Abyssals - Dark Future - IC

[Sherwood]

Using her Glaive with deadly skill, Whisper moves into the heart of the ambushing force, striking out with the weapon, causing massive damage to the mortals arrayed in front of her.

Spoiler

Using Time Scything Technique to perform a total of 8 melee strikes at full Excellency all against different targets. My base damage is 20L before successes, so I fully expect that I slaughter anything I hit. Do you want me to roll?

Corpse-Might Surge is active to raise my Strength by 4, and Infinite Melee Mastery is active, too.

Rolling Join Battle - 4 successes

Health Levels
-0 [ ]
-1 [ ][ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ][ ][ ]
-4 [ ]
I [ ]

Essence: 4
Personal: 18
Peripheral: 43 / 0
Committed: 12
Willpower: 6 / 4

Join Battle: 7

Dodge DV: 5
Parry DV: 9 (+4 after first attack with the Glaive)

Natural Soak: +2L/+3B
Total Soak: +14L/+15B

Movement
Move: 5 yards per tick (9 yards with Obsidian Sheath)
Dash: 11 yards per tick (19 yards with Obsidian Sheath)

Soulsteel Third Hand Glaive
Speed 4 (3 with hearthstone), Accuracy +6, Damage +8L, Defense +4, Rate 2, Attune 5
Soulsteel weapons drains a number of motes of Essence equal to the wielder's Permanent Essence whenever it strikes a target and inflicts at least one health level of damage.

Obsidian Sheath Armor
Soak: +12L/+12B, Hardness +6L/+6B, Mobility 0, Fatigue 0, Attune 7

 

[Psychie]

Whisper moves like a lawnmower through the men, causing blood to spray out in a horrible display of violence. Consider that a 1 dice stunt for Essence recovery, but with your numbers, there is no need to roll attacks.

Rykon is up

0 - [Whisper]
1 - Zakas <====
2 -
3 - Whisper
4 - Epiphany
5 -
6 - Ambush Force

 

[Rykon]

Zakas bounds through the battlefield fading and reforming from shadow to shadow in the rising storm of dust and blood. He let the humming song of essence bonding him to his Daiklave fill his consciousness. As he dove through countless shadows, his arm thrashed with murderous purpose. The Daiklave itself hunted for every throat in its reach to sate its thirst for lives... for blood.

Zakas is just doing a mundane flurry. Rate is 3 for a Soulsteel Daiklave, so three attacks. Base pool is 17 before stunts, so 14, 13, and 12 respectively. 2m for each attack to accrue 3 damage dice per threshold success as well as adding the piercing tag. (see: Savage Shade Style+Elegant Blood Letting Art and All Blades Cry for Blood) Should I roll or assume the mortals are taken out?

Edit: Oh, and the action is Speed 5

 

[Psychie]

The mortals are no match for the power of the Deathknights leveled against them.

As you burst into action, the Autochthonians down below also quickly react. The small flying drone zips overhead, saying up and away from the fighting, while the two rolling vehicles raise up their gun barrels and fire up into the ambush force, sending showers of rubble spraying out from the impact site as the Essence weapons track on their targets unerringly. They are probably being guided by the flying machine.

The twenty soldiers on the ground spread out and begin to advance up the hill towards the attacking force in a very skillful manner, and when they see a target of opportunity, they fire Essence blasts of their own from their staff weapons at the troops of the ambush force.

You also note that the various Essence blasts from the vehicles and the troops escorting them are all aimed away from Zakas and Whisper, as if they are deliberately avoiding hitting you intentionally.


At this point, there is a flash of movement from the rocks ahead as a tarp is thrown off of a pair of large firedust cannons. They are currently aimed at the vehicles below, but there is at least one Dragon Blooded trying to target the deadly pair of Whisper and Zakas with one of the artillery pieces.

Random Word is up with Epiphany.

