Exalted - We Preserve the Fading Twilight

[Orosboru]

It is Calibration. A time of strangeness and change. The gods are celebrating the Carnival of Meeting in Yu-Shan, but it is a nervous cheer. The revelry is forced, the smiles are fake. It seems that the Maiden of Endings, Lady Saturn has gone into seclusion and she is late to come to her rightful place. The empty seat makes the circle of incarnae incomplete is the first time in the memories of those who are immortal that she has not been there. Some gods argue that she has been roused to action in some mysterious, unknown place. Whatever her actual business, the other maidens make no move to say.

The Unconquered Sun sits aloof next to Luna, his badges of office radiant as ever. Luna looks askance, fretting at some unknown cause. The rest of the minor gods put on their best smiles and cheerfully speak of the accomplishments of the year: A year of peace and trial. Thorns stick out in many people's minds, conquered only three years ago by mysterious forces, but yet the convocation on Deathlords has reached no further on this matter.

For the Sidereals, it is different. There is trouble with the Maiden of Endings. She has taken most of her exalts, a full 15 Chosen of Endings, with her, and nary a word either. The Loom grows knotted with people that have their ends tied up, and the pattern spiders grow more vicious every day from overwork. A petition from some elder sidereals for insight into the situation have gone unanswered by the other four maidens. Even lady Jupiter remains silent, and Nara-O is curiously enigmatic about the subject of the Saturn. The young exalts she left (preciously few!) are not up to the task of the entire workload of the Division of Endings.

You five have been pondering these questions, but whatever conclusions you have come up with individually are insufficient. The factional fighting between the Gold and Bronze isn't helping things either. Both blame, in private, each other for this current crisis that is ramping up every day. Neither of them, if you came from a neutral point of view, can see that both sides are impacted negatively, and no one has anything to gain.

You five have come to the Unconquered Sun's residence in Yu-Shan, privilege as it is yours, to view the annual contest the Maidens have with the Ignis Divine. Rather, the annual contest that Saturn has with him. Although Mercury may race, Venus may propose, Mars may tourney, and Jupiter may debate, only Saturn takes it with any sort of sincerity. Only the greatest of gods, their guests, and the Exalted can come and see this annual trial.

But it is a hour to midnight on the third day, and Saturn has not arrived. The Unconquered Sun shows no sign of worry, but she has not failed to arrive to contest him for as long as there was actually a Carnival to celebrate. There are discrete gambling in the background as people bet on the hour and second of her arrival.

You are all sitting in a shady veranda, alone with four of your peers as you watch the spectacle of the conclusion of the Sonorous Discussion of Virtue from afar as you wait. It looks like a contender that has learned Celestial Monkey Style is taking on everyone who bothers to debate him, whether it be words or fists. Frequently both.

[Volthawk]

Despite the fact that this was a break out of the far larger workload he now has and the situation that brought it on him, Sentinel is still thinking about it. Or more accurately, fuming about it. The whole thing's a mess. Something's seriously wrong, yet what are they doing? Sniping at each other, still hiding behind their damn factions and not actually working to solve the situation! He sighs. He really should take advantage of this break. It's the only one he's seeing getting for a long time.

[Lord Raziere]

Meanwhile Blaze sipped on some tea while he watched the Sonorous Discussion of Virtue.
He muttered.
"I get dragged away from my work, just because all the gods around me are considering my dedication to fighting the Underworld "obsessive" and "creepy.". Its not obsessive. The Underworld is a real threat, surely Thorns shown them all?"
He lounges back a little.
"Though I do admit this is kind of relaxing. Factions still arguing? Pfh. Old news. Factions won't stop blaming each other for everything, stop the presses...."

[Rokku]

August Butterfly lounges comfortably, sipping a flute of rose wine.

"For the Maiden of Endings to be gone," she says, her tone soft and calm, "something of great import must have her attention. I'm certain she'll inform us when the time is right."

[Guancyto]

Whisper, for his part, has a set of star-charts on his lap and is busy computing a destiny plan even as he occasionally looks up to the martial arts demonstration. The Arguments of Virtue have gone on for centuries, and there is unlikely to be anything interesting to come of them aside from new and exciting ways to punch people in the face. He'd normally be all for that, but today's not his day. Something about the pattern spiders having thrown rotten fruit at his latest proposal for a Resplendent Destiny. Metaphorically, of course.

"Still nothing?" he asks his fellows, puzzling through the route to work around a particularly snarled set of strands that should have ended long ago. "Let me know when there's a break, I should go pay respects to Sol."

[garter_snake]

The Maiden of Endings is gone, eh? Lance shrugs. Ah, well. Mysteries are outside my department. But~ I'm a bit curious still. She's not the type to be late. A pity there's no way to find out what's going on.

Unless... No way. That could never work. But... no harm in trying.

Lance opened his mouth and coughed a small red spider into his hand. "Hey there, little buddy. Got some work for ya. 1. Are the fifteen Chosen of Endings not currently in Yu-Shan or Lytek's closet currently within 100 miles of each other? 2. What is the current location of Ahn-Aru, aka Sad Ivory? 3. What was the latest the Maiden of Endings has ever been for her Calibration Contest with the Unconquered Sun? Off you go!" Lance says, tossing the spider into the air to land on a string of fate.



Efficient Secretary Technique, 6 personal motes spent and 3 Misc Actions of concentrating.The three questions are:

1. Are the fifteen Chosen of Endings not currently in Yu-Shan or Lytek's closet currently within 100 miles of each other?

2. What is the current location of Ahn-Aru, aka Sad Ivory?

3. What was the latest the Maiden of Endings has ever been for her Calibration Contest with the Unconquered Sun?


I assumed that Sad Ivory was one of the Grapesids who left with Saturn, if she's still around, Lance would name a different one. I assumed we all have at least passing familiarity with our fellow Sids.

edit: spelling

[Volthawk]

Sentinel shakes his head. "Nope, she's still gone. And most of the division. We don't even get the full five she left, since three of them haven't got to their host yet."

[Orosboru]

The spider quickly disappears, and swiftly comes back. Access to the current location of Ahn-Aru and the other fourteen Chosen is currently restricted by the Division of Secrets. Apologies, Chosen. The pattern spider shrugs. The latest that Lady Saturn has been to her informal contests with the Ignis Divine is twenty three hours, five minutes, thirty-three seconds and counting from the beginning of your inquiry.


I'm taking your questions as literally as possible.


The spider turns to look at all of you. I've been asked to inform you that Nara-O, Head of the Forbidding Manse of Ivy, has requested to see you. He wishes to speak to you all. You sense some irritation coming from your spider. It's your personal secretary, not some messenger.

[garter_snake]

Lance looks longingly at the Celestial Monkey Stylist aping it up at the Sonorous Discussion of Virtue. "Another time, I guess..." Argent Lance picks up his spear and heads to the Forbidding Manse of Ivy.

[Lord Raziere]

"That cryptic old mummy? Whats he want now, I get enough missions from his Department since I'm a Secrets, now he summons me to speak to him right in the middle of the festival. It better be good...or involve the Underworld...."
Blaze sets down his unfinished cup of tea and follows Argent Lance to the Forbidding Manse.

[Guancyto]

Ah. Or that. "It's about time," Whisper gathers up his things and follows Lance as well. Even if he'd rather not miss this year, he can pay the Sun a visit after he's finished his duties.

"Here's hoping he'll tell us what's going on in the Bier. Or not tell us so precisely that it's the same thing, you know how he is."

[Volthawk]

"Eh, if it helps deal with this situation, I'm happy with whatever he tells us." Sentinel gets up and heads out the door to the Forbidding Manse.

[Guancyto]

"By the way, Sentinel," Whisper remarks as they walk, "what with Secrets having covered up where the rest of your people are, you want a hand with your work? Everyone's always short-handed, but just the two of you? I can't imagine how bad it must be."

[Volthawk]

Sentinel shrugs, frustation evident on his face. "You tell me, you're the Oracle here, it's your division. I don't know what's going on, and nobody's telling me anything about it. Not like the rest of the Fellowship is doing much to help, either. Too busy with their damn politics to try and sort out the situation."

[Guancyto]

"I'm just as in the dark as you on this one," Whisper gives a commiserating shrug, "Rule Three of the Division of Secrets is 'figure it out yourself,' and I'm breaking Rules One and Two to tell you that. You know my first time there it took four hours to find the privy?"

He shakes his head. "Anyway, let me know if I should try and pull some strings, get you some more resources or personnel, or if they'll just get in the way. I feel like I should do something."

[Lord Raziere]

"I'm starting to think Saturn is definitely up to something. Fifteen Endings can only mean the End of something big is about to go down...Seriously, what kind of thing would require fifteen Endings to end? Three full circles, some of them Elders probably with Sidereal Martial Arts. We are talking heavy firepower here."
Freezing Blaze wondered to himself.

[Volthawk]

"Well, I guess it'll depend on what your boss tells us here. And yeah, it must be something big, if all the Chosen of Endings around apart from two of us are needed for it."

[Orosboru]

"I expected you to be more observant, August Butterfly. Nara-O pops out of... nowhere? "...and I would be less talkative about our internal rules.

Nara-O looks back and forth. "This cannot wait for you to pass through the various bureaucratic traps that I usually have. I have to speak to you all. With all haste, Sidereal Exalts. It is important enough that I come personally." He turns to Grave Sentinel. "But I cannot say what until the chosen time. Follow me." He starts striding quickly towards the exit of the Unconquered Sun's estate.

[Lord Raziere]

"See, that is why I get things done. I don't break rules one two or three, and definitely not rule number four. no one breaks rule number four. (Don't tick off Chejop Kejack). At least I think thats rule number four, after a while the rules are hard to keep track of.
He thought to himself, knowing it would be the height of folly to speak such secrets out loud. He sighed.
"He actually came out to see us. Now I'm really worried. Stupid cryptic mummy. and don't ask how he did that appearance out of nowhere thing, its probably just a secret only he knows."
He just shook his head and kept following Nara-O.

[Guancyto]

"Boss, the First Rule of the Division of Secrets isn't really 'do not talk about the Division of Secrets,' and 'figure it out yourself' isn't really a rule," Whisper protests, more joking than exasperated. He feigns thinking about it for a moment, "hm, unless it is and nobody's told me, which is a possibility I can't entirely dismiss."

Despite all this, he follows Nara-O dutifully. If it's important enough for him to discard all his usual games, it truly must be Creation-shattering. Even moreso than 'fifteen Reckoners on a secret mission with Saturn.'

[Rokku]

"A secret mission from Nara-O himself," says Butterfly, smiling softly, "this should be an exciting endeavor."

[Orosboru]

You walk with him out of the massive golden gates, past the uniformly smiling gods and the greatest of places, its wonders unnoticed - because you have a job to do! Nara-O's bandages twist with a unseen wind, showing his (hers? you can't tell) agitation. A dragon scow is idling in the great harbour, colored with the green of the Division of Secrets. Hundreds of ornate flying boats are docked here, but you have no time to admire them. A minor god waves you through as Nara-O stands at the prow.

Once you are in the air, she calms down a bit. "I am sure that this is one of the only places in Yu-Shan that we cannot be overheard. He tilts his head. "No one has hatched a conspiracy against the Bureau of Endings. At least, not recently. I am confident that you will be the only ones to know what I am going to tell you.

She gestures with his palm, and your secretary tumbles out of the aether. "You are authorized, by my name, to reveal the secret that you have kept, spider, and complete your report."

The spider looks offended, but continues.
As per the laws of heaven, when I am authorized by a senior representative of the Division of Secrets, I can tell any qualified god or celestial Exalt the classified material that I was ordered to collect. It pauses. As of three days ago, Lady Saturn and three circles of Sidereal Exalted, among them four of the five "elder class" exalts, have disappeared from Fate. No report or mission sitrep has been reported to the Division of Journeys. It is assumed since the Violet Bier is still active, that Lady Saturn has not fallen into a state of capture. No new exaltations have returned to Lytek's cabinet. When last recalled, the Sidereal Exalts were within one hundred miles of each other, violating section 14:32 of the laws of heaven concerning Sidereal gatherings in such a scale, but was overwritten by Lady Saturn's hand four days ago.

It pauses, but Nara-O gestures it to continue. With some trepidation, it speaks.

"...and finally, the Sidereal known as Ahn-Aru has disappeared from fate. Her last known location is the area of Creation known as the Font of Morning, which is the reputed location of... the Seals of Eight Divinities." It collapses, exhausted.

"Such a good servant you have. I wouldn't have expected that much, given the openness of your question." Nara-O... smiles? "It has chosen to give you a exhaustive answer. Nara-O... frowns. "But I had no knowledge of this report. And it has no author. This concerns me."

[garter_snake]

WIP

"Forcystus!" Lance rushes over to the fallen Pattern Spider and kneels. "You alright, little buddy? You worked hard; I'm grateful. Take a nice, long rest. Return!" Argent Lance opens his mouth and the spider transforms into a bolt of red light and flies down his throat. Lance swallows. Standing up, he speaks to Nara-O in a horse voice. "So then. I guess there's something you want us to do about it."

[Guancyto]

Whisper pinches the bridge of his nose. "You can't be serious," he says, feeling a serious headache coming on. "Boss, tell me you're joking."

A beat. "You're not joking. Okay! For those present who have their love affairs with people instead of books, this report would suggest that they've gone to pay a visit to the last known remaining free Primordial who isn't Gaia. Seeing as how it's Saturn and fifteen Reckoners and abso****inglutely nothing else, I'm going to take a flying leap of logic and guess it isn't just a casual social call. The Seal is... was Autocthon's way of sealing himself off from Creation, what with how long they've been gone I think we can surmise that they didn't go there, see 'oh, Seal's still intact, let's all go home.' That's assuming it isn't a plant to lead us into a trap, of course.

This is so far above my pay grade I would have to have a vault full of ambrosia to swim in to even touch this." Another beat as he recognizes the inevitable.

"We're going to go find out what happened to them, aren't we? Okay, who's up for a little adventure beyond the bounds of Fate on information garnered from nowhere, spoken by noone and unverifiable by any means? Myself, I wasn't really doing anything interesting this evening, so I'm game."

He turns his head to one side and spits his own pattern spider into his hand. "Got a job for you, little guy. Hundred miles is a lot of ground. What are the last known locations of the five eldest Chosen of Endings who have dropped out of Fate?"

Efficient Secretary Technique; x5 if that counts as five facts, as well it might.

[Lord Raziere]

"A vault of Ambrosia? That is poor people talk."
He scoffed, casually bragging about the amount he got paid for the missions he carried out against the Underworld for the Convention on Deathlords.
"However I agree, this is serious. I know of him because I researched up on Soulsteel, found out he was the first to make it....but not exactly how. You probably know more about him than me though Whisper, I just know he was some Great Maker and that he disappeared. Wasn't really my area of interest anyways, aside from the Soulsteel thing he had no connection to the Underworld."
He thought for a moment.
"Wait, I just remembered."
He spat his own green jade spider out.
"Eightball, one question: What is the most recently known location of Kalshu-Tor, the Chosen of Endings?"

1: Efficient Secretary Technique.

We are sure using this lots. Kalshu-Tor is Blaze's Sifu and he is an Endings, so its natural for him to check if he is gone to.

Also: hope I'm not posting too often and grabbing the spot light.

[Orosboru]

Eightball glances at Nara-O, who nods. Eightball disappears, and quickly reappears. The last known location of Kalshu-Tor in fate is the town of Greyfalls, a tributary to the Scarlet Realm, three days ago.

Nara-O is impassive. "Someone is keeping secrets from me. Collectively. And in such a way that I cannot perceive it. She pauses. "Announcer-Kun, I want you to inform the staff in the Division of Endings to assist the Pattern Spider finding the reports concerning the location of the senior Sidereals. They'll know what to do. Yes, I'll consider this debt repaid. Now do it."

Nara-O has a tinge of emotion to its voice. Strange.

[Volthawk]

"So, this little spider managed to find out information when you, the head of the Division of Secrets, have no knowledge of? Sentinel thinks for a moment. "A Primordial's death would be a pretty major Ending."

[Orosboru]

"..!"Nara-O walks to the prow of the dragon scow. "Interesting. Damnit, Luna, I hope you know what you are doing..."

"Warning." Announcer-kun, a minor god responsible for… well, announcements, chimes in your head. "Fair Folk Diplomatic Party has violated the auspicious number clause of the Laws of Heaven. The Celestial Lion Perpetrator Reaction Force has been alerted. At this time, access to and from Yu-Shan is restricted to Celestial Exalts and gods. Please enjoy the rest of the Carnival."

