God-Kings of Lotus

[WhiteKnight777]

Zephyr

Zephyr nodded, ascending into the god's cloud after dressing himself. "It would be an honor, Lord Lytek."

[The Demented One]

Lytek claps his hands together. "Fantastic!" He waits for the circle to clamber aboard his cloud–and then you are off, borne up to the peak of the sky on the zephyr-sped cloudbank. Soaring through the skies of Heaven is truly a wonder–the breeze against your skin is perfectly cool and orchid-scented, the ground beneath you like a mosaic of countless shining jewels. But it is a ride too short for all the splendor of Heaven to be enjoyed–in mere minutes, the cloud alights beside a flying pagoda, ringed with a nimbus of earth that spreads out like one of Ivory Eyes's rice pancakes. Lytek jumps out onto the wafer-thin slice of earth, and it holds his weight most admirably. He helps Ivory Eyes out, pulling her into the pagoda by the hand, and beckoning the others to follow him.

"I've never heard of that," he muses over Ivory Eyes' conundrum. "I'll have to take a look." Within the pagoda is a labyrinthine network of corridors and hallways, lined with office doors and the occasional conference room. Lytek penetrates to the heart of the pagoda, to a most imposing door. It is carved all of adamant, banded with orichalcum–and in front of it coil two dragons, massive serpents of flame. They glower fiercely at all they see, but as Lytek approaches, the bow deep before him. "Hello boys. Have a few new Exalts to talk with." The dragons step aside with the utmost respect, and Lytek opens the doors with a wave of his hand, striding boldly in.

Lytek's office is a gallimaufry of things bizarre and strange. A full three desks stand covered in papers and scrolls, abutted by glassy bottles of many-colored inks and quills of scarlet garda-feathers and jade. The walls are lined with racks of baroque implements and instruments, ranging from crystal baubles and tchotchkes to devices that look fitting for a torture chamber. In the center of the office is an imposing cabinet of alderwood inlaid with orichalcum, moonsilver, and starmetal. It is quite securely locked. The God of Exaltation goes up to one of the oaken racks of tools, and selects a most impressive set of spectacles, a frame bearing a rotary mechanism with several dozen lenses of varying sizes. He places them on, and looks over Ivory Eyes.

"My, my, what have you done? You've been tapping the shimaic substrata directly, that's quite impressive. Even Aesha never did anything like that, and she was a sorceress beyond classification." His eyes mist over in reverie, a cloudy marmoreal glaze crossing over them. "And not just a sorceress, mind you–she was one of the greatest artificers of her day. She'd pull orichalcum and starmetal out of the Wyld by force, and then forge the most wonderful treasures from it. Here, let me show you–" He brushes Ivory Eyes's brow with his finger, and there is a spark of light. And suddenly, she remembers. She remembers so much.

Lytek's many-spectacled gaze next falls on Zephyr, sizing up the Lunar. "If she's Aesha, then I suppose you're the Silver Dragon. Imagine old Kejak's face if he knew you were here, heh? Hmm." He prods Zephyr's moonsilver tattoos, ensuring they are satisfactory. "Now, it looks like you're not quite the juggernaut your past self was. Bit more finesse, bit more grace. I love the Lunars, always changing, always living! But of course, letting the old Dragon out now and then couldn't hurt...here you go!" Having examined the Lunar to his satisfaction, Lytek taps a coil of his moonsilver tattoos, sending a bolt of corruscating white essence all across Zephyr's body. As the divine essence surges through him, Zephyr feels old instincts, long since buried, welling up in him.

And then Lytek is flitting over to Yomiko, inspecting her head to foot. He pokes and prods all over, muttering to himself as he does. "Ah, the Incomparable Bodhisattva! Always one of my favorites. You killed a Primordial barehanded in a past life, did you know? Very impressive. Your essence is shaping up nicely, almost all the charms you had back in the Primordial War. You'll be a fair match for your old self in–" There is a flash of golden flame as Lytek snaps his fingers, and in the light of the fire, Yomiko sees visions of a war long past. "–no time."

