[Shatter the Circle] Nexus 1:0 - Invocation & Invitation of Fates Intertwined

The Wolf and Sol are tied at 3. Misuro at 2, the Rotten at 0.


Tick 0: The Wolf, Sol


Tick 1: Misuro


Tick 3: the Rotten


Also, complaining now about how this site rolls its dice. I clicked to roll dice, and then...nothing seemed to happen. I gave up, and came back tonight, opened up Invisible Castle and rolled, came to post the result...and saw the roll I'd made earlier! What gives? (Fortunately the difference between rolls was only 1, which doesn't change the order of actions.)
 
"...that can't be good," Sol says at great length. Still, he's aware that there's a largely reliable way to deal with any gigantic vascular half-dead being - kill it (again) with fire.


From his perch, he casts his gaze around for a supply of caulking tar and for any cranes they might use to lift heavy loads onto the river barges. It was one thing to drench the thing in flaming pitch, but then he'd have to pin it in place so it didn't thrash around town and set more of Nexus on fire before it expired.

So, what do I roll for this?
 
Misuro immediately charged the undead thing, attempting to draw attention to himself and let any civilians in the area escape. Running up the bloated corpse Misuro attempted to ram his blade in to it's skull for a quick kill.


OOC


Melee attack, 13 dice for 4 successes. Damned thing must have a thick skull.
 
The question of attacking the thing with fire is somewhat complicated by the snarl of challenge issued from the hulking Lunar, a bellow of disgust and revulsion and anger. She had fought darker things than this, the stagnant minds of the undead limited in the horrors they can conjure when compared to the Fair Folk within their own realm, but this is in Creation's heart, not some distant tract of the Wyld.


How had things slid so far?


Bounding forward, she leaps onto the creature, tearing claws and teeth half-savaging, half-burrowing into the undead hulk.

Dealing with Gift charms now, because the whole "Cannonball!" narrative attack meant I didn't touch mechanics.


Gift Charms up: Armor-Forming Technique (3 motes): +9 B/L, +3 A soak.


Charms used in this attack:


Claws of the Silver Moon (4 motes, 1 WP)


Impressions of Strength (2 motes) - Post soak damage + 1 die.


Burrowing Devil Strike (2 motes) - Attacks are piercing, ignore 4 points of soak


Dex 6 + MA 5 + Specialty 2 + Accuracy 3 = 16 dice.


9,4,7,9,7,10,7,8,8,1,4,6,7,5,2,4 = 10 successes.


Hit is +5L damage, and Overwhelming (minimum damage 2 dice) if it does hit.
 
Sol gets the feeling that trying to pin this thing down might be superfluous with two Celestial Exalts tearing into it, but then he considers that if nothing else, he could hamper its movements, and at least keep it from wrecking the surroundings in its (re)death throes. Of course his own involvement generally meant a whole lot of property damage anyway but there was a method to his madness, dammit!


The tar is easy to find; there's a dry dock nearby and all ships need their caulking renewed. The cauldron is next to a fairly tall shed, which is important for the next part of his plan, which involves a really careful knife-hand chop (enhanced by the Pillar-Breaking Blow) to turn a whole bunch of spare spars into makeshift harpoons*. And it's heavy as hell and a pain in the ass, but he manages to flip them over the shoulder and into the cauldron point-first, leaning the rest of it against the shed as he watches the battle.


As he waits for the right moment to strike, he's dragged a coil of rope up to the roof in order to thread it through a two-thumb sized hole punched into the harpoon (again, with the ever-handy Pillar-Breaking Blow). Who knows, his efforts might be wasted after all...

Not sure what I should roll for this, but Sol's plan is to nail the Rotten and keep it from swimming off.
 
The carpet of dead rears up, and Sol finds his blow deflected - not simply by a single hard-headed individual, but a writhing mess of flailing limbs and several heads - which are promptly given partial lobotomies. Not that this slows the mass of bodies in the slightest.


The Wolf opts for the far more disgusting tactic of diving right into the rot. She rediscovers how vile the partially preserved dead taste, as jaws jam down and slam crushing into the connective tendons, both between limbs of body and connecting body to body - yet chunks of chests sown together with tendons are rent, flung away.


The dead, however, have no brain with which to register fear, nor healthy nerves with which to feel pain.


The Rotten wavers high in the air, like a catipillar tasting the air, then slams down on the docks like a cresting, crashing wave, smashing the warehouse into splinters and pummeling those below with fists, heels, and worse, smothering all in violence and putrid gases.

Sol misses; 4 successes does not overcome the Rotten's PDV.


