[Lords of Creation] (Qing Jin's Library) The Dragon's Arse Tavern- Part 1.5

Kana adjusts her mind to the fight and follows Chao.


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Activating Spirit-Detecting Glance, 3m Personal


Personal 12 / 15


Peripheral 32 / 36 (4m commited)
 
Outside the ship:


Racing up on deck, you can see a trail of destruction leading from the ship. A donkey and cart veered off course in terror, now sinking in the harbour, a couple of overturned fish stalls, the broken body of a boy who can't be more than sixteen. A bell starts ringing, calls for a militia, or a priest.


The trail leads straight into the inn you just left, and by the sounds of it there's a big damn fight breaking out inside. A burly man crashes out through the door, pale as a sheet, like he'd just seen a- Oh, right. He flees into the town, not once looking back. A loud torrent of familiar swearing issues forth from the bar, matched by shrieks of hatred and pain.
 
Manna, who's much slower to start, carefully picked his way out of the ship, across the dock, and to the shore. His eyes followed Kana's wake, as she slinked off like a ninja, and came to rest his eyes on the young boy's body. He twisted his lips slowly. His emotional reaction may be a bit off: Rather than upset at the boy's death, more upset that he couldn't fix death, but that's what a single dot in Compassion will get you. He inhaled, let his eyes fall in the direction of the moving trouble, and exhaled. One of the girls had the distinctive glow of essence about her as she blasted off, and the other seemed unphased to be fightin' ghosts. There was no point in playing mystery man, then.


He hefted up his weapon and let it rest across his shoulders, complete with a grunt and a shift of posture, using both hands to support it's incredible weight. Any normal man would have died from the action.


Yeah, that's right, I chose a bitchin' big weapon and I'm going to remind you constantly that even other Exalts have a problem with these things. It's huge, bro.


He followed after Kana.
 
Kana


Rushing to save the few people who had shown them hospitality, Kana's shadow flickers a bit as she prepares for the fight to come.


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Adopting Ebon Shadow Form, 5m personal, and giving chase


Personal 7 / 15


Peripheral 32 / 36 (4m commited)
 
Inside the inn:


On entering you find the place empty, save for three shrieking spirits, and Captain Takeo. The captain emits a rippling greenish glow, like shadowy reflections in a pond, but it is clear from the bleeding wounds and the fact that he is fending his attackers off with a broken table leg that he currently has little or no essence left to spend. He's putting up an admirable fight- As you watch he hooks a barstool with his foot, launching it at one ghost with a kick that turns into a block to stop the other slashing at his chest, whereupon he smashes the creature over the head with his makeshift club. The third ghost gets the drop on him and hurls him almost across the room, slamming him into a table and crushing it.


Admirable it may be, but he's exhausted, and fighting a losing battle.


Chao rushes in to help the prone captain. She sprints forward, drops and slides on her knees, arm whipping up to intercept what would have been a killing blow. She combines her momentum with a smooth flick of the wrist and a tumble to her feet, and the ghost is thrown so hard against the bar it bends 90 degrees backwards, spine making a very audible wet snap. It gets back up and launches itself at her again.


OOC: So, one ghost each. They're materialised so no need for charms to hit spirits and such. You guys go first. Their dodge and parry are both 5, armour soak is 2L.
 
Impressive, Manna noted, watching Chao's form. He didn't have much thought past that, not being much of a martial artist himself, but seeing as she tossed a ghost across the room and snapped it's undead back was more than enough to earn his quick respect. Besides, she just plain looked cool.


As for Takeo, he was looking impressive on an other level entirely. He was obviously exhausted just getting that massive ship to shore in ONEPIECE, and to earnestly take up fight when he was obviously all out of fight...well, it would be unbecoming, as a man, for Manna himself not to step into the fray on his behalf. It was a pity. Manna had had every intention of following along the group doing his best to pretend to be a normal mortal man.


"Cap'n, you'll have to forgive me for stepping in!"


