The night-time journey back to the main island, for your planned meeting at Azure Lake for the war council, or the "moot" as they call it, has been nothing short of hilarious.Mostly because it entailed explaining (and demonstrating) that your girlfriend is totally a shapeshifter and can totally turn into a bird to your three pirate captains and new underlings, Rubel Sareni, Alexei and Iohannes Quint.None of which was particularly thrilled at the idea of four people (actually five, counting your newly-appointed butler Regis) hitching a ride on a single bird.Tia's bird form is a particularly large vulture, but a large vulture is still a large bird that's still nowhere as big as a human adult.Of course, she IS strong enough to carry everyone, but that doesn't make it any more comfortable.So, Tia had to fly up with Rubel and Alexei held by each of her claws (with the help of a bit of rope), yourself and Quint riding on her back, and Regis on YOUR back.The sight of a bird carrying five people piled on it that way is something the denizens of Freeport will remember for quite a while, you imagine.Flying over the sea and green plains of northern Tianna at night, you finally arrive at the meeting point: a small, circular lake of clear water collected in a valley, there where the terrain starts to get hilly and the plains give way to the mountains rising from the center of the island.There are various tents all around the area, and a few large bonfires. The barbarian tribes of the Three Rivers are gathered there, or, more probably, each has sent warriors and representatives to the moot.It's an important event after all: Finally, the humans of Tianna have enough organization and firepower to try and kick the Fair Folk occupying almost the entire western third of the island back into the sea.(cont)
Your train of thought is interrupted by Tia suddenly swerving, briefly losing control while flying low, and doing a particularly hard landing in the middle of the meeting area, crashing noisily amid the screams of her passengers.She rolls on the ground a bit, retransforming back to human shape. "Ow." She mumbles, massaging her forehead. "Clumsy landing.""...No joke." Rubel gets back on his feet and pats dust off his tricorne hat. A quick visual check confirms that all three captains are alright, fortunately. You let little Regis off your shoulders. "Who are all these people?" He asks."They're from the barbarian tribes that live in Tianna." You explain, looking around for familiar faces. "We're trying to form a large alliance to mount an expedition and assault the Western Marshes."That sounds scary." He comments. "I heard there's a faerie prince ruling that place, and that he has a giant palace with a golden roof almost as high as the sky, and an army of servants, half person and half lizard! He does war with another prince in another island, and that's why he kidnaps kids who are naughty or don't eat their onion soup: he turns them into more lizard people for his army!""That's silly." You reassure him. "If he had a palace that tall, we'd see it from here. Besides, if the other prince is in another island, how does he even fight with him? No one ever saw any boats coming out from the swamp""Of course, they fight on the bottom of the sea." Regis explains. "Everyone knows that."While you're thinking of an appropriate reply to give him, you're interrupted by someone you weren't expecting to see here: Samiel Tai Tianna, "Yo. Took your time." He waves at you."Samiel? I thought you were in town?" You ask."I nagged at mom until she let me go." He smiles, fully conscious of how uncool that sentence just now sounded."What happens if the Abyssals attack Tianna while you're away?"(cont.)
"Probably the same thing that would happen if they attack it while i'm there, minus getting beaten to a bloody pulp by then." He recognizes. "...Those are the pirates?" He then asks, giving a wary glance at the three individuals in colorful clothing behind you."Got a problem?" Rubel steps forward, arms crossed."A big one." He frowns. "But I'll put it on hold for now.""Um... let's not fight, people." Alexei gets between them, trying to calm down the tempers. "We're all on the same side, right? Besides, we made a deal. We're not going to attack Tianna's shipments, right?"Samiel takes a deep breath. "Pirates are still scum."Rubel looks like he's about to do the monumentally bad decision of pulling steel on a dragon-blooded, but Quint puts a calm hand on his shoulder from behind, restraining him. "We're not pirates anymore. We're privateers now.""Big difference." Samiel replies."It's a small difference, but if you need an excuse to not be mad at us, and therefore be a productive addition to this war council, it's the only excuse you'll get." Quint replies."I know." The dragon-blooded nods. "I'll make the best of it.">Talk with Samiel (about what?)>Talk with Tia (about what?)>Talk with Rubel/Quint/Alexei (about what?)>Ask Regis to run an errand (what?)>Go look for Talon and Zaan>Go look for the representative of the Water Court>Go look for Dancing Smoke>Other?
>Who are we?Maka, an exiled noble recently Exalted as a Zenith-caste Solar. She's in the western city of Tianna as a guest of queen Amata (DB), an old friend. Abyssals are targeting the city for conquest, Lintha pirates have infiltrated it with spies and agents, and half the island is controlled by paranoid Lunars. Fun times.After three days of gathering allies, you arrive at the meeting you have at Azure Lake. A coalition of mortals, exalted, gods, spirits and elementals created to drive the Fair Folk out of the island, but also to strengthen ties... given that Tianna seems firmly in the crosshairs of both a deathlord and the Lintha.>Solar? Zenith? I don't know Exalted...This quest is as newbie-friendly as possible, and I want it to work as a newbie's intro to Exalted. If you have ANY question, ask in thread. For the setting, google "1d4chan exalted".>Archive?http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=zenith>System?Dicepool-like system. When performing an action, everyone rolls 1d10 when posting. the first X rolls are considered, where X is equal to attribute + ability. Yes, this means that the more people are posting, the stronger Maka is, up to a limit of her attribute + ability.>XP?Attributes cost [current score x5] xp. Abilities cost [current score x3] xp, except Zenith costing [(current score x3) -1]. Charms cost 10 xp, except for Zenith-based charms (related to charisma and physical/mental fortitude) which cost 8 xp. At the end of every "session" (thread) you will be presented with a list of possible acquisitions.>Twitter?@exaltedfag
>>30848885>Go look for the representative of the Water Court>Go look for Dancing Smoke
>>30848885>Go look for the representative of the Water Court>Go look for Dancing SmokeSeems okay with me.EF I've been wondering, would it be possible to upgrade Iron Kettle Body to a permanent charm at Zenith 5?
Rolled 7>>30848885>Talk with Samiel (about what?)Maybe he got the gear we commissioned and brought it with him >Go look for the representative of the Water Court>Go look for Dancing Smoke
>>30848984No. There are no permanent soak-enhancers or permanent damage-enhancers.Best you can get is a permanent charm that gives you a +1 damage to one attack per scene, or +1 soak to one hit per scene.
>>30848885>Talk with Samiel (about what?)We should find if anythings happened while we were gone, also we need to flirt with him, he's the only one of the DBs we haven't sexed>Go look for the representative of the Water Court>Go look for Dancing Smoke
>>30848885>Talk with Rubel/Quint/Alexei (about what?)We need to warn the guy whose wife was thrown to a volcano god that we brought Dancing Smoke her and that we gotten her to agree at least provisionally to a policy of no human sacrifices.>Go look for Dancing SmokeLet's make sure she doesn't do anything hot headed.
>>30849018Just wanted to point out that Tianna has about a half dozen non-royal DBs that we haven't met let alone sexed. So you might want to work them into your plans at some point.
>>30849032Whoops, meant to link >>30849007.
>>30849032Well Samiel is the last royal so he gets alone time, everyone else we can just get all at once in a wild orgy or something
>>30848885>OtherLook to see if Irene's around.
>>30848885>Talk with Samiel (about what?)Let's get an update on Tianna. At this point, we've been away for as many days as we were actually there since the Abyssal attacks.
"So." You step in, hoping to help defuse the animosity. "Samiel. What's going on in Tianna? What did I miss?""Lots of boring work." He replies. "We're arming, fortifying, repairing and training. Not much.""Irene and Amata are fine?" You ask."Yep, Both swamped with work back home. Irene is trying to improve our defense network, Amata is mostly lost in organization and bureaucracy. Oh, right." He pulls out a large wooden box from a backpack lying at his feet, something he probably had dropped earlier. "From Tianna with regards." He grins, handing it to you. It's heavy and clanks loudly.Opening it, you're greeted by the sight of a pair of long armored gauntlets, partially disassembled but clearly meant to cover the entire arm up to the elbow (thought you can probably leave some parts out). They're designed sturdily, with few, thick and robust metal plates bolted solidly, and painted white and gold."The finger-guard has a layer of cold iron on it. It's soft, like all iron is, so it probably won't last long, but that's pretty normal." He explains."Huh. Thank you." You mumble, trying your gloves on. They fit perfectly. They're heavy, but not so heavy that they'd slow you down."You're not going in battle dressed like that, I hope?" He then points out. "You might not need armor, but you should think of something more practical. Well, there's still some time I suppose."[Obtained: Exceptional Armored Gauntlets. Once per scene, +1 damage to an attack.](cont.)
>>30849546I'm voting we use that image for our combat attire.
>>30849546Awww, no high-heeled thigh-high battle boots?...there's always Gossamer armor, I suppose.
>>30849570Too much armour and functional pieces of cloth.
"...I'll think about that. For now..." and you raise your voice for everyone in your group to hear, "let's go to the meeting. We can start. Where are the others?""The anat- the Lunars and some barbarian bigshots were around that bonfire." He gestures. "The volcano goddess got here pretty early and is mostly annoying people around because she's bored. And a hour ago some weird thing slithered out of the lake and said he's with you.""Volcano goddess." Repeats Quint in a monotone."Er... she's Dancing Smoke, the volcano goddess of Tianna. She's not getting any human sacrifice, if that's what you're wondering. In exchange for her help and giving up sacrifices entirely, I promised her a festival and a dance and all the bells and whistles...""Don't worry." He hisses. "I'm not going to shit over this important meeting for some personal problems I might have." He CLEARLY does have them, though.>Go to the meeting>First consult with your captains and Tia (about?)>First change into something more appropriate (what?)
>>30849635>Go to the meeting
>>30849635>Go to the meetingAs if we have other clothes.
>>30849635>First change into something more appropriate (what?)do we have other clothes?
Rolled 8>>30849635>Go to the meeting
>>30849710We could get naked I guess, but Tia mentioned before that we're probably dressed okay for the meeting >>30849635>Go to the meeting
>>30849007>also we need to flirt with him, he's the only one of the DBs we haven't sexedI dunno, he's being kind of a dick today.
>>30849631I don't see a single functional piece of cloth on there, unless you mean padding underneath the gauntlets.
Rolled 9>>30849635>Go to the meeting
>>30849570Its a good option. Elf Maka from last thread could work as well.
>>30849764I don't like it, she's not brown enough to be Maka
>>30849773compared to the pic you referenced?
>>30849773...I'm suggesting we use the clothing from the pic for Maka's official battle dress, not that we stop being a delicious brown solar.
The most important thing right now is to get to meet the other. You head to the bonfire, followed by Samiel, Tia and your captains, as well as Rubel.There's a small clearing near the bonfire, with people sitting on the ground in a circle. Seems like everyone important to the meeting is here: other than a few barbarian warlords you haven't had a chance to meet yet, you meet again with Talon and Zaan, the other two Lunars from the Three Rivers. Dancing Smoke, the volcano goddess. And a humanoid water spite, resting in a hole half-filled with water dug in the ground, from the waist up.Everyone greets you in unison as you approach."...That's quite an eye-catching crowd." is Rubel's comment. Regis is too astonished to reply."Hi." is Tia's very simple greeting to Talon and Zaan."Hey, Tia. How are things going with your new wife?" Talon jokes."We haven't married yet." She replies."Oh? That's not what you were saying three days ago." he seems surprised. He looks at you, evidently impressed that you managed to make someone as headstrong as her change idea?"I don't want to skip the fall-in-love part." She says. "First time looking straight into her eyes. First love letter. First time holding hands. First kiss. First time out alone together, gazing in the night sky...""The same night you met her, you killed together a bunch of Lintha, defused a bomb, and banged each other's brains out so hard you demolished a bedroom." Notes Zaan, helpfully."First date." Points out Tia, her common sense as uncommon as ever.You sigh, sitting down next to them. "I bring you the alliance with Dancing Smoke, three pirate crews of Freeport armed with iron, and..." You glance a the water sprite."We represent the Water Court of the Tianna Archipelago. You may call us Flow." She explains with a melancholic, sing-along-like voice. You notice that you can't absolutely see her below water surface, like she becomes perfectly transparent in contact with water.(cont.)
