File: Maka Character Sheet 2.jpg (457 KB, 1469x1134)

457 KB JPG

And she wants it for herself. She wants to destroy the Neverborn, the monsters that chained her soul, with it.

...As for the Prince, you're not 100% sure what he intends to do with the Titan, but whatever it is, it can't be good.

You look around yourself, at the worried faces of your servants, friends and circlemates as they slowly gather around you. Some already know what's going on, having been within earshot of your magical message exchange with the Deathlord. Other just guess, staring at your troubled face, that something must be monumentally wrong.

You need to act fast.

Tianna is probably under attack. Amata is there, together with Valeriana, Mikahil and Talon. All of them can handle themselves in a fight, esepcially Talon, but they're not exactly specialized combat monsters...

"Lady Maka!" You hear the voice of- you turn and see three soldiers from Steelshard's company, clad in plate mail and red tabards, carefully carrying towards you... is that Flow? The shore spirit?

As people around you let them through and they carefully drop her on the beach sand, next to you, you're horrified by her wounds. Half of her body seems burned off, three broken-off arrows jut out of her chest at awkward angles, and she is covered in green-reddish blood spilling out of a hideously deep wound on her chest, nearly cutting her in two. A grisly reminder of how physical, how flesh-and-blood elementals are compared to gods.

"...Flow, are you-" So... is this why the spirits of the shore never reported to you?

File: Flow.jpg (183 KB, 643x1227)

183 KB JPG

She coughs blood, which is clearly filling her lungs as you speak, and weakly grabs your hand. "No... time. Maka... The Prince, he..."

"He landed in Tianna City?" You try and take some words out of her.

She makes a horrifying noise trying to breathe, blood spilling out of her nose, mouth and gills, and nods. "Five ships... they have... war ghosts, five warstriders, troops..."

"The Prince in person?" That's the question burning at the front of your mind.

She nods. "He's with... I think at least... three other Exalted... And... a horrible ghost whose... voice... burns people..."

Everyone falls silent around you.

"...Is Amata alright?" You ask.

She gurgles. "...In... the castle... barricaded..."

The water elemental melts in your arms, leaking onto the beach sand.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, you stand back up. Everyone's eyes are on you.

>I'm sure Amata doesn't need my help. Let's just wait this one out.
>This is obviously a trap. We're not going.
>I have to stay here. But I'll send her reinforcements. Let's see...
>We need to go. I'll bring with me...

(for now, just pick one of these four. If you decide to go or send someone, I'll make a separate vote for picking your party.)

File: sun-ex.png (17 KB, 150x144)

17 KB PNG

>Who are we?
Maka, an exiled noble Exalted as a Zenith-caste Solar. Queen of Gem, now ruling the western island of Tianna. You have gathered a lot of allies and friends, and have a powerful Manse under construction.
But Tianna is actually an artificial island, built around a First Age Titan: an almighty flying fortress built in an ancient, forgotten age, and although this is kept secret, two Deathlords are seeking to obtain it.
The Tyrant of the Doomsday Machine, ghost of your past incarnation, seeked it as a weapon to cut her ties to the Neverborn. But you have persuaded her to try and seek redemption in the eyes of the Sun in other ways, and count her as an unlikely ally.
But now the Silver Prince is coming, to punish her and claim the Titan for himself in the name of Oblivion. And this looks like a battle you won't be able to talk your way out of...

>Solar? 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%20Quest

>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

>Any questions?
http://ask.fm/Exaltedfag

New System Info: http://pastebin.com/pvAZpsJ6
Characters info (player-made): http://pastebin.com/5WnD47jp

>>41428136
>>We need to go. I'll bring with me...
Maka at least needs to go, especially if Tyrant if is going to be heading there too.

File: Clothes.jpg (758 KB, 890x1500)

758 KB JPG

Current costume: #08.

Reminder: you have 1 XP discount for the eventual acquisition of Ghost-Eating Technique (Twilight 4).

>>41428136
>>We need to go. I'll bring with me...

good to have you back EF, and now I need to collapse asleep

>>41428136
>The water elemental melts in your arms, leaking onto the beach sand.
Damnit I hope she comes back somehow, like maybe after her parts or whatever reform in Father Ocean's care or something, I dunno how Elementals work, Flow was cute.

>>41428103
Good to have you back EF

>>41428202
If she died then there's no coming back, death is pretty permanent for everything in Exalted, even Elementals

>>41428202
>Damnit I hope she comes back somehow
That's not how elementals work, anon. I'm so sorry.

>>41428136
>We need to go. I'll bring with me...
I don't think that Pearl is at serious risk of future attack now that both deathlords are focusing in on Tianna. Leave some exalts and most of the mortals behind just in case.

>>41428136
>>We need to go. I'll bring with me...

>>41428223
>>41428227
Fuck, we should name Pearl's harbor after her.

Now I'm going to have sad dreams.

>>41428202
Death is permanent in exalted and elementals, unlike gods, are physical beings which, by default, don't have Sanctums. When you discorporate, say, Yara-on, he'll eventually reform back in his cabin, unless killed by a god-slaying strike, or killed in the cabin itself. But when you stab a mermaid, or a fire-breathing drake, or whatever other sort of elemental to death?

They're dead.

>>41428240
We can name the water manse after her

>>41428240
>Fuck, we should name Pearl's harbor after her.
Or double down on the dedication of that water manse-temple.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41428240
>name Pearl's harbor

Tora Tora Tora

>>41428136
>We need to go. I'll bring with me...

>>41428136
At the end of the last thread, didn't we vote for Maka to be so incredibly pissed she spent xp to rip open a portal in space right to the heart of the Titan?

>>41428279
That wasn't what it would be for, it was for her to be "where she needs to be"

But no, enough people were against it that we didn't do it.

>>41428136
>We need to go. I'll bring with me...

>>41428279
I vaguely recall that.

>>41428292
I could have sworn it got voted through.

>>41428373
EF mentioned on his his twitter that it didn't go through

>>41428373
From EF's twitter
>No, because some voted specifically against, and generally I consider that a higher form of opposition than staying silent.

>>41428262
You. I like you.

>>41428136
>We need to go. I'll bring with me...

>>41428136
>"He's with... I think at least... three other Exalted... And... a horrible ghost whose... voice... burns people..."
>Knight of Ghosts and Shadows
>Herald of the Threshold
>Marvelous Maker of Mayhem
>Daughter of Cloudy Skies
>Secret Sorrowful Bearer of Destiny
>Unfolding Corpse-White Lotus
These are the Exalted he has left, not counting any DBs he might have. Secret probably isn't there and Lynne said Maker is most likely still on Island 5.

That leaves Herald, Cloudy Skies, White Lotus, and Knight, they could all technically be there, the Day caste could be hidden or Flow might not have recognized Lotus as an Exalted

File: Lynne (adult).png (375 KB, 600x725)

375 KB PNG

It doesn't take long before anger takes the place of surprise in everyone's faces.

Before anyone can scream something like "I'm going!" or, worse even, storm off without a word, you call out, loudly, breaking the silence and even startling some people: "Alright, everyone. We need to get to Tianna City, and it needs to be really, really fast. Who can help?

Tia just gives you a look. No gestures, no words. Her unblinking, armored, insect-like transformation makes her body language stand out even more than usual.

Samiel and Irene both raise their hands at the same time. "The Dragonkaiser can sort of fly." The fire-aspect says

"It can't SORT OF fly. It can FLY." Irene points out.

"We never tested it. We just grabbed some parts from that old wreck of a dragon-shaped automata we found, bolted them on, added some firedust rockets and called it a day."

"It will fly." Irene guarantees. "I can't promise you a landing, but it WILL fly."

That's not really what you'd call reassuring, but beggars can't be choosers you guess. Then you spot...

"Who the heck are you anyway?" You ask to the white-haired lunar who's been around for a while now.

"Me?" He points at himself, surprised. "Uh. I'm Lynne." He looks at himself. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. Been a while since I fought alongside other people. You see, it's pretty hard to fight when you're that short." He explains. "I mean, I know some people who can do that just fine, but I've found that it's more comfortable to me to have slightly longer limbs."

Karas rolls his eyes. "Why don't you just stay in your non-midget form, then?"

