Into the Ruins - Exalted 3e IC

[Chowlett]

As the mountain approaches, Glade cannot help by stare at in in awe. This far east, the jungle below is thicker and lusher than any even he has seen; and the juxtaposition between that and the majestic mountain fortress is truly mind-bending.

Del's words shake him from his reverie. Leaning forwards as well, Glade scratches behind Fat Cat Bus's ear in reassurance. "This is not my country, my friend. I suggest you follow Del's advice."

He looks somewhat wistfully at the untracked forest below. "I shall tread that later. If Sol Invictus wishes it, at least", he murmurs.

 

[Rykon]

Aredin nods with Glade's statement. "Ordinarily, I'd like to be seen landing at their equivalent to a public port. That said, all the back and forth to obscure the scouting team from the diplomatic team would be annoying. Either way, living on a flying mountain I can't help but assume guests are much more of a rare sight here than in most locales. We're just gonna have to deal with standing out one way or another." He concludes with a shrug.

 

[Purr]

Hearing the sage advice of two among his Circle, O Mighty Fat Cat Bus nods with a grin. With a nimble gentleness only cats and few other creatures know, the Lunar scouts out the best aerial route to come in on. Then he lands as quietly as he can, his four wings flapping as little as possible as he makes his gliding approach. He only breaks off if he notices danger - a thing he is looking all over for, not only with his given senses, but with his Luna-bestowed Charms.

 

[Psychie]

The mighty Fat Cat Express soars closer to the floating mountain to find a place on the slope that is open enough to be able to safety land. Spot found, the Lunar warrior sets down with hardly a sound to allow his passengers to dismount. Those with at least two dots of Survival will be able to note that while there is a healthy amount of birds making their homes in the trees, there are very few traces of the usual small animal life that you would expect to see in such heavy growth of trees. Other than that, everything appears to be normal.

From your current position, you are about a half mile walk to the outer edge of the village to be able to make contact with the locals with your landing point being roughly halfway up the mountain.

Sherwood Rykon Chowlett jaydude Purr Eonivar
How are you splitting up?

 

[Chowlett]

OOC: Can I judge why there aren't so many small animals? Is it just that the mountain is in the air, so there's no landbridge to the ground? Surely some would have been picked up with the mountain... any signs of, say, large predators that would be suppressing the population?

"So, we are to find ingress to the inside of this mountain. Do you have any starting point, Del? And can any of us keep in touch with the other group?"

Also OOC: Hm, maybe I should take Infallible Messenger... it's not a charm, so I can afford it using Solar XP

 

[Psychie]

OOC: Can I judge why there aren't so many small animals? Is it just that the mountain is in the air, so there's no landbridge to the ground? Surely some would have been picked up with the mountain... any signs of, say, large predators that would be suppressing the population?

"So, we are to find ingress to the inside of this mountain. Do you have any starting point, Del? And can any of us keep in touch with the other group?"

Also OOC: Hm, maybe I should take Infallible Messenger... it's not a charm, so I can afford it using Solar XP

From what you have been told, the large predators are probably the locals themselves. Before they were able to start cultivating their own food, they needed something to eat so they hunted what wildlife that got stuck on the mountain with them.

 

[Sherwood]

Del runs her hand through her hair, saying, "I lack the ability to contact others remotely. To be honest, it may behoove us to check with the locals about this instead of spitting up. If there are any leads on how to get into the Titan, they may be the best place to start out with. Perhaps they have had contact with the spirit of the Titan to be able to get inside."

 

[Psychie]

Filial lets out a snort. "I thought you had the info for all of this, and now we have to find a way to locate the entrance. Typical. Well, fine. Where is this spirit that you want to talk to, oh mighty sage of wisdom? Do you at least know that?" He has the look of a man that doesn't expect an answer.

 

[Rykon]

Aredin gives Filial an unappreciative glare at the untimely mockery. "Assuming they do know, why would they tell outsiders and why wouldn't they have activated the place themselves?"