>>30849973Tia is so best girl.
That being said, you look at Talon, waiting for his approval. (in the background, Dancing Smoke is bothering Samiel, caressing his head while clinging to him. He tries to ignore her.)"...Good. You upheld your side of the bargain, Maka. These are good allies." He stands up, to his full stature. "For those who don't know me: I am Talon. I represent the Three Rivers. I speak for them. I have been blessed by Luna with the power that Creation needs to push back the Mad Ones from our lands. And I intend to use it. However, I can't do it alone. No one can."He looks around, fixing his gaze on all the participants to the meeting, one at a time. "No one can fight a war on his own. But together, we might be stronger. We might win. But it will not be bloodless, nor painless. Anyone with any doubts should leave right now. No one will think any less of him for doing so, I will make sure of it."No one stands up. A full minute of silence follows."Well then. Let's start." He says, sitting back down. "How are we going to move this war?">Battle plan? (open answer)(I have to AFK for a bit, so I'll leave this to gather ideas. You have a lot of different forces and resources, and it's hard, and restrictive, to give a list of options on how to carry out the fight. Keep in mind that no one knows almost nothing about the Fae and how their territory is laid out.)
>>30850047>Dancing Smoke is bothering Samiel, caressing his head while clinging to himAwww, the volcano goddess is into the Fire Aspect.That, or Samiel's not just Dragon-blooded, but also God-blooded, and Dancing Smoke is his dad because SPIRIT CHARMS.Now, for battle plans. Personally, I'm on board for a scorched earth offensive. These are the fae we're dealing with. Flood the entire goddamn swamp with magma from one direction, flood it with ocean waves from the other, then, once the area's cooled, come storming in with iron weapons to deal with whatever's left.Will the area get a little fucked up by it? Yes. But in time, there will be rich volcanic soil for farmland, and it'll take a long-ass time to expand that far out anyway.Thoughts?
>>30850047Probing attacks by barbarian tribes (or a tribe if there is one strong enough to do the job). The idea here is to gain information on Fae strength and deployments while denying them as much information as possible, such as the fact that a large coalition has been assembled against them. Once we have some idea of what we are up against we'll attempt to draw them out of the marsh into a prepared battlefield of our choosing. We will then crush their field army and advance deeper into their territory once they are weakened.
>>30850091>That, or Samiel's not just Dragon-blooded, but also God-blooded, and Dancing Smoke is his dad because SPIRIT CHARMS.I don't know about that one, but we could probably see about getting him to make some god-blooded. The Immaculate Faith is generally against Terrestrials breeding with gods (at least, I think they are), but he doesn't seem terribly devout.
>>30850091>Will the area get a little fucked up by it? Yes. But in time, there will be rich volcanic soil for farmlandIt's better than how they did it in Wavecrest proper (getting the volcano gods to produce volcanic soil for farmland in exchange for human sacrifices).
>>30850091Better than what I had in mind.Why doesn't anybody know how the fae are positioned? Tia could just scout from the air and give us their location. Also how dangerous are the wyld swamps to our allies?
>>30850190>It's better than how they did it in Wavecrest proper (getting the volcano gods to produce volcanic soil for farmland in exchange for human sacrifices).Definitely.>>30850196Cool. I just figured, with the Fae already right between ocean and volcano - and with us allied with both of them - we may as well just plain open up with crushing them between those two fronts, then turn everything after that into a mop-up.
>>30849781Zaan was a Sorcerer right?What kind of backup can we expect from him?
Would the fae die from being drowned by the ocean or covered in magma?
Rolled 10>>30850239my favored Exalted strategy, drown the enemy in demons
Rolled 4So flood the place, flood the place again, have Tia, Talon and Samiel lead the way as a vanguard to blitz them, Zaan and Maka stay with the main force of pirates for sorcery and leadership and a main body to mop up?
>>30850242Yes. Shanking a fae to death will still kill it. Burning it, drowning it, what have you.
>>30850091Can the mortals survive in a place that just got lava'd?
>>30850091This is a good idea. Disorganise the fae and funnel them into a position where we want them.
>>30850274After it gets cooled by sea water and the steam clears? Yeah, probably.
Rolled 6>>30850274Eh, it's gonna get regular water flooded right after. So it should be fine. Maybe.
>>30850047>Keep in mind that no one knows almost nothing about the Fae and how their territory is laid outIf were not on a time limit it wouldn't hurt too much to get some scouting done, getting one of the lunars to do a flyby might help
>>30850248Just for reference for the people who don't play Exalted."Demon" in Exalted is an entirely political term - their thought processes are somewhat alien, but by and large they aren't evil. And they're completely harmless when summoned by an Exalt as they're bound by oaths from thousands of years ago when their bosses lost the war for reality.Demon-summoning is really useful, honestly.
Rolled 9>>30850336but for battle, we'd probably summon blood apes.Not exactly the nicest demons
>>30850336>their thought processes are somewhat alien, but by and large they aren't evil.Well, that depends on the demon. Sesseljae? Definitely not evil, possibly even good (although gross). Angylkae? Not evil, basically harmless. Neomah? Also not evil, just follow the terms of the contract. Erythmanoi? Yeah, those guys are pretty evil.
If we go with the volcano/ocean attack how much of the island would get fucked up, looking at the map the volcano is kinda far from the marshes
>>30850091Would the lava be coming from the volcano itself? If so, wouldn't that destroy the grassland between it and the swamps, right where we are? It's not a bad thought, especially for Fair Folk, I just want to go through all options. I doubt our pirate friends would be in much danger since it seems we've outfitted them to stay on their ships, which the elementals could help protect.Since we know so little, I'd be in favor of some recon first, as another anon suggested.
>>30850363A lot. But, in a few years, that would all be farmland with rich, volcanic soil. Do we care much about widespread environmental destruction in that context?Honest question, here.>>30850460Not sure! I say we pitch the idea first, then find out more from people's reactions. We're mostly planning blind, and this idea's just the first one before we refine. Make sense?
>>30850478I hear you. It might also be useful to get a idea of what everyone's capable of. We know Dancing Smoke is the goddess of the volcano, but can she only act through it? What about Flow? Or Zaan, for that matter? Does he know Celestial Circle?
Whether or not we end up volcano-ing the fae, when we go charging in it seems like the best idea would be to have the lunars and barbarians attack from the land while Maka, Samiel and the pirates attack from the ocean, get the fae between us and fuck them up
>>30850604No. The territory is to big for that and it invites defeat in detail.
>>30850604The issue with that is how fuckhuge the land is compared to how small our forces are.
>>30850625>>30850632We really need to find out where the Fae are and how many there are, we really need to get some scouting done
>>30850706that's why I like >>30850139 better.
Can anybody answer if wild swamps are especially dangerous compared to normal swamps?
>>30850139Guerrilla strikes and intel gathering. I like it. It at least gives us two competing strategies.
>>30850855Wyld anything is extra-dangerous because it's inherently unpredictable.
>>30850604Would we have to volcano them? As a volcano goddess, could Dancing Smoke create a curtain of fire to kill and route the fae while troops clean up being her?It IS a fuckhuge area.
>>30850922>Would we have to volcano them?If volcanoing them leaves rich volcanic soil, I actually see that as the ideal option.
>>30850196>Why doesn't anybody know how the fae are positioned? Tia could just scout from the air and give us their location.Seen from the distance, the swampland appears as a normal swamp, covered in fog. Tia didn't fly over it while carrying you because the wyld extends vertically. You could ask her to scout on her own, though.>Also how dangerous are the wyld swamps to our allies?You're not sure. The Lunars and barbarians report that they're bordermarches, middlemarches at worst. So, quite dangerous, but not instantly lethal given sufficient care.>>30850549>We know Dancing Smoke is the goddess of the volcano, but can she only act through it? What about Flow?They can act both physically and through their portfolio, so Flow can manipulate seawater and Dancing Smoke controls the volcano.But Dancing Smoke can't just, like, summon a second volcano, or cause vast amounts of lava to erupt from something that isn't her volcano.>Or Zaan, for that matter? Does he know Celestial Circle?Only Terrestrial Circle. He says during the meeting that he has some spells useful in a large battle, and that if needed might summon a demon at dawn. Don't expect him to summon a horde or army, though. He doesn't seem to have a love of demons, nor to be fond of interacting with them in any way.
>>30850972>bordermarches or middlemarchesWould our new charm be considered sufficient care?
>>30850972>But Dancing Smoke can't just, like, summon a second volcano, or cause vast amounts of lava to erupt from something that isn't her volcano.We need to get her more volcanoes.
>>30850972>But Dancing Smoke can't just, like, summon a second volcano, or cause vast amounts of lava to erupt from something that isn't her volcano.But they could smash that entire third of the island between a torrent of volcanic ash and magma and the rising sea, right? Leaving us with arid and healthy farmland and tons of dead faeries?
Rolled 4>>30850972>sorcerer>not using shittons of demonsZaan confirmed for idiotSeriously, sorcery is useful for 4 things:Demon summoningselfbuffsLargescale destructionTransportation and communicationLunars can't use selfbuffs because of their tatoos, further limiting himself as a sorcerer like that is fucking retarded
>>30850972could we get some NPC comment on >>30850139 I'd like to here if there is a good place to turn into a deathtrap for the Fae.
>>30850972>You could ask her to scout on her own, though.We should do that, alone or with someone else?
>>30851058Some people have ideological objections to summoning demons.Because they're idiots.
>>30851048With TOM and HSS, all we'd need is that Solar flying charm to dig out magma trenches for her Superman style.
>>30851099Magma-trench irrigation for extra farmland?Is that an appropriate public-works project for a Solar?
>>30851125You're fuck-damn right it is.
Rolled 8>>30851066Go with her, buddy system.
>>30850922>As a volcano goddess, could Dancing Smoke create a curtain of fire to kill and route the fae while troops clean up being her?She says she can try, but it would work best if people dug a channel to properly funnel her lava up to the swamp. Otherwise, it would take a lot out of her, and would probably only take out a small part of the swamp.Given your manpower, it would take you about five days, and those preparations would be really, really obvious. Talon and Samiel both agree that it's a big risk.Zaan suggests you could ask the god of the plains for permission to let the lava pass. He might help. He might also get pissed because no one likes being covered in lava. He could also ask for some outrageous payment.>>30851031>Would our new charm be considered sufficient care?You don't have a charm that wards off the Wyld. The Wyld doesn't count as a "natural" hazard.
>>30851061>could we get some NPC comment on >>30850139 I'd like to here if there is a good place to turn into a deathtrap for the Fae.Probing attack are certainly a good idea and can be carried out, but they'd also alert the fae that they're facing an offensive (assuming they don't already know).The idea of fighting them outside of the marsh is enticing to many, but Talon and Samiel (the two more strategically-minded people around) wonder how are you going to "lure them out" of their natural habitat. They usually leave it only in small hunting parties.
>>30851061agreed
>>30851153>You don't have a charm that wards off the Wyld.Does Tia? Lunars are generally pretty Wyld-resistant.
>>30851153>Zaan suggests you could ask the god of the plains for permission to let the lava pass. He might help. He might also get pissed because no one likes being covered in lava. He could also ask for some outrageous payment.I am voting for this. How strong is that god?
>>30850181>getting him to make some god-blooded>bunch of volcano themed god-bloodsThis is a damn good long term plan for returning to Gem, but how could we set it up?
>>30851215Tell him about the magma-irrigation plan?