As if under their own will, the white bandage wrappings around his gigantic weapon unfurled, spinning up in the air and around his body, the brilliant glitter of orichalcum reflecting the light in the room. It practically glowed like the weapon of legend it most certainly was. Perfect in every fashion, despite it's many, many years of age, even the blade was unscathed from assuredly constant combat. A glory from a previous age.

Code: 
Dex 3 + Melee 5 = 8.  

8 dice / target number 7 / difficulty 1
2 4 10 5 5 8 2 4 = 3 successes
3 successes

Accuracy of +3

3 dice / target number 7 / difficulty 1
7 5 4 = 1 success
1 success

4 total successes.

For an instant, it appeared as if Manna's sudden swinging attack, hefting the blade around his body in a manner similar to a monk with a bo, would have missed. But perfect defined his art of combat, and the reality around the room seemed to decide to shut up, and sit down.

Code: 
Activating Second Melee.  Spending 4 motes from the Periphery to gain two additional successes, for a total of 6.  After DV, that gives me one success.

Rolling damage.  3 strength + 1 success = 4.  +14L.  Tags: O(4), P, R.    18 dice.

18 dice / target number 7 / difficulty 1
5 8 8 2 7 6 6 8 4 1 10 1 3 7 7 10 7 9 = 12 successes
12 successes

Well, would you look at that. The scythe isn't just for show.


OOC: I'm STILL hazy on combat. Feel free to point out any obvious flaws.

Code: 
Peripheral: 26/36 - 4.  22/36.

Anima Flare: Second level.  Caste mark glows too brightly to hide.  He's most definitely a Solar Eclipse.
 
OOC: Armour soak detracts from the damage pool, so it would have been 16 dice, and 10's don't count double when rolling for damage. That's still 8L dished out in one go. The ghost had only 7 health levels so it's still more than enough!


Manna's huge warscythe neatly slices his target in two. The ghost's form dissolves in a flash, burning away to ash in the blink of an eye, leaving naught but an echoing scream. Takeo looks At your glowing forehead and says, in an impressed tone, "Fuck me sideways..."
 
"I'd be honored, Cap'n, but there's the small issue about your haunted ship to take care of, first." The edge of his blade came to a rest against the deck of the Inn, the bandages falling from their dance to litter the floor. He cut a glance at the Captain, however--almost warning him to use the term 'anathema'. Paranoia abound.
 
Kana


Kana moves towards the third ghost through the shadows of the room, and with practiced steps closes quickly to strike with Look, hopefully before the specter could see.


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I am such a bad person...


Anyway, I'm not sure if I am actually allowed to try to sneak attack at this point, but it's they way she would do it mechanics or no. Regular attack thingy below.


attack: Dex + MA +2acc = 11 dice


Kana rolled the following on her 11 dice:


8, 7, 10, 10, 4, 8, 9, 10, 7, 1, 1


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 11 successes.


dmg: 11suxx - 2armor = 9 dice


Kana rolled the following on her 9 dice:


10, 4, 1, 10, 6, 4, 4, 7, 1


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 3 successes.


arg ok I totally did that wrong.. so, keeping with the attack roll. Would leave me with 6 successes passed the DV of 5. So, I'd roll Str+6+3L = 12L - 2 armor = 10L


1 to make up what I forgot...


Kana rolled the following on her 1 dice:


2


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 0 successes.


Ok, so 3L dmg. >.<
 
OOC: I'll allow the sneak attack, mostly cos you're in Ebon Shadow Form and it's cool and the hungry ghosts are cannon fodder for you guys, so 5 extra dice for damage as he has no defence: 4 successes [ 8 3 9 8 0 ] (TN: 7) (damage/extra). Which is enough to destroy! Hooray!


The shadows themselves must be outraged by the ghost, they seem to bend as you pass, naturally flickering to best conceal you. You get the drop on your enemy, who doesn't have time to scream before suffering a fate much like the one dispatched by the old man with the freaking huge scythe and the glowing caste mark.


