Chronicle of the Scavenger Lands (Exalted 3E) - IC

[Psychie]

Axtis smiles at her companion. In a quiet voice, she says, "Always such a gentleman, Zed. Thank you. Just watch where you put your hands, old man!" She gives him a smile to show that she's just being silly with the insult. "Ready when you are."

 

[D. Rex]

"Hmmph." Zedradon grunted. "If you were really thankful, you'd wear a skirt next." He responded. Even in jest, he still somehow to sound gruff.

"Come now, girl. I think you underestimate what these hands of mine can do. You're only denying yourself."

Zedradon braced his back against the wall, out his hands and readied his stance to give her solid boost to climb up. Be it a little extra power to jump up, or some extra height to push her up.

 

[jaydude]

As the five of you are climbing the wall, one of the guards glances over in your direction.

He doesn't spot anything out of the ordinary however, and goes back to his patrol.

 

[Sherwood]

From her position on top of the wall, Ailera lowers down the rope to Axtis and Zed and braces herself to let the other two Exalts climb up.

 

[Rykon]

Ryan assesses the field. Ideally, he'd send Ailera to raise the gate but he needed the lay of the land and a feel for the current patrols.

Activating Keen Sight Technique.

1 success, but penalties and difficulties are reduced from the charm.

 

[jaydude]

The first thing Ryan notices is that there are more soldiers in the fortress than were predicted. About 250 in total, half stationed on the walls, the others patrolling throughout the courtyard. All of them are armed, and they all look vigilant.

In the midst of all the mortal soldiers, the exalts can also see Arumi, in her Black Jade Lamellar Armor, sitting on a chair near the entrance to the tenshu, her Daiklave sheathed and resting across her thighs. A pair of guards stand on either side of her, the butts of their spears resting on the ground.

 

[Psychie]

Axtis looks around carefully, doing her best to get a feel for the movements of the guards out on watch and the sum of the numbers that they will be dealing with.

5 successes on my Perception roll.

 

[Sherwood]

As they watch the guards, Ailera shifts her clothing to resemble the uniform of one of the guards. The only change she makes is the addition of a yellow ribbon in her hair. Pointing to it, she whispers, "Just remember, keep an eye out for the ribbon so you don't end up killing me my mistake! I'll work my way down to the gates and see how hard it will be for me to open the doors to let in your troops."

With that, she calmly walks out into the open, heading for the stairs down off of the wall, trusting in her disguise to keep her safe.

Spoiler

Essence: 1
Personal: 13
Peripheral: 33 (23)
Committed: 10
Willpower: 7

Join Battle: 6 +3 Successes

Natural Soak: 2 (+3)
Armored Soak: 5
Total Soak: 7 (+3)

Parry: 6
Evasion: 5
Resolve: 3
Guile: 4

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

 

[jaydude]

Axtis is able to spot two talzels, or captains, stood close to Arumi. All three are at Long Range from her. From her position on the wall, Axtis also notices that, by and large, the guards on and within the walls are patrolling in groups of eight to twelve, or fangs, each one led by a gochel, or corporal. There are also about six chuzel, or lieutenants, scattered around overseeing the patrols.

By and large the guard patrols are concentrated around the fortress walls, no doubt so that they can respond quicker to an attack.

Meanwhile, Ailera has no sooner made her way down the stairs when a voice calls out to her from the top of the wall, close to where the others are hidden, but in no position to see them. It's another guard, a nitel, or soldier, just like her, only he's a young man.

"You there! You don't want to be wandering around without your weapons. We're expecting an attack here, remember?" the guard says, sounding concerned, but also a little curious.

 

[Sherwood]

Ailera nods and gives the guard a friendly wave. "Thanks, but I'm already on my way to the gatehouse where I have the rest of my gear waiting for me. I'm all set." She continues to walk out in the open, knowing that trying to skulk about right now will bring more attention to her than just being one of the troops.

 

[D. Rex]

Zedradon readied his grimscythe, waiting for the go ahead. Remaining next to Ryan. "Well... if anything will throw a kink in our plans it will be that terrestrial. How do you want to go from here, Ryan?" He whispered to the mercenary.

 

[jaydude]

Ailera nods and gives the guard a friendly wave. "Thanks, but I'm already on my way to the gatehouse where I have the rest of my gear waiting for me. I'm all set." She continues to walk out in the open, knowing that trying to skulk about right now will bring more attention to her than just being one of the troops.

