Tomb of the Five Corners: Exalted

[Krylo]

Do not believe what the
scientists tell you. The natural
history we know is a lie, a
falsehood sold to us by wicked
old men who would make the
world a dull gray prison and
protect us from the dangers
inherent to freedom. They would
have you believe our planet to
be a lonely starship, hurtling
through the void of space,
barren of magic and in need of
a stern hand upon the rudder.

Close your mind to their
deception. The time before our
time was not a time of senseless
natural struggle and reptilian
rage, but a time of myth and
sorcery. It was a time of legend,
when heroes walked Creation
and wielded the very power of
the gods. It was a time before
the world was bent, a time
before the magic of Creation
lessened, a time before the souls
of men became the stunted,
withered things they are today.

This is a story of that time

***


Okay, I think most of us know what exalted is by now. Big damn heroes with big damn super powers against big damn villains. This here game of exalted is going to be a pre-genned adventured called Return to the Tomb of the Five Corners. The reason I'm doing a pre-genned adventure and not my own campaign is because pretty much every exalted game tends to fall apart before we even get to kill shit, and I'd rather test the waters with something that's short, relatively simple, and quick to get into. It seems like it will have the most chance of working.

If this succeeds there's a chance (maybe even a good one) of me trying something more original! Hopefully it will also inspire other people to try and, you know, actually DO something as well *coughfunkacough* so I can actually be a player sometime, too.

On to the business.

I need 4 players, one Dawn, twilight, night, and zenith character. No eclipse. The adventure only calls for those four. I'll be going on a combination of first come first serve and time availability/trustworthiness for these positions. So mostly if you ask first you'll get in, the exception being if I can't line up a time or you don't show up to a session without a good reason (or multiple sessions), in which case I'll invite in someone who hadn't been initially quick enough but had expressed interest.

This means you should express interest even if you don't get one of the initial four spots!

The adventure also came with pre-genned character sheets I'll attach. You can make your own, but the adventure is designed for these four characters, so I'd suggest just taking the pre-genned characters. This will also facilitate getting into the game faster. You'll find those characters attached to the end of this post.

We'll be using standard rules, no errata or house rules, again because this is what the adventure was designed for, and, again, because it will make things easier.

We'll also be playing this in chat, my preference being the RP section of the NPF Ajax chat (and using the ajax dice roller), so as to facilitate a smoother game, allow interested parties to sit in and watch if they like (so long as they don't interfere with the game), and will allow me easy access to the logs. We could also set up an AIM chatroom as well if someone has a problem with the Ajax idea.

I'm available Mon-Friday after 9pm Central, Saturday after 6pm Central, and Sunday anytime after 2pm Central, on any given day. I also have every other week off, so we might be able to work in extra sessions during my week off, depending on how everyone's times line up and our ability to stay in contact with each other.

Post your available times when you want to sign up.

Further, this is meant to be an 'introduction to the game' adventure, so if you have little, or even no, experience with exalted that's fine! I can rip out the first chapter or two of the module that explains the basic rules or, better yet, if you can get your hands on the core rulebook and read up, you're still fine. Really even if you can't do either of that I can mostly tell you what you need to roll and answer any specific questions.

Current Castes Claimed:
Dawn: Steel
Zenith: Mern
Twilight: Overcast
Night: Arhra

All that out of the way:

***


Returning to the city of Nexus after a successful campaign against the bandit king Barrow Black and his army, the Eyes in the Hills, you find a message waiting for you.

