Student Flame, Master Flame

[Ress]

Resplendent fire, 10

* Single file, two bald headed monks made their way through the city of Bezair. Both parties held small drums in their hands and and slowly drummed a steady beat as they walked. Crowds of people gathered to see the two Immaculates on their pilgrimage to the home of their cities' protector.

The taller monk wore a soft linen set of flame red robes and a matching silk belt. Over his shoulder on a sling was a large leather sheath, stretched tight by something large and cylindrical. Less imposing, were the two red jade handles at his hips, ornately carved into the head and torso of a great fire dragon in prayer stance.

The smaller monk was still just a boy, no older than sixteen.
The child's robes were uncolored and made from hemp, with a belt of rope. The child also wore a large leather sheath of some sort over his shoulder, much like his master's.

The two stopped at the entrance of the Manse, quitting their drumming and waiting in silence for a moment, then the master shouted up to whoever might be there*

" Hello, Admiral! We seek an audience with you, please let us in!"

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent Fire. 10



*After several long seconds of silence the enormous tumbler lock on the door spun to life rattling and churning before stopping abruptly. The Large door slowly swung open, and in the gaping opening stood yet another tall bald man with red silk pants, and beside him was the massive colorful form of Scales who as before seemed to like to answer the door with her master.*

"Hmm two more dragons at my doorstep..."

*Dal stood with his arms crossed, and a confident smirk on his face. He looked the two of them up and down, gave each a good hard stare and then nodded his head.*

"Children of Hesiesh none the less, did the Emperor send you here to train and find a new home like the others then?"

[Ress]

resplendent fire, 10

*The master smiled, then bowed to Dal, bringing his hands to his sides, his drum hitting his leg solid and giving off a single note*

" No Admiral Dal'Lumen.. I am afraid I am not here for that reason. I am 'Honored Brother'"

* He stood back upright, then held his free hand out before his student, prompting him to give a bow as well, but staying silent for now*

" And this is my disciple, Mild Magma.

As you can see, I am an Immaculate monk, but don't worry, I am not here to cause any trouble.

I am a follower of Hesiesh.
If you are not familiar with the stories, Hesiesh is the flame of self control and understanding. When he fought, he kept a cool level head and never did anything that was beyond him, and when his enemies had used up their essence reserves, he used the essence he had saved during the fight to finish his enemies forever.

This story taught me in my youth to observe, experience and learn, and that way of life made me a success in both secondary school and in my life as an Immaculate Monk, but unlike other monks, I took those teachings a step farther.

I learned the teachings of all Immaculate Dragons, and discovered one hidden lesson that lay fragmented within them all.

' All are what they make of themselves'. And this is perhaps the greatest truth in all Creation.

I have lived on The Blessed Isle my whole life, and I have met Dragon-Blooded of which I call Anathema... But due to my own prejudices, I have never had experiences where the opposite could be so... But now I found the flame inside myself to guide me... and as part of my observance with becoming a Lama, I want to know if the law about your kind is a hard fact... or simply a fear of great power in the hands of the irresponsible. And as part of that, I want my student to learn this lesson as well.

That being said, I was told that this is the hub of the martial arts community here in Imperveress, and I would like to be active in such a community, and perhaps, Mild Magma could see what the reals world of this way of life is like.

I hope that even though our outlooks may be different, you can respect the desire to learn from what is different and allow us to join you for the duration of our stay"

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent Fire, 10


*Dal bowed in return to the two monks and after there came a point during the monks speech that Dal felt like he had been hit by a wondering salesman, opening his door to a long, almost rehearsed explanation of why he shouldn't just close the door right now. These two men of course, did not seem to be selling anything.*

"Oh?"

*His confident smirk became amused when his right eyebrow raised itself in protest of the internal comedy Dal was sensing. He looked back and forth between the two stone faced...*

"Well come on in then bro- ! ... Err my friends! The Unconquered Sun shines his light on all of us, even if we don't all live by him."

*He laughed warmly, turning to the side and opening his arms to his home allowing a space between himself and Scales for the men to enter.*

"Don't mind Scales she wont bite unless you provoke her protective programming. I would be happy to do what I can to help you reach your enlightenment. Might I say you made an excellent choice in attire!"

*He joked meaning of course the Red silks Honored Brother wore, and their three shaved heads.*

"I'll give you the grand tour, and show you where most of the training happens, and perhaps later show you what I have been doing around my city to improve my peoples way of life."

