| abstract
| - Our heroes met Tien Yu, fended off a party of Infernals & demons & an eye of the Ebon Dragon, and heard the city-goddess's story. She was the then-future-Scarlet Empress' sister and comrade in the retaking of the Imperial Manse, only to have the future Empress feed her into the machinery. When her sister fired the weapon now powered by her soul at Lookshy, she refused to destroy it and instead ended up its goddess.
* Went to Malfeas by way of the keyring
* Met the Ebon Dragon himself
* When asked what he wanted from us -- Creation -- and what he wanted to do with it, he described off streams of horror that turned four Solar stomachs. Only Kai saw through him, realizing that his purpose is to define light by shadow, not overcome it with shadow: it's not in his nature to get what he wants.
* So the party agreed to free him, swearing an Eclipse oath to it. A path opened to Creation, and the Dragon and his armies poured through...
* With them came his bride. Fight from the end of the Sidereals book: the once-Empress vs. Tepet Ejava. The former monarch struck Ejava down and disappeared.
* Not much the party could do about that, once Ejava was stable. Back to Yu-Shan they went, to see how things were faring. By and large, er, chaotic, but not falling apart completely.
* Called to witness Kejak's death as his secrets, given agency by the newly-freed Dragon, literally consumed him from within. He told them a few things, to make them no-longer-secret and thus out of the Dragon's grasp: Kejak is ancient, and he himself broke the Mask. He also asked them to tell Dulerod, the god of the Usurpation, that he's sorry.
* The party then went to visit a shocked and slightly appalled Lytek. Upon hearing their explanation for their actions, he was somewhat mollified (if still shocked).
* Went to see Parad, god of the Dragon-Blooded, next. Told them that the Ebon Dragon -- or, more likely, his new bride -- was undermining the power of the Elemental Dragons and "others whose blood is secret", stripping away their chance of Exaltation or snuffing out their lives altogether. Dragon-Bloodedness itself was in danger. Mnemon, Parad said, was trying to access the Imperial Manse.
* The party decided to visit one or more of the Elemental Poles in order to check on the Dragons, then bring Tien Yu to the Manse and try to access it themselves.
*
* Tien Yu acquired, the party went back to Meru and visited the Senate Chamber of the Deliberative to speak with Dulerod. Grudgingly, he accepted Kejak's last words. On hearing that the Mask was again intact, he began to abscond, saying only that his influence would soon grow in ways the Solars would find helpful.
* With an earth dragon's help, they then visited Pasiap in his chamber under the Omphalos. He said his children were indeed in peril, but he couldn't do anything. As long as the Sword of Creation was unclaimed, he had to stay coiled around its core and keep it anchored. He exhorted the party to claim the Sword and use its power wisely, so that he could act again.
* With a promise to heed him, the party went back to the Deliberative chamber to look for the door to the Imperial Manse. Amber hung her hat on the hat-rack where she found it; upon re-entering the door, they found themselves inside the Manse itself.
* Inside, the Manse is eerily plain and pristine, its technology different in genre -- too Primordial. They found a chamber with a series of statues of Dragon-Bloods, each of which embodied (Tien Yu said), an elemental test. Figuring out the statue's test destroyed it and sent the party to the next room with the next statue.
* A red-jade statue of a passionately-declaiming Fire Aspect. Largo slashed it in half. (Fire burns.)
* Martially-poised black-jade Water Aspect statue. Takara's elaborate dodge triggered an attack on each of the party; Kai's martial-arts counterattack shattered the statue. (Water flows.)
* Stolid white-jade Earth Aspect. Largo turned to stone and touched it. (Earth endures.)
* Meditative green-jade Wood Aspect. Fern took its suggestion to study and learned a new spell. (Wood lives.)
* Empty room with a sort of afterimage of an Air Aspect statue, a singing performer. Amber forced the room to be a vacuum. (Air permeates.)
* The next room contained the Celestial tests.
* Armed, hostile golden statues falling from the sun (the room was open-roofed). They initially had Dawn caste marks, until Largo shattered them with Islebreaker's perfect destructive effect.
* The statues reformed with Zenith caste-marks; Kai ordered them to stop and pray using Hypnotic Tongue Technique, which made them melt.
* Next time they were a razor-sharp golden mesh; escaping it by Night means (dodging, athletics) made it melt away.
* Fern turned the resulting pile of raw orichalcum into a statue of Brigid, which bowed, wished her good luck, and vanished.
* In its place stood Mnemon. Amber negotiated to get rough cooperation on the upcoming tasks; at the words "It's a deal", the room melted away.
* The last task-room was an endless expanse, a blank canvas for creatures able to impose their will on reality. The party felt limited, though. In the middle of the rather politely venomous introduction of Tien Yu to Mnemon, Takara guessed that the limitation was Mnemon and tried to punch her in the throat, which promptly launched Fern and Mnemon into a pitched sorcerors' duel.
* After trading many spells and more than one straight-up Charm, Fern won the duel with a spell that broke Mnemon's attunement to the Mantle of Brigid and flung it into her hand. Donning the last of her predecessor's Regalia, she came fully into her power. Overawed, Mnemon agreed to stop opposing the party.
* Ahead: the hearthroom of the Imperial Manse. Appeared to have no walls, instead viewing all of Creation and a fair bit of the beyond. Commands from those attuned (by now including the party) activated its various powers. The relay manses in the Threshold were still down, so its reach didn't extend much beyond the Blessed Isle.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)