Trial By Fire - Exalted 2e IC Thread

Viktor's mouth tugs at the edges into a slight grin when Darian removes her hood, appreciating her attractive features. 'Yet another thing I've missed since escaping to Chiaroscuro. They just don't make 'em like they do up north.' "If you plan to walk in and break this guy Holst out of prison, I'm on board. I won't be winning any awards for the way I fight, but I can hold my own and help keep the guards off your backs."

He gestures to the hammer hanging from his belt. "My real skills though lie with my hammer and forge." Viktor looks around to the assembled group. "If any of you would like, I can look over your equipment and search for ways to give them a little extra sizzle before heading to the prison. I served under a sorcerer-engineer in the Seventh Legion for multiple years, and have built up a lot of experience augmenting weaponry to take on Dynasts. Might help secure us an advantage going in."

Looking at Aysik, an idea occurred to Viktor. "I know you said you couldn't directly interact when the Wyld Hunt arrives. But could you give us any information on the makeup of the Dragon-Bloods leading the hunt? Two days isn't a lot of time, but it might be enough to set up a few traps, especially if we know what -- or who -- to expect."

Aredin raised a hand in thought to Dunbar's situation now that Viktor had spoken up, appreciating his desire for tactical intel on their pursuers but a new thorn stuck in his mind. "Also, we had planned to try and clear Holst's name thinking the corruption that landed him in jail originated from a jealous mortal peer... Now that I think about it, you said agents of heaven were conspiring to kill him, yes? What would the value be in clearing the charges in just the city of Chiaroscuro if the man's got a celestial hit out on his head?" he'd ask once Viktor's questions had been answered, he'd then follow up to consult those of whom he was more familiar. "What are your thoughts Darian? Should we change plans?"

Darian idly chews on her thumbnail as she thinks. Then, she finally says, "With the time issue, I am wondering if it would even be possible to track down the witnesses fast enough. We may have to break Holst out of jail. I must confess, I have never broken anyone out of a prison before. I will have to rely upon my fellow Solars to plan this out." She turns her attention to Aysik. "Do you have access to a floor plan, or the number of guards we'd have to deal with? Both of those would be a real help."

Lance leans back in his chair, tapping his chin. "Guess it's my turn then. My name's Lance. Lance Ridgewell. I was a student at the Heptagram until I exalted. My teachers didn't exactly share my feelings on the whole matter, and I got saved by Aysik after they called the Immaculate Order down on my head. He mentored me in sorcery and basic combat, so I can definitely hold my own in a fight. I'm hoping there will be some First Age tomes and magitech artifacts to study in whatever cache Holst can lead us to. I've heard tell in my studies of massive armed war machines which sound particularly interesting." Leaning back farther, he takes a sip of tea. "I'm pretty rubbish at infiltration, since any use of my Essence shines a light ironically about as bright as the sun that says 'Solar here!' So if we're trying to avoid suspicion, don't rely on me to talk or sorcery our way out of a sticky situation. Otherwise, I can probably pull at least a few tricks out of my nether regions."

Aysik lets out a chuckle. "Lets hope that we don't need any tricks pulled out of your nether regions. Let me try and answer your questions. The Hunt that is on its way here consists of nine Dragon-Blooded from the Realm, along with several dozen mortal soldiers. They are all experienced Hunters, equipped with powerful artifact weapons and armor. At this point, facing off against them would be a grave mistake. It may be possible to set up some sort of ambush for them, but most likely all that would do is to anger them even more."

"Now, the prison will be a tough nut to crack, but I feel that you should be able to slip inside without too much difficulty. There is a standing garrison of fifty men on duty in the prison, but if you move in at night, only a handful of guards will be up, ready to sound an alarm to wake the rest of the garrison. There are three Dragon-Blooded officers that run the place, so you must be cautious of them. There is a armory in the prison that does have several artifact weapons that might be of use to you. I am sure that I can acquire a map of the prison to give you an extra edge in getting Dunbar out."

"According to the Loom, Dunbar is expected to reach his Exaltation when he returns to the cache out in the desert. At that point, I will then be free to move in and take Dunbar up to the Celestial City to begin his training. Once that happens, he will be safe, and you will have another ally in Yu-Shan helping you out."