Chao takes a scratch to the face from her opponent, but her return strike is brutal, and the thing explodes, filling the air with a faint trace of ashes, giving the place an unpleasant acrid smell.


The inn is quiet again. Outside, the bells keep ringing, and the unfortunately familiar sound of a mother grieving over a lost son rises above the other shouts and orders.


Captain Takeo coughs, spitting out a bloody tooth, and raises himself on his elbows. "I knew you ladies were hiding something. Thanks for saving my sorry ass. Pasiap's granite balls, I need a drink..."


He flops down again with a grunt, and passes out.
 
The commotion outside seemed to leak under the door too slowly to be considered authentic. Adrenaline still pounded inside of Manna's brains, and the familiar twitching ache to do something more screamed against his muscles as they slowly relaxed. As he wrapped up his weapon, he felt like a junkie doing his best to starve off withdrawal symptoms. The desperate Exaltation trying its best to play Hero. Long inhale, followed by a short exhale, and Manna turned to the women as he crossed the room towards the Captain.


His hand reached up to his forehead and he made a sound of frustration as the glowing, golden light burned through the back of his hand, as if it wasn't even there in the first place. He radiated and glowed like a torch, more than bright enough to read by, which would conceal him to this Inn until it died down a bit. He twisted his lips thinking of the concept, his beard making the familiar scratch-scratch as it moved against itself, and he kneeled down to the wounded man.


"All out of essence. Still, I don't think they bleed, and he's likely to just sleep it off." A more prudent man might have rearranged the Captain or even carried him to a bedding someplace, but Manna simply stood up after his short inspection and moved towards the bar.


He took a seat, ran his hand through his hair, and helped himself to unattended spirits.


The liquid kind, of course.
 
There are few intact seats left, but behind the bar is still in good shape, and some decent spirits aren't hard to find. It crosses your mind that the bartender might not approve, but then again you did save most of his bar, and one of his best customers, so it'll probably work out.


Chao, caste mark glowing brightly, works out a kink in her shoulder, muttering something about momentum amplification and upgrading the stabilisation matrix, interspersed with "wankstain ghosts, that fucking stings" and similar expletives. She seats herself on the bar nearby Manna, swinging her legs, grabs a bar cloth to dab at the scratch at her face, sniffs it, recoils, and puts it back down. She snaps back to the present.


"That was interesting. The Skullstone guys must pack a load of ghosts into those... Crystal things, and when they shatter, boom, big pack of ghosts biting your face off." Her face hardens on remembering the destruction outside that just a few ghosts managed. "Horrible weapon. Once we get that Sword thing back on Nalon up and running I vote we nuke Onyx with it."


The noise outside calms down somewhat. If you listen for a while you can hear chanting. Nobody comes in. They're likely scared of what they'd find.
 
After a few moments of calming down and spewing out borderline-incoherent vitriol about the entire damn mess, Chao abruptly changed tracks and began to interpose musings on making her suit better at anti-spirit fighting... but mostly still the general stream of expletives and not-niceness. It was very important to make it quite clear to everyone in the vicinity that this shit was not kosher.


The whole "cut running across face" thing didn't really help, either. She was too worked up to really focus on using Exxxalted reality-warping hax to magically make it stop bleeding - not that she really knew how it worked in the first place, but that apparently sometimes if she really focused on ignoring the pain and trying to repair the wound with essence it stopped bleeding - and thus the constant thin line of blood that insisted on appearing every time she (tried) to wipe the last bit off was rapidly getting smeared across her face. It really didn't help that the line of blood had only barely missed one eye, and she was starting to worry that if she didn't find something to clear off the blood, she was going to end up getting a trickle of crimson directly into one eye.


And that would really just fuck up the day more than anything else so far.


Chao pondered trying to bum a drink off of the dude with the giant weapon-thing, but realized a few moments later that okay drinking was not going to help, plus after that experience with the [whatever] liquor earlier, with the memory business, she wasn't quite certain that drinking was going to help. Also she was sort of worried about getting drunk, because that really didn't seem like it would help much.