"Take us down to Gate Twenty-One, boat. The Sidereals need to arrive at their chosen time." It's odd, but for a moment you see the vestige of a smile on his face. "For everyone's sake, chosen, I hope that you make the right decision. She disappears into the blindness of your vision and vanishes.

The boat slowly descends down to the Yu-Shan gate. Strange. That gate hasn't been used since the Balorian Crusade. Why would it be used now..?

[Guancyto]

"It's happened before, I believe," Whisper says enigmatically. Better not to announce Nara-O's weaknesses in mixed company. "At least reporting back will be easy. Boss, the usual method."

Sometimes having the God of Secrets Only One Person Knows for a superior can be handy. The usual method, at least in this case, consists of sending coded Infallible Messenger spells. The cipher to the code only exists in the Oracle's head. Nara-O can look up the cipher at his leisure, and if he finds that it disappears from his files, he can know the code has been compromised.

And then he's gone. "I've never seen him like that before. I hope there aren't any Primordials dying on our watch, I'm not sure what would happen."

[garter_snake]

"Hmmm. No, I think we all know what would happen; the same thing as the last time Primordials died. By the way... I've never been through this Yu-Shan gateway before. What lies beyond it?"

[Volthawk]

"Well, perhaps not the same thing. I mean, the Primordials all died around the same time, and they were in Creation or Heaven. Autochton's cut off from everywhere else, and it's been a long time since the Underworld formed. His death might not be the same. Different circumstances, I'd assume."

[Guancyto]

"Yeah. Too many unknowns," Whisper shakes his head. "Near as I can tell, last time it broke the cycle of reincarnation, and kind of the world. I'm sure it was a good idea at the time, mind you, but I'm not itching for a repeat." Not that they have much say in the matter.

[Lord Raziere]

"I myself doubt that Saturn would really want to End Autochthon, it would just be one more Neverborn we would have to deal with, and they fought on the same side in the Primordial War. There must be some other reason, maybe she just wants to End Autochthon's isolation from Creation?"
Blaze considered things for a moment.
"Either way, Kalshu disappeared at the same time as all the other Endings that went with Saturn, he is My Sifu so I'm ready to go through anything to make sure he is ok, Balorian Crusade-old portal or no."

[Orosboru]

Meanwhile, far, far away...
"Saturn. I cannot sit by on this golden throne and let you have your way." To the astonishment of nearly everyone there, the Unconquered Sun rises. "IT WILL BE... SHORT." Confused cheers and murmurs abound in the audience as he leaves.

As the Dragon Scow lands near the great hall that leads to the gate, you notice several relic suits of armour on public display. Unlike the other, more frequently used gates, this portal looks like it was built for intimidation of whoever entered within.

But then you feel a crushing dread. The announcer responsible for this area hesitantly says: "...G-Gate Twenty-One!: Welcome, Saturn, Maiden of Endings, oh most glorious and high one." But it's... all wrong. Even the untrained eye could see that there is something wrong. A geyser of purple essence is leaking from behind the massive gate, testimony to how much power a Maiden can wield.

Every Sidereal but two in Yu-Shan falls victim to this crushing despair. Your eyes quickly turn to the only Chosen of Endings in your party. His anima is flaring intensely. Grave Sentinel doesn't feel any pain, or fear. His link to his maiden tells him with all his being that she is dying.

You can feel fate shudder, physically, as the Loom whines in protest.

[Volthawk]

Sentinel is quiet for a moment. "She can't die. She's the one that presides over it. If she dies, what then? That can't happen. That isn't supposed to happen." Certainty became stronger in his mind. "It isn't going to happen." With that, he jumps out of the Scow and sprints to where Saturn would be, seemingly past the gate.

[Guancyto]

"Oh no," Whisper says (unusual for him to be so terse) as the numbing despair sets in and he feels a serious error in Fate forming.

Keep your head above the mayhem, he tells himself. Clarity will be your weapon as the blinded falter and die. He checks that he's still armed. Yes. Good, he hasn't been so hopeless as that. He draws his gun. Gauges the drop still left. Doable. He isn't exactly sure what Guardian has sensed, but he knows it's nothing good.

"You're damn right it isn't," he rejects this unknown outcome with all his being, and tumbles out after Guardian.

[Lord Raziere]

"....I...I agree....she is the REAL goddess of death....she is what Creation deserves, not the Underworld!"
He leaps after them while drawing his Reaper Daiklaive and runs as well, with despair shadowing his every step.

[garter_snake]

Lance sighed. "I hate not knowing what's going on. Well then. Time to find out." Lance runs to the bow of the ship and uses his polearm as a vaulting pole, launching him into the air and toward the gate as he severs the fate that ties him to the ground in his bid to make it to the gate before whatever happens, happens.


Charm used: Forgotten Earth, 1m personal. triples jump distance. Lance's horizontal jumping distance will be ((3+3)*2)*3 = 36 yds, if that matters.

edit: forgotten E's cost was wrong, fxd.

[Orosboru]

It's simply not possible. A god in Yu-Shan cannot die. In the worst of court cases, even death resulted in the victim witnessing against his own murderer in months. But somehow... Saturn is ending. The other four maidens channel an aura of calm and order, but it cannot overwhelm the endless tide of essence.

If the worst came to the worst, she would reform in the Violet Bier of Sorrows. But she hasn't. Why?

You rush to the colossal orichalum gates, only to be stymied by the overwhelming amount of essence. It's not coming off in motes, but in strands... eerily similar to the strands of the Loom of Fate. If you could concentrate in this massive storm, you could see visions of endings - but as soon as it seems to focus, it whirls away in a puff of possibility.

"I can't let you kill yourself, Saturn. That would be too fitting." A hollow voice echoes softly in your ears. The storm calms, suppressed by a phantom presence.

Normally, a Celestial Lion would open these gates, but there are none to be seen... where are they? It would take a feat of epic strength to open these gates without the proper authorization. But Saturn is behind those doors... and she is dwindling.

[Volthawk]

Despite all the chaos around him, Sentinel is not angry, not frustrated. His face is a picture of calmness. He's realised this is what he has to be. He's half of the Reckoners in Yu-Shan, so there's no time to be angry. He has to be calm, he has to be serious. Too much is at risk to let emotions like that to get in the way.

What matters now is getting here to safety, keeping her alive. No matter the personal cost. As Sentinel walks towards the gate, he feels stronger, more capable, as his future life burns up. That, and any retribution it may bring from the Pattern Spiders, doesn't concern him, as he walks to the gate in his even pace, seemingly oblivious to the outside world, before speeding up, charging into the gate with all his enhanced strength.


Using Burn Life. Athletics+Essence: [roll0], successes get added to Strength, Dexterity and Stamina (maximum 3).

Then I'll try to open this as a feat of Strength, my score is currently 6, but any extra Strength from Burn Life will increase that score.

Potential stunt die: [roll1]

[Guancyto]

Whisper is... decidedly not calm. Determined. Maybe a little afraid. Panicking inside. Angry too; where are the Lions? Where is all the muscle? He doesn't have the time or the energy or the discipline to be calm.

It's a good thing that's not going to stop him from helping... oh, save the world. Nor are his noodly arms or lack of ability in heavy lifting. This is the sort of thing he has minions for, but it's just these few Sidereals and him.

Pff. If he falters for lack of minions, what good is he? He hits the gate alongside Sentinel, straining with all his might.

Channeling Compassion; enhanced Feat of Strength score is 6.

[Orosboru]

Sentinel burns a few days of his life, bringing his storied end closer for a couple strands. His muscles bulge as he presses against the two massive doors. For a moment, there is a loud groaning sound. The door seems to shift forward, just a little - and then it starts to push back. His arms start to shake, and he bites back every inch of which he is forced back.

Whisper comes in from behind him, pushing not because it is his duty. It is because of his self-worth, his compassion for his fellow Sidereals. He doesn't need servants to do his work, he's a chosen of Secrets. And that might be his best-kept secret of them all.

Both of them take a door and slowly, but surely, the gate opens.

Yay! 2-die stunt for you!

Saturn lies on the floor, a gaping chest wound slowly patching itself together with essence. Her essence has stabilized. The feelings of despair lift, and for quite some time after you feel elated. It is... a uncomfortable shift in emotions, from the lowest depths to the highest zenith in a moment.

The Unconquered Sun and Luna are already at the scene, but the Ignis Divine, it seems, has lost interest in the spectacle already. He flies off, passing the maidens has he goes. Luna is standing away from fallen Incarnae, looking sheepishly (literally!) at the circle of Sidereals that surrounds Saturn. You recognize two of them. One is your immediate superior, Regal Air of Servitude, temporary chief of the division of endings.. The other is Cynthia, a... incompetent Chosen of Journeys.

You feel a massive distortion in the weave of fate as the other four Maidens arrive to the scene. Without speaking, they walk in step in a incomplete pentagon, allowing an absent space for a fallen comrade.

"Yes. This has happened." Mercury turns to Venus.
"It is improbable." Venus curls her lip.
"..." Mars gestures towards Jupiter.
"It is possible." Jupiter stays back, staring at the entire scene, particularly at Luna.

The fact that they are speaking at all rather then their silent communication is testament to how rattled they were by Saturn's departure.

[Lord Raziere]

Freezing Blaze was simply standing there frozen in shock, looking at Saturn.
He seemed to be speaking out loud to no one in particular
"No matter how this turns out it cannot possibly turn out well....what does this mean for the Loom? What just happened here? Does this all mean she survived or no? Gods Above, or in this case, Gods Around, this is confusing...."
He decided to point his reaper daiklaive forward at the two Sidereals. and Luna.
"Alright, speak up, what transpired here?"
He demanded angrily.
"I doubt I'll get any answers from my little jade spider on this one, tell me what happened now. That includes you Luna."

[garter_snake]

"Oh, they got it open." Lance shrugs off an idea he had and stores it for another time. Running over, he take stock of the situation.

"Um... that might not be a good way to go about asking, Freezing Blaze." Lance says when he notices that Freezing Blaze is threatening an Incarna.

[Orosboru]

"You're cute." Luna smiles at you.
"Ah, Grave Sentinel, you're here!" Regal looks at Freezing Blaze. "Put that down, or I'll make you put it down."
"Don't fight, guys." Cynthia scratches her head. "Saturn just... came out from Gate Twenty one. I was on guard when he-" She involuntarily shivers. "He came. Ugh..." She turns to Freezing Blaze. "What happened was-" She pauses, surprised.
"This is under the preview of the Division of Secrets." One of your colleagues marches out. You don't remember his name. "I've been ordered to release a gag order for anyone who was here to witness the event."
"I don't like this, but-" Regal turns. "There are things outside of fate that we have not considered. Be careful, Grave. Although today's events are... unusual, Lady Saturn is hale. We must escort her back to the Violet Bier of Sorrows."
"I'll come too, uh." Cynthia looks askance at Luna. "She looks like she wants to eat me...pleasedon'tkillus"
"If I wanted to eat you, I would have done it already, Sidereal." Luna playfully gnashes her teeth and looks at Freezing Blaze. Cynthia jumps.
"A-a-anyway, other then the obvious, I can answer your questions." Cynthia looks at the new group. "I've been told that I'm responsible for this entire mess. Might as well exploit that." She sighs.
"We have no time to waste. We must ask Lady Saturn about the situation in the privacy of her own sanctum." Regal crosses his arms. "Ask what you must.
"..." Saturn sits cross legged, staring at her four sisters.
"..!"
"..?"
"..."
"???"

[garter_snake]

"So." Lance says conversationally while the Calibration freak out continues. "12 Obals on a sixth Maiden being the cause of all this."

[Lord Raziere]

"Fine. I'll put the sword away."
He sheathes it.
"But I am Chosen of Secrets, its my job, nay my duty, to find out what happened here. If this falls under the preview of the Division of Secrets, then you are looking at one of three people here who work in it."
He turned to Saturn.
"If the questions must be answered in private, I will have no problem with that, as long as they are answered. The information could be necessary to End further threats like this happening again and thus protecting the Loom and all of Creation.
Meanwhile he thinks a little to himself.
Don't pay attention to Luna looking at you like a meal,Don't pay attention to Luna looking at you like a meal,Don't pay attention to Luna looking at you like a meal.....

[Volthawk]

Sentinel nods. "Yes, getting her back to the Beir is a good idea." He looks around. "So...none of the other Reckoners with her?"

[Orosboru]

"No, they haven't." Regal looks very concerned. "That is a question that I will hope for to be answered."
"Saturn left you behind for a reason, right?" Cynthia smiles. "She wouldn't give a incompetent temporary control of any Bureau. And I'm sure that they are on a very important mission."
"That is probably correct." Regal sighs. "But it was a secret to everyone. What has my lady done? What has she seen? These questions are maddening."
"I'm sure it'd make sense in the end." Cynthia looks around. "Eh? Where's Luna."

Luna has disappeared into thin air.

"The Argent Madonna is a god of great power, Chosen of Journeys." He looks at Freezing Blaze. "It would be wise to treat beings of their power with the proper respect."

And then Saturn stands up to join her company. They start slowly walking away. The other circle of chosen quickly follow in their footsteps, whispering slowly.

"...yes.
"..!"
:)
"..!"
"..!"

"We should follow." Regal gestures outward. "And by the grace of the Maidens, I hope that this travesty doesn't get any worse."
"You're jinxing me!" Cynthia tears a bit. "I swear, someone has it out for me..."

[Guancyto]

More relieved that Saturn has survived her ordeal than anything else, Whisper follows after the Maidens, eager for answers. But not quite so eager that he's willing to point a sword at Luna. If he had a sword.

"I'll take that bet, Lance," he says, doing his best to try and lighten the mood. It's not like they can do much about it until they reach the Bier, "not for obols, though. How about a nice dinner at the place of the winner's choosing?

And Cynthia, why don't you start at the beginning...?"

[garter_snake]

"Mmm, sorry, but I know better than to let a Secrets redefine the terms of a bet." Lance coughed. "By the way, I want to know the situation as much as you do, but it might be better to wait till we get to a place that's a bit more secure, rather than having it out on the middle of the street. During Calibration."

[Guancyto]

"You wound me," Whisper says, not looking hurt in the slightest, "when have I ever led you wrong? Besides, nobody's paying attention to..."

He pauses, looking around himself for a moment, recognizing further with every word and growing horror how silly it is to believe no one's paying attention to...

"All the maidens at once, including the returned Saturn, followed by seven Sidereals, including the only Reckoners left in Yu-Shan.

Trusting to Cynthia's sense of discretion." He nods very seriously to Lance for recognizing the depth of his error. "Um, twelve obols it is."

[Orosboru]

Following the slow pace of the Maidens, Cynthia says: "Well, I was posted to guard gate twenty-one, which is a-"
"-dumping ground for Sidereals that screwed up." Regal frowned.
Cynthia looks crestfallen. "Yeah... it is."
"Don't feel so bad, though. It was serendipitous that you were there in the first place. Tell us from the beginning." Regal looks around. "At least... the parts we are allowed to tell."
"Uh, yeah." Cynthia scrunches her face in concentration. "This... pervert fae prince showed up with a Lunar and a mortal - oh, Mercury, it sound like a bad joke - they requested entrance. There was no one scheduled to come in at that time, but he did request a diplomatic entry pass. But I was thrown in by that stupid bitch inside, which triggered the Auspicious Number Alarm."
"And then my circle showed up." Regal shrugged his hands. "I was about to arrest them, but..."
"Saturn came through the gate." Cynthia tries to speak. "She was... ending? Can she do that? I mean, to herself."
"That question is probably only answerable by the Maidens herself. She would not try to do that. She couldn't. But..." Regal sighs. "It is certainly possible."
"And-" Cynthia's voice stutters. "Saturn would have-" She tears up. "But-"
"You're catching on the gag order." Regal turns to the group. "But what we saw was-" He struggles for a word. "Fantastic. Worthy of the first age. And Saturn was healed."
"And then the Lunar and the mortal and, the, uh..." Cynthia struggles. "Fae who hit my ass." She covers her mouth, blushing.
Regal sighs. "You shouldn't struggle against the damn gag! If you keep on doing that, it will give you strange words. And yet, what's up with that?"
"N-none of your business! Anyway, the Unconquered Sun and Luna showed up, the doors opened, and you arrived. That's all I can say for now."