 

[Random Word]

Epiphany bows, flicks out a finger to extend one of the kunai from her gauntlet, and then begins to dance. She whips the kunai in circles around her on the end of the almost invisibly thin soulsteel filament that tethers it as she spins, spooling out more line with each revolution until it's just long enough to make a bloody arcing cleave through the backs of the necks of all the cannon operators and the Dragonblood.

Spoiler: Mechanics

10m personal for five attacks distributed amongst cannon crews and the DB. Any mortals killed return as zombies one turn later (mostly just to distract the DB, I don't actually think they'll do anything or want them rolled into combat).

Epiphany is invisible and untargetable with ranged attacks, so presumably her attacks are unexpected.

Five Speed 4 thrown attacks with 16+(1 stunt?) dice each doing 11/2L + Piercing
Only rolling once for the DB, presuming I hit the mortals and there's at least 4 of them so only one attack is left for the DB. Only 7 hits.

Putting in the roll to establish surprise just in case. 10 hits vs their Wits + Awareness - 1

Personal: 14/22
Peripheral: 40 / 36
Committed: 8

 

[Psychie]

The Dragon Blooded has a DV of 5, so you hit with two successes. Soak is 12L, but with the Piercing tag, it drops it down to 8L. Go ahead and roll your damage.

 

[Psychie]

Random Word

You are able to establish surprise with your attack, so you hit the Dragon Blooded's DV of 0. His total soak is 12, but of that, 8L is his armor which is cut in half by your piercing tag on your weapons, so he only has 8L to defend against this.

 

[Random Word]

Rolling damage. 11L + 7 net hits - 8 soak = 10L; 7 hits

 

[Psychie]

With that much harm done, the Dragon Blooded falls with a large wound in his chest. It may be possible to save his life, but only if he receives immediate medical attention. That is assuming that you want him alive at all.

Sherwood , I apologize. Whisper should have gone before Epiphany, thanks to your Speed being so low. For the moment, we can say that you were occupied with the enjoyable slaughter of the mortal soldiers. There are still two large firedust cannons sitting there, with many of their crews dead thanks to Epiphany, and at the moment, between the four of you and the Autochthonians, you have whittled down the numbers of ambushing troops by half. What do you do?

The soldiers on the ground have made some effort to stop you, but I don't see these rank and file troops having a chance to hit your DVs.

 

[Sherwood]

Whisper brandishes her bloody Glaive as her Anima is at a full totemic glow. With a loud scream, she shouts, "You are beaten! Surrender now, and perhaps we will allow you to live. Throw down your weapons now!"

Spoiler

Health Levels
-0 [ ]
-1 [ ][ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ][ ][ ]
-4 [ ]
I [ ]

Essence: 4
Personal: 18
Peripheral: 43 / 0
Committed: 12
Willpower: 6 / 4

Join Battle: 7

Dodge DV: 5
Parry DV: 9 (+4 after first attack with the Glaive)

Natural Soak: +2L/+3B
Total Soak: +14L/+15B

Movement
Move: 5 yards per tick (9 yards with Obsidian Sheath)
Dash: 11 yards per tick (19 yards with Obsidian Sheath)

Soulsteel Third Hand Glaive
Speed 4 (3 with hearthstone), Accuracy +6, Damage +8L, Defense +4, Rate 2, Attune 5
Soulsteel weapons drains a number of motes of Essence equal to the wielder's Permanent Essence whenever it strikes a target and inflicts at least one health level of damage.

Obsidian Sheath Armor
Soak: +12L/+12B, Hardness +6L/+6B, Mobility 0, Fatigue 0, Attune 7

 

[Psychie]

Looking upon the terrifying visage of the Dusk caste in full horrible glory, many of the soldiers decide that they do not wish to press their luck and so they throw down their weapons and many scatter and run. The fighting is over.

A flash of movement shows that the Autochthonian force is advancing up with weapons at the ready, and they see that the ambush force has surrendered. Several of the invaders move to secure the remaining soldiers, all the while they keep looking over at Whisper and Zakas. From one of the rolling vehicles comes a loud Klunk! of a metal door being opened, and from inside comes a figure.



