Trial By Fire - Exalted 2e IC Thread

[Rykon]

Aredin gave a rather knowing look to his brother as if to say, I know exactly what I'm doing here, this was intentional.

"No more than admitting that this town is complicit in furthering Deathlord interests, I might say, brother. I would not dare profane this merchant's trust by lying to his face like that." He then turned back to the merchant he was still in the midst of bargaining with and continued to press past the issue of the Deathlord. "Now, my good man, let's talk business. You said you had rather famous wine, yes? Clearly we would like a bottle with a respectable age on it, what would you suggest?"

 

[Sherwood]

The merchant produces a bottle with a flourish. "This is just a taste of what I have in my storehouse." He motions for a pair of glasses to be brought up and with a loud 'pop' of the cork, he opens the bottle and pours a bit into each glass. "Here. Enjoy a drink, and I promise that you will not have had a wine like this before." He offers up the glasses to Aredin and Darian with a wide smile.

Taking a sip, you must confess that yes, the wine is indeed very good, and it is truly unlike anything any other that you have ever had. When he sees the look on your face, the merchant smiles. "I have even older bottles than this, that will go down as smooth as a summer sunset. Just the thing for the happy couple."

 

[Rykon]

Aredin ensures the merchant is fairly paid, then slides the bottle into the pocket of his coat for later consumption. "Not just yet my friend. We have many sights to see, wares to browse, and people to meet. I'd hate to overburden my entourage until we're preparing to depart." He walked to a location out of earshot of the bustling town before addressing the rest of the circle. "Well, I think we know enough to merely confront the interlopers. However, I think before we risk raising an alarm by opening hostilities, perhaps we should engage in a bit of sabotage and espionage. Darian and I can easily handle negotiating with the town, perhaps Annika and Kuridin can get a peek aboard the Abyssals' vessel and make sure it won't be 'lifting anchor' anytime soon. Once we've established a good window of time after stranding our competitors, we'll make sure we have the blessing of the town to eliminate them outright and claim our prize."

The young lord turned to each individual to before asking "Any problems or questions about this plan?" With Darian, given her role in making sure this operation went smoothly, he'd ask her more specifically, "Do you see any issue with blatantly turning the town against the Deathlord's agents? Obviously we want to save enough essence to take down our targets, but given what our powers entail, I'd rather not assume everyone's good with heavy-handed manipulation."

 

[jaydude]

"Sabotaging an airship...I think us two Night Castes can handle that, once we find out where it's docked." Annika would reply with a grin.

 

[Psychie]

Darian gives a playful pouty face. "Humph! I never get to have any of the fun of sabotaging the Deathlord's airship!" She tries to hold the pout, but the grin breaks through soon enough and she lets out a sparkling laugh. "I won't risk your lives by coming along with you and slowing you down. Just remember, there may be Essence wards onboard guarding it. Be careful."

 

[jaydude]

"We will." replied Annika, keeping her voice quiet to avoid being overheard. "And hey, I've never had a chance to do such a thing either."

 

[Rykon]

"Hey now, everyone will get their turn before this is over." Aredin said with a chuckle. "I doubt this will be the last time we act against a Deathlord after all. Oh! before I forget...If you have the spare time, pillage the ship to your heart's content. There may be valuable intel aboard. If it looks like you'll need to pick a fight though, don't be afraid to fall back. If we see anima flares, our assumption is that we need to immediately head over to help. So keep that in mind."

 

[jaydude]

Annika would nod at that. "Unless you need me around for anything else, I can get started right now."

She turned to Kuredin. "Ready to head off and look for this airship?" she asked.

 

[Sherwood]

So while Kuredin and Annika head to the airship, what are the rest of you doing?

 

[Sherwood]

Sirocco regards the figure. Why would anyone hide behind bandages, unless one really wanted a sort of anonymity. Or one was a deathknight?
With a sharp glance, she tries to see whether she can spot some prey animal near the man, that she can, perhaps, hunt down, and then be closer to hear the man, while eating. Heaven would likely object to this, what with her eating raw meat during pregnancy, but much as she adored him, she knew that it would pose no real risk. in fact, not getting enough info could be more damaging.