My Circlemates,
Though we have never met, I feel I know all of you. When the stories of your deeds
reached me, I was newly Exalted, alone and confused, but somehow, the tales triggered
memories of a life before this one, where we stood side-by-side and fought as one. I’m sure
you all know the feeling of which I write, just as I’m sure you all know the emptiness your
absence brings me.
When I began my search for the companions my memories promised me, I followed my
visions to an ancient ruin, believing perhaps the landmark I sensed would be a meeting point. I
thought we’d be drawn together to a common goal, but the place I found was empty.
This note is a compromise. I wish I could see you in person, but I dare not leave my
find. The ruins to which I was led by the memories of my past life contain relics of the
First Age, treasures beyond value that belong rightfully to all of us. I can’t fully unlock
this ruin alone, and I fear that if I leave to find you myself, we will return to nothing but
a plundered shell. Please, follow the messenger with whom I’ve entrusted this note, and
together, we will claim our inheritance.

The note was unsigned, but sealed in golden wax pressed with the sigil of the eclipse caste, and you had long wondered at the identity of your fifth circle mate, all of you having gleaned flashes of the first age and the final member of your perfect circle.

The messenger, a man by the name of Little Shoe, explained to you that he was intrusted with this note in the town of Northeast Spoke by a beautiful woman with pale skin and dark hair, and that it had taken him six months to track you down and deliver it. Your campaign against the Eyes had been long, and he'd eventually decided he'd be best off waiting for you in Nexus for your return.

You decided to follow him to the ruins at once, crossing the Yellow River and heading north and east for days until reaching the Northeast spoke where you heard rumors of bandits bearing the symbol of the Eyes of the Hills to the north in a place known as the Valley of Death, a desolate expanse avoided by the people of the region for as long as anyone can remember.

Once you arrived the area seemed familiar, and following flashes of your first age memories you were able to quickly find the ruins, leaving Little Shoe behind. . .

[Arhra]

I am the night!

[Overcast]

I'll call twilight.

I am about 15 hours ahead of CST so I imagine I can come in on Fridays and Saturdays without trouble on your schedual. Most other days I don't get off until 1am your time so I don't see it happening unless you happened to wake up that ungodly early on your weeks off.

[Krylo]

Don't forget to post your availabilities for chat.

[Menarker]

I'm honestly not too familiar with Exalted, but am kinda interested in it. Chances are I'll pop by during the evenings of most days (although schoolwork is a factor).

Perhaps you can send me the first few chapters so I can understand the character sheets as provided?

Also, nothing against Ajax personally, but I could create an edupad to do some of the rping or leave messages if that helps out.

EDIT: I'm on Western Pacific time, -8 GMT if I'm not mistaken.

[Arhra]

I will be available between 6pm to 11pm in Australian EST on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and pretty much any time when I'm awake on the weekend except between 2pm and 6pm on Saturdays.

This is GMT +10 and I am currently not on daylight savings so times in America are a little over half a day behind me!

[Steel Shadow]

Yeah, sure, I'll take whatever's left. Dawn if it's still open.

Available pretty much whenever right now, even if I'm supposed to live normal on GMT.

... I should mention I'm only vaguely familiar with Exalted, mostly from Keychain of Creation and Arhra's ramblings, so...

[Dracorion]

Well, you said to express interest even after all the slots are seemingly filled.

I'm available Monday through Friday after 11:30 am Central, Saturday from 11 am to 2:30 am Central and then it depends, sometimes I eat out and sometimes I get take out, but I should definitely be available after 9 pm Central.

Sundays I'm available after 11 am Central.

That being said, I have zero experience with Exalted.

[mauve]

Well, you said to express interest even after all the slots are seemingly filled. This.

That being said, I have zero experience with Exalted. This also.

Sadly, I work shitty hours so it's totally cool if I'm auto-disqualified because I'm usually online from like midnight to three a.m. Pacific time. (As in, online and available to chat. I can get online via my phone during the day, but not into Ajax or edupads.)

[Menarker]

Ok, just to let you know, Friday (including tonight) I probably won't be around much because I got work in the afternoon to late evening. The other evenings, I got more hours to spare.

[Krylo]

I'm on Western Pacific time, -8 GMT if I'm not mistaken.

If you're in Daylight Savings Time right now (which you should be unless your specific state or whatever doesn't observe it) you're actually -7, I believe. Until November.

