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A few seconds later, you shrug the pile of rubble and loose rocks and bricks and tiles that's ended up on top of you, still confused by the sudden change of scenery, and try and get your bearings.

It's dark all around you, apart for the light shed by your Anima, but it doesn't take a genius to figure where you are. The corridors of the buried Titan. You are alone, for now.

You... you don't remember THIS one corridor you're in, specifically, but that doesn't mean much: it's a huge fortress and you've explored barely a fraction of it up to now. You could be anywhere.

You glance up, into the hole you fell out of, and try and gauge your depth. You're probbably in one of the very top layers, as you don't see much metal and machinery above you. Probably the first or second level or so. If you wanted, you could probably try and climb out of it and back into the castle, or what's left of it, but it would be a long and messy affair.

Almost certainly, the Silver Prince, the Tyrant, Tia, the necromancer (if he's still alive), the mysterious green-eyed woman are all down here, although probably in different locations within the Titan.

If that spell had a large enough range, even Five Tails, the Dragonkaiser, maybe even others might have ended up down here. Though you're not too sure if a Warstrider could negotiate these corridors, even if you remember seeing some quite large enough for it, if just barely.

The passage you're in is layered in grime and rust, probably corrupted by subterranean humidity, but it looks like it must have once been a service passageway, narrow and long, winding, with no walls per se: rather, it is lines by the complex systems of tubes, pipes, wires and machinery that formed the living guts of the technomagical fortress. Though now very little of it seems functional. Other passages open along the sides, and steep stairwells and ladders lead down in different points of its length. A real maze of twisty passages, all alike in your eyes.

(cont.)

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>Try and climb out of the hole you fell in. (p+n)
>Try to get your bearings or find a point or feature you recognize from your past explorations. (m+z)
>Climb down, try and get to the lowest level, where the reactor is, as fast as possible.
>Wander aimlessly, in silence. (p+n)
>Wander aimlessly, calling out your friends' names.
>Seek out parts of working machinery or labels you can read in this corridor. (m+t)
>(Other?)

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>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

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You get +5 XP for a buttload of useful fluff Anareth wrote. I can't promise it will get used in the quest, but it gets rewarded in any case.

As always, remember that anything creative that gets done in the Quest's context (writefaggotry, drawfaggotry, etc etc) gets rewarded with XP or by allowing you to make a request of some kind.

Sorry if I kept you waiting. It's been a hectic week and since we're nearing a climax I wanted to be sure I could run the thread on a day without interruptions.

That said, I had to make some compromises, and today's thread might be a bit slow. I'm sorry.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41582630
>>Try to get your bearings or find a point or feature you recognize from your past explorations. (m+z)
Nice to see you again EF.

We've been in these clothes long enough and we aren't leading an army anymore so let's switch to something new, how about #15..

>>41582630
>Call for The Flame that marched Against the Sea
Welcome back EF.

>Warstrider could negotiate these corridors
Did you mean navigate?

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>>41582605
ALLRIGHT! 31st July 2015, Exalted Quest, Almonds Activated

Let's do this!

>>41582701
I think #19 fits the current situation better.

>>41582630
>Wander aimlessly, calling out your friends' names.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41582630
>Try to get your bearings or find a point or feature you recognize from your past explorations. (m+z)

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41582630
>Try to get your bearings or find a point or feature you recognize from your past explorations. (m+z)
Also lets go with outfit #14

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41582716
I'll second #19

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41582630
dice

>>41582630
>>41582755
I second #14

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41582630
More dice

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41582630
>Seek out parts of working machinery or labels you can read in this corridor. (m+t)

>>41582755
I'll second #14

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41582630
>Try to get your bearings or find a point or feature you recognize from your past explorations. (m+z)
Zenith because we're also drawing on past-life memories, through Integrity or something?

>>41582807
I think it's because of survival..

>>41582807
That or Survival

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41582702
I'll second this.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41582816
>>41582823
Ah, fair. Didn't even think of that.

>Try to get your bearings or find a point or feature you recognize from your past explorations. (m+z)

Go with #14.

Does anyone think the presumed Sidereal is taking care of the hostage situation?

We were thinking about why she would let us see her but not contact us afterwards.

>>41583142
>presumed Sidereal
The bitch who dropped us into this pit?

I don't think she's a Sidereal.

>>41583142
Nah, White Lotus is a canon Sidereal, she's fucking legit crazy, she's stared into the Abyss and went loco.

I don't know what was up with her showing herself, but she's loyal to the Silver Prince.

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First of all, you briefly consider a dress change, noticing how all the dust is sticking to your (admittedly scant) clothing, and each movement you make lifts a small cloud of it.

You shake your hair clear of the dust and loose bits of rubble, and then mentally dip into your Kaleidoscopic Garment Dance and...

...Well, if this is the final battle, then you better look your best, you decide, pulling out your outfit of serpent-themed golden jewelry. The dust that was clinging to you is shaken loose by the change and falls to the ground, and you emerge sparkly clean from it.

Now, time to get to the messy business of actually figuring out where you are. It would sure be a lot better if you knew what all these pipes and machines were supposed to be, of course.

[m+z = 9 5 7 2 3 6 10 9 = 5 successes]

You walk a bit around the twisty little corridor, then, stumped, climb down a ladder twice. The rusty old thing nearly breaks under your weight, but you manage to go down a couple of levels, look around, and suddenly recognize a brass panel with five pipes sticking out of it, and five levers on top of it, stuck in a up-down-up-down-up pattern. Thankfully, that little detail remained in your memory since the last time you've been here.

So, you were't wrong: you're around the top layers, and if you remember correctly... further ahead along the corridor you're now in, and then turn left, and you could reach, in theory, the hidden passageway that leads up to the caverns connecting with Dancing Smoke's volcano and the secret passage from the castle.

Unfortunately, you'd have no idea in what condition that place is now. When you flew over it, the volcano seemed almost overflowing with lava. Would that mean that that entire passageway is flooded? If you got there, could you get Dancing Flame to help you, or will she intervene only on her own terms, like she said she would? You might not have the time to spare, after all.

(cont.)

>>41583200
>>41583202
Was that confirmed to be the same person? I thought the lotus perfume was the only reason people thought hey were

>>41583202
Fun Fact: She's had to brainwash herself into being legit fuckin crazy in order to spy on multiple Deathlords for the Bureau of Destiny, the Deathlords would be able to easily find out if she wasn't working for them loyally.

Past the other corner and down the flight of stairs, on the other hand, you'll reach one of the flight system's control stations.

And, further past that, a maintenance stairwell leading almost straight down to the reactor room and the main cannon's firing system.

But... you also remember that, turning to the right twice from here and moving along the one corridor where the lights still work on this level, you'll reach...

You don't remember her name. Or maybe you've chosen not to remember it. Your old name. Well, rather, Tyrant's old name. But, her private rooms are not too far from here.

>Head for the volcano.
>Head for the flight system controls.
>Head for the reactor.
>Head for your First Age incarnation's private rooms.
>(Other?)

>>41583279
>Head for your First Age incarnation's private rooms.
Probably has some cool shit there

>>41583219
>Dancing Flame
I approve of this new name, typo or no.

>>41583279
>>Head for the volcano.
If anyone is going to be supremely helpful in this fight it's Flame.

>>41583279
>>Head for your First Age incarnation's private rooms.
Let's see what we find.

There isn't a smutartwork repository of Exalted Quest, is there?

There should be, looking through the archives for anything I've missed is a huge pain.

>>41583320
The pdf have a gallery of sorts

>>41583279
>Head for the volcano.

>>41583279
>>Head for the volcano.
Let's go get Flame

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41583279
>Head for your First Age incarnation's private rooms.

