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>Who are we?
Maka, an exiled noble recently Exalted as a Zenith. She's in the western city of Tianna as a guest of queen Amata (DB), an old friend. Abyssals are targeting the city for conquest, Lintha pirates have infiltrated it with spies and agents, and half the island is controlled by paranoid lunars. Fun times.

>DB? Zenith? I don't know Exalted...
This quest is as newbie-friendly as possible, and I want it to work as a newbie's intro to Exalted. If you have ANY question, ask in thread. For the setting, google "1d4chan exalted".

>Archive?
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=solar%2C+quest

>System?
Dicepool-like system. When performing an action, everyone rolls 1d10 when posting. the first X rolls are considered, where X is equal to attribute + ability. Yes, this means that the more people are posting, the stronger Maka is, up to a limit of her attribute + ability.

>XP?
Attributes cost [current score x5] xp. Abilities cost [current score x3] xp, except Zenith costing [(current score x3) -1]. Charms cost 10 xp, except for Zenith-based charms (related to charisma and physical/mental fortitude) which cost 8 xp. At the end of every "session" (thread) you will be presented with a list of possible acquisitions.

>Twitter?
@exaltedfag

>>30542288
>Ask Irene about Manses and Hearthstones.
I'm sure she'll gush a lot.

>>30542288
Whatever we do, we need to go see Amata after this.

>Ask Irene about Manses and Hearthstones.
>Rest until tonight.

>>30542361

We don't. Better wait for the night and let her deal with traitor inside the castle herself. I mean - she's a fucking Dragon-blooded ruler of big city and isn't half-stupid. We can trust her on this, especially after our declaration.

Fuck Yeah Exalted Quest!

>Ask Irene to meet us with Samiel before tonight.

We have prepared somewhat for the lunars, lets finish it. We need to know what we could offer them if we aim for something more than a non aggression treaty. Both of them should have the basic outlook of what Tianna can offer and what Tianna might want in return that they themselves would like to give for a profit.

>>30542409
What? I mean to show off our outfit. I'm betting she bushes and tries to pretend it wasn't once hers. It'll be adorable.

Oh, people were asking about creating golden children last thread, so I did some R&D. Turns out that Little Beam can do so with a trivial amount of effort. Now, we aren't Little Beam, but a custom charm should allow a solar to do something similar with a lot more time and effort. The real issue is that such permanent embueing charms generally cost permanent willpower to use, which this system doesn't have. I'd suggest any such charm have a "You can use this charm once per X number of members in your cult" limitation, to represent the various benefits of worship, and to prevent spamming.

>>30542605
The whole point of it would be spamming.

There is nothing guaranteeing they will do what we want to once they mature unles we want to invest more charms. But that is in fact ok if we have a infrastructure that puts them working in Tianna or someplace we set up shop. It will provide a ancillary boost to area productivity but nothing direct. The ones that do stay we can employ as sorcerers, priests and scholars and perhaps engineers of the cult.

To make them worth at a optimal pace it we would need at least one of each for every hundred or so cult members. Considering that we can easily have a cult numbering over tens of thousands spamming them is the only way to go.

And even with spamming this requires we wait some dozen and a half years to get the first benefits. By then a cult could be in the hundred thousands if not more.

So yeah, spamming them in the first instances is a prerequisite if we commit to the godblooded boosted cult scheme.

>>30542674
I was talking about people wanting a charm to turn humans adults into Golden Children. Not the genderswap impregnate plan, which would not require such a charm.

>>30542674
So for about every hunred or so mortals we would need:
1 priest to direct prayers an such.
1 sorcerer to provide direct magical aids and instant communications
1 engineer to make some artifacts
1 scholar to research underlying causes for problems, teach pupils and such,
I would add to the functions we need per the hundred unit
1 investigator to prevent spying, root out corruption and infiltration and sniff out crime or infernal or abyssal influences, and even petty crime.
1 enforcer/ warrior to lead a makeshift militia unit for basic defense.

>>30542692
...this is the first I've heard that plan brought up. What are you talking about?

>>30542692
Oh, well, turning mortals into Golden Children might cost essence here.

>>30542727
You mean permanently?
>>30542709
Last thread somebody brought the idea up, so I did some R&D. I found one terrible, terrible homebrew charm as well.

>>30542288
>Ask Irene about Manses and Hearthstones.
>Ask Irene about tonight.

>>30542706
6 kids for every hundred cultists?

That is 600 for a hundred thousand large cult.

That is some serious work that can only be done in male form of procreation.

And even then i would suggest we increase such a cell to 300 mortals at least so we only need 200 kids for a start, discounting strays - meaning potentially 3 to 4 hundred to make sure

Do keep in mind that we can easily make our cult even larger if we focus on that, and it will be kind of hard getting so many willing faithful to carry a child.

And talking about it seems somewhat wrong. I mean it reduces this act to basically infrastructure building. You cant treat children like infrastructure and expect them to turn up well adjusted. We will have to work on a educational and mental health scheme to apply it right.

>>30542765
>That is 600 for a hundred thousand large cult.
That is 6000 for a hundred thousand large cult.

>And even then i would suggest we increase such a cell to 300 mortals at least so we only need 200 kids for a start, discounting strays - meaning potentially 3 to 4 hundred to make sure

And even then i would suggest we increase such a cell to 300 mortals at least so we only need 2000 kids for a start, discounting strays - meaning potentially 3 to 4 thousand to make sure.


Got the unit mortal numbers and the kids numbers mixed up in my head..

>>30542288
>Ask Irene about Jade
Pretty sure we already asked about hearthstones

>Ask about tonight

>>30542765
>>30542775
I think we should take into consideration a different plan.

Because this means somewhere between two to ten years occupied every night with making a child and each night having to be a success.

And this if we can manage to get male parts.

This is way to involved and hard to ensure. We might want to look for something different.

Getting the Dragon Blooded in a breeding program and poaching some more from the south and wherever we can get some. That way we don't exhaust ourselves and don't compromise ourselves either.

If tianna is this large there have to be at least a few uncapped demesne on the island. Its safe to assume the lunars hold some, the pirates might have a long abandoned manse, but even then there should at least be some unclaimed demesne.
Also, whose having kids with what now?

>>30542288


>Ask Irene to meet us with Samiel before tonight. >>30542515
This.

>>30542303
Can I just register a vote against the inclusion of Golden Children in your setting OP? Never liked them and all this talk about them has be worried.

>>30542775
3 to 4 k would mean we'd have a military force that even the Realm would pay attention to. I don't think that you need to guard your infrastructure with essence users the way you do in 2nd ed. Mind you, a Malefactor Infernal can combo to awaken thousands of mortals each day. Can do all of creation in a year or so assuming someone doesn't stop him.

>>30542834
Can I register a vote in favor? At least as a charm like that one anon said.

>>30542834
Can I just register a vote in favor? If we start slicing off any portion of the setting that annoys someone we'll never stop.

>>30542825
Insane plan to spawn godblooded. It involves learning sorcery and medicine, perhaps shaping and getting for ourselves some male parts and the going on a seduction and preaching and conversion spree creating a cult and having godblooded crotchspawn as budged DBs by night in the form of a bishounen.

>>30542862
I wouldn't call it insane really.

>>30542834
I totally agree. I hate half-castes as a concept because it totally goes against the 'only dragon-blooded have hereditary power' theme. The while point of every other exalt type us that your super powers only keep your society going until you're dead, then they're shit out of luck if they still require Celestial support.

>>30542837
Only if we use them as a military force. If ve use them for civilian jobs we could have Tianna and any other places in our cult boosted to a serious economic, industrial and scholastic power. And then we can simply buy a military force a la Guild.

