Editing Character Poetry

''You find a lonely looking volume it's covers are battered and torn. Inside are words which set your heart ablaze.'' [[AlphaOmega]]
== Character Poetry ==

===Dakkareth===
'''Darius:''' A rod of rusty iron, bent and pitted, spattered with blood from being used for beating. But at its core a vein of shining steel that longs to be free.
<br>'''Cassidy:''' A pillar of white stone surrounded by layers and layers of multi-colored veils, shifting and fluttering in winds of confusion and great events. We see the veils often, but occasionally a bit of stone shows through. It is then, that she shows her true strength.
<br>'''Gabe:''' A piece of obsidian washed smooth by water, but then scratched and chipped as left the river and crossed harsh rocks on its way to you. It retains the memory of volcanic heat, tempered into comforting warmth. Looking through it your vision becomes clear and sharp, you see things as they really are. And although it is not made for it, should you be desperate you could use it as a weapon.
<br>'''Liz:''' I see Liz as a living flame. One that jumps here and there, rarely in the same place twice, that defies attempts to define boundaries of make use of it, that can be no more than glowing embers one moment and flare brightly the next, that can warm you but also burn you and that is happiest when everything around it also burns.
<br>'''John Palmer:''' A great snake with scales of smooth, matte-finished titanium. Patient and appearing to be happy just lying in the sun and doing nothing - but when it strikes it will be quickly and deadly. But if it is your friend, good things happen to you and bad things to your enemies.
<br>'''Robert:''' The totem fits well indeed. A young wolf, but in the wild time passes quickly and he has seen his share of fights and scars. He lives on what he hunts, eats well after every kill and grows lean between successful hunts. Going his way alone, but loyal where he finds himself with a pack. His dangerousness and cunning and the subject of proverbs and folk tales.
<br>'''Jian:''' A leaf on the wind, taking every twist and turn of the chaos like it's his own breath. You can try to steer the leaf in one direction, but you can never control all the winds on which it rides and thus never catch it. He is part of the wind, yet he is not, his path is determined by it, yet it is not.
<br>'''Sui Mae:''' A clay figurine hardened like a weapon in great and numerous fires, made and shaped to protect her makers and that which they hold dear. The figurine is hollow in truth, the ashes of revered ancestors kept inside. Only now a chip has broken off the figurine and fresh wind and soothing water can come in.

===Astra===
''A set of bright blue pages, a portal to another realm.''
<br>[http://www.thefreedomstone.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6058 Fifty-line Pillars] - Three sets of 50 themes, one written with sentences, two written with fifty word drabblets.  The third focuses on Cassidy's childhood.<br>
[[Scenes of Friendship]] - The archive of all of the non-game scenes showing Cassidy's interactions with people.
===MPascal02's Haiku Challenge===
''But, wait! A question.<br>
''If I haiku the whole cast<br>
''Will I get XP?'' - '''Pascal'''

''If XP you seek''<br>
''Then show us your haiku skill''<br>
''I love this game guys.'' - '''Aincumis'''

''Is that a challenge?<br>
''Now it's on like Donkey Kong --<br>
''Alternately, Tron.'' - '''Pascal'''
<br><br>

*'''Darius'''
Oh say can you see,<br>
by our Dawn caste's anima,<br>
that RPG round?

Ex-military<br>
Mercenary for hire.<br>
A-team, or our Dawn?<br>

*'''Cassidy'''
Was an agnostic,<br>
Now she seems to speak for God.<br>
Girl got religion.<br>

Lucifer, Xander,<br>
Rob too. Too much harem an-<br>
-ime for my tastes.<br>

(Following that last<br>
to its logical end -- does<br>
that make Gabe Washuu?)<br>

Seriously, just<br>
how many gods and spirits<br>
want her as their voice?<br>

Blow her up, she soaks,<br>
and counters -- never mind. I<br>
guess Rob got there first.<br>

*'''Gabe'''
Genius Twilight builds<br>
bombs and cures with perfect ease.<br>
Cue McGuyver's theme.<br>

The nicest guy in<br>
our Ellipse. Shame about the<br>
whole blood-addict thing.<br>

*'''Liz'''
Night caste serves Justice,<br>
leaps from rooftops across streets --<br>
Not Batgirl, honest!<br>

