Exalted: Shadow and Steel - Interest Thread

[Sithdarth]

EDIT: And HOLY CRAP Sith, a .pdf and all that. Talk about dedication.

Eh its a matter of like one extra second when saving a document in Microsoft word to make a .pdf instead and they are so much easier to share that way.

[Arhra]

Oh whoops, sorry, I forgot to respond to you in my last post Aerozord.

Anyway, after some deliberation, I have settled on a roster of players.

Kneumatic Pnight, Krylo, Overcast, Phoenixflame and Sithdarth.

It would be good if you could discuss with each other who'll start off travelling with who right away so I can tailor the opening scenario and start some time this week. I'd say two or three groups in total. Stories of how you ended up together would also entertain me.

To be fair to you RMB, seeing you haven't had a chance to post up a full backstory, you can still do that if you want to and if I like it you'll get in.

To everyone else, sorry but I just don't think I can run a game for a larger group than that.

[Aerozord]

Originally Posted by Arhra

Oh whoops, sorry, I forgot to respond to you in my last post Aerozord.

so your response is, I dont get to play?

[Red Mage Black]

I don't know how well I can do, but I can try.

Not the best, I know.
Harken was born to a family of nomad hunters. Whether they moved from the frozen north to the desert south depended on the game. His father was a very serious man and his wife was the only one that could keep him from selling their child to make it past the hard seasons. It wasn't until he was four that a terrible accident happened. On one of his father's expeditions to the wilderness, young Harken decided to try his luck and follow his father in while his mother found water.

After noticing Harken was gone, his mother decided to go in after him. It took a few hours, but by the time he was found, there were already multiple wounds on the toddlers body from a wild animal attack and his father happened to kill it before it could actually kill the boy.

Weeks of healing later, his face would never be the same again. All lumped with scars and flesh that didn't heal right. His father just had to punish him, regardless. Forcing the boy to come out on excursions with him, to watch him kill the animal and even skin it.

It was years before his mother was taken by illness and for some reason, after watching so much death his father committed upon those animals, he didn't cry. Instead, his father made him come out for bigger game. If there was something large that he could catch, then he would be told to run after it and take it down. This resulted in many smaller incidents of things being too big for a single person to bring down and resulting in a chase with the animal with Harken still attached. This also resulted in his father making the rule, "You make the kill, you get the meat." Something he would resent for the years to come.

The last thing he ever saw of his father was on the borders of the Wyld, far east from Denandsor. Apprehensive, the young man stayed behind despite the goading of the man who otherwise blamed his son for his wife falling ill.

Harken spent the next few months of his life making his way down towards Chiaroscuro, cutting through a path in the rocky mountainside that his father had show him several years before. By now though, it was covered in vast piles of rubble, which he had to navigate around or move out of the way to stay on the path. Over the course of his travel to the city, he met several others, the poor folk. His first thought would be, "You wouldn't be starving if you made the effort to find food." Something his father had told him numerous times when he wouldn't share food.

His Exaltation came to him when he least expected it. Large lizards were good meals when you were always hungry, but when you didn't see the other hunter, things would become complicated. He was already weary. All day he had gathered, just so he could eat at night and he didn't need the complication of squabbling with another hunter about whose kill it was. Especially when the other hadn't even fired that fancy bow she had. Luna had visited him under her Bloody Huntress guise. A beautiful woman, yes, but competition. How would she stand the heat with that armor? It would take some persuasion by himself for Harken to actually talk to the Goddess.

Days later, Harken didn't exactly know what was coming over him or what that woman had done to him, but now he was running for his life from the city. Armed men were coming after him in groups trying to kill him. How did that group of crazies have such power? The Immaculate Order? He had only heard of them a few times and their ramblings didn't interest him. What was an Anathema? Why him?

Just when he thought this was the end, beasts came from the sands like roaring thunder. Ripping through the armed men like tattered parchment. Who were they? Were they going to kill him next? While they were distracted, he decided to make a further run towards the desert, his only possible salvation from this madness. Maybe then he could figure out why any of this was happening. It was a matter of seconds before they caught up to him. As they shifted back into their human forms, Harken was left with many questions unanswered, the first of course being... "Are you going to kill me like you did them?"

They had to explain the situation to him. The changes he was feeling, the strange mark on his forehead and the reason they were chasing after him. However, they couldn't stay there long or much worse was coming. Walking to the tribe took days, but the men who found him treated it like a nice stroll on a quiet day.

