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[Exalted 2e] Chosen of the Second Age
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<blockquote data-quote="Delemental" data-source="post: 4620672" data-attributes="member: 5203"><p><strong>Second Sons</strong></p><p></p><p>As has already been touched on, this entry (and the next several beyond this) are basically the backgrounds of the characters, written as fiction and are not based on any type of game play.</p><p></p><p>Also my last Story Hour had a tendency to have rather long posts. I'm trying to keep things shorter this time around.</p><p></p><p>------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><p> “Let me see,” Grandfather said, as he unrolled the ancient scroll. “Ah, yes. This tale is about several people, and the things they did together, but before we hear about what they did, I have to tell you who they are. After all, all of you know who Li Peng is, or Princess Perfect, or the Four Friends, but the men and women in these scrolls have been in no stories or plays yet written. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I opened this scroll first – I think that he made sure that his story was at the top of the pile.”</p><p></p><p> “Who, Grandfather?” asked a bright-eyed boy. “Who made sure?”</p><p></p><p> “Why, the first hero of our story, of course,” Grandfather replied.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">☼ ☼ ☼</p><p></p><p> The story begins in the city of Greyfalls, in the East of Creation, one of the few cities of the Scavenger Lands still in the control of the Scarlet Empress. The boy’s parents were natives of the Nuri tribe, but were serving in the household of the local satrap, Nellens Rombulac, as Imperial subjects. This is not that strange, because most of the Nuri had bent their knee to the Empire long before. His mother, Willow, worked as a seamstress, while his father, Callum the Dutiful, was a middling bureaucrat who helped oversee the satrap’s household. Callum was the sort of man who should have been much more prominent in his profession, but alas, he was cursed with honesty and burdened by a lack of anything Satrap Rombulac valued, which meant that he was trapped in his duties. Callum and Willow had three children; two sons and a daughter, but they didn’t have their own names; the Nuri never named their children, but let them choose their own names when they turned fifteen. But of course, they had to be called something until that day came, and so, following tradition, they were given titles as names in the native Nuri tongue. Translated, their names would have been ‘Callum’s First Son’, ‘Callum’s Second Son’, and ‘Willow’s First Daughter’. </p><p></p><p> Callum and Willow followed the Immaculate Philosophy, a set of rules that tell you how to act and how to think. They wanted their children to live by the Philosophy as well, and the Philosophy told them that their children should take their place when they passed on. So they already knew that First Son would succeed his father in the satrap’s service, and First Daughter would become a seamstress like her mother. But what about Second Son? The Philosophy said only that they should guide him on a path complementary to his father’s career. Thus Second Son was educated in the ways of the Empire, and given schooling befitting one destined for a life of public service.</p><p></p><p> However, it turned out that Second Son found his education stifling, and yearned for more. He began skipping his lessons, running and hiding within the vast corridors of the satrap’s palace in Garrison Heights. Indeed, the young boy developed a particular talent for not being found. So good was Second Son at hiding, in fact, that sometimes he would end up in places that he was not meant to be, and he would see and hear things that he was not meant to know. Things that some of the adults in the satrap’s palace held secret– some were even the satrap’s own secrets. Second Son didn’t much like what he heard, because it told him that there were bad people in the world who took advantage of others and became wealthy while those who served them stayed poor. People like his father. Second Son tried to explain this to Callum, but his father knew from the Philosophy that he should not question his place, and so forbade any further discussion.</p><p></p><p> Instead, young Second Son turned to the only adult he trusted, an itinerant courtesan known as Pearlescent Lotus Whispers. Now, Lotus was not from the East, but from the South, from the great city of Chiaroscuro, where everything is made of glass. But Lotus had traveled to many places before settling in the Scavenger Lands, and knew many things. She told young Second Son that the evils he saw in the palace were known in many lands. She encouraged him to continue to practice hiding and listening, so that he would know of the world when he came of age. To cover his frequent absences from his tutors, she also taught him the basics of etiquette and polite society. Ironically, he learned far more readily under the courtesan’s hand than he did with the Imperial tutors – perhaps because she did not insist on strict adherence to the Philosophy.