Exalted is finally over
Today was the last session of our Solar Exalted game. We began this game in November of 2005, and it has just now come to a close. The last session was probably the best session we've ever had. Our plans came to fruition, and despite hardship, we defeated our enemies, casting out the darkness that was ruling Creation, and replacing it with light. I'm going to write a bit about this game, not so much because I expect anyone who reads this to understand it, but because I have to. This game has been going on just about every week for almost 3 years now; leaving tonight felt like Summer Camp was over, and I kind of need the catharsis of writing to cleanse my palate, as it were.
The Realm had grown corrupt, its Empress consorting with demons to buy her the power she needed to claim the Imperial Manse, the seat of power for the Sword of Creation, an ancient weapon system so powerful that it alone could annihilate anything within creation with but a command. As Exalted of the Unconquered Sun, we sought to conquer the Realm, to prevent the Sword of Creation from falling into the hands of demons who would use it to enslave the world, and we sought to defeat the Deathlords, who would use the power of the Sword of Creation to drag the world into Oblivion.
TJ, Deb, Frank, and Clayton's characters all perished in the final battle. TJ single-handedly held off the armies of the Realm while we made a gambit to seize the Imperial Manse. Clayton dispersed his own being into the rest of the party, to give us the chance to defeat the Revenant, our final nemesis. Deb succumbed to the sorcery of one of our enemies, only to rise again as a powerful Elemental, interposing herself between the corrupted being of Gaia, the primordial whose body makes up Creation, and Jordan's character. This bought Jordan the time to slay her, freeing her from the corruption of the Neverborn, masters of the Deathlords, and allowing her to once and for all cast the Neverborn into Oblivion, removing the seed of nothingness that was corrupting everything. And Frank paid the price for gaining control of the Sword of Creation, so that we could summon the Deathlords, bind them to Creation, and end the threat they posed.
Of the original Circle, only four of us survived. Amos and I defeated the Revenant, removing his control from Gaia so that her death would free her from the corruption he had placed on her. Pat had all but died protecting Jordan, who had to shoulder the burden of killing a Primordial. And through it all, a theme of redemption ran. When I accused Mnemon, the Empress of the Realm, of working for demons whose sole goal was the control of Creation, the guilt of this realization made her understad at last that the powers she consorted with would use her to rule Creation, and not the other way around, and joined us in the 11th hour. Incidentally, this led to Amos saying, "Congratulations, Matt. You just saved the world with Catholicism!" Karsus, our first big adversary, and the most recurringest of all villains, lent us his power at the end so that we could defeat the Revenant. The Revenant, after being defeated, was freed from the control of the Deathlords, and was redeemed. And the Deathlords themselves, once Gaia had disposed of the Neverborn, were at long last no longer bound to seek the destruction of all things, and sought redemption themselves, returning at last to the cycle of reincarnation.
And in the aftermath of the war, peace was, at last, brought to Creation, and goodness prevailed. The Age of Sorrows, the Second Age, drew to an end, and the Third Age, the Age of Hope, began. Gaia, now freed, entered the cycle of Reincarnation herself, taking her place as goddess of the Underworld. As the centuries passed however, without Gaia, the world began to lose its magic. And as it did, it seemed as though the once-flat plane of Creation began to bend, and the sky appeared to become a dome above it. One day, all the magic would leave Creation, leaving only the world as we know it today.
What's next for our Exalted games? Why, we're going to have a game where magic returns to Creation, presaging the return of Gaia herself. But that will be a story for another day.
The Realm had grown corrupt, its Empress consorting with demons to buy her the power she needed to claim the Imperial Manse, the seat of power for the Sword of Creation, an ancient weapon system so powerful that it alone could annihilate anything within creation with but a command. As Exalted of the Unconquered Sun, we sought to conquer the Realm, to prevent the Sword of Creation from falling into the hands of demons who would use it to enslave the world, and we sought to defeat the Deathlords, who would use the power of the Sword of Creation to drag the world into Oblivion.
TJ, Deb, Frank, and Clayton's characters all perished in the final battle. TJ single-handedly held off the armies of the Realm while we made a gambit to seize the Imperial Manse. Clayton dispersed his own being into the rest of the party, to give us the chance to defeat the Revenant, our final nemesis. Deb succumbed to the sorcery of one of our enemies, only to rise again as a powerful Elemental, interposing herself between the corrupted being of Gaia, the primordial whose body makes up Creation, and Jordan's character. This bought Jordan the time to slay her, freeing her from the corruption of the Neverborn, masters of the Deathlords, and allowing her to once and for all cast the Neverborn into Oblivion, removing the seed of nothingness that was corrupting everything. And Frank paid the price for gaining control of the Sword of Creation, so that we could summon the Deathlords, bind them to Creation, and end the threat they posed.
Of the original Circle, only four of us survived. Amos and I defeated the Revenant, removing his control from Gaia so that her death would free her from the corruption he had placed on her. Pat had all but died protecting Jordan, who had to shoulder the burden of killing a Primordial. And through it all, a theme of redemption ran. When I accused Mnemon, the Empress of the Realm, of working for demons whose sole goal was the control of Creation, the guilt of this realization made her understad at last that the powers she consorted with would use her to rule Creation, and not the other way around, and joined us in the 11th hour. Incidentally, this led to Amos saying, "Congratulations, Matt. You just saved the world with Catholicism!" Karsus, our first big adversary, and the most recurringest of all villains, lent us his power at the end so that we could defeat the Revenant. The Revenant, after being defeated, was freed from the control of the Deathlords, and was redeemed. And the Deathlords themselves, once Gaia had disposed of the Neverborn, were at long last no longer bound to seek the destruction of all things, and sought redemption themselves, returning at last to the cycle of reincarnation.
And in the aftermath of the war, peace was, at last, brought to Creation, and goodness prevailed. The Age of Sorrows, the Second Age, drew to an end, and the Third Age, the Age of Hope, began. Gaia, now freed, entered the cycle of Reincarnation herself, taking her place as goddess of the Underworld. As the centuries passed however, without Gaia, the world began to lose its magic. And as it did, it seemed as though the once-flat plane of Creation began to bend, and the sky appeared to become a dome above it. One day, all the magic would leave Creation, leaving only the world as we know it today.
What's next for our Exalted games? Why, we're going to have a game where magic returns to Creation, presaging the return of Gaia herself. But that will be a story for another day.