<strong><em><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Heirs to Creation</span></em></strong><br/><strong><em>Prelude</em></strong><br/><br/><em>Five years ago, an eclipse heralded the return of ancient heroes - the Solar Exalted, Chosen by the Sun - from their prison beyond the stars, and the disappearance of the heir of their usurpers sent Creation's greatest empire into a downwards spiral. This spiral has sent shocks throughout the world, for as the ancient heroes return in numbers unseen for an age, their old partners move to destroy the tottering Realm once and for all, and their advisors lurk in shadow, manipulating fate to favor one outcome or another.<br/><br/>South of the Smoking Sea, the satrapy of Dun-lat sits teetering on the edge of ruin - its leaders bow to the will of a tyrannical Realm, even as a revolt against it has been defeated. The shattered remnants of the Daughter's Rebellion scatter across the lands of the satrapy and the victorious House Tepet attempts to retake its position as the primary authority in Dun-lat. Meanwhile, a vengeful goddess plots to strike back at those who allowed her daughter to die, with ramifications that ripple throughout the entire land, and at the distant frontier another great threat gathers - barbarian tribes preparing to take what the settled folk have built in answer to a crime they are unaware of.<br/><br/>In Heaven, one of the Chosen of the stars keeps his peace, even as the fruit of his betrayal destabilizes his home... and five of the Heirs to Creation, the Lawgivers converge on a land wracked with conflict and sorrow, perhaps bringing hope for the first time in decades, or destroying it entirely.</em><br/><br/><strong><em>Session I, Scene i</em></strong><br/>The noonday sun of the fifteenth day of the month of Resplendent Water saw the streets of Akhetan full of laughing, chattering crowds of people, far more than was usual. The Festival of the River's Gift came but once a year, and was the only time when the people of Akhetan and its environs were permitted and able to offer prayer to the Mother River, the goddess of the River Ammon, whose waters and blessings allow the City of Bridges to flourish. Dancers, jugglers, and street entertainers were out in force, alongside merchants hawking wares to those with coin enough to spend on them. Immaculate monks, garbed in robes marking the particular Immaculate Dragon they emulated and bearing ritual implements, moved through the streets of the two shore districts, east and wests, leading processions of dancers garbed in black and dark blue, with stylized trains representing the flowing water of the River Ammon trailing alongside them.<br/><br/>The rather lackluster bridges that connected the two shore districts to the central were overcrowded, and already several revelers had fallen into the water, where their families or friendly neighbors often needed to fish them out before they drowned, and the traditionally tense relationships between clans and families was greatly relaxed, with young men and women who would happily have mutilated one another any other day of the year sitting and complaining about their overbearing parents instead.<br/><br/>In the Plaza of the Great Fountain, located in the south of the central district, sat the temple to the Mother River, and it was there that the greatest crowds were. Standing before the temple (where the fountain that had given the plaza its name once had stood) was the Wali of Akhetan, Shakar of the Onkelos family, flanked by five of his beautiful golden-skinned janissaries, whose great bronze axes shone brightly in the (relatively) cool sunlight. The wali himself wore the traditional garb of his position, with tassels of yellow and red dangling from his over-tall hat, clashing jarringly with his relatively rotund proportions. Beside the janissaries stood a trio of Immaculate monks - and all three of them Dragon-Blooded, at that - while others stood throughout the crowd, monitoring it and offering spiritual guidance to those who sought it.<br/><br/>In front of the Wali and his great entourage stood an empty throne, where the Mother River would doubtlessly ascend and sit to dispense with the symbolic gift of life - her blessed water in a great urn, for all those gathered to sip from. However, despite the festive atmosphere and the calm expressions of the wali, his janissaries, and the monks, there was an undercurrent of murmured worries dancing through the crowd - surely the festival was at its climax? For many this was simply a desire to get on to the<em>actual</em>festival, which doubtlessly involved imbibing a<em>great</em>deal of beer, whose distilled blessings were considered to be symbolic of the blessings of the Mother River - at least by those who did so, though the Immaculate Order officially denounced such excess. At any rate, the crowd continued its joviality and festivity, with an almost determined ignorance of the way the hour began to drag on...<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC Notes</div><div class="spoiler_body">Welcome to the official IC thread of Heirs to Creation! So, as you can see, your characters are all in the Plaza of the Great Fountain, where once a fountain flowed freely for the poor and thirsty to come and drink. <br/><br/>I'm going to allow you guys to determine a reason for your characters to be there, so pick something that makes sense to you as you see your characters! I won't always do this, but I want to see how it pans out. Beyond that... <em>Let's go~!</em></div></div>