[IC] Exalted: Lullaby of a Dying Realm

[Letter Bee]

Albert resisted the urge to glare at the Lady of the City and instead said, "Very well, I accept. I am sure that I can rely on the Exalted among us to best a great Dragon-God known for being a formidable foe." Albert was not trying to be sarcastic, but it came out anyway; then again, they were being sent on a suicide mission in the first place. "When will we depart? I would hate to keep you away from your responsibilities to your people." Your enslaved and coerced people, whom I would gladly free if given the chance. Giving a bow that hid his expression, the boy would then say, "Who knows? We may come back to Guixiang with tales of success."

Covertly using the heightened powers and abilities to parse the Lady's words for evidence of her true agenda, Albert found out that 1.) The Lady was actually sincere when she said that she wanted Adamant's attacks to stop, and 2.) that Adamant and she had a history and the former was a jerkwad himself. This was a problem because before he had parsed the Lady's words, he had been under the impression that Adamant was attacking out of moral objections to The Lady's works in Guixiang. Now he saw that this was merely a fight between two despots for more power; he had to kill both, even if the rest of the party objected or tried to call the Wyld Hunt on him.

That said, he had to apologize to The Lady of the City for doubting her; that ought to be all right, yes? Clearing his throat, he would say, his sarcasm now replaced with mildness, "I do however ask for forgiveness in momentarily - momentarily - doubting your motivations; the sincerity of a personage such as you should not have been questioned by anyone, especially in such circumstances."

[mickilennial]

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Guixiang, City of Living Rubies
Present Day

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Seriously?

Shuozhen’s eyes carefully looked to the boy who had just said his piece and honest was unsure what the point of making such words was in the first place. Not only was the boy being glib in the presence of a goddess-queen of sorts, he had for reasons unknown to the rest of them revealed he had doubted said goddess-queen’s motivations. It was hard to refuse the natural unease with the current situation. After all, she had no idea what kind of response their ‘host’ would make despite the boy’s attempts to be formal and courteous. Shuozhen’s instincts told her to be on her guard and to be ready for anything – she hadn’t survived this long outside of the Blessed Isle without learning about the world and those within it.

She knew that the meeting could go either way, though Shuozhen was not going to risk her neck for a stranger of no consequence; even if he was a child. She just hoped their host brushed off such indigination.

[Lord Orgasmo]

Milon

---

Milon blinked slowly. Well, guess there was a little more talking. Some of them seemed pretty into it. Oh well. He kind of wanted to light up a smoke, but you're not supposed to do that indoors. He heard something about a goddess. What were they talking about religion now? He wasn't really paying attention.

His eyelids began to get heavy, and he stretched out his arms and yawned. Could really go for a nap. Or at least a place to sit down. There looked to be a couple chairs to his left, but wandering off probably wasn't a good idea.

Guess he'd have a little more waiting to do. Last thing he wants to do is add to the confusion. He closed his eyes and his head began to hang down. "Just don't fall asleep..." He told himself.

[Raijinslayer]

Karilis

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Yes, a wastrel who seems unaware of his own heritage and a doddering old fool. Truly a match for the foe you're having us face. Karilis rolled her eyes at the lady's words and her threat, but little else than that. Instead, her attention was focused once again on her sister, hardly blinking as if fearing she'd disappear again within the next moment. Whatever had led the two here, and to each other, she didn't know whether to thank it or curse it. The longer she gazed, the more questions and emotions began to bubble up inside of her, each one bringing with it a roiling storm of emotional turmoil. She didn't know whether she was more over-joyed or enraged by her sister's presence now that the initial shock had mostly worn off, only that she was feeling a great amount of both extremes. She wasn't sure what she'd do once she got her alone, much less what she would even say.

8 years. . . 8 years and here you are, as suddenly as the day you disappeared. Not a single word, letter, nothing for all the time. Does she even want to see me? To talk? Why, Zhen. . . why did you leave? Karilis tore her eyes away from her sister, taking a breath to steady herself as another wave of emotion came over her, childhood memories of times gone by. It was her sister's voice that drew her out of these thoughts, her weary acceptance of the Lady's quest catching Karilis somewhat by surprise. Before she could properly respond herself, however, the child from before spoke up. His manner of addressing the ruler of Guixang once again caused Karilis to wonder at the boy, as no normal child would dare speak to a ruler in such a manner. Either he was a particularly reckless fool, or there was more to him than one would assume.

Either way, the sassy remark on the mission given and his admittance to doubting the Lady made the exiled dynast roll her eyes in exasperation. Even if the child's targets where strange, he still spoke with all of the false bluster and intellect that children tended to have when they were to smart for their own good. If they were in less prestigious company, she would've smacked him on the head with the hilt of her blade for his insolent tongue As it were, she held her tongue till the boy was finished.

Once silence reigned in the room, Karilis spoke once more, her voice swelling with a measure of prideand arrogance that only a dynast could achieve, even an exiled one.

