Into the Ruins - Exalted 3e IC

[Psychie]

With a mighty heave, Fat Cat takes to the air. Seconds later, the scream of the engine overloading comes to a stop with disastrous results as the clearing that had once been an idyllic scene is now consumed by a flash of Essence! The blazing flare of energy incinerates the two groups of undead in the clearing and then hits our noble Lunar in his rather large belly, searing the skin in a painful burn with the distinct smell of scorched hair.

[OOC Fat Cat takes a total of six levels of Lethal damage that can be healed with your Charms or your hearthstone normally. Luckily for the others, his bulk protected the others from harm.]

Despite the pain, Fat Cat is able to keep airborne and continue the pursuit of the fleeing Abyssal. It does not take long before you can hear the sound of her headlong flight through the underbrush, indicating that you are closing in on her rapidly.

What do you do now?

 

[Purr]

The explosion of the bone-ship and the resulting incredible Essence blast's power cannot be denied!

O Mighty Fat Cat, finds himself in the enormous grip of real and powerful pain, and as much as his body wants to cry out loud to the clouds in agony, Fat Cat does his soulful absolute best not to give it any voice whatsoever because... (and for all of the outlandish reasons you could imagine) ...he feels doing so would be a disservice to his guests onboard the Lucky Fat Cat Express.

He was a Deliverer long before he joined his Circle and if he has his say, he will be Deliverer until the day he dies. This means everyone onboard him now, save for the dead, are welcome passengers who should be treated with the best of courtesy and the highest of care. And that means keeping his mouth shut now.

What is inescapable and uncontrollable is the flight itself. For long moments after the blast (and who knows how long after that?), he is doing a lot more gliding than he is flying. He is flapping his great new wings only when necessary and slowly and carefully even then. There is no concealing that he has been injured. Still! He has a duty to do, and as long as he is able to do it, by Luna, he will! O Mighty Fat Cat makes his best possible speed (flying only! He thinks running would be far too painful and he might pass out).

But... as the pain begins to pass, the jungle-born Lunar comes to realize the messages his body is sending him. His Ox-Body Techniques have protected him! They provide him far, far more vitality than the average creature in the jungle and though the burning sensations remains, he understands now that the pain has had its loudest moment and he is not so injured as he first believed! Once again, Luna's Charms has saved him great misery, perhaps even death! Where would he be, he wonders, without Her? Probably in circumstances much more mundane than these.

Now the Lucky Fat Cat Express's flight path evens out. With each passing moment, steadiness and sureness return to his graceful glide, and his beautiful wings flap with vigor once more. O Mighty Fat Cat focuses - finding himself relieved to be able to focus - on his Echo-Awareness Charm.

Now he is looking for openings in the trees - some spot nearest their target where he can either fold up his wings and gallop along or drop his Circle off so they have the best possible chance at doing the same.

"B-B-B-RRRROOWWR!" he warns his Circle as he begins his rapid descent. He angles his body like a cat about to pounce and drops in altitude as he dives in on the fleeing Exalted.

"Ohhh, little mouse," he thinks as the pain in him gives rise to feelings pure; feline, and predatory, "Only Luna know what you up to but... you not about to escape me Circle! We be comin'... and we be comin' for you!!"

 

[Sherwood]

Delilah holds on tight to the howdah as the explosion rocks them all, feeling the heat of the flames rising up around them. Just from that, she would have to guess that Fat Cat has suffered some intense burns. It is a testament to the durability of the Lunar Exalted that he not only survives the blast but seems to be going strong. Dell is just glad that they all got away when they did. After all, if they were closer to the explosion, even Fat Cat might not have survived.

But now is the time to focus on the fleeing Abyssal. She cranes her head up to try and keep watch on the running girl, looking for any place that they can try to intercept her. It’s not like she’s dressed to blend in with so much black. She should stand out as she runs.

If she is able to catch a glimpse of their quarry, she will shout out directions to aid Fat Cat in his efforts to catch up.