[Ress]

Resplendent fire, 10

* Scales slithered backwards, taking in the two new people with shaved heads, wearing garbs similar to what Dal had worn. She tilted her head a bit at the notion of attacking, but dismissed it quickly as a question crossed her mind*

" Are you three from the same homeland? Do all shave their heads and wear that color where you come from?"


* The young monk began to laugh at the notion of the three of them having came from the same homeland. his smile stayed, letting anyone who knew what to look for, know that he was not naturally one who played the part of a monk... more of a student of a monk getting a hands on education about Creation.

Mild Magma said nothing. Perhaps out of respect for the teachings of his master*

* Honored Brother smiled as well at the comment, shaking his head as he placed his left hand on his right elbow and put his right palm to the side of his face*

" Oh no, miss Scales. I am afraid Admiral Dal'Lumen and I share no common history as it all. As far as I know, both Mild Magma and my ancestry has always been in The Blessed Isle."

* Honored Brother looked Dal over a moment, figuring it rude or in bad taste to make a guess to his lineage. He did not flinch at Dal's joke about his clothing, despite Mild Magma laughing once more at it.*

" I think you are a fine dresser yourself. Red silk, like the followers of Hesiesh. The color of paragons of self control. It took a long time to earn this silk belt, but I worked very hard for it... just like my disciple will have to should he choose to."

* Honored Brother smirked a little and popped Mild Magma softly on the shoulder with his hand drum, never taking his eyes off Dal*

* Mild Magma rolled his eyes, smiling at the comment his master made* " There is no chance that I will join the order, Master Honored Brother. Living like a first coil monk is hard enough. Actually being one would be torture"

* Honored Brother thought nothing of his student's comment, and bowed to Dal once more, reviewing his opening statement, wondering if he had rehearsed it to much... after all, he had never spoken to anathema before... not like this at least*

" Thank you, Admiral Dal'Lumen."

* Honored Brother stepped inside, Mild Magma following close behind, hoping that if demons were to pop out, his master would come to his aid.

Honored brother looked about the entrance hall of the Manse, marveling that it was almost grander than the cloister manses back on the blessed isle*

" So Admiral... Are there by any chance, martial arts tournaments in Imperveress?"

" What about girls, are there any of those around here?"

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent Fire 10



"Oh yes, we have plenty of girls, hehe... but watch out, Beziar makes tough women, many even train as martial artists under me for military purpose.

As for martial arts tournaments... I can't say that I really condone fighting for sport. Such fighting quickly becomes corrupted and little more than a method for fat men to line their pockets, such things are disgraceful to the art of combat. The only reward for fighting without just cause should be victory or defeat and the knowledge each bring."

*More than a little venom resided in Dals words, it was clear that he had no taste for competitive fighting with his less than willing participation within the pit fighting scenes of his childhood. He smiled anyway, masking what he could, pointing into each room they passed, the bedrooms, the bath and before taking them up to the top levels he lead them down the stairs to the gravity training room.*

"I'll show you where I do a lot of my specialized training, and later I'll take you up top to see the meditation chambers and the martial arts facility I have on the rooftop. Then to the city sites if you so desire, perhaps even the temple, you can learn something about solar religion. Before that, are either of you hungry or thirsty?"

[Ress]

Resplendent fire, 10

* Honored Brother popped Mild magma in the back of his head with his drum, before speaking up as if he had done nothing*

" Please do not indulge my pupil... though he is not a true monk, he has taken the proper vows and must follow the same rules as a first coil ... though this is only due to my say so... but my say so also comes with extra training duties and chores for those who do not follow simple orders from their master..... Do you not agree, Admiral Dal'Lumen?"

* Mild magma rubbed the back of his head, wincing a bit but saying nothing out of fear of what extra training his master might muster up for him*
" On the contrary, Admiral Dal'Lumen. The Immaculate Order recognizes The Unconquered Sun as the greatest of the gods and gives him many holidays and parties of which he rightfully deserves... bearing in mind, of course that no god receives more worship than they deserve.. lest they crave more.

But on the subject of tournaments, I have little love for them myself, but of course, I am always in the market for promoting my cloister and the style I practice.

As for food, we have brought our own... enough for a small army if you and your followers are interested, but a tour of your facilities and your city would be a welcome thing. Thank you Admiral Dal'Lumen."

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent Fire 10



*Dal' laughed a little when magma was struck with the drum.*

"Oh absolutely... Though with my followers the only reward for doing a good job is increasingly harder work in the future, so my students and subordinates never catch a break!"

