Howling Coyote [Through the Looking Glass]

[HowlingCoyote]

Name: Pete (aka Howling Coyote)


Caste: Eclipse


Personality: (bullet point style)

• Personable, easy going, and usually very 'zen', with a natural aptitude for building consensus.
• Principled, and usually (but not always) one of the 'good guys'.
• Wants to build a 'better world', idyllic and harmonious.
• Not very forgiving, becoming very vindictive if betrayed, and holds grudges indefinitely, but doesn't take offense easily.
• Usually very methodical and deliberate, weighing all options, but can be uncharacteristically reckless if pressed.
• Has a problem resisting some vices and temptations - I mean, life is meant to be enjoyed, right?

MORTAL


Physical Description: Short (5'5"), but in good shape, with dark brown eyes, brown dreadlocks that gray at the temples, a short beard, and glasses. Can never seem to grow a mustache - it always turns out like that crappy mustache Johnny Depp has in Pirates - though it nonetheless grows faster than his beard (ie, it needs shaving or it looks retarded). Very expressive face, his emotions are always easily discernible - he wears his heart on his sleeve. His smile is mostly in his eyes, though he's usually sporting a grin or smirk. Dresses in earth-tones, usually jeans or shorts and a solid black or green long-sleeve tee, occasionally a team jersey (Les Canadiens, Team Canada, TFC, Benfica, Portugal), and often with a hoody or sweater.


Motivation: to live an idyllic life in harmony with the natural world


Intimacies: the environment, girlfriend


Attributes


Physical


Strength - O


Dexterity - OO


Stamina - OO


Social


Charisma - OO


Manipulation - OO


Appearance - OO


Mental


Perception - OO


Intelligence - OOO


Wits - OO


Abilities


Archery - O


Athletics - O


Awareness - O


Craft (elemental) - OO


Bureaucracy - O


Dodge - O


Lore - OO (read the books +3)


Martial arts - O


Melee - O


Ride - O


Skill Justifications:


Archery - I learned to shoot when I was about 12, and was in the reserves, though I'm far better with firearms and/or a crossbow than a bow.


Athletics - this was an afterthought, but I work out regularly and love sports.


Awareness - I tend to have faster than normal reflexes.


Craft - I went back to school to be an architectural designer and have been renovating homes with my dad since I was ~16, love cooking, and generally think 'making things' is just plain fun.


Bureaucracy - I worked for both a university and a non-profit museum, so bureaucracy was what I did.


Dodge - I'm a fencer, so getting out of the way is an important skill.


Lore - I've completed a university education.


Martial Arts - dabbled in many martial arts, from aikido to wrestling.


Melee - aforementioned fencing, plus 'European martial arts' (single and massed battles in armor).


Ride - I've ridden horses since I was 10.


missing: Sail 1, War 1; but them's the breaks (I'll get them later, when I Exalt).


Virtues


Compassion - OO


Conviction - OOO


Temperance - OO


Valor - OOO


Willpower


OOOOO O


Essence


Permanent - O


Mortal Bonus Points:

• Lore +1 (2), Virtue (temperance) +1 (3)

SOLAR

Physical Description: Average height, and in good shape, with dark brown eyes, brown dreadlocks that gray at the temples, a short beard. Very expressive face, his emotions are always easily discernible - he wears his heart on his sleeve. His smile is mostly in his eyes, though he's usually sporting a grin or smirk.


Motivation: to build an idyllic and harmonious world


Intimacies: the environment, girlfriend


Anima: Wisps of warm, golden-white flame that flicker as if blown by the wind; when iconic, the howl of a coyote can be heard momentarily before a large halo of gold and white arcane glyphs, in crisp and slowly-moving concentric rings, appears behind his head, denoting all the oaths he has sanctified.


Anima power: sanctify oaths (10m, 1wp); hospitality from spirits and Fair Folk; can learn non-Solar Charms.