He grins and shakes his head like the answer is painfully obvious. "First of all, with you're small, you need less food, hide better, people tend to underestimate you. And, ain't I bloody cute like that? You can't even imagine how many chicks I get."

Starfall groans. "I don't know about that. I like manly men more. You know... thick. Muscular. Tall. Abs you can play checkers on-"

(cont.)

File: Five Tails.jpg (108 KB, 505x630)

108 KB JPG

"Let's not get distracted now." You snap your fingers.

Finishing your count, you recap the situation internally.

Dragonkaiser can (allegedly) get you to Tianna fast, and being big, can carry a few extra passengers strapped to the outside.

Tia can fly fast, and is stupidly strong, enough to carry comfortably at least three or four people without spending Essence or losing speed. (it's actually less a matter of her sheer strength and more about air resistance, the way she tried to explain it.)

The other Lunars (Five Tails, Zaan and Lynne) can both fly, but can carry one extra passenger, tops.

And Radiant Starfall says she can get there on her own, very fast.

...Also Five Tails didn't say anything, but it's pretty clear to anyone looking at her face that she desperately wants to be picked. She's worried sick for Mikahil.

As for here... you stare at the battlefield on the beach. Several enemy soldiers have fled the fighting and, presumably, hid themselves in the countryside. You're not sure if they could rally and try another attack, or if the Prince's fleet has other plans for you. To top that, the King of Uncloaked Steel is still passed out in a crater in the sand, with a warstrider wreck hammered on top of him, and he could still be alive. Likewise, Ebon Siaka was knocked back into the ocean, but not confirmed dead. Either of them could still cause a lot of trouble and damage here in Pearl, and it seems the Dark Omen up north was hit so hard that you won't be able to count on their reinforcements anytime soon.

So... who will come with you to Tianna City, to relieve Amata and the others... and hopefully to put an end to the Silver Prince's schemes once and for all?

>Karas
>Tia
>The Dragonkaiser
>Radiant Starfall
>Five Tails
>Zaan White-Teeth
>Lynne
>Regis
>Erman Steelshard
>Pyre Spark
>Iscariah
>Silk
>(Other?)

(You can vote both FOR someone (i.e. you want them to come to Tianna City with you) and AGAINST someone (i.e. you want them to stay in Pearl).)

>>41428700
>Tia
>Five Tails
>The Dragonkaiser
>Silk

>>41428700
>Tia
>The Dragonkaiser
>Radiant Starfall
>Five Tails
I want Karas to stay in Pearl at least, we really need a combat monster here to stay just in case the Dusks get back up and I want Radiant to be there to find any Day caste that try to hide.

>>41428700
>Tia
>The Dragonkaiser
>Five Tails
Everyone else should stay here for now until they've finished fortifying, at which point people capable of rapid transit can go to reinforce Tianna more.

>>41428700
Karas and Tia need to come along to fight the Deathlord, and if we don't take Five Tails I'm pretty sure in her current state she'd disobey orders to stay and follow us anyway.

>>41428733
I disagree about Silk, she already played her trump card, and without it she has no place in the level of combat we're gonna be getting into.

>>41428767
>I disagree about Silk
Agreed.

>>41428747
Damn, that's a good point. I want both combat monsters with us, but with those two still around...

Looks like we're all agreed on Tia, the Dragonkaiser, and Five Tails, at least, though?

>>41428700
>Tia
>The Dragonkaiser
>Radiant Starfall
>Regis
Regis can't handle the Exalted combat, but we still need back up for all the other mooks the Prince is bringing

>>41428700
>>41428884
>Five Tails
I forgot about Five Tails, but I'm also on board with Karas staying behind, plus we're leaving some Lunars behind too so if stuff starts going down or everything clears up here they can fly over if they need to.

>>41428700
>Karas
>Tia
>The Dragonkaiser
>Five Tails

>>41428700
>Tia
>Dragonkaiser
>Five tails
>Regis
>Radiant Starfall

>>41429061
>Karas
No, leave him behind to defend Pearl.

>>41429087
Wr need him with us.
The only plan we came up with for fighting the Deathlord was "Maka and Karas spam Enemy-Castigating Solar Judgement"

>>41428700
Going:
>The Dragonkaiser
>Radiant Starfall
>Tia
>Five Tails
>Zaan White-Teeth
>Regis

Behind:
>Karas
>Erman Steelshard
>Lynne
>Iscariah
They clean up, with Karas backed up by Erman. Iscariah searches for stragglers in the wilderness with the remainder of troops. If the other Exalts are taken care of, Lynne carries Karas to Tianna

>>41429105
A good point. Damn I am torn on Karas.

>>41428700
I'd be up for asking our allies if they think they need Karas to stick around to take care of the remaining Abyssals.

Hi, EF! Glad to see you back!

Guys, there is two things we need to remember:

1: The Prince is a master of deception who always has plans hidden withing schemes camouflaged under enigmas. But, he still dedicated a lot of troops and Exalts to keep us here and to anihilate the Tyrant's forces, so it's not a completly deception: he IS going all out here, and his forces are still getting hurt.


2) The Tyrant was overcome by the sight of everything she built getting its shit wrecked. She's probably in the equivalent of Limit Break, here, and is about to do something funademtaly stupid. Not only that, it's doomed to fail since we made sure firing the Titan's weapons wasn't possible.

The thing is, we need to fing the Tyrant and snap her out of her "all is lost, I'm evil, let's die in a blaze" mode, and quickly. If she even come close to do it, Flame is going to be so pissed off it'll be a disaster. Another one.


>>41428700

>>Tia
>>Radiant Starfall
>>Five Tails

We need to keep some heavy hitters here, just in case.

>>41429067
I almost forgot Karas... take him too!

>>41429143

*to find the Tyrant

>>41429152
If he's going all out, shouldn't we do the same?

File: Radiant Starfall.jpg (334 KB, 849x1200)

334 KB JPG

You quickly make up your mind.

"Fine. Irene, Samiel. Prepare the Dragonkaiser. Five Tails, Tia? You're with me. Karas? You're in charge of the place while I'm gone. Keep it safe."

Karas nods, clearly eager to come with you, but at the same time understanding. "Will you be alright? Against a Deathlord?"

Even saying a simple "I'll be alright" feels like a lie now. You stay silent, and he shifts his gaze to Tia, who lifts her head to meet his.

"Bring my sister back, no matter what. Understood?"

The chitinous plates of her "helmet" part and merge back with the sides, to uncover her expressionless face. She doesn't answer, but just gives him a long, hard stare, and then nods.

Karas charges a punch. Tia immediately imitates him, and the two slam fists with a thunderous roar.

Turning her back, Tia grows her helmet back. You gesture for Fivetails to join you, and then, to Radiant Starfall.

"Your job will be staying on the lookout for sneak attacks. Their sneaky shit specialist might be with the Silver Prince, waiting for a chance to backstab us." You explain to the Night Caste.

"When are we going?" She asks back at you, impatiently, with an eager grin on her face.

You look at the Dragonkaiser. It took quite a beating, but it doesn't seem to have suffered any critical damage. Its dragon-blooded crew, assisted by several engineers of Tianna, is mounting an armored belt around its waist, the mounting point for a pair of foldable mechanical dragon-like wings.

"Drake Scrander set up!" Irene proclaims triumphantly, wiping sweat off her forehead and tossing her screwdriver aside. "We can go anytime." She then gestures for whoever's inside the Warstrider - Aexel, you guess, since you don't see him anywhere else - to lower a hand, until it's high enough for the three of you to comfortably walk onto.

"Is this thing safe?" Five Tails can't help but ask.

"So you want to get there fast, or not?" Irene asks her back, climbing into the cockpit.

(cont.)

>>41429165

That's what we're doing

We should try to enter Tiana by the interior of the Titan.

>>41429181
>Karas charges a punch. Tia immediately imitates him, and the two slam fists with a thunderous roar.
Awesome.

>>41429216
Leaving important people behind when we go meet the main forces?

>>41429181
So since we stupidly left Karas behind, what's our new plan to deal with the Deathlord?

>>41429228
That would take way too long and the Kaiser wouldn't fit

>>41429241

Because there is equaly powerful opponents that could attack here.

>>41429255
>So since we stupidly left Karas behind, what's our new plan to deal with the Deathlord?
Spam ECSJ at it, if we end up in a direct confrontation.