Plus since it would be a trade empire we would have so many ships that converting them to a military navy would immediately cock block any realm invasion.

>>30542862
Seems perfectly logical to me.
>>30542885
You do realize they don't breed true right? One generation later and they are gone. Half Castes are basically a mistake the gods made while futzing around with their immortal reincarnating superwarriors.

>>30542862
Wow..... why dont we just create an extension of tiger warrior traini ng method that forces a mortal to awaken thier essence in exchange for a exp debt?

Or force a local spirit to bequeath a dot of essence to trusted servants as a reward?

Or yknow literally any plan less likely to backfire. Because i for one dont want to play Scarlet Empress 2: solar boogaloo.

>>30542862
Sounds like fun.

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"...Is there any way we could get more hearthstones?" You ask her. It seems like a pretty important thing.

"Well, you can only built a manse on a demesne, a place of magical power. And you can't exactly MAKE them. There might be some that we still don't know about around, but I don't know how likely that can be." She 's almost finished assembling her essence cannon, and takes a step back to look at it, probably checking if she did something wrong.

"What about the northside?"

"Oh, we could never really explore the northside in detail. There might be demesnes, maybe even manses. And they're probably owned by the Lunars if there are any."

"Think they'll let us use them if we ask nicely enough?" You wonder.

You both look at each other and start laughing.

"...Yeah, I didn't think so either."

"You know what would probably be our best chance?" She says. "Finding an uninhabited island around here with a powerful demesne, or many weak ones, as long as they're not TOO weak. Well... uninhabited or easily conquerable. Then we can start building some manses to channel that power into hearthstones. Finding a supply of jade would also be useful."

"Any hints for that?" You ask, already knowing the answer.

"It would take too long to explore a large enough slice of sea with our current naval power, and if we try and build up our fleet, the Lintha are going to come and cut it down before we can become a reasonable threat to their operations in this region. And, while I wouldn't mind blowing up the damn fiends to the last man - they have the advantage on the sea, and we'd be fighting a war on two fronts, maybe three if things with the Lunars go south."

>Ask Irene about Tianna's fleet.
>Ask Irene about tonight.
>Rest until tonight.
>Return to Samiel.
>Go meet Amata.
>Go meet Millian.
>Go downtown.
>Other?

>>30542834
I'd like to register a vote in favor. I've had great fun with those guys.

>>30542885
Its only dragon blooded have hereditary exaltation.

Not the same thing. By the time a DB gets to essence 5 the half caste barely reach essence 3.

And the costs of charms would be adjusted similar to the difference between terrestrials and solars, making charms cost very very high for the half caste. And without the Terrestrial special rules of strength in numbers without the parent Exaltation they go shit out of luck when its gone, if the Exaltation did not create that society with its death or absence in mind from the ground up.

>>30542908
Plus only high essence solars breed half caste. We are newly minted, our kids will just be kids.

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Btw if someone needed High-Res, here it is.

>>30542837
Massive hyperbole. Essence and charms see two things that Verdant Emptiness Endowment specifically cannot bestow, and with how much it costs to activate you would only be able to awaken the essence of dozens of individuals in one day. Less if you also want to grant things like skills and attributes.

What you can do, though, is dial a human up to maximum in everything - including backgrounds - along with enlightened essence and dozens or even hundreds of beneficial mutations in a matter of minutes. It will just about drain your mote pool completely, but it's totally a thing. The only faster way of getting super-powered minions is summoning, and sorcery has its own suite of disadvantages.

>>30542932
That's not true, the requirements can be lowered by, among other things, having a cult.

>>30542926
>Ask Irene about the fleet.
>Ask Irene about tonight.

>>30542926
>Go meet Amata.

Also, ask who's outfit was this.

>>30542926
>Ask Irene about Tianna's fleet.
More details please!

>>30542908
Because people are more concerned with maximizing the amount of sex Maka has than actually taking the easy/effective option.

>>30542926

>Ask Irene about Tianna's fleet.
>Ask Irene about tonight.
>Ask Irene to meet us with Samiel before tonight.

>>30542926
> ask about tiannas fleet
She has to have a few ideas on how to improve it

>>30542926

>Ask Irene about Tianna's fleet.
>Rest until tonight

I don't want to sound bitchy, but we need to move with the PLOT and Lunars usually have massive PLOT around them. I mean - last thread was fun as a break from it, but IMHO it's time to get back to doing things.

>>30542971
Or, they think it would be more effective than the diractors claim, doesn't conflict with the alternatives in any way, and like half castes as a concept.

>>30542926
Go meet Amata! We already knew Tianna had no fleet because the Lintha keep destroying it.

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>>30542940
I think this one is the original version.

>>30542926
>Rest until tonight.
I'd like to get the story moving

btw, could we determine the position of demenses with knowledge of the island's dragon lines?

>>30543010
agreed

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Since you're talking a lot about it, I'll probably have to clear things up.

Half-Castes are a thing in my setting. They're on par with heroic mortals. This also means that you can't "mass-produce" them because if you mass-produce them then by definition they're nor heroic mortals. (if you do that, they just become extras.)

Half-Castes have Awakened Essence, but it's not terribly hard for a Heroic Mortal to awaken his Essence anyway.

If you want a lot of skilled extras for an army, there's Tiger-Warrior Training Technique. If you want some Heroic Mortals as companions or leaders for this army, then go out there and recruit them somehow.

If you want to discuss this from a mechanics standpoint or in general terms, you should probably use the Exalted thread >>30531725
Threads stop bumping after 300 replies, and if this thread fills up with too much unrelated chatter it's going to be annoying for everyone. I'm not saying that you should ALWAYS stay on topic, but... just be reasonable, please.

>>30542926
Out of curiosity, how close are we to regenning that health level?

>>30542987
PLOT is all well and good, but there's still FUN to be had from observing the reactions of other people.

>>30542971
Well I for one just did the hypothetical math to point out how time consuming it would be.

It means that for two to ten years we do not have a social life. Or a romantic one. We basically function as a fertilization machine.

It reduces us to a tool that can not have any attachments to other people say like Irene or Amata, because we have to knock up a new person every night for ten years.

That is not fun RP.
And even if we were to RP it after the first few times it would be mechanical and boring, having the same thing reused over and over and over again. As a GM that is what i would do, have that same Text used over and over again with a different name until the players get sick of it, abandon the project and have only a large amount of wasted time on their hands. And a lot of uncared for children if they do not follow up with a plan for education, housing, feeding, personal and social contact, etc.

>>30543017
thank you.
That was getting really annoying

>>30543010
I'd rather lock it a few NPCs as loyal companions while it's still down time then just advancing to the plot.

>>30542987
>>30542972
The option of
>Go downtown.
somehow makes me want to try it out. I mean we are a priestess of the Sun. We should start the preaching...

>>30542971
I just didn't like the way the people against it strawmanned and acted like massive dicks against the people who did it.

>>30543020
Fairly close. Rest until tonight and it'll probably go away (roll a d10, goes away on a 5 or more)

>>30543010
Maka doesn't know much about Dragon Lines or Geomancy. You'd need a very knowledgeable sorceror or geomancer for that.

>>30542931
Except they have access to all Solar charms up to Essence 3, which provides utilities that Dragonblooded are frankly incapable of attaining, and can keep basically any Solar society running indefinitely because charms which endow mortals with Enlightened Essence and access to Solar charms are only Lore 4, Essence 3. And then those mortals can keep enlightening people, who in turn also learn Solar charms.