DST is obnoxious.

ANYWAY, assuming you're in the US and therefore on -7 and. . .
I'll call twilight.

I am about 15 hours ahead of CST so I imagine I can come in on Fridays and Saturdays without trouble on your schedual. Most other days I don't get off until 1am your time so I don't see it happening unless you happened to wake up that ungodly early on your weeks off.

15 ahead of CST would be GMT +9, right?

Assuming both of those things, and that I did my math right (I hate time zones). . .
Person | Timezone | Times available in GMT
Me........|.GMT-5......|2am mon-friday, 11pm Saturday, 7pm sunday
Arhra....|GMT+10....|8am-1pm Tues, Thurs, Friday, Anytime weekend except between 4am and 8am on saturdays
OC........|GMT+9......|6am Sun-Thursday, 2am Friday, 11pm Saturday
Mern....|GMT-7(?)...| (???)


So we're looking at anytime after 11pm GMT on saturdays.

Which is 6pm my time, 9am Arhra's time, 8am OC's time, and 4pm Mern's time. And no idea on Steel's times 'cause he didn't put in his timezone, but he's available all the time so whatever.

Again, assuming my math is right. Anyone is free to check it. Actually, please do. For the record as of making this post, it is roughly 5:40pm my time (assuming you have your time stamps set up correctly you should be able to get the difference between my time and yours from that).

Also, I'd like interested parties to try and make it to spectate during those times, so you can all learn the game.

Mern: I'll work on getting those pages set up for you somehow right now.

[Krylo]

Mern/Anyone Else: here's a pdf (http://www.filedropper.com/justthebasics) with just the rules and the .pdf versions of the character sheets. They have a bit more info, like how the specific limits each character has works (instead of just the name) the character history, that kind of thing.

[Menarker]

Ouch, 4 PM during Saturdays I'm working.

Maybe you can see what time zone I'm in better based on the time stamp of this post. From the look of my clock, it's 4:16 at the time of posting this.

EDIT: Anyhow, I'm reading the PDFs and the proposed bio.

[Krylo]

When do you get off on saturdays?

Also: I had your timezone correct according to the timestamps.

[Menarker]

Basically...

*Weekends I have classes starting at 9:30 in morning (except on Thursday)
Monday: Be back or at least online at 11AM
Tuesday: Back or on at 11AM until 3PM then back again at 7 PM
Wednesday: Back or online by 11AM
Thursday: Be online until 2PM and then back at 7PM
Friday: Not really a good day (Back by close to midnight)
Saturday: Online in the morning up until 1PM then back by 8:30 PM
Sunday: Online in the morning up until Noon then back by 7:30 or 8PM.

[Dracorion]

Oh hey, I didn't account for DST. I'm basically only half an hour ahead of you, Kry (GMT-4:30). So to fix my earlier time frame...

I'm available Monday through Friday after 12:30 pm Central, Saturday from 12 pm to 3:30 pm Central and then it depends, sometimes I eat out and sometimes I get take out, but I should definitely be available after 10 pm Central.

Sundays I'm available after 12 pm Central.

Translated to GMT:

I'm available Monday through Friday after 5 pm GMT, Saturday from 4:30 pm to 8 pm GMT and then it depends, sometimes I eat out and sometimes I get take out, but I should definitely be available after 2:30 am GMT.

Sundays I'm available after 4:30 pm GMT.

[Krylo]

Okay, Mern, I've done the maths and your schedule has a conflict (or multiple conflicts) on every day of the week.

The only time we could possibly do for you would be 3 am my time, which would be 5 am your time, on saturday morning and I don't think that's going to work out for you either. And, honestly, I'd rather start earlier in the day (later in the day before, rather) as well.

Drac, if you want to take the Zenith, we'll be doing:

Friday 9pm my time, Noon Saturday Arhra Time, 11am Saturday OC time, 2am Saturday Steel Time, 9:30pm Friday Drac time.

