In this, the volatile Second Age of Creation, forces innumerable are at work.  The high-handed and overbearing tactics of the Realm, the subtle machinations of the Sidereal Exalted, the economic power of the Guild, and the Oblivion-seeking servants of the Neverborn are just a few.<br/><br/>To top it all off, the recent return of the Solar and Lunar Exalted has caused quite a stir amongst the chosen of Creation’s Gods – and the disappearance of the Scarlet Empress, the force holding together the Realm, have made this a time of change.  A time of heroes.  A time of villains.<br/><br/>A time for the birth of legends, great and small.<br/><br/><strong>Creation, The Blessed Isle, the Imperial City</strong><br/><br/>Heavenly Azure Scarab sat at the low table, scouring over the scrolls and maps and half-scribbled notes (which he’d been careful to write in a mixture of both Flametongue and Old Realm to improve security) that he had brought with him.  “Why did I decide to come here?  Oh, that’s right, Scarab, you came because you think you found a Solar tomb with enough First Age weaponry in it to cause another Direction-shattering war…”  He hadn’t even any particular indication that the tomb was real.  But the mere thought of it, the threat of it existing, had sent the Oracle from his usual comfort zone of the South (and around Chiaroscuro, in particular) to go and run down the legend he’d retrieved from within a tomb that had nearly been his grave a dozen times.  “Such is the tomb of the Solar mate of Tamas Khan…”  He gravely intoned.<br/><br/>Scarab’s current home in the Imperial City was the House of the White Lotus, a smaller place that he’d chosen for its (relative) seclusion and smaller staff.  He was paranoid about security, about having his business found out by some giggling gossip of a courtesan and it reach the wrong ears.  Even though he was a Sidereal, and part of the Bronze faction at that, he wasn’t about to let something like this get out.  The Realm already looked like it was headed towards civil war, and learning of a First Age technology horde would just make things worse.  So much so, that while he had signed into the House with his own name, he had deliberately left off the ‘Heavenly’ part of it, in case someone got the wrong idea.  He was just Azure Scarab here.  They’d assigned him the Crane Room, and that was where he’d been for the last week plus.<br/><br/>He heard the footsteps coming down the hall and knew it was a serving girl before she opened the door.  “Yes, that’s right.  Dinner, you say?”  Scarab smiled casually at her, trying to charm her.  Serving girls were often overlooked, but they heard and saw much.  This he knew, and for this reason he often was nice to them, even charming.  Make them feel special, unlike the servant they are, and they are an open book.  “Let’s see…you’re Hanae, right?”  Scarab had made a point of memorizing all the serving girls’ names, or learning them as they came to him.  He remembered her in particular – she told old stories, the best kind, and she seemed smarter than her coworkers.<br/><br/>“Tell me, Hanae.  Who’s performing tonight?  And what’s the meal for the evening?”  Scarab would often go down to watch the performances – and eat there – if the girl performing was entertaining enough.  Hanae, or a few of her coworkers that he had also memorized.<br/>