Attributes


Physical


Strength - OO (+3)


Dexterity - OOO (+3)


Stamina - OO (+3)


Social


Charisma - OOOOO


Manipulation - OO


Appearance - OOO


Mental


Perception - OOO


Intelligence - OOO


Wits - OOOO


Abilities


Dawn


Archery - OO


Martial Arts - OO


Melee (favored) - OOOO (swords +2)


War - O


Zenith


Integrity (favored) - OOOO


Presence (favored) - OOO (persuasion +2)


Survival - O


Night


Athletics - O


Awareness - OOO


Dodge (favored) - OOOO


Twilight


Craft (elemental) (favored) - OO


Lore - OO (read the books +3)


Occult - O


Eclipse


Bureaucracy - OO


Linguistics - O (native: English, Old Realm)


Ride - O


Sail - O


Socialize - OOO


Charms


Dodge


Reflexive Sidestep Technique, Shadow over Water, Seven Shadow Evasion (conviction), Leaping Dodge Method


Integrity


2nd Excellency, Integrity Protecting Prana, Temptation Resisting Stance, Elusive Dream Defense


Presence


2nd Excellency, Listener-Swaying Argument


Socialize


2nd Excellency


Essence


Permanent – OOO


Personal – 16


Peripheral – 38 (28)


Committed – 10


Regeneration Rate = 4/hour when at ease, x2 when relaxed (+2)


Virtues:


Compassion - OO


Conviction - OOO


Temperance - OO


Valor - OOO


Flaw – Conviction


Limit Break [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]


Willpower:


OOOOO OO


Combat


Join Battle - 7


Join War - 5


Dodge DV – 6


Attacks


Clinch – speed 6, accuracy 8, damage 5B, defense --, rate 1, tags CNP


Kick – speed 5, accuracy 8, damage 8B, defense 3, rage 2, tags N


Punch – speed 5, accuracy 9, damage 5B, defense 5, rate 3, tags N


Perfect Swords – speed 4, accuracy 18, damage 8L, defense 7, rate 3 (x2), tags --


Social Combat


Join Debate - 7


Dodge MDV – 7


Attacks


Investigation – speed 5, accuracy 5/2, PMDV 3/2, rate 2


Performance – speed 6, accuracy 5/2, PMDV 3/2, rate 1


Presence – speed 4, accuracy 8/5 (+2), PMDV 4/3 (+1), rate 2


Soak


Bashing – 5


Lethal – 3


Aggravated – 0


Health Levels

• -0 [ ]
• -1 [ ] [ ]
• -2 [ ] [ ]
• -4 [ ]
  
• Incapacitated [ ]
  
• Dying [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Movement


Move – 6


Dash – 12


Vertical Jump – 7


Horizontal Jump – 14


Artifacts


Crown of Thunders (artifact 5)


The beautiful crown of thunders is solid orichalcum with three hearthstone settings. Legend names its maker the Unconquered Sun, a gift for a hero of the Primordial War. Once attuned (10 motes), it increased each of her Physical Attributes by three dots, but it was a greater tool for rulership. Spending 10 motes give the wearer an aura of command that adds five dice to all social rolls for the rest of the scene. While that power functions, she may spend an additional 10 motes to appear glorious and mighty. Mortals may not attack her and treat all of her orders like compulsions. Other entities compare their Dodge MDVs to her player’s social roll, which gains three bonus successes. Resisting this unnatural mental influence costs two points of Willpower, after which one becomes immune for a month and a day.


Comfortable Clothes (artifact 1)


A set of clothes that includes a tunic, pants, and boots, they are the most comfortable clothes ever worn; this artifact keeps the wearer comfortable in all conditions.


Hearthstones


Gem of Holiness (manse 1)


This hemisphere of silver-flecked blue stone imbues its bearer with a general aura of holiness. If the character avoids words or actions that obviously contradict this aura, anyone meeting her instinctively regards her as trustworthy and devout. If they don’t know better, they may assume she is a priest. The bearer receives one additional die to any Manipulation or Charisma rolls to gain trust or convince someone of her honesty.


Jewel of the Clever Merchant (manse 1)


This silvery-white, many-faceted oval grants a +3 bonus to all Mental or Social rolls involving trade, bargaining, contract negotiations and other business dealing.


Gear


Cloak, mundane clothes (blue lounge pants, red Portugal FIFA t-shirt, grey sweater), pack, 2 swords.


