earn you some fame within the city among the musically inclined!

Unfortunately, your ideas would never come to fruition.

It began as a normal weekend day. You bid Grey Ox goodbye and left for the tavern with your lyre, deciding that next week you would bring your new instrument and see what others thought of it. The night from then on went on as normal for a while, the tavern hummed with music and laughter, as full of life as always, when a loud thump could be heard. The tavern grew still, as everyone looked around for the noise. One patron joked that someone must have farted and the conversations continued, but then it could be heard again. Louder. Drinks in the tavern rippled with the noise, as everyone exchanged curious, semi-concerned looks.

What was going on?

>Head outside, take a look.
>Stay inside, whatever that was it’s probably nothing to worry about. And if it was, then the city’s guard could take care of it.
>Write-In

>>1253275
>Head outside, take a look.

>>1253275
>Head outside, take a look.

>>1253275
You look to the bartender and ask if you can step outside to see what’s going on. He complains a little about how he’s not paying you to take breaks, but relents. Probably because he’s wondering the same. Setting your lyre down for a moment, you step outside and look up to the sky.

The full moon glows a crimson red, like blood. That sight alone sends shivers down your spine, but even that is nothing compared to what you see on the horizon. From where you stand, you can see beyond the city walls, towards the fields surrounding the city. What looks like a massive, rotting claw lies a few miles outside the city, the rest of its form obscured by a dark fog that makes it impossible to see further. The scent of rotting flesh assaults your nostrils, making you gag. And then, it gets even worse.

Thunder cracks overhead as pale figures begin to move past the decaying appendage, little white specks in the distance. While you consider who or what they could be, the sound of falling rain catches your attention as a something burns your shoulder. You wince, looking to the side to find a single red stain on your clothes, hissing like fire. Another drop falls, and you wince similarly in pain as the red rain burns you. Dread begins to creep over you as your mind begins to process the events happening, as a series of figures can be seen riding out past the city gates. The city’s military, led by five figures who you can only assume are the cities Dragonblooded, the elite warriors which command the power of the elements.

Before more rain starts to fall, a sharp thought hits you. You need to get home, now. But the harsh winds make it seem like the red rain will start to come down soon, could you make it back in time? It might be safer to take shelter in the tavern and wait for whatever’s happening to blow over. If the city’s Dragonblooded were going out to handle the matter, then surely there was nothing to fear.

Right?

>Go back inside before the red rain picks up
>Run home as fast as you can
>Write-in

>>1253400
>Run home as fast as you can
Purchase a cloak or some kind of covering to keep the evil off you. Also, I really want to have our character make an accordion, then we can be this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFNNPZsO7-Q

>>1253400
>Go back inside before the red rain picks up
We can run later. We have a job to do

Gonna step out for a sec to grab something to eat. When I get back, if there's been another vote I'll go ahead and write the next post.

>>1253400
>Run home as fast as you can

>>1253411
heh, accordion could be fun, though i'd really like to do something with bells.

Alright! Back and writing now.

>>1253497
Never played Exalted before, but can I assume that their is a Bard Class? If so, different instruments for high level spells.

>>1253512
good point, also i'm not too experienced either, I mostly lurked the other exalted quest i've seen here and we never really met with any bards per se... we can probably make something work though.

that said solar characters seem to start out as demi-gods in terms of power pretty much so we can probably pull a lot of interesting stuff... and CHA or something like it is a thing so...

>>1253400
...No, you think to yourself, you need to get home NOW. But the red rain is a concern, so hurriedly you head back inside and find someone’s cloak left lying on the back of their chair.

“I’m borrowing this.” You tell him, before running back outside. The cloak’s owner yells angrily after you, but you pay it no mind. Outside, you pull the cloak over yourself as you run home, as quickly as possible. You’re almost there when the rain starts to truly come down, and immediately you’re glad you grabbed this cloak first. The red rain burns all it touches, hissing as it touches the ground, little wisps of smoke rising off the nearby roofs as you run past them. When you finally make it to the workshop, you immediately throw the door open and run inside.

“Ox!” You shout, worried, looking all about the workshop for any sign of him. Next you hear the sound of footsteps coming down from upstairs, and Grey Ox meets you with a pack of supplies slung over his shoulder.

“Sparrow?” He says, sighing with relief when he sees you. “Thank the Dragons you’re okay. I saw the red moon outside and worried that you might be in danger.”

“I’m fine, father, I ran here from the tavern as soon as I saw what’s happening outside the city. What’s that on your back?”