"Ah, and here's Thirteen Hours Woken!" exclaims Lytek over Watcher. "A true tragedy, your death. Never even had time to reincarnate, before the Sidereals came and trapped the shards. But still, you've come back. It's just fantastic!" He pats Watcher on the back, as if to give condolence. "You've a noble Exaltation, a noble soul. You'll do well in this life." And Lytek's words stir something deep in Watcher's heart.

And finally, he comes to Rising Echo. "Ah, the Majestic Sybarite himself, Lord Nabonidus. Your essence is completely different, you know–and what's this you've done? Oh, you've found a way to make the Power-Awarding Prana last, that's brilliant, I'll have to remember that. You used to be much more the social maven, but I like how you're shaping up. Not something you saw in the old Lawgivers. Although I expect you'd appreciate some of your old tricks..." He pokes Rising Echo square in the forehead, and the Eclipse feels power rising up within him.

Suddenly, Lytek gasps. "Oh no! I just remembered! Chejop Kejak sent me that memo, the one about not empowering any of the returned Exalted! Must've slipped my mind. Oops. Sorry!"

[Lochar]

Echo smiles at Lytek's outburst. "Yes, an absolute tradegy if someone might one day be able to argue with him, given the disregard he's paid everyone else."

Echo then bows to the Right Hand of Power. "I am indebted to your forgetfulness, Lord Lytek."

[WhiteKnight777]

Zephyr

Zephyr felt silver lightning of past memories and past deeds surge through his frame, bringing back the memories of his former self - A feeling of raw, unstoppable strength, of being war-made-flesh and death-given-form, an unstoppable colossus of annihilation. He grinned, and his teeth seemed more pointed than was the wont of his human form.

Thank you, my Lord. It is good to know some of my old strength - and better still to see that such a pussiant god still remembers the old partnership our kinds once held, before the Solars fell into decadence and the Lunars scattered, not to mention the Usurpation... Your friendship is a greater comfort than I could ever have hoped for.

[Ellas Aramond]

Watcher

Goosebumps crawl across the nightbringer's skin as he feels the power surge through him. He was used to the feel of such things, for it was rare for a day to go by when he did not channel at least a little of his essence, but this felt different. It felt right.

"You say you knew our past lives, Lord Lytek. He says once the sensation has passed. "I must ask of you, if you ever have time or reason, seek me out in Lotus. I would much like to hear the stories of this Thirteen Hours Woken."

[GryffonDurime]

"I would, respectfully, not" Ivory Eyes says after Watcher. "I have had my fill of Aesha: her time has come and gone. Thank you, Lytek," she says, deliberate in her avoidance of honorifics. "I will try to put this to what use I can."

Beneath the controlled exterior, Ivory Eyes is at war with herself and the power that has erupted inside her: damnable knowledge, for she understands the gravity and implications of this Solar secret. The Wyld tides of raw Essence undulate in the theoretical depths of her mind, and the power screams to be used--to tear down one thing so another may be made!

[The Demented One]

Lytek laughs outright at Rising Echo's remark "Indeed. You see that Cabinet, over there? That's the greatest treasure of my panoply–with that, I can examine the sleeping Celestial shards before they incarnate, do what artistry I can to them while they lie nascent in Creation. After the Usurpation, Chejop Kejak comes into my office, anima banner blazing, and backhands me aside. Me! After all those games of Gateway we'd played, all those teahouse afternoons, he thinks he'll just throw me aside like a heap of trash. And then he rips open my Cabinet, forces some awful artifact into it, and manages to trick all the Solar shards into thinking they're already incarnated. Unforgivable."

He sighs. It is not in Lytek's nature to wax wroth with any of the Exalted, though his passions exceed his essential nature. "But now, all that's undone! I must admit, I've been watching you for even longer than Ayesha, and it's all so exciting. Lotus is going to be a city fit for the Era of Dreams soon, I can feel it. You'll have to rebuild a manse over it soon–I can extend my sanctum into any manse where I'm invited, and I would so love to visit the city, and speak with you."

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

As the God poked and prodded her, Yomiko blinked a few more times than she would under normal circumstances. She still smiled however, and showed no signs of disdain for the actions. Once the golden flash showed her more than she'd seen in over a lifetime, she felt more of the same quiet awe she hadn't stopped feeling since she landed in Heaven.

