RttToFC/Session19

Kuros: Thelaos will not be joining us today, alas

Kuros: One of his friends is heading out to Afghanistan

Kuros: So I understand there is a large party.

Kuros: and Astrid is not online...

Kuros: We'll give her 10 minutes.

Kuros: If not, we'll run with you homies.

Kuros: dawgs.

Alyssa: insists on being described as a bitch

Kuros: ok, with you two dawgs and the bitch-ho

Kuros: is that better? =P

Alyssa: it'll do

dakkareth works on maintaining Silk's Black Book of Enemies

Alyssa polishes her staff

SonoftheMetalFlame: idly works on drawing up plans for new artifacts...

Kuros: ok, time

Kuros: Thelaos and Astrid have gone off to...scout...

Kuros: Astrid seems to do a lot of scouting

Alyssa: Is it something about the way we smell?

dakkareth: She's probably protecting us from a Silver Pact intervention

SonoftheMetalFlame: It's because she finds me irresistable, so she must stay away lest she be tempted to act on her lustful desires...

Beyond the Tomb of Five Corners - Session 19

Kuros: As I recall, you all were still at the lake shore?

Silk: Yes.

Silk: "At this time his strength does seem to exceed ours by a considerable margin," Silk concludes his report.

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "Then it would be wise that we seek out the other pieces of this puzzle before we attempt to engage with the Bull head on."

Silk: "We should avoid an open confrontation at this time, yes, unless we can tailor the situation so that we have the upper hand."

Silk: "Thanks to the agatae we have the advantage of mobility. We'd be gone long before he arrives here."

Alyssa: "Ten thousand men... that would take ages."

Silk: "One week according to his own estimate, unless that was a deliberate misinformation."

Silk: "To Lake Uddjare that is. Following us elsewhere ... he couldn't bring his army then."

Alyssa: "Well, I think we can accomplish a lot in a week."

SonoftheMetalFlame looks at Alyssa, an eyebrow raised. "Are you suggesting we prepare for a week to take on the Bull, his mistress, a second circle demon, and an army of 10,000?"

Silk: "Don't forget the third man with his Orichalkum Powerbow and an unknown number of Terrestrials."

SonoftheMetalFlame laughs. "Right, and those. I think that is an easy way to end our time here in Creation."

Alyssa: "Well, no I was thinking more along the lines of finding someone else we could send in to soften him up. Someone expendable, someone who under other circumstances might be trying to kill us."

SonoftheMetalFlame smiles. "Tepet?"

Silk grins. "I like the way you're thinking."

Silk: "However the forces of the Dead might make for a less one-sided conflict."

Alyssa: "Let's not be unreasonable. Whoever we find first will do."

Silk: "Note that even when working through intermediaries we cannot show our hand too openly. The longer they stay unaware of us the better for us."

Silk: "What do you propose we do in particular, Alyssa?"

Alyssa: "Well, we have a few choices, but largely I think we either need to go looking for the keys or go looking for another military force. Which would you think is easier to find?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I believe that finding the keys would be a more prudent course of action."

Silk thinks. "We do know the general locations of the fragments, though it will likely require considerable effort to locate one in a city as big as Nexus or as hostile as Sperimin."

Silk: "The Tepet forces ... our 'guests' are already on their way back to the Blessed Isle and I'd judge their effectiveness as close to zero in any case."

Alyssa: "In fairness, yes. They were hardly a problem for us."

Silk: "That leaves the Deathknights, to whose location we have no leads at the moment."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I do not think that the keys will be much of an issue. Once we got near their locations, I trust this orb will serve as a navigator to some extent."

Silk: "Really? That would be a major advantage. And another reason to leave as quickly as possible."

Silk: "More than any of the other fragments, our opponents can't be allowed to get a hold of it."

Alyssa: "So. Where should we go first?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I say we simply go wherever is closest."

Silk: "That would be Nexus."

Alyssa rolls her eyes. "It would be. All roads lead there."

Silk smiles. "So we learn once more."

Silk: "It also has the advantage of not being ruled by a mad Lunar. Unless that one rumour about the Emissary is true."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Well, I would much prefer to deal with a rumor than a certitude."

Silk calculates in his head. "Although ... if we count the gates as a non-distance Meru would be even closer."

Alyssa: "And probably less defended as well. It's even on the way to Nexus."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "That may not necessarily be the wisest choice for our first move. Meru is watched by the Immaculate Order... and perhaps others."

Silk: "Others?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I have seen brief mentions in some ancient tomes that there is a group that controls the Immaculate Order, and that they are quite powerful."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Unfortunately, I have not succeeded in finding any information that describes these individuals in detail."

Alyssa: "They didn't bother us during our previous visit."

