Based on EXALTED, an epic fantasy role-playing game by White Wolf Game Studio
Characters and story by Janet Trautvetter and Myranda Kalis Sarro
V'neef Citan:
"When you're born into one of the eleven noble houses of the Scarlet Dynasty, the divine blood of the Terrestrial Dragons runs in your very veins. To be Exalted—to receive the blessing and elemental powers of the gods, usually before your fifteenth birthday—is your birthright, and to aspire to the highest ideals the Dragons represent is, in theory at least, your driving goal in life.
"At least, that's the way it's supposed to be. In reality, it seems the Dragons bless whom they will without great regard for purity of bloodline, personal piety or nobility of character.
"And as for those high ideals—well. Thanks to the exclusive boarding schools that cater to the favored children of the Dynasty, I or any one of my Dragon-blooded peers can quote them verbatim. Living by them, though… that's something else altogether.
"I do what I can…. But in an empire grown corrupt with greed and decadent from the spoils of war and the labors of those it has enslaved, how much difference can one man make, even when Exalted by the gods?"
Night in the Imperial City, capital of a vast empire known as the Realm.
In an alley near the docks, three figures slip furtively through the shadows. Two of them, a boy and a girl, wear silken robes ill-suited for the streets, and ornamental golden collars. Their guide is tall, cloaked and hooded, his face unseen; he carries the boy, who is injured, and leads the way through the maze of narrow streets. He is one of a highly secretive conspiracy known as The Shadow Road, who operate a clandestine network across the Blessed Isle to aid escaping slaves to find safe routes out of the Realm.
SILVERTHORN: "In here. There's a place you can rest for a while."
MEI: "What is this place?"
SILVERTHORN: "One warehouse among dozens of others just like it... but this one is also a safe house, and a waystation on the Shadow Road."
MEI: "Oh, no—his wounds are bleeding again... Lie still, Bela, you're safe now."
SILVERTHORN: "I've tended a few bad wounds in my day. Let me see what I can do for him."
BELA: "Nooooo!—No, don't let him touch me! He's a demon, he'll eat my soul— "
MEI: "Bela, hush, what are you talking about, he's the one that got us out of that awful place! He's not a—"
MEI: "Oh! Who—what—are you?"
SILVERTHORN: "I'm called Silverthorn. Don't let my appearance frighten you, Mei. I assure you, I am not a demon, nor one of the Fair Folk, and I have no desire to devour your souls."
MEI: "But you looked so different… before. When you came to free us—and then the guards all acted like they recognized you."
SILVERTHORN: "They saw what needed to see, that is all.
"I can help Bela if he will allow me—you don't want these wounds to fester. You have a long journey ahead of you, you'll need your strength."
MEI: "A journey? Where exactly are you taking us?"
SILVERTHORN: "I am but one guide on the shadow road—you alone can determine where it leads. But you are starting from the heart of the Realm, so the road will be long and I cannot walk it with you.
"I will see you safely to someone who can take you out of the city. From here, he will take you to Arjuf, and arrange for your passage on a ship back to your homeland."
MEI: "There is nothing to go home to. Our village was destroyed, everyone's dead, except me and Bela. If I could go anywhere, though... I'd go to Coral. My father is a ship captain, he was away on a trading voyage when the pirates struck. That's the one port I know he always comes to sooner or later."
SILVERTHORN: "Then Coral it is, and I hope you find— Someone's coming!"
Continued in next post.....
