Dice Exalted Essence: The Young Exalts and the Sea OOC

[Psychie]

I am of mixed feelings as it concerns Garret and his response to the question of should the crew of the airship be killed off. On one side, he is trying to work with the other players to fight the behemoth. On the other, there has been a lot of history with the Dragon Blooded hunting down Lunars, and now he has a chance to turn the tables on them. What to do....

 

[jaydude]

2 - Repurchase Dissuade so it lasts a scene instead of a turn. That should buy us enough time to get to the Blue Seahawk ourselves.

Sure thing. Tenai and her forces will still head to the Blue Seahawk themselves, but they won't attack until you've had a chance to talk with the crew of it.

3 - Read Intentions to learn Tenai's Major Virtue

Tenai's Major Virtue is Loyalty. Specifically Loyalty to the Redeeming Suns, a loose group of young Solars (i.e. none of them lived longer than a century) and sympathizers who didn't approve of the older Solars' corrupt ways, and had hoped to curtail them before the Usurpation forced the group to fight for their survival. A group which Kinmei was naturally a member of.

1 - Instill a Minor Intimacy of Respect for Maya

Done.

 

[Psychie]

Here is an odd question: do we really want to have Tenai stand down from her effort to seize the airship? If we let her and her people sweep through the vessel, it will free us of having to fight for ownership of the vessel ourselves to use in our efforts to take down the behemoth, and another good thing about that (at least, from Garret's point of view) is that the fanatics that attacked and killed the First Age Solars will not be able to help the Dynasts of this Age in their efforts to 'cleanse' Creation of them.

 

[jaydude]

Here is an odd question: do we really want to have Tenai stand down from her effort to seize the airship? If we let her and her people sweep through the vessel, it will free us of having to fight for ownership of the vessel ourselves to use in our efforts to take down the behemoth...

That was one thought I had in mind when I came up with the current story beat

 

[Random Word]

Ijara definitely doesn't want a bunch of First Age refugees whose only crime was saving Creation under her predecessor's command to be executed. She's not okay with butchering heroes who bravely faced terrifying odds to save herself a little time and trouble in getting access to an airship.

To her, the crew of the airship are far more valuable than the ship itself. She will try to evacuate them to Yu-Shan if necessary to keep them alive.

 

[Random Word]

I'm not sure how the first age and the usurpation worked in your game jaydude . Does Ijara believe there might be secret passwords or codes still recorded in Heaven that would inform a usurpation strike team that she was in command or that the operation should be aborted?

Maybe the Sidereals wouldn't want to record evidence they had a hand in the usurpation, or the Mask erased it if it existed.

 

[jaydude]

My understanding is that the Sidereals served as advisors/seers and the like for the Solars, and helped orchestrate the Usurpation when they realized Creation was going to shit.

I wouldn't say there's necessarily any evidence that relates to Ijara/her past incarnation, unless that's a direction you want to take her story in and/or a plot hook you want to explore. Logically speaking, you don't want to leave evidence that incriminates you when you undertake crooked dealings. I would say that at the very least, some of the First Age Lunars suspected the Sidereals had a hand in the Usurpation, seeing as some of them would have been observed fighting alongside the Dragon-blooded following the initial purge, and they would've been in a good position to mastermind the whole thing.

 

[Random Word]

Right, but if the Siderrals did orchestrate the Usurpation, they might want passwords to prove their identity or credentials to the strike teams. If a Sidereal died, another might have to step in to take their place to continue the fight, and they would need to prove they were on the right side and in charge. Though maybe they just flared their caste mark or something?

Anyway, I'm just curious whether Ijara could look up a sign or signal that says "I'm on your side" to some Usurpation era DBs in the secret archives of the Sidereals - or even send a quick energency message to someone who was alive back then to ask if they remember.

 

[jaydude]

Right, but if the Siderrals did orchestrate the Usurpation, they might want passwords to prove their identity or credentials to the strike teams. If a Sidereal died, another might have to step in to take their place to continue the fight, and they would need to prove they were in the right side and in charge. Though maybe they just flared their caste mark or something?

Yeah, that makes sense (fair warning, my experience with spy fiction is largely limited to Dawn and Legacy of Yangchen right now).

Anyway, I'm just curious whether Ijara could look up a sign or signal that says "I'm on your side" to some Usurpation era DBs in the secret archives of the Sidereals...

