Tales of the Exalted

(requires a bit of a transition in the previous scene still)

The Ogun's forge was in a lavish building between the Bazaar and the Palace. It was guarded round the clock by fierce warrior women called the Dora Milaje.
Strong, proud, with shaven heads and mystical tattoos the women held some of the finest blades in Creation.

They only allowed Exalted, and a very select few mortals into the forge. And those who saw within spoke of wonders beyond imagining.

Donovan had thought his equipment was quite serviceable, however to turn down the Khal’s gracious offer would never stand. Perhaps he wanted to ensure that they all were displaying the livery of the Khal, rather than their respective kingdoms, perhaps he just thought it would be insuiting to have the Solars riding in patched equipment for their near defeat. It was a shock when he wasn’t directed to the forges for outfitting but a separate room similar to a tailors shop. A clever looking man started taking his measurements.
I will have need…
Tut tut, you don’t know what you want, you only know what you have had. Tell me what you are accustomed to and that will suffice
…I am a Knight. I ride with plate, lance and heater shield. A sugarloaf helm..
Hmm, yes. So it would seem this is the story your shoulders tell…. First we cut your gambeson, then we shall the armor. A sugarloaf will never do, not from my forges!

"Enough, grandad, leave the young man alone." a soft, but deep voice called as the sound of metal against metal stopped.
An Ogun man in his mid to late twenties stepped out to meet the young Knight of An-Tir.
"We met in the Khal's courtroom, I am Nezhno Abidemi and this is my grandfather N'Baza." he said with a humble bow.
"I have been instructed to find you a weapon worthy of your new status, and find some armor to keep you alive long enough to use it." he smiled.

Well, then. Let us start with armor, for the sword will receive the name and glory in the history books. The humble armor will be what keeps me alive. My horse and squire require new arms and armor as well.

Ruby had never actually gotten to enter the Ogun's forgerooms. She was asked over to have them inspect her personal weapon weeks ago, but was met outside. Inside was a different wonder entirely. The blazing furnaces held the place at a sweltering temperature, and she could feel sweat beading on her forehead almost immediately. But that only held her attention for a moment. Lining the walls were small wonders for her eyes. Arms and armors there, neatly lined up, named on parchment for the intended. Some of these were ordinary looking, and some were extravagantly ornate, but the one thing they all had in common? There were no flaws. None.

Ruby wanted to bounce around, examine each and every piece, find out what was used and why. Her personal style kept the sea in mind at all times, salt quenching steel took insane amounts of heat, but protected against the water. Her blades were brittle compared to other methods, but required no upkeep on travels. There were so many techniques she could learn here! She walked over to a mould with a bald man standing over it, tunic at his waist.
"Mind if I watch? The others aren't here yet, I'd love to see how you do it."

"It is okay, nothing you are doing is sacred. Allow her to watch you. These are very important guests coming today. I would say one of a kind, but we are blessed with five of their number. Isn't that right?" Nezhno said as he saw Fesi with the red haired woman.
"I had heard rumor you liked to work with your hands, Lady Stalling. And that you may have a wonder even my shop does not posses." his eyes glinted with curiosity if the rumors he'd been told were true.
"It is possible I may be able to craft a mate for your the weapon the Shining Prince spoke of, but not in the timeline the Great Khal desires. Perhaps a blade to defend yourself, or a replacement for that cumbersome armor? When you are done watching him, come find me. I'll be attending your friend from An-Tir." the man said, giving a small bow.

The weapons and armor on display were as much art as tools of warfare here. Finely molded faces, and animals decorated the pieces. Precious metals gilt some, light catching gems in others. It was nothing short of impressive. Donovan would have happily accepted any of these pieces as a replacement for his own. The smith, ever a professional told him that these were merely examples. The things he crafted needed to speak to the wearer’s soul. That, surprisingly turned out to be very difficult.

"Thank you, master Ogun. Your generosity is appreciated. I may take you up on that offer of armor when you are done. My treasure is a blade itself, so that would be unnecessary." She returned his bow with a polite nod before she turned back to the blacksmith's project. A rivulet of red hot metal running into the mould that he had drenched in oil while she had spoken to the smith-lord. "Now,if you quench with oil, why do you use it in the framework beforehand? Wouldn't that be something that only refining could... She dropped half a dozen questions as the smith worked, who answered with short grunts or small explanations between his concentrated efforts.

Callista had actually protested when it was suggested to her that she arm herself. Her opinion was that carrying a weapon for her would be useless if she wasn't very likely to use it. Not that she had problems with a necessary use of force but she felt that anything she tried would likely just put her in the way and she didn't want the others having to worry about that. There were others that could put the enchanted items of the Ogun to better use.


Eventually she conceded to at least go. It would have been rude to decline the very generous offer and it was an honor just to set foot inside the forges. At first she thought they may go as a group but quickly found after breakfast that a few had eagerly headed over at their earliest convenience. She couldn't fault them one bit, as the things inside that building were what legends were made of.