>>41583279
>Head for your First Age incarnation's private rooms.
inb4 it's stocked with tons of dildos

>>41583436
GLORIOUS SOLAR DILDOS

>>41582702
>>Warstrider could negotiate these corridors
>Did you mean navigate?

Negotiate is also an acceptable expression in this context.

"He negotiated the slippery, sandy slope with due care."

>>41583279
>Head for your First Age incarnation's private rooms.

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The corridor leading to "your" old rooms is almost eerily untouched: a well-lit passageway lined with golden panels covered in fine incisions, in the First Age's iconic style of art.

There's all sort of images. "You" meeting important-looking people. Gods and dragons. Holding a fae lord at sword-point. Receiving a commission from the Solar Deliberative. Sitting upon a thone of power, looking authoritative. Overseeing a mass execution. Overseeing the construction of a temple. Battling with a monster that not even the simple art style can make comprehensible. Ordering an army to battle against the arrayed forces of what seems to be another Solar. Ordering the Flame to incinerate an island. The list goes on and on, and the little bits of memories surfacing make it even harder. You don't want to be here.

In all these incisions, "you" are alone. There is no other figure standing alongside you, rendered in an even vaguely similar level of detail. Everyone else is either kneeling or prostrating, dead and dismembered, or drawn sketchily, as if the artist was afraid of giving anyone else any amount of detail or importance.

You remember Tia's First Age incarnation, or, well, at least his appearance, but you don't see him anywhere here. You can't recognize anyone else's face except for "your" own.

(cont.)

Oddly enough, some little nicks and marks and scrapes along the borders of each golden plate tell you that several of these incisions were replaced later. That's an odd detail. Apparently only a handful of these were part of the first set, and most were swapped in at a later date. You wonder why.

The door is a beautiful, massive, powerful thing. Gold-covered brass, studded with diamonds. Pure ostentatiousness the likes of which you haven't seen even in Gem (and that's saying something!). You remember it only opened for you or those you allowed in (and of course destroyed anyone else), but you don't remember exactly how it worked. Will it recognize you now? Or did it just check your body and voice? Should you even try?

>Yes.
>No, head for the volcano instead.
>No, head for the flight system controls instead.
>No, head for the reactor instead.

>>41583880
>>Yes.

>>41583880
>>Yes.
I'm curious, let's try!

>>41583880
>>Yes.

We came this far let's see if Tyrant had some good stuff.

>>41583880
>Yes
That's all super sad as shit

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41583880
>Yes.
Came this far, I guess.

>>41583880
>Yes.

>>41583880
>Yes.
Hopefully it recognizes the exaltation, rather than the person wielding it.

>>41583954
That's usually how these things work, if not at least we have Adamant Skin Technique to block any death rays

>>41583880
>Yes.

You approach the door, and the diamonds it is studded with suddenly flash with light. For a moment, it nearly blinds you. Then, a messy, metallic noise fills the hallway as the doors begin to open... and then, a loud metallic CRACK stops the operation.

It seems like, despite the external appearances, the mechanisms behind the door have mostly decayed beyond usefulness. You hesitantly grab the half-opened door and pull it open, though it requires a lot of strength.

The room beyond must have once been something so beautiful, marvelous and refined to literally take your breath away, but right now it is sadly wrecked beyond all recovery. You recognize where the bed, other furniture and so on were supposed to be, but everything that wasn't part of the walls, ceiling or roof has been completely torn apart and ruined, apparently by weapons. Then age, humidity and decay have done the rest.

All that's left is a thick, messy layer of filthy dust-covered debris on the floor. You'd be tempted to think that "if there was something of value here, someone else must have taken it already", but that's a weird thought to have: the walls, the door, the panels... even without any furniture or loot, dismantling this room would net anyone maybe a ton of gold, and that's even without counting for the gems. Besides, on the ground you still see bits of jewelry, coins, cutlery and other precious items.

Whoever did this wasn't after money at all. He wanted to find something, maybe. It was clearly done a long time ago, maybe just after "your" death, and your best guess is that it was done to retrieve any magical artifacts, because you can't see any, and you'd imagine that there ought to be at least a few lying around.

As the rush of discovery passes over you, and is slowly replaces by a creeping, unwelcome feeling of familiarity, you begin to remember.

(cont.)

Here is where you killed your son.

Or was it a daughter?

You don't even remember. That's how much you cared about him.

Your husband really wanted one. You thought he's be a nuisance. But you let him have one to shut him up. He was getting a bit too rebellious for your tastes, and you thought this might tie him to you a bit closer.

But you really couldn't stand him. And when he got in the way and got a broken neck for his trouble, your first thought was "good riddance".

For a moment, you thought you saw a cracked skull in the rubble by your feet. Staring at you...

No, there's no way his skeleton would be still here, is there? "You" would've ordered someone to clean up the mess. Dispose of him...

You try not to run out of the room screaming, and nearly fail. In the process, you nearly trip on...

Huh. Thrown in a corner, probably concealed behind some furniture (when there was still furniture to conceal them), you find five wide golden tiles, identical in size to those hanging outside, along the corridor- that is, squares of roughly two meters along the side. Maybe you found the incisions that were removed from there...

Your head begins to hurt. The memories are coming back, and you don't like what they're bringing. You're losing focus, seeing things, and are beginning to hear voices...

Do you want to check the incisions?

>Yes
>No

>>41584288
>Yes

>>41584288
>>Yes

>>41584288
>>Yes

We have to know, don't we?

>>41584288
>Yes

>>41584288
>Yes
This is going to be useful information for talking down the Tyrant, I guarantee it.

>>41584288
>Yes

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Even as every corner of your mind is forcing you to run outside and leave this room, you force yourself to check the golden tiles.

Moving them is difficult: they're enormously heavy, massive slabs of solid gold, but you manage to tip the first one, and it slams on the ground heavily, lifting a cloud of dust.

It's a drawing of your first age incarnation and Tia's. It takes you a moment to recognize him. The style is detailed on both, unlike all the other incisions you've seen in the corridor: they're depicted sitting on thrones, side by side. It seems a heavily ritualized sort of depiction: they're both in full regalia, rays of light radiating from their heads, castemarks flaring, wearing neutral expressions.

You get the feeling that this must be older, or at least "Tia" looks like a grown adult in your... memories, but is a lot younger here.

You pull down the second slab, and you find yourself face to face with a beautiful, and much heavier in details, depiction of The Flame That Marched Against The Sea defeating The Sea That Marched Against The Flame. Man, that sounds weird if you say it out loud. It's an incision showing the Titan, who is also depicted in her humanoid persona, firing the Light of Judgement into what you can only describe to yourself as... an evil, toothed, clawed, fanged, spined, tentacled ocean.

You notice that Flame looks a bit different. She has much less draconic traits in this depiction, looking more like a pure god than a fire elemental.

Of course, this event never happened (as far as you know, the Titans were completed long after the Primordials were defeated), and is probably meant as sort of a votive incision to Flame herself. You get the feeling that this was discarded for not featuring your previous incarnation in any way.

The third slabs startles you.

It's the Unconquered Sun, in his full panoply and glory. Rays radiating from his head and body, he wields his spear, horn, shield and laurels.

He's looking at you.

(cont.)

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>>41584634
Senpai noticed us!!

>>41584667
Calm down anon, it's just a picture

>>41584676
Still counts!

...It's just an incision. It's not REALLY looking at you. It's made to look that way. Still, It's a few seconds before you manage to force yourself to break eye contact.

Seeing the stern visage of the Unconquered Sun actually lifts your spirit a bit. You get the feeling that he's watching over you.

Still, you can't fathom why "you" would remove a depiction of your own patron god, the highest of the Incarna, from the entrance of "your" own private rooms.

