Exalted 2E - Under the Rose [WW80908].pdf

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UNDER THE ROSE
Under the Rose
is a story set within a possible future
of Creation in which the Scarlet Empress has reclaimed her
throne and ended the brutal Realm Civil War as told in
the
Return of the Scarlet Empress
saga. This supplement
is intended for play as a one-shot story with pre-generated
protagonists or inserted into an ongoing series as a major
plot point. By default, the story features the signature Solar
circle of Dace, Panther, Arianna, Harmonious Jade and Swan
as they attempt to break into the Imperial Manse, extract
the Roseblack and stop the resurgent Scarlet Empress from
destroying another city with the Realm Defense Grid. These
events take place at a critical juncture in history, the turning
point at which the Second Age becomes the Third and the
end of days truly begins.
Storytellers who want a more detailed look at the events
leading up to
Under the Rose
or who are curious where the
story can go following its conclusion can find these answers
in
Return of the Scarlet Empress.
It is possible to play
through the epic break-in with nothing but the
Exalted
core
rulebook. Yet, access to other supplements can greatly enrich
the play experience with more ideas for terrifying guardians,
wondrous traps and further setting elements to make the jour-
ney through the manse even more memorable and exciting.
Readers who plan to enjoy
Under the Rose
as players rather
than Storytellers, however, are warned that reading past this
point will spoil the Imperial Manse’s surprises.
P
RELUDE
Years after the disappearance of the Empress, the
Scarlet Dynasty at last exploded into brutal civil war. Many
candidates initially vied for the ultimate prize, but as the
conflict raged on, factions dissolved and merged until only
those of Tepet Ejava (better known as the Roseblack) and
Mnemon remained. Over time, it became clear that Mne-
mon’s forces could not prevail in battle, so she reorganized
them into a guerilla insurgency. In the end, this move
proved insufficient. Although Mnemon never surrendered
or conceded to her rival, her insurgents could not stem
U
NDER THE
R
OSE
1
the Roseblack’s rising popular appeal or the inertia of her
claim. With no meaningful challenge remaining, Ejava
proclaimed herself Shogun.
Ejava’s reign lasted precisely five days.
On the fifth day of the Second Dragon-Blooded Sho-
gunate, the Scarlet Empress used a warning setting on the
Realm Defense Grid to announce her return to the world.
She invited the Roseblack to attend her and receive honor
for keeping the Realm intact. Ejava accepted this invitation
and journeyed into the Imperial Manse, returning not as
Shogun, but as the Realm’s first Minister of Reconstruction.
Equal parts majordomo and regent, the Roseblack took over
the day-to-day operations of rebuilding the Realm so her
liege-ancestor could focus on solving the nation’s bigger
problems. Mnemon, meanwhile, simply transferred the target
of her rebellion to her mother in a continuance of her bid for
power, recruiting criminals and political malcontents alike
into the Righteous Orphan Rebellion.
The return of the Scarlet Empress took Creation by
surprise. The Threshold nations were not overjoyed to see
her back on the throne, but she did offer stability after a very
frightening and devastating civil war, so the response wasn’t
entirely negative. Ultimately, most governments settled
on bribing her to leave them alone with a combination of
favorable trade deals, outright tribute and promises to wel-
come Immaculate missionaries and Wyld Hunt expeditions.
Although the Scavenger Lands maintained their usual quiet
defiance, this stance did not protect the Solar circle consist-
ing of Dace, Panther, Arianna, Harmonious Jade and Swan
from repeated ambushes by fanatical warrior monks. The
circle’s constituents remained divided on how to react to
the change of regime, so they kept a relatively low profile
and waited for the Realm’s next move.
It wasn’t long in coming. The city of Thorns vanished
in a typhoon of red fire and stone-smashing force, taking
with it the taint of the Mask of Winters and his vile undead
hordes. It was a city stained with the stink of massacre and
the ineffable evil of the Deathlords, a beachhead from which
the dead could plague the living. Nevertheless, thousands of
living citizens still squatted throughout the conquered bastion
of culture and learning when the Scarlet Empress unleashed
the full might of her Defense Grid upon the land.
Despite the civilian casualties, the Empress’s attack
endeared her to Thorns’ neighbors, even warming relations
with the Confederation of Rivers. The message to the Solar
Exalted of the Scavenger Lands was clear: The Realm was back
and would not tolerate Anathema empires in their backyard.
This left the circle with the uncomfortable conclusion that
it had to somehow seize control of the Imperial Manse (or
at least disable it) before the Empress decided to move past
saber-rattling and turn her full trigger-happy attention to
the “Anathema problem.”