He drops the heavy bag and wipes his brow; Strong as he is, the man is still old after all. “Clothes, tools, whatever we’ll need if we need to get out of the city. The port’s on the other side of town, I’ve got a friend that owns a ship so we should head there and get to sea, wait to see what happens to the city.”

“The port? Father, it’s raining red outside, and everything the rain touches burns. It’s not safe outside.”

“Is it any safer here though? Where are the Dragonblooded? Where’s the army?”

“Outside, last I saw. Hopefully they can handle it.”

As you say that, there’s another booming thud which makes everything inside the workshop shake. This time, the sound is even louder, as if whatever’s outside is getting closer.

>Stay here, wait things out.
>Get to the port and sail out of here.
>Write-in

>>1253528
>Stay here, wait things out.
eh something feels off about the port, maybe i'm just paranoid and expecting something horrible to happen there.

>>1253528
>Get to the port and sail out of here.

>>1253512
>>1253523
Exalted doesn't have "Classes" per sey. What it does have are castes, which are different varieties of solars that have different specialties. Dawns, for example, specialize in fighting, while Twilights specialize in more scholarly things. Nothing stops you from being a scholarly Dawn or a warrior Twilight though, it just means that in addition to being good at the things outside your caste that you specialize in, you're also going to be at least decent in all your caste specialties.

Spells aren't something common either, as that requires Sorcery. However, as an exalt you get these things called Charms, which are powers you can use to do stuff like run on water or punch a man through walls. For solars, Charms are linked to skills, and Performance charms tend to be things like "Create a light-show to enhance your performance, inspire listeners to become your disciples, whip the crowd into a frenzy and turn them into an angry mob", things like that.

>>1253528
>Stay here, wait things out.
Get all the valuable together, try and get normal water in any available container, arm ourselves. I am scared that the boats won't do any good and might sink due to the rain.
>>1253545
Okay, thanks for explaining.

>>1253528
You both exchange a glance after the last thud, silently wondering what to do. In the end, you decide it’s best to stay here, where you were at least safe from the red rain.

“Besides,” You explain. “The rain burns, so who knows what it could do to a boat out at sea.”

Grey Ox finally concedes to your point there, but insists that you get everything together just in case you need to make a quick getaway. You oblige, heading upstairs to gather more supplies in a second bag. By the time you finish packing, however, you are startled by another loud, booming thud, this time violently shaking everything inside the house. Now, even indoors, the scent of rotting flesh is strong, making you retch in disgust. Worse yet, though, is the sound of screaming outside.

You rush to a window to see what’s going on, and see large crowds of people running and shoving each other, moving in the opposite direction from the city gate. Suddenly, something heavy smashes through the roof of a nearby building, like a boulder tossed by catapults. You see another projectile on the horizon, and only barely move out of the way in time before it comes crashing through your window, skidding to a halt on your floor. To your surprise, it was a decayed corpse, rotten to the point that yellow bone can be seen along it’s body. Even more horrifying, however, is that the corpse begins to stir, picking itself up off the floor.

You are in the forge right now, having just packed up the last of Ox’s tools. In a panic, your eyes swivel around the room, glancing towards the door, the zombie standing between it and you, and a rack of weapons you and Ox had just finished making for an order.

>Grab the sword
>Grab the bow
>Grab the chakram
>Kick it while it's down. Run for the door and escape with Grey Ox.

>>1253596
>Grab the sword
might as well stick with the classic, chakrams are cool an all but... once you throw them what do you have?

>>1253603
aaannndd I'm gonna have to call it a night, its late here.

>>1253596
>>Grab the bow

>>1253617
Yeah, wanted to start this earlier but some stuff came up. So far there's only been 3 posters, so if one's leaving then I think I'll call it a night and pick things up again once I wake up.

Anyone whose here before I'm back though, feel free to discuss stuff and ask questions for when I get back.

>>1253596
>Grab the sword
Stab zombie with sword, then grab bow+arrows if possible and run.

Goodnight, Invictus.

Okay! I'm awake and writing now, sorry for that.

>>1253596
In a panic, you grab the sword off the weapons rack and hold it up to defend yourself, knees shaking. You had never actually fought with one of these before, so you had no form or stance but tried to imagine that it was kind of like swinging a hammer at the forge. It can't be harder than that, right?