Half-castes can keep the Solar gravy train rolling forever. Their drawbacks on that are only as follows:
>Can't use charms of Essence 4+
>Eventually die of old age
>Have a mortal's consitution, insofar as disease and bleeding to death are concerned

So, despite being slightly more fragile than a dragonblooded and only living 1/3 as long as a dragonblooded, whether endowed mortals or half-castes, any Solar society can actually keep itself going forever using charms that are strictly better than dragonblooded charms and a method of producing more such super-essence-users about a thousand times faster than dragonblooded have.

THIS is why half-castes, endowing enlightened mortals the ability to learn Solar charms - or, frankly, anyone other than Exalts having access to Exalts' charms - is fucking terrible. Because short of genocide, NOTHING stops the Solar gravy train once it's in motion.

>>30543081
So...about that curse....

>>30543017
>They're on par with heroic mortals.
no solar tier charms then?

>>30543062
>You'd need a very knowledgeable sorceror or geomancer for that.
Are there any on the island?

>>30543081
That is good. That is a very smart option.

Too bad about that curse.

>>30542926
>Go meet Amata.
We already know about the fleet, after all.

>>30543062
Are we required to rest alone?

>>30543017
>Tiger-Warrior Training Technique
We should really pick that up (and the Lore equivalent so we can train social/mental stuff too) once we get War/Performance/Bureaucracy charms that make us a better leader. At the moment, the best we've got going for us is the charm that lets us get an idea across perfectly - on the magical front, we're kind of a shit leader. We need to pick up some charms that increase the efficiency/efficacy of people working under our command, and charms that help us socially to make us seem like the perfect leader, to attract followers.

>>30543100
Half Castes don't neccissarily suffer the curse. One the other hand, they don't breed true, and Power Awarding prana doesn't last past the awarders death IIRC, so the entire idea doesn't work anyway. Also, complaining that something in the lore should be removed because there is a combo crunch that can break the entire setting in half in 2nd ed is a really dumb position.

>>30543081
>THIS is why half-castes, endowing enlightened mortals the ability to learn Solar charms - or, frankly, anyone other than Exalts having access to Exalts' charms - is fucking terrible. Because short of genocide, NOTHING stops the Solar gravy train once it's in motion.
...not even killing the Solar. Yeah, I'm starting to see both why it's such an attractive option, and why it's also a bad idea for it to even be a thing in the setting.

>>30543128
There's a permanent version of Power Awarding Prana. Also, half-castes being a thing, regardless of what powers they have, frankly breaks the lore.

>>30543140
Not really, its just a mistake the Gods made. They tend to do that a lot.

>>30543140
That's just code for "I don't like that part" and you know it.

/tg/, plz stahp with all this breeding half-castes. Seriously, it's annoying and bad.

"How's Tianna's fleet now, by the way?"

"You mean apart for the fishing boats and a few merchant vessels? Well..." She thinks about it. "...I don't remember exactly, but I think we have a few light sailers, and our only large military ships are two biremes. They mostly sit in the harbor, sometimes patrol the bay and coastlines, or escort ships, but never straying too far."

"Couldn't you beef them up by mounting some essence weapons on them?" You suggest.

"What? And what if they sink?" She gets immediately protective of her firearms.

You scratch your head. You're not sure how to reply. "Who commands them?"

"Admiral Sigismond Rama. Appointed by mom. He's a Dragon-Blooded too, but not from our bloodline. He's okay, I guess. Follows orders. He talks weird and I think he might be a bit crazy, but he surely knows more about sailing that I do."

>Ask Irene about tonight.
>Rest until tonight.
>Return to Samiel.
>Go meet Amata.
>Go meet Millian.
>Go meet Sigismond.
>Go downtown.
>Other?

>>30543133
Not really, He's just exploiting an infinite loop that's unrelated to half castes as such. You don't need half castes to start the loop at all.
>>30543174
no

>>30543181
>Ask Ire-
Ok, that's been ignored enough not to happen
>Leave and go bug Amata.

>>30543172
No, it's 'The entire point of Celestials was that their descendents don't get any of their power, period, their power only lasts as long as they live. Then, later, they reconned that because people wanted their babies to have super powers too.' Lunars were originally the only Celestials with super-powered progeny - their Beastmen - but people felt like that left the Solars out, so they cut them a piece of the pie too.

This was a choice that went against game lore, broke existing themes, and that has been called a bad decision by most people ever since.

>>30543181
>Rest until tonight.

>>30543181
>Go meet Amata.
Unless we want to keep mining her for exposition we've already gotten elsewhere for some reason.

>>30543181

>Rest until tonight.

Let's rest and move to diplomacy with 'mysterious northerners'.

>>30543206
This

>>30543181
>Rest until tonight.


>- but people felt like that left the Solars out
These poor Solars, always being left out. They really needed that

>>30543181
>Rest until tonight.
Gotta take it easy.

>>30543181
>Go meet Amata
We should see what she thinks of our little uniform.

Actually we do know tianna needs a navy. And there ARE pirates nearby.
Why dont we just calmly walk over and use our massive sex appeal, strength, and cunning persuasion to get them to defect to tianna.
If the lunar situation goes well it would settle this region down immensly and provide a unified front against abyssal interferance.
Though we might have to punch a few pirate dragonbloods into paste.

>>30543206
Yeah, I dissagree with everything you are saying. Anyway, half castes exist in this setting and you can't infinite loop a charm because you can't infinite loop a charm period in this system. Deal with it.

>>30543206
Not really. Its controversial like many things in exalted. Honestly, I hope we do run into a golden child just because of how much you rage about it. I wasn't aware this level of anger existed outside of 40k.

>>30543206
Can you please bring this discussion to the Exalted General, since it's not relevant here? It is not, after all, up for discussion in this game.

>>30543235
>Why dont we just calmly walk over and use our massive sex appeal, strength, and cunning persuasion to get them to defect to tianna.
Because the Lintha are indoctrinated by essence-users, are demon-blooded, and are one of the closest things to objectively evil this setting has. These aren't just pirates trying to make a living. These are a family of super-powered demon-worshipping bastards with an agenda of castrating, murdering, and stealing from everyone they meet.

The Lintha are evil.

>>30543181
>>Go meet Sigismond.

If we bring up the Lintha we should know about it first hand.

>>30543254
Oh.... can we still kill them and take thier stuff?
Maybe offer the less demon-tainted brainwashed evil minions asylum?

>>30543181
>Rest until tonight.

>>30543181
>>30543269
I agree.

>>30543254
I think >>30543235 meant to talk about the "normal" pirates, not the Lintha kind.
You are both correct, you were just talking about different kinds of pirates.

>>30543181
>Go meet Amata.

>>30543280
>>30543254

Well if its a pirate hideout that its not Lintha we could try to, but we do not have any mindhack powers. And even if they were not Lintha, we should still have some force at our back that can ruin their shit, if they do not. That is why the best offer to present them is join or die.

It's the kind of offer they understand.

>>30543280
>Oh.... can we still kill them and take thier stuff?
Definitely. Just keep in mind that it will be a hard fight. Lintha essence/charms are, in part, what actual exaltations are modeled after, in-setting. They're comparable in many ways to dragon-blooded individuals.

>Maybe offer the less demon-tainted brainwashed evil minions asylum?
Sure, if they have any. Keep in mind that the Lintha have a strict policy of killing any defectors. Anyone who defects for any reason gets hunted down and quietly murdered in the night in the most gruesome way possible. Some people manage to run for years, but it's said that eventually, everyone who betrays the Lintha will die at their hands, no matter the cost.

Now, regardless of whether that's true or not, it means most of these castrated, broken, unfortunate souls are willing to fight to the death with their masters.

The Lintha are fucking evil.

