2025-08-15 Great Forks Sightseeing & Sleuthing

General Summary

Scene: Great Forks > Lunch with Sees-your-soul (continuation)

  • Sees-your-soul is still thrilled about going to back to Autocthonia, but has to sort some things out with his official duties before he can leave.
  • Prospective date Venus Day, basically day after tomorrow.
  • Stelsor asks Scurrilous Minx what she is thinking to do and she says she is looking forward to seeing Autochthonia for herself.
  • Fortifier asks Sees-Your-Soul about who in Great Forks would be in charge of voting for Metagalapa to join the Confederation of Rivers.
  • Sees-Your-Soul says it would probably fall to Shield of a Different Day since any mutual defense alliance is necessarily a military matter.

    • Scene: Stelsor visits local Great Crane Transport post

  • Meets with Mead's Kiss who seems to be our local manager.
  • Stelsor asks about how to get more workers for projects elsewhere.
  • Mead’s Kiss says news of people we’ve emancipated has spread to Great Forks which is attracting some people.
  • The local populace of Great Forks has more God-blooded than some places, so we have a few on the payroll already.
  • Stelsor mentions specifically looking for maybe a god-blooded that would make a good household caretaker. Mead’s Kiss has one or two people in mind.

    • Flash-back Scene: Nexus > Acolotorian Baki with Tidetamer

  • They shapeshift and travel upriver (toward Great Forks) because Acolotorian has been on a mission from his shahan-ya Raksi to retrieve something important.
  • Acolotorian withholds what exactly he’s looking for. Tidetamer (adherent of Ma-Ha Suchi) is somewhat perturbed by this lack of trust but puts up with it because this is all part of their mentors trying to mend fences.
  • While travelling, Acolotorian asks Tidetamer about Dreamflower.
  • Tidetamer explains that he and Dreamflower met at the court of Ma-Ha-Suchi, but he also sensed this was not their first meeting. Their Exaltations share a celestial bond, a magical connection which has entwined their incarnations since all the way back in the First Age.
  • Tidetamer recalls at least one lifetime with Dreamflower where they had a family together.
  • Acolotorian reminisces about his own loved one who graciously came with him when he moved to Mahalanka to study under Raksi.
  • The Lunars arrive at Great Forks and Tidetamer recalls that Dreamflower had let him know she was headed to the city’s Tower of the Thearchs.
  • When they arrive in Great Forks, the local constabulary find the Lunars. Once they explain who they’re meeting up with, they are directed toward where Stelsor, Dreamflower and Fortifier were meeting.

    • Scene: Great Forks > All sync up at the restaurant with Sees-Your-Soul

  • After introducing Acolotorian and Tidetamer, we pick up that Sees-Your-Soul seems unnerved, which is different from his usual stoney demeanor him.
  • Dreamflower in particular senses that Minx has been trying to flirt with Sees-Your-Soul and this is confusing to him.
  • Dreamflower lets Minx know the alchemical isn’t getting her hints.
  • Sees-Your-Soul asks if we have decided where we should head in Autochthonia.
  • Fortifier suggests perhaps Arat, the largest city of Claslat.
  • Sees-Your-Soul would like to see Cinshan, the famed mobile city.
  • In the interest of finding more minerals, it might be best to strike out into the reaches in Claslat rather than staying in the metropoles.
  • We would not have time for a proper pilgrimage to the Godhead on this trip.
  • Sees-Your-Soul mentions having come from Estasia originally.
  • Sees-Your-Soul asks where we plan to stay while we’re in Great Forks.
  • There are probably some cots or bunks at the Great Crane outpost for caravan workers.
  • Regarding how we could spend our evening, Sees-Your-Soul works too much to know places personally but offers us a list of venues. We discuss them with the restaurant’s concierge.
  • Filegar's
  • The Lonesome Tankard
  • Fishyar by the docks
  • Irian's Pub
  • Godwin's
  • Spicy Ladies
  • a cathouse
  • New Horizons
  • Started by gods.
  • Complicated Relations
  • Started by gods. Something unique to Great Forks
  • The Ewer
  • A house of “ladies of the evening”.
  • Blueroad's chosen
  • House of ill-repute
  • Velinari's
  • Rakshian's
  • We’re told it is a members-only location and the membership price is quite steep (that is, by the standards of most mortals rather than Essence 3 Exalts).
  • Dreamflower came from a crafting family here in Great Forks. Her name is actually an homage to the Dreamweaver.
  • After her Exaltation, she encountered a Raksha in Great Forks.
  • Leaving to Nexus was part of avoiding the fallout of that incident.

    • Scene: Great Forks > Splitting up to sample what Great Forks has to offer

  • Acolotorian plans to visit a lupanar.
  • Stelsor hands him some extra money as a research budget to find some fresh talent for Norma Jean.
  • Stelsor and Seline go to find a private room somewhere.
  • Fortifier plans to visit the temple of Dayshield to make a modest offering, asking the god to look favorably upon Metagalapa joining the Confederacy of Rivers. After that he might to go to Irian’s Pub to listen for useful rumors.
  • Dreamflower plans to visit her family and Tidetamer decides to tag along, somewhat nervously.

    • Sub-scene: Acolotorian at Spicy Ladies

  • Acolotorian finds two ladies, pays for their time and enjoys their very refreshing company.