It does not take long before you are able to spot a small rodent that makes the mistake of not being sneaky enough, and you swoop down and snatch it up in your claws. Soon enough, you are sitting on a rock not far from the man in his bandages, tearing into the morsel with your beak and trying to get a closer look and listen to the man as he communicates with the Mercury Ants.

One of the Ants comes out of the tunnel and approaches the man. "Master, we have found something. A wall of solid Jade, worked with runes and other powerful sorcery. We cannot penetrate it. It must be what you seek."

The man nods. "Excellent. If my maps are correct, there are many doors that lead to the interior. Start digging along the wall to the left and right, on this level, and search for any sign of a breach or other doorway. I need to communicate this good news to my fellows, but I will be back. But if you find an entrance, come get me at once." With a swirl of his cape, he turns and quickly walks away, heading back towards the main inhabited area of the mountain.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Follow the man to find his comrades? or follow the elementals, and find the entrance first? At that moment, Sirocco vowed to learn from heaven the spell to send messages afar. But she quickly made up her mind to follow the man back to his comrades. They need to know where they hole up, and their numbers. Even if the elementals find the entrance, these deathknights will not be geeting there without her knowing it, and now she knows some of their secret. A WALL of jade. this must be a freaking big Artifact.

 

[Neopilot]

Annika would nod at that. "Unless you need me around for anything else, I can get started right now."

She turned to Kuredin. "Ready to head off and look for this airship?" she asked.

"Let's ensure that ship stays grounded for the foreseeable future." He replied to Annika with a grin growing across his face. "I haven't gotten into much mischief in a while."

 

[Sherwood]

Neopilot and jaydude
As Annika and Kuredin head off towards the airship, you can see from your up close examination shows that it is a rather large ship, with three large gas bags for lift, a large main hull that is at least three, possibly four decks tall, and two smaller secondary hulls up higher along the gas bags. From where you are, you can see that at the bow of the ship there is a trio of Lightning Ballista mounted on swivels so that they can all three fire to the front or either side, and you think you can see more Essence weapons to the aft section of the ship, but they are better hidden by tarps and gear. Six heavy cables are being used to anchor the ship to the ground, and there is a single long gangway plank being used to access the interior of the ship.

How do you plan on getting inside?


Red Shadow Claws
After the two Night Caste have left to do some skulking, you come flying around the side of the mountain to find the others of the Circle walking about the local marketplace. It is easy to spot them, with the bulk of Ragnar keeping a watchful eye out for trouble around Darian and Aredin.

What do you do?

 

[Sherwood]

With Sirocco keeping watch on the Abyssal, he is hurrying up the Slope of the mountain, moving quickly. People are moving out of his way as he goes, not wanting to get in the path of the dark Exalt for too long. He finally ends up at a fairly elaborate structure towards the top of the mountain and goes to the door and lets himself inside. Checking for a window to look in, please give me a Perception + Awareness roll.
Red Shadow Claws

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

A hawk lands on the window sill, and peeks inside.

Spending 1wp for auto success, and 6m on Eye of the Cat, to be able to see that which I have no chance of seeing.

6 suxxes

 

[jaydude]

Before making an attempt to infiltrate the airship, or discussing such a thing with Kuredin, Annika would look around for any personnel - guards, crew or anyone else who might spot their sneaking - nearby.

3 successes on Perception + Awareness roll.

 

[Sherwood]

A hawk lands on the window sill, and peeks inside.

Spending 1wp for auto success, and 6m on Eye of the Cat, to be able to see that which I have no chance of seeing.

6 suxxes

As you flit about the building, you find a perch that looks inside as the man in the robes is waking into one of the room. As you watch, the man flips back the hood of the robe and amazingly enough, shrinks several inches and slims down to appear much more feminine. With a very different voice, the figure, now sounding like a woman, calls out, "Malice! Where are you?"