>>30543299
>>30543235
>>30543254
Weather pirates or lintha to get first hand info and the standing applied policy about them

We should do this:
>Go meet Sigismond.
And if we want to have lunar aid in this it is with him that we should hash it out, how both of us lunar and Tianna could help one another on the sea.

And then get a high sea fleet.

>>30543325
...I'm not sure what you're trying to say. We've already had it confirmed that the Lintha keep sinking Tianna's fleet. Also, do you think that Sigismond is the Lunar? Because the Lunar we met goes by Talon.

>>30543338
No. I know Sigismond is a DB. But he knows best how lunars could help the fleet, probably knows most about the pirates, and is the best authority on how to try and counter the Lintha had the navy more resources, and what it would need to do so.

>>30543346
Got it. Just don't expect too much Lunar support off the bat.

>>30543359
Oh no , but if we get it how it would be best implemented. And if they would need it how we could provide it.

For some reason i am thinking Whaling. Whaling gear to fuck up the Lintha Seamonsters, thus leaving their ships immobile.

But we would need something better than Biremes. A Carrak or something large that does not need oars.

>>30543383
>Carrak
Well, if anyone can upgrade to the Age of Sail in one fell swoop, it's an Exalted engineer.

You think that you should probably have a chat with this Sigismond guy sometime soon, but, right now, you'll have to focus on being in top shape for the meeting.

You say goodbye to Irene, thanking her for the chat, and return to your room, where Millian, having finished putting everything back in order, was killing time reading a book of recipes.

"Welcome back." She says, slapping it closed and putting it away back on the book-case

"Hi, Millian." You greet her, climbing on the bed. "...My ribs still hurt a bit from yesterday."

"You were crushed under fifteen giant slabs of rock. I'd say you managed to survive it pretty well." She stands up and walks up to the bed. "Let me see. Mhh... tell me when it hurts." She says, beginning to prod you in the sides.

You're about to tell her that she's probably not going to hurt you that easily, when pain shoots through your chest in bursts and you let out a depressingly uncool "Ow! Ow! Owowow!".

Like heck she's "prodding" you. Those were outright punches!

"Meh, Bandaging it won't do much. They're not even broken, just a bit strained. I'd suggest my grandma's remedy for all sort of bone-related troubles and maladies."

"...Which is?" You ask, as she just picks up and walks out of the room.

You wait a few minutes, and she's back with a large bottle of milk.

"...That's your grandma's remedy for bone problems?" You wonder.

She nods vigorously and hands you the bottle.
You drink the milk, feeling a bit silly. But it's cool and refreshing.

"Have some rest. I'll wake you up when everything's ready." She says, leaving the room.

It doesn't take long for you to fall asleep.

(roll 1d10, first roll counts, wound is healed on a 5 or more)

(cont.)

Rolled 3

>>30543406

Rolled 6

>>30543406

Rolled 3

>>30543406

>>30543412
Denied!

Rolled 7

>>30543406
rolli-

>>30543412
damnit

>>30543412
So our time would have been better spent socializing. Thanks dice, thanks.

>>30543406
So, let me guess. We wake up still hurting to Amata trying to re-dress us in some skimpy outfit she found in her closet, only to realize we're already wearing something better?

>>30543406
Not to nitpick, but I'm pretty sure Exalts heal on their own over time.

>>30543401
Well, the Haslanti are on the verge of industrial revolution.

We could inspire Irene to search for a power source that is not essence and can be trapped and used at any time or in any place, to provide motion for something like a mill or a ship.

If we have a tea boiling in the background it should not be hard to piece it together. Fire and Steam. Vastly inferior to essence machines but since there is little essence for the gear, then well...

>>30543530
The Haslanti League uses whale oil as its primary source of fuel in its nascent steam engines and in the burners to keep its airships aloft. I wonder how much whale oil we can extract from one of those beasts that pulls Lintha ships...

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You're woken up by one of Milliam's now-familiar punches in the ribs, and stand up with a jolt.

"I thought you healed fast." She notes, deadpan.

"Even fast has limits!" You protest back to her. A glance out of the window confirms the time: sundown. "...Are they here?"

"Sentinels confirm a warband, about fifty people. Made a bonfire and put up a tent camp some distance from the city gates.

Fifty is a good number, you realize. Not so many that they'd be a threat for the city, and not so few that they'd seem too weak.

"How are we set?"

They're going to come up of main street, all the way up to the castle. Escorted by soldiers, both to make sure no bright spark in the city tries to do something stupid, and to discourage them from sneaking into a side alley along the way. Going to let the three Lunars in, and a small retinue of warriors if they want to." She explains. Looks like she was briefed by Amata, probably because she'll have a role in all this. Her uniform is clean and freshly pressed.

"What once they get in the castle?" You stand up, do a few stretches, and fix a bit, with her help, your clothes and hair.

"A first meeting to discuss how to handle the talks. Then, if they agree to it, a dinner. Amata, Samiel, Iriel, some people I'm not sure you've met like the admiral, the spymaster, the high priest of the island god, and the minister of trade. And them, of course. It's all going to be fairly formal, or at least Amata hopes."

"Why go for formal?" You wonder. "Won't they be more comfortable with an informal approach?"

"Maybe Amata doesn't want them to be comfortable." She notes, finishing her work on your hairdo.

Good point. "What after that?"

"Free time. When the real deals will be made. Behind closed doors, in private rooms, and in dark corners." She hands you a letter. "You had this under your door, by the way."

>>30543553
Read letter.

>>30543553
Even if we read the letter, there won't be enough time to do much. Anyway, now is the real deal, negotiation with celestial peers.

Show time.

>>30543553
Read the letter - if it's warning of an attack, Amata needs to be warned - and then head down for diplomacy.

You're about to sigh and complain about Phoenix again, but it's apparently not him. There is nothing written on the envelope. It's sealed with wax, but no symbol has been pressed against it to mark its origin.

You crack it open.

It just says, in well-written but very generic handwriting (very different from Phoenix's calligraphy):

>
>Crossing of Main Street and Shark Boulevard.
>Be very careful.
>Keep this for yourself.
>Don't talk about it.
>Walls have ears.
>Destroy this letter.
>
>Signed: A friend. -M.
>

Talk about mysterious.

You briefly remember that Shark Boulevard is one of the streets crossing with Main Street, about halfway from the doors to the castle. The Lunar embassy will have to cross that point shortly.

>Show/Talk about the letter to Milliam.
>Show/Talk about the letter to Amata.
>Go to the indicated point right now.
>See Amata's Spymaster about this.
>Act like normal: Meet Amata, then go receive the Lunars

Combined with:

>Destroy the letter
>Don't destroy the letter.

>>30543619
>Act like normal: Meet Amata, then go receive the Lunars
>Destroy Letter

>>30543619
>Go to the indicated point right now.
>Destroy the letter
Until we understand who sent it and why, the only thing we can do is assume there's a good reason for what it says.

>>30543619

>Destroy the letter.
>Let's meet some Lunars!

>>30543619
>Destroy the letter
>Go to the indicated point.

Rolled 1

>>30543619
>Go to the indicated point right now.
>Don't destroy the letter.

>>30543619
>Go to the indicated point right now.
Rush there, try to make it seem like we're trying to meet with the Lunars. If we make this quick enough, we can probably catch back up again and be back in time to receive the Lunars at the castle for diplomacy. We have to hurry, though.

>Destroy the letter
May as well. We'll recount it to Amata later if we need to.

>>30543619
>Act like normal: Meet Amata, then go receive the Lunars
>Destroy Letter

Well, assuming that the person really is a friend (M? Milliam?) since a hostile wouldn't send a warning might as well go with it. Just keep an eye out for possibile ambushes.