With Sagacity 5, yeah, I'm happy to allow that.

 

[Random Word]

No, now that I think about it, flawlessly impenetrable disguise and Lunars. They definitely need passwords.

 

[jaydude]

No, now that I think about it, flawlessly impenetrable disguise and Lunars. They definitely need passwords.

Good point.

 

[jaydude]

I suppose something to keep in mind is that these Dragon-blooded may have fought alongside Sidereals before, and won't necessarily have all forgotten about them due to Arcane Fate. Especially seeing as - from what I understand from the Sidereals manuscript - the existence of Arcane Fate was the result of an accident in 3E; being forgotten about by everyone after the Usurpation wasn't exactly a part of the Sidereals' plan.

Basically, the memories might start to fade more easily than most, but I reserve the right to blow Ijara's cover if she uses a passcode to identify herself as an ally of the First Age Dragon-blooded.

 

[Rykon]

Sorry I've been a bit MIA from outside chaos. I'll try and catch back up ASAP.

 

[Random Word]

Basically, the memories might start to fade more easily than most, but I reserve the right to blow Ijara's cover if she uses a passcode to identify herself as an ally of the First Age Dragon-blooded.

I could Declare Fact for a code phrase for: "I'm in command but there are hostiles listening. Don't identify me." Lunars and Solar were famous for extraordinary sensory acuity, and 'take out the officers' is a classic tactic. Precautions would be necessary.

I'll try and catch back up ASAP.

Classic Dynast! A mortal breaks the tenets of the philosophy to talk a raging elder Moon Mad down from violence with a soul-stirring speech about unity in defence of Creation fit for the annals, and he doesn't even notice. Ijara knows that feeling well . I have so much empathy for House Nellens right now.

 

[Rykon]

Classic Dynast! A mortal breaks the tenets of the philosophy to talk a raging elder Moon Mad down from violence with a soul-stirring speech about unity in defence of Creation fit for the annals, and he doesn't even notice. Ijara knows that feeling well . I have so much empathy for House Nellens right now.

Well, it wasn't about picking a fight, just keeping the ship from hitting the ground hard. As long as they don't initiate a hostile encounter they won't feel a thing.

 

[Random Word]

No, no, I didn't mean your storm was starting a fight. I was just remarking that Ijara did something both wildly culturally inappropriate (she was supposed to let Sojiro do the talking) and also insane, and then succeeded against all odds on something that ought to have been impossible, and Sojiro didn't even react .

 

[Rykon]

That's very fair. I really should have him react, I just wanted to focus on direct questions first. Perhaps a follow-up congratulations?

 

[Random Word]

I thought you were roleplaying the invisibility of mortals in the Realm to a tee . Ijara probably experienced this constantly at the House of Bells. Work ten times as hard, achieve twice as much, and every Dynast doesn't notice. Grit your teeth and repeat.

 

[jaydude]

I could Declare Fact for a code phrase for: "I'm in command but there are hostiles listening. Don't identify me." Lunars and Solar were famous for extraordinary sensory acuity, and 'take out the officers' is a classic tactic. Precautions would be necessary.

Okay, but Essence doesn't seem to have a Declare Fact mechanic.

Ah, well. If you don't want Ijara to reveal her true self yet, and the other players are fine with that, I'll go ahead and say such codes exist.

 

[Random Word]

Revealing her exaltation is death right now

 

[Random Word]

jaydude busy or are we waiting on something?

 

[jaydude]

Ah, sorry. Was wondering if anyone wanted to respond to Rykon .

I'll try and get a post up tomorrow.

 

[Random Word]

Oh, that makes sense. Since his post was mostly retroactive insertions, I was just going to let it flow into the next scene.

 

[Random Word]

After accessing the situation and for a good whole being quiet Tulak spoke up. He says to Sojiro. “I cannot speak old realm can you translate what I have to say?” Rykon

I think it's safe to assume Sojiro is willing to do that for Tulak. It's also not unreasonable to assume these Dragonblooded speak Wavetongue or Seatongue or whatever the Western language is. Rykon might be too busy to reply.

 

[Random Word]

Are we stuck? Ijara can leave to fetch Sid if we need someone to fix the ship to progress. I figure the next step is some fraught peace negotiations, but Ijara can only burst competence at anything, she isn't actually very good at social . If necessary she'll go bring the envoys together to hash out a truce, and fetch Sid to help with repairs.