Tales of the Exalted

"It is no problem Princess. I would have been happy to bring everyone to deal with the striders had I the option. However, I do not know the practices of these cultists, and would have preferred to have some time to observe them before bringing everyone to spook them. If our presence scares off the god, or distracts the cultists from their practice so we can tell how complicit they are, I cannot act in complete faith of my actions."

”Perhaps this was not the most well thought out plan. In the future I will try to find a suitable medium for us all to communicate plans and ideas,” she sighed, averting her eyes again so not to stare. There were so many things she still needed to learn but now she feared making mistakes that would have a much greater impact on all of them.

”How is your leg? I could look at it again if it is causing any issues,” she said much more quietly so that the others wouldn't hear.

Eida smiled inwardly at the concern, though she did not need to worry about it. Her care was more than adequate. "It is fine Princess, truthfully, it responds better and faster than my other leg. Thank you, It does not require any attention. Perhaps though, after the day is out, you and I should discuss this group's strengths and weaknesses so that we can better collaborate. Each of us is considered a 'specialist' by the Khal, so our abilities were poorly categorized, but well structured in their use. We need to remedy that."

Jaeda piped in silently to its companionAnd that gives you an excuse to be with her again, doesn't it? Was one night not enough? If Eida could swat an thought construct, he would have.

She didn't no much about cults or plague. But she couldn't imagine anyone worshiping such a thing to be pleasant or civil in the least. What troubled her though was where did these cultists come from? Were these people from the town that had betrayed their own loved ones for gain, or outsiders who fed off the village like a parasite?

Riding in the day with the sun shining above served as a sharp juxtaposition to the creepy darkness she would have expected to find herself encountering such a group in, but then again, perhaps that only happened in stories.

The treck through the woods is uneventful. Whatever beasts had attacked Eida and Sanjuro didn't seem keen to ambush such a large party. As the woods open into a clearing, a small wooden shrine comes into view.
The shine, while clearly made with care, is cobbled together out of branches and likely stolen materials. There seems to be no one here, save for a small statue of Cachectin.

Eida rode forward as the group approached a worked clearing of the woods and motioned that they should stop. Dismounting, the sorcerer slowly walked in, flitting into the shadow as he searched the perimeter. On finding it completely empty, he returned to the others. "The place was abandoned, and recently. Some ran, judging from the furrows in the dirt. Take a look around, but do not alter the shrine. We do not want to accidentally ire the god, it has many minions to act in its name here."

Eida began poking about the fallen logs likely used as benches, looking for anything that would tell them who they were looking for, but not finding much outside of the disturbance of a hasty retreat. They were most likely spooked by their approach.

Ruby was a little disappointed there wasn't some over-dramatic appearance of a god as he just waited on their arrival. That would have been awesome. "Recently, huh? Hey Silver, would you mind getting a bird's eye view? We might be able to catch on them running. I'd love a chase." Got off her own horse and walked through the encampment, drawn almost immediately to the ugly pestulent representation of this god. It was such a steep contrast from Pisaurus.

Cion had been rather quiet along the trip, picking up on the tension but not quite sure what to do about it. It didn’t help that he had tried to ride beside the princess but she had fell back to talk to the sorcerer with irked him. Speedy never liked to be in the back, plus he was being insubordinate and trying to walk ahead of the large An-Tir steed so he finally gave up and let the beast have his way.

”So we rode out here for nothing. Your sources must have been wrong,” he sighed. Not even a real enemy in sight to play the hero with. Cion watched the bird-cat fly off skeptically, not really expecting much. ”Shall I escort the princess back so you can keep searching?”

”Alright, I’ll see what I can see,” the cat yawned and jumped off the horse, turning into the small finch on the way. It took her a moment but she spotted two slight framed hooded figures making their way back toward the village. Circling back to the group she came close enough for them to hear her. ”There are two people looping around back east towards the village. There is your chase.”

Silver went off as Ruby walked around, looking for things left behind. The only real object of note was a charm necklace around the neck of the shrine. She was examining the piece when the little birdie told her that there were runners. With a whoop, she bolted off, jumping up into the trees to cover ground faster. "I'll be back!" She shouted behind her as she began jumping from branch to branch, swinging across like masts and rigging, clearly in for a game. The little finch fluttered at her side as she careened through the canopy. Ruby pulled away in her rush and started scanning the underbrush. Silver flit above the trees as she did so she could keep up with the zig-zagging Solar.

No five minutes out, two shrouded forms were found running back to town the long way. Ruby dropped, sliding down a tree, to land in front of them. "Hey. Just looking around. You lost? Why don't I take you back to where you'll be safe?" The two figures pulled their cowls down after looking at each other, but Ruby wasn't having any as she herded them back. "These woods are dangerous alone. Big beasts hunting, and a cult looking to recruit. You two wouldn't have heard of them, have you? It was so much slower than her way, but the four made it back up to the clearing intact.

"You did not have to come. They spooked and ran. You might as well look around with us since you are here, the Princess was curious about this place." Eida rolled over a few stones as he spoke impassively. Why come if you are going to complain about the entire situation? It was rather childish. Eida's eyes picked out every detail. The crushed plants telling him which way they ran, and the absence of small creatures. This place was visited often. His combined the two effects he had recently mastered, gazing behind the veil to see if there was anything hiding here that did not want to be found.

The idea of going back and giving up their search did not appeal to Callista at all but it looked as if they had come to a dead end. She supposed the large group was at fault for tipping off the cultists that they were on their way and it was too much to hope that they would wait around for a proper audience. This was certainly much different than dealing things inside a courtroom and she was entirely unaccustomed to it.