One the corpse rises to its feet, you let out what is halfway a battlecry and halfway incoherent panicked yelling and run forward, impaling the sword through it's chest. It locks up a moment, and you start to think to yourself that you actually did it. But then the corpse turns its rotten head to the side and gurgles in what you can only think is frustration, nearly entirely unfazed by the sword running through its once-beating heart. You jump back in surprise, pulling your sword out with you, and the thing turns around and stumbles towards you. Your mind races with curses and ideas of what to do now, the corpse getting closer and closer as you just stand there. Your grip tightens, you swallow, and shout once more as you lift the sword up and slash it sideways as hard as you can. This time, the sword cuts through the corpse's neck, severing its head which falls to the floor along with its body. You pause for a moment, looking down at the decapitated corpse in front of you, and feel a very strange sensation of pride, as if you yourself can't believe you actually did that.

"Son! What's going on?!" Grey Ox shouts as he throws the forge's door open, recoiling as he sees the corpse on the floor and the bloodless sword in your hands. "Dragons preserve us, what is that thing?!"

"I...I don't know, but it's dead. Or dead again. There's no time for that now though, father, we need to get out of here now! They're catapulting more of these things over the wall!"

Ox looks horrified at the thought of there being more things like this, and nods his head. The question now though is, where do you run?

>Run for the port
>Run for the northern city gates, away from that monster to the south
>Write-in

>>1253976

> Run for the northern city gates, away from that monster to the south

The land route sounds like a better chance. They've probably cut off escape that way too, but it's better than being trapped on a ship.

>>1253976
>>Run for the northern city gates, away from that monster to the south

File: we have clearly passed th(...).jpg (13 KB, 198x255)

13 KB JPG

>>1253976
>Run for the northern city gates, away from that monster to the south
Grab some bows, as many arrows as you can, and other small weapons/tools that you haven't already. We'll need as much as we can in order to get supplies and food later, and it seems unlikely that we will be back here anytime soon.

>>1253976
>Run for the northern city gates, away from that monster to the south.
If supplies are available, grab them. Secure everything possible in a short amount of time.

Fuck being near water right now, really. Don't trust it.

Anyways, this is the first Exalted Quest that I've encountered live on /qst/. Looking forward to working with you, Sol.

>>1254041
You think any of the food would be viable? Should we grab cloth and raw materials?

>>1254059

There is literally no time for that. Grab whatever and BUG OUT.

>>1253976
You look out the window, towards the streets where everyone is running. Most of the head for the port, where they probably hope to escape by sea. But there was no telling what the red rain would do to a wooden ship, and you doubted they would have enough boats there to accommodate everyone. The best plan of escape, then, was to run north and escape by foot. Grey Ox and you both had cloaks to keep you mostly-safe from the rain now, so it seemed like your best chance. Before you leave, you grab the bow and a quiver of arrows as well, thinking you may be in the wilderness for some time after this. It was hard to imagine, but you doubted either of you would be coming back to Thorns after tonight, provided you survived.

Grabbing your bags, you both step out onto the street and start running north. Screams fill the air as the blood-red moon shines overhead. People without proper protection fall to the ground in pain, the red rain searing their flesh and burning through the skin. Corpses fly overhead and crash into buildings, only to rise again and shamble into the streets. The smell from before is more pungent now, to the point that only your fear keeps you from stopping to retch and hurl on the streets. At some point though, Gray Ox starts to slow down, his age catching up with him.

“Father, we can’t stop here, we need to keep moving!”

“I know…!” The old man wheezes, stooped over and trying to catch his breath. “But...I ca-can’t keep running like this.”

“Nonsense! Leave the pack if it’s weighing you down, you can-”

Your words get caught in your throat as you see more shambling corpses walking your way. You turn your head to look for an escape route, but more approach from the other street. Five of them...no, ten. Fifteen. They stumbles and limp towards the both of you, coming up on all sides. There’s no escape. Your heart sinks and a terrified shiver runs down your spine as you hold up your sword, eyes darting between the rotten monsters coming your way. But then, your eyes catch a small glimmer of hope. A low-hanging ledge on the nearby building’s roof. If you could reach it, you could jump down on the other side to cut past them and keep moving. But it was just out of reach, someone would have to give the other a boost to jump up there.

Grey Ox seems to notice it too, as he taps you on the shoulder and points it out. “Up there! It’s our only way of escape, I’ll give you a boost and you can escape!”

“And leave you behind? Never!”

“You’re strong, you can lift me up with you. Now’s not the time to argue, boy, just do as I say!”