Overall, the figure looks male, but the exposed face looks made of starmetal! It (he?) is wearing lightweight armor and has no visible weapons. With a easy going jump, the figure dismounts from the vehicle and casually walks up the slope to stand a short distance from where Zakas and Whisper are. For a long moment, everything is still as the man sizes you up, with the Autochthonian soldiers watching intently.

Finally, he says in heavily accented Old Realm, "Thank you for your timely assistance. We would have been hard-pressed to deal with this many and their artillery with so few casualties. I am Stern Whip of Industry, and I greet you."

What do you do?

 

[Rykon]

Zakas reaches forward and gives Whip a firm handshake, "Greetings. I am Zakas and my companion here is Whisper. We're here to investigate reports of a rather advanced fighting force. One that I am glad to see shares an enemy with us. I don't suppose you'd mind letting us know what brings you here and how you might know this pack of ingrates?"

 

[Sherwood]

Taking a moment to banish her Glaive away into Elsewhere, Whisper walks over to join Zakas and this strange metal man. With a bow, she says, "I am Whispers from the Shadows, and I greet you, Stern Whip of Industry." Whisper looks over at the Autochthonian troops with curiosity, wanting to see how they treat their prisoners.

 

[Psychie]

Zakas reaches forward and gives Whip a firm handshake, "Greetings. I am Zakas and my companion here is Whisper. We're here to investigate reports of a rather advanced fighting force. One that I am glad to see shares an enemy with us. I don't suppose you'd mind letting us know what brings you here and how you might know this pack of ingrates?"

Taking a moment to banish her Glaive away into Elsewhere, Whisper walks over to join Zakas and this strange metal man. With a bow, she says, "I am Whispers from the Shadows, and I greet you, Stern Whip of Industry." Whisper looks over at the Autochthonian troops with curiosity, wanting to see how they treat their prisoners.

The figure that introduced itself as Stern Whip of Industry looks at the two of you for a moment, then says, "We are a part of a expeditionary force, performing reconnaissance of the area. This is a strange, new world for us, and so we are exploring with all due caution that we can muster." He taps his hand against his chin, then says, "You say you are enemies with the people here. If so, what brings you here now? Why did you break up this ambush on us, when you know nothing of us?"

 

[Random Word]

Epiphany flits imperceptibly amongst the Autochthonian troops, examining unattended objects, rummaging through supplies when no one is looking, and generally being nosy while listening to the drama of first contact unfold.

 

[Sherwood]

Whisper nods. "Good questions. There is a saying in our lands: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We saw the forces from Gem getting ready to attack you, and decided to take the advantage of the moment to break up their surprise strike on you. Any chance to do harm to our enemies is our goal."

 

[Psychie]

The metal man called Stern Whip of Industry looks you over some more, then says, "I would be remiss in my manners if I did not ask of you to accompany me to speak with my superiors in the Tripartite Assembly that are with the rest of our force. They will most certainly wish to speak with you, and take the opportunity to learn more of this land. If you would?" He motions back towards the tracked vehicle that he came out of.

 

[Sherwood]

Whisper does her best to avoid showing her pleasure at the idea of meeting this metal man's superiors, but cannot help but briefly toy with the thought of saying 'no' to his 'request'. But that will not happen today. In a smooth voice, she says, "Of course. We would be quite pleased to meet with your people." She gives the others a glance that speaks volumes, then turns back to Stern Whip of Industry with a smile.

 

[Psychie]

With Stern Whip of Industry at your side, he leads you down the rocky slope to the lower ground where the two tracked vehicles are. He looks at the four of you and says, "I would offer you a ride, but there is little room in there to accommodate any passengers. It will be a easy walk to our forward base, and from there you may be able to get a ride to speak with our leaders in the field. I shall walk with you, and perhaps we can learn a bit of one another as we go."

As he speaks, his men round up and secure the soldiers from Gem that surrendered in order to keep themselves from being slaughtered by the dual force of the Abyssals and the Autochthonians. They move with a trained efficiency, showing that they have done this sort of thing before. Once they are all bound together in a chain, Industry motions for the soldiers to move out.