Liz's ideal guy:<br>
Enjoys longs walks on rooftops;<br>
must not be wizard.<br>

Her friend just got turned<br>
as a part of Troile's plan.<br>
Here comes Limit Break!<br>

I know kung fu? No,<br>
but Liz does. She uses it<br>
to beat up cyborgs.<br>

*'''John'''
Former mob kingpin,<br>
now deposed. But that just gives<br>
him more room to work.<br>

A few different<br>
words, and John might have had his<br>
own vamp army now.<br>

Ellipse seems wary<br>
because of John's old job. That's<br>
just how he likes it.<br>

(Why is this so hard?<br>
John's my freaking character!<br>
Seriously, man.)<br>

*'''Break Time'''
Running out of space.<br>
The other three will follow;<br>
maybe NPCs? <br>

*'''Rob:'''

Garou loathe or a-<br>
-dore him; no middle ground. Wait,<br>
that's normal for them.<br>

Two Terrestrials<br>
and five Solars. Weirdest pack<br>
ever? Wait and see.<br>

Moonsilver claws flash,<br>
vampire blood hits the ground.<br>
Full moon's Rage is strong.<br>

Rob's biggest worry<br>
isn't the Wyrm. Rather, it's<br>
all those furry fans.<br>

*'''Johnny/Wu Jian'''

Loyalties are torn;<br>
his mistress or fiancee?<br>
(God, that sounds so wrong.)<br>

Watches for Exalts; <br>
tells family, Internet.<br>
When will we find out?<br>

Has a blood feud with<br>
the Brujah. Drama says we<br>
knew this was coming.<br>

Rides around on a<br>
miniature tornado.<br>
Call him Pecos Xian?<br>

*'''Sui Mae'''

Joined the party late,<br>
then almost killed Darius.<br>
Really, she means well!<br>

When she approaches,<br>
vampires scream out: "God, no,<br>
it's the Ginsu girl!"<br>

Snicker-snack, and so<br>
her swords lop off another<br>
head. Vorpal DB?<br>

*'''NPCs'''

Older Brit, hacker<br>
chick, and goths. We just need a <br>
blond mage for Buffy.<br>

Troile should remember:<br>
only seven points worth of<br>
Flaws get you BPs.<br>

Poor Reverend Brown.<br>
I'd almost feel sorry for --<br>
wait, no. He's a schmuck.<br>

Three suns, eight Exalts.<br>
One Antediluvian.<br>
Ready to rumble?<br>

Malevolent Fate<br>
seems to take an interest<br>
in us. Call him Q?<br><br>

''So, oh great ST,<br>
''draw any conclusions on<br>
''my haiku efforts?'' - '''Pascal'''<br>

''Your skill is alright<br>
''The poems rather well put<br>
''Two XP you get.'' - '''Aincumis'''<br>