Silk: "If that is the case it would be prudent to gather more intelligence beforehand."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Our previous visit was quite brief. I trust they did not have much time to react."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "And we may have also alerted them to the presence of the gateway we utilized."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "So that specifically may be under watch."

Silk frowns. "That does present a problem. Without using the gate it would a very long and very risky journey."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "So I would suggest that we postpone that until a future date."

Alyssa: "If we don't take any risks we'll never get anything done. Still. Nexus is jsut as promising all things considered."

Silk: "Maybe if we go for Nexus first we can find some information there. Knowledge is just another commodity to be bought and sold there after all."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods.

Silk: "So it is decided."

Silk: "Is there anything left for us to do here? For my part, I'm ready to leave."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I am ready to leave as well."

Alyssa: "I've nothing else planned right now."

kuros: (So you want to hop on your agatea and fly straight to Nexus?)

Silk: (we can make a brief stop in Lanterntown, see if everything is going smoothly)

Silk: (it is our responsibility after all)

SonoftheMetalFlame: (That sounds like a good plan)

Alyssa: (plus we can resupply for the journey)

kuros: OK...

kuros: Lanterntown seems to be going relatively well. Or so your installed governor reports...

kuros: And Son's demon reports no egregious violations worthy of eating

Silk: Silk will look through the reports the Minister in charge of security was supposed to prepare for him as well.

SonoftheMetalFlame will search for Lokan.

Alyssa takes rooms in the same Inn as before and enjoys a night of debauchery.

Silk spends the early evening delivering a speech to the gathered police forces of Lanterntown, especially those in charge of internal investigations. Ostensibly it's a seminar on how to promote stability, lawfulness and resist organized crime but in truth he tests his World-Shaping Song on them, instilling a fierce belief in incorruptibleness and equality before the law

kuros: There is massive cheering at the conclusion of Lei Zu's speech

SonoftheMetalFlame: waits for everyone to gather at the inn.

SonoftheMetalFlame: "There is an option other than Nexus that we did not initially consider."

Alyssa: "Oh?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Yu-Shan is open to us, with the help of our friend Lokan."

Silk: "Yu-Shan? The heavenly city? Why would we go there?"

Alyssa looks uneasy at the idea.

SonoftheMetalFlame: "To obtain one of the keys, of course."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I am not suggesting we do this right away, but it dawned on me today that we have very easy access when I originally thought it would be quite a bit of work."

Silk counts off on his fingers. "So that's what the last vision showed us? You didn't mention that before."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I thought I had. My apologies."

Silk: "What then would be the risks of that course of action?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Political intrigue on an unimaginable scale is all that I know of, though there must be more."

Alyssa: "The higher - celestial gods - have little regard even for the Exalted," Alyssa cautions.

Alyssa: "There are exceptions, but I don't know how far the Unconquered Sun's patronage will take us."

Silk frowns. "Political intrigue. In such a conflict I could be no more than a weapon to be wielded by one more adept."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Right. Our status as solar exalts would not carry much weight there, and our near total lack of information on it is a great disadvantage."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Though Lokan would likely serve as an excellent guide."

Silk: "How would the heavenly city react to the 'disappearance' of a god standing in our way?"

kuros: There is a knock on the door.

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Please enter."

kuros: THe door opens, and in walks Lokan, dressed in a hooded grey robe.

kuros: He bows slightly to you all. "My apologies for my tardiness."

Silk gives a nod in greeting

SonoftheMetalFlame: "No apologies are necessary. Perhaps you can answer a question that Lei Zu just asked."

kuros: "I can try. What was it?"

SonoftheMetalFlame looks to Silk.

Silk frowns. He had meant to involve any god in this. "Oh, right. Hypothetically speaking, how would the Heavenly City react to the disappearance of a god, high-ranking or not." His tone is studiously neutral.

SonoftheMetalFlame: ( Sorry, I figured that Lokan would be useful in this discussion. Didn't mean to make Silk uncomfortable. )

Silk: (it's more that he doesn't want everybody to know that he's planning on assassinating Celestial Gods :p)

kuros: He raises an eyebrow.

kuros: "It depends on the power of the god. There are millions in Yu-Shan. If Nara-O were to disappear, for example, there would be a great outcry."

kuros: "There would be investigations and searches."

kuros: "And while I know you are powerful...there are beings far more powerful than you in Yu-Shan."

Silk keeps a neutral, almost bored expression. "I wasn't implying anything or even referring to myself."

kuros: "So it was just a random question that popped into your head?"

Alyssa: "If I may ask, Lokan, how safe is it for mortals to enter Yu Shan?"

kuros: "Mortals? Not at all. They have no rights, and are considered less than animals. The exception being the Carnival of Meeting."

kuros: "The same for the Dragon-Blooded."

Silk: "And Solar Exalted?"

Silk: "What is their legal status?"

