TheSecretHunt\TripleExaltation
Deliberative Archive: The Triple Exaltation Incident
The Time of Cascading Years created chaos in Creation on a scale not seen since the end of the Primordial War. Each of the Exalted – including the Dragon-Blooded – found themselves trapped in a pocket Creation, separated from other Exalted. For approximately two hundred and seventeen years, the Chosen struggled to free themselves from this bizarre curse. When they finally did and Creation was made whole again, it was found that 73 Celestial Exalted had perished and their divine shards returned to Lytek.
In the Period of Long Silence which followed, the Celestial Exalted who remained did their best to put the world back together. No one knows the truth of what caused the Time of Cascading Years, or what ended it, but most felt that it was related to the exceptionally violent warfare which had broken out at the end of the Thousand Struggles Era. As a result, during this time, the Celestial Exalted were more willing to make peace with their old rivals and return to the Deliberative.
In Tamar-Kas, the flying city of hunters, the Solar ruler Sorrowful Rain had left his dominion to meet his fellows in divine Meru for the reforming of the Deliberative. Thus it was that the city found itself practically undefended when a behemoth of the Wyld, the Forest Which Eats The Land, broke into Creation in the spring of 2564. The city itself could have flown fast and far from the Forest Which Eats The Land, but the monster threatened to devour the manses which powered the city’s essence impellers. Without the power provided by the manses, the city would crash to the ground, certainly killing its twenty thousand inhabitants.
In order to battle the behemoth, the Terrestrial Exalted of Gens Kasu led the city’s hunters to the southeast. Sorrowful Rain never bothered to form an army to defend his city; in the past, whenever threatened, the Hunting City simply moved, or Sorrowful Rain destroyed the enemy with his powerful Charms and Sorcery. They set out on simhata and in flying chariots on the night of the full moon, after a prayer to Luna to insure good hunting.
With the Dragon-Blooded of Gens Kasu, were three mortal brothers. Though they were young, each of them was already an exceptional hunter: the eldest brother was renowned for his clever traps and cunning plans; Razen the second brother was feared for his skill with spear and bow; Tochtli, the youngest brother was a master tracker. They went along with the force in order to forage and provide game for their Exalted masters. But the Forest Which Eats The Land recognized no non-combatants, and when it came, it came upon the force of Dragon-Blooded and mortals from all sides, from below and above. It was a mad thicket of monstrous trees, uprooted and walking upon its roots, branches all intertwined, with leaves of silver razorblades and lashing barbed whips of bronze sprouting from every surface. Lesser goblins raced through the narrow gaps between individual trees, firing arrows that were live asps. The behemoth tore at Creation as it went, leaving madness and the Wyld behind it.
The Terrestrial Exalted fought like true heroes. They pushed their mortal servants and allies into the center of their circle, and turned to hold the Forest at bay. They died in scores, shouting their defiance to the madness. And they wounded the Forest Which Eats The Land – most of the behemoth’s lesser goblins died to the jade and elemental assault, and great swathes of trees which bled black oil were hacked down to the root.
But it was not enough. As the last defenses of the Terrestrial Exalted failed and their essence was spent, the Forest Which Eats The Land made its final strike. Behind the last of the Dragon-Blooded, a few mortal survivors stood, waiting to meet their end. Among them were the three brothers, Eldest, Razen and Tochtli. Razen had already charged the behemoth; he lay wounded and bleeding by its deadly whips and his blood stained the silver leaves. Eldest and Tochtli raised their spears to protect their brother. It was then that something unique happened.
Time froze as three of the Celestial Incarnae descended from Heaven to the battlefield. The Unconquered Sun spoke to Eldest and traced an empty circle of sparkling gold on his forehead. Luna whispered in Razen’s ear and kissed his forehead; a full silver disc appeared where her lips touched. Mercury smiled and said something to Youngest and a new sight settled on his eyes, turning them yellow. He smiled back as the Maiden’s mark appeared on his brow. (What did the gods say? Each brother, enraptured by their patron’s words, did not hear what the other two gods said. So no one knows what was said but each god and their Chosen.)
In a whirlwind of Celestial light, the three new Exalted struck out into the Forest Which Eats The Land. Tochtli led them, skipping through the razorblade thickets with incredible grace and speed. The yellow light of Mercury shone the brothers a path through the Forest. Eldest’s cunning eyes spotted their target, the strange heart of the beast, a razorblade tree of gold and black glass instead of the customary silver. Razen, taking the form of a great cat, tore a bloody path through the undergrowth, uncaring of his wounds. The heart exposed, the three brothers struck together and the Forest Which Eats The Land died. The gold and black glass tree shattered, and the other trees shrieked in agony. Their death throes tore the attending lesser goblins to shreds.
Not long after their victory over the behemoth, Red Flowers Fallen, Dawn Caste Solar and Circlemate to Eldest’s previous incarnations arrived with Sorrowful Rain at Tamar-Kas. She gathered the three brothers and brought them to Meru; when they arrived, the Reincarnation Festival was one of the largest and most lavish in history. It was later cited by some historians as a turning point of the Heirophant’s campaign to bring about the return of the Deliberative. The speech which he gave at the three brothers’ Banquent of All Peers helped to sway many Exalted towards supporting a new Deliberative.
