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>Who are we?
Maka, an exiled noble Exalted as a Zenith-caste Solar. Queen of Gem, now ruling the western island of Tianna. You have gathered a vast amount of allies and friends, and defeated every threat to Tianna up to now, though not without difficulty.
You recently discovered that Tianna is actually an artificial island, built around a First Age Titan: an almighty flying fortress. Your forces have crushed the Bodhisattva Anointed by Dark Water, a Deathlord who tried to usurp its power for himself.
And now, on the day of your wedding, the Unconquered Sun Himself appeared to you and crowned you Princess of Creation, asking you to be an example for others in these dark times.
After securing the alliance of the nearby realm of Neck (or Okeanos, as they prefer to be called), you received news from your remote homeland of Gem: Rankar, the man who usurped your throne, holds your father and sister prisoner, and is about to marry her to his own son in an attempt to solidify and legitimize his power over the city.

>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=Solar%20Quest
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Solar%2C+Quest

>System?
Dicepool-like system. When performing an action, everyone rolls 2d10 when posting. The first X rolls are considered, where X is equal to 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

>Any questions?
http://ask.fm/Exaltedfag

New System Info: http://pastebin.com/pvAZpsJ6
Characters info (player-made): http://pastebin.com/5WnD47jp
Quest in ebook format (player-made): https://www.dropbox.com/s/0wl5obxcwuakgdj/Exalted%20Quest%20-%20Threads%2001-101%20%5Bpdf%5D.rar?dl=0
Meanwhiles: http://pastebin.com/u/Exaltedfag

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As you'll notice, I changed your Elder charm for the "social attack" tree of Zenith. The discussion for that was going on in the last thread.

This is what I came up with. it's in no way definitive if better ideas come up, or if that particular charm gets a lot of opposition.

>>415696
>Starfall, you think you could sneak into the villa and deliver a message to Halan?

>>415696
>Starfall, you think you could sneak into the villa and deliver a message to Halan?
We wouldn't happen to have a Florin on us would we, that would be decent proof of us should she need it, I mean our face with the words Queen Maka are pretty Long Live the Queen-ish

Nice to have you back EF.

>>415702
By the way EF, I think you posted the wrong charm sheet, that has the same old ACG and is missing JET.

>>415696
>>Starfall, you think you could sneak into the villa and deliver a message to Halan?

Nice ta see ya EF.

>>415696
>Starfall, you think you could sneak into the villa and deliver a message to Halan?

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>>415718

Oh damn it, saved it to the wrong folder, sorry.

Here we go.

>>415696
>Starfall, you think you could sneak into the villa and deliver a message to Halan?

>>415696
>I'll take care of this after all, you guys stand back.

>>415740
But we already did that joke last thread.

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After assessing the situation, you retreat slightly into a side-alley.

"Say, Starfall."

"Yes?" The Night-caste replies, chipper.

"You think you can sneak inside the villa and make contact with Arbani Halan?"

She keeps around the corner, giving another look at the villa in question, then returns. "No problem." She grins, looking pretty cocky. "Time for the magical girl of stealth and justice to make her debut?"

"I thought you already had your debut." You laugh.

"Every time is a new debut." She nods. "Any directions you can give me?"

"If I remember right... his personal rooms are on the third floor. They look directly over the entrance, so they're on this side of the building. There's a study, a workshop, and his bedroom, side by side."

"What does he look like?"

"Tough." You reply with the first word crossing your head. "Despite being on the older side... he should be in his 70s, if I remember right, but he sure didn't look like that. Grey hair, in any case, and he has a goatee, or at least, he had. A scar across his face, near the left eye." You explain. "...If he's in the workshop and at work, don't disturb him."

"...I'll be careful."

"No, I mean it." You point out.

Karas nods. "If we interrupt the old man in the middle of his work he might well decide to just side with Rankar."

Starfall shivers. "He's THAT touchy about being disturbed during his work?"

You and Karas glance at each other and nod.

"Yeah."

"Pretty much."

"So, once I see him, and assuming he isn't at work, what do I do?"

>I'll write you a letter. You'll give it to him.
>Explain the situation. We're in Gem, we're looking to free my dad and kick Rankar out, we need his support, and so on.
>I need to speak with him personally, so explain to him that I'm in town and want to see him.
>(Other?)

>>415747
>I need to speak with him personally, so explain to him that I'm in town and want to see him.
>I'll write you a letter. You'll give it to him.

Set up a meet, write a letter to prove it.

>>415747
>I need to speak with him personally, so explain to him that I'm in town and want to see him.

>>415747
>>I need to speak with him personally, so explain to him that I'm in town and want to see him.

>I'll write you a letter. You'll give it to him.

>>415747
>>I'll write you a letter. You'll give it to him.
The letter should say that we want to meet him, and briefly explain why without going into to much detail about specifics, incase he's already on Rankar's side.

>>415747
>I need to speak with him personally, so explain to him that I'm in town and want to see him.
>I'll write you a letter. You'll give it to him.

>>415747
>>I need to speak with him personally, so explain to him that I'm in town and want to see him.
A letter is fine for an introduction, but I would rather explain everything ourself in person.

How big is Gem, could we hit the whole thing with a single City Moving Song?

>>415760
Generally, City-Moving Song's area is big enough to hit an entire city. In fact, I'm thinking about dropping the specifically-worded range and just says it hits everyone in a "city-sized area".

>>415764
Well then you run into the problem of "what size city?"
For example, I imagine The Imperial City, Gem, and Tianna are all very different sizes, and while just making it hit anyone in whatever city we're in would be fine when we're in a city, what if we're in the wilderness, trying to hit a bunch of barbarian tribes? Just using "The city you're in" as the size no longer works.

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"Hey, Mika, give me paper and a pencil."

Mikahil obliges, and you start writing down a quick note, in which you inform Arbani Halan of the fact that you're in Gem and you're going to put your family back on the throne.

...It's best if you don't mention anything about being Exalted right here. Just hint that you're very confident you can do it with little trouble. Include some personal details only you and he would know, like that incident where when you visited his house when you were 8 years old, Karas wandered off into the kitchen and the servants found him eating their apricot jam-

"Hey!" Karas keeps over your shoulder. "The heck you're writing?!"

You shush him and conclude the letter with a signature and the request that he destroy the letter after reading it.

You fold the sheet of paper in eight and hand it over to Starfall. "Give him this, then tell him I need to see him personally. Agree with him on a time and a place."

"Well, we kind of have a place."Nerus suggests. "We can use that house I met you in, it should still be safe."

"As for the time, I guess it's as soon as possible?" The Night-Caste asks.

"Of course." You nod. "Now go!"

She salutes you with a smug smile on her lips, and vanishes from your sight.

>Let's wait for her here.
>Let's return to the safehouse, we're too much in the open here.
>While she deals with this, there's something else we need to do...
>(Other?)

>>415769
>While she deals with this, there's something else we need to do...

>>415769
>While she deals with this, there's something else we need to do...

>>415769
>>While she deals with this, there's something else we need to do...

>>415769
>>While she deals with this, there's something else we need to do...

>>415766
That is also a problem but Exalted isn't generally big in using actual distances. For example, there's no mention of how geographically large Nexus actually is, for reference.

I might actually just use something like break out the Mandate of Heaven dominion rules and use Magnitude equal to the Social score of Maka... but the problem is that Mandate of Heaven rules are both too complicated and retarded, and too vague (a "dominion" could be a city-state or a vast region of depopulated land and have the same Magnitude).

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>>415782
Nexus is supposed to have more than a million people, isn't it? Maybe several?

>>415769
>>While she deals with this, there's something else we need to do...
We decided that we needed to talk to a couple of Noble Houses. I forget which ones they were, but we could see if any of them are easier to get at.

>>415769
>>While she deals with this, there's something else we need to do...
We have a lot to do before our sisters "wedding," no time for idleness.

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You turn around and head back towards the inner part of the city.

"While she works out an appointment with old man Halan, we can take care of other things."

"Such as?" Tia grins, slamming her fists together. You don't have the heart to break it out to her that you're trying to NOT murder everyone.