[Guancyto]

Apparently it's fine. Whisper makes sure they're not being listened in on, but other than that lets the Harbinger talk.

He decides to keep his mouth shut about the gross misallocation of resources inherent in having a Sidereal guard a centuries-unused Yu-Shan gate instead of, say, cataloging migrations. The Maidens are right there, and whoever had assigned her apparently knew what they were doing.

The fact that doing so is an institution... well, he has to pick his battles sometime.

"So how is any of that your fault, exactly? Because this Lunar got the better of you? If I had a talent of jade for every Vizier casualty report that listed 'Cause of Death' as 'heart ripped out through chest by claws and eaten,' I'd be as rich as House..." he thinks about it for a second, "well, Manosque, really, but that's not the point. The point is that going up against other Exalted cold and unprepared is dicey even for the best of us."

He really hopes it's the Lunar and not the mortal that got the better of her, anyway. Otherwise this already-fairly-transparent attempt at cheering her up is going to fall flat on its face.

[Volthawk]

"Wait, through which side of the gate? Into Yu-Shan or coming out of it?"

[Orosboru]

"...from without" Cynthia looks even worse.
"It's the way it was meant to be." Regal cracks a weak smile. "If you weren't there at the time, who knows how this could have happened. Count yourself lucky."

You all feel a murmur in Fate, but it quickly passes.

"...there's a massive shadowland forming near by the city of Greyfalls, visible from the gate." Cynthia whispers out. "The only precedent for such a large place forming out of nowhere is..."
"Thorns." Regal looks concerns. "You saw this from your position?"
"Yes, but so many things have happened that-"
"In Saturn's wake? Something is fishy. We have to check it out." Regal pulls out a small scroll. "There is a chosen of Serenity codenamed Crown of Roses operating there. Grave, go investigate. I'll commune with Lady Saturn and I'll submit a report to heads of the other Divisions. Give me a infallible messenger the moment you make contact with the agent." Regal draws a small rod, with a triangle tip on the end. "Hello? Hi, I need to speak to your supervisor."

[Volthawk]

Grave nods. "Maybe you should also check with Lytek. See if the Exaltation of any of the Sidereals she brought with her has come back. That is, if you can't find out from Saturn about them."

[Lord Raziere]

"Hmmm....Saturn going outside Fate with a bunch of Sidereals......Saturn coming back without the Endings and nearly dying.....Kalshu-Tor disappearing from Fate near Greyfalls...and now a huge shadowland is forming near Greyfalls out of nowhere.......all of which is occurring during Calibration."
Blaze ponders this.
"It must all be the work of the Underworld! They strike again at us, where they will deal the most damage! But what is their plan? How do all these events connect?"
Freezing Blaze continues to ponder these events while walking.

[Guancyto]

"Wait, so this could be another invasion? And... she... disappeared around that area, too. Oy..." Whisper loses himself in thought for a moment. "Sentinel, I'll need a bit to subcontract my current job, and I still want answers on what's going on almost as much as Blaze here, but unless Jupiter herself says otherwise I'm coming with you on this one. No offense, but this sounds too big for just you and one Serenity."

[Orosboru]

"I have things to write. Cynthia, you better report to your division head. And keep it subtle, would you?" Regal smiles.
"Uh-uh..." Cynthia blushes. "Oh, yeah, I'll do it. I'll totally get on it!"
"I'm not your superior, you know. Watch out for yourself." Regal waves her away as she dashes, the lesser sign of mercury glowing around her. "Now, I don't have enough manpower to have a circle of sidereals in the field, so I'm relying on you guys. And most importantly..." He nods his head. "Find out what happened to the other Sidereals as well. It's very important. I'll check with Lytek as soon as he stops complaining about 'phantom reports' and 'weird exaltations.' I expect excellent work." Regal presses a button on his shoulder and a first-age jetpack pops out. "I love this thing..." he mutters to himself. He flies away in a explosion of essence."

[garter_snake]

"I can't just let an opportunity like this pass by..." Lance clasps his hands together. "Oh, butterfly-winged goddess who watches over those that trust their fate to swords, Hu Dai Liang, please hear my request... Hu Dai Liang, please hear my request.

Can I join the mission to Greyfalls?"



Prayer Roll, Essence Performance Auspicious used for an auspicious success, 8m 1WP.

6 successes, the difficulty will be 6 since he is praying to a War god and gains the benefits of priesthood from exaltation. So... success!

I assumed that Hu Dai Liang, the Lord General of the Division of Battles, would be Lance's immediate superior, since there aren't that many Sids and the book says she watches her subordinates fairly closely. If this assumption is incorrect, tell me and I'll adjust.

[Orosboru]

You can hear a whistling sound coming from the sky, and you look up. A tiny dot looms closer and closer until finally it wooshes through the air toward you. It descends towards you until finally you can see what it is - a sword. You barely have time to move before it imbeds in the floor next to you. It vibrates a little, creating a hum that is audible from your teeth.

YES. is engraved in the sword.

[Volthawk]

Sentinel nods. "Yeah, support from you guys would be good. Sounds like this is a big thing."

[garter_snake]

Lance grins. "Best boss ever. Lessee... I think gate 16 is the closest to Greyfalls. Shall we go?" Lance starts heading towards gate 16.

[Lord Raziere]

"I will go as well, but first I need to be prepared."
He takes out a coin of Quintessence and turns it into a blue towel.
He slings the towel over his shoulder and says completely straight-faced
"Prepared now. Coming. and in case in your wondering, I am an important member of the Convention on Death Lords, I have the authority to go there if there is a shadowland forming."
He starts walking towards the No. 16 Gate as well.

[Volthawk]

Sentinel sighs. "Yes, I know who you are. I'm part of the Convention too."

[Lord Raziere]

"Oh. Eheheheh....sorry. The Convention is so large nowadays, hard to keep track sometimes. You a Member or Chair?"
If Sentinel already knew he was the Chair of the Sub-Convention on Underworld Research, he decided it was best not to mention it.

[Guancyto]

"Oh gods," Whisper says, bringing his face in contact with his palm, "this is going to get me on the Convention too, isn't it? That's not going to stop me, mind you. Maybe I can... maybe I can flip off the Green Lady or something, you think that would do it? That wouldn't do it."

He traces a couple of sigils in the air, his caste mark glowing brightly. A little imp pops into the air.

"Hey, Mapo. Something's come up, you'll have to hold my calls for a while. I'll also need as much ammunition as you've made for me, delivered to Gate Sixteen, there are probably going to be a lot of Cee-oh-dees where I'm going. Ryz is probably going to stop by the manse, get my thirty-seven-seven from my files at the Bureau and leave it on the front table. Maybe put a nice bow on it. Stay safe."

The imp flies off at impossible speeds and, without even missing a beat, he summons up another. "Ryzoka. Just letting you know if you stop by my place, you'll find a good lead on that goldie you've been looking for. As luck would have it, I've got bigger problems than a Solar thief on my hands now. We might disagree a little... or a lot, really, but I trust you'll take care of it. Good luck."

Infallible Messenger x2, just meaningless fluffy stuff about taking care of prior duties. One to the Ally, one to the Enemy.

With that done, he catches up with the others.

[garter_snake]

"Alright... I think we're going to need to develop a plan on the dragon boat ride there, guys." Lance says as he flags down a silver river dragon scow. "Actually, now that I take a second to think, this is all pretty fishy. 1. Saturn goes missing, taking most of the Chosen of Endings wither her, apparently to the Font of Mourning, wherever that is. 2. Saturn, along with one Chosen of Endings and a young Chosen of Journeys came back through Gate 21, which leads to way-the-heck in the northeast wyld of Creation. The rest of the Endings are still AWOL. 3. A shadowland starts opening under Greyfalls, just as with Thorns.


Anyway, as I see it, we have 3 main objectives: 1. confirm the location of the rest of the Chosen of Endings and that they are safe. 2. Save Greyfalls from the shadowland. If this is impossible, secure the saftey of as many civilians as possible. 3. Determine if these events are connected, and if so, how?

Objective 1 is fixed pretty easily. Since Saturn is back, the seal over information on the other Reckoners is most likely lifted. I'm about tapped out of Personal Essence, so would someone else mind checking up on them?"

[Orosboru]

"Sidereal override: Your destination is already pre-cleared by the Division of Secrets. Have a nice day." The silver boat robotically recites. It quickly dashes to your location, skipping the long line of drunk mortals and gods alike.

"Oversight has commanded a message. Patching it to you at the nearest closest gate." As soon as it lands, a messenger god gives you a sealed tube.

"My instructions were for you to open it on location outside of Yu-Shan, revered Exalts." The messenger says. "Important critical information will be revealed when it starts to glow."

The gate is already thrumming with essence. The god responsible for the gate starts to shout. "Ready when you are, Exalts! Just give me the word and I'll send you through. Lions! Brace for emergency contact." The officers steady themselves for any possible threat.

[Guancyto]

"I've got my spider working on five of them right now. He's probably happy to see the seals gone, if they are," Whisper says, hopping into the boat and wondering where his spider has gotten off to. Probably still working.

"We know Ahn-Aru disappeared from Fate around Greyfalls. She wouldn't be my first choice for people to assist on account of liking my heart intact and unpunctured, but she's in the area and she'll do. Two birds with one stone and all that.

I think Cynthia and Regal were already there, and Saturn came back alone. Which is worse, really."

[garter_snake]

"Right... well, it's actually a bit pointless to make plans when we still have orders to examine. Open the gate, please."

[Volthawk]

"Actually, all of the Endings she brought with her are still gone. Regal was the only one other than me not taken with her. Regal's going to see what he can find out about those Endings - checking with Lytek, seeing what Saturn says, that kind of thing. We've got something else to investigate right now."

[garter_snake]

"Yeah, alright." Lance closes his eyes and covers his face with his right hand. "Lets see... worst-case scenario is that this is Thorns all over again. In that situation, we're not going to be a whole lot of good in the melee. We'll run out of Essence long before a Deathlord runs out of troops. If the siege of the city goes like thorns did, we can expect groups of ghosts and such popping up behind the city's walls and preforming surgical strikes to open gates and otherwise weaken the city's defenses. Then they'll use a large amount of fodder troops to weaken the Dragon Blooded and finish with a second, powerful push. I believe our best chance for success will be to locate individual Dragon-Blooded and ensure their safety by bringing them to each other. Dragon-Blooded are at their best when they are working together, and concentrating them in one defensible area will force the enemy to waste time trying to take them out. Blitzkrieg attacks rely on surprise and speed, so causing a siege situation will give time for reinforcements to arrive, tipping the scales in our favor. "
Lance opens his eyes and sighs. "That is, assuming Oversight didn't give us completely unrelated orders."

[Guancyto]

So much for not making plans before they know the situation. Whisper nods, though. "Honestly, if it comes to that, we should request more backup immediately. That might even be big enough to get the Aerial Legion to intercede, but we'll see."

He thinks about Lance's ideas. "Which of you has a Resplendency you can put on? The Spiders threw things at my destiny proposal yesterday, and I haven't had time to make a new one. I'll probably want to stay away from monks."

[Orosboru]

"Sending you though. Good luck, and may the Maidens guide your strikes." The gate activates, teleporting you away...

You emerge in a small gatehouse, overlooking magnificent desolation. A great shadowland has formed out of nowhere, making the gate a small island of normalness in a sea of death essence. Nearby, the city of Greyfalls is panicking and alert. Odd. You don't see any deathknights.

It is raining heavily. The scroll from Oversight glows softly.

[Volthawk]

Sentinel is quiet for a moment, surveying the destruction, before opening up the scroll from Oversight.

[garter_snake]

"I have a strong one for The Soldier."

[Lord Raziere]

"I got a Quiver, think that'll be good to use?"
He says this as he holds out his towel to let it soak in the rain. A bit weird, but if a fight breaks out it'll be a good non-starmetal weapon to use.

[Guancyto]

"Yeah, those both sound fine," Whisper nods, craning his neck to look over Grave Sentinel's shoulder to check out the orders. "So, what have we got?"

[Orosboru]

Go into the city of Greyfalls and visit the tavern called "The Strider's Way." Activate this scroll once you reach there.

[garter_snake]

Lance eyes the shadowland warily. "Well. We'd best get going." Grabbing several strips of cloth and some silver and brown pigments from his inventory, Lance coveres his namesake in drab colors and wrapped it's haft. He does the same to his armor. Taking out a piece of charcoal, he writes "Greyfall 1st Mercenary Detachment" on one of the strips of cloth and ties it to his sleeve. Finally, he reaches forth and grasps a skein of destiny, pulling it over himself. Darin Yarak turned to the assembled Sidereals.

Darin Yarak says, "You guys ready?"



1 WP to don the Resplendent Destiny Darin Yarak.

Int+ Larceny disguise roll 4 +1 specialty +3 from Arcane Fate, +3 from resplendent destiny:

[roll0]

edit: 8 total successes on the disguise. Reminder that individuals I interact with are at "-3 internal penalty to disbelieve the identity, or a -2 Defense Value where appropriate" from the Resplendent Destiny and "People suffer a -3 internal penalty on any attempt to spot a Sidereal, even if the Vizier does not actively avoid notice." from Arcane Fate.

[Guancyto]

Seeing what Lance is up to, Whisper figures he had better do so as well. It won't hurt, anyway.

His disguise is more simple however, seeing as how he doesn't have a destiny to don. He puts on a pair of sunglasses, and trusts to Arcane Fate for the rest.

"Ready as I'll ever be," says the Man in Black.

Int+Larceny+3: [roll0]

[Lord Raziere]

Blaze does something similar to Lance, and his Quiver destiny wraps itself around him, threads of fate weaving themselves over him to form a person over him.
The towel had become a bow, his clothes became leather mercenaries armor complete with black boots, there is a quiver strapped to his shoulder full of what is presumably arrows, and his head was covered by a white bandana.
Kenfon Taldaz replies with smile
"Aye M'Chaps, lead the way."

[garter_snake]

"By the way... I haven't been to Greyfalls before. Does anyone know where this tavern is?"

[Orosboru]

The path to the city is small and charred with the spreading shadowland. It is uncomfortable to be so close to the epicentre of the event. Like a fresh wound, it bleeds into the city. There is a nearby shrine that pushes the shadowland aside like a rock in a stream, but it is a tiny light in the darkness.

Something has to be done. And quickly. The gates of the city are barred shut, with twitchy men fighting both their nerves and their horror manning their posts. The entire city seems to hold its breath in anticipation that it will not have another..

[garter_snake]

Darin Yarak catches sight of the trembling soldiers, then glances back at the dimly glowing scroll from oversight.

Well. Lance thinks. I always did hate waiting around.

Turning his back to the Scroll, Darin dashes over to the men manning the gateposts.

"Who's in charge here?"

[Orosboru]

"Gah!" The man sticks a crossbow at you. "Oh... it's just one of you guys. Don't sneak up on me like that, what with the world ending and everything. This your squad?" He sizes you up. "No, a couple civilians. It's been so freaking confusing. Higher ups ordering us to retreat to 'save precious Realm resources.' Screw them." He spits. "We'll defend our homes and families with our lives. Say..." He gives you a suspicious look. "You're from a mercenary contingent? Didn't think any of them stuck around."

"This is how it starts. Like Thorns." A man whimpers. "First the land of death. And then the horrible men and woman of blazing darkness. Our end is nigh."

"Shut up! Shut the frak up!" The man with the crossbow yells. "As if our morale wasn't in the ****ter... open the gate! Yes, you dumbasses, we've got more civvies!"

The gate slowly grinds upward, allowing entrance into the City of Greyfalls.

[Guancyto]

Whisper frowns at this news. The shadowland has just recently come into being, and already the Realm wants to abandon Greyfalls? Something else is at work here. As much of a hurry as he's in...

"Mister Yarak," the Man in Black enunciates the name carefully, "a moment." With his spider still off finding records of the Chosen of Endings, he'll have to rely on more mundane methods.

"Who handed down those orders?" he asks of the guard.

[Orosboru]

"My commander killed himself when he saw what was happening. Poor bloke. So unless the Illustrious Dragonbloods of the Realm deign to issue my unit a new CO..." He shrugs. "I'm in charge of this rabble." A flash of lightning lights up the night sky. "It's the waiting that gets to the men. The actual fighting, not so much."

He looks wet and tired. Despite his poor attitude, he's probably the only person keeping the men on the wall.