2
Chartering passage on a commercial freighter under false
names as a pair of scavenger lords and their bodyguards, the
circle crossed the Inland Sea to the port city of Dragonsmouth
and traveled by river on to the Imperial City. By keeping a
low profile, the Solars easily blended in with the crowds of
other businessmen and secured lodging in a modestly upscale
rental townhouse. After a fitful night of sleep, they split up
for a day of scouting and gathering information across the
city. They returned without any real progress on how to get
past the new barrier wall erected around the manse and the
legion garrison protecting the site. The story begins as the
Solars return to their rented townhouse that evening to find
a green-eyed stranger waiting for them.
S
KIPPING TO THE
G
OOD
P
ARTS
The prelude of
Under the Rose
establishes
considerable action for the protagonists leading up
to the story, glossing over the actual challenges that
could reasonably be associated with crossing the In-
land Sea and traveling across the Blessed Isle—from
pirates to military checkpoints to dogged Immaculate
hunters. All of these events offer considerable story
potential. Yet, they ultimately serve to fill the time
spent getting the characters from the Scavenger Lands
to the Imperial Manse so they can focus on staging
the most epic and harrowing break-in since the theft
of necromancy from the Neverborn. Therefore, the
story hits the fast-forward button to pick up where
the real action is.
Storytellers incorporating the plot of
Under the
Rose
into an existing series rather than running a
one-shot story can certainly use the narrative-gloss
approach taken with the default plot. Yet, ongoing
games allow the luxury of time in which to explore
subplots in detail and can afford to spend more time
on the cloak-and-dagger heroics and clever plots
required to successfully penetrate enemy territory.
The Compass of Celestial Directions, Vol. I—The
Blessed Isle
offers in-depth information on the Im-
perial City and the Realm that Storytellers can use
to expand the scope of infiltrating the heart of the
Dragon-Blooded regime.
with one hand resting on his lap and the other holding a
cup of steaming tea.
At a glance, the man’s unassuming ubiquitous gray robes
mark him as a professional savant or academic bureaucrat,
someone of minor intellectual talent and no particular
consequence who counts tedious numbers and memorizes
menial facts for the Thousand Scales. Myriad individuals of
like aspect live and work throughout the city.
His wrinkled and tired face is not so much old as it is
worn out, but he would be rakishly handsome if he smiled
instead of letting worries furrow his brow in a perpetual scowl
of disapproval. His hair is close-cropped salt-and-pepper with
much more salt than pepper, and he is remarkable at least for
being unflappable in the face of whatever the Solars do to
take control of the situation. If questioned as to his identity
or given the chance to speak freely, he says the following:
“I have a message of the utmost importance for the five
of you. My name is Master Heron, Chosen of the Maiden
of Secrets. I mean you no harm.” He accompanies this
declaration by setting aside his teacup and raising his arms
in a gesture of cooperative surrender as the emerald sign of
Jupiter appears on his brow.
This is (most likely) the circle’s first encounter
with a Sidereal Exalt. All of them with a dot or more
of Occult are familiar with Jupiter as the Maiden
of Secrets and can logically infer that a Chosen of
Jupiter would be tasked with finding and protecting
knowledge. Arianna has read apocryphal accounts
of First Age Exalted called Viziers, but she has never
had reason to suppose any survived the Usurpation
(assuming they ever existed).
C
HOSEN OF
W
HAT
?
Given recent run-ins with assassins, the likeliest response
of the circle to the intruder is drawn weapons or even actual
combat. Bitter experience has taught them that people who
consider them interesting and know where to find them are
dangerous. The visitor does not make any sudden or hostile
movements to antagonize the Solars, though, regardless of
what aggressive posture they assume. Instead, he sits calmly
A F
ATEFUL
W
ARNING
If the characters actually attack him, Master Heron
uses a Sidereal Charm named Avoidance Kata, bending
fate so that he was never present. He’s no longer there, and
the characters have no recollection of having met him. He
had planned for such a contingency, though, and previously
alerted his secretary familiar in Yu-Shan of an appointment
to visit the Lawgivers precisely one half hour later. He meets
that later appointment in the precise nick of time, stepping
out of yellow starlight in their midst with another Charm
called Yellow Path. When the Solars suddenly remember
having met him before, he cuts out the preamble to deliver
shocking revelations in hopes that the circle will hear him
out. Ultimately, the Solars would have to be acting consider-
ably out of character not to give him such a chance absent
any demonstration of hostility on his part. Hopefully, the
face-off never gets to actual violence. As soon as the circle
allows him to proceed, he does so:
U
NDER THE
R
OSE
3
“Earlier today, I was granted a personal visitation by my
lady, the Maiden of Secrets, who called me away from my
duties guarding fate and commanded me to meet you here in
this place at this time. She spoke of your intent to penetrate
the Imperial Manse before the Scarlet Empress makes another
attack with the Realm Defense Grid. No doubt, you care-
fully guarded the secret of your plans, and that secrecy drew
them to my lady’s attention. Your mission is the fulfillment
of necessity. You
must
succeed, and you
must
know certain
things if you are to succeed.”