OOC holy crap that’s a lot of successes! Eleven on nine dice

 

[Eonivar]

Meave in her raven form circled high in the air, watching Fat Cat take off and the ensuing explosion. She dove down, flying alongside the giant flying lunar trailing smoke and smelling of burnt flesh and fur, until the giant Lunar seemed to stabilize their flight and resume searching for the fleeing corrupted lunar. She could hear the Sidereal yelling out directions to the Lunar. She then rose again in altitude to keep a watch over the situation up high in case any surprises should occur.

 

[Purr]

If she is able to catch a glimpse of their quarry, she will shout out directions to aid Fat Cat in his efforts to catch up.

Continuing to use his Glance-oration Technique, O Mighty Fat Cat - if he hears any shouting or any noise whatsoever from her from his howdah - looks at Delilah and puts his index digit to his mouth in a polite "shh!" motion.

Then, with great confidence, he points that same paw straight at where his echo@location is telling him their target is. He has her.

Many Solars and Lunars often seemed to not think alike when on the hunt. O Mighty Fat Cat feels the chances of his Circle and the others surprising their target would be much greater if they allowed him to silently glide in on the target.

 

[Psychie]

With his excellent hearing, Fat Cat can hear with his echo location that the fleeing girl is currently hiding behind a rather large tree. There are a few openings in the tree canopy that you can drop through nearby, and they would put you in Short range of your target.

Thanks to your outstanding Perception roll, Del can see where the Abyssal ducked out of sight. She’s a sneaky one, but not sneaky enough to evade you.

Everyone else in the howdah has a decent idea of where your foe is thanks to the keen eye of Del providing clues by pointing at the position of the hiding girl.

So, what do you do now?

 

[Purr]

Chowlett Eonivar jaydude Psychie Rykon Sherwood O Mighty Fat Cat can sense a path to make this happen, he tries to think like an owl and dive through one of the openings that puts him facing the fleeing girl with the tree she is using behind her (to fully negate her cover). His plan is to silently fall, diving head-first, wings folded, and unfurl his wings to fly horizontally at her at full speed. He wants to give her no warning at all and his Circle the best chance for surprise.

He intends to "buzz her (a close and sudden flyby)." Keeping the tree to his left, he wants to tilt his howdah; not so steep an angle as to make anything or anyone fall out, but to give everyone onboard a wide opportunity to jump out of Da Chonk's howdah and at her.

Staying aloft, he would like to speedily circle all of the way around the base of tree, ready to catch her if she should flee in the opposite direction of his initial flyby.

 

[Sherwood]

When Del sees an opening to do so as Fat Cat banks around, she leaps from his back and lightly lands on her feet. Del then pushes herself into a sprint in her way to intercept the hiding Abyssal.

 

[Chowlett]

Knowing he should have greater mobility in the tree canopy than the necromancer, and hoping to surprise her with a pincer attack from above, Glade hops off the Fat Cat-Bus into the upper branches, and stealthily makes his way over towards their quarry.

(Bit low on Essence, so let's just roll Stealth straight. 10 dice from stats; 3 from belt; 1 from specialty. The Monkey Stone should mean I have no issues walking in the trees)

11 successes on 14 dice.

 

[Psychie]

Now free of the howdah on Fat Cat’s back, both Delilah and Glade can see the Abyssal woman. She is leaning up against a tree, her chest heaving as she tries to catch her breath. Apparently, exceptional endurance is not what this Exalt has been training in. She looks scared, and as yet she doesn’t seem to notice either of you as she peers back over her shoulder at the path she took to get to her hiding place.

You both have a good line of sight to her to be able to use ranged weapons, and you are both at the inner edge of medium range to her. A short move will close you into short range, but at that point it is more likely that you will be spotted.

What do you do?

 

[Sherwood]

Del casually walks out into view and says, “Ok, little rabbit. You’ve run far enough. Why not surrender and save yourself a bit of sweat when you obviously can’t get away? Surrender now and you’ll at least have a chance to get out of this day alive.”

