Campaign Journals

[Izzyboshi]

So I already posted Session One of this campaign over in a different forum but it occurred to me I should probably have posted it here.

We've been playing Exalted third Edition and the players from game one all recorded in character Journals. The end result is a campaign viewed from up to five different perspectives (though only four at any given time) written in the tone of each character. Our Disney Princess themed Zenith "Aster Full of Light" for instance writes as though speaking to her diary, Broken Wall's player tends to write everything by hand in an actual journal before typing everything out and Piper's player's fast type speed lends itself to exhaustively document everything. I figured I would post our session two here. Insights are appreciated as far as style goes. What you liked what you didn't are these interesting or boring etc.

Spoiler: Broken Wall's Journal Session 2

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Resplendent Wood 2, RY768, continued

The little girl is “Piper”, the noble is “Chijiiwa”.
I spoke with them and Aster Full of Light about the threat of the Wyld Hunt, and put forward a multi-step plan to take over Champoor in order to defend ourselves from that threat.

Chijiiwa and Piper are both Solars.

Destiny is at work here.

I took 5 minutes to build some fortifications, and we camped for the night.

Resplendent Wood 3, RY768

In the morning Piper looked like a different person. Somewhere around a foot taller? Different face, hair. Then she(?) changed to look exactly like Aster Full of Light. Disconcerting, but useful.
The actual Aster Full of Light says Piper has the Gumari disease, and begins treating it. She requests I build a bath, so I begin gathering stones as we travel. We camp near a river in the evening, and I use the stones and some clay from the river to build a bathhouse, heating the water with my breath. The others say it is beautiful.
Chaoxi raises the issue of crossing Kamthahar’s border.

Resplendent Wood 4, RY768
I leave the bathhouse for other travellers to use, but remove the fortifications. We approach the border, Piper applies some makeup to us, and we cross without too much difficulty.
Chijiiwa’s family are masters of the “White Reaper Style” martial arts, apparently.

…….

Resplendent Wood 9, RY768

I made a cart.

…….

Resplendent Wood 18, RY768

This evening we approached a somewhat dilapidated roadside temple. Inside were 2 brothers, travelling to Champoor to sell their families mead, anda travelling warrior heading to Champoor to sell her sword skills. I hired our protection to the brothers in exchange for 1/4 of their profits, and hired the swordswoman’s services in exchange for repairing her armour.
I discovered the temple was for an ancient, powerful god of all harvests, named “Karoski”, and we offered him a prayer.

I think once our new travelling companions are out of sight, I may double back and repair the temple.

Spoiler: Piper's Journal Session 2

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Wood Resplendant 3 – Later that day

We made a loop outside of town and headed North towards Champoor. We had to keep our eyes peeled on the roads so we spoke little until we made camp that evening. At camp we introduced ourselves. The man I mentioned before who looks like some sort of junior officer is named Chijiwa. The woman with the swords is Chaoxi. They seem alright. They’ve got the look of warriors who know what they are doing. Chaoxi has a handy skill of being seemingly prepared to accommodate for every possible need of her companions. She even carried enough spare tents for all of us.

After introductions the lot of them tried to convince me it was a bad idea for me to follow them. It was a reasonable thing to do given I was still shaped as a 14 year old serving girl. Broken Walls however noted that I could obviously take care of myself given my take down of Guumari earlier. It is nice to know someone is paying attention.

Broken Walls and Chaoxi explained some useful finer points about being Anathema that was good to know. If I am to believe them then Anathema are chosen of the Unconquered Sun. It’s an explaination of sorts which is more than I have had to go on up until now. Not sure if I entirely believe it. By way of demonstrating that he knows what he’s talking about, Broken Walls showed Aster how to light up the mark on her forehead. Neither of theirs looks quite like mine but the effect is similar enough that I know I am amoungst kin of some sort. Chijiwa refused to try the same trick but Broken Walls and Chaoxi seemed to be willing to accept him regardless.

Broken Walls then set into telling us that the Wyld Hunt was coming for us and that there were two options : To run or to make a stand and dig in somewhere. He told us he wants to take over the city of Champoor and set up some sort of fortification there. The whole thing sounds a little ridiculous to me. The others seemed to agree that being on the run indefinately was undesirable but I just think they have the sense to realize they wouldn’t be any good at it.

If I were more fair I might admit that the idea of running forever isn’t terribly appealing to me even though I know I could pull it off. Still, Broken Walls might as well set a rock on the sea shore and watch the Immaculate Ocean wear it away! Seiging a port city is difficult, not impossible and the Immaculate Faith has no limit to the soldiers they can field and the amount of diplomatic power they can wield to freeze out the city from trade.

