Marvelous Cinnabar lounged on a terrace overlooking a district of the Conventicle Malfeasant. Below, a parade wound along the streets, demons clapping brass cymbals and stomping out a rhythm as onlookers danced. Cinnabar hummed along and plucked another glass of claret from a passing neomah’s tray. 

Swift Hart Qu stood beside him, facing into their host’s lavishly appointed townhouse. Denira Sings-the-Tide had adorned her space with Hell-grown flowers that mimicked Creation’s. Bright violet blooms that weren’t quite orchids bore eye-like patterns on their petals, which occasionally blinked at passers-by. “It’s the third time that parade has circled,” he said to Cinnabar. “Surely you’ve seen it all.”

“If you’re bored, by all means, go inside,” said Cinnabar. “I’ll come collect you later.”

They’d been at the Althing Infernal for two full days, sent to represent the circle. Today, they’d announced the Circle’s victory over Shumad and plans for the empire going forward. While the other Green Sun Princes had offered congratulations and praise, one had notably withheld her commendations: Denira Sings-the-Tide.

The Althing was the place to formally solve disputes between Infernals — at least, that was the theory. Denira would have been well within her rights to air her grievances with them there, but a vote would likely have gone against her. She’d had her eye on Shumad, but it was just one of a dozen of her interests in Creation; it was childish to think she could lay claim to so many fruits and pluck them at her leisure. Her issue with them now was a personal slight — still appropriate to address at the Althing, but more interesting to hash out informally.

Their presence at Denira’s ongoing party was tactical. It wouldn’t do to slink away when they were the victors. Nor did Qu want to afford her the opportunity to politick and spread rumors in their absence. She’d been seething since this morning’s discussion. Better they handle it now than let it fester until next Calibration. 

Denira ambled out to the terrace as well, glad-handing with a cluster of demons and warlocks. Now she glided toward them. “Shumad was mine to conquer,” she said without preamble.

Cinnabar scoffed. “Oh? I don’t remember seeing you at the head of the army.”

Neither had bothered to control their volume. In fact, they spoke loud enough for the audience gathering at the terrace’s open doors to catch every word.

Denira cut an imposing figure: tall, strong, and black-veined, one hand resting casually on her daiklave’s hilt. Cinnabar seemed unbothered by the implied threat. If anything, he lounged harder, and took a slow sip of wine.

“The plans were in place,” Denira said. “Ajad knew.”

“Ajad found your strategy wanting. We used none of your little schemes in our offensive. And if you’re looking for recompense, you’ll have to wait. Rebuilding is expensive.”

“Get up,” said Denira. “I don’t want your coin. I’ll take my payment in your blood.”

Cinnabar set down his glass and unfolded himself from the divan. He was of a height with Denira, and for a moment, he was close enough to kiss her. From the murmur that went through the guests, some were hoping he’d do just that. His sudden smirk infuriated her, and she shoved him away.

Denira moved to draw her daiklave, but she’d forgotten about Qu.

He appeared behind her out of nowhere and closed his hand over hers. “You’ll need to fight us both,” he said.

“Gladly.”

Qu caught Cinnabar’s eye, and a nod passed between them. Qu let Denira go, readying his poisoned throwing needles. A gust of hellish wind swirled up at Cinnabar’s command, lifting him just out of Denira’s reach.

Behind them, Green Sun Princes and demons alike applauded and made room for the fight.

To Be Continued ...

Before I get to a sneak peek at some upcoming material shared by our intrepid developers, I wanna thank everyone for their support! We've unlocked another Stretch Goal, marking a milestone at $125,000 and adding the Infernals VTT Token Pack as a bonus reward to the rewards list of all who have backed this project!

I expect a bit of a slow down with our American friends having their holiday in a few days and lots of distractions built around that, but we've still got some excitement coming for the week. Tomorrow and Friday we start digging into the Charms! Tomorrow's download will include Universal Charms, even though I just listed "Archery to Bureaucracy" on the list. I tried it with "Universal to Bureaucracy" and it set off some of my pickiness, since it didn't look like it was in alpahbetical order that way. So, know that Universal Charms are included, right before Archery!

And we'll have Chapter Three of our fiction on Thursday. But let's not wait too long for a taste of Charms, since our awsome developers have provided a sneak peek at one coming tomorrow...

Cost: 15m, 1wp; Mins: Brawl 5, Essence 5

Type: Simple

Keywords: None

Duration: Instant

Prerequisite Charms: Star-Shaking Fury, Unwitting Victim Bludgeon (Splattered Foe Barrage), World-Breaker Grip

To use this Charm, the Infernal must be grappling an enemy with World-Breaker Grip. She makes a decisive throw attack, which receives Foe-Flung Doom’s benefits for free. (This includes the Fall to Ruin key’s Willpower cost if she has it.) She can throw her enemy up to four range bands, dealing damage as a long-range fall, without needing to expend any rounds of control.

There’s no limit on how many rounds of control the Infernal can expend to increase the throw’s damage. Each round of control expended also lets her add one extra success on the attack roll as a die of decisive damage. She rerolls all dice on the damage roll that initially show failures.

If the Infernal has (5 + target’s remaining undamaged health levels) rounds of control, she can dispense with the need for an attack roll. She simply flings her victim up to (Essence x 5) miles away. When he falls into the ground — something that can take up to five minutes — he suffers uncountable damage (Exalted, p. 205). So do surrounding structures, natural features, and trivial characters, at the Storyteller’s discretion. Against Legendary Size enemies, the Infernal can do so with only 25+ rounds of control, regardless of how many undamaged levels they have remaining. This still resets the Infernal’s Initiative.

Special activation rules: The Infernal can use Unwitting Victim Bludgeon reflexively with this Charm to combine its effect with this Charm’s. If she uses Splattered Foe Barrage, its shockwave extends out to medium range. If she deals uncountable damage to her foe, it doesn’t apply to others — she must make an attack roll against her other target and rolls damage as usual. Dealing uncountable damage increases Splattered Foe Barrage’s range to long.

Reset: Once per scene.