Shadows of the Setting Sun (Main)

[D. Rex]

Afureru left her army behind, where they could try to keep dry under the canopy of the forest. They weren't worried for her safety, as she was a battlegroup by her lonesome.


As for the solar herself, Afureru knew perfectly well that her method of approach would frighten them. The slight smile that was one her lips hinted that she was likely taking some joy in it. After Whitewall and those other two, it was nice to meet some people with the wisdom to know when to be afraid.

"What are they going to do? Stop us? If i wish to get near them. I will." She declared to Makuro, actually preferring if those in the camp heard.


She looked over at the scared people with wry grin, "We want nothing from you. You are just a group we have happened upon. And we have no desire to harm you. In fact, I am mean to give you aid."


Afureru turned to look at Makuro, "my purpose here is clear. There are things on the other side of this bridge that are begging to be destroyed. I for one, will answer that call and be glad to grant that request."

"Be it God or storm, let the river take heed." She let down her hood and began to summon her essence, the caste mark of the Dawn beginning to glow brilliantly on her forehead. "If an angry god refuses to bow, then we will force it. If nature proves stubborn, then we will be even more stubborn and let it break its lapping waves on our determination."

With her caste mark lighting her path, Afureru turned her mount to the bridge and began making her way there, to see just how angry this river was. To if this force of nature could stand against the force of heavens.

 

[Random Word]

"I am Sigrdrífa Tyrsdohtriz, Champion of Snow Leopard. Fuck your angry river and fuck your plague walkers. Tell me your Totem so I can give your people rites."

Once they answer she nods, strides into the forest, and uproots eight of the largest trees she can find, turning them against a stone like a lathe to remove the branches and lashing seven of them together with cured sinew and treated hide gathered from the animals she's killed along the journey into a makeshift tyrant lizard sized shield/emergency raft, reserving the eighth and largest as a river bashing club/oar. Two minutes of smashing, crashing, and protesting wood later she emerges from the forest with the shield-raft over one shoulder and the club-oar over the other and sets out for the bridge, giving Afureru a nod to indicate she's ready to go if Afureru hasn't already crossed.

If the river attempts to knock her from the bridge with a wave she will drop the shield, angle it away from the oncoming water, and brace herself beneath it, deflecting the waters around anyone beside her. If she gets knocked off she'll ride the raft and plant the oar on the bottom of the river to push the raft towards the far shore.

[Let me know if you want me to roll for this. Sigrdrifa has Craftsman Needs No Tools and Nine Aeons Thew, so the question isn't really whether she can so much as how much essence she has to spend to do it. Anyone else crazy enough to want to try to cross the river on foot is welcome to stand behind the shield.]

 

[Sherwood]

Tyree moves forward to address the woman. "We are not your enemies, so put your heart at ease. It may be possible for us to help you, if you can tell us more about what has befallen you. How is it that there is an unknown plague spreading about? What do you know of the river spirit here, and why is it so angry?"

 

[Rykon]

"I believe 'in for a shekel, in for a bar' is the common phrase the merchants would say. I might be misremembering, they never did last long in a raid. Anyhow, if you want names, I am Toun Whitefang, ascended to the mantle of totem god of the northern fox tribe." He said with a shrug. "Looks like it's time for us to get to work one way or another."

The divine hunter takes a moment to stretch his limbs and crack his knuckles. Once he was satisfied his shape blurred into a luminous silhouette and rewove itself into a gargantuan chitin fortress, the leviathan Karkinos. As the circle marched behind Sigrdrifa's shield wall, he used his own armored body to form the roof of the phalanx and direct the flow of current overhead. Were an aquatic spirit to retaliate they would not be spared from the wrath of his pincers either.

Spoiler

Activating Towering Beast Form for the legendary-sized sea crab shape. No flaring at this time, so personal motes are basically shot now.

 

[jaydude]

"You do know that we don't yet know exactly what we're dealing with, right?"

Leaving Afureru, Sigrdrífa and Toun to advance on the river, Makuro decided to stay with Tyree as she questioned the apparent refugees. If there was to be fighting, he figured he was close enough to respond reasonably quickly.