>Let's see if we can get House Sahlak on our side.
>Let's see if we can get House Iblan on our side.
>Let's see if we can get House Circla on our side.
>Let's see if we can get House Trasti on our side.
>Let's see if we can get some mercenaries on our side.
>I need to at least get a message to my family, let them know I'm in town.
>I want to see my family in person.
>I want to get a message delivered to Rankar.
>I want to get my hands on Rankar.
>I want to get a message delivered to Rankar Jr.
>I want to get my hands on Rankar Jr.
>We gather as much intel as possible on the mercenaries working for Rankar.
>We learn what we can about the Dragon-Blooded working for Rankar.
>We find out if the Realm is doing anything right now here in Gem.
>We find out why Rekka, the Flying Blade, works for Rankar.
>(Other?)

>>415794
>We gather as much intel as possible on the mercenaries working for Rankar.

>>415794
>>Let's see if we can get House Iblan on our side.
I think our plan was to get Arbani and Iblan on our side, and use them to hire and arm mercenaries, and to avoid flaring anyone's anima.
Someone also suggested not using any Orichalcum or Moonsilver artifacts, but that might be a bit TOO paranoid.

>>415794
>I need to at least get a message to my family, let them know I'm in town.
I'd rather wait until after Halan's on our side before we start going after the other families so we know who to aim for, plus I want to get to Papa and Imouto, make sure they're okay.

>>415794
>>I need to at least get a message to my family, let them know I'm in town.
>>I want to see my family in person.
F A M
A
M

>>415794
>>Let's see if we can get some mercenaries on our side.

>>415794
>>We learn what we can about the Dragon-Blooded working for Rankar.
>>We find out if the Realm is doing anything right now here in Gem.

>>415799
Giant gold and silver swords are pretty much the hallmark of Anathema, we absolutely want to avoid using those.

Whoops, wrong post.

>>415764
Is that pretty much completely redundant, since WECM would already let us just target "the city."

>>415808
WECM is a little different, slower and more selective in scope. I'm pretty sure they use different dice pools too.

>>415807
I suppose.
It's something we should talk about once we get back to the safehouse, where no one will overhear.

>>415808
Remember, WECM has two limitations:

The first one is that it only attacks ORGANIZATIONALLY COHERENT groups. You can hit a government, or a club or society, basically anything that has a group identity. So you COULD use it to target "the entire city", but then it wouldn't, for example, hit people who are inside the city but do not consider themselves citizens (like traders, or visitors, or low-ranking slaves, or ambassadors from foreign countries)

The second is that it acts like a "social contagion": it's an influence that jumps from person to person whenever they interact, so the larger the targeted entity is, the more time it takes for it to spread to all corners of it.

On the plus side, it's also very subtle (as befits Eclipse): you whisper an innocent question in the ears of the ministry of trade one night at a gala, and in one week the government crumbles from the inside.

City-Moving Song is a social nuclear attack. Anything inside the area of effect is struck. And it's about as subtle, having Phantom-Conjuring Performance as a prerequisite: you get a massive lightshow of glorious Solar essence, your voice is amplified millions of times and echoes through streets and roads and over rivers and valleys, giant glowing essence ghost-holograms of your visage appear in the sky, or shit like that.

Imagine it like the ability to instantly explode into a massive, high-budget concert with all the lightshow and fireworks and amplifiers, and you're not far from how i imagine it to work.

>>415823
Couldn't we combine CMS and WCEM? CMS expands the social attack to anyone in a certain raidus of the attack beyond its normal area of effect. WCEM targets the individuals under an organisaiton/country/society. So each individual gets hit by that social attack and therefore CMS expands that attack to any nearby person in X radius.

How effective would keeping CMS active work with HTH?

>>415830
The problem is that you can't combine them, they belong to different skill trees. Besides, you need to name the organization you're targeting when you use Wise-Eyed Courtier Method, you can't just say "pass on this influence to any organization you're a part of". The attack is precise and must be custom-tailored for the target, whereas CMS's attack is indiscriminate.

HTH is a charm you don't actively USE, but has a passive influence effect that is checked once a month, so it doesn't "stack" with anything, per se.

>>415830
WCEM uses Eclipse as it's roll, CMS is Zenith.

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You smile at Tia. "I guess I just want to make sure my family knows I'm here. Both my dad and sister are locked up in the palace..."

"Not an easy place to sneak in if you're not Starfall." Zareen notes.

"Or me." Lynne points out.

"Well, Starfall had days to case, plan and map the place properly, build a fake identity, get to know the people there, the turns, the habits and so on." Zareen shrugs.

"...Alright, the little chick did her homework, I'll give her that."

"I don't think you're in the right to call anyone "little", pipsqueak."

"No fighting, boys and girls." You snap your fingers in front of the two of them. "Focus."

>Better to use an Infallible Messenger
>Lynne? get sneaking.
>Zareen? we'll use the letter-tied-to-an-arrow trick.
>I could use my Hearthstone, turn into a man, and try and talk my way inside, but it'd still be risky.
>(Other?)

>>415846
>Better to use an Infallible Messenger

>>415846
>Lynne? get sneaking.
Lynne, mouse mode go!

>>415846
>>I could use my Hearthstone, turn into a man, and try and talk my way inside, but it'd still be risky.
>>Lynne? get sneaking.
Cooperation!

>>415846
>Better to use an Infallible Messenger

>>415855
>>>I could use my Hearthstone, turn into a man, and try and talk my way inside, but it'd still be risky.
I'd rather we look like ourselves for the family reunion.

>>415861
Think of it as backup. She doesn't need to even be seen if everything goes right. Meanwhile if the man-maka plan doesn't work out she'd be able to try on her own.

There is zero reason to only do one thing at the same time.

>>415846
>>Better to use an Infallible Messenger

>>415867
Except if we send an Infallible Messenger we could move onto something else, and be doing three things instead of two.

>>415869
Except that's the riskiest approach, because who the hell doesn't account for magic shenanigans in a high value prison? Someone intelligent needs to be there to make sure it happens.

>>415869
The messenger has two drawbacks: one, you need to be in a safe place to cast it, as it produces noise and a magical lightshow. (but, well, you have Nerus Dell's house, so you'd just have to go back there.)

The second and more problematic drawback is if the recipient is not alone at that time. According to Starfall, guards are placed and move around the castle in unpredictable patterns, so there's a non-zero chance of that happening.

On the other hand, even if the messenger is spotted, it can't be traced back to you, so it IS safe, in a way.

>>415872
Is there a way to stop an Infallible Messenger? If so, oh well, we're freeing them in a few days anyway and can have our reunion then. As a matter of fact I'd prefer that, as it's much more dramatic for them not to know we're here until we free them.

>>415874
>The second and more problematic drawback is if the recipient is not alone at that time. According to Starfall, guards are placed and move around the castle in unpredictable patterns, so there's a non-zero chance of that happening.
Well as long as we're careful
With how we word it we'll be fine.
I'm sure there is a way to let our family know it's us without alerting the guards, stories from our childhood maybe?
Also, how do we set a target for IM? Because if we just need a name or discription, then we may have found a method of locating mom.

>>415874
So since we're apparently doing it in the dumbest way, we need to make sure that the message is ambiguous enough to only be understood by our family members. Which is going to be very hard, since it's not like messages like that are a casual thing, so even if we make sure anyone listening in doesn't figure out what the message says, they'll still know for sure that the family member in question is being contacted by a powerful faction. Which isn't going to make their life easy.

>>415883
No, the problem is that the most spectacular failure possible in this situation is from the infallible messenger.

If Maka got found out? Whatever, she'd punch her way out of there. Our mortal family members can't do that, and it's not like the messenger knows how to be stealthy or circumspect.

>>415885
Hey, if you hadn't voted to contact them in the first place like an idiot, and instead just waited three days till the rescue, we wouldn't be in this position.

>>415887
If you're so worried about our mortal family, then the safest thing is for them to know know thing until after they're already safe.

>>415874
Oh god are we going to do the absolute riskiest one?

How about we combine Lynne and and the Messenger, get him inside and set up a safe time to message them or maybe have him cause a distraction to lure away some guards and make sure Pops gets the message in peace.

>>415885
>>415883
...Well, I didn't quite mean in the sense that someone might overhear the message. That's actually unlikely.