At the pool in Chodo's mansion, the old man looks at Fei carefully as she drunkenly mumbles out her request. He sits quietly, then starts to chuckle, interrupted by the occasional cough. "Of course I can make the call to get this Dunbar Holst out of prison, but why would I want to? I already have arrangements made with the local authorities to stay out of my business, and I am sure that your Realm has other things to worry about besides my little operation in the Dream Quarter. I don't care for the Anathama, but so long as they pay their bills, I have little need to hunt them down. Pardon my bluntness, but at my age, I have little time to beat around the bush. What's in it for me?"

Aredin steeples his fingers, "Let's get the map of the prison, but before we make any moves I want Feihan present. She's tough enough to handle herself, and since we haven't heard of a mass riot in town yet, I'm assuming she's been safe. That said, she needs to hear this information from you and meet our two new friends here. I assume you have ways of delivering a message to her?"

Viktor whistled in surprise when Aysik mentioned the three Dragon-Blooded officers at the prison. "Of course," he muttered under his breath, "our contact would be locked up under the watchful eyes of a Terrestrial."

He nodded along in agreement while Aredin spoke of reuniting with Feihan. "With the kind of firepower they'll be able to call on, an extra pair of arms in a scrap could be very helpful." Viktor moved to grab one of his cups of tea, then thought better of it and left the cup where it sat. "I look forward to meeting this tough companion of yours."

Aredin smirked, "I'm confident Rashiid can get in just fine, getting out with Holst still alive is the only thing in question. Though this cache of artifacts on the premises has me intrigued as well. What do we know of it presently?"

Sighing, Feihan cut her gaze to the old man's, sending essence sluicing through her mind and body to draw them into line for another few moments as she had with the guard outside. "If you think the Immaculate Order takes anything more seriously than the Fifth Noble Insight, then you are more fool than I'd have thought. A Hunt has already been called. It is on its way. They are just behind the Anathema. The question for you is: do you want to host the battle between a full cadre of Anathema and a full Wyld Hunt? Or would you prefer they fight elsewhere? The Realm would sooner raze your entire District until the ground is glass than permit another Bull of the North. We would as soon not damage the city's profitability, however. Hence my presence and request. Let me take Holst from the city and you don't have to worry about recovering from inevitable damages."

Shaking her head, Feihan brushed down her clothing. "If it is a matter of unsettled gambling debts on his part, I can offer to pay them to secure his release, presuming they are not exorbitant and that he can be released this evening. Whatever your investment in his imprisonment, battle is disruptive and expensive. Profit off of your cooperation and avoid having to deal with the collateral of the Hunt." She shrugs. "Or don't. You'll make my business--and yours, for that matter--far more difficult."

Aysik nods. "I can send her a message easily enough. I'll do so in a moment. As for what items of power are in the armory, let us find out." He reaches into a pocket and comes out with a small spider. He holds it up to his face and murmurs out a question, "What items of jade are in the prison armory?" With that, the spider vanishes. "I should have an answer shortly. In the meantime, we can send Feihan a quick message to join us here at the tea house."

Those with training in sorcery recognize that Aysik is now beginning to shape his Essence into a spell, one that you can easily recognize. An Infallible Messenger sprite soon appears, and the Sidereal says simply, "Feihan, your comrades are waiting for you at Valibar's Tea House. We hope to see you here shortly." The messenger spirit flickers and vanishes.

As you watch, you can then see a small spider crawl up on Aysik's shoulder. With a nod, he slips the spider back into his pocket. "There are several weapons of Jade in the armory. A Powerbow, a Direlance, and a Daiklave, along with several suits of various types of armor. The items could be usable by you all, you would just have to spend a few moments attuning the item to your Essence."


At Chodo's mansion, the old man in his wheelchair looks disgruntled. "You come to my house and level veiled threats at me? Do you know what -" His growing tirade is interrupted by one of the daughters placing a hand on his arm. "Father, please. Listen to her." He still looks upset, but takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself. "There is a family obligation in play here that makes helping you . . . difficult. I will have to discuss this issue with the people involved. You may come back tomorrow at the third hour after noon and I will have an answer for you." He waves a dismissive hand, indicating that this meeting is over.

Two of the guards come up to escort you out, and unless you resist, you'll be taken to the main entrance. If you do resist, that will obviously change the order of events.

While you walk, a small cherub-spirit appears in the air beside you. With your time around other Dynasts you would recognize it as an Infallible Messenger spirit. In an unfamiliar voice, it says, "Feihan, your comrades are waiting for you at Valibar's Tea House. We hope to see you there shortly."