You hesitate, eyes glancing to the corpses shambling your way. Would there be time to hoist the other up before they get there? Moreover, could that ledge support the weight of two men?

>Listen to Grey Ox, let him give you a boost.
>Help him first, lift him up before the corpses get here.
>Write-in

Oh, fun. We have a bow and arrow, right? As well as a sword. Could we thin the horde enough to make the issue irrelevant?

>>1254076
You could try, but there's at least 15 of them coming, and as you saw in the forge these things don't die easily.

>>1254076

With what? We're not trained. How are you going to kill the walking dead with a cheap sword and cheap arrows? Heavily armed and well-trained soldiers are having their shit pushed in.

Let Dad give us a boost.

>>1254069
>Help him first, lift him up before the corpses get here.
Have him check if it is safe up there, then have him grab us.

Aim for something like this: http://38.media.tumblr.com/1e1de5baa8bd4976f4c4463d8c998f27/tumblr_n80bs1S2wI1qdlh1io1_250.gif

>>1254077
Alrighty then.
>>1254069
>Listen to Grey Ox, let him give you a boost.

Also, fuck Captcha

>>1254069
1.) Learned to sing and play music for money on the street (Social, Performance, Bureaucracy)
2.)Help the Old Man around his Workshop (Physical, Craft, Resistance)
3.)Make your own instruments. Do blacksmith work for pay and play in taverns on weekends (Presence, Awareness, Integrity)

--------—————————————----—————

You hesitate, but decide to do as he says. This was no time to argue, after all. Quickly, you toss your pack up onto the roof while Grey Ox stands under the ledge and cups his hands to give you a foot lift. With his help, you climb up onto the ledge, out of harm’s way.

There is another loud thump, this time shaking you to the core. The monster is close. But more importantly, you feel the ledge you’re standing on start to give. The wood supporting it cracks, loosened by the burning rain and the the beast’s massive stomps. It won’t hold for long, and now it -certainly- won’t support two people.

Grey Ox notices this, and his eyes go wide. Yet he steels himself, and shouts up to you as the undead draw closer.

“Go!”

Your heart drops. There’s no way you can abandon your adoptive father here. But if you don’t, then both of you will die. You look to the sword sheathed at your hip, the bow slung over your shoulder, and the corpses drawing ever closer. At that moment, you made a decision.

>Get down and fight.
>Run away
>Try drawing their attention and drawing them away. Maybe they could be fooled?
>Write-in

>>1254135
...Er, shit, copy-pasted a little too much off my doc. Well, doesn't hurt to see what kinda stuff you're good at I guess.

>>1254135

> Get down and fight.

Fuck it. We're probably not going to make it out of this city anyway.

>>1254135
>Try drawing their attention and drawing them away. Maybe they could be fooled?
We have a lute, TIME TO BARD THIS SHIT UP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC5K34UDDkc

>>1254145
Your lyre, sadly, got left behind in the tavern. Granted, you have other ways to draw attention to yourself. Like the sword on your hip and the bow strung over your shoulder.

>>1254135
>Try drawing their attention and drawing them away. Maybe they could be fooled?

File: Death Star BOOM.png (971 KB, 1400x816)

971 KB PNG

>>1254150
Well, draw their attention by singing as loudly as we can and using whatever we have on hand and can find.

>>1254135
No. There was no chance you’d ever abandon Gray Ox. Determination fills your heart, steeling your resolve as you get off the ledge and move behind the crowd of corpses coming up the nearest street, unslinging the bow off your shoulders and knocking an arrow in one swift motion. You draw the string back and fire, the arrow sinking into one of their shoulders.

“After me, you foul-smelling monsters!” You shouted at them, wondering if they could even understand what you were saying. Whether they could or not though, their gazes collectively turn towards you. In that moment, you look to Gray Ox and instruct him before you go. “Get yourself to safety, I’ll lead these ones away and we’ll meet up again when we can!”

With that, you jump off the roof behind the zombies, lifting your bow to fire at them again. This time you catch it in the eye, and the abomination falls to the floor, much like the one in the forge. At this, they begin to shuffle after you, forgetting about the old man they had cornered in favor of the one attacking them. You back up and keep shooting, not moving too fast for fear they might realize you’re too fast and turn around back to their easier prey. You barely even pay attention to what’s happening around you, all that matters is that you get them away from Grey Ox, praying to whatever gods might listen that he gets away safely.

