Into the Ruins - Exalted 3e IC

[Psychie]

Glade's not keen on a pitched battle either. For as long as he can keep pace with Fat Cat on the roofs, he will continue to do so - but as soon as the Lunar looks to be getting out of range, he'll leap onto the howdah (let me know if I need to roll).

I'd also like to see if I can guess whether the crumbling wall or the GLOWING ORICHALCUM GATE is the safer point of ingress, in terms of where wards were likely to be placed, for which I'm going to guess at Int+Occult. 5 successes

Looking at the walls and gate, Glade is certain that there are some nasty surprises along the walls that are at least partly responsible for keeping the locals out. Probably wards on the gate, too. You'll have to be careful in opening them or you might set things off.

 

[Chowlett]

"Both walls and gate will likely be warded. Mercy, come join me - let us see if we can pass through them "

 

[Eonivar]

Mercy looked over at the gate which Glade had pointed to. Mercy leaned over close to Fat Cats large right ear. She pointed so his eye could see her outstretched hand.

"Ok, Fat Cat, let’s go over there by the Gate so we can get a closer look.”

She looked back at the others. "We may need to distract the horde for a few minutes until Glade and I figure out the wards on the gate."

 

[Sherwood]

Amara nods to her fellow Exalt. "No-one shall pass by me without paying for it in blood. But work quickly. Even I can get overrun by this many foes."

She then jumps down and her had goes to the hilt of her blade. Amara then sets herself between the incoming horde and her sister Exalt and channels a mote of Essence to ignite her anima. Standing there in a blazing corona of light, she is truly a fearsome sight, setting herself to face any threat that might come forward.

 

[Psychie]

Both Chowlett and Eonivar , please give me some Int + Lore rolls. If you have any Specialties in the First Age, don't forget to add them.

jaydude Rykon Purr

What are you doing while Mercy and Glade examine the gate? Do you join Amara in distracting the savages or do something else?

 

[jaydude]

What are you doing while Mercy and Glade examine the gate? Do you join Amara in distracting the savages or do something else?

Lifting Faith's Pillar up into a guard position, Grey Stone moved to stand next to Amara, ready to aid her against this horde.

Spoiler: Grey Stone Stats

Essence: 1
Personal Essence: 13/13
Peripheral Essence: 25/33
Anima: Dim

Willpower: 7/7
Join Battle: 5
Health Levels: -0, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -3, Incapacitated
Resolve 3, Guile 1

Attacks
Faith's Pillar (10 dice Withering, 8 dice Decisive, Withering Damage 18, Overwhelming 5, Bashing, Melee, Reaching, Smashing, Two-Handed)
Unarmed (13 dice Withering, 8 dice Decisive, Withering Damage 15, Overwhelming 1, Bashing, Brawl, Grappling, Natural)

Actions
Rush: 6
Disengage: 6

Evasion 4, Parry 4
Soak/Hardness: 4/0

Effects:
Spirit-Detecting Glance (The Solar can look through the pall of reality to glimpse the realm of spirits beneath. With this Charm, the Solar can see (but not touch) immaterial spirits.)

 

[Purr]

"Ok, Fat Cat, let’s go over there by the Gate so we can get a closer look.”

"Awrr-RAWR!" comes O Mighty Fat Cat's confident reply. His huge feet aided by his Lunar charms and abilities scoot across the ancient grounds perhaps as no other creature before or since. Straight to the GLOWING ORICHALCUM GATE he goes! 8D

 

[Purr]

What are you doing while Mercy and Glade examine the gate? Do you join Amara in distracting the savages or do something else?

O Mighty Fat Cat takes the opportunity to do what he would do as a Deliverer, even were he alone - he begins looking for additional ways out of here.

Listening, looking, sniffing. Can he scoot around the gate if they fail to open it? Can he transform into a flying creature and scoop the Circle out of here? How many ways can he find to get everyone out of here if that gate remains closed?