”No, I will stay but thank you for the offer,” she said as she dismounted as a way of showing that she had intentions of staying with those who chose to look around, watching as Ruby suddenly took off into the forest. Callista went to stand in front of the altar and look on it passively. There was no reason to deny a god worship and even deities of sickness had their place in creation but this was not part of the order of things. No spirit had the right to manipulate their situation in order to falsely gain power as this one had. Callista had the strangest urge to reprimand, or even strike down the God for its deviant behavior. ”Why do you think they began to worship this God in the first place?”

"So that the people of this village could look the same inside as out!" a young woman's voice called as she was shoved forward by Ruby and Jill. Her compatriot seemed afraid, but this girl was clearly a believer.
The girl who spoke stood defiantly in the center of the clearing, deciding she'd move no further. The other girl hung her head in fear of these strange foreigners. Agents of the Khal with magical powers and pristine weapons. They looked almost like Gods themselves as far as these commoners were concerned, no flaws or imperfections marred their faces.

Eida stood as the two girls were brought out from the trees. His soul screamed at him that they were wrong, that they had found themselves on the cusp of a very dangerous line. Even he had undergone a lifetime of training and practice to contract with his own. That they had chosen on a whim that their village should be afflicted? This would have repercussions beyond what they could think. He stalked up to them, his eyes still glittering with their fierce emerald light. Even Jaeda was startled with the sentiment that was bursting out.
"And who are you to decide the fate of people other than yourself? Who are you to decide who lives and dies? You alter a fine balance and expect no repercussion? The Empress had decreed interaction with the gods as a sinful act for the protection of the people foolish enough to think they may act out. Before even her doctrine, gods and spirits were kept in check by the Chosen of the Unconquered Sun. Tell me, what makes you fit to defy?"

”If I had not come and you ran into wild beasts again, there might not have been enough of the princess left to assist,” Cion grumbled. He had just gotten down from Speedy as the two young women came into the clearing flanked by Ruby and Silver. Looking over at the women, Cion arched a curious brow at their odd statement. ”That is a very interesting thing for a… lovely young lady to say.” It was a pity it seemed that the sickness had gotten to the girls as well but that was what came from praying to gods such as that.

"Where is your Empress and Unconquered Sun out here? Didn't your people sacrifice each other to Gods? We have a word for that in Terenuthis; hypocrite." the woman spat. She turned an angry gaze at Cion's comment.
"We're the people this village has hurt with it's sickness. Those cast aside by uncaring elders, those who've lost loved ones to the corruption in our leader's hearts. "Our lord Cachectin answers our prayer to restore harmony to this village. At least someone answers us!" her shoulders sank, clearly she'd been pained in some way.

Callista was shocked at the intensity and vehemence in Eida’s voice but she too was surprised to find that it was the mortal’s meddling that had caused the dis-balance, not the God’s. This wasn’t saying that the spirit wasn’t held accountable for indulging them in order to gain itself power but it did change things a bit.

The princess moved forward so she stood in front of the group, almost as if she was shielding them from the ire of the Exalted, or even her friends from the foolishness of the women and drawing their focus to her presence. ” Sol Invictus is not here, but we are and we are the tool in which his will is forged. I am not just his chosen, but your princess and the well being of my people lies dear to my heart. It pains me to see your brethren ill but I would also hear of the corruption you speak of. I will not promise that you will escape punishment for your trespasses but I would like to see all things righted.”

The two women looked at one another, stunned to hear the powerful and confident young women before them was the Princess Callista. They both sunk to their knees in unison. The woman who'd kept silent this whole time began crying at Callista's feet, while the other seemed horribly shocked at her own defiant tone.
"We... I... we thought you were some mercenaries the Elders hired to... I'm sorry Princess... we... there were rumors you walked among us again but..." she stammered.
"Opium, my lady... their sickness... they... they bought so much of the Khal's poison that... that when the time came to pay his taxes we were short." she sobbed. "And they... they sold our husbands into slavery."

There was a sudden hush across the clearing as the group all registered what the woman said. Callista was especially shocked hearing that the Khal was involved in the opium trade, especially with his own people. The recent Guild presence in the capitol suddenly made sense but it didn’t explain why Shono was involved in selling the drugs. She glanced around to her fellow Solars but kept a collected front towards the women.

”Why was this not brought to the attention of our Khal? We have a meeting with your Elders and will expose the truth in this. In the meantime, you will not give worship to Gods reaching outside their purview nor solicit them to meddle in the fate of humanity. As for your husbands, we will look into that as well.” The princess did not want to promise anything in the way of returning their spouses, if time had past the task would prove to be near impossible but she intended to look into all of it.

The Khal already knew. They didn’t blame the growers, they didn’t blame the merchants. This wasn’t done with the Khal’s passive consent. There was no reason to put blame at his feet at all, unless that is where it lay.
I believe Keeping this from the Khal’s attention has been the intent all along. He is not lenient with debtors. You have perhaps heard the Temujin saying “a debtor is just a thief you invite.” he murmured to his allies.
Then speaking to the girls You are our prisoners. Your life is in our hands, we will protect you from others until our judgement is reached. Despite your crimes, we will deal with you fairly if you answer our questions. Who else venerates this spirit? To whom, specifically were your husbands sold? Who else was sold and why were they chosen?
It was easy to place blame at the Elder’s feet, but these very women and their husbands could just as easily be a part of the problem leading to the Elder’s decision. Hypocrisy knew no bounds when vengeance was concerned.