But our primary goal isn't/shouldn't be to confront the Deathlord. It's to make the Deathlords unable or unwilling to gain access to the Titan's critical systems.

That needs to be the beginning and end of our priorities. Don't play on the same battlefield as them.

File: Dragonkaiser.jpg (303 KB, 707x1000)

303 KB JPG

The robot cups its hands together, enclosing you, Tia and Five Tails. Space only for three. Radiant Starfall will be moving on her own power.

You do envy her a bit. This feels like it's going to be a rough ride.

You hear the mechanical clank of the Drake Scrander expanding, and then the violent roar of the waist-mounted firedust rockets shaking the massive Warstrider from head to toe. Your teeth clatter as the terrifying vibration passes through your body, and before you can blink, you're airborne, the wind whistling through the robot's fingers, violently buffeting the three of you.

The dark ground beneath you blazes past your at a frightening speed, and Pearl and Golden Reach gets smaller and smaller by the second. You see a small golden dot moving in massive leaps, from treetop to hilltop, easily keeping up with you.

Dragonkaiser roars through the sky, leaving behind itself a thick trail of black, oily smoke, and you graze the very top of Dancing Smoke volcano. You catch a glimpse of its crater, nearly overflowing with lava glowing in the darkness of the night...

It all happens so fast. Dragonkaiser tries to righten itself, to land legs-first, and manages to do that... SOMEWHAT. The rockets slow him down a bit, the wings spread to act as a brake...

...And then come right off the Warstrider with a horrible scream of tortured metal, scattering across the countryside and pelting the walls of Tianna as you slam into Main Street with enough force to dig a craterous trench across a large avenue of the old city.

Dragonkaiser crumples, drops, rolls, tumbles, and finally plows through a bakery, only then losing enough momentum to finally come to a halt, legs-up.

(cont.)

>>41429287
No one that could attack here is as powerful as what we're going to fight.

>>41429290
>Spam ECSJ at it, if we end up in a direct confrontation.
And that plan is sunk now that we don't have Karas with us to help.
>But our primary goal isn't/shouldn't be to confront the Deathlord. It's to make the Deathlords unable or unwilling to gain access to the Titan's critical systems.
>That needs to be the beginning and end of our priorities. Don't play on the same battlefield as them.

So tell me how we do that. I asked for a plan, not a goal.

>>41429290

I say our three mains objectives should be:

>Give time to Tianna's defenders by acting as reinforcement

>Stop the Tyrant for doing even more stupid things

>Prevent the Prince from reaching his own objectives

The first two are necessary for the third one.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Prince deliberatly set things that way to make the Tyrant enter her desperate state. In any case, we need her functioning, or at least out of the way.

>>41429315
>So tell me how we do that. I asked for a plan, not a goal.
We don't even know what the situation in Tianna actually is yet, you stupid nerd. 'Spam ECSJ with Karas' is just as directionless and empty until we actually know the situation on the field and what our options are.

>>41429310
Farewell Dragonkaiser, you were really cool.

>>41428103
Holy fuck! I didn't even know you were running today.

>>41429315
>No one that could attack here is as powerful as what we're going to fight.

The hammer girl who went toe-to-toe with both Karas and Tia, who is known to level cities and who wasn't confirmed as defeated?

>>41429338
>'Spam ECSJ with Karas' is just as directionless and empty until we actually know the situation on the field and what our options are.
No it isn't. It's a course of action we could've taken regardless of what the situation was, because regardless of the situation, The Prince being dead, or as close as Deathlords get to dead, would be a good thing.

>>41429370
Not as powerful as the deathlord we're going to fight.
A Deathlords level of power is comparable to an Elder Solar or Abyssal.

>>41429375

Aside from the fact that, for all we know, the Prince could not even be here?

>>41429401

>>41428136
>"The Prince in person?" That's the question burning at the front of your mind.
>She nods. "He's with... I think at least... three other Exalted... And... a horrible ghost whose... voice... burns people..."

>>41429401
Anon, don't. He's just going to rage that he didn't get his way until this entire arc is over now. He's already resorted to pedantry, and isn't going to listen to reason.

>>41429394

She would still be able of destroying Pearl without a strong Exalt there.

Protecting your head is useless if you let your balls vulnerable.

File: Status.jpg (115 KB, 414x416)

115 KB JPG

As its hands open up and you, Tia and Five Tails shrug off bits of loose masonry from around you, you see an airborne Starfall fire three shots in quick succession with her essence-rifle, reloading cartridges with amazing speed, before landing right next to you. You didn't see where her shots landed exactly, but you don't doubt she put them to good use.

"Rough ride?" She grins as you try to keep your stomach straight.

"We couldn't see much." You ignore her smart-ass remark. "Situation?"

"Not much light around town. There's some materialized ghosts around. I put a few shots into the ones I could see. They were material, so I'm pretty sure I hit them. There was something eerie going on along Main Street, but I didn't see clearly."

"Eerie like what?" You hear the hollow, metallic echo of Samiel's worried voice from through the Warstrider's armored body.

"There was... this ghost whose heart glowed blue, walking slowly up Main Street. Followed by a few other ghosts, but he was huge. Three, four meters tall. No arms. Between us and the castle." She makes a short, but poignant pause. "I've seen a lot of corpses littered around the roads behind that ghost. Not many of them seemed soldiers."

"...The Prince?" You ask.

"Couldn't see him, but there's a lot of smoke around the castle. My bet's he's there."

"The warstriders?" Irene follows with the questioning.

"Around the castle as well. Taking it apart, I think."

>Let's hit the freaky ghost on Main Street first. All together.
>Let's avoid main street then, and focus on reaching the castle. All together.
>Starfall, you're the most mobile of us. Scout the castle for us.
>Starfall, you're the most mobile of us. Scout that freaky ghost for us.
>Dragonkaiser will take care of that ghost. The rest of us will charge through and reach the castle.
>We'll hit the ghost first. Dragonkaiser will charge through and reach the castle, try and buy some time.
>(Other?)

>>41429412
>thinking it's not a second body-double
kek

>>41429412

First, don't trust everything people says.

Second, the Prince already had a fake version of him here to distract us. He could pull the same trick multiple times

Third, the Prince doesn't need Tiana to enter the Titan, so it would make sense he'd search for the other openings.

>>41429437
What to do...

>>41429474
>so it would make sense he'd search for the other openings
Like the volcano.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41429437
>>Let's hit the freaky ghost on Main Street first. All together.

This thing sounds like it's killing the population of Tianna wholesale.

Fuck that.

>>41429437
>We'll hit the ghost first. Dragonkaiser will charge through and reach the castle, try and buy some time.
Dragonkaiser's best use would be taking on the other Warstriders.

>>41429437

>I'll take care of the ghost with Starfall. The rest will charge through and reach the castle

If the streets are full of corpses, the Solar should deal with the situation there

>>41429437
>>Let's hit the freaky ghost on Main Street first.
>Starfall, you're the most mobile of us. Scout the castle for us.
The castle wasn't meant to really be super defensive all on it's own so I'm a bit worried about it, I want Starfall to get there and see if everyone is alright while we make some more noise down here

>>41429437
>We'll hit the ghost first. Dragonkaiser will charge through and reach the castle, try and buy some time.

>>41429488

Yup. I would have suggested for Maka to get inside the Titan by the volcano, and try to find the Tyrant.

We really, really need Flame on our side, right now, and the Tyrant would be an huge help, too, if she wasn't despair crazy.

Fuck, we really need to deal with her before she tries the weapons and it doesn't work. This would either make her go berserk or completly crush her

>>41429437
Should we turn off IPS?

It seems like MRP would be more useful if were going to be hitting one person with it

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41429437
>We'll hit the ghost first. Dragonkaiser will charge through and reach the castle, try and buy some time.

Also, prepare ECSJ charm... we may need it!

>>41429437

>>41429492
here also voting to Commit Spirit Cutting Attack

>>41429571
>>41429437
I second this!

>>41429571
>Commit Spirit Cutting Attack
Agreed. We're in the Ghost Zone now.

>>41429437
>>41429571
Seconding

>>41429437
>Starfall, you're the most mobile of us. Scout the castle for us.