 

[D. Rex]

Afureru would of course wait for any comrades who shared the same spirit of action as she.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Aeliana, the Evervictor

The spike in action was enough to bring Aeliana back to reality from her torpor. While not quite certain what was going on, her ears not attuned to the languages of so many foreigners speaking. Grinning and turning her head to watch each of her Exalted kin give their introductions, Aeliana waits then of course, leaps forward to flare her anima, bellowing her name.

“Behold! The Embodiment of Sun, the Powerful, the Virtuous, the Champion of the Southern Realms, The Evervictor, Aeliana”

Flaring her anima once more, she strikes and holds a pose just long enough to make it awkward before breaking and turning to the nearest.

“Have they come to convert? We could always use more followers...kind of sickly looking but nothing a good meal and a show wouldn’t fix.”

 

[Sherwood]

Tyree covers her face with her hand, fully expecting the people to go running away in terror at the sudden appearance of Essence users. As if the Tyrant Lizard wasn't bad enough, now the people are faced with Exalts.

 

[Esbilon]

Zoya knows well that her new travelling companions are rather different than the people she has met previously in her life - even more different than Mournful Chalice, the only other Exalt she knows - and so it is not intellectually a surprise to her that their behavior is also different than what she would expect from other people. That intellectual expectation does absolutely nothing to stop her from being downright flabbergasted by their actual deeds.

Trying desperately to hang on to her sanity, she instead addresses the scarred woman: "do you know where you contracted this plague?"

 

[WlfSamurai]

As Afureru rides forward with her caste mark glistening on her forehead and she gives her speech, the icewalkers cry out, gasp, or scream. The ten or so armed men and women break for the camp.

The scarred woman's jaw tenses, her eyes widen. She takes a few steps backward in shock. She answers Sigrdrífa's question absent-mindedly. "White Elk. Tribe."

The camp erupts in commotion. Those who can move draw everyone together to one of the hovels. They cover those who are too sick to move with their bodies to protect them. Those paying attention see that most of the camp is sick or dying as they scramble to get away.

A few of the "guards" bolt into the woods to save themselves.

Tyree's initial words make the scarred woman hesitate and listen. "We—" she manages before mouthing words that fail. "There is much that has happened. We don't know why the river is angry. We assumed it was because we dumped the plague-walkers over the side of the bridge when we had bested them."

When Toun shifts into massive sea crab form and Aeliana flares her anima, the scarred woman drops her spear and falls to her knees. "Please, do not hurt us. If you do require a sacrifice, take me. Spare the rest. They are sick and dying. Let them have peace. I beg you." She lowers her head in submission.

At Zoya's question, she answers without looking up from the ground. "Our tribe raided what we thought was the Mammoth tribe. We were wrong. They were the plague-walkers—corrupted people. Bloated. Carriers of the plague. The rest was chaos after that. We may be all that's left. We were separated from the other survivors."

Meanwhile, on the bridge, when you get almost halfway across, the river surges up like a tidal wave and holds above you, threatening.

Toun, here you can see the faint outline of a spirit deep in the river a good distance away (extreme range) to the north.

As you continue forward, the river explodes toward you.

Spoiler: OOC/Mechanics

This applies only to the people ON the bridge.

This will be treated as an Environmental Hazard, difficulty 5 to mitigate with Dexterity + Dodge. If not mitigated, it is considered a decisive attack with 6L damage dice. Sigrdrífa can cover anyone, EVEN a fucking Godzilla-sized crab, but if she fails, she fails for everyone. If you want to get behind her, write it out as an action and you don't have to roll.

Obviously, stunts (you know, like a big-ass raft-shield or turning into a fucking Godzilla-sized crab) can allow you use other rolls like parry. Just describe what you're doing and how with a roll.

EDIT: Also, hardness does not apply as this is considered an Environmental Hazard.

 

[jaydude]

Makuro raised his hands again. "I do not believe any of my companions will be interested in harming you." he assured the plague-stricken refugees, before the sound of surging water drew his attention to the river. Unable to help himself, he turned to watch as the wave rose up, then crashed down upon the bridge.

"Speaking of, I fear that our friends might need some help." he said, turning to look at Aeliana, Tyree and Zoya. He wanted to know their opinions before heading off.

 

[Sherwood]

Tyree rolls her eyes in exasperation. "It would seem that our companions are hell-bent on getting into a fight with the river spirit. I doubt that they will need any assistance against just one pesky godling. I am going to try and calm these people, and talk with them. If a fight does break out that requires my assistance, we are all in trouble, because the others are more than fair in a fight, and anything that will put them on the run is not something that we wish to tangle with."