>>30851153>He might help. He might also get pissed because no one likes being covered in lava. He could also ask for some outrageous payment.we could mention the whole volcano rich soil would make people start farming the area, also we could fuck him
>>30851153>Zaan suggests you could ask the god of the plains for permission to let the lava pass. He might help. He might also get pissed because no one likes being covered in lava. He could also ask for some outrageous payment.Even in spite of that, nailing the swamp with hot magma sounds like the best option. Promise the plains got we'll give him fucking sweet volcanic soil. That should help sweeten the deal.
>>30851221We're a Zenith. A Zenith who specializes in seduction and romance. I'm pretty sure we'd be decent at getting two people romantically-involved with each other.
>>30851207You'd need to offer them bait somehow. Either the camp of the raiding parties (So they can end the raids) or some sort of doohickey they would leave to get..
>>30851215SecondPretty sure a god whose domain is so close to the fae should be jumping at the chance to get rid of them.
>>30851249Sounds good to me.
>>30851215>>30851228>>30851259We could talk to him while some of the Lunars go do some stealth scouting
>>30851225Yes. I do not see how we can lose by making this move even if we botch the rolls. And it is very likely we will be able to convince him with our ten dice. This plays exactly to our strengths.
>>30851241Now I'm wondering if Eclipses are known to preside over marriage ceremonies so as to sanctify the vows.
>>30851304That would be nifty.
Mental + Dawn = 10 4 6 9 4 = 3 successesThe discussion goes on and on, with opinions being asked, given, plans being made and dismantled mercilessly, and a lot of back-and-forth between everyone present.Bit by bit, however, a definite plan comes together, as Zaan attempts to explain:"So, as soon as dawn comes, we set up an advance camp in the plains, closer to the swamp, and send in scouting parties. My tribe has a few thaumaturges who are capable of creating seals and talismans of protection against the Wyld: we'll take full advantage of that."Everyone nods. "Meanwhile Maka and Dancing Smoke go and meet with the god of the plains, and try and get him to agree to the second part of the plan." Says Samiel, pointing at you two."This is going to be fun." The goddess giggles."Most of our forces will be in the plains. If the Fae leave the marsh to fight, we'll be ready to take them. The advance base is a good bait, and we can ambush them in the high grass. This means that if the god doesn't agree to steer the lava clear of our forces, Dancing Smoke can't erupt. She'd put us all in jeopardy." Notes Talon."In any case, we'll stand by at sea, ready to attack from the opposite side as soon as we get word from Maka." Quint explains, pointing at Flow. "And they're going to help.""That we are." Is the water spirit's reply."We have to be flexible. We don't know what the scouts will find out, or if or when the Fae will counterattack through the plains, and we don't know when or it Maka and Smoke will manage to persuade the plains god." Adds Talon. "I and Zaan will take care of the scouts and the warbands in the plains. In case of emergency, Zaan can cast a spell that will deliver a message that can be replied to."(cont.)
That sounds like a decent sum of all the best ideas that surfaced from the hours-long brainstorming you did. It's already mid-morning, and the barbarians are putting out the bonfires. Others have been drinking and dancing and singing and having fun through the night, but all you did was stay awake and wrack your brain for strategy.You can only hope this will work.>Move out immediately with Tia and Dancing Smoke towards the plains>Move out with Dancing Smoke towards the plains, have Tia bring the captains back to their ships and then come back to find you>Reject the plan, keep the discussion going>Talk to Tia>Talk to Samiel>Talk to Dancing Smoke>Talk to Talon>Talk to Zaan>Talk to the three captains>Talk to Flow>Do something else?
Rolled 3>>30851719>Move out with Dancing Smoke towards the plains, have Tia bring the captains back to their ships and then come back to find youI can't think of anything to talk about
>>30851719>Move out with Dancing Smoke towards the plains, have Tia bring the captains back to their ships and then come back to find you>Talk to Dancing Smoke>Talk to the three captains>Talk to FlowAll of these. I want to get the full input from Dancing Smoke, Flow, our captains, and then get everything ready to roll out.
Rolled 5>>30851719>Talk to Samielso, you and the volcano,ehthen>Move out with Dancing Smoke towards the plains, have Tia bring the captains back to their ships and then come back to find you
Rolled 10>>30851719>Talk to Samielask what Tienna can offer the Plain God if we have to. He'll probably be fine with the fae going away and the plain being fertilized, but it would be nice to know we can offer another celebration
Rolled 5>>30851719>Move out with Dancing Smoke towards the plains, have Tia bring the captains back to their ships and then come back to find youThis should be fine, let's get this party going.
Rolled 4>>30851719>Talk to SamielTease him about him and Dancing Smoke, then ask >>30851786
Rolled 4>>30851719seconding >>30851760 & >>30851786
Rolled 2>>30851719>Move out with Dancing Smoke towards the plains, have Tia bring the captains back to their ships and then come back to find you
One thing we could do is have the palin god leave lava go through tunnels beneath the plains, thi way the god does not get lava all over his hit, the fae get no warning and in the proces tunnels are made that can be used for irigation and fertiliyation via lava and waterperiodically going through.We could have three tunels from the volcano to the swamp for the northern central and southern parts of the swamp, and perhaps two tunnels coming from the north and the shouth meeting up with the mouths of the lava tunnels to burst with water from the elementals once the laval has went on the swamp for a hour or so, thus cooling it off so we can walk over it with the forces.Its a bit siege and stuff but this waz we do not flood over half the island with lava and water to get rid of the fae and destrozing the domain of the palin god.In fact we improve the existing island and fuck up the fae with a surprize while also geting rid of the fae.
Rolled 1>>30851878sorry for the mix between y and z it gets kind of hard with thsi kezboard
>>30851878>One thing we could do is have the palin god leave lava go through tunnels beneath the plains, thi way the god does not get lava all over his hit, the fae get no warning and in the proces tunnels are made that can be used for irigation and fertiliyation via lava and waterperiodically going through.None of that made any goddamn sense. It would be AGES more difficult to excavate tunnels than dig channels. And how would we get it back up to the surface after that?
Rolled 1>>30851878>thi way the god does not get lava all over his hitthat's why we're making trenchesI think they're a lot easier to maintain and use than tunnels
Rolled 3>>30851719>Talk to the three captains and FlowJust to make sure they've worked out some means to coordinate with each other preceding and during this operation.>Move out with Dancing Smoke towards the plains, have Tia bring the captains back to their ships and then come back to find youNot sure if we should take Refis with DS and us or have him stick with that Bloodshark Captain.
Rolled 10>>30851902I was thinking the plains god would be able to allow it to happen and help it along a bit with the initial tiny tubes in the earth.The lava could come at a pressure directlz from the volcano heart with Dancing Smoke keeping the main shaft closed for a while thus the pressure of the lava would surge forwad and enlarge said tunnels on its own, provided the goods cooperate.This would allow for them to make it faster and without grief. And once thez get to the destination thez can just gezyer out and be directed with some stone or earthwork to the swamp.similar for the water tunnel if the plains god can control the earth around it to make it out of clay soil
>>30851954>I was thinking the plains god would be able to allow it to happen and help it along a bit with the initial tiny tubes in the earth.>>The lava could come at a pressure directlz from the volcano heart with Dancing Smoke keeping the main shaft closed for a while thus the pressure of the lava would surge forwad and enlarge said tunnels on its own, provided the goods cooperate.That's what Earth Elementals, not field gods, do, and there's no way we could have the magma under high enough pressure for it to reach the surface and not just explode out of the soil of the field.It's a shitty idea.
Rolled 6>>30851990well with trenches its going to be noticable as hell and very slow going.If we need earth elementals we could court them. Then we could have the pressure regulated enough so it wont explode out and be enough to flow out at high speed then and not erupt with the tunnels being taped at the end.I dont like trencehs since digging them is going to be visible and rather telling and once it gets done its going to be predictable where they need to get their shaping defences up to simply make a portal to the wzld or something and swallow up the incoming magma death.Thus mz idea of tunnels.The water court on the other hand could perhap flood parts of the fae land and allow the pirate ships to sail there and then bombard everything remotelz fae looking with iron arrows, the spirits returning every arrow once the flood reaches that spot to the ships to ensure logistics are kept.Too bad we do not have more ships....
Rolled 9>>30852082why would the trenches be slower than the tunnel?And the fae can't just "open a gate to the wyld"
>>30852082>have the pressure regulated enough so it wont explode outHOW? By what mechanism? How do we move magma fast enough to be useful and without it cooling without having it at high enough pressures to fuck up the terrain anyway? What possible method do you have in mind for this?The trick is to get the field god compliant so that, in one fell swoop he, along with Dancing Smoke, can channel the magma exactly where we want it. The plan is NOT to actually spend five days digging extremely-visible tunnels.And the plan is sure as FUCK not to spend weeks or months excavating some probably-going-to-explode tunnels while everyone else just jacks off or something waiting for the battle to start.Your idea is retarded.
Rolled 1>>30851990Couldn't we court Earth Elementals too so we do not have to dig trenches? I am not familiar with lore.
>>30852140Earth elementals are a LOT less friendly than water ones. Historically, the main reason that Creation's version of the Underdark is mainly only populated by one race (not humans) is because they're the only ones who can reliably make friends with the elementals.And even if we could make friends with them, they are slow to make decisions and slow to act. They move at tectonic paces and scales.And even if they didn't, they would STILL have no mechanism for making tunnels so super-hard that high-pressure magma wouldn't explode out of them. Especially not on a time crunch.
Rolled 8>>30852140sure, but they tend to live deep in the fucking earth.Unless we know of a cavern system, we probably can't really get to them to court.
Rolled 9we could try summoning earth elementals
>>30852082Why would we need trenches? The plains god is going to designate what're area's the lava is /allowed/ to flow over, it's not going to spill beyond those boundaries unless DS gets overly enthusiastic.
Rolled 7>>30852117Thez can build a dam then. If they dam up their area its going to be a bit hard to get the lava there. I dont know. I think if we can get a god to make some trenches we can get elementals to dig a tunel. That way we wont reveal our cards.but if this gets done by the god then its also going to be fast enough that if we can keep them busy if we can burn them perhaps. But onlz if we can get this done in less than a day and not five fucking days...
>>30852208>but if this gets done by the god then its also going to be fast enough that if we can keep them busy if we can burn them perhaps. But onlz if we can get this done in less than a day and not five fucking days...Regardless of whether we get a god on board, five days is monumentally faster than convincing Earth elementals of fucking ANYTHING. They're the definition of stubborn and slow.They're also the definition of 'hates the fae,' so they would definitely help EVENTUALLY, but probably not THIS year.
Rolled 2>>30852208please just shut up or fix your spellingyour tunnels are retarded
>>30852197We'd need to swim through lava to the bottom of Dancing Smoke's volcano for them to hear us. And then they'd probably try killing Maka.
Rolled 4>>30852241no, I mean have Zaan use the spell "summon elemental" to call one.They'd have to answer that
Rolled 3>>30852249we could if he knows the spell, yeahYou can even summon an elemental at any time of the day
>>30852249Yeah, but all the other elementals in the area would jack our shit up as soon as we try to actually use those tunnels without permission. This isn't digging a simple well, dude, this is excavating a number of tunnels long, large, and strong enough to move untold but staggering amounts of magma to flood an amount of marshland that takes an entire day to cross from north to south.
>>30851719>Move out with Dancing Smoke towards the plains, have Tia bring the captains back to their ships and then come back to find youships need their captains.
Rolled 1>>30852275I was more thinking about help with the trenches if we have to.I agree that the tunnel is a stupid idea
>>30852292Oh. Then yeah, getting the god of the fields, Dancing Smoke, and one or more earth elementals working together would be GREAT for making the trenches. Like 'fuck it, all the trenches you ever need, dude, instantly' great.The only downside to consider for that is it draining Zaan's essence pool.
>>30851719>Go present the plains God with a very compelling orgy.Let's not sicker about specifics until we consult the guy.
Rolled 10>>30852315>The only downside to consider for that is it draining Zaan's essence pool.I think the time it takes the lava to flow through the trenches should be enough for him to regain it
>>30852315In this game an overnight sleep fills it up completely. How long would the elementals stay bound after summoning?