The Wolf hits, with 4 extra successes (ergo PDV = 6 for the Rotten). The Wolf bites clean through, subtracting 4 from the Rotten's armor, and stacks an extra 1 post-soak damage for brute strength backing up silver jaws'n'claws: roll 4 damage! (in the future: the Rotten has Armor 10 B/L )


And if I have totally messed up my math, please let me know. *wince*


The Rotten makes an area attack - Dodge not helpful, Parry is applicable - 11 successes!


(Anyone have any sort of Essence sensing charm up?)


For Sol, and his attempt to pin the thing via harpooning it - this sounds like a Throw, unless you can stunt MA for a grapple. Go for what feels right/stuntable. Go big. *wink*
 
Pasiap preserve us, this ugly bastard smells like the rendering districts, Sol thinks as the Rotten rears up above him. Then he realizes that he's got bigger problems to think about. Namely, the pulsating, bloated, festering, sweaty, pus-filled, malformed, giant slug of a butt slamming down on him.


"Oh that is just foul!" he exclaims before holding his breath so he doesn't have to breathe in the wall of vile stench. His gauntlets gleam briefly in the half-light before he's enveloped by the wall of body parts. The roof he's in disintegrates in a spray of dust, broken plywood and splinters; but as the debris clears, any onlookers can see that Sol managed to grab the makeshift harpoons he was working on and, by using them as a vaguely asterisk-shaped buttress, is keeping the bulk of the beast off him with his feet, while bracing himself against the ground on his back.


That was close, he thinks, before shoving up, hard, then rolling out of the way before the Rotten falls back down on him. He curses as he realises that he's left his tools stuck under the monster, but then he notices the last of the makeshift roped spears lying beside him.


"Hey, ugly, it's my turn now," he says, as he kickflips the large spar into his hand and thrusts it deep into the mass of the monster and into the ground below it. Essence flares round him like the flames of a dragon's suspire as the phantom fire-warrior of his anima appears for an instant to aid in the impalement.

DV: (Dex 5 Abl 5 Spec 3 Defence 3)/2 = 8, +2 stunt, +1 PFD, total 11.


Counting the spike/harpoon as an improvised weapon which needs a Strength + Athletic total of 8 (so 8B base damage) to lift, and Solar Hero counts improvised weapons as form weapons, so he gets to use MA with it. He'll spend 10 motes to make sure he hits, channel a WP to make sure he hits, and spend 1 more mote in Step 7 to make absofuckinglutely sure he gets his point across (double threshold successes on hit).


Attack: Dex 5 Abl 5 Spec 3 Acc -3 +10 Excellency +5 channelled Conviction +2 stunt +3 PFD = 30 dice. 16 successes. H


[dice]5269[/dice]


Sol is 7 motes and 1 WP down.
 
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After the failed attempt to pierce it's skull, Misuro jumped off of The Rotton's body and landed in front of it, only to be met with a shockwave of refuse from the docks. Jumping on a nearby loading pallet and using it as an impromptu surfboard, Misuro brought his blade in front of him to deflect all the shrapnel while the shockwave carried himself and the pallet in to the air, trying to ride out the wave.


Cowabunga
 
The wolf's muscular form leaps back from the towering mass of dead flesh, landing on the docks in a low crouch. She growls up, and despite the truly revolting smell, there is a look of pure, unblemished joy in her gore-covered features. This is where she belongs.


Her howl is one of joy and fury and purpose given anew as the massive hulk comes crashing down, the glimmering moonsilver figure leaping up to meet it, wicked claws and corded muscle pulling apart the necrotic flesh crashing down around her.

Heron Sheds the Rain - Perfect Parry
 
Misuro cleaves the skulls coming at him, somehow fending off flailing body-parts, and then has an adrenaline pounding ride to avoid drowning on fetid corpse-water as the resulting tidal wave swamps the docks - he fetches up on the half-collapsed roof of the warehouse, and him the only thing not slick with putrescence.


The Wolf takes a different approach to the situation - having clawed and wormed her way into the bulk of the Rotten, when it rears back and the waters swamp in, she is lifted clean above, a figurative moth on the tapestry having made a very literal hole.


Sol crouches under his makeshift barrier, knowing that it wasn't pain that relieved the pressure so much as the thing rearing back for another pounding - giving him the time needed to drive the fight to it, and wrench it off-balance! The spear drives deep through the Rotten's bulk, through the docks, and into the unknowable mass of sludge, mud, and broken stones of the older city underneath Nexus itself.


