With Every Answer, a New Question [Dreams and Nightmares]

[Sherwood]

Over the course of the next several hours, much activity happens. As the group on the ground is proudly posing over the body of their fallen foe, Frost shoots off in her Warstrider towards the center of the island in persuit of the running pilot of the other Warstrider. It is quickly obvious that the flight systems on this suit are more powerful than the one you created with your spell, and it soon drops out of sight, but it does help to narrow down where to search for its secret hideout.


Her second stop is at the crash site that not so long ago was to be their own final resting spot. A quick inspection reveals that the mortal crew was able to be rescued by your companions before impact, but that the young ghost-girl, Kala, was left behind. Either her oath kept her on the ship as it crashed, or no one spotted her and tried to help her escape the dying ship. Once Frost finds her sitting in the wreckage, Kala is quite shocked that anyone would come back for her, not to mention one of the mighty God-Beings known as the Exalted. With your offer of freedom from service, she seems confused as to what to do next. You are able to release her from her earlier oaths, but you start to see something new in her eyes as she looks up at you; a certain infatuation that someone, anyone, would go through such efforts for a nobody like her.


Frost, it seems that you have a new follower unless you order her to leave.

 

[Sherwood]

Once Frost flies off in search of her own answers, those left behind at the body of the monster now are taking the time to ask some questions of their own. The creature you fought showed many signs of being a creature touched by the Malfians; either it is a previously unknown demon of at least the Second Circle, or some sort of behemoth that has gone undetected for all these years. More distrubing is the fact that the few survivors that actually saw the monster rampaging around tell you that it was much larger than this thing here, and that the other, larger monster must have laid an egg, and that is what you fought.


As Kentaru begins to treat his burns, he does mention that this creature never so much as gave the Loom of Fate a twich before setting out on this vacation. "Whatever they are, these things were acting completely unattached, which means that finding them by looking at the Loom is going to be an excercise in frustration. Not impossible to do, just damn difficult. We're going to have to find some way of finding Big Mama and stopping it before it lays too many of these eggs and they try to break open the bonds placed on the Malfians. Perhaps some clues will be left for us from where this thing came from."

 

[Gomezy3k]

Once Frost flies off in search of her own answers, those left behind at the body of the monster now are taking the time to ask some questions of their own. The creature you fought showed many signs of being a creature touched by the Malfians; either it is a previously unknown demon of at least the Second Circle, or some sort of behemoth that has gone undetected for all these years. More disturbing is the fact that the few survivors that actually saw the monster rampaging around tell you that it was much larger than this thing here, and that the other, larger monster must have laid an egg, and that is what you fought.
As Kentaru begins to treat his burns, he does mention that this creature never so much as gave the Loom of Fate a twitch before setting out on this vacation. "Whatever they are, these things were acting completely unattached, which means that finding them by looking at the Loom is going to be an exercise in frustration. Not impossible to do, just damn difficult. We're going to have to find some way of finding Big Mama and stopping it before it lays too many of these eggs and they try to break open the bonds placed on the Malfians. Perhaps some clues will be left for us from where this thing came from."

Kittie sighed, "OK Ghost let's go head back and see where this thing came from." She changed into her bird form and flew up into the air. Ghost sighed and nodded. He started jogging back following the path of destruction. He used motes to create his essence glider and finding a high spot jumped into the air and extended his wings and glided on the air currents Catching up to Kittie he swooped and played giving her a hard time. "Do that again and I'll poop on your head." She flew faster and quickly out distanced Ghost. He Flew along watching the ground, the destruction looked like a miniature diorama of a battle ground. Ghost glanced back to see if the others were following.

 

[Sherwood]

Having Kitty and Ghost run off on their own has happened often enough that it is almost expected. As you fly off, Kentaru calls out for you to watch your backs - there is no telling what other surprises may have been left behind by mama Godzilla.


As the two of you fly back along the path of the creature, it is clear to see that the foe you fought was not the same thing that did this damage - it was far too small to have done this level of destruction simply by walking through town. Below you, you see signs that the civil defense teams are working on putting out the flames and rescuing the injured. They may have gotten off to a slow start, but with the various artifact devices at their disposal, they are making quick work of the destruction. As you fly past, a ragged cheer comes up from the ground. The sight of the Celestial Exalted just being here is a morale booster for those that have lost so much.