What does Feihan do?

With a sigh, Feihan takes to her feet. "If it helps at all, no threat to you from me was intended, and I veiled nothing. I merely stated the facts of the situation. You have until perhaps tomorrow or the day after before the forces in pursuit arrive. I tell you this as a courtesy, so you may take what precautions or preparations you deem wise. I apologize if my aims were not made as clear as I wished. Apologies for the disruption my intrusion will have made in your evening." Her apologies said, Feihan made her way to her feet, following the guards out without making further fuss. As she reached the front door, she'd continued her drinking.

When the misshapen little imp popped into existence beside her, Feihan rolled back from it, hands rising into a circling, crook-armed guard. As it starts speaking, she lets her guard lower, listening. As the imp dissipates, she frowns. She's only been to Chiaroscuro...never before. She has no idea where this treehouse is. Wait. Tree-house? That can't be right. Teahouse,maybe? Probably.

Taking another pull on her drink, she picks a random direction before setting off, intending to ask someone who seemed knowledgeable the way to the teahouse.

Darian listens to the other Exalt list off the jade items in the armory with interest, then disappointment. "Ah, well. Too bad that nothing that you described in the armory I can use with my fighting style. But, with my Essence powering my accouterments, I can hold my own in a fight; at least for a little while." She turns to direct her attention to the other Solars. "One way we can get Holst out of the prison is to free the other prisoners in there, and let the chaos of the mass break-out attempt slow the response of the guards. Any that actually get in our way, we can easily deal with. Even if we run into one of the Dragon-Blooded, hitting them as a group will most certainly overwhelm any other Exalt we run into. We just need to know where in the prison Holst is being held."

Rashiid perks up a bit at the mention of a Powerbow, always happy to have better weapons to play with. As for the unfolding planning, he muses, "If those more directly focused on fighting would make a ruckus, I'm sure I could spirit away Holst to a safe location in the chaos. Though, I could slip out with those weapons without any trouble at all. Choices, choices." idly petting Taj who is still sitting in his lap

"Probably should start with the weapons, so any Dragon-Blooded guards won't use them on the prisoners." Aredin held a hand to his chin for a moment in thought. "Though, that's a lot of weight to carry. Should one of us follow you to just to help haul some things or do we have another option to smuggle them out?"

"You've got a point there, boss." Rashiid says, looking to the others, "Anyone else proficient at not being spotted willing to lend me a hand there?"

Viktor shakes his head back and forth. "Sorry Rashiid, I would lend you a hand carrying the equipment out, but I'm not quite the soft-stepper."

He chuckles, mentally picturing a mass break-out washing away the Dragon-Blooded guards like twigs in a stream. "I think I'll be a lot more helpful with the ruckus, keeping their attention off of our real goals."

Darian says with a smile, "I can be very quiet when I need to, and I can hear in the dark better than most people can see in the daytime. I would be happy to join you in the prison to break out Dunbar Holst." She then turns her attention to Aysik. "We will just need that map so we can avoid having to hunt through the castle for the armory and the cell we want."

The large Sidereal nods. "I will have the floorplans by morning. That should help to give you time enough to make some plans as to which one of you will do what to aid in the jailbreak."

At this point, Darian can hear the familiar sound of Fei's voice asking for her friends out by the entrance.


Fei is easily able to get directions to Valibar's Tea House; apparently it is a well known establishment in the city. As you approach the place, you find that it is a high end establishment, tastefully decorated with several private rooms that cater to the clients that wish some privacy. When you ask for where your fellow Exalts are, you are escorted to one of the side rooms where you find Darian, Rashiid, and Aredin sitting with a trio of other people.

Directed to the room with the others, Feihan waved and rolled into seat. Taking another pull off her drink, she gave a tired smile and corked the bottle. "So. We, uh, might have an in t'get Hostler outta jail. Crime lord 'at had him arrested might or might not release him t'us. But they won't have'n answer til third hour past midday t'morrow. Um...but they do know th'Dynasty is involved. 'Cause, well," she trailed off, blushing as her hair and eyes set aglow and began throwing of red-orange embers. "Not exactly the hardest t'tell is related t'the Empress, am I? Figured honesty was the easiest way t'convince him Holster was more more trouble'n he was worth."

