>>954859
To clarify, my whole team is helping with the food-gathering exercise first, drawing on stored supplies only to fill gaps in the local variety rather than for the bulk of the calories. Spices and tools from Diana's stash, selected and wielded with the expertise of a master exorcist, should minimize the risk of wyld energies from previously gathered firewood contaminating the food. Main precaution is simply directing the heat through an iron pan. We've had at least a month to test out any other necessary details, with alchemical touchstones to check how well they're working, and thanks to that obelisk we're no longer actively surrounded by ambient wyld energies beyond Ironhorn's immediate presence.

rolled 6, 5, 10, 6, 4, 8, 1, 9, 4, 5, 3, 8, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 9, 4, 1, 4, 1, 9, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 6, 10 = 164

---

> Food concerns

I'll just eat the lizards and the weird locust things. Not like someone who is actively rejected by creation needs to worry about being further rejected by the sun.

> Diplomacy

After eating like a mad-man possessed, SCiD took one look at the Manse nobody else seemed to be able to pierce.

"No, I did my part. I've got a date with that giant orb in the center." As he talked, blood started seeping through the eye holes in his mask. As it did, blood in an unbroken ring started pouring from his forehead.

Then, the earth started to shiver as a cold wind ran, and plants started to die as the whispers of the Neverborn threatened to touch the very edge of conciousness of all the onlookers. And then like an explosion of light, the world became brighter, as though illuminated by sunlight, but only because SCiD was lit up by sunlight turned inward, illuminating the world by contrast to the perfect darkness of Oblivion.

And then his shadow reached out and filled the crack, shaping his anima, and solidifying it in pitch black bat wings, tattered in appearance, but carrying his weight as he launched straight up like a rocket into the fake sun.

Mechanically, spending a single mote to activate my Anima banner to the 8-10 section, and using that as a shadow for the sake of my Compliant Umbral Panoply that will protect it from the light of the sun as I get closer.

rolled 8, 8, 6, 8, 5, 6, 7, 8, 6, 3, 2, 7, 10, 2, 3, 10, 10, 1, 1, 4 = 115

---

>>954779
In her dream, Diana eats of the pomegranate offered by the yellow aspect, as the surrounding tablues fade away, replaced by stone etched with growing patterns of vines- decorated in the same manner as the overlarge 'key' found the day prior. Small toads emerge, hopping between growths.

Today, Methodology of Secrets will be set for the speciality Occult (Art of Geomancy +3).

After she wakes, under the light of a new day (or the artificial manse-light day?) Diana will return to the 'key' examined by Riv and Suuzen previously, activate Telltale Symphony, and make her own attempt to search for additional clues, bringing along those willing and qualified to assist. That would use be an Open-Eyed Dive Meditation, so:

Perception 2 + Lore 3 + Geomancy Degree 3 + Stunt + 1 per qualified assistant (possibly including Suuzen, her bound servants, Riv) + 1 automatic success from wp

>>954889
As the deathknight takes flight amidst a dire duet of disharmonious darkness, oblivion and ophidian melodies striving, the Reckoner notes simply that he has finally dropped pretense.

>What's the approach? Who will speak for you, and what should we try to establish? Riv and Ironhorn wish to ensure he is well first, and that he is not kept here against his will, but would be willing to offer bribes for information if he is not interested initially.
Diana of the bow observers that the curing of a serious illness, as well as the offer of hospitality and fine foods (especially in a venue as desolate as this) should be underestimated as fonts of goodwill. Surely, such earnest efforts can be parleyed for an exchange of information, especially local legends and history.

It would simplify matters if we were also in a position to offer easy transport back to his home, she adds with a disappointing frown in the direction of the retreating ball of shadows.

rolled 7, 4, 3, 3, 1, 10, 4, 8, 4, 1, 10, 4, 10, 4, 3, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6, 9, 10, 6, 1, 5, 6, 2, 7, 1, 6 = 154

---

>>954906
> It would simplify matters if we were also in a position to offer easy transport back to his home
When the semi-kidnapped local wakes up, Suuzen is ready and waiting to offer him a warm meal and a friendly face. First question after the initial pleasantries and introductions is whether he can actually fly with those wings, or just glide, or what. Whether he has any information he'd be willing to share about the statues we're looking for is probably also on the docket. She's got effective Appearance 5, Performance 5, Presence 4, Investigation 2, spending 10 motes and rolling Dexterity 3 + Performance for the Dance of Influence which should provide more dice.

Her musclebound moss-man, meanwhile, is safely away from the delicate diplomatic situation, poking at the hemispherical region hollowed out of the sand-wall by the same spell that created this fort, tapping and clawing in an effort to find pre-existing burrows that might serve as alternate exits.

>>954859
>>954878
So, that's Ironhorn, Riv, Suuzen, Lying Cat, Tar Baby, Big Lug, and Sesselja all foraging, to feed nine dependents- six of the seven listed, plus Diana, SCiD, and the Old Man for today at least. Accounting for travel time and such, Ironhorn actually only invokes the charm seven times, spending fourteen peripheral and nineteen personal, causing an iconic totem of golden wings to envelop you all for a brief moment. Your current camp location will be pretty easy to find for a while.

Sounds reasonable to me that you worked out the details for safe food prep- let's say you've got fifteen hours worth of fuel left after this meal, for about a weeks worth of cooking time if you're preparing breakfast and dinner warmed up.
Two die stunt, teamwork success from Riv who's got craft (Water) 3, means that...
>6, 8, 7, 2, 6, 1, 2, 2
You've got three successes, a meal that caters to everyone's dietary needs and culinary preferences. You don't need to cook, so let's give it some mechanical incentive, aside from ingratiating strangers: hot cook meal before bed means you've got an extra die on any rolls to regain wp at night, and in the morning it gives you an extra hour of strenuous activity before fatigue penalties start to kick in.

Speaking of the benefits a hot meal can provide, your patient-turned-guest is roused by sizzling fat and blazing golden light.

>>954947
> Suuzen is ready and waiting to offer him a warm meal and a friendly face.
Blinks a few times, clears his throat, then bows deeply, kneeling with his forehead pressed to the ground, wings splayed above the head. Pretty obvious that this is a gesture of submission, leaving himself blind and vulnerable, unable to retaliate. He does not touch the food, or make eye contact but speaks in perfect Old Realm, assuming you don't counterspell Unshattered Tongue Perfection.

"Honored masters, it seems you have kept me safe and warm during the night, and for this inconvenience to yourselves my insignificant worth is eternally grateful. I can never amount to the greatness which your time could be put to use, but all I have to offer is yours, as is proper and befitting of you. Your brilliance and wits can only be imagined by the likes of me and as such I could not guess for what reason your shower me in kindness."
>First question after the initial pleasantries and introductions is whether he can actually fly with those wings, or just glide, or what.

He's caught off guard for a moment, stumbling as he responds.

"I... yes, your brilliance, your understanding is expectedly flawless, I may only hold myself aloft with my limbs, I cannot gain altitude."

>Whether he has any information he'd be willing to share about the statues we're looking for is probably also on the docket.

"...I think you should speak with the lord of the realm."

>7, 4, 3, 3, 1, 10, 4, 8, 4, 1,
That's four successes, assuming she's got Illusion of Life up and running.
Specific questions or mechanically supported rolls from PCs are appreciated at this time.

>>954889
>I'll just eat the lizards and the weird locust things.

If you're ditching before breakfast is fully prepared to avoid talking with the old guy, that's about enough for a full breakfast, provided you eat everything Ironhorn and Riv procured. It's a difficulty four check to forage here, for which it looks like you have a pool of intelligence three, survival one.

>Mechanically, spending a single mote to activate my Anima banner to the 8-10 section, and using that as a shadow for the sake of my Compliant Umbral Panoply that will protect it from the light of the sun as I get closer.

Based on prior discussion I'm going to allow it as a stunt, but you'll need to think of new approaches in the future.

As you examine it, you find the sphere to be a constantly moving set of orichalcum rings and circles, twisting and rotating, passing overtop or sublimating under each other- lots of handholds, but they seems to rapidly change and disappear out from underneath hands and feat. This is unstable terrain, about as difficult to maneuver on as a floor covered in marbles.

Luckily for you, you're flying! Unluckily for you, you don't know the first thing about Manse design. Lore two Occult zero means trying to figure out how this thing is supposed to work ain't gonna be easy. Could examine the outside for weak points, but you don't really have a firm enough grasp on physics to understand what a weak point even looks like. What you can do is spend the day looking for traces of prior use, watching for patterns, and of course examining it all over for obvious ways in.

Perception, Int, Awareness and Investigation are all at three, so lets say you've got six dice, plus two for a stunt. CUP could provide two more dice to that, since being small isn't a problem for a lot of fine instruments and tools used for deduction, so ten total, giving you...
>6, 5, 10, 6, 4, 8, 1, 9, 4, 5
Four successes. From that, you can mark a few things off the list.

1) There are no regularly scheduled entrances or exits- no clockwork timing, nothing set to the brightness of the sphere, no hand scanners or visual ports, nothing.
2) Easiest way for the Eloi to reach it would probably be gliding down to the top of it from the canopy, but there's no safe landing zones, no where easy to stand or rest or balance or anything like that. No handlebars or ladders on the outside, no places where the walls are obviously thin or transparent or anything like that.
3) However people get in and out of this must involve magic, as there are no physical traces or evidence of prior passages anywhere. Nothing's worn down, eroded, discolored from used- every single part of this is a radiant and perfect as any other.
4) The movements of the sphere's surface does not in any discernible pattern. This seemed to be the case at first of course, but over the long run larger patterns might show themselves, overall trends might appear, etc. Careful observation leaves you empty handed however- following any one piece on it's erratic dance yields no more answers than than observing the whole, or any spectrum of size in between. The undulations of the sphere hold no purpose which is meaningful to your eyes.

>>954906
>Diana will return to the 'key' examined by Riv and Suuzen previously, activate Telltale Symphony, and make her own attempt to search for additional clues

This'll happen later in the day, after the proceedings with the old man happen, but
>Perception 2 + Lore 3 + Geomancy Degree 3 + Stunt + 1 per qualified assistant (possibly including Suuzen, her bound servants, Riv) + 1 automatic success from wp
>8, 8, 6, 8, 5, 6, 7, 8, 6, 3
Six successes on your own, assuming appropriate tools were drawn form the egg last night- Riv is a qualified assistant so she can provide one, then Suuzen and Tar baby working together provide another, even without using sorcery to call on greater powers for help and knowledge. This is part of a password system which grants access to the manse. There are four other nodes, making a total of five- one located at the base of the jade pillar, one located high in the tree tops, one located in the wall of earth and one in the wall of ice. Each one will activate to essence of a particular kind- fire, water, wood, earth, and air- and when all nodes are active simultaneously, this will count as the correct password, allowing entry into the manse. Building off previous observations from Riv, Suuzen, and the Tar Baby, it's fairly obvious that the plants which produces those essence charged gems could grow across it's surface and into the mechanism, so that's probably the primary method through which essence can be fed and received, although testing proves that alternative sources, like Elemental Bolt Attack, can work as well; in that instance, however, it only seemed to engage the lock for a moment before the essence dissipated and it disengaged.

>>954947
>tapping and clawing in an effort to find pre-existing burrows that might serve as alternate exits.
>10, 4, 10, 4
Last time it tried that I gave it four dice, but it looks like there's a couple more successes this time. Walls get thinner, like there's hollow space behind it, with somewhat of a regularity, probably every 100-200 yards or so. No apparent hidden exits or entrances, but concentrated force should make sandstone like this crumble without much difficulty.

rolled 8, 9, 10, 10, 2, 7, 3, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 9, 9, 2, 6, 10, 1, 3 = 122

---

>>954950
>"...I think you should speak with the lord of the realm."
>Specific questions or mechanically supported rolls from PCs are appreciated at this time.
"What can you tell us of the lord of this land? Could you direct us to him, or share what protocols must be followed to gain audience? Tell us of the great deeds went into the making of this place?"

Diana knows the solar who originally created this sanctuary should be long dead- but it would seem he is still revered, or that some other pretender has laid claim on the loyalty of the local inhabitants. Rather than confronting him on this, sticking within his own context and understanding seems like the best approach.

That's a social attack to persuade him to share more information, based on an earnest appeal and tailored to the character of the target, so that's going to be Charisma + Performance. I'll also spend an endurance from my resplendent destiny of The Ewer (brining that total down to 18) to activate Sweet Flirtation Smile to add Charisma again.

Charisma 5 + Charisma 5 + Presence 1 + Stunt
Diana's Appearance 3, for the purposes of determining MDV modifiers.

>elemental nodes, Elemental Bolt Attack
As an earth aspect, Riv knows at least the earth variant of that charm- it would appear earth is not the key for this particular node. This makes a degree of sense- the area is divided in elemental zones, a node stored in a matching area might unlock from incidental exposure.

The carvings suggest the correct element for this node is wood- perhaps Suuzen could apply her anima banner?

>so that's gonna be Charisma + Performance
Sorry, typo. Presence.

>>954950

> What you can do is spend the day looking for traces of prior use, watching for patterns, and of course examining it all over for obvious ways in.

> Learn basically fuck all because it's effectively an intellectual dead-end at this point and I'm not good at manse stuff.

Alright, if there is anywhere to survive most easily, it will be the wood ceiling, and I doubt anyone else can easily get up there anyway since gravity is NOT orientated towards the nearest wall.

So, that's the direction I'll head up to. I don't know what to look for, but in order of what I hope to find:

Something to progress the plot along.

A big monster to fight 1 vs 1.

A way to survive while everyone else does the whole 'getting to the dungeon' thing.

rolled 2, 9, 8, 4, 2, 2, 10, 2, 6, 9, 6, 4, 4, 2, 5, 8, 9, 9, 4, 1, 10, 6, 5, 7, 5, 9, 9, 10, 4, 3 = 174

---

>>954959
> The carvings suggest the correct element for this node is wood- perhaps Suuzen could apply her anima banner?
After making sure the old man understands he has permission to eat his fill before breakfast gets cold, Suuzen puts her path-carving boots back on (she generally tries to avoid wearing them indoors since they mess up carpets), climbs out through the gallery windows, and walks down a spiral staircase - each step appearing just before she would have lost balance and fallen - until she's underneath the wood-sensitive spar. There's a flash of sickly green light from the bald hominid, who climbed down along the shadowed side of the spiral and activated Hungry Devil-Weed Growth causing a cluster of gray-barked trees and thorny vines erupt from the wall. "Did that work?" she shouts.

>>954959
>"What can you tell us of the lord of this land? Could you direct us to him, or share what protocols must be followed to gain audience? Tell us of the great deeds went into the making of this place?"
>>954997
>After making sure the old man understands he has permission to eat his fill before breakfast gets cold
Ironhorn is fidgeting nervously, looking over your shoulders, but seems to be put at ease by this, calms down and a bit and makes her way over the right hand side of the old man where she sits cross legged and finishes her meal.
The guest raises himself tentatively, barely meeting Dianas gaze at first, but eventually over the course of your discussion he does ease himself into a somewhat more natural pose, and slowly picks away at the food offered.

>Charisma 5 + Charisma 5 + Presence 1 + Stunt
Thirteen dice
>8, 9, 10, 10, 2, 7, 3, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1

You guys could pile on coordinated actions, aim, or pull out other tricks to whammy this guy with social attacks. If he spends WP to resist it, currently your requests are counting as natural mental influence as I understand it, so he might be able to prevent himself from having to spend any more wp for the rest of the scene, even against ten successes. That said, I don't think he's going to try to resist you.