</p><p></p><p> As Second Son approached his twelfth year of age, the reports of petty thefts within the satrap’s household began to rise, as did incidents at the Scintillating River Palace, a grand building that was supposed to be the Empress’s court when she was in Greyfalls, but as the Empress never visited, it was used mostly for grand parties by the nobles. It seemed that visiting nobles and merchants were the frequent targets, many of whom had suspicious dealings with the satrap. Second Son, of course, was behind these thefts. Now, as you have been taught, it is wrong to steal, and that is still true; but so angry was Second Son at the evils he had heard that he decided he must act in some way to show these people that there was a price to their greed and corruption. Though many of the things he stole were valuable, he did not steal just to acquire wealth; he chose things that had personal value to his victims, or would cause them embarrassment if the theft were known. He also did not steal from those who could not afford it, or who were truly honest men and women. Second Son was now spending less time in Garrison Heights and more in the city of Greyfalls, where he made the acquaintance – thanks to Lotus - of Rhulad of the Ten Thousand Talents, a local fence with a reputation for both vast wealth and vast knowledge. It was Rhulad who took the treasures Second Son brought him. Some of the money that Rhulad paid was given to the poor, and some Second Son kept, or spent on food, wine, and pleasurable company for himself and his friends in the city, for it pleased him to think that those luxuries had been bought with the wealth of the corrupt. </p><p></p><p>Of course, Callum and Willow could not help but notice that their son was frequently missing for days at a time. They tried to steer him back on the correct path, but Second Son refused, and then just before his fifteenth birthday, he never came home again. Callum and Willow grieved the loss of their son, but as dictated by the Philosophy, they turned their back on their wayward child, and focused their attention on their more obedient progeny. Meanwhile, Second Son celebrated his adulthood by choosing a new name; Resplendent Ghost of Midnight, or simply ‘Ghost’ to those who knew him well. </p><p></p><p> Ghost continued to ply his trade as a thief, though now his territory had expanded beyond the palace walls. As the years passed, many corrupt nobles and officials would come to curse his name. There was even talk of bringing in a Dragon-Blood to hunt this thief down, though such never came to pass, as the Blessed Isle was very far away, both geographically and politically, and the commander of the Twenty-Third Legion, General Kathak Kitono, couldn’t be bothered to send valuable men to hunt down a pickpocket. Rhulad considered him among the best in the city, and eventually revealed to him a secret; he was not just a fence, but was a agent of the Guild, who had been sent to Greyfalls to keep an eye on the Scarlet Empire and Satrap Rombulac. He offered to sponsor Ghost into the Guild, but the young thief declined – he knew that in many ways the Guild was as rife with corruption as the Empire. And young Ghost was beginning to take a great sense of pride in his work, knowing that he could pull off the most daring robberies and not get caught. It was this sense of pride that led to the most astounding moment of his life.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Delemental, post: 4620672, member: 5203"] [b]Second Sons[/b] As has already been touched on, this entry (and the next several beyond this) are basically the backgrounds of the characters, written as fiction and are not based on any type of game play. Also my last Story Hour had a tendency to have rather long posts. I'm trying to keep things shorter this time around. ------------------------------------------------ “Let me see,” Grandfather said, as he unrolled the ancient scroll. “Ah, yes. This tale is about several people, and the things they did together, but before we hear about what they did, I have to tell you who they are. After all, all of you know who Li Peng is, or Princess Perfect, or the Four Friends, but the men and women in these scrolls have been in no stories or plays yet written. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I opened this scroll first – I think that he made sure that his story was at the top of the pile.” “Who, Grandfather?” asked a bright-eyed boy. “Who made sure?” “Why, the first hero of our story, of course,” Grandfather replied. [center]☼ ☼ ☼[/center] The story begins in the city of Greyfalls, in the East of Creation, one of the few cities of the Scavenger Lands still in the control of the Scarlet Empress. The boy’s parents were natives of the Nuri tribe, but were serving in the household of the local satrap, Nellens Rombulac, as Imperial subjects. This is not that strange, because most of the Nuri had bent their knee to the Empire long before. His mother, Willow, worked as a seamstress, while his father, Callum the Dutiful, was a middling bureaucrat who helped oversee the satrap’s household. Callum was the sort of man who should have been much more prominent in his profession, but alas, he was cursed with honesty and burdened by a lack of anything Satrap Rombulac valued, which meant that he was trapped in his duties. Callum and Willow had three children; two sons and a daughter, but they didn’t have their own names; the Nuri never named their children, but let them choose their own names when they turned fifteen. But of course, they had to be called something until that day came, and so, following tradition, they were given titles as names in the native Nuri tongue. Translated, their names would have been ‘Callum’s First Son’, ‘Callum’s Second Son’, and ‘Willow’s First Daughter’. Callum and Willow followed the Immaculate Philosophy, a set of rules that tell you how to act and how to think. They wanted their children to live by the Philosophy as well, and the Philosophy told them that their children should take their place when they