Does the gate have any designs or sigils that remind him of anything from his Lunar past?

 

[Psychie]

Chowlett and Eonivar a bump for some Lore rolls, please.

 

[Psychie]

O Mighty Fat Cat takes the opportunity to do what he would do as a Deliverer, even were he alone - he begins looking for additional ways out of here.

Listening, looking, sniffing. Can he scoot around the gate if they fail to open it? Can he transform into a flying creature and scoop the Circle out of here? How many ways can he find to get everyone out of here if that gate remains closed?

Does the gate have any designs or sigils that remind him of anything from his Lunar past?

Flying up and out of the area is going to be the easiest way to get clear if things go badly. The next best way to make an escape will be to go either to the left or the right along the walls. Your final option is to charge into the growing horde of cannibals and trust in your Exalted nature to get through.

After a quick look at the gate, Fat Cat has a thought on the tip of the tongue that just won't slip out, something about the gate looks familiar but you just can't place it.

 

[Purr]

With his large furry ears turning in the direction of incoming cannibals, O Mighty Fat Cat's curiosity gets the better of him. He stares at the gate and tries to focus very hard on what is familiar about it lest the chance be lost. Three times, he murmurs strange "awroowr?" sounds as his large eyes take in the design of the gate, the metalwork, any Luna-made sigils or images that tell him something, anything, about this enigma.

 

[Purr]

O Mighty Fat Cat gazed at the gate, not at its luminescent glow, but the look of the gate itself - the craftwork, that which made the gate a gate. Was there something written there? Was there something for a Lunar to understand? If so, he realizes instantly that as the only Child of Luna present that by smashing down the mental barrier of the unknown in his mind, that the physical barrier might give way to the Circle's freedom - and more. Whatever was beyond it, the gate was here for a reason. As were all of the tombs. This very earth and realm.

So O Mighty Fat Cat, the boy raised in the jungle when separated from his own civilized family and heritage, takes a deep breath in an effort to calm his exasperated mind, so that he might reach into Luna's love and the ephemeral prize that is understanding and knowledge.

The design... if seen as less of a barrier but more of a work of art was perhaps open to a different kind of interpretation. Was it something Luna had taught him over his short three decades of life? An ancient Lunar was indeed somewhere buried here so his Circle had learned. What might an artisan have made that another Lunar might come to understand?

O Mighty Fat Cat began with his greatest love - Luna herself. What would he be without her? Luna changed in the sky, a little every day. But language and art did not. Writing was words that stay. Artwork were images that remained. If Luna was an element, surely she would be water. Ever-changing and nurturing. But what of words? They would be mountains. Each scroll, a forest. Every book, a mountain. Slowly being beaten down by time. Understandable only by those whose minds were like the moon.

The Sun could only see during the day. At dusk, he slept. But the Moon could be present at all times of the day. Lunars were animals of all times of the day and night. Animals saw things very differently than people who dug tombs, erected monuments, and forged gates perhaps to hold back the unworthy or the unwise.

He continued to gaze. O Mighty Fat Cat turned his mind to all of the stories he had ever learned that contained Luna or her children. He thought of storytelling he had performed for Antonia under the Tower of Dunbar Kirk. He closes his eyes for but a moment.

"What was de name of de Lunar?" he thinks to himself. "Dunbar Kirk, whom I did not meet, tol' us of... de furthest chamber in de tomb... of... Mor'du?" O Mighty Fat Cat looks upon the gate anew, his mental tidal waves against the magical mountainside - was there something of Mor'du here?

 

[Chowlett]

Which a nod to Amara and Grey Stone as they stand prepared to defend, Silent Glade leaps lightly from Fat Cat's howdah, and approaches the gate. The impenetrable Orichalcum fills his Solar spirit with calm as he looks over the shape of the metalwork. Settling down cross-legged in front of it, and with its appearance committed to memory, Glade closes his eyes, and begins to recall all the tales of the First Age which is ancestors have taught him - and perhaps, even now, are whispering into his head from wherever they have passed on to. As each irrelevant tale is mentally discarded, and the occasional one seems to fit aspects to the gate, his eyes re-open, refining his view of the gate, seeking out the little details that will lead him to the right tale - and the right way to open this portal.