"Since before my youth it has become... more difficult, to pass down our knowledge and understanding of the old ways. I am last left who can speak the old tongue, aside from our lord. As I understand it, the first of our blood lived in paradise, and this great land hosted entertainment, grand tournaments, and honorable competitions. It was a place for the gods to relax from their labors and indulge in fine displays of skill and valor. However, we were spiteful, and did not honor the master and his guests. Our forms were weak, and unfitting, our minds feeble, and so for our hubris and betrayal, we were stripped of prosperity, and the world was plunged into chaos. The good Lord was not without his, hhhahg, mercy, and allows us who are honorable to live safely among him, taking those who hold wickedness in their hearts to be banished, either in into the depths of the golden palace or outside our realms into the twisted beyond. He wishes to meet you, but cannot welcome you before you past the test and prove yourselves. I, and my kin, are to assist you in whatever ways we can, so long as we follow only your instructions and do not betray you by revealing the way forward and stripping you of your right to prove yourselves. If you can deduce the correct order and procedures to open the paths, you shall be able to enter freely as you need and he shall grant you the audience you desire."

>The carvings suggest the correct element for this node is wood- perhaps Suuzen could apply her anima banner?
>There's a flash of sickly green light [...] causing a cluster of gray-barked trees and thorny vines erupt from the wall.

Now that the visual difference between the "locked/open" state has been pointed out, it's trivial to figure that out, so you guys can test whether or not something works independently without needing a bunch of rolls or back and forth.
This might start encroaching on the territory of withholding relevant information about valorous deeds for personal advantage if Lying Cat gets something working but Suuzen claims she was responsible. In this case though, you guys can quickly tell that whatever vines and weeds grow into the notches and grooves don't actually seem to set it off. Studying it without other interference reveals that the plants growing on top of or inside the mechanism wither and dye, completely crumbling after an hour, even though the rest of the nearby growth seems unaffected.

>>954969
The ceiling of the dome is a mile thick canopy, a forest about as strange as those you observed in the wyld. It seems to grow from side to side, in massive twisting branches, whole trees rising like branches from hollow logs that span as far as the eye can see. In this twisting forest, light dapples the leaves from either direction, but it is truly dark in the center.

> 2, 9, 8, 4, 2, 2, 10, 2, 6
>Something to progress the plot along
>A big monster to fight 1 vs 1.
>the whole 'getting to the dungeon' thing.
Three perception, zero occult, five dot manse and a one dot stunt means you've got four successes. Directly above the main sphere there is a twisting mass of wood, which, while not uniform, when looked at as a whole is roughly thirty yards in diameter. Inside there you can feel another component of the manse- in fact, if you were feeling around for where to go from the main manse body, you could have felt all five components, on located in each section. The one above you though, doesn't seem to just be jutting out of a wall, like the others. You are able to find an entrance to the tangle of hollow roots and branches pretty easily, as there's a distinct coppery smell inside, the kind that makes your hungry. Odd that, given the lack of songbirds or squirrels or really anything else living but cricket type-creatures and plants, neither of which are renowned for spilling blood.

Well, there's also you up here, but you're pretty sure that's not your blood staining the smooth wooden steps down into this place.

Entrance is about ten feet wide and ten feet tall, and the well trodden stairs lead about thirty feet inward. Angle is such that you can't see much past that, but it looks like it opens up at the base of the stairs. Blood stains lead inward.

>>955007
> This might start encroaching on the territory of withholding relevant information about valorous deeds for personal advantage if Lying Cat gets something working but Suuzen claims she was responsible.
If Suuzen is being treated as an officer in command of a squad, she's responsible for the actions of those bound to her service, both good and ill. Obviously relevant operational details, such as that mass of plants being expected to last about a day and how easy it would be to repeat, are shared freely and accurately (with Manipulation 4, Socialize 3 to handle the odd passive-voice phrasing, "it is done" rather than "I have done it," which Lying Cat consistently declines to comment on), but if anyone presses for deeper detail on theoretical underpinnings of her native charms or sorcery she bristles - figuratively, for the most part - and says "Hospitality is not the same as apprenticeship."

Relevant details of valorous deeds would be things like the difference between 'as I stood watch, a dozen goblins attacked, so I drove them all off, taking only this single shallow wound' and 'cut myself shaving, quiet night otherwise.' Y'know, matters that might reasonably affect how big a share someone deserves, from an ethical standpoint. If Suuzen and one of her minions accomplish something together, without the rest of the group being directly involved, and the two of them have no internal disagreement about how credit should be shared, there's no problem.

>If you can deduce the correct order and procedures to open the paths
Well that's one hint gleaned. Not only do we need to expose each element to the correct node, we need to do so in a particular order.

>I, and my kin, are to assist you in whatever ways we can, so long as we follow only your instructions and do not betray you by revealing the way forward and stripping you of your right to prove yourselves.
"Are there any threats we should be aware of that are not part of the intended design of these trials? Vengeful spirits or wyld creatures that have intruded, perhaps?"

>wood didn't work
Either that wasn't the correct element, or this node is not meant to be activated first.
We could stick around and attempt air, fire and water (although isn't it already exposed to air?) or we could attempt to locate another node for comparison, and see if the engravings differ and do indicate the proper element.

>>955007
Well, mysterious blood stained walls are always the most polite invitation to go forward into pitch black root caves. Really, all of the blood aside, this reminded him of better days when he would go looking for treasure in places like this. Again, sans the blood.

So, looking at the stairs going down relative to him, and deeper into the place, he jumped into the air, and his shadows formed a shield beneath him, sliding down the stairs like a sled, and right at the bottom, he kick-flipped into the air, and kicked it as hard as he could at full speed into the opening at the base of the stairs, able to see so much better that all of that pesky light was out of the way.

rolled 3, 7, 4, 9, 1, 1, 2, 10, 6, 10, 1, 9, 9, 4, 8, 2, 9, 4, 10, 5, 10, 5, 6, 8, 6, 3, 6, 9, 10, 5 = 182

---

Suuzen and anyone willing to follow her instructions will gather up as many of those concentrated elemental essence bits from the plants as the bat-folk make available, then apply them to accessible manse-lock nodes in all 120 possible sequences until anything interesting happens. If that doesn't work, we'll start searching the entire volume of the sanctuary inch by inch for other items of interest - boring holes in walls as necessary, possibly taking multiple years to complete a sufficiently thorough examination.

rolled 4, 5, 10, 5, 5, 1, 7, 1, 10, 9, 6, 6, 7, 5, 10, 9, 7, 4, 8, 1, 1, 3, 3, 8, 2, 6, 6, 8, 3, 6 = 166

---

>>955022
>"Are there any threats we should be aware of that are not part of the intended design of these trials? Vengeful spirits or wyld creatures that have intruded, perhaps?"

Old man looks at the air around you all nervously, trying (and failing) to hide the fact that he's looking for something watching him. As previously mentioned, you got ten successes- he's got a dodge MDV of five, but only appearance two compared to Diana's three, which I think makes him count as having MDV of four in this case. Base WP cost to resist is one, plus two for the six successes you beat him by, so he spends three wp to resist, and is immune to natural mental influence from Diana for the rest of the scene.

"There is nothing I can tell you about which threatens our village... when outside influence would destabilize things, the Lord prunes it, removes the taint. He has power of this domain you see- it is how he will tell when your trials are completed and you have proven yourself strong of body and mind. He can watch your deeds from afar, to judge you worthy. He has instructed we not to divulge the secrets of the ritual to you so he may come to better judge you- I ask that all here respect us in this way, please.

Old man is making a social attack, asking you all not to put him or the others in a difficult place by trying to make them break orders. Performance two, as he's trying to hit everyone, charisma and manipulation are both three, so that probably doesn't make a difference, and let's call it a one dot stunt since he's not really building off previously established details, and, perhaps more crucially, means he can't regain wp as a reward. Seven dice, tens count as doubles for heroic mortals, right?

Santova 2020/01/31(Fri)17:26 No. 955133 ID: d9acdc
File 158052039955.png - (4.37KB , 500x500 , Forestball.png )

>>955025
Shield has no problem sledding down the smooth wooden steps, goes clattering through some scraps of metal, odd coins, and some junk/derbies that looks like the leftovers from adventurers or something like that. Most notably, a lot of this stuff is completely alien to the kind of goods you've seen in the village, and there's no bones, not rot, not even much in the way of blood stains on much of the gear. Closer inspection of the walls leads you to believe they've been gnawed on, although not particularly effectively.
Room is thirty feet long (long means running north/south), twenty feet wide (Wide means running west/east), ten foot high ceilings. Fifteen feet in, there's a door on the west wall and one on the east, then to the north at the end of the thirty foot hallway there's a set of double doors, directly opposite the stairs to the south that you came in on. Near the double doors at the end, the walls are angled, with little alcoves dug into each one. Alcoves appear to have small wooden statues in the shape of a man, maybe a foot tall, with wooden bowls at their feet, filled with a dark foul smell liquid. Statues seemed stained and pitted.

Above the door is an inscription- initially it looks like it was carved into the wood and inlaid with orichalcum but since then it's been defaced.

>9, 6, 4, 4, 2, 5, 8, 9
For an investigation check (probably using the lower of perception or intelligence, but they're both three) you've got six dice normally, and I'll call sliding in on the shield a two dot stunt since you played off the worn steps and the darkness within, meaning three successes to check for meaningful information from around the room- the inscription warns that entry into this place will have your bones ground to dust and your blood made into a warm meal for the guardians within. Standard "turn back now or be destroyed" type stuff, really. In addition, the double doors are trapped, and attempting to open them will result in something spilling down on top of you, not clear what yet though without triggering it or coming at it from the other side.

Through door west, which is open and lacks traps or deterrents, you find an room which is twenty feet long, ten feet wide, with a basin fed by a waterfall, against the west wall, opposite the door. Basin has about a dozen freshwater pearls in it. Ceiling is thirty five feet tall, as is the waterfall. To the south, there's two doors- one at ground level, and one fifteen feet above it, no obvious landing or what have you. Easy enough to climb up there, but once there you find that's it's barred from the other side. Can definitely hear something shuffling around in there though. Southern door at ground level leads into a big kitchen area, thirty five feet long and gradually expanding to become fifteen feet wide along the south wall. Southwest corner has two more doors, both of which open to tunnels leading straight up. Definitely trapped, climbing up one will likely trigger some sort of gas or liquid to be released into the chute.

Going back out to the main lobby where you entered, you can try the door on the east wall- opens into room fifteen feet long, ten feet wide. Ground looks suspicious, as if it's meant to give way if you put pressure on it. Door in the southwest corner and northeast corner.

Map is included for the sake of clarity, doesn't have everything described though, namely the stairs, chutes, and walls I was talking about. Each square is five feet, thick red-brown bars surround the black represent doors. Green splatter represents the outdoors, where you came in from.

>>955038
>Suuzen and anyone willing to follow her instructions will gather up as many of those concentrated elemental essence bits from the plants as the bat-folk make available, then apply them to accessible manse-lock nodes in all 120 possible sequences until anything interesting happens.

Village had a lot of gems, but, counting them out, you realize you'd be left with about fifteen, three of each, if you end up doing exhaustive testing. Four of the nodes are easy to find- one in the sandwall, one in the icewall, one built into the rock under the jade pillar, and one in the cave system, which the locals show you after the old man teaches you the word for challenge. The caves seem almost like an ants nest, a labyrinth of crisscrossing passageways which apparently span the whole of the domes walls. Earthen node is two miles up like the others, set further back into the caves, but has line of sight to the manse. It becomes apparent the node in the treetops is set away in to wooden dungeon SCiD has begun exploring.

Four nodes with easy access though you're able to test and find what activates them- fire for the one located in the sand, air for the one located in the ice, water in the water, earth in the earth. Seems they need quite a lot of elemental essences to "click on" as it were, and even then, they only do so for a second before flashing off. All of them have the same inlaid floral design, making it clear that plants are intended to grow within them. After some discussion with the old man, you're able to find out how to plant the gems as "seeds", a thamaturgical ritual which causes the essence within to nourish the life of strange, extremophile plants that grow rapidly after being exposed to intense essence. When planted appropriately, you can actually cause them to grow into the grooves in the nodes, the strange gems they produce fitting into the geometric holes. This powers the nodes, but not forever- the plants seem to wither and die almost as quickly as they grow. Each node's plants wither and die at a different rate- the plants grown into the fire node die after an hour, the ones in the water after two, earth after six, and air ones you estimate will die after twelve hours.

>If that doesn't work, we'll start searching the entire volume of the sanctuary inch by inch for other items of interest
First thing of note is that among the maze of tunnels there's innumerable sheets of orichalcum, spread into thin ovals about two yards tall and one yard across at the widest. They're about the thickness of a hemp shirt, and they line the walls of the caves as deep as you care to go. Some are stacked near the entrance, and when placed appropriately, they can angle the light, re-direct it into the caves causing them to light up in a somewhat dazzling display which makes it hard to see.

Second thing of note is that you find the gem-plants growing naturally in the caves- they don't seem to be cultivated, and are rare, but once you've depleted the village stocks you could attempt to find more to harvest in here. Villagers are occasionally seen eating them.

>>955133
Guessing the intended activation sequence is air-wood-earth-water-fire, then. Can we move fast enough to pull that off as a group, or do we need to split up?

Flat mirrors of uniform size should mean any given light pipe is linear rather than branching. Pick one at random, follow it away from the light source, then if there's no mission objective at the end of that particular rainbow, gather up the mirrors as plunder on the way back.

rolled 2, 8, 6, 6, 6, 2, 7, 7, 6, 10, 5, 1, 3, 9, 5, 3, 10, 10, 5, 4, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 4, 2, 6, 1, 5 = 140

---

>>955133
Alright, so break down of options:

> Center-North: Trapped, something will pour down from the other side if I try to open it.

> West-South-Top: Barred from the other side, something shuffling around.

> West-South-Bottom-South-East and South-West: Tunnels straight up with something set to fall down the tunnel if I try and climb up.

> East: Classic pit-trap, has a door in the south-west and north-east

"Well, decisions, decisions." SCiD formed an Obol in his hand, a crude drawing of oblivion taking the place of the Empress, and he started flipping it, a string of shadow stuff connecting it to his hands.

"I could go to the end pretty quick, but I get the feeling that would be skipping the best part." He imagined he was talking to whatever monster was here, trying to intimidate a chosen of death. "So, how about this, heads, I go through those big double doors, tails, I go through that barred door from the other side." He kept flipping the coin for a few seconds, and then without any warning, fired the coin like a missile at the door, slamming into the rotten timber like it was a battering ram, throwing open the doors like a hurricane, and pulling right back into his shadow like a Yo-Yo.

Then, whenever the trap was done, he was going to just walk through and see what was there.

(I forgot to say this, but I'm also going to pocket 6 of the freshwater pearls to see what happens)

rolled 1, 2, 6, 8, 4, 9, 4, 9, 7, 8, 7, 6, 3, 8, 9, 10, 9, 2, 7, 7, 10, 5, 5, 8, 9, 9, 10, 9, 3, 7 = 201

---

>>955122
>social attack
3 successes on 10 dice? Doesn't beat Diana's MDVs, even before applying appearance modifiers, which are in her favor.

>Lord is currently active in repelling wyld incursions, actively monitoring the situation
So they're not afraid of a boogeyman from the first age- there's one currently active, the Reckoner thinking to herself. Troubling. Songbird protocols then- avoid discussing (true) plans or information regarding the observer, take care not to disclose capabilities other than those that are already apparent.

The next time Diana shares thaumaturgical supplies with Lying Cat for protection of their camp-castle, those needed for wards against scrying will be in the forefront, accompanied by a significant look at the hairless creature.