Master Heron reaches into a fold of his robe at this
point and hands a small book to Arianna. It is the capstone
journal of noted contemporary Realm geomancer V’neef
Bijar, chronicling her lifelong obsession with the secrets of
the Imperial Manse. The Twilight is familiar with Bijar’s work
from her connections within the sorcerous community, but
the Terrestrial and her research disappeared toward the end
of the Realm Civil War and neither has been seen since.
The research treatise of the Imperial Manse
is full of notes, drawings and images painstakingly
copied from archival fragments. It is clear that
Bijar went beyond verifiable historical accounts
to plumb a host of texts deemed apocryphal and
untrustworthy by reputable scholars. Thankfully,
Master Heron has marked through the worst of
these errors and scribbled dryly humorous correc-
tions in the margins.
The book adds a three-die equipment bonus
to any Ability roll to know information about the
Imperial Manse, but reliance on the text means any
failure is treated as a botch because of misinforma-
tion. Storytellers can also use the book as a narrative
device to share information about the manse, steer-
ing the characters away from traps that are presently
beyond their ability to handle and toward obstacles
they can bypass with sufficient effort.
B
IJAR
’
S
J
OURNAL
(R
ESOURCES
••••• [U
NIQUE
])
will leave, and you can go over the wall. Bring a lot of rope.
You will know what to do from there.”
The elder Sidereal is apologetically evasive if questioned
on the details of his message, claiming his instructions did
not include more information than he has shared. If Arianna
checks the veracity of this claim or anything else the Sidereal
says with Judge’s Ear Technique, he believes he is telling
the truth. He paces the room as he explains the last details,
walking back and forth beside an open window without
stopping to look through it.
“There is one more thing. The Empress will not be
there, but the Minister of Reconstruction will, and she is
only minimally guarded—if you don’t count the maze of
deathtraps between you and her, obviously. Something
terrible from beyond fate threatens to disrupt Tepet Ejava’s
ordained destiny to bring lasting peace to the Dynasty. If you
don’t rescue her tonight from this unknown menace, she is
lost, and events that must happen will not. Her fate is tied
to your fate. Save the Minister, and she will help you end
the threat of the Defense Grid. I wish all of you good fortune
from the bottom of my heart. Do not fail. Do not falter. All
our fates lie in your hands.”
With his speech complete, the Sidereal dives out of the
window and tumbles in midair, grabbing a handful of glit-
tering powder from a belt pouch and hurling it ahead of him
at a large puddle on the street. He vanishes with a splash as
though slipping beneath the waves of an ocean. The water
settles with no trace of him. Unsurprisingly, no one else on
the street happens to be looking at the right place to notice
this bizarre occurrence.
Harmonious Jade has the Charms to sneak past the
soldiers and cross the moat, dashing along vast support
chains from which elevator pulleys dangle in the dark. Such
a scouting mission preemptively reveals the hordes of demon
workers and the opportunity to skip half the manse’s defenses
by entering it from the chasm depths, validating Master
Heron’s suggestion to bring rope.
The Imperial Manse’s front door is warded against
all magic that would grant entry with a roll-off pool of 20
dice, but it may explicitly be bypassed with Door-Evading
Technique. Inside, the visitor finds herself in a wide, dim
aisle lit only by the glow of stained-glass ornamental pillars
depicting ancient Solar luminaries. The path leads through
a cathedral-like space up a low flight of stairs to a circular
jade dais marked with sunburst and gear symbols.
An emotionless voice addresses the Exalt in Old Realm,
a language Harmonious Jade recognizes but hasn’t learned.
She remembers and can repeat the words later to find out
she was told, “I am sorry, oh Prince of the Earth, but your
present incarnation has not been licensed for teleportation
into the Panopticon Cataclysmic. Please refer further inqui-
ries to the Office of the Hierophant.” The voice belongs to
Servant (see p. 15), who can teleport authorized personnel
C
ASING THE
M
ANSE
“Consider this a token of goodwill. Don’t take anything
you read in there as holy writ, but it’s more information than
you had, so you’re welcome. I’ve taken the liberty of adding
a few comments of my own. My last incarnation helped drag
the manse down the mountain to Vanchow during the After-
shock War, so I like to think I know a thing or two about it.
Now
that
was a Neighborhood Relocation Scheme! Anyway,
something terrible is going to happen tonight. Jupiter didn’t
see fit to tell me what, and I didn’t ask. I do know many will
die, somehow making the manse vulnerable. When you see
the signal—evidently you can’t miss it—the legionnaires
4

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