After tossing the letter in the lit fireplace and making sure it burns completely, you move out.

"...Aren't you going to meet Amata first?" Millian wonders as you leave.

"...Tell her I'll join her later. I have to check something." You say as you leave. The sun is setting, and the bonfire outside the city walls is growing correspondingly brighter.

You barely register the scenes of mass hysteria caused by your appearance on the streets of the city (well, okay, not quite, since word is getting around and people are slowly getting used to you. Still, if there were traffic, you'd stop it) as you head down Main Street until it meets with Shark Boulevard.

...There's nothing odd here, you notice. Despite the name, "Shark Boulevard" Is a fairly narrow (but quite long) alley in what you could call the industrial part of town, where most of the workshops and artisans' boutiques are. There's not a lot of people around right here (except for the ones that are following you), and most of them are soldiers preparing for the big thing.

>Ask something to a passerby (what?)
>Ask something to a soldier (what?)
>Go back to the castle
>Go down to the gate
>Wait
>Other?

>>30543739
>Wait
Only long enough that we can make it back to the castle in time to receive the Lunars. As intriguing as that letter was, we have responsibilities to attend to.

>>30543739
>Other?
Acquire inconspicuous clothing from somewhere near by. Something that covers all the delicious brown, hides our face and doesn't look out of place.

>>30543739
seconding >>30543771

>>30543739

>Wait.

Let's take a few minutes and see if anyone shows up. If not, we'll head to the meeting.

Also, in retrospect, we should have thrown on something a bit less noticeable, like an overcloak or something. We're anything but clandestine right now.

>>30543785
Fuck being clandestine. We're a Zenith.

>>30543739
Long narrow corridor, definitely prime ambush spot, this doesn't look good, if they get attacked in the city, the lunars are going to place the blame on our party even if we had nothing to do with it.

>>30543771
this

>>30543771
>>30543791

These.

Does no one care about the possible fallout of an attack on a diplomatic party under a flag of promised safe passage?

>>30543791
Then why did we leave the castle?

>>30543822
Of course we care. Why else would we have left the castle?

>>30543824
To investigate what this was all about, not to play spy. Someone wants us to be here - we need to know why.

>>30543822
Absolutely yes. Which is why I want us to disguise up so we won't be taken as part of the attack or the intended beneficiary of the good will resulting from"saving" our guests.

>>30543822
/tg/ likes to spur on disasters because they think dealing with the fallout is cool.

Fucking psychopaths.

File: 1393600393075.png-(649 KB, 849x1000, queen amata tai tianna.png)

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You stand around for a few minutes, until you spot a group of people approaching from the castle: Amata and Samiel, plus about twenty soldiers.

"...So HERE you are." Amata sighs. "I've been looking all over for you." She gives a second look at you. "...Did you run away because you felt guilty after stealing from my wardrobe?" She jokes.

"...Mom?!"

"What? I was younger and sillier. Maka still hasn't grown out of it, let her enjoy it." She replies with a laugh. Samiel, on the other hand, seems really troubled.

"So, why are you standing here?" She asks. "It's about time, we're going to meet our guests at the city gates and escort them to the castle."

>Tell the truth
>Lie convincingly
>Give a vague answer
>Dodge the question

Combined with

>Go meet the Lunars at the city gates with Amata and Samiel
>Stay here, in plain sight
>Stay here, hide
>Go back to the castle

>>30543873
>Tell the truth
>Go meet the Lunars at the city gates with Amata and Samiel

Fuck mysterious letter guy, he's had his chance

>>30543822
>>30543836
>>30543837

You know, sometimes best thing to do is not do anything. It's entirely possible someone wants us to act and change route to other one that might be properly fucked and then, after ambush frame us that we did it on purpose and are a traitor.

Think in non-standard way. Not everyone who says they are our friend are our friends.

>>30543873
>Give a vague answer
"I'm just keeping my eyes peeled. I want to make sure tonight goes as smoothly as possible."

USE OUR CHARM TO MAKE SURE AMATA GETS OUR POINT.

>Stay here, in plain sight
"I'll meet back up with you on the way back to the castle."

>>30543873
>Give a vague answer

>Go meet the Lunars at the city gate with Amata and Samiel.

>>30543897
>USE OUR CHARM TO MAKE SURE AMATA GETS OUR POINT.
This.

>>30543873
>Tell the truth
>Go meet the Lunars at the city gates with Amata and Samiel

These. Fuck "mysterious friend". We are loyal to our true friends.

>>30543873
>>Tell the truth
>Stay here, in plain sight

>>30543873
>Tell the truth
>Go meet the Lunars at the city gates with Amata and Samiel

>>30543897
that is sneaky and innovative.

>>30543897
I actually like this. It's a good compromise too. Keep it vague, but use charms to make sure Amata understands the truth.

>>30543897
Good idea, but i say use the charm and meet the lunars at the gate.

>>30543873
>>Tell the truth
>Stay here, in plain sight

These "Fuck mysterious friend" people are idiots. So are these "keep it vague" people. It's like you want us to be framed for something.

>>30543873
>Tell the truth
>Go meet the Lunars at the city gates with Amata and Samiel

>>30543968

It all depends if "friend" wants us to change to even worse route. That's why being true to Amata is crucial.

>>30543988
Exactly why we shouldn't lie to her and shouldn't abandon the area.

The opposite rationale don't' have any valid reasoning behind them

>>30544010
That's fair. So, give a vague answer, but use our social power to get Amata to understand, so we won't be framed for anything. Then stay here and wait with that understanding in place. Does that sound good? Because if we answer openly to everyone, that might scare off whomever might have met us.

File: 1393601459890.jpg-(273 KB, 1133x1600, 005.jpg)

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should totaly les it up

>>30544024

Nope, she has to know about letter. With "speaking to heart" it's more vague, it's not telepathy, but leaving in her heart impression that we think "something's up". It's vague. Vague is for shadows and lunars. We shine light of truth.

>>30544024
Seems like a valid use of a essence point, sure.

>>30543873

Exaltfag, change >>30543968
To
>>Give a vague answer: Use "Speaking to Heart
>Stay here, in plain sight

>>30544057
>Vague is for shadows and lunars. We shine light of truth.
That's a terrible argument.

File: 1393601823909.jpg-(329 KB, 707x1000, prince samiel tai tianna.jpg)

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"...I actually just received an anonymous letter." You explain to her.

"Really? Another one?" She asks, not sounding too amused.

"Not the abyssal this time." You start walking alongside her. "Some sort of informer. It warned me to be careful about... something at this point. It was signed "M". It also said to not tell anyone, and to be very secretive about it."

"I see." She replies. It doesn't seem like she's very concerned about it. She shoots a few glances left and right, unconvinced of any danger. "...Well, it's good you told me. Say, we still have a few minutes before night. Wouldn't you mind a cup of tea? There's a teahouse just along this street. Just to distend the nerves."

Samiel steps in. "Uh, mom- I mean, Queen Amata. We don't have THAT much time, I'd like to point out."

>Support Amata, have a cup of tea with her.
>Support Samiel, reach the city gates as soon as possible.
>State that you'd prefer to stay here.
>Propose something (what?).

>>30544090
>Support Amata, have a cup of tea with her.
Sam, your mother is older and wiser than you. Shut the fuck up.

>>30544090
>Support Amata, have a cup of tea with her.
we can keep an eye on the meeting place

>>30544090
>Support Amata, have a cup of tea with her.
Of course.

>>30544090

>Support Amata, have a cup of tea with her.

She clearly wants to say to us something in cafeteria. Go there.

>>30544090

>Support Samiel, reach the city gates as soon as possible.

