File: Maka Character Sheet 2.jpg (701 KB, 1469x1300)

701 KB JPG

>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 vast amount of allies and friends, and defeated every threat to Tianna up to now, though not without difficulty.
You recently discovered that Tianna is actually an artificial island, built around a First Age Titan: an almighty flying fortress. Your forces have crushed the Bodhisattva Anointed by Dark Water, a Deathlord who tried to usurp its power for himself.
And now, on the day of your wedding, the Unconquered Sun Himself appeared to you and crowned you Princess of Creation, asking you to be an example for others in these dark times.
After securing the alliance of the nearby realm of Neck (or Okeanos, as they prefer to be called), you received news from your remote homeland of Gem: Rankar, the man who usurped your throne, holds your father and sister prisoner, and is about to marry her to his own son in an attempt to solidify and legitimize his power over the city.

>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
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Solar%2C+Quest

>System?
Dicepool-like system. When performing an action, everyone rolls 2d10 when posting. The first X rolls are considered, where X is equal to 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
Quest in ebook format (player-made): https://www.dropbox.com/s/0wl5obxcwuakgdj/Exalted%20Quest%20-%20Threads%2001-101%20%5Bpdf%5D.rar?dl=0
Meanwhiles: http://pastebin.com/u/Exaltedfag

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

758 KB JPG

Hello everyone still following this Quest. Sorry for the hiatus. I'm back.

The last few months have been really tough for me because of [blogshit you don't care about]. I'll do my best to run more often.

This thread, and probably future threads, will be more slow-paced than usual, so please be patient. My brain is still working on /tg/ thread speed clock time sometimes, but now I can't give my undivided attention to the thread throughout 1-2 days so I'll just post when I have the ability to.

Thanks for your patience.

>>809020
>We should move out now. Let's work on a plan on how to stop the wedding, knock Rankar off the throne, and get my dad back on it.
We can at least get started and lay down a baseline plan while we wait, although I do have some ideas that need Lynne for them, but Starfall can work too. Tia as a last resort.

I do hope nothing is wrong though, could we send out some runners looking for them?

Nice to have you back EF, I hope the thing went well or at least it's not as shitty as it was.

>>809020
>>We should move out now. Let's work on a plan on how to stop the wedding, knock Rankar off the throne, and get my dad back on it.
Let's at least have sa starting place for when they get here, even if we wait to fill in the details.

>>809020
>>We should move out now. Let's work on a plan on how to stop the wedding, knock Rankar off the throne, and get my dad back on it.

We can always rejigger the plan if/when they turn up with new info.

Glad to have you back EF. Hope things are going better than before.

>>809020
>We should move out now. Let's work on a plan on how to stop the wedding, knock Rankar off the throne, and get my dad back on it.

Let us at least begin the planning phase so that we're good to go when we want, but if Mikahil and Lynne come back with information that will affect the plan we re-work it otherwise we can fill them in and execute our plan.

File: Karas.jpg (265 KB, 686x1000)

265 KB JPG

You wave a hand.

"We don't have that kind of time, unfortunately." is your reply. "We should really get going. We'll bring the two of them back up to speed once they're back, but we can't sit and wait now."

The group gathers around the table.

"How are we doing this?" Radiant Starfall asks.

"How tough did you say security was?"

"About two hundred mercenaries between palace guards and honor guard at the wedding, plus others in strategic locations all around town." She points out. "Plus Rekka, of course."

"Is he as strong as the legends say, I wonder." Karas mumbles.

"Depends." You nod. "We exchanged a couple blows, and were pretty much matched, but we were both holding back a lot. He didn't take me seriously, and I didn't use Essence."

"Everyone who counts in the city will be in attendance. The Realm Satrap, the heads and representatives of all five trading noble houses, important merchant-princes from the Guild, and so on." Starfall continues. "There's a big buffet with an enormous quantity of food being set up in the palace courtyard, and guests will probably start arriving in about two hours, then there'll be eating and partying another hour before the wedding. Then, party all night, or that's their plan at least."

"Security's tight." Valeriana grumbles. "What's the plan?" Looking alternatively at you and Karas.