Just, you know. Someone might see a magical fairly-like being with multicolored crystal wings appear from thin air.

That's not an everyday thing, even in the Exalted setting.


>>415883
>Also, how do we set a target for IM?

Name and description.

>>415883
>then we may have found a method of locating mom
Well, you can't trace an IM, so you wouldn't know WHERE she is.
You'd get an answer if she's alive, willing to answer, and able to do so, that's all.

>>415883
>Is there a way to stop an Infallible Messenger?
Wide-area anti-magic, which sounds like something way above what Rankar should be able to do. The only one you've ever met who did anything like that was the Silver Prince.

>>415891
We wouldn't be in this position if you didn't do your best to sabotage the first vote in the second vote either. This way we all lose I guess. Good job.

>>415894
I voted to let them know because there's like 15 ways to do it safely. For some reason you all decided to use the most self defeating way instead.

>>415898
>Someone might see a magical fairly-like being with multicolored crystal wings appear from thin air.
That's incriminating enough for a prisoner. I mean, it's direct evidence that they're conspiring with a powerful faction exactly because such a spell isn't an every day thing.

I have to briefly AFK, will be right back. In the meanwhile I guess you guys can come up with a plan of sorts on how to get the message to your dad and sister.

>>415899
>I voted to let them know because there's like 15 ways to do it safely. For some reason you all decided to use the most self defeating way instead.
And if at any point we fuck up and get found out, guess who's getting interrogated?
The best thing for us and them is for them to know nothing.

>>415902
Let's just skip all this and have Starfall do it when she gets back instead.

>>415904
If we need to contact them I agree that's the best way.
I am however, still against contacting them at all.

>>415903
>And if at any point we fuck up and get found out, guess who's getting interrogated?
Either manMaka or nobody. Some pretty boy nobody has seen before trying to talk his way in isn't going to incriminate the prisoners. At least not until we get all the way in, at which point if something happens we're there to defend them with overwhelming force.

I mean, that's the point see. We can always make sure things go right UNLESS we stay out of it and send a highly suspicious automated message.

>>415907
I'd rather one of the Lunars if anyone at all go in, maybe no one would suspect manMaka, but no one would see Lynne go in at all. Or we wait for Starfall, but Lynne is fine for this thing too, I mean he did spend like a couple of years infiltrated inside Skullstone, I doubt this is much harder than that.

>>415907
I meant in the three days before the wedding when we're walking around the city gathering allies. All it takes is one person blaming that Maka is back in town and dad and sis are getting questioned.

>>415910
Nothing is saying we can only send one person at a time. This is why I said both Lynn and Maka should go. They can give each other backup and there's redundancy.

Of course an even better way to do it would be to just wait for Starfall. She's even better at stealth and knows the area better as well.

>>415912
>one person blaming that
blabing, not blaming.

>>415912
That's irrelevant to the current issue. We're going to get allies no matter what. Trying to get in right now doesn't change a thing about it.

>>415916
You're missing my point, I didn't want to go in at all. It's a waste of time and effort. So naturally I picked the option that used the least time and effort.

>>415920
The fact that we're going in was already voted on though.

And it's not a waste of time and effort. It's unthinkable to me that Maka is so psychopathically heartless about her family that she'd think this is just some waste of time. She'd do it for the sake of herself, for the sake of Karas, and most of all for the sake of the imprisoned family members who still think they have no future.

>>415924
I know we already voted to needlessly endanger them by giving them information that could get them killed while simultaneously wasting our time, that's why I tried to mitigate the damage by choosing he least time consuming option.

And we're not abandoning them. We have a plan to rescue them in three days. Every second spent doing something else is a second not spent making preparations for that plan, and that would be failing them.

>>415930
>that's why I tried to mitigate the damage by choosing he least time consuming option.
Except you chose the option which puts them in the most risk out of spite. You chose literally the only option where they can end up accused of conspiring with someone outside and also simultaneously having no option to defend themselves.

Like I said, good job. You made everyone lose.

>>415933
>You chose literally the only option where they can end up accused of conspiring with someone outside
Okay, as a third party that's just wrong.
Any option had the chance of a guard coming in during the meeting and then we would have had to deal with him somehow. And no matter how we did that, Rankar would have most likely found out.

>>415930
It's also more time consuming that just sending someone on ahead, to cast the spell we'd need to go back to the hideout so whoever could cast in private

>>415935
>Okay, as a third party that's just wrong.
Of course it's just wrong, you only read the first half of the sentence. Durrrr.

>>415935
All the other options have have the option to hide and stop talking if a guard approaches, with IM we won't even know if a guard is there at all

>>415942
More to the point, if something like that goes wrong we or Lynn or whoever would be there to take care of it. An IM can't do shit on that front.

>>415933
Basically what >>415935 said.
Hell it's less risky, because the messenger vanishes after it gets its reply, where as we would have to sneak back out, giving them another chance to spot us.

>>415938
Five minutes to head back to the safe house takes less time than if infiltrating a place? In what world?

>>415946
>Five minutes to head back to the safe house takes less time than if infiltrating a place? In what world?
The world where we can split up and go talk to someone else while they do that. Multitasking is a thing that we can do.

>>415941
So basically what you want is to rescue them right now, resulting in us having to kill a lot of people, instead of following the plan we made and doing it after we've prepared.
Gotcha.

>>415946
Anon, what that guy said was just wrong. Of course you can make yourself think I don't have a point if you ignore half of what I said.

Read.

The IM approach is the riskiest because it's the hands-off approach. Something could go wrong no matter what we do, but we chose the only option where we aren't there to fix it if it does.

>>415948
And we only have to send one person back to the safe house. And they can rejoin us a lot faster than us sending someone to infiltrate the palace.

>>415954
We need a sorcerer and Maka there to do the message.

But this is a silly tangent. Twenty minutes up or down won't change much either way.

>>415954
What's the point of sending an IM to our dad if we don't do it ourselves?
Might as well have Zareen do the arrow-and-letter trick.

>>415952
>Something could go wrong no matter what we do
Not if we did nothing.
I've made my opinion clear, us contacting them is incredibly stupid. And since we've d coded to be so stupid, I want to get it over with quickly. You saying it's a stupidest method is just fine, because this whole course of action is stupid, so why not go all the way?

>>415954
No we don't, we just need the sorcerer.

>>415962
The point is we could be doing something that actually works towards getting our family free, instead of unsafe ring them.

>>415964
>Not if we did nothing.
We already voted to not do nothing. That wasn't in question anymore, it was in the past.

We're discussing the current, or last, vote. You keep bringing up spite over the previous vote as a reason for why you voted badly. Do you expect me to clap or something?

>>415964
>instead of unsafe ring them
What the hell did I write there
That should read "instead of endangering them."

Alright, I'm back.
Let me read up on this mess.

>>415966
I'm not doing it out of spite.
I'm doing it because I think it's a waste of time and Inffalible Mesenger would waste the least amount of it.

>>415972
There's no point.

>>415973
>I'm not doing it out of spite.
>a stupidest method is just fine, because this whole course of action is stupid, so why not go all the way?

Uh huh.

>>415978
Yes, I'm upset over the result of the previous vote.
That doesn't change the reasoning behind this vote, which is I want to get it over with as quickly as possible, not that I want to endanger our family.

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So let me clear things up with a secondary vote.

>Just send an Infallible Messenger.
>Send a Messenger, but also send in Lynne.
>Send a Messenger, but also go in personally, as a man.
>Send a Messenger, but also go in personally, as a man, with Lynne.
>Change your mind: Let's not contact them for now.
>(Other?)

>>415983
>Send a Messenger, but also send in Lynne.
Having Lynne be a distraction so we talk to dad isn't a bad idea, set up a time say like half an hour from now and give us that window to message dad and have him send one back..

>>415983
>>Send a Messenger, but also send in Lynne.

>>415983
>Change your mind: Let's not contact them for now.

>>415983
>Change your mind: Let's not contact them for now.

>>415983
>Change your mind: Let's not contact them for now.

>>415992
>>415983
So I guess you can throw my vote in for
>Send a Messenger, but also send in Lynne.
and not the others.

>>415983
>>Change your mind: Let's not contact them for now.

>>415983
>Change your mind, let's not contact them for now.

