Quotes From Last Night's Exalted Game

"The band makes its way across the blackened vistas of the Gremlin City, Preacher and his white-robed acolytes borne like the foam of a wave at the head of a bristling column of Overlord's soldiers. The three Apostates stalk through streets that go quiet at their approach, dead bolts slamming on doors and armored shutters sliding down. The ragged column makes its way along one of the spiralling road-threads that connects the bolgia to the Core. They come to a momentary halt at the great gate of the Temple of the True Sodality, a spherical goiter hanging off of the Core-stalk like some great parasite. The wafer-thin gates of green jade, lit from within like some baleful eye, iris open upon recognition of Preacher's Essence signature, and the gargoyles retreat into their nooks, repeater crossbows clacking.

At the far end of the entrance hall, another gate shudders open with a hiss of steam. A trio of hunched figures emerge, thick cables trailing from the sleeves and hems of their concealing robes, swinging censers of sour incense. Behind them, one of the True Sodalts rides on a spider-legged auto-palanquin, puffing from a coolant-hookah."

Secrets to good, atmospheric exposition: use words like "goiter" and "baleful." Also, read lots and lots of Warhammer 40,000 fiction. Don't be afraid of cliche, and overthink the subconscious implications of your scenery until the system of associations is so engrained that you don't even have to think about it any more.


pssst guys I am better at exposition than you forever
no seriously
forever