== Character Tarot ==
''A book of notes, 21 pages with familiar faces on ornate cards...'' - Written by Astra and Meriss<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fool_(Tarot_card) '''0: The Fool''']  - Jian<br>
The Chinese young man stands at the very precipice of a mountain, the winds spin around him, and they distract him as he is about to walk off the peak, though to his death or a new adventure is unknown. He is in very American clothes, with his charkam in hand, unaware of the danger at hand, due to the winds' joyful caresses.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magician_(Tarot_card) '''1: The Magicican'''] - Gabe<br>
Gabriel stands in his suit, normal attire, but there is something... strange, details that make them seem like ritual garb. A stole around his shoulders, with runes on it, as he stands beside a desk, with four items sitting on it; a coffee mug, a handful of change, a letter opener, and a wooden pole.  They each seem to mean something. However, the room is not bright at all, and even as in his right hand he holds a golden wand aloft... His lowered left hand is engulfed in shadow, and those shadows is what he is surrounded by, the world of darkness that is being penerated by his essence. His caste mark is bright, the feathered serpent of his anima in the form of the forming the lemniscate of infinity.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Priestess_(Tarot_card) '''2: The High Priestess''']  - Cassidy<br>
Cassidy sits in the attire of her iconic anima, without helm or weapons, on a throne in between twin pillars, but her High priestess robes are snow white, not gold, the fire of mystery at her bare feet. A scroll is in her hands, but her robes half-hide them. On the scroll is something that says 'mandate,' but the rest is hard to see.  She seems quiet and serene, understanding why the viewer is there. There is one other detail; in one hand, she holds a pomegranate that is held as if some unseen hand gave it to her a moment again, over her shoulder, behind the black curtain she sits in front of.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Empress_(Tarot_card) '''3: The Empress'''] - Sui Mae<br>
Sui Mae smiles as she sits on a throne as a queen, garbed in scarlet robes, her sword as specter, a crown of fire lively on her head. Behind her is a throne with five Dragons, each with three stars in their mouths. Out of the fifteen stars, only twelve are lit.  She is beautiful, lovely, a ward against the darkness, but there are shadows all the same, and in the darkness, a sixth dragon watches. She does not see it, but the blue dragon of her throne does, and watches the shadowy dragon with much distrust.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor_(Tarot_card) '''4: The Emperor'''] - John Palmer<br>
The businessman is alone in the spotlight, smirking as he sits at the end of a board room table. As usual, he is dressed in a handsome suit, but now there's something extra. Lying on the table before him is a golden scepter and an ornate crown. The sides of his chair have rams on them as well, and looms over him, almost as if it is a throne.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hierophant_(Tarot_card) '''5: The Hierophant'''] - Gabriel<br>
He stands at a whiteboard, a diagram of two pillars (Law and liberty), drawn on it. Surrounding the diagram are words representing knowledge, progess, power, and other concepts in many, many languages.  The shadows again, coil at his feet, and there is a little blood at his mouth.  There is a cross on a chain on his upheld right hand.  Said hand has two fingers pointing up at a symbol on the board, the one for heaven, while two point to the Shadows.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lovers_(Tarot_card) '''6: The Lovers'''] - Robert & Cassidy, Jian & Sui Mae<br>
It's high noon in the summer time, in a beautiful Chinese garden. The four are together, but their eyes only for their betrothed or their mate.  All have a pinkie up, with red strings tied to them. Cassidy's tied to Rob, Jian to Sui Mae. The American couple sits in crisp formal attire, Robert in black, Cassidy radiant white as they stand, side to side, glancing at the other. Sui Mae and Jian kneel as they face each other, with expressions of nervousness.  They are new to this. Jian's formal robes are sky blue while Sui Mae's is a striking crimson red. The garden is idyllic, beautiful, but one tree is turning colors; innocence doesn't last forever.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chariot_(Tarot_card) '''7: The Chariot'''] - Darius<br>
The Dawn is in a fast, black and white car, dressed in a mixture of Greco-roman, Japanese, and modern military attire, his caste mark is blazing on his brow.  The eagle's wings are a canopy over his head, and one of his pistols are in hand, while the other drives the car.  He is the conquering hero, the soldier, the samurai all rolled into one.  Laughing, proud, confident.  He is on top of the world.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_(Tarot_card) '''8: Strength'''] - Cassidy<br>
Cassidy, dressed in a bright yellow gown, with a floral crown and bracelets around her wrists, kneels next to a silver wolf with a smile.  Her hands are on the wolf's jaws, and the wolf is peaceful, even a little smug. Either way, the woman is in control, but the wolf has no problem with it.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hermit_(Tarot_card) '''9: The Hermit'''] - Jian<br>
Jian walks all alone, seemingly disinterested in looking for anyone else in the wasteland he is shown in. His weapon in one hand, while his way is lit by the flashlight in his other hand. He wears a coat with a hood that hides his serene features.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_Fortune_(Tarot_card) '''10: Wheel of Fortune'''] - Darius<br>
It's dawn, and the rising sun illuminates a scene of death.  Vegas is in the distance, Darius stands with smoking gun in hand, his head in the middle of a wheel image, his caste mark as the center where the spokes come out. Seven spaces in between the spokes hold something, a face of a hero with the Dawn caste mark. Darius is just another person in the cycle, now at a turning point in his life.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_(Tarot_card) '''11: Justice'''] - Liz<br>