...Maybe it's because of the stern face? He's depicted as... well, not scowling, but he's not exactly smiling. He has that sort of determined yet slightly judgemental glare that you've always seen or imagined him with.

...The sort of glare that can immediately bring any lingering feeling of guilt to the surface.

The gold is slightly dented, ruining the otherwise beautiful portrait. It looks like the kind of dent a very strong fist would make.

You try not to think too much about it, and flip the second-to-last panel, to reveal...

...what the hell is this? It takes you almost a full minute to make sense of the massive, complex incision before your eyes: the depiction of an impossibly large, impossibly huge, impossibly horrendous monster. Even drawn, even in such a sketch-like, simple style, your mind finds itself just... horrified by the mere awareness that someone would conceive this creature in order to draw it. It looks too large to fit on the tile, too large to fit in the room, too large to fit in your mind.

THe depiction of THe Sea That Marched Against The Flame troubled you, but this one really upsets you. You can't find a rhyme or a reason to it, except that... it looks like an endless, cruel desert, both of the world and of the mind. A place with no respite, no mercy, no quarter.

Why would anyone draw... wait.

(cont)

>>41584889
>Seeing the stern visage of the Unconquered Sun actually lifts your spirit a bit. You get the feeling that he's watching over you.
Maka likes being scolded!

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>>41584920
Well, sometimes it's necessary

>>41584920
Only when it's done with love.

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You squint. The picture is drawn in such a way as to draw your attention, after a few seconds of wandering with your eyes through it, to a specific corner.

There, extremely small, barely a few centimeters tall and taking up a minuscule portion of the picture, but rendered in exquisite detail, is a tough-looking young man, radiating pure light and courage, shedding an ornate yet powerful armor to fight bare-chested, punching the desert.

His smallness compared to the picture makes the gesture all the more significant. And taking a step back, you can see that the desert is actually recoiling from his punch.

It's not an empty gesture, you suddenly realize. It's the defeat of a Primordial.

And somewhere, deep inside your Solar shard, an impossibly ancient, minuscule part of you remembers that.

You're about to flip the last plate, when you suddenly hear, from the corridor, hurried yet uncertain steps drawing closer.

>Hide somewhere. (p+n)
>Wait for whoever it is, but keep your guard up.
>Go meet whoever that is in the corridor.
>Maybe you have time to check the last plate before he arrives...

>>41584961
>>Wait for whoever it is, but keep your guard up.

>>41584961
>Maybe you have time to check the last plate before he arrives...
I must know.

>>41584961
>>Maybe you have time to check the last plate before he arrives...
I'll bet it's Tyrant or Tia.

>>41584961
>Go meet whoever that is in the corridor.

We'll check it later

>>41584961
>Maybe you have time to check the last plate before he arrives...
This will be important to Maka/Maka's exaltation shard.

>>41585007
That's the same thing we said about thinking of the past when exploring the Titan. We never did that.

>>41584961
>>Maybe you have time to check the last plate before he arrives...
Oh shit we killed Cecelyne.

That's fucking hype.

>>41584961
>Maybe you have time to check the last plate before he arrives...

>>41584961
>>Maybe you have time to check the last plate before he arrives...

Also, is this saying that Primordial-Not-Maka is the one who beat Cecelyne?
No wonder she picked the Zenith shards to turn into her Caste of the GSPs

>>41585041
Or the Primordial that became Cecelyne at least.

Solar Hero Style is so good.

>>41585041
>>41585031
It was a dude solar beating Cecelyne, Maybe a Circlemate or the primordial war exaltation bearer of our shard?

It depends on if first age not-maka was a primordial war veteran.

>>41585135
Most likely it was one of the first bearers, the one that went full first age came later, and was clearly so bad that being a Deathlord was an easy choice to her.

>>41585135
>And somewhere, deep inside your Solar shard, an impossibly ancient, minuscule part of you remembers that.
>the primordial war exaltation bearer of our shard
It was that, very few of the war veterans were alive by the end of the First Age

File: Primordial War 2.jpg (1.04 MB, 1719x1200)

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You cannot resist the curiosity. You want to see more of this man. You... your memories of him are older, much older, in much worse shape, but, for some reason...

The last tile slams down, and you see a grand depiction of a glorious army in formation. It looks like a parade.

Some figures are larger and more prominent, more clearly recognizable, but it astonishes you that the artist took the trouble to depict every single individual soldier, even the ones far in the background. There must be... you have no idea, a bazillion people in this picture. And every single one of them is carved individually and uniquely, even if very small. A beard here, an odd helmet that no one else has there, a unique spear or a shield with a personalized coat of arms or device, non-regulation armor or a scarf... every single soldier has something, even just a little detail unique to him.

You take a step back and instead focus on the larger figures. One of them is the same individual from the other carving, only actually wearing his armor. He's surrounded by countless others, Solars, but also Lunars, Dragon-Blooded, gods and spirits and elementals, and a lot more. And the centerpiece of the entire carving is not him, but a gloriously massive warstrider the rest of the army is arrayed around of as they march or pose.

(cont.)

(have to AFK for a bit)

>>41585220
>a gloriously massive warstrider the rest of the army is arrayed around of as they march or pose.
Is that the motherfucking Daystar?

>>41584961
>Maybe you have time to check the last plate before he arrives...
It's important.

Also, the Primordial War bearer of Maka's exaltation sounds fucking rad. We have such an interesting legacy we're part of.

>>41585135
>the primordial war exaltation bearer of our shard
It's probably this. First Age not-Maka probably had it made to honor the prior bearer of her shard, then took it down when she started going all monomaniacal and crazy.
So far the timeline of are shard looks like
>Primordal War bearer who punched Cecelyne.
>First Age bearer who commanded the Titan and experienced the Usurpation
>Jade Prison
>Maka

>>41585292
>So far the timeline of are shard looks like
>>Primordal War bearer who punched Cecelyne.
>>First Age bearer who commanded the Titan and experienced the Usurpation
>>Jade Prison
>>Maka
And there might be more incarnations between the Tyrant and the Hero, too.

>>41585318
>>41585292
Desert Face Puncher might not have been the first owner too

>>41585268
Maybe? This seems like a big group photo of the entire Exalted Host in or after the primordial war.

It might just be a baller as fuck royal warstrider.

>>41585292
I wonder if we were the one solar who fought a primordial one on one and beat them.

>>41585344
Merela?

Nah she was a Dawn caste, also she lived up to the Usurpation so she couldn't have been Tyrant

>>41585344
>I wonder if we were the one solar who fought a primordial one on one and beat them.
No, they were a Dawn Caste named Merela who eventually became Queen of Creation for awhile before the Solar Deliberative took power, and was UCS's waifu.

>>41585379
>UCS's waifu
Cunt

>>41585388
Do not shit talk Queen M-R-L.
She wasn't the most competent Queen, but her skills at making things dead were so much that Senpai noticed her for them.

>>41585220
I wonder if that's the rest of our circle or just a bunch of Solars in general

File: Mikahil.png (1.07 MB, 727x1028)

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You kind of want to explore more of this incision and see all of its details, but someone enters the room with hesitant steps.

You turn to face him and see in front of you Mikahil, grievously wounded. A large slash has cut through his clothes, skin and flesh across his chest, diagonally, and he seems to have lost quote a bit of blood before he could will his wound closed.

"...Maka, oh boy am I happy to find you here." He pants, catching his breath.

"...Are you alright?" You rush to try and support him. He looks like he could fall any moment. He probably followed the noise of the falling gold tiles.

"Eeeh." He replies, unconvinced. With your help, he sits down on the pile of tiles, which is now about chair-height "...Not really."