>>41429559
I don't think that's how Commit works, we still need to regain it after we stop using a charm, and it's much slower that regaining Burn essence

>>41429571
Good Call

>>41429608
I'm aware it takes time, but we also don't get it back until we choose to decommit something

>>41429608
>I don't think that's how Commit works, we still need to regain it after we stop using a charm, and it's much slower that regaining Burn essence

True, but you do regain 1 Commit every scene and you're about to change scene now, so it can work. Just for 1 point per scene, though.

>>41429616

I think we need it, for the moment

>>41429632
In that case i'd vote for switching off IPS and holding that in the tank for MRP in case we need to give the prince another social smackdown.

>>41429632
I'll vote to take it off, we can put it back on if we need it later or we can put on MRP if it turns out we need that

>>41429437
>We'll hit the ghost first. Dragonkaiser will charge through and reach the castle, try and buy some time.

>>41429632
Alright, I'll second turning it off for now then

>>41429653

We need impenetrable defence if we deal with the Prince. His mind-control sword is no joke

>>41429712
Adamant Skin is a Burn ability, we can commit all we want and have that in reserve.

>>41429712
How could we get that sword away from him? Could we keep it away from him?

>>41429760
We can try and grapple it away with a good roll, but chances are he's going to have a Call the Blade like charm ability to help him get it back if we do

>>41429733

I'm just saying we need to have it when we face the Deathlord

>>41429760

I suppose there is possibilities to disarm him, but he probably has some bullshit to retrieve it.

>>41429712
But wouldn't he just need to tap us with that to make us his bitch?

Wasn't the sword-effect touch-based?

File: troop - war ghosts.jpg (71 KB, 1024x477)

71 KB JPG

[Effect ended: INSPIRED PERFORMANCE STYLE]

You crack your knuckles and rev up your Anima.

"Tia, Starfall, Five Tails. We're going to hit that ghost and clear the city."

"...Do you think what's happening is..." Samiel wonders from inside Dragonkaiser.

You nod. "Lynne told us that the Prince had a ghostly siege weapon. I think... I think that that thing is systematically exterminating the population of Tianna while the Prince is breaking into the castle."

You hear the dull thud of the dragon-blooded punching the Warstrder's armored plates from the inside in frustration.

...Either to make a Shadowland to properly drop the entire city and the Titan into the underworld, or to harvest bodies to raise later as a crew for it. Or both. Or he's doing it just for fun. You don't voice your opinion, but...

"You guys. While we fight the ghosts, bring the Dragonkaiser up to the castle. Your job is to take out the other warstriders and any troops the Silver Prince has there. Don't let him take the castle. Buy time. I don't care how."

"Alright." Irene replies, with a voice dripping anger. The massive metal monster ponderously stands back upright, though wrecked and battered, and then begins walking, running, sprinting towards Main Street, takes a hard turn, and then dashes up the hill, towards the castle.

You follow him closely.

Main Street is covered in charred, blackened corpses. Flames still flicker off some. About a hundred meters uphill of you, a phalanx of a good dozen war ghosts slowly marches in the same direction, but they stop and turn, in unison, towards you.

(cont.)

>>41429784
>>41429786
So no way to bullshit his bullshit? As I expected.

>>41429822
Call the Blade isn't exactly perfect, it can be countered if someone or something strong enough is holding it back

>>41429799
>ghosts
Get ready to get fucking Banished, we're even at full Burn for it

>>41429837
Dragonkaiser it is, let's do this.

>>41429797
He has to cut us with it.

simple contact won't bend our mind over and give it a good rogering.

>>41429885
Adamant skin sounds good then...

>>41429799
>Main Street is covered in charred, blackened corpses. Flames still flicker off some.
I never thought I'd feel such grief for imaginary people, but that hurts to read.

>>41429895
Yep, that's why we're keeping our Burn in reserve for AST and ECSJ.

>>41429885
>>41429914
I wonder, I don't want to test it, but by RAW Prince has to do more damage than our MDV, which is four, to be able to mind magic us.

File: Grand Vizier of Torment.jpg (252 KB, 850x850)

252 KB JPG

In the center of their formation, an undead horror four meters tall stands, its shriveled-up arms folded across its glowing chest, leaking a radioactive pale blue glow in the night.

The skeleton is just humanoid enough to strike home as a utter mockery of the shape, with no neck, shoulders, or points of articulation other than its bone-thin legs. Its mouth is closed, locked shut by the lack of a jaw, but faint whispers issue from him nonetheless.

A song? Or rather, a prayer, if you can call something as hideous and blasphemous as that "prayer". You don't understand the words, thankfully, but your mind and soul feel like throwing up even more than they did during the rocket-powered ride across the island. That was NOTHING compared to this.

The blasphemous prayer to the monsters that died without ever being born lingers in the air, smashes through a window and sets a family of four, cowering in the cellar beneath their house up to now, on fire. Mother, father, a teenaged daughter and a slightly younger son, all run out of the house one after another, skin and hair on fire. Mouths open as if to scream, but the only noise coming out of their mouths is the echo to the black prayer.

One by one, they fall down on the street, just behind the monster. The song returns with them, leaving the house, and hangs around him once more, coiled like a snake ready to strike.

Only then the monster turns around to stare at you.

You never stopped your run uphill. By then, you're nearly within striking distance. Shivers run down your spine, but you're not going to let fear stop you...

>...or are you?
>Make a charging attack against the ghost phalanx.
>Don't stop. Deliver a flying kick to the monster.
>Run up to the monster, and counter-sing right at him.
>(Other?)
(remember to declare charms or powers you want to use)

>>41429964
>>Make a charging attack against the ghost phalanx.
Hit'em with Banish the Darkness, we finally got some mooks to use it on

>>41429964
>>Don't stop. Deliver a flying kick to the monster.

Commit Spirit Cutting Attack

And Banish the Darkness as we blow past the war ghosts.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41429964
I second >>41429980
>Make a charging attack against the ghost phalanx.

Spirit cutting attack!!

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41429964
>Make a charging attack against the ghost phalanx.
Use Banish the Darkness while the rest of the group blasts the big ghost and commit Spirit Cutting if we haven't already

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41429964
>>41429980
Seconding

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41429980
Forgot my dice

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41429964
>>Don't stop. Deliver a flying kick to the monster.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41429964
UNDEATH TO DEATH

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41429964

Dice dice dice

>>41430041

Actually, we don't need dice yet. EF tells us when to roll, now.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41429964
>>Make a charging attack against the ghost phalanx.

Bumrush the darkness

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41430001
Seconding

(These ghosts are clearly material right now. you could pop Spirit-Cutting Attack preemptively, if you want. Just pointing out)

>>41430087
Yeah I think we want to.

>>41430087
How much Commit are we at right now?

Shouldn't we concentrate on the big midboss rather than the flunkies, right now?

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41430066
Ah, well it doesn't really hurt to roll at least

>>41430087
Let's wait before we use the spirit cutting attack...

>>41430140
The flunkies aren't just going to go away if we ignore them, if we can take them out fast we should so they don't get in the way when we do fight the big guy.

Plus it's not like we're alone here.

>>41430087
I would say: don't use anything on the small fry, wait for the big guy. We don't know what he can do.

>>41430165
We have Banish the Darkness, the flunkies will be totally destroyed regardless.

We can smash that big ghost and use BtD running past the war ghosts, thus letting us do both at once.

>>41430195
Other than burn mortals with his voice...

>>41429964
>Don't stop. Deliver a flying kick to the monster.
Is this the type of situation where Integrity-Protecting Prana would help?

>>41430211
No

>>41430209
Something tells me that the burning effect wont be limited to mortals only, they just can't tank it like we can.

>>41430198
We can't just stand around and use Banish the Darkness and do a drive by like that, when we first used it we had to touch all the skellies to burn them

>>41430267
Yeah but touch isn't specified in the charm description now. It just banishes all undead extras in a scene.

I assume that in the absence of specifically writting touch requirements that it has none, and we can do a drive by.

File: Tia (warform).jpg (542 KB, 986x1324)

542 KB JPG

[BANISH THE DARKNESS]

You run right in the middle of the ghostly formation. The damned creatures are lightning-fast, and immediately turn on you, even as Tia leaps to your side to deflect a blow from their razor-sharp talons, wreathed in pale fire.

You just need a second, and Five Tails gives you exactly that, plowing into their lines in cheetah form, just a blur to your eyes.