Tea is a little... much. And it makes me very suspicious. Also, for the rest of you; being honest, really?

>>30544136
We're a priest of the Unconquered Sun, we don't do "subtle"

>>30544146
Don't know much about preaching, do you?

>>30544090
>Support Amata, have a cup of tea with her.

I think this is the shady part what she told us to trust her on.

>>30544146

So we're supposed to just barge with absolute reckless abandon? Couldn't we try to have some tact?

>>30544090
>Support Amata

Clearly the long time ruler knows what she's doing.

>>30544146
A priest does subtle when it is needed and and blunt when it does too.

A priest is not as a rule blundering idiot.

>>30544186
>>30544125
>>30544121
>>30544112
>>30544110
So we are going to keep the Lunars waiting when we set the time?

>>30544090
>Support Amata, have a cup of tea with her.

>>30544191
Clearly the priests where you are are nothing like those around where I live.

>>30544198
>set the time
What?

>>30544146
We're Zenith, not Dawn. We can opt-out of being a blundering retard.

>>30544198
Nah, we're sending Sam ahead, right?

>>30544216

Thank you, yes! We have two in Mental, for fucks sake, we're not blundering, headstrong retards. We're smart, overly strong priest motherfuckers, and we can afford a little subtelty.

We said ourselves that we don't know anything about spying. Amata has been a ruler for a long time, she knows better than us.

>>30543873
>"What? I was younger and sillier. Maka still hasn't grown out of it, let her enjoy it." She replies with a laugh.
Sometimes I forget Amata is at least half a century older than Maka.

The request came somewhere out of left field, and even Samiel seems puzzled. Amata asks him and the rest of the soldiers to wait for you at the city gates.

Your entrance in the teahouse causes a huge commotion, and people flock to it just to see you and the Queen. The buzzing of the crowd doesn't make it relaxing at all, but you enjoy your tea - which, by the way, is delicious - as much as you can.

When the tea is finished, Amata stands up right away. "Come with me a moment." She grabs your hand, and pulls you away from the table and...

...Into the kitchen?

A servant blocks your way at first, complaining that "Hey! You can't! That's staff only!" but quickly steps aside after Amata glares at him for long enough for him to recognize her.

Once in the small kitchen, which is partially underground and has no windows, Amata pushes you into a nearby chair. "Sit down."

While you're wondering what the heck got a hold of her and why she's acting that way, you realize that a strung gust of wind is flowing into her hands, forming a sphere of compressed air.

You wince and put your guard up, worried that she might be about to attack you for some crazy reason, but when she releases the ball of air, it explodes with a dull, very deep noise that seems to isolate you from outside sound. You can no longer hear the buzzing of the crowd outside, and the kitchen is dropped into utter silence.

Amata drops the mask. She looks mad.

"Thanks for saying that in front of forty soldiers and about as many other citizens, Maka."

"But-"

"Mister M. works for me. Remember when I told you I was calling for reinforcements to deal with the spies in Tianna? M. is my counterespionage."

>Demand explanation
>Justify yourself
>Apologize
>Demand apology
>Other?

>>30544280
>Sometimes I forget Amata is at least half a century older than Maka.
Probably a fair bit more, if we're in our late teens or early 20's.

Amata is old enough now that she's older than most people when they die of old age.

>>30544293
Called it.
>Apologize
Now we know how we lost our kingdom. Mama can't into subtle.

>>30544293
Apologize, don't even try anything, just apologize.

>>30544293
>Justify yourself
"I don't lie to you when you ask me a question Amata!"
>Apologize
"But I am sorry for undermining your spymaster's efforts."

>>30544293
>Apologize, but ask why she had him send us the letter then? It made us think there was another player

>>30544293

I fucking told all you faggots subtlety would have been smarter! You are all the dumbest of cunts.

Anyway:

>Apologize profusely

>>30544340
Is ok. oP just needs to come to terms with the fact that /tg/ can't keep secrets from NPCs. Ever.

>>30544293
>Apologize
"Sorry Amata, my actions are determined by a group majoritivly composed of retards."

>>30544293
It's his own fault. He knew we were bad with this spying stuff, didn't show up on time and didn't tell Amata about it

>>30544316
this.

>>30544311
That was a hard one to foresee. I mean seriously if a letter warns about spies in the court we then say it in front of the whole escort and entourage of all people of importance ready to meet a local power while on the street.

There is no less secure place that we could have brought this up.

>>30544293
>Apologize
We did not know of the counterespionage person, except of its existence. Our previous encounter with a mysterious letter was from a Abyssal.


And even that we told Amata in our fucking bedroom.

>>30544316
That's good. A combination of justification and apology is probably our best bet. Lacking one or the other will probably just make her angrier.

>>30544351
You mean that stupidity has generally a 50% chance of wining every time due to some people going for lulz others not knowing better and others being afk?

>>30544293
>Demand explanation
That is the stupidest most overly complicated way to pass information ever. Real spies don't do stupid shit like that because it will cause misunderstandings just like this. Why the hell would we apologize?

>>30544385
>>30544393
>>30544382
>>30544368
These people have it right.

>>30544368
M wasn't supposed to meet us there. He was warning us about an ambush. An ambush which will now be relocated somewhere else, somewhere we can't prep for a counter attack before the lunars come through with Sam and Amata. Basically he gave us the insight to create a tactical advantage and we blew it with our big mouth.

>>30544382
>There is no less secure place that we could have brought this up.

>the middle of the street
>the exact place where they are planning something nefarious so the place will be controlled as hell
>one day after an incident in which a lot of spies have crawled into town

Sure.

>>30544293
>"Thanks for saying that in front of forty soldiers and about as many other citizens, Maka."
This is why we said to use the Charm.

>>30544393

Real spies DO shit like this. Have you ever watched a Bond movie before?

>>30544416
Yuuup.

>>30544293
>Demand apology
he could have, you know, mentioned that in his letter, or she could have told us he would contact us. This was his fault, not ours

>>30544293

Well, it was a gamble. Though it's good that she knows about it.

Guys, you may think it was a bad move - but it wasn't. On the chance that it was someone else - another Abyssal/some crazy wacko, we could have harmed everyone with our actions and be framed for being a traitor that Amata seeks. We left Amata to deal with possible ambush and traitor, she shouldn't inform us about possible terrorists in a letter. But she did, that means she doesn't have it under control and it's SHE that fucked-up.

But there's no possibility to reason with her, she thinks she's smarter. So

>Apologize to her
>Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea magna culpa

>>30544416
That charm doesn't work the way you think it works.

>>30544419
Yes. Why the hell are you using a guy who always blows his cover in 24 hours as an example of a spy? He's fucking terrible at his job.

>>30544435
Unless it does. We don't know the full extent and limitations of that particular charm yet.

>>30544434
Why let her walk over us, again?

>>30544435
Oh hey, you're right. Somehow I got it confused with one of the Ex3 kickstarter preview charms.

I was thinking we had this:
>Subtle Speech Method
>The Solar speaks in a roundabout fashion, stressing particular words, inflections and allusions to convey ideas and concepts that may have nothing to do with what she is saying. Only the intended recipients can understand the true meaning of the Solar’s words; everyone else just hears what the Solar says on the surface. Thus an Exalt using this Charm could appear to discuss the weather while laying out the details of an assassination plot. This Charm does not confer the ability to communicate across language barriers.

>>30544393
Man's got a point.

>>30544293
>Demand apology
that's the most retarded way of contacting us I've ever heard of

>>30544427
>>30544419
>>30544393
>>30544368

I hope these win just so Amata can tell Maka off for being a idiot and stops trusting her wit things.

Exaltedfag, this stupidity better have some actual consequences.