>Guessing the intended activation sequence is air-wood-earth-water-fire, then. Can we move fast enough to pull that off as a group, or do we need to split up?
I believe we need to locate the wood-node within the complex Scid has discovered, fist. Clearing any guardians, traps, or locks preventing access to the node, so when it is time to activate that node in the sequence, we can do so without wasting time.

If it is necessary to split up, Swump is the only PC with occult caste or favored, meaning it would be a delay of a week for anyone else to learn the ritual (whereas Lying Cat will be done in a day). Or we would have to persuade our local contact to assist directly, rather than indirectly (which would violate his orders).

>Seems they need quite a lot of elemental essences
How much essence is held within one of these seeds? We don't seem to have enough of a surplus to experiment recklessly if we wish to use them to open the lock, but Diana wonders if they could be used to restore motes to an essence pool, or if they could be used as elemental ammunition. (This... would probably be some kind of Lore or Occult check? I'm not sure, but Telltale Symphony seems relevant).

>There's innumerable sheets of orichalcum, spread into thin ovals about two yards tall and one yard across at the widest. They're about the thickness of a hemp shirt, and they line the walls of the caves as deep as you care to go. Some are stacked near the entrance
This display of incredible, and readily transportable, wealth is enough to draw the interest and attention even for one used to the splendors of heaven, and living on a divine salary (a bounty of magical materials being one of the few things the sidereal could not simply convert her salary to). Placing one hand against the wondrous gold mirror, she begins a series of mental calculations.

Sheets would be approximately 60 lbs each, comparable in mass to an ingot, or a talent of silver or jade. A pound of jade is a resources 3 purchase, presuming orichalcum is worth at least that much, each sheet is sixty times that, which seems like each sheet would easily count as a resources 4 or 5 purchase on the open market.

Let's make an attempt to appraise goods: Bureaucracy 2 + Intelligence 2 + Sunt + 1 auto-success from wp. Maybe attempt to estimate how many "innumerable" is, or attempt to put this bounty in more comprehensible terms (how many sheets to a suit of armor, or a diaklave?)

Let's also attempt to determine if these mirrors are contributing the the geomancy of the underlying demesne or manse, and if their removal would could as geomantic sabotage. Which I think would be another Perception 2 + Lore 3 + Geomancy Degree 3 + Stunt, with Telltale Symphony again assisting?

I believe we've already established there are members of the group qualified to assist with the geomancy roll if they so wish, but I don't believe any of the other player characters have any bureaucracy.

>>955140
>Can we move fast enough to pull that off as a group, or do we need to split up?

Without charms or other assistance, probably not- any given node is at least three miles from any other, and that's as the crow flies- if you have to swim out then climb up, some of them are even further.

Wind-Carried Words technique should make activating them all within an hour trivial of each other trivial, assuming that the node in the wooded area doesn't have special requirements for activation.

>Flat mirrors of uniform size should mean any given light pipe is linear rather than branching. Pick one at random, follow it away from the light source, then if there's no mission objective at the end of that particular rainbow, gather up the mirrors as plunder on the way back.

Many of the halls have the mirrors set up such that the light caught in different ways at different times, or sometimes redirected into multiple paths by several mirrors closer to the entrance. While not every tunnel has them, carrying miles and miles of worth of mirrors all at once almost certainly isn't feasible. Plenty of easy pickings among the innumerable caves dotting the cliff face, if you don't care about getting seen. The villagers do not seem inclined to stop you, although many are nervous when you draw near, cowering or fleeing- you witness several of the mirrors you take get replaced when they think you aren't looking.

Outside the mirrors, as you explore deeper into the caves you find that in a number of tunnels, there are wards against demons- strong ones too, some of them master level work, which would require familiarity with the Art of Enchantment. These wards seem to progress bit by bit- a few feet at a time, some old and faded, others well maintained, almost all are deeper into the caves, having the look of hasty wards being built with stronger ones reinforcing them from behind, slowly gaining ground in that manner. Mirrors down those pathways as well- since you have an interest in keeping up certain appearances though, don't want to assume you go exploring deeper, as it might raise questions about the nature of your retinue. There are, however, about a hundred cubic miles of twisting passageways, many of the dark and unobserved, should you wish to probe deeper unnoticed. If you get lost or otherwise need to be available for contact, Riv might be able to send a message in your general direction, but the margin of error isn't so forgiving enough that she could guarantee contact with you anywhere in the sphere.

>>955216
>wards against scrying

I'd like specifics on what procedures, if any, end up getting used.

>Diana wonders if they could be used to restore motes to an essence pool, or if they could be used as elemental ammunition.

Int two, occult two, stunt two, Tell-Tale Symphony doesn't say it provides a direct bonus to rolls to analyze essence, just that it makes it possible, so let's say it's akin to having the basic tools or workshop needed to avoid penalties.
>1, 2, 6, 8, 4, 9
Two successes is enough to gauge the rating of someone's essence or artifact dots; these currently probably only count as resources one, and could serve to represent elements in thaumaturgy or something similar. Riv thinks though, given your explanation of them, that they could be developed into ammunition in the same way fire dust is, only with more widely applicable elemental variations. Normally fire dust isn't that valuable or difficult to get a hold of if you're in the right place, but this might be able to provide alternatives which can be more easily procured in other climates. Setting up, say, a powerful crafter, with a cheaper alternative to fire dust, and you might find a recipe for success and power, if you ended up needing to move chips around at some point.

>Let's make an attempt to appraise goods: Bureaucracy 2 + Intelligence 2 + Sunt + 1 auto-success from wp. Maybe attempt to estimate how many "innumerable" is, or attempt to put this bounty in more comprehensible terms (how many sheets to a suit of armor, or a diaklave?)

I'm sorry, I don't really think I can give you a better answer than what you've figured out so far- don't count that wp as expended. Miles and miles of cave systems makes figuring out how many there actually are difficult, given that there's no uniform distribution. The stacks near the entrance are already a "wealth beyond measure" kind of situation, what with any given cave you could pick housing stacks who's height would need to be measured in feet, and weight measured in tons.

>Let's also attempt to determine if these mirrors are contributing the the geomancy of the underlying demesne or manse, and if their removal would could as geomantic sabotage. Which I think would be another Perception 2 + Lore 3 + Geomancy Degree 3 + Stunt, with Telltale Symphony again assisting?
>4, 9, 7, 8, 7, 6, 3, 8, 9, 10, 9
Giving you an extra dice for the extras acting as assistants- all in all nine successes on eleven dice. Given that it takes five successes to examine how a charm works, let's use that- these mirrors, are in fact, important to the stability of the demense. Seems like crafting this place into a giant sphere of strange elemental mixes threw off the natural balance of the poles here, and would have twisted the local geomancy into a confused mess. Looks like the mirrors pump essence in and around the deepest parts of the walls, almost like breath or blood gets cycled through a body. Only about a third of the mirrors need to be in use at any one time, but they need to be periodically shifted and moved for things to flow correctly. No sing of build up or decay, so they must be doing things correctly, and you could easily take stacks home without completely ruining things.

>>955281
>Activating rituals in response to WCWT
Currently, Lying Cat and the local elder are the only characters we know of who know the necessary thaumaturgy ritual. Is it possible for one thaumaturge to perform most of the setup, then leave an unskilled helper to "pull the trigger" when signaled?

If not, we're going to need to invest a week and 1XP per person to teach some other characters the ritual. Or we're going to have to persuade some of the locals to assist directly, in spite of their orders.

rolled 3, 10, 7, 3, 6, 10, 10, 7, 9, 1, 9, 1, 10, 5, 8, 4, 2, 9, 1, 4, 1, 1, 10, 9, 8, 9, 1, 6, 7, 1 = 172

---

Rolling for academic knowledge to try and figure out what manner of being the local Lord might plausibly be, based on whatever information villagers and mentor are willing to share. Then I'll start setting up Alarm Wards against the plausible category(s), starting with our camp's sleeping areas and workshops, extending duration with maintenance rituals. Do we have, or can we scrounge and/or craft, the tools and ingredients which would be necessary for higher-level wards?

Suuzen doesn't know the spell Private Plaza of Downcast Eyes, so Greater Wards may be necessary to block scrying. They're expensive, only last for a few days, and don't offer absolute safety. Good news, Private Plaza is only a plain featureless wall against otherworldly intrusion, whereas combining a Greater Ward with various other layers of thaumaturgy could notify those within that they're under attack, even retaliate to demoralize, injure, or kill the would-be spy.

Santova 2020/02/04(Tue)02:10 No. 955388 ID: c7496c
File 158081101671.png - (5.65KB , 500x500 , Forestball.png )

>>955142
Freshwater pearls acquired, no noticeable ques tipping you off to any changes as a result, other than, yanno, seeing six fewer in the basin and six more in your hands. Where exactly on your person are you going to store them, just in case that becomes relevant?

>>955141
>I go through those big double doors
>fired the coin like a missile at the door
Explosion of splinters mingles with a deluge of foul smelling liquid- doesn't actually seem to be any sort of acid though, given the lack of pitting, hissing, smoke, etc. Same stuff that was filling the bowls at the feet of the statues just outside the room. With ample time you're able to hop over it, avoid getting your feet wet, but you're not sure what it's actually meant to do- maybe mark you, so you're easier to track? Assail the senses, to distract you?

The room ahead is ten feet wide, and thirty feet long, with the last ten feet elevated a few feet off the ground by a short set of steps, walls jutting slightly further out that they do in the rest of the room. Fifteen feet into the room there is a door on the west wall, and one opposite on the east wall. The north wall, opposite the double doors you came in from, is made of wicker, and can been seen through. In it, you see an orichalcum node, the surface of which is covered in grooves, similar to plants roots or veins, occasionally broken up by deeper geometric inserts roughly the same size and shape as the gems the villagers were harvesting from the plants. In the raised alcove there is also a plain table and four chairs, all made of wood. The table has some well used cards laid out upon it, as if in the middle of a game, and propped up against the corner is a purple hide drum with a wooded frame and small wooden spheres affixed to it via hempen rope such that, were the drum twisted back and forth, they would strike it's surface and make noise.

Speaking of drums, perception three, awareness three, and a two dot stunt means that you're looking at eight dice to notice the large ape-like create with deep red fur and bony protrusions sneaking up behind you.
>2, 8, 6, 6, 6, 2, 7, 7
Which you successfully do, turn around just as it approaches the double doors. It keeps it's distance, staying away from the puddle on the floor. It's also wearing a purple leather apron. Seems wary, but not jumping to attack immediately.

"You're not the usual sort. Can I interest you in a game?"

>>955327
>Lying Cat and the local elder are the only characters we know of who know the necessary thaumaturgy ritual.
Riv knows it as well, and has the necessary aperture to climb around- depending on the wood node, Suuzen's hairless aid can wait at the sandwall node, then Riv can activate the others, ending with the water node and a message for it to do the same on it's end.

>>955375
>Rolling for academic knowledge to try and figure out what manner of being the local Lord might plausibly be, based on whatever information villagers and mentor are willing to share.
Occult four, warding and exorcism three, intelligence five, stunt one for a basic description of how you attempt to gather knowledge.
>3, 10, 7, 3, 6, 10, 10, 7, 9, 1, 9, 1, 10

Twelve successes- it's the god of this place, disguising itself as the solar sorcerer who not only created this place, but also these creatures. Seems like the original was quite interested in genesis tech and demons, spent much of his time trying to use neomah, demon locust, and other malfean creatures to breed artificial races that could act as sentient tools in the same way the yozi could spawn countless servants as they desired. The villagers don't quite understand all this, but you're able to put together the pieces of legend and figure out the larger picture. See, you don't think this place was actually where the research took place, more of a hunting retreat- failed projects like these creatures were thrown in here for storage. After the solar died, god of this place eventually stepped up, decided to take power by claiming the former masters mantle- at least once the people tried to rebel, and you think they managed to actually kill it at one point, but didn't have the capabilities to make it stay dead, and life has gone drastically downhill for their ancestors since then. You're not sure of the full powers it can bring to bear, but you're pretty confident it can change it's shape, possess servants from the manse, grant boons, sense those who enter the sphere, and create illusions of itself.

rolled 2, 2, 3, 6, 9, 4, 1, 10, 8, 4, 1, 10, 10, 8, 4, 10, 10, 1, 1, 4, 3, 8, 9, 6, 3, 3, 5, 6, 4, 7, 10, 5, 1, 6, 4, 5, 9, 4, 5, 6 = 217

---

>>955388

> Where exactly on your person are you going to store them, just in case that becomes relevant?

I'm just going to store those Elsewhere.

> "You're not the usual sort. Can I interest you in a game?"

"Well, you don't seem to typical yourself, demon. Tell you what, you name your game, and I'll humor you while you tell me about the 'usual sort'."

He didn't phrase it as a question, pulling a well-worn and aging deck of cards that looked tenderly cared for out of his pockets, noting that he'd "Hate to muck with a game in progress."

rolled 5, 5, 1, 5, 5, 5 = 26

---

>>955399
"Oh no, heh, now, I can see where you'd get the idea. I have no intention of lettin you leave here alive; just the thought of your blood runnin down my claws, soaking my fur, heheh, well, it's makin it hard to contain my excitement. Cards just don't have the same thrill. No, for this game I was thinkin of a hide and seek arrangement. Don't much care which one of us hides and which one seeks, as long as we're both playin for blood. 'spose if you got anythin to wager that I'd be interested in though, I'd play you in something before that, if yer partial to cards and what have you. Gettin material to build a sanctum has been hard recently, what with no one else left alive to guard this place and all them blood bags down there shakin in their boots after their master whipped 'em good. Would also take other offers for blood and sport but you don't look like you got any friends with you."

Gonna roll to read motivation on your response, so that's four dice on perception and two on investigation, not having quite the same stats as a typical blood ape.

>>955478
“Well, you’re every bit as cowardly as I’ve heard I’ve heard from your old masters. Picking a game you expect only mortals up play where you have a supreme advantage.

“But, I guess that doesn’t matter since you made an awful wager against an Exalt, I’ll take your offer and hide, if you can’t find me in an hour, I’ll take your head.”

As soon as he finished talking, he made the 33 motions of silence with his hands, and like a chill wind in a graveyard he vanished from sight. However, he was confident in his ability to hide here, so he started skulking through the chambers, hunting the hunter.

Mechanically, Dex 5+Stealth 5+In shadows 3+Excellency 10+Stunt*2 (expected 4) and from the charm and if this is opposed, per the charm, add two successes rather than increase the difficulty.

Spending 6 out of peripheral for the excellency and 1 to keep it from anima flare, and 4 personal to activate Unseen Wisp Method

rolled 7, 8, 5, 4, 10, 1, 6, 3, 3, 8, 3, 10, 6, 3, 9, 1, 1, 8, 2, 2, 6, 5, 2, 3, 8, 8, 2, 3, 10, 1, 6, 5, 10, 10, 3, 5, 4, 3, 5, 8 = 207

---

>>955501
Shatters Crime in Darkness manages to circumvent the security measures employed by the Blood Ape, and get the drop on it, utilizing the Compliant Umbral Panoply to attempt crush it from afar. Rather than maintain stealth however, SCiD was interested in utterly destroying the creature, so, despite it's attack from on high is it charged up the wall and jumped him, a quick change of outfits and a couple swift blows was all SCiD needed to readily dispatch the creature.

Assuming you wait to heal up and recover your full mote pool, the way to test all the nodes is clear- the node in the ceiling unlocks when exposed to the element of wood, and when apply the ritual to grow the appropriate gemstone plants within it, they seem to wither and die after about three hours. After the events described below, you are now at the "Three of each color of gem left" threshold.

