Dhvani Freehold

The Dhvani Freehold isn't like other Freeholds.

It has a Heart, the locus of countless waypoints that skirt the edge of all Creation, never touching it.

At the center of this Heart is a Bonefire, burning miles high in a pillar of pure, silver flames. Many a would-be Lord has set their own heart within.

Each and every one of them found the flames consuming them. Dhvani remained masterless, and they were no more.

Some think it an Unshaped, others an Aspect of one Shinma or another. Most prefer to avoid the place, for it does not respond quite properly to their whims. It is an echo - a vanguard of Creation at the edge of raw Chaos. It is mutable, but its true Master lies in the greatest dreams of mortal and Exalt. The Raksha treat it like it were a sort of Bordermarche - mutable, but not very sustaining.

To the Unshaped, it is a sign. When it grows, they tremble in fear, howl in agony. Its touch is a poison and a sign. When it shrinks, they rejoice.

It is not for things Shaped and Placed to enter. It's not their purpose. Theirs is to shape the great Echo through their actions in Creation - not have their works and actions fade with the whim of mortal dreams.

But it sometimes happens - for a short time - that one will be drawn into Dhvani. Their dreams are the usual culprit - the Echo closes in on them during a particularly vivid night, and draws them within it.

Mortals will wake thinking little of their unusual dream. Dhvani takes them easily, and easily it lets them go.

Not so those beings of greater Essence. It can be years - at least from their perspective inside the Echo - before they find the strength, will, and way of escape.

Explanation

The Dhvani Freehold is an Exalted Arena, which will be run on OpenRPG. It's purpose is to satisfy random bouts of Exalted, and solve random bouts of 'That's broken!'

The server will run my Community Server, code, which includes server-side dierolling and a number of other features to facilitate game moderation. Namely, I intend to design a 'random scene generator' which should spice things up a bit. The command for this will be gen_scene when I have finished it.

House Rules

If something -does- prove to be broken, a general fix will hopefully be found. Keep in mind that Terrestrials are not supposed to be operating on par with Celestials, so that will be considered during matches. That said, we will begin with the following three house rules:

• Characters may add Reflexive Charms to a combo after it has been initially purchased.
• Characters may purchase Background dots for 3 xp per one dot.
• Characters are considered to have a number of Incapacitated health levels equal to their permanent Essence score.

The last point has little effect in the Arena except for roleplay reasons - if you only incapacitate them, you clearly have not lopped their head off, etc.

Time and Recovery in the Echo

Time passes in Dhvani, though from the perspective of those within Creation seems to stand still. A month in the Echo will pass by and Creation will know but a day. A day in Creation is considered to be the same as a day in Real Life, so:

• Exalted and similar characters regain Essence at a rate of 2 points per minute while resting or engaging in light activity, or 4 while actively meditating. Less attuned individuals, such as mortal thaumaturges, recover 1 point every 2 minutes with active meditation.
• Players of Exalted and similar beings recover Bashing and -0 lethal wounds at a rate of one level every six minutes. Other characters recover one level every half hour.
• -1 and -2 wound levels recover at a rate of one level per hour for Exalted, and one per eight hours for normal entities.
• -4 and Incapacitated levels recover at a rate of one level per eight hours for Exalted, and one per day for normal characters.

• Sweet Cordial may be imbibed once per month (RL day). It knocks the character out for a half hour, during which she heals one health level.
• Body-Mending Meditation is highly recommended for Solars. Keep in mind that if you enter combat with it active the Essence is committed.

Rules of the Arena

The rules of the Arena are as follows:

• Assistant storytellers are to be respected. Their decisions are final for the duration of any match.
• Only one participant per player in a match initially. This basically means you can't use a familiar or some other ally in a fight, until/unless you are fast enough to handle it.
• Actions are expected to be resolved within five minutes. Leeway will be given to people new to OpenRPG and/or Exalted, but an experienced player is expected to keep a brief pace. This is of course absolved if both players agree to a break.
• Excessive dead time will lead to a forfeiture of your match along with a penalty. What is deemed excessive will be determined by an observing storyteller, but no less than fifteen minutes.
• If two players agree to subject themselves to the random scene generator, either player can decline after the scene is revealed if she is willing to accept a penalty. If both players decline it, no penalty is applied.
• Duels in the Heart are set in front of the Bonefire, and begin with the participants five yards apart.
• A penalty is a 1xp hit to your Roleplaying XP count. This doesn't reduce the maximum but can reduce you below the initial allotment.

Character Creation

• Players may have one Celestial-Grade character. That is, you can have a Dawn Solar, or a Chosen of Battles, or a No-Moon, but not all three.
• Players may have lesser characters so long as they do not share a type. IE, you can play a Dragon-Blooded of as many aspects as you wish, but not two of one. This includes heroic mortals starting with the given xp totals.
• While you may have a near-unlimited amount of characters, you may only play one at a time.