*He turned on his heel, grinning mischievously about his training practices. He opened his arms after arriving in the Gravity Training room, presenting to them what was probably one of his favorite rooms for training.*

"An interesting sensation is it not? If you are curious you should try walking to the end of the chamber and see why this is my favorite area to train in, I'm sure you can tell why.

Oh and Feel free to use any of my manses rooms during your stay, though I would prefer if you don't mess around in the control room, it is a secure area. As for this, when you have seen enough here we will move to the top layers to continue the tour."


"I'm curious to hear more about the events you hold in the Suns honor, I know that the dragons of the blessed isle have no love for my kind... or any other exalt for that matter... So I must sate my own wonder and ask what are you traditionally taught about us, what are your personal beliefs, both of you, please feel free to be completely honest I won't do you any harm!"

*He laughed, pinching his chin as he waited to hear all sort of what was to be mad justifications for hatred, and fear.*

[Ress]

Resplendent fire, 10

* Honored Brother looked on at the room before him. He recognized the first age symbols on the wall, but couldn't for the life of him understand why they were there... they were not under water and these were measurements of the depth of water.

Honored brother took a step farther in the room, then quickly realized what the symbols meant. His body seized for a split second as the extra weight of the room came down on him, but he quickly recovered, then gave a chuckle*

" So, this is a weighted room? I must say, I was not expecting that! I would imagine this is a handy tool for training. There are similar techniques back on The Blessed Isle, but they are set mostly for those of water aspect. fire aspects such as myself train mostly in efficient movements, and unfortunately, there is nothing efficient about the movements within this room... not to say that this is not a powerful training tool, mind you"

* Honored Brother stepped back out of the room with Mild Magma, who has stayed out, incase this room was booby trapped.

Honored Brother smirked a little, then shrugged at Dal's questions*

" I will be sure to tell you the holidays to the sun later, as it is a subject there is much to talk about... but for how I feel about your kind. Make no mistake, I use the word, Anathema... but as far as I am concerned, it is a word used to describe anything or anyone that actively acts in a monstrous or demonic nature. I will not lie, I have killed many moon mad Anathema, and a few golden anathema... but they were all hurting the land and the people they lived near, and so I was duty bound... but given the opportunity, I would righteously kill the dragon anathema I knew on the island.

I do not like to judge the many by the deeds of individuals, and your kind should be no acception.

So how do I feel about your kind? The fairest answer I can give you, I am afraid, is 'I do not know yet.' "

" Me... I think Anathema are humans who stole their power using demonic rituals. I know the stories my teachers told me. I also know of the Vermillion Legion's fall at the hands of The Bull of the North, not to mention Strength of Many's destruction of the trade routs in the south... Or Ma-Ha-Suchi in the east, or even The Mast of Winters to the west of us.

I don't trust you or any Anathema here at all... and to be honest, I hope that I am wrong, because I have seen Master Honored Brother kill the anathema ' War Torn Tears'... he could easily do it again"


( Valor roll for Limit from Mild Magma's threat.)

( Perception+ Socialize at diff 1 to see that Honored Brother is not only honest, but has a 6 in Temperance)

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent Fire 10


*Dal giggled to himself when he watched Honored Brothers reaction to the room. Dal found himself growing fonder of the Immaculate mostly in that he was level headed, respectful, and reasonable in spite of having placed himself in a place as potentially frightening and mysterious as Imperveress for a traditional Dragon-blood.*

*He was about to open his mouth and explain that he too had his own work cut out for him keeping the world safe from dangerous people with dangerous power, but Mild Magmas comment stopped him in his tracks. It took a deal of his inner strength to avoid an enraged outburst here and now. He ignored it for the most part and continued with what he was going to say.*


"I can not say how much I respect your honesty and your desire for understanding. In this world it is not always the ones that should have power that have too much of it. I have squared off against forbidden gods, power hungry elementals on the verge of going dragon... and even an insane Solar Exalt. By no means are any of us perfect, though we do our best!

There was a time where even the builders of Creation, the Primordials had become decadent and petty... The Solars were empowered by the Unconquered Sun to wage war against the most powerful beings that have ever been known to exist, and to rule over creation when it had been liberated. There was a time where words like those against solars would mean swift and merciless death to you, and your entire family...

But that is not the case anymore, I abhor violence, have tremendous respect for life and am sickened by the very thought of slavery... creation is broken and we all need to work to fix it together."