Exalted bonus points:

• dodge +1 (1), integrity +1 (1), essence +1 (7), +1 charm (4), willpower +1 (2)

Experience:


Total – 15


Spent – 5


Banked – 8 (melee excellency), 2 (undeclared)


Track


Charms & Combos


(none)


Abilities & Specialties


melee 3 -> 4 (5)


Attributes & Virtues


(none)


Essence & Willpower


(none)

 

[HowlingCoyote]

Returning from collecting knives, kitchen utensils, and whatever metal objects he could find, Pete sets the small hoard next to the Twilight – Jason, was it? – and sits down to watch the literally magical transformations the Solar would produce. He looked about the room, and through the building’s windows, as the others went about their own collecting, or meditating, or whatever they felt was important. He scratched absently at the back of his head, his palm brushing the wing of… the Crown of Thunders?


What the hell is going on? He thought to himself. This is impossible! This can’t really be happening.


Mentally, he reviewed the events of the last couple hours: sitting in the living room, randomly surfing the internet as Andrea watched Harry Potter; being yanked through some kind of tunnel or hole; being in a room with these others, then chased by giant, floating shrimp-cockroach things; the fight; solving some kind of riddle; the cannon firing; Exalting – yeah, that’s right, Exalting; finding artifacts – the Crown of Thunders for crying out loud! – and hearthstones; running up more than a half-mile of stairs, more than twice the CN tower; the mountain overlook; watching a spell being shaped – that was amazing; traveling on the Cirrus Skiff to that beautiful jungle clearing; the fight with the clam; respiring Essence; exploring the village; the argument; watching the Twilight shape their cloaks, and now his weapons…


He shook his head, absently, letting his hand fall back to his side. He looked at his new clothes, royal blue and gold, a tunic, pants, a cloak. And black leather boots.


I can feel Essence. I know Charms. I … *know* that I am an Eclipse. I could swear this is a dream, but I know it isn’t. None of this makes any sense.


He started to speak, to everyone present, and yet to no one in particular, “I know this is going to sound insane, but if you’ll all pardon a little rambling, I want to work out what the hell I think is going on. By all appearances, we are a Circle of Solar Exalted – two Dawns, two Eclipses, two Twilights, a Night, and a Zenith. We are either in the Wyld – a Waypoint or something – or a spirit’s Sanctum. I think it’s obvious that something is watching us, something with seemingly absolute control over this island, alternately shaping either challenges or gifts for us.â€


He paused.


“So, yeah, we are in the world of Exalted. A game. Except that it’s real.†He thought back to his youth, and watching the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, thinking how great it would be to find himself in that world, like the characters in the show. He couldn’t deny the thrill he felt at the potential futures ahead of him. “I know how crazy and impossible that sounds, but … well, it doesn’t matter how crazy and impossible it sounds. Things are the way they are. And we need to be able to face our new reality.â€


He took a deep breath to center himself, looking at those around him as he did so.


“Our recent argument revealed a few things about us. First, we need to have a plan of action, rather than just haphazardly knee-jerk reacting to one set of events after another. A simple plan would be to rely on our Caste roles to address the problems we face, to stick together unless it’s absolutely necessary to split up, and to communicate to everyone else what we’re thinking so that we don’t fall back to knee-jerk reactions based only on us as individuals. I know that someone proposed appointing someone as ‘leader’, but I think we can operate more effectively through consensus.


“Second, for that plan to work, we need to trust each other; and while none of us even know each other, we have to learn who we are, and what we can expect from each other. To that end… I’ll tell you all a bit about me, and how I think I fit into that plan I just mentioned.


“My name is Pete. If you’re ever been on the White Wolf forum or the ECR forum, you might recognize me by my screen name – Howling Coyote. Frankly, I think that sounds like a better name in Creation than ‘Pete’, and I’ll probably be going by that name rather than my past ‘real’ name.


“I – and all of you, I’d expect – have been playing Exalted for several years, and I’m going to phrase what follows by referring to specific game terms. I recognize that I’m an Eclipse Caste Solar. I recognize your Castes as well. My skills, much better than before I Exalted, focus on Melee, particularly with swords,†he gestures at the swords being shaped by the Twilight, “on Integrity, Dodge, Craft, and Presence, in addition to my Caste skills. I know my Charms, after meditating on them in the jungle clearing. I know a physical perfect defense, a shaping perfect, and a social combat perfect – Seven Shadow Evasion, Integrity Protecting Prana, and Elusive Dream Defense. I know a flurry-breaker – Leaping Dodge Method. I know three Excellencies – the second Excellency for Integrity, Presence, and Socialize. I have one social-fu Charm – Listener-Swaying Argument. I have no combat Charms aside from Dodge Charms, yet.