That settled, it is trivial for Riv and Swump to coordinate and perform the rituals in descending order of effective time "unlocked". Riv skitters cross each wall using her crawlspace unit and asks that Suuzen's assassin and ward carver stand at the ready by the fire node on the sandwall, before sending notice with Wind-Carried Words Technique. After that point, all nodes are simultaneously active, and bridges of golden light extend forward from each node towards the manse, and likewise from the Manse towards each node. Five openings have appeared at the manse side of each bridge and you guys have successfully completed your objective to "Find a Way into the Manse". This will mark the end of the "first session" for game effects that track such things. Every scene from now on will award 1xp to each player- in addition, I am awarding a bonus of twenty four xp to each player and ruling that anything which could have reasonably been trained in the past week can be purchased now and retroactively assumed to have been trained during that time.

So, what new powers have you all learned, what skills have you improved upon, and what approach do you want to take now that the manse is open?

>>955840
I'm going to buy Wind-Born Stride, Unimpeded Perfection of Exertion, and the First Ebon Dragon Excellency and make sure all of Suuzen's friends are fully stocked up on blood-staunching compresses before proceeding into the manse.

>>955860
Oh, and also a second dot in War before I pick up that Excellency.

rolled 5, 1, 1, 7, 5, 2, 9, 10, 9, 4, 5, 8, 9, 8, 7, 7, 5, 10, 3, 1 = 116

---

>So, what new powers have you all learned, what skills have you improved upon, and what approach do you want to take now that the manse is open?
Diana picks up:

Second Martial Arts Excellency (9 XP, 1 day)
Second Performance Excellency (9 XP, 1 day)
Performance 1 to 2 (1 XP, instant)

At some point during the week of downtime, having borrowed Riv's climbing harness for the occasion, Diana Maku finds herself on a high cliff on the outer side of the earthen wall. Chaos lies spread across the horizon, as far as the eye can see. Far below her lies a chasm cut in the irregular earth- the source of a river, winding outwards from this pocket of stability into the wylds. It originates from the lake at the bottom of the dome, fed by rainstorms that condense in the forested canopy.

Upon her high perch, the sidereal offers pray to the god of the thumbnail frog species, seeking guidance in and endorsement for the care of her newest companion. At the height of this entreatment a great golden disk is held aloft, catches the light... and then is allowed to plummet into the distant ravine and river below.

Prayer roll! For the base roll, that's Charisma 5 + Performance 2 + Stunt. I'll also spend 1 Endurance from my Respendency of the Crow (19 remaining) to activate Record-Obtaining Inquiry and add Essence 3 to the roll (So 10 + Stunt dice total). The thumbnail frog's own destiny might also kick in here, lowering the target number on this roll from 7 to 6.
Base difficulty is 7. As a sidereal (especially one with dots in The Ewer) Diana counts as a priest, which reduces that to 6. Then we subtract the Resources value of the sacrificial offering (a talent of Orichulum has to be worth Resources 4 or 5, I imagine).
Diana will also spend 6m personal to add three automatic successes with the Second Performance Excellency.

Intent is to earn more 'crafting' successes towards locking in the thumbnail frog as a familiar, as previously discussed. (Currently at 3/10).

>>955901
>Respendency of the Crow
Excuse me, miswrote, that should be "Respendency of the Rising Smoke".

rolled 3, 9, 6, 9, 6, 1, 1, 5, 7, 8, 4, 9, 10, 10, 3, 10, 2, 5, 6, 3, 1, 9, 1, 10, 5, 1, 8, 1, 5, 5 = 163

---

Once we're regrouped, Suuzen proposes entry through the upward-facing gate, with Ironhorn taking the lead to attempt diplomacy. No dots in Larceny unfortunately, but can I check for traps (or other clues as to what awaits inside) with Perception + Investigation? That'd be six dice for tar baby, five for everybody else before excellencies. Spending personal essence only.

rolled 2, 10, 1, 4, 1, 1, 3, 10, 7, 9, 2, 8, 1, 3, 8, 3, 6, 9, 2, 7, 2, 9, 9, 7, 5, 9, 9, 6, 7, 2 = 162

---

> What powers do you learn?
Thrown 3-5: 12 xp
Aid of Ill Wind 2 days: 8 xp
5 days of Occult 1 training: 3 xp (Not sure if you spend XP before or after training)

> The Manse opens

Alright, let's not do this guns a blazing, I'm going to reach out and help with my own Int+Investigation and also Int+Larceny checks, and I'll pull out a roll of parchment with some suspect black handprints on the outside, but otherwise a clean inside, and a perfect grease pen, and get stared on mapping out the entrance in as much detail as possible.

Also over the course of the past week (and maybe further back, as willpower budget allows) going to provide ablative countermagic for any allies who are interested - probably on clothing covering the torso and/or head or items likely to be used for parrying, but not the actual body so as to avoid interfering with medical thaumaturgy. Suuzen's dress and her assassin's loincloth and whip are definitely covered.

rolled 1, 9, 10, 4, 2, 4, 8, 8, 2, 6, 1, 7, 9, 9, 7, 7, 2, 10, 1, 7, 3, 7, 1, 5, 10, 9, 1, 4, 5, 7 = 166

---

>>955941
If you didn't have a specific tutor in mind, Diana would be more than willing to make her time available when she first notices his attempts to study the basics of magic. (The sidereal had been looking for an opportunity to get a better measure of her companions, and to extend a hand to the Deathknight in particular).

Should Shatters Crime accept her assistance, he would find her a patient and perhaps over-attentive teacher. The lexicon of Occult terminology she uses seems to be rooted in a slightly different dialect of Old Realm than the one familiar to him, occasionally overlapping with musical locution, but whatever tradition she was schooled in does not suffer deficit for these oddities.

>>955942
Given Suuzen's usual insistence the others not be in the room while she's casting, I could see laying ablative countermagic on the group's clothing resulting in antics.

But Diana will accept the offer and have her clothes (though not her armor) warded.

>Investigating the manse
Diana will once again have an Occult speciality in the Art of Geomancy +3, and will have Telltale Symphony active, to study and examine manse components as they are discovered. (And she'll be making the AESS roll on anything magical that crops up, and Open Eyed Dive Meditations as necessary. Have some dice for the first time those pop up).

>>955943
Bold of you to assume he would even be using Old Realm for occult lessons if at all possible, preferring Forest-Tongue, and with a degree of fluency that he doesn't have in Old Realm (since that's his native tongue and grasping new concepts is easier in your native tongue than it is in foreign tongues)

> Ablative Countermagic on clothes

"No. My clothes are magic. The next best option would be my skin, and in the name of not having whatever is holding my insides in, no."

Actually, I'll make a change to my charm selection, I'll go for 1st Investigation Excellency instead of Aid of Ill Wind, since I can hardly be the world's greatest detective if I don't have an excellency.

Santova 2020/02/10(Mon)13:43 No. 955946 ID: d9acdc
File 158137100094.png - (18.01KB , 500x500 , Doors.png )

rolled 5, 6, 2, 3, 6, 8, 2, 2, 9, 2, 1, 8, 9, 9, 1, 7, 2, 5, 2, 8, 5, 4, 8, 5, 9, 2, 9, 4, 9, 1 = 153

---

>>955860
Main question is how many uses does each ritual produce? I'm gonna skip rolling a whole buncha dice, say between your training time, exploration of the place and the time needed to forage for resources you can have performed the ritual successfully thirty times.

>>955901
>>955943
>fed by rainstorms that condense in the forested canopy.
Should be noted, these rainstorms are condensing under the forested canopy in the Wyld- inside the dome, there seems to be scant traces of clouds, or weather of any sort.

>10 + Stunt dice total). The thumbnail frog's own destiny might also kick in here, lowering the target number on this roll from 7 to 6.
>Base difficulty is 7. As a sidereal (especially one with dots in The Ewer) Diana counts as a priest, which reduces that to 6. Then we subtract the Resources value of the sacrificial offering (a talent of Orichulum has to be worth Resources 4 or 5, I imagine).
>Diana will also spend 6m personal to add three automatic successes with the Second Performance Excellency.
> 5, 1, 1, 7, 5, 2, 9, 10, 9, 4, 5, 8, 9, 8, 7, 7
We had a big long discussion in the discord about how many dice based on what factors- regardless of exactly how many you get, it's clear you've cleared the roll.
When you dream, a message of a separate type comes to advise you on the tools you need. A large frog with a beige underbelly and green skin sits cross legged in a dark cavern, water dripping from the ceiling into a pool below. The pool is filled with tiny frogs in much the same visage, save that they have only four limbs, and the larger one before you has six. You hear a chorus of voices in your mind, speaking in unison:
"Your plea has been heard, and your interest in my domain is a great boon. I would ask of you, before I entrust the lost into your care, that you prove this is not a trick. Destroy the false god that hides in the manse and I shall grant you that which you seek, and perhaps more beyond if it is within my powers. I have lived here for a thousand years and may be of more assistance than just the matters concerning my flock. Be warned, the villain has a sanctum where he will retreat to; however, even if his death is only temporary, it will give us enough time to act."

>AESS roll on anything magical that crops up
That same song of the untuned string cuts through the brassy notes of the manse, and you can hear other music, more faint, moving closer and further throughout the manse. One song is a muffle cacophony of symphonic, like an orchestra tuning,a and while it it constantly moving, it seems to be consistently deeper within. The second song is a buzzing, like a choir made from insects and cackles, swirling all around you, just beyond the walls, closing in and moving away, never consistent in it's origins. Your approach into this place has definitely unnerved the thumbnail frog, and it seeks to hide out of sight on your person.

>>955935
When the bridges extend, you all converged at node on the sandwall, and crossed to examine the entrance to which is was connected. A long dark tunnel greeted you, and, scrambling across the top of the manse to examine entrances on other sides, there seems to be little difference between each, save that the entrance at the top of the manse and at the bottom would be more difficult to traverse by their nature as smooth shafts straight down/up. The whirring of manse movement extended deep within, hidden mechanisms rotating in and out of place beyond the walls. Ironhorn and Riv think it best that you all take an entrances you can walk through rather than climb down, especially given that, when dropping a small stone down the top, you don't hear a soft fall.

>Ironhorn taking the lead to attempt diplomacy.
She's somewhat apprehensive about this roll, but understands that her status as an Eclipse caste might represent a sort of benefit for that. When it comes to actual negotiations though, she would prefer to oversee and sanctify agreements rather than draft them herself.

>can I check for traps (or other clues as to what awaits inside) with Perception + Investigation? That'd be six dice for tar baby, five for everybody else before excellencies. Spending personal essence only.

With the Ebon Dragon first excellency, playing to the concepts of dependability, enlightened self interest, and warped magnanimity, you're looking at ten dice. I was going to count the other members of the retinue as assistants, but they don't actually seem to have any supernatural capabilities relevant, and as normal aids there's not actually five people around. Other party members could increase bonuses but classifying them as regular aids seems inappropriate, so in lieu of that...
>3, 9, 6, 9, 6, 1, 1, 5, 7, 8
Four successes is enough to realize that the entrances are not trapped, and the bizarre whirring of hidden mechanisms are related to some other function, not one posing a threat. There is a strange sense that you are moving, like that which would accompany travel upon the sea, but the floors seem calm. You deduce that you are somehow spinning within the manse, despite the entrances lining up with the bridges perfectly, no movement detectable from the outside. The disconnect between what you can see and that which your bodies feel would threaten to unsettle the stomach of a mortal, and no doubt be disorienting for those who don't understand what's happening.

>>955941
>I'll pull out a roll of parchment with some suspect black handprints on the outside, but otherwise a clean inside, and a perfect grease pen, and get stared on mapping out the entrance in as much detail as possible.
>2, 10, 1, 4, 1, 1, 3, 10
Four success far surpasses the difficulty needed to map a single straight line- the tunnel it seems has no branches or off shoots. One noteworthy feature you do realize though, is that the length of the tunnel is immeasurable. Not that is is so long that it might be casually and incorrectly called immeasurable, but that the actual distances you're covering defy all attempts to accurately catalog their length. No matter the tools or methods, different results seems to crop up each time- you quite literally cannot accurately measure the distances that are being covered.

The puzzling nature of the manse constantly moving and resisting attempts to measure and quantify it are not enough of an issue to prevent your passage, and soon enough you all find yourself navigating by the light of Ironhorn's anima, as most of you all do not operate quite as well in the dark as you do in the light. She takes the lead as you lurk in the back, practically a shadow yourself, intermingling in the long dark lines everyone casts behind themselves. With Diana just behind Ironhorn, itching for something to get her hands on, Riv in the back with SCiD, and the Suuzen squad in the middle you all finally reach the end of the tunnel.

The dome shaped room is adorned with entrances- the one you came from matches the appearance of four others, one in the ceiling, on in the floor, and two more placed evenly along the walls. There are also five more doors, much smaller, barely shoulder width while the larger entrances like the one you came from can walk two abreast. These five doors take the form of hatches on the floor, each inscribed with a jade symbol of a different color. The room has four pillars within it, evenly spaced, and standing in the center stands a man, whom Diana notes is not the source of that untuned string song she's been hearing with Telltale Symphony. It scratches frantically in the background even as he smiles and opens his arms to welcome you all, emanating from somewhere else nearby.

"Greetings esteemed guests, and welcome to your very own dome of entertainment! Truly, it is good to have you among us- I know the challenge for entry isn't quite as entertaining as it was in days past, but I must say, you all performed admirably, and are welcome among these halls. It has been quite some time since we have had proper guests, and while I cannot say I remember sending you a formal invitation, your presence is a great honor and we are glad to open the doors to welcome you. I must ask, what brings you to the sphere of games? It has been long since we have hosted our grand competitions and daring contests, so I imagine you come to seek my expertise in the engineering of new life, or perhaps seek a sorcererous favor from me? If you have something to trade up I could offer boons for you- I've even got something in mind I could use competent help with, if you've come calling for help.

Ah, silly me, where are my manners? I am the Sorcerer responsible for all that you seen around you, sovereign Lord of this place, progenitor of all the life you've no doubt observed here and master of the games we host during our times of leisure. With whom, pray tell, do I have the pleasure of speaking?"

Not actually confident what I as the GM might be rolling for here, so I'll trow out some dice and we can resolve any contested effects that might be relevant over the next few posts.

rolled 7, 9, 7, 7, 3, 3, 10, 7, 1, 4, 4, 5, 8, 10, 8, 9, 7, 1, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 3, 7, 9, 1, 6, 1, 2 = 156

---

>>955946
Lying Cat will observe and bluntly announce the truth-values of statements, as is customary, but otherwise refuse to converse in favor of prowling around, peeking into hatches and delicately sniffing at any other architectural features of interest.

Suuzen, cheeks red with mortified embarrassment, hastily apologizes for her servant's misbehavior and says she was sent here by her mother to gather - among other things - information about Facet Ravensbane, supposedly known and feared by all initiates of the highest circle of sorcery.

rolled 6, 7, 8, 1, 10, 4, 3, 5, 8, 9, 8, 9, 10, 4, 10, 5, 2, 7, 4, 2, 4, 9, 8, 7, 10, 6, 2, 10, 4, 8 = 190

---

"Oh, I've seen this before, there are all kinds of openings, we're just not looking right. Happens all the time in the Labyrinth."

So, musing on the infinite and winding nature of the Labyrinth, his death honed senses naturally attuned to sorting through mazes like a Minotaur searched out for passages going elsewhere.

rolled 10, 1, 9, 4, 8, 10, 8, 10, 9, 8, 3, 1, 10, 9, 5, 1, 9, 9, 6, 10, 6, 3, 9, 2, 6, 1, 9, 8, 1, 2, 1, 8, 1, 8, 2, 10, 7, 10, 3, 8, 9, 2, 7, 10, 6, 10, 3, 2, 7, 4, 7, 1, 8, 5, 9, 5, 7, 8, 7, 5 = 367

---

>>955946
>prayer response
Typical, really. You give a god a little bit of leeway, and they presume the attention means they're entitled to dictate mission parameters. And in a manner that is actively counterproductive, no less. Yes, her companion would be much safer carried into a confrontation with a hostile sorcerer-deity without the familiar bond.