Turning back to the woman in front of her, she says, "You have steel in you to be able to face such adversity and not crumble. Use that steel to calm your people, and reassure them that we are not here to harm them, but instead, will offer up assistance to their plight if we can."

 

[Random Word]

Learned scholars and savants across Creation believe the Pole of Earth the immovable lynchpin of Creation, the fixed point by which all others are defined, while the other Poles demark its boundaries with the Wyld. Lesser known - and least of all to Sigrdrífa - is it that her Exaltation sometimes took up this duty from the Pole of Earth when it tired of anchoring the world. The river may vent all its pent up fury against her from now until the end of time and it will not budge her a centimetre, for in this instant she resumes her ages old duty and the river attempts to move not her, but all Creation around her. How could it hope to succeed where the River of All Torments failed?

As she hears the onrushing waters she plants the lashed trunks on the ancient stone of the bridge and allows them to tilt towards her, casually supporting them with one hand as she braces her feet. A thunderous roar fills the air as the flood waters collide with the improvised barrier. Ancient wood groans and creaks in protest, but this is tough old growth that has weathered centuries, and reinforced with her essence it bends but it is the wave that breaks. Spray flies through the gaps where the trunks do not mate perfectly, but the bulk of the water arcs up the ramp high overhead and out to the sides like spectacular surf breaking against the shore. A canny observer might note a slight tensing of her muscles at the moment of impact, a certain set of her jaw, and nothing more.

Sigrdrífa looks up at Toun's new form, yelling over the roar of the waters rushing overhead, "I thought you were the Fox Totem, not whatever this is - King crab? You're just fucking with me, aren't you?"

Spoiler: Mechanics

Increasing Strength Exercise is up for the scene for 3m committed.
Aegis of Unstoppable Force decreases the difficulty from 5 to 3.
I do not know what the Strength Minimum for this feat is, so I will activate Nine Aeons Thew for 1m1wp to increase her strength to infinity for the purposes of qualifying and grant double 7s. Didn't buy 10 wp so I could not use it. This is difficulty 4, so I'm not going to get silly and buy more. NAT is already possibly overkill for this, but I have a sneaking suspicion the strength minimum to attempt might be bigger than 6.

Strength 6 + Athletics 5 + Specialty 1 + Stunt 2 + Mighty Thews 3 = 17 dice; 16 hits + 1 for stunt = 17 hits
14 net hits.

 

[Sherwood]

Trying to ease their fears, Tyree continues to show that they are not all as crazy as the fools on the bridge.

Humph. Only 3 successes.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Tyree, the scarred woman’s jaw works back and forth in her nervousness. Your words are almost enough to convince her, but she shakes her head and backs away one step at a time until she reaches the camp. She never takes her wide and trembling eyes off you.

She draws her axe out of her belt and grips it with both hands, like she’s clutching to it for dear life. The axe head is shaking in her terror.

“Rou,” she says, turning her head and keeping her eyes on you.

“W-w-what?” is the answer from a younger woman with short Mohawk hiding behind one of the hovels. She had been one of the other “guards” previously standing her ground.

“Gather everyone and go, now. Carry as many as you can who can’t walk. Any that can’t walk or be carried, leave.” The scarred woman keeps her axe pointed at you, Tyree. “I’ll . . . distract them somehow. Buy you time. Now go!” Before the young woman can answer or react (and before the scarred woman can charge you with her axe) . . .

Boom!

Sigrdrífa, the water smashes against your shield of tree trunks and explodes upward and outward. You feel no exertion as it hits, but the stone underfoot gives a few inches and cracks around your feet. Water showers both banks, including your companions and the icewalkers that have made camp there.

When the River’s strike of fury has been expelled, it churns under the bridge as water shot into the sky rains all around you. The River boils and sloshes, wishing to crush you, but knowing it is folly to attempt to do so.

The scarred woman, seeing Sigrdrífa’s strength—and impossibility of the you all—drops her axe and dashes to help carry the sick with the rest trying to flee.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Aeliana, the Evervictor

Her mouth open wide in a joyous smile, Aeliana watched Sigrdrífa pull off one of the more incredible things she’d seen happen, not counting the sudden appearance of the gargantuan crab.