--it is not so much the spear itself that troubles the carpet of corpses, but the tangled lines and barbed hook of the spear, which pin a rough quarter of it back into the churning muck of river and mud (now becoming indistinguishable in the fray).

I need the Wolf to roll 4 damage (leftover from last attack).


Silent Wayfarer, I took the "double threshold successes on hit" to be: 16 sux - 6 pdv = 10 -> *2 = 20 prior to soak. (Then I said 10L with piercing was enough to do something dramatic.) Did I understand you correctly? (Not that it matters on this action, but to understand future actions.)


Misuro and the Wolf are up next.


Has Sol spent the 11m out of his personal motes, or has he started to glow?
 
From her perch on the warehouse, Misuro leans over the edge of the roof to get a better look at the rotten. Satisfied that it wont be going anywhere soon now that it's been pinned in place, he casually walked to the opposite end of the building before turning around once more and raining his daikalve and taking aim. Shouting war cries to the heavens above, Misuro ran along the length of the roof before leaping in to the air, coming crashing down on the Rotten like a thunderbolt from heaven, his blade seeking to find it's mark between the beast's eyes.


OOC


Melee attack, 13 dice for 9 successes


Shining Razor Wind brings the minimum damage up to 5, spending 2m on Enemy Castigating Solar Judgement to make the attack Holy. Personal motes at 5, unless I gained some back via stunts. ;)
 
Wolf continues her relentless, tearing assault as the thing rears up again - even the mightiest of prey can be torn apart from the inside out, and it is from the core that the dead first begin to rot...

4 excess dice: 4,5,7,7


Same attack as last time: Dex 6 + MA 5 + Specialty 2 + Accuracy 3 = 16 dice.


1,4,7,3,3,4,7,5,7,1,10,9,3,3,8,5 = 7 successes


Hit is +5L damage, and Overwhelming (minimum damage 2 dice) if it does hit.
 
"Yeah, stick around, deadite," Sol says, as he looks for something else to hit The Rotten with (he really doesn't want to touch it with his bare hands).


Of course, what he's unearthed doesn't seem much more pleasant either. He settles for a support bar from a crushed warehouse nearby, hefting the beam up in both hands, and swinging it to smack the giant corpse-conglomerate in the face.


He has the nagging feeling he's missing out on something here, though...

Yeah, Sol is using Personal. Not planning to flare up just yet. Going to look for a nice big piece of rebar or the local equivalent, that should be a misc action. If he finds it in time, he'll smack it in the face. Dex 5 Abl 5 Spec 3 Acc -3 PFD 3 Stunt 2 - 15 dice.


[dice]6083[/dice]


7 successes, on the nose.
 
What was one small hole quickly begins to fray and unravel from multiple points.


Misuro takes a best guess at the primary 'eyes' for this carpet of skulls and bodies, and takes a great swipe - the bones crumble to dust as if desiccated, the bodies act like dried, caked mud struck by a plow.


The Wolf sprays rotted viscera from vicious burrowing, either too lost in rage or iron will'd enough to ignore the gagging reaction to the filth flung from tooth and claws. Preserved lungs burst with stale air, splattering all with muck of the surrounding rotting cavities and the river-bed.


Meanwhile, Sol finds a handy broken pillar of the pier, hefts it about, and smacks it hard into the curling, writhing edge of the Rotten, a tasseled edge of arms to the carpet of bodies. Limbs and rotting fingers are flung through the air from the impact.


The Rotten spasms, and then, a horrible sound of tendons stretching, a nightmarish orchestra tuning higher and higher until their strings snap - and then bodies are wrenched out from their neatly ordered rows, the weft and warp of the carpet of dead disrupted, snapping the integrity of the whole, to rise up two wavering columns of torsos, linked spine to spine. The ribs practically invert themselves, forming the spikes of a mace instead of the protective cage they're meant to be - and then they slam down into the docks, wood splintering as they thrash for the heroes!

Reflexive Wits + Medicine roll, please!


Attacks: 16 successes on Misuro! 16 successes on Sol! 14 successes on the Wolf!


-- Reflexive medicine roll will explain the sudden combat competence.


New Idea, which I'll repost in OOC. How's about I roll damage you do on the baddies? Might save time? If you like, please post your starting damage from your weapon along with your successes, ie, 7 successes to hit, damage 10L (including Str and weapon stats). Post like your GM doesn't have access to the books. I'll be ever so grateful! (Stupid multiple errata and bad indexing...) This includes basic stuff I forget, like "Holy does Agg damage to Creatures of Darkness" .
 
"Oh crap!" Jumping back in a mild surprise, Misuro swing his sword an an angle to intercept the rotten's rib-mace attack. The clash sends a minor shockwave throughout the docking area, sending lesser debris flying like.