Rolled 1>>30852365an elemental stays bound for a lunar month, or can be set to a task that takes at most a year and a day
>>30852360>>30852365They stay bound until they've completed a certain number of services, like in Shadowrun, I think. And as long as we have at least a little downtime, Zaan's pools should recover. I just want everyone to remember that, more than anyone else, his mote pools are going to be VERY taxed by all this prep work. Just using his messenger spells alone is going to take a lot out of him.So, let's make sure we have the field god's permission before we ask Zaan if he can help by summoning an elemental.>>30852386Consider me corrected!
Do we need the earth elemental, couldn't the plains god do the tunnels himself?
Rolled 1>>30852468no-one's doing any tunnels because they are retarded
>>30852478Trenches not tunnels I mean,
>>30852468First of all, we're not doing tunneling.Second of all, the plains god's powers end where 'plains' becomes 'underground.'And third of all, a plains god has a lot more powers related to soil fertility and grasslands ecology than they do for moving large quantities of earth.But yes, the amount of help they could give would be enormous. It's just that having a summoned elemental help the field god would make it even better.
>>30852468>>30852478Only one guy is talking about the tunnels, I just latched onto it since it never occurred to me that earth elementals were even a choice. If we get the plain god on our side we should ask Zaan to summon one to dig trenches (if they are even necessary) and fight fae afterwards.
(Sorry for being slow, stuff came up. Will grab something to eat and then post. meanwhile: the tunnel plan is not bad but would require an extremely long time AND digging into essentially wyld underground. Which IS Wyld. On top of all the other objections.)
>>30852512Wouldn't a trench naturally form at the boundary of the lava's path? It's not like the plains god is going to let it spread haphazardly.
>>30852655Plains are hardly even. If a tench is deep and wide enough, the lava should flow more easily. And we can still use the elemental to fight for us afterwards.
>>30852799Yeah, I'm just not sold on contacting an earth elemental on such short notice. If we knew where a pocket of Mountain Folk were in the area I'd say just press them into service, but we don't and I'd rather not add another recruitment mission on top of the plains' god negotiations.
Rolled 10>>30852865we don't need to recruit the elementalZaan can just use a spell to call one up and make it dig the trenches for us
>>30852507>And third of all, a plains god has a lot more powers related to soil fertility and grasslands ecology than they do for moving large quantities of earth.speaking of soil fertility, volcanic soil is very fertile. (although it might work differently in exalted). Thing is, you have to first wait for weathering effects on it to break it down (otherwise plants can't grow).But if maka applies her strength to smash it into pieces and then water court applies water to the piece to rapidly erode them, it would be a net gain in fertility for the plain's god rather then a loss. Which is a useful bargaining point.
>>30852865>a pocket of Mountain FolkShit, I would give Maka's left tit for a city of friendly Mountain Folk in the area.>>30852905>speaking of soil fertility, volcanic soil is very fertile. (although it might work differently in exalted). Thing is, you have to first wait for weathering effects on it to break it down (otherwise plants can't grow).>But if maka applies her strength to smash it into pieces and then water court applies water to the piece to rapidly erode them, it would be a net gain in fertility for the plain's god rather then a loss. Which is a useful bargaining point.Exactly! I've been saying this whole time we need to emphasize that the field is going to get enriched by volcanic soil, and downplay the fact it's going to have magma all over it.
>>30852923>I would give Maka's left titWoah woah woah, let's not go crazy here.
>>30853069maybe he is gaming the system (exalted heal everything that doesn't kill them, it will grow back)
>>30853069Man, the Mountain Folk could give us a crazy robo-tit in return that looks exactly like a normal tit and lactates pure orichalcum.The Mountain Folk are fucking sweet. They're an entire race of dwarf-elves living in Dexter's Laboratory cities.
>>30853099>(exalted heal everything that doesn't kill them, it will grow back)That's not quite true. We could pick up a Twilight Medicine charm to grow back chopped off bits, or MAYBE a Zenith Resistance charm, but generally speaking, while Exalts heal from horrible damage without a scar, actual amputations don't grow back naturally.
If were still at the moot with everyone we could ask Zaan about the earth elemental
"Alright. Tia?" You stand up from the circle, your legs all sleepy and hurty."Yes?" For the duration of the meeting, Tia didn't talk much. In fact, she didn't talk at all except with you, and a few words with Talon and Zaan."Here's our part of the plan. Take Rubel, Quint and Alexei." You hear them groaning in the background. "No complaining, you three. Bring them back to the ships. Then come back here, or rather, to the plains. I'll be going there to convince the local god of this plan.""What if I don't find you there?" She asks. "Then I'll probably be at the forward camp, or knee-deep in Fae." You clank together your shiny new gauntlets. "Improvise.""What about me?" asks Regis, stepping forward."You're coming with me. You're my butler, remember?" You pat his head. "We'll try and coordinate with Flow, I imagine." Rubel considers. "I imagine most sailors will be a bit nervous having to do with water spirits. You know, the whole lure men to their doom and drag them under water thing they do.""I wonder why the West is so messed up." Alexei considers. "The Storm Mothers sink ships with women, the Water Spirits steal men from their ships...""Bit by bit, we'll fix everything." You say. "For now, focus!""Well then, good luck." Quint salutes you."To you too."As Tia flies them away towards their ships, you turn to Samiel, who is sitting next to the burned-out bonfire checking his equipment. "...What?" He asks, noticing your interest.A smirk opens up on your face. "So, you and Smoke, eh.""Ugh." He rolls his eyes. "She's as annoying as a demon."
>>30853415Move those eyebrows up and down, up and down, up and down!
"I hope she's not bugging you for human sacrifice or anything like that.""Nah. She's behaving on that part. She's just being stupid." He complains."What did she say?" You ask, but he doesn't reply, and the culprit in question has to step in."Why, I was just making a polite request." The volcano goddess steps in, trailing white wisps of smoke."...Request?" you wonder."Just mentioning that Prince Samiel is cute, and that I would love to see him dance at my festival.""I don't know how to dance." He replies, defensively."It's the thought that counts. Besides, I'm sure Maka would love to teach you." She suggests, a forked tongue hissing for a moment between her teeth."I'll think about it-" "HEY!" "...but, for now, Samiel: what can Tianna offer this god?"He thinks about it. "Not much. ...Nothing, really. A one-time sacrifice in cattle or goods, maybe. We can't really expand our holy days without digging into productivity or the holy days of other gods. You'll have to persuade him on your own, or offer him something out of your own promises or resources. Remember, Tianna is still formally uninvolved in all this."You nod in assent. He's probably right. "...well then, I'll be going. Good luck for the battle, Samiel.""You too. Stay safe.""Bye, dear!" Dancing Smoke waves at him, as the three of you leave Azure Lake and head for the plains.>Walk to there>Borrow some horses>Sail down the river>Ask Dancing Smoke if she can carry you>Other?
Rolled 9>>30851719well then since it seems we might want a Earth elemental to speed up the lava trench system building, we should go and >Talk to ZaanAnd provided we can get the plains god to ok it we should see if he can summon a earth elemental for the job.This way he most likely wont have to summon as many demons which he dislikes, the earth elemental will probably like the results and the work and the plains god wont be that unhappy about the situation thus meaning a lower price for the help.I do not disagree that a Earth Elemental would be good to have for this project but first lets find out if it is possible
>>30853442>Ask Dancing Smoke if she can carry youwhy not>>30853469>as many demons which he dislikesyou can only summon one demon per day
>>30853442>Ask Dancing Smoke if she can carry youI doubt Regis could walk all they way there anyway
Rolled 9>>30853442This might have some merit to it >>30853469If it reduces all our costs and keeps most people happy and speeds up the magma delivery.It all depends on Zaan being able to do it else we will have to either flood the plains with lava and you really cant downplay the whole burnt to a cinder part for say at least the better part of a year.Its either elemental help, lots of manpower with shovels that we do not have or flooding a quarter of a island and wasting a lot of heat in the process of traveling to the swamp., plus the greater price for the gods help.
>>30853415>"I wonder why the West is so messed up." Alexei considers. "The Storm Mothers sink ships with women, the Water Spirits steal men from their ships...">"Bit by bit, we'll fix everything." You say. "For now, focus!"Operation Nemo is canonically in our future.Glorious.
>>30853469A thought! We could possibly convince Samiel(through Amata) to 'entertain' Dancing Smoke as part of her festival. He'd be a 'sacrifice' of sorts.>Ask Dancing Smoke if she can carry you
Rolled 10>>30853442>Borrow a horse>Ask Dancing if she'd prefer to ride, run or flyWe can take turns on the horse or ride Smoke to get a workout while still conserving our strength.
>>30853581If it's just a dance we could do that ourselves, we have enough dice to throw at him to make him dance with us during the festivalMaka/Samiel/Dancing Flame threesome mandatory of course
>>30853442>"Just mentioning that Prince Samiel is cute, and that I would love to see him dance at my festival.">"I don't know how to dance." He replies, defensively.>"It's the thought that counts. Besides, I'm sure Maka would love to teach you." She suggests, a forked tongue hissing for a moment between her teeth.>"I'll think about it-" "HEY!" "...but, for now, Samiel: what can Tianna offer this god?"I am getting the feeling that he's not actually uninterested in her, he just doesn't want to subordinate himself to her as a deity.Which is excellent for our purposes. We can get them a relatively equal marriage and ensure lots of god-blooded children.
>>30853581I don't know about making him a sacrifice. Having his part in the ritual be an official courting gesture would work, though.
>>30853725It's innuendo anon, get with it.
Rolled 2>>30853442We are on the plains right? We could dance our way to the god since we are on the freaking plains.Oh yeah that hilly hex.Still the lava would have to go through there.Either that or talk to the river god and switch out the water with lava for a few days making a fire river to burn the swamp. And then retract the lava and get the water back in.I mean, we have a fucking huge trench right here.If we could get the river god to hold the water and lend us the river bed for the lava and then have dancing smoke cut the lava once we are done and the riverbed is usable as a riverbed after the lava treatment. Probably some special alava control in the aftermath to ensure its not getting welded shut and is a bitching riverbed once its done. The only problem is all the wildlife in the river but that could escape with help from the water elementals by making a bubble of fresh water once they are at sea. So this way everyone is happy and we get it done right away folks!>>30853660Maka the match maker.
>>30853581>>30853660>>30853725Actually, he might not know how to dance in the orgiastic festival kind of way, but as royalty he probably knows his way around a formal waltz or two.Have him dance as a couple with Dancing Smoke personally up near the caldera while the oiled-up naked bitches dance and writhe at the foot of her mountain.
>>30853740I meant "giving him over for her to do with as she likes" would be making him submit to her, which wouldn't be fitting. He doesn't need to subordinate himself to his future waifu's ego this early on.
>>30853748or just have Maka teach him how to dance
>>30853763I just find the idea of the two of them slow-dancing while the oiled-up bitches handle the festival dancing kind of adorable.
Rolled 8>>30853743That actually is a well thought out alternative. If it is possible.And it might be a way bit faster, now that we still have all the players here assembled. So now we have two ways to get the lava to the swamp.We should get a small talk with the Elemental Rep, Dancing Smoke and Zaan about both possible options and if they can make it happen.Then try to get the river god first to agree to this since we are on the river bound lake , and if that is not possible go to the plains.This way if one option fails we have a backup for the burn the fae world to fuck plan
>>30853763>whynotboth.jpg
>>30853790>>30853469>>30853530>>30853605>>30853790With these rolls we should dance the river god here now and convene with both water elemental and dancing smoke and hash this out.This might actually work. Why bother wit ha trench when there is one here already?
>>30853660>Planning the marriage and childrenOr we could just not meddle in who has sex/dates/etc whom?