 

[Psychie]

The Abyssal looks startled at Del suddenly appearing, her hand instinctively reaching for the knives on her belt. But when Del speaks, the girl doesn’t draw her weapons. She says, “If I yield, you will spare my life? I have no desire to meet my final death at your hands. Say you will let me live and I will surrender to you.”

 

[Eonivar]

Maeve did a laze circle around where the others were standing and landed on a nearby branch to listen and watch.

 

[Purr]

The Abyssal looks startled at Del suddenly appearing, her hand instinctively reaching for the knives on her belt. But when Del speaks, the girl doesn’t draw her weapons. She says, “If I yield, you will spare my life? I have no desire to meet my final death at your hands. Say you will let me live and I will surrender to you.”

O Mighty Fat Cat stayed still and watchful allowing his lethal-level wounds to knit and mend as his Lunar abilities and artifact would allow. There were many times that he wished he had some way of secretly communicating with his Circle if only to tell them things like, "She don' realize she in no position to be makin' such requests." =)

 

[Sherwood]

Del smiles, saying, "Let me say that your odds are better if you surrender now than if you continue to resist. Decide quickly. Give up now, or face the consequences."

 

[Chowlett]

Watching and listening to the conversation below, Glade creeps through the treetops until he is right over the necromancer, Root and Branch out, and ready to drop himself onto her should negotiations fail.

 

[Psychie]

Filial steps out into view from one of the trees, his Daiklave held at the ready. His eyes are locked on the girl, and he says, “Beware of this one. I’ve seen her kind of Exalted before, and she can kill with a word. She is a danger to us and our mission. I say kill her now.” He acts like he is more than ready to follow through with his suggestion himself.

The Abyssal girl smiles and unties her belt, dropping her knives to the dirt at her feet, then she kicks the belt away from her. “I yield. Will you kill an unarmed prisoner? Surely you must have some sense of honor to you as Chosen of the Sun.”

 

[Rykon]

"You use your companions as bait, betraying their trust and leading them to their death in so doing." Aredin adds after leaping off the howdah. "Hardly ground to preach honor from in my book."

The eclipse steps forward, hand resting upon the pommel of his daiklave casually while the Crowned Sun's brand gleams proudly on his brow. "You have given your word and yielded. That word is sealed." Aredin bluffed, letting the threat of a curse linger in the air for a moment, should their quarry risk another retaliatory trick in her show of smugness.

Aredin gives a glance to Delilah and Grey Stone before returning his gaze to the cornered Abyssal. "Count your blessings that at least some of my companions still count mercy among their belongings. I have enough faith in them that I'll borrow some and agree to tolerate your survival, should you cooperate. Just don't tempt the rest of us into changing our minds."

 

[Purr]

“Beware of this one. I’ve seen her kind of Exalted before, and she can kill with a word.

O Mighty Fat Cat continues to watch and listen, both with his natural senses and with his Echo-location Charm just in case this realm has even more surprises lurking around its corners. But this little bit that Filial Wisdom offered? This bore listening to - if indeed the necromancer could kill with a word, why not stop her from speaking?

Ever-wary like a fox, O Mighty Fat Cat continues to monitor, his ears turning this way and that as the sounds come and go, his eyes hardly blinking as he continues to sit and heal. He finds himself quite happy to watch his Circle go into action like this, especially Aredin who always had such a smooth way with words and such a penchant for danger as to make even the greatest rogues wince with envy. =)

 

[Sherwood]

Del cautiously approaches the teen Abyssal and says, “Turn around, down on your knees with your hands behind your head. Cooperate and this up go much easier on you.”

If the other Exalt does as directed, Del will frisk her and remove any weapons, artifacts or hearthstones she finds. Del will then bind the girl’s hands behind her back with a short length of rope, and, after considering what Filial said about her being able to kill with a word, she gags the prisoner.

Once that is done, Del will take a moment to examine what, if anything, she finds on the girl along with what she has in her discarded belt.