>Let Karas come up with a plan.
>First, we need to rescue my sister before the wedding starts.
>First, we need to rescue my dad before the wedding starts.
>We split up and try and rescue them simultaneously.
>We need to confront and take out Rankar before the wedding starts.
>We crash the wedding while it's going on. Everyone will be there.
>(Other?)

>>809067
>>First, we need to rescue my dad before the wedding starts.

Then we go to the scene of the wedding to ruin Rankars's day completely.
Even if he gets wind of us breaking our father out he'll probably try to hurry the wedding up.
At which point we'll make our entrance.

>>809067
>We need to confront and take out Rankar before the wedding starts.
So I have this great terrible idea. We take out Rankar early and replace him a fake, either Starfall in disguise or Lynne if he has that temporary shapeshift knack Tia has, maybe we even replace Rankar Junior too.

Either way we have fake Rankar in place when we bust in and claim he's an Anathema, which is when whoever replaced him lights up and goes full HAM. We, rightful daughter and son of the true king of Gem, with the help of some righteous Princes of the Earth strike him down and save Gem from it's wicked despot.

That last part is just me having fun, but if we do replace him we can have fake Rankar fake his death or even just step down and return the throne to dad in a suitably convincing way.

>>809067
>We crash the wedding while it's going on. Everyone will be there.

>>809067
>First, we need to rescue my dad before the wedding starts.

>>809082
What do the other players think of this write-in?

>>809082
I don't think it'll work, at all. And it'd be even more suspicious if a bunch of supposedly mortals took down an anathema.

>>809109
It seems like it could to easily go wrong.
People could wonder why Rankar suddenly went full retard.
The Dragon-Blooded might be strong enough to actually kill whoever we have in disguise without us revealing ourselves to back them up, which would defeat the whole purpose.
Or they might decide that a place so rich in resources that has fallen once to Anathema needs a more active influence from the Realm. If a house could get a hold of Gem's resources it could buy a lot of influence.
So overall, I'm against it, to much risk without enough reward.

>>809109
Full points for creativity, but the other anons make good points. If we want to still use a disguise, though, we could always rescue dad and sis first and have Maka or Starfall dressed up as Eskarin.

>>809114
>>809115
Yeah I wouldn't actually want to do that since it would also potentially sour people's opinions on Solars/Lunars, maybe if we had an Abyssal to play the part.

But I am serious about the part where we replace Rankar, if we want a bloodless coup the best way is to have "Rankar" himself surrender and have everyone stand down.

>>809118
Someone brought it up a few few threads ago, but I don't think it was ever addressed.
Do we actually know Sis's opinion on her marriage?

>>809067
>>We split up and try and rescue them simultaneously.
Smaller party for dad, unless he's been brought to watch. Hopefully we dont get robots in disguise as well.

>>809122
This iiis important to know.

>>809122
Starfall might now, she was hired by the palace so she probably at least knows the gossip that goes around.

>>809122
I think it's important to secure them both before we do anything about Rankar or the marriage.

>>809128
Good point.

>>809119
Well, the best way to do that might be to approach Rankar himself and get the full scoop on what's going on. Then we Social him to surrender. We can offer to "crash" the wedding and "defeat" him so he can save some face.

>>809023
Thank YOU for always coming back to run for us, EF. Blogshit is still shit, so I'm happy for you to take all the time you need.

>>809125
>>809128
>>809133
Yeah, We've been working under the assumption this is 100% forced, but if Sis actually likes the guy, then this could be a lot easier than we're making it out to be. Plus she might be upset at us for crashing everything.

>>809134
There's a part of me that really wants this to be the tip of some elaborate plot that was actually for the greater good.

>"I HAD to usurp your father! He wouldn't believe me when I told him, and there was only so much time to prepare. I made sure he and your sister were comfortable, but I'm very sorry about your mother..."

>>809122
>>809134
It doesn't matter if she likes the guy or not, the marriage itself is a bad thing.

>>809137
>Suddenly Alchemicals

>>809141
Why?

>>809128
Starfall doesn't know specific details (she didn't hear any rumor on this, but then again she didn't specifically try to) but she does know that Rankar Jr. has been visiting Eskarin's room fairly often.