"HEAR ME!" As your Anima blazes to full-iconic, your voice and your light transfix the twelve ghosts. "You pitiful, twisted creatures, not of this world! By the Light of the Unconquered Sun that I possess... BEGONE!"

Light washes over Main Street, bright as noon, for just a few seconds. The ghosts scream and then, like so much smoke washed away by a stiff wind, are gone.

The monster stares at you, unharmed and unfazed, a magnitude of wickedness above your ability to banish. The dark prayer lunges at you, and the force of its words blasts through your very soul. Your clothes, armor, hair, ear and eyes instantly erupt into flames, lancing into your brain like searing needles of pain.

[HEALTH: 4/9]

You scream and your knees falter. You end up rolling on the ground before you realize what's going on, until you are given respite, for a moment, by the dull *THWACK* of Tia's roundhouse kick slamming square into the side of the monster's head.

Powerful enough to uproot a building, the blow cracks lightly the ghost's fused-together skull. He speaks a word in return, and one by one the Black Prayer begins to bring the dead by his feet to life.

You see a few lunging to grab and drag down Starfall, caught by surprise between two leaps, and every second that passes more and more stand up and join the soon-to-be horde. Already three are grabbing your feet and attempting to drag you down as well.

File: Status.jpg (107 KB, 414x416)

107 KB JPG

>Struggle to get free, leap on a rooftop. (p+n or [MONKEY LEAP TECHNIQUE] for automatic success)
>Ignore the undead, focus on fighting the ghost. (p+d)
>Focus on putting down the zombies one by one. (p+d)
>Try and break free, and make a run for it. (p+n)
>[TOUCH OF GENTLE REPOSE]
>[BANISH THE DARKNESS]
>(Other?)

>>41430343
>>[TOUCH OF GENTLE REPOSE]

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41430343
>>[TOUCH OF GENTLE REPOSE]
No more undead

>>41430343
>[TOUCH OF GENTLE REPOSE]
We should have done this first, then used Banish the Darkness

>>41430343
He's bringing them back... we should finish him before anything else,right?

>>41430343
>[TOUCH OF GENTLE REPOSE]

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41430343
>Ignore the undead, focus on fighting the ghost. (p+d)

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41430343
>[TOUCH OF GENTLE REPOSE]
No more extras. Just us and you, monster.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41430343
>>Ignore the undead, focus on fighting the ghost. (p+d)
PUNCH

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41430392
We could, Touch of Gentle Repose prevent more from coming if we want to go that route.

>>41430343
Hey EF BtD isn't scenelong anymore?
As in we have to spend essence to use it again?

>>41430326
>casting necromancy
That means this guy's a Nephwrack, or a similarly ancient/powerful ghost. Nephwracks are basically mini-Deathlords, ancient ghosts infused with Neverborn powers, who despite that just aren't quite on the level of Exalted Ghosts who got the same treatment.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41430343
>[TOUCH OF GENTLE REPOSE]

Seeing the mother of the family you just saw burn alive before your eyes attempt to grapple with you like an empty, half-charred meat puppet just makes you angrier.

[TOUCH OF GENTLE REPOSE]

"They're not yours." You simply hiss in the ghost's face, and, just with that, light washes over the streets of Tianna, and every dead gently burns in a pale glow of golden fire. A gust of wind cleans the city of the white ashes.

Despite its utter lack of expression, the skeletal ghost seems hesitant.

"You thought you were the boss here, right? You had your war ghosts to guard you, and if things got troublesome you could just raise all the people you killed. You thought you could just indulge in yourself. Just enjoy the slaughter without worrying."

The corpses he reanimated stay alive, but without replenishing their number, they're too few to pose a serious threat. Tia just shatters the few grabbing her limbs by moving as if they weren't there.

Her "moving" is a straight punch into the skeleton's face. You hear a crack.

Five Tails struggles, wrestled to the ground by a much larger number of zombies, but you see her escape by turning into a buffalo to force them to grab a larger creature, then a hummingbird to escape from their grasp, then back to a human, stabbing at the undead under her feet and slashing off heads and limbs.

Starfall has... some trouble getting free of the zombie pile. As for you, you have five of them clambering about you. They cannot hurt you with blows, scratches or bites, but they're keeping you blocked.

>Let Tia and Five Tails take care of the ghost, focus on wrestling yourself free (p+d)
>Just wait for them to be finished and break you free.
>Even if you're swarmed, you still want to get in a clean punch on that bastard. (p+d)
>[BANISH THE DARKNESS]
>(other?)

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41430593
>Even if you're swarmed, you still want to get in a clean punch on that bastard. (p+d)
Fuck you necromancer ghost

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41430593
>Even if you're swarmed, you still want to get in a clean punch on that bastard. (p+d)
Fuck this particular guy, am I right? Fucking Nephwracks. You and the Deathlords give the Underworld a bad name.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41430593
>Even if you're swarmed, you still want to get in a clean punch on that bastard. (p+d)

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41430593
>>Even if you're swarmed, you still want to get in a clean punch on that bastard. (p+d)
Fuck you, you piece of shit.

You don't get to mess with our subjects

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41430593
>Even if you're swarmed, you still want to get in a clean punch on that bastard. (p+d)

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41430593
>>Even if you're swarmed, you still want to get in a clean punch on that bastard. (p+d)

Eat like, all of the shit Nephwrack.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41430611
>>41430629
>>41430631
>>41430634
>>41430644
>>41430647
>These rolls
I blame Sidereals

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41430593
>>Even if you're swarmed, you still want to get in a clean punch on that bastard. (p+d)

File: Status.jpg (108 KB, 414x416)

108 KB JPG

[p+d=8 5 3 6 4 5 2 6 2 3 = 1 Success]

You struggle to reach the monster, but the remaining zombies he awakened in time pile on top of you one after another. You manage to stay standing, but wrapped so much in charred corpses you become basically unable to move, pinned down under their weight.

Before they block out your vision as well, you see Five Tails leap behind the skeleton and fill its back with knives before attempting to knock it to its feet with a low sweep, but the kick doesn't budge it one bit.

"This guy is tougher than-" Tia growls, switching to her Daiklave and slamming it point-first into its chest. However, the blade doesn't bite very deep, and, in response, the evil song lingering around the monster leaps and showers her in fire. You see her chitinous armor glow red and begin to melt as the force of the curse launches her back almost ten meters, into a wall along the side of the road.

"Damnit!" Five Tails backflips, avoiding the monster's gaze as it turns around to face her, and his eyes dig two trenches glowing with baleful blue fire into the street where she was standing one second before.

At the end of her dodge, she tosses a knife, but it passes through the ghost without harm as its shape becomes move vague and nebulous, like it dropped into a world made of fog all of sudden.

"Damnit!" The Lunar curses. "It went immaterial!"

>Struggle and try to break free. (p+d)
>Wait for them to free you
>[BANISH THE DARKNESS]
>(other?)

>>41430918
>Struggle and try to break free. (p+d)

Commit Spirit-Cutting Attack already, sheesh.

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41430989

Forgot my dice.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41430918
>Struggle and try to break free. (p+d)

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41430918
>[BANISH THE DARKNESS]
>Struggle and try to break free. (p+d)
Okay now Commit SCA and ad BtD to clear up the remaining zombies on us and Starfall

>>41430918
>Struggle and try to break free. (p+d)
Commit SCA

>>41431073
forgot my dice

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41431095
The hell? I definitely put them in that time

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41430918
>>Struggle and try to break free. (p+d)
Call Tia over to help us out, she can't fight a dematerialized spirit anyway and send Five to help out Starfall

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41430593
>>41431163
I'll second sending the Lunars out to help us

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41430918
>Struggle and try to break free. (p+d)

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41430918
Dice dice dice

Rolled 7 (1d10)

Who pissed off the dice gods today?

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41431278
Good question.

Maybe they're just waiting for a suitably cool moment, we always seem to roll well when we need to.

>>41431317
The Dice Gods demand drama and that means last minute rallying when all seems lost.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41431398
Thanks Plentimon.

[p+d=3 2 7 7 5 4 3 3 7 8 = 4 Successes]

Finally, you manage to wrestle free of the mass of squirming undead, with Five Tails helping you shrugging off the last few of them. Starfall is getting there, but she looks like she still need a bit of help, with several zombies still biting at her ankles. Tia is standing back up and reforming her melted armor, and the ghost...