"I would love to have you visit my own, Lytek. I'm certain my daughter would love to meet you as well." She said when the God offered a visit. "And I'm certain she'll speak of our circle with more enthusiasm than the five of us could muster together!" She added with a laugh.

[Lochar]

"Designing and building a manse would be something Ivory would be better at, I think. Other than that, I think we'd be perfectly happy to invite you over once it is completed." Echo looks to Ivory to see what she thinks of the idea.

Talk of manses reminds Echo of Iulus' half finished one that he hadn't spoken of where it was yet. They would have to get that finished as well.

[Lochar]

Echo sighs. "Lytek, I have probably a hundred questions burning my mind, yet I cannot get a single one to rise up so I can ask it of you. I think, that if no one else can think of something, we may need to get back to Lotus. I know it will be alright, but I want to get the city repaired as quickly as possible."

[The Demented One]

Lytek nods, although he looks a bit sad. "Yes, I suppose. It's been a week since you left, things must be getting on. I'll always be happy to hear prayer from you, of course. There's a Heavenly Gateway a short flight from here that comes out a few hundred miles from Lotus, a lovely little place called Noss...wait, perhaps better to send you through the Maruto River Gate. Come, I'll call a dragon. You can hardly come to Yu-Shan and not ride a dragon." Lytek peeks out the door of his office, giving one of the fire dragons at guard a sideways glance.

"Excessively Dynamic Spiral, may I impose upon you to bear my friends to the Maruto Gate? I apologize, I'd take them myself on a cloud, but I'm woefully behind on the Scroll of Heroes...and, you know, riding a dragon." The volcanic-tempered dragon does not seem the sort normally inclined to be sent out as a mere mount, but be bows to Lytek with great respect. Wordlessly, it whips off of the ground and flies out through the hallways of the floating pagoda, like a towering inferno with a surprisingly good sense of direction.

"I suppose this is goodbye for now. Spiral will take you to the portal; the Lions oughtn't give you any trouble on the way out. Farewell, Princes of the Earth." Lytek smiles sadly as you leave, finding the way out helpfully marked by the trail of ash that is Excessively Dynamic Spiral's wake. The dragon waits for you just outside the pagoda. The flames that burn along his scales have died down, leaving room for you to climb atop his back. The dragon regards you all with what might be impatience.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

As everyone turns to set atop the dragon, Yomiko walks over to Lytek and takes his hand as he approaches his work. When he looks back at her she's smiling at him and speaks, "Please visit as soon as you can. A God such as yourself would be most welcome in Lotus, and the sooner the better." She continues smiling as she lets go of his hand and walks to the dragon.

[Lochar]

Looking at the dragon with a single raised eyebrow, Echo smiles before turning back to Lytek. "You have a standing invite to any manse that Lotus controls, Lytek. We would welcome your visits."

Mounting the dragon a little shakily, Echo laughs a bit as he is pinched by two scales. "I do hope you don't mind having riders that know nothing of where to ride."

[The Demented One]

The dragon huffs, coiling gouts of ash bursting from his nostrils. Once everyone has mounted its sinuous back, it leaps off–and all at once is encircled by flame, a blazing corona that burns you not. Borne by the raw, elemental fire, the dragon soars through the thin airs of heaven, tracing its course along the arc of the Sky Dome. From Heaven's zenith, you see how a week could have already passed. Yu-Shan is massive, comparable only to the tremendous Blessed Isle on Creation. Those flights, those boat rides that seemed to take mere minutes–they crossed hundreds of thousands of miles in all. Between the exultant beauty of Heaven and the timeless sky, the abolition of hunger and sleep, the true time has fallen from your minds.

Riding the dragon seems only to take an hour, though careful count would reveal it as a full day. The Excessively Dynamic Spiral alights at the far edge of Heaven, where a wall of insuperable adamant rises up to meet the Sky Dome. As you dismount it, the flame-god flies away with no word of parting, nor any word at all. But, true to Lytek's promise, it has brought you to a gate, a portal of orichalcum and moonsilver whose egress is twin to your prior ingress. The Lion-God guarding it steps aside to let you pass, not wishing to delay the return of the East's forest gods to their native boughs and bounty.