Unfortunately, in your lack of attention, you bring yourself back into a dead-end alleyway. The walking dead, now riddled with arrows yet still lurching forward, now block your only method of escape. There were no low roofs to escape to now; You were trapped.

Reaching for your quiver, you realize you have only a single arrow left and four zombies in front of you. Your heart sinks, but in your head you decide that if you’re going down you won’t go down without a fight. Your hands shake as you knock your last arrow, lifting your bow towards the undead monsters before you, and draw the bowstring back.

>>1254223
At that moment, all is still. It’s as if the world itself froze in time. Suddenly, a warm feeling starts to spread throughout your body, like a fire lit inside your soul, and a booming voice which commands respect, fear, and adoration all at once calls to you.

”YOU NEED NOT FEAR LOWLY CREATURES LIKE THIS ANYMORE.”

The world begins to move again, and your hands cease to shake. The arrow flies, and the alley is lit with brilliant golden light. The arrow pierces the center zombie’s unbeating heart and explodes in a great burst of light, the horrors letting out a shrill, guttural screech. When the light fades, all four of them are gone, leaving only piles of ash where they once stood.

You look down at your hands in utter disbelief. Did you do that? How? And what was that voice that called to you?

Your thoughts are cut short as the sound of screaming snaps you back to reality. The city is still falling, you can’t just stand here and ponder what happened. You needed to move. Your first thought is that of your original goal; Escape from the city. But now, after what just happened and the sounds of screaming you hear in the distance, your mind drifts to others. Perhaps...you could help them? Not all of them, of course, but maybe a few at the least.

Another stomp from the beast outside the city gates. Time was running short.

>Get out of the city, there’s only so much you can do on your own.
>Help the others evacuate.
>Write-in

>>1254229
>Help the others evacuate.
On our way to help Gray Ox.

>>1254229
> Be the big goddamn hero
Go after the giant thing outside the city
If you kill the source, all of the lesser undead will fall, right?
That's how this works in my guatamalan sand pictures.

>>1254296
That's certainly something you could try, but keep in mind this is something that made stuff in the city shake just by taking a step a few miles away.

Also, I'm going to grab lunch real quick. I'll check votes and start writing once I get back.

>>1254229
>Get out of the city, there’s only so much you can do on your own.

Well, that took longer than expected, but I'm back. So far it's one vote to evacuate, one to be a big damn hero, and one to get outta Dodge. I'll go ahead and count the hero vote as an evacuate vote, then give the option of doing that later if that's what people want to try.

>>1254229
You furrow your brow, a strange new conviction steeling your resolve. Before, you were afraid, but now you feel oddly calm, like the horrors around you pose no threat to you. But first thing's first, you had to look for Gray Ox. The screaming came from the same general direction, so you keep your eyes open as you run.

The intersection where you’d left Gray was deserted now, but you couldn’t see any bodies so you assume Gray Ox made it out safely. Where he is now, you had no idea, but you were sure he’d be safe. Old as he was, Ox was a clever man. He’d find his way out of the city, you were sure. Or at least, you hoped. As you stop at the intersection, however, you hear the screaming again, this time much closer. You follow the sound and find a large group of people, probably about twenty or so, surrounded by more zombies. There are bodies on the floor, seemingly people who had been fleeing with the others. The undead gnaw at their bodies, ripping flesh from bone in a grotesque display that, rather than filling you with fear, simply disgusts you. More concerning, however, is when these bodies start to stir, rising again and joining the ranks of the dead.

Without even thinking, you step forward and draw your sword, having run out of arrows before. You recall moments ago feeling scared, unsure how to actually fight with a blade. Now, you struck with confidence, tearing through the horde and separating heads from bodies all along the way. Your body feels strangely hot as you move, like back in the alley only now it feels as if your body has been lit aflame, as if the spark lit inside you flared into a great fire. It wasn’t painful, quite the opposite in fact. Your mind races as you wonder where this newfound skill and confidence came from, and when your focus returns to reality you find that the entire horde lies on the ground already. You were hardly even paying attention at the time, yet you moved on instinct and cut down the entire horde as if it were a mere afterthought.

The men and women you rescued stare at you in awe, lost for words at their savior. Were they simply stunned that you took down the entire horde on your own? If so, you couldn’t blame them. Yet they also looked almost afraid as they gazed at you, something you find quite strange.