Perfect parry, 8m.


Personal motes at 0/10, peripheral motes at 30/33


medicine check, 5 dice for 3 successes notes that I added a valor channel to the overall pool. I feel it's justified as Misuro would have picked up a trick or two during his battles that would help him analyze the situation when fighting someone. If you disagree, it's only 2 successes, then.
 
"That's not good," Sol says, as the bulk of the Rotten falls upon him. In the gloom of the massive limb's descent, a single circle of gold with the bottom half filled in lights up the night.


"But hey, I'm no saint either."


A tidal wave of corpses falls on the Twilight; falls and stops, for no apparent reason that can be seen until one looks closely at the writhing surface and realises that it's not the mindless, inchoate movements of the bodies making it up, but the ripples from countless impacts below it.


Sol roars wordless defiance from under the attempted crushing, the sound of his voice drowned out by the impacts of his fists, which are a blur of motion that seem to multiply a thousandfold and slam into every individual corpse-limb and rib-spike threatening to crush him.


"Did that get your attention? Good," he says. "Now listen up. I am the rocks of the eternal shore,"


The Rotten's rotten appendage hangs, wavering, in the air. The Twilight isn't having any of that; with a massive, rising uppercut he knocks the entire limb up and back, landing back in the debris of the port with his Caste Mark blazing bright on his brow. The fires of his Exaltation limn him; there's no hiding his glory now, but at this point, perhaps this thing ought to know what it's messing with.


"Crash against me and be broken."

Sol rolls 7 dice (Wits 2 Med 3 Stunt 2, and spends 1 WP for a success)


[dice]6199[/dice]


He gets 8 successes.


And yes, perfect parry that rib mace shiat.
 
The shock of bones on orichalcum and unmovable fists results in splinters flying everywhere - debris of buildings, crates, block'n'tackle, and bone shards are flung through the air, and had lesser beings been standing in defense, they would have been shredded.


But Exalted? Landing in carpet of cacti and wasp-stings is like waving the flag in front of a bull-auroch - mad, and looking for the nearest thing that needs curb-stomping.


The Rotten wavers, more tendons snapped and dangling.

Misuro and Sol perfectly parry something 3x their height. Sol is noticeably got a glowing caste mark, Misuro is faintly halo'd if one looks at him from the right angle. Obviously, were they mortals, the blows should have pulped them.


Go crazy on the attack, folks.


Medicine results: Misuro, you're not a surgeon or anything, but you know how to break bones and snap body-parts, and it's obvious that were the Rotten a creature, this whole 'reshaping into massive weapons' is not what the creature was meant to do. It's like dislocating your knees and elbows to get some extra limberness and unexpected movements - ill advised. Sol - likewise, with the added certainty that this is ripping apart the Rotten, and it's not like the (un)dead can regrow things.
 
"This thing clearly did not think things through." Mused Misuro, as he gripped the tarp that was normally wrapped around his daikalve. With a quick jerk, he tore off a portion of the fabric and wrapped it around his head to hide the subtly glittering Caste Mark. "Gotta stop overextending myself like that, need to stay in control. I'm going to blow my cover." He muttered.


"Alright fatman, let's see if we can put you down for good." Smiling with anticipation, Misuro clambered up the ribcage itself, using it like a demented to ladder to reach the head of the rotten. On top of the beast, he swung his blade twice, left and right, to bite deep in to the shoulder tendons of the undead abomination to... "disarm" it.


OOC


Two hit melee attack, 9 and 8 successes, both have a damage of 6 with a minimum damage of 5.
 
"Big ugly's burning itself out," he adds to Misuro's words. "Oi! Big ugly! You can't kill us with all your strength, you can't kill us with all your speed, and all of this is just going to tear yourself apart! Force isn't going to work, not on your end. If you have sense, you'll come to the bargaining table. If not, well, I'm not going to stop the fellow with the daiklave!"
 
Unlike Misuro, the Wolf is not accustomed to hiding what she is, once battle is joined. Letting out another joyful snarl, she continues to tear her way through the creature, soaked in core, her shimmering silver fur matted with any number of fluids.


She continues to slash, tear and bite at the abomination, connective tissue and bones snapping beneath her onslaught.

Same attack as last time: Dex 6 + MA 5 + Specialty 2 + Accuracy 3 = 16 dice.


4,5,9,2,3,3,10,9,1,9,9,7,2,8,4,2 = 8 successes.


Hit is +5L damage, and Overwhelming (minimum damage 2 dice) if it does hit.
 
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