(You didn't actually say, but have I hit that 10/10 'crafting' successes now?)

>distance is literally immeasurable
>puzzling manse
*cough* So a magical feature of the manse? I believe I said I would be rolling to analyze those as they came up >>955943 . Open-Eyed Dive Meditation would be Perception 2 + Lore 3 + Art of Geomancy 3, and without even adding a stunts, that's 5 successes on my last roll vs difficulty 3. (Or if that was used on anything unstated, have more dice).

>standing in the center stands a man, whom Diana notes is not the source of that untuned string song she's been hearing with Telltale Symphony
Diana takes a moment to study the self-professed lord and master of this domain (and potentially the archeny of a presumptuous six-legged terrestrial divinity), playing close attention to the melody of music. Is our self-proclaimed host the subject of any active charms or sorcery, or bearing any artifacts? (Such that they are Obvious to Telltale Symphony?) If any are, I'll make the reflexive Intelligence 2 + Occult 2 + Stunt per Telltale Symphony / All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight to try and identify them (difficulty 5) or failing that, to identify the artifact's rating (difficulty 2). Even if he bears no enchantments, Diana will make the attempt to gauge the Lord's essence score (difficulty 2).

Rolling a lot of dice as I don't know how many checks that will be!

rolled 6, 3, 7, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 4, 6, 1, 2, 8, 7, 2, 1, 3, 3, 7, 10, 2, 10, 6, 2, 4, 10, 3, 4, 10, 5 = 156

---

>>955950
>Lying Cat will observe and bluntly announce the truth-values of statements
>Greetings esteemed guests, and welcome to your very own dome of entertainment! Truly, it is good to have you among us
False
>If you have something to trade up I could offer boons for you- I've even got something in mind I could use competent help with, if you've come calling for help.
True
>I am the Sorcerer responsible for all that you seen around you, sovereign Lord of this place, progenitor of all the life you've no doubt observed here and master of the games we host during our times of leisure.
True?

Baldy has enough of an occult background to recognize that, at sub e4 levels, that shouldn't be possible, not to mention the issue of age. Mother Bog has that angle covered though.
>peeking into hatches and delicately sniffing at any other architectural features of interest.
Hatches don't have any sorts of locks or security system- each one contains an identical statues of marble, tightly wrapped around a central pillar such that you can only see a few steps ahead of you at any point on the spiral. Two feet wide, so you'd need to go single file, and the... Mutant Blood Ape thing that follows Suuzen around wouldn't be able to fit at all. Could go deeper down any particular staircase, two immediate reason not to though- lack of visibility means you'd have to go past the point of being able to hold the hatch up, so you'll either need to be okay with it closing behind you or get a friend, which leads into the second issue- self proclaimed Lord is doing a bad job at masking irritability over your comments and investigation. Getting more people to ignore him and help you poke around might have consequences. Where's the Sesselja right now?

>Suuzen, cheeks red with mortified embarrassment, hastily apologizes for her servant's misbehavior and says she was sent here by her mother to gather - among other things - information about Facet Ravensbane, supposedly known and feared by all initiates of the highest circle of sorcery.
A hollow chuckle and a forced smile are quickly replaced by crossed arms and a tapping foot as the behavior goes on. Definitely having trouble maintaining composure. Gonna treat her line of questioning as a social attack- "answer my question", essentially.
>let me get that verdict on whether or not you want Dance of Influence on
>Invoked in plain sight, as soon as it became clear we'd be talking rather than fighting.
The dance she performs is short, more of a subtle thing- her head sways back and forth, eyes half closed; one could mistake her circle around the perimeter as an inspection of the room, bathed in Ironhorn's golden glow. The effect it has however, is intoxicating.
Dex three, performance five, two dot stunt, means
>7, 9, 7, 7, 3, 3, 10, 7, 1, 4
Five dice added to all social rolls for the rest of the scene, since the effects are capped by appearance. So that attack gets four manipulation, four presence, two stunt dice and five bonus dice, for fifteen total dice.
>4, 5, 8, 10, 8, 9, 7, 1, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 3, 7
Seven successes, no appearance modifier to MDV, clearing the dodge MDV of three.
The "lord" will be compelled to engage you and try to respond to your questions, which it seems woefully under prepared for. His first answer might have been passable on it's own- he explains that he's long since dead, and simply adheres to this world to look after his old domain. Things go downhill from there, as he seems ignorant of that which binds a spirit, matters of sorcerer, genetic engineering, and more. It's almost sad how easy it is to paint him into a corner- despite being utterly unable to make a case however, he refuses to connect the rather obvious dots you've painted for him, that he could not be what he claims.
This scene definitely fits Baldy's Urge.

>>955955
Three perception, three investigation, two stunt dice, for eight total on the roll to investigate, look for hidden entrances or passageways.
>6, 7, 8, 1, 10, 4, 3, 5,
Four successes- there's no secret doors or hidden tunnels on the walls- everything seems hollow though- there's empty space beyond all the walls, beyond the pillars in the stairways Suuzen's Assassin found under the hatches, on the ceiling of the room you're currently chatting in- definitely seems weird if the the whole manse is just a hollow ball with this single room, and you can hear things whirring and moving beyond the walls.

>>955956
>Yes, her companion would be much safer carried into a confrontation with a hostile sorcerer-deity without the familiar bond.
To clarify, the God sees removing the hostile god as an important part of making the thumbnail frog comfortable, not just an act spurred by jealously or personal grudges or what have you. It is unclear why it would help the small creature become more comfortable, but it did hide before coming in- maybe some history between the frogs and the God of the sphere?
And yeah, you hit the 10/10, just need to supply the exotic ingredient to finish crafting the friendship. Yanno, how normal interpersonal relationships work.

>Open-Eyed Dive Meditation would be Perception 2 + Lore 3 + Art of Geomancy 3, and without even adding a stunts, that's 5 successes on my last roll vs difficulty 3. (Or if that was used on anything unstated, have more dice).
Ruling it difficulty five when equipped with the appropriate tools as discussed in the discord. That's ten dice after stunts:
>1, 9, 10, 4, 2, 4, 8, 8, 2, 6
Five successes, as you specified. Seems this place has a serious case of Puzzle Manse Syndrome- non-euclidean geometry, hallways re-position themselves while reference points refuse to move, the structure of this place is constantly moving and will definitely not adhere to traditional attempts to navigate through it.

>>955956
>Is our self-proclaimed host the subject of any active charms
>10, 1, 9, 4, 8, 10
Two dot stunt means you clear the roll with six successes- the God isn't under the effects of any charms, he is a charm. Specifically, Hosts of Spirits, which allows a spirit to create a perfect copy of themselves which has reduced essence and attributes (aside from appearance). The copy is little more than essence, as they don't naturally have motes, willpower, charms, or real artifacts/equipment (this can be circumvented though).
>Diana will make the attempt to gauge the Lord's essence score (difficulty 2)
>8, 10, 9, 8, 3, 1
Essence two, which means the actual God has Essence five.

>>955970
> Where's the Sesselja right now?
Immaterial, looking for "the lord's" sanctum entrance and maybe incidentally mapping the place from a convenient position of being able to walk through walls - though an allergy to pure things including gold might cause problems. It's under strict orders to flee rather than risking injury, since a failed scouting mission here would be inconsequential compared to losing access to our healbot for months.

rolled 6, 1, 6, 3, 5, 5, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 10, 5, 9, 1, 10, 2, 3, 6, 1, 5, 10, 7, 3, 6, 9, 2, 6, 4, 9, 5, 4, 6, 8, 8, 5, 9, 6, 3, 1 = 215

---

> Five successes, as you specified. Seems this place has a serious case of Puzzle Manse Syndrome- non-euclidean geometry, hallways re-position themselves while reference points refuse to move, the structure of this place is constantly moving and will definitely not adhere to traditional attempts to navigate through it.

That gives me an idea. Ash, Bone, Blood, Void, Corpse Fire, all of these exist as cruel perversions of the terestrial elements twisted to oblivion, and SCiD can feel that.

Of course, there isn't any of that available, not naturally anyway. But, he pulls back his hand, and slams the wall as hard as possible, slamming into it with necrotic essence sounding like a bell constructed out of screaming children tied to the inside of a bell, echoing through the space beyond the Orichalcum walls, reverberating, and picking up the notes of the fixed way points.

Then, orienting himself on the floor in the direction of the center, he walks neither forward or backwards, for those things have no meaning in this context, he walks inwards to the core of the manse.

rolled 2, 8, 6, 8, 5, 8, 7, 5, 1, 3, 9, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 7, 2, 3, 3, 5, 10, 1, 1, 6, 9, 6, 9, 7, 4 = 147

---

One last question from Suuzen, presented as an opportunity for the Lord to recover some dignity by showing off something he does know: where, exactly, are the five perimeter-defining statues which depict his glorious visage? How can they be reached for, say, maintenance purposes?

rolled 6, 8, 4, 3, 2, 4, 2, 6, 8, 8, 3, 5, 2, 6, 2, 8, 4, 8, 7, 5 = 101

---

>he explains that he's long since dead, and simply adheres to this world to look after his old domain. Things go downhill from there, as he seems ignorant of that which binds a spirit, matters of sorcerer, genetic engineering, and more. It's almost sad how easy it is to paint him into a corner- despite being utterly unable to make a case however, he refuses to connect the rather obvious dots you've painted for him, that he could not be what he claims.
Delusional, and unwilling to recognize (or remember) that ghosts cannot perform sorcery.

How he believes he dies (if his madness allows him to consider that at all) may also be pertinent- if he harbors memories of the Usurpation, or who was behind it. (It is fortunate, Diana reflects, that she has not flared her anima within this domain).

>the God isn't under the effects of any charms, he is a charm. Specifically, Hosts of Spirits
This brings to light an important consideration, then. Is it the god himself who suffers this delusion, or merely his lesser copy?

>Essence five.
Which, given the resources likely to be stored here, may mean facing a hostile Celestial Circle Sorcerer.

>If you have something to trade up I could offer boons for you
"What manner of trade would interest you, Lord of the Dome? I carry rations of perfected food, exports from the Celestial City of Yu-Shan."

>I've even got something in mind I could use competent help with, if you've come calling for help.
Certainly, insight into what the divinity before us wants would not be wasted effort. "In what manner of task did you require assistance?"

Not trying to convince the Lord of anything, so I don't think either of these questions would could as social attacks? Have some dice if it's needed, or for sense motive to see if what the Lord says reads as true (although that's probably not necessary with Baldy loudly fact checking everything).

>>956133
>Essence five.
>Which, given the resources likely to be stored here, may mean facing a hostile Celestial Circle Sorcerer.
I thought spirits needed E6 for sapphire circle sorcery, and can only learn the emerald circle at essence 3 to 5.

>>955975
No roll, which means there's not going to be a lot of mapping or strategic stealth. Comes back in less than a minute to report that just beyond the walls there's a whole sort of factory system set up, filled with these little winged metal constructs. Lots of tight compact spaces, so it was hard to get a number on exactly how many there were, but with the nasty stuff filling up their guts, there's probably enough to swarm everyone and generally pose a threat. Acid, poison gas, that horrible devil powder, and a substance that smelled really similar to Szoreny's quicksilver. Also, there was another spirit, looks just like that guy we're humiliating, only he seemed a lot stronger, and so when he saw me I came to tell you.

>>956029
Upon hearing that there's something you want, he perks up, interested in perhaps offering a trade. Starts to explain that they're hidden in these rooms with one way walls, set up to be opaque from the outside but transparent from the inside- but dissolves into a splash of bile before giving useful directions, as the spirit releases the commitment on the motes required to sustain the copy.

>>955994
As discussed in the discord, we'll resolve this as you heading down the hatch marked with green jade, as depicted here:
>>955946
Hatch closes behind you, and you head down a flight of marble stairs, wound tightly against a marble pillar. About two feet wide all the way down, ending in another hatch, identical to the one you entered from. Go in by yourself, or rejoin the part?

>>956133
>"What manner of trade would interest you, Lord of the Dome? I carry rations of perfected food, exports from the Celestial City of Yu-Shan."

"Finally, someone sensible!" a voice booms, seemingly originating from behind everyone all at once. Diana can hear him much more clearly now- he's entered the room properly, but is still immaterial, just sticking part-way through one of the four pillars. "You all are invited in, and respond with what? Rummaging and insults? No no no, this will not stand. I was going to offer you each a boon- complete one task for me, and receive a blessing of your choosing! Now however, I think I shall see fit to only give out one. Should you, archer of green and white, seek my knowledge and power, I ask not for your cordials and or heavenly exports, but instead, for a simple game! It has been quite some time since we have hosted any sort of challenges or sports, and I would be oh so overjoyed to witness skill and nobility from someone once again. I can give to you and you alone the location of the statues, should you wish to obtain wealth beyond that of this drabble, or potentially something else you desire? Strength, cunning, a chance to live within the palace as a champion? All you would need to perform is thus: The Manse offers a maze of puzzles to test you- if you can find and complete them all before the guards devour those who remain here, I would see you granted your desire. Since not all have offended me, I would allow you to take one companion with you as you seek to explore the depth, or nominate two other champions to enter in your stead while you bear the brunt of the onslaught up here. What say you, then, to this friendly competition?"

>>956155
Our whole team, minus a scout or two, fighting the manse's entire bound servant force seems like it might be time to break out the Mass Combat rules. We've been working closely together for several weeks in hostile territory, that should be enough for nonzero Drill, right?

rolled 3, 4, 4, 10, 9, 2, 8, 7, 8, 5, 1, 4, 3, 4, 1, 9, 2, 8, 6, 8 = 106

---

>>956155
It would seem gods in this sanctuary share a similarly warped perspective when it comes to granted boons. Ah well, at the very least, this simplifies matters.

"I accept your challenge, and as my champions in exploration name Shatters Crime in Darkness and, to assist him, Suuzen's bound creature composed of tar. Grant us leave to prepare, and we shall engage your champions in gladiatorial sport."

Speaks the Reckoner, calmly and formally accepting the invitation, before drawing from the great starmetal bow from across her shoulders, and beginning to move through the opening katas of Wood Dragon Form. To her senses, the music of the ancient Powerbow beings to swell and rapidly increase in tempo- exulting as it is allowed to sing and dance once more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-xhqldl_mw

Rolling for a social attack, attempting to persuade the lord to give us the breathing room to ready weapons and activate scenelong charms- as this is a formal match, not a sudden, unexpected outburst of violence. I'll spend an endurance off of The Rising Smoke to activate Record-Obtaining Inquiry and add Essence to the roll.

Charisma 5 + Presence 1 + Essence 3 + Stunt

rolled 2, 8, 9, 5, 7, 4, 2, 10, 8, 5, 3, 8, 4, 3, 8, 3, 6, 1, 2, 3, 8, 4, 7, 7, 3, 5, 9, 5, 9, 4 = 162

---

>>956307
>3, 4, 4, 10, 9, 2, 8, 7, 8, 5, 1
two dot stunt and six successes there. Motivation, appearance, and intimacies might be relevant to see whether or not that hits, but the God of the Twisted Sphere happily agrees, no need to resolve it as an attack.

However, when Ironhorn approaches, somewhat perplexed as she looks around around for a source to the voice, asks to shake on it.

"It seems that my companions feel confident, and wish to engage you. We shall join them, so if you are happy with the terms, would you allow me to sanctify them?"
Charisma five, presence zero.