"I shall take your warning into account, Lady Goddess. As for the mission you've offered, I guess I shall throw my hat into the ring as well. . . figuratively, of course." The dynast offered a quick look over to her compatriot and, after a short and silent argument done entirely through facial expressions, informed the goddess that her compatriot would also be willing to join in the mission as well. With that taken care of, Karilis turned her attention to the man beside her, a Lookshian who looked on the verge of falling asleep while standing. As impressive as that feat might've been, she wasn't in the mood to deal with a goddess after a possible third insult. As such, as his head started to droop, she would lash out a none-too-gentle kick to his leg, hoping that would wake him up as she proceeded to hurry along the process. "What about you? Are you going to come with us or not?"

[HokumPocus]

LEDAAL LING BAO

---

Hidden underneath a beautiful set of robes were hands that clung to each other's forearms like chains. Bao had spent much time pondering over and justifying the behavior of the strangers before him, thinking of anything that could explain the consecutive series of social ettiquette blunders unfolding before his stiff eyes.

In fact, Bao's entire body was stiff. As he was in the court of another member of nobility, he'd resolved to keep his thoughts to himself and instead leave the responsibility of judgement to her. To say that the task was difficult would be an understatement, as the old man was as stiff as a statue in his attempts to restrain his usually culturally critical tongue. No one knew what he was thinking, but it wasn't hard to tell that it certainly wasn't anything pretty or poetic. Just because he was a pacifist didn't mean he was above acting aloof and harsh when it came to ettiquette mishaps. I have already shared wisdom for this situation. I must now wait.

[Lord Orgasmo]

Milon

---

His eyelids were getting really heavy now. He began leaning on his quarterstaff for support before his senses dulled. He heard... Arguing and something about a sword? Whatever man.

Milon snapped to attention as he felt his leg give out underneath him. He gripped his quarterstaff as he began falling. Landing on his knee, he let out a surprised yelp. "Who? What? Oh, right. Yeah, I've got nothing better to do. Or do I? I don't remember anymore."

He stood up before he stretched his arms and yawned before cracking his knuckles. Looks like everyone was heading out. "So, uh... Do we have a plan yet? I wasn't quite paying attention. We're going after some guy right? And wasn't there something about a sword?" He shook his head. "For now let's just go outside. I need a smoke." He held his head and turned towards the door. Still a little drowsy from his near-sleep experience, he shuffled his feet the whole way before finally reaching the outside.

[Carlyle]

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Guixiang, City of Living Rubies
RY 768, EARLY DAYS OF RESPLENDENT WOOD. SUMMER HAS COME.

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With warnings and words exchanged between both the Goddess of Guixiang and the party inside the royal chambers, it was decided that the gathered group of Exalts and mortals would accomplish the mission the Goddess set out for them. The Goddess proceeded to extend a hand to one of her royal guards, whom returned her motion with a salute of his own and took it upon himself to lead the party to where travel necessities and mounts had been established.

"This way, please." The soldier ordered, waiting for the party to follow. Unbeknownst to him, the two younger individuals of the group—a Solar and a mortal—would find themselves slipping away from the group as the guard led them, presumably to further their mischief, or to retreat from such a dangerous quest, as if the goal was too great.

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• A FEW DAYS LATER... •

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After having accepted the quest and were given supplies, the group set out to find the location of where the dragon-god, Lord of the Adamant Land, resided. It was to be a lengthy trip to the Scavenger Lands—being at least a week or more ride from Guixiang—and while the roads were heavily traveled, they were just as dangerous. Self-stylized bandit lords and common thieves were a plenty, prowling the lands for any poor traveler or caravan that might come across their path.

And it was one of those caravans the group found themselves upon this day.

"Halt!" A scruffy-looking caravan guard shouted to the approaching party, his sword drawn in case of possible confrontation. It was clear that he was a man that had seen many battles, and it was even more clear that he knew a party of armed men that included Terrestrials among them was a sign of danger, no matter their intentions. "State your business!"

Behind the man were a few other guards, at least a dozen or more, spread around the caravan's perimeter. A few children were seen flocking about, doubtlessly those of the caravan drivers. Additionally, a few slaves were busy at work, tending to the caravan as a whole. However, despite all the people frolicking among the caravan, they were hardly the focal point of it all. In front of the lead caravan stood two large rocks, seemingly blocking the path for them...

[HokumPocus]

LEDAAL LING BAO

The sight of such beautiful mounts prepared by the goddess made Bao forget everything about poetry to gaze at their majestic beauty. Afterwards, he found himself struggling to remember even the smallest detail of the latest poem he was concocting. It had something to do with the letter b, probably.

---

Bao dismounted at the sight of others. He took note of the numerous and diverse group in front of his own and questioned why the warriors among them seemed so on edge. Ah, thought Bao, the boulders are preventing them from advancing further.

The old man calmly stretched his body as the caravan guard shouted at his party. He saw the guard as a man of action, a man of violence and rash decisions and little appreciation for art and wonder. Of course, he thought of most people this way. But Bao looked down especially on this one guard in particular, him and the drawn sword that he carried so confidently. Couldn´t he cast the weapon aside and be more welcoming?

“Our intentions? I wish to become one with the world.” replied Bao serenely. He began to hobble around his party´s mounts and ignore the tension in the air. Travelling around had filled Bao´s head with inspiration and he was eager to share it with the world, regardless of what they thought. “But before I can do that, I must share my findings with the rest of man.” He cleared his throat, and withdrew a scroll from one of his sleeves, a warning of what was about to come. His group had spent enough time around the artist to know what was about to happen.