Her arrival was without fanfare since she only took May with her thinking perhaps she could convince the smith to provide her guard with a weapon instead of herself. Callista was only in the forge for a minute before she was already peeling off her light cloak due to the heat, glad that she had dressed anticipating a warm afternoon.

Jill was like a fox in a hen house. A polite one that didn't touch but asked an incessant amount of questions. She moved from object to object, anvil to anvil, inspecting everything.

"Hi Ruby! Did you see staff? It switches into a nine section whip and back again!"

Once the initial casting took shape, Ruby wandered off to go look around at the various wonders that filled the Ogun smithy. She stopped to take a look at a mannequin sporting an embossed cuirass and gauntlets. She reached out to touch the cool metal, feeling the defined edges that made such a fine design.

*A hammer falls, striking red-hot plates, shaping the armor for a perfect curve to best protect the body that will live inside.*

She shook her head to clear it of whatever just happened. "Um, yeah, no, I haven't seen it yet, could you show it to me? Ruby took the segmented staff from Silver, cradling the wood in her arm, sliding her hand across the dark varnish.

*The hide of a gargantuan behemoth was being carefully skinned, cured, and cut to fit the Master's form, the Jackplate would be perfect. A pile of plates made of a gold that glittered in the smith's forgelight waited on the table.*

A whistle brought Ruby back this time. Silver was looking at her like she was crazy and picked up the weapon that had fallen out of the red-head's numb hands. She wasn't sure what was going on anymore. The Ogun were known for their mystic forge and secret methods, was this some side-effect? "You haven't...felt...anything off about this place, have you?"

"Apologies, my lady, the nature of my work requires such an uncomfortable temperature." Nezhno said, taking her cloak from the Azuma bodyguard.
"Many of your friends are already here, all but the Nahuatl boy." he smiled.
"I assume your brothers taught you to fire a Temujin bow, perhaps we could start there? Or perhaps we could begin looking at a set of armor befitting a woman of your stature and grace? Blue jade linned with gold silks perhaps?" he was having difficulty finding any of the Solars items that resonated with them and hoped Callista, who knew little about tools of war, would be easier to please.

Donovan swung a sword, the balance was fine, but it wasn’t right either.

A scene of grey blighted land with twisted wretched trees that bore no fruit or leaf, yet persisted out of perhaps pure spite. A blanket of fog rolled back revealing the ominous shades of five separate hosts approaching. The hosts stopped and a single figure broke from each of the hosts and approached, cautiously, hands on weapons.
A single sword is pulled from a sheath and raised high in the sky a single sword. I realize not by any of the five, but my me in the center.
A blade shining of gold and living fire, like a sunrise captured and forged.
The blade is lowered and the five approach and lay their hands upon it. Words are spoken without form, but with a clear meaning. The five return to their hosts and depart into the fog from whence they came. The battle is over, and not a drop of blood split this day.
I need a sword. A sword of light and fire made solid Donovan muttered.

Eida made his way slowly to the Ogun smithy. Their offer to arm the group was generous, but from what he had seen, mostly unnecessary. The Solars he was with were specialists, and most of them had their own personal equipment. As good as the magicians were with their arms and armor, Certain traits just could not be replicated.

When he entered, he noticed that the Khal's adviser was already helping the An-Tir knight, while the engineer wandered about examining everything. To each their own. This was not his element, and though he could help in the enchanting process, he held no real interest in the forges. Eida picked up a stool and sat down, watching them work from a distance as he waited.

There were so many wonders all piled in at once Jill could hardly contain herself. She had no need for any for herself but she could imagine the hunger in the eyes of the Seneschals if they know about this. A pinch here or a pinch there and she’d have enough to satisfy the stuffy Lunars for a long time. Then the thought occurred to her, the whole point of digging up artifacts was for the Seneschals of the Sun Kings to prepare for the return of their mates, however their mates had returned. Jill looked around at the undeclared circle at that milled about the forge. She would do more good helping them than she would stealing some items for Lunars whose motives were who knows what. These were friends of the group so she let rest the idea of walking out with anything. There were still caches of items hidden and tombs buried under the dust for her to find.

Jill set the staff back. ”This place is great and all but you’re acting a little funny. I haven't found anything off, no not at all. Except that set of mail there has one link that is a quarter centimeter smaller than the rest,” she winked. ”See any armor you like? I’d feel better if you had something decent to protect yourself with out there. Then I wouldn’t have to work so hard to keep people back away from you.”

"I mean, I have my own set, but nothing like this. steel protects great against swords and arrows, but fire and lightning? Yeah, no. See, something like this..." Ruby picked up the sleeve of a long coat with blue jade rivets throughout as her eyes got glassy.

*Thread made of coagulated essence ran through worn calloused hands as a needle of the purest silver ran between practiced fingers, piercing the still malleable argent material, fixing it to the tough hide. Each plate was mounted with the utmost precision and care as the sands of the hourglass fell over and over.*

Callista was a little overwhelmed at all the items hanging in the forge. She shook her head to politely decline the green jade bow the Ogun had offered her. It seemed too aggressive plus she couldn’t see herself. As the man held out the sky blue breastplate with clouds etched on it she ran her fingers over the fine surface.