In time, the things had been explained. What he was, what it meant and what he would have to do, as well as the risks of what would have happened if he was left on his own. The ideas scared him, becoming a monster was not something he wanted to do, but neither was giving up the contempt he had for people who couldn't help themselves. Which was someone he didn't think about when that pack saved his life.

The Lunars, he learned also shared some of his view, but the tribe would not let others starve because of it. You had to work for your share, that was something he knew. Without a doubt, he had to accept the tattoos or else he would become something that was feared more then any wild animal.

It didn't take him long to prove he could be a proficient hunter and survivalist. The desert just took the difficulty far higher. Note of his skill was that it was a primitive, if not inefficient, but that it worked for him regardless. Reliance on pure strength rather then skill was something he had to fix.

The life debt he had accrued was from his own mentor. There was a small group of raksha making their way up and Harken was not advised to follow. They were dangerous to all but the most experienced in fighting them.

Not heeding to their warning, he gave them an hour's head start and then left on his own to join them. With his speed, he caught up to them when the battle was getting good. Then he learned that engaging them was not such a great idea. Not only did the Fair Folk not care about what they were trying to do, they were ruthless.

Battling one was an ordeal, he couldn't get a grasp on it no matter how hard he tried. It kept leaving him in the dust, using charms and powers he had never seen before. It had almost killed him if it wasn't for his mentor jumping in. The Exalted had little trouble, dealing with it as if it were those soldiers a few months before.

Then came the tattooing for the life debt. With which his mentor would tell him the conditions of it:

Originally Posted by Life Debt Conditions

"You must leave the tribe for the time being. Go further west if you must. Do not come back until you have completed three tasks for me. One, your battle ready attitude are good, but only if you know what you are doing. Do not return until you have learned this fact. Two, bring me back three mementos from your travels, proof that you have seen things beyond and they must be something that can only be found in those place. As another condition to that, they must also have taught you this lesson and when you return, you must tell me what they taught you. Three, you must learn to have compassion for all living things. Not everybody has grown up with the skills to hunt, take down a large beast with just their hands or survive on their own.

As part of this, you must also make friends outside the tribe. It is good to have another to butt heads and hunt with, but humans are just as reliable. As an optional condition, you may meet Solars on your journey. If it is possible, find your Solar Mate. We all have one and when you meet them, whatever form they have taken, you will know.

The point of this isn't to drive you away. Think of it as a spiritual journey. Find it in your heart to accept those of Gaia. You too are a Child of Luna and as you were told, Luna loves her children. Be strong and go out there, but do not return until you have fulfilled those conditions."

It was grudgingly hard to accept being separated from the tribe. To try and ease his pain of separating from the community, his mentor had given him two things. A set of gauntlets to fit his style of fighting and a good set of armor to protect him. He took the oath to fulfill his debt and got the tattoos that night. In the morning, he would leave to find the things his mentor wished for him to find.

That's all of it, the best I could do.

[Arhra]

Originally Posted by Aerozord

so your response is, I dont get to play?

It is somewhat pointless to say things that are not going to be used!

[Aerozord]

Originally Posted by Arhra

It is somewhat pointless to say things that are not going to be used!

well yes but it gets rather insulting signing up for a RP and not even being told I dont get to play. I am aware that you eventually did do that, but you could have had the courtesy of doing it when you made that choice rather then having me wait only to get hit yet again with "you dont get to play"

[Red Mage Black]

Aero, please don't argue about it. Generally it's like sign-ups for anything. You don't see your name on the list, you aren't in... or if you don't receive a phone call, etc.

Though I didn't see a weigh in on my backstory, guess he's either deliberating or something. So don't feel bad, Aero. I probably won't get picked either. Truth be told, I was pretty unprepared for the game.

Note to Ahra though: If you need any questions filled in about the story, let me know. I might have forgotten a few details. I kind of had a crappy morning, so it might not have turned out explaining everything.

[Overcast]

So who wants to join Syren on his fun little boat trip to adventure?

[Sithdarth]

Well I'm a local more or less and have been in the general area wandering for several years now. So I guess I'm up for being a guide/body guard for who ever wants it.

[PhoenixFlame]

It's unlikely Lily's going to be hanging out with a bunch of solars to start with, but hm, I wonder...

Going to need to think about that for a bit.