> Shatters Crime in Darkness and, to assist him, Suuzen's bound creature composed of tar.

As SCiD is flying through the hatch, his cloak reaches out and grabs the creeper, his feet never once touching the stairs as he flies down the spiral staircase, his hands wrapped in shadows shaped like claws guiding him all the way down as chains rotating as fast as he can force them to reach out to help him knock down the other hatch, snapping to cover as fast as a shadow after he breeches.

>>956489
>2, 8, 9, 5, 7
Three successes doesn't hit, and thus everyone starts preparing for battle without further negotiations.

>>956505
Scoop up the tar baby, speed around the staircase and down the second hatch, finding that the stairs continue in a similar fashion, ending at another identical hatch. How long is SCiD willing to spend, either in measured time or in hatches opened, going down the spiral staircase?

rolled 8, 5, 4, 3, 7, 7, 6, 2, 4, 10, 10, 1, 10, 8, 5, 9, 5, 4, 3, 6, 2, 5, 9, 7, 9, 6, 2, 9, 10, 1 = 177

---

>>956617

He's going to go down exactly three sets of spiral staircases. At the entrance to the fourth one, he's going to rasp his knuckles against the center pillar. If this thing was a puzzle as opposed to JUST a staircase, he was going to have to get a good idea of what's going on with it, and if that's hollow.

"So tell me, you're a weird magic thing, what do you know about weird magic things like this?"

As he asked the tar creature, his clothes started out and started tapping every surface, transfering the sound of the vibrations back into his skin where he didn't really feel them, not being able to feel and all, but he was put together solidly enough that he could still hear them better than with air. He was looking for a particularly thin section of wall, or if the walls were thin everywhere, a thick section of wall to indicate hidden passages (such as might be found for the threshold of the secret door).

"Of course, I'm not 100% sold on not just breaking the script and going around the puzzles, the big bad 'ghost' never said anything about that."

Perception 3+ Awareness 3 + 3 automatic successes from 2nd excellency (6 personal motes down to 10 personal motes 24 peripheral) + Stunt + WP (9 WP remaining)

>>955943
>>955944
Flashing back to the week spent before entering the manse.

Mid-afternoon's light (or what passes for in, under the false sunlight of the imitation Celestial body at the heart of the sanctuary) finds Diana Maku and Shatters Crime in Darkness on the parapets of Suuzen's raised fortress. They converse calmly in Rivertongue as she instructs him in the fundamentals of magic- while the sidereal did not specifically plan to act as a teacher on this trip, her supplies were not lacking. Scattered before and between the two are scrolls with notes and diagrams scribed in two different hands (one neater than the other) and an assortment of thaumaturgical ingredients- the lesson today apparently touching on apprentice level Arts.

"...and so you see, it's much easier to summon ghosts than other kinds of spirit."

>>956620

"Well, I may not be an expert on much of this magic stuff, but I did know that much. After all, gods are treacherous scheming wretches, only worth trusting as long as you remember that they're always aiming to stab you in the back to accomplish some petty personal goals and demons are all a bunch of spineless cowards who never come when you call and will abandon you just as quickly as they pledge loyalty to you.

"But a ghost is easy to keep in line, just remind them of where they're headed," as he said that, his eyes were particularly deafeningly quiet, "and you can make them as easy as ripping someone's souls out of their body, typically by their heart. I've had to do that a time or two. Set both of his ghosts to create a diversion."

He didn't particularly care for the choice of seating, so instead, he sat on the finest chair he could imagine, it appearing as a warped throne of blackened bone and litter that would look at home in the caverns below Nexus, but close enough to the ground that it wouldn't be disruptive to the actual lesson.

>>956621
Cocking her head to the side, Diana cannot help but correct the misapprehensions (and it was her duty to so as his teacher, besides).

"Gods, at least those beyond the threshold of sapience, are simply people- they have goals, and they pursue them. Difficulty in understanding or predicting deities largely derives from the alien perspective of lacking human needs, and seeking to promote their domain. It is correct that, for the most part, they are not bound to service.

"Demons can be bound by sorcery- which is a call that cannot be refused. Once bound loyalty is usually less an issue than the terms of the binding and understanding of the spirit's nature. (Though there are certainly consequences that can make relying on such spirits a less attractive option)."

>>956677

"Well, I can definitely see how someone listening to a god's perspective on the issue would think that, and I definitely agree they behave like most of the worst people I've ever met, conniving manipulative monsters who will go to no end to stab whoever they need to in the back until they're right there at the top of the pyramid.

"After all, isn't the most widely known and celebrated story in all of Heaven the story of the gods rising against their masters and breaking a giant Oblivion shaped hole in reality so that they could have their turn in unearned positions of power over the heavens looking down as their weapons got to rule over the broken and ruined kingdom that the gods left in the wake of their ambition?

"Does the sun not hide, content in his knowledge that he remains unassailable at the top of the pyramid with his masters dead or chained as long as he doesn't allow his lessers to get the same ideas of turning exalted weapons against him the way he did?

"And if Demons really were as loyal and useful as all that, then obviously they'd hear the voices screaming for them."

>>956619
>8, 5, 4, 3, 7, 7, 6, 2, 4
Central pillar is definitely hollow, as are the rest of the walls, stairs, ceiling, and space behind the doors. Could probably punch through the stone with a single solid strike.

Sense of touch being lost doesn't stop your inner ear from feeling you moving around, as you did when you were in the long passage to the interior. Even when you're standing still, you can feel that you're definitely shifting around within the manse. Every time you go down the hatch it seems to start up again, before coming to a halt a moment later. Direction seems to be consistent, rather than at random- you're rotating around essentially, although you don't feel like you're actually managing to get any deeper.

rolled 4, 10, 7, 6, 7, 6, 1, 2, 2, 9, 2, 9, 10, 9, 4, 4, 7, 4, 10, 1, 10, 6, 7, 9, 5, 3, 4, 7, 9, 3 = 177

---

>>956695
> Every time you go down the hatch it seems to start up again, before coming to a halt a moment later. Direction seems to be consistent, rather than at random- you're rotating around essentially, although you don't feel like you're actually managing to get any deeper.

Well, if that's the case, then that just means that I've got to gear up and tear through the central pillar, breaking open a bit, and then slinking into it like a shadow, climbing down by force and seeing if this breaks the script he was supposed to follow.

>>956686
Diana frowns. "It seems as if this conversation has moved from occult facts to the realm of politics. I would caution you not to confuse the two- if you rely on prejudice and opinion to inform your understanding of magic or spirits, it will be to your detriment when you fail to account for their nature or predict their actions. Misunderstanding can be more dangerous than ignorance.

"You would condemn the actions of the gods and the Exalted host at the very dawn of history? I do not see the purpose in this. The world is not what it was, and bemoaning this will not help you today. You would rather the gods remained slaves, that the exalted had never been created? You and I would not exist, twice over, and the masters of the demons you so scorn would rule."

>>956795
"Far from it, I don't care that the meat blimps are rotting closer to the Abyss than anything else, but you can't deny that betrayal and politics are the names of the game when it comes to gods and that they left a big festering wound in reality with those games that they're still playing today, or do you intend to tell me that the gods have worked around their petty technicalities and heaven runs like clockwork like even the Guild can manage when I'm not breaking the gears."

>but you can't deny
"I can absolutely deny falsehoods- in fact it is my duty as your instructor to do so. Your assertions are incorrect in magnitude and in specifics, distorted from a kernel of fact. To conflate political circumstance with fundamental nature is a crucial misunderstanding."

>>956696
Let's assume ten health levels, with that 6L soak internal armor.
You can get those perfect tiger claws, hit with thirteen dice of accuracy- three from claws, ten from dex and MA, and against DV 0 you get to add all that to the eight dice of lethal damage- three from strength, five from claws. Assuming we divide by three and round up as we've been doing against the manse defenders, you've got seven damage, so it takes you six seconds on the first attack, six for the second, for twelve total. You can move five yards per tick, meaning it takes you about six seconds to get down each staircase, so you've broken into the central pillar at about tick thirty in the current combat.

What you find is a sort of chute, leading you to another passageway, much like the one you walked in on, only this one seems sturdy- it's not moving, feels like it leads you to the center of the manse. Passageway ends up splitting into a T-junction, only it's more circular- definitely two other rooms, maybe one more at the far side. The central pillar here is a lot bigger, but still hollow.

Reason you don't end up exploring everything is because the hallways splitting off in front of you have a bunch of nasty looking metal- baby type monsters- look to be fashioned after demons, or raksha, with bulbous heads, tiny wings, a huge protruding gut and horrible gnashing teeth accompanying the tiny razor-claws.

Disembodied voice seems to come from right behind you, begins gloating.

"Well well well, looks like you found somewhere you're not supposed to be. As much as I'd love to see you fools humiliate yourselves on the koans and traps you were supposed to explore, I'll be happier still to ensure you two never report back and take away my bargaining chips."

With that, a mob of bile-imps is going to descend upon the Tar Baby and SCiD.

>>956807
"Well, I can only hope to meet whatever god gives you a high enough opinion of them that you would trust them further than you can realistically threaten to kill them if they stabbed you in the back.

"Of course, we're at a bit of a direct contradiction, since you're saying that politics isn't the name that all the gods play, and in my direct personal observation of over a dozen spirit courts all over creation, and the only to get anything done was to play into their goal to collect the most worshipers and lord their superiority over all the other gods in their circle of influence.

"Hell, even right here in this circle, in your words, we're dealing with a rogue god who's used politics and the image of someone better to assert themselves at the top of the pyramid. So even if that desire isn't literally baked into their core, direct observation and common wisdom holds that it's still one of the most important aspects in their lives, and putting any trust in them without being so dangerous that it's never going to be worth it to stab you in the back is a bad idea. Of course, that applies to most people as well."

>>956617
>Three successes doesn't hit, and thus everyone starts preparing for battle without further negotiations.
Summarizing Discord Combat

The battle is short lived. Four exalted (and two swamp-creatures) form up, and meet a talon's worth of chittering mechanical monstrosities- airborne defenders that die in bursts of toxic chemicals, unless dispatched with care. In mere minutes, the golden area is filled with scattered and broken metal carapaces, amidst slowly dispersing clouds of gas, puddles of mercury, and a new-grown miniature forest. Ironhorn's soul still burns brightly, illuminating the area, the sign of Saturn burns brightly upon Diana's brow, and Suuzen's assassin sits cross-legged in mediation.

>>958073
Still separated from the away team, there's about seventy five brassy orbs, bigger than a fist but smaller than a head, all sealed air tight. Sesselja confirms that they contain various harmful substances as previously described- 8-Scream Devil Powder, quicksilver, acid, and tear gas. Attempts to properly organize them all with some sort of helpful marking to denote what kind of chemical is inside will probably require crafting or bureaucracy, in addition to time- otherwise you'll have a harder time keeping track of what substance exactly is in any given payload.

The metal they're made out of seems to be some sort of alchemically treated orichalcum- looks different enough that it probably won't be a suitable substitute for the base product, but it might be useful for various other crafting projects. Without much expertise in the creation of artifacts or the metaphysical aspects of lightning, no one has much of an idea what role exactly it might fill in such a project, but it would likely be worth resources two to a curious buyer looking to experiment, maybe resources three or four in large enough batches for someone familiar with the substance to work with- someone studying first age materials or with some sort of nostalgic connection to the material would likely be the best kind of buyer to sell to. For the common merchants and artisans, it might not be worth more than iron or brass, even in a big city.

How much time are you spending in the main hall? The five hatches marked each with a separate symbol and color of jade, (depicted, not to scale, here: >>955946) have a peculiar trait- the door at the top will allow any number of people to descend into the tightly wrapped staircase, but it appears there's a few conditions under which the hatches won't open:

If there's more than two people on a staircase, the hatch at the bottom will not open.
If the hatch at the top is open, the bottom hatch refuses to open- the inverse also appears true.

Further experimentation seems to indicate that wind carried words does travel through at least a single hatch, so they're not air tight.

>>958535
Suuzen's going to quietly ask the rest of the group whether we really NEED to be exploring the manse, or if it might be more efficient to simply taunt The Lord, make him choose between facing us all personally or hanging back like a coward while we knock out load-bearing walls.

>>958631
Riv is in agreement- the spirit haunting this place must surely have something worth hearing, and is the only lead which doesn't involve hunting endlessly around miles and miles of unmapped tunnels. Not to mention they might be able to discipline it into doing it's job properly, preferably under oath.

Ironhorn on the other hand, seems apprehensive.

"This place provides sunlight, and perhaps many other important features. What if we endanger the locals who already live hard lives here? I fear taking our impatience out on the manse or it's capricious ruler may have consequences for those below us who cannot protect themselves. That's not right. We must move carefully here."

Do Diana or Suuzen's Assassin want to chime in the that front? Or does Suuzen perhaps whish to press the issue with a join debate roll?

Speaking of, both Dances ended with the scene, officially done as of this post >>958073 SCiD counts as being part of a separate scene- one of the benefits of splitting up, since everyone will get more XP more quickly as we switch back and forth to different events.

The boglings have a hundred and twenty motes left in the pool Mother Bog supplied them with, and will need to return to her before they can refill it. Do you care to activate any dances now? Her mote pool was emptied by activating Dance of Influence and Dance of Death back to back, so she'll either need to wait and recharge, or spend motes from the shared pool to do so.

rolled 1, 6, 4, 1, 9, 2, 2, 6, 6, 8, 1, 8, 10, 9, 6 = 79

---

>brassy orbs, bigger than a fist but smaller than a head, all sealed air tight
Large enough to be inconvenient to carry, then (too large for most pockets). We'd either need to collect them in larger containers. Perhaps a few could be carried as grenades on a bandoleer of sorts- although if the spheres are uniformly round, that might prove challenging.

How much do they weight?

>If there's more than two people on a staircase, the hatch at the bottom will not open.
>If the hatch at the top is open, the bottom hatch refuses to open- the inverse also appears true.
Which would either force us to split up, or to slowly traverse the stairs two by two, opening and closing hatches as we go.

>if it might be more efficient to simply taunt The Lord, make him choose between facing us all personally or hanging back like a coward
Hearing Suuzen's suggestion, Diana stands from her crouched examination of the harvested orbs, spreads her arms, and addresses the empty air in the center of the chamber. "Well? We have dispatched your challenge. Do you intend to grant the agreed-upon boon?"

Making a social attack against the Lord of the Dome, if he's listening, using natural mental influence to attempt to Compel him to uphold the bargain.

Charisma 5 + Presence 1 + Stunt. Appearance modifiers may not apply if he's got ears but not eyes on the chamber (not entirely sure), his motivation or intimacies might affect MDV (if complying would go against his motivation, for example, or if he has a negative intimacy against sidereals, assuming as he has the persona of the ghost of a first-age solar).

>>958828
>although if the spheres are uniformly round
>How much do they weight?

They are, but they were built into the bodies of the imps, and many have twisted pieces of metal or other such spurs and barbs from unclean breaks; those could easily serve as handles or otherwise make it easier to affix them to bandoleers and such.

As for weight, I didn't have a set idea in mind, but the ones with gas and 8-Scream Devil Powder probably weigh less than the ones with acid and quicksilver- let's say ten pounds a pop, about the same weight as a human head, since they're a similar shape but made of a higher density material than bone and flesh.

>Which would either force us to split up, or to slowly traverse the stairs two by two, opening and closing hatches as we go.
Also unclear if communication will be possible deeper inside, if this place doesn't have a set layout- may be possible to walk into airtight rooms later on or otherwise get separated.

>Making a social attack against the Lord of the Dome, if he's listening
No response, but a two die stunt.