"Where's everyone else? What happened?" You wonder.

"When the Prince hit the castle, we tried to fight back, but after breaching the walls he ordered his infantry in. We couldn't keep up against those numbers, so we scattered around. I lost sight of Valeriana, Amata and Talon then. A few minutes ago, the floor just caved in and we all fell down here." He looks up to you. "Got any reinforcements for us?"

"A bit." You try and feel good about it, but if your forces are scattered, then you already lost your greatest advantage against the Silver Prince: numerical advantage as far as Exalted are concerned. In these corridors, he could pick you off one by one.

"So... what the heck is this place? All this looks scarily First Age."

"...I'll tell you the full story later. For now..."

>Let's go to the volcanic passage.
>Let's go to the flight system controls.
>Let's go to the reactor.
>Let's split up and look for the others.
>Let's stick together and look for the others.
>Let's stay here.
>(Other?)

File: koc0328.png (57 KB, 382x937)

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>>41584889

>>41585488
Given how many people are supposed to be on it, I'd say the mural is either the first "generation" of Exalted, or the ones from the end of the Primordial War

>>41582689
Where can I read the fluff?

>>41585543
>Let's stick together and look for the others.

>>41585543
I'm just gonna throw this out here.

We've already seen the Silver Prince disguise someone else as him.

I think it's not much of a stretch to imagine that he could disguise himself as someone else.

>>41585562
It's all linked on my ask.fm here and there.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41585543
>Let's stick together and look for the others.

>>41585562
http://ask.fm/Exaltedfag
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-vYMFUdvo31Dl2jVCKDMV8VS4rEDvgd0buhiVRpYbuI/edit?usp=sharing

>>41585543
>Let's stick together and look for the others.

>>41585543
>Let's go to the reactor.

>>41585543
>>Let's split up and look for the others.

>>41585543
>Let's stick together and look for the others.
Five-Tails is here.

>>41585581
If you're worried we can ask him to thrown up his caste mark, those can't be copied by charms

>>41585543
>>Let's stick together and look for the others.
We at least need either Tia or the Dragon-Blooded from the Dragonkaiser with us to take on the Prince.

>>41585645
I think Caste Mark flaring would be pretty damn useful right now. Let's ask him to.

i'm more worried about Mikahil being commanded by the Prince's mind control sword.

>>41585676
>i'm more worried about Mikahil being commanded by the Prince's mind control sword.
...shit. Right. With the one big, horrible slash.

>>41585581
>>41585645
>>41585676

My shadowruns are acting up you guys.

>>41585691
MIKA NO

>>41585676
Fuck, Prince mentioned he has hostages.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41585543
>Let's stick together and look for the others.

>>41585543
>>(Other?)
Ask Mikahil about the big ass cut, we gotta be sure he's not gonna be mind controlled

Rolled 6 (1d10)

Welp, now we have to start attempting to strike a balance between too paranoid to be useful, and not paranoid enough to be safe.

Here's an idea for a write-in

>>41585543
>Observe Mikhail for any unusual behavior (m+t)

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41585676
Fuck Mikahil

Five Tails is gonna so pissed

"For now, let's stick together and look for the others." You explain to him, not without a bit of wariness. Could this be one of the Silver Prince's tricks?

"Alright. Lead the way." He replies, standing back up, not without effort.

The two of you walk around the corridors for a while, getting deeper and deeper in the belly of the Titan. The uses and reasons for each room and passage you go through are basically unrecognizable by now, leaving you to wander through a maze of rubble-filled metal chambers of indistinguishable purposes.

But, after a bit of wandering, once you're about halfway to the core, you hear the unmistakable noise of battle coming from a room not far ahead. If memory serves you right, the stairwell that leads straight to the reactor. The door to the room is closed, rusted shut from this side, but you imagine others could have entered it from other directions.

And it sounds like one heck of a battle.

"Damnit." Mikahil mumbles. "It's started already. Let's hurry up, we gotta help."

>Alright. Let's go.
>No. Wait. Something's wrong with you.
>(Other?)

>>41585864
>(Other?)
>Ask him: "Were you hit with the Princes' sword?"

>>41585864
>No. Wait. Something's wrong with you.

>>41585864
>>Alright. Let's go.

>>41585930
>>41585888
Should we do a combination? We ask as we walk?

>>41585864
>No. Wait. Something's wrong with you.
>>41585952
Talking is a free action.

>>41585966
>>41585889

Isn't just saying "There's something wrong with you" a bit aggressive? Would asking him hurt?

>>41585864
>>No. Wait. Something's wrong with you.

>>41585952
We don't have time, the battle is right there, we can ask, but we would be at the bottom of the stairs before he could answer

>>41585981
If he's really mind controlled by the Prince he will lie to cover it up to serve him.

Really if he's been mind whacked there's no reliable answer he can give that we can trust.

>>41585864
>No. Wait. Something's wrong with you.

>>41586014
JET would be so useful right now.

>>41586014
>>41585995
Yeah, that's true...

>>41586033
yeah it's a bummer that we don't have the xp banked to try to wheedle a last minute buy of JET.

Unless some enterprising anons decide to throw out 4 pieces of fanart for xp in the next 30 seconds.

>>41585864
>Alright. Let's go.

File: Status.jpg (114 KB, 414x416)

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"...What?" He stops and turns to face you, confused.

...defensive.

You look straight at him. You don't have any definite proof, and you can't be sure, but...

"Mikahil. That wound... did it come from the Silver Prince's sword?"

There's a flicker of realization for a split-second in his eyes. Then, with a single smooth movement, he flings two of his throwing knives at you, going straight for your eyes.

You blink, just barely in time, the only reflexive movement you can manage in that fraction of time. The two blades, razor-sharp, instead impact against your eyelids, making the difference between a lot of pain, and blindness in this maze.

[HEALTH: 5/11]

Knowing what will follow instinctively, you drop, roll, desperately look for cover as a you hear a hail of knives fill the corridor, washing over every surface, buzzing just past you after every movement.

You manage to get one of the two knives out as you roll behind a thick metal pipe running along the floor, and desperately blink to get the blood out of your eye. Two more knives, thrown with more strength, pierce all the way through the pipe, but their impacts are softened enough to bounce off your armored skin.

>Try and talk him out of this (s+z)
>Stay in cover for enough to get the second knife out and get back some sight (p+n)
>Keep moving, dash for the door. (p+n)
>Rush him and try and take him out with a headbutt (p+d)
>Get in close as fast as possible, try and wrestle him to the ground. (p+d)
>(Other?)

>>41586135
(sorry, it's [HEALTH: 7/11]. Like the status image shows.)

File: Battle Start.gif (307 KB, 320x213)

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Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41586135
>Rush him and try and take him out with a headbutt (p+d)
>combined with
>Get in close as fast as possible, try and wrestle him to the ground. (p+d)

I'd say: try our best to subdue him, knock him unconscious, before we join the fray.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41586135
The nice thing about an unarmed fighting style is that it's not naturally lethal.

>Rush him and try and take him out with a headbutt (p+d)

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41586135
>Get in close as fast as possible, try and wrestle him to the ground. (p+d)
Use AST to get through the hail of knives.

Mik is fucking scary.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41586135
>Get in close as fast as possible, try and wrestle him to the ground. (p+d)

Subdue.

>>41586184
We need AST for the princes' sword though, anon!

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41586135
>Get in close as fast as possible, try and wrestle him to the ground. (p+d)
Choke him out and try not to hurt him to much anymore

Shouldn't we be at full burn by now EF?