Int+Lore+Specialty+Stunt: 6 successes

 

[Eonivar]

Mercy jumps down off the howdah following her circle brother, her heavier weighted armored bronzed form causing the ruined roads to crunch under her feet. The ball of her Virtuous Guardian of flame following close by as she scurried towards the gate shining in the daylight, cloak flying behind her. She slows as she arrives at the gate, her small form dwarfed by its size, her eyes seem to light with fire as she summon power towards her memory and understanding of the occult. She glances over at Silent Glade sitting down cross-legged near by and then returns her attention to the golden gate before her. The golden circled twilight symbol glowed on her brow as she gazed up with her spirit sight and understanding of occult and magic at the gate searching for a way to open it, the light from it and the fire from her eyes and floating guardian shining on the gate.

Roll: Lore(3)+Intelligence(5)+Excellency (5 dice)+Stunt(?) = 13+ Dice

= 5 Successes

 

[Rykon]

Aredin draws his daiklave, Adorei, and joins the rest of those glaring down the hordes and looking like a menacing deterrent. "They certainly make an impressive racket but I doubt they'd do much else against the lot of us at this rate." He added idly to Amara and Grey Stone.

 

[Psychie]

At the gate, Fat Cat is looking at the intricate carvings and runes with frustration. He just can't place what is familiar about the gate to be able to voice (or meow) an opinion.

But both Mercy and Glade have more success in delving into the mystery. This hate has a special lock that is opened by the Exalt channeling Essence into it. Without enough Essence to unlock it and there will be a terrible feedback causing harm to the Exalt. This is designed to keep those not worthy of the honor of walking the grounds out.

At a guess, the gate will probably take fifty motes of Essence to open. Any less and it could kill the Exalt pouring power into the gate. The good news is that it doesn't have to all come from one person.

 

[Psychie]

Those standing guard can see the scores of savages standing back at a distance, shouting and shaking their weapons at you, but they make no move to approach as they stare at Amara and her billowing anima glow.

Then from off in the distance behind the hordes of people is an answering flare of light that looks remarkably similar to Amara's own. When the cannibals see this, there is a loud yell of excitement and the crowd parts to either side to let the source of the light pass through.

You now can see the figure that is causing the glow; a man that stands at least seven feet tall with massive muscles and clad in golden plate armor, carrying a Grand Daiklave in one hand as if it were as light as a twig. He raises up his sword and a exhilarated cheer goes up from the savages. After a long moment of letting the cheering go on, the big man lowers his arm and the area goes silent.

He points at the group that stands before him and in a powerful shout, he says in forest tongue, "These ruins are my domain! Who are you that would dare to intrude on my lands? Why are you here?"

 

[jaydude]

Those standing guard can see the scores of savages standing back at a distance, shouting and shaking their weapons at you, but they make no move to approach as they stare at Amara and her billowing anima glow.

Then from off in the distance behind the hordes of people is an answering flare of light that looks remarkably similar to Amara's own. When the cannibals see this, there is a loud yell of excitement and the crowd parts to either side to let the source of the light pass through.

You now can see the figure that is causing the glow; a man that stands at least seven feet tall with massive muscles and clad in golden plate armor, carrying a Grand Daiklave in one hand as if it were as light as a twig. He raises up his sword and a exhilarated cheer goes up from the savages. After a long moment of letting the cheering go on, the big man lowers his arm and the area goes silent.

He points at the group that stands before him and in a powerful shout, he says in forest tongue, "These ruins are my domain! Who are you that would dare to intrude on my lands? Why are you here?"