*Dal shook his head and forced a laugh.*

"But you don't need to have me convince you with my words, but rather judge me and those of this Empire by our deeds. This is of course why you came here... but I must say that my Exaltation had nothing to do with stolen powers or demonic practices." *He giggled at this.*

"Have either of you actually witnessed a Celestial Exaltation?"




(1 wp spent)
[sxs 4 valor]

[4sxs perc + soc]

[Ress]

Resplendent fire, 10

* Honored Brother, being the reserved person he was, gave him a nod still as stone faced as ever. His brow furrow as he looked down slightly, his mouth shifting to the left as he thought about what Dal had just asked him, but soon looked back at him, shaking his head as his expression returned*

" No... I can not say I have ever seen the creation of the anathema I dealt with, Though I had wondered.. if there is such a ritual to create what you are.. why is it I never find any evidence of it.. or find any text with the descriptions of such ritual, or what to look for when someone might be preparing for it...

Honored Brother shook his head, heaving a sigh as his mind wandered for a second. But he soon came back to reality*

* Mild magma was by far the more expressive of the two, rolling his eyes every so often at Honored Brothers comments. When Honored brother was done, he too spoke up*

" I saw a painting once. It was counted as a war spoil from the north. It was a painting of The Bull of The North fully realized as an Anathema... It was terrifying, and it was painted by one of The Bull's followers. I hope to the Dragons and all the benevolent gods that I never see that act fully realized."

* Mild Magma shuddered a little, looking up at Honored Brother every so often, just incase something was to happen*

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent fire 10



"Ritual? Who in creation told you there was a ritual... There is no preparing for such a thing... Unless you consider an entire life of struggle and loss preparation. To be quite honest, I have seen Dragon blooded Exalt before, and it is not far different from that... however it is totally unexpected, It Just... Happens, and by most respects it is far more intense."

*Dal expanded his arms for emphasis.*

"I see myself as lucky, the Emperor too, when it happened... when my body was consumed with the fiery brilliance of the sun, I heard his voice and was brought to my knees trembling in reverence, he told me that after a lifetime of pain, I had become able to see my own soul in the eyes of the misfortunate, the downtrodden and the helpless. That I was to rise up from it all and live for him, by living to serve creation and all life in it. He told me that my journey would begin when I found sanctuary, and hope along the Gray River.

Not all of us hear his voice when we exalt, but it would be an impossible mistake to think that it was any other than the Unconquered Sun."



"It is both terrifying and exhilarating to feel such power passed down to you from those that lived thousands of years before... "

*Dals voice trailed away wistfully... Which was an uncommon feature to hear in a voice like his. He paused and thought for a moment, realizing he should perhaps explain what he knew of exaltation.*

"I suppose I have first hand knowledge but I am still no expert, the whole process that creates an exalt like me requires that a man or woman stand out and rise so far above all the rest that there is nothing else but to become Exalted by the gods. Unlike Dragon blooded, Celestial exalts don't pass on their exalted blood to their children, our souls become one with the same power of those that came before us, and all those before them since the beginning, I myself am quite familiar with who my past exalted self was before the usurpation."


*Dal began moving slowly out the door, giving the two a chance to follow him and continue with the tour while they spoke. Dals cast mark had made itself apparent, and a faint glowing light was emanating from his body. He looked to be very happy thinking about these things, and his every feature showed he meant all of his words sincerely.*




[16 sxs Social Charisma enhancement, the two men would see that Dal was honest and believed in what he said. Secondly Dal is portraying Solar exaltation as something they could relate to, and something good.]

[Ress]

Resplendent fire, 10
* His demeanor did not change for a moment as he spoke. Answering his question in the most concise way possible.*

" You don't know the stories of your kind? They say that you are created by a heretic performing a demonic ritual which steals power from the sun, moon and stars, empowering them into infernal monsters.

As I had said before, I have dealt with a few anathema, but have not heard of anyone seeing nor knowing these rituals."

*Honored brotherwas unfazed by the comparison of Dragon-blooded and anathema, but Mild Magma did little to disguise his distaste for having the chosen of the dragons lumped in with those who would steal power from the Incarna*

" Interesting. So your souls act opposite the souls of the Dragon-blooded? Well, I hope to see such an 'exaltation' during my stay here. Undoubtably, where there so many such as yourselves, more are bound to pop up, correct?"