The little speech did inspire me to come up with my own solution. The houses that supply the wyld hunt are in disarray. With a little push here and there to set them against each other could make them weak enough to take them down. Rot the ties between the houses and it is conceivable that a decisive blow could finish them off.

It’s ambitious. I admit that. It sounds dangerous and I am nowhere near ready to take on a task of that magnitude alone. To do what I intend I will need three things : money, allies and a place to start. Champoor is a pit. Everything I’ve heard about it tells me it is rotten to it’s core. If I have what it takes to take on the Wyld Hunt at it’s source then taking a single city shouldn’t be impossible. I will help Broken Walls place his rock on the seashore but nothing says I have to drown with him on it.

With the others willing enough to go on with Broken Wall’s plan they turned to me again to suss out why I was willing to follow them and how I could be of use. I think they suspected me of being some sort of spy which is fair enough. I could have told them a lie but there didn’t seem much point of going through the effort. If I am going to help these people then a little trust is necessary. I tried the trick Broken Walls taught Aster earlier and lit up the symbol on my forehead. The look of surprise on their faces was worth it.

There was some talk about fate and Broken Walls resolved that we were a proper group. He revealed that Chaoxi is a Water aspect Dragonblood which was a surprise. She seems like a nice enough person otherwise so I’m willing to give her a chance. We decided to go to sleep for the night after that. Broken Walls, Chaoxi and Chijiwa all went directly to bed but I stayed up for awhile to play the Radius. Aster butted in and asked me to teach her the words to the song which I sung for her. After one rendition she had it perfectly.


She is talented but then, if she is like me, maybe it’s to be expected.

Wood Resplendent 4 – On the Road to Champoor


I was awoken this morning by Broken Walls shouting my name and shining light from his mark in my face. I am not fond of people seeing me in my morning form but I am a heavy sleeper and slow to wake and this morning particularly I felt like there were lead weights sewn into in my clothes.

Okay well, there ARE lead weights in my clothes but I’m used to those. What I mean to say is this morning I was groggier than usual and a little achy.

Broken Walls demanded I light up the mark on my forehead which I did and thankfully he backed off. The others looked at me like I had grown antlers which is when I remembered that I never told them about my more peculiar skills. I transformed into the form I had used yesterday while they watched. This handily served as an explaination. Chijiwa and Chaoxi reacted as one might expect and looked surprised and alarmed. Aster’s reaction surprised me. She seemed delighted. She asked if I could turn into someone specific and asked if I could turn into her. I couldn’t resist trying. It made her rather shy seeing herself from the outside. I know most people find it disconcerting. Broken Walls asked me what happened to my bones when I change size and I replied that I prefer not to think about it… which is true. When my skull shrinks in size it tends to make a sound like a handful of sewing needles snapping. It hurts but not enough to stop me doing it. Broken Walls simply took my comment in stride and told me the skill was sure to come in handy. The man makes understatement an art form.

I reformed into the teashop girl and we were breaking camp when the cough started. Broken Walls and Aster were immediately concerned. Broken Walls mentioned the night before that he’s been alive for over a hundred years and since he took his “second breath” he has never gotten sick. Aster seems to have some healing skills and examined me for a little while before pronouncing that I had Guumari’s disease. When I find that bloated slimeball again he will die painfully and embarassingly. She told me that I would need to take a medicated bath that night which sounded like a fine idea.

By the time we made camp tonight I felt vile. Broken Walls went off and made a bath for me. I expected nothing better than a clay lined pit but he created an entire bath house complete with wall murals. The bath was a godsend. When I had finished however I noted that brown sludge had leaked from my pores to taint the water of the bath a foul brown. It smelled like that greaseball god and when I picked up my clothes I noticed I could smell it on them as well. I went to the river and washed them wearing a robe Chaoxi lent me. She really does seem to have packed everything.

I made sure I thanked Aster Full of Light for helping me. She is an interesting person. She seems willing to accept me as I am and I am beginning to believe that her kindness isn’t just some sort of act. She wanted to know more about my work and I told her about some of the more benign things I do. I don’t know if she would be so willing to accept me if she knew everything I do. Come to think of it I don’t think any of them would. Broken Walls and Chaoxi seem pragmatic enough but warrior sorts like them tend to frown on people who would rather take their enemies out while they sleep.

Resplendent Wood 5 – the Road to Champoor


Last night we mulled over a couple of options for getting past the border patrols. Broken Walls wanted to get past the river by building a bridge. His solution to any problem appears to be “build something”. I pointed out that that is something people would most likely notice and decided to experiment to see how well they could play.

I tried to disguise Aster first by using an old trick of frothing soap and wine to create a fake skin. I was putting a bit of oil in her hair to make it look stringier when all of a sudden the stuff just started to slide off her skin and hair like water off a duck. To add to the conundrum Aster is unused to going in disguise and refuses to lie even under life threatening circumstances. I sincerely hope she reconsiders that stance in the future.

Chijiwa, Chaoxi and Broken Walls were next. Thankfully they didn’t suffer from whatever bizzare condition effects Aster and the disguises stuck. Aster took her veil off and fashioned it into the sort of head covering they require of females in parts of the south. She has the potential to be good at this if she were more flexible about what she considers the truth. I made myself up to look like a young lord and climbed aboard the most impressive of our two horses. I’ve never liked riding but selling the disguise sometimes requires a little discomfort on my part.

I arrived at the boarder with my “guards” and let Broken Walls speak for me. It would have looked a little odd if I had addressed the guards directly and I needed to see how well Broken Walls can pull off an alias. He’s not bad. Not great but there’s time. He had informed the boarder guard that we were “Merchanting” and the guard seemed to be unimpressed. Not surprisingly, we weren’t well equipped to be merchants. He went to me to confirm the story and I fed him a haughty tale that I was going to Champoor to select a gift to impress a perspective bride. “Merchanting” does have two meanings after all. Broken Walls apologized saying he was just the hired help and they let us through. A good first attempt.

Resplendent Wood 9 – The Road


I have done my fair share of travelling since the incident at Great Forks but never have I travelled so comfortably. It seems to make some difference not having to be as guarded about being discovered every morning or losing sleep from every bump in the night when travelling alone. Chaoxi and Broken Walls supply us with everything we need. The food is rough but good. Aster accompanies me when I play Radius and she doesn’t pry too much into uncomfortable subjects.

I realize that she is a problem. She is kind and gentle and I have told her more about myself then I have told anyone in the past five years. Lying to her seems… wrong. From a practical standpoint I know shouldn’t become too attached. For what I intend to do I mustn’t have weaknesses for my enemies to exploit. Troublingly I don’t think I can find it within myself to exploit her for my own gain. I value her opinion of me. That is the worst of it. I know I will disappoint her eventually and that disappointment will hurt. I must accept that as the price for her company now.

Chijiwa told us a bit about his family. His ancestor founded the White Reaper Style and he is the successor of it. He seems proud of his lineage but he is hessitant to tell much about himself directly. I sense he’s dealing with something he doesn’t want to talk about. Until he coughs up whatever it is that bothers him I see no reason to disturb him.

Broken Walls and Chaoxi told us a bit of their story. Broken Walls came from Fortitude in the north. Given his discription I intend to never visit. After he “took his second breath” he wandered into the wastes and was scooped up by the Hunt and ended up in the Imperial Mountain for 100 years where he met Chaoxi. I can’t imagine getting stuck in a Mountain for that long. I would have gone insane. Perhaps he did- that would explain a lot.

They seem like good people. They also seem like very capable people. I don’t know how interested they would be in joining me in my scheme once they have built their tomb in Champoor but I hope they will for their sake. Best case senario their plan is successful, we make a ton of money and they can hold the city for awhile and take a lot of enemies with them. Either way the place needs cleaning out.

Resplendant Wood ? – A Temple

We have stopped for the night in a Temple. With us are two brothers Knot and String who are brewers on their way to negotiate a business venture on the way to Champoor. There is a mercenary as well – Seventh Dawn. She looks capable though when she claims she’s a martial artist I don’t believe her. She’s a warrior for certain but beside claiming to have had some White Reaper style demonstrated for her she’s been evasive. Broken Walls has negotiated a contract with her to join us on the road until we reach the city.

We paid our respects to the God of the temple before getting ready to sleep for the night. I am not sure I like these newcomers. I will need to be cautious again about my habits so they do not discover more than is healthy for them to know.

Spoiler: Aster's Diary Session 2

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Resplendent Wood 9

So much has happened since we last spoke, Diary! Our new friends are full of such strange and wonderful surprises!
To begin, I have discovered the most wonderful word for what my light has brought me: Broken Walls tells me I am a Solar (a most fitting description!) and that he is one as well! It is so wonderful to meet others who have been touched by the light, as I have now discovered that both Piper and Chijiwa have been too.