Not much is known in general about Rankar Jr. He doesn't show himself in public often, or at all, and is generally described as "shy" and "reclusive".

>>809149
>Not much is known in general about Rankar Jr. He doesn't show himself in public often, or at all, and is generally described as "shy" and "reclusive".
Could be almost any type of exalt

>>809141
This though, even if she does like him we still have to take back the throne from Rankar.

She can still marry him after we're in power again.

>>809147
Because the marriage is a way for Rankar to solidify his own power. We need total unilateral control of Gem and it's treasury to finance our upcoming Kingdom.

>>809147
>>809157
And Rankar is close buddies with the Realm.

>>809067
>>First, we need to rescue my dad before the wedding starts.

>>809149
Could she get us into the palace discretely? We might have to knock out a few guards, but I'd rather not have to storm the gates to get to our family.

File: Admiral Rajan Hazaakaa.jpg (263 KB, 850x944)

263 KB JPG

You tap on the table, pensive.

"Our first move should be to break my father out." You reason. "He's the biggest hostage in this situation. And he's the only one who can legitimately claim the throne from Rankar. Besides, Eskarin is safe. I don't think Rankar would hurt her or endanger her in this situation."

Karas nods in agreement.

"I kept tabs on his location these days, and he's been moved just yesterday." Starfall informs you. "He was allowed to visit your sister, and then he's been moved to a large ground-floor room. Word is that he'll be allowed to sit at the wedding. Under watch, of course."

"Probably your old room." You consider, glancing at Karas. "Two windows on the garden outside, easy to keep guards posted at, only one door leading into the main corridor?"

"That one." The Night Caste snaps her fingers. "Ten guards in the garden, ten in the corridor. All are within earshot of a whole lotta more guards."

"I imagine that if the alarm is raised we'll be in mercenaries up to our necks." You realize. "Including Rekka and who knows who else."

"So either we take out one of the two groups all at once and without noise or alarms raised..." Karas thinks about it.

"I could try and bluff my way through." You note.

Zareen scoffs. "Maybe, but it's going to be risky... don't you think that there'd be a lot of people who can recognize you there?"

"Mhh." You mumble. There are only those two entrances...

>We need a distraction that will draw some soldiers away, then we take out who's left, get in and out fast.
>If we strike all together in full force we can probably take out ten mercenaries without letting them raise an alarm.
>I think it's best if everyone stands by while I try and get past them. I think I can pull it off.
>(Other?)

This is the right time for write-in plans, by the way. I listed on the three simplest, most obvious plans, but feel free to come up with more.

File: Radiant Starfall (2).jpg (94 KB, 386x550)

94 KB JPG

>>809185 Damnit, was supposed to be this picture. I don't know.

>>809185
>>I think it's best if everyone stands by while I try and get past them. I think I can pull it off. And by standing by I mean taking out the guards in the garden.

>>809185
>We need a distraction that will draw some soldiers away, then we take out who's left, get in and out fast.

>>809185
>We need a distraction that will draw some soldiers away, then we take out who's left, get in and out fast.

Man, why am I drawing blanks for plans at the worst time? Maybe we start a protest about Rankar bankrupting Gem outside the palace with some social-fu? Keep some of our people in the crowd to keep it from getting violent?

>>809185
>>809215
I like this idea, it's a good chance to start building the city against the Rankar too.

Maybe throw in some accusations about working with evil spirits to connect with the mines.

>>809185
>>I think it's best if everyone stands by while I try and get past them. I think I can pull it off.
While I think we can, I don't mind >>809195's suggestion of having everyone else try and sneak in the back way while we attempt it. They can certainly handle that many mortals without our help, and our presence makes the closest guards less likely to notice the commotion and raise they alarm themselves.
Worst that happens is they succeed and we fail, get taken before Rankar and can deal with everything before the wedding.
I mean the chance of us failing two Social encounters in a row against mortals is astronomically low.

>>809225
Ah, so Maka as the distraction and, if taken, demands to confront Rankar. Interesting.