“Mundanely, I used to be an architectural designer, and was just about to start interning with Canada’s biggest construction company. My focus is sustainable design and retrofits. I’m pretty sure I can apply that knowledge to Creation. As for personal interests, I love cooking – particularly Italian, Indian, and Mexican – and wouldn’t be opposed to being ‘the cook’ of our little group. Though, I’m a vegetarian, so… I’ll leave the meat prep to someone else. I also love coffee and beer, to the point of ridiculousness and more than a little snobbery, but I’d love a simple cup of Guatamalan right about now, or, even better, a pint of real ale.â€


He paused again, thinking about a nice pint.


“I see my role as a courier and diplomat, if we ever make it to Creation. Here, in this Waypoint or Sanctum, I see my role as enforcing hospitality with whatever Spirits or Fair Folk we encounter, getting mortals to help us, and potentially sanctifying oaths…†he paused. “More on that later.


“I want to learn a Melee Excellency, if any of you know it. And then build a basic paranoia combo. I think we should all take that approach. We should teach each other Charms, especially perfects, so that everyone can build their own combos. If any of you know how to summon Elementals, or how to bind Demons, I know of several that I’d like you to summon so that I could learn Spirit Charms in the future.


“I think, as someone else mentioned, that this place is a ‘tutorial’. We’re learning who we are, how to co-operate, etc. I think we’re going to meet whatever brought us here, but only after a few more ‘educational’ challenges. I’d love to be able to learn a Charm or two from what brought us here, but I don’t know if that’ll happen. I don’t think we should take a confrontational approach to what brought us here though, until it becomes overtly hostile, but I’m sure we’re going to face a lot of hostile challenges before this tutorial is over.


“To address how to face that hostility, based on what I expect from our Caste roles, and from what I’ve seen from you all so far: I expect Syl, our resident Night Caste sniper, to scout, and in combat to fight at range. I expect our archer to fight at range as well. Jonathan, was it? I expect Nat, who I referred to as ‘the Invincible Sword Princess’, to always close in and fight up close. I promise I won’t make any more jokes at your expense. Or, I promise to try anyway. And I’ll back you up in close, now that I have a couple weapons. If we face mortal opponents, in numbers, I’ll use the Crown to get them to stop fighting, so we can be assured that we’re either going to face Essence-using opponents, or mundane opponents in small numbers. Basically, we can ignore War and War Charms for now. Meanwhile, especially against single opponents, we should focus on surrounding our targets and using our ranged fighters to inflict unexpected attacks, while up close fighters use Defend Other actions and perfect defenses to protect the rest of our Circle. Of course, we'll be fighting too.


“I don’t know what strengths and weaknesses the rest of you posses, but I’d suggest that you volunteer that info and how you fit into a front-line or support role in combat. And your out-of-combat strengths too, of course.â€


He pauses again, taking a deep breath once more.


“Lastly, we’re all going to be affected by the Great Curse. I don’t know how I’m affected by it yet, nor how any of you will be, though I expect our argument was probably a bit of a preview. First Age Solars fell victim to a lot of paranoia, in part fueled by the Curse, in part fueled by their own egos. I suggest we use our knowledge and powers to forestall the effects of the Curse as much as possible. For my part, I can sanctify an oath of loyalty and friendship between us, supernaturally bolstering our trust of each other. If ever we end up in a confrontation, especially one fueled by Limit Break, acting against each other will essentially become unacceptable orders or actions.


“If our resident sorcer ever learns Sworn Brotherhood’s Oath, I suggest we use that too.â€


He sighs, and nods twice.


“Well, that’s it. That’s who I am, what I think, what I expect, how I think I can spur some co-operation, and how to prevent some crazy-ass Solar betrayal. Thanks for listening, and if anyone has anything else to say, feel free.


“Oh, and if anyone can shape a pint of Black Oak Nut Brown or C'est What Caraway Rye ale, that’d be great.â€

 

[HowlingCoyote]

I'm going to have to withdraw from the game. I have a new position that will have me working longer days, and traveling. I can't reliably say that I'll be able to make more than half the scheduled games.


Just assume I get off at the next port of call and go my separate way.


Sorry guys.


Have fun.

 

[Aasharu]

... Alright, I guess... OK. See you around, I guess.