Viktor cocks his eyebrows upwards in curiosity as the tall woman joins them at the table and begins to speak. His amusement quickly gives way to alarm though when Feihan mentions her Dynastic relation and the red-orange glow of her hair and eyes begins. Leaping to his feet, Viktor's hand whips towards his belt to retrieve the hammer hanging idly at his hip.

"A Dynast!? Is this some kind of-" He stops speaking and freezes, realizing no one else is taking a defensive stance after the reveal of her Dynastic heritage. Assuming nobody else draws weapons, he removes his hand from his belt and quietly sits back down. "So," he speaks softly with his eyes cast down in embarrassment, "...am I to assume you are Feihan?"

Darian smiles at the large woman. "Well met, Fei." She listens to the input from her, then sighs. "Well, it seems that our options are narrowing down to just one, assuming that this crime boss decides to be difficult. Let me bring you up to speed, and introduce our new allies." Darian then spends a few moments to tell Fei about the plans to break into the prison, the info on the armory, along with the idea to release multiple prisoners to give the guards too much to worry about instead of going after them. She also introduces Viktor, Lance and Aysik to Fei.

"At the moment, Rashiid and I are planning on getting inside the prison, with Viktor causing a disruption on the outside to draw the attention of the guards. We have not yet determined what Aredin and Lance will be doing. What say you? Will you be joining Rashiid and I in our effort to get inside, free the prisoners, and hopefully come away with some Jade weapons?"

The Cathak peered blearily at the man who leapt to his feet. Trying to puzzle out what he was on about, she shook her head. "No, no you aren't. I mean, s'not like I tol' anyone my whole name, an' if I had, you'd've already known my lineage, er, not that havin' eyes wouldn't give you a good guess." She shrugged and tugged open a drinking gourd, taking a long draw before continuing with whiskey-scented breath, "Don' worry, 'm not one'a the arrogant ones. Cloister beats the pride outta folks that way." She snorts, laughing. "Not that I've been a monk for one, two, um....many years."

Hefting her heavy pack to sit beside her, she stretched, reaching her arms behind her back before popping her neck. "An' it's not like i's your fault y'came from...um. Gonna guess either a buncha slave-tradin' monsters or outdated militants, given th'accent. Well, could be from a buncha slave--and-drug-tradin' heretics, but y'don't seem Forksy. So prolly," her face twisted with disgust, "Nexan or," her face turned back to a hopeful smile, "or Lookshyan."

She shrugged. "I'm hopin' Lookshyan, personally. They don' spend all their time on brain-rotten nonsense an' at least remember that Creation needs defending. Unlike most o' the Threshold."

Scratching her cheek she shrugged. "I dunno if I should, if that makes sense? I'm mostly good at hurtin' enemies of Creation. Subtle isn't my strong suit, an' all. Jus'...tell me where t'go, I guess?"

Aysik nods, then takes another sip of his tea. "I am running out of time for this meeting here, and I need to be on my way to avoid bringing in any more undue attention to you. But it does sound like you have things well under control here. Get yourselves a place to stay for tonight, and I will meet up with you tomorrow morning with the floorplans of the prison. You can then make your plans for not only sneaking in, but getting Dunbar out and getting away from the city once you have him." He stands and stretches, then places several coins on the table. "Please, continue to enjoy your tea, and I will find you tomorrow. Remember, you have less than 48 hours before the Dynasts arrive. I wish you all good luck." With that, he heads for the door.

Viktor nods along as Aysik speaks, and once the Sideral leaves he stands up and walks over to Feihan. He runs a hand quickly through his short cropped brown hair, trying to will away the feelings of his earlier embarrassment. "I can assure you, I'm no Nexan. I'd rather take orders from the Chumyo's General Staff over the Emissary and his corrupt council any day of the week."

He holds his hand out momentarily, offering it to her to shake. Whether she takes it or not, he continues. "Viktor Zeiss, formerly of the Seventh Legion. As a way to apologize for my rude welcome, and in recognition of your skills as you've stated them, I would be honored if you would join me in drawing away guard attention during the prison break-out."

Viktor cracks a slight smile. "If nothing else, it will give us an opportunity to compare our battle prowess to one another. Find out which academy offers the best real-world preparation, Valkhawsen or the Cloister?"

Darian sips at her tea, enjoying the sweet flavor, then she says, "We seem to be well on our way with a plan. Aredin and Lance? What are the two of you going to be doing while Rashiid and I are making our way inside? Do either one of you wish to join us, or is there something else on your mind to do?"