...Also, her cloak was now neatly shorn in two by the slash that had quite nearly cleaved her head in twain, leaving the dull crimson hue of her essence racing through the primary and secondary channels of her powersuit. It was very possible that people in the village had noticed when she'd rushed to the tavern faster than a human should have been able to move - it wasn't that she was worried about the captain per se, it was - well, not completely because of that. But the point was that disguise down, and at least the captain knew. Along with anyone else who put two and two together - two women run into tavern after small swarm of angry superghosts, Dragonblooded captain unconscious and battered, both women completely untouched and ghosts dead, along with signs of struggle.


The brunette momentarily pondered blaming the new dude, since he was the most obviously Solar, but quashed that thought a moment later. It'd just be kind of a douche move, and he hadn't done anything tremendously cuntish. Yet. Though if she found out that his hobby was punting kittens, she'd have to reconsider.


And then there was the issue of the captain, who was happily unconscious. Unhappily unconscious. She wasn't quite sure what unconscious people did while they were unconscious. Regardless, he didn't look to be in very good shape, not that she was enough of a doctor to actually gauge it. Note to self: become greatest physician ever. Filing the thought away on her (long) list of things to do or master or pummel or hit or hit on, Chao shifted uncomfortably, pondering what to do with the body. Err, no, Body. Bad word. He was still very much alive and would fucking stay that way or so help her Unconquered Sun there would be a reckoning.


...And no one was a field medic. Of course. She glanced about furtively, silently hoping that someone would magically appear and make everything better, but a drop of blood trickling down her forehead convinced the petite Solar to take action. For the good of the mission of course, nothing personal. Dutifully staving off her subconscious's barbed comments about what the "mission" might be, Chao hopped off the chair and slinked over to the unconscious captain. Okay, play it cool. Be cool about it. Be the coolest ever. "So. Uhm. I'm taking the captain to my bed. Uh, for rest. Also I need to find a towel that doesn't smell like ass and beer to wipe my head while I work on this blood-sealing doohickey. " Great segway there, no one will even notice the bed comment! "But if anyone happens to see any villagers, uh, it might be good if they could get like, a doctor or something. Because I don't know what to do with his chest. The cuts on it." besides stare at itshut up subconscious


Studiously avoiding looking anyone in the face, Chao grabbed the unconscious captain, slung him over one shoulder - the idea to carry him bridal-style did cross her mind, but the neurons responsible were summarily taken out back and executed - and shuffled off to the stairs, hoping that Kana had some good ideas, and a lot of them, to minimize the damage.


Or just that she didn't tease the younger Solar about it later. Chao wasn't sure which would be worse.


It turned out to be surprisingly easy to lift the captain and cart him upstairs, but being neither a doctor nor steel-nerved, she opted to dump him on top of the bed in a pose that looked vaguely like he was sleeping. If he was sleeping off several simultaneous bar-room brawls, which technically he was. That just left finding a towel of some sort - she was sure that there was one in the vicinity - and stripping to her bodysuit in order to polish the powersuit. It was a bit of a coping mechanism she'd developed some time ago; when there wasn't a whole lot to be doing, but she was still worked up about something, polishing the suit, buffing out marks, and tinkering with little things to try to slightly re-align essence channels or work out kinks was betetr than doing nothing.


[No real craft action, just making it pretty while waiting for captain to wake up/doc to show up/both in any order]
 
Kana nodded at Chao, and went over the situation in her head as she watched her fellow copper spider carry Takeo upstairs. The captain's ship brought surprises, fine that wasn't on Chao and Kana, but it was likely something they were going to need to worry about if they planned to use the captain's help. She had to wonder what Takeo was in to here though, those ghosts went straight for him, not the ship, not the bigger threat of three solars, and not the helpless town folk, well other than the ones in he way. Bigger problem, the new solar and Chao were both displaying their power fairly obviously now, and Takeo and the barkeep had both seen it.


Kana moved to the door and peeked outside.


