Dice Chronicle of the Scavenger Lands (Exalted 3E) - OOC

[Esbilon]

What do y'all want to do here? I'm leaning towards splitting the group a little, sending some after Quincel and leaving Ysandre and others to clear up the castle and consolidate control of the city before informing the nobility of the change in leadership and setting out to do something about the tyrannical nobles.

Splitting up isn't without risk, of course, but it seems to me that both things need to be done. Does anyone have a good way of tracking Quincel or Melisande?

 

[jaydude]

Bumping.

Rykon Red Shadow Claws Sherwood Epiphany D. Rex

 

[Rykon]

We can't be too far behind them, but none of us actually invested in the ability to track people down if I recall correctly. My best suggestion given what had been presented would be Catseye sending some of the spirits she summoned to trace Quincel and Melisandre ahead of us so we can better respond.

To be honest, I kinda figured we approached quickly enough to avoid giving them too much time to react since there there wasn't an actual battle and none of the actual troops should have been within view of the keep when the bell rang, nor were any of our weapons drawn. So, the servants account of things seemed really off to me. I've been torn over whether or not to raise the issue in character by checking if the man was just lying.

 

[Sherwood]

I can try to contact the criminal elements of the city. If there is a bolt-hole that the royals are using, someone out there will most certainly know about it. It is just a matter of getting the right motivation to them to talk. And a little bit of time to make this happen, of course.

 

[D. Rex]

Zedradon has no means of tracking, unless it involves ghosts and spirits. Nor does he have preference on to whom he is going after. He doesn't know or care enough about the politics of the matter to make an informed decision. Like Ryan. He is a heavy melee hitter, so if you want a proper balance of exalts you might want one in each group.

Something to consider is that you may want to send Zedradon to where you want the most lives saved. As he will still try to do as Ysandre asked and keep as many people as he can from dying. But this also means he would try and save the King and Queen if they aren't felled in a single blow, of which might interfere with Ysandre's plans.

Esbilon

 

[jaydude]

To be honest, I kinda figured we approached quickly enough to avoid giving them too much time to react since there there wasn't an actual battle and none of the actual troops should have been within view of the keep when the bell rang, nor were any of our weapons drawn. So, the servants account of things seemed really off to me. I've been torn over whether or not to raise the issue in character by checking if the man was just lying.

Hmm. Some things may have slipped my mind here. If so, I apologize.

I did indicate that Melisandre might be awake at this hour. And the way I wrote things was that the rest of Ryan's men had entered the palace grounds to secure them and deal with any guards who refused to bow to Ysandre. Because logically, while the gatehouse may theoretically be the weakest part of the wall, the palace isn't going to concentrate all of its guards around it, therefore necessitating a search on the part of the invaders. And considering that the Immaculate Philosophy has a significant presence in Nalia, it's unlikely that all of the palace guards would be willing to follow a known Solar, at least initially.

I allowed it so that Ryan's troops could take control of the palace grounds without anyone having to make a Join Battle roll, seeing as they were able to circumvent the city walls and the palace walls without being detected. Still, that would have required a lot of moving around on the part of Ryan's men. And assuming that they and the palace guards were carrying light sources to be able to navigate around in the darkness, I think it reasonable that Melisandre could have seen them and gotten an idea of what was going on.

Still, you're in a pretty good position, all things considered. The palace grounds are secured, there's been very little bloodshed on either side, no-one outside of the palace grounds knows what's happening as far as your characters are aware, and with the exception of Melisandre, it's highly unlikely there's anyone in the palace who can pose a threat to a group of six Solars.

 

[Esbilon]

I can try to contact the criminal elements of the city. If there is a bolt-hole that the royals are using, someone out there will most certainly know about it. It is just a matter of getting the right motivation to them to talk. And a little bit of time to make this happen, of course.

Ysandre knows about the bolt hole. The question is where they're going afterwards.

Something to consider is that you may want to send Zedradon to where you want the most lives saved. As he will still try to do as Ysandre asked and keep as many people as he can from dying. But this also means he would try and save the King and Queen if they aren't felled in a single blow, of which might interfere with Ysandre's plans.

Ysandre doesn't want them dead, she wants her brother prosecuted for treason and ideally Melisande turned to their side. She is a fellow solar after all.

As it stands, I'm inclined to send Ailera, Zed and maybe Quill to follow Quincel's trail.

 

[jaydude]

Ysandre knows about the bolt hole. The question is where they're going afterwards.

Logically, the most likely places would be either Roche Blanc (Duke Montiel, Quincel-supporting opportunist) or Tête de Cerf (Duchess Varlinn, Immaculate devotee).

...and ideally Melisande turned to their side. She is a fellow solar after all.

(If you don't get it, that's meant to represent an evil, knowing grin on my part).

 

[D. Rex]

A solar followed by an evil grin. I have my suspicions. Perhaps Ysandre may want Zed with her after all.

