Exalted Third Edition: An-Teng

[Random Word]

Halcyon Dream





Rising Tide's comment stirs Halcyon from her stunned silence. "Twelve merchant princes of the Guild and their entire caravans?" cries Halcyon, incredulous. "You're hiring the first group of strangers to walk through the door to solve this, and for how much?" She looks around the room bewildered at the degree to which the others seem to be taking this in stride. "Is this... normal here?" she asks, her implication clear: If so, I sorely underestimated how bad things had become.

 

[JayTee]

"I must concur. That is a truly outrageous sum of money." Kyros said. "Far more than the nature of the job would imply. What exactly haven't you told us?" The nature of the offer seemed too good to be true, which meant it probably was.

 

[Rykon]

"What part of the evidence made this seem like a normal spree of robbery? As I told you, multiple strikes have left abandoned caravans and ships. Zero survivors to tell the tale. Most of the raw trade goods left in place. Signs of struggle seem very brief and yet interrupted somehow. Tracks seem to vanish after a certain distance from the scene. Coincidentally, three months ago, several stable hazard zones grew in size roughly 15% in area. If I had to bet money, the horrors kept in check from heavy policing have smelled weakness and are no longer holding back." Craig pauses for another drink while stepped back from the map, "If the offer seems rather too good, perhaps you didn't read enough of the details. Rewards are for survivors, and I can take in as many folk with the nuts to undertake this trip as I want. However, more people means less loot, so... If you folk are Sorcerers, Dragon-Blooded, Exigent, or what have you, the less people we need carry around to alert the perpetrators, savvy? Now, if you do have the stomach and skills for the job, I have a place for ya. If not, I don't blame ya one bit."

 

[Sherwood]

The thought of that much money is nearly enough to make Kiera swoon in delight. But the little voice in the back of her head advised caution. As she begins to discuss the details, her hands idly wave about in front of her. Using the secret Guild language, she signs, <What is it that you are not sharing with us? There must be more to this than you are saying.>

 

[Rykon]

Olaz responds to Kiera's question. <Of course there's more to it, that's why we're hiring investigators to find out what that is. We just got word of these findings yesterday, understand? You know as much as we do.>


OOC: Give me a roll of Intelligence and either Investigation, Socialize, Lore, whatever is better. You can add your contacts rating to this roll also @Sherwood.

 

[Sherwood]

Rolling Int + Socialize + Contacts


[dice]16182[/dice]

 

[Rykon]

Kiera is familiar with Craig's reputation. Craig is an Earth Aspect Dragon-Blooded martial artist. His preferred style is Righteous Devil and he has made use of it on many field missions. He has never seemed to hold much appreciation for Dynasts or any aspect of their life style. Those Dynasts familiar with him are suspicious of possible rebel allegiances. Guild members would know that the Guild as a whole wouldn't hesitate to leverage a rebellion if only to replace the Satrap as prime tax collector.

 

[Esbilon]

Rising Tide





The young woman looks thoughtful for a good while, with so much money, she could do so much for the poor of this city, and perhaps even pay someone reliable and skilled to set up a good way for her to talk with her mother again. In the end, though, she shakes her head. "I am a warrior and a dancer," she says with some regret, "I have no talent for tracking, the occult or drawing faint clues from the scene of a mysterious crime." After a moment she looks to the others, "if one of you do have those skills, I will be happy to offer my services in protecting you, but I cannot lead an expedition like this."

 

[Sherwood]

Kiera nods in understanding. "And I am more skilled in getting into and out of places unseen, but i have a little experience with tracking. We should work well together. If a fight does break out, I can handle a knife pretty well, but I am far from a skilled sword master like yourself."

 

[JayTee]

"I have no personal skill at tracking, but the demons I have at my call have keen noses, and they will suffice." Kyros said. "The arts of deduction are not my area of expertise, but I have skill enough to give us a broad picture of what has happened to the caravans. If you can protect me, I will be able to grant us greater insight."

 

[Rykon]

Craig hands over the papers to the volunteers, "Any protection detail will not go unappreciated." He looks toward Kyros when handing him the papers, "So long as we, and our demons, are capable of a moderate amount of subtlety, we should be able to stay in control of the situation. On that note, any of em fly?"

 

[JayTee]

"Some of them, Yes." Said Kyros, keeping the exact numbers in reserve out of habit. "The trackers I spoke of are land bound, so subtly may not be an option. They are however, under my control."

 

[Random Word]

Halcyon Dream





Halcyon leans against the desk and crosses her arms, mulling over the problem while listening to the discussion of the particulars. "I will assist you. Trade is key to safety and stability, and I cannot sit idly by while a supernatural predator of this magnitude menaces the people."


She takes one of the proffered packets and gives it a cursory examination before tossing it back onto the desk. "The money is unnecessary. My salary is generous enough. More for the rest. When would you have us depart?"

 

[Rykon]

"In the morning is as early as I can manage. I've got to make arrangements for provisions and what not. If you all can meet back here at sunrise, we will hit the road tomorrow. Might want to bring the usual travel essentials, the incident sites are around 100 or so miles out, The trip will take a couple days one way."

 

[Sherwood]

Kiera briefly looks over the contract and nods to herself. Well, at least I'll have one night in a real bed before hitting the road again. "I see no problems with starting out in the morning. It will give me enough time to get a few errands done today. What do you think, Whiskers? Ready to go on an adventure?" The now sated cat lets out a contented "Mrow!" and buts his head up against Kiera's out stretched hand. "I think that's a yes on his part."

 

[Random Word]

Halcyon Dream


Halcyon nods then turns to Rising Tide with a smile, "Tomorrow morning, then. I would enjoy hearing stories of the Blessed Isle."