The best deception is one that fools even your allies. Our Dad/Sister might not be as good at lying as us. And their isn't much they can do to prepare from in there.

You mumble, ponder consider, scratch your head.

"...Maka?"

You're worried. Worried that a wrong step might land your family from the comparatively safe situation they're now straight into... considerably hotter waters.

"Maka!" Karas shakes you out of your brief trance.

"Whuh? Bwuh." You face him. "I... I was thinking... maybe it's best if we don't contact dad and sis?"

"Say what?" He shakes you a bit more.

"L-l-listen to me!" You try and talk him down. "If anything goes wrong, they'll be first in line! Worst case scenario, if Rankar feels threatened, he could use them as hostages!"

He slowly lets you go. "...that's right, I guess."

"We ARE rescuing them, but do we really NEED to keep them constantly updated on what we're doing? Considering how risky it could be, and how safe they are right now?"

"They're still prisoners!"

"Yeah, but they aren't exactly in a deathtrap! They're locked up in the most comfortable rooms of Gem's royal palace. Rankar isn't suspecting anything right now. Let's keep it that way."

He takes one long, deep sigh, and nods again. "Alright. So, what are we going to do, instead? If we're not messing with the palace yet?"

>Find allies with the Trade Houses.
>Recruit mercenaries.
>Investigate Rankar's forces.
>Keep our heads down until we hear from Starfall and House Arbani, at least.
>Hide and keep eyes and ears open.
>(Other?)

>>416021
>>Keep our heads down until we hear from Starfall and House Arbani, at least.

Why did you decide on this, by the way?

>>416021
>>Investigate Rankar's forces.
Let's scope out what Rankar's got while Starfall is doing her thing.

>>416021
>That theoretically non-exalted swordsman of butt-kicking really has my interest. I wanna know how he/she does it. And if we get them on our side, it'll be a lot less likely that we'll need to reveal our exalted nature in the fighting.

>>416021
>Find allies with the Trade Houses.

>>416024
It was 5 votes to 3?

>>416033
He's been personally contracted as Rankar's bodyguard. I honestly don't think he'll be easily swayed if he's the kind of warrior he is reputed to be.

Would be nice to get a look at him though, so we can see what we're facing.

>>416021
>>Investigate Rankar's forces.
Specifically any exalts and the swordsman >>416033 mentioned.

>>416043
One never knows whether someone is just really powerful, and tends to prefer acting via sword and so is known for being a powerful swordsman, or if they're known as a powerful swordsman because they're cripplingly overspecialized in it.

There was a rather long period of time where we were super specialized in social, and ok at punching, and absolutely sucked at mental and stealth. Like, worse than a professional mortal bad.

So, depending on which one it is, this guy could be weak to social attacks.

>>416021
>Investigate Rankar's forces.

>>416037
>It was 5 votes to 3?
Ah, it was actually 4 to 3, my bad. When he started writing I mean.

I guess the next time I don't like a vote that already won I just have to complain long enough to get it retried. Good to know.

>>416021
>Investigate Rankar's forces.

>>416021
>Investigate Rankar's forces.
Oh so we aren't going to talk to dad then?

That's a shame, I was actually hoping to see if he had any info that might help us out, he and sis are probably the people that know Rankar best in the city after all.

>>416052
We've run into a psycho melee specialist before who would be theoretically weak to social attacks when we fought the Prince's forces on the beach.

The king of uncloaked steel just straight up attacked us and never let us get a real social attack in.

Maybe you're right and things have changed with our new social scores and skills but I don't think that will be the case.

>>416055
Hey, I never said he should redo the vote.
I'm happy he did, as it got me the result I wanted, but I never once suggested or even hinted that he should.

>>416061
He was already in the middle of battle. The assumption here is that we start talking first.

>>416063
You're right. I shouldn't complain, I should do like you did. Try to sabotage whatever action I didn't want to happen in subsequent votes.

>>416061
We can just leave him to Karas in any case, if he can match him then he's obviously an Exalted of some kind, plus I think he would cry if we didn't let him fight him.

>>416061
Yeah, I'm betting that will be the case if we engage him mid fight and try to social.

But if we get his ear when he doesn't know we're an enemy and we can work our Maka Magic, I think we'll be better off.

Also, King of Uncloaked Steel in my opinion is just super awesome all around. Because I am biased as fuck in favor of Keychain of Creation cameos. And his text filler was awesome.

>>416064
The battle was going on but he hadn't joined in yet.

When we confronted that fake Prince that's when he got interested in fighting us.

This other palooka probably isn't a blood crazed loon but to be the caliber of swordsman he apparently is would take tremendous dedication and focus. He's unlikely to betray his contract or oath if that is the case.

But hey if we can actually get him to walk away or even join us I will gladly be wrong about this.

>>416070
Yeah, but if he's better than Karas in pure skill, Karas will have to start busting out Exalted powers to beat him, and make our conquest that much less subtle.

I don't think the real challenge here is "Can we retake Gem". We have SOOO many Exalted.

The real challenge is "Can we retake Gem without revealing it was a bunch of Exalted, and having the Realm come down on us like a ton of bricks."

>>416067
You realize I was joking when I agreed with you on how stupid it was, right? If I actually thought it was as bad an idea as you were trying to sell it as, I would have switched my vote. Just because I'm grumpy doesn't mean I'm deliberately sabotaging the quest, it just means I didn't think the consequences were as bad as you made them out to be.
Anyway, it's over with now, so I'm dropping the subject after this post. Feel free to give a final rebuttal if you must have the last word.

>>416073
Using our powers is fine as long as no one triggers their anima, and keeps any Orichalcum and Moonsilver under wraps.
As long as we follow those two rules, noe should suspect we're Exalts.

>>416076
What's there to say? You taught me a valuable lesson on how to get what I want despite losing a vote in this quest.

>>416079
>noe
no one
somehow those words got run together.

>>416079
We should see about getting a pair of Firewands for us and Karas if we want to keep our solar shenanigans to a minimum, nothing says Solar like punching a guy through a couple of walls after all.

>>416079
Well, don't some powers still make it pretty obvious, even if they don't use enough to trigger anima flare?

Like, "Hmm, firewand shots are bouncing off that woman's bosom. This is completely normal."

>>416089
Isn't house Arbani the one that makes the best firewands, and that's why we're going to them first?

>>416092
Sure, but Karas is pretty free of those, he has mostly swording charms last we checked so if he keeps it to just his excellencies and damage adders he can get away with just looking like a really skilled swordsman.

Maka on the other hand is kinda boned if we try to do combat, we really want to try and leave that to Karas and the others and only come out ourselves if we need to.

>>416093
They are, it's not exactly why we went to them first, but it doesn't hurt.

>>416092
>Hmm, firewand shots are bouncing off that woman's bosom. This is completely normal

>>416100
>Maka on the other hand is kinda boned if we try to do combat
Some of our outfits LOOK like armor, even if they don't act like it, if we wear one of those and do a little social "yes, it was totally the armor that protected me, not my nigh-invincible, flawless, solar skin" afterwards, we should be fine.
Or we could even get a shitty suit of actual armor and wear it and use our charms to make it seem more effective.

>>416100
Ah, cool, I wasn't sure.

Though don't we have a solar hero style or something excellency for hand to hand, so that we've got at least something?

This discussion has got me thinking though. Should we maybe place our Dad or Sister on the throne, and head back to Tianna after this? I know it's cool to get to call ourselves Queen of Gem, but managing two cities this far apart could be hard, and it seems like that would help keep the realm away from attacking this city, and we've got SOO many promises back in Tianna to keep.

File: Talon.jpg (229 KB, 850x906)

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"Well, the only thing that can really wreck our plans is if Rankar has actually more firepower than we expect him to." You consider in reply.

Talon nods. "As far as we could tell, the extent of his forces are obvious: A lot of mercenaries under various contracts, many of those very well armed, two mercenary Dragon-Blooded officers, two more acting as advisors inside his castle, and this Rekka person."

Aexel continues: "Yeah. No interaction with gods or spirits or churches, either. If his Exalted are sorcerors, I guess he could have been summoning Elementals or Demons, but we don't have much evidence for that."