He then turns to Delilah with a thoughtful expression to replace the scowl. "Well, there's an interesting thought... After all, there's one way that always works for contacting spirits. Prayer. The challenge is hearing back from them. So, if we wanna take that route, we'll need a proper ritual and offering worthy enough to wake up the spirit. I don't have much on me that would be ideal for this, but I can see what I can do in a pinch. However, we have Gray Stone as our Zenith Priest and Glade as a Shaman. Surely stirring up enough essence with a Prayer ritual won't be that difficult with both of you here."

jaydude Chowlett

 

[Sherwood]

Ignoring the jab from Filial, Del says, “I can help with a ritual to contact the spirit. It is a part of my Exaltation to deal with spirits. It shouldn’t be too difficult to do.”

 

[jaydude]

Aredin gives Filial an unappreciative glare at the untimely mockery. "Assuming they do know, why would they tell outsiders and why wouldn't they have activated the place themselves?"

He then turns to Delilah with a thoughtful expression to replace the scowl. "Well, there's an interesting thought... After all, there's one way that always works for contacting spirits. Prayer. The challenge is hearing back from them. So, if we wanna take that route, we'll need a proper ritual and offering worthy enough to wake up the spirit. I don't have much on me that would be ideal for this, but I can see what I can do in a pinch. However, we have Gray Stone as our Zenith Priest and Glade as a Shaman. Surely stirring up enough essence with a Prayer ritual won't be that difficult with both of you here."

"I should think not," Grey Stone said. "Otherwise, as a Zenith, I also have the authority to command spirits to appear before me. But where to carry out such a ritual, or issue such a command..."

Spoiler: Grey Stone Stats

Essence: 2
Personal Essence: 11/16
Peripheral Essence: 40/40
Anima: Dim
Committed Essence: 5 (Faith's Pillar)

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

 

[Psychie]

Filial says, “Why not at the peak of the mountain? Would that be a good spot?”

 

[Chowlett]

Glade nods approval. "That would be auspicious. Many Essence flows are strongest at high points."

Looking at my stats and remembering who I am... I'd also absolutely like to see if I can remember or reason anything about this Spirit of a First Age artifact in the far East, using my Lore (eastern forests): 5 with specialties in Spirits and the First Age . Rolling Int + Lore + Specialty, with 2 auto-successes from Harmonious Academic Method: and let's put a 4-mote excellency in there; I imagine it'll take us an hour to reach anywhere important so I should regenerate them.

9 successes

 

[Psychie]

Glade nods approval. "That would be auspicious. Many Essence flows are strongest at high points."

Looking at my stats and remembering who I am... I'd also absolutely like to see if I can remember or reason anything about this Spirit of a First Age artifact in the far East, using my Lore (eastern forests): 5 with specialties in Spirits and the First Age . Rolling Int + Lore + Specialty, with 2 auto-successes from Harmonious Academic Method: and let's put a 4-mote excellency in there; I imagine it'll take us an hour to reach anywhere important so I should regenerate them.

9 successes

Glade would know that spirits like this one will have some very specific Defining Principles, specifically relating to the protection of Creation and the Deliberative from threats from both inside Creation and outside. Also, assuming that the spirit hasn’t had any prayers in so this time, any kind of prayer will get noticed with a quickness.

The peak of the mountain will most likely have the most beneficial flows of Essence to make the prayer ceremony most successful.

As for when the prayer would be best, there are two times that would be most auspicious: Dawn when the first light of day strikes the top of the mountain, or high noon when the sun is at its highest point and most brilliant.

 

[Chowlett]

Knew that Lore would come in handy!

What time of day is it now, and how long does Glade estimate it would take to climb the mountain?

 

[Psychie]

It is late afternoon approaching sunset. Depending on how you travel, you can be at the summit in a few minutes if you have Fat Cat fly you up. Otherwise you’ll be hiking for a few hours in the dark unless you wait until morning to set out.

 

[Sherwood]

Del looks up towards the top of the mountain and says, “There are a few preparations to be made before the prayer ceremony begins, so if we get to the top in short order we can be ready to begin at sunrise. It is that or we wait to travel until morning and aim for the noon hour to commence the ceremony. I would suggest we begin as soon as we can, but it is not just up to me.”