"I am Grey Stone, a Solar of the Zenith Caste," the monk replied, stepping forward and regarding the tall, armored, daiklave-wielding man with wariness. "And I was not aware of anyone with a claim to this place."

Spoiler: Grey Stone Stats

Essence: 1
Personal Essence: 13/13
Peripheral Essence: 25/33
Anima: Dim

Willpower: 7/7
Join Battle: 5
Health Levels: -0, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -3, Incapacitated
Resolve 3, Guile 1

Attacks
Faith's Pillar (10 dice Withering, 8 dice Decisive, Withering Damage 18, Overwhelming 5, Bashing, Melee, Reaching, Smashing, Two-Handed)
Unarmed (13 dice Withering, 8 dice Decisive, Withering Damage 15, Overwhelming 1, Bashing, Brawl, Grappling, Natural)

Actions
Rush: 6
Disengage: 6

Evasion 4, Parry 4
Soak/Hardness: 4/0

Effects:
Spirit-Detecting Glance (The Solar can look through the pall of reality to glimpse the realm of spirits beneath. With this Charm, the Solar can see (but not touch) immaterial spirits.)

 

[Eonivar]

Mercy glances over at Silent Glade, the small floating ball of fire fluttering around the front of the gate before her, its light, the sun, and the gleaming of the gate reflecting off of her almost metallic bronzed skin caused by her previous incantation.

"Silent Glade, I think the gate requires an expenditure of power for it to open safely. We should get some of the others to help though as if we expend all of our energy we will not have anything to use inside..." She glances back at the bellowing figure speaking in a tongue she was unfamiliar with, and the horde behind him. "Or even out here..."

She looks back looking towards where the others of their circle were.

 

[Chowlett]

Silent Glade sees his circlemate's incomprehension of the new arrival's speech, and translates for her: "The man says he owns this place, and demands to know who we are. You are right about the gate. A modest tithe from each of us. But one, I think, that must wait."

 

[Sherwood]

Amara answers with, "We have no interest in you or what you claim as yours. We are here for a single purpose that does not involve you, and we have no desire for a fight."

 

[Purr]

He points at the group that stands before him and in a powerful shout, he says in forest tongue, "These ruins are my domain! Who are you that would dare to intrude on my lands? Why are you here?"

It is at this point that O Mighty Fat Cat wishes his voice be heard. Focusing on the powers great Luna has provided him with, he smoothly shapeshifts back into the form of his birth. There, the heavy sounds of his firm words carry across the distance that separates his Circle from the human-eaters and the Exalted they seem to worship. In Forest-speech, O Mighty Fat Cat rings back.

"Where I am from, it is poor manners to demand de name of others wit'out first giving your own. Who are you and why do you care what roads we travel?"

 

[Psychie]

The large man glares at the Exalts before him. He finally says, "I? I am Filial Wisdom, Master of Rathess! All that walk or crawl these streets and underways do so at my pleasure. All that have come here before you that have tried to take this ruin from me have fallen to my blade. This city is mine. These mighty pyramids and the hearthstones that come with them? Mine. The high towers that reach to the sky? Mine! And finally, that vast graveyard and all that it contains? Mine! If you wish to go in there for any reason, you do it after you gain my permission."

 

[Rykon]

Aredin hops down from the howdah and brushes travel dust off his clothes before sheathing his own Daiklave. The eclipse casually makes eye contact with this Solar, comforted by the fact that this lone warlord has willingly outnumbered himself before a complete circle of his peers. Even if he has the edge on their experience, his power could only carry him so far, surely.

"And what exactly might your price be? We've business to attend to elsewhere, and I'd rather be done with this mess without so much ceremony." He replied somewhat disinterested in this theatrical parade to Filial Wisdom's pride.

 

[Psychie]

The big Solar looks at Aredin and sneers. "Who says there is any price you can pay to allow you to leave here with anything that you might find in there? What can you possibly offer me to let you leave with your lives?"