"And he's been pretty neutral with the Realm. Business as usual, nothing new." Zareen concludes. "He certainly didn't piss them off, but he didn't win them over as trusted allies either. I suspect the Realm officers and ambassadors in town are just keeping their eyes open on the whole deal."

You bite your lips. "Do you know what forces they have, just to be sure?"

"Some Realm troops guard the satrap's villa. Good troops, but we don't know their exact numbers. The Satrap is a Dragon-Blooded, as are at least two of his assistants." She continues. "One of them gave me the vibe of being a bodyguard sort of person."

"What do we know on the reasons Rekka might be working for Rankar?" Karas wonders.

There's a general shrug. No one seems to have a theory.

It doesn't surprise you. The Flying Blade is basically a folk hero. Like most folk heroes, little is known of his actual life, and people usually don't care. He's a wandering swordsman of the South, fighting villains and righting wrongs. And generally uninterested in... politics.

"...if Rankar has him on his side, it means that he's worried about something. Having Rekka in your payroll doesn't sound like business as usual." The idea strikes you. "He's scared."

"Of what?" Karas whispers. A feeling of dread creeps on your little gathering.

"No idea." You reply. "Alright, listen, this is what we must do..."

>Investigate Rekka's circumstances.
>Try and meet Rekka personally.
>Get an idea of the exact mercenary forces Rankar has.
>Investigate Rankar's Exalted.
>Get an idea of the exact military forces the Realm has.
>Investigate the Realm's Exalted.
>Try and find hints on what exactly could Rankar be afraid of.
>Investigate the religious and spiritual landscape of Gem.
>(Other?)

>>416111
>Should we maybe place our Dad or Sister on the throne
I think dad would be a good choice, he already has experience in the "running gem" area. The real question is if we're giving them the Kiss of the Sun. We've done 3 (Millian, Regis, Pyre), which means we still have enough to do all our non-exalted family (Dad, Mom, Sis), but it would take up all our slots.

>>416112
>>Try and find hints on what exactly could Rankar be afraid of.

Ok EF, i'll bite.

>>416112
>Investigate Rekka's circumstances.
>Try and find hints on what exactly could Rankar be afraid of.
THE FIRST AND FORSAKEN LION
Look for other Exalted that might be using hime or have something over his head.

>>416112
>Try and find hints on what exactly could Rankar be afraid of.
>Investigate Rekka's circumstances.

>>416116
I've said this before, but I'd rather not Kiss Dad and Imouto, implying Mom needs it, if we want to extend their life or awaken their essence there are other ways to do that that don't involved losing Mini Boss spots.

>>416124
They could use Mini Boss status if they're across the world governing a city away from exalted support though.

>>416112
>Investigate Rekka's circumstances.
>Try and find hints on what exactly could Rankar be afraid of.

>>416112
>Investigate Rekka's circumstances
>Try and find hints on what exactly could Rankar be afraid of.
Let's investigate first. We can still lose in social contests if we're playing blind and go against strong beliefs, as lesbian Immaculate's showed. But if we know how to hit them? :D

>>416112
>Try and find hints on what exactly could Rankar be afraid of.
>Investigate Rekka's circumstances.
Authochthonia needs you! Well, just your resources. NOW.

>>416057
Eh, we can have Starfall take care of it when she gets back. She's part of the staff, after all. No big.

>>416112
>Investigate Rekka's circumstances.
>Try and find hints on what exactly could Rankar be afraid of.

>>416124
>that don't involved losing Mini Boss spots.
Well right now they're sitting there doing nothing. I'd rather have them on our family than burning a hole in our pocket

>implying Mom needs it
The fuck does that even mean? I've been hearing people throw around crazy theories about our mom with no evidence at all for a couple threads now, where are you getting this stuff other than your ass?

>>416116
I'm all for setting them back up on the throne with imouto being groomed to take over rulership of Gem (since we'll have an empire to take care of). I also liked the idea one anon had of creating a Wyld highway for quick travel between Tianna and Gem.

>>416124
>>416126
Whatever we do, if we set them on the throne, we're going to need to be damn sure they've got backup and protection before we leave again.

>>416136
The main point in support for the Boss Mom theories is that she's not captured or announced dead by Rankar, when he's got everyone else. It is mighty fishy.

>>416137
A wyld highway would be super boss, but also unreliable.

>>416137
>since we'll have an empire to take care of
Speaking off which, when we're Queen of all Creation, is our capital going to be Pearl, Gem, or somewhere on the Blessed Isle

>>416143
We'll have Tianna/Pearl flying in the sky by then so it'll be our flying capital.

File: sun.png (114 KB, 1600x1622)

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Unfortunately I have to AFK again, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to return. So, for today I'll pause the thread here, and continue tomorrow like last time.

>>416143
Obviously Pearl hovering over the Blessed Isle with the restored Titan flight function

>>416150
We'll be here, do what you gotta do EF.

>>416143
Pearl is good enough for being queen of the west, but if we ever play the 300+ threads necessary to conquer everything then I think only the blessed isle would suffice.

>>416150
We'll keep it fresh, boss.

>>416149
>>416151
Good answer.

>>416150
See you when you get back EF, whenever that may be.

>>416156
Well at the very least we're going for the West and South, and once you're in that far, you might as well go all the way.

>>416167
I think the scope of the problem is a bit bigger than you think. Creation is quite a bit bigger than Earth. Not only that, its ratio of land to sea is a lot higher.

Basically, we'd be conquering about enough land to fit into three or four Earths or so. What's worse, all of it is populated by supernatural beings, so we're up against many exalted who are equal or grater than we are, fey, gods, and so on.

I'm not saying that it can't be done, it's just that it would probably take over a hundred years to do it. And I don't think we'll ever have a sufficient time-skip regime in this quest to make it that far.

Even becoming queen of the west is a vast undertaking, and most of the west is ocean.

>>416149
>>416167
I wonder if there are any Gateways of Auspicious Passage that Val and Irene could reverse engineer? Then we build pairs of them, linking our various federated holdings to access points on Tianna's edge.

A mini, flying Yu-Shan

>>416175
None in Gem probably, they would have to make a brand new set just for it. That and I'm not sure how they would work if one door is constantly moving around.

>>415787
Goddamn do I love the location names in Exalted. They feel so arbitrary and weird, both like an actual map would read and how a fantasy world should sound.

Also, looking at that legend makes me wonder if the rest of our Circle has some unplundered tombs lying around Creation. I'd love to dig into Val's.

>>416557
I love the little faux chinatowns.

File: Aexel Asteras.jpg (695 KB, 688x900)

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"This is what troubles me the most." You consider, doing a small team huddle in the dark alley with the rest of your expanded Circle. "When did Rankar get Rekka's help, exactly?"

"Not sure, we didn't have the time to look into it." Aexel mentions. "But when we got here, he was already here."

"...Did you think that maybe he knew that we were here and plotting agains him?" Talon grumbles.

You frown. "...The thought crossed my mind. I didn't want to imply that you made a mistake and got found out, of course, just... you never know. He could've found you with sorcery, or something."

"Well, he didn't." The Lunar replies. "That Rekka boy was already here when we first arrived."

"So he's not afraid of us, but of something else." You ponder. "The two things are probably connected: when, and why, he managed to secure Rekka's help, and what he's so scared about that he needs a legendary swordsman to cover him."

"Is this Rekka really a mortal?" Aexel wonders. "The way I keep hearing about him, he sounds like some sort of god of swordsmanship."

"No one really knows any detail on him." Karas informs him. "It's part of why he's so famous, I guess."

Aexel hmmms softly in acknowledgement. "How should we proceed?"

>Let's split up, gang. Try and discreetly find out what sort of terrible thing could be threatening Rankar... other than us. Meet at the safehouse tomorrow.
>Let's move all together, for now, and case the town for clues.
>(other?)

>>419629
>>Let's split up, gang. Try and discreetly find out what sort of terrible thing could be threatening Rankar... other than us. Meet at the safehouse tomorrow.
Since we're doing sneeky breeky shit, there's no point in doing it as a large and conspicuous group. Everyone can handle themselves well enough for at least this much.

>>419629
>>Let's split up, gang. Try and discreetly find out what sort of terrible thing could be threatening Rankar... other than us. Meet at the safehouse tomorrow.