Liz stands bright and gleaming as if she is metal, a blindfold covering her eyes, and her face obscured by the flaming sword she holds in one hand, and scales held in the other. She wears the robes of a judge, colored like the night. She doesn't smile or speak, and on her brow, even though the sword, you can see the caste mark of the Night. Her surroundings burn somewhat, for even as she is the night, she is also a living flame.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hanged_Man_(Tarot_card) '''12: The Hanged Man'''] - Gabe<br>
The picture is obviously upside-down, so the glowing Solar's head is at the bottom of the card. Gabe is lying on the floor of a library, his legs crossed as to look like the number four, a book covered with runes on his chest.  There is a content smile on his lips, as if he finally has understood a mystery and can give into a well-deserved sleep.  He looks dead, but it's obvious if one waits, he'll rise up again.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_(Tarot_card) '''13: Death'''] - All<br>
The reaper with green eyes stands among the dead, with Darius gravely injured before her  However, there are two groups, refusing to die. Gabriel, Cassidy, and Robert are standing with lights behind them, Cassidy praying, Robert howling, Gabe shouting. Liz, John, Johnny, Sui Mae all have weapons out, and are lunging. Even as Robert and Johnny's faces have tears on them, the pain of what happened due to Troile's games, they fight. Gabe is shouting, but there is some confusion and worry in his face. Cassidy and Liz both have nothing but resolve in the face of death. Five stars are bright, and the sun is rising. The world itself is rallying against the taint. There is death, but there are those who stand against it.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_(Tarot_card) '''14: Temperence'''] - Jian & Robert<br>
Johnny holds cups of jade, Robert of moonsilver.  Robert pours one of his cups, which is dark blue water full of silvery images of cards, wolves, and poker chips into Johnny's, while Johnny is pouring the other of his cups, of wind, and kanji and images of training, into Robert's empty one.  They stand at opposite sides of a river, one showing the Chinese underworld, the other showing the Greek.  There's a hint of fire on Johnny's side, a bit of gold on Robert's. The two are watching each other with understanding, knowing they'll go back to fight, but at the moment, they are secure in the understanding of what they are, that they are both ancient and modern.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_(Tarot_card) '''15: The Devil'''] - Cassidy & Palmer<br>
Cassidy and Palmer stand alone on a darkened stage, the blood red light in the shape of an inverted pentagram. Cassidy is dressed as if she is about to do a show, a long, seductive forest green gown, but she looks nervous, and she is looking away, while in her right hand is a golden apple. She looks like almost as if she may try biting it. Palmer is behind her, smiling and in crimson, whispering into her ear. Near his left hand is a torch that casts shadows on both Solars, making it seem as if they have feathered wings.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tower_(Tarot_card) '''16: The Tower'''] - Umbral Explosion Party<br>
A tower crowned with a cross stands high, but it has seen better days. A blaze of fire and lightning is striking it, and people are thrown from it. A woman seems to be in a golden winding sheet, winds spiral around a man falling in the same direction. A second woman is surging up as a dragon, with a man with eagle wings spiraling with her. A pair of gigantic hands falling backwards, a sword and scales tumbling with them. A second, black, cross falls with the objects.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star_(Tarot_card) '''17: The Star'''] - Cassidy & Gabriel<br>
Gabriel and Cassidy are in a traditional garden, dressed in the togas of the ancient Greco-Roman era, both looking up at the night sky, where six stars gleam bright. Cassidy kneels, pouring water into a fountain, while Gabriel tends to a group of plants. Their eyes are focused on the brightest star, red as the others are white.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_(Tarot_card) '''18: The Moon'''] - Robert & Sui Mae<br>
Robert stands as a wolf, looking up at the blood red moon with a pained howl, with Sui Mae crawling out of the dark waters of the foreground, shaking off Troile's darkness as the Fire Aspect leaves the Umbra.  The wind helps remove the drips, while the moon shines down and touchs the clinging shadows on Robert with golden light.  Two hotels are still standing, but they are tall and gray, looking more like tombstones, or the wardens of the road in between them, one that heads to the unknown.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sun_(Tarot_card) '''19: The Sun'''] - Liz & Gabe<br>
Liz sits on a white horse, grinning ear to ear, holding a handful of sunflowers, as Gabe stands beside her, holding up a bright red flag as they walk in a sunny landscape. They aren't looking at each other, focused on banishing the fleeing darkness away.  Both look relieved, the darkness is gone (for now) and they can help spread the word.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_(Tarot_card) '''20: Judgement'''] - Exaltation<br>
A perfect Solar eclipse.  In the distance, there is a golden light.  Next to a wall, a woman stares up at the union, her knuckles against the wall like she hit it.  On opposite sides of the card, a fiery arrow rises from the west.  A wind blows in from the east.  On a rooftop, a woman is looking up, stopping in her run.  A man in a business suit is leaving a seedy club, but has stopped to watch as well.  In a school, a man in metal shop is watching the eclipse as well.  On a mountain, a silver wolf watches at the heavenly union. They all look surprised... but ready.<br>