>>30853807I don't think the river god will be okay with that because the river is going to be blocked by the lava..The plains god can deal with some cold lava on his plains a lot easier than a river god with his entire river being completely blocked by the cooling lava
>>30853807let's not go changing the plan without telling anyone
Before leaving, you have an idea. "Wait me here, you two." You say to Regis and Dancing Smoke before rushing back into the camp.He looks at her. She looks at him. She smiles and licks her lips.You should probably hurry."Zaan!" You call out, walking into his tent. It's small, and completely filled with talismans, sculpted masks, dreamcatchers, seals and wards, scrolls, and all sorts of mystical-looking doohickeys. You find him sitting with two barbarians, who judging by their dress must be sorcerers or shamans for their tribes. "Er, what?" He asks you, surprised."I had an idea! How about you summon some earth elementals for helping with channeling the lava?"He lifts an eyebrow. "...Weren't you going to ask to the plains god?""Well... Yes, but I thought that every bit could help.""Isn't the god going to see it as an invasion of his domain?" He wonders."...Maybe?" You wonder. He sighs. "Alright, It might be worth a try. Could help a bit. Besides, he could join us in battle. Earth elementals really hate the Fae.""Awesome." You wink at him. "See you later."You rush back to Regis and Dancing Smoke, to find her holding him down in her lap and combing furiously her fingers in his hair."...What are you doing, Smoke." You glower."What? He smells good!" She complains, and that's when Regis wrestles himself out of her legs and leaps behind you. "Oh, well. Are we going now.""...Yes. Can you carry us?" You reply, getting back on focus."I... guess I can?" She seems confused. "Depends. How much you weight, Maka?""Whatever, just do it." You reply, annoyed by the question."Alright." She says, walking up to you as you help Regis climb atop your shoulders. With minimal effort, the goddess then just grabs you by the hips, hoists you up, and puts you on her shoulders in turn. Her skin is hot at the touch, and she smells of smoke and sulfur.She starts walking.(cont.)
>>30853660FYI, that wouldn't work particularly well. Basically, when two exalted or gods sex it up the one with the highest essence wins. So if she wants a kid she can do that with anyone and it won't matter
>>30853818We can always use more god blooded demi fire elementals for the ranks.
>>30853743For some reason this plan gives me the image of a female Captain Planet going Old Testament or Book of the Apocalypse on the fays arse.Suddenly Rivers of Magma and their swamp gets turned into fire lakes because fuck you the elements were pissed off and got together to deliver a massive fuck you. And then they went back each to their business once you are all dead.
>>30853889>She starts walking.I love it
Rolled 8>>30853143except for lunars.They explicitly regrow/regenerate amputated anatomy while in warform.
>>30853899>So if she wants a kid she can do that with anyone and it won't matterUnless Samiel has higher Essence, in which case she may get a kickass Dragon-blooded kid out of the deal, who doesn't have a cap on his Essence like a normal god-blood would.
>>30853889>He looks at her. She looks at him. She smiles and licks her lips.I laughedwe should find more opportunities to leave people alone with herI really like Smoke
>>30853924Not all Lunars have the warform knack. Therefore, that's another example of 'using regenerative magic.'
>>30853793Imagine Pince Samiel among oily bitches, being an oily bitch himself during a festival.
>>30853818>Solars>Not meticulously planning out the breeding of your Terrestrial allies and minionsEh?Even the Realm does it to themselves. It's perfectly normal.
>>30853938From her original dialogue, I think that her preference for 'sacrifices' are less people being thrown to their death in a volcano, and more being offered to her as slaves.
All these pirates have me wondering...just how 'wooden ships and iron men' is naval warfare in Exalted? Are we full Horatio Nelson, or is it more like the mid-1800s Merrimack-on-Monitor stuff?
>>30853889>She starts walkingTold you we should have grabbed a horse.
>>30853899Yeah, but she already likes him, and they're cute together.
>>30853865Not if Dancing Smoke can control the lava flow. If the main lava goes fast enough through the river bed only the last remaining parts wil be left leaving a kind of cemented river bed channel look.>>30853886Well this could be the ace in our sleeve.The fae prepare to defend against the lava trenches probably with shaped damns and such and then suddenly MAGMA RIVER FUCK YOU FUCKERS ONE TWO COMBO SUCERPUNCH!
>>30853969It's triremes and junks. We're pre-Age of Sail. No cannons or other large artillery pieces; almost all naval combat features using fire arrows, ramming, and boarding tactics.There are a FEW factions that have sailing ships, or even magitech steamers, but most of it is Bronze Age tech and tactics.
>>30853969There are (almost) no cannons, naval combat is ramming and boarding
>>30853953I think that's the specific part he was objecting to, hence trying to find something more dignified for him to do that would still please and show interest in the goddess..
>>30854002We can give him a leaf to cover.
>>30853969More like Romans vs Carthage fighting around Sicily and Greek Fleet sinking the Persians at Salamis. Coupled with Age of Sail distances and a lot more ranged weapons.
>>30853889I'm honestly surprised she agreed to that so readily. She must really want some oiled up Maka dancing.
>>30853994Honestly, even things just as advanced as triremes and junks are on the rare side. It's mostly strictly oar-ships. Sometimes even oceanic long-canoes with pontoons - Creation is very low-tech outside of certain areas.
>>30854000>>30853994Foul...I was really hoping we could go Master and Commander at some point.Not that naval warfare before sailboats was boring.
>>30853889How long will it take to get to the plains?
>>30854002Five (insert appropriate realm currency) says both Irene and Amata would be willing to strip down, oil up and dance with us without too much resistance if we asked.
>>30854026>Coupled with Age of Sail distancesThis is one of my least favourite things about 2e. They just made everywhere five times bigger and farther apart without changing anything else, so nothing makes any sense.
>>30854064>Not that naval warfare before sailboats was boring.Nah. Just very, very different.
"...Uh... Dancing Smoke? You wonder, after a couple minutes of walking up the hills separating you from the grassland beyond."Yes?" She asks."...Why are we walking?""...I thought you wanted to get to the plains."You facepalm. "No, I mean, why aren't you FLYING?"A few minutes of silence follows. Dancing Smoke flaps her wings a couple of times, then brings one in front of her, looking at it as if she's noticing it for the first time."...Oooh, that's right." She mumbles, a bit embarassed."...Let me guess, you don't get around a lot." You offer some deadpan commentary."Look, I used to be a super important goddess when the West was more inhabited! I had a whole holy week with songs and dances and everything! But... lately, I didn't get any sort of worship, and even the other gods don't pay attention to me. This is the most exciting thing that's happened to me in a very long time." She spreads her massive wings, and with a couple of flaps you're airborne."You've been around since the First Age?" You wonder, surprised."Well, yeah. Haven't always been the goddess of that particular volcano. But, you know, you adapt.""...What happened to your original volcano?""Wyld ate it. I don't remember much more... I lost a lot of memory and power since then."That explains why she looks like a powerful elemental-god almost on the verge of dragonhood, despite being only a regional power, you reason. Makes sense.The trip is fairly short. The stretch of grassland between the hills and the swamp is at its narrowest here, cut in two by Azure River. She flies lower, just brushing on the grass, preparing to land."...I wonder, couldn't we have asked to the river god to act as a channel for the lava, instead?" You mumble, looking at the crystal-clear river flowing peacefully nearby.(cont.)
>>30854064All we need to do that is to get a craftsnerd on it and get some infrastructure built up.>>30854082I imagine so, Samiel just seems a bit more concerned with his dignity than his sister and mother.
>>30854064Eh, wait til we start building airships and helicarriers.
>>30854097>I imagine so, Samiel just seems a bit more concerned with his dignity than his sister and mother.something Maka should try to correct
>>30854091>That explains why she looks like a powerful elemental-god almost on the verge of dragonhood, despite being only a regional power, you reason. Makes sense.So I guses this means Dnacing Smoke is pretty strong?
>>30853990If this could be done it would be awesome.I particularly like this image from this anon>>30853912
>>30854148It means she is, or was, a very important, powerful god. Then her portfolio stopped existing, and she got a demotion.
>>30854091>"...I wonder, couldn't we have asked to the river god to act as a channel for the lava, instead?"nah, that'd be silly"
>>30854164but getting a demotion as a god also means you get weaker
>>30854091> But lately I didn't get any worship, and even the other gods don't pay attention to me.Knew it. She's lonely.
>>30854182This is also true. It just means she'd potentially very powerful indeed if we help her get a similar level of prestige back.Like, say, making her the central god of Gem, and then making Gem into a political powerhouse and the jewel of a Solar kingdom.
>>30854193That's sad, we should dance super good for her
>>30854091I feel really bad for Smoke.Let's throw her the best party with oiled up bitches the West has ever seen
>>30853776YES
>>30854222We're going to need to be very careful not to use a flammable oil. Other than that I'm on board.
>>30854255Amata and Irene are also oiled up and dancing, while quietly cheering on their son/brother.If he fails to seal the deal Amata calls him in later for some dedicated training in how to properly court a lady, because she wants god-blooded grandkids.
>>30854276or we could use flammable oil on ourselves and use our soak charm so we catch fire when dancing on lava without being harmed. Should look pretty spectacular
>>30854309Unless they know about it ahead of time this will probably stop the ceremony as everyone shrieks in terror at the head priestess catching fire and trying to make her not burn to death.
>>30854309...that would be pretty sweet.
>>30854323not if we don't show any signs of being hurtJust imagine it, we reach the end of the parade, suddenly we step on lava and continue dancing while engulfed in flames
>>30854323So we tell them ahead of time.
>>30854348Hmm, we need a way to make sure they can still we us dancing trough the flames, otherwise they're going to miss all the real action.
"That's stupid." Dancing Smoke replies. "It would be essentially killing him. Once you fill up the riverbed with lava, what do you suppose happens to the river?"You nod, just as she touches ground and lands rather elegantly. "Good point." You dismount from her, and Regis dismounts from you."Besides, the god of that river is a rather okay fellow. I'd hate to do that to him."So she's not COMPLETELY without friends. Or, well acquaintances. "You know the gods of the island, I guess?""Well, yeah. More or less." She says, then takes in a deep breath, and screams, at the top of her lungs: "YARAON!"The scream bounces from echo to echo, losing itself in the distance.You're about to ask what the heck that was all about, when, with a rustling noise, a man, previously invisible, stands up from the tall grass.He's about average in stature, with delicate, refined features, but wearing a simple brown toga. He looks like he's meant to have earth-colored skin and grass-colored hair, but somehow those hues were discolored, or made brighter perhaps."...Dancing Smoke." He hisses. Judging by the look in his eyes, he must not be very fond of her.Sensing impending danger, Regis does his usual maneuver and hides behind you, like you've told him to."Come on, Yaraon. Be a bit more welcoming will ya." Smoke walks up to him and tries to grab him in a hug, but he bends out of it like a reed in the wind, leaving her to grasp only air. "No. Go back to your volcano.""...Actually." You step into the conversation. "My name is Maka. I am an Exalted, Chosen of the Unconquered Sun." You explain to him, briefly lighting up your castemark. "I am here to ask a favor of you."You have his attention now.(cont.)
>>30854208She would probably like that. After all, this isn't her original volcano anyway, and being the chief patron of an entire city plus in charge of a whole volcanic mountain range (loaded with gems and precious metals) is a FANTASTIC gig for a volcano goddess. Like, the best gig imaginable.
>>30854378The only problem there is that we seem to quite like it here in the West and have lots of things we want to accomplish here, so actually reclaiming Gem and installing her as chief god isn't going to be for a while yet.If she's alright with waiting, though...
>>30854436Well, we already agreed to take out another volcano god's high priest, maybe we can put Dancing Smoke I charge of a regional chain of volcanos as we clear out those that demand human sacrifices?
>>30854436Speaking of which, I really like the compromise that Exaltedfag put together. Building up a power base out here in the West, then making our way back to Gem to retake that. First one, then the other.But yeah, letting her know that we intend to take over other volcanic islands (and depose any volcano gods into human sacrifice) and then eventually make our way back to Gem? She's going to want to be as tight of an ally as she possibly can. Everything about our plans screams promotions and pay raises for someone with her particular nature and portfolio.