>>419629
>Let's split up, gang. Try and discreetly find out what sort of terrible thing could be threatening Rankar... other than us. Meet at the safehouse tomorrow.

>>419629
>Let's split up, gang. Try and discreetly find out what sort of terrible thing could be threatening Rankar... other than us. Meet at the safehouse tomorrow.

"Alright, gang. No sense moving around in a huge group. Let's split up, meet you all at the safehouse tomorrow. Don't do anything stupid, don't start fights, don't get caught. Try and find out something about this weird situation. I feel uneasy, not because couping Rankar would mean having to deal with Rekka - we can probably deal with him easily."

"No, I understand." Karas nods. "There's something we don't know, and it might be very important. I think... I think I'll go hit the dojos and martial arts circles, see if they know something."

"Sure, you go and waste your time." Lynne makes fun of him. "I'm going to infiltrate the palace guards, instead."

"There might be something in the library." Aexel adds, moving out.

"Oooh, I'm coming too." Valeriana follows him.

"I guess I'll stick to what I know best and hit the market and traders' quarter." Milahil excuses himself. "Best of luck, you all."

"I'll just wait for you all at the safehouse. We need someone keeping watch anyway, and investigation is not my forte." Talon grumbles.

"You do that, I'll see you later." Zareen says. "I'm going to see what I can get from the mercenaries patrolling the streets. They look like the kind of people who get talkative after a couple drinks."

"I'm coming with you, right?" Tia asks, looking at you like a lost puppy.

"Of course!" You reassure her. "We're going to..."

>Investigate the Realm satrap and if he has anything to do with any of this.
>Check with the cults and churches in town and see if they know anything.
>Hit another Trading House and see if we can manage to meet with the chief.
>Visit a teahouse, brothel or dream parlor, and see if we can overhear something interesting.
>Just stay on the streets and keep our eyes and ears peeled.
>Try and draw Rekka out and see if we can manage to meet him.
>(Other?)

>>419658
>Visit a teahouse, brothel or dream parlor, and see if we can overhear something interesting.
These kind of places can get a lot of info from happy customers or with staff with good ears.

>>419658
>>Visit a teahouse, brothel or dream parlor, and see if we can overhear something interesting.

Specifically a Dream Parlor but maybe hit a teahouse beforehand and make a date of this as well.

>>419658
>>Visit a teahouse, brothel or dream parlor, and see if we can overhear something interesting.
Sure, I guess

>>419658
>>Try and draw Rekka out and see if we can manage to meet him.
in ManMaka mode.

>>419665
I'll second the ManMaka swap just to ensure nobody can recognize us.

>>419658
>Visit a teahouse, brothel or dream parlor, and see if we can overhear something interesting.

>>419665
I'm against going ManMaka, but that's more because I'm not a big fan of the form than being against hiding our identity.

>>419658
>Visit a teahouse, brothel or dream parlor, and see if we can overhear something interesting.

Against going ManMaka

"I guess we should hit the Red Stone district." You inform Tia. "It's where Gem really comes alive at night, I guess."

"What sort of place is it?" The Lunar asks.

You think about how to put it. "Sort of rich and high-class. Fancy. Exotic. It's all teahouses, bars and pubs, brothels and dream parlors. It's sort of the entertainment district for the rich. House Sahlak runs it, pretty much."

"Oh, you said something about the dream things." Tia smiles. "What was it? You can buy dreams? Sounds weird." She's clearly curious about it.

"One of the most precious stones extracted from the mines of Gem are the Dream Opals. The Despot has a monopoly on them, but he sells them back, especially to house Sahlak." You talk while heading towards the Red Stone district, as the streets begin to get crowded. "They can "record" dreams, and if you sleep holding a Dream Opal with a dream inside, you re-live that dream. It's expensive, of course."

"Did you ever do that?" She wonders.

Meanwhile, you arrived in Red Stone district.

>Yes.
>Yes, but only once.
>No.

Combined with:

>Visit the Emerald Sword, a middle-of-the-road pub catering mostly to well-off mercenaries and wanderers
>Visit the Dragon's Enigma, a high-class establishment favored by rich traders and noble scions
>Visit the Apple of Delights, a popular, busy, crowded teahouse/whorehouse in the outskirts.
>Visit the Azure Heaven, a sophisticated, upper-class brothel famous for its exotic appeal.
>Visit the Phantasmagoria, an enormous, mid-rank teahouse/pub/brothel/casino/dream parlor with a varied clientele.
>Visit the Shining Ariston, An esclusive, top-class dream parlor offering only the very best.
>(other?)

>>419676
>Yes
>Visit the Emerald Sword, a middle-of-the-road pub catering mostly to well-off mercenaries and wanderers
>Visit the Azure Heaven, a sophisticated, upper-class brothel famous for its exotic appeal.

>>419676
>Yes.
We were royalty, of course we indulged in all the pleasures available to us. We still do, it's just our vice of choice has mostly narrowed to sex.
>Visit the Emerald Sword, a middle-of-the-road pub catering mostly to well-off mercenaries and wanderers
That seems like the most obvious place to start.

>>419676
>>Yes.
>Visit the Emerald Sword, a middle-of-the-road pub catering mostly to well-off mercenaries and wanderers

Seems like the place to go where we can at least grab some food while we get started.

>>419676
>Yes
>>Visit the Emerald Sword, a middle-of-the-road pub catering mostly to well-off mercenaries and wanderers
This seems like the best place to find information about Rekka
>Visit the Apple of Delights, a popular, busy, crowded teahouse/whorehouse in the outskirts
This seems like a a place we should visit for... personal reasons.

>>419676
>Yes, but only once
>Visit the Phantasmagoria, an enormous, mid-rank teahouse/pub/brothel/casino/dream parlor with a varied clientele.

>>419676
>Yes.

>Visit the Phantasmagoria, an enormous, mid-rank teahouse/pub/brothel/casino/dream parlor with a varied clientele.

>Visit the Emerald Sword, a middle-of-the-road pub catering mostly to well-off mercenaries and wanderers

Go for the mid range ones

>>419680
>>419681
>>419682
>>419683
>Yes
Maka: Temperance: 1

>>419687
Hey, I saw the Yes, seeing her seeking out common people.

>>419689
It's just a joke.
It's been awhile, but jokes about Maka's Temperance have been here almost since the beginning. It's just usually they were made after we had an egregious amount of sex. We're finally branching out!

>>419689
>Maka hit up dream parlors during amateur hour looking for dreams where you went to school naked or something, just to see what public school was like

>>419676
>>Yes, but only once.
>Visit the Dragon's Enigma, a high-class establishment favored by rich traders and noble scions

"Well, yes, quite a bit in fact. Some of those Opals are amazing. House Sahlak has some really skilled professional dreamers. They've got nearly everything, romance, glory, war, intrigue... and some REALLY bizarre stuff." You allude with a smile.

"I'll have to try them sometime." She notes.

"Maybe later." You say, accompanying her into the Emerald Sword. "I think it's best if we start from here."

"What's this place?"

The place is a fairly large pub, not of the sort that looks TOO fancy or expensive. The sort of establishment that made a very conscious choice to not look TOO fancy in an attempt to not scare off customers who are not literally rolling around in gold.

As an attempt, it's been a resounding success: the thirty or so tables are nearly all full, and several other patrons are standing by the counter, as import alcohol and other assorted beverages flow in abundance, and cash changes hands rather quickly. Song and merriment echo from wall to wall.

Most of the patrons look like mercenary types, off-duty, some still wearing part of their armor, insignia or uniforms. This, combined with the fact that nearly everyone here is armed, gives the place an appropriately rough-and-tumble atmosphere. There's plenty of people coming and going, and your entrance doesn't draw a lot of attention, fortunately. The fact that you're still wearing the long white (now more greyish, due to dirt and dust and volcanic ash) cloaks that Valeriana fashioned for everyone on arrival helps a lot.

You manage to score a free corner of the counter.

"So, this place gives you drinks." Tia mumbles.

You suddenly realize that this might be the first time Tia walks into a pub. "Yes."

"Like Millian?"

"Well, sort of, but you have to pay for it. Well, I have the money with me, so I'll pay for you. What do you want to drink?"