Once more the passageway 'twixt Heaven and Creation is crossed, but the soil you step out onto is unfamiliar. You stand on the banks of a slender river, a lesser cousin of your own Meander. All along the shores are trees, a sprawling tangle of deciduous foliage. Looking behind you, you see the gate–but it is no doorway of gold and silver. Instead, two trees, ash and alder, grow together, their tangle branches arching up to form a portal. Consulting Whispering Heaven's map, you see you are perhaps some thousand miles from Lotus. The sun is just rising up through the dusk-shrouded trees, casting a yellow limning on misty branches. The day awaits.

[Lochar]

Echo looks out over the river, smiling as he takes in the scents of the trees and water. "At least here, we notice the passing of time. It makes me glad that we left enough power behind in Lotus, as what felt like a day turned out to be many. And I don't like that."

Echo then looks at Ivory. "Could we impose on your magic again, Ivory, for a quick return to Lotus?"

[GryffonDurime]

Ivory Eyes sighs and speaks into the rising sun on the morning horizon, conjuring the growingly familiar mists and forming them into chariot, horse, and bridle alike before clambering aboard.

"Full service to Lotus. I'm no dragon, but I'm not bad," Ivory says, with a smile.

[The Demented One]

The spirit-steeds nicker happily as Ivory Eyes remake them, once more weaving her essence through an imago cast deep in the shinmaic subtrata upon which the whole of this world is wrought. Without the presence of Whispering Heaven–who has no doubt already returned by his own means–Zephyr has no need to descend to a lesser form. And so the five of you embark, borne up on the thin airs by the powerful legs of the cobalt-flame mares, their jade-shod hooves beating up clangor and discord against the roadway invisible.

With the sun once more following the course of twelve-and-thirteen hours, the span of your flight is much more easily measured and trusted. By the time the heavenly chariot descends to the familiar fields of Lotus, the sun is at its zenith, its true zenith, and a molten tongue of honey licks the whole East, amber scintillas shimmering where an errant sunbeam glances off of iron or bronze. And for all that Lotus is familiar, with its white-flecked fields and low, slowly rising architecture, there is something new to it after your journey.

Up at the northeast wall, where the clash of the warstriders leveled walls and shattered buildings underfoot, regrowth has already begun. Scaffolds have grown around rubble-strewn edifices and mounds of rubble, like a fresh scab growing over a wound, still wet. Lotus will rebuild. Also, the fields are full of yeddim. Lots of yeddim. Big shaggy yeddim, hides hoary with age, that pack the earth down beneath their feet with each trod. Young yeddim calves, still the size of a horse, that gambol and frolic in the fields. Yeddim. A herd, a herd and a half, a whole parade of yeddim.

They are majestic in their primeval beauty, but they are also tremendously large. And for all that the poet might feel the sultry voice of inspiration in their tremendous footfalls, or that the barbarian might yearn to know their savage power in his own mortal thews, there is an unpleasant and unromantic fact to the yeddim. They are large, and there are lots of them. The juxtaposition of such a preponderance of mammoth mammals and the fields of Lotus is certainly not an auspicious one in the long term.

As all four sets of blue-black hooves, four figures are already running towards the circle. At the head is Konoko, her green cloak fluttering like butterfly wings as she runs. Flanking her are Captain Transval, cheeks unshaven and aspect dour, and Iulus, holding his hands up in a mock proclamation of innocence. Behind them trails Izunagi, her serpentine form leaving a wake like elegant calligraphy in the dust. Konoko, after a few moments, speaks. "Um. While you were gone, some yeddim showed up. Maybe more than some. Maybe a whole lot of yeddim. That are all in our field, eating our rice. So, yeah."

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Yomiko looks up at the massive hoard before her, almost stunned to the point where she barely notices her daughter. She meets her and lifts her into a tight hug, "I've missed you so much, Kono." She looks back again at the Yeddim. "But... how did this happen?"