>>809225
We're aren't going to talk Rankar into giving us the throne like that, holding Gem is like a motivation level intimacy, at best he'll say he will and then turn around and have the guards dogpile Maka.

>>809232
I'm not suggesting we fail on purpose, but if we do, demanding to see Rankar I'm betting we could at least wrangle an invite to the wedding in our now missing father's place. Maybe more if we play our cards right.
Splitting up is the best allocation of our resources at this point, unless the situation changes drastically when Mikahil and Lynne come back.

>>809185
>We need a distraction that will draw some soldiers away, then we take out who's left, get in and out fast.

Be the distraction.

>>809215
>>809225

So these seem to be the two clearest write-ins for this. What do you people think?

>>809241
>Be the distraction.
Basically what >>809195 and >>809225 said then?

>>809256
I'm obviously behind it.

>>809256
I'll support it.

>>809256
Fuck. It's me, in case it wasn't obvious, sorry.

>>809263
We all have IDs, so no big deal.

>>809256
>>809263
Yeah then, I don't mind a distraction that involves rousing a rabble

>>809256
>>809266
Well, we could combine them. First Maka rouses the rabble. Then, she tries to social her way in during the confusion. The others use her as a distraction to get in, as well. If she gets taken, then she can try to get to Rankar.

We could also leave a person or two in the crowd to keep it under control and for when Mikahil and little guy come back. Maybe Talon? He's imposing and would draw a lot of the guard's attention, even if he's just standing there doing nothing.

>>809272
I would rather not personally confront the guards at all.

I mean what's the point if everyone else is going to be taking Dad away, it's just needlessly showing our face.

>>809272
>>809277
Actually nevermind, it would be a good opportunity to hit all the Palace Guards with a Wise Eyed Courier Method and get them to back down during the actual Coup.

>>809272
>First Maka rouses the rabble. Then, she tries to social her way in during the confusion.
I think it would be hard to use Social a crisis, not easier. Social doesn't depend on the number of people resisting you like a Physical confrontation does, just how much they want to. So using a distraction to decrease the number of people we have to deal with doesn't help us, it only puts them more on alert for intruders.

>>809277
Because there is only a single room between the guards on the outside and the ones on the inside. If someone isn't distracting the inside guards, they're gonna hear the commotion outside and raise they alarm.

>>809278
Wise eyed seems like a tool for gradual change in an organization since it acts like a disease among members of that organization. If we want to get them to back down we gotta appeal to one of the main things mercenaries are not keen on.

Dying before they can cash out on a contract.

>>809297
It's not a sudden one conversation thing sure, but WECM does work faster the smaller the group we a target and the more they interact.

Two hundred guards that regularly interact especially with a big event coming up will go by in a flash. Plus nothing stopping us from cementing that idea with a good social attack during the actual coup

>>809301
It works faster with a small group but here's another problem.

We have to select a target group or organization right? What's our target? If the target is "Mercenaries who work for rankar as palace guards" then the attack will have to take into account every mercenary company who rotates into palace guard duty but isn't on duty at this time.

If we get more specific and target X mercenary company then we'll get them far faster, but only them.

I think Wise Eyed will be our weapon of choice to hit the nobility of Gem after we retake the throne for IL PAPA to make sure they don't scheme and launch yet another coup.

>>809301
>Plus nothing stopping us from cementing that idea with a good social attack during the actual coup
Our Essence limit?
Or do you want to want to not have any essence to commit to combat for emergencies?
I mean, we only have 3 Commit and 3 Burn before we start glowing. 2 Commit will probably be used on SHS and a single level of AoDJ. That doesn't leave us much wiggle room.

>>809311
A single social attack doesn't need a commit, it doesn't even need any charms with our dice pool.

Even if we did spend it it cost 2 burn to use HCM for one attack, someone we can easily regain in no time.

>>809311
Actually, I just double checked, and SHS, AoDJ, and WECM together will make us start glowing as that is 4 commit, so I'm firmly against it as there is not guarantee WECM will end in time.

>>809297
Wise Eyed is indeed a slow-acting effect. It works on a scale of days, hours at best. It's too slow for what you need to do.