The trail of the monster doesn't show much in the way of a single-minded attack on the town, rather, it is more of a meandering trail of someone on a sunday stroll, almost as if it is having trouble deciding on where to go now that it has the afternoon off.


The trail is simple to follow; a blind man on a goat could do this (You just make it look good). Up ahead, you see the opening of a narrow valley that shows signs that your mama monster came out from there. But as you close in, concealed weapon slots open up and beams of Essence shoot out at you. Right now you are far enough back that you can turn around and find cover. Any farther ahead you go and you'll be cut down by the sheer volume of the attacks. A different approach is needed.

 

[Gomezy3k]

Dropping like a rock, Ghost and Kittie dove behind cover. Ghost laughed as he watched the pigeon cuss and try to put out a flame on her tail feathers. "That was too damn close!" She grimaced and frowned as she looked at her rear and shook her tail feathers. Ghost smiled and said, "Yeah almost had cooked squab there. I guess we will have to find a more covert way to sneak in. He watched as she changed to a dragon fly and hugging the ground moved off. He followed, hugging the ground as low as he could, he invoked as many of his protection charms as he could without becoming a beacon of light. No use giving whoever or whatever is shooting a better target.


Kittie had no problem since she was so small, but Ghost was larger so he had to go slower and find a more covert way with cover. She was able to go almost straight ahead while he had to cover almost 3 times as much ground to get where she was.


Ghost Stealth + Dex = 9 Dice 5 successes

 

[coppersmom]

Lor watched Kitty fly off and shook her head. Those two are always so impulsive, she thought. She found herself wishing that her partner Tull was here. He could have reasoned with those two, well maybe. With a sigh, she turned to Kentaru, "I'd better go with them if nothing else to add a little fire power." with that she ran after them as quickly as possible. Cursing under her breath, she arrived at the rock just in time to see Ghost inching forward trying to avoid the essence weapon. evoking the virtuous guardian of flame, Lor began to follow ghost toward the weapon.


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25 motes for guardian flame

 

[Edge of Thornes]

With her Warstrider armor faded away, Killing Frost summoned her Cache Egg, though hers was less egg, same as the archers since her weapon of choice in melee was a Grand Grimscythe. The intimidation factor alone vs the mortals made the slower speed a fair trade off in her mind, and fighting other Exalted she was going to be doing her best to keep them from closing. And it did such wonderful bloody damage...


She put on the bracers and ankle bands of her prefered armor, then hesitated before also pulling out the heavier Buff Jacket, her Discreet Essence Armor wouldn't work if she wore the Artifact jacket, its heavy leather and secret reinforcing overriding the delicate Essence armor's magic, but she wasn't sure things had settled down yet and she was too close to dry of essence to wish to summon the Cache again soon.


Which also explained why she had things on belts, shoved in pockets and pouches, slung over a shoulder in a tote. Ready for war and loaded for bear as the saying went, she was annoyed to discover Ghost and his Lunar Chosen had run off, again, but this time Lor of Copperwood had followed them. "Kentaru how could you let her tapise after those two, you know there is no telling what they might get into and while they protect each other very well they sometimes forget they have others with them," she waved a hand to indicate the pair's latest running off before the others were all quite ready. "I better to back up Lor in case Ghost and Kittie find something shiny to distract them from the dangers at hand..."


Summoning Essence made rubies on the back of the jade and feathersteel alloy shoulder pieces open out into dark Essence wings. The Transcendent phoenix pinions were designed to look like real feathers, the pretty artwork made to blend into her normal clothing, the harness hidden by her dress, the skirt of which, after a moment's thought, altered so while it looked the same there was now a froth of lace on the petticoat to keep those on the ground from getting a view up her skirt when she sprang into the air on the stylished wings of a red so deep it was nearly black.


Frost headed after the others, as the defenses fired, and she shrugged, figuring the odds were good and headed toward the sound, thus cutting some time off the trip but still a bit behind the others.





OOC let me know when I get there and can post, Sherwood...


Transcendent phoenix pinions


Grand Grimscythe


Discreet Essence Armor


Artifact Buff Jacket with hidden reinforcing of Exceptional quality (if you're allowing that) removing the mobility penalty and adding +1L/1B level, adds one to resource dots (making it three) regarding ability of PC to have item


(1 of three possible by resource level)


btw I have my 'wishlist' of hearthstones and gear (need I say they are way over the amount we can have lol) and am working down to the proper quanity and will post it asap

 

[Sherwood]

Before she has a chance to leave, Kentaru shoots a glare over at Frost. "As if I'm supposed to be the babysitter of a Dawn Caste? I'm not that interested in getting my ass kicked twice in one day, thank you very much." He makes one last tug on a bandage he placed over one of his burns. "Give me a minute and I'll go with you, ok?"


