[Emperors of the Fading Suns] [Emperors of the Fading Suns] OOC Thread

[CrazyIvan]

Too low on motes to sanctify an oath... not that Malek would have done it anyway.

How many motes do you need?

 

[Kacie]

Malek is also asking Fangs to get him out of the chains while he has no idea of how to actually do that.


EDIT: I confess I enjoy seeing someone ask Malek to sanctify a ridiculous oath he'd never make, just as he's asked of Mirror multiple times.

 

[cyl]

How many motes do you need?

10m1w.


I barely got 6m or 1w from that stunt.


MoCPs are really nasty that way !

Malek is also asking Fangs to get him out of the chains while he has no idea of how to actually do that.

Well, Fangs is asking him for an oath and she doesn't have a clue either.


Perhaps he could roll Lore / Larceny to help Fangs understand how to do that ?

 

[Kacie]

Oh hey!


New idea!


With the point of willpower, Malek can now will his wounds to close up and not die of blood loss. As a last resort, we can amputate or crush his hand & ankle bones to get him out.

 

[cyl]

Let me check the rules about blood loss, but I think we ruled that out since he can't survive the amputation of all four limbs anyway.


Edit: and it would be a cheap way to get out of a MoCP anyway.

 

[cyl]

Uh... apparently wp doesn't help anymore...


It's a stam + resist roll diff 2; but anyone with medicine 1+ does the trick.

 

[CrazyIvan]

Well, Fangs is asking him for an oath and she doesn't have a clue either.

Which is irrelevant.


It's a precondition of trying to get him out at all.

 

[cyl]

But it is not a precondition he can meet, so... it comes down to what Fangs wants to do: release a solar potential threat, or turn Malek into a deathknight.


It's not like she's going to have much control over one or the other anyway.


I even thought at one point that she could do that and then walk away, leaving Malek with his oath to be abyssalized... but that would have been dark... even for her >

 

[CrazyIvan]

But it is not a precondition he can meet, so... it comes down to what Fangs wants to do: release a solar potential threat, or turn Malek into a deathknight.
It's not like she's going to have much control over one or the other anyway.


I even thought at one point that she could do that and then walk away, leaving Malek with his oath to be abyssalized... but that would have been dark... even for her >

It is telling that Malek didn't offer an unsanctified Oath.


Trying a new tactic shortly, but first...MRSA transmission talks! Then dinner!

 

[xarvh]

@CI: Things being as they are, he can legitimately assume that Fangs would not value it.


We know otherwise, but he has been conditioned to loathe and mistrust his comrades.


Also, breaking his joints would cause only B damage.

 

[cyl]

It is telling that Malek didn't offer an unsanctified Oath.

Didn't feel right to fall for that too soon... considering he hates her guts and all.


I had this whole speech/rant about "black & white" but I did not find the right words or the right tone for that.


Ultimately I rewrote the post, using the good old solidarity between soldiers fighting for the same side instead.


It sounded better and it was too soon for him to go "okay, I hate you, but I will respect you.".


Since he doesn't want to owe her anything (because... hate), he tries to make her see that freeing him is the best course of action for everyone (him, her, Mirror, Flicker, Cross and also Creation), appealing to her logic instead of reassuring her, which would be being nice to her... which he is incapable of in his state.


You can totally insist on an unsanctified oath, it will probably give more room for me to detail what is "the enemy according to Malek"... which could also be interesting for Fangs to understand him.


Great job using Fangs' backstory, and sorry to be kind of dismissing it with my replies.


Considering the content and the context it was rather "put aside" or "challenge" for Malek (because... hate).


I thought about going "I'm not like you, I don't kill people", but I decided to leave that for when/if Malek gets his mind right again, and I stuck with the "I'm Scarlet Silence dammit !" argument.

 

[Arynne]

Flicker: "Now wait a minute -- weren't you just adamantly insisting you weren't Scarlet Silence?"

 

[cyl]

Malek: "Well spending a few nights in the heart of the Underworld, having abominations probing my head, kind of reminded me what me and my whole line of predecessors we stand for.


I am not him, but part of him lives within me and guides me.


And that part doesn't want to be corrupted ! "


Technically, there's only Malek's core left. His will to protect and fight the oppressors.


That is something really tied to SS's backstory as we built it.

@CI: Things being as they are, he can legitimately assume that Fangs would not value it.

He also doesn't care about what she values because to him she has the wrong reasoning.


Her fear is misplaced, she is confused, she thinks a solar like him is as dangerous as an abyssal... but he learned through Words that he was held back by several shackles all this time (friends, families, compassion, the dominion etc etc)... he got rid of a few but he knows that if he stays here, he will lose his core and become something else, something dark, something nothing will hold back anymore.


An unstoppable force for global decay and destruction you never see. His complete anti thesis.


THAT is what scares him to the death and it is what she should really be afraid of.


Even if he's probably damaged goods, it's still largely safer for every one to rescue him rather than killing him or leaving him there to be turned.

 

[Kacie]

Actually, killing him is pretty safe, if one is willing to gamble that Malek's next incarnation will ask questions first and then attack. And gamble that the next incarnation is less broken than Malek is now.


