The Beginning

[Carthrat]

The Hundred Kingdoms are, well, fragmented. Outside the long grasp of the Realm, and the proverbial breadbasket of the Scavanger Lands as a whole, they exist in a state of pseudo-constant emnity with each other, a century of little fiefs and provinces playing the endless game of one-upmanship. Their struggles are contained within their own lands; few are ambitious enough to unite the ragtag thousands into a powerful nation. Fewer still are actually capable.

But with the disspearance of the Scarlet Empress- the virtual beginning of the end, for the mighty Realm- as well as the sudden reemergeance of the Solar Exalted, things are changing for these broad lands.

Individual nations are weak- but under Solar Leadership, they become strong. Mortals already flock to their banners. Even the initial fear of Anathema can sometimes be defeated with honest work and courage.

A place without much formalized ruleship is a place where fugitives- either justly accused or unjustly accused- can run to hide. Combined with the interests of virtually the entire scavanger lands- as well as larger portions of the east- in the region, the Hundred Kingdoms is home to individuals of all kinds, possessing unique knowledge and skills.

The southern kingdoms- and Greyfalls- control the great rivers that connect the Scavanger Lands. Merchants and lords alike exercise great political power simply by owning boats- pirates, too, can find riches, if they are clever.

Over 2000x2000 miles in size, much of the land remains uncharted. First Age relics and tombs exist within the broad plains and stubby hills of the area- and many a kingdom would barter knowledge for favours.

In short, a nascent Solar can find many things to do, here. It is certainly a brilliant place to hide from the soldiers of the Wyld Hunt, or the emissaries of the Deathlords, or virtually any foe. But as time rolls onwards, the region may not remain so for long.

The awesome armies of the Lunars gather on the fringes of Creation. The Hundred Kingdoms, fractured and with a penchant for that blasted civilisation, would make an easy first target.

Greyfalls, a bastion of the Realm, maintains much influence here- and the inscrutable power-plays of the politics back home could lead the mighty legions and warstriders here to action. Never mind the Wyld Hunt, which will certainly crush any arrogant Anathema it finds. The dragon-princes burn with the might of all the elements- and have dangerous unity, even in their present strife.

Outcastes, other Solars, and mortal lords continue to scheme and desire to carve out a larger portion of the realm for themselves- but to what ends?

And though Thorns seems very far away, many tremble at the mention of the Deathlords, and wonder how long it will be before one comes for them.

The Children of the Unconquered Sun stand ready, though. To unite the world, or to break it, is up to them.

<->

Welcome to Exalted! We begin, clearly, somewhere in the Hundred Kingdoms, where your newly-forged Circle will set out to take on all comers! As posited above, building an empire and pushing back the Forces of Darkness(tm) is your job. Uniting these kingdoms is no small task- but someone has to do it, and that's what I hope the overall goal of the circle should be (for now). Of course, personal motivations should play heavily into this- but my direction, it is known!

You should create Solars as posited in the 2.0 Exalted handbook. Do take care to answer all the background-related questions therein, I'd very much like to see a decent history from which to draw hooks from.

I'd also like it if you pre-emptively decided how the circle came to know each other. There's no shortage of reasons, and any given Solar could've come from anywhere- that said, the game will most likely take place around the eastern Threshold.  Use this thread to bounce ideas and such!

So far, the players are Rez, Corwin, Ebiris, and Brian- do find time to get together.

The game'll run with weekly IRC sessions, I'll decide on details later. But this session is mostly for people acting as a group- there will be times for individual action (not to mention bureaucracy checks and weeks of downtime) that'll hopefully be able to happen over the course of a week.

Try not to overspecialize, by the way. The game will heavily feature war and politics, but it'll certainly have a sprinkling of sorcery and stealth and whatever to go with it. Ultimately, since you decide how you get things done yourselves, it's up to you...

The game actually starts 'somewhere in the hundred kingdoms'; exactly what the circle is doing and where they're doing it'll be made clear later.

Have fun!

[Carthrat]

Addendum to Chargen: If you have 5 in any background, *you're doing it wrong*.

[Carthrat]

Addendum 2: Creating new and awesome magical items seems to be a popular idea!

Craft (Magitech) and Craft (Genesis) both exist, but they do have prerequisites. Wonders of the Lost Age explains them; check out page 8 to see what they can do and what you need to get them.

You can also take the 'Workshop' background from this book. Or build one yourself in play, or find one.

[Rezantis]

-but I don't have Wonders of the Lost Age!

[Carthrat]

Tomorrow, I will feel the bandwidth return! All will be revealed. >_>