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41586135
>Rush him and try and take him out with a headbutt (p+d)

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41586135
>Get in close as fast as possible, try and wrestle him to the ground. (p+d)

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41586201
It's three burn, we can get those back faster than we can heal

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41586135
>>Get in close as fast as possible, try and wrestle him to the ground. (p+d)

>>41586135
Would we get more essence if we dropped the Spirit cutting Attack? Or is it just an active effect, without having us spend essence?

>>41586201
We have enough burn to use AST twice, but we'll have to regain some before using ECSJ against the prince though

>>41586135
>Get in close as fast as possible, try and wrestle him to the ground. (p+d)
HAH, I knew it!

>>41586248
It's a commit essence ability so it won't interfere with our Burn pools for AST and ECSJ

>>41586260
Exactly. Should we really use it against Mikhail, is what I'm asking? After all, if we use it we won't take any damage and I am kind of afraid that the Prince can dish out more than Mikhail, to be frank.

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41586248
We could get a commit back, but we don't have much to spend it on.

We want to keep it on though, Prince is a ghost, if we wanted to lose an effect we should drop HEP. We aren't leading armiez here.

>>41586135
>>41586281
EF, please drop HEP, this anon is right.

>>41586175
>tfw you hear the battle music after seeing this gif

>>41586176
>>41586184
>>41586223
>>41586228
>>41586233
>>41586243
>>41586246

Mikahil status: Subdued as fuck

>>41586301
Just smother him in our tits so he gets something out of being mind controlled.

File: 126546315.gif (801 KB, 245x254)

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>>41586297
It's a good feel, right?

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41586301
I believe we still have some dice to roll, thanks to Solar Hero.

Oh, look! There's one!

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41586332
a few?

>>41586350
don't mind me, just rolling out the bad ones

>>41586332
>>41586350
Nah, our combat pool is just ten dice.

Phys 4 + Dawn 3 + SHS 3

File: 1435871417988.png (49 KB, 500x500)

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>>41586315
Hhhhnnnnnggg

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41586330
Fuck yea.

>>41586135

>Get in close as fast as possible, try and wrestle him to the ground. (p+d)

>>41586362

Oh. ...Aw.

Is it too late to pop Fists of Iron so that my 9 counts?

(not serious)

>>41586396
We're not trying to kill the poor guy, just rassle im'

>>41586315
>All I remember of my time being controlled was that it was very soft, yet firm.

>>41586315
Do you think Five Tails would dislike us for it?

>"It was self defense!"

>>41586466
And then Five Tials doesn't stop shooting us dirty looks.

File: lewd.png (636 KB, 2500x2641)

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>>41586481
>>41586482
Or maybe she also joins in the fun?

>>41586481
>>41586482
Fuck, Five Tails.

She can't talk to Mik until we know more about what orders Mik is under or he could social her into doing something.

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

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You con't have time to waste. You'll have to do this near-blind.

You pull the second knife out of your eye, with a wince of pain, and, keeping your head down as you feel blades flying all around you, charge Mikahil frontally, body slam him, and tackle him to the ground.

[p+d= 5 9 9 2 10 8 10 8 7 10 = 11 successes]

Seen from outside, the ensuing probably would be one of the lamest fights of all time. You struggle blindly trying to find Mikahil's limbs while he tries to stab knives into your soft bits, both tangled onto each other and rolling on the dusty floor.

But, finally, you grab onto him solidly, pinning his right arm down under your weight, and grabbing his left wrist while you keep him in a leg-lock. He struggles, bringing out more strength than you thought his wiry frame could muster.

"...I'm sorry." You tell him, really finding no other way to do this. You twist your hips, squeeze your thighs, and break both his legs, feeling his bones snap under your pressure.

He screams for a good ten seconds or so, then passes out.

You stand up, tiredly, looking at the jumble of limbs before you. You feel terrible about what you just did, but you don't think you really had a choice-

That's when the door to the room explodes open, and Five Tails faceplants just in front of you, covered in wounds and bruises.

Great.

You glance up to the room ahead, and see there, duking it out just next to the stairwell, the Silver Prince, the mysterious emerald-eyed woman, a white-haired abyssal you don't recognize - a Day Caste in full anima flare, by the looks of it - all three of them ganging up on Tia, who stands defiant, though wounded.

>Leap in the fray. (p+d)
>Reassure Five Tails that it's not what it looks like. (s+z)
>They haven't spotted you yet! Stay hidden. (p+n)
>(Other?)

>>41586523
>Fuck Five Tails
Still on the to-do list

>inb4 Five Tails arrives now, seeing us smothering Mika with our tits.
>"WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING?!"

>even capcha: spaghetti

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41586558
>Reassure Five Tails that it's not what it looks like. (s+z)

Erm. It'd kinda sorta is what it looks like...

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41586558
>>Reassure Five Tails that it's not what it looks like. (s+z)
Use Talk to the Heart, it is super important she not flip out

File: xmen19.jpg (45 KB, 584x253)

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Just a reminder, the Silver Prince's sword leaves people mind controlled for an entire year. We're going to have to find long-term imprisonment solutions for anyone cut, with the understanding that they'll be captured and trying to escape until we have a major time skip. There MIGHT be a way to circumvent this - breaking the sword, maybe - but we have to deal with the possibility that we're going to have to make special, customized Magneto Prisons for many exalts.

This is a big fucking deal.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41586558
>Leap in the fray. (p+d)
Before she notices!

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41586558
>Reassure Five Tails that it's not what it looks like. (s+z)

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41586558
>>41586569
50 seconds too late, dammit.

>>41586558
What to do... What to do..
>Reassure Five Tails that it's not what it looks like. (s+z)

make sure she understands! Use Talking to the Heart

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41586558
>Reassure Five Tails that it's not what it looks like. (s+z)
Talk to the Heart. We don't have time for misunderstandings.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41586558
>Leap in the fray. (p+d)
Husbando, we have come for you!

>>41586595
Good point. Or forcing unattunement might work. Though 'how' is a huge problem.

>>41586558
>>Reassure Five Tails that it's not what it looks like. (s+z)

seconding TTtH

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41586558
>>Leap in the fray. (p+d)
No time, Tia is getting gangbanged in a not fun way.

>>41586627
>Though 'how' is a huge problem.
Beat the Silver Prince back into re-death, is definitely one of the steps of that process. That causes him to stop existing for a year and a day.

>>41586558
>(Other?) First: yell to Tia to fall back to your and Five Tails' position.
>Reassure Five Tails that it's not what it looks like. (s+z)

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41586658
dice..

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41586558
>, the Silver Prince, the mysterious emerald-eyed woman, a white-haired abyssal you don't recognize - a Day Caste in full anima flare, by the looks of it - all three of them ganging up on Tia, who stands defiant, though wounded.
>Leap in the fray. (p+d)
Fuck Tia.

>>41586645
Five Fingers might cut us up from behind if we don't dissuade her from shanking us.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41586558

>Leap in the fray, screaming a battlecry of "VILE SILVER PRINCE HOW DARE YOU USE YOUR EVIL MIND CONTROLLING SWORD TO TAKE OVER MY GOOD FRIEND MIKHAIL AND FORCE ME TO INCAPACITATE HIM NON-LETHALLY!" (p+d)

..What do you mean "You can only talk for a few seconds at a time?"

>>41586717
Tia is strong.
You have to have faith.

>>41586558
>>Reassure Five Tails that it's not what it looks like. (s+z)
TttH too I guess.

>>41586741
I think he was speaking literally.

>>41586719
Especially if Prince can open his mouth to spew some shit.

Reassure and the fight.

>>41586778
>Especially if Prince can open his mouth to spew some shit.
That's a good point actually.

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41586603
some more dice, just in case.

File: Knight of Ghosts and Shadows.jpg (213 KB, 800x960)

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Your (still-bleeding) eyes meet Five Tails', as she stands back up from her painful fall.