>>809301
It's not that "the more a group interacts, the faster WECM works". It's that "WECM works THROUGH interaction".
Besides, the guards belong to different units and different merc groups, and guards posted at opposite sides of the palace don't really interact with each other.

>>809272
>First Maka rouses the rabble. Then, she tries to social her way in during the confusion
>>809282
>So using a distraction to decrease the number of people we have to deal with doesn't help us, it only puts them more on alert for intruders.

Starting a scene would raise the alert level. You don't know how the guards would react then. They might all head to quell the riot and leave the palace unguarded. Or they might instead focus on defending the palace and so you'd have to deal with a lot more guards.

>>809324
Considering all the good discussion, I'm going to back >>809225 for our distraction plan. Maka's always been hands-on. giggity

>>809324
Alright then, thanks for the clarification EF.

I still like the idea of starting a scene outside, maybe have Starfall inside pretending to be a guard to tell the other to go help.

Some shit is coming up, so I have to put the thread on hold for today.
Kind of a good thing that /qst/ is much slower than /tg/ used to be, in a way. I'll pick this back up tomorrow! stay tuned here or to the twitter.

Don't worry EF. We'll be here when you get back or whatever. Stay golden!

So the plan seems to be:

1) Distract the guards outside in the garden.
2) Create an opening for the others to extract dad.
3) From there, play it by ear depending on what happens:
3a) If captured, insist to be taken to Rankar and try to diplomance him.
3b) If you escape, lay low while the guards hunt for you, maybe start some extra ruckus if needed, and use the confusion to rejoin the circle.

Does this sound about right?

>>811188
Yeah, I'll give it my vote just to get things going.

>>811188
I'm still against 3, but the rest is fine I guess.

File: Tia (southern ver.).jpg (133 KB, 850x1275)

133 KB JPG

"Alright." You slap the table. "Let's go with this."

After a long discussion, you hatched your plan.

"Starfall, you'll be in your disguise as a servant, acting as backup in case anything goes wrong. Lunars in inconspicuous animal forms or other disguise."

They nod.

"We need to approach the walls around the palace without drawing attention, first. The palace has a plaza and a garden all around it, fenced in by a high wall. We need to vault it and hide in the garden, near the windows."

"How high's the wall?" Aexel asks.

"About five meters." Karas informs him.

Five meters of wall are no big deal to you, after all.

"The hard path is going to be not being spotted, so we'll have to be extra careful. There are bushes and high grass in the garden that'll make concealment easier. Then, I'll distract the guards at the windows, and you'll have to take them out and break in."

"Bars at the windows and glass panes..." The Air-aspect mumbles. "How are we going to get in?"

"Are those a problem?" Talon wonders. "I can just snap the bars."

"Can you do that silently?" He replies.

The Lunar mumbles in response, but Valeriana picks up the conversation. "Leave entry to me."

"Let's assume we get your dad out of there." Lynne continues. "What happens next? They're gonna raise an alarm pretty fast as soon as they notice he's missing, and they're gonna notice."

"Once an alarm is raised, security at the wedding will skyrocket. Every merc in Gem will be there." You mumble. We have to immediately move on to saving my sister after that.

"We'll have to improvise by then." Starfall nods. "We can't plan around the unexpected, and we don't know what the standing orders for the guards are in this case. They could all rush to the wedding, all spread out and search, move into the city, fortify the palace..."

"We'll make it up as we go." You slap the table again. "Move out, everyone."

Silently, everyone picks up their weapons and leaves the safehouse.

Getting the plan done isn't going to be hard. But doing it without outing yourself as an Anathema, or without things spiraling out of control and people getting stabbed, is going to be harder.

Tia approaches you, on your way to the palace. "I'm staying with you, right?"

"...Are you?" You wonder.

"I am." She confirms.

...You guess she doesn't want to be in the team that rescues your dad. Or maybe she just wants to stay with you.

Like before, she transforms in her mantis form, and hides under your clothes, perfectly concealed.

You have a lot to think about during the walk to the palace. You try your best not to, though.

(cont.)

>>811204
>"Let's assume we get your dad out of there." Lynne continues. "What happens next? They're gonna raise an alarm pretty fast as soon as they notice he's missing, and they're gonna notice."