She departs quickly, alighting in the carriage and ringing the bell to signal for it to continue. "My apologies for the delay, Minister. I have learned I will be out of the city for several days, starting tomorrow. I will convey my apologies to the Prince, and place myself at his disposal once I return. I'm certain that the nature of my sudden departure will be agreeable to him."


She leans back and relaxes, turning to her aide. "Serri, I'd like you to remain in the city and set my affairs in order." Her subtext is clear, gather information on current events in the city, and brief me when I return.


She completes her errands and after an enjoyable dinner with the ambassador, retires early that evening to prepare for their dawn departure.

 

[JayTee]

Kyros bade the others farewell, and made his way towards one of the higher class Inns. After ordering several plats of raw meat his demons and a humbler plate of spiced meats and wine for himself, he busied himself by organizing a few of books and scrolls he had on hand. Some of them were stolen from his master upon his escape, but the majority of them were hand written by Kyros himself, as a repository of any useful knowledge he had gleaned in his travels.


Settling in for the evening, he took a sip from the wine and began to go through his notes, looking for anything that might match up with the descriptions of the disappearances and attacks on the caravans.

Spoiler

[dice]16354[/dice]


[dice]16355[/dice]


Harmonious Academic Methodology adds + 1 auto sux for the Lore roll

 

[Esbilon]

Rising Tide





The young Islander nods uncomfortably at Halcyon Dream's request, it is obvious enough to the emissary's well-trained eye that she does not want to talk about her past, but feels obliged to do so anyway.


Once the party has split up, she makes arrangements with the innkeeper of the Broken Spoon to take care of the street kids she has taken to training while she is away. When night has fallen over the City of the Steel Lotus, she puts her sword away and dances for the appreciative audience and her own enjoyment.

 

[Rykon]

As Kyros looks through his notes, he manages to pull together the following suspicions:


Who ever is committing these acts is obviously not alone and has sort of supernatural element to empower their actions. Leaving both no survivors, and from what you can tell so far, no allied corpses, hint at overwhelming force against a given caravan. Given that the roads are not close enough to Shadowlands, potential suspects are Fair Folk, or at least one Sorcerer with a formidable host of demons and possibly elementals.


Signs of short conflict point to some magical means of dispatching the armed caravan. The first method that comes to mind is Mists of Eventide.


Whatever did commit these attacks, has at least one way of obscuring land based tracks. It is possible that the force includes flying creatures, an earth shaping elemental, or other directly obfuscatory magic to prevent normal tracking.


Lastly, this force appears to have a great deal of speed and coordination to their attacks. This type of speed could indicate use of whirlwind rider. In addition to this, they either have people on the inside to get caravan schedules, or they have a wide spread of scouts to help point to where to ambush next. Should none of this be the case, the implications would be a group far larger and powerful as a whole than initially suspected, and would require a great deal of hunting to root out.


The next day, Craig can be found outside the transportation office loading some cargo onto a couple of wagons. Four wagons sit out by the side of the street, two seems fairly accomodating of passengers, and the other two are carrying supplies with a great deal of space for additional belongings.

 

[Esbilon]

Rising Tide





The sun has only barely risen above the horizon when Rising Tide arrives at the transportation office. She has packed what few possessions she own in a sack which she carries slung over her back, though to the side so that it does not limit access to her blade.

 

[Random Word]

Halcyon Dream





Halcyon arrives with baggage train in tow, porters carrying several large trunks of possessions which she directs into the baggage cart while humming cheerfully to herself. She twirls, enjoying the early morning sunlight, the wind catching her bright orange sari with gold trim. She waves to Craig and Rising Tide, smiling brightly, "Good morning Prince Craig, Rising Tide!" She jumps up and turns, a gust of wind buffeting her descent as she comes to rest sitting on the edge of one of the passenger carts. "No fell monster will stop me from enjoying a trip through the countryside," she says with a wink.


She looks momentarily concerned, "Will you be joining us, Prince Craig? That seems dangerous, but I'm sure we'll do our best to see you come to no harm."

 

[Sherwood]

Kiera spends her afternoon after the meeting with Olaz restocking her supplies for the road and enjoying some of the finer things that the city have to offer. She has always had expensive tastes, but ever since she has developed her special skills, she has the money to go along with her desires.

 

[JayTee]

Kyros approached the others, greeting them cordially, before handing them a report he had drafted. "Friends, I did a bit of digging the other night, and I believe that our quarry is likely to be a Sorcerer of some skill, wielding an array of spells and a contingent of spirits at it's beck and call." He said, providing an overview of what the report contained.


"Inside you'll find a list of spells that I believe the Sorcerer possesses. However it should be noted that this is only a preliminary estimate based on what data I had on hand. It is equally likely that we are dealing with a Fair Folk marauder and his band. In either case, I urge caution, as these hijackers are much more numerous and coordinated than I initially believed."


"If our target is a Sorcerer, I will do what I can to counter their spell casting. If possible, I request we take them with as minimal damage to their belongings as possible, as we may be able to use what they have to track them to their home base." Left unsaid was Kyro's desire to acquire any sorcerous materials the enemy might have on hand, but that was less important than gaining access to their laboratory. Finding what happened to the previous caravans was also a plus.

 

[Esbilon]

Rising Tide





"Hello, Halcyon Dream," she greets the extravagant woman with a smile, "I'm happy to see you again."


The young Dawn caste takes the report with a measure of surprise. "Thank you," she says while glancing at it. "I'm impressed you know so much already."

 

[JayTee]

"Thank you. Knowledge is a fluid thing, with one fact making ripples and brushing up against another. With the right breath of information, one can see how all these facts connect." Said Kyros.