 

[jaydude]

Del looks up towards the top of the mountain and says, “There are a few preparations to be made before the prayer ceremony begins, so if we get to the top in short order we can be ready to begin at sunrise. It is that or we wait to travel until morning and aim for the noon hour to commence the ceremony. I would suggest we begin as soon as we can, but it is not just up to me.”

"Unless there would be greater benefit in speaking to the natives first, I see little reason to delay a journey to the summit," Grey Stone said. "The sooner we can get there, the sooner we can begin preparing to call upon the Spirit responsible for the Titan."

Spoiler: Grey Stone Stats

Essence: 2
Personal Essence: 11/16
Peripheral Essence: 40/40
Anima: Dim
Committed Essence: 5 (Faith's Pillar)

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

 

[Purr]

"Arrrawwwr!" comes O Mighty Fat Cat's pleased-but-not-loud meow of approval.

Using Glance-Oration Technique, his laid-back body language and posture strongly suggests that the wild Lunar is up for whatever the Circle decides.

While they decide, Da Chonk sniffs and looks and inspects and explores all of the scenery, shrubbery, and hidden nooks, for it's not every day that you find yourself on a floating mountainside!

 

[Chowlett]

"I favour dawn. The light will be striking this high up; a breathtaking location to seek a spirit. Even if they know of it, the people here will not have been able to offer proper, Essence-laden prayers. I predict we will be noticed quickly once we begin."

"A dawn prayer will give us cover of night to climb - or rather, our feline friend here"

 

[Purr]

Understanding every word, O Mighty Fat Cat gives a huge grin and lets out a positive "Rrrrowr!" As cats do, he brushes up his big furry self near Silent Glade in a show of friendliness and cat-like affection.

Because cats be like dat. =)

 

[Psychie]

With the sure foot stride that only a cat can have, your Circle is making good time up the mountain, over rocks and stone, and around mighty trees to reach the summit. It is a clear night, with a bit if a chill in the air as you get higher up, until you finally come to the snow layer. Fat Cat’s mighty paws leave giant prints in the snow as he leaps along.

So far, there has been no sign of the human residents of the mountain, other than some evidence of light logging work. No one is here but you.

There are few trees this high up as you finally reach the top of the floating Mount Metagalapa. Here the keen eyes of Fat Cat can see that there are traces of others coming up here from marks in the stone and faint scents that he can detect. An old campfire once burned here but not for many months.

A quick glance at the sky shows you that you still have a few hours before dawn, giving plenty of time to prepare for the prayer ceremony. Between the priestly nature of Grey Stone and Delilah’s knowledge and totem piece of the Titan, you foresee no reason for the ceremony to fail.

 

[Sherwood]

At the summit, Del sides down from the big Lunars’ back and says, “Thank you, good sir, for the lift. Now, let’s clear a space to put a summoning circle.”

Moving with a purpose, the Sidereal pulls a length of twine from her pocket and stretches it out. As she does so, she explains, “Ideally, I would like a circle that has a circumference equal to the length of twine, flattened out and filled out with the incense I have here. With the talisman from the Titan inside the circle, we then light the incense and focus our Essence into the ring as a gift for Taru, the spirit guardian of the Titan. In our prayer, we ask for Taru to manifest and we can then ask of it our questions. With all that we have here, this is certain to get Taru’s attention.”

 

[Psychie]

With Del rolling up her sleeves to work on the summoning circle, Filial is silent as he watches her work, but eventually he shrugs and goes over to join in moving some of the rocks out of the way to make room for the circle that Del wants to make.

With many hands working on clearing the area it takes little time to prepare the area to Del’s satisfaction. Next comes the incense. The symbols of the circle quickly take shape, finishing up a short time before sunrise. You are as ready as you feel is possible given what supplies you have, and soon the eastern sky begins to glow with the light of the approaching sunrise.

Under the guidance of both Del and Grey Stone everyone is placed around the circle as the ceremony begins. In order to help garner the notice of the prayer circle, a small sacrifice of Essence that gets donated to the spirit will be helpful. How much Essence does each person give, if any? I’ll count every five motes donated as an automatic success in the Int + Occult roll to summon Taru.

Purr Rykon Sherwood Chowlett jaydude

 

[Sherwood]

Del will focus ten motes into the circle as a prayer donation.