Fug, I meant "Aexel". sorry. Lynne is not with you, but with Mikahil. Got confused.

File: Talon.jpg (229 KB, 850x906)

229 KB JPG

A large crowd has assembled in front of the gates, which are guarded by thirty or so soldiers. (...but no Rekka.) It's a festive, curious crowd. Even if they're not invited to the wedding, there's an ecstatic vibe in the air. They just want to party and be happy.

You HOPE this isn't going to go somewhere horrible. For now, the crowd is great cover.

You and the team easily reach the outer wall, while Radiant Starfall, in his disguise as a maid serving in the palace, enters from the main door.

It's just you, Karas, Valeriana, Zareen and Aexel. Tia is a mantis, and Talon is a- a large black wolf?

"...Really?" You mumble at him.

The wolf makes a very expressive "what?" gesture.

"You don't have ANY animal form smaller or more inconspicuous than this?" You roll your eyes.

He just shakes his head. You're not sure if this means that he doesn't, or that he doesn't want to use it.

You turn to the wall.

This is the easy part. One Monkey Leap Technique, and you're on the top. Everyone quickly follows. Zareen doesn't jump quite as high as you and Karas, but still has no problem reaching the top, scuttling up the upper half of the wall nearly as fast. Aexel basically drifts up, in what looks like a weird, slow motion jump.
Valeriana needs Karas to lean down and give her a hand. Talon just... leaps over the wall in a single bound. Not surprised there.

You silently drop down, before anyone can notice you, and roll in the high grass and bushes.

It feels weird to be in your house's garden. You remember when you used to play hide-and-seek when you were a kid, right here. This was a pretty good hiding spot, actually.

...it was better when you were smaller, but it still does its job.

You all stack up to the palace's corner. Beyond it, about ten meters away, a team of ten soldiers in chain mail, armed with wooden shields and flanged maces and flamepieces slung behind their shoulders, are standing in front of two large windows.

The curtains are open, but you can't quite see inside from this angle.

The others are waiting your cue.

How are you going to do this?

>Walk out of the bushes nonchalantly, walk past the guards.
>Walk out of the bushes nonchalantly, walk up to the guards and chat them up.
>Burst out of the bushes, make a run for the gates hoping the guards will chase you
>Show yourself, then rush back into the bushes, hoping the guards will chase you and into the ambush.
>(Other?)

>>811207
>Walk out of the bushes nonchalantly, walk up to the guards and chat them up.
Put outfit #7 on.
#04 and #17 also work very well.

>>811207
>>Walk out of the bushes nonchalantly, walk up to the guards and chat them up.

>>811208
I'd pick #24, #4, and #16. In that order of Preference.

>>811207
>Walk out of the bushes nonchalantly, walk up to the guards and chat them up.

>>811207
>>Walk out of the bushes nonchalantly, walk up to the guards and chat them up.
#16 and play up a lost entertainment act?

>>811238
>"Hello boys. I'm the 'special' dancer for the wedding. Came in the side to avoid attention. Oh, don't believe me? Then I guess a demonstration is in order..."

(outfit #17)
[TERRIFYING GLORIOUS PRESENCE]
[HUSBAND-SEDUCING DEMON DANCE]

You nod to the rest of the group, make a hand signal, and step out of cover and around the corner.

The guards were fairly relaxed. None of them seemed particularly on edge. A couple of them jump from surprise when you suddenly address them, the others just turn around and stare at you, confused.

"Oh, hello there!" You wave at them, walking nonchalantly up to the group.

Two of them raise shields and maces, but most of them seem to not regard you as a threat or anything. Well, you're unarmed and unarmored, after all.

One of them has the wits to reply immediately to you. "...Ma'am? This place is off limits. Leave the garden at once." He motions to two of the guards with him. "Jess, Deje, escort the lady outside."

>Go quietly
>Don't go quietly, put up a struggle
>Fight them (p+d)
>Run away (p+n)
>Say that you're a guest to the wedding and you got lost (s+z)
>Say that you're an entertainer to the wedding and you got lost (s+z)
>Just try to keep their attention on you for long enough (s+z)
>(Other?)