A pair of figures comes walking into the room with the now woman. The first is a green haired man that is wearing a simple tunic and trousers that you would guess would be a local. The second is a man wearing dark leather with Soulsteel wristbands on with intricate runes on them, along with several hearthstones and very pale skin that almost glows in the light. He more glides into the room instead of walks, and everything about him screams killer.

In a smooth voice, he answers, "I am here, Widow. What is it? Have you made a discovery?"

She answers, "The Ants have broken through the rock to the outer wall of the Titan! It is only a matter of time before they find one of the entrances and we can make our way inside. With these command codes, we can begin to bring the primary systems back on line. It is only a matter of time."

"Excellent. In the meantime, keep working on the locals. They will become quite a useful work force once they have been properly conditioned."

"I already own Duncan, but Issar and Blythe are being difficult. They are resisting my efforts."

"Then we will just have to kill them. Easily done. Have one of the locals slip some poison into their food or something. My only wish is to be there to watch them go into convulsions and foam at the mouth before dying. That would be satisfying to see that pretentious bitch and the arrogant ass get put in their places while we simply sit back and do nothing. Then you can animate their corpses and put them to use serving our Master."

Widow lets out a chuckle. "That would be a bit of dark humor there. Very well. I have the Ants continuing to dig, and one will seek me out once they have found an entrance. I will take my leave now." She bows, then flips the hood back over her head and once more, resumes the appearance of the man you saw in the tunnel. Turning on her/his heel, the Widow walks on out.

What do you do now?

Before making an attempt to infiltrate the airship, or discussing such a thing with Kuredin, Annika would look around for any personnel - guards, crew or anyone else who might spot their sneaking - nearby.

3 successes on Perception + Awareness roll.

From a short distance, Annika can see that there is at least six crew up on the deck of the ship doing cleaning tasks and maintenance on the ship now that it is stationary. On occasion there are other people that you believe are the merchant passengers that are bringing cargo in and out of the ship using the gangway plank, with a pair of men at the base of the ramp wearing chain shirts and armed with cudgels keeping an eye on things and keeping people off of the ramp that don't belong there.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Anger wells in Sirocco. They speak so callously of murdering and enslaving people, and she has to stop herself from tearing into them. it would do no one any good if they overcome her, and she has her and Heaven's child to consider as well.

After Widow leaves, Sirocco will head back down to look for the others. They needed to know what is up, and maybe one of them will know what this Titan is. But whatever it is, it cannot fall into the hands of these Deathknights.

 

[Sherwood]

Sirocco takes off, heading for the market. You are able to spot your Circle there, minus Annika and Kuredin, walking about the stalls.

 

[jaydude]

Annika crosses her arms as she looks at the personnel currently guarding, unloading from and working on the airship.

"We might be able to get in unseen if we go through the top deck." she says to Kuredin, thinking that she can just use Easily Overlooked Presence Method to avoid the people there. "Otherwise, we could try and climb in through a window on the skyward side."

 

[Neopilot]

"Either one if those options are quite viable." Kuridin scratched the back of his head "if we are just going to waltz up there it may be best to have a disguise or at least act pretty dumb if we are seen."

 

[jaydude]

Annika looks at her fellow Night Caste. "Perhaps. But I was mainly thinking we could use our abilities to prevent the guards from seeing us. You know how to use your essence to conceal your presence, right?"

 

[Neopilot]

"Yes, but I haven't had a need in quite a while. Whenever I've needed to insert myself into places I'm not wanted I've used this." He tugs gently on the amulet string around his neck.

 

[jaydude]

"Oh? What's that?" asks Annika, looking at the amulet with curiosity.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Sirocco takes off, heading for the market. You are able to spot your Circle there, minus Annika and Kuredin, walking about the stalls.

Landing a safe distance away, Sirocco will change back to her human form, where no one is watching, and then go and meet her friends. Time to get them on board.