He takes a moment to recall his Cache Egg. Reaching inside, he pulls out a variety of small items; a necklace, a eyepiece, and a set of elaborately decorated Starmetal Bracers.


Shortly, along with Alexandria, Frost and Kentaru catch up to Lor, Kitty, and Ghost as they keep their heads down behind a large rock. As you bring the others up to speed on what's going on, Kentaru slowly shakes his head. "I've been up that direction before and I've never been shot at like this before." He points up the slope. "That houses the island's primary Manse that interlinks the defense grid and helps to control the weather. Its supposed to protect the Manse from the Primordials, not to take pot shots at Celestial Exalted."

 

[Gomezy3k]

Ghost laughed, "Maybe you spent too many hours telling it about how wonderful this place was and like the rest of us, want to stick your head in a toilet bowl and give you a swirlie." He poked Kentaru in the ribs. "So great wise one, what is your battle plan? I suggest you charge mindlessly ahead and draw the fire while the rest of us slip around and hit it from the side." He gave a toothy grin.


Kittie chuckled and hi-fived Ghost, "Good one, I must admit I did want to push him out of the ship a time or two myself. So what's the plan?"

 

[Edge of Thornes]

Killing Frost frowned, "The energy that hit us before the first attack felt like something Primordial, if there is some sort of ... leak, and the Primordials have found a way to take over the island's Manse," she mused, her eyes flickering around their surroundings, "we may find those very defenses turned on us."


Out of habit she started to check I AM then muttered a curse under her breath, "It would be easier if we had some way of checking the layout before trying to crash the party. Have one of Lunar's Chosen tried to approach in a smaller form? If they can sense the Essence no matter the size I might have another option, let me talk to a recent acquaintance and see if she is willing to try." Frost glanced at Kittie, then shrugged slightly at Ghost, then looked at the less impulsive Alexandria, "Of course the Lunar we sent would have to resist fighting, or stealing, and just get us a description of the layout, who is there and how many enemies." She looks at the Sidereal, "Kentaru, do you know if there would be Exalted stationed at the Manse or just mortals? Knowing whether such are alive under guard might also help, to cause a distraction when we attack, for example, if they can be freed to wait for our arrival."


Frost glanced around, "Any one else have any ideas?"





OOC if no one else speaks up she will go to the side while lunars do their thing and ask if the ghost is around, if she is, ask her if she thinks she could spy out the layout, surviving staff, etc taking care not to get caught herself, of course.

 

[Gomezy3k]

Kittie frowned, "Hey I may be wild and crazy but I am not stupid. I can go in if you want, I think I am about the only one here who might be able to do it." She changed to her dragonfly form and flew off, low to the ground and then circled back and changed again, "Satisfied? Think I can make it, and if so, what do I need to do? I can fly up there and take notes and return," She frowned at Frost, "with no pilfering." She shook her head and looked at Ghost, "Boy no respect, I tell ya."

 

[Edge of Thornes]

"One can only go by previous experience when judging the likelihood of one's companions," Killing Frost started off mock pompiously, mimicking one of their teachers, then grinning, "keeping her hot little fingers out of the loot." Frost stuck out her tongue at Kittie, "Give it a try then, but take it slow, as you said its unlikely anyone else can get as unobitusious as you if you are hurt by the defenses and needs rescue."

 

[Gomezy3k]

Kittie laughed, "I'll take that bet and I'll take that tongue, I'll show you how to have fun." She wiggled her rear at Frost and changed into her dragonfly form and few as fast as she could, slipping up behind Frost and buzzing in her ear and then diving out of the way, hugged the ground, moving from one big rock to the next, stopping and peeking out every so often. Her trip took a while, out here in the danger zone, she was serious and all business.


Stealth + Dex = 9 dice (plus whatever her small size would give not sure what that would be)... She rolled 8 Successes (love those 10's)


Ghost laughed, "Be careful Frost, you may find your shoelaces tied together when you are not expecting it one of these days." He peeked around the boulder to see if he could see Kittie.

