Sorrow’s Reach - Exalted 3e

[Psychie]

Scorpion shrugs. "In town, out of town, either way, we'll be taking care of business. How long will it take us to get to this village anyways? Once we get there, we can get an actual eye on the place and make a final decision. I still believe that spanking the undead in town will be best, and if there is any living members of the attacking force, we can try to take that one alive and interrogate the shit out of 'em."

 

[Sherwood]

Tomiko lets out a sigh. "I suppose we can deal with the dead forces in the town well enough. Its not like we can't handle a few zombies and ghosts. Lets get a move on."

 

[Crocodile]

"Well, I guess we are doing this. I'd like to know as well how long this jaunt is going to take us if you've got a time window. The sooner we get there, the more time to adjsut plans," Mountain Shadow admits as he leans backs against a wall.

 

[Sherwood]

Tomiko looks over at Shadow and says, "Well, I am able to cast a spell that can move up to three of us quickly. Unfortunately, I am not strong enough to be able to transport more than that. We'll need to come up with another mode of transportation, unless I make more than one trip, depending on who else is coming along."

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Gatherer is still unhappy with the decision to fight, but seeing little choice, she says "Well, I can help with the travel, and can take one more person with me, so we'll be all able to transport."

 

[WlfSamurai]

A day later, you had all stepped into town. Amethyst Depths had chosen the town where you held you meeting the night before to be within a day’s wagon ride. After explaining that she didn’t want to draw attention to you, she piled you all into a farmer’s covered wagon, paid for your ride, and promptly left you. She had explained at the end of your meeting that she would not be coming with you. Apparently, she has other matters to attend to. Before you could protest, you were on your way.

If Amethyst’s information is accurate, the attack should occur tomorrow night. Right now, you’ve managed to convince the Mayor of Sinju to gather the town together. She insisted on using the Immaculate Temple as the meeting hall. It’s used for all town meetings. The whole town is here. You see farmers, mostly. They shuffle in, dirty from the day’s work, but eager to find what the commotion is. Some bring their families. There are a few merchants here and there.

Mayor Laena Weil stands from her seat at the front. She brushes her gray braid over her should and raises her hands to quiet the chapel. When it is quiet, she speaks.

“Friends and family,” the Mayor says, “we have been brought here by travelers who say they bring important news. I have called this meeting to hear them out. Please quiet yourselves.” She turns to you all and gestures that the floor is yours.

What do you do?

 

[Psychie]

Scorpion steps forward and raises up her voice loud enough to be heard by all. "Important news, indeed. I don't know if you are aware, but many small villages like this one have recently been attacked by forces from the Underworld. Many lives have been lost as entire populations have been wiped out. We have learned that your settlement is next on the list to be hit, and my comrades and I have journeyed here to put a stop to this." She pauses to let her words sink in, then continues. "We do not ask of you to join in the battle with us; we are prepared to face the dead ourselves. What we need from you is to gather your friends and families here so we can make sure you are all kept safe. Use what salt you can to make a circle around this place to keep the ghosts out, and let us do the rest."

Spoiler

Spending 5m on Harmonious Presence Meditation to add 3 dice to my Presence roll, then I'll add another 6m on my Presence Excellency to really sway the crowd to listen to me. This gives me a total of 15 dice on my Cha + Pre roll, all from Personal Essence.

11 successes on my roll

 

[Crocodile]

Mountain Shadow let the others talk. He was more concerned with the village's setup and how the dead were likely to move through it. He wanted good vaulting and ambush points. More so he was curiously checking for any forward scouts just in case. He didn't know how complex this dead force was that was coming, but Thorns was ruled by death. If a satrapy could go down, that meant someone could do complex thinking.

(Spending 5 Personal Motes on Investigation Excellency)

 

[WlfSamurai]

Scorpion, you’re words hit home. And using your Essence only drives the point further. Gasps and cries erupt from the crowd. They’re followed by nervous murmurs and frightened outbursts.

Mayor Weil holds up her hands and tries to calm the the townsfolk, some of which are now standing up. The commotion swells into yelling and she’s drowned out.

Then, a gong fills the chapel with its deep tone. The sound stretches for some time before it quiets down. Everyone goes quiet and still. The man holding gong hammer tosses it to the ground. His clothes are tatters. His hands and face are dirty. He holds a jar of sake. He is one of the few beggars in town.

“You don’t even know who these people are,” the beggar says. “How can they know these things?”

With those words, the Temple Custodian unravels himself from the crowd and steps to the front. When the Immaculate Monks left this Temple, they chose a Custodian and left him behind as acting Abbot.

He steps to the front, wearing robes well above his station, and bobs his head. “Yes, yes,” he says. “Is there anyway for us to know these words true?”

