Realm Reactions for Haku's Anathema! game

[Haku1]

Okay... I R ST.  :twisted:


And if you're a player in my Anathema! game, please read no further lest Gaia frown and declares "Firery Rocks Fall from the Heavens and EVERYONE dies.".


Spoiler bar aside...


Recently my players have done... something either incredible stupid or epic. Or possibly both.  :lol:


To date, my PCs are fearsome anathema, grown potent on essence harvested from the Sun. They have survived the Wyld Hunts that the Empress and the Immaculate Order called forth on their kind. It also helps that there are about 500 (minus their 5) solar anathema out there.


So catching word of a legion marshalling for soldiers, worthy heroes to deal with a circle of anathema up north, and their entralled followers, they struck first.


Using poison, stealth and foul magics... devastated a legion, captured a number of strange warstriders and converted the general of the legion (one Tepet Lissara) into an enslaved thrall with fearsome magics.


Deciding that they needed a base, they struck a deal with the Council of Entities in Nexus for ownership of the Wyld region in Fire-wander. And after a rather long and protracted struggle, they conquered it and returned it to Creation... while creating a race of mutants, dark elves they're called.


Next, they did a recruiting storm, and managed to get up an unsavory legion of mercenaries, as well as summoning up a few 2nd circle demons.


They headed up north... for the Empress and the Realm had pressed the attack against the circle of anathema up north and were successful in destroying their army and capturing said circle of anathema.


They figured that no one would think that ANOTHER circle of anathema would attack several victorious legions.


So, they laid seige to the city of Cherak, where the legions were canvassing and preparing to return to the Realm with their spoils of war and war equipment...


Needless to say, the battle was nice and epic... down to the failed assassination attempt made on Mela reincarnated (starry eyes version), before Mela got croaked when the bugger was facing a dawn, and Octavion (dematerialized) AND had a Night-caste do a fly-by beheading from behind.


More drama and stuff... including looting of the city and running off as Cherak explodes due to a cascading essence feed-back in the central manse of the city...


*boom*


So, how would The Scarlet Empress and the Realm react to this slap in the face? Especially given that the Solar anathema left behind survivors who've -seen- their faces and stuff.


Edit - Mind you, I've got at the very lest "Remember Cherak!" and such reactions, much like the US had their 9/11, Pearl Harbour, Lusitania reactions.

 

[Persell]

So... how many legions are that devastated here? Half a dozen?


And I got you right, the empress is still sitting on that throne of hers in the sword of creation?


If the answer to all of the above is yes, she probably gets ketchup chopstick himself to pinpoint the location of the anathema on the loom of fate and afterwards the anathema need an umbrealla, a fireproof one, 'cause honestly, she probably sees the threat your circle presents probably on the same level as a full fair folk invasion.


So, in short, everyone dies.


Now, that is probably not a very epic thing if your players do not have any defenses against that and simply spoiling the legions they worked so hard for would be a tad unfair, too.


So, the empress does not just let the sword of creation do its thing, of course she first sends an ambassador who brings an ultimatum: surrender or die by fire in x days or hours. X being the most dramatic opportune timespan. If your players can teleport to the imperial manse and stop the sword of creation there. X is a few hours. If your players need to bring to bear a massive counterattack with their legions into the imperial city (a burning byzanthine capitol is something everyone should have in their chronicle, really!) then x is the number of days they need to shop everything over to the imperial city. Or flee, in case they are boring cowards. ^^ (or intelligent people, depending on your viewpoint...)


Anyway, at this point the empress surely will involve the sword or she will cry out "fate ninjas to the rescue!!!" and chopstick himself will put on his suit of the unseen assassin.

 

[Haku1]

So... how many legions are that devastated here? Half a dozen?
And I got you right, the empress is still sitting on that throne of hers in the sword of creation?


If the answer to all of the above is yes, she probably gets ketchup chopstick himself to pinpoint the location of the anathema on the loom of fate and afterwards the anathema need an umbrealla, a fireproof one, 'cause honestly, she probably sees the threat your circle presents probably on the same level as a full fair folk invasion.