--------------------------------


going to roll to see outside and maybe some int about how hurt people are.
 
For a moment, Manna was alone in the little bar, more or less, with the other islander sticking her head out the door. The building seemed to whine as the ninja--er, Kamen Rider--er, whatever she was--made her way through the building sporting her body armor and the full weight of a healthy muscular man slung over her shoulder.


As if he was made of nothing, noted the bemused archivist, watching the slinking motions of the two women moving away from him through the slightly foggy glass of his technically justforshow glasses. Two incredibly athletic Exalted women and one particularly charming Dragon sporting more wounds than he was due. The terms 'fair' and 'sporting' seemed to stop cleanly at games in Creation, and even then, it wasn't a common occurrence.


He took the long, careful drag straight from the bottle in such a familiar grace, it appeared that despite his earlier claims to not be much of a drinker, he had a solid history with it. A buzz danced around the edges of his impossibly intelligent brain as the chemicals danced about his essence, doing their best to intoxicate him. It wasn't the same as a mortal buzz, but Manna himself wouldn't risk finding or dipping into the Captain's exotic tastes any time soon.


First kisses always made him feel a bit melancholy, after all.


"Miss?" He said, directing his voice at the creeping shadow at the doorway. "If you could find me some tools, I'll tend to the Captain. The younger girl seems worried."


And with that, he shifted his weight from the bar and hoisted his weapon over his shoulder, following the earlier noises towards Chao's room. Without ceremony, he let himself inside, eyes focused on the man before drifting over towards the girl.


"Ah, you're indisposed." Eerily, he didn't avert his gaze until he was balancing the scythe against the wall, and moving over to the bedside, shaking his hands lightly and taking a seat next to the Captain. "With the suit, I thought you lacked femininity at all."


Backhanded comment, sure, but it was almost complimentary. With his easy speaking voice and dots in Appearance, it might be hard to be insulted by it.


Without shame, he started to undress the man with careful precision, like a child who collects wrapping paper. Medicine was an odd sort of science, especially in this room next to Chao's incredible piece of weaponry. While it seemed to be no problem to channel essence to kill something, healing arts were so rare in the world that even the normally self-confident Manna looked down at the wounds with a half-hearted worry. After all, the man was to be his 'in' in this port, and he'd have a hard time making friends now.


"I've asked the other to find me some tools. Clean water would be a fantastic boon." A soft cough into his fist, a weird chesty cough that seemed to hint at some disease. He used the motion to take off his glasses and reveal a surprisingly youthful face. He wasn't the old man his skin and fair seemed to define.


"I was hoping his natural essence would patch his wounds." Almost sexually, he traced his fingers against the Captain's chest, then looked over at the girl. "If you would stop messing with that, you would realize you don't actually bleed. That blood on your face is a lot like a mortal bruising."
 
Kana:


An impromptu funeral is taking place outside. Most peoples' attention is focused on that. The rites are a mix of prayers to gods of the sea, the sun moon and stars, and Danaa'd the Water Dragon. An Immaculate Monk would have a fit if they could see it. Maybe half a dozen people are limping or holding an injured limb, but they all look like minor injuries. The owner of the cart that veered off into the water has climbed out, although his donkey wasn't so lucky, the weight of the cart dragging it down to the bottom.


A small group of men and women armed with spears and tridents, presumably the town's militia, are watching the tavern with trepidation. In the middle of them is an old woman dressed in a ragtag collection of items, dangling rabbit's feet and prayer beads and little glass vials. She's mumbling to herself. OOC: Perception+Awareness or Linguistics to figure out what she's saying


Manna, Chao:


The rooms in the nameless tavern are much better maintained than the bar downstairs. They're at least as good as your rooms in the Dragon's Arse further uphill. Chao has no trouble finding an empty one and depositing the young man on the large bed. The overall scene would be somewhat sexier if Takeo wasn't covered in open wounds and staining the silk sheets with his blood, although the worst of the bleeding has stopped and his breathing seems steady. His eyes flicker open as he is dropped on the bed, and he cracks a smile when he registers Chao's presence.