[Lord Raziere]

"Ah, responsibility. Good on you m'chap. Say any reason why no Dynasts have shown up at all? This would be sorta the situation you would send them to help with, and I doubt the Realm would want a second Thorns. This is just confusing..."
Kenfon asks and ponders.

[garter_snake]

"My commander killed himself when he saw what was happening. Poor bloke. So unless the Illustrious Dragonbloods of the Realm deign to issue my unit a new CO..." He shrugs. "I'm in charge of this rabble." A flash of lightning lights up the night sky. "It's the waiting that gets to the men. The actual fighting, not so much."

He looks wet and tired. Despite his poor attitude, he's probably the only person keeping the men on the wall.


"Wait!" Yarrik shouts as the men move to open the door. "Draw a line of salt in the ground before letting anyone in. Otherwise you'll be letting in nemissaries along with the civilians. Also draw a circle around the gate controls. Ghost infiltration was how Thorns was caught off guard before. I was there." Yarrik turns to the soldier. "Your men are brave, but that won't be enough if the dead attack in force. The chain of command needs to be reestablished. Where are the brass headquartered?

[Orosboru]

"Salt? The little stock we had went to protect the manses of the Dynasts up the hill. The local salt gods are away celebrating Calibration." He looks depressed. "Mmenon Aldous is helping everyone, but..." he slumps and leans on the wall. "He's only one man. Most of our military is out encamped in the Hundred Kingdoms. They are making their desperate manoeuvres, but they are hundreds of miles away." He gestures to the men on the walls. "Bakers. Servants. Young militiamen. Who is in charge? I don't know! Anyone qualified to do that is too important to be woken by men like me." He sits down and laughs. They sound raspy.

"Now, we need to shut the gate soon, so can you come in?"

[Guancyto]

"We may need to leave again before the night is through, but yes," Whisper says to the guardsman, before turning to Lance. "Mister Yarrik, I believe I can assist with that by tomorrow, but time is of the essence now."

So saying, he walks through the gate.

[Lord Raziere]

"Very well M'chaps, lets get on with it then. Don't want to be letting in the undead do we?"
Kenfon says as follows Whisper.

[garter_snake]

Yarrik nods and follows Whisper. "I don't know if it will be much, but I'll see what I can do to help. First, though, my superiors told me to report to a tavern called 'The Strider's Way' and receive orders there. Do you know where that is, Sergeant?"



Or his actual rank if it's not Sergeant... but my gut tells me I'm right on this one...

[Orosboru]

"Emilio? Hell, you going to my son's bar?" He laughs. "Well, tell him that we need more salt to line the sewers. That's what I need. Not more incompetents, more tools. Tell him that we won't lose our homes to those dragon-damned deathlords ever again. Ever." He firms up. The gate slams shut, its rusted iron creaking into the distance. "Follow the road and look for the large, out of place hill. Ther'd be."

"Hey, all you whoresons, stand at attention!" The men all reflexively stand straight despite the pouring rain. "Name's Sergeant Raoul! You'd better stay alive so that your sister don't cry while I sleep with her. First sign of a rotter or my mother in law, put a quarrel where the sun does shine."

It is depressing, and not at all unexpected, that the God of Martial Discipline has the same fellowship around the world.

[garter_snake]

Lance smiled to himself as he made his way into the city. Even in these dark times, it was uplifting that the adherents of the God of Martial Discipline were the same as ever.

Lance follows the road and comes to the tavern. He enters and sits down at a table.



assuming the ST isn't planning on stopping us from getting there somehow. Will edit if that's the case.

[Volthawk]

Sentinel sighs as he enters the city. Poor bastards. If this place does get attacked, they won't stand a chance.

[Guancyto]

Whisper follows along as well, taking note of everything that seems out of place or usable for later. Which is probably just about everything. An attack now would be completely hopeless, but given a few days...

...given a few days they can turn things around. It is, after all, what they do.

[Lord Raziere]

I am not going to let the Underworld win.
Freezing Blaze thought to himself.
I will not let this become a second Thorns....but how...
He seemed to grow ponderous and distant as they walked.

[Orosboru]

"...and my mama looks at me with that look, and I-" The sound of the bar creeps quietly out as you enter. The entire place is empty (strange, at midnight, there should be more) except for a little girl is drinking quickly like there is no tomorrow, and a old man wearing a tattered straw hat.

The bartender is idly watching you newcomers, and slowly making affirmative grunts to the drunk girl in front of him. Strangely, he too is as young as the person in front of him - things must be different in Greyfalls. Occasionally, he turns around to clean a glass, but is genuinely trying to listen to what she has to say.

"Yeah, go on, missus."
"It's Noire to you. Don't call me no mistress, you got it?" She takes another drink. A small mountain of glasses accumulates next to her left arm.
"Y-yes, Miss Noire."
"Anyway, so then I had to run away from that damn place. Too restrictive, and they wanted me to marry that... monster! My daddy was never around, so it was easy enough. So a couple of places later here I am."
"That's... a interesting story." The bartender wipes his brow.
"Hey..." After finishing a shot, her hand slams down on his, and he yelps. "You've listened this far, and you're cute."
"I-I-I'm not the best judge of that, Miss Noire." He desperately tries to back away.
"Nonsense! You shouldn't be so humble." You swear you can hear the audible licking of lips. "Some girls... like that."

The old man puffs away on his pipe. His dirty blue robes and short, white hair don't make him very noticeable at all. His drink sits untouched on the table.

[Lord Raziere]

"Quick, anyone know Shun the Smiling Lady? I think the bartender needs it."
Blaze whispered to his companions with a smirk and knowing wink.

[Guancyto]

"Miss Noire," the Man in Black takes up his place at the bar, "I would just like to let you know that there is no one waiting for you outside the front, certainly not anyone related to you, and that I have no knowledge of a back door to this establishment. I can also say with some measure of confidence that your drinking habit is the product of your own choices, and was not instilled in you to make you easier to recapture. Good day."

Of course, this is exactly correct. But also suspiciously exact. Or at least, that's probably what the girl will believe, even drunk.

Avoiding the Truth Technique!

[garter_snake]

Yarrick moves to sit next to Whisper. It occurs to Lance that he should check for dematerialized listeners before their top secret meeting. His caste mark flares with an invisible red light.


1m personal, committed. The effect will last a scene.

Mark of Exaltation
Cost: —(1m); Mins: Occult 1, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Maiden, Virtue (Compassion)
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Exalt infuses her caste mark with a bit of power (with
a reflexive commitment of one mote for the scene), casting
forth its brilliance into the Chasm of the Material so that it
is visible only to the Exalt, spirits, others of her own caste and
anyone with appropriate sensory magic (like All-Encompassing
Sorcerer’s Sight). To those that can see the light this Charm is
Obvious, illuminating the area around the Sidereal as a torch
(Exalted, p. 135) and allowing them to see immaterial spirits.
The Sidereal also receives an extra success on Performance,
Socialize, Presence, Occult and Bureaucracy rolls dealing with
spirits other than ghosts, and may always channel Compassion
on such rolls (as per the Virtue keyword).
Eclipses, Moonshadows and Fiends who learn this Charm
can activate it only as if they were of the Sidereal caste of the
Exalt who taught them the Charm. They may learn it multiple
times from different castes.

[Orosboru]

"...that's ruhight." Her face twists into a funny contortion of a smile. "Come on, Emilio, let's go paint the town red."
"I'm not sure that-"
"Ah, come on, no one goes to this bar anyways. Let's go out to the back door, and if you're good, I'll show you annuver." She clumsily drags him out a swinging gate at the back of the bar, and they disappear.

The caste mark glows invisibly, revealing no spectral intruders that are watching your meeting. The old man raises a eyebrow, before puffing again at his pipe.

You are all alone, dripping slightly, in a near-empty tavern.

[Lord Raziere]

Blaze rolled his eyes. They forgot the old man. Appearances could be deceiving.
He walked up to the old man and said.
"I heard that you definitely do not have a home to back to and a nice bed to sleep in right now."

Avoiding the Truth Technique.

[Orosboru]

"Your suspicions are not necessary, Sidereals. You're so green, your horns are showing." The old man chuckles to himself, his eyes concealed by his hat. "One of you has a very good disguise. I would compliment him, but his choice of companions leaves much to be desired."

[Guancyto]

"Ah, mister Taldaz," Whisper holds up a hand as Blaze goes over, "maybe you shouldn-..."

And then Blaze does it. Whisper gives a little sigh and shrug, steals the last of Noire's drink and downs it.

"Where I'm from, green is one of the better colors," he says casually, "you know, at a time like this I'd think this bar would be packed with people trying to forget how doomed they are and how little they can do about it."

He shrugs again. "I can't imagine what might be keeping them away."

[Lord Raziere]

"hmm...but still blue robe, straw hat, white hair...pipe.....familiar with Sidereals....why do you feel familiar? I don't trust you."
Blaze crosses his arms and scrutinized the old man with a raised eyebrow, had he seen him somewhere before?


Perception+ Awareness check to see if Blaze recognizes him:
[roll0]

also, shouldn't this gentlemen be searching for a few certain keys, Oros?

[garter_snake]

"They're probably either fleeing the city or trying to hide. Their city did just get turned into a shadowland, after all. A spontaneously appearing shadowland is an almost unprecedented occurrence. Yarrik's face darkens for a moment. "Anyway... shall we get to it?"

[Guancyto]

"A moment," Whisper says, concentrating a bit of essence investigating the tangles of Fate, inquiring whether this mysterious mission would be accomplished more auspiciously by opening the scroll while the monk is still present. Or, for that matter, if it would be better to go collect the children so they can hear it too. ****ing Oversight. Someday he'll find that it's a dog with a bunch of levers. Then he'll shoot that dog.

Wise Choice.

[Orosboru]

"A observant one. But I'm being facetious." He puts out his pipe and dumps his drink on the floor. "I am reasonably certain that no one is watching us. As certain as I can be in my profession. Strange things are happening here, and it's Heaven's prerogative to know."

"Forgive me for my presumption. You are not my Sidereal superior, and I am granted much autonomy in the field." He smiles a little. "I am on the trail of a particularly canny Anathema, but I had the time to assist Kalshu-Tor on his request. Clearly, my assistance was not up to par."

He flares a little anima, and a symbol identifying him a elite member of the All-Seeing Eye. "I am... Agent Ten. How may I help you, celestial exalts?"


Ah, way back when Ten was a loyal servant of the Scarlet Empire. As to say, he isn't looking for keys right now.


The choice with the best results seems to be opening the scroll in the presence of the monk, but not while the teenagers are present.

[garter_snake]

As Yarrik is clearly not a celestial exalt, he doesn't bother responding to Ten's question. Instead, he turns to Grave Sentinel and speaks, just a shade loudly.


"I wonder where this blight started from. Our fang just came back from excessive down river and there was a shadowland where none was before. I was ordered to escort you civilians to safety without much in the way of explanation. You know what caused this, or if there were any hostile forces sighted while my fang was out?"

[Volthawk]

Grave shrugs. "I don't know, yet." He then turns to Ten. "Wait, you helped Kalshu-Tor recently? When was this? What request was it?"

[Orosboru]

"Kalshu-Tor?" He looks puzzled for a moment, and summons the willpower to defy his arcane fate, gripping his fists tightly. "Ah, yes. I last saw him four days ago. I assisted him in scoping out unusual geographical features of this city. Very strange. Not something that a Sidereal would do, especially one of his Caste. He left my presence soon after."

He turns to look downwards and ponders out loud. "No one knows where the blight started from, or who caused it. No hostile forces have been spotted, so the question is who rather then why."

[Lord Raziere]

"The closest Death Lords are: The Mask of Winters and the Walker in Darkness. This is most probably the work of one of them. This seems more Mask of Winters style, so there is a very big probability that this is the work of the Mask of Winters. Not saying it is him, but he is our most likely suspect."
He ceased his pondering out loud and looked at Ten.
"Can you tell us what these unusual geographical features are? He wouldn't have scouted such stuff out for no reason."

[Orosboru]

"Oh, he was checking dips in the land, talking to the local gods, checking out the rivers and valleys, but nothing that seemed of import to his purview." Agent Ten frowns. "Is there something wrong? In my limited judgement, my assistance was hardly required, other then that pleasant tea near this place, across the river." He presses his hands together. "Certainly no business requiring fo-" He stops, and winces. "Fou-" He pauses again, and looks at Lance. You see the faint trace of a smile. "Four of your stature."

[Volthawk]

Again, Grave shrugs. "Eh, it's the shadowland we're here for."

[Guancyto]

"Hm," Whisper says, "he's clean, Grave. Or at least advantageous. Let's hear what this is all about, shall we?"

[Volthawk]

Grave nods. "Very well then. You're the Oracle here." He then opens the Oversight scroll.

[Orosboru]

Three sons, there were, hiding from the seers
One who is dead, and yet never forgot to hear.
One who is alive, and without peer.
One who is neither, but Brigid's fear

The broken crane cries
Which, the brother or the sister, will return? Whence they die?
The truth lost in its many lies
Hidden amongst the deep night skies

Find me, find them.
From the height of Meru to the depth of Gem
You'll not find. Instead, find the stem
of the new heroes, not the condemned.

Three times, he is heralded.
"I preserve the fading twilight," and he smote the anvil.
"I bring the endless night," and he smote the anvil.
"I herald the coming dawn," and he smote the anvil.
And he is allowed to forget.

[Lord Raziere]

"....We aren't here for the Shadowland are we? There is something else at foot here. The scroll mentions nothing about any shadowland."
Blaze is just confused all over again and is pondering.

[Guancyto]

"Hm," Whisper says again, contemplating the meaning of this, "are you sure, mister Taldaz? Listen to the music, not the song."

[garter_snake]

WIP

"Right." Darin said. Lance had just about had enough with this Jupiter-speak bull****. There was a battle to fight. "Obviously This is just a poetic way of saying the mission is to secure Greyfalls and prevent the forces of the Underworld from encroaching further."

-

"'Three sons, there were, hiding from the seers
One who is dead, and yet never forgot to hear.
One who is alive, and without peer.
One who is neither, but Brigid's fear'"

"Most likely refers to three outside of fate individuals. Deathknights or some type of ghost, maybe Nephracks, would be my guess. Sounds like the first is someone who died but never heard the call of Lethe, the second is a still living person who was recruited for their personal powers, and a third who is between life and death, Deathknight maybe?, and wields Necromancy."

-

"'The broken crane cries
Which, the brother or the sister, will return? Whence they die?
The truth lost in its many lies
Hidden amongst the deep night skies'"

" 'The broken crane cries' must just be general termanology for some unasupicious event, read: an attack on Greyfalls. The second line proboly means that we should expect infiltration from compromised Greyfalls forces. The third and fourth lines warn of ariel attack."

-

"'Find me, find them.
From the height of Meru to the depth of Gem
You'll not find. Instead, find the stem
of the new heroes, not the condemned. '"

"This portion simply warns us of the futility of running around looking for heroes to save the city and points out that we should find potential heros and support them discreetly."

-

"'Three times, he is heralded.
"I preserve the fading twilight," and he smote the anvil.
"I bring the endless night," and he smote the anvil.
"I herald the coming dawn," and he smote the anvil.
And he is allowed to forget. '"

"Seems like intel on whoever's masterminding this. The anvil part makes me expect a crafter-type, but we won't know till we get more information."

-


"So," Darin said, keeping a straight face. "Now that the will of the Maidens is made clear to us, we can enact the defense of Greyfalls in full accordance in the direction of fate."

[Lord Raziere]

"That sounds plausible....and the first part even agreeable....but the Loom works in mysterious ways. We can't be exactly sure that our every interpretation is correct and Fate has been known not be straightforward or always right in the past, I'll go along with this interpretation for now....but I'm just saying we should be wary..."
"Mr. Taldaz" reluctantly agrees while folding his arms and putting on a vaguely annoyed expression.

[Guancyto]

"Mister Taldaz, complete certainty that you know what's going on is a good sign that a Lunar is about to stab you in the back," Whisper shrugs, and can't help but smile a little. "Your associate knows this, and what he's doing.

Anyway, the broken crane is more than just inauspicious. That, and most of the other imagery in that stanza is Malfean in nature. I would be on the lookout for the work of demons and Yozi cultists here, as well.

The last is also missing a Zenith and an Eclipse. Interesting that the circle would be lacking the diplomat and the orator."