>>1254533
Another booming thump, and your gaze turns back to the city’s outskirts. Now, the massive creature from before has come out of the fog, revealing itself in all it’s horrible glory. The beast was so large it almost eclipsed the red moon, it’s body decayed and rotten like a massive corpse. It shambles forward on all fours, and each time its hands came down to the ground it almost seemed like it was clawing its way forward, like a man with broken legs trying to crawl away. Atop its back, silhouetted against the blood red moon, was a black fortress decorated with cruel spikes and gothic spires. The monster was far, far too large for any one man to challenge, you realized, large enough that it could flatten the entire city under it if it were so inclined. And yet...if there was a fortress on its back, it must exist for someone. Someone controlling it. Someone responsible for this disaster.

The men and women you rescued gaze up at it in pure horror, their faces pale white with fear. You could take them to the city gate and get them to safety, or you could investigate the fortress on that monster’s back. However, the thought of facing something which could command a beast like that worries even your newly-empowered mind.

>Escape with the survivors, there’s nothing you can do.
>Tell them to flee the city and go after whoever’s caused all this
>Write-in

>>1254538
Can't be worse than a somnius end

>Tell them to flee the city and go after whoever’s caused all this

>>1254538
>Escape with the survivors, there’s nothing you can do.

>>1254538
>Tell them to flee the city and go after whoever’s caused all this

Just popping in to say, the next update may end up being fairly big, hence why it's taking me a while to write. I'm still here though.

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>>1254538
>Escape with the survivors, there’s nothing you can do.
This is the point in the story where we get a party together or find giant robots to form Voltron.
>>1254560
Lol, too true. I was fucking pissed at how he did Earthbender. Pic Related.
>>1254633
Pic Related.

>>1254538
You look out towards the massive fortress and the beast carrying it. Just looking at if gives you an eerie feeling of dread, but the thought of what’s happened here, and the idea that whoever’s responsible must be in there, it’s enough to make you push aside your concerns.

“Get to the northern gate, fast. Don’t stop running until the city fades from view.” You tell them, and though they don’t say anything you can tell they’ll do as you ask. They have to; There’s no place to hide within the city now. With your sword in hand and your bag long forgotten by now, you run for the south gate, towards the massive creature that brought all this death and destruction with it. It surprises you how fast you move now, and how long you can keep sprinting without even breaking a sweat.

When you reach the city gates, you come to a chilling sight. The city gates, left wide open for the undead invaders. But the gates were not battered down and broken, no; Someone had left the gate wide open for them. It infuriates you to think that someone within the city would do this, but that doesn’t matter for now. What matters, is what lies beyond those open gates. Massive armies of zombie shuffle about outside, but they are not the only enemies out there. Pale, ghostly figures march in formation as well, along with bizarre, more monstrous-looking shades with sharp fangs and clawed hands, which roam around with barely any sense of order. The moment you exit the city gates, however, all eyes fall upon you. You can feel the crushing weight of the undead army upon you, and somehow it only now occurs to you that you are facing down a supernatural force which vastly outnumbers you, even before reaching the great undead monster that crawls behind them.

And yet, you take a stance and hold your sword out, finding yourself unusually calm in what should by all rights be an unwinnable fight.

The shades are the first to attack, rushing forward as a chaotic horde to overwhelm you. Your arms move before your mind tells them to, slashing the shades and leaving what seems to be glowing golden gashes along their forms. The sword barely meets any resistance as it cuts through them, yet they hiss and howl in pain. More of them come, hundreds even, but you keep moving. Their numbers soon dwindle, three hundred becomes two hundred, two hundred becomes one hundred. They charge you all at once, some manage to sink their wicked fangs into your skin but you barely even feel it. The cloak you wore for protection soon tears off in the fighting, and even the red rain seems to barely sting you, despite hissing against your skin. You shout out, twirling with your blade and cutting down a whole score of the shades surrounding you, when suddenly a bright light breaks out around you. The shades screech in fear, recoiling from the light, giving you space. You wonder where that light is coming from, and then you notice your reflection in your blade.

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>>1254795
A brilliant golden disk shines on your forehead, while light like the sun cascades over you like flame. The sigh is enough to take your breath away, as you recall what the monks of the city’s temples say about those with marks on their brow. Anathema, they called them. Demons of immeasurable power which threaten the safety and spiritual purity of all those around them. Yet, other words come to mind as you look at yourself, words that feel natural yet come from no knowledge of your own. Solar. Zenith. You recall that booming voice which addressed you back in the alley, and suddenly you find that the voice sounds vaguely familiar, though you’re certain you’ve not heard it yourself anywhere else before. A name springs to mind as you think about it though; Sol Invictus. The Unconquered Sun.