>What if we endanger the locals who already live hard lives here? I fear taking our impatience out on the manse or it's capricious ruler may have consequences for those below us who cannot protect themselves. That's not right. We must move carefully here."
>Do Diana or Suuzen's Assassin want to chime in the that front?
(Emphasis mine).

"Have you considered that may be a consequence of our mission succeeding, regardless of the state of the manse?"

In more practical terms, Diana would be against taking action that would seriously endanger the structural integrity of the manse whilst inside it, much less while their companion lies deeper inside.

>>958885
Knobby grapefruit grenades.

Regrettably, that means the Orbs are too large to be compatible with Generalized Ammunition Technique, unless broken down and disassembled into smaller doses (which we hardly have the time for at the moment, much less adequate equipment or safeguards). Might remain useful as grenades for anyone with dots in thrown (or very long arms) or as a possible source of materials in the future (especially in alchemy). Perhaps Suuzen's largest minion should carry a few? (Shatters Crime could easily take some in his pockets, which are regrettably absent).

Could leave most of the supply here, although if the manse has any cleaning systems it may not be here when we return.

rolled 8, 10, 6, 10, 8, 2, 5, 3, 3, 2, 1, 5, 3, 6, 3, 10, 6, 6, 8, 3, 8, 5, 5, 9, 8, 7, 8, 9, 9, 7 = 183

---

>>958917
>Perhaps Suuzen's largest minion should carry a few?
Rolling to forage material from the temporary forest and construct a crude backpack for the big lug, then load it with chem grenades. If it's possible to distinguish by slosh, density, etc., but we can't carry the whole batch, I'd like to prioritize acid and/or devil powder. Former seems most likely to be useful against a broad range of enemies, and for alchemy, while the latter is the most selective and nonlethal and has respectable resale value.

>>958918
Diana's willing to assist (ID-ing and sorting the orbs seems like it would be bureaucracy, and she has basic competency in Craft (Wood) too), so you can add +1 to... whatever dice pool Baldy is using there.

Santova 2020/03/14(Sat)14:18 No. 958990 ID: d9acdc
File 158422070192.png - (13.66KB , 500x790 , chute.png )

rolled 9, 4, 3, 10, 8, 7, 8, 7, 6, 10, 6 = 78

---

>>956809
Shatters Crime in Darkness, after being set upon by a troupe of Bile Imps at the behest of the Lord, was able to quickly and effectively block though out, a dangerous shadowy barrier effectively sealing him away from harm. Able to casually stroll about the room below the chute, he found three doors, surrounding a central chamber. The top door was quickly and easily broken into, despite the password requirements and trick floors disrupting the process.

The inside of the room somewhat mirror that of the chamber the lord first greeted them in- a dome, of roughly the same dimensions, although lacking the plethora of entrances and exits, seemingly having accessible through the door SCiD broke into. The key feature here seems to be the scattering of artifacts strew about the room.

The wall has a series of hooks upon which you see about two dozen circular bands, made from black and white jade, alternating in stripes like the hide on an animal. Iron clasps seem like they would allow the bands to close tightly- they're too large to fit around someone's wrist, but look as though they could worn around the neck or bicep, depending on the person.

You also see a single brush, dangling from a hook, with a mahogany handle and silver bristles. A pair of boots with black jade soles and decorative engraving of waves are situated near a large suit of black jade armor, which has been left dumped in a heap unceremoniously, rather than being hung, displayed, or stored carefully. A third artifact incorporating black jade sits near the other two- a box, roughly one foot long, six inches tall and wide, with a long strip of white jade sandwiched by black along the bottom. It has a picture of a boat inscribed upon it's side, and the sides of the box are made from a gold tinted wood. Finally, there's a mismatched pair of fans- one is made from a magical material alloy, and has a somewhat morbid scene painted onto it. The other is about fifty percent larger, but still made from a magical material alloy. In the base a honeycomb pattern is adjoined with seven gems. While there are several more hooks, the room seems mostly empty, bereft of the contents it might normally hold.

"I see you have found what remains of my panoply! In times ago, this would allow us to store a great deal of artifacts as new comers traded out daiklaves for dueling torcs, to participate in the games and challenges here. You're very lucky, to scavenge the bones of my remaining treasures. Might I offer you a suggestion? We should join forces! Tell me that which you desire, and I can grant more than just these treasure. You are fast, quiet, and strong, overcoming each challenge I place in your path, and yet you've gained nothing of value from these efforts thus far- let me make your time here worth your while."

This is a Manipulation+Presence attack, supplemented by Harrow the mind, giving it bonus successes equal to temperance and, if successful, creating a crippling effect that would make SCiD believe that you are working together with the Lord of the Manse for the next five days.

Eight dice, three automatic successes, and lets use the third presence excellency, just to try one out since I don't think we've seen a third excellency used thus far.

rolled 8, 1, 10, 5, 2, 10, 4, 4, 2, 3, 4, 1, 5, 9, 10, 1, 7, 10, 8, 8, 4, 5, 1, 1, 3, 3, 4, 8, 2, 5 = 148

---

>>958990

rolled 7, 4, 7, 4, 6, 4, 9, 3, 4, 2, 8, 9, 2, 1, 7, 5, 6, 9, 6, 1 = 104

---

>>958990
Sorry, I hit send by accident.

"Nah, don't care about whatever you're offering. I already know you're not a ghost, I scanned the whole thing with necrotic energy to try and map it, and so you're something else, either a god or a demon, and I don't have a good opinion of either. Hell, since you've already spent the entire time lying about that."

As SCiD was talking, he was already stuffing some expensive looking things in his pockets as he mostly ignored everything that the god said.

Spending 1 wp to boost Dodge MDV up to 8 +stunt for likely 10.

Santova 2020/03/14(Sat)20:14 No. 959012 ID: d9acdc
File 158424209881.png - (114.85KB , 339x455 , harrow.png )

>>958990
>discord
>At least stunt 1 for the dialog. Going through the trouble of describing the pile of unidentified artifacts in detail is certainly adding detail to the environment, which should be stunt 2. I don't think it resonates closely enough with his motivation to upgrade to 3.

Two dot stunt means
>9, 4, 3, 10, 8, 7, 8, 7, 6, 10
Ten rolled successes, plus three autosux from temperance, for thirteen total.

>>958996
Building off previously established details, your hatred for gods, is a good pull, but a two dot stunt isn't enough to get you above the threshold. Attached is a picture of the charm text- what the Lord of the Manse wants you to believe is that you should be making deals with him, working together. The charm states that you need to spend one willpower per relevant scene and per day to avoid the effects of the crippling illusion, meaning you'd need to spend two will power now- one for the day, and one for the scene, if you'd like to shake the effect. This doesn't seem related to your motivation, although the god might be able to help you with that. I'd also say it doesn't seem to interact with any of your intimacies- slavery is arguable, but he's actively offering you goods and services in exchange for a partnership. None of the people have been actively in chains or made to do labor or anything in front of you, so while it's clear that they're subjugated, I don't think you can boost your defenses there either. You'd also gain resonance for resisting Unnatural Mental Influence, but I think that can only happen once per scene. Make sure to keep track of spent WP and motes, preferably here so there's a public record we can all see.

Boots, black and white bands, fans, and brush could all fit, the suitcase seems borderline, armor almost certainly not. How big is the opening for the IRA pocket?

>>958918
>Rolling to forage material from the temporary forest and construct a crude backpack for the big lug, then load it with chem grenades.
Counting this as an int + craft (wood) roll, one dot stunt, meaning you rolled:
>8, 10, 6, 10, 8, 2
Six successes! You can also take a couple motes- keeping track of that is still relevant, since you're still in somewhat hostile territory. In conjunction with the bonuses provided by sprawling marsh indulgence to move around in/spot useful parts of the foliage means you can have it be about as big and sturdy as you want for a mundane backpack. Time frame and tools seem like they'd be relevant constraints, but your skill should overcome that, give you something which would hold up. If you want to do some math, give your guy a GURPS based set of lifting, that'd be really nifty to heave, but I know there's no easy conversion. Going by pathfinder rules, at least strength twenty- a blood ape is probably stronger than a regular ape though, so maybe strength twenty two, or twenty four? Also not sure how adding a backpack affects carrying weight capacity.

>If it's possible to distinguish by slosh, density, etc., but we can't carry the whole batch, I'd like to prioritize acid and/or devil powder.
Sesselja can peak into each one while dematerialized, tell you exactly what's in it. Not knowing the payload is primarily important if things become time sensitive, and you don't have a few spare seconds for your stomach bottle bug to inspect the payload for proper delivery. If you'd like to prioritize a specific payload, that's fine by me- I honestly don't really have a good grip on how many you could carry at one. Arms alone, maybe ten each, dropping them in a pile if you have to use your hands for anything? Big lug probably double that before the back pack, but the sesselja probably can't move more than one while material.

>>959012
"Alright, you want to deal, I guess I can make an exception for you. Normally, I'd just kill you for being a lying tyrant piece of shit that treats their subjects like shit, and I don't know if you can guess, but everything you're pretending to be, some remnant of a usurper's glory twisted by the passage of their death, I'm the living reality of it.

"So, I've got a lot of reasons to kill you, but we both know that would be pretty pointless at this moment. So, here's the deal, you stop bothering me with those dumb bugs, be cooperative, come clean to those little creatures down there, and don't stop me from grabbing things, and I won't take some classes on taking your last breath with my bare hands."

As SCiD was talking, he started feeding each part of the armor into his foot long pockets, squeezing the chest as it was a bit tight, and slinging the briefcase over his shoulder.

"All things considered, I'd say that's about working together. After all, fuck if I ever work under someone's orders."

As for current mote and WP costs, I believe that's 2 for WP (I just spent 1 picking the lock and 1 to boost my DMDV to 11, but I've gotten 3 1 dot stunts in the meantime.

Same concept with motes since I've been supplementing everything with 2 dot stunts, so it's gone back up to max of 16 Personal 24 Peripheral 11 committed Peripheral.

>>959036
> So, here's the deal, you stop bothering me with those dumb bugs, be cooperative, come clean to those little creatures down there, and don't stop me from grabbing things, and I won't take some classes on taking your last breath with my bare hands."

"We're both after the same thing! I've got no reason to hinder you- it's true that I find such spectacles titillating, but I'm not an animal. If you're willing to put aside feelings and help me, of course I'll extend the same to you. No harassment, and whatever tools you need from the dregs of my storeroom you're welcome to use as you need. Now, I know what I need help with- see, my flock is I'm very well informed that I am but a ghost of my former self, because they're the ones who killed me. I dealt with the wolf who had stolen some hide but he didn't get that sheep's skin alone- there's a rogue God here, patreon to one of my test races. No doubt he wants to finish the job, usurp me and take what is left of my home. Gods have grown so full of hubris, you'd think the Daystar passed the mandate to rule onto the terrestrial divinities! If we're working together though, I'd like to help you achieve your goals as well. Why did you all come here, and what boons can I provide to you?"

What's Tar Baby doing during all this? Hidden somewhere on SCiDs person, roaming freely alone somewhere, maybe perched on a shoulder like a pet or carried underarm like a sack of flour?

>"All things considered, I'd say that's about working together. After all, fuck if I ever work under someone's orders."

As the storyteller, I am ruling that this is an unsatisfactory interpretation of the illusion. At minimum, SCiD must believe there is one or more shared goals they are working towards. The Lord has provided one, but SCiD could also supply his own, just so long as there is something they are collaborating together to achieve. Think of a group project in school. You don't have to like each other, or provide equal levels of engagement, but you must at the very least admit to a shared objective that relies on some baseline cooperation and input for one another.

Meanwhile, the warband is having similar discussions about what they actually want to achieve.

>>958917
As the discussion blossoms, Riv and Ironhorn seem to be diverging somewhat as to what the highest priority should be.

"I did not know there would so many innocent lives at risk here! In truth, this whole situation makes me anxious, and I am unsure if we should continue. I expected hobgoblins and a ruin fortress, not some sort of feudal village. I think that we need to change priorities, and ensure these people are going to be safe first and foremost. Whatever reason Cain dispatched us here cannot come at the expense of so many lives- it is our very duty to serve and protect the people of creation!"

"We didn't come prepared for a rescue mission Ironhorn. Would you have us steal them from their homes one by one? We were sent here for a reason, and if we can ensure that everyone here will be safe that should be a priority, but we can't abandon our goals. If we can discipline this wayward God, ensure he is looking after his domain properly, we may yet achieve both goals!"

>>959158
"Well, that's definitely an interesting story though if you are actually a ghost, wouldn't it be whoever had your shard be the owner of this place? After all, the big Usurper in the sky didn't tell Ghosts they could run the world, and I think that big bull in your foyer is just the Diplomat Usurper you're looking for to run this place properly under Exalted care." He was, of course, violently bluffing since he only knew what little he did from his time with the First and Forsaken Lion, but he did know that Gods and Ghosts alike weren't fit to rule in a world of Exalts, and this delusional god would have to deal with that soon enough.

"But, big picture, I'm looking to violently murder the concept of slavery and tyrants forever. So point me to the biggest super weapon that could help me kill a creation wide organization and all five of the statues of 'you' or whatever those are supposed to be and you've got a deal."

>>959158
>What's Tar Baby doing during all this? Hidden somewhere on SCiDs person
Curled up and stuck on like a camel's hump, posture inspired by how those thumbnail frogs lay flat, trying to blend in with the Compliant Umbral Panoply as if part of it was being kept in reserve as a backpack, whispering contextual advice and random occult trivia in a continuous running commentary.

rolled 10, 5, 6, 4, 3, 7, 8, 10, 5, 1, 9, 10, 6, 9, 7, 10, 5, 5, 3, 3 = 126

---

>>959158
Diana's assigned mission was to see Ironhorn successful in her task- while the vizier did not expect to need to nudge the eclipse back on track after losing faith, this makes doing so no less mission relevant.

"You considered this mission important enough to assemble a coalition of heroes and journey to the edge of the world, far from peoples who could have benefited from aid or protection.

"Has our task become any less pressing, simply because the obstacles are not those you expected? Problems of logistics and infrastructure can be overcome as sure as goblins, if by different means."

Trying to re-inspire the solar's faith in her mission, and consider that higher stakes or different challenges aren't a reason to give up. Spending 1 Endurance from my Resplendency of the Ewer to enhance the social attack with Sweet Flirtation Smile. Relative appearance applies -2 to Ironhorn's MDV.

Charisma 5 + Presence 1 + Sweet Flirtation Smile 5 + Stunt

>>959204
>wouldn't it be whoever had your shard be the owner of this place?

"By all means, if you're aware of the inheritor of my legacy, send them out this way and I shall be able to pass into lethe with my work here finished. If that bull-woman has come to claim this place as rightfully hers, she's welcome to return it to the glorious place of refinement and entertainment it once was, the place my cohorts and I could relax and break from our work to enjoy each others company and the thrilling spectacles of sport and athleticism. You'll want to deal with the plotting, traitorous usurpers though, otherwise they may render any would be ruler a ghost like me.

If what you want is a weapon to wipe whole ideologies and the people who believe them off the map, the exalted host is the greatest tool there is. Surgical precision and unlimited power, what more could you ask for? If you just want to point something big at the people you don't like though, you'd best head towards the Sword of Creation. You know the former isle of the gods, pole of earth, big mountain and all that? If you pass those, you've gone too far. Now, why don't I offer you some help out of this place, back to your friends? It's somewhat of a maze in here."

Lord starts to lead you back to chute you came in form, towards the spiral staircase.

"There's a trick to navigating these you know- once I show you it'll be very simple to get where you'd like to go. I won't be able to come with you though, they only permit two at a time to cross a threshold.