[Lord Raziere]

"Solars maybe? Something about the Unconquered Sun? What is he or the Lawgivers to do with all this? Don't we have enough troubles without the Exalts that the two Factions keep blabbering on and on about sticking their nose into this? This combined with Yozis already makes this situation more complicated."
Blaze just starts rubbing his head a little now, his expression thoroughly getting annoyed.

[Guancyto]

"I was more referring to the symbolism of Twilight-Night-Dawn, but the Dragon-Blooded are already here," Whisper reminds Blaze, "I don't think that was an indication that there are Solars nearby, or a reminder that we should keep them from killing each other if we can, but it's good advice nonetheless."

[Lord Raziere]

"Well then, I'm thinking whatever that last stanza, its about something about Night. Maybe even a being of the Night, like Five Days Darkness? Calibration can certainly be an "Endless Night" and Five Days Darkness does have most of his power at this time of year."
Blaze replied.
"I wouldn't know what he would have to do with this though. This is all guesswork."

[Guancyto]

"The East is his stomping grounds, last I checked, so it's not impossible," Whisper agrees. "Still, I think we're missing a vital element of our orders here."

He leans back on the bar, pausing for emphasis. "Which is to say... Agent Ten, what do you think?"

[Orosboru]

The Wind Aspect pauses, carefully thinking out his response. "In light of recent events, it is too easy to have convenient interpretations of prophecies. Even if you do understand it, you might suffer to see its completion." He grimaces. "This prophecy is vague, like most of them. Three quatrains followed by a cinqutain. It feels incomplete, like there is a missing fifth stanza, but that could be intentional. There is no title, which means that it is very important and extremely relevant, if history is any guide."

He mulls it over. "What I find interesting is 'the stem of heroes.' It could be that... no." He stops. "The speaker asks the audience to find him or her, but indirectly. Throughout it, the speaker asks nothing but a plea to find... something."

He hesitates. "Through that is through classical analysis of the school of thought of Daana'd. Greater understanding is beyond me, and any conjecture I make is merely that."

[Volthawk]

"Say, that last stanza could be referring to the different groups around. Preserving the Fading Twilight - those that want to keep things the same, the Realm, the Bronze Faction. Bringing the Endless Night - the threats against Creation, that want to destroy it, the Fae, the Abyssals, the Deathlords. And the last bit, Herald the Coming Dawn...well, that's the returning Exalted, and how they'll take back Creation and rebuild it."

[Lord Raziere]

"Maybe. But what are we in this interpretation? The Fading Twilight, or the Coming Dawn?"
Blaze further ponders.
"What Ten said might have some merit as well. It would be wise to keep on the lookout for this....whatever it is."

[Guancyto]

"I wonder," Whisper says pensively, "I've heard rumors of Iron Stars to go with the gold, but..."

He shakes his head. "No time for that bit of supposition. I've got a plan for getting salt into the city, but it's going to take some time and sorcery. What do you guys want to handle?"

[Orosboru]

"Mmenon Aldous is organizing the defence of the city, but..." Agent Ten frowns. "He's been held up by red tape, and it doesn't help that he has unpopular opinions, too. If you find the prerogative to defend the city, you should find another way. By the time that the salt is on the ground, there'd be no one left to celebrate it.

[Lord Raziere]

"What if we go into the Shadowland itself, see what is causing it to grow, and stop it? Destroy whatever is causing it at its source."
Blaze suggested.
"Problem there though is that whatever it is might be too powerful for us to handle, since we don't have any information..."

[garter_snake]

Yarrik speaks up. "Frankly, if this shadowland is being caused by an invading force, we have to expect something on the level of the Mask of Winter's assault on Thorns. Lets see... if there's already a General trying to take charge of the city's defenses then that simplifies things considerably. Rather than trying to locate individual Dragon-Blooded, we can just use Mmenon Aldous as a rallying point." Lance ponders a bit. "Several questions for you, Mr. Ten. What opinions does Mmenon Aldous have that are inhibiting him from command? Is Mmenon Aldous already a commissioned officer or is he not part of the military? What kind of 'red tape' is he having trouble with? Does the Realm have any Legions garrisoned inside Greyfalls or are they outside the city for training/active duty? How many men does the city guard number? Does the Realm's have any supplies of First Age weaponry in the city? And... I don't suppose you have a map?"


There's a map pg 116 of COTD: Scavenger Lands. Where in greyfalls are we?

edit: actually, to save time and to stop the fate ninjas from having to get info from a DB, how much of the information in COTD: Scavenger Lands on Greyfalls is known to us?

[Guancyto]

"I can probably have a thousand pounds of it by morning, if everything goes according to plan," Whisper says flatly, "nevertheless, if Mnemon Aldous is being prevented from doing his duty, that's also important."

He thinks about it. "What are these... unpopular opinions of his, out of curiosity?" Manipulating public opinion should be easy for at least one of them, but it's better to know what he's working with beforehand.

[Orosboru]

"Mmenon Aldous is - was, a lost egg. As such, he has radical opinions, which he is not careful to conceal. He is friendly to the various kingdoms here, and he is both popular and reviled in Greyfalls." Agent Ten scrunches his eyes, looking at the closed door. "As such, his opinion to form a militia from Greyfall citizens is looked as suspect. Ragara Isidron used to support him, help him, but ever since his wife and children disappeared in mysterious circumstances, he has become a pariah for the officers orthodox to the Realm."

"Aldous faces obstructions at every turn. Greyfalls's legions are out of the city, so there is only the partially-formed irregulars that he commands to defend the city. The incompetents have already left with the garrison. The grizzled veterans stay and hope that the worst does not come to pass. But the damage has already been done. It will take years for Aldous's desires to be realized. Time that Greyfalls does not have."

"The current guard has a trained number of 500 men, but it is impossible to know how many he can conscript. The morale of the citizens here is a unknown variable. There are two warstriders left in the city, the other two on a ship, but their pilots and support crew are with the legions as engineering support."

Ten curls his fingers. "A map? I think that I left it at the safehouse."

[Guancyto]

"Right, so he gives a damn, that'll get you into trouble any day. Where are the legions, exactly?

And what type, material and make are the warstriders?" Whisper adds as an afterthought. If only they had some Starmetal Fivefold Harmonic Adapters on them...

[garter_snake]

Yarrik nodded his support at the Secret's questions. If they could activate those warstriders, they would be of great assistance in recruitment and fortification construction. And if they could expect legion reinforcements, a hopeless battle turned into a salvageable siege situation.

[Orosboru]

"The legions are returning from a retaliatory attack on 'bandits'," He hesitates. "The real reason is to destroy and remove supply caches laid down by the Federation of Rivers. They'll return in about two days, but it is always bad luck to move on Calibration." He coughs and adjusts his hat. "The warstriders..?" Agent Ten raises a eyebrow. "They're made from jade. Two scouts."

A bird flies in from the window, and lands on Ten's shoulder. He looks a little ruffled, and gives a short message scroll to Agent Ten before poofing into a cloud of essence.

"Ah... excuse me, but a lead on my target has been found." He stands and gazes to the exit. "Are there any more questions before I leave?"

[garter_snake]

Lance and Yarrick smiled. "Thank you for your help, old timer. Good luck on your hunt."

[Lord Raziere]

"Well then, lets go get those warstriders and hope we have enough essence to power them then. and that we can pilot them halfway decently. But first, the map."
Blaze said as he headed towards the safehouse.

[Orosboru]

Ten walks away, disappearing into the night. The bar is quiet, the sound of the rain pattering on the roof drowning out any other from outside.

The night is growing long in the tooth.

Visit the home of Ragara Isidron. The grey scroll intones monosyllabically.

[garter_snake]

"...oh. There's more. Nevermind then. Well, best get our official orders done first. The home of a dynast shouldn't be too hard to find." Lance and Yarrik sigh, and look around the table at the others. "Shall we get this finished, then, so we can go onto the important things?"

((If no one objects, Yarrik will leave the bar and head for the posh section of town.))

[Lord Raziere]

Blaze/Kenfon sighs and walks toward Isidron Ragara's place, following Yarrik.

[Guancyto]

Whisper looks at the scroll. "Well screw you too," he says to it, before following after Yarrik.

[Orosboru]

There is one house that is quiet in the rich areas of town. It is not lavish, or the biggest, or even the most interesting in geomancy. It is significant because it is burnt down to ashes on the floor. Realm politics. Huh.

It stands out, even without a guide. The scroll glows dimly as you approach, only visible to you and your fellow Sidereals. This part of town seems to be deserted, the rich outcast families somewhere else. The distinctive thing that disturbs you is that it is quietly teeming with the essence of death.

No realm state would abide a shadowland for long, or even allow its perpetrators to go unpunished. There is something very wrong here.

[garter_snake]

Lance enters the remains of the mansion and begins inspecting the ruins, trying to figure out what caused the building to burn down and how recent it was.



I think this is either Per+aware, notice immediate details
[roll0]

Wits+Investigation, 15 min examination of the scene to figure out what happened(if applicable)
[roll1]

[Lord Raziere]

Blaze does his own search of the place, trying to be as thorough as possible.


Perception + Awareness:
[roll0]

Wits + Investigation:
[roll1]

[Guancyto]

Whisper frowns. "There's our beachhead," he murmurs to himself. Complete ash, so no one had attempted to extinguish the fire. Almost unheard-of in a rich district, unless this had happened no more than a few hours ago or something very, very wrong had been going on before.

He quietly reaches into his coat and lays a hand on his prayer piece, checking the the heat of the wreckage with his other.

Per+Aware: [roll0]
Wits+Investigate: [roll1]

[Orosboru]

The ground is charred with burnt heartwoods. Whoever Ragara Isidron was, he was a rich man. From a distance, you can discern where the kitchen once was, the master bedroom, and the basement.

Lance notices immediately that this was a unnatural fire. Whoever destroyed this home used essence, and a lot of it. This was a professional operation. The fire started top to bottom - the floor is relatively intact compared to the ashes of the rafters.

Whisper judges that by Isidron's connections to a liberal dynast, it must have been some power struggle within Greyfalls. The intact stone construction implies that it wasn't burnt down hot enough to melt stone, so it couldn't have been a Fire Aspect's anima.

For a second, Whisper feels a sharp stabbing pain in his eyes accompanied by the creeping feeling of death essence - a aftershock. Whatever died here, it was more symbolic then literal.

Blaze finds a revealed wine cellar. There is a skeleton of a man tied to the chair on the earth floor, bound with heavy manacles of steel. Several bones are broken in several places. A triple-layered barrier of salt reinforced with a prayer wheel imploring the Maiden of Serenity to keep him asleep guards him.

The rain has slowly, but surely, melting the salt away.

[garter_snake]

Lance tells his findings to others. He then shines his invisible Mark of Exaltation caste light into the cellar, checking the salt shield for spirits.


Mark of Exaltation, another 1 m personal. We are in a new scene from the tavern, right?

[Volthawk]

Grave nods once he hears Lance's information. "So an Essence-weilder, but not a Terrestrial. Hmm..I wonder if there are any god-bloods around here?"

[Guancyto]

"It may still have been a Terrestrial," Whisper corrects Grave after relaying his information as well, "but if it was, he or she didn't flare his anima. I don't think a god-blood could have taken him. Maybe a group of them..."

He adjusts his shades, avoiding the conclusion that seems to be gaining credence. It's much too early to blame things on Celestials. "Still not impossible."

He looks after Lance down the cellar. "My assistant's still working. Anyone want to check if this is our man?"

[Lord Raziere]

Blaze walks halfway up the stairs so that he is in sight
"Guys, found something down here...a skeleton, heavily protected by salt rings and bound in chains. I wouldn't recommend touching or disturbing it though. Oh and there is a prayer wheel to the Venus to keep him asleep. Yea, I don't think we should disturb this thing....wait...the rain!"
Blaze suddenly draws his reaper daiklaive, carefully walks back down the stairs and points it at the skeleton, keeping an eye upon the skeleton.
"Yeah, uh screw what I said earlier, be on guard, the salt rings could stop working at any moment."

[Orosboru]

There are no spirits in the room. However, you can smell the aged blood and human suffering that permeates the room. Strangely, there is no signs of human decay - there is only the dry skeleton, and nothing else. It does not move.

The prayer wheel starts to rattle more and more as the salt is slowly eroded away.

[Guancyto]

Whisper performs what may be the quickest estimation of the green strands of Fate that he has in recent memory.

It helps that it's a question he knows by heart.

1m and a 5-second misc action on Auspicious Prospects for Secrets: Will shooting that thing in the face help me find out what the hell is going on and would Jupiter approve?

[Orosboru]

Your divination comes up with this result:

Voices undoing, actions undone
What was lost again is now won
A stilled tongue on a empty face
Is not the best fate.

[Guancyto]

"Milady, you make your own meals because the Committee on Breakfast is going on seven thousand years trying to figure out what you meant the first time you were asked," Whisper says to no one present, and pulls his prayer piece out of his coat and readies it, walking forward.

"All right. This may either be the best idea or the very worst," he steels himself, stepping across the first salt line, the second, the third, "guess we'll find out."

And with that, he trains his gun carefully on the skeleton... and reaches out with his other hand and stops the prayer wheel.

[Orosboru]

A ghostly manifestation instantly emerges. It is the image of a young Dragonblood, but something feels horribly wrong. It is not the wrathful face of a hungry ghost, yet it cleaves to the body still. Mere salt would not keep the upper soul from ascending. Horrible stigmatic wounds cover his limbs and body, a deep red tinge extending all the way to his neck. His face is... peaceful, his handsome features marred by a endless agony.

Grave recognizes this ghost as a mortal slain by violence - and judging by the colour of red, he was tortured with essence.

"...where are you, my love, my wife?" It whispers. "where has he taken you?" He does not seem to move.

[Lord Raziere]

Sigh....hope you know what you're doing Whisper...
Blaze lowered his daiklaive.
"Your wife is not here at the moment. Where should we start? How about you tell us your name, then tell us what happened here and who caused this."

[Orosboru]

"Ragara? I was called that once. It doesn't matter. Nothing matters." He groans, and the entire floor shakes. "I strain to think, my will shattered, my house is of late. All I can think of is of poor Anna's fate." Whisper, being so close to the ghost, feels a tiny fraction of his pain. It is one of the worst feelings you have ever felt. Rather then mere physical pain, it would have instilled suicidal despair in a regular mortal.

Suffice to say, you aren't. But it looks like he can't control it. Still, it isn't healthy to be this close.

[Guancyto]

Whisper narrows his eyes unseen under his shades; he is made of sterner stuff than a little soul-crushing can crack. He hopes. He supposes he's never had to put it properly to the test. If he can step back without releasing the prayer wheel he will, otherwise he'll take it like a man.

"Who has taken her?" he says softly, "and why would he do so?"

[Orosboru]

"The eyes. They took her eyes. The light of her life, her denied birthright, but for the sake of her eyes!" It wails and twists. The prayer wheel starts to act up again. "Kal wasn't here. He promised. He was gone..." He trails off.

It's getting really... depressing standing around in the third salt line.


roll your highest virtue or spend a willpower point.

[Lord Raziere]

"Quit your whining, Isidron. I know your hurting, but there is nothing I can do unless you speak. Are you going to tell us anything so that we can help, or are you going to be a useless Dynast? We got important things to do here, protecting the entire city for one. Priorities. Information on who did this, might help. Shadowland around Greyfalls, necrotic energy in this here mansion...might be connected don't you think?"
Blaze explained in clipped tones, trying to appeal to reason. Sorta.

[Guancyto]

Whisper's known this feeling before. Not exactly - it would be fair to say he's never been as pained as the ghost is right now, but the trickle of despair isn't as unfamiliar to him as it should be. This is fortunate, since it allows him to apply the same methods to mitigating it as he has in the past.

What's unfortunate is that his response has generally been to get angry. More unfortunate still is the frank description of what has happened to the man's wife with such little necessity, and Blaze...

"Blaze," he says, the anger starting to tinge his voice, "please be quiet before I'm compelled to do something unfortunate. Ragara Isidron, Dragon of the Realm; that is you, correct? We're going to bring the ones who did this to you to justice, but we need to know everything you know."

Compassion! [roll0]

[Orosboru]

The ghost flinches, but regains his composure. As his body's wounds fade away, a wrathful face emerges, and a sense of indignation - like a child's petulance - replaces the overwhelming pain.