 

[Sherwood]

Kentaru falls silent as his companions discuss their options. "Frost, I think you may just have figured out what happened, both here and now, and also on our flight in. There was some energy that passed over us; something of the Primordials. It must have left some sort of taint on us, and that's why we were fired upon as we flew in. And now, we must still be contaminated after that fight to make the Manse defenses turn upon us. I wonder, is this something that will wear off, or are we, I don't know what to call it, infected?" He lets the possibilities sink in before continuing. "I've never been inside the Manse, but from what I've heard, it is staffed by a few mortals with Awakened Essence and a occational elemental or two."


Elsewhere, Kitty is able to sneak in closer to the Manse to see some details of the layout. It is a beautiful mannor house with a finely manicured lawn and shrubbery planted in geometric patterns to help focus the energies of the area into the central building that must house the Hearthroom. It is obvious to even the untrained eye that something massive has busted out from below the buildings; the size of the hole is easily 50 feet tall and 100 feet wide, tearing massive chunks out of the hillside that the buildings are sitting on top of.

 

[Gomezy3k]

Kittie changed to her spider form and crept even closer. She skittered along as fast as she could and still maintain cover. Getting to the hole, she stopped and evaluated the situation for a few seconds and then went down the hole. She changed into her dragon fly form and flew down guaging the distance. If it went to far she would stop and return and report. Her senses were at full, searching for anything dangerous. Whatever it was that came out was not anything she wanted to tangle with. At least it had the good taste to leave plenty of rubble to hide behind and it would provide adequate cover if she had to duck out of sight.


She wondered if there was an on/off switch somewhere she could use to turn off the guns. If the tunnel went too far instead of going back, she might go in and try to disarm the guns.

 

[coppersmom]

Lor stood behind a boulder,watching for Kitty's return. she sensed a strange chill in the air, momentarily, making her shiver slightly. She found herself wishing that her partner Tull had come with them. she could certainly use his skills now, if only for extra fire power. Then as sort of a sudden feeling crossed her mind, she pulled out her cache egg and further armed herself with her sword and armor. Sometimes a girl can't be too careful.


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grand diaklave and reinforced breastplate

 

[Edge of Thornes]

With Kittie off sneaking, and already armed and armored, Killing Frost found a comfortable spot out of the line of fire, "Let me know when she returns, or if something happens, I'm going to meditate for as long as possible," she said, whether to her companions or to one of the somethings Frost swore were in the perfectly empty air. She talked to empty air alot, but on the other hand unexplained things sometimes happened when she did. Not every time, the dead were as contrary as the living sometimes, Frost had told them, but often enough only the truly dedicated could insist on it be nothing more than chance.


Frost reminded herself to get more Ghost Flower Tea, what she had wouldn't last long even just feeding her new helper the dregs, still the ghost would be a lot more useful if she was able to manifest on the material plane. Even if it was for no more than to toss a glass of milk at the kitten, Frost grinned at the thought as she sank into the mind clearing exercises she'd been taught to quickly regain her expended energies.

 

[Sherwood]

As Kitty decends into the darkness, she comes across signs of a massive underground chamber. Whatever it was that clawed its way out of here, it did a sizeable amount of damage to the buildings that were down here. Even with the damage done, you see survivors running about, rescuing the trapped and putting out fires. The only Exalted you see at the moment are Dragon-Bloods and mortals with Awakened Essence; no Solars, Lunars or Sidereals.


Back with the others, by occationally sticking your heads up to see if you get shot at, you discover that either you are no longer as tained with the Primordial energies or the defenses are wearing down enough that they are no longer shooting at you.

 

[Gomezy3k]

Kittie frowned, so there were people here, she flew as fast as she could to the people working down there and going behind some wreckage, changed to her human form and walked out. She snagged the first person she could and said, "You need to turn off the defenses, the rescuers outside are being shot at. Turn it off or something so the cavalry can arrive." Making sure she was understood, she changed and flew as fast as she could back to the group, doing a dive bomb drive by of Frosts ear, she flew to Ghosts shoulder and hide behind him. She turned to her human form and gave a report of everything she saw.


"Something huge came out fomr below. It pretty much destroyed everything down there. There are survivors though, they are trying to rescue survivors. I snagged one and told him to turn off the defense guns so we can get in there." She looked at Frost and grinned, "So Frost, I will be right behind you and Ken...far behind."