She shrugs. "Anything. What's the best?"

"Well, they have a big variety here. We can't grow anything in Gem, so all drinks must be imported, so pubs show off by having the biggest variety possible." You smile. "We can try a few drinks. Hey, mister! Two licors, please."

After a few minutes, the bartender slides two metal cups (a bit dented and worn out) at you, filled nearly to the brim with an ink-black liquid.

Tia sniffs it. "...What's this?"

"Try it." You say, downing the licorice liquor in a long gulp, the alcohol stinging slightly on the way down.

She drinks it slowly at first, but clearly starts liking it halfway through. "What's this! it's so sweet and has a weird taste!"

You try not to laugh, seeing that the inside of Tia's mouth is now completely colored black.

"What?"

"Nothing." You shake your head, smiling.

You needed this. A moment of quiet relax with your husband, in the middle of all the chaos and all the things going on. In your hometown.

...Well, you should probably get to business.

(cont.)

>>419701
Tia a cute.
Sometimes that gets lost in her being best husbando, but it's important to remember.

>Start chatting up other patrons, offering a few drinks here and there. Listen to some stories, see if you can learn something.
>Stay quiet and focus on listening. Hear what the topics of conversations are, what's the news in town, without drawing attention.
>You have a bit of cash with you. Offer a few rounds of drink to everyone in the house and see where the conversations go.
>Try and chat up the bartender on any news he might have. Bartenders are usually the ones who know the most in these situations.
>Examine the patrons one by one. Try and figure out who is in here, and who might be an useful person to approach.
>...Actually, investigation isn't really your forte, and it's best if you leave it to the others. How about you just focus on enjoying yourself for tonight?
>(Other?)

(incidentally, under the cloak, what's your current dress?)

>>419704
>>Start chatting up other patrons, offering a few drinks here and there. Listen to some stories, see if you can learn something.
Get a bit flirty and see if anyone knows anything, commit JET too. It won't be able to tell if something's just a rumor, but it should help us sift through the worst of it.

How about #19 or #12 to try and fit the bar theme

>>419704
>Start chatting up other patrons, offering a few drinks here and there. Listen to some stories, see if you can learn something.

>>419706
I think we were wearing 21, because it fits in so much best here and we so rarely wear it in Tianna.

>>419704
>>Start chatting up other patrons, offering a few drinks here and there. Listen to some stories, see if you can learn something.

>>419714
>much best here
better here I mean.
>>419712
I don't see hot 12 or 19 are particularly Barish. If you want to change to fit in here better, I'd go with 20 or 24

>>419704
>>Start chatting up other patrons, offering a few drinks here and there. Listen to some stories, see if you can learn something.
>>419719
I'll vote for 24, it's skimpy even by our standards, which makes it perfect for bar hopping, and for making sure people are too distracted to pay complete attention to what there saying.
We should switch back to 21 when we're done though. I really like that as our "Gem Dress"

>>419719
It's a mercenary bar, looking like we fight for a living is how we fit in here.

I do like 21 as our standard Gem wear though.

>>419725
But the thing is, Maka doesn't really look like a fighter. Without her Exalted reputation, dressing up as a fighter is just as likely to get us called out as it is to help us blend in.

>>419704
>...Actually, investigation isn't really your forte, and it's best if you leave it to the others. How about you just focus on enjoying yourself for tonight?

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>>419701
>and some REALLY bizarre stuff

>>419706
#23 to fit in the place we're in or #24

>>419736
We should at least TRY first.
Besides, if we just want to enjoy ourselves, the Azure Heaven or Phantasmagoria seems much more our kind our of hangout than this place.

>>419738
Whoa dude, /qst/ is a blue board.

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>>419744
Don't tempt me.

>>419746
Degenerate, next you're gonna post people holding hands or something aren't you?
People like you make me sick.

>>419739
Oh wait, I read things wrong, ignore the vote for #23.

Leaving Tia as "backup" in case something ugly happens, you start approaching other patrons. With the right combination of your astonishing looks, your fairly full purse, and your willingness to listen to their rants, the hard part is more in getting them to finally shut up than in getting them to start talking.

You spend about three hours like this, filtering through a lot of small talk, a lot of sob stories, a lot of weird stories, a lot of boring stories, and a lot of people desperately trying to hit on you (with various degrees of skill, and in various degrees of drunk).

At the end of the show, it's very late night, and, as the patrons begin to leave the pub bit by bit, you sit down at a table with Tia and put together what you've learned.

"So according to this officer from the Twin Knives, Rekka started working for Rankar about a week after the coup." You point out.

"What happened one week after the coup?" Tia wonders.

"Nothing much, from what I heard, but in the week after the coup, Rankar hired a lot of mercenaries... and not just that."

"Oh." Tia's clearly trying to follow you.

"Astrologers, haruspexes, priests, exorcists, god-blooded and other specialists in the supernatural. it's also when he recruited the two non-officer dragon-blooded, which makes me think they might be sorcerors."

"He's scared of some curse or something." Tia notes.

"Yes. Which makes me think he's not scared of, like... an Exalted or some other kind of physical threat. Not something you can ONLY beat up."

"Did he anger a god or a spirit?"

"The gods and spirits in Gem belong to, generally, three categories. Out-of-town gods whose worshipers moved here, younger lesser spirits with a cult but not much power, and great, powerful local gods who are mostly uninvolved with human affairs, like the gods of the volcano and of the desert. So... I don't think so. Besides, he didn't ONLY focus on exorcists and the likes, he also hired mercenaries and Rekka."

"...So?"

You sigh. "...So I think even Rankar is not exactly sure what he's paranoid about. He seems to be covering all his bases. No one knows what's the deal with Rekka, but I talked with a few mercs here and got a vague idea of how much money he's spending on all this security. It's a lot of cash. Whatever happened must've REALLY spooked him."

"I don't know." Tia looks around the pub. The waiters are starting to clean the place. It was a field day. "It doesn't look like the people of the city are as troubled as Rankar is, you know?"

"Exactly, which means it's either something only he knows about, and he doesn't want to cause a panic..." You grumble. "Or maybe he's just crazy and paranoid and there's NOTHING going on."

You glance at your own table, as a waiter passes by and starts clearing it of all the glasses, cups and bottles. You sure drank a lot, and don't even feel a light buzz.

Exaltation has some downsides, after all.

(cont.)

"But if something really happened to spook him this hard, it must've happened right after the coup. Right after I left town." You conclude. "And I think even Rankar isn't entirely sure what it is."

"Huh." Tia takes the last sip from her glass and hands it to the waiter. Then she plants both elbows on the table and leans across. "What next?"

>Return to the safehouse.
>I'd say we can stay here and keep drinking until dawn.
>Try chatting up the bartender? But he seems fairly busy and he's probably waiting for us to leave.
>Try the Dragon's Enigma.
>Try the Apple of Delights.
>Try the Azure Heaven.
>Try the Shining Ariston.
>Just wander the streets for a bit.
>Leave the Red Stone, head somewhere else.
>(other?)

>>419756
>Try the Azure Heaven.

>>419756
>Try the Phantasmagoria

The 'varied clientele' thing might be useful.

>>419756
>>Try the Dragon's Enigma.

Maybe we can get some better info from peeps higher up the totem pole.

>>419756
>Try the Azure Heaven.

>>419756
>Try the Azure Heaven.

>>419756
>Try the Azure Heaven.
Exotic might be what we're looking for.

Actually now that I think about it, we really did hear rumors about ghosts being spooky in the South back during the timeskip we did. Any word on that EF?

>>419756
>Try the Azure Heaven
>Try the Phantasmagoria
Places someone good looking like Maka wouldn't be suspicious.

>>419768
>Actually now that I think about it, we really did hear rumors about ghosts being spooky in the South back during the timeskip we did. Any word on that EF?

You did, but they were just vague rumors.

The mercs hanging around the Emerald Sword didn't really talk about it, which makes you think that they either don't really believe that shit, or that they're superstitious and don't want to be talking about it.

The latter is more likely. In any case, it means that they never had to physically deal with anything of the sort.

EF I don't want to fight alchemicals

>>419790
>Implying I care what you want or don't want to do
git gud

>>419792
Jokes on you, we'll just seduce all of them.