"I guard the flesh." Alas! He is alive, in a sense. In life, the hun and po were one. In death, they are once again united. "But when I was bound here, Isidron received the pain. I received the mind. It is not the fairest of trades." His furious face frowns. "You bring justice. You are impatient. I will tell you what I know, but the body remembers little that a Vizier would want to know."

The prayer wheel slowly winds down, the overt manifestations of the ghost having calmed down. The rain is as relentless as ever.

[garter_snake]

Yarrik leans against a wall. "Speak, then."



Valor
[roll0]

What are we rolling for?

[Guancyto]

The ghost is level-headed enough to speak even affected as it is. It's heartening to Whisper to see him want to help, and this gives him strength. "If you know you're talking to Viziers," he says, doing his best to crack a grin and only half succeeding, "you'll know a little is all we need. Thank you, Dragon."

[Orosboru]

"I can tell you little things. Much of pain, but you have heard enough of that on this night." The hungry ghost abomination curls his fist. "I am no dragon, but I will gladly defend what he left behind." The prayer wheel rattles a little, and then stops. "The master with his body was slain many months ago, his murderers binding us here with unnatural magics. Of the shadowland you speak of, I do not know. It has been a long time since a Vizier has deigned to speak to him in his torment. There was much fire, and he stayed to make sure that his will would be done." He turns to Whisper. "Someone has taken what is most precious to him. More precious then his life. I felt it. It stirred even his animal self. You must find it."

"His death was so terrible that the land sympathized with his plight. Alas, only he died here, and there are charms to ensure that his revenge is contained." The angry ghost grows more wrathful, and it flinches. "Truely, it is hard to control the wish of vengeance we both share. I would suggest that you back off for your own safety."

[Guancyto]

"I'm glad you're concerned," Whisper says, "but we'll manage if you hold on as long as you can. You said Viziers visited him before. Who, when and why? Make your best guess if you don't know. If we want to find it, this is critical."

[Orosboru]

"A man, he warned him. I remember the heartache. His name was Kalshu-" The ghost's voice stops. The bones of Ragara Isidron float in the air, seemingly transfixed in awe at something that approaches.

Brilliant black and white wings that stink of infernal essence overwhelms the spirit, crippling its voice. The angry face retreats, and the entire body bleeds in spiritual agony. But like its bodily remains, the wings break and shatter into a grotesque mockery of its former glory.

"...and The Unyielding Flames Tempered by Shadows, having defeated the heroes of the sun, roared the triumphant howl of the devil tiger, surrounded by his peers, assisted by treachery incarnate. But it was the bridge that the Black used to enter the world, and there was nothing that could stop the glorious reclamation of Creation. The Viziers, their hearts in contempt for their loss of their mates, will be paralyzed by indecision and heartbreak. This is the first chapter of our return. The entire corpus of the ghost writhes in torment, before it dissipates into a black mist that settles within the salt circle.

[Lord Raziere]

Blaze stood in silence for a few moments, then crossed his arms.
"I said it once, I'll say it again. I don't think we are here for the Shadowland. Thats the only explanation for....whatever that was....that makes sense to me, and I'm sticking with it."

[Guancyto]

"Paralyzed with indecision and heartbreak?!" Whisper takes a step back across the third salt line, releasing the prayer wheel and getting closer to his companions, "to hell with that!"

He thinks about what he just said for a moment, then starts laughing quietly. "Right," he says, starting to shake with the laughter, "to hell with that, because it's the Crane. Oh Sol stop me next time I try something like that."

His caste mark lights up dimly as he performs his final divination.

6m on Wise Choice. Will stopping Ragara Isidron and associated spirits from carrying out their vengeance (most likely carried out by salting the ground, burning the bodies and laying down the holy fire) aid in the defense of Greyfalls?

[Orosboru]

The wisest choice at this juncture is-
...and the Viziers slew the latest manifestation of the Broken-Winged Crane, not knowing of the consequences to follow. The death of every last thing important to her, the hope of living was too much for her to bear. The blackest exaltation of our cousins descended on her, and we feasted on the souls of the living, as is our due. This was the beginning of our return." The black-green mist reforms into the broken form of Ragara Isidron, his spectral wounds gushing bits of ghostly essence.
-to slay the ghost.

[Lord Raziere]

"......Riiiight, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but: don't slay the ghost. Its a trap. I suggest we keep the Broken-Winged Crane talking, we keep getting info, so that every time it- er I mean Isidron- spouts that weird-textbook history prophecy thing, we can do something about it."
Blaze sheathes his sword as he said this. he may be obsessed with the Underworld, but that only meant he knew that this was a normal ghost who had the bad luck of also being some book from nowhere foretelling some Yozi-related future, knew it all too well.

[garter_snake]

!!

"Fool! We have to stop him from talking! Without exception, every being that has read or heard the Broken Winged Crane has turned to the Yozi."



Join Battle roll

[roll0]

[Guancyto]

"Ah, Blaze, so wrapped-up in ghosts and the Underworld," Whisper slowly removes his sunglasses and looks back at his fellow Oracle, his green eyes sparkling against the light of the Infernal essence. He had started to think something along the same lines... and is glad that his colleague has suggested it first so he doesn't have to mention such temptation.

"The Broken-Winged Crane isn't a history, nor a prophecy. It's another of the numberless cracks in the prison of Malfeas, a flaw in the victory of the gods found by Cecelyne, a virus of the mind deriving from She Who Lives in Her Name, and more. It is an oath, a promise, that one day its accounts will be accurate and the Yozis will be free."

He twirls his gun around in his hand, bringing it to a quick halt and priming the trigger mechanism. "To which I say, very well, do as you must. But don't expect us to lay down and die for you."

Join Battle! [roll0]

[Lord Raziere]

"Wait, what is happening I don't...I don't understand...."
Blaze didn't draw his sword, he instead crouched into a martial arts stance.

Join battle roll?
[roll0]

[Volthawk]

Grave shrugs, and then also gets ready for any eventual combat, although to be honest, he didn't exactly think that they would all be needed to take the ghost down. But still, better safe than sorry.

"Well, looks like the Yozi are getting involved in this situation too. This is getting messier..."


Join Battle: [roll0]

[Guancyto]

"Demon stuff, Blaze. I'll explain after," the Whisper says sharply. Maybe he shouldn't be so snippy about it, but he's still feeling the aftereffects of that emotional feedback loop. That's his excuse and he'll stick to it.

[Lord Raziere]

"Oh. I thought everyone was getting ready to kill me because I suggested that... Whew"
Blaze relaxed a little, but he was still in that martial arts stance, in fact you could probably say that relaxing made the stance better, since it was Water Dragon Style based.

[Orosboru]

The ghostly abomination stays still, unmoving, the strain of its souls being used as parchment for the demonic book too much to bear. It doesn't seem to react to you drawing weapons.

[Guancyto]

Whisper decides to stop talking and hesitating. There's work to be done, and he's spent too much time here already. A short crackle of Essence builds up as he pulls the trigger and the thousands of little gods inside his gun offer their devotions to the Unconquered Sun, propelling a prayer and a bullet at the ghost, bathing it in the light of Sol's judgment.

Attack! [roll0] - 8 successes.
Raw damage is +10A against Creatures of Darkness.

[Orosboru]

The bullet silently disappears into the corpus. The body's wounds slowly heal as the po soul silently disappears into the depths of oblivion. The ghost of Ragara Isidron, melancholy and weary, slowly fades away as it gazes into Whisper's eyes.

"...may justice prevail, Lyanna. May justice prevail... And it dissipates into shards of death essence, before finally blowing away into dust.

Follow the ghost's directions to the final message of revered Exalt Kalshu-Tor. The scroll pipes up.

[Guancyto]

"Oh, wonderful," Whisper says, holstering his pistol after a sympathetic final look into the ghost's eyes.

"Right. Blaze." He turns to his fellow Oracle. "The Broken-Winged Crane is the litany of the Yozis, and it comes in all shapes and sizes. The song of a rare Eastern bird. The order of the million steps a holy man takes before his martyrdom, the looks of hatred in the eyes of an actual crane that's broken its wings. Whatever. It isn't a history or a prophecy.

It's a trap, and listening to it and trying to derive some meaning from its words will lead you to infernalism. Destroy it if you run into it, and as much as I know it pains one of Jupiter's own to hear this, ignore what it says."

[Lord Raziere]

"Nothing but lies. Got it. I'll treat it as a mini-Ebon Dragon."
Blaze turned to leave.
"Now...lets go find my Sifu like the good scroll says, yes? Hopefully he will at least make sense of things between the cryptic prophecy and lies of the Crane..."

[garter_snake]

That was anticlimatic, Lance thought as the ghost dissipated. Still... If that really had been a manifestation of the Crane, and its fragmented words were accurate, then slaying it would cause some horrible unforeseen consequence that would lead to the world being doomed.

Lance mentally rolled his eyes. Like he hadn't heard that before.

Still, some parts might be worthy of attention. 'The Unyielding Flames Tempered by Shadows' proboly refers to some individual or group that will be responsible for defeating some Solars. 'Treachery Incarnate' could be anything, but The Ebon Dragon was the first thing that came to mind. 'the Black'... Oblivion, maybe? However, the most worrying part was 'The Visiers, their hearts yadda yadda loss of their mates, yadda yadda, doomed yadda.' Since when do we have mates?

"By the way... did the ghost ever actually tell us where Kalshu-To is?"

[Lord Raziere]

"Hmm....Sounds like a horrible unforeseen consequence don't you think, Whisper?"
He said, arching an eyebrow at his fellow Oracle.
"But maybe not all hope is lost, maybe there was a clue in what he already said that we can follow....or lead us down the path of infernalism and foolishness. One or the other..."

[Guancyto]

"Got Crane'd before he could finish telling us," Whisper says, nodding to Blaze, "it does indeed, looks like Oversight isn't so all-seeing after all, not that that surprises anyone. There are..."

He hesitates and looks away; mentioning this looks like a big admission from him. "There are elements of the legend that says the Crane's contents become more accurate the closer it is to the time of the Yozis' return, and that it will be a true history when they finally escape to wreak their vengeance upon the gods and Exalted.

I wouldn't put much stock in that, and I at least don't have anyone that could be described as a mate in any sense, so I think we're pretty safe.

Unless someone wants to say any rites, I can finish up here while we all get back to saving Greyfalls."

[Lord Raziere]

"Well, isn't just great? Getting more accurate as it goes by...as for mates, maybe the Crane isn't as accurate as we think it is and got Lunars and Sidereals mixed up or something- the heroes of the sun- Solars- defeated and the Stewards grieving over the loss of their mates, Crane isn't actually accurate, says Viziers instead. Why? Who knows. Lets go save the city."
With that Blaze started to walk up the stairs, pondering on the problem of defending Greyfalls.

[Volthawk]

Grave sighs. "Great. We don't have the information from the ghost because of the Crane popping up, and it looks like Oversight hasn't realised that, I suppose because of the Crane's Yozi nature. All we know about Kalshu-Tor from this is that he was the last Vizier to see this guy, but we don't know when exactly."

[Orosboru]

The night sky is grim and the lights of the city obscure the stars, making you all feel uneasy. You emerge from the ruined villa, the lingering effects of the depression slowly fading away. And for now, the city continues to wait.

There are many bonfires set around the city, not for warmth, but to keep back the darkness that threatens to consume them in fear. The oversight scroll glows dimly, seemingly unaware of the mission's setback.

Then thunder lights up the night as a wind-aspected dragonblood is thrown into the air, his anima crackling with lightning and swirling around him. He quickly assumes a diving position and descends with a kick, disappearing from your view.

[garter_snake]

"So." Yarrik says conversationally. "Warstriders. From Agent Ten's information, there are two of them in the city, and two on a ship. We'll want all four if we're in for a siege. What I'd like to do is walk in with some nice, forged orders and take them without a hassle, but forgery isn't my specialty. So, then. I'm going to find Mr. , who seems to be the de facto leader of the military here, and get a better grasp of the situation and, hopefully, convince him to get those warstriders operational." Yarrik exits the building and heads towards the Legion headquarters. Or wherever else the military is headquartered.

[Orosboru]

Might as well check this before we leave. A distinctively feminine, utterly alien voice comes from Oversight. In fact, it's so startling to hear a human voice from this Samsara-defying being.

Whisper feels a terrible and joyous calling, a frightful remembrance of something he cannot put his finger on. This... unprecedented wave of emotion to a new part of you that you cannot understand sends your mind into a whirlwind of confusing. To the others, all you see of Whisper's state is a slow, dim glow of his anima.

[Guancyto]

A whirlwind of confusion is right. "Ow." Whisper pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve the pressure. "Right. Yarrik, you, um, you go ahead with that. Someone better go with him, I guess it doesn't matter who. Mnemon Aldous is our primary concern, so the sooner we're on that the better."

He should wait for his anima to die down; running around glowing green is going to get him killed. "Dammit," he says to the scroll, putting a finger on it in accusation, his voice exasperated, "if you've got something useful to tell me about Kalshu-Tor, why don't you say so?"

[Orosboru]

Kalshu-Tor? I know very little, beyond what was in his notes. May I ask who I'm speaking to? Strange. This doesn't sound like oversight. It doesn't sound like oversight at all. But no other communication can go through this confidential pipe. So how..?

The sounds of distant fighting from the air aspect reach you, even from this distance.

[Guancyto]

"Guys, someone should probably go help him," Whisper lifts his finger from the scroll and indicates the Air aspect anima crackling, "I can't. Anima, and there will be monks around."

He addresses the scroll again. If Oversight is just screwing with him, he's going to be terribly unamused, but the big OS probably gets tetchy if people don't play along with its tricks. If OS gets tetchy. "Whoever you are, you've hijacked one of the most secure communication lines in the world. Nobody's ever done that before. I'm... a little impressed, actually," the simultaneous joy and terror in his heart, together with the familiarity... maybe he's being a little more honest than he should be. He'd rather it settle on one extreme or the other, but as he's learned so long ago, Sidereals can't have nice things.

"'Wisp' will do for now. Little busy trying to save Creation, but circumstances have conspired such that I've got time for a chat. How are things on your end?"

[Orosboru]

"Not... so bad, all said and done." She pauses, "Saving Creation? Um... anything I can do to help with that? You asked for information on Kalshu-Tor; I have what looks like a memo written by him, here. If you know him, does that mean you're a S-"

Her voice cuts out, and the scroll pulses with unstable essence. It starts blaring out a unfamiliar voice, and several familiar ones.

"Enough tricks. My unnamed, where hence she been? Enough despair - I may have the all the answers. You will have many battles before your life is through, that I know- we're used to suffering, aren't we - I loved you, mother. I loved-


alea iacta est. The game has begun, Saturn. "
Your anima fades to its usual level of discreetness, while the scroll crumbles to dust in your hands.

[Guancyto]

"Ah! No!" Whisper cries out as the voice cuts away, "****! Stay with me!"

Is that... Saturn? Sol? And someone else? ****!

With a sinking feeling, he identifies the feeling carried by that link - whatever it was - the joy and togetherness poisoned by heartbreak, by terror, by determination. Doubtless intensified by Essence or Charms or resonance or something like that though the arcane link, but it remains the same. He felt it before, on that day.

The day he nearly killed his best friend in the name of duty, forever made her his mortal enemy, and then decided he could live with that outcome.

It is, to say the least, unpleasant. "Right, guessing you aren't still there," he manages to eke out, waiting a moment for a response even from the pile of dust. If he doesn't get one within twenty seconds, he starts toward the air aspect fighting, intent on at least seeing what's going on. Duty calls, as it must.

[Lord Raziere]

"What the? A memo? Kalshu-tor.....what is going on.....aw Void! I don't have time for this malfunctioning Oversight scroll nonsense and neither do you! Whisper, we need to see what Ten is fighting then get to those Warstriders, if Ten is fighting something that can be a threat, it could be dangerous enough to thwart our operations here! We need info and therefore recon."
Ten Winds was strong, but there was always a chance he could lose. Blaze was not about to let their plans to save Greyfalls fail because of an unknown factor.
He ran off to investigate the fight.

[Volthawk]

"That was...odd. Right, time to see what's going on with Ten. Hey, Blaze, maybe try being stealthy about it. Just a suggestion."

After saying that, Grave focuses, first muting his presence on all relevant levels, and then moving away from Fate and the Loom for a while. To Blaze, Grave seems to completely vanish, although the others can still see him. He then starts to move over to where the air aspect was seen, still sneaking, since he still wanted to not be seen by creatures strong-minded enough to see him.