"It's getting away." You hiss angrily. The ghost, evidently realizing he's in danger and without undead to raise in his defense, is gliding on the ground, at great speed, away from the castle (where you can see the Dragonkaiser has almost arrived).

"...If he gets out of sight, and we lose him, a lot more people are going to die tonight..." You curse under your breath. But he's running in the opposite direction from the castle, clearly trying to put you in front of a choice... either him, or the Prince...

That's damn smart, you have to admit.

>...The priority is denying the Titan to the Silver Prince. We'll take care of him another time.
>You head up to the castle and help Dragonkaiser. I'll take care of our friend.
>The prince will have to wait. We can't let that thing rampage throughout the city. After him!
>(Other?)

>>41431476
>>You head up to the castle and help Dragonkaiser. I'll take care of our friend.
What a fucker, we'll try and catch up

>You head up to the castle and help Dragonkaiser. I'll take care of our friend.

Commit Spirit Cutting Attack since we still haven't.

>>41431476
>The prince will have to wait. We can't let that thing rampage throughout the city. After him!

>>41431476
>You head up to the castle and help Dragonkaiser. I'll take care of our friend.

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41431476

>...The priority is denying the Titan to the Silver Prince. We'll take care of him another time.

Reminder to everyone to always keep your dice on.

>>41431476
>The prince will have to wait. We can't let that thing rampage throughout the city. After him!

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41431476
>You head up to the castle and help Dragonkaiser. I'll take care of our friend.

>>41431476
>>You head up to the castle and help Dragonkaiser. I'll take care of our friend.

Deceptions hidden behind deceptions. Let's not be fooled

File: Status.jpg (107 KB, 414x416)

107 KB JPG

You groan loudly as you gesture in the direction of the fog-clad castle on the top of the hill. "You head up to the castle and help Dragonkaiser. I'll take care of our friend."

"Are you sure?" Fivetails asks, looking concerned. "He's tougher than he looks."

Tia doesn't say anything, but you can tell, even through her armored, inexpressive faceplate, her concern.

"I'll be fine. It's just a ghost skeleton." You shrug. "How hard can it be?"

The three of them nod and make way towards the castle in unison, as you dash down the street to chase after the monster.

It's not a long chase. Realizing that you can detect it even when dematerialized, he stops in a narrow, dark, unassuming alley of dockside Tianna. Even at his top speed he's still slower than you: there was no way he was going to run away, and he knew that.

Its hate-filled, empty eyes linger on you, giving you a feeling of revulsion. You drop into a fighting stance.

No more running away, you realize. Softly, you hear the cursed song fill the air around him, ready to strike again at you with its searing pain

>Fight defensively. Try to keep your guard up and make it waste Essence. If it's a ghost, it can't recover Essence here in Creation. (p+d)
>You don't have time to take it easy. Jump at the attack and strike. You have to disassemble this horror as fast as possible. (p+d)
>You're not sure how much grappling and wrestling will be useful against this creature, but you could give it a try. (p+d)
>(Other?)

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41432018
>>You don't have time to take it easy. Jump at the attack and strike. You have to disassemble this horror as fast as possible. (p+d)
It's already hurt from the few hits Tia gave it, smash it's face with Fists of Iron

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41432018
>You don't have time to take it easy. Jump at the attack and strike. You have to disassemble this horror as fast as possible. (p+d)

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41432018
>You don't have time to take it easy. Jump at the attack and strike. You have to disassemble this horror as fast as possible. (p+d)

Spirit Cutting Attack commit because he's still dematerialized.

And ECSJ.

Fuck this guy.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41432018
>You don't have time to take it easy. Jump at the attack and strike. You have to disassemble this horror as fast as possible. (p+d)

>>41432155
I secnd this.

>>41432018
>You're not sure how much grappling and wrestling will be useful against this creature, but you could give it a try. (p+d)

Physically grab it's soul and rip it out of it's ghostly body.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41432018
>>You don't have time to take it easy. Jump at the attack and strike. You have to disassemble this horror as fast as possible. (p+d)
Commit SCA

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41432155
Thirding

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41432018
>>You don't have time to take it easy. Jump at the attack and strike. You have to disassemble this horror as fast as possible. (p+d)

Rolled 3 (1d10)

DICE GODS WHY!

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41432155
Hold on, let's see how well we roll before we do, no point wasting 3 essence to turn 1 success into 2

>>41432309
I don't think EF is going to let us get away with retroactively using ECSJ in case we get good rolls.

We have to straight up say we're gonna drop the hammer early on.

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41432155
Let's not with these dice

>>41432328
That's more or less how we've always done it.

It's pretty much impossible to do otherwise using a quest medium

File: Status.jpg (113 KB, 414x416)

113 KB JPG

"You know, well done. You're wasting my time. I'm sure the Bodhisattva will be thankful." You sarcastically hiss at the skeleton.

You put your dukes up, and deftly sidestep the first unholy scream the monster sends at you.

[SPIRIT CUTTING ATTACK]

[p+d= 9 6 6 2 4 1 3 3 8 7

You feel dissonant chaos and fire exploding behind you as you step closer and slam your fist, hard, into the creature's face.

The bone is hard as sin and cold as hell, and you almost feel your own hand breaking with the impact.

The blue glow imprisoned within his body escapes, just a bit, from its empty eyes, making the night brighter in all the wrong ways...

You swerve to the side just in time to avoid the two searing beams of blue fire that lance, from its skull, outwards, neatly cutting in three a wooden street sign and leaving deep scorch lines on the wall behind you.

Faint screams from inside. Someone still alive is hiding there. Someone too surprised or scared to stay silent at the wrong time.

The skeleton seems to pause for a second, picking up that weak noise, pondering on it...

>Like hell you're going to let you do that! Focus on shoving him away from the house. (p+d)
>You need to bring him down. Now. Use the walls around you as a trampoline to gain some extra momentum. (p+n)
>Even if he's tough, you just need to hit to hard enough. (p+d)
>Step aside, let him take care of the people in that house. You need to buy some time.
>(Other?)

>>41432641
>>Even if he's tough, you just need to hit to hard enough. (p+d)

Enemy Castigating Solar Judgement time boys.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41432675
dice

Also adding Heaven Thunder Hammer to punch him away from the house.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41432641
>Like hell you're going to let you do that! Focus on shoving him away from the house. (p+d)
Heaven Thunder Hammer is a good idea, use that to get him away from the house

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41432641
>Even if he's tough, you just need to hit to hard enough. (p+d)

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41432641
>Even if he's tough, you just need to hit to hard enough. (p+d)
>(Other?)Let's try to use our momentum to shove him away, out of the danger zone!

>>41432703
I second using this charm

>>41432641
>Like hell you're going to let you do that! Focus on shoving him away from the house. (p+d)
Heaven Thunder Hammer
Back the way we came if we can manage it, since everyone in the direction is probably either already dead or ran the fuck away after he left the first time.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41432776
That's a good idea

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41432776
Forgot my dice

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41432641
>Even if he's tough, you just need to hit to hard enough. (p+d)
>>41432776
Cool.
>>41432675
Yup.

>>41432641
>Like hell you're going to let you do that! Focus on shoving him away from the house. (p+d)

Heaven Thunder Hammer!

Rolled 9 (1d10)

I'm a bit wary of HTH, I don't want to send this fucker completely out of sight or we might lose him, but we definitely want him away from the house

Since we're full on Burn Essence, and we'll recover some of it on the way up to the castle afterwards, let's toss Fists of Iron into the combo.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

Can we use HTH to punch someone into the ground?

>>41432847
if the two greyed out Commit boxes are available for us to use we can Commit Fists of Iron as well.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41432847
Plentimon sure does love drama or maybe Maka is just making damn sure no one else is hurt in front of her.

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41432776
Since he was running away from the castle, punching him back that way will also mean a shorter walk when we're done with him.
two birds with one stone

>>41432847
sure

>>41432867
They are, I think those are the essence we can use without flaring our anima.

>>41432867
They are, they just represent Personal Essence.
You actually don't gain a big advantage from committing Fists of Iron, since you already have smashfists equipped. For you, Fists of Iron are best used as a pure damage enhancer paid for with Burn Essence.

>>41432867
FoI isn't that big of a gain, it's one more dice which isn't really worth spending a whole Commit, especially since that die won't get us another success this turn.