 

[Edge of Thornes]

Killing Frost surfaced from her trance when Kittie zipped by her ear, yet she had no comeback for the Lunar Chosen having other, more serious thoughts on her mind, "We may have bigger problems than whether the survivors understand to turn off the guns," she said, shivering, "Look inside yourselves, my friends, you don't have to go into a full trance but breathe deep and look within. That wave that went by us on the airship carried a taint. Whether it is just us so stained or if everyone on the island is in danger we have no way of knowing. Even while it seems to be fading slowly, there is the issue of what harm it is doing to us while we are marked by its foul taint."


She glanced at the Sidereal, "How serious is it if we can't be purified of the mark, Kentaru?"

 

[Gomezy3k]

Ghost poked Kittie, "Hey if we are stuck with it, maybe we can become like some kind of evil Super villains or something, call ourselves Abysmals or something like that and have a bunch of dead lackies that we boss around." Kittie laughed, "Yeah like that would ever happen, get real." Ghost shrugged, "Hey it's a thought." He winked at Frost and her a toothy smile and said, "And you could be the biggest scariest of the bunch." He turned and threw a rock toward the house, "Hey you in there, you got the guns off yet?"

 

[Sherwood]

Over the next half-hour, things happen quite quickly around you. Either the weapons have been turned off or you are no longer 'tainted' enough to register as a threat to allow you to approach the Manse unharmed. But, there is something quite odd; There is no giant hole in the side of the mountain. No activity can be seen in the area, and as far as the rest of the group can tell, the spot where Kitty is pointing to say where the beast came out shows no traces and looks like old stone and earth that have not been moved in centuries.

 

[Gomezy3k]

Ghost laughed and poked Kittie in the ribs, "Been smoking that catnip again huh girl? I sure don't see a big hole. Not to mention where is everybody? Thought you said there was a bunch of people here.?"


Kittie muttered something under her breath, "I wasn't seeing things, there was a hole here I tell ya, I was down there, deep in there." She took a stick and said, "I will trace the perimeter of the hole." She made a mark in the ground, "The dang thing was this big." She threw the stick at Ghost and changed to her bird form and flew up and began to circle the area, all around the building and the mountain looking for sign of ...something. She flew down singing "She'll be flying around the mountain when she comes..." Her agitation gone, she sighed and sat down.


Ghost grinned and said to the rest of the group, "She has the attention span of a cat, easy to distract her." Looking at Ken he said, "OK fearless leader lead on." He frowned, "I don't doubt Kittie, if she says she saw something she saw it, so something on this paradise of yours is way wonky. I knew we should have went to an amusement park instead of this joint." He frowned at Ken.

 

[Sherwood]

Kentaru looks both concerned and embarassed. He mutters under his breath that he's not ever going to hear the end of this. "Ghost is right; Kitty is many things, but she wouldn't make up something like that." He looks at the rough stone where Kitty said the hole was, then up at the Manse. "Perhaps we'll find some answers there."

 

[Edge of Thornes]

Killing Frost frowned at the hillside, she didn't give Kittie a hard time about seeing something no one else did, after all Frost did it all the time. She sighed, but instead of poking about the rocks like the others she turned her sight to other places. With the destruction Kittie had described there was the possibility not only of dead, but that someone might be lingering on with some duty unperformed, or just in such shock they didn't realize they were dead yet. Either way she could offer assistance in return for information about what had happened at the manse, both originally and after Kittie had returned to the companions.


Looking around and unsure if she was still under the dose of Ghost Flower she had taken in the airship she set to brewing another dose. She knew she was playing with fire, well with death really, by taking another dose so recently but she also liked the cool fire that raced in her veins as her sight split between the living and the dead. And, afterall, the rumor was dying of too much Ghost Flower made one into a ghost. Not a fate the Sijan raised Solar feared. In the City of the Dead ghosts were expected, accepted, and assisted when possible. Sipping the tea she opened her eyes to view the world from her new point of view, calling, "Is there anybody who has information about what happened at the manse?"


If her new follower was nearby Killing Frost gave the ghost the last swallow of tea, waiting and watching to see if any dead haunted the wreckage that wasn't there...





OOC any possibility of a one point artifact that woud be either a cup or small (2 servings?) teapot that heats any liquid placed in it to a comfortable temperture to seek tea leaf/drink. Perhaps also can cool water to a comfortably chill temp for hot days. neither hot or cold enough to make any real impact, its greatest use simply being freeing Frost from endless making little fires :?: