Not My Dream Vacation (Celestial Crab Bucket. First World, Exalted)

[TheLastOne]

Author's Note
There is a (perfectly legitimate) tendency to not like certain kinds of surprises being sprung on the reader, where what they think is happening, and what actually is happening is quite different.

As such, I am making a note of it right now that there are basic things Nathan thinks are true that are not. Consider this a warning, if you're one of those people

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Actual Spoiler

As I said, this is an actual spoiler. Don't share it in the thread outside spoilers tags.

While Nathan's original 'pre-isekai' identity is what he thinks it was, his arrival in creation was somewhat worse than he thinks it was. He has been hit with Pattern Spider's Touch, and has had roughly eleven days of history rewritten. That is, his entire existence in Creation up-to-that-point.

Notably, he isn't a god, though 'not being a real god' isn't actually that big a deal. Still, putting it out here so no one thinks I'm springing it on them , and fair warning for people who don't like those kinds of surprises coming out of left field.

Chapter One
An Auspicious Start

---

The 3rd of Ascending Water, Marsday, Realm Year 762
"Drink, drink. You were human, right," The Dreamer stated more than asked, "Humans love drinking."

"Ah, thank you," I replied, taking a careful sip. To be frank, I didn't like drinking; it was not a moral objection. I just didn't like the loss of control. But I wasn't going to tell my companions that. My appointment could have gone badly, and I wasn't going to risk it so soon by offending them.

The taste was intensely mineral, which isn't normally how I would describe something pleasant, but honestly the only reason I wouldn't describe it as the best thing I had ever drank was that the festival I attended at the start of the session had a tea that I could only describe as a religious experience. With fear, to be clear; I didn't want to want anything that much.

"It's delicious," I said, honestly.

We were currently hosted within The House of the Nine Hearths of Emerald and Silver, the home of the Ennead, the patron gods of some nation called the Haslanti League. Evidently choosing them as our hosts was minorly scandalous, a way of pushing back on the authority so recently applied. Since my appointment was part of that self-same exercise of authority, I was unsure how to feel about it.

We were currently… well, holding court, basically… within a great hall that had been repurposed to host us. Most of the pantheon hosting us were not home. I still was getting my head around the local seasons, but evidently the season of Ascending Water was a busy one from the Ennead - the Pantheon that was hosting us. It kind of seemed strange to me that we were being given the run of the place, and it was considered a big honor and transgressive of us to pick them as our hosts, yet at the same time it wasn't an insult for none of the Ennead to be here.

But then, I had been a god for all of three weeks. And, as far as isekai cheats go, 'being a god' turned out to be deeply mid. So what did I know? Honestly I was grateful. I was more than a little overwhelmed still. That said, we were hardly alone. The Ennead had left servants to take care of us, and we were making full use of their home to host a Gala.

There were twelve of us here, currently enjoying the Ennead's hospitality. While by tradition only the god of the preceding, current, and next season needed to be present, there were more of us than that.

For Descending Air, that was The Dreamer, who it seemed had been assigned as my first teacher. Maybe they took up the role themselves? They were friendly enough, but they seemed friendly to everyone, so I wasn't sure how real it was. They were androgynous, and I wasn't sure of their current gender, so I was being careful about it. They looked like a hospital patient wasting away - maybe fifty pounds soaking wet, at a respectable 5'8. Though their hair was wine-dark and lush, and they were well groomed. I always got the feeling they were stoned, too. Not just from the name.

The gods of the current month, the Calendar gods of Ascending Water, were the Cold Roars. They were a pair of giant bears. But while the Dreamer was playing host and teaching me the ropes, the Cold Roars had excused themselves the night before to hunt… I think dogs? I didn't quite understand that part, though I felt vaguely horrified about it. But I felt vaguely horrified by many things.

The gods of Resplendent Water, of next month… They were the The Three. They were like a genderfliped witches coven - The Boy, the Father, and the Codger? Whatever. They were made from Ice, and if this was a DnD session I would have guessed they were some kind of elementals. Luckily, I hadn't said that, because I'm pretty sure they would have been insulted. And honestly, they gave me witchy vibes, and I didn't want them insulted at me.

They were the ones 'in charge' of the current court. But they weren't the only ones present.

I was sure he was positively inclined towards me, but mainly because I was essentially told as much - that his support had been arranged. But as he rarely talked, and he seemed to be putting most of his efforts into rebuilding his connections with the hangers on of the Court, we had barely interacted.

Lastly, the Golden Stars were present - six identical women. Their complexions and features struck me as being Arabic - except there was no such thing here in Creation, so I supposed I needed to update my ethnic library. While they were decidedly average in appearance, they all had a vivacious air to them, and I would have been charmed to have a girl like that pay attention to me. Just not them, because they low-key terrified me.

Lastly there was me. The new calendar god, the god of Calibration, the five days that weren't part of any season, a 'month' into themselves. Theoretically, this was my formal introduction to godly society. Since I'm pretty sure we would be throwing a festival anyways, I didn't take it very seriously.

The Dreamer picked away at a shallow bowl they had at their side, rolling together a ball of something gray and stringy, before popping it in their mouth, before returning their attention to me.

"So, what you have to understand," they said, resuming our earlier conversation, "is that our job is to represent and inspire."

He languidly gestured at all the strangeness gathered in the hall, the gathered gods milling about the other members of the Court. While the Ennead weren't home, their home was full of people wanting to meet us, along with some of the Ennead's servants taking care of our needs.

"The Bureau of Seasons might make everything run, but they're staid and humorless. See, they don't make people believe that things should keep running. They don't get people invested in the system. People need symbols, patriotism for reality, you might call it."

He threw a few more stands in his mouth, musing over his thoughts before speaking, "The seasons aren't just physical. We might not make it snow, but we make snow a time for families to come together and celebrate. You aren't going to go and fix the Loom during Calibration, no. But it's your job to make it a celebration, rather than let everyone be terrified that a demon is going to crawl through their shadow and eat their spleen."

They took a long draw from their pipe, and the smoke they blew out smelled foul, before even more languidly continuing, "They make nature run. We make people happy that natures running. The seasons turn according to the design of heaven, but we make it so that's something to celebrate."

Yeah. My isekai cheat? Literally godhood. As in, I was a god when I wandered, confused, out of that stupid hole in reality. And hey, while I didn't start out a god of anything in particular, they made me a Calendar God. That had to be a big deal, right? It had to make me a big deal, right? This was the start of my adventure, right?

No. No it didn't. Instead I got an official apology of 'whatever hole from beyond you fell through has been officially recognized as our fault', and then whisked off to a position where I couldn't damage anything with my complete lack of qualification as apology.

Maybe it was way better than I had any right to expect. Maybe it was an actually prestigious position. Maybe it came with some real respect. But I couldn't get over the fact that I was a cheerleader. As in, my job was to hype up the change of seasons, and run a bunch of parties. Only not actually run the parties, because that was too much responsibility. Enliven them by my presence and claim responsibility for the work more qualified people did.

"Calibration really is terrifying if you think about it for more than a minute," I said honestly, because it was. "I hope I can live up the expectations you've all placed in me by trusting me with the responsibility."

The trust in this case was 'The Bureau of Destiny will help you make a fall guy to cover for your crimes in return for solving one of their problems.' While I might be misunderstanding the situation somewhat - in fact, I'm sure I was simply because everyone involved was a lying criminal and I lacked context - the basic gist of it was this. The whole Court of Seasons did so much crime that there were binders worth of blackmail material against them gathering dust. They broke Heaven's laws left and right, and got away with it on account of being popular enough that no one wanted the headache.

And like all things 'no one wanted', it was a homeostasis that lasted until someone did. Evidently, The Whisperer's court had been used to launder a little bit too much money from Heaven for it to be overlooked. I didn't really get the context, but for some reason no one who mattered thought the Whisperer himself had anything to do with it, but it was being held against the Court as a whole. The Hidden had stolen something (never named) that they really shouldn't from the Bureau of Humanity. The Seven Fangs had killed the godblooded scion of… I didn't quite catch the name… and he had actual legal protection that actually mattered for reasons that escaped me and wouldn't apply to all their other murder. And those were only the opening act.

On the flip side, the Bureau of Destiny was always happy to help execute more gods, because dead gods could be turned into some kind of super-special magical metal called 'Starmetal.' Which was an amazingly happy thought to discover, you know, as a new god. And while the crimes were serious, the Court would have been able to avoid being executed. But if they were allowed to shift the blame…

But shifting that much blame around, doing that much of a frame job was more than the Bureau of Destiny would just do for a handful of minor gods getting executed. What they wanted was this - the Court of Seasons had an open slot. It was prestigious and harmless, and it let them wash their hands of me. There were fifteen months plus Calibration. All fifteen seats had been fighting over getting Calibration, even though Calibration is only five days. Handing it off to me might deny anyone the chance to expand their own domains, but I would be weaker and less prestigious than the rest, and none of their rivals would get it. At the same time, binders worth of crime disappeared, the freaky destiny wizards in the Bureau of Destiny got a nice toy, and heaven can officially say they did right by me for whatever ripped me from earth to, to…

To this messed up fever-dream. Like something between a bronze age Conan-style horror show, and Asura Wrath.

"If we're supposed to be inspiration, shouldn't we be out there in the world?"

"Oh," a perky voice interrupted our conversation. One of the Golden Stars was climbing up the steps of the dais, before plopping herself down on one of the floor cushions, "we will be!"

She picked up my cup and took a long draw, before using it to gesture to the rest of the crowd, "We've agreed to hold court within the territory of the Ennead till the next Carnival of Meetings. That said, we don't want a bunch of mortal petitioners dying in the snow before they even meet us - it would look bad."

She plopped herself down on her own cushion, and the Dreamer started preparing her a pipe of whatever he was smoking, "We don't want to be cheap, and some of them dying is good for that. People value something risky more than something safe, you know? And some of us just run very dangerous courts. That's all fine. But if they start dying before they even reached our court…"

She shrugged as she accepted the pipe, "It might hurt how many petitioners we get in the future. It would make more people think they didn't have a chance, which isn't what we want."

She let out a sigh, as she sprawled into her cushion. It would have made for a tempting sight - something I sort of suspected was intentional - except for the part where she scared me, and that she thought the idea that there should be an appropriate number of deaths disgusted me.

But I held my tongue as the Dreamer's lethargic voice picked back up as they started walking me through all the festivals we were officially responsible for. It was quite a list.

---

The 4th of Ascending Water, Mercuryday, Realm Year 762
I looked around my current bedroom. Sometime between going to bed last night, and waking today I felt… better. More grounded. It was the second time that happened. Something about my messed up way of entering this universe fixing itself? Something like that.

I felt good. Great really, physically speaking. That was pleasant, but not so pleasant that it made me want to actually finish getting out of bed, so I sat, half covered in the fur blankets, enjoying the crisp chill.

Against one wall was a dresser with the handful of clothes I had hanging from it. My outfit from the day before hung there - already cleaned by the Sanctum's scarily efficient servants. Most of the rest of the room was piled with gifts. Boxes spilling over boxes, forming into drifts that, while one might not be able to drown in, had certainly graduated from ''tripping hazard" to "Navigation hazard." Which was fine with me, since I didn't really want to go anywhere. Though it probably wasn't to be, since…

My door banged open, Lird Melo, the middle figure of The Three, entered with a purple haired goddess I hadn't met before, and a trailing tail of house-staff. I wasn't sure if I would call him a 'young man' or 'middle aged.' Right on that border, absurdly handsome like something a movie character stepping out of the big screen. While he was made from ice, that didn't make him see-through. His colors were off, and he gleamed, but he wasn't monotoned. He had black hair, though it looked more like ink than human hair, and wine-dark eyes. He had that 'something Asian in the last couple generations' look of Keenu Reeves, if Keenu Reeves was 6'10 and had biceps bigger than a woman's waist. Like… he was shredded. Absurdly shredded. Grate cheese on his abs shredded. He wore a two layer robe, but it wasn't quite closed right, letting a bit of his chest show and leaving him looking disheveled. It was intentional - he always looked tousled.

"Slow morning? I'll join you for breakfast today," he stated casually as he walked to my small table. "It's not good for us to be too present since it's not our season, don't want to be too available."

He casually gestured at the trailing servants to get me dressed as he started nosing his way through the gifts.

"Not a problem for you, really, since you just have the Carnival of Meetings, and that has a somewhat different balance to it." He studied a velvet bag for a moment. It was sewn shut, but his eyes seemed to see through the cover, and after a moment he handed it to one of the attendants to put on the table, before going back to rooting through the piles.

"Anyways, this is Vevin, goddess of… you're a lake goddess, right?" At the woman's nod he continued, "Anyways, she's volunteered to teach you Old Realm Script, Geomancy, get you started on basic orphiology… we have you with her for about five hours a day for the next week. See if she's worth using. Don't be afraid to toss her if she's useless. You're doing her a favor, don't hand those out if the petitioner isn't worth your time." He shrugged, before walking to the table with a two more packages.

While this had been going on, the ever officiant servants of the house had gotten me up out of bed, found several gifts that evidently were clothes (this had been how all of my wardrobe had thus far been procured), and not only had they finished dressing me, they were halfway through applying makeup and fixing my hair.

Makeup, it seemed, wasn't a gendered accessory in Creation. Thanks, Creation. I hate it.

As I was seated at the little table with Lird and the now named Vevin, I studied her while Lird opened the packages he had picked out - some kind of tea-set complete with a selection of teas, a cured meat spread, and a kind of large thick cracker. Before he had finished unpacking them, the servants had found a hot-plate, dishes, and silverware from among my unopened gifts.

Vevin was a tall woman. I couldn't be sure exactly since Creation didn't use American Customary, but I think my Apotheosis had put about five inches on my height, boosting me from a sort of average 5'10 to about 6'3. Somewhere in there, at least. She was about my height; she was close enough that I would put her within an inch of me in either direction. And while I hadn't seen her shoes, I had yet to see heels. She wore dark blue, and both her hair and eyes were a purple verging on black. Her dress seemed to swish as if alive as she moved, and for a moment it was like here skirt was a tail - an image that swiftly vanished when she sat, but stuck with me.

She gave me a small confident little smile, unconcerned with Lird's dismissive attitude, and gave me a deferential little bow that somehow managed to be amused. Considering Lird's attitude towards her, there was something wrong here. Like always, I lacked context.

"Nice to meet you Vevin," I said, nodding in acknowledgement, and feeling awkward. I would normally shake hands, but I was told that while there was a similar custom in a few places in Creation, and an important god could get away with sticking using their favored cultural norms. But also that such a gesture was only appropriate towards peers. I felt rude, and didn't know what to do with my hands instead, so I just played with the silverware. "I just hope you don't find me a frustrating student. I don't know what orphiology is."

She lightly shook her head as I tried a bite of crackers with meat spread. Delicious of course.

"I'm sure you'll be a fine student. I've taught mortals, I'm sure a young god will prove a more able student."

I wasn't.

"Oh," Lird interrupted, "do you need to top off?" For a moment, a blue-green glow snaked around his fingers like a cat's cradle.

"Nope," I lightly shook my head, and genuine smiled. "I started respiring essence last night."

"You did?" There was a flash of curiosity there. "It seems your apotheosis is fixing itself. Before long you'll be a real god."

Ah, yeah. I wonder why I didn't want to start the day.

"You couldn't naturally regain essence?"

"Don't ask questions outside your station." Lird didn't even look at her when he responded for me, an almost bored tune to his voice. "Anyways, if you don't need a pick-me-up anymore, I'll leave you to your day. Resplendent Water is going to be taking our leave of the Sanctum for the day. Only the Dreamer is going to be holding court. It's really disgraceful the way the Cold Roars treat their court. It's their season - they're supposed to be the key figures here. See you tomorrow at the latest."

He finished his last bite, nodded, and left trailed by servants. Two of them stayed - I guess my escort for the day.

"Before we get started, what should I call you? I only know you as the new Calibration god."

"Ah. I'm Nathan," I replied. The first part of my name was just my old name. But the Heavens had assigned me a new one too. Didn't know how I felt about it. "Nathan Nozi."



Authors Note
So something that I always forget until I go and look at the months…

In Exalted, air is associated with Cold, and the North. Yep, fine. We're all on a page here. Water is associated with the West, and has lots of variations, but thematically kind of defaults to a Mediterranean Sea for a Greek Mythology Style. Okay, we're still tracking.

However, the Season of air, the season when the elemental pole of Air is ascendent, is Autumn. Winter is in the Season of Water.

Why? Well, I'm guessing early on Water was going to be the 'cold' element, because ice=water, and so they arranged the seasons thus, and it never got changed even after they shifted cold to Air.

Well… this far north, Air is going to be pretty wintery, too. But I keep wanting to call winter 'air' and it's 'water.' Anyways, I thought I would share.


So there's this old thing about how spelling and names were done in the Old Realm. Not official, but I like it well enough. In this case, Nozi means Void-link-Lord. That said, this isn't a very expansive list of characters - I'm going with 'there are degrees', and the void in his name is similar but not the same as 'The Void'. In this case, it means hollow.

Basically Nozi means 'hollow lord' or 'lord of nothing.' Officially he has that because Calibration is the 'null' value in the calendar, the time that isn't, so he's the Calendar Lord for 'this time does not exist/the value is NULL.'

Spoiler: Celestial Spending

The Celestial Crab Bucket
Starting CP: 800CP
Starting Unlock: [Redacted]
First Discounted Unlock: Exalted: Outcaste [Ruby="400CP"](400CP)[/Ruby]
Starting Origin: [Redacted]

Starting Purchases​

"Free For" [Redacted] [Ruby="350CP"](50CP)[/Ruby]

[Redacted] (Free)
[Redacted] (Free)​

Unlock Origin: Exalted: Outcastes Origin - Godspawned Wretch

Firmly Familiar: +0CP
Similar Strength: +0CP
Base CP (Min. +50CP): +50CP
Total: [Ruby="300CP"](50CP)[/Ruby]​

Godspawned Wretch Purchases
Anima Treasures

Significantly More Powerful?: +0CP
Fundamentally Transform: +100CP
Base CP (Min +50 CP): +100CP
Total: [Ruby="200CP"](100CP)[/Ruby]
Where you gained a priceless treasure like this is unknowable. It is as much an Endowment or mutation of the soul as it is an object. Perhaps it was a half-real wonder left unclaimed from the end of the first age that you dredged up from a forgotten laboratory, or maybe you bargained with a Demon Prince. Regardless, this is a true wonder.
In a display of essence and power, you drive your Anima to manifest at the Iconic level. And in a moment of strange wonder, it will shift, solidify, and become a strange item crafted in the colors of your Anima Banner and with motifs and designs echoing your Iconic Anima. It's as much a work of art as an artifact.
You may develop charms to further enhance this artifact-charm, to use it, or to grant it new abilities or attributes as if having it was a native ability natural to your charm set.
At any time, you may dismiss the artifact. Resummoning it is easy, but if you wish to refresh it you may do so with another investment of essence like its initial summoning. That said, while it's manifested, it's a real physical object, not some ephemeral construct of essence.
For future jumps, this charm counts as an appropriate item to import future items into it.​

Mantle of Rebirth
The Mantle of Rebirth is made from something more illusionary than gossamer, and more sacred than ambrosia. Its weight on your shoulder is as heavy as a promise.
The Mantle of Rebirth allows you to, in a single moment, kill and unmake yourself, and at the same time set in motion your rebirth. A death caused this way doesn't count as 'dying' within the greater context of the Chain, though the time between your death and rebirth will not progress the current link on the chain. Using the mantle usually takes too long and takes too much focus to use in combat, though it isn't that long a process. It's in line with a moderately involved spell.
When you use the mantle, you can specify many aspects of the circumstance of your rebirth; you can pick your parents in other worlds. Only the most powerful beings are immune to this manipulation. You are also able to declare many details of your new form; you generally can't make yourself more impressive, but you can move things around.
If circumstance or external forces interfere with the fulfillment of your rebirth, you can choose what will be prioritized when you use the mantle. At the same time, improbable choices can result in the mantle metaphorically satisfying your design, rather than doing so literally. The mantle and its use is exceedingly hard to detect. It cloaks itself in such a way that nothing less than the direct attention of one of the Maidens will find you, and she would have to already be looking.
All that said, your rebirth will also prioritize the abilities you have over the ones of your new parents; exaltation will usually burn away spirit heritage and other supernatural powers.
You can allow others to use the mantle.
Once every ten years, or once every link in the chain (whichever comes sooner), the Mantle will whisk away your soul to reincarnation at the moment of your death even if it isn't manifested. After your chain is done, the mantle may save you any number of time.​

Wake up somewhere where 'You' will be helped, and/or gain a knowledge and helpful mentor/guide. [Ruby="100CP"](0CP)[/Ruby]


Day One
[Ruby="+50CP"](50CP)[/Ruby]
You receive 50 CP a day that you involve yourself in Plot - when you're actively engaging with the world, going out of cour comfort zone, and otherwise tying yourself to events.

"Free For" Godspawned Wretch[Ruby="0CP"](50CP)[/Ruby]
Do what you want 'cause an outcaste is free (Free for Everyone)
You have the talent to be an outcaste's outcaste, the idea so many of them pretend to. Whether you live up to that potential is up to you, but you certainly have the basic set of abilities needed to thrive.
First, you are a bit better than the average person on all of your basic attributes. It's nothing dramatic; if the average man was a 'two', then you're at least a 'three' on all fundamental abilities.
But more than that; you express a nature strengthened by the five elements.
From Air, you're a bit quicker on your feet, as if you had a Stone of Quick Thought.
From Earth, you are physically flawless, like the bearer of a Gem of Perfection.
From Fire, you deal well with both cold and heat, shake off many minor diseases, and resist dehydration as if you bore the Stone of Circulation.
From Water, you are immune to disease and poison, and will not bleed, as if you bore a Bloodstone.
From Wood, you excel at matters of survival and endurance through valor, as if you bore the Stone Of The Emerald Rooster.
You are not one to be pinned down by others' expectations or designs upon your identity. Man? Woman? You are what you decide to be, just as if you bore a Stone of Gender Transformation.
Lastly, outcaste society is a Dragonsblooded society, concerned not just with what you are, but what springs from you. You can guarantee your children inherit any inheritable trait you wish. Even if such inheritance should weaken, you can promise it will not.
To be clear, this Charm won't weed out traits. It's a way of helping you pass things on, not a way to engineer your children. That said, you don't have to use it on any trait you don't wish to be passed down. Things will proceed naturally from that point. This Charm is an inheritable trait.

 

[Brightsilver8]

Seems interesting. Idk much about Exalted outside of some osmosis, but I have always liked the settings vibe.

 

[TheLastOne]

Seems interesting. Idk much about Exalted outside of some osmosis, but I have always liked the settings vibe.

Click to shrink...

Well, considering how little is written about most of the characters I'm using right now...

Resplendent Water: The Three is a trio of grandfather, father and son, made entirely of ice. They've taken inspiration from the Seer and the Seven Fangs, and seek to usurp control of Ascending Water from the Cold Roars. The Three have not yet recruited the Dreamer into their scheme.

Click to shrink...

Name? I couldn't find one. Description? Dido.

So now you now as much as someone familiar with the setting would know about them.

 

[TheLastOne]

The Court of Seasons The Ennead Others

• The Calendar Gods - not gods over things like 'the season', but rather the demarcation of them. In practice, this means the festivals attached to them.
  
  Are popular and fun gods, at least in divine circles. They have an undeserved reputation for competence, and while not personally powerful have leveraged their position into a great deal of unofficial soft power.
  
  Nathan Nozi
  Nathan, Lord of Nothing. Our protagonist. After getting isekai'd by cosmic accident, the Bureau of Destiny did a 'my bad', blamed it on fate breaking in a serious way, and gave him a cushy gig as an apology. He isn't entirely sure if he should be grateful they took responsibility, or insulted that they put him somewhere where he would have to lie to himself to maintain his self respect.
  
  Officially the God of Calibration.
  
  Gale's Echo​
  A tempest horse - one of the Thúroch, the bodyguard horse created by the ancient Anathema to guard their children. She's a proud creature, but long years and frustration has made that pride brittle. Nathan's first retainer.​
  
  The Dreamer
  God of Descending Air, the last of the Calendar Gods of the Session of Air. A being of fluid gender, and before being assigned to this role, a god of hallucinations at the edge of death. While he's a casual socialite and easily approachable for gods, he makes others find their way to him the traditional, dangerous way. The danger, of course, isn't because you're hallucinating, and more so because of the terrible health and probable brain damage you must experience for him to appear in your dreams.
  
  Their appearance varies a little with their current gender, though it's not dramatic - too emaciated for dramatic gender expressions. They look about fifty pounds soaking wet, but are otherwise well groomed. Their hair is always lush, and looks like dark spilled wine.
  
  The Cold Roars
  Collectively are the God of Ascending Water. A pair of giant bears. Have some kind of grudge against dogs?
  
  The Three
  Three Gods who collectively are the God of Resplendent Water. They take the forms of a grandfather, father, and son.
  
  Lird Melo
  The 'father' of the trio. While he's made of ice, that doesn't mean he's transparent. Rather, he looks a figure cunningly crafted from many different types of ice, to such a degree that at a distance and in the right light, you might mistake him for human.
  
  He's also both pretty enough to make a straight doubt their sexuality, and buff enough to make the most roid abusing bodybuilder feel inferior. He's like if Keanu Reeves and Cain from Luther Strode had a lovechild.
  
  Deeply self-involved, casually dismissive. He's smart and competent enough to have been a real player if he could ever get out of his own headspace. But he can't so instead he just has bursts of insight in the rare moments when he actually pays attention to the outside world.​
  
  Golden Stars
  Collectively the God of Ascending Fire. Six identical women of plain appearance. They are known both for falling into love quite often, and for falling out of it to devastating consequences for their former paramour. Even if the former paramour did nothing to encourage them - though, to be fair, they're rarely lacking for willing pursuit. Likes giving tests, like 'tell us apart when we are all supernaturally identical. I don't like being mistaken for other women, after all.'
  
  Nathan thinks they have what he would call an 'Arabian' look to them, but doesn't know the Creation equivalent.
• A pantheon of Nine Gods. They're connected to the Haslanti League. Nathan doesn't know what any of those thing are.
• Vevin
  A lake goddess(?), and evidently a teacher by profession, though her topics are esoteric. She has a heroic air, helped by her impressive stature and build.
  
  Curiously, amused, and seemingly unbothered by insults despite her obvious pride. Her colors are the deepest blues and purples.

 

[TheLastOne]

Settling in

---

The 4th of Ascending Water, Mercuryday, Realm Year 762
Orphiology, it turned out, was the 'Study of Deepness.' In this case not referring to physical depths, but spiritual ones. At the most shallow layer, it talked about how Least Gods interacted with the objects they were attached to. At deeper levels, how Sanctums and similar things existed, and then how gods were attached to concepts.

Honestly, the best analogy I had for gods was that they were strings. Little gods were small strings that were then bundled into sets, that were then bundled into cords, and so on, all leading to heaven. Reality didn't really depend on them. The little god of my teacup wasn't necessary for me to drink from it. What it did was make sure that the teacup remained firmly tied to fate. Considering that fate getting entangled was what appeared to lead to the cosmic error that dropped me into Creation, I was firmly on team 'have fate work right.'

Vevin said my analogy was fine for a basic understanding, but would become less accurate as we investigated deeper layers, and that there was a reason fate was the one that usually had the string metaphor used. And also that we wouldn't be really talking about fate, because that was a whole confusing topic itself and not actually involved in Orphiology, but that while she wasn't always on the side of those who tried to turn fate into prophecy, she too was on team fate. As was anyone sane.

"So you were appointed to your seat as an apology?"

"Yep. Had nothing to do with gods or… anything supernatural before all of this," I told her. She was really easy to talk to. Honestly the first normal person I met since coming here. Hell, I could almost pretend she was human - enough people dyed their hair. Though an amazonian punk-chic cosplayer would have totally been out of my league back on earth. " I was just a normal person."

"That's some apology. I'll admit, you're not what I was expecting when I heard there was a new god in the Court of Seasons, I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting when I saw the curriculum they had setup. But not you. Who exactly screwed up enough to feel they had to arrange something like… well… this? Don't get me wrong, it's admirable to take responsibility for your wrong doings, but it's not what I expect of heaven these days."

Well, that was super heretical I'm pretty sure, if true from everything I saw. I wasn't going to tell the censors though, so I just shrugged and went over to my bed side, found the folded letter by my nightstand, and handed it to her as I sat back down.

It was short. Two paragraphs, a closing, and two signed names. I would call it perfunctory. Living in this world for almost two weeks hadn't actually given me enough context to really understand the importance of those names. That was something that would only come from years of living. But I vaguely understood.

"... why do you have an apology letter from Saturn and Mercury?"

"It was something they felt needed to be apologized for? Why does anyone have an apology letter?"

She blinked several times, shook her head. "Okay, I know I was told to keep it to myself, but really, what happened?"

I shook my head. "I'm not insulted you asked, but I really can't say. As in, I can not say. I can't speak the words. While the existence of the apology is no secret, the details are. They have been sealed to secrecy by the Maiden of Secrets. No one still bound by fate can speak them, nor hear them."

She sat there for a minute, just thinking, then sighed.

"Well, I think you'll need more than basic Orphiology if you're involved with such things, but everyone starts somewhere. Let's go over the Racha's exclusion principle. It's fundamental to understanding when a subject with be governed by a single god, or multiple. The important thing to understand…"

The next several hours involved going from topic to topic. Whenever I started struggling, she picked up on it. Often the analogies she used left me confused, but she was always able to switch over to a new one, figuring out a better way of explaining it to me. Lake god… it made me wonder what secrets her lake had hidden in its depths. While gods could grow beyond their task, I had already learned that few did so. If she was so aligned with knowledge and the occult, there probably was a reason.

Still, I did not ask. She probably wouldn't tell me, after all.

"Okay, you obviously are already lettered. It would make it easier for me to teach you if I knew what scripts you already have."

I hummed, then quickly wrote down, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

She stared at it, quirked an eyebrow, then gave an 'ah.'

"What does it say?"

It took me a moment to organize how I wanted to say it. While I seemed to just be able to automatically speak Old Realm, it didn't organize the same way, and color terms were complicated, because colors were associated with magic and metaphor. There were about a dozen ways of saying 'brown fox,' and most of them would add context that I didn't want, but I settled on how I would translate it.

"Huh." She thought for a moment. Looked over the letters again. "Ah, this is a pangram."

I was the one who blinked several times in surprise. "Ah… yes. All the standard letters at least. There are a few others that get occasionally used in loan words or for historical purposes, but those are all standard letters."

"Well, that puts you at something of a disadvantage. There's an elegance to phonemes, but we all inherited the Old Realm\s Logographic approach from those who came before, and Heaven's never going to go through the effort needed to change it. Can't, really, it's been woven into the foundations of reality. I also don't know your lettering, which just makes me more curious, but also I don't know any easy cheats here to get you started. So we'll just have to do this the hard way."

I was disappointed to see her go, and even more disappointed to be paraded out before the Court once again for everyone to gawk at me over dinner. It made me feel like a zoo exhibit.

---

The 7th of Ascending Water, Saturnday, Realm Year 762

It was late into the evening when the Cold Roars returned from their 'hunt' to once again hold court. With all three reigning seats in attendance the Golden Stars had their position on the dais displaced, and so withdrew. Not alone, I noted. Two of them were trailed by new suitors.

I sort of had the feeling that they had been trying to pull me into their orbit, and… Well, I had seen one of their blowups. I wasn't going to sign myself up for that. I'm glad that they weren't next to my month.

I was instructed to stay. I was supposed to be learning, after all. The Dreamer, looking particularly masculine today, had me sit next to him so that he could continue explaining everything going on.

Honestly, at the heart of it, I don't think his plan was much different than the Golden Stars. I just found 'Teacher' a more tolerable bribe than 'romance.' Considering some of the gifts the Golden Stars gave to their paramours, maybe that said something judgemental about me? I guess I didn't really care in this instance.

The Cold Roars were two giant bears, though that phrase was somewhat misleading. I'm unsure if the sloth bear existed in my old world, but they were a smaller species of bear in the South in Creation.

The Cold Roars were albino, oversized Sloth Bears. They were only slightly larger than Polar Bears, with delicate and clever claws. The younger brother, Cold Wind, was using them to sew the coats of slain Omen Dogs into a tapestry. Not using needles - his own claws appeared to be the only tool he was using.

I was happy to discover that Omen Dogs were not dogs. They were sort of dog-like, but bigged up quite a bit, and much less friendly looking. Saber-Toothed too; which somehow seemed wrong on a not-a-cat.

The other gods who had gone out hunting were circling Sleet Wind, the older brother of the two bears. He was regaling the room with tales of their hunts. I was just wondering how many Wind names there were; they seemed weirdly popular. The Dreamer seemed bored, eating what I now knew was hair. Dying people's hair.

Gods were weird.

I was half dozing, wishing I didn't have to be at these things, when something Sleet Wind said caught my attention. He was laughing loudly, boisterously, his voice caring across the room

"That's right, that's right! You're completely right. We really should, we really should. In three days, we'll take Nathan with us on our hunt. He needs to learn these things! He needs to learn these things."

---

Spoiler: Celestial Spending

Day Two
[Ruby="+50CP"](50CP)[/Ruby]
You receive 50 CP a day that you involve yourself in Plot - when you're actively engaging with the world, going out of your comfort zone, and otherwise tying yourself to events.

Day Four
[Ruby="+50CP"](100CP)[/Ruby]
You receive 50 CP a day that you involve yourself in Plot - when you're actively engaging with the world, going out of your comfort zone, and otherwise tying yourself to events.

 

[TheLastOne]

What would be an interesting mount? Like, the 'iconic' Exalted mount is the Simhatas, but they only really let the Exalted ride them (as in, they are tamed by Exalted Anima Banners, and only by them).

I was looking through Creatures of the Wyld, and I didn't find much.

Like... ride has an entire charm tree.

Eh... maybe an Air Elemental? The Court of Seasons is strongly associated with the Wind Masters. While they don't actually have the control over the Wind Masters most people think they do, it is a real cultivated relationship.

 

[Sofyan]

interesting mount

Click to shrink...

Idk if it's interesting, but the first thing that passed my mind when I thought about 'changing season' and 'animals' is bird, coz they often migrate when season changes. So maybe Phoenix?

Phoenix can be tied with renewal and cycle (like life and death cycle) but maybe it comes as too forced?

 

[TheLastOne]

Idk if it's interesting, but the first thing that passed my mind when I thought about 'changing season' and 'animals' is bird, coz they often migrate when season changes. So maybe Phoenix?

Phoenix can be tied with renewal and cycle (like life and death cycle) but maybe it comes as too forced?

Click to shrink...

The local Phoenix analog is associated with the Court of Orderly Fire, and I think the Court of Orderly Fire currently has problems with the Court of Seasons - they basically asked the Court of Seasons for help with getting recognition in heaven, and the Court of Seasons blew them off.

At least, I think that happened? Need to reread the Fire Elemental Chapters and what happened with Swan Dragon.

 

[TheLastOne]

I have finally settled on the popular mount 'I made it because I couldn't find anything I wanted after scouring a bunch of books, and I can do that because I'm writing it.'

 

[Danieldhdy]

I have finally settled on the popular mount 'I made it because I couldn't find anything I wanted after scouring a bunch of books, and I can do that because I'm writing it.'

Click to shrink...

Ah yes my favorite mount, from the 'i made it the fuck up.' book right? The 'random bullshit' Charm from the same book is also something to see

 

[TheLastOne]

Ah yes my favorite mount, from the 'i made it the fuck up.' book right? The 'random bullshit' Charm from the same book is also something to see

Click to shrink...

It really is every storytellers best friend (when they use it. They give a side eye to any player wanting to use material from it).

 

[TheLastOne]

The Thúroch​

Created in the First Age during the reign of Queen M-R-L. The were made before the rise of the Solar Deliberative by Twilight Caste Solar as part of their early experiments in shaping and creating custom elementals. As such, while they have some ability to breed true, it requires a Sorcerous Working to enable, and few of the Thúroch have the inclination to pursue sorcery. It was not meant as a control measure, but in time it became such, and they were never a populous breed.

They were created for a purpose - to be both mount and bodyguard for the Golden Children. Proud creatures of tempestuous clouds, they could be vicious defenders of their charges, and they were given honors for their work in those early ages. Yet… they were proud, and as the first age moved towards deeper decadence, more spoiled Golden Children managed to turn these defenders against them, leading to several tragedies. As time wore on, the Solar Exalted increasingly turned to Automata as better servants and bodyguards for their children.

Most surviving Thúroch were slain in the years after the Usurpation, along with the Created Races in the Shogunates purges of Solar Creations.

(Generic Thúroch would be essence 3. The cloud-tendrils that make up their body can act as saddle, and will can even tie their rider to them, letting them ride in environments that would throw a normal rider. They have some defensive charms to protect both themselves and their rider, an aura attack that lashes out at anyone close to them, and a counterattack that defends both them and their rider. If unmounted they can gallop through the air, but can't generally do that while bearing the weight of a rider, but they can glide/fall slowly with a rider).

 

[TheLastOne]

Out of the Nest

---

The 7th of Ascending Water, Saturnday, Realm Year 762

I suddenly had need for several skills I had, up to this point, been unpracticed in. I needed to be able to ride, and ride as part of a company of hunters. I needed to wield several weapons - probably a hunting spear and bow, asking me to manage something complicated like a net would honestly be asking too much of me. I needed gear of at least decent quality, and so on.

It was possible that some of my needs might be solved by some of my gifts; I could certainly launder some of them into such. But using them now could be problematic. I hadn't been using any of the more magical gifts for a reason. They really needed to be investigated before I could use them in case of subtle traps. Nor could I trade for what I needed within that time span. I probably could get someone here to give me a blessing against the cold that would last me the trip, but I would be exposing my weaknesses.

"What can you do as a god? You're very new, so I get that you haven't grown into your role yet. But you're ascended, and ascended gods usually have something going for them even before they get assigned a domain."

Vevin was helping me go through my gifts, looking for things that were probably safe enough to use. She had set aside a stack of charms - little sutras painted in red on strips of green lacquered paper with complicated edges woven from gold and copper threads. Several of them were reliable thaumaturgy talismans that might help me deal with the cold and thin air. They had probably been intended for me to use on mortal worshipers, but nothing stopped me from using them myself.

I shrugged at the question. "Not alot, really. I can inspire hope - it's technically an Excellency, but not for me. It's a blessing, and its really weak." I shifted uneasily for a moment, I did have one other thing.

I made a grasping motion as I pulled… something from the air. For a moment my fingers blurred, and I was outlined in a vague prismatic aura, then it was caught by my hand, pulled into form, the colors inverting, collapsing into…

It was plaid. The base color was a bottomless vantablack. Over it, a gray like static, uncertain, impossible to focus on. Then faint gold, rarer than the other two, yet the only color your eyes could really track. Then, rarer still the silver threads, an edging of the color so light that it was more a suggestion than a reality.

For a second, I heard whispers, felt the grinding of cosmic gears, and was chilled by a river that wasn't there… then the phantom sensation was gone. It looked no more real, it was still blatantly unnatural, but the vague horror of the moment was gone.

It was a mantle.

"I also have this as my Panoply." I let it fade back into my invisible aura. "So nothing really useful for now."

"Hmm, no," she responded dryly, obviously not bothered by… well, that. "What does it do?"

I hesitated a moment. "It… gives me power over reincarnation. Only over whoever is wearing it. I can't just…" I waved my hands vaguely. "I have authority over the reincarnation of anyone wearing my mantle."

"Huh. So could you assign someone to be born Dragon-Blooded in their next life? I get why you don't see it as a big deal, things like that don't really matter, but there are those who would trade everything they have for the use of it."

"Ah… Kind of? I only got a quick rundown, on how Exaltations work. I could make sure you were born into a body that had the potential, but you would still have to earn it yourself. And I'm not sure how that knowledge would affect your chances? Asking for that is a lot more calculating then getting into that life normally."

She snorted, "Don't lots of people live their lives hoping to be reincarnated as a Dragon-blooded?"

"Yeah, but they don't remember."

Slow blink.

"Come again?"

"Well… you don't go through Lethe when you use my mantle."

"Oh. Okay. I think you really need to walk me through how it works."

I let out a sigh. I really wasn't comfortable with that thing.

The Mantle of Rebirth let me kill whoever was wearing it, and in an instant fate them to be reborn… pretty much anywhere, to anything. So long as I wasn't trying to make someone the child of someone really powerful… well, it would happen.

I could set all kinds of things about their next life. How they would look, some of the circumstances going on around their new life, and more. If I got too fancy… well, it would try and fulfill everything, but it might get more metaphorical about it all.

They will be born with whatever level of spiritual grace they had in their last life. Over the course of several years, they will come to remember their previous life, as their soul syncs up their new body. By puberty their spiritual graces will have reasserted themselves. Generally, spiritual graces they already possessed will take precedent over anything new - so if a one of the Dragon-Blooded asked to be reincarnated as the child of a god, they would likely burn away the godsblood by puberty as their previous nature reasserted itself.

"To be clear, I've never used it. That's what they told me in heaven when they were studying me after my ascension. Well, I kind of had an intuition for how it worked, but they told me what that would probably mean. I've never even met one of the Dragon-blooded. The only Exalt I ever met was a Sidereal, and I don't really remember what that was about."

"Studying… so that isn't something assigned to you. It's not part of your nature at the god of Calibration, but part of your nature because of your ascension? Like the Mountain Boy's Sutra? Most panoplies are assigned, but… this is a panoply charm born from your nature."

I shrugged. "I don't know who he is. But yes. It's a piece of my soul. Kind of."

"Hmm. Could you reincarnate someone as a spirit? Say, an elemental?"

"Sure? Like… I find the whole assigning people to be someone's future mother part kind of creepy, so -"

"I know exactly who can solve half of your problem. Now… This place must have a summoning room."

---

The 8th of Ascending Water, Sunday, Realm Year 762

This place did, in fact, have a summoning room. After declaring that she had a solution, she had me arrange use of it. Evidently this was enough of an ask on our hosts that we couldn't go ahead and use it that same day. Owl from the East gave permission to go ahead, but by that time it was already too late to do it that night.

Instead, I had moved on to work with other tutors. Even divine tutelage wasn't going to make me competent with the spear in a single day, but it was making me mildly less uncomfortable holding one. I wasn't entirely sure that was a good thing - it felt like I was being set up to make a mistake.

But permission did come, and with the turning of the day, I was lead to the room set aside for elemental summoning. Vevin had already been there, actually casting the spell.

The room was odd. It was rather bare, compared to most of the House, four brazers where set up, two at the entrance to the room, and two before a set of steps leading upwards. The blazed in four different colors - Yellow, Blue, Green, and Violet. The stairs were short, ending on a landing that looked like it should have a gate or door, but simply ended in the back wall of the room.

Vevin had set herself up in the center of the room, drawing circles and diagrams she sat within. She bore no tools, used no regents. She just occasionally muttered, or drew lines in the air in the darkest of blues and purples. There was a seat by the door so that a guest could sit in while the sorcerer was working, and a servant of the house had set up a desk by it, alone with study material assigned to me by my various teachers.

I was reminded once again how amazingly competent everyone working for the House was. I probably didn't work as diligently as I should, but I enjoyed watching Vevin.

Eventually she reached a lull, and turned her attention away from her ritual. While it would take the Elemental four hours to arrive from the time the ritual began, much of that was waiting, simply keeping the channel open through the Dragon Lines.

"So this Gale's Echo… She'd really work for me for a child? That… That kind of makes me uncomfortable on several levels, but as long as everything is consensual I guess it's okay. But why doesn't she just… have one."

"Hmm. So the Thúroch are not a natural race of elementals. They were created, and how they were put together doesn't flow perfectly from the nature of Wind. To have children, the wind must be warped into an unnatural state. There's some rare conjunctions where this just happens, but usually it takes sorcerous workings to warp the geomancy of Creation enough to enable that."

She made a so-so gesture, "And while she is a reliable bodyguard, her service isn't usually worth enough to justify the cost involved. Well, not if you're hiring her, and while I know some gods who are happy to just bind elementals, it can make for bad blood in the long run."

"But I can perform this casually.'

"But you can perform this service casually."

For the next hour, she coached me through what I would need to say and do for my first bargain with an Elemental. It was almost a relief when the world seemed to tilt, the geometry of the room breaking open to a place filled with white sea foam, and a sky with Sun, Moon, and Stars all sharing the heavens as one.

Gale's Echo was the silhouette of a horse, woven from strands of whipping tempest clouds. Around her hooves, her mane and tail, they became so fine and thin it looked like real hair. The rest of it took on a pattern that seemed half organic, half mechanical. And under that was a blackness that seemed to roil, like the darkest thunderhead at night on the new moon.

She neighed as she galloped into the room, and it set the walls to shaking. The comfortable temperature in the room plummeted like a rock. "I am Gale's Echo, Honored for my guardianship by the Stone Walker, who shepherded the children Fanoar from harm. I was thanked by Incandescent Decree himself when I took a blow aimed at his child from a Lintha assassin. Who summons me, who summons one of the Tempest Horses!"

"I am Vevin, acting as proxy to Nathan Nozi. Nathan of the Court of Seasons. Nathan, who rules over the exiled days, god of Calibration! He honors you with his summons and his call…"

Well. This was going to take awhile.

Our offer was simple. She would be my mount and my bodyguard for a month. In return, she would gain possession of my Mantle for a month, or until she used it once. She was at first unsure of why should she want it - I couldn't quite decide if her questioning of our offer was rude or obsequious, because it somehow managed to seem like both - but once she understood what it did…

She offered her service for a year, in return for being able to call upon me to use the mantle one time. She didn't want the month deadline.

And that was how I gained my first retainer.

Spoiler: Celestial Spending

Day Five - The 8th of Ascending Water, Sunday, Realm Year 762
[Ruby="+50CP"](150CP)[/Ruby]
You receive 50 CP a day that you involve yourself in Plot - when you're actively engaging with the world, going out of your comfort zone, and otherwise tying yourself to events.

 

[TheLastOne]

It's an Ill Wind that…

---

Morning of the 10th of Ascending Water, Marsday, Realm Year 762

We were gathering outside the Sanctum, the various members of the hunting party leaving it in ones and twos as odd ripples in the air. Most of them were immaterial , and I watched them move about the clearing like spots dancing on the top of my eyes. A few of them were material though, moving physical goods about, or were elementals. Mostly air, though a handful of earth and wood elementals were present. None of Water, evidently out of a long term conflict between air and water, and none of fire for reasons that had never been fully explained to me (yet I was vaguely certain it would come up at the worst time, in the worst way).

Gale's Echo was directing several minor gods who had attached themselves to me without my knowledge. One of them I had dubbed 'the beholder' in my head, though it was kind of an unfair labeling. It was a… kind of pink cloud, and out of the cloud extended twelve delicate alabaster arms. Eight of those arms held crystalline eyes, while four of its arms extended and shrank in wave-like rhythms as it moved and shifted gear about, loaded pack animals, and double checked sacks and boxes. A gold ring banded around it, with one side of the band opening up into a silver ring in which a larger eye was mounted, moving freely to examine the world as if a ball bearing.

"Just a few more minutes," it sang to me in a voice like a guitar. Literally - I found its voice both hard to understand and disturbing, and while it had told me it's name, I hadn't actually gotten it. I was vaguely hoping someone else would use it nearby so that I could hear how it sounded when a human-adjacent being said it. They were so enthusiastic I always felt a bit guilty I found them creepy.

At the same time two birdlike gods were hopping on me, straightening the layers of my clothes, making sure all the charms were properly attached. Sometimes when they decided a charm wasn't placed right, or something wasn't tied right, their sharp beaks and vicious claws lashed out, tugging and pulling things into place, then their essence would settle, somehow making the whole thing more… solid. Fixing the 'correctness' into place like glue or cement.

When I first left the sanctum, I had felt the chill the same way you would in winter even when wearing layers of jackets and heavy clothes. As they worked, that feeling slowly faded away. They were called Nanar and Nayar, and evidently they were the gods of the walls of the family houses for the City of Fair Isle, and they were quite excited to be so close to me.

For her part, Gale's Echo needed neither saddle nor harness - the tendrils of cloud that made up her body would naturally shape itself to it, but she was wearing complicated looking cloth barding in the colors of the Maidens, and draped with charms and trinkets. She also had the court shoe her 'properly,' whatever that meant.

Now that we were outside the Sanctum, she would not move more than five feet away from me - close enough that she could interpose herself at a moment's notice between me and danger. An intimidating experience because as an Air Elemental she was in constant prancing motion, and was huge even for a horse.

"I hadn't realized you were naturally material," she informed me, almost accusatory.

I gave an uncomfortable face. "I spent weeks not naturally respiring essence. I'm… a little broken. Maybe it will fix itself? The essence thing did. Though… Calibration is when the spirit and the material is closest together, so maybe it won't."

"Protecting a material being is more complicated than protecting a spirit," she stated, as if it was my fault. "It's fine. It's fine. I just need to know these things in advance."

All activity stopped for a moment as Cold Wind and Sleet Wind loped out of the Sanctum trailed by dozens of courtiers milling around them like remoras on a pair of sharks. Then everyone burst into fanatic motion, to finish getting ready. Except for me. It was beneath my dignity to do things myself, after all.

… that was unfair. There were a handful of other gods who were similarly being attended to, rather than attending to things. One of the Ennead was joining us; Master Winter, a grandfatherly figure with icicles for a beard. Though he was grandfatherly in that 'stern, judgemental, disapproving' sort of way rather than the welcoming flavor. He had been friendly enough for the three words we had so far exchanged, but he felt… cruel.

I would have thought him too busy during this season to go on this kind of excursion, but evidently he was a god of preparedness. Or rather, punishing unpreparedness. It was a matter of principle that he rarely needed to work during this season, that he had everything set up long before, and it could just cleanly tick along with minimal input from him.

"This is a good day," Cold Winds bellowed to the crowd as the last of the preparations finished themselves. A good day for a hunt! I'm glad you've all come to join me! That you're all joining me for this grand hunt."

Then Sleet Wind took over, "As you all know, we brothers love hunting the Omen Dogs for their ancient insult against us. You all know it! But we also know that you all love more exciting hunts. That you all want to hunt more exciting prey. To the north. To the east. Yes, to the mountain north and east. There, we will find the land where ancient ice has carved valleys. It has carved valleys deep."

Everyone stilled. Master Winter, I noticed, had started to smile as the location was laid out.

"In those valleys, the ice has carved open a way deep. It is a deep place, where the light of the Daystar does not reach. From it, forbidden gods have lifted their heads above their station and walked upon the surface. They walk where they are unwanted!"

Yes, Master Winter was smiling.

"We will hunt omen dogs. We will hunt hushed ones. Will will hunt Raksha. And we will hunt the Únôlpûr Aithanar! We dedicate this hunt to our hosts! And we gift this hunt to the newest brother of our Calendar Court!"

There were cheers.

"Yes, we gift a glorious hunt. We gift glory to you all!"

Gale's Echo nudged me. "It's time."

Tendrils of cloud reached out through her barding, and acted like stirrups helping me climb onto her back. It was a good thing she was an elemental, because I suspected I would have spoked a horse with my ineptitude. She was patient though - she was a bodyguard for children, I remembered, so she probably was used to worse. Then the tendrils lashed about my legs, and around my hips, and I was firmly - but shockingly comfortably - tied to her back.

And then we were off.

---

Afternoon of the 10th of Ascending Water, Marsday, Realm Year 762

The hunting party, despite its size, moved fast. Several gods had magic for speeding journeys, and for erasing presence. Only a handful of the hunting party even stayed material - even the Elementals dematerialized. One of them was The Beholder, who always stayed near me, and I vaguely suspected had been assigned as bodyguard.

Another of them was Vevin - I wasn't sure when she ended up joining the hunting party, but she had. She wasn't near me at all, but was chatting away with several other gods who had forgone mounts. Instead she was bounding forwards, every pump of her legs a graceful leap, her rope lashing behind her like a tail.

A third was Master Winter. He hadn't started out near me, but as the journey continued his part of the procession slowly, imperceptibly edged it's way over to mine, until he was riding at my side. His mount was some kind of giant deer, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a real animal, just a piece of his own spirit he had manifested as a separate being.

"You look like a man who has realized he has only provisioned for three months of snow when the ice first comes down. I hope this hunt isn't that intimidating - I know the brothers have picked a mightier prey than they otherwise would as a favor to Us."

I lightly shook my head. "I don't really know enough about the Únôlpûr Aithanar to be intimidated by them. I hadn't planned on becoming a god, so all of this is intimidating."

He nodded sagely. "I rarely have sympathy for ascended god-blooded who find themselves unprepared for their new duties, but they had time and opportunity to steel themselves for what is to come. I do not know your circumstances, no one but the Maidens do to my knowledge, but unexpected troubles come to every life. It is more Autumn Frost's domain than mine.

"The only advice I can give is to make each moment count. When unexpected trouble visits you, that doesn't mean you can stop preparing, it just means that your preparations must happen on a shorter time frame."

It took me a moment to realize that he was offering aid. It wouldn't be free, of course, but it probably wouldn't cost me much.

"Can you tell me about what we're hunting this time?"

He smiled. It was clearly the right question.

"Of course. I'm always happy to help the diligent prepare themselves."



Author's Notes
So there's a minor problem here that might merit mention later, once more is known. That is to say, "Why can Nathan see Immaterial Spirits." I would argue that it's completely defensible rule zero territory for… reasons. The reason is going to have half of the long-term Exalted fan nodding along in annoyance, so it probably bears mentioning. I can't really explain without spoiling though.

Second, I figured I might as well explain what he's saving up for, since the question came up. While I'm not going to regularly do this, it's not actually a big mystery this time, nor intended as a surprise. It kind of feels like the most obvious purchase that he would unconsciously make.

That is, he's saving up for Numen. Base cost 300, but it would both make him Significantly More Powerful (+50) and is Fundamentally Transformative (+100), so 450. That gives him a bunch of spirit abilities he thinks he already has and just aren't working right. Arguably not the most efficient use of his points, but it gets him Spirit Respawning (you know, way faster than reincarnation if easier to stop), the ability to become immaterial, the power to hear and respond to prayers, the ability to give themed blessings, and more.

 

[Brightsilver8]

That is, he's saving up for Numen. Base cost 300, but it would both make him Significantly More Powerful (+50) and is Fundamentally Transformative (+100), so 450. That gives him a bunch of spirit abilities he thinks he already has and just aren't working right. Arguably not the most efficient use of his points, but it gets him Spirit Respawning (you know, way faster than reincarnation if easier to stop), the ability to become immaterial, the power to hear and respond to prayers, the ability to give themed blessings, and more.

Click to shrink...

Also, probably helps the whole pretending to be a god thing. Wouldn't really be pretending anymore. Wonder what the theme will be. 'Calibration', obviously, but there's a lot of ways to take that, and probably even more forms that could take.

Edit: Theme as in alt forms. If I am understanding correctly, he'll get Unnatural Glory, and some level of shapeshifting. I would assume a more mechanical form for something like calibration, gears and clocks, but it is a season here.

 

[TheLastOne]

Also, probably helps the whole pretending to be a god thing. Wouldn't really be pretending anymore. Wonder what the theme will be. 'Calibration', obviously, but there's a lot of ways to take that, and probably even more forms that could take.

Click to shrink...

Numen get their theme by what they cut away (They're spirits, but they aren't exactly gods, though they have themes. They aren't exactly elementals, though their essence is part of the world like an elemental. They don't have a place, a proper role under heaven. just a nature they inflict on the world.)

 

[Brightsilver8]

Numen get their theme by what they cut away (They're spirits, but they aren't exactly gods, though they have themes. They aren't exactly elementals, though their essence is part of the world like an elemental. They don't have a place, a proper role under heaven. just a nature they inflict on the world.)

Click to shrink...

Oh, cool. So not inherently relevant to his new role, aside from the basics.

That's actually kind of interesting to think about, as an aside, getting an almost divine nature from something separate from your actual divine role. Being of elemental earth, getting appointed as god of kitchens, and tainting the associations with your own nature. Now people throw some of their make into the ground, an offering and form of worship all in one.

No clue if your going for anything like that, but this has given me inspiration.

 

[TheLastOne]

Oh, cool. So not inherently relevant to his new role, aside from the basics.

That's actually kind of interesting to think about, as an aside, getting an almost divine nature from something separate from your actual divine role. Being of elemental earth, getting appointed as god of kitchens, and tainting the associations with your own nature. Now people throw some of their make into the ground, an offering and form of worship all in one.

No clue if your going for anything like that, but this has given me inspiration.

Click to shrink...

Numan are honestly pretty cool. I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad that the forest witches never really got explored again after first edition. As exalted went on it sort of lost a lot of its fresh smell as new authors sort of didn't get the spirit of what older authors were going for.

On the flip side, parts of it were fundamentally mechanically broken in first edition, and only were imperfectly fixed in second edition in ways that created new problems.

The raksha never really worked for example. Lunars have never really worked. So on.

 

[TheLastOne]

The Promised Net

A hair chain. A center ring sits over the forehead like a third eye, with seven chains extending from it. The two 'outermost' have a single charm on them, meant to be braided into the hair. Then the two more 'innermore' ones have three. Then five, while the final centermost chain has seven. Each charm is a small 'talisman' with oaths written in old-realm upon it.

The 'one' charm chains have oaths appropriate to a god who would defend people against the dangers of Calibration. The 'three' charm chains have oaths for a god representing the dangers of Calibration. Then the five charm chains are protective, and finally the seven charm chain's oaths are all paradoxical and contradictory.

By channeling Valor, the wearer of The Promised Net may tear a promise from it and cast it upon another. When they do so, they tie them to the promises of a role they labor under - or are presenting themselves as operating under. They take their temperance as a penalty to any action not in line with their 'role' until the next new moon, or until they spend three to overcome the effect.

If performed during Calibration, this lasts through two New Moons, only fading on the third.