The murmur raises again in the crowd. Several voices in the crowd call out: “They’re from out of town!” “They said several villages have already been attacked!” “They not asking us to leave!”

“Perhaps they wish to remove us from our houses so they can rob us of our belongings,” the Custodian shouts back. “Do we really know?”

It is clear you have the crowd swayed, but these two given time will sew doubt. The beggar less so as he already is discounted by his station.

What are you doing?

Meanwhile, Mountain Shadow, you find any number of high perches, alleyways, and vantage points to launch an attack from. You also do not see any forward scouts coming ahead of the dead.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

The woman in a red dress raises a hand, trying to still the crowds a bit, and turns to the Custodian "There is only one way to know our words are true. You are more than welcome to stay here with us, and see for yourselves. But if you wish to be safe, I do suggest you follow the advice given, and leave, while you still can. I am willing to give you all my WORD, that not a single thing will be stolen from your homes if you agree to leave, and I will swear such words on all the mighty gods of Heaven."

While she speaks to the Custodian, Gatherer of Clouds casts her eyes at the beggar, and the crowd as well, to gauge their reactions.

Spoiler: Socialize - Important!

Spending 5m on Harmonious Presence Meditation, 1m for Quicksilver Falcon's Eye, and 4m for Aspersions Cast Aside.

This gives me 4 (Cha) + 5 (Socialize) + 3 (Harmonious Presence Meditation), so a total of 12 dice.

Quicksilver Falcon's Eye lets me know whether they use Guile or Resolve to defend against my argument

Aspersions Cast Aside does this: With this Charm she can cast aside all 1s and 2s after making a Socialize roll, forcing them onto a target within five feet. This target must then make a (Wits + Socialize) roll with a difficulty of the Solar’s Essence to keep his composure, with foisted 2s replacing the lowest successes (typically 7s) and 1s replacing the next digit up (usually 8s).
This is targeted at the Custodian.

7 suxxes, but the Custodian has to roll a Wits + Socialize roll difficulty one, but one 7 is replaced by 2, and two 8s are replaced by 1s.

 

[Crocodile]

Mountain Shadow enters the meeting now, satisfied with his scouting and positions. He'd inform the others but for now he was wondering why he was hearing various voices, watching the room now and curious. He wasn't in the mood for disruptions or people being too stupid to allow themselves to be saved. His broad frame though stood back while he waited and listened to keep from agitating villagers.

 

[Sherwood]

Tomiko is quite taken by the power and passion that the one-armed woman speaks with, and it takes a moment for her to realize that it must be due to one of the gifts of the Unconquered Sun to let her speak with such strength of will. She steps forward, trying to aid in the efforts of her companions in soothing the frazzled nerves of the villagers. "Please, if we were looking for a quick payday, it would not be at the expense of your homes. Compared to the larger cities of the area, we would make much more money robbing them. But we are not here for that. We wish to make sure that the forces of the Underworld do not stomp on your hopes and dreams that you have here. You can trust us."

 

[WlfSamurai]

The Custodian sputters and stammers. “I-I-I—“ he says, trying to compose himself. He can’t seem to get the words out well enough. “K-k-. T-t-t-. Fine, fine.” He waves his hand, giving up. His face reddens with embarrassment. He heads through the door to the back of the Temple, shamed.

The villages quiet. A resolve falls over the crowd. Even the beggar limps out of the Temple knowing his fight is lost.

“We understand,” a woman says from the back of the Temple chapel. “Tell us what we need to do and we’ll do it.”

A cacophony of agreement fills the rafters. They await your instructions.

 

[Sherwood]

Dipping into her knowledge of the facts of dealing with the walking dead, Tomiko feels more at home now that the crowd is not overtly hostile to their cause. "We need to move quickly, because we expect that the attack is due this evening. First, make sure that everyone in the area is gathered into a single safe place for us to be able to better protect you; from what I've seen, this building is the best candidate for that role. Keep the women and children in the center, with the most fit men on guard at the walls with whatever weapons you can find just in case something gets past us. Finally, if there is enough salt in town to do so, we need a thin line around the temple building to keep out any spirits."

She then wracks her mind for any other details that could be added to their plans in the limited time that they have.

 

[Psychie]

Scorpion is somewhat pleased that Tomiko is taking care of the people here; her own skills are more suited to killing things instead of trying to keep them alive. While the other Exalt is taking care of business there, she keeps an eye out (no pun intended) for the beggar and the Custodian. If there were to be any trouble from the locals, it would come from those two.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Tomiko, you've zeroed in on much of it. Salt is a large part of protection when it comes to ghosts. Germinated grain, as well. In the case of zombies, barriers, doors, and stairs are a good way to slow them down as they are mindless.

"What about fire?" a man asks, coming forward from the crowd. "Can...it help in any way?"