Alyssa: "That was more or less my understanding. My friends are concerned that if we visit we might need to defend ourselves, always difficult for a visitor to a strange place."

kuros: "They are treated as beings with full rights."

kuros: He smile faintly. "Of course, the law in Yu-Shan is...flexible."

kuros: "It depends on how much influence you have."

Silk: "The Exalted have the Creation Ruling Mandate. By your implication I assume it does not extend to Yu-Shan?"

kuros: He chuckles. "No, no it doesn't."

kuros: "It is not of Creation."

kuros: "Plus there are the Sidereals."

Alyssa: "The who?"

kuros: "They advised the Solars, before the Usurpation."

kuros: "They live and work in Yu-Shan, and are usually less than pleased when one of your kind shows up."

Silk: "How unpleasant exactly and why?"

SonoftheMetalFlame raises an eyebrow. "How displeased?"

kuros: He shrugs. "I do not know."

kuros: "So few Solars have actually gone to Yu-Shan in the past several hundred years..."

kuros: "And I have not returned since my...liberation."

Silk: "If they are accepted in Yu-Shan then they are of the Celestial Exalted?"

kuros: He nods. "They are powerful."

Silk notes down in his little book: "Sidereals."

kuros: He looks off into the distance. "Though there was Sravesheen, a few hundred years ago...he tried to lead an army into Yu-Shan. That didn't go so well for him."

Alyssa: "What happened?"

kuros: "They smashed his army, and executed him."

kuros: "Not the Sidereals, of course, but the Celestial Lions, the guardians. He didn't make it past the gate."

kuros: "So I would advise you to go there in peace."

Alyssa: "Good advice."

kuros: "And be on watch for daggers at your back."

Silk thinks to himself: Go in peace, leave them in pieces and without any idea of what happened or who did it.

Silk smiles thinly. "That is always advisable."

kuros: "I can open a gateway for you, if you wish to travel there..."

kuros: "There is one near Sijan, and one in Nexus.

Alyssa: "Well gentlemen? Shall we go to Yu Shan, or stick with our original plan?"

Silk: "Nexus is still the better known risk. But since there seems to be a gate in Nexus, we could go there afterwards."

Silk: (as in go to Nexus, get the fragment, go to Yu-Shan after that)

SonoftheMetalFlame: "That sounds like a good plan."

Alyssa: "That makes as much sense as anything. So we'll continue to Nexus for now."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods.

Silk: "Can we call on your help on a later date then, Lokan?"

kuros: He nods.

Kuros: "There is something you should be aware of..."

kuros: "A week ago, a group of Dragon-Blooded came through here. From House Tepet."

kuros: "I had them watched as much as I could. Though it was difficult as they had wards."

kuros: "They were communicating with someone, and then they booked passage on a boat heading south. But they mentioned that their destination was Lookshy."

Alyssa: "Well that's either good news... or absolutely terrible news."

kuros: He shrugs.

kuros: "I thought you shuold know. I am particularly leery of Dragon-Blooded in my town, as you may imagine."

Alyssa: "I assure you that we appreciate the news. How many of them were there?"

kuros: "Just two."

Silk: "Our two," Silk interjects.

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Ahh, yes."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Desane and Neset."

Silk: "Very well. Thank you for your advise, Lokan, and your offer to guide us to Yu-Shan. We will contact you when the time is right."

Silk bows

kuros: He bows, and exits the room

SonoftheMetalFlame: stands and bows.

Silk listens, waiting for the god's steps to recede. "So. That is a positive development."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Quite so."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "So, we leave in the morning?"

Silk: "Yes. My work here is concluded."

kuros: (What did you do with the crystals you took from the underwater room?)

SonoftheMetalFlame: (I've just been carrying them with me.)

kuros: (Ok.)

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Then there are some ladies in the dining room that looked like they needed company, and I must oblige." He gives a wink and exits the room.

Silk: (Silk will have proposed that he carry the key-fragment)

SonoftheMetalFlame: (I wouldn't object to Silk carrying it.)

kuros: (We can either start on the Nexus stuff, and I'll have to change some stuff, or we can try to fit another game in sometime this week, or wait until next week when they are, hopefully, here)

kuros: (OK, how do you guys get to nexus? Agatae?)

Silk: (yeah)

Alyssa: (set down out of sight from the city?)

SonoftheMetalFlame: ( Yup. )

Silk has assumed yet another new face

kuros: OK. You set down about half a day's journey outside of Nexus, far away from the road, since it is always full of merchants and travelers...

Alyssa also changes her appearance, giving herself green hair as found further to the east.

kuros: You join the constant train of people heading towards nexus, and half a day later, you see the massive city approaching.