[TALKING TO THE HEART]
[s+z= 1 2 5 9 9 9 7 6 5 4 7 2 7 = 6 successes]
[Burn: 5/8]

"It's not what it looks like." You explain.

A second passes. She looks at his legs bent at cringe-inducing angles, then at the large cut on his chest, then she just nods. "I understand."

"I'm sorry."

"We'll talk about this later." She shrugs and turns back to the battle, just lingering for one extra seconds with his eyes on the passed-out Mikahil.

"My, my." The Silver Prince, his gleaming shortsword in hand, grins as he notices you. "It's getting a bit crowded here, don't you think, Knight?"

"It is, my lord." The Day-Caste replies, exchanging a lightning-quick sword-blow with Tia. The clash of blades explodes in a massive shower of sparks in the middle of the room. The Lunar acknowledges your presence with the slightest of glances, but keeps her head in the fight.

"How dare you do that to Mikahil, you overgrown ghost..." Five Tails raises her clawed hands and coils like a snake ready to strike, but something suddenly stops her, and you, in your tracks. A tiny but important detail: fresh blood is on the Prince's sword...

(cont.)

File: The Silver Prince.jpg (142 KB, 680x1000)

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"Well, in the interest of keeping the odds stacked in my favour, I'll have to ask you to-" He starts gloating, but, before he can complete the phrase, without the slightest hesitation jams her index fingers deep into her ears, almost up to the knuckles.

"...Join my side and kill Maka-..." It takes a moment for the Deathlord to realize just what happened. The exact time it takes for Five Tails to take her blood-soaked fingers out of her ears, grab one of Milahil's knives laying around, and throw it at his face.

The blade bounces, leaving barely a mark on him, but it startled him and distracted him for long enough to let her charge back in the fight.

Tia's about evenly matched with that Deathknight, Five Tails can't survive long alone against a Deathlord, and the emerald-eyed woman has drawn her sword and is quietly approaching you.

Your mind races, trying to find something you can use to your advantage in this desperate situation... You look around yourself frantically. This was one of the central rooms of the Titan, being at the top of a massive stairwell that connects all levels. If only...

>Fight her. (p+d)
>Jump to Tia's aid. (p+d)
>Attack the Silver Prince. (p+d)
>Flee.
>Try and send a signal to your friends. (m+t)
>(Other?)

DANCING FLAME WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41587034
>Attack the Silver Prince. (p+d)
Fuck, Five Tails. That was hardcore.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41587034
>Try and send a signal to your friends. (m+t)
Five tails a badass.

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41587034
>Try and send a signal to your friends. (m+t)
Flare our Anima, full blast.
Use a point of essence if we have to, just make it as big as possible.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41587034
>Try and send a signal to your friends. (m+t)
If we leave now, all our friends are doomed! Please Nuffle...

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41587034
>He starts gloating, but, before he can complete the phrase, without the slightest hesitation jams her index fingers deep into her ears, almost up to the knuckles.
>The exact time it takes for Five Tails to take her blood-soaked fingers out of her ears
...holy fucking shit, Five Tails.

>Try and send a signal to your friends. (m+t)

>>41587034
>Try and send a signal to your friends. (m+t)

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41587085
>>Try and send a signal to your friends. (m+t)

I'm not sure if more people will matter here, but... Let's try. If possible:

>Attack the Silver Prince. (p+d)

>>41587034
>>Try and send a signal to your friends. (m+t)
I don't know, but let's do it.

If this doesn't work Tia and us need to trade enemies.

...couldn't she have shapeshifted into something deaf?

File: embarrassed fury.gif (74 KB, 480x270)

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Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41587118
>...couldn't she have shapeshifted into something deaf?
Oh, shit, we should tell her tha- oh...

She might not have had any deaf forms.

>>41587118
I think that wouldn't have let her keep fighting.

>>41587118
That takes a good bit longer than it takes the Prince to finish a sentence.

Also, most animals have ears. The ones that don't tend to be either very small, aquatic, or weird. Not much good in a fight.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

Try and summon friends and THEN go immediately to Tia

Rolled 2 (1d10)

W-well, at least Five Tails has Lunar healing charms, right...?

I feel so bad for Mikahil's waifu right now.

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41587034
The green-eyed-lady concerns me on multiple levels.

>Fight her. (p+d)

>>41587219
She should, Sidereals ruin everything.

File: Unfolding Corpse-White Lotus.jpg (869 KB, 698x1061)

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"How unfortunate that you'd be here." The woman says, waving her sword at you. She doesn't seem... out for blood, or actually interested in killing you. She seems to be taking it more as a hassle. "Wrong place, wrong time, I guess."

"You kick open a metallic panel and kneel into it, trying to see well enough despite your damaged eyesight into it, brushing desperately the dust, grime and soot off the wires to recognize them by their color, trying to remember...

[m+t= 6 8 10 4 2 = 3 successes]

"I don't know about the wrong time." You reply, triumphant. You found it. "But this is the best place."

You connect two wires, a spark flies, and invisible loudspeakers croak a messy cacophony of sounds, too far gone to properly play their original message.

But one part works, at least.

The lights were on in "your" private rooms and in the corridor. Why not everywhere else? It means that the illumination system is still working.

As the speakers fail to relay the order for all crew to gather at the designated points, however, the lights turn on everywhere on the Titan. Including the guiding lights along the main corridors, pointing people in the direction of the main stairwell.

Originally, they were designed as visual aids in case of smoke. Now, hopefully, they'll guide your friends to here.

(cont.)

The Silver Prince groans, grabbing Five Tails by a wrist and chucking her into the floor and through it, down into the lower level. "Alright, I'll admit I wasn't expecting that. You handle things here, I'll go and meet up with the others at the reactor. Buy some time. Lotus, with me. I'll need you to reactivate the systems."

The Day caste just nods dutifully, and the emerald-eyed woman pulls her blade back and leaps back, lightly and elegantly, to the Silver Prince's side.

"You know." Tia replies, exchanging blows with the Day, "I'm not too sure of why you want to go down there, but that just makes me want to not let you."

"Well, you can't really stop us." He giggles, as he begins to descend the stairs.

>We can. And we will. Attack the Silver Prince. (p+d)
>We'll beat you to it. Jump down the stairwell shaft. (p+n)
>Focus your efforts on helping Tia defeat the Day Caste for now. (p+d)
>Wait for reinforcements.
>(Other?)

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41587450
>Focus your efforts on helping Tia defeat the Day Caste for now. (p+d)
>Wait for reinforcements.
Try to kill the Day Caste. Hopefully reinforcements will have arrived by then.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>We'll beat you to it. Jump down the stairwell shaft. (p+n)

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41587450
>>Focus your efforts on helping Tia defeat the Day Caste for now. (p+d)
ECSJ her fucking face now.

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41587450
>Focus your efforts on helping Tia defeat the Day Caste for now. (p+d)

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41587450
>>Focus your efforts on helping Tia defeat the Day Caste for now. (p+d)
ECSJ

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41587450
>Focus your efforts on helping Tia defeat the Day Caste for now. (p+d)
After we deal with this guy, we can jump down the stairwell shaft and get there With Tia.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41587522
Seconding both.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41587450
I'll second a ECSJ

>>41587450
OH CRAP HE'S GOING TO STAB DANCING FLAME WITH THAT OP SWORD

>>41587450
>Focus your efforts on helping Tia defeat the Day Caste for now. (p+d)
Activating ECSJ for extra oomph!