Using Soft Presence Tactics, and then Walking Outside Fate. Overall cost of 10 motes, 2 Willpower. SPT lasts all day, and WOF lasts as long as I want it to.

Effects are that my target numbers for rolls to stay subtle and concealed are down to 6, and anything with Dodge MDV less than 7 can't see me at all (outside of fate stuff gets +3 to their total for this). Actions I take against creatures who can't see me take a -2 penalty, and if I take an action against someone who can't see me, they can roll Per+Awareness to sense me (although they still take a -2 penalty to actions and can't use ranged weapons on me).

Dex+Stealth (target number is 6): [roll0] ...2 successes. Wow, that was a bad roll.

[Orosboru]

A chimera - wait, not a Lunar. A massive pale gold four legged thing with blue hair bursts out of a building, tackling Agent Ten into another. The sound of crumbling brick and straining wood can be heard for miles. Lightning strikes repeatedly downward, but the fighting doesn't seem to stop.

The ground is dotted with silicate glass, jagged and pristine in their first moments of creation. Agent Ten is having some difficulty - there is blood soaking through his robe and his anima is on the verge of going haywire. The nearby surroundings near him whirl and twist, small papers shredding into a million pieces.

[Volthawk]

"...what is that thing?"

Not waiting for anyone with him to respond, Grave approaches the fight, slight previews of the fight that he's getting into flashing into his mind.


Using Secrets of Future Strife to boost my Join Battle roll.

Join Battle: [roll0] + [roll1] - 12 successes total

[Guancyto]

Whisper is, as seems to be the case more often these days, right behind Grave.

Of course, if he has some notion of what it is, he's quite ready to capitalize on it.

Join Battle: [roll0]

Int+Lore if applicable: [roll1]

[Lord Raziere]

Blaze draws his daiklaive then joins the fight, running forward towards the golden lion.

Join Battle Roll:
[roll0]- 3 successes

[Orosboru]

Agent Ten coughs up a little blood as his anima tears the land he sits on apart. He raises a eyebrow as you come into the fore, but he slowly moves his palms together and yells: "Dragon Cage!" He swiftly surrounds the immense creature, and with a echoing thunderclap a large whirlwind surrounds the behemoth It glances curiously at the wind prison that surrounds, before glowing in a mysterious golden light.

The plus side of things is that it is contained, for the moment. It looks like it is incredibly easy to enter, but hard to leave. Of course, with the right martial arts style, you can walk through it with ease.

Whisper has no idea what the Malfeas this thing is.

Grave is up.

[garter_snake]

As he walks down the street, Lance spits out a small crimson spider into his hand and holds it up to his face.

"Alrighty. Approximating Creation as a two-dimensional xy plane with units of yards, with my current location as the origin, with the positive y direction being the direction I am facing and the positive x direction being to my right, what is the position vector of closest warstrider?"


Efficient Secretary Technique, two motes.

[Volthawk]

Grave, still cloaked (although he doubted that Ten and the creature were unable to see him), heads towards the creature, assuming the form of the Violet Bier of Sorrows, his caste mark slightly glittering.

"Ten, what is this thing?"


Using Violet Bier of Sorrows Form. Lets me deal lethal damage and parry lethal attacks unarmed, and also lets me remove Virtue dots when I hit (gaining one of the same channels). Speed 5 action. This brings my anima banner to the 1-3 level.

[Orosboru]

"Advise. Vector is 30 degrees west of north, sum of the total. X and Y units confirmed." The secretary vanishes.

"I have a good guess, but-" A essence blast takes out his cover, and he dives into another prominent piece of rubble.

Raziere's turn. sorry for the wait.

[Lord Raziere]

Blaze looks at the golden glowing creature.
"I'd personally say a heavily mutated Solar, but we are too far away from the Wyld to be that...but I wonder if you ever tried talking to it."
Blaze shouts out.
"Hey you in the Dragon Cage! You speak any language we can understand? If so, what are you? Just to clear that up before we continue fighting. We are on a busy schedule."

I would attack, but it wouldn't be wise to break the cage. or go inside it.

[Orosboru]

The Dragon Cage dispels in a puff of essence, disrupted by the sheer force of essence surrounding the creature. Its strange, mechanical anima filled with lightning storms and cogs and gears feels foreign and strange to you. Its essence, great and ineffable, is very, very strong. The sleek, efficient form suggests inspiration from tigers or lions, with a hint of femininity. The giant eyes of the beast are as blue as the depths of the sky in the light of the sun.

"A problem has been detected and essence seven modulation has been suspended to prevent damage to the soulgem.

The problem seems to be caused by the following file: pttrnspdr.rck.stly.sng"

We apologize deeply for the inconvenience. Great Maker guide your gears.



Guancyto's turn.

[Volthawk]

Grave looks over to the other sidereals with him. "Isn't the Great Maker a title of Autochton? Looks like that seal must've been broken..."

[Guancyto]

"Mm, and whatever came out seems hostile. But curious..." Whisper says.

Many of his colleagues would probably allow the strange enemy to continue fighting Ten so they could watch it in action. Wisp himself has to admit it's a little tempting...

"Servant of the Great Maker!" he steps forward, assuming a martial arts stance, the mark of Jupiter lighting on his brow. He can get the best of both worlds. Hopefully. If he doesn't die in the process. "Cease hostilities and identify yourself!"

Fading Sun Form, Anima at 4-7
Periph: 23/38 (15 committed)

[Orosboru]

"Unit Designation: ELEGANT NOVA OF PROGRESSION." the monotone voice. blunders through a horribly jumbled version of Low Realm. "BREACH EXPERIMENT... FAILURE. CORE REBOOT IN... One. Zero. One. Zero. Four. Nine. Milithons. CELESTIAL ESSENCE DETECTED: INITIATING PRIMARY SUBROUTINE ADAMANT." It grinds to a halt, and threatening- First-Age looking rods stick out of the back of the beast.

[Lord Raziere]

"Giant techno-rods….I have an idea."
Freezing Blaze decides to jump over Nova's head, doing a trip backflip on the way, falling towards the rods, he draw upon the power of fate and slashes at three of the rods at the same time using Harmony of Blows, trying to cut them off Nova so that she can't use them.

8 motes spent on Harmony of Blows.
plus my use of the jade spider earlier…..at what anima does it put me at?

also, how do I roll for this? do I make an athletics check and three attacks, or just the three attack checks?

[Volthawk]

Grave doesn't attack for now, although internally he focuses, gaining clarity and purpose for any combat that is needed. As he does this, he reemerges into fate (and sight, for those who could not see him before), a violet aura surrounding him.

"Wait. We don't know what 'Primary Subroutine Adamant' is. We don't know what it will do. We don't know why it's here, or what its intentions are."


Just going to use a Guard action and activate Blade of the Battle Maiden, so I get 3 extra successes and deal 1 extra level of damage if it would already inflict damage. This only applies to Nova and targets of my Motivation or Intimacies.

[Orosboru]

"SELF DEFENCE MEASURES ACTIVATED." A blue forcefield slaps aside the first couple of rhythmic and repeated blows, but a hearty slice into the side extrusion carves off the tip of a missile, sundering it to uselessness.

"Watch out, its-" Ten manages to say before a single explosion releases dozens of missiles. "-move!" He finishes off, before activating a wind sphere that crackles with lightning, sending the projectiles fired at him off course.

You guys aren't so lucky.


[roll0] Freezing Blaze
[roll1] Grave Sentinel
[roll2] Whisper
[roll3] Lance
[roll4] Freezing Blaze
[roll5] Grave Sentinel
[roll6] Whisper
[roll7] Lance
[roll8] Freezing Blaze
[roll9] Grave Sentinel
[roll10] Whisper
[roll11] Lance

[Volthawk]

Grave is calm and focused as the missiles approach, effortlessly blocking each one, sending each one spinning away from him.

Parried the lot of them with my bare hands, cuz that's how I roll. :smallcool:

[Orosboru]

(Calimos, start here.)

Violet Rose Petal was a little melancholy this Calibration. She had friends in the Bureau of Endings, and the absence of so many is affecting her more then she lets on. She gives you a tentative smile during the last minute of Calibration, and holds your hand, which is about the extent of affection she can show you as a student of a member of the Bronze Faction. After the grand event of the Carnival is over, the Sidereals once again must march in their never-ending mission of maintaining creation, and she leaves with the quickness and celerity of her caste, only hesitating for a moment. She has your duties. You have yours.

You have your own opinions on Lady Saturn's disappearance. Gossip and slow thought within your own division suggests that she was battling something of great power and if not lost, at least tied. Her injuries were cured by some mysterious being, and Luna is suspected of her usual tricks. Whatever Mars knows, she has not deemed fit to tell you - which is usual, since she rarely speaks, even for the Incarnae.

You find yourself by yourself in a quiet place where you usually meet Violet Rose Petal, gazing upwards at the ever-changing stars. It is a moment of peace, and of privacy. It does not last long.
"Attention, Division of Battles and all Exalts:" Your communicator is flashing brightly at your hip, and you pick it up. Gate 54 is in need of assistance. Thirteen Celestial Lion officers down. Hostiles engaged. Danger imminent, Malfeas-class opponents. Gods and trainees should stay away from the vicinity. Skyships inbound.

[Lord Raziere]

Freezing Blaze dodges and evades every missile that comes for him, his anima glowing as he leaned out of the way out of one missile, ducked under another then leaped over the last.

Not one of them has more than 5 successes :smallcool:

[Guancyto]

Whisper looks at the missiles impassively as they streak toward him. A projectile that slow and wide would never...

...then the first one that Ten deflected explodes. He makes one of the quickest recalculations he's made in some time, steps forward before whatever trigger (timer?) they had can complete, and punches both of the ones headed at him skyward.

"Well she's not here to make friends, we know that much," Whisper says, lining up a shot from his prayer piece, firing off a round as he searches for more substantial cover.

Also parrying them with my bare hands, because Sidereals.

Attack: [roll0]
Raw damage is +10L

[Orosboru]

The prayer piece goes plink off the armour of the behemoth. You don't believe you did any damage.

The missiles parried spin off into the city, their trajectories unable to compensate without a controlling entity. They explode in the background, wrecking dozens of homes and scaring the hell out of the defenders of the city.

Fate twists from the blow, but soon compensates. Hopefully, you haven't collateral damaged anyone important.

(garter's turn.)

[Volthawk]

"To be fair, someone" Grave looks at Blaze "did attack her before that little barrage."

[Lord Raziere]

"I got rid of one of them, didn't I? one less thing to evade. She was going to fire them anyways…."
Blaze said back, cross and grumpy as ever.

[Calimos]

Kenji stares to the sky, trying to calm himself. Seeing Violet Rose Petal in a melancholic mood didn't do much good, since she was usually the one to cheer him up and improve his spirits. Then again, what was going on was truly disturbing and there was every reason for the remaining Viziers to be on edge.

When he receives the message, a strange feeling of cold runs down his spine and he forces it away, as he gets ready. He completes in no time his armour and equipment check and rushes quickly to the Gate under siege. If any of the fallen Primordials dare send their forces to attack Heaven, he will have none of it, as is a valiant Shieldbearer's duty. Heaven's defences must hold and the news of so many Celestial Lions being down mean that the situation is quite severe.

He focuses for a second, closing his eyes and offering a quick prayer to Mars, then erupts in forward motion, running at top speed towards Gate 54.

[Orosboru]

"Secure the beachhead! Make way for our mistress!" The general cry of the denizens of Malfeas as the corrupted gate spews out more and more demonic reinforcement. Several lions are trying to push their way to their fallen comrades, but there are so many first circle demons that it is like a leaf trying to push against a river.

There is a second-circle demon commanding them all, standing confidently on the corpse of a Celestial lion, his essence armour shining dimly with Malfeas's characteristic green glow. Several gods have barricaded themselves in the bureaucrat's office, but it won't last for long.

It appears that you are the first response to the scene. Hopefully, whatever goal these demons are after, you must stop them.

[Calimos]

Kenji observes the scene, forcing himself to calm, while feeling a Scarlet Tempest, as is his sobriquet, welling up from inside his soul. This is a large scale demonic invasion, and the response so far is inadequate. He needs to act swiftly and decisively if there is any hope of turning the tide of battle. Make the battlefield hostile to the demonic forces first and deal with their apparent superior on the scene second. Hopefully, the gods present will have the clarity to call for aid and assist in whatever way they can.

Kenji diverts a portion of his essence to his advanced optical camouflage systems of his armor, making himself appear as nothing more than a blur to all outside observers. Then, he turns his focus to the area around him, willing his anima to engulf it in a red haze-like fog, hampering the strength and effectiveness of all the hated demonic forces within, while bolstering the defences of Heaven's forces that try to repel them.

His mind engulfs the battlefield for a few moments, in meditation of the conflict to come, and setting his eye on the abominable sight of the Demonic Commander, erupts forth as his sacred duty to defend Heaven and Creation burns scarlet in his soul, a blurry phantom of Heaven's wrath, Tempest, his predecessor's starmetal daiklave trailing behind, ready to deliver the devastating strike that will send this hellspawn back to Malfeas.


"Power Up phase"
Activating cloaking device 5m of personal Essence.
Activating Vermillion District Haze 8m of personal Essence, 1wp
Activating Meditation on War 4m of peripheral Essence, 1wp
Join Battle: [roll0]
When my turn comes I'll attempt to launch an unexpected (courtesy of my cloaking device stealth) attack on the Second circle demon who seems to oversee the assault, channeling Valor, to hopefully succeed and replenish my initial Essence expenditure.

[Orosboru]

Join Battle
[roll0]
Critical fail!
Wits+ Perception
[roll1]
Rolled your steath, got one success. Continuing on...


The demon looks unperturbed and does not seem to notice you. It takes off its helmet to reveal flowing blonde hair bursting with vitality. Her face is oddly peaceful in the chaos that unfolds. Her armour is streaked with red paint and the occasional traces of blood.

She turns and gazes in your general direction. She starts speaking in Malfean Old Realm, saying: "My name is Jeweled General, First Echo of the Wind of Change. Face me, Exalt."

She stops in her tracks, her eyes glimmering in recognition. "My sisters..!" She holds her heart, her face full of fear.

[garter_snake]

Greyfalls, away from battle.

Lance follows his spider's direction and proceeds along the position vector towards the warstrider.

[Orosboru]

You follow the pattern spider's directions to the letter. Jumping on the rooftops to save time, you are unnoticed by all. You eagerly look around for the signature appearance of these titans, which would be invaluable with dealing with these monstrosities...

Only to end up in the bar you just came. The place is still as empty as you left it, with a very cold cup of tea sitting on the table where Ten left it.

[Calimos]

Moving like a true Tempest, faster than the eye can see, Kenji closed the distance between him and the Demonic Commander. As she came into view, his Essence sight analyzed her aura in case something was amiss, and prior to attacking, he made sure, like a true Vizier and Shieldbearer, that his defences were bolstered and ready.

With a fluid movement, he veered slightly to the left, then to the right, as if gathering his strength and began closing in for the attack, from the rear side of the Demon.

As he approached rapidly, he stepped with his right foot on the shoulder of one of the fallen Celestial Lions, paying silently his respects to the mighty yet fallen defender of Yu-Shan, lifting himself slightly upwards, then he stepped with his left foot on the head of another fallen celestial lion, commending mentally its bravery and sacrifice before the Malfean invaders, and launched himself up. Vivid images of the Primordial War iconography from his training flashed in his mind, putting forth the greatest display of courage he could muster, with certain knowledge that he was representing the Spearhead of Heaven's forces on scene, the first and perhaps last line of defence, before the vile demonic army's onslaught. He would not fail. He could not afford to fail.

Tempest rose diagonally, as Kenji vaulted behind the Demoness, trailing an invisible path in the hazy red fog around. The scriptures of the Maidens on the ancient blade almost hummed, resonating with the epic battle ahead, and with a flick of Kenji's wrist, Tempest slashed, in one fateful strike that intended to sent the Demoness back to Malfeas screaming.


Spending 1WP to channel Valor. 5 more dice in my attack pool (Acc 17 + 5 = 21). If successful I'll be refunded 10 motes. If my above description qualifies as stunt, I'll get the motes for 1 die or the WP for 2die.

Attack roll: Target number 6, according to Meditation of War.

[roll0]

15 successes if I counted correctly.