>>41432893
Does committing fists of iron conflict with smashfists somehow? I thought it was applicable since the fists were brawling aids.

Is it because fists of iron requires us to be completely unarmed including brawling aids?

>>41432915
Well it's one extra die plus extra defense and damage. We don't really have anything else worth Committing for a fight and every little bit helps

>>41432893
I feel like there should be a better way to visually represent personal essence than greyed out boxes, especially since this question keeps coming up, but nothing comes readily to mind.

>>41432957
Fist of Iron's Commit ability counts as a weapon bonus and multiple weapons don't stack, since out current gloves already give us +1 Damage and Defense all Commiting FoI will do is add the 1 Die to attack rolls

>>41433006
Ah okay then. I retract my Commit to FoI.

>>41433018
We were never voting on committing it, but whether to burn it for 3 extra damage.

>>41433039
Oh I think we're mostly agreed to burn for the dmg.

I just originally thought committing it would get the scenelong bonus in defense and damage as well, I didn't think that it conflicted with smashfists.

File: abyssal common warstrider.jpg (275 KB, 662x883)

275 KB JPG

Just as the monstrous skeleton shifts its attention from you to the faint cries within the house, you strike.

Putting all your weight and momentum behind your movements, you raise a leg up and bring it crashing down in an axe kick.

[ENEMY CASTIGATING SOLAR JUDGEMENT]
[FISTS OF IRON]

[p+d=5 5 7 8 9 7 1 9 8 4 = 12 successes]

This thing doesn't have shoulders to dislocate, but your leg smashes through the bones of his chest, lodging itself into his cracked ribcage.

The fused skeleton seems to stare at you in amazement for a second before you pull your foot free of him, pulling him towards you with the motion, and then one-two him with a rising knee to the pelvis and an open-hand strike to the forehead.

The carcass flies away, breaking up like bits of ice melting into fog. The ghost disappears into the mists of dematerialization, its Essence dispersed.

You take a few deep breathes. That was a close call.

Just for a moment, a black-haired, bearded man's head peeks from the house's window, eyes frozen in terror. Your gazes meet.

You're not sure you can tell him anything that would reassure him right now. In a blink of an eye, he's gone, and the window slams closed. You can't blame him.

The noise of steel clashing shakes you off your train of thought. There's fighting going on on top of the hill, at the castle.

You stare in the distance, but the damned fog won't let you see exactly what happens. One of the Skullstone Warstriders stumbles for a few seconds out of the bank, as if recoiling after being struck, but then rushes inside its cover immediately.

>Charge through the fog where you remember the main door to be.
>Head where you saw the warstrider emerge.
>Try and enter the fortress from a different angle. [MONKEY LEAPING TECHNIQUE]
>(Other?)

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41433084
>Try and enter the fortress from a different angle. [MONKEY LEAPING TECHNIQUE]

>>41433084
>>Try and enter the fortress from a different angle. [MONKEY LEAPING TECHNIQUE]

>>41433084
>Head where you saw the warstrider emerge.
Let's save essence for now

>>41433084
>Charge through the fog where you remember the main door to be.

>>41433084
>Try and enter the fortress from a different angle. [MONKEY LEAPING TECHNIQUE]
Ah, the best time of the week and sadly the last until the monday after the next.

>>41433084
>>Charge through the fog where you remember the main door to be.
Let's save some essence, we just spent 5 points and we need to make sure we have at least 3 up for AST

File: No fucks given.jpg (77 KB, 750x600)

77 KB JPG

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41433084
>Try and enter the fortress from a different angle. [MONKEY LEAPING TECHNIQUE]
>(Other?)DYNAMIC ENTRY!!!

>>41433134
>>41433163
MLP is a permanent passive, no essence needed.

>>41433178
only if we chose to Burn to triple the distance instead of double.

>>41433178
>MLP
MLT I meant, fucking Freudian Slips

>>41433178
MLT has a burn effect too, if he's adding it to to the choices I assume he means spending that Burn

>>41433196
>MLP
>freudian slip
I'm not aware of something... sadly

>>41433220
>>>/mlp/

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41433084
>Try and enter the fortress from a different angle. [MONKEY LEAPING TECHNIQUE]

>>41433235
I've seen hell...

File: Status.jpg (113 KB, 414x416)

113 KB JPG

[MONKEY LEAP TECHNIQUE]

You take a running start, and then let the power of your Essence carry you through a momentous leap over the bank of fog and on top of the castle's roof. This way you are-

...

For a moment, you were- you were absolutely sure that there was someone with you. next to you, in mid-jump.

...Pale skin, faint brownish hair in a ponytail, a blue, eastern-style dress, the sharpest green eyes you've ever seen in your life... the faint smell of lotus flowers...

You shake your head and clear your mind as you land, and a quick glance around reveals that... there isn't anyone near you.

Why are you feeling watched? Why are you feeling uneasy?

The din of battle continues. From the noise, you'd tell the rest of your party has made contact with a force of... probably a mix of zombies, undead, ghosts and those Vodak mortal troops. Plus the warstriders. You don't think anyone has noticed you.

Even from up here, the castle is a wreck. Parts of it have collapsed, leaving wide avenues of entry to anyone sufficiently mobile to negotiate them. The troops and warstriders might not have made it inside in force yet, but you have no doubt that any Exalted - and especially the Silver Prince - mist be already inside, wrecking the place to find the entrance to the Titan...

...Now... what do you do?

>Sneak inside while your friends keep the rest of the Prince's forces pinned and busy. (p+n)
>Leap down the walls in a surprise attack to help your friends in battle. (p+d)
>Try and draw your friends' attention and storm the castle together.
>No, you're not feeling safe. Look for that elusive individual you were sure you saw nearby... (m+n)
>(Other?)

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41433410
>No, you're not feeling safe. Look for that elusive individual you were sure you saw nearby... (m+n)
Time for our weakest roll. Must be stalking Maka to find the Titan's entrance.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41433410
>Sneak inside while your friends keep the rest of the Prince's forces pinned and busy. (p+n)

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41433410
>No, you're not feeling safe. Look for that elusive individual you were sure you saw nearby... (m+n)
SIDEREALS

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41433410
Oh shit... it's the Silver Prince's assassin, isn't it?
>Leap down the walls in a surprise attack to help your friends in battle. (p+d)
SURPRISE BITCHES!

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41433410
>...Pale skin, faint brownish hair in a ponytail, a blue, eastern-style dress, the sharpest green eyes you've ever seen in your life... the faint smell of lotus flowers...
Fuck.

>No, you're not feeling safe. Look for that elusive individual you were sure you saw nearby... (m+n)
It's weak, but fucking Sidereals

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41433410
>>Leap down the walls in a surprise attack to help your friends in battle. (p+d)

DYNAMIC ENTRY

>>41433454
Can't be the assassin, he'd have killfucked us the instant the nephwrack was destroyed.

It's gotta be a Sidereal

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41433410
>>No, you're not feeling safe. Look for that elusive individual you were sure you saw nearby... (m+n)
Fuckin Sidereals

File: Failing the stealth check.gif (1.08 MB, 320x180)

1.08 MB GIF

>>41433467
It's gonna end like this, wanna bet?

>>41433410
>No, you're not feeling safe. Look for that elusive individual you were sure you saw nearby... (m+n)
On phone, can't dice.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41433545
I'll dice for you mate.

>>41433410
>the faint smell of lotus flowers
>Unfolding Corpse-White Lotus
HMM

>>41433574
Motha.
Fuckin'.
Sidereals.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41433410
>Try and draw your friends' attention and storm the castle together.
At half health, I do not want to charge into the Prince alone.

>>41433410
This isn't going to go well, we need Radiant here to give us a better eye on things

[m+n= 4 6 9 3 9 = 2 successes]

You search all around you, in the fog as far as you can see, on the roof, on nearby rooftops, in the rubble, everywhere, but you find no trace of that vision. You're starting to wonder if you imagined it.

Was it an assassin? If so, why didn't she attack you? A spy? If so, why did it reveal its presence to you, if only just for a moment? You're fairly sure she WANTED you to see her... unless you hallucinated.

If her aim was making you paranoid, she succeeded. You jump at shadows as you search, stumbling around on the wrecked castle rooftop while the battle goes on.

Did she want you to just waste time looking for her?