[The Demented One]

Konoko whistles. "Well...there was a baby yeddim, just a little calf, that wandered into the fields a couple days ago. It was really, really cute! So...I sort of...took it home. Mister Iulus let me keep it in his house, we had a sleepover...but then the yeddim's mom came. And the yeddim's dad, and the yeddim's brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins, you know, the kind where you know you're related but can't quite remember their names." It takes her a moment to realize that her stream of thought has been diverted, as if by some well-funded brigade of engineers who may or may not be just beavers.

"So anyway. Lots of yeddim. Kinda angry. So we brought Liril back to her mom, and the yeddim all settled down...but they just stayed here. Me and the Captain tried just pushing them away, but Yeddim are really really heavy. And Iulus's stupid infernal magic is useless anyway. We figured we'd just wait for you guys to get back and ka-Solar everything back to better."

[GryffonDurime]

Ivory Eyes laughs, looking around at the yeddim. It wasn't really that funny, she reminds herself: the rice was an important export, and yeddim were hungry things. Even still, it was laughable. She imagined Iulus running about, muttering Yozi curses and dodging yeddim leavings; Transval, anima blaring, trying to scare them away, arms over his head, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Zephyr," she says, still laughing for the first time in a long time, "see if you can reason with them. C'mon, Yomiko. Let's see if we can go straight to the source," she says, motioning for Yomiko to follow. Wings still folded neatly, Ivory points in the distance to O-Mochi's temple.

When Ivory arrives, she speaks clearly and loudly to the walls:

"Come out, O-Mochi. We promise not to let you and your domain get eaten up by the big yeddim if you can help us find the Yeddim Avatar."

[Ellas Aramond]

Watcher leaps atop one of the massive beasts, taking a look at the spectacle. Until an idea pops into his head.

"If we want to scare them away, then we will need something bigger." he says after jumping back down to Zephyr and Echo, his amusement leaking into his words. "We could always use the warstriders."

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

She starts laughing too once Ivory laughs. She holds Konoko's hand as she nods to her as the idea is offered to visit the Rice God. "We'll return shortly." she says to the male members of the circle and follows the sorceress.

She listens to Ivory's still amused-sounding statement to the divine being and can only ask, "Yeddim Avatar?"

[The Demented One]

O-Mochi lazily manifests, a white will-o'-the-wisp extruding through the temple's walls and slowly contracting into a ring of light, a nimbus through which he steps lightly. His eyes are groggy and blood-shot, and he holds a mortar and pestle. "Trying to breed a species of soporific rice. Not going so well." As Ivory Eyes inquires after the yeddim-god, he yawns heavily, waving her off. "Yeddim Avatar is down South, and he's dumb as...well, a yeddim. I suppose you could fly off and meet him, but it won't do you any good unless you speak 'uhhng uhhng UHHHNG uhhhng.' Stupid yeddim." he groans.

[GryffonDurime]

"O-Mochi," Ivory says, "I need to ask you this and receive an honest answer. Is the Yeddim Avatar truly this dumb, or do you hold him in contempt as a simple and provincial deity?"

It's a fair enough question, and Ivory circles around, peaking her head over the mortar as she awaits an answer. Her eyes flare with the light of Essence sight, and she gazes inside:

"You're trying to base it off Air-aspect geomancy? I mean, it's usually got the strongest soporific connection, but here? Deep East? Use Wood, drawing out Essence of Chamomile. No need to work against the grain if you don't have to."

A joke.

How long since she last made a joke?

[Lochar]

The huge creatures were a sight to behold. Whether or not it was an amusing sight was to be left to the viewer.

Apparently it was amusing to Ivory.

And if he admitted it to himself, it was somewhere in the realm of hilarious to Echo as well.

Shaking his head, Echo motioned to Zephyr. "Come Zephyr, let's make a decent survey of our new herd. Let's see if we can't find the herd leader as well."

Chuckling quietly to himself, Echo begins walking among the yeddim, quiet enough to not disturb the huge beasts as he begins to start a count, pulling out a pad of paper and his silver brush, making notes about them. This one has a scar along it's back right leg, that one has an odd color to it's fur.

All the while, he kept an eye out on the herd for it's leader.