>>30854501>Speaking of which, I really like the compromise that Exaltedfag put together. Building up a power base out here in the West, then making our way back to Gem to retake that. First one, then the other.Yeah, I just meant that that second part is going to take a while. We're doing a lot here in Wavecrest first. Deposing volcano gods, crusading against Storm Mothers, and Sol Invictus knows what else. Of course, there's nothing saying we can't give her temporary dominion over those volcanoes we render unoccupied.
Hey, I know it's a little late to suggest it, but would redirecting the river (I guess it'd have to be to the north) to drain the swamp be useful to this endeavor?
>>30854581That would pollute it with Wyld grossness, I would think.
>>30854581Not really. The fae aren't hanging out there because it's a swamp, they're hanging out there because they've tainted it to be more responsive to their faerie bullshit. Redirecting the river would just make them slightly dryer.On a side note, look at how well-irrigated that marshland is. That's going to make AMAZING farmland once the area's fertilized with volcanic ash.
>>30854581Swamps don't really work like that.
"We are preparing to move war to the Fair Folk of the swampland just west of here." You point towards the fog. "...Incidentally, "we" means me, Dancing Smoke, the Water Elemental Court of the island's seas, the Three Rivers' Lunars and tribes, three ships, and Samiel, prince of Tianna."He stares into you. "...It's about damn time. It's centuries that I keep asking people to get rid of them! I'm too weak to do anything on my own, and all of my strength goes to trying to not have the Wyld expand into my territory. I can't do much else. What took you so long?""Well... I'd say that it's been the threat of an Abyssal attack.""...Abyssals?" He asks back, evidently not informed on the latest news.You and Dancing Smoke bring him up to speed over the next few minutes."...I see." He nods and mumbles. "So. What do you need me to do? Like I said, I can't actually fight them. All my strength is tied up. Best I could do is give your troops the best cover possible in my domain, and deny it to the fae.""...That would be good, but we also had a plan that required your cooperation, that could deal a severe blow to the Fair Folk."He crosses his arms. "I'm listening."You motion to Dancing Smoke to continue."I need to come all over you."You facepalm."I'm not listening any more." Yaraon immediately turns and leaves, slowly disappearing into the tall grass..."Wait!" You rush and grab a hold of him by a corner of his toga. "It's not... like... that..."He stares into your eyes with endless disapproval."...Okay." You admit. "It IS pretty much like that, but Dancing Smoke just... phrased it in the worst possible way. A better way to put it is that if we can pour her lava into the Wyldland...""...Across me...""...Across you, yes..." It's hard to stay focused with Dancing Smoke snickering in the background.(cont.)
>>30854654Oh my, Yara-on is man-pretty.We should sleep with him.
>>30854615Yeah, I was thinking it might make it easier for our guys to fight if they're standing on dry land, but your right the place is already pretty Wyld tainted.>great farm landTrue, too bad it's in clearly marked Lunar territory.
>>30854654I really like Smoke
>>30854691There's nothing wrong with giving our Lunar allies great farmland. It'll help cement relations (if our inevitable marriage to Tia isn't enough).
>>30854691...no, it's not. The entire west side of the island is unclaimed, because of the fae. Discussing who gets to farm here (I'm hoping it will become an unaligned mutually-protected bread basket farmed by villages who trade to the entire rest of the island) will come after the fae are gone. But we're moving closer and closer to a formal alliance every day, which is awesome.
>>30854708>farmland >barbariansyeah no
>>30854725Then do what >>30854716 suggests.
>>30854725Not all barbarians are nomads, and even if they are, pastures for herds of goats and cattle would probably be great for them regardless.Anyway, I like this idea best:>>30854716
>>30854654>"I need to come all over you."Goddamn it all. Looks like we'll have to beat the shit out of this guy now.
"...we can soften up their territory before our attack. Our troops are going to take place in your domain, though, so they need the lava flow to be steered away from them, and straight into the Wyld." You finish explaining."And I'll catch fire.""Uh." You look around. "You're... well, the grass here isn't dry. It's pretty green. I don't think there's a serious chance that bushfire will erupt.""Come on~" Dancing Smoke surprise-grabs him from behind, and he grunts and tries to break out of her hold. "It'll be fun! You might even like it~!""L-let me go, you maniac!" He struggles a bit, then just decks her in the face with and elbow strike, breaking free. With a deep sigh, he straightens his toga. "I won't take part in this. No. Absolutely no way. Never. Not a chance."You massage your temples. You'll have to find a good argument, or the plan is toast. You didn't expect him to be this against it.>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>Tianna will offer you a sacrifice in cattle in exchange>Maybe Dancing Smoke is right and you will end up liking it>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair Folk>Do it and I promise Dancing Smoke will never bother you again>I can offer you something in exchange (what?)>Other argument?Stance:>Businesslike>Charming>Seductive>Threatening
>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair Folk>Do it and I promise Dancing Smoke will never bother you again.>Charming
Rolled 3>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair Folk>Businesslike
>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair Folk>Do it and I promise Dancing Smoke will never bother you again>Businesslikeno seducing, this dude ain't into that nonsense
>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>We can summon an earth elemental to make trenches, so no part of you catches fire>You'll be rid of the fair folk>Tianna will offer you a sacrifice in cattle in exchange>Charming
>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrantsPrimarily this, but also:>I can offer you something in exchange (what?)We're a fucking Zenith. We can get him worship. Worship is power, and suddenly it won't be "all he can do just to keep the Fae at bay".We can also offer him sex, if he's interested. He is rather attractive.>Do it and I promise Dancing Smoke will never bother you againThis if necessary.>Maybe Dancing Smoke is right and you will end up liking itAbsolutely not this.
Rolled 10>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair Folk>CharmingRadiant Majestic Presence go.
>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>BusinesslikeWe need to get him on board, and having not just removal of the fae but a boost in power should appeal to him.
>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair FolkThese are both EXTREMELY valid arguments. Don't bring Dancing Fire into it one way or the other - he just plain doesn't like her, and we don't want that putting him off of the idea of being fertilized by her.>CharmingCharming is good.
>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair FolkStance:>Charming
>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrantsAfter all, lava gives new soil and faster growth"also, I'm planning on taking Dancing Smoke away with me to Gem when I'm able. The sooner all this mess with the Fae and Abyssals is over, the sooner she'll be far away from you.">Charming
>>30854820>>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>Seductive>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair Folk>Businesslike
Rolled 10>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>Tianna will offer you a sacrifice in cattle in exchange>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair Folk>Businesslikenote to self: never bring Dancing Smoke on negotiations
Rolled 1>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>Tianna will offer you a sacrifice in cattle in exchange>BusinesslikeBest to offer him both a short and long term profit from his cooperation.
Rolled 4>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants that will no doubt offer you their prayers.>This is our /best/ chance of eradicating the Swap Fae.>Businesslike
Rolled 5>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>It's your best chance to get rid of the Fair Folk>BusinesslikeDon't forget to roll,people
>>30854820>>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrantstrue>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair Folkalso true>Do it and I promise Dancing Smoke will never bother you againwe want to bring her away when we leave>Businesslike/Charming
Rolled 8>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair FolkBusinesslike
>>30854864>>30854864>Maybe Dancing Smoke is right and you will end up liking it.It is so tempting. Yet not worth it.
Rolled 9>>30854864Forgot to roll!
Rolled 4>>30854820>Businesslike>"It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair Folk">Point out the earth-elemental trench idea thing.>Seductive>"Besides, don't you ever want to... heat things up a bit? Why should Dancing Smoke be the only one who gets to erupt?"
Rolled 6>>30854877Oh, and my roll.
>>30854957Oh, gods no. That's more likely to make him laugh at us.
>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrants>It's your only and best chance to get rid of the Fair FolkWe should also mention Zaan summoning a Earth elemental to dig trenches so the lava does not go all over the plains uncontrolled.>BusinesslikeYou may not like Dancing Smoke and her, ahm, playful nature but there drowning all the plains in lava or setting the entire island on fire is going to be rather a counterproductive move if the aim is to get the fae of of the island only to make it worse. Plus we want the Lava on the Swamp and as little as possible on the plains.Thus the trench system. Since he is the god of the plains he could perhaps drag the flammable stuff around the lava corridors into the ground so there is no fire hazard.He did say he fought against the fae for a long time. Now that there is finally a coalition that has a chance to do it will he miss out on the one chance he has to stick it to them?We are trying here to make it workable and effective and with as little loss to our side as possible. That means the plains too since we don't really want them scorched. And where the lava will go through the areas will be more fertile in the future, so its not like there is no upside to it if it can be done right.
Rolled 9>>30854820>The area covered in lava will become more fertile and might attract immigrantsalso mention the earth elemental. We might even use it to break up the cooled lava etc.>It's your only chance to get rid of the Fair Folk>BusinesslikeI don't think we need Majestic Presence
>>30854995>We should also mention Zaan summoning a Earth elemental to dig trenches so the lava does not go all over the plains uncontrolled.That is a very good point!
>>30854982Oh god. Hahahahah that was amazing.
Rolled 3>>30854982y u no liek my puns.I maded them just for yous.
Well, we've got at least 4 successes, more depending on how large our pool is.
Rolled 3>>30855079I'm hoping we used Majestic Radiant Presence on this one. It's a big enough situation that it's worth it.
Rolled 2>>30855109not really. We got 5 Successes without it
>>30855079Also depending on whether my roll gets counted where it is in the thread or where the original post I forgot to roll in is.
>>308550795 without MRP and 6 with.
Soc + Zen = 3 10 10 1 4 5 8 = 5 successes"...Listen to me for a second, Yaraon.""This BETTER be good." He looks like he's really about to just up and leave."Look. Think about it." You gesture around. "You know that land covered in volcanic ash becomes really fertile, right?"He gives you a "seriously?" look, while Dancing Smoke is almost killing herself with laughter in the background."...Alright." You scratch your head. "Maybe not the best choice of words, but think about it: Why is your domain uninhabited?""Well, because of the Fae, obviously." He admits."Once we get rid of it, that won't be a problem anymore, and you'll have a portion of extremely productive farmland to attract immigrants.""...Didn't you say you wanted me to channel the lava? Doesn't that mean that it will just be a very small bit of land?""Well, if we kick the Fae away and manage to reconvert the Wyld to stable Creation, don't you think that all that land will come to fall under your domain?" You hint. "Maybe they'll even build a city over the years. Which means worshipers. You'd be their local god after all."He slowly nods. "...This is all very long-term talk, though. And meanwhile, I have to suffer the-""Actually, Tianna also said that they're offering you a sacrifice of cattle."He whistles. "...That's expensive. I thought Tianna was in dire straits.""They are." You nod. "But they're willing to see this operation through.""...Alright. I'll do as much then." He sighs. "Can't say I'm enjoying the idea...""I'll make you feel good~" Dancing Smoke rises from the thick grass with a grin, but you lift a hand to shut her up. You heard a distant noise... ...Like a hunting horn.(cont.)
Rolled 3>>30855278time to kick some Raksha ass
Rolled 10>>30855278Not going to lie. I'm imagining Dancing Smoke pushing Yaraon to his knees and cumming all over his face with a divine dickgirl cock. With cum that sheds light like molten stone. It's also my personal head-canon that she's secretly Samiel's dad, and that her desire for human sacrifice isn't the only reason she and Amata had a falling out.
Rolled 6>>30855278>"Actually, Tianna also said that they're offering you a sacrifice of cattle."So can we just like give him a cow or do we have to preform a thing for him, Samiel mentioned they couldn't afford to add him in there holy days
Rolled 7>>30855364he accepted the cow
Rolled 6>>30855364We can personally slaughter a cow as sacrifice, probably while chanting/singing/dancing. We're good for it, and he gets a big payment as a result. Gods love either big sacrifices or an aggregate of little sacrifices. They also ADORE good prayers/worship, because that's literally essence in their belly and cash in their pockets.Having a Zenith offer this kind of shit to you is like having a Columbian drug lord personally offer you a kilo of pure, uncut powder. Whether you snort it or sell it, you KNOW you're getting some GOOD SHIT.