The guard shrugs and turns back to looking at the area outside of the walls, allowing Ailera to proceed onwards. A few guards take notice of her, in particular the yellow ribbon she wears, but none try to question her, and she eventually reaches the gatehouse. She spots two guards stood on either side of the ground entrance.

 

[Sherwood]

Ailera walks right up to the gatehouse as if she owns the place, trusting in her disguise and general attitude to keep her from getting caught. She gives the two guards a terse nod and moves to open the door and head inside.

 

[jaydude]

As Ailera moves to open the door, the two guards step between it and her. They make no hostile moves, but by all indications they're not going to let her past easily.

"Hey there. What brings you to the gatehouse?" one of them asks.

Spoiler: OOC

You will need to use either a Persuade, Bargain or Threaten action if you want to talk your way past the guards.

 

[Sherwood]

Ailera stops short of running into the guard, then says, "Well, I left some gear in there that I need to pick back up before the top kick sees me and busts my sorry ass. I don't want to be stuck on extra duty for the next year, especially with us on alert like we are right now. So, can you give a girl a break and let me pass?"

4 successes

 

[jaydude]

The guard shakes his head, though it's an indication of perceived foolishness rather than a refusal.

"Fine. Go in and grab your things. If the guards inside give you any trouble, tell them we said you could enter."

 

[Sherwood]

Ailera nods, giving the guards a smile. "Thanks. You saved my bacon." She then heads for the door.

 

[jaydude]

Entering the gatehouse, Ailera makes her way up a staircase to the door of a room that is evidently positioned above the gate and runs across it, judging by its size and height off the ground. Peering through the door, Ailera can see that against the wall in the middle of the room is a wooden wheel with multiple spokes extending out from it, no doubt used to open the gate. On either side of the wheel are two guards, both of them asleep in wooden chairs, their weapons resting against the wall within reach of their arms.

 

[Sherwood]

Before I make any move on the guards, can the door that I came in be barred from the inside? I hope to be able to block it closed so I can open the gate and let in Ryan's forces.

 

[jaydude]

Before I make any move on the guards, can the door that I came in be barred from the inside? I hope to be able to block it closed so I can open the gate and let in Ryan's forces.

You see a raised wooden beam next to the door, one end fitted within a metal hinge so that it can be rotated down onto a pair of rests on the middle of the door, sealing it shut. It was likely put there to make it harder for besiegers to get to the gate controls during the attack.

 

[Sherwood]

Before heading up to deal with the two guards inside the gatehouse, Ailera will lower the wooden beam down to lock the door closed. With that done, she heads up to the two sleeping guards and as silently as possible will dispatch them both.

Finally, once she is done with that, Ailera will examine the gate mechanism to see how to open up the main entrance to the keep to allow the troops free access inside.

OOC I'll also spend 3m on Increasing Strength Exercise to raise my STR to 4 for the scene to be able to maneuver the wooden block into place.

 

[jaydude]

The first guard dies easily enough. When Ailera moves to kill the second guard however, his hand suddenly shoots out to grab her wrist, holding onto it with a grip far too tight to be that of a mortal. His head remains lowered, as if he's still asleep in his chair.

"So good to see you again...Ailera." the guard says in a deathly calm whisper that sounds very familiar to the Night Caste.

 

[Sherwood]

She pulls back in shock. In a calm voice that hides her inner turmoil, she says, "Who are you? How do you know me?"

 

[jaydude]

The guard chuckles, still keeping hold of Aleira's wrist as he stands up. "You don't remember me? Even after what I did to you and your compatriots?" he asks in a voice as soft as silk wrapped around a dagger. "I suppose I can understand. Our kind of Exalted do have a gift for being unmemorable, after all."

He turns his head to look her in the eye, and even though his face is not the same as it was the last time they met, Ailera instantly recognizes him.

He's the Sidereal.

The Sidereal who was behind the events of her Exaltation.

The Sidereal responsible for the deaths of her friends.

The Sidereal who sought to take her for his disciple, even after all he'd done to her.

 

[Sherwood]

Her eyes narrow and her fists clench, but for the moment, that is her only reaction.

Showing a calm that she does not feel inside, she says, "You again." Ailera's eyes dart about the room, looking for any way that she might have an edge in a fight against this man. "What do you want? I thought that I had made things pretty clear as to how I felt about you and your lies."