Editing TheGreatCrusade (section)

== Cast of Characters ==

'''Steadfast Stands the Mountain'''

A Zenith Caste Solar Exalt who has spread open worship of the Unconquered Sun far and wide.

''played by Ddawson''

Once in Gem there was a boy who worked in the mines. Of average intelligence, he held no great ambitions. One day, due to no fault or virtue of his own, he became caught up in a scheme of a courtier, having been a witness to a murder in the mines. When the matter became a political issue, the courtier arranged for the boy to be offered a bribe to lie in his testimony in open court, but the boy refused. The bribe was increased--still he refused. The courtier was at this time quite high in the Tyrant's favor, so before long, the boy was threatened with torture--threats which was followed through on when he continued to hold true. Finally, he was ordered exposed in the desert for a full week--after which he would be allowed to testify as he wished. This was a death sentence, of course--but the boy clung to life beneath the watchful Sun, and when he was finally about to lose his grip on life on the last day, he was Exalted. With new-found vigor, the young man returned to court and testified with surprising eloquence, leading to turmoil in the court and the ouster of many corrupt officials.

Taking the name of Steadfast Stands the Mountain, he met others like him soon thereafter and joined his fate to theirs. He began to preach the truth of the Unconquered Sun wherever they went, and while this brought many enemies down upon their heads, he endured and prevailed, assembling a far-flung body of believers.

One of his constant themes has been the need to re-establish the proper hierarchy of worship, but he recognizes that the First Age model (whereby all communication with the spirit world goes through the Exalts) won't work--at least not until the entire social structure of the First Age is restored as well. Thus, he has encouraged the worship of local deities, as long as their place in the big picture is understood. (The fact that this runs directly counter to the Immaculate Philosophy is part of his motivation here, admittedly.) A major success of this approach has been the alliance he has forged with the Golden Lord of An-Teng.

Sadly, events in Chiaroscuro did not go so well, with his efforts to convert the locals to the worship of the Unconquered Sun disrupting delicate negotiations the Circle was undertaking. Luckily, his position was at least compatible with Grandmother Bright's wishes, and she stepped in, putting him in her debt. He thought he might repay that debt by preventing a false Solar claimant to the Kha-Khan position from taking power, but she turned out not to be overly concerned about the issue--though he did end up putting Tamuz somewhat in his debt.

One of Steadfast's goals was to "liberate" the Lap from its status as a tributary to the Realm, depriving the Realm of much of its foodstuffs while amply providing for any force the Circle could muster, but even as he led a force in that direction, the First and Forsaken Lion sent an overwhelming force ahead of him. After the Last Supplicant awoke and dealt a heavy blow to this force, Steadfast moved his forces in and finished the defeat of Walking On Laughter.

*One incident in which their Limit Break caused problems for another PC. During negotiations for some vital sorcerous lore in Chiaroscuro, he ended up going on a conversion drive, ruined the negotiations and nearly sparked out-and-out war with the Delzahn.
*One ally of the Circle. This ally will be closest to the character of the player choosing them, but should have tension or conflict with another PC. The Golden Lord, god of An-Teng.
*One enemy defeated by the PC. Walking On Laughter, Dusk Caste commander of the armies of the First and Forsaken Lion.
*One living enemy of the Circle. Duke Aral, of the Ruby Court. He declared his opposition to the Circle when they appeared to be a minor, if interesting threat--and he can't back down from that now.
*An NPC who owes the PC a debt. Tammuz.
*An NPC whom the PC owes a debt. Grandmother Bright.
*A major change to the setting. The Last Supplicant in Lap has awakened due to an attack from the First and Forsaken Lion, and now has everyone in the area thoroughly off-balance. It is occasionally making demands of the local Realm garrison in accordance with some private logic. It is completely unknown how it would behave in the event of a Solar-led attack.
*A minor change to the setting. The previous Despot of Gem is dead, and they had to dig moderately deeply through the family trees to find a new one.


'''Mister Blonde'''

Formerly a Dusk Caste Abyssal Exalt, formerly sworn to the First and Forsaken Lion, redeemed by the power of the Unconquered Sun, and now a Dawn Caste Solar Exalt.

''played by Hattori''

'''Mister Orange'''

A Twilight Caste Solar Exalt, a master of the Adamant Circle.

''played by Metatron''

*One incident in which their Limit Break caused problems for another PC: Unethical experiments involving mortals, animals... anything really and lots of essence or magitech cause a fair bit of discomfort for some associates. Some outright refuse to deal with him directly. (He doesn't really have the time to sit around and experiment much, but when he Limit Breaks he tends to do these kind of things, for Science!)
*One ally of the Circle: Cacek Vochem, an outcaste Fire-Aspected Dragonblooded warlord, whose tribe lives in the area about the manses. After the Solars settled into the ancient complex, they quickly befriended the terrestrial who was more than pleased with the prosperity brought to the region by the Exalts.