Rolled 8, 8 = 16 (2d10)

>>811255
>>Say that you're an entertainer to the wedding and you got lost (s+z)

Rolled 6, 4 = 10 (2d10)

>>811255
>Say that you're an entertainer to the wedding and you got lost (s+z)

Rolled 4, 2 = 6 (2d10)

>>811255
>>Say that you're an entertainer to the wedding and you got lost (s+z)
How about we give these hardworking guards a nice show?

Rolled 9, 6 = 15 (2d10)

>>811258
>>811259
We might need to TttH, if we keep rolling by like this.

>>811260
Apparently when I was editing my post I accidentally deleted my vote.

>>811255
>>811255
>>Say that you're an entertainer to the wedding and you got lost (s+z)

Rolled 10, 10 = 20 (2d10)

>>811255
>Say that you're a guest to the wedding and you got lost (s+z)

>>811260
>We might need to TttH, if we keep rolling by like this.
>>811265
I tots gots you bro.

>>811265
You are the chosen one.

Rolled 8, 5 = 13 (2d10)

>>811260
Looks like we might
>>811265
Or not, still we are kinda short on people/dice

>>811265
>Rolled 10, 10
I hope one day we can all be as cool as you anon.

>>811268
You're an awesome inspiration to us all.

Rolled 3, 6 = 9 (2d10)

>>811270
>still we are kinda short on people/dice

>>811273
I'll never be as cool as double-10s-senpai.

>>811274

Eh, you weren't shaped by Destiny and gently carried down into your Momma's womb by the physical avatar of RNG.

So it's forgivable.

[S+Z=8 8 6 4 4 2 9 6 10 10 8 5 3 6 = 8+1=9 successes]

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I've gotten lost!" You feign a cutesy expression. "I'm late for the wedding, you see... I'm supposed to perform there! I'm a dancer~"

The guards freeze, clearly confused.

"...A... dancer?"

"Why, yes!"

They look at each other, then back at you and your clothes.

"Um... lady. Miss." Their leader is clearly confused, maybe a bit embarrassed. "This... this isn't the bachelor party, miss."

"...oh?"

"That was last week."

There's a mumble of assent from the gaggle of soldiers.

"I mean, we don't- I don't assume that the Despot's wedding, the classiest, most exclusive event in Gem, features, um, striptease dances."

"Who told you I was going to strip?" You reply, not entirely sure if you should pretend to be offended or amused at this point, and instead opting for a more deadpan delivery.

"...A guess?" the leader shrugs. At least it seems like the guards aren't recognizing you as the fugitive princess.

All of their attention is on you now. Time to...

>Get a few of them to "accompany" you to the wedding, so you can thin out the group here and make it easier for the rest of your circle.
>Keep their attention and give a subtle signal to your circle so that they'll sneak up from behind them and take them out while they're distracted.
>Get them to abandon their post and follow you behind the corner, into an ambush.
>(Other?)

>>811279
>>Keep their attention and give a subtle signal to your circle so that they'll sneak up from behind them and take them out while they're distracted.
Give them a show of what kind of dance we are here for, if able attack with your friends.

>>811279
>>Keep their attention and give a subtle signal to your circle so that they'll sneak up from behind them and take them out while they're distracted.
It's not a strip, it's a very classy dance.

Want to see?

>>811279
>>Keep their attention and give a subtle signal to your circle so that they'll sneak up from behind them and take them out while they're distracted.
Commit the first level of AoDJ, we don't have time to spend healing up after this.

>>811279
>>Keep their attention and give a subtle signal to your circle so that they'll sneak up from behind them and take them out while they're distracted.

>>811279
>>Keep their attention and give a subtle signal to your circle so that they'll sneak up from behind
>>811284
>It's not a strip, it's a very classy dance.
>Want to see?
That line amused me more than it probably should have.
>>811285
>Commit the first level of AoDJ, we don't have time to spend healing up after this.
That seems like a good idea. We don't even have to turn it off after, since we'll need it for the wedding.

>>811279
>Keep their attention and give a subtle signal to your circle so that they'll sneak up from behind them and take them out while they're distracted.