His voice is soft, broken up with grunts of pain. "Ship was... Was sinking fast. I... Couldn't spare the time to look for... For leftover ghosts or we all... All would have died. If they'd killed me, then the... Crew would have been next. Clever of them to wait until I was spent."


When Manna makes his entrance. Takeo tries to sit up, winces, and thinks better of it. "Argh. Another minute or two and they'd have had me. Thank you. All of you. Saved my crew. Saved me. I- ow!- I owe you one."


OOC: No roll needed to know his wounds need binding and/or stitches. He'll live without them, but he'll be on his feet way faster with a bit of TLC. Dexterity+Medicine roll for Manna, please. And a Perception+Awareness roll from Chao.
 
Kana scanned the crowed quickly for any lingering ghosts and then focused on the old woman. If the others were safely upstairs, it might be ok to show people things had calmed down in here... but what about the barkeeper.


----------------------------------------------------------------


Perc+Aware = 9 dice


Kana rolled the following on her 9 dice:


6, 5, 3, 10, 3, 5, 4, 8, 1


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 3 successes.
 
Kana:


The woman, now that you focus on her, is glowing ever-so faintly. She must be using thaumaturgy, her muttering resembles some form of warding ritual against the dead, not totally familiar, probably flavoured heavily by local customs and history. You see her chant, then touch a militia member, then chant the same words before touching another, and so on. They must think the hungry ghosts are still in there with you. She finishes up quickly enough and the militia, more than a little nervous, makes its way towards the door. The old woman calls out "Spirits! If you yet linger here, come out and face me! By the saltwater blood of our ancestors I command it!"


You can feel a compulsive power in her words, but it is meant for the spirits you dispatched, and doesn't affect you. However, your enhanced sight can see the immaterial and badly damaged forms of the creatures you just put down coalesce in front of the little group, subdued and silent. She continues speaking.


"And so you appear. Now... What's this? Dispelled? All of you? Unexpected. But fortunate. In the name of the Ocean Father..."


She launches into a banishment ritual. The ghosts writhe in front of her, looking terrified, straining madly against whatever invisible bonds hold them, but in the end they fade away to nothing. The woman is silent for a moment before sighing and sagging from the effort of a mortal channelling essence.


"It is done. Those spirits will not come again. It was made easier by whoever fought and defeated their physical forms. If there is anyone still alive in there, I think you should aid them. Well go on then, boys and girls, there are no more ghosts to worry about, I can make my own way back..."
 
Relaxing, Kana stepped back and cautiously opened the door so as not to alarm any of the edgy militia men. Pausing to take a breath of fresh air she opens the doors wider to let the acrid smell dissipate and stows her weapons. Watching a moment for the crowd's reaction, she moves back inside to find the tools requested.


-------------------------


Dropping Ebon Shadow Form before opening the door.


Looking for clean towels and other generic "healing tools" aka Kana has no idea about the details...


She's going to try to keep people from getting upstairs as well.


Perc + aware = 9 dice: find tools/notice anyone trying to slip unstairs


Kana rolled the following on her 9 dice:


8, 8, 8, 9, 6, 3, 6, 5, 1


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 4 successes.
 
[OOC: oh god for some reason I thoguht we were in the old inn, hence the mention of "her" room. MY BAD. going to play it off in-character as Chao being a bit disoriented and confused and more focused on Captain Hunkalicious than minor details such as whether or not she was breaking into someone else's room or you know any of that boring shit]


Chao almost snapped back a vicious retort at the backhanded comment, but managed to restrain herself when she realized that it was A. sort of a sideways compliment mixed with the borderline-insult, and B. the dude actually wasn't that horrible looking, and not quite as old as she'd assumed he was. Or... maybe he was, but just didn't look it? Exalted apparently aged slower, or at least didn't die as fast - Chao wasn't quite certain which was more accurate, having not cared enough to significantly research the vile Anathema before Exaltation, but suspected that Exaltation acted as an aging retardant - she loved that word. hurr hurr retardant - but couldn't "cure" aging.