While you walk, Industry says, "It would appear that the four of you are Essence users of some sort, but from what I have read in our texts about Creation, you are not any kind of Exalt that we have ever heard of before. If it would not offend, what are you?"

D. Rex Rykon Sherwood Random Word

 

[Rykon]

"We are known as Abyssals." Zakas replied truthfully. Only to follow up with a rather blatant omission. "We were created to tend to Underworld matters. So it's no wonder records of creation would not mention us. Clearly, you hail from a foreign realm yourselves. Where does a force like this come from, how, and for what purpose?" He adds, hoping to sell a degree of ignorance to better mask their mission.

 

[Psychie]

Industry thinks for a moment, then says, "I will say that yes, we are from a place far from here, a land outside of Creation that has been cut off for a long time. It has only been very recently that our connection to Creation was possible. As for our purpose, I will leave that for our leaders to decide just how much to tell you. After all, you are total strangers to us. I hope you understand and are not offended."

 

[Sherwood]

Whisper nods as she falls into step along side this strange metal man. "An understandable precaution, and one that I respect. It is much the same for us, that we have our own secrets that our Mistress has that we must protect. I must say, though, I have never seen a person made of metal the way you are. Are you human, or something else?"

OOC is Soulcatcher still with us?

 

[Random Word]

Epiphany completely ignores the mortals around her as she examines the convoy with curiosity, her unattended claws stopping a hair's breadth short of landing killing blows on those she passes, but the voices in her head are adamant that she be wary of the metal man and any like him. She carefully ensures she is always just out of his line of sight - at most a shadow flickering in the corner of his eye, vanished behind a metal beast before he can turn to look. These metal beasts remind her of the great constructed war machines of the underworld, and she idly pokes and prods at them to see if she can make them react, peering over shoulders and into hatches when they open, examining stray tools, and listening to conversations.

Spoiler: Mechanics

Ooh, I was living dangerously. I only have the First and Infinite Thrown Excellencies, so I can murder good but that's about it. I'm not in darkness, so my +3 specialty and doubled stunt bonuses + halved Excellency costs Charm doesn't apply. That leaves only the -2 external penalty Charm. It looks like during the combat I managed 8 hits on my 10 dice, so let's see if I can pull that off again.

Dex 5 + Stealth 5 + Stunt 1 = 11 dice; 4 hits (Effectively 6 with the -2 penalty)

Edit: Another +1 from the Hearthstone makes it effectively 7

 

[D. Rex]

Judges makes neither an attempt to speak or to hide. He approached these new people behind Zakas and Whisper. Cutting a stoic and intimidating figure. Those two were always better at speaking than him, so he was fine with letting them take the lead in this matter.

 

[Psychie]

Whisper nods as she falls into step along side this strange metal man. "An understandable precaution, and one that I respect. It is much the same for us, that we have our own secrets that our Mistress has that we must protect. I must say, though, I have never seen a person made of metal the way you are. Are you human, or something else?"

OOC is Soulcatcher still with us?

Industry says, "I am one of the Champions of the people of the great nation of Yugash. I am a Jade Caste Exalted, one of the great Hammers of Autochthon, and there is much more to me than just this handsome metal face you see. Any more than that I should leave for the Tripartite Committee to say."

As you walk along, he is polite but still somewhat vague as to his answers, repeatedly saying that he should leave that for his Committee to say. It takes about an hour of travel before you see off in the distance a plume of smoke rising up. As you get closer, it is not a forest fire, but it is coming from more machines like the two rolling wagon/vehicles that the scouting party are using. This must be the forward base that you have been told about.

There are probably a thousand men in this base, with many different machine creations adding to their fighting strength. As you approach, you can see that there are at least a dozen of the Champions waiting for you. It is clear that while they are not overtly hostile, they are not taking any chances with a group of strange Exalted coming into the middle of their base.