UNLESS Mern can somehow figure out a way, looking at everyone's schedules to be able to log on for at least a couple hours, or someone else can make some free time.

It's entirely possible I fucked this up somehow and there's some way to work you in, but I didn't find it. You're welcome to try, and I'll be more than happy to put Drac back on the spectator's bench.

Check newest post, this is no longer a thing.

[Overcast]

Your maths seem about right, at the very least for my time zone. Still seems to be working as it will, fridays and saturdays with increased possibilities if we feel like waking you up one hell of early.

[Krylo]

I don't usually go to bed until about 6 am (or later) my time, except on fridays (well saturday mornings), 'cause saturdays I work earlier.

But I don't really want to schedule the RP for that late. Mostly 'cause I don't want to be doing it right before I go to bed. Tends to make it hard to sleep.

Kinda like watching a movie is making it hard to get to sleep now.

[Krylo]

In other news I fucking love this avatar. I don't know it just adds a special something to every post with that huge grin and those fuck-awesome shades.

[Krylo]

SO BECAUSE I CAN'T SLEEP I WENT AND REDID ALL THE MATH BETTERERER.

Because fuck trying to get it to set up proper in here I have made it a .txt. Make sure wordwrap is off (or you have the window big enough) so you can see it.

If you care.

RELEVANT INFO IS AS FOLLOWS, ALL TIMES IN GMT/UTC/WHATEVER THE KIDS ARE CALLING IT THESE DAYS:


Monday: 7am (Arhra/OC/Steel/Drac)
Tuesday: 8am (Arha/OC/Steel/Mauve)
Wednesday: None!
Thursday: 8am (Arhra/OC/Steel/Mauve)
Friday: 8am (Arhra/OC/Steel/Mauve)
Sat: None! (no possible group of four players available)
Sun: 6am (Arhra/OC/Steel/Drac?) 7am (Arhra/OC/Steel/Drac?/Mauve)

Mern you are back in if you are able to make any of those times.

Edit: Once we figure out if we are taking mern or drac (or even mauve) we can work out how many times a week we want to do this shit.

Edit2: The thing that had me fucking up before was forgetting to go into the next day when say, my being able to start at 9pm monday became 2am UTC Tuesday. Still hate timezones!

[Overcast]

In my case it looks about 7am GST. Every day short of Saturday and Saturday which honestly may as well be 3pm Friday GST to 1pm Sunday.

[Menarker]

Sorry to say that I'll have to drop. Someone else can take up my slot. Thanks for your time and attention though.

[Krylo]

I have edited the availabilities to drop you, Mern.

DRAC GET YO ASS OVER HERE AND LEMME KNOW WHETHER THESE TIMES ACTUALLY WORK

[batgirl]

So, quick question. If there are those of us who are around during the times that you're rping and would like to watch, is that possible? I'd like to see how this chat rp plays out and it would be an interesting way to learn the game.

[Dracorion]

Well, I'm not actually available Mondays at 7 am GMT. Unless I decide I want to forgo sleeping and just stay up all night until I have to go to class.

I suspect the reason for the mishap is when I was translating my available times to GMT I did remember to account for am of the next day but forgot to actually move that time to the next day.

That said, I'm good for 6 am GMT on Sundays.

[Krylo]

So, quick question. If there are those of us who are around during the times that you're rping and would like to watch, is that possible? I'd like to see how this chat rp plays out and it would be an interesting way to learn the game.
Spectating is, indeed, acceptable.

Well, I'm not actually available Mondays at 7 am GMT. Unless I decide I want to forgo sleeping and just stay up all night until I have to go to class.

I suspect the reason for the mishap is when I was translating my available times to GMT I did remember to account for am of the next day but forgot to actually move that time to the next day.

That said, I'm good for 6 am GMT on Sundays.

Alright then.

