The Coming Winter: An Abyssal Actual Play Thread

Well after some people on here have showed some interest in me making this thread I have decided to go for it.  Hopefully it will be entertaining to all of you and your comments will be helpful to me.  If anything, at least I will have a pretty clear record of our game typed up for me to reference later.

First a little background on on our group and the three characters.  I'm going to put in some personal information here just so you can better imagine our play style.  If you would rather just read the game stuff, just wait for my next post.

I 've been playing and running Exalted since the 1st edition core came out. I initially picked it up for the supposed backstory of the old World of Darkness games, but ended up loving it so much I haven't really played very much else since then.  I have primarily ST'd Solar games with the occasional Lunar or Sidereal thrown in from time to time.  I work primarily in television and film production, with a little background in acting,  so this is a nice creative outlet where I can see immediate results in the reactions of my players, which is a nice change.

  As far as my ST style, I tend be pretty roleplay heavy, using a lot of voices and stuff  like that.  I also use music a lot, having obtained a huge library of theatrical scores over the years, and from time to time make my own compositions for the game using Garageband on my Mac.  From time to time I assign certain tracks as a theme for particular characters or locales, and I will make a note of it when I do so.

My first player is playing a Dusk caste named Apostle of Dust and Regret.  He is a fairly new player, and completely new to tabletop RPGs.  In fact he used to be a friend of my girlfriend's who would come over and kind of made fun of us at first, but is now a fanatic Exalted player,  buying more books than any of the other players.  He is heavily into exploring the psyche of his character and frequently does things that hurt his character for the sake of roleplaying.

My next player is playing a Midnight caste named Prophet of Malefic Sacraments.  This player has been with me since the beggining and know the most about the system.  He is the closest thing we have to a rules lawyer (although not in a disruptive way),  and is extremely good at optimizing his characters and doing stunts.  He tends to be very methodical and goal oriented, and generally serves as the voice of restraint in our games.

On the other side of the spectrum is my last player,  who is playing a Day caste names Twin Fangs of Adder's Last Breath (he usually just goes by Adder).  This player has been gaming with us for about two years and can be a bit.....eccentric.  Basically most of his characters are batshit crazy in one way or another.  He tends to be rash and impulsive and can get the group into trouble sometimes.  Over our last game he managed to probably take more health levels than all the other characters combined with his foolhardy ways. 

Well thats the background on us.  I'll start into the character preludes on my next post.

Alright I am back.   Been sucked into reading all the Manses in the Cascade of Manses thread.  Anyway on to the preludes.

I should make a note our game is actually beginning in the year following the Empresses disappearance.  Thorns has not yet fallen.

    Apostle of Dust and Regret was the first of the circle to be exalted.  He lived his life as Angry Cricket, a soldier citizen of Lookshy.  Angry Cricket was orignially from the Realm,  but his father sent him and his mother to Lookshy after he got in trouble with the Dynasty.  While they were accpeted into the Lookshy society, there was always a bit of a stigma on Angry Cricket.   Despite that, he made every effort to rise in the military, and eventually became an Ashigeru officer for Lookshy.  In his time in the field he began a love affair with his Dragon-Blooded superior officer, Caral Sikoza.  However this made him an enemy in her brother Caral Machta.  While they were not open in their affair  Machta suspected and did not approve of his sister consort with someone of such suspect breeding.

Thus was the situation when they found themselves on a campaign in the southeast of the Scavenger Lands,  aiding an allied state who had come under attack from one of the recurring Arzcheki hordes.  In one of the engagements,  a group of Ashigeru would be used as a feint, drawing the horde into battle,  while the main force would use up the distraction to flank the horde.  Angry Cricket was chosen to lead the Ashigeru force.

When the battle came, the Ashigeru fought well but were dangerously outnumbered while setting up the distraction.  Angry Cricket engaged the War leader in single combat, but his skills failed him and he was badly wounded.  Fortunately the main force led by Machta came in, routing the Arzcheki and pursuing the survivors.  Spotting an opportunity in the chaos,  Machta found the badly wounded Angry Cricket and stabbed him with an Arzcheki weapon.  Angry Cricket fell into darkness and began to feel his soul tear in two.

But then a voice came to him, offering him a second chance if he would only serve.  This was the Mask of Winters, extending the offer of Abyssal Exaltation.  Angry Cricket agreed to the bargain because he was afraid to die, and also wanted revenge.  Even when the price was explained to him he willingly took it to escape death. 

He awoke in a pile of bodies, the army already having moved on.  The essence of Creation now bothered him and he wandered away, scared to be encountered by his former comrades.  During the night he encountered a dark rider, a nemissary who had come to escort him to Stygia.  After a long journey  into a shadowland and through the Underworld, he eventually arrived in the citadel of the Mask of Winters overlooking the Mouth of the Void.  Here he met his new master and was tutored in the five Understandings.  He was extremely grateful to Mask of Winters, and viewed him as his savior.

Eventually the time came for him to be brought to the Neverborn.  Mask of Winters escorted him down to the lowest bolgia of the Labyrinth and presented him to the Neverborn.  (ST Note:  the Leviathan track from the Hellraiser II soundtrack has to be one of the best things you can play when  your players encounter the floating tombs at the event horizon of  the Void.)    Up until this point Angry Cricket had not really understood the full horror of his situation and in the face of the Void and the Neverborn,  Cricket began to regret his decision.  But it was too late, he was drawn into a tomb and stripped of his name, forever becoming the Apostle. 

Afterwards he was brought back to the Mask of Winters fortress on top of a massive rotting hulk of flesh.  Here he was anointed a deathknight and sworn into the Mask's service.  Shortly afterwards the Mask told him the location of a Manse in Creation that was poorly defended, and instructed him to claim it, kill whoever occupied it and corrupt it as an Abyssal Manse.

During his journey, the Apostle was tormented by the Whispers of the Neverborn, who seemed to being paying extra attention to their new slave.  Upon arriving at the secluded Wood Manse, he was invited in by an very old priest  to have a meal there.  The priest turned out to be a priest of the Unconquered Sun in a fashion,  and his words about him had a profound effect on the Apostle.  But the Apostle knew what he had been commanded to do and strangled the old priest.  Filled immediately with regret,  he proceeded to give the old priest a burial.  He also found various items hidden around the manse, including a belt of aerial mobility, a gold idol of the Unconquered Sun, and the hearthstone. 

He stayed in the manse afterward, and began to pray to the idol of the US, finding it seemed to quiet the Whispers.  He went on to begin to attune to the Hearthstone, when at the moment of total atunement, his resonance erupted causing a powerful blight and corrupting the essence of the manse which began to slowly twist into an Abyssal aspect over the next few weeks.  Afterwards, the Apostle made his way back, but hid away the idol of the Sun in his manse to give him comfort later.

When he returned his master sent him to fetch a new servant.

Great background.

nukedood:

Great background.

Yeah he came up with a pretty good one.  Doing the separate prelude really helped.  This stuff definitely came back to haunt him later though.

Awesome stuff!

Most interesting. I'm normally not into APs, but this one is a pleasure to read so far.

Hey thanks for the great feedback everyone. At first I was worried no one was reading.

Now for the background of the Twin Fangs of the Adders Last Breath.

Finneas was an absolute wretch.  Abandoned somewhere in the slums of Nexus,  he was adopted only as a substitute for a slave.  He grew up mistreated and beaten down, and by the time he was grown he had become a timid skittish creature.  He lived only to serve a string of cruel masters who would abuse him and amuse themselves by making him miserable.

He traveled across the Scavenger Lands, finding his own brand of servile work in various cities.  Eventually, he was hired by a pair of Dynasts, Ragara Methero and Sesus Corval, in Greyfalls who used him as a servant and toadie.  While in their service, Finneas was  ridiculed and laughed at more than anyone ever had.  This reached the pinnacle of humiliation when the Dynasts sent him to deliver a bribe to a particularly cruel and corrupt bureaucrat.  This bureaucrat matched the Dynasts by humiliating him further, escalating into a game where he was sent back and forth, futiley attempting to negotiate for his masters.  It reached its pinnacle when Sesue Corval grew impatient that he severed two of the fingers from one of Finneas's hands.  Whimpering and weeping in an alley, he was noticed and taken in by a barmaid who knew him named Kara.  Over the next couple days she tended to his wound, then sent him on his way out of the city with some food and a few dinars.  It was one of the few acts of kindness in his wretched life.

Making his way south,  Finneas stumbled upon a band of men led by a Scavenger Lord, Varian.  He pleaded with Varian to let him serve him in exchange for food and shelter.  Varian thought about the uses he might have for such a pathetic creature and agreed. 

Finneas would soon discover what Varian had planned but would not understand it.  In the process of raiding an old tomb, Varian sent Finneas in first as a way to set off any traps that might lie in wait.  Strangely enough, Finneas seemed to have a knack for spotting and avoiding such traps.  In spite of being illiterate and ignorate, he became an extremely useful tool to  Varian in his search for buried treasures.  But his luck would eventually run out.

Upon breaching a completely unspoiled tomb, Varian sent Finneas in ahead as always, following behind after Finneas had spotted any traps.  In this tomb however,  an Erymanthoi had been bound to guard it.  When they reached its lair, it fell upon them, ripping and tearing its way through Varian and his men.  Ironically it approached through a hidden passageway from behind, so Finneas was the last to be attacked.  This only gave him enough time to watch Varian and his men die before the demon slashed open his gut and spilled his entrails onto the ground.

As he lay dying,  watching the demon gorge itself on the other bodies, time slowed down.  Much like with the Apostle, the Mask of Winters came to him and offered him the Black Exaltation.  Finneas asked only that he could be powerful and beautiful, and agreed.  Healed of his wounds and empowered, he clutched a knife from one of the bodies and leaped upon the Erymanthoi in a mad fury,  completely overwhelming it with his unexpected attack.  Covered in blood, he made his way out of the tomb where Varian had left one man to guard the entrance.  The guard saw Finneas and, horrified by his appearance, attempted to flee.  Finneas ran him down and slit his throat.  Then,  he began to cut.

When the Apostle arrived to bring back the newly exalted Abyssal, he found him laughing and singing, all while wearing the skin of the man he killed outside.  Though unnerved, particularly considering his recent experiences,  he escorted Finneas back to Stygia.  Just as with the Apostle,  Finneas was taught and descended into the Labyrinth to be judged.  There he was renamed Twin Fangs of the Adder's Last Breath. The whispers of the Neverborn slipped easily with all the other voices he had heard in his head and then proceeded to strengthen until he was as closely attuned to the Neverborn as any Abyssal coud be. (Whispers 5)

Now the Adder serves the Mask and the Neverborn faithfully.  He still remembers the cruel laughter of those who mistreated him, and when his willpower is low, sometimes hallucinates that those around him are still laughing.  He has vowed to silence the sound of laughter across Creation.  But he has power now, and his appearance is slowly taking on a cold beautiful perfection.

It is the happiest time of his life.

I like that. A lot. You guys put together good stuff!

Please to keep the tap open.

So its been awhile but I will endeavor to continue on my actual play thread.

The background of Prophet of Malefic Sacraments:

In the North, one of the many ice walker tribes that traveled the wilderness was the Roaring River tribe.  They followed the mammoth herd across the landscape.  Soaring Eagle had recently taken over the postion of shaman from the man who raised and taught him, Leaping Elk.  Soaring Eagle was new, but had been taught well.  In addition to following the mammoth,  the Roaring River tribe also engaged in some casual raiding.  From time to time they would arrive at small towns or villages and demand goods of various kinds in return for leaving the settlement untouched.  Unfortunately, recently one of the negotiations had gone horribly wrong,  with a couple of overzealous tribesmen slaughtering several relatively harmless townspeople.  The tribe had moved on, but the people of the town did not forget.

As spring approached,  Roaring River tribe prepared for an annual ceremony to appease the various gods that they worshiped.  Soaring Eagle was hard at work organizing a ceremonial hunt when a band of mammoth riders approched the edge of the camp.  A group of warriors led by Iron Mountain, the head warrior,  and Soaring Eagle warily greeted the mammoth riders and asked their business.

Their leader annouched that he was Yurgen Kaneko of the Blackwater tribe, and that he had come to offer the Roaring River tribe an alliance.  His only price was that he had over the warriors who had killed the townspeople earlier.  This was apparantly part of a deal he had made with the town to secure their allegiance.

Seemingly bewitched by the charismatic leaders words, Iron Mountain begin to agree, but Soaring Eagle was not persuaded and stopped him.  Soaring Eagle rejected Kaneko's offer and told him he was dishonorable for trying to force his rule on his fellow Icewalkers. 

Soaring Eagle's words enraged Kaneko and he ordered his men to attack.  At first the Roaring River warriors seemed to be winning, but the Kaneko entered the battle, revealing his supernatural power.  He began knocking the warriors left and right like rag dolls,  and even survived a mammoth falling on top of him.  In the fray, Soaring Eagle was knocked off the edge of a nearby ridge and left unconcious at the bottom of a shallow ravine.

Awakening,  Soaring Eagle made his way back up to his camp, only to find it destroyed.  There was a pyre where he found the remains of many of the tribe's warriors, and the rest of the tribe appeared to have been captured and taken away.  Swearing to find his tribe again, Soaring Eagle set of in pursuit of Kaneko and the Blackwater tribe.  

His search proved frustrating though.  His quarry seemed almost supernaturally elusive,  covering their tracks well.  In time, hearing that the Blackwater had begun trading with the more civilized coastal cities, he made his way there. 

Travelling for the first time in urban civilization,  Soaring Eagle was disgusted by their weakness and vice.  But he still pushed on, attempting to gather information in his crude barbarian fashion.

After some time,  Soaring Eagle found his way to a tavern that he had heard hosted some of the Blackwater tribe a few days before.  He went there and began asking questions,  and two men appeared to want to help him.  They shared a few drinks together, and the men said that while they had not seen the Blackwater, they knew someone who would probably know.

They left the tavern and led Soaring Eagle into an alleyway. Eagle had not been feeling well and realized he had been drugged.  The men began to  rough him up, but Eagle had great strength and stamina and put up more of a fight than they expected.  In the end though, Eagle was fatally wounded.  Looking down at blade sticking out of him,  he realized that it was one of Iron Mountain's knives.

As he lay dying, the two thugs began to strip him of his possessions.  In the hazy space between life and death,  he heard a voice which offered him the same deal that his companions recieved.  Immediately accepting, he snapped back to life, brutally slaughtering his would-be murderers.  Enraged and disgusted by the treacherous "civilized" people, he vowed he would tear down civilization and destroy all its weak and soft members.

In time, the Apostle of Dust and Regret found Eagle and brought him to his master in Stygia.  Together they went to the Neverborn and Eagle returned with a new name: Prophet of Malefic Sacraments.  Mask of Winters taught him the skills he needed to be an effective Midnight caste, as well as teaching him how to surpress his barbarian origins to better blend with the city people he wished to destroy. 

Thus was Mask of Winters's first cirlce of Abyssals formed.

Yet more awesomeness. I look forward to more!