>>419793
A good chance to take Thousandfold Courtesan Calculations out for a spin i say!

EF I want to fight alchemicals

>>419797
Nothing is sexier than calculations t b h

>>419790
>"Fine! We'll decide the victor right now!"
>"Acceptable."
>"...in the bedroom!"

You pay what's left of your bill and weigh your money pouch.

You're carrying around guild-minted silver dinars. Accepted everywhere, and common enough to not rouse suspicion. You started with 300 dinars, and are about down to 280. More than enough for reasonable expenses, and for unreasonable expenses you've got a lot of jewelry and other spare coins tucked away in your Kaliedoscopic Garment Dance, so you shouldn't have problems.

"Want to hit another place?" You ask Tia, standing up.

"A dream parlor?" She wonders, standing up.

"Well, I was thinking of the Azure Heaven. It's a high-class brothel around the corner, and it's about the best hour of the day to visit it. They have some really classy, really unique and exotic performers there."

She whistles. "You're an expert."

You beam with pride. "I am."

"I want to watch." She states with determination.

What does she expect you to do, you wonder?

You walk down to the place in question, its bluish crystal-blacklit insignia luring customers of appropriate wealth and taste in. But, of course, most of the patrons of the Azure Heaven don't wander in just drawn by the sign, but know it by fame. Carved in the dark volcanic rock of the South and subsequently plated by slabs of bluish marble, it does do its best to look like a heavenly palace bathed in bright, light colors against the dark atmosphere of Gem.

The ground floor is a rather wide, airy pub with many decorated wooden tables, surrounded by relatively few yet comfy-looking sofas. Several of the tables are slotted in niches on the wall, or surrounded by drawable curtains of heavy cloth, or both, for the right amount of privacy anyone would want.

Exotic foods and drinks top the tables, and beautiful, delicate music, accompanied by southern dancers in scant clothing, entertain guests in the background, on a stage that forms the backdrop to the floor. A large stairway climbs up to the first floor, where the private rooms (and the finest entertainers) are.

Along the right-side wall, a massive aquarium houses colorful fish, swimming around as an extra sign of extreme opulence.

"Welcome to the Azure Heaven!" A beautiful young man in airy white clothes baring his chest approaches you and bows politely. He's definitely a southerner, but his deep green eyes betray a hint of unique ancestry perhaps. "What is your wish?"

>We'll take a private table and some food and drink.
>We'll take a private table and some food and drink... and some company.
>We're here to watch the dancers, can we have a table near the stage?
>We just want someone who's a good conversationalist to keep us entertained for the night.
>We'd like a room upstairs, thank you.
>What does the house have to offer?
>I'll leave it up to you. Surprise me.
>(Other?)

>>419823
>We'll take a table near the stage and some food and drink... and some company.

>>419823
>I'll leave it up to you. Surprise me.
Will Maka end up dancing too?

>>419823
>We'll take a private table and some food and drink... and some company.

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>>419823
>We're here to watch the dancers, can we have a table near the stage?

Step one, throw money at dancers and collect rumors.

Step two, get on stage.

Step three, ?????

Step four, profit!

>>419823
>>We'll take a private table and some food and drink... and some company.

>>419833
I hope so, we switched to 24 I think, it would be a shame if we didn't do at least one dance.

Also, given the type of place this is, I feel we should commit HSDD with our personal essence. And use RLSS if we end up danceing.

>>419823
>We're here to watch the dancers, can we have a table near the stage?

>>419837
>I hope so, we switched to 24 I think, it would be a shame if we didn't do at least one dance.
>Also, given the type of place this is, I feel we should commit HSDD with our personal essence. And use RLSS if we end up danceing
I'll agree with all this.

>>419823
I'm gonna vote against dancing, whatever we otherwise chose to do. We WILL draw attention to ourselves. We won't be able to resist doing so.

>>419835
Man, Skuld filled out in all the best ways.

>>419837
Yeah, you're on 24, i forgot to mention.

As for dancing... well, you're a customer, you're not quite allowed to disturb the performers. It's not a ballroom.

I mean, you can still DO it, just saying that the owner would probably take it badly.

>>419841
Maybe we will. But do you really think anyone will remember our face when we're dancing while wearing outfit 24?

>>419846
I'm sure we could talk him into it. Especially since we're doing it for free.
And if not it's not big deal, just something I think Maka would find fun, she loves dancing after all.

>>419846
Yeah let's not, maybe if it were a lower class place.

>>419823
>We'll take a private table and some food and drink... and some company.

dancing or not, we're definitely going to be getting intimate here, so I'm gonna restate my vote for HSDD.

>>419854
Let's not, no real need for it, plus we want to keep a low profile and just be another customer. So that means no blowing peoples minds.

>>419855
>no real need for it
There is always a need for increased sexual prowess.
And if you disagree, I'm not sure we can be friends anymore.

I mean, I'd be totally fine for dancing for Tia in the private room ala "this is what they'd be doing, only not as good as me", but let's turn the entire place into raving fans with our absurd seduction stats.

>>419865
*let's not turn

>>419866
Man you all are no fun today.
>>419862
Except for you, you seem cool.

>>419846
I doubt the manager will find it displeasing

>>419865
>but let's not turn the entire place into raving fans with our absurd seduction stats
Can you give a reason why not? There are a lot of upper-class people here, having them on our side when we overthrow Ranker would be a good thing.

We should have Tia turn into a cat and brew another uprising

>>419865
One-step victory plan:
>Get on stage in the middle of the city.
>Activate the seduction suite.
>City-Moving Song
>"I'm Maka, former queen of Gem, and wouldn't you like to see THIS on the throne?"

"Oh, my husband and I are here to have a bit of fun together." You nonchalantly explain.

The waiter keeps a straight poker face, shifting his eyes to Tia, then back at you. "I see."

"We'd like a table with a bit of privacy. Some good food and drink - cook's choice, don't disturb yourself with a menu." You smile pleasantly. "We like to be surprised."

"I see." He nods. "We have a free table over here." He accompanies you to a corner table, sporting a large, wide, comfortable half-circle sofa around it, with a tent that can be pulled for privacy. "Would this be satisfactory."

"Perfect." You nod. "We'd also like some company, of course."


(how much are you willing to spend?)

>Hand him 50 dinars.
>Hand him 100 dinars.
>Hand him 200 dinars.
>Hand him your entire money pouch.
>Hand him a 500 dinar gemstone ring you're carrying.
>Hand him the 1600 dinar forehead jewel of outfit #21.

Combined with:

>Ask for a group service. Quantity over quality.
>Ask for the most skilled courtesan you can afford with how much you paid.
>Ask for the most exotic courtesan you can afford with how much you paid.
>Ask for the most beautiful courtesan you can afford with how much you paid.
>(Other?)

Combined with:

>I prefer girls.
>I prefer boys.
>I like both.
>(Other?)

>>419888
>Hand him 100 dinars.

>Ask for a group service. Quantity over quality.
>I prefer boys.

>>419888
>Hand him 100 dinars.
>Ask for a group service. Quantity over quality.
>I like both.
How much money do we have total, like counting what everyone else brought?

I mean if we run low we'll need Iblan sooner rather than later or we can have Mika make us some money somehow.

>>419879
Plus they'd probably be more willing to talk afterward.

>Hand him 200 dinars.
>Ask for the 2 most skilled courtesan you can afford with how much you paid.
>I like both.

>>419888
>Ask for a group service. Quantity over quality.
>I prefer boys.
>Hand him a 500 dinar gemstone ring you're carrying.

>>419893
The second half of that was meant to go to >>419888

>>419888
>>Hand him 200 dinars.

>>Ask for the most skilled courtesan you can afford with how much you paid.

>>I like both.

>>419888
>Ask for a group service. Quantity over quality.
>Ask for the most exotic courtesan you can afford with how much you paid.
>I prefer boys.
>Hand him a 500 dinar gemstone ring you're carrying.

>>419888
>Hand him 200 dinars.
>Ask for the most skilled courtesan you can afford with how much you paid.
>I like both.

>>419888
Oh, and
>ask how much to be let dance too

>>419905
I like the way you think.