It's a better option than leaving him to be turned, and unless a way is figured out how to free Malek, arguably the only option.

 

[xarvh]

You don't know what will happen of him if he gets killed while in a Monstrance.


Also, the PCs are pretty aware that the Mask is kinda good in selecting his Deathknights...

 

[cyl]

Freeing him and then killing him is safer indeed... but it's both anti heroic and it will be near impossible to work with the Circle after that.


"Okay so we had him, he was free, but then we killed him... just to be sure... 'cause you know, we couldn't risk him going bad".


Unless they can lie through their teeth and no one calls their BS.


If Lytek polishes his memories the new guy may not remember much about Malek which will probably be a good thing.


But if you kill him while he's in the MoCP, since we don't exactly know how it works besides the fact that it's a seriously bad ass prison with weird essence properties, there is a risk that his essence does not go back to Lytek, and that the Mask turns it into a Black Exaltation. So you may have to deal with one pissed off new guy, and explain yourselves with Flicker and Rhapsody when he reveals the truth to them (because that would be just too good to pass on ! > )


All in all:


- leaving him there; not an option if you want the Scavenger Lands to survive


- killing him while restrained: very risky for Malek but also dangerous considering what Flicker and Rhapsody could do if they learned the truth.


- getting him out of there: safest option whether he's killed afterwards or not.


Obviously Malek already hating CF&MoH's guts, he's already prepared himself for them to turn on him.

 

[xarvh]

- killing him while restrained: very risky for Malek but also dangerous considering what Flicker and Rhapsody could do if they learned the truth.

Killing someone is generally considered rather unsafe for that someone.

 

[cyl]

I forgot to type "'s essence". :tongue:

 

[Kacie]

My current last resort is to break his bones, and feed him out of the Monstrance before he dies of shock. (aka bashing damage) If he lives, great! Just as long as he lives long enough to be out of the Monstrance.


I've got a few ideas to try before being reduced to that option, but none of them matter if Words gets reinforcements into the chamber. Hence desperately trying to prevent him from fleeing down the tunnel, since if he escapes for help I highly doubt there will be enough time to hack the Monstrance to pieces. (I did the calculations, and Mirror is capable of damaging it with brute force - but it's slow.)


@xarvh -- are you waiting on Fangs/Malek?

 

[xarvh]

@Kacie No I'm just being lazy.


RL has been bashing me hard of late.

 

[Kacie]

I can sympathize. My current project involved throwing me off the deep end into C++ coding. This week has been an exercise in throwing myself into walls, repeatedly, to solve a maze by brute force. Or so it feels. Every so often I have to wait for colleagues to answer syntax questions. ...that's when I desperately click the refresh button hoping to distract myself with Exalted combat.


*sheepish grin*


So yes, real life. I hope it goes better for you!

 

[CrazyIvan]

You don't know what will happen of him if he gets killed while in a Monstrance.
Also, the PCs are pretty aware that the Mask is kinda good in selecting his Deathknights...

He wouldn't die in the Monstrance

 

[CrazyIvan]

Freeing him and then killing him is safer indeed... but it's both anti heroic and it will be near impossible to work with the Circle after that.
"Okay so we had him, he was free, but then we killed him... just to be sure... 'cause you know, we couldn't risk him going bad".


Unless they can lie through their teeth and no one calls their BS.

Cunning Fangs is anti-heroic, which is kind of the problem. Killing him like that would fit in with her narrative - she's doing what needs doing, regardless of the horrific personal consequences to herself.

Obviously Malek already hating CF&MoH's guts, he's already prepared himself for them to turn on him.

Reeeeaaaallllly not selling me on the letting him go thing here.

 

[CrazyIvan]

Sorry I'm slow, IC post tomorrow. Networking with clinicians all day has left me spent.

 

[cyl]

Cunning Fangs is anti-heroic, which is kind of the problem. Killing him like that would fit in with her narrative - she's doing what needs doing, regardless of the horrific personal consequences to herself.

The consequences will be more severe for the dominion and the whole Scavenger Lands I think.
Malek put a lot of effort keeping the dominion together and in times of war, he should be a great asset as an Eclipse / spy / warlord (if he starts minding his environment :tongue.


Killing him after his release is not as bad as leaving him to be turned considering the big picture, but it has its lot of negative consequences and will possibly set Fangs and Mirror even more apart from the rest of the Circle, leaving only Flicker to counter the influence of 3 very powerful solars.


After the Big K incident with Mirror, bringing him back is probably the best way to rejoin the Circle and keep a close eye on Siham (Agatha's heir) - Rhapsody - Kalak.

Reeeeaaaallllly not selling me on the letting him go thing here.

I don't need to sell that.


Freeing him is the best course of action all things considered.


Killing him after his release depends entirely on Fangs & Mirror, but freeing him is kind of an obligation right now... unless Fangs is ready to unleash another moonshadow with Malek's memories about Cross and his death.


Also, if Malek is a hot head, he has a strict code of honor and he doesn't kill.


He will never kill Fangs because of her powers which are going to be way too useful for the coming war.


I was planning on developing this with the next post depending on Fangs' reply.