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41587554
>OH CRAP HE'S GOING TO STAB DANCING FLAME WITH THAT OP SWORD
Duh. Obviously. But if we try to rush after him without at LEAST Tia backing us up, we're going to get killed or mind controlled before we can stop him.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41587450
Dice dice dice.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>41587573
dice..

Rolled 2 (1d10)

mo' dice

>>41587450
Hit her with FoI to keep her down.

>>41587450
ECSJ and FoI for good measure.

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

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You foam in impotent rage as you see the Silver Prince and the emerald-eyed woman calmly descend the stairs.

He's taking it easy. He's sure of himself.

And you know that you can't take him on right now. Five Tails is down for the count, Mikahil is down for good, poor guy, and with just you and Tia you're no match for him. On top of that, his words implied that his cronies are already taking control of the Titan. You're too far outnumbered.

Tia's parry sends the Days' sword blow astray, colliding with a low-hanging metal pipe which explodes in a cloud of smoke. She rolls out of the cloud, getting between you and the Abyssal, in one smooth motion.

"Maka. You alright?" She whispers.

"We'll get him." You clench your teeth. "For now, let's take this clown out."

"I prefer to go by the name of Knight of Ghosts and Shadows." He replies, unflappable, lowering his blade back in a guard position. Looks like he and Tia traded blows without hurting much each other, but if they were evenly matched fighting one on one, now you have the upper hand.

[p+d = 3 4 1 7 9 5 4 2 8 2 = 3 successes]

He lunges at you with his black blade, and, reacting just a split second later, you try and grab his sword-arm and twist it behind his back.

He's faster than you, but not by much. His attack loses strength as he changes direction to the blow at the last moment to avoid your grapple, and the tip of the soulsteel blade scrapes ineffectually against your bare skin.

Tia moves in around his side, aiming to flank him. In the meanwhile, he pulls the blade back to a high guard and quips: "Why are your breasts out, anyway?"

"Because they're the most beautiful thing in Creation." Is Tia's response as she swings her long silver blade at him. He parries it, but now he's definitely on the defensive against the two of you.

(cont.)

>BBEG tells minion to buy time
>Anons vote to spend time fighting minion

>Your boss left you to die to buy time for himself, you know. (s+z)
>Try and keep his sword-arm busy for long enough to give Tia a chance to strike unimpeded. (p+d)
>Try and get in a strike while he's defending against Tia's attack. (p+d)
>(Other?)

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41587801
>Turning back on Day caste is a good idea
>Greentexting to make reasonable decisions look bad


>Try and keep his sword-arm busy for long enough to give Tia a chance to strike unimpeded. (p+d)

I doubt he cares that he was left to die.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41587814
>>Try and get in a strike while he's defending against Tia's attack. (p+d)
ECSJ and FoI and rek his shit

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41587796
>Try and keep his sword-arm busy for long enough to give Tia a chance to strike unimpeded. (p+d)
Tia's stronger than us, let us be an obstacle for him, so she can kill him.

>>41587801
>implying we could take a mind-controlling OP sword and Unfolding Corpse-White Lotus on our own.

Good job.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41587814
>>Try and get in a strike while he's defending against Tia's attack. (p+d)
He doesn't need to be told, just shown.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41587814
>>Your boss left you to die to buy time for himself, you know. (s+z)
ECSJ

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41587848
We have ECSJ friend, nothing can hit a creature of darkness harder than a solar.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41587796
>Your boss left you to die to buy time for himself, you know. (s+z)
Socialfu is Maka's real strenght.

>>41587814
>Your boss left you to die to buy time for himself, you know. (s+z)

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41587814
>>Try and get in a strike while he's defending against Tia's attack.
Now get him with an ECSJ.

Fuck it, Fists of Iron too.

>>41587868
>>41587866
>>41587852
>>41587848
>>41587830

DAY CASTE STATUS: KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41587878
Forgot dice

>>41587868
Mind control?
>>41587866
Yep. "a" singular. If those creatures are stronger, we're fucked.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41587814
If were socialing we should pop MRP too.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>41587814
>Try and get in a strike while he's defending against Tia's attack. (p+d)

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41587814
I want him dead so ECSJ and FoI, but if social wins pop MRP for the extra dice as well as ECSJ.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41587814
>Your boss left you to die to buy time for himself, you know. (s+z)
Also pop ECSJ no matter which wins.

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41587814
>Your boss left you to die to buy time for himself, you know. (s+z)

In my mind this is more of a split second hesitation/distraction play, rather than a full-bore redemption speech attempt like we usually do, but I'm good either way.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>41587814
Seconding all the charms.

MRP or FoI, but ECSJ no matter what.

>>41588008
With the number of successes we're throwing at this guy whatever choice ends up winning, he's done for.

>>41588019
>>41588008
>>41587985
So many good rolls just wasted...

>>41587814
>Your boss left you to die.

"I'm pretty sure that if you do die he's going to do something really really terrible to your soul. You saw what happened to the other solar right?"

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

334 KB JPG

You grin at the Day caste. "Your boss left you to die to buy time for himself, you know." You inform him, in case it wasn't obvious enough.

"Yes." He replies, calmly. "I know."

That took you by surprise. "...And you're fine with that?"

"I'm loyal to him." He replies, unfazed. Serene.

"Not like that'll change much." Tia quips, thrusting her blade at him from a difficult angle, just below the furthest reach of his guard, trying to impale his left knee.

It's a chance. Just as he lowers his blade and shifts his posture to intercept that sword blow, you strike.

[FISTS OF IRON]
[ENEMY-CASTIGATING SOLAR JUDGEMENT]

[p+d = 8 2 10 2 9 10 9 9 8 2 = 18 successes]

You quickly step closer, getting right at the perfect range, and unleash a demolishing uppercut on the Abyssal.

Your fist knocks him off the floor and sends him sailing in a high, spectacular arc through the room, catching him entirely by surprise.

And, in mid-air, a laser beam from nowhere slams into him and launches him in the opposite direction, through a metal wall and out of the room, leaving a vaguely human-shaped hole as an unpleasant reminder of his passage.

"Starfall?!" You call out to the far corridor, in delight.

"Sorry I'm late." The Night-Caste shoulders her smoking rifle with a grin. "But I guess a real heroine arrives exactly when most needed."

"What held you up?" Jokes Tia, trying to catch her breath.

"Found a lot of ghosts along the way." Starfall shrugs. "Bogged me down."

(cont.)

>>41588196
Someone should go make sure he's dead, otherwise he might ambush the next one of our allies that comes by following our signal

File: Status.jpg (106 KB, 414x416)

106 KB JPG

"Did you meet anyone else along the way?" You ask, worried about your allies' situation.

She nods. "Dragonkaiser fell down with me. We didn't land in the same place, though. He must be somewhere else in the Titan. I caught a glimpse of Talon in the corridors after that, but we got separated right after because of the damn ghosts. I'm sure he's following the lights too, though." She pumps a new cartridge into the rifle. "So, where's the final boss?"

You're still hung up on a detail. "Did you just say Titan?"

She grins. "I've slept with you without you noticing for weeks. You think there are secrets safe from a Night Caste?"

The moment of levity is interrupted by a sudden realization: Now that there's a bit more silence, you're hearing sounds of battle coming from further down. Not the Reactor, though: just like one or two levels below you.

>Head there immediately.
>Wait for Talon first.
>Catch your breath first at least.
>(other?)

>>41588319
Head there immediately

>>41588319
>Head there immediately.
No time for rest.
Stand up be strong!!

>>41588319
>>Head there immediately.

>>41588319
>Head there immediately.

>>41588319
>>Head there immediately.