So, in short, everyone dies.


Now, that is probably not a very epic thing if your players do not have any defenses against that and simply spoiling the legions they worked so hard for would be a tad unfair, too.


So, the empress does not just let the sword of creation do its thing, of course she first sends an ambassador who brings an ultimatum: surrender or die by fire in x days or hours. X being the most dramatic opportune timespan. If your players can teleport to the imperial manse and stop the sword of creation there. X is a few hours. If your players need to bring to bear a massive counterattack with their legions into the imperial city (a burning byzanthine capitol is something everyone should have in their chronicle, really!) then x is the number of days they need to shop everything over to the imperial city. Or flee, in case they are boring cowards. ^^ (or intelligent people, depending on your viewpoint...)


Anyway, at this point the empress surely will involve the sword or she will cry out "fate ninjas to the rescue!!!" and chopstick himself will put on his suit of the unseen assassin.

Alas, it was only 2+ legions. But yes... much embaressment for the Realm. And yes, Her Redness is STILL on the throne. And the circle has their base of operations in Nexus, in the former wyld zone, which they've renovated...


It now comes with a few shogunate style workshops, a manse that may have spiffy defenses (no one really knows what it packs, but the twilight was cackling like a madman when he was raising it with wyld-shaping).


Also, while in theory, she could nuke them... it would also do a great deal of damage to the Realm, and a fair bit of the threshold as per the -last- time she nuked people with the Defense Grid.


As for the sids pinpointing them... they've got some pinpointing... but no confirmation completely yet on what resources the circle could bring to bear.


As for invading the Realm... I figure that should be the end-game bit. Because once you've conquered the Realm, there isn't much you can't do... cause, you've now got the magic button of smite!.


Thus far, I've got deals being made... because oddly enough, the eastern -fey- are pissed off and rightfully scared of the PCs... possibly scared enough to strike a deal with Her Redness. I'm not sure if that's even possible.


And it should also be mentioned that while the Twilight is NOT an infernal or akuma, he's on good relation with 2nd circle demon, to the point of having her as his mentor. Yes, he likes the demon-summoning. He's also agreed to dedicate a few manses to her and her Yozi primogenitor when he does raise more. :lol:


The Dawn is being swapped out by the player, because he got tired of nuking armies on his own... he's switching the Forsaken Nightmare for a lunar assassin/mercenary (whose been hired by a 'starry-eyed' Sextes Jylis, whose also been pointing a number of assassins at the circle).


But I figure army assembling might be done by the Empress pointing them at Nexus and their stronghold...

 

[Haku1]

*does the bump a thread dance*


Anyone have any suggestions? From the Realm, the IO, the Sids, the Infernalists to the deadites?


QQ

 

[Xiwo Xerase]

Hmm.  All thoughts are based on the way I envision the Exalted world and I reserve the right to be, well, flat out wrong.


It is definitely in the Realm's best interest (according to the Realm) to regain the face it has lost at Cherak.  On the other hand, making the next move militarily doesn't make much sense, not unless the Empress has many more legions she can throw at the problem.


Assuming that the Empress knows that the circle's base of operations is in Nexus, striking overtly and militarily at the players and their legion is likely to be difficult.  With their stuff set up in Nexus, you'll end up with another Realm vs. River Confederacy war if the Realm tries to move directly against Nexus.  (Not to mention what the Emissary and the Council of Entities might have to say about that.)


Using the Sword of Creation is a grand way to take care of the problem but it's also, well, pretty final unless the characters have some sort of defense.  It strikes me as a "Rocks fall, everyone dies" sort of thing.  On the other hand, if the characters do have some sort of defense and emerge from the effects of the Sword of Creation relatively unscathed, the Empress is going to really be in a bind.


To neutralize the circle, the Realm (and other interested players) want to isolate them first and prevent them from gaining further allies.