Suddenly a memory came to mind, it was her own but also not her own at the same time. She was not herself, but taller and much more broad with heavy golden armor weighing down her shoulders. A lovely woman looked up from the stack of books she was pouring over and beamed at her past self as the gauntleted hands set down an ornate box on the desk. Opening it, the woman pulled out a glittering shirt that looked like it was composed of countless feathers hammered out of a pale gold that caught the light in dazzling ways. ”For you, my dove,” the deep voice of her past shard said as the woman stood and embraced and kissed ‘her’ deeply.

The princess could feel her face flushing even deeper as her mind returned to the present, glad the forges were hot enough to excuse her sudden redness. ”No, I’m sorry the piece is lovely but I think it would be too heavy for me.”

Being a fly on the wall had issues in a place bustling like a beehive. Eida could not hear a thing, though he was not exactly sure why he was here anyway. Jaeda was his weapon, armor had always felt...cumbersome to him. As he got up to leave, he brushed against a work table, knocking a long curved knife to the ground. picking it up, however, a strange sensation came over him. The knife itself was nothing special, but there was a memory associated with it. Long, far off, nearly forgotten, but it was there. He rode the wave of consciousness back and sat down, using his old temple training to guide him.

*"Truly, I'm sorry. If things had turned out differently, I wouldn't have had to do this. The Council found that you were more risk than they wanted." Foreign words came out of his mouth as Eida stared at the pinned form of a great and noble lion, golden ropes holding the beast anchored to a rocky formation The jagged dagger in his hand dripped with an ichor that he knew could kill even a god. A nagging doubt plagued his mind with what he was about to do as he stepped forward, knife raised high. He stepped forward, executioner for the High Council, holding the god's glorious mane in one hand. He bent low and whispered into its ear, "Run. Run away, and never return. You are dead here today." With a subtle shove, the bound god's form passed through the rocks as if they were clouds. The wicked knife drove home into a duplicate that roared in pain as the life blood spilled over the stone.*

Eida came out from his trance more than a little confused. Those events did not take place in the plains that belonged to the Nahuatl, but the seasons were similar. He had to wonder: who was that?

Nezhno gathered the Exalted in a room far from the heat of the forge and had food and refreshments brought for them. All of them had come to the same conclusion, and it was a frustrating one.
But he took a calming breath and changed his frame of mind. These were the first of their kind in thousands of years, the rules must be different and unique when it came to them. This was a challenge, not a setback.
"I am truly sorry, Lords and Ladies. These are the only artifacts I have on hand. To craft you new ones will take a long time, and this will not please the Khal of Khals. But I cannot pressure you into selecting a weapon, that could lead to trouble at the most inopportune of times." he said with a sigh, taking a seat.
"In the interim, I can gifted you with the finest mundane arms and armors. For Donovan I'll be refitting a suit of Ironwood plate my Grandfather made years ago. If you send your squire I've a similar suit as well. A new sword, shield and lance to hold you over until I can craft you a sword worthy of your stature." he said to the knight.
"For you, Lady Callista, I have this," he said pulling a delicate and beautiful knife out and handing it first to the handmaiden who inspected it and gave it to her mistress.
"That is a dagger made of Feathersteel from the far reaches of the North. I've a suit of leather armor studded with more of the material for your shadow." he meant the term in more than a few ways.
"Miss Stalling I've a lighter armor for you, but made of an even harder metal. And It has a matching buckler if you'd like that." he said to the woman from Lookshy.
"And Eida, your people always prove difficult to make armor for, but I have a piece I was working on for Hunahpu before his death. Seems a waste to late so many beautiful feathers and such a fine pelt go to waste if you would take them." he offered the Nahautl.
"I've not been told if the newcomer... the one with the strange accent, if he is to join your group. If that is the case, I'd love to work on a set of armor to match those exquisite blades of his." he said directly to Callista. "And as for Lady Marigold, I do have some moonsilver to work with, as Lady Awilix decided she no longer needed a project I was working on. I have been given permission to arm each member of this band if you have an idea."

"I know this has been frustrating for each of you, to be surrounded by such finery and to have none of it speak to you. It may be that there is a material besides Jade that speaks to the Exalted Shards within you. Anything you can think of might help me in this endeavor." he said finally.

Callista bowed to the smith as she handed the light blade back to May for the meantime, not having a good place to put in her current attire. ”Your gifts honor us and we appreciate the thought that was clearly put into them as you chose them for us. They will be put to good use, although you must forgive me if I say that I hope I never have to use mine. It will be a comfort knowing that it is there,” she smiled and glanced over at her friends trying to ignore the strange lingering memory she had. ”I believe the newest Lawgiver has decided to join us for awhile, I will speak to the Khal and have him sent as soon as he is available.” Callista didn’t want to say that May had seen him drinking wine in the stables with his horse, but she thought Cion must be very lonely to seek the comfort of his mount but it was the only familiar thing he had there.