Pleased she had taken position in the shelter of the impressive woman, Aeliana couldn’t help but give a little twirl of joy before grabbing a small rock from the ground. Eyeing the braced wall put in place by the Champion of the Snow leopard, Aeliana walked up to to it, placing a finger and leaning in a faux attempt to lend her strength.

“DID anyone see where that came from!?” She shouts over the roar of the river impacting. “I want to see how far I can skip a stone up river!”

 

[Random Word]

Sigrdrífa looks at Aeliana, nonplussed. "The water came from the river. The anger of the spirits must be endured where they can't be placated, and I don't have time to placate this spirit today." She hefts the shield back on to her shoulder and continues walking as if nothing has happened, "Skip stones if you wish, I have a pyre to build."

If the spirit makes no more attempts to contest her crossing, she will plant her shield as a palisade on the far shore and start gathering firewood behind it for a pyre to burn the bodies.

 

[Rykon]

The mountainous crab gave two clicks of its large claws, somehow expressing satisfaction in their conquest. Before he could return to normal, however, he was reminded by Sigrdrifa's rebuke that they had a job to do. The power-drunk celestial driven to decisive action used his pincers to fell tree after tree only to raise each overhead for the smaller pincers to trim branches into kindling. The job was tedious but in such damp weather as this, there was a critical step merely to start a pyre. They needed shelter for the kindling to ignite unmolested by rain.

Working in tandem with his Solar counterpart, Toun went from setting pillars to draping brush overhead to divert the majority of the rain. By the time he assembled enough materials to burn the entire mound of corpses his work almost looked more like a lodge than a funeral bonfire.

Eventually, Toun releases the shape of a titanic chitin fortress and returns to walking about in his human form when they complete preparations. He casts a glance at the spirit, making a gesture with two fingers to indicate that the lunar was both aware of and watching the spirit for signs of further tantrums. Whether the air was saturated more by water or the promise of violence was anyone's guess.

"Well as long as he can stay calm, I think we can go ahead and finally get this over with." He paused, remembering a question asked that he can finally answer. "As for that form, I can take it because I ate his heart. I've conquered well over a dozen different beasts in like manner. Still, only my human and fox forms are my true self."

 

[Sherwood]

Tyree, the scarred woman’s jaw works back and forth in her nervousness. Your words are almost enough to convince her, but she shakes her head and backs away one step at a time until she reaches the camp. She never takes her wide and trembling eyes off you.

She draws her axe out of her belt and grips it with both hands, like she’s clutching to it for dear life. The axe head is shaking in her terror.

“Rou,” she says, turning her head and keeping her eyes on you.

“W-w-what?” is the answer from a younger woman with short Mohawk hiding behind one of the hovels. She had been one of the other “guards” previously standing her ground.

“Gather everyone and go, now. Carry as many as you can who can’t walk. Any that can’t walk or be carried, leave.” The scarred woman keeps her axe pointed at you, Tyree. “I’ll . . . distract them somehow. Buy you time. Now go!” Before the young woman can answer or react (and before the scarred woman can charge you with her axe) . . .

Tyree gets a flash of irritation before she jams the but of her spear into the earth at her feet and plants both her hands on her hips. In a very authoritative manner, she snaps out, "Now just wait a damn minute! I'm trying to talk to you, not attack your sorry bunch of refugees! If we wanted you dead, do you really think that you could stop us with such mundane weapons? Now, calm down and talk to me! We can't help you if you are hell-bent on running away!"

OOC I'll try another roll to calm her down.
4 successes this time.

 

[Random Word]

Sigrdrífa looks at Toun perplexed as she tosses another body on the pyre, "What will your people think when they see the Totem of the Fox tribe striding into battle as a giant crab?" She laughs, incongruous with the driving rain and the death around them, "What if your people fight the King Crab tribe someday? You will cause no end of confusion!"

 

[Teh Frixz]

Aeliana, The Evervictor

"Skip stones if you wish, I have a pyre to build."

Aeliana briefly considered alerting the powerful Sigrdrífa to the details of what she meant by skipping a stone. The rock in her hand was heavy, a little bit of creation that was filled with potential. She tossed it once in the air before snatching it back.