One of the first things I would do as the Realm would be to start a trade war with the Guild.  Block the Guild from Greyfalls and lean heavily on satrapies to cease their trading with the Guild.  After all, the Guild is Nexus and Nexus is helping the Anathema.  They could hire mercs through the shadows to harass Guild caravans further throughout the Hundred Kingdoms and beyond.


Assuming the Empress has enough troops left, the legions should be deployed defensively, some of them in the Threshold.  The troops in the Threshold also serve to pressure the satrapies to stay in line.  Should any satrapy decide to align itself with the Anathema, assign a legion or three to go to the satrapy and raze it to the ground tastefully.  (I.e. do as much damage as possible for effect while making sure that anything you damage can be fixed relatively quickly.)


Another bit the Realm and IO can do is advertise the circle's Twilight's dalliance with the demon.  Especially when/if the Twilight starts raising manse in the name of his demon mentor and the yozi.  It doesn't even have to be true, just plausibly true.  Hit on the Twilight associating himself with his demon mentor and then you can go to the Twilight being an infernalist or serving the yozi and, by extension, you can make the whole circle infernalists or that sort of thing.  (Like it or not, the Realm still has the best PR infrastructure in Creation.  And I'm sure the Bronze Faction would help out here.)


Sending assassins towards the circle is a viable idea as well.  I'm sure the Forest Spiders would be interested in the challenge of such a kill.  On the other hand, they might evaluate the contract as not being worth the risk.


As far as the other powers of Creation:


Lunars: One of the particular anti-Solar Lunars might do something like bring the Arc-whatever Horde back to the Hundred Kingdoms and use that to try to draw out the PCs and their legion.  Depending on how devastating the Horde is, this could give the Realm an opportunity to wage war on the PCs and/or the River Confederacy afterwards.


Sidereals: I don't see them doing much beyond what the Realm would do.  But I'm admittedly not familiar with them or their agendas.


Deathlords: One of the northern Deathlords may take an interest in the now-weakened Cherak.  If there's one who feels that they need to prove themselves versus what Mask of Winters has done at Thorns, they might mobilize.  If the players were careless enough to leave behind enough to create a shadowland, this is more likely.


Fair Folk: I'm hard-pressed to figure out how to mobilize the fae against the circle, even if they are pissed off.  Well, I imagine they could form a legion and fling themselves at the circle but that seems like a waste.  


Lookshy: I can't see Lookshy being thrilled with an Anathema legion on their doorstep, especially if they buy into the Realm's PR.

 

[Haku1]

Thanks for your reply Xiwo...


And yes, the sword is very much a final solution... and one that might not work... ;


Military operations could also result in bad/interesting reactions from the conferderation... unless invited in. mmmh....


And Cherak is simply gone... much like you get Gem ending up "gone" in a number of exalted settings. But a deathlord might go for it.


Thorns has not happened yet, mainly because... the Empress is still around.


As for leaning on the Guild... the money option is one I hadn't thought on... but would be effective.


The Realm's IO PRing on the twilight... well... that's not TOO difficult. He IS an 'unclean'... that's what they do, right?


Lookshy... I'll need to also think about that, but they've got issues of their own...

 

[Xiwo Xerase]

And Cherak is simply gone... much like you get Gem ending up "gone" in a number of exalted settings. But a deathlord might go for it.

I don't believe that a city just vanish.  Removing a city from the setting creates a vacuum of sorts.  You can leave ruins... or do really nasty things with it.


Unfortunately, I have no access to the 1e books at all so I have no idea how a shadowland is created.  If it's feasible that a shadowland could appear at Cherak, let it happen.  I'm sure there's a deathlord who'd appreciate the new easy access to Creation.

As for leaning on the Guild... the money option is one I hadn't thought on... but would be effective.

The one thing that bothers me with this option is that I believe one of the 2e books (either Scavenger Lands, the DB book, or Blessed Isle -- I don't have access to anything right now since I'm not home) mentions that there was a past trade wars between the Guild and the Realm and the Guild didn't come out too badly in these.


I don't see what would be too different about this one.