And quick check to make sure this works for everyone else:

That'd be 1 am Sun my time, 4pm Sun Arhra's time, 3pm (I think) Sun OC's time, 6am Sunday steel's time, and 1:30 am Sun Drac's time (which is seriously a weird timezone).

So, Steel, Arhra, and OC, this good?

[Dracorion]

1:30 am Sun Drac's time (which is seriously a weird timezone).

Maybe yours is the weird timezone.

[Steel Shadow]

6am's workable for me, sure.

[Overcast]

3pm works just fine for me.

[Arhra]

Works for me!

[Krylo]

Okay, we're starting next sunday.

Everyone be there, lest ye feel the fury of a (shitty) GM scorned.

Mauve, I think this is one hour before your time? You're our fill in if someone doesn't show so try to make it as soon as you can just in case, please.

That's NPF ajax chat's Roleplaying channel.

The command you're going to want to know is /roll.

It's /roll xdy where x is the number of die and y is the sides. So to roll 6 d10 it'd be /roll 6d10

[Overcast]

To ulticlarify. As I am a day ahead of you and shit gets awkward. Next Sunday as of your post is this Sunday now that it is Wendsday yes?

[Krylo]

Yes. It is this coming sunday.

[Arhra]

So to summarise:

1) Steel is the unluckiest man to have ever lived.

2) Do not try to punch bandits.

3) Bandits are not actually people and we should endeavour to keep this in mind in the future.

4) It's a traaaaaaap!

5) Overcast will someday doom us all.

6) Do not try to punch fire demons.

7) Bad luck aside, Steel's pretty good with a sword.

[Dracorion]

Even I knew not to punch fire demons.

Wait, did I get that far? If I did, I totally wouldn't have punched the fire demons.

So, anyway, it turns out I had no idea how long a session really is, and was wholly unprepared for a long haul.

Sorry about that, I'll be actually ready next time. When's our next session? Also, Kry, is there any chance you can show me the chat logs so I can catch up on what I missed, or would that be an abuse of your moderating powers?

[Girasol of Chaos]

So that was hilarious as shit to watch. Did you guys survive long enough to go again next week?

[Krylo]

That went way longer than I expected it to as well, Drac.

Anyway, for the couple of you who left early, what you missed:

Kade, Naria, and Rinan all decided they were sick and tired of these goddamned fire monsters on this goddamn roof and used all the essence. All of it. Steel completely destroyed two with a pretty well stunted combo enriched flurry that involved using the slope of the roof for momentum and what not, Rinan killed one where it stood with a furious onslaught of spearings, also combo enriched, which left one (which was already wounded by Morning Breeze), for Naria. She shot it in the eye and just barely finished it off.

We stopped there, as that Drac had passed out and missed the end of the fight, and while we didn't want to stop in the middle of combat, we also didn't want to go on without one of our members.

I'm restoring everyone's essence to full to make up for forgetting to restore essence from stunting for awhile. So everyone will be starting with full essence come saturday again.

Kade is still suffering from 1 level of bashing damage, putting him in his -0 wound level, and GB is suffering from 1 level of lethal damage, putting him in the same. Neither are suffering drawbacks from being hurt yet.

In other news! Despite my being pretty foggy on the rules (which I'm less so after that and hopefully will be even less so by this coming saturday as this is my week off giving me more time to reread things and what not), I thought that went pretty well, and was actually pretty fun.

I hope you guys feel the same way.

Also, after playing for a bit does anyone have any questions?

[Wizardcat]

Also, Kry, is there any chance you can show me the chat logs so I can catch up on what I missed, or would that be an abuse of your moderating powers?
I C+P'd the session last night; currently in the process of adding all the missing line breaks so it's readable. I'll try to PM it to you when I'm done.

[Krylo]

I C+P'd the session last night; currently in the process of adding all the missing line breaks so it's readable. I'll try to PM it to you when I'm done.

Oh man, thank you. I was just gonna look into doing that from the logs, but adding those line breaks is a huge pain.