>>959222
Tar baby whispers that if you're going after the sword of creation, there's definitely a time limit on that mission, since it's due to become a swamp any eon now.

>>959229
> 10, 5, 6, 4, 3, 7, 8, 10, 5, 1, 9, 10, 6
Thirteen dice (and a two dot stunt) means you're looking at nine successes, far better than her MDVs.
She acquiesces- of course there would be challenges they could not anticipate. Alleviating suffering of mortals was not one she expected on this mission, but as the ranger states it is nothing those chosen to rule cannot handle. They'll just have to monitor the God of this place carefully before making their move.

That said... how long should we all wait here? If we use the cache egg, it would be possible to stay inside this place for an extended period. Ensuring that Shatters Crime in Darkness isn't endangered is of concern, as is actually continuing efforts to liaison with the spirit running this place. If we split up, an ambush may actually threaten us, but if we sit here exhausting supplies while a comrade is in need of aid deeper within, that's potentially worse. All of us at once may be a large enough force to split up any remaining defenders, or find SCiD if he's been singled out and attacked. We can agree to meet back at the cliff side in a day if we don't hear from each other sooner.

>>959269
"You've been cooped up in here too long. The Exalted host is dead, and creation is a broken mess. And I'm living proof of that, or did you miss that I'm everything you claim to be, a specter of the weapons of the gods run through the underworld? Anyway, I don't think there are any Dragonblooded, or other Exalts, for that mater, are actually around, so nothing that's done any meaningful Usurping.

"Also, if you're a dead usurper ghost, why don't you just use the charms you had in life to kill any gods in your path? All of the other Solar Ghosts I've met can do that."

But, regardless, since he can't shake the God's copy of his delusion, he would pay attention to the trick on how to navigate the Manse.

And while it's not relevant to the moment, he does appreciate the advice of the strange golem.

>>959443
Shatters Crime in Darkness finds himself on top of a hatch, in a room he doesn't recognize. In front of him, two statues sit, carved out of the wall, one with a golden body and silver left hand, one with a silver body and golden left hand. A golden door with five silver locks sits between them. In the center of the room sits a pedestal with two spheres inlaid into it on opposite sides of each other, one silver and one gold.

Each statue begins to "speak", talking in turns.

"We offer you a selection of riddles." The golden bodied one says.
"If you answer correctly, we shall open the way forward" Intones the silver.
"Choose- do you speak to the qualities of fire, air, water, wood, or earth?" They speak in unison.

The last thing you remember is rushing forward down a hatch as the others prepared to do battle with the Lord of the Manse. You know that you're working with him to accomplish something, but you can't quite grasp what. Why are they fighting him, again? Are you hiding something from them? These questions begin to weigh on your mind as you consider the nature of the oath you swore. You can feel that you're safe for now, but if you don't update your comrades on the nature of your relationship with this guy, there's going to be problems down the line.

What do you do?

rolled 5, 1, 2, 7, 1, 9, 9, 1, 5, 4, 7, 8, 5, 3, 4, 10, 2, 6, 6, 8, 9, 3, 1, 9, 5, 2, 7, 10, 6, 2, 1, 4, 9, 8, 1, 4, 8, 4, 10, 4, 9, 5, 5, 5, 2, 4, 8, 8, 1, 1, 3, 9, 8, 2, 3, 2, 6, 10, 2, 4 = 307

---

Once injuries are patched up and chem grenades identified, I'm going to send my sesselja back out to resume searching for the manse's hearthroom and/or Lord's sanctum entrance - and to remove the temptation of it rematerializing to sneak a taste of the grenades.

rolled 7, 1, 6, 1, 5, 1, 10, 3, 10, 3, 4, 7, 9, 7, 2, 10, 5, 7, 6, 6, 10, 4, 6, 10, 6, 6, 3, 2, 10, 9 = 176

---

>>959824
After about an hour, you all hear the god announce his presence, although he doesn't materialize or otherwise make himself known.

"So sorry to leave you all unattended. It seems you've made short work of those creatures, which means I owe you a boon. Your companion and I have come to an agreement, and he says you all came here looking for weapons, which, unfortunately, I cannot help you with, as my stores of artifacts were taken by interlopers some time ago. I have reason to believe they're still within the dome though- I can see those coming and going you see, and they haven't left yet. If you'd agree to hunt them down, I'd happily acquiesce all the treasures they carry. It's more about the principle of the matter you see, not letting people get away with stealing from me and all that. I can also grant boons, make your bodies or minds stronger, make you more skilled- if you're traders or craftsmen, the old forge doesn't work anymore, but you all might be able to get it running again, make something useful out of the spare materials we have around here."

Lord of the Manse is making a social attack, asking you to agree to kill to thieves who stole his store of artifacts. Manipulation five, performance three, appearance five but that's likely unimportant given you can't see him.

Additionally, you all are being awarded fifteen experience each for SCiD finding the "panoply" but have not completed the objective to locate it.
With the end of SCiD's scene you are also awarded one XP for the end of the scene.

>>959828
"Wait just a damn minute," says Suuzen, increasingly sick of all this. "How in the hell does your owing us a boon mean that we're supposed to go hunting down your enemies on spec?"

rolled 3, 3, 6, 10, 6, 8, 3, 10, 6, 4, 1, 6, 7, 7, 3, 5, 7, 10, 10, 6, 5, 7, 3, 3, 3, 9, 6, 4, 6, 3, 6, 2, 2, 7, 9, 5, 5, 2, 4, 6, 1, 10, 8, 5, 1, 3, 4, 6, 1, 8, 4, 10, 1, 8, 1, 1, 10, 5, 5, 2 = 312

---

Once SCiD gets back, I'll claim the folding boat and jade obelisk as Suuzen's share of the loot, load the latter into the former, spend a few months reconciling with my Unwoven Coadjutor and training Integrity, Sail, and Survival up to at least 3 dots each, then leave.

>>959832
"Nothing of the sort. I thought you wanted weapons, was going to point you in the right directions, but look, if that's not what you need, don't sweat it. You might want to tell your buddy that- I agreed to help him, and gave him some pointers about where to find the weapons I think would fit his needs, so if you're going after something else, then you might want to keep him in the loop. Now, what can i offer you, in return for what i'm sure was a great performance for the audience of none? Actually, hold that thought for a second- are any of you here with the guild? Because that's a lot of soldiers out there."

rolled 4, 1, 7, 2, 2, 6, 1, 10, 4, 9, 3, 3, 4, 2, 4, 5, 1, 8, 8, 3 = 87

---

>Manipulation five, performance three
>7, 1, 6, 1, 5, 1, 10, 3, 10, 3, 4
Stunt 0: 8 dice, 3 success
Stunt 1 to 3: 9 to 11 dice, 5 success

Parry MDV 4, Dodge MDV 7, Diana successful ignores the request of a second god that she hunt down its enemies as a 'boon'. What is wrong with the spirits in this backwater, that they consider additional labor a reward?

>Now, what can i offer you, in return for what i'm sure was a great performance for the audience of none?
A cone of violet light shines forth from Diana's caste mark, stretching across the gladiatorial arena, illuminating the Lord of the Golden Dome, and making the dematerialized deity in the center of the room visible to all present.

"As I recall, I alone[/e] was offered the privileged of a boon, and I named Shatters Crime in Darkness my champion, not my spokesman." (Followed by a beat for Lying Cat to intone veracity or falsehood). "I request the following: tell us how we might reach the four golden statues that bear your image. What paths must we follow to find them, and what obstacles lie on those paths?"

That's a presence based social attack, compulsion keyword. Natural mental influence, but Diana may have enough successes to count as UMI by end.

Charisma 5 + Presence 1 + Sweet Flirtation Smile 5 + Record-Obtaining Inquiry 3 + Stunt + 1 auto-success from Mark of Exaltation + 1 auto-success from channeling willpower

Appearance delta (3 to 5) means the Lord gets +2 to his MDV.

That's 3m personal committed to Mark of Exaltation, 1 Endurance spent from [i]each from resplendent destinies of the Ewer and the Rising Smoke, and one wp spent.

Taking into the hour (+4m) and the previous stunt award (+4m), that brings Diana's pools to
13/16 personal (3m committed), 20/37 peripheral (15 committed), The Ewer 16, The Rising Smoke 17, Willpower 9/10

>Actually, hold that thought for a second- are any of you here with the guild? Because that's a lot of soldiers out there.
Lying Cat?

>>959833
If such an action is attempted, it would not go unchallenged: it does not seem an equitable division of loot for Suuzen to claim the two most valuable artifacts for herself. How does the sorceress propose to address this imbalance?

rolled 2, 3, 9, 9, 6, 5, 7, 1, 1, 6, 4, 2, 5, 10, 5, 6, 5, 4, 5, 4, 9, 6, 4, 8, 9, 5, 5, 4, 10, 9 = 168

---

>>959579
"Well, technically I'd probably represent Death, but I'm starting to feel tired of this place, especially since I seem to have some unexplained feelings and a missing gap of time."

SCiD drew the obvious conclusion that him agreeing to work with something that he hates with literally zero memories that it happened, so, he was going to start tunneling out. Fuck the puzzles, fuck the structural integrity of the building, fuck everything else, he wanted right the fuck out.

rolled 3, 10, 9, 10, 1, 2, 8, 10, 3, 2, 6, 2, 10, 4, 2, 10, 1, 8, 2, 8, 8, 5, 6, 9, 4, 7, 2, 1, 10, 9, 9, 6, 1, 3, 7, 10, 1, 4, 8, 5, 6, 10, 2, 7, 4, 6, 8, 2, 2, 10, 5, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 6, 1, 7, 5 = 318

---

>>959840
Assuming Factual Determination Analysis confirms the truth of a Guild-backed army's arrival, Suuzen's eyes go wide as she turns to Riv Maheka. "Though I lack your Lookshyan technique to speak through the wind, I have friends in low places. Tell the Guildsman leading that army..." She purses her lips, mentally compiling what she can recall of appropriately menacing legal formalities into the fewest possible words.

"Client number Mother Bog claims territory here, holding any aggressors to account. Local beastfolk not for sale, other assets negotiable. Acknowledge within one hour or depart."

rolled 10, 2, 4, 9, 1, 5, 6, 1, 7, 8, 1, 6, 6, 8, 9, 6, 6, 2, 10, 2, 4, 6, 8, 8, 5, 9, 10, 10, 1, 7, 10, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 3, 6, 8, 4, 3, 9, 4, 6, 5, 8, 9, 7, 7, 6, 5, 2, 7, 1, 3, 3, 7, 3, 9, 10 = 355

---

>>960050
The droning of the statues is tuned out as Shatters Crime in Darkness starts beating on the floor, attempting to tear through it with tools of shadow. Almost as if in response to your dissatisfaction, the floor opens underneath you, ready to plunge you into the clockwork bowels of the manse if not for your makeshift wings and quick reflexes. Still, as it seems you've got the hole in the floor you wanted, it would be wasteful not to take it.

Creatures of brass with the bodies of grotesque misshapen babies follow you eagerly, but don't seem to bother you otherwise. They seem to fill the space between spaces, pressing against you and making it difficult to see or move, but they don't actively blockade your progress. When you eventually find a wall, you are once again let through as a hole opens up for you, leading you out to the air above the artificial lake before closing behind you.

How bright is it when you emerge, and where do you go while the matter of your unsure allegiances and missing time sits irritatingly in the back of your mind?

>>959222
>>959579
The Tar Baby finds itself alone and forgotten in the room with the two statues, confronted by their "riddle", if it can eve be called that:

"You return to your homeland as the season ends and the air grows cold." Says the gold statue with the silver hand.
"You find that in your absence, a plague has struck, and your family has grown ill." Says the silver statue with the gold hand.
In unison, they deliver the question: "Your travels have left you with rare medicine, enough to cure your mother or your son, but not both. Who do you save?"

What does Tar Baby do?

>>960034
Two dot stunt and six successes would normally break through the lord's defenses, but a stunt or WP expenditure probably negates that. Not sure at what point it becomes UMI, so I'm unsure how to adjudicate that.

In plain view now, the "ghost" waves his hand dismissively, hardly looking at Diana.
"Yeah yeah, statues of me, got it, sure thing. First age beauty is hard to come by these days, so I can understand why you'd want to take some to go, but I kinda got something a little more pressing to deal with right now- maybe I could autograph your bow for you at some point, and you can come back for the silk pillow with my face on it after I deal with all the boots stomping around my lake."

>>962162
Three dot stunt as reacted to by Magey- one XP is a valid reward at this point and time.
Soon afterwards, Riv relays to you that she's received a response in turn:
"Account number recognized. Please meet at the dome's outskirts to negotiate details. Failure to appear within one day will forfeit any right to claimed goods."
Riv confirms this was sent via Wind-Carried Words technique, meaning there's at least one dragon blooded in the camp.

So, who's coming to the meeting, how soon do you set out, and what preparations do you make beforehand? From your current distance it's hard to make out details, but they appear to be setting up makeshift docks and fortifications at the edge of the dome you entered from.

rolled 9, 1, 2, 9, 3, 9, 3, 2, 3, 8, 9, 5, 4, 7, 5, 3, 2, 7, 10, 1, 1, 2, 9, 4, 1, 3, 3, 7, 9, 10, 10, 10, 2, 1, 8, 10, 7, 10, 3, 6, 8, 10, 2, 6, 5, 5, 6, 5, 6, 2, 9, 3, 9, 3, 6, 3, 2, 7, 5, 6 = 326

---

>>962820
>What does Tar Baby do?
Ignore the insoluble moral dilemma predicated on an alien cultural context (likely spoken in an unfamiliar ancient language), retrace steps back toward the entrance hall as stealthily as possible while remaining alert for traps.

Assuming successful escape, dutifully notify Suuzen that SCiD pocketed several artifacts from a treasure vault, left the manse, and was acting sorta like doing so was part of a pre-existing arrangement with the Lord of the Twisted Sphere.

rolled 6, 9, 2, 6, 4, 4, 2, 2, 6, 8, 7, 4, 2, 7, 2, 4, 3, 5, 8, 7, 10, 9, 10, 5, 4, 3, 3, 10, 6, 9, 9, 4, 5, 7, 7, 4, 10, 7, 10, 10, 4, 3, 10, 10, 1, 3, 5, 6, 2, 5, 7, 7, 3, 5, 1, 3, 9, 6, 7, 7 = 344

---

>>962834
>retrace steps back toward the entrance hall as stealthily as possible while remaining alert for traps.

>Assuming successful escape

That is not something which can be assumed because, in the same way dodging a sword or summoning a demon isn't guaranteed, neither is navigation through a puzzle manse.

However, after some deliberation, I think allowing you to move on as a non-repeatable stunt would be in the games best interest, so long as it's clear that in the future you'll have to find some other way to navigate or circumvent that feature of the manse.

Upon the tar baby's return and subsequent retelling of events, Lord of the Manse grimaces and is notably displeased to anyone paying attention to that sort of thing. He does his best to keep his composure as he addresses the situation:

"You all have earned your boon, and I have had my entertainment, as dry as it was, but as it seems there is some pressing business I must attend to, I would ask you all take your leave post haste. I shall send an attendant with you to ensure you received your payment, but any further hospitality would be strained and I may require those who stay to make services available to the house."

With that, Diana hears his unstrung essence briefly come into harmony before splitting into two songs, a second set of inidentical music now making its way towards you.

This would be a social attack, attempting to convince you to leave and rely on the conjured double to fulfil his obligation to you.

Appearance five, manipulation five, performance three, and any stunts if you're all feeling generous.

Invoking host of spirits for three motes to make one copy.

As you all have found the location of the panoply, that objective is considered complete. After we finish this debate, or jump ahead to the meeting, you all will earn two XP.