Episode 2
From Iridium Circle Exalted
A Mass Grave - The God of the Sewer - The Law Room - Ticket Sales - The Lore Room - A Brief Altercation - The Shadow Moon Rises
Chapter 2 - Shadow Moon Rising
- Dragonlord Tepet organises for her troopers to take up accommodation inside the city.
- The area they have been given will require extensive re-modelling.
- Wind Follower goes looking for one of the guards who was looking suspicious on the night of the attack.
- There is no definitive list of who is alive and who is dead so he has to go look through the bodies.
- Well, time to visit the mass grave...
- Wind Follower finds out that the militia member Takemoto is the one he is looking for.
- River explores along the open sewer to trace the spirits back to their origin.
- He finds the minor god of the sewer.
- The minor god will help out as long as River helps him out.
- The water coming in to the sewer system that helps wash it out is nought but a trickle.
- The god would like something done about that.
- River heads upstream to find out what's going on.
- As a grammatical side-note the correct usage is less poop, or fewer poops.
- He finds that the stream is blocked near where it meets the river.
- Research is required before he can sort it out - we don't want to flood the city now do we.
- Lady Izume is a bit directionless as everyone is doing her job for her.
- Dragonlord Tepet goes to the temple in order to look over the city's laws.
- The quest for loopholes begins.
- It's time to become Judge
JudyJury and Executioner. - Unfortunately, that job's already been taken by Priest Aldbur (inside the town at least).
- Oboreta busies herself and her troupe in setting up their stage and tent.
- The girls then go out to sell tickets for the upcoming show(s).
- Local peasants are confused because, according to Oboreta, "they're idiots, doing idiot things, because they're idiots."
- Why are we trading paper money for paper tickets?
- Turns out the peasants here are pretty dumb.
- They do well enough though and Oboreta gives them a night out on the town.
- That said, the only place to go is they place they already are...
- While the Dragonlord is in the law room, River is in the lore room.
- It is huge and completely disorganised.
- No one's been down here for a while...
- Time to get to work.
- Wait... If I summon an elemental, it can help me out!
- Several hours and one freaked out immaculate monk later...
- Radiant Wind of Yesterday's Morning is humming about the shelves seemingly at random.
- River is happy to simply start at one end and go along methodically.
- NERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD
- The Dragonlord wants to know about the underground sections of the city.
- She will pay Wind Follower to get in touch with the local criminal elements and see what they know.
- Eventually, she wants to get the whole lot mapped out.
- Wind Follower goes to check out Takemoto's house.
- He decides to take Carver along as backup (just in case something goes wrong).
- Carver sets up on the street corner to keep watch.
- Wind Follower tries to sneak up and into the nearby alleyway.
- He's not very good at it.
- Villager A: "Wotcha doin?"
- Wind Follower: "Investigating the ghost incident."
- Villager A: "GHOSTS! SOMEONE CALL THE MILITIA! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
- That could have gone better.
- At least the panic allowed Wind Follower to get into the alleyway unnoticed...
- The Dragonlord wants the dancing troupe to do some shows for her troops.
- There is some good ol' hagglin'.
- There's a woman in the window across the street from Takemoto's house who seems to be watching the building.
- Carver thinks she's suspicious.
- He doesn't have much time to work out why before another man tries to stab him in the kidneys.
- Carver panic-activates a resistance charm and becomes nearly untouchable to mortals.
- The man gets punched through a window and into unconsciousness as the woman from the window charges in.
- She realises Carver is a bit to tough for her to take on so she legs it.
- Carver decides to go all out, using a massive display of essence to catch up and take her out of the fight.
- Some buildings were harmed in the cause of justice.
- Priest Aldbur mobilises the mercenaries and the militia and everyone converges on where the fight was.
- They're looking for ghosts.
- Instead they find Carver, one insensate goon, and an uncooperative prisoner.
- Aldbur asks what the hell is going on.
- The prisoner, Meng Yi, outs Carver as an anathema.
- Carver doesn't know what that is.
- Aldbur decides to play a dangerous game and turns Carver into his pet Solar.
- Carver now thinks he's an Earth Aspected Dragonblood and is extremely loyal to Aldbur.
- The prisoner reveals she is a member of the organisation known as the Shadow Moon.
- Carver immediately warns Aldbur that the Shadow Moon works for the Mask of Winters
- Aldbur summarily executes her.
- Well, he is the law.
- In the house, Wind Follower finds that Takemoto is gone.
- He either left town or, more likely, he is hiding somewhere in the underground sections of the city.
- He took food and probably left soon after the attack on the dinner.
- He owns a small black disc-shaped talisman which he seems to have been praying to.
- Aldbur convenes a meeting of the most powerful people in town to discuss the new threat.
- It is decided that something should be done about the new secret society in town.
- All the members found to date have a similar talisman.
- The aura of the talisman tastes of blood and phlegm.
- Maybe they were used as a focus for a ritual?
- They are non-magical in and of themselves.
- Early next morning, Wind Follower is out looking for more of his drug.
- A number of thugs get the jump on him and he is unable to react in time.
- ???: "Come with us, guild slave. We have business with you."
- ... Shit