Rolled 10>>30855401>a kilo of pure, uncut powderWhich is also - simultaneously - a year's worth of filet mignon, if you prefer to use it that way.This is the prayer economy that gods are part of, and this is the bargaining chip that Maka brings to literally every divine table she approaches.
>>30855377>>30855401Oh okay, that's good I was worried we had done a thing that would make Amata mad at us again
Rolled 7>>30855278>spot the source of the hunting callIt's Tia, isn't it...
Further north, you see the fog slowly parting , and a cloud of it rushing away, like if some of the fog had decided to run away into the grassland. It moves with the thunderous noise of hooves, and the shadows dancing within it give you the idea that there might be actual riders within it, dragging the cloud around with them for cover.The cloud glides across the grassland with impressive speed, heading fact inland, up the river, making a run for the hills. For a moment you wonder if it's just a random Fae sortie like you've heard they do from time to time, and just a coincidence.That idea is dashed to pieces when you see a second cloud emerging, and then a third and a fourth."...What's that?" Regis mumbles, astonished. The two gods are too surprised for words. Yaraon seems especially pale. "That's a preemptive attack." You mumble. "They must've seen our troop movements and decided they weren't waiting. I had no idea they could mobilize that fast.""No, not there!" Regis grabs your wrist and spins you a bit more to the left. "I meant THAT!"You notice a large part of the swamp-grassland border where the fog is jutting out bizarrely, like something much larger and slower than those horsemen is leaving it.This time, the fog does disperse around the massive shape, revealing it as......some sort of......of......what the fuck is that.[session end]
>>30855643A war engine of some kind? An Abyssal machine, perhaps?Shit, I hope the Fae haven't allied with the Abyssals.
>>30855643Well fuck
>>30855643Shit.
>>30855643Aw shit, time for giant monster battlin'
Rolled 3>>30855684I think it's just a Behemoth
>>30855716>I think it's just a Behemoth>just a Behemoth
>>30855716Probably a little babby one.
>>30855716>just a BehemothOh is that all it is
Rolled 6>>30855643Isn't there some kind of Wyld being that eats other Fair Folk?
>>30855749It's probably one of those wyrd weapons that I can't put my head to right now.
>>30855716What's a Behemoth? I'm not too familiar with Exalted fluff.
>>30855775Yes, "fair folk"
>>30855784You know those monsters from ancient cultures' mythos? (ie, Greek, Roman, Arabic, Indian, etc)They're like that. But real.And bigger. And a lot, lot worse.
>>30855775More powerful fair folk.
>>30855784It's a big guy.
>>30855643We are nowhere near high-Essence enough for this shit.
Rolled 4>>30855784big monsters made by fae to use as weapons, basically
>>30855784Think of the Giants that Gaia threw against the Greek Gods after they usurped the Titans. Now, put them on steroids. Should be a fairly close approximation.
>>30855784>What's a Behemoth?Technically going by the real terminology a Behemoth is a creation of the primordials that the exalted didn't kill. I think the better term for it though is a fucking Kajuu.
2 XP (base)1 XP (strategy meeting)1 XP (won yaraon's assistance)Next thread probably Monday.
>>30855802>>30855811>>30855838>>30855846>>30855848Lovely.
>>30855848More like what Kaiju want to be when they grow up, but yeah pretty much.
>>30855848oh man, kaiju is totally a good word for it.Waiting warmly for Exalted war strider jaegars.
Rolled 4>>30855851Only five more experience and we can pick up Tiger-Warrior Training Technique.Fabulous.>>30855867Yeah, they're literally Mothra/Godzilla. And given nerdy concept/trope probably exists in some form somewhere in Exalted.
>>30855893after that can we PLEASE put a some for twilight so we can get some essense
>>30855893I don't know if the word "literally," would apply to anything the fair folk do. Maybe a "metaphorical godzilla"
Rolled 10>>30855939Behemoths are creations of the Primordials, not the Raksha.>>30855938...no? No offense, but pissing away experience on Twilight is a huge waste of time and energy. We don't even know how high we need to get it before we would be able to expand our Essence pool - and it wouldn't be like suddenly having 10 essence to dick around with, it would be like going from 5 to 6.Spending at LEAST 6 on Twilight itself, followed by at LEAST 10 picking up the charm(s) necessary to get +1 Essence? No fucking thanks. I would much rather just try to invest in some kind of Zenith Integrity charm that lets us meditate to more-rapidly regain essence.
Rolled 6>>30855938What? Twilight would give us more Essence?
>>30855893We'd benefit more from getting Dawn 4 first. We should get Tiger Training only for when we can reasonably estimate that we will have a lot of downtime.
>>30855938>so we can get some essence?Wat?
Rolled 8>>30856042We actually probably wouldn't. Unless we know we're going to unlock something we specifically want at Dawn 4, we're probably better off just picking up Tiger-Warrior Training Technique to simply have it available if and when we get some down time, instead of finally getting some downtime and finding ourselves without it. After all, a mere +1 to our Dawn rolls isn't that great unless we're actually pursuing something specific that requires it.That said, it does only cost 9 to purchase, so it certainly wouldn't be the end of the world. I just want to have Tiger-Warrior Training Technique on standby, because I really don't want to miss a window where we could have used it due to lack of having it.
>>30856005>>30856073Exalted said Twilight would allow us some charms to have a larger Essence pool.Kind of want that for some serious combos.
>>30855938Honestly if we had to raise one of the lower stats I would rather raise Eclipse to 3, partly because it would help with kingdom managing and because I'm still a little mad of that botch we had when we were recruiting the pirates
>>30856145See here for why that probably isn't worth it:>>30856001
>>30856005>>30856073Immanent Solar Glory
>>30856156I pretty much agree with this, though now that we're starting to need a navy over trading vessels I think we can fix that in character.
Rolled 7>>30856192Could we get similar charms for other abilities?Like a Zenith charm somehow connected to a Cult or inspiring others?
>>30856221Well, running a navy would fall under War, which would be Dawn. Everything else having to do with non-military logistics would be Eclipse.
>>30856238There were different versions of Immanent Solar Glory (added later than the Lore one), linked to one ability for each Caste, but I guess that Exaltedfag houseruled them away.
Rolled 4>>30856291It's basically an overdrive pool, isn't it.Doesn't make sense to have it only under Lore
Rolled 1>>30856238All of that's actually covered under Immanent Solar Glory. Managing a kingdom, religion, army, our thieves guild all fuel that overdrive pool. But yes, pursuing some other kind of overdrive pool would be a good idea. A Zenith Resistance one that fills every time we take damage, maybe. That would be pretty well-balanced against the fact that we've been taking charms specifically to avoid taking damage. Speaking of which, how does our hand look now?
>>30856269Do consider that up until the late XIX century the more important part of any naval combat was seamanship. You can have all the Dawn you want but if the other Navy has a Eclipse just as good the enemy fleet will run circles around you and eventually manage to eat your fleet piece by piece because they are better sailors and thus have better mobility and know how on the sea.For getting a really good navy we would need some way of upping our crews and captains Eclipse up for seamanship and navigation rolls.
Rolled 6>>30856340maybe something where you regain motes every time to lead a prayer?>>30856357but much of it is also boarding combat and archery. They can prevent an engagement, but they can't win it.
>>30855643its something that looks awesome and will make a kickass trophy.
>>30856357Yeah. That would probably be under a twlight training effect. On the other hand I can't see Maka ever realistically raising that unless she got like a month long break.
Rolled 1>>30856379Leading a prayer? That's kind of shit, really. On that theme, picking up an overdrive pool that fills while meditating - whether actual meditation, tai chi, or dancing naked in the sun - would probably be more accessible while also eating up enough time to be balanced.
Rolled 10>>30856439I was trying to hit that "High Pristess" vibeHow about leading a prayer, praying or being prayed to (so gets refilled by Cult)
>>30856508>being prayed to.You have no idea how useful this would be. To bad Maka doesn't know shit about how useful it would be.
Rolled 2>>30856508That's better, but really, meditation works. It's broad yet time-consuming enough to be accessible, but hard to exploit.
Rolled 10>>30856591but meditation is a way of recovering normal Essence, already
>>30856340>A Zenith Resistance one that fills every time we take damage, maybeNot a bad idea, there are charms like that already. Though they're fast essence regain rather than extra essence pool.>>30856340>Speaking of which, how does our hand look now?Fixed apart for a slowly-disappearing scar.
Rolled 1>>30856605No, resting is. Meditation has different connotations entirely, from things like yoga and tai chi to dancing ourselves into a trance to actual Zen meditation. It's super broad, and covers three of the Zenith Abilities - Resistance, Integrity, and Performance - in one package.
Rolled 4>>30856770to regain motes at max speed, you need to be "completely relaxed". I'd say some forms of meditation would qualify
>>30856379>but much of it is also boarding combat and archery. They can prevent an engagement, but they can't win it.You are really not seeing it do you? Better ship handling so they can get to the ships aft with their prow to ram it, better ship coordination and formation sailing so they can have four of five ships circling one of yours and achieving massive local firepower superiority,Also with the ram as the main weapon the whole thing was not combat but proper formation sailing if the engagement was at sea and you did not catch the other in port basically trying to circle them with a diagonal formation, each ram protecting the forward ship from being rammed in turn and thus circling your enemy to death ramming the outlying ships.With that engagement type you would be committing suicide in any attempt to board since as soon as you do so the ship behind the one boarded rams your aft. And this does not even approach better sailing on their own allowing your fleet to disperse and assemble on a moments notice, better handling and sailing in bad weather or at night, etc.Dawn at sea is helpful for soldiers but there is a reason military men on ships are called sailors not soldiers. Seamanship was the deciding factor in a naval engagement not soldiering.
>>30856912A ship with a high-eclipse, low-dawn captain will sink a ship with a high-dawn, low-eclipse captain four times out of five, all other factors being equal.
>>30856985Of course, having already-good captains and dialing up them and their crew to Physical 4, Dawn 4, Zenith 4 certainly doesn't hurt. Am I right?
Rolled 10luckily, most captains should have eclipse 3 already
>>30857074>luckily, most captains should have eclipse 3 alreadyNot in this game. Eclipse 1 is considered standard for a sailor, while Eclipse 2 is remarkable. Eclipse 3 is the sort of thing you only find with people who are either magical or enhanced by magic in some way.
Rolled 4>>30857107really? source?and we're talking about the captain, who should be better than a random sailor
Rolled 3>>30857107so the Exaltion gave Maka 2 dots in every ability?
>>30857203Pretty much! That happened over the course of the first few threads.
>>30857107If the average sailor has Eclipse 1, then the average merchant should also have Eclipse 1, so Maka is a better trader or Bureaucrat than professionals
>>30857170Exaltedfag in the last thread gave us a metric for what a given soldier's Physical + Dawn means.A random peasant usually has Physical 1, Dawn 0, for one die.A freshly-trained recruit is usually Physical 1, Dawn 1, for two dice.A professional soldier is usually either Physical 2/Dawn 1 or Physical 1/Dawn 2 depending on their style and focus, for three dice.And a seasoned veteran is Physical 2/Dawn 2, for four dice in their attack/defense pools.He went on to describe someone with a combat pool of 5 as a goddamn ninja.So, yeah, a solid, seasoned veteran of a captain probably has 2 in his relevant skills and is considered fantastic for it.>>30857203She started with a minimum of one dot in everything, so she was already sort of generically talented at everything. Right now, her worst combo - a Mental + Twilight of 4 - is exceptional for a normal human, the equivalent of a tenured but utterly-mundane scholar.