Silk: "Ah, Nexus. At least it's a city that is honest about its insatiable greed."

kuros: You're on the road that will lead into the Bastion District

Silk: "By the way, Son. It is said, that powerful gods can hear it when someone is talking about them. Can Exalted - sorcerers in particular - do something similar?"

SonoftheMetalFlame shakes his head. "Not that I know of. I mean, it could well be possible, but I've never heard of such a thing."

Silk nods. "I was asking because it occured to me that it might be wise not to speak the names of our ... opponents ... out loud."

Alyssa: "Do you have any idea where we should start looking?" Alyssa asks. "If not then perhaps we should start by securing lodgings. It will take some time to search such a large city."

kuros: You approach the gates leading into Bastion, and the massive estates of the wealthy begin to be visible. They are relics of the first age, with transparent sky bridges stretching between tall spires, and brightly colored birds circling the tops...

Silk: "Yes, a base of operations should be the first step. Also a rendezvous point in case we're separated."

Silk: "There is an establishment I know that has a reputation for being discreet. Though it is somewhat less luxurious than the White Lily in Lanterntown."

Alyssa: "I suppose I'll lower myself to it, if you're sure it is secure."

Silk: "Reasonably. Thick walls, good locks and the staff is good at forgetting facts and faces. It mostly caters to security-conscious foreign merchants, of which there are of course many in Nexus."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Sounds like our kind of place."

Alyssa: "It should do."

Silk leads the way

kuros: The Gordian Knot is at the edge of the Nexus district...

kuros: They show you to comfortable rooms on the 2nd floor...

Alyssa: (how late is it in the day?)

kuros: (It is late evening)

Silk closes the thick door, locks and puts a bar in place. "So. Son, you said something about the vision becoming clearer ... here, take a look."

Silk gives the orb to Son, wrapped in a piece of cloth palantir style

kuros: As you take it out, it begins to bob gently in the air and rotate slowly

kuros: It clouds briefly, then clears, revealing a hooded figure in a polished silver mask.

kuros: As it shows him, the figure turns and looks directly at all of you, though no eyes or face are visible behind the blank mask

Silk throws the piece of cloth over the palantir, er, orb

Alyssa: "Is that the Emissary?"

kuros: After a few moments, the figure waves a black gloved hand, and the image in the orb clouds again.

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Oh my."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "That most certainly is the Emissary."

Silk: (is there a Civilty making it illegal to pickpocket the Emissary? :p)

kuros: (Surprisingly, no)

Alyssa: (there's no law that he can't beat the crap out of you for trying either)

Silk: (of course not)

Alyssa: "It seems this will be harder than expected."

Silk nods slowly. "On the contrary."

Silk: "We anticipated the problem being in finding it, now we have passed that hurdle already. All that remains is acquiring it."

Alyssa: "Well we could try asking nicely I suppose."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Assuming he wants to be found. He definitely knows we're here now, and I trust he knows what we're here for."

Silk: "That's assuming we don't go through channels."

SonoftheMetalFlame shrugs. "I just don't expect him to be terribly cooperative. If someone went through so much trouble to keep anyone from finding Shebeth again, there's a good reason."

Silk: "Depending on how far his awareness already goes it shouldn't much hurt to try, though."

kuros: (Weee, I can't wait till you guys meet the Emissary. =P)

Silk: "We do have some methods of persuasion at our disposal."

Alyssa: "That's true. It's hard to say what his motives are, from what I have heard."

Silk: "Perhaps it is not him but the Council of Entities we will have to convince. The relationship between them and the Emissary is not entirely clear."

Silk: "Anyway, assuming we don't run into him in the street - and I'm not sure I want that - we'll probably have to make an appointment with him somehow."

Alyssa: "Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "How are we supposed to make an appointment?"

Silk sighs. "We'll probably have to go through a bureaucratic circus resulting in an appointment with a council member, during which we ask very nicely whether we can speak to the Emissary?"

Silk: "At least that's the only way that spontaneously occurs to me."

SonoftheMetalFlame sighs. "I hate red tape."

Alyssa: "Well, it should be easier that getting in to see a King or the like."

Alyssa: "The Council generally want to meet people, at least."

Silk: "But only the right people, usually."

Alyssa: "Then we shall merely have to convince them that we are the right people."

Silk grins. "So, who do we convince first?"

Silk: "I vote against the Midnight Queen."

SonoftheMetalFlame just shrugs.

Alyssa: "Lets do some poking around first. See who might be most inclined at the moment to look favorably upon us."

Silk: "That makes sense. I've spent a little time here, but dealing with the Council was not among my plans then."

Alyssa: "I have to admit, I haven't done so before either. Still, there is a first time for everything."

Silk: (make it a break here?)

Alyssa: (I think so, yes)

Kuros: (Oh, 6 xp)

Silk: next game ...?

Kuros: Friday

Kuros: 2PM pst