>...I don't have time for this. Time to go down there and stop the Silver Prince. (p+n)
>Call for (Five Tails / Radiant Starfall). They'll cover you. If this person you saw is real, they'll find her.
>You wasted enough time already. Rally your friends and march into the castle.
>You're not going to get anywhere if the Silver Prince can rely on his troops. Join the battle and try to make short work of them. (p+d)
>(Other?)

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41433801
>You're not going to get anywhere if the Silver Prince can rely on his troops. Join the battle and try to make short work of them. (p+d)

We're wasting time!!

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41433801
>>You wasted enough time already. Rally your friends and march into the castle.
I don't know, but we gotta go in together.

I fucking hate Sidereals.

>>41433801
>Call for (Five Tails / Radiant Starfall). They'll cover you. If this person you saw is real, they'll find her.
Radiant Starfall

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41433801
>...I don't have time for this. Time to go down there and stop the Silver Prince. (p+n)

>>41433801
>>You wasted enough time already. Rally your friends and march into the castle.
We gotta find Amata and the others

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41433801
>You wasted enough time already. Rally your friends and march into the castle.

...You've wasted enough time already.

You approach the ruined battlements, breathe in, and whistle as loudly as you can. Barely audible above the chaos of battle, but you're sure enough that they'll hear you.

"BRIGHT THE FIGHT INSIDE! WE MUST STOP THE SILVER PRINCE, NOT HIS ARMY!" You call out to your allies, before dropping into a hole in the roof, leading you straight to...

...Is this really Tianna castle? It's so wrecked, it's almost unrecognizable. Signs of strife and combat litter the corridors. Walls are holed, pillars wrecked, furniture burned, and the bodies of castle guards and Vodak troopers alike are scattered everywhere.

You hear the noise of fighting approach. Tia flying kicks a Vodak through a nearby wall and ends up in your same corridor. She stands back up, giving you a confident glance. If she's still wounded from your fight in Pearl, she shows no sign of it.

The clash of warstriders is continuing outside. Of course, it would be a bit difficult for them to join you inside, unless the entire castle collapses. And you guess the stealthy but less direct Five Tails and Radiant Starfall are fighting and keeping the soldiers busy along the way.

There is no sign of Amata, Mikahil or anyone from their group anywhere you can see, unfortunately.

>Head for the room where you remember the Titan's secret passage to be.
>Start searching for the Silver Prince. (m+t)
>Start searching for Amata and the others. (m+t)
>Wait for Five Tails and Radiant Starfall to catch up with you and Tia. You want to move together, even if this means that no one is holding back the enemy troops.
>(Other?)

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41434225
>Start searching for the Silver Prince. (m+t)

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41434225
>Head for the room where you remember the Titan's secret passage to be.
We need to make sure the objective of the enemy is secure. We know where they want to go, why would they be going anywhere else? Maybe we'll also meet with Tyrant!

I wonder what dancing smoke is up to. Oh sorry, the Flame that Marched against the sea.

>>41434225
>Start searching for Amata and the others. (m+t)
Can Tia just sniff them out?

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41434225
>>Start searching for Amata and the others. (m+t)

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41434225
>Start searching for the Silver Prince. (m+t)
Stay the fuck away from the titan until we find this stalker.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41434225
start searching for the silver prince

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41434225
>Start searching for Amata and the others. (m+t)

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41434304
Forgot my dice

>>41434225
>>Head for the room where you remember the Titan's secret passage to be.

>>41434295
What if SOMETHING OR SOMEONE FOLLOWS US THERE

>>41434421
>What if SOMETHING OR SOMEONE FOLLOWS US THERE
This. Do anything other than go to that room right now.

>>41434397
We are not leading the Sidereal to the secret passage.

>>41434439
True. True...

>>41434225
I want to change my mind:
>Start searching for the Silver Prince. (m+t)

>>41433567
Thanks, sorry for the delay but I had to drive for a bit.

>>41434225
>Head for the room where you remember the Titan's secret passage to be.
If the prince had a chance to talk he probably knows about it.

>>41434225
>Start searching for Amata and the others. (m+t)

[m+t= 4 7 4 8 8 = 3 successes]

Following your senses, or perhaps your instincts, you head down a flight of ruined, half-crumbling stairs to ground level, then through the unrecognizable hallways, corridors and rooms until you reach the central point of the fortress... the large salon that you used as both a formal dinner room and a meeting room in the past.

You can hear noise that's not just the clamor of battle coming from here. And... you can feel the taste of Essence burning brightly, like a thick, stifling smoke rising from there...

You sneak up to the doors. Closed. Not just that... a faint line of eldritch characters have been burned into the wood. Even though you might be unschooled in sorcery, it doesn't take a genius to recognize a magical seal.

You and Tia silently exchange nods. It doesn't look like something very powerful of elaborate. Probably done in a hurry. Probably keeping the doors locked, but not magically strengthening them. It's still just wood.

You mentally go through the map of the castle, the way you remember it. This is the main entrance. There's a side entrance used by the maids, by the kitchen, and a secondary entrance via a passage connecting the dinner room to the throne room. If the roof is caved in, then you could drop down here from the second floor. And from below...

The dining room is pretty much above the unassuming storeroom where you remember Amata showed you the passage to the Titan. Is this coincidence?

>Try to undo the magical seal without triggering alarms. (m+t)
>Head for the kitchens
>Head for the throne room
>Break the door down. (p+d)
>Put your ear to the door, try and listen to what's going on inside. (m+n)
>(Other?)

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41434656
>>Put your ear to the door, try and listen to what's going on inside. (m+n)

This seal might have been created by amata mikahil or valeriana to protect something or other. Let's not be too hasty

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41434656
>Put your ear to the door, try and listen to what's going on inside. (m+n)
We're going to want to bust those fucking doors down if we hear certain things coming from within. That seal might have been put in place to keep us out, not the invaders.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41434656
>Put your ear to the door, try and listen to what's going on inside. (m+n)

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41434656
>Put your ear to the door, try and listen to what's going on inside. (m+n)

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41434656
>Try to undo the magical seal without triggering alarms. (m+t)

Hole crap, Maka has a 100% success rate on a mental pool roll.

>>41434735
Maka isn't dumb!

She's just a bit untrained in stuff.

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41434656
>Put your ear to the door, try and listen to what's going on inside. (m+n)

[m+n = 10 1 2 8 10 = 5 successes]

You put your ear to the door (thankfully the seal doesn't shock you or anything) and listen.

You hear...

...That's definitely Old Realm chanting. It's too fast and complicated to understand perfectly the words, and besides you don't recognize most of the terms.

But it's definitely sorcery in mid-cast.

...No, not sorcery, you realize. Those... those empty whispers you hear, behind the main voice... And it's a male voice, deep, powerful, with a bit of echo to it...

This is necromancy. You feel your blood freezing as you begin to pick up the few, simple words of Old Realm you know.

"Mouth". "Hunger". "Blood". "Scream". "Death".
And one complex, multi-syllable word you can't recognize, but it makes you want to stand up screaming, grab your head, and twist it until your own neck snaps, just so you don't have to hear it being pronounced ever again.

You try and calm down. Focus.
Steps. Breathing. At least four people inside, including the caster. One, with particularly slow and ponderous steps, is walking just by the door.

>Time for a surprise attack on this guy. Follow my lead, Tia. (p+d)
>I'll break down the door and deal with this guy next to it, Tia, you interrupt the casting, whatever it is. (p+d)
>Tia, break down the door and deal with this guy next to it. I'll take care of the caster. (p+d)
>We're outnumbered. Let's wait.
>Let's go and grab the others. It's suicide to attack with just the two of us.
>(Other?)

>>41434958
>Time for a surprise attack on this guy. Follow my lead, Tia. (p+d)
Phoneanon again.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41434958
>Tia, break down the door and deal with this guy next to it. I'll take care of the caster. (p+d)
Ohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuck are we too late? Amata please be alright.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41434958
>I'll break down the door and deal with this guy next to it, Tia, you interrupt the casting, whatever it is. (p+d)

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41434958
>I'll break down the door and deal with this guy next to it, Tia, you interrupt the casting, whatever it is. (p+d)

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41435016
Rollin for you

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41434958
>I'll break down the door and deal with this guy next to it, Tia, you interrupt the casting, whatever it is. (p+d)