* Honored brother smiled a little, seeing Dal's ernest display, but continued to reserve judgement untill a later date*


* Mild Magma on the other hand could feel himself wanting to believe Dal, but wondering if this was because of the great powers that these demons possess that caused this feeling.

he wondered if this was him falling to heresy... the dragons were beyond the sway of anathema and only fell of their own free will. His expression turned to stone as he focused on the immaculate texts he had memorized, not allowing his mind to wander at all from it*


* Honored Brother followed Dal, wondering now why ancient anathema would create such a place as this*

* as a good student, Mild Magma followed*

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent Fire, 10




"Stories indeed... Yes well, there are reasons such evidence is never found my friends, what is given to those that earn it need not be stolen."

*Dal grinned, leading the men through his manse again as he spoke, he passed the bath room and and the kitchen and bedrooms without much indication, and moved on to next layer, where the meditation chambers were. He paused again and allowed the men to observe.*

"This is where meditation is performed, all my students are given access to these rooms and encouraged to reach another state of consciousness, I find it helps begin the process of making them aware of essence. I use it to hone my own skills, to commune with my past incarnations and make my prayers to the Sun."

"To best answer your question, every time you have slain a Celestial Exalt their core essence has moved on to become a part of someone else somewhere, sometime later. That is not to say that they will be the same, as they are still infact exactly the person they were before exaltation aside from the obvious supernatural advantages. However they may still share memories of their past lives and how they deal with that depends entirely on their own decisions. With that now in mind, it is safe to say that there are only a finite number of exalts that can exist at any given time, as I know it, there are a couple hundred of each variety that circulate creations people.

Much of this I have learned from who I was more than fifteen hundred years ago. My name, or his name whichever you prefer, was Admiral Chaplin Cho-Hi-Xo, and he lived and ruled from this very same Manse as I now do."

*Again as Dal'Lumen spoke it was clear that he was sincere, and truthful, while every word was intensely compelling even without the charge of essence he had released earlier.*


[5 sxs Charisma making it hard not to like this friendly, understanding and charming Exalt speaking to them.]

[Ress]

Resplendent Fire, 10

* Honored brother smiled wide when he saw the meditation room. Now this was a place that was familiar to him, remembering his month spent in prayer position, waiting to be picked to be an initiate in the Immaculate order, all the while in a meditative state, pondering his own flaws and wondering what it was that he could do to better emulate the dragons.*

" I see. Do you provide directed meditation, or is it self directed? Do you have dedicated drummers? Are there particular values that you encourage your pupils to ponder?

I must say, I am impressed to see that you embrace the mental and spiritual side of the lifestyle, and not just the martial.

I am curious... which styles do you teach here? Terrestrial styles, I would assume. Mortals tend to pass away during the training for Celestial styles.

Even us Dragon-Blooded are put through grueling training and must take psychedelic drugs to open our minds... and if our bodies exist through the training, our minds withstand the addictive nature of the drugs, and our determination survives the ordeal, our very essence widens to accommodate the Bulb of The Perfected Lotus.

I myself have undergone the ordeals... and I hope to Initiate Mild Magma here to the style as well, but only when he is ready"

* Mild Magma winced a little at the notion of going through these ordeals. He knew the stories of what these entailed, and though the drugs sounded fun, he knew the other aspects were not... but he could not deny his desire to know Celestial Martial Arts

Mild Magma tried to keep his mind on the martial arts, because when he did not, he thought about how awesome this martial artist was to have such a huge manse and so many followers... though at the same time, he knew this was an Anathema... and no matter what was said or what actions he took, he took everyone around him off their path and made them spiritually weak*


" And so you are saying that you possess a rapidly reincarnating soul that grafts itself to a new body when its old one dies, and retains the memories of its past selves as it latches to a new one? It sounds almost like the leaches we have in the wetlands on The Blessed Island.

I am afraid to say, it does not sound natural... but perhaps I will just have to be exposed to more like this....

And you say you can commune with your past self? almost like a ghost?"

* Honored Brother's expression became like stone again as he thought about what Dal had just said*

" Now I know thad isn't natural... the dead are suppose to pass to Lethe so that they can continue their reincarnation cycle, until they can become a Dragon-Blooded and ultimately become one with The Elemental Dragons.

I would advise you to have him pass on if you can... if this 'Admiral Chaplin Cho-Hi-Xo is in fact the soul of your predecessor, and not an echo strapped to scraps of memory.

Yes, I am glad I came here and will have to return regularly... I have taken residence in Kideshen, but Mild Magma and I are on a pilgrimage and tend to be semi-nomadic.

Now then, what is next on the tour, Admiral Dal'Lumen?"