Yet you have no time to ponder these discoveries or to consider just what you’ve become, as the massive beast begins to lower it’s almost-but-not-quite humanoid face.

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>>1254798
The undead stop and turn to look as it lowers itself, a dreadful silence spreading across the battlefield. The fortress gates open, and a single figure begins to walk down from the fortress gates to the beast’s head, then leaps off only to gently hover down onto the ground.

The figure stands roughly ten feet tall, towering over all but the great beast behind him. A black cloak drapes over his form, and a mask bearing a sickening smile and one large, sculpted eye on on the center of it’s face adorns his head. The undead scramble away as he lands, making space for him. You can see sharp fear in even their eyes as they gaze on him, and even the zombies know to clear the way.

He stands there, and gazes towards you with that horrifying grin on his mask, his face concealed beneath it. Immediately, fear starts to grip at your heart. You could feel his dark presence even from here. Against an army of the dead, you would not even bat an eye. But standing here, facing this...thing...your instincts scream for you to run away, as fast as you can.

>Run away. This man is dangerous, you can’t handle him as you are now.
>Run forward and attack. You will not be afraid anymore.
>Write-in

>>1254803
>Hold our ground, wait for an opening

>>1254803
>Run away. This man is dangerous, you can’t handle him as you are now.
There's a difference between bravery and suicide.

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>>1254803
>Run away. This man is dangerous, you can’t handle him as you are now.

>>1254803
>Run away. This man is dangerous, you can't handle him as you are now.
>If possible, attempt some distraction. Prioritize your survival. Live to fight another day.

>>1254803
You don’t know how long you kept running, but when finally you escaped pursuit and the city faded from view, you looked up to see that the red rain was gone, and the moon shined bright silver like it should. You were safe here, safe and alone.

A stream trickled through the clearing where you came to a stop, and you stopped to gaze into it. The golden disk and cascading lights had faded by now, but you remember them clearly. Looking at yourself, you seemed no different from any other person. Yet back there, you fought with the strength of an army, golden light marking you as far more than human. It was...strange. The Immaculates from the Realm had spoken of Anathema as demons which possessed the wicked, granting them great powers at the cost of their spiritual purity along with all those near them. Yet you did not feel like a demon. You saved those people back there, though now that you think of it, that golden disk on your brow must have been shining then as well. That would explain why they looked at you with fear. Regardless, you didn’t feel any sudden urges to drink blood or devour the hearts of innocents, so surely the Immaculates must have been wrong. But if they were wrong, then were there others like you out there? They spoke of the Wyld Hunt, an organization of Dragonblooded maintained by the Realm and Lookshy to hunt and kill the dread Anathema before they could harm others, were the people they hunted the same as you? Moreover, didn’t that mean they would eventually come for you too if they learned of your existence.


You swore loudly, the day’s events all hard to process even now that you have time. As you look down at your clothes, however, you notice something. Red stains, like spilled blood. You were not horribly wounded, in fact now that you looked it seemed that all your superficial wounds had already somehow healed themselves. You recall the stain left on your shoulder by that first drop of red rain, and realize what that rain must have been all this time.

The Immaculates must be wrong. You were no demon. That thing back there, that was a demon. That was something which must be purged from Creation for the good of all mankind.

But that was out of your power. At least, it was right now. You didn’t really know what to do now, or where to go from here. You’d never so much as anticipated leaving Thorns, let alone all this. But you couldn’t just stay out here in the woods forever, you had to go somewhere. While you set your clothes out to clean them in the stream and dry, you tried thinking about all the places you could go from here.

>>1255072
There was Lookshy, Thorns oldest enemy. The strongest military power within the East, you would be safe there so long as they didn’t learn you were Anathema. However, you heard that Lookshy was very wary of outsiders, and if they learned you were from Thorns they may outright ask you to leave.

There was also Nexus, the home of the Guild. The Guild, you’d heard, was the largest trading company in Creation, trading not just in the East but in all corners of Creation. No one would question you there, but you’d heard that Nexus was a dangerous place to live for those without money, and even if you were familiar with living on the streets, people said that Nexus’ streets were far worse than even the poorest parts of Thorns.

There was Great Forks, which you were told had very tense relations with the Realm. Rumors claimed that the three gods there maintained their own cults, rejecting the Immaculate method of worship. If that was the case, you would be safe there, but you’d also heard that they sat on the border of a large Shadowland, where ghosts and other undead wandered. After what happened here at Thorns, you weren’t sure if it was wise to live close to more undead.