Scorpion—and anyone else paying attention—while the conversation continues with the townsfolk on preparations, you see several men in the back of the crowd slip out of the chapel into the street. They whisper in sharp tones with angry gestures amongst themselves as they leave.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Sinju Village
Evening
A few hours later

The village scatters into action. Over the next few hours, salt is gathered and spread, the Immaculate Temple is converted into a make-shift garrison. Windows are boarded up. Pews are placed ready to barricade doors. Iron farm tools are gathered to slide into the door handles of the main door. Inside, more pews are stacked to create a wall should the dead get inside.

Women and children are gathering buckets of water, loaves of bread, and salted meats. Should the Temple be kept under siege for days, the people inside will have provisions.

For weapons, the few swords, spears, and axes that can be found are distributed to the men willing. Various farm and carpentry tools are gathered as make-shift weapons. Some bring cooking knives or butcher knives.

You have been left to your own devices to prepare.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Glad that the villagers have been secured enough, and facing the prospect of a dead army attacking, Gatherer starts to feel some anxiety. She hasn't been in any real combat before, and while she trained in combat, she never excelled in it, and she clutches the short sword she has till her knuckles are white.

 

[Psychie]

As the villagers are in the process of fortifying up, Scorpion will try to keep her eye on the few people that slunk out the back of the building. Are they helping to prepare the place for the attack, or are they acting squirrely in any way?

If they appear to be a part of the team effort, she will not approach them, but if they look like they have something else in mind, the Dawn Caste will walk up and talk to them.

 

[Crocodile]

While no occultist, Mountain Shadow makes his rounds of the salt circle. He was paranoid by nature due to his work and hoped the dead did not have living accomplices. He did look around for the beggar as well who'd tried to stir up the crowd. He wanted to be sure the man was within the confines with eyes on him or otherwise away from the circle where he couldn't damage it.

 

[WlfSamurai]

The beggar and men who separated themselves from the rest of the village do not show themselves for some time.

The evening drags on. Soon the moon is high in the black sky. You know the time has come for the dead to arrive. The villagers are in the process of closing up the temple to tuck themselves away.

You all are in the process of helping when a sharp call catches your attention down the road from the Temple. The beggar and twelve men stand should-to-shoulder, each holding a tool or weapon.

“We will not let you do this,” the beggar calls to you. “The rest may not see through your lies, but we do. And we will protect them not matter what.”

They begin to walk toward the temple. From where you stand, just outside the temple, they’re at long range and closing.

 

[Psychie]

Scorpion plants her feet in their path, looking supremely confident in her ability to stop the crowd, one way or another. She calls out to them, "What harm will it do to wait all of a half an hour before you perform some rash act against us? I do not want to hurt you, but I will not stand idly by while you place the rest of these good people at risk from the enemies of Creation. I can see that you are obviously passionate about protecting your homes. That is our goal here, too. Join us in our work, and do not sabotage it by giving the walking dead the advantage here today. So now I stand here before you, asking that you listen to reason and do not raise your weapons against us."

Spoiler

Harmonious Presence Meditation is still in effect with a duration of Indefinite. Adding 3 dice from my Excellency, and counting a level 1 stunt, trying to defuse the situation without having to chop them all into chum.

8 Successes to my attempt.

Essence: 1
Personal: 13 / 10
Peripheral: 33 (23)
Committed: 10
Willpower: 6

Join Battle: 8 + 3 successes

Natural Soak: 4 + 2 (from Hearthstone)
Armored Soak: 5
Total Soak: 11
Hardness: 4

Parry: 6
Evasion: 3
Resolve: 4
Guile: 1

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

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Gatherer stood besides Scorpion, and sheathed her meager sword. She let the big woman talk, but was ready to flare her anima, to make these men hopefully flee, though she knew it could risk their position here. She didn't want any bloodshed with the men of this village.

 

[Sherwood]

Once more, Tomiko is impressed with the sheer power of personality that the other woman has to her. She pauses, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow, hoping that there is not going to be a bloodbath of these mortals before, or worse, during the time that the forces from the Underworld attack.

 

[WlfSamurai]

The men behind the beggar stop short. The beggar turns toward them to see what the problem is. The men behind him lower their tools and weapons. One of them speaks up. He’s a portly older farmer with a limp. His anger is plain on his face.

“You said they were demons,” the farmer says. “That they would put us under a spell if we listened. All I see is kindness. Protection. For my family.” The group of men agree with the farmer with nods and a cacophony of words.

The beggar throws down his hammer and pushes his way past them all into the night.

The group of men step toward you all. The old farmer reaches out his hand.

“We made a huge mistake,” he says. “We just want our families to be safe. We’ll do whatever you say. We’re not asking forgiveness, but please help us.”