>>41588319
>Catch your breath first at least.
Maybe a quickie.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41588319
>Head there immediately.
>(other?) Have Starfall make sure the guy we just took out is down for good, then follow us

>>41588319
>Head there immediately.
But have Tia carve a big, obvious sign in a wall or something, saying something along the lines of:

>"Tia, Maka, and Starfell went That Way to Fight the Silver Prince ->"

>>41588392

>(other?) Have Starfall make sure the guy we just took out is down for good, then follow us

Seconding this part.

>>41588319
>You're still hung up on a detail. "Did you just say Titan?"
I was not under the impression that that was still a secret.

Anyway
>Head there immediately.

>>41588319
>Head there immediately.
Magical girls are so hype, we should at least leave a message.

>>41588319
>Head there immediately.
>(other?) Have Starfall make sure the guy we just took out is down for good, then follow us

>>41588392
Yes, I agree with this. Seconding.

File: troop - vodaks.jpg (106 KB, 900x1391)

106 KB JPG

"Wait." You lift a hand to ask for a moment of silence, and then sprint down the stairs immediately afterwards.

Tia follows you without a word. Starfall, following your subtle nonverbal cue, instead splits, going to make sure that the Abyssal is out of the game for good. But her face is incredibly worried, as are yours.

You all recognized that voice.

Amata. Screaming in pain.

You rush down the flight of stairs at neckbreaking speeds. It came from about three levels further down.

It's around this level that the reactor starts, though the main controls are at the bottom of the stairwell. But, as you've already seen before, the Titan's main reactor is basically an extremely tall pillar of machinery, forming, in many ways, the backbone of the structure. From there, the massive amounts of Essence required to keep the entire structure operational are routed through the entire fortress.

And, at the bottom of the pillar and the stairwell, there's the Light of Judgement, the Titan's superweapon.

One ting you never noticed, however, is that even at this level there's a lot of connectors and pipes and latches from where both waste and refined Essence is routed. You imagine most of them to be inactive now that the Titan is not operative, but you can feel the hum of power radiating from these blocky machines riddled with weakly blinking lights. And corpses strewn all around. Corpses of Skullstone soldiers in Vodak powered armor.

(cont.)

>>41588656
>Amata. Screaming in pain.
Wife!
You motherfuckers are dead.

>>41588775
You'll activate the limit trigger...

On the very top of the reactor, at the center of the stairwell, reachable via a wide metal suspension bridge built over the precipice that is the stairwell's shaft, you see Amata, covered in her own blood, her blue jade blade shattered in two and scattered about her. Several Vodak soldiers, still alive (though many wounded), surround her, pinning her down to the floor brutally.

The emerald-eyed woman, sword drawn, is calmly standing behind her, almost non-threatening, as if to make sure that everything works nicely,

And, of course, the Silver Prince is there, holding his blade just above her neck with a smirk.

"I really shouldn't stop for entertainment along the way. I'm a busy man, you know. But this seemed too good to pass up." He calmly informs you, holding the cursed sword lightly in his hand. "Because you see, here we are locked in a mortal fight, Maka, and yet we never really got to know each other well. So I thought I'd use this chance to learn a bit about you."

Amata tries to lift her head, to look straight at you, to say something, but in vain, as the soldiers choke the air out of her.

"Well, she was silly to think that a lone dragon-blooded could stand her ground against me." He shrugs. "So, what would you have me do with her?"

>Charge in and attack the Prince. (p+d)
>Try and wrestle Amata free. (p+d)
>Ask the Prince what he wants.
>Implore the Prince to spare Amata's life. (s+z)
>Say that you don't care about her one bit.
>Try and stall for time. (s+z)
>Ask to speak with her one last time.
>(Other?)

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41588787
>Try and stall for time. (s+z)
Fuck.

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41588787
>>Try and stall for time. (s+z)
We got Radiant around.

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>41588787
>Try and stall for time. (s+z)

>>41588787
>>Try and stall for time. (s+z)

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41588849

Forgot my dice

Also voting to activate MRP.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>41588787
Commit MRP and ready another ECSJ

How much burn are we at?

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41588787
>Try and stall for time. (s+z)
Does Enemy Castigating Solar Judgement work on disarms? If it does, I change my vote to:

>>41588787
>(Other: Charge in and take that motherfucker's sword, he's already done enough damage with it.)
Who's with me!?

>>41588787
>Try and stall for time. (s+z)

Radiant Starfall is our best bet.
But if she shoots the Prince, Amata will most probably die... shit...
Inspired Performance Style? How about it? Majestic Radiant Presence?

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41588787
>Try and stall for time. (s+z)
We're gonna stall so good.

We're gonna stall so hard even DIO would go "Damn, girl. That sure was a lot of time."

File: 454-fffuuu.gif (31 KB, 516x387)

31 KB GIF

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41588884
Forgot dice...

Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>41588787
>>Try and stall for time. (s+z)

>>41588878
If we use ECSJ now we won't have enough for AST.

Let's just work with mundane dice and save AST since we're now facing down the Prince himself.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>41588787
>>Try and stall for time. (s+z)
Too bad for him, h hasn't seen our Night caste once yet.

Commit MRP to save burn for a ECSJ.

Who wants to be that halfway through this standoff Tyrant, with the Prince otherwise occupied, reaches the reactor controls uncontested and does something drastic.

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>41588787
>Try and stall for time. (s+z)
>(Other?)Commit MRP

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>41588787
How much Burn are we at?

Second Committing MRP.

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>41588787
sum dice

>>41588787
>>Try and stall for time. (s+z)
Let him think he's got us cornered, of course everything went right, he a Deathlord.

Don't ever lie to him though, he might have shit for that.

So no ECSJ sword-stealing?

Shit.

Well, then Amata's fucked, just maybe slightly later than it could have been.

>>41589053
Have faith anon, if anyone can steal that sword out from under the Prince's notice, it's Radiant Starfall.

We buy time for Radiant to work some Night magic.

File: queen Amata tai tianna.png (649 KB, 849x1000)

649 KB PNG

"Wait." you lift your hands. "Let's not be hasty."

"Why not?" He replies, nonchalantly, his blade drawing closer to Amata's nape. "I'm quite in a hurry, you know."

"What do you get out of this? A sick sense of satisfaction?" Tia grumbles, clearly itching for a punch on that smug snake face.

"Oh, well, of course, yes, but that's not why I'm doing this." He replies. "You see, I really would like if you just cut your losses and gave up, Maka. I'd let the Queen go. I have no real use for her, really. You can have it. I just want your help in taking out the Tyrant. I'm not asking for much. After all... who do you care most about? A Deathlord... or your future wife?"

[MAJESTIC RADIANT PRESENCE]

[s+z= 8 3 10 7 4 7 7 6 6 8 3 7 1 = 8 successes]

"You say you don't know me well enough." You glare at him, approaching slowly.

The Vodaks slowly let go of Amata, who is too broken to fight back anyway. Covered in blood and wounds, both her arms hang limp at her sides, clearly broken. Rather delicately, the emerald-eyed woman holds her up by the collar, as the Prince keeps his blade on her throat. "I regret that immensely, believe me." He replies. He sounds almost sincere.

"You do." You respond. "At least, you know that I'm not going to help you achieve any of your aims. I'm always going to stand in your way. I'm always going to try my best to ruin your plans."

He seems amused by the scene.

"And you've spied on me enough, I imagine, to know that I'm not the sort who would betray anyone, or to leave a friend or loved one in danger."

"Sure." He grins, inching the blade ever closer. "Which is why this is so fun. I can see what you're thinking. You're desperately buying time, hoping that some solution will pop in your mind, or some unlikely deus ex machina will swoop in and save your beloved Amata from death, or, worse, slavery to the Silver Prince."

You hear a crash coming from above. An Essence rifle shot, an explosion, the noise of metal clashing on metal.

(cont.)