Taking a running start, she bounds along and leaps onto the dry side of the makeshift bulwark, assuming her added bit of weight would make no difference to the force of nature wielding it. Fingers gripping into wood, she soon reaches the top, wobbling a bit as it is planted into the ground.

Scanning the horizon, she looks down steam, attempting to locate the angry spirit. Even if she didn’t know where it went, it was still pretty obvious the general direction it must be watching them from. Giving a bow, then a curtsy, and then after a bit of dramatic twirling and posturing, from atop the palisade, Aeliana rolled the stone in her hand, took a deep breath and threw it as far and as hard as she could down the center of the river.

((terrible roll! 3 successes!))

 

[Rykon]

Sigrdrífa looks at Toun perplexed as she tosses another body on the pyre, "What will your people think when they see the Totem of the Fox tribe striding into battle as a giant crab?" She laughs, incongruous with the driving rain and the death around them, "What if your people fight the King Crab tribe someday? You will cause no end of confusion!"

"What makes you think the crab is my strongest form?" Toun quipped with a smirk. "By the very nature of how sacred hunts work, each shape I acquire is less than what I am already capable of. Sure it is convenient for certain purposes, but even the leviathan Karkinos was still no match for me as I am, much less my real war form. So, why not leverage the proof of my conquest from time to time? It is a trophy none but Luna's chosen can imitate."

 

[Esbilon]

Zoya seems to have lost track of everything unfurling around her. Trying to keep up with both what's happening on the bridge and the people on the shore has clearly not worked out for her, since barely has the river been forcibly calmed than the tribesfolk are running away - potentially spreading the plague they may still be carrying.

With Tyree already shouting at the panicked people, she figure she must appeal to them in a different manner and so she once more raises her voice in song. This time it is not stirring heroics that fills the air, but the warmth of the hearth and the comfort of home.

Spoiler: ooc

Spending 5m from my Personal pool to activate Respect-Commanding Attitude and make sure everyone stays put. I'm attempting an Instill action with Charisma + Performance to calm everyone down. Assuming a rank 2 stunt, an average Appearance rating of 2, and spending another 8m, I have 24 dice. 18 successes... You can tell that between Zoya and Tyree, Zoya's the social spec

Essence:
Personal: 0/13 (13)
Peripheral: 24/28 (33)
Committed:
5 Skofnung

Willpower: 5/5

 

[jaydude]

The Changing Moon had opted to stay back and let Zoya handle things. Toun, Aeliana and Sigrdrífa seemed to have the river well in hand for the moment, and as for the Zenith of Whitewall...well, Makuro thought, nothing would be able to calm these people down if that song didn't do the job.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Tyree, the scarred woman hears your voice and your words and she slows and stops. She considers what you’re saying for a long moment and then turns back to you while the others of her camp are still a whirlwind of activity.

But then, the voice of an angel from Heaven rises above and through the rain. Zoya, you sing your song about home and the crackling hearth; about the warmth of a mother’s embrace as she holds her child close. The camp stops and listens. All eyes are on you. Even the few that fled to the woods stop among the trees and turn back.

By the time your song is done, most are sitting around the fires and near the hovels. Those that ran emerge from woods and take up a seat near the others. Some cry and others hug themselves and rock back and forth as they remember warmth. And hope.

“Forgive us,” the scarred woman says returning to you all, hanging her head in shame. She wipes her own tears. “We meant no disrespect. We were afraid of your power. We all have heard that the Sun Princesses and Princes had returned, but in far off lands. And we had heard what Demons they were. The last few days have been difficult. We were not prepared for people like you. Who are you all?”

Spoiler: Perception roll for the camp

Most of the people from the camp are now outside their hovels and gathered in the center, still waiting to find out what they are going to do collectively. In my mind, none of you are in the camp, but you can see almost everyone from a short distance. Any who wish to really get a good look at the camp from this distance and the people who are sick and dying can roll perception + awareness, difficulty 2 or perception + medicine, difficulty 2.

Toun and Sigrdrífa, it will take you a little time to build your pyre before you can start burning bodies. Most of the group is busy talking with the Icewalkers during that time.

Aeliana, you do manage to hurl the large rock you were hefting. It is a feat worthy of a champion among men. But, it is nowhere near where the river god is. Not that you can see it, either. The rock splashes into the churning river some 50 yards from the bridge.