Finally, there was the Hundred Kingdoms, a large expanse where countless small kingdoms fought wars and made alliances with one another. It was a chaotic land, where you would surely escape the notice of the Immaculates, and on top of that there were no major Shadowlands there that you knew of. But those lands were far, faaar to the east. You would have to travel a long ways before you could get there.

Before you slept that night, you made a decision. In the morning, you would gather your things and head for:

>Lookshy
>Nexus
>Great Forks
>The Hundred Kingdoms

>>1255075
>The Hundred Kingdoms

Easy experience hooooooooo

Let's stay away from Immaculate-chan and Shadowlands-chan for now.

What the fuck, Captcha.

>>1255075
>Lookshy

>>1255075
>The Hundred Kingdoms
I guess what people are saying will be a good leveling experience.

>>1255075
In the end, the Hundred Kingdoms sounds like your best choice. It was far away, you’d have to travel for a long time before you got to that region, but with your newfound powers you supposed that was nothing to be too concerned about. You’d find a way, it was just a matter of what you would run across in-between. The Immaculate faith was spread far, so you should probably be careful about using your powers too much during the journey there.

With that, you find a spot on the grassy ground and lay down, having no blanket or bedroll with you. Yet the night air did not chill you too badly, as you huddled up and went to sleep while you left your clothes to dry on a nearby tree branch.

The days that would follow would almost surely be full of challenges, but you could rest easy knowing that nothing you face from now on could possibly compare to the hell you just experienced.


---END OF PROLOGUE---

Alright, think that does it for now so I'm calling it. I'll may run again later today or sometime tomorrow, but for now this is a decent place to call it. Got some last stuff to handle though, namely posting mechanics and a sheet. I'll hammer out the sheet real quick, and while I do that feel free to post any feedback, questions, or thoughts you've got. Thanks for playing!

Aw shit motherfuckers.

Our protagonist just tempted fate.

Thanks for the running Sol!

>>1255264
Thank you for running. Will you use the same thread or make a new one?

Also, please archive the thread!

>>1255272
I'll probably use the same thread, honestly. These things seem to last for days anyways, after all.

>>1255275
Right, will do. I'll make a twitter and post it here too once I'm done with the sheet.

>>1255264
>>1255286
Thanks!

Okay, thread has been archived and my twitter is now up. You can follow me at

@InvictusTheQM

Now I'm working on the sheet. Wish I had the photoshop skills to put together a neat little picture character sheet like Exalted Quest has, but for now I'll slap it onto a pastebin.

Okay! Character sheet and mechanics are done. Doing exalted mechanics in a quest isn't all that easy, so I may update these mechanics as needed later on during the quest. If so, then I'll update the pastebin accordingly.

MECHANICS: http://pastebin.com/vtjdjFsF
CHARACTER SHEET: http://pastebin.com/1P1s9C7P

Aww man Solar Exalted quest and I missed it. Would have gone with the Chakram though.
Bloody awesome, if I remember in combat.
Looking forward to next session!

>>1263080
>Chakram
We're too manly to use an engulfing weapon like a throwing anus, dude.

>>1263103
A serrated bladed throwing anus!
There's nothing that says badass better when you have the charmset that lets you boomerang that shit like a flying bisecting buzzsaw!

>>1255264
Aww yiss, another Exalted quest! Opening right before the Mask of Winters took Thorns, too. Nice. Hope we find Grey Ox again someday, but I'm glad I caught this right after the prologue!

Yo, just popping in to let those not following the Twitter know that I'm planning to run again tomorrow, and I've decided to start a new thread just so the Twitter, character sheet, etc. is at the top of the thread for everyone.

Glad to see new people popping in to express interest in the quest too, looking forward to seeing you all there!

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>>1263198
That'd be cool, but only if we don't have the huge hole in the middle and we can go around throwing circular saw blades that everything we fight takes aggravated damage from.

>>1263689
But how the heck would we be able to hold it man, geez.

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>>1263103

>>1265833
With our hands, duh.
How else would we hold it, fampai?

>>1268138
Point taken, hoping QM will come back for part 2

>>1269758
Planning to, yeah. I posted on my twitter, but I'm planning to run tomorrow since I slept in too late and thought it might not be smart to start running late at night.

Speaking of which, if people here aren't following me there already, I'd suggest it. Makes it easier for me to say when I'm running and all that.

New thread is up now!

>>1271392