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_(Tarot_card) '''21: The World'''] - All<br>
There is a circle broken, one of black wood.  However, there are eight people in the ruins, all doing something different.  Two figures, one silver, one gold, move away wreckage of the dark ring.  Two flames, one of passion and one of justice, dance in the forge, encouraged by the wind, to aid a third golden figure in smelting a new circle, one made out of shining gold. A fourth golden figure, more feminine, like the two fires, holds the pieces together in the face of the forces against the new cycle's union.  Finally, the fifth figure of gold is directing people in gathering the materials needed, making sure things run smoothly.  United, they create a world anew.<br>
==Mindscape Project==
''A set of pictures, within the minds...''<br>
'''Cassidy:''' The Zenith's mind seems a seamless merging of a turn-of-the-century house and a Grecian temple, all made of metal.  The iron is somewhat rusted but still strong, the gold bright and gleaming.  However, some of the edges cut clean and deadly, and in its heart is a room of masks...<br>
'''Gabriel:'''  Gabe's mindscape is a multi-level library that is carefully organized and regularly cleaned.  Unfortunately, one of the librarians seems to have discovered a gateway into the primordial wellspring of knowledge and so, you know... that's just kind of there next to the cooking section.<br>

==Language and Sorcery==
''Subsequent to the uncovering of evidence that the Enochian of the Seventh Age (WoD) might well be the same language as the Old Realm of the First Age (Exalted) this fragment of a conversation was found. It's a ripped up piece of paper annotated with time/date/location as well as file number and a reference to the recording agency - but all the specifics have been blacked out.''

It's a valid assumption, that Old Realm was the first language in the reality of Exalted. It doesn't have to be, though. What if Old Realm is not the first language at all? Maybe it's 'merely' the language in which the Primordial treaty of surrender was written. That treaty and the subsequent imprisonment of the Primordials has redefined both them and Creation, making it the fundamental language of the *new* reality that exists after the Primordial War.

Demons speak Old Realm, because that language has been forced on them, is part of their bindings. Gods speak Old Realm, because it is the language of their victory, the language of the redefined, newly anthropocentric Creation (which in turn causes the gods to become anthropomorphic themselves). Raksha speak Old Realm, because as far as they are defined at all they define themselves in relation to Creation. And everyone else speaks/spoke Old Realm, because it's the lingua franka and for the Exalted it is a reminder of their victory in every word.

''What would be the original language?''

Probably unimaginable to us as is the Creation before the Death of those who became the Neverborn and She Who Lives In Her Name's extinction of parts of reality. But I suppose it would have to be fluid - or more precisely consist of many interlocking languages, one for each Primordial and the part of reality it defines. If there is a common core, an intersection of those systems of definition, it would be the language the Primordials created in the moment they decided to act together to Shape Creation. The different species of beings that lived before the Primordial War and the mass-genocide the Exalted wrought would have spoken different subsets of that language according to which Primordial created them.

''You know what it could be? The language of Sorcery. You can alter the world with those words, backed by essence.''

How about it being the language of Infernal Sorcery? After all it would draw upon concepts and powers that belong to a Creation before the War, of a Creation ruled by the Primordials. So in shaping reality through those words you return it to what it was in the beginning and assert Primordial rulership-by-proxy over it. That would make sense in the context of sorcery being originally taught to Brigid by demons. "Here, have a gift of great power, that weakens our prison every time you use it."

Only then Brigid - being a Solar - found a way to do the previously impossible, to employ Old Realm as language of sorcery and in doing so defeated that insidious Yozi plot. Now the Primordial treaty is strengthened by every word of sorcery spoken and Creation kept stable and firmly in the hands of Incarna and Exalted.