Said hypothesis seemed to fit the facts so far, but then she hadn't actually met any legitimately old Solar Exalted, so she wasn't sure if it cured senility. Though this dude, umm, whatever his name was, seemed to be... middle aged? Though not bad looking. Definitely not senile. And prone to... staring. Chao had the fortitude to avoid blushing, but suddenly found polishing her armor very interesting until the elder Exalt moved on to the captain, at which point the pretense dropped pretty quickly in favor of surreptitiously watching. But replace "surreptitiously" with "pretty obvious to anyone but her." And occasional quiet mumbling about how the suit was sexy. Whether she was referring to its appearance or revealing her not-so-inner technophile tendencies was difficult to ascertain. She didn't care to ponder which was more accurate. Or why she was turning into a giggling schoolgirl every time someone who didn't particularly resemble ass showed up. That was something else she did not care to ponder.


Fortunately, the good captain happily ruined the awkward moment with an interjection that very very very quickly got Chao's attention and attentiveness. Unfortunately, she had absolutely no idea how to respond to it. It sounded vaguely like an excuse, but she wasn't sure who he was trying to convince - them, or himself? Or maybe she was looking too far into it. Doing her best to look happy and friendly and not too worried, she managed to levy an unsteady smile at him before grasping for words.


"Uhm. It all worked out. In the end, I mean. I don't think any of the sailors were seriously hurt, when the shard exploded everyone was behind cover, or, um" Godless Anathema that could apparently stem bleeding whenever they fucking felt like it if they knew how "made it through alright? But we took care of them all. So all you have to do is rest. For a bit. But you'll be okay, right?" A note of desperation snuck into her voice, which Chao subconsciously noted as being very pathetic. Stumbling for words, she opted to reply to Manna, which went about as well as everything else today. "Umm. Thanks. I think. And I don't know magic. Or healing. Stuff."


The sentences came out, halting and hesitant. She hated not being able to DO anything. With the ghosts, at least she'd been able to hit them; now, she was just... sitting there, in a room that she - very belatedly - realized was not hers and not even in the building she'd originally thought they were in. Not her brightest moment, but then she'd been kind of a lot focused on Captain Takeo's plight and less on the whole common sense thing.


That seemed to be a constant lately. ...Well, both of them. Which left her feel vaguely like she was betraying Azure, which was completely stupid because he didn't even like her that way so anything like this was one-sided and childish at best, which unfortunately did little to set her mind in order. Hurm. Chao resolved to science her brains out tonight. Science always solved everything, generally with explosions or invisibility followed by explosion. Which reminded her, she really had to work that stealth matrix idea she'd had earlier into the suit... maybe if she worked a lattice of essence around the suit and managed to reflect the input from one side of the body to the output from the other, it would be able to effectively "stealth" her by simply turning her body into a really big double-paned window of sorts, albeit one that magically moved light from one pane to the other without actually going through the intervening space. Maybe with a link to Elsewhere or a small-scale closed space... but then they were getting into power issues, and that would require more sorcery than she knew right now.


Bad mood momentarily forgotten, Chao was jerked back into reality by the man talking again. Eager to do something, she popped up from her seat, powersuit momentarily forgotten, but paused at his second comment. That didn't make sense. Well, it did, but it didn't. It'd definitely been bleeding for a bit, but he was right, sometimes the bleeding just stopped really fast when she focused on it. ...And she'd be damned if he wasn't right, it HAD stopped bleeding sometime in the past minute. "Uh. Is "not bleeding for long" an Anathema thing? Because sometimes I can get abrasions and incisions to stop bleeding almost instantly, and sometimes they go on for a bit, but I haven't quite pinpointed how it works. Though I suspect essence. But it doesn't work when I try to do it to other people."


It probably didn't help that she was positively glowing after the captain's last few words - OF THAT SENTENCE DAMMIT he wasn't dying - so her expression was an odd combination of pensive and glee as she wandered off to try to find some fresh water. These guys had to have running water soemwhere in the room... right?
 