There is much to tell you about my new companions, as I have learned much about them over the last few days, even beyond their having been lit as I have. I will begin with Piper. Piper is a terribly interesting person, or at least, I believe this to be true. It is, however, a somewhat difficult thing to ascertain. Let me explain: Piper is impeccable at disguises. These disguises seem to be flawless and perhaps some kind of talent that Piper has gained from the light. I was terribly impressed (and terribly embarrassed) when this talent was used to imitate me! (What as strange and unnerving experience, to be confronted with one’s double.)
These disguises tend to accompany a differing array of personalities, however. When we first met, Piper was a young tea girl, not much taller than myself. However, when we awoke the first morning, Piper looked much different: shorter hair, taller, leaner frame, boyish figure. And gone were the demure tea-girl’s graces, replaced with a retiring demeanor that seemed reluctant to open to me. I do not wish to pry, as Piper seems unwilling to speak of the past in anything but the most basic terms, but I fear something inside must have been deeply injured to create such walls against intrusion. Until I know further, I cannot help to heal this, but I must tread carefully, lest I deepen the injury, or add further to the barricade.
Piper is currently in the guise of a young man named Pewter Spoon, who seems jovial and personable. (Perhaps this more open personality might be a way past Piper’s defenses?)
Oh! I almost forgot, diary! Piper is a musician who plays a tiny, intricately carved flute! I now know a new song, called the Two Birds. I always enjoy harmonizing with another :).

The next companion I will describe to you is Chijiwa, the young nobleman, who it seems is from Kamthahar, which is quite nearby. Even though he is reticent to speak of himself or his family, his nobility is quite evident. His bearing is straight, practiced, perhaps used to following and/or taking orders. That and his evident skill with a spear mark him as some sort of soldier, though I suppose many nobles’ sons have training in such things. He is well-mannered; he listens intently, and then speaks only when necessary. Something seems… broken, however, in him, Diary. I’m not certain what exactly; he does not seem quiet out of defensiveness the same way Piper does, but there still seems to be something that is causing him… distress? pain? I am uncertain. I will continue to get to know him, and see if I am able to help.
He allowed me to style his hair, which, although I have no particular skill it, I find terribly comforting, not to mention is a good way to build trust and intimacy.

I will tell you next of Chaoxi, the blue-hired woman who it does indeed seem came from the West (!). She is a lovely woman, terribly prepared and resourceful, and a pleasure to travel with. It seems she and Broken Walls are some kind of travelling companions (though I wonder perhaps, Diary, if there is more to it than that..), and it is evident that they have known each other for some time; they seem to barely need to speak in order to understand what the other wants. Broken Walls seems to trust her implicitly, and she subtly dotes upon him.
I also had the opportunity to wind her hair, and was pleasantly surprised when we were able to speak in my native tongue to one another! She even knew the words to “The Ships Come In”, which was a lovely bonding experience.

I will now tell you of Broken Walls. He is definitely as confident as I first believed him to be, but I worry that this may lead to overconfidence; while I have yet to see him fail at a task he wishes to accomplish, what he soon wishes to do may be more of an undertaking than we are capable of. But more on that later. There is something both inspiring and endearing about Broken Walls, even as I find him both confusing and far too ready for battle. He is blunt in his words, but quite compassionate with his actions; when we discovered that Piper had contracted the terrible disease that had plagued the poor man back at the village, he was quick to construct a beautiful bath in order to speed her healing. Oh! and his constructions! He is able to build without tools, and with such intricacy and speed! I think I find his name quite apt; although he is hard and defensive, through the cracks in his armor spill the light of kindness.
He has said he is going to write a poem, which I await quite eagerly :).

Now that I have told you of my new companions, I must now tell you, Diary, of the plan Broken Walls has devised. But first, let me bring some news to light (hee hee) about what we are, and why we are in such danger. Broken Walls tells us that we are Solars, which means that we have been touched by the light of the Unconquered Sun. However, this means that we are the anathema hunted by the Wyld Hunt, although we are of course not the evil things that they believe us to be.
Because we are in such danger from this fearsome force, Broken Walls has proposed that we make a place to stand and fight them, and that place shall be the one we are heading towards, the city of Champoor.

I, as you might imagine, have many misgivings about this plan, but I have decided to follow and aid him, and I will tell you why: Our Brother and Sister Solars are in danger, and their suffering will not end until someone has made a stand. If we can do so with as little bloodshed as possible, that would be ideal, but we cannot guarantee that the Wyld Hunt will not force our hands. If we are prepared, with an army, with a fortress, perhaps we will be in a better position to make them stop and listen. If not, then it is important that, first, we do something to make them listen, and, second, that I am there in order to help mitigate the damage to them and us as much as I possibly can.
I cannot imagine the suffering that our fellow light-touched must have gone through at the hands of those who think they are doing the gods’ work up until now. We cannot allow them to continue to be persecuted in this way, even if it means I must resort to harming others.

But on to happier news! We have made it over the border to Champoor, and have even made some new friends! Seventh Dawn, a warrior woman of strong countenance, Knot, a gregarious mead seller, and apparent lover of music, and his brother String,, a quieter man, but one who seems thoughtful and shrewd. I do hope we will get a chance to know them better! :D