Also, she's in -1 internal penalty on all actions, my DV is +1 (Parry DV = 8) and the cloaking device effect means that I don't need to make a Stealth roll, her roll is needed to see if she can perceive me, despite the cloaking field. Even if she does, she suffers a -2 external penalty on attacks against me, since I'm considered invisible, even though she might perceive my general shape and location, if I understood the armor's properties correctly.

[Orosboru]

Your blade scores a very deep gouge in her body, a small chink in her armour coerced by fate violently rent asunder. Great wells of red blood glowing faintly of green essence pours from her wounds as she bitterly tries to fend you off. She's hurt, and distracted. The other minions don't seem to notice her plight, pouring in towards Yu-Shan.

Her face betrays her emotions - torn between somewhere there and now. She seems not to notice you or the damage to her body, her mind elsewhere and unable to give orders or even defend herself. Her hand hovers above her sword, her hesitation evident.

In the distance, you can see a circle of first circle demons cavorting in a ritualistic, fate-changing manner. They're some distance away, and they are guarded by some very big blood apes and a platoon of mortal rabble. Some enterprising and smart demons are beginning to notice the harm on their leader, and you feel the surge of infernal essence as they try to search for you.


[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Calimos]

While perturbed by the apparent apathy and peculiar mental state of the demonic commander, Kenji, decides to take advantage of this situation and press on with his attack. After landing, he makes a sweeping, encircling move, as the shadows that twist around by a strong gust of the wind, and getting behind her again, as the cunning predator encircles its prey, launches himself upwards, turning his blade while on air, in a descending grip, targeting the rent part of her armor, in an attempt to impale her, thrusting Tempest with full force inside her already wounded body, his eyes shining beneath his helmet with utter determination and wrath.

If my description qualifies as stunt, I'll take the motes or WP as in my previous attack.
10 motes of Essence recovered from previous Virtue channel.
Attack roll: 17 die
Spending 6m 1wp, to activate Fateful Melee Excellency for an Auspicious Success, granting me 17 successes.
Damage before extra successes is 11L.
Judging from your description Orosboru, I'd say she's probably in a state almost helpless (inactive?), which -if I'm not mistaken - means that she has no effective DV (DV = 0), therefore adding all successes to raw damage for a total of 28 raw (pre-soak) damage. If I understood it wrongly proceed as above :smallsmile:

[Orosboru]

Auspicious... victory.

Against exalted opponents? Used as a finishing blow. Against all others, especially against unaware targets? A assassination tool. The words of your Sifu repeat softly in your head as your blade seeks home into the dark, bloody fate that befalls all Malfeans that dare invade Yu-Shan. Your Starmetal sword juts out of her back, her final defence inadequate to deflect your blow.

You are, for a moment, briefly frightened when her two arms rigidly surround you in a final death grip, her eyes full of grim acceptance of the fate that her opponent has given her. It tightens, and she rests her head on your shoulders, a grim parody of affection that tries to squeeze the life out of you.

Her grip loosens and you feel the ragged breath of her last dying life, a broken body searching for answers in the shallow heights of battle. But it is different now. There is a hope, if not in the present, then in the far future, in the dreadful and dying age. It is utterly human in nature, a defiance that does not fade.

It is the dying light of a fragmented soul.

"...thank you, Sidereal." She murmurs as she crumbles into ash in her hell-crafted armour, her corpse tumbling to the ground in a pile of dust.

[garter_snake]

"Mmm... I really should have defined a Z direction." Yarrick sighed. Lets see... the Realm probably doesn't have the resources to store warstriders in Elsewhere, and that wouldn't have returned a viable position vector anyway. Meaning the warstrider was either up or down. Assuming that there wasn't some random guy laughing his ass off in a cloaked First Age airship, 'down' was the more likely of the two. Yarrick proceeds to the cellar, and upon arriving, begins inspecting around for any hidden passageways.




Per+investigation, I think. 3#1d10

[Calimos]

The words of his sifu echoed true in his mind, as Kenji paused briefly, almost overwhelmed by the sheer emotion of a soul's dramatic passing. One hand held the blade deeply in his opponent, the other ran through her hair gently, while she rested her head on his shoulder, as if to ease her passing, gently closing her eyes before she fell down crumbling to dust, among the remnants of her armor.

Offering brief thanks to Mars for watching over him, the Scarlet Tempest looked around the battlefield once again, trying to determine if the loss of their apparent commander had any impact on the demonic invasion force as well as on the morale of the belaguered defenders of Yu-Shan. Then he proceeded to evaluate the severity of the other threats present on scene, as a prelude to taking his next course of decisive action.

[Orosboru]

"Isidoros, the Black Boar that Scrapes the Earth, we implore you, give your strength to us as we refuse the boundaries of our existence. Cecelyne, the End of Seas, we ask for your beneficence as we flout the laws of our existence. Kimbery, the Flame that Fled from the Sea, we seek your embrace as we find the depths of our existence. She who Defies Shape and Form, we ask for the presence of your dread name as we do our labours. Szoreny, the Grand Tree, we wish for your guidance as we hide our very existence from ourselves." A cantor speaks loudly, barking out the syllables in the primal letters of Malfean Old Realm. It stops momentarily, as if in fear, and then continues in the softest voice that is still audible.
"Shadow-of-the-dragon, do not betray us on this good night."

Fate is being... distorted. Something terrible is happening to that gate.

[Calimos]

Kenji watches the foul ritual unfold, in utter horror, shivers running down his back, as he begins to grasp the magnitude of events and perhaps his own inability to deal successfully with all threats present. But he is a chosen of the Maiden of Battles, he has just defeated a mighty Demon of the Second Circle, he altered the battlefield to the defenders favour, in an attempt to even the odds a bit, and as long as he draws breath he will not yield. He will never surrender.

With renewed determination, focused on the vile cultist chanting ahead of him, he runs forward in a blur of speed, taking full advantage of his personal concealment, keeping the hope high that reinforcements will come, passes between confused or otherwise occupied demons and mortals, vaulting unnaturally high above them if need be, or even ignoring them totally, as if they were not material, swirling in the air as the Scarlet Tempest he is, his determination, focus and wrath being almost palpable, the Judgment of Heaven for these vile invaders travelling alongside the edge of his starmetal blade. As if the very god who sacrificed itself, after a crippling wound in the final days of the Primordial War, so that he could become an utterly lethal weapon in the hands of the Chosen of Fate, opting to serve for an eternity against those very elder chthonic beings that once were the tyrants of Creation, was suddenly revived in anger and iron will to see those who violated the hallowed grounds of Yu-Shan perish as wheat before the scythe of Fate.

Kenji was no more the calm, temperate Chosen of Battles. He was no more the romantic and carrying individual, the sympathizer of poetry, the valorous combatant. No, he was transformed in the Scarlet Tempest of Fate, into the very manifestation of the desperate Shieldbearer, who knowingly puts himself valiantly into the Vortex of Chaos, into the Maw of Oblivion, into the Flames of Hell itself, to grant Heaven and Creation a small shard of hope, for another day of survival. His mind focused in the battle, his soul drifting away, seeking the imposing building complex of the Crimson Panoply of Victory, seeking with all the strength of soul he can muster the guidance and assistance of Mars, the Maiden of Battles, beseeching her to intervene, imploring her to take command of Heaven's forces, to rouse Incarnae and Gods alike, to don her panoply and march alongside the Chosen in defence of Heaven. The words came unbiased to his lips, an offering to the altar of battle and the Maiden who presided over it.

"Glorious Maiden of Battles, One of the Most High, Presiding over the Destiny of Conflict, in Heaven and Creation alike. Turn your gaze upon your humble servant, who - in your most glorious beneficence - you deemed worthy to exalt and set him on the path of Destiny, making him a loyal servant to you, a Shieldbearer par excellence, sworn, tasked, destined to fight courageously in the conflicts of Creation. Turn your gaze and prove for all Heaven to see, that in this hour of direst need, when the forces of those chthonic elder beings, whose nature defies Fate, invade the holy city of Yu-Shan, you are here to fight alongside the valiant defenders. Don your panoply and strike at the hearts of those vile invaders, turn their flesh bloodied and their bones in ash. Smite them Mars with all the wrath of Heaven and prove once again your absolute mastery over one of the greatest battles ever to happen".

He reasoned that as he was doing his own part, as he was standing courageous in the face of terrible odds to defend Yu-Shan and Creation from a fate worse than death and destruction, so should they provide the proper example for all to see. And even though he knew that potentially his personal contribution might prove adequate, he would not cease fighting, he would not back down And he could not afford to back down, he could not afford to fail. With all those thoughts burning in the bright colour of blood inside his mind, Kenji made his fateful way to the demented cultist, and rising up, followed by Tempest, cutting the strands of fate which held in life those vile individuals whose actions defied it, intent on disrupting the ongoing ritual and granting the desperate defenders of Heaven a brief respite.




I'm willing to utilize "Declaration of Humility" or/and Forgotten Earth, in case they're needed, to travel even faster and ignore any demons that bar the way to the chanting Yozi cultist. I'm already dashing/moving at double speed due to armour, and hopefully, by being concealed I can manage to slip through any of their "blockades", to reach the chanting individual (who will be hopefully too absorbed to notice my attack), even without the need to resort in the aforementioned charms.

After that, attack on him [paying 4m to reduce target number to 4 via Fateful Melee Excellency. I'm a bit hesitant on spending more WP at the moment, since the opening of the battle drained me a bit].


[roll0] 9 or 10 successes (if stunt die count)

Possible stunt die: [roll1] [roll2]

11L damage before counting extra successes that might add to raw damage. In case my attack is unexpected, the raw damage will be 20 or 21 die.

If my prayer to Mars is deemed to need a roll for mechanical effect, other than the "dramatic effect" part (for which dramatic effect I usually resort to such descriptions, the better to convey my character's internal strife and state of mind, pleas for hope coupled with determination etc) here follows the Charisma+Performance roll.

[roll3] 3 or 4 successes (if stunt die count)
Possible stunt dice: [roll4] [roll5].

[Orosboru]

The basement seems wonderfully... banal. Many bottles and steins, the occasional stash of rainy day jade scrip, but nothing seems right, exactly, to you. You can feel the pulse of a greater fate in the background, but it seems to be content to bide its time for the right moment.

The secretary wouldn't lie to you. But what exactly is this place?

...

You hear the streaking explosions of the First Aerial Legion, and you know that reinforcement has arrived. More martial gods and Sidereal exalts have taken to the field, cutting down the ravenous horde of demons and stemming the tide. The lions are recovering their kin and withdrawing, keeping a steady line against them.
"...and my mistress, the Silent Wind, the River-that-was, come to us. We hold on to hope. To this, I offer..."
Dashing through the horde, you are swift as the wind and just as unnoticed, leaving only ripples of blood in your wake. Your blade cuts through the strings of his fate, ending his life as surely as it runs through his body from behind. He smirks as he quietly dies, every move you've made somehow seen and manipulated; "my blood."

To your immense horror, fate ripples and bulges as the blood and demonic ichor glow with the fetid smell of infernal essence. Even being near the blood spilt on the floor has a jarring feeling to the natural folds of fate. Standing in it, you feel you are in the realm of Malfeas itself.

A sudden silence suddenly comes over the battlefield.

[Calimos]

Kenji recoils in disgust from this blasphemous affliction on the hallowed grounds of Yu-Shan. The feeling of intense foreboding is too strong to ignore. He looks back and starts heading towards the reinforcements that have arrived, trying to take heart at their presence, still suffering internal shock at the apparent manipulation of his behaviour which even though enacted in defence of Heaven, it seems to have concluded the vile cultist's plans. Then he remembers another of his lessons, by his venerable sifu, one lesson regarding the alteration of the dreaded realms of Hell, Underworld and Wyld, and how to counter them. Concentrating amidst the thunderous noise of the battlefield, which soon turns to utter silence, he wills the ground under his feet as well as in his close vicinity, the ground that now feels as Malfeas to him, to conform and obey the Laws of Creation. The struggle is titanic as he's doing that, then he breathes hard, in an effort to calm himself from the over-exertion of combat and holds his ground, in anxiety for what is to come.

Activating Creation Smuggling Procedures (the ground I stand as well as in 10 yards radius obeys the basic laws of Creation), in a desperate effort to deny the forces of Hell a foothold in the holy grounds of Yu-Shan. According to the feeling you described Orosboru, that it seems to my character that the ground is like standing in Malfeas, I thought that perhaps the benefits conferred by this charm, could perhaps help somewhat in hampering their foul ritual or at least disrupting part of its magnitude or effects.

[Lord Raziere]

Blaze readies his reaver daiklaive again and this time jumps onto a buildings wall then jumps off the wall towards Nova's eye, try to stab her eye with his sword to blind her.

Attack:
[roll0]

Possible Damage:
[roll1]L Minus any Soak Nova has.

[Orosboru]

Your daiklaive is easily deflected by a unseen force, slapped aside by a incredibly powerful essence forcefield. Its eyes target you with a eerie red glow.

You hear the secondary detonations go off in the distance. Fate stresses and cracks a little, the sounds of many little fates being warped and snapped in the distance.

...

Your charm activates in the nick of time before you are swallowed up by the ravenous mouths of Malfeas, eager to pursue their newfound freedom in Yu-Shan. Fallen bodies and corpses are eagerly consumed, their dying essence snuffed out in a endless sea of blood.

"W-w-w-aaah!" Another Chosen barely dashes into the circle, a trail of green-red blood hissing and evaporating before puffing into a poof of gas. The lesser sign of mercury is glowing dimly above her. "My office!" You can see in the distance that a slum is being rapidly devoured by the tide. She huffs and puffs as she falls on the golden floor, her feet slightly steaming from the effort.

Even you know who she is. She's been censured so many times that you doubt that she even gets her quintessence on a daily basis. She's Cynthia, Chosen of Journeys. You dimly remember Saturn's return, and she was involved... somehow. The Bureau of Secrets works fast.

[Calimos]

Kenji extends his hand to support the fellow Chosen, all the while frantically assessing the rapidly deteriorating situation around them.
"Cynthia, right? Here, hold on and try to calm and focus. What's going on with your office? What happened before and what is happening?"

[garter_snake]

The basement seems wonderfully... banal. Many bottles and steins, the occasional stash of rainy day jade scrip, but nothing seems right, exactly, to you. You can feel the pulse of a greater fate in the background, but it seems to be content to bide its time for the right moment.

The secretary wouldn't lie to you. But what exactly is this place?

...


Lance closes his eyes and leans back. Efficient Secretary Techniques gives facts; if the warstrider was supposed to be here, then it was here. However, anything else was up in the air. Well, it was clear that there was some power besides the Realm at work here. Hiding a warstrider in a tavern basement wasn't something that they would do. Combined with the pulsing fate in the background, this probably meant that the Bureau of Destiny was involved somehow. So either the warstrider was stashed somewhere by an operative to store it, or someone had set things up so that it would only appear when it was needed. The latter would require a bit more work to hack, so may as well check the former first. Lance set his caste mark ablaze with invisible light, casting it forth in the immaterium to reveal dematerialized entities.




Mark of Exaltation, 1m personal. pg 37 loom 2.0

[Guancyto]

So they really don't seem to be able to harm it. No surprises there. Whisper ducks behind a bit of cover, convenient rubble provided by Nova and Ten's fight. "Elegant Nova of Progression! State your purpose in being here!"

Meanwhile he performs his own divination. Not exactly something he should be doing in combat, but now isn't a good time to be flying blind.

He really should have thought of that twenty seconds ago.

1m and a misc action on Auspicious Prospects for Secrets: will talking to Nova result in finding out who she is and why she's here, or is it better to keep attacking?

[Orosboru]

Secrets in secrets,
dreams within dreams
outside of the grand scheme
no chances, many regrets
converse with the ambassador of the mighty machine.

It starts to spit out random gibberish of numbers.
01010011011110010111001101110100011001010110110100 10000001110011011001010111010001110100011010010110 11100110011101110011001000000111001001100101011000 11011000010110110001101001011000100111001001100001 01110100011001010110010000101110001000000100110001 10000101110101011011100110001101101000011010010110 111001100111-AutochthOS revision 13.2.1a. PIRATING IS A CRIME. PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ENGINEERS COLLECTIVE BY PURCHASING YOUR FIRMWARE.

...
You turn on your caste mark, and nothing obviously Sidereal responds to you - but you feel a sickening crawling feeling as you feel internal turmoil as the ground shudders at your every move. This place is... familiar. But you don't know why.