Unless the Realm goes to great lengths.  For example, the Realm could stage something at Chiaroscuro that either leads it to being a Realm holding or otherwise discrediting the Guild.  If the Guild has no access to Chiaroscuro, that'll limit their ability to trade with the rest of the South, particularly Gem.


The slave trade with the fae is another moneymaker for the Guild.  If the Realm is willing to subsidize trading mortal slaves with the fae, they might be able to undercut the Guild.  On the other hand, the fae may not care and just buy both shipments.


What would really help the Realm would be having someone loyal to the Realm high up in the Guild's organization but I'm pretty sure the Guild's gotten pretty good at weeding out spies.  (Otherwise, I'm sure the Realm would be a bigger player in Guild politics and activities.)

The Realm's IO PRing on the twilight... well... that's not TOO difficult. He IS an 'unclean'... that's what they do, right?

Right!  And they have easy proof in his mentor!


You could even have the PR go to the point of suggesting that they're going to try to raise a legion of demon-blooded half-castes to conquer Creation but that might be stretching it just a little.

Lookshy... I'll need to also think about that, but they've got issues of their own...

Of the River Confederacy, Lookshy is probably the nation most likely to buy into the Realm/IO PR.  Granted, they may take it with a grain of salt but if someone can prove that there's a group of infernalist Solars building a legion loyal to them and the yozis, Lookshy isn't going to be too pleased.

 

[Haku1]

And Cherak is simply gone... much like you get Gem ending up "gone" in a number of exalted settings. But a deathlord might go for it.

I don't believe that a city just vanish.  Removing a city from the setting creates a vacuum of sorts.  You can leave ruins... or do really nasty things with it.

Ah... I mean gone as in... a 'second sun' blossomed upon the surface of Creation, leaving nothing but a glassy crater behind. Multiple manses exploding at the same time can be... bad.

Unfortunately' date=' I have no access to the 1e books at all so I have no idea how a shadowland is created.  If it's feasible that a shadowland could appear at Cherak, let it happen.  I'm sure there's a deathlord who'd appreciate the new easy access to Creation.[/quote']
*nodnods* The dead have plans... terrible plans for Creation.

As for leaning on the Guild... the money option is one I hadn't thought on... but would be effective.

The one thing that bothers me with this option is that I believe one of the 2e books (either Scavenger Lands, the DB book, or Blessed Isle -- I don't have access to anything right now since I'm not home) mentions that there was a past trade wars between the Guild and the Realm and the Guild didn't come out too badly in these.


I don't see what would be too different about this one.


Unless the Realm goes to great lengths.  For example, the Realm could stage something at Chiaroscuro that either leads it to being a Realm holding or otherwise discrediting the Guild.  If the Guild has no access to Chiaroscuro, that'll limit their ability to trade with the rest of the South, particularly Gem.


The slave trade with the fae is another moneymaker for the Guild.  If the Realm is willing to subsidize trading mortal slaves with the fae, they might be able to undercut the Guild.  On the other hand, the fae may not care and just buy both shipments.


What would really help the Realm would be having someone loyal to the Realm high up in the Guild's organization but I'm pretty sure the Guild's gotten pretty good at weeding out spies.  (Otherwise, I'm sure the Realm would be a bigger player in Guild politics and activities.)

It is something I'll need to think about...

The Realm's IO PRing on the twilight... well... that's not TOO difficult. He IS an 'unclean'... that's what they do' date=' right?[/quote']
Right!  And they have easy proof in his mentor!


You could even have the PR go to the point of suggesting that they're going to try to raise a legion of demon-blooded half-castes to conquer Creation but that might be stretching it just a little.

*laughs* It would... unless he really does go ahead and create an atlier-manse designed to pump out demon-blooded.

Lookshy... I'll need to also think about that' date=' but they've got issues of their own...[/quote']
Of the River Confederacy, Lookshy is probably the nation most likely to buy into the Realm/IO PR.  Granted, they may take it with a grain of salt but if someone can prove that there's a group of infernalist Solars building a legion loyal to them and the yozis, Lookshy isn't going to be too pleased.

*nods* Lookshy is a wild card... with tons of magitech. Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!