    • Sub-scene: Fortifier at the Dayshield’s temple & Irian’s Pub

  • Upon completing his offering, Fortifier notices one of the guards was watching him.
  • Fortifier asks this person if he made the customary offering. The person explains that Dayshield doesn’t really have a customary offering during peacetime, most wait until military actions for that.
  • When Fortifier shares his hope for what this worship will accomplish, the guard seems to appreciate the intention and feels Dayshield might also.
  • The guard invites Fortifier to drinks at Irian’s Pub
  • The place is noisy and packed. Many people are dancing to music from stringed instruments.
  • Fortifier looks around for anyone who looks like they’ve seen many things, hoping to learn something about local legends.
  • Someone familiar is here, but Fortifier struggles greatly to recall the face.
  • He picks up an aura of undeath and dusty lore. (Celestial Overseer Concordat)
  • Ah, it is Miribadi Ghostlover. She says she is here on some assignment for the Lover (which isn’t wonderful news).
  • Fortifier asks the ghostly antiquarian what she knows of local legends.
  • Miribadi tells him that The Field of Endless Raitons is a nearby trove of secrets. The shadowland had been firmly controlled by the Black Heron before the thearchs united to oust her.
  • When Fortifier supposes he might check it out, Miribadi warns that the White Nettle Lodge would not appreciate interlopers.

    • Sub-scene: Dreamflower introducing Tidetamer to her family

  • The visit goes over well and largely without incident.

    • Scene: Great Forks > Morning at the Great Crane post

  • Mead’s Kiss hands Stelsor an intelligence report. Normally, she passes this up the chain to Nexus, but since Stelsor is present, she decided to deliver it directly.
  • Most notable event in the report: 2 dead and 2 insensate at Rakshian’s last night.
  • With a day to spend before the trip to Autochthonia, Fortifier wants to look into this: examining the corpses or perhaps treating the insensate.
  • Mead’s Kiss has already left, busy with other duties, so Fortifier asks a random servant at the office where the bodies would be taken.
  • We’re told that corpses are dealt with differently depending on which district of the city the death occurs in.
  • Thus to examine the bodies, we’d have to know where Rakshian’s is. Unfortunately, this servant had assumed Rakshian’s was merely a rumor until now and has no idea where it could actually be.
  • Fortifier wonders aloud if it might be the sanctum of a god. That might explain why its existence and location aren’t common knowledge.
  • Stelsor is more interested in conducting business today, but Dreamflower and Acolotorian want to investigate the murder also.
  • Dreamflower cracks her knuckles before leading us out into the streets and directly to Rakshian's. (As the Crow Flies)

    • Scene: Great Forks > Outside Rakshian’s

  • When we arrive, we find a very manicured lawn in front of an upscale building. Around it is a fence with a metal gate (made of iron, silver and moonsilver).
  • No security personnel or really any living people are visible on the property so far.
  • Dreamflower senses that the fence/gate was made to resist shapeshifters, undead, and raksha.
  • Dreamflower remembers back to when she grew up around here: there had been a minor cult that pushed a “humanity first” agenda and often built things like this.
  • With Acolotorian and Tidetamer with us, a ward against shapeshifters might be trouble.
  • Fortifier tries opening the gate and finds it unlocked. It creaks and 4 guards of the city watch come over to us.
  • One of them is the guard Fortifier went drinking with last night.
  • Fortifier explains he wanted to help investigate what happened at Rakshian’s last night.
  • The guard leader is surprised and suspicious that we knew about the incident at all.
  • “The streets talk” replies Dreamflower coyly.
  • The leader grumbles that yesterday even the watch would’ve been hard-pressed to find Rakshian’s.
  • The leader reasons that, since this is already shaping up to be a very unusual case and we’re trusted friends of a minister, it is probably alright to let us inside.

    • Scene: Great Forks > Inside Rakshian’s

  • We’re guided us down to the 2nd basement, the wine cellar.
  • There seems to have been some kind of wild party. Wine, beer, and other recreational substances have been sloshed or spilt throughout the place.
  • The victims are in their mid-twenties, a pair of fraternal twins (Tika and Muni Rakshian) and their lovers. The two men are dead and the women are still alive.
  • This property is so large that the district lines cut across it, directly through the crime scene in fact. In accordance with the rules for the respective districts, one corpse is to be incinerated and the other interred.
  • Fortifier asks about why this Rakshian family is so hard to find while clearly very wealthy.
  • The guard explains the family is hard to find on purpose; they’re known to be secretive.
  • Fortifier examines the bodies. (Flawless Diagnosis Technique)
  • The cause of death is emotion-drain for the corpses and the insensate ones are dream-eaten.
  • The bodies both have the same time of death.
  • Dreamflower reasons we’re dealing with a relatively powerful raksha, one who can drain 4 people at once.
  • Fortifier guesses the rest of the partiers probably ran away when that happened, which would explain all the spilt and abandoned drugs.
  • Among the knocked over intoxicants, we recognize telltale signs some people were taking Black Sunshine.
    • Report Date
    15 Aug 2025
    Primary Location
    Great Forks
    Article template
    Report
    World
    Exalted3e/Ess-The Special Convention
    Category
    _Session Reports in Nexan, Sijanese Interlude
    Author
    Toroid
    Publication Date
    22 Aug, 2025
    Creation Date
    16 Aug, 2025
    Last Update Date
    27 Aug, 2025
    Visibility
    Public
    Views
    45
    Favorites
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    Work In Progress

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