Guys, what system does this use?

>>30544445
Nope, that charm has nothing to do with hidden meanings or subtly. It's a sledgehammer to get our point across as honestly as possible. Not remotely useful for clock and dagger stuff.

>>30544293
>Demand explanation
This is Bullshit. We stayed out of intel ops and counterintelligence at her insistence.

Is there a surprise that knowing nothing about it and not being debriefed we treat anything suspicious as enemy action?

If we were to be involved she or mr M should have debriefed us personally and have made sure there are no ears listening. Without this its bloody obvious we would treat any approach from anonymous sources as potential enemy action and do our best to sabotage it.

It was a dead drop, while we can't be blamed for not knowing, we did give Amata a boatload of grief.

>>30544480
"Make a social move that will get your point across perfectly, captivating a single person's trust and affection."

That sure sounds like it could be used to issue a vague dismissal but have Amata trust that we're here for a serious and important reason.

>>30544452
We aren't. We just fucked her counter insurrection op. we're apologizing for walking all over her.

>>30544452

>Why let her walk over us, again?

Better to play humble - to keep our pride in check, for our friendship and most importantly - to leave relatively harmless impression. It's good thing when people think of yourself as superhuman, but relatively harmless air-headed bimbo on a leash of local ruler.

>>30544466
It already did. M's stupidity caused consequences.

Y'all niggers supported this stupidity to begin with. I'm one of three(?) people who said we should be even slightly clandestine. Because all of you decided to barge around like a bunch of fucking retards, we're now on the queen's shit list.

Good fucking job, asshats. Time to apologize.

>>30544435
>>30544445

>Talking to The Heart: Make a social move that will get your point across perfectly.

Nope Talking to the Heart was perfect for this situation. It's 100% applicable.

>>30544477
A custom home brew.

>>30544507
>We just fucked her counter insurrection op
No, M fucked her counter insurrection op

>>30544507
The one she sprung on us, while we had no idea what it was, and then we reported it to her as a potential threat like a dutiful citizen?

What did she EXPECT us to do?

>>30544518
I voted to be subtle, and even I think this is complete gotcha bullshit.
>>30544527
He's right

>>30544527
No, she told M to loop us in while maintaining plausible deniability for her. OR, 'M' is for Maid and Millian, so we just got someone in /big/ trouble for trusting us.

>>30544527

This. Though shit happens, we can't be responsible for stupidity of others.

>>30544528
>we reported it to her as a potential threat like a dutiful citizen?
In front of the entire fucking diplomacy party.

>What did she EXPECT us to do?
Not be a god damned idiot.


>>30544551
>>30544527
>She should of known we were idiots
I have Amata slaps your shit for this.

>>30544549
You don't 'loop someone in' by sending anonymous messages if you don't want them to talk about those messages, that's the most moronic shit. Doubly so when you KNOW (unless you're incompetent) that this person has received messages from the enemy before.

>>30544293
> Other
Question what would happen if M's been turned or replaced and wanted to distract Amata and us from making contact Ipswich the Lunars for a bit.

>>30544518
Subtelty + talking to the Heart would have been perfect, but somewhat this what you say is bullshit.

M, and potentially Amata started the fuck up here, we just delivered the punchline personally, since Amata said we should stay out of it then M approached us when we were pretty sure it was a impossibility.

Here either M or Amata fucked up. We need explanations. This is their fuck up and i will not accept blame that is not ours.

Remember justice is quite big on our do lists.

>>30544549
>told M to loop us in
You don't "loop someone in" via mysterious letters, you send someone they trust or otherwise prove yourself trustworthy

>>30544577
Why would M know about us receiving messages from the enemy?i doubt that information spread beyond Amata.

>>30544523
I figured that. But where I can look the rules up?

>>30544549
>told M to loop us in
right after we agreed to stay completely out of this spying shit. Sure sounds like she was it

>>30544577
Amata knew what might happen, but 'M' didn't. While most of the blame lies with this 'M' person, we still screwed up. Hence, the apologize and not defend ourselves thing.

>>30544566
As someone who has a lot of friends and family in certain agencies, if someone tried what M tried they'd probably be fired. You don't brief an non spy with mysterious letters, you do it with a private conversation in a secure room.

>>30544605
Nowhere. OP made it up.

>>30544596
>Why would M know about us receiving messages from the enemy?
Because they're the fucking counterespionage! They should be #1 on the list of people Amata tells, if they couldn't find out themselves before she did.

>>30544608
Take all the blame for this crap? hell no.

>>30544614
But if he didn't share, what's the point of listing the charsheet?

>>30544624
We're not taking all the blame. In fact were blameless for everything except telling Amata about it in the middle of the fucking street.

That dumbshit was all us.

>>30544605
Pretty sure the idea is that we learn the rules as they become relevant. That keeps us as knowledgeable as our character about the setting.

>>30544633
Because he's already described all the rules during play. Just go back and read the previous threads.

>>30544610
As some one who works in one such agency. The comparison is completely invalid between different organizations and as this kingdom is in a anachronistic island kingdom in a alternate-reality using an archaic (but 100% actually used) form of correspondence is valid.

>>30544588
>>30544585
>>30544596
>>30544577
>>30544566
Lack of communication kills Intel ops, news at 11.

>>30544293

>Apologize four our inadvertent operation kill
>Demand explanation & justify yourself

This is the diplomatic way of solving the issue.


Sorry for fucking this up, but seriously, a anonymous letter, after the last one? When you told me to stay out of that area? I think knowing these facts it should come as no surprise I would kill that letter.


This seems to be a clusterfuck due to poor communication between the three of us. How could we fix it? And if so would it not be better done so at a later time beyond the bare bones of it, considering who we have in expectancy?

(remember folks we have integrity 4 and social 4. Act like it. Blame does not stick on us.)

>>30544624
Blame lies with the spy, but the words came out of our mouth in an inappropriate setting, i see no problem with apologizing for a screw up. If anything, we should defend our actions AFTER this with 'M' and Amata in the same room, a debrief session, this is not the time for arguing about blame.

>>30544675
This.

>>30544675
>Sorry for fucking this up, but seriously, a anonymous letter, after the last one? When you told me to stay out of that area? I think knowing these facts it should come as no surprise I would kill that letter.
Definitely. We need to do a combination of apology, justification, and demanding answers.

>>30544675
I like this.

>>30544675
10% apology, 90% demanding answers and justification.

>>30544675
This.

"...Well I'm sorry, but... how was I supposed to know?" You complain. "I wasn't sure if I could trust the letter or not!"

"...So you decided to trust it enough to check the place it mentioned, but not trust it enough to follow the rest of the advice and keep it for yourself?" She replies, dropping herself on a nearby chair.

"You could have told me!" You reply, exasperated. "Just tell me that I could trust stuff signed with an M or something!"

She takes a deeper breath. "...You're right. Maybe I should have. I didn't expect him to contact you right away. But I was also worried that, If you knew, you'd tell someone else."

"What, you don't trust my ability to keep... a... secret..." You slowly facepalm. "...I'm not really making a very good argument, right?"

She stands back up, nervously pacing back and forth.

"So, what, you didn't know about this either?" You ask her

"M acts independently from me, with no oversight. I don't know where he is or what he is doing. He had some reason to contact you and not me. Maybe he through he couldn't reach me safely, so instead he decided to just leave the message to you. Or maybe he had another reason."

"You must trust him a lot to leave him all this freedom."

"Well, I am absolutely sure he will not betray me, but that's not a matter of trust: he's bound by magic."

That sounds like an interesting story, but you don't really have a lot of time to ask more about it.