 

[jaydude]

Also, Rykon , in accordance with what you said, I've modified my last post to leave it a bit more vague about when exactly Melisandre saw what was happening. I'll also let you make an Intelligence + War roll at difficulty 4 to represent the attack on the palace. This would ordinarily be a Strategic Warfare contest between Ryan and Quincel, but I think we're well past that point now.

Succeed on the roll, and the palace grounds takeover will be judged to have been accomplished before Quincel and Melisandre were able to get into the secret passage. Fail, and they'll be in the secret passage. Does that sound fair?

 

[Rykon]

Sounds fair, I'll make a post with an appropriate stunt when time permits.

 

[jaydude]

Sounds fair, I'll make a post with an appropriate stunt when time permits.

Looking forward to it.

 

[Epiphany]

We can't be too far behind them, but none of us actually invested in the ability to track people down if I recall correctly. My best suggestion given what had been presented would be Catseye sending some of the spirits she summoned to trace Quincel and Melisandre ahead of us so we can better respond.

Happy to do this if it would be useful.

 

[jaydude]

I recall Catseye bringing along a Vaktri for the meeting with Baphinol, which could theoretically track Quincel and Melisandre through its earthsight. I don't remember the terms of its binding - if they were ever mentioned at all - so I'm happy to assume it's been bound to serve Catseye for a year and a day, assuming there's nothing that contradicts this in either the IC or OOC threads.

 

[Epiphany]

Summoning elementals and demons can easily snowball to having a coterie of servants who can play the game for you. I've tried to minimize doing that.

The Vaktri can be an option, though I hadn't thought of its use past that scene. Agata are pretty good trackers too, as memory serves and Catseye does have one of those bound for the year and a day. Both are options.

 

[jaydude]

Summoning elementals and demons can easily snowball to having a coterie of servants who can play the game for you. I've tried to minimize doing that.

The Vaktri can be an option, though I hadn't thought of its use past that scene. Agata are pretty good trackers too, as memory serves and Catseye does have one of those bound for the year and a day. Both are options.

Yeah, either one's fine with me.

 

[Rykon]

Looking forward to it.

I'll post it here since IC thread would seem a bit out of chronological order.

***
Ryan and his troops proceed up the causeway in darkness, using the roughly adapted night vision from the catacombs to see their way to the gate. The primary objective was not the walls securing the wall. it was taking Quincel and Melisande into custody to force a quick surrender. The maneuver demanded that most of the unit remained at the gatehouse to hold it while the Exalts entered the palace proper. Moments after the Palace was breached, the men were to bring out their lights and make a show of possible force if only to persuade the defenders to lay down their arms and wait for the royal family to make peace.

Arumi and Gazin were Ryan's choice to lead the efforts on the walls. Within the palace would be a small platoon led by Ryan and Tannis to spread about the interior of the palace. Each squad to was to get eyes on the hallways to track any movement or potential flight or royalty or staff. Men were still under orders not to initiate combat, yet were within their discretion to defend themselves when attacked. Prior to the approach, Ryan would also stress to always move through the castle in groups no less than four.

[Spending a will and adding in the Excellency]
8 Total Successes assuming a 1 point stunt.

 

[jaydude]

As requested, Zedradon will be looking for Quincel.

Can I assume that he'd chosen to accompany Ryan and Tannis? Or would he have gone with another of the groups searching the palace?

 

[D. Rex]

Can I assume that he'd chosen to accompany Ryan and Tannis? Or would he have gone with another of the groups searching the palace?

Well, Esbilon wanted us to split up. So I suppose Zed will be in one of the other groups searching the castle.

 

[Esbilon]

Sorry guys, I'm gonna be on holiday for this week, so I probably won't be able to post regularly until next week.

 

[jaydude]

Sorry guys, I'm gonna be on holiday for this week, so I probably won't be able to post regularly until next week.

Okay. I'll keep that in mind. You stay safe and have a good time.

 

[jaydude]

Making Wits + Awareness roll for Melisande here. Seven dice, plus four motes Peripheral Essence for Awareness Excellency, and she has Sensory Acuity Prana active, giving her double 9's.

With only four successes, she fails to detect Ryan until he has his swords at her and Quincel's necks.

 

[Rykon]

I remember Ryan grabbing that artifact breastplate in character, but I never updated his sheet. I need to update some things before I get too deep in on this one. So I'll have the defense up soon jaydude

Speaking of, was there anything special about it you had in mind that I need to take into account now?

 

[jaydude]

You also wanted to swap out your daiklave for Seething Drake, one of the artifacts mentioned in the PDF of customs Red Shadow Claws gave us all.

As for the breastplate, I've done a bit of a write-up for it in this game's Lore thread (check Defiant Golden Bulwark) but to be perfectly honest, I don't have anything in the way of Evocations or bonuses you can get from it at the moment. You can hold onto it if you want, and we can perhaps work on some custom Evocations for it together, or you can swap it out for any three-dot Artifact Breastplate in either the Corebook, Arms of the Chosen, R.S.C.'s PDF, or any other 3e materials you can think of.

 

[Rykon]

I like the write up for the breastplate as it is. We'll have to brainstorm evocations when the combat scene is over though.