Spoiler

Show

Understanding the Court. Probably the craziest use ever.

Int+Socialize+Essence: (13d10)[7][9][7][7][4][8][1][9][5][9][8][10][10](94)

Spending 4 motes, 1 Willpower.

[The Demented One]

O-Mochi sighs. "Look, way back, Mammoth Avatar and Yeddim Avatar played dice to decide who would get what. Yeddim got the strongest back, the heartiest blood, and shaggy hide. Mammoth got tusks, a trunk, and at least some modicum of intelligence. And that's why all yeddims, and especially Yeddim Avatar, are dumber than oaks." He seems offended the Ivory Eyes would question his impartiality, ruffling his divine essence as if it were a bird's pinions.

His face falls further as Ivory Eyes corrects his rice-breeding. "Chamomile essence, right. Weave it like a tea-rice, and shape the stomata to respire the motes from air, tangle them up in the stalk. It'll take a few days to get right, but it'll be a nice seed to have on stock." He dumps out the contents of his mortar, scattering misshapen seeds and dead-black grains of rice in the dust. "And that was truly awful, Lawgiver."

[Lochar]

Echo nods to himself as he passes among the yeddim, still chuckling.

Finally, he points out one yeddim to Zephyr. An extremely large female yeddim, followed by a few young. "Mama there is the herd leader." he says. "You have any way to try to talk her out of eating all our rice?"

[WhiteKnight777]

Zephyr

Zephyr nodded, still having trouble concealing the broad grin of amusement. A sly grin on his face, he lifted his hands and eyes to the heavens, as if in prayer. A lambent silver glow surrounded his face, and he strode forward, his voice suddenly taking on an ineffable power. None could understand him, mortal or god - but the Yeddim listened.

Zephyr spoke in a calm, even tone, but there was command in his words. He first explained to the Yeddim the concept of property ownership - the idea of private possessions and the intrinsic rights of those possessions. He went on to briefly explain the idea of land rights and contract law - stopping frequently to consult his companions on those points which he did not himself understand, then relay them to the Yeddim. For an encore, he explained to the Yeddim the rudimentary concepts of trade, barter, and work-for-pay. And, finally, he offered the Yeddim protection and grazing rights near - but not in Lotus - in return for their use as tractable pack beasts and labor animals. He left out the part where they might end up being eaten - mostly because that was a given.

[The Demented One]

For all of Zephyr's eloquence, for all the magic he silvers his words with, it would be an impossible task to teach anything of such complexity to the thick-headed herd of yeddim. If he were a Lawgiver, he would doubtlessly be thwarted–their sheer animal disintellect is a problem that cannot be overcome by simply throwing essence at it. But he is a Lunar, and his magic is subtle. It does not conquer, it does not surpass–it transforms, it shifts, it turns the impossible to the possible. By the grace of his magics, his words are woven into a thing the yeddim can understand, concatenated into yeddim-meaning.

The beasts understand that they cannot eat rice that another yeddim is already eating, and that sometimes, some rice is being eaten by another yeddim even if that yeddim is not already there. They come to accept that sometimes, the small noisy animals count as yeddim. The concept of law proves harder to swallow, but eventually they come to terms with the concept of a dominance fight that is fought with articulate grunting and scent-signs, rather than violence. That such fights may have prizes beyond mating rights is a tricky notion, but one they eventually understand–and so too do they realize that prizes can be won by fighting with not-yeddim, the unliving things like logs or stones or other heavy things. Zephyr's offer of fighting the not-yeddim of Lotus to gain prizes of grazing-land is taken with grunts of pleased assent.

[WhiteKnight777]

Zephyr

Zephyr turned, clapping his hand as the Yeddim slowly began to wander ponderously away from the now-forbidden fields of Lotus. He grinned openly, a satisfied smirk on his face as he patted the flanks of the lead Yeddim.

"That should solve the problem, at least for now. They won't eat the fields, and they'll work for us, so long as we feed them. They're strong beasts, even if their strength is not in their brain. They'll be great help in clearing land or pulling heavy loads - and I think we could train some of the more belligerent bulls for war, as well."