Kana:


The militia visibly flinches as one entity when the door opens, but on seeing you they relax, and there's a little smalltalk labelling you as one of the heroes that sorted out the abductions yesterday. Their leader stops at the door and bows deeply before asking you if you need any assistance. Simply asking them not to go upstairs is enough, they clearly hold your recent deeds in high regard. In fact they offer to cordon the place off for you so nobody else gets in.


One of their number is a healer (well, what passes for one among these relatively unskilled people), and is only too happy to provide you with some healing balm, fishbone needles and thread (possibly catgut, possibly some plant with thin strong fibres) and a couple of clean bandages.


Chao:


Takeo starts to laugh but his chest wounds force him to stop. "I've had worse, lass, believe it or not. Ow. Although right now I can't recall exactly when. I'll be off my feet for a while, but I'll be fine, thanks to you." He winks.


The rooms don't quite have running water, but checking around reveals a silver jug of water that looks and smells fresh (from the little puddle spilled on the tray and in nearby cups it's obvious someone was drinking it recently) and a quarter-bottle of what looks like water but smells like the kind of spirits you only ever saw your family drink at special occasions.
 
Kana thanked the militia leader for his timely arrival, but suggested that it might be best to have them leave a few men around this building and use the rest to search for any ghosts that might have escaped. She mentions something about wanting to make sure they didn't leave any surprises in the building.


She carefully gathered the supplies and regreted that she didn't have any cowries left to compensate the healer with. Nodding to the militia leader and thanking the healer, Kana retreated up the stairs to see how the wounded were doing.


"I managed to collect a few supplies from a local healer, hopefully they will help."
 
"I can speed the process," Manna said, looking over the tools Kana had provided, giving a small look of approval.


Manna wasn't exactly the doctor his Exaltation might lead one to believe, and in fact danced around the same knowledge as a typical mortal, but a large amount of pride sat in the way of admitting that it might be best to find a more skilled man. And, then again, it was a simple sewing and bandaging scenario, even Chao's crafting ability would sit at home here. It wasn't exactly like he could mess this up, or so he thought.


He splashed a bit of the alcohol he had been drinking on his hands and the needles, and sat to work.

Code: 
Rolled 5 dice, got 9 8 7 5 4.  Three successes.  I really want a dice roller that makes it easier to link my rolls. =/

http://www.miketilly.com/exalted/diceroller.html is what I'm using now, sometimes http://www.voidstate.com/rpg/roller.htm.   Any suggestions?
 
Captain Takeo grimaces occasionally as Manna stitches him up. About half an hour later, the worst of the injuries are treated. Chances are the scarring will be negligible, thanks to some deft needlework and the general toughness of the Chosen. Takeo gently flexes his left arm, seeing what the limits on his movement are for now, and seems satisfied. From his sitting position on the bed he bows to you all.


"So... saved by a group of Solars. This is interesting, isn't it just. Thanks for not killing me outright. I got no problems with you folks. Whether it was out of the goodness of your hearts or not, I owe you a big favour. So, as soon as the Yanaze Empress is repaired, you're all welcome to transport, no charge. In the mean time, I'll check my contacts, see if I can find anything from that shopping list you ladies gave me earlier. It'll be a while before I can go swinging a daiklave, but if there's anything else I can do for you, ask. I take my debts very seriously."
 
Kana nodded to the captain, "We got here just in time it seems, they seem to have been contained in a bone fragment that stowed away on your ship." Turning to the others she continued, "We have a bit of time to figure out how we want to do this, I told the militia to search the town for any other ghosts, and leave a few to make sure no one came upstairs under the pretense we were making sure it was safe. It would seem our new friend can take care of himself, Chao. I suppose, knowing what you are, it is only right to include you in our endeavor." Smiling warmly at Manna, Kana takes a moment to rest on the edge of a bed and examine her weapons for damage or grime.
 
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