passed on. So they already knew that First Son would succeed his father in the satrap’s service, and First Daughter would become a seamstress like her mother. But what about Second Son? The Philosophy said only that they should guide him on a path complementary to his father’s career. Thus Second Son was educated in the ways of the Empire, and given schooling befitting one destined for a life of public service. However, it turned out that Second Son found his education stifling, and yearned for more. He began skipping his lessons, running and hiding within the vast corridors of the satrap’s palace in Garrison Heights. Indeed, the young boy developed a particular talent for not being found. So good was Second Son at hiding, in fact, that sometimes he would end up in places that he was not meant to be, and he would see and hear things that he was not meant to know. Things that some of the adults in the satrap’s palace held secret– some were even the satrap’s own secrets. Second Son didn’t much like what he heard, because it told him that there were bad people in the world who took advantage of others and became wealthy while those who served them stayed poor. People like his father. Second Son tried to explain this to Callum, but his father knew from the Philosophy that he should not question his place, and so forbade any further discussion. Instead, young Second Son turned to the only adult he trusted, an itinerant courtesan known as Pearlescent Lotus Whispers. Now, Lotus was not from the East, but from the South, from the great city of Chiaroscuro, where everything is made of glass. But Lotus had traveled to many places before settling in the Scavenger Lands, and knew many things. She told young Second Son that the evils he saw in the palace were known in many lands. She encouraged him to continue to practice hiding and listening, so that he would know of the world when he came of age. To cover his frequent absences from his tutors, she also taught him the basics of etiquette and polite society. Ironically, he learned far more readily under the courtesan’s hand than he did with the Imperial tutors – perhaps because she did not insist on strict adherence to the Philosophy. As Second Son approached his twelfth year of age, the reports of petty thefts within the satrap’s household began to rise, as did incidents at the Scintillating River Palace, a grand building that was supposed to be the Empress’s court when she was in Greyfalls, but as the Empress never visited, it was used mostly for grand parties by the nobles. It seemed that visiting nobles and merchants were the frequent targets, many of whom had suspicious dealings with the satrap. Second Son, of course, was behind these thefts. Now, as you have been taught, it is wrong to steal, and that is still true; but so angry was Second Son at the evils he had heard that he decided he must act in some way to show these people that there was a price to their greed and corruption. Though many of the things he stole were valuable, he did not steal just to acquire wealth; he chose things that had personal value to his victims, or would cause them embarrassment if the theft were known. He also did not steal from those who could not afford it, or who were truly honest men and women. Second Son was now spending less time in Garrison Heights and more in the city of Greyfalls, where he made the acquaintance – thanks to Lotus - of Rhulad of the Ten Thousand Talents, a local fence with a reputation for both vast wealth and vast knowledge. It was Rhulad who took the treasures Second Son brought him. Some of the money that Rhulad paid was given to the poor, and some Second Son kept, or spent on food, wine, and pleasurable company for himself and his friends in the city, for it pleased him to think that those luxuries had been bought with the wealth of the corrupt. Of course, Callum and Willow could not help but notice that their son was frequently missing for days at a time. They tried to steer him back on the correct path, but Second Son refused, and then just before his fifteenth birthday, he never came home again. Callum and Willow grieved the loss of their son, but as dictated by the Philosophy, they turned their back on their wayward child, and focused their attention on their more obedient progeny. Meanwhile, Second Son celebrated his adulthood by choosing a new name; Resplendent Ghost of Midnight, or simply ‘Ghost’ to those who knew him well. Ghost continued to ply his trade as a thief, though now his territory had expanded beyond the palace walls. As the years passed, many corrupt nobles and officials would come to curse his name. There was even talk of bringing in a Dragon-Blood to hunt this thief down, though such never came to pass, as the Blessed Isle was very far away, both geographically and politically, and the commander of the Twenty-Third Legion, General Kathak Kitono, couldn’t be bothered to send valuable men to hunt down a pickpocket. Rhulad considered him among the best in the city, and eventually revealed to him a secret; he was not just a fence, but was a agent of the Guild, who had been sent to Greyfalls to keep an eye on the Scarlet Empire and Satrap Rombulac. He offered to sponsor Ghost into the Guild, but the young thief declined – he knew that in many ways the Guild was as rife with corruption as the Empire. And young Ghost was beginning to take a great sense of pride in his work, knowing that he could pull off the most daring robberies and not get caught. It was this sense of pride that led to the most astounding moment of his life. [/QUOTE]
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