Gold star for you.

Edit: And I forgot to mention in response to Drac's other question; Next session is same time next week.

[Dracorion]

That's awesome, thanks Wizzie.

We stopped there, as that Drac had passed out and missed the end of the fight, and while we didn't want to stop in the middle of combat, we also didn't want to go on without one of our members.

I think I was out of it before that. I remember telling you I was using Snake Form when the flaming demon fight started, then waking up later and seeing some words on the chat and I just typed something about me passing out and then I passed out again.

Kade is still suffering from 1 level of bashing damage, putting him in his -0 wound level, and GB is suffering from 1 level of lethal damage, putting him in the same. Neither are suffering drawbacks from being hurt yet.

GB? Did we get a new partymember while I wasn't looking or do you mean Goddamn Morning Breeze?

In other news! Despite my being pretty foggy on the rules (which I'm less so after that and hopefully will be even less so by this coming saturday as this is my week off giving me more time to reread things and what not), I thought that went pretty well, and was actually pretty fun.

I hope you guys feel the same way.

Unconsciousness aside, I did have fun. The system is entertaining and I suspect it'll only get better once I get a handle on writing good stunts and also remembering not to kick mooks with obscene bashing soak.

Also, after playing for a bit does anyone have any questions?

Not a question per se, but I forgot to pick up a table and bring it through the gate.

Well, I suppose we probably couldn't have brought it up to the tree village. Thrown it maybe? Is it possible to throw a table that high up? I think Goddamn Morning Breeze has 0 Throw anyway.

Edit: And I forgot to mention in response to Drac's other question; Next session is same time next week.

Cool.

[Wizardcat]

And finally fucking done.

The text that you have entered is too long (147121 characters). Please shorten it to 20000 characters long.

Guess I split it up into eight parts, unless someone else has a better idea.

Edit: I am bad at guessing chunks of 20000 characters, so it's in nine parts since I don't want to spend more time on this. Also why the fuck do we need 60 seconds in between PMs.

Edit, Redux: And sent. If anyone else wants, PM me.

[Dracorion]

Thanks again, Wizzie.

If anyone else wants, PM me.

Or ask me to forward it.

[Steel Shadow]

That was very fun, especially once I got it through my head how stunting was supposed to work. I still think Gary the Chatbot should be investigated for corruption, but we still got through with minor damage, half of which was sustained by falling off a horse with the very first roll of the session.

Looking forward to next week!

(And it's a pity we forgot the table. They are a stunt's best friend.)

[Arhra]

Oh man, thank you. I was just gonna look into doing that from the logs, but adding those line breaks is a huge pain.

Gold star for you.

Edit: And I forgot to mention in response to Drac's other question; Next session is same time next week.

I can handle that in the future.

Pro-tip, get a text editor that can find and replace with line breaks!

My log's a bit incomplete on account of dropping out in the mddile a few times anyway.

Still ~2300 lines.

[Overcast]

Stunting spear combos has been awkward thus far, I'll need to do some wushu studies because I just ended up defaulting to Legend of the Dragoon. Shamefully not enough rate for Gust of Wind D-DANCE!

Also I would like a copy of the log.

[Arhra]

Alright, I have the log but I can't attach it to a PM for some reason?

[Arhra]

OK everyone, here are the logs of this session and the previous session!

[Dracorion]

Kill count for this session

Kade: Three zombies, one zombie Kade, one pillar
Naria: Four zombies
Goddamn Morning Breeze: One table, one pillar, one zombie
Rinan: Our spirit

[Dracorion]

And now we finished the module successfully.

Well, almost. It was kind of depressing ending. But we survived and kicked ass all the way through.

Kill count for this session:
Kade: Three skeleton cats, one skeleton t-rex.
Naria: One fake ghost of Barrow Black.
Goddamn Morning Breeze: Rinan's patience.
Rinan: One point of limit.
Lost circlemate: Herself.