>>30856906>to regain motes at max speed, you need to be "completely relaxed". I'd say some forms of meditation would qualifyConsidering how often we stay up all night to have sex, we should get a charm where we can use tantric meditation (sex) to count as resting.
>>30857289I'd definitely say the seasoned captain of a pirate ship is as good at sailing as a veteran is at fighting
>>30857267She is better than the average professional. Maka is an entirely exceptional person, even outside of her specialties. She's only bad at Twilight or Eclipse or Mental compared to other exalts, not compared to normal mortals.And in her specialties? She currently tosses around six dice for fighting - including archery, throwing, sword fighting, etc - before using charms. She sings, lies, cajoles, weathers poison, has sanity, and resists Wyld mutation with seven dice - again, before charms.She's an exalt. She's goddamn amazing. She's just not as good at other exalts at things outside of her specialties.
>>30857344Yes, which would give him Eclipse 2 and Physical/Mental/Social 2, depending on which stat you think is appropriate. Which means most captains should have Eclipse 1/2 already, depending on whether they're an under-qualified captain or a good captain. Anything over that is the realm of supernatural beings or someone enhanced with a training charm.
>>30857289>She started with a minimum of one dot in everything, so she was already sort of generically talented at everything.That's pretty usual for the sort of person who ends up Exalting.
>>30857385that means the difference between a normal captain (Eclipse 2) and one supernaturally trained (Eclipse 4) is just one Success, on average
>>30857437...and? Alternatively, it's +50% successes, going from an average of 2 to an average of 3. That's a pretty solid amount for someone who doesn't personally use magic.
>>30857502people were talking as if our navy would be useless if we didn't get the right training charm
Rolled 10>>30857535They're even better with one, not useless without it.
>>30857031Considering Lintha potential boarders from under the waves most definitely boosts their survivability and probably allows crew with a higher physical strength to put some their Eclipse skills on sailing to better use.Still its going to be Eclipse skills for the Captain, Officer and Crew to work like a well oiled machine knowing already which sails need pulled which and how much each oarsman needs to push, what ropes need to be tightened or loosed, etc.>>30856985And this is just one ship vs the other. Increase the numbers of fleet and the chances become really bad for a high dawn low eclipse fleet facing a high eclipse low dawn.Now that i think about this it would most likley mean that Realm Fleets are at the very least with some decent Eclipse Analogue skilled DB officers.So yeah, probably a charm similar to Tiger Warrior that would allow for eclipse training would be necessary for our navy if we really want to rule the seas, and run circles around potential Lintha reprisals once we fuck up their local base or Realm interventions.One we get some more ship hulls. Probably a few bigger ones too, and start into the age of sail with a Caravel or something.
>>30857790>And this is just one ship vs the other. Increase the numbers of fleet and the chances become really bad for a high dawn low eclipse fleet facing a high eclipse low dawn.>Now that i think about this it would most likley mean that Realm Fleets are at the very least with some decent Eclipse Analogue skilled DB officers.>So yeah, probably a charm similar to Tiger Warrior that would allow for eclipse training would be necessary for our navy if we really want to rule the seas, and run circles around potential Lintha reprisals once we fuck up their local base or Realm interventions.>One we get some more ship hulls. Probably a few bigger ones too, and start into the age of sail with a Caravel or something.Could we arrange for Makahil to help train our navy in Eclipse skills, in exchange for us doing something for him (possibly as long-term, with our Zenith skills?)
>>30857790Either way, I demand we make use of our large Island status and lack of other major cities on said Island. We're only a bit of land control of a strong navy away from being Exalted!Great Britain. RULE BRITANNIA!
>>30857560>>30857535Not useless but most likely inferior to Realm Equivalents that can afford DB captains or worse all DB officer core.If we really want a awesome navy we would have to get our Eclipse higher and have a charm to train up Eclipse in others.That way we can offset potentially worse armaments and lower numbers of our fleet against enemies.
>>30857873to deal with DB captains and officers, I think we'd need godblooded or enlightened mortals
>>30857839Didn't we get told these pirates are pirating in this region because they couldn't cut it in the tougher areas where dragonborn are leading pirates?
>>30857873More importantly, with Dawn 4, Zenith 4, and Physical 4 they would have literally double what hardened veterans normally have for fighting, resisting illness, healing up, and so forth. They would be twice as effective as already-elite mortals. That's fucking fantastic as a baseline that can be further augmented with leadership effects and Solar tactical acumen.
>>30857889Once you sink the ship you leave them to drown. They will only have DB captains and such, with a Tiger Warrior Equivalent for Eclipse we could get the entire crew and officer core up to our Eclipse score of at least 3, unlike the Realm fleet that only has at best officers or perhaps only DB captains.This of course is all assuming we get something proportional to our size, and we do not get into a fight with say our potential 9 pirate galleys and small ships against realm Quincermes or such each with ram, roman boarding bridge with hooking spike, eagles nest, heavy catapult in a aft castle, and scorpio and balistae at the flanks.One such thing would have a compliment of around a hundred warriors and two to three hundred + oarsmen. Usually such things were flagships and later the heavy ships (eastern empires when with even more rows of oarsmen with such things as septermes and more) but since its exalted i would not put it past them to have a fleet of them if they get pissed at someone.
>>30858119Since the Realm only has 10,000 Dragon-blooded individuals - counting the pregnant, adolescents still in training, and the elderly - and most of them aren't in an House's navy, it's reasonable to assume that only elite ships can even afford Dragon-blooded officers. Mostly, they would just have Dragon-blooded captains, and their merchant ships likely wouldn't even have that.
>>30858119>Once you sink the ship you leave them to drown.the Water or Air aspect just runs over the water, if the Fire aspect doesn't jump aboard and sets the whole ship on fire with his anima or the Wood Aspect makes the ship's wood come alive or some shit like that
>>30857873I don't know about inferior guns. I mean Irene talked about chemical pistols.We could have them made the size of essence cannons....And then:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2WdU3ZkeigWith such a arrangement we would only need to get the damn oarsmen out of there. Problem would be ship propulsion... we would need a alternative to all those oarsmen.
>>30858314>I don't know about inferior guns. I mean Irene talked about chemical pistols.No, Fire Dust pistols. They shoot a gout of flame out to a very limited difference that's hot enough that it will drop a person just as well as a musket ball in real life. Fire Dust is made of fire essence that congealed into a solid form and drifted from the Elemental Pole of Fire onto the southern dunes.Ships already have 'cannons' of that style which are used like Greek fire. You just have to pull up pretty damn close to use it - which is fine, since a bulk of combat is already with ramming. But they're expensive, risk setting your own ship on fire, and so forth, so only specialized, well-trained crews can be expected to have them.Basically, think of them as flintlock/matchlock muzzle-loaded single-shot super-flamethrowers.
So, we want to unite the Island, have ti start a cult with Dancing Smoke as a somewhat important figure in it, have to take over some Islands in Wavecrest and dream of making a navy that will rule the seas of creation and fight of both Lintha and Realm bullshit.
>>30858179>Since the Realm only has 10,000 Dragon-blooded individualsare you sure about that? I remember the DB started out as 10000 when they were created before they had a giant, year-long orgy to reproduce as fast as possible.They call themselves the 10'000 Dragons, but I think that's not the actual number of them
What kind of Sail Charms could we get at Eclipse 3, anything good?
>>30858550We had a discussion about it in the General the other day. There Dragon-blooded core book says there's about 10,000 DBs in the Realm, which make up about half the DBs in the entire world.Remember, Creation has had at least four mass-deaths since the First Age.
>>30858550Yeah there is more dragonblooded then just that. Though in general not that much more since the 3000 or something outcastes are significant in number.
>>30858607That's about the tier I would expect charms that let us do things like sail through any weather or sail through sand or some shit.But remember, Maka will get cunt-punted by the Storm Mothers if she tries to captain a ship.
>>30858743obviously, our first sail charm should hide our ship from all attempts of observing it, so the sea mothers can't see that we're captaining a ship
>>30858550>The single best-known Dragon-Blood in Creation is the Scarlet Empress, and her vast armies of progeny share some of that renown. The 761 Realm census placed the number of Dynastic Dragon-Blooded in the Realm (included lost eggs adopted to Great Houses) near 10,000. This might be as many as half the entire world’s population of Terrestrial Exalted, and the world knows that it’s there.Page 226, Manual of Exalted Power: Dragon-blooded.
>>30858781That's more Sorcery. Or maybe a Stealth (Night) charm.
>>30858814to clarify, dragon blooded breed, mass death (ex, 90% of them died vs the fae crusade), dragon blood breed, mass death, repeat. End result is ~20k total according to book.Of course, this quest is not exactly going according to the book.
>>30858841hmm. Other idea, sea mothers send storms to kill women on ships, right?Get a sail charm that makes our ship immune to storms, laugh in the storm mother's faces
>>30858858No, but it's a good idea to assume things are as they are in the canon setting until told otherwise. It's stuck pretty close so far.
>>30858879>Get a sail charm that makes our ship immune to storms, laugh in the storm mother's facesEasier said than done, since the Storm Mothers can personally throw lightning and shit instead of just conjuring storms.
>>30858841there are canon sail charms that help with hiding ships
>>30858879We could always go for a night charm to disguise ourselves as a man
>>30858989It would honestly be easier for Tia to pick up a charm that actually lets her use her shapeshifting effects to temporarily change someone else's form. She could actually make us a man for the duration of a voyage. That's assume we want to take full advantage of her talents and assuming we'll want her to remain with us in a permanent or semi-permanent capacity.
>>30858879>>30858916Better idea, don't actually be a captain.A land based queen can command ships just fine.
>>30859079Agreed 100%.
>>30859076that's not really something Lunars can do, i think
>>30859079Yeah we don't have to be Pirate Queen, we're God Queen
>>30859129It is, actually. It's one of their basic knacks - lending shapeshifting effects to others.
>>30858468>explosion in a confined spaceThat's a metal projectile away from being an arquebus. I bet Irene's the kind of lady to make such a leap of logic.
>>30859212It just doesn't work in Exalted. Massive amount of "things" (concepts or whatever) were destroyed in the Primordial War, or just afterwards. QM can houserule that guns are possible, but unless he clearly states it, there's no gunpowder or the equivalent in the setting. Firedust does not provide the gas pressure to send a bullet flying, and nothing known in the Creation does.
>>30859129Lunar Blood Shaping Technique and Insidious Lunar Transformation.And I think Tia already has them, since she said she could do the gender flip on us when we met. And she definitely had the pre-req for the first one, Prey's Skin Disguise in order to take the beastman pirate's shape.
>>30859212>That's a metal projectile away from being an arquebus.It's not, actually. Because it's fire essence, it doesn't actually impart any kinetic force. It spreads through the air, but it would melt a musket ball put in the barrel, not push it.It's not an expansion of gasses caused by a chemical reaction. It's powder turning directly into fire essence (i.e. fire) which spreads forwards in a streak and then dissipates.And if you made the ball heat-resistant enough, it would just super-heat the barrel instead as the fire essence tried to escape.Basically, actual guns are not a thing in Creation. If you want a gun-like thing, you either have fire weapons, crossbows, or directed essence weapons. And I think that's awesome. I love that certain things just don't work, or just don't exist, in this setting.
>>30859329Prayer pieces can do it, but they're more like a smallgod-based coil gun that fires gold bullets.
>>30859329>Firedust does not provide the gas pressure to send a bullet flying, and nothing known in the Creation does.Steam does, and so does tension like a crossbow, but you're right - there's no known explosive in Creation that produces expanding gas in a stable enough way to make a gun. Remember, things in Creation are literally made of different types of essence, not of atoms/chemicals.
>>30855893>>30856042I say when we get Tiger Training, we should use it on Regis and see what happens.EF said that using it on one person is measured in Days, not Weeks.
>>30859354Wow, really? That is rather cool. And now that I think about it, naval warfare would be way more awesome with essence cannons anyway.>MFW naval broadside of giant energy beams