"...This M doesn't sound like a very good spy." you do, however, talk about the one other thing that's bothering you.

(cont.)

>>30544675
Make it so nr 1.

>>30544751
Self sabotage is a thing people. Whenever I was in a game magically bound to do something... it turned out rather sloppy or crappy. But i could not be accused of going against said bound.

>>30544751
Well, with any luck we won't have to worry and out hearing from M again. If we're lucky.

>>30544791
True. This seems likely.

"Oh?" She asks.

"He sends me a cryptic letter, I don't have any proof of his identity, and if he did some legwork he'd know that I'm not good at this spy stuff. And he trusts me with this."

"So it's his fault if he trusts you with state secrets and you repeat them in the middle of town." She replies.

"What I'm saying is that all this sneaking around stuff is beneath me." You say.

"I know." She nods. "...But if you want to get your kingdom back, you should either learn it sooner or later, or find someone you can trust completely with it. I did both. And... Maybe M fucked up, or maybe he had a very good reason to do what he did. Maybe that one letter was all he could do." She shrugs. "We don't know."

"...So what happens now? No sense staying mad at each other. We have a meeting."

"My guess is that M thinks that there would have been some sort of ambush against our guests on Shark Boulevard. That explains the letter. Of course, I might be wrong and there might be more to it. I don't know all the facts. Let's assume that M knows them better than we do, since it's his job, and he's had more time than us to investigate the matter."

"What kind of ambush? And, the Abyssals or the Lintha?"

She shakes her head. "No idea. Lintha seem slightly more likely, Abyssals would have more to gain from it though. But we need to figure out what their new plan might be."

>Theory: They're going to move the attack to another point of the itinerary.
>Theory: They're going to attack the castle instead.
>Theory: They're going to attack the barbarian camp outside instead.
>Theory: They're going to attack them on the way our instead.
>Theory: They're going to call off the attack.
>Theory: I don't think they were going to attack the Lunars in the first place.

>>30544751
Please tell me "M" isn't a fae...

>>30544836
>I don't know anything

>>30544836
>Theory: I have no idea what they're going to do

>>30544836
>Theory: I don't think they were going to attack the Lunars in the first place.
Lunars - especially multiple of them - are too tough of a nut to crack like that. They're not going to throw away their spies on a pointless suicide run.

They're going to try to assassinate the Dragon-blooded.

If they take out Irene alone, they will SEVERELY undermine the ability for Tianna to deploy those VERY OVERT new first age weapons that have been deployed.

We need to catch up with Amata's children. NOW.

>>30544836

>Theory: They're going to move the attack to another point of the itinerary.

>>30544836

>Theory: I don't think they were going to attack the Lunars in the first place

Someone reached M. before and dispelled magic that bound him. Even if not, he might have contacted someone on his own and because he can't directly harm Tianna, he does it indirectly by doing shit like that.

>>30544880
Irene's back at the palace, but sure, I'll support this.

>>30544836
>Theory: Not a clue, just keep to the plan and wing it.

>>30544836
Theory: To many possibilities. Attacking the castle seems unlikely. Barbarian camp or another point in the Itinerary seems possible. Best counter is to warn the lunars that either the abyssals or Luminar might be up to something frisky, so they and their followers should watch their back.

>>30544836
>Theory: M wanted us to get away from the castle

What resources do we have?

>>30544928
>Best counter is to warn the lunars that either the abyssals or Luminar
>Luminar
>Luminors
Fuck, we've got Autochthonian problems?

>>30544971
None. We have allies and influence, but depend on the charity of others when it comes to cash flow.

>>30544971
10 DB
1 Solar
Unknown number of GodBlooded (probably 10+)
? other essence using mortals
Lots of Mooks.

>>30545003
We should fix that, though I think the anon meant for the problem at hand.

>>30545010
Plus some Essence cannons - a few Rating 4, some more Rating 3, and I think a lightning ballista or two, right?

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130 KB JPG

>>30544947

>Theory: M wanted us to get away from the castle

>>30545010
Those are Amata's resources, what are ours?

>>30544836
>Theory: With all DBs, the resident Solar all around the visiting lunars and both groups giving attention to the other, everything else is left open.

>>30545045
Allies, Influence, and an exaltation. We're totally dependent on Amata for anything else. She is that 'ally' I mentioned.

>>30545028
Right. I'm basing the number of God Blooded on the fact that more of them are around the DB overall, despite them being banned in the Blessed Isle.
>>30545045
1 Solar, whatever money and retainers we took into exile.

>>30545045
we just exalted, so I guess our old clothes and a bit of money

>>30545045
None. We just got out of chargen.

And its not the Exalted chargen where it is assumed you have exalted a year ago. We just did it now.

>>30545062
>our old clothes
Those were shredded during the Abyssal attack.

>a bit of money
We have Resources 0. We're reliant on Amata for purchases.

>>30544880
I like this possibility. While our enemies would like to see some Lunars angry at us rather than getting on good terms, I like to think they'd be more interested in undermining the actual strength of Tianna.

Still, why arrange an attack in a location where there will be Lunars rather that go for the castle while the Queen and Solar are out? I think the Lunars must be involved somehow. Thus, I think the safest conclusion is
>Theory: They're going to move the attack to another point of the itinerary.

>>30545107
Simple. They were going to attack the queen on the way down instead of the Lunars on the way up. Instead, a Solar badass was standing there to meet with them.

The queen left with the Solar. Samiel would be a good backup target.

"...I don't know you, but I think we're not well-informed enough to make a guess as to what their plan might be. Our only source of information is your mister M, and all he did was send me this letter. Right now? We have nothing." You note.

"...Yeah. You're probably right."

"...But I don't think they're targeting the Lunars. That sounds like a stupid move." You ponder.

"Maybe they don't want to KILL them. Maybe they just want to piss them off. Sic them against Tianna." Is her reply.

"Or maybe they want to kill YOU. Tianna would collapse without you. Or Irene. Without her, the castle's magical defenses would fail in minutes."

"...Well, Irene is staying at the castle, but I see your point." She puts a hand on your shoulder. "...Look, Maka. I'm sorry I snapped. I'm just very nervous about this entire deal, and not knowing what's going on only makes it worse. You're right, I should probably have told you about M. I just wasn't expecting him to contact you."

"...I'm also sorry. I should have realized that talking about this stuff in the open was a bad move, but I had to open my mouth." You reply, the incident cleared.

"...Let's get back to business then." She opens the door, and the buzzing of the crowd invests you. "One last little deception I'll ask of you, though."

"You know I'm not a good liar."

"They're going to think that we had sex just now." She replies, deadpan, nodding outside.

Well, you just locked yourselves up in a closed room for a few minutes. That seems like a reasonable assumption.

"Don't say it, don't deny it either." She winks and moves out, together with you.

(cont.)

>>30545107
Or, the plan was to ambush Amata and Sam on the way to their new guests. We were a wild card they didn't want to tango with, so that's when they changed their plan. Now, look for an attack of opportunity since I assume we aren't stupid enough to take the same tribute back to the castle.

>>30545147
Blush and follow.

>>30545147
>"They're going to think that we had sex just now."
>That seems like a reasonable assumption.

No it fucking isn't. Not even for an lewd looking Exalted and a DB.

>>30545175
we walk around flashing everyone, I don't think we'd blush

>>30545190
I'm thinking more post good time flush combined with a bit of teasing. Not embarrassment, other reasons.

>>30545211
Oh right, I'm vptrying to give some nonverbal cues to back Amata's story if for no reason than my amusement with seeing Maka trying to put on an act.

>>30545147
>Well, I am the vapid and lewd exalted fighting machine. What else am i good for but for that and punching shit.