Salroka

Exalted: Fall of Creation

We should do some recruiting, I think.

Exalted: Fall of Creation

The mixed reactions were normal, rationalized Fergus. After all, he was there to take away their refuge... then offered help? Suspicions were only natural. Still, Sparrow was nothing but kind and thanked everyone for their support. Following Sparrow out the door and motioning for his two female friends to join them, Fergus commented on something the monk had said. "Metal Road is full of old foundries yes? Forgive me if I am mistaken. I'm not actually from this city and don't know for sure." He didn't fully agree that would be the best place, but it WOULD have at least one unused warehouse they might be able to obtain. And perhaps some of the folks under his care could find work nearby as well.

"I was thinking perhaps near the old university on the northern side of the city. There should be a few sympathetic folks there that could provide more help. And you could take advantage of some of the disused buildings that have not been claimed for years. I'd be happy to walk with you and see if we can find a suitable structure, as it is on my way to to my next case." Fergus felt that he should be open with these folks. Admitting he wanted to help while also heading to his next case might have seemed selfish, but it would preserve his credibility with them.

There was one other reason he suggested the area. "There are also a few inns that you might be able to use for the short term in that area. They are less expensive, as they usually cater to traveling scholars and students of the university. Just an idea, of course."

The group conversed as they walked, and things seemed to remain fairly civil for a time. But then things changed for the worse... for the WORST, some might argue.

A sound just on the edge of hearing caught the attention of the Mnemon barrister. "Hold on. What was that?"

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The charge was on to claim the Imperial Ruins. Cackling Harlot and her horde of warriors descended from the eastern foothills and fell upon the city like a tsunami. At their rear came the Juggernaut, lumbering in from the coast. Even from a dozen miles away, its low guttural moan could be heard. It seemed to be a sort of rallying cry for the Harlot's forces, who all yelled out in unison upon hearing it. Harlot herself had begun setting structures ablaze around her, the flames dancing merrily in a macabre ballet of misery and destruction.

Worse yet, the Juggernaut itself began to attack. From its distant vantage, the siege cannons began to fire. Rather than heavy shells of metal and firedust, the impacts seemed to deal minimal initial damage. Instead, lashing tendrils of silvery energy rushed out from the points the shells landed and corroded flesh and stone and metal alike. The sheer scope of the attack made one thing very clear...

War had come to the Imperial Ruins.

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In moments, Fergus' outlook had gone from upbeat and hopeful and happy to be helping... to terrified and confused. Though he could not see the damage, he heard the moan of the Juggernaut and saw the shells falling from the sky and landing in the city. Combined with the smoke from the fires that were breaking out, it made obvious what was happening.

It was Fergus who spoke up first among the group as they witnessed the start of another war. "I don't want to worry anyone, but I think our priorities just shifted from finding shelter to survival." ... and then something confirmed his statement. A volley of three shells landed near them. One on a merchant's storehouse, one in a fountain, and another... through the wall of Sparrow's church. The screams were piercing as the silvery tendrils lashed out and began to consume the stone and metal of buildings and the flesh of any unfortunate people close enough to be touched.

At the risk of sounding insensitive, Fergus spoke up again. "We need to leave. Now. If we get caught by those things, we're every bit as d-" he was cut short when the eastern wall and the ceiling of Sparrow's church came crumbling down. "By the dragons..." Fergus froze for a moment, but snapped back to reality when a fleeing man bumped into him and nearly knocked him over. "We need to go!"

Exalted: Fall of Creation

Of the three people nearest to Fergus upon his explaining why he was there, it seemed as though the only person handling this somewhat well was the monk. It made sense, given his former training. Immaculates, even former ones, were often exemplars of self-control. One woman suggested they move to a place that was so unsafe that not even feral hounds chose to live there. The other was making demands of him as if she was some noble of higher standing than the magistrates of the city. Neither was an intelligent thing to do, but Fergus understood they were being emotional. Luckily for all three, Fergus did not enjoy delivering this news to them. He had a plan that would help all of them, and still get the land owner what they wanted.

"Calm yourselves, please." pleaded Fergus before taking a few individual berries out of one of the pouches on his belt and nervously eating them, giving the trio a moment to compose themselves. "I know this is tragic for you all. As I said, I wish I didn't have to give you this news. If it were up to me? I'd just let you stay. But that's not the case." he looked to his side and rifled through a different pouch on his belt as he spoke. "All that being said, the land owner and magistrates said nothing about allowing OR disallowing me personally to help. I'd like to give you some money in order to both pay for assistance in moving your things from the building and to arrange temporary shelter at an inn nearby."

At that, he took one Koku and two Quian from the pouch he had been fiddling with. "I may be a barrister. I may be wealthy. I may be privileged. But I am not heartless. You're doing good work here. Yes, the man is within his rights to demand you leave. But he is not doing so in a way that is very considerate. Legal, yes. Right, no. So take this money and use it. It should get you by for a week or so, at least. Now come on. Let's start by finding a suitable place nearby. The able-bodied here can at least START packing things up, yes?"

Fergus handed the money to Snow and motioned to the front exit.

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Not far away, Cackling Harlot's Retribution saw the silhouette of a gargantuan creature approaching from the east. The Juggernaut had arrived. This was the signal she had beem waiting for. Turning to her force of undead soldiers, she let out a primal scream and pointed her blade toward the Imperial Ruins. It was time to take the city. Cackling Harlot knew this was the beginning of the end, and in a few short minutes she would bask in the despair and death that she and her warriors would unleash.

Exalted: Fall of Creation

I will likely be moving us forward tomorrow if YoMoves does not post.

Exalted: Fall of Creation

"Of bloody course they'd freak out." grumbled Fergus as he watched folks scramble around. No one really liked seeing him or others in his profession unless they were the claimant. Still, he had a job to do. Sometimes it wasn't pleasant. Sometimes it wasn't enjoyable. But the unfortunate fact was that people like him were necessary. If not for laws, what would the Blessed Isle be but a massive collection of nomads and bandits? Plus the folks he served such writs to USUALLY did something to deserve it. Granted, that wasn't the case this time.

As he neared the entryway to the makeshift church, the Mnemon lawyer heard "... oor. Right now!" and thought to himself "Great. Now they are going to barricade the door. This is going to be faaaaantastic." And so he knocked on the door, expecting things to get complicated very quickly. Such was usually the case. Whether it was a writ to pay for something, a seizure of property, request to vacate, etc... folks just did not like being given bad news and would often do crazy things to avoid it. That didn't deter Fergus, though. He wasn't going anywhere.

Much to his surprise, the door not only was NOT barricaded; but the monk who led the congregation answered the knock. "Much appreciated, my Immaculate friend. I have to admit I'm not really used to warm welcomes. Comes with the trade, you know. Most folks are not fond of bloodsucking lawyer types like myself." the statement was followed by a hearty chuckle.

The duo was greeted by a girl who was dressed somewhat nicely. She spoke of a "gig" before turning her attention to Fergus and asking if the monk was being troubled by his presence. Her tone was firm and not exactly polite, but verbal confrontations were definitely preferable to physical ones. Uppn taking a small piece of paper from his shirt pocket, he handed it to the girl. What was it? Simple. It was a business card, of sorts. His information on one side, and House Mnemon credentials on the other.

"Fergus Mac Teague, Imperial barrister for House Mnemon. I do sincerely wish I WASN'T here to trouble our monk friend here." he tilted his head in Snow's direction as he made mention of him, then turned to face the man directly. "Unfortunately, that's not the case today. I've a writ from the noble courts demanding you vacate within the day." even though he was just doing his job, a blatant look of displeasure had crept onto Fergus' face. It was clear he was not enjoying this delivery.

A sigh, a look around, and another handful of trail mix.

"I'm duty-bound to enforce this, and I won't be leaving until it is complied with. That said... there's nothing saying I can't help. Surely an extra pair of hands would be useful." While it wasn't much, helping them move things out was literally the only thing he could do to make the news less hard to bear. He couldn't just peave these people to do all the work themselves. After all, the guardsmen nearby sure as hell wouldn't help out. They were too busy watching nothing.

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Meanwhile, the woman who had singlehandedly routed a Lintha raid on the coast was standing on a hillside overlooking the Imperial Ruins. In her hand, a vicious blade crafted from blackened and bloodthirsty Soulsteel. Behind her, a force of nearly ten thousand undead warriors and hungry ghosts... all bent on destroying whatever they were ordered to attack. In their sights: The Imperial Ruins. It would not be long before they would burst forth from the forests that surrounded the makeshift city and reduced it to a smoldering graveyard. All at the behest of their overlord, the Mask of Winters.

Soon, the Blessed Isle would fall before his mighty army and righteous cause. No fey would take Winters’ prize from him. He had schemed for too long to let the rest of the world fall to the forces of chaos. In destroying it, he would not only preserve it and rule over it for himself… but also save it, in a twisted sense. The Wyld could not consume shadowlands, as they were directly connected to the Underworld. Creation had a simple choice to make. Either it would live on under his rule… or perish altogether. It mattered not if the people understood that or if they fought against him. His goal was as noble as it was selfish. The Imperial Ruins would be the staging area for his grand assault and creation of the largest shadowland in history... and no one would stop him now.

Exalted: Fall of Creation

@Eviledd1984

No worries, mate. Hope you feel better soon. If the RP is ongoing, we will be accepting characters... so feel free to drop in and submit a character if the desire ever strikes you.

Exalted: Fall of Creation

IC has begun.

@Meleck@ShwiggityShwah@YoMoves

Exalted: Fall of Creation

"...they're coming."

T'was on a barrier island barely thirty kilometers off of the coast of the Blessed Isle. Warm summer air and a pleasantly salty breeze belied the terror the inhabitants were going through. Lintha pirates, horrible rogues with a penchant for demon worship and wanton slaughter, were laying siege to the small community. Despite it all, one young woman walked toward the sea shore. Her eyes transfixed to the horizon, she muttered only two words. Though her words were nearly silent to all but the most keen of ears, one of the nearby Lintha was able to read her lips. The pirate grumbled, then briskly walked over and cuffed her upside the head with the haft of his broad-axe.

"Oi, you daft cunt! We's already 'ere!" growled the pirate as he ran his knife up the back of the woman's dress. However, something stopped the man dead in his tracks as he leaned in to grope her and run his tongue along her cheek. What came next was not what the pirate expected. "Mmm, yeah... come on, you mutated Lintha bastard. Come on! Take me like the whore you want me to be!" As she finished, the woman grabbed hold of her top and tore it off, only to throw it in the pirate's face. Surprised, the pirate stepped back momentarily... only to be run through with a large sword.

The girl before him tilted her head, smiled, and waved goodbye to her would-be rapist before bursting into tiny ribbons of crimson and black. As the Lintha turned his head to see who had stabbed him from behind, he saw a woman clad in dark armor for the briefest of moments before she tore her sword out sideways through his ribcage and followed it up with a decapitation.

Flicking the blood from her blade, the woman was clearly irritated. "I sent the signal to those blighters in Thorns nearly six weeks ago. You'd think crossing the inland sea on th..."

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It was a day like any other in the Imperial Ruins. The night had brought light rain, the morning was cool and pleasant, and most folks were just trying to get through another day. As he sat across from one of the various churches in the Ruins, Fergus chuckled and said "I suppose I should go deliver the news to them." before popping a handful of Bloodberry Trail Mix into his mouth. What news? Well, it was not likely good news for the folks using the building. The local magistrate had been informed by the owner of the land that he wished the current "tenants" to vacate. Why? He wanted to build a home there for his extended family, as doing so in the Imperial Ruins was far cheaper than buying a new plot of land elsewhere.

For a moment, Fergus thought to himself if he REALLY wanted to enforce this writ. From everything he'd heard, the monk who headed this little conclave was not only a veteran of the war but also a pillar of the local community. That only lasted a moment, however. Fergus was, after all, a child of House Mnemon. Not only did he have to live up to that, but his reputation as a barrister would take a huge hit if he refused to present writs to defendants. If THAT happened, he wouldn't make near as much jade. If he didn't make as much jade, well... he could kiss moving back home goodbye. When it all boiled down, he didn't have much choice in the matter.

Another handful of his favorite snack went down the hatch as he sat there thinking, but he couldn't really delay any longer. He had four other writs to hand out before the end of the day. Given the size of this district of the city and the fact he was on foot, that alone would take up most of his afternoon. Not to mention the walk home afterward. Thankfully he would be in the courtroom all day tomorrow and his poor legs would get a break from all the walking. Still, a job was a job. It was time to be the bearer of bad news. It sucked, but someone had to do it. And so Fergus put on his best face and headed over to the rather quaint-looking house of worship.

"Dragons, please forgive me for this one. I'm just doing my job."

Exalted: Fall of Creation

I'm going to likely kick off the IC on Friday, by 11:59PM EDT.

Just to let everyone know.

Exalted: Fall of Creation

@dragonpiece

Keep them saved for later. I never close submissions, as this takes place in a huge world and new characters can arrive basically at any time.

@Meleck

No worries, man. I knew what you meant. Take time and get things sorted. As I said, I am going to forego kicking things off for a couple more days to give folks time.