>It's not a strip, it's a very classy dance.
>Want to see?

That's a good line.

>>811285
On mobile, so seconding vote and commit. Might as well leave at least that much of AoDJ up the whole time.

>>811289
>We don't even have to turn it off after, since we'll need it for the wedding.
I really don't see why we ever turn it off.
I mean, we don't wear any armor which means AoDJ justice is our only defense from an ambush, our Social Suite only takes 2 commit, and if things have got to the point where we need SHS after hitting people with our Social attacks, it probably doesn't matter if they find out we're Exalted because we have bigger concerns. Like them being Exalted.

>>811289
>>811295
I don't mind having it on for normal adventuring stuff, but having swords bounce off our soak 7 skin is a little suspicious when we're trying to keep our heads down. I'd much rather have Fivefold Bulwark Stance active, that I think is a little more inconspicuous.

"Oh, come on. I'm a classy dancer who dances very classy dances."

"Suuure." The guard clearly isn't buying it.

"Alright, I'll prove it to you." You grin and strike a pose. "Want to see?"

The guards mumble among themselves.

Then two enormous, hairy, clawed hands emerge from behind them, grab four of them at once, and pulls them back into the bushes before anyone can say anything.

The other six soldiers notice the movement, but dimly. They're mostly focused on you, and only one of them turns his head to check what happened.

Karas unceremoniously grabs him by the shoulders, knees him in the face, tosses him in the bushes.

That's when the others notice. They all turn around at once, all five of them.

Two get punched out by Talon instantly (with a single punch, actually) and flop down slumping on the grassy ground. Karas grabs a third in a sleeper choke-lock.

Two left, and they're about to shout an alarm! One if the leader, just in front of you, but now showing you his back. The other is further back, out of your reach, but Valeriana is running up to him while the others are busy with their own.

You need to take the leader out, NOW!

>Choke hold!
>Karate chop to the back of the neck!
>Kirk Double Punch to the head!
>Low sweep to knock him down, then elbow drop!
>Suplex!
>(Other?)
(all p+d)

Rolled 7, 10 = 17 (2d10)

>>811299
>>Choke hold!
Keep him from yelling.

>>811304
>Rolled 7, 10
There we go, that's much better than my last round of rolling.

Rolled 6, 9 = 15 (2d10)

>>811299
>Choke hold!
Val just needs to keep the other dude quiet long enough for Talon to go finish the job

Rolled 4, 2 = 6 (2d10)

>>811299
>Choke hold!

Rolled 10, 7 = 17 (2d10)

>>811299
>>Choke hold!

Rolled 6, 8 = 14 (2d10)

>>811299
>Choke hold!

>>811304
>>811306
>>811307
>>811308
7 successes on 8 dice, not bad.

Rolled 9, 7 = 16 (2d10)

>>811299
>>Choke hold!

>>811299
>Choke hold!

[AEGIS OF DIVINE JUSTICE]

[P+D=7 10 6 9 4 2 10 7 = 7 successes]

Before he can react, you put an arm around his neck and squeeze him.

He struggles, stronger than you expect, and nearly throws you off. He Tries a well-timed reversal attempt, but you manage to keep the hold, squeeze him harder as he thrashes around.

Then, he draws a dagger from his belt and tries to stab you in the stomach. The point of the blade slides on your skin harmlessly, and you feel him freeze up for a second, realizing that SOMETHING IS WRONG.

Then he passes out.

Meanwhile, Valeriana has stabbed the last remaining soldier with a large needle and he just collapsed.

You let go of the commander, dumping him in the bushes as the others are dragged away. "...Was that poison?"

"Kind of." She replies evasively, and Zareen giggles at her response.Her bow and arrow out, she's standing guard in case other unexpected reinforcements arrive.

You turn to the windows. Heavy steel bars, a window pane just beyond that, and the curtains are drawn.

>Alright, Valeriana, do your thing here.
>Tap on the glass first.
>(Other?)

>>811315
>Alright, Valeriana, do your thing here.
Or poison. Poison works too.

And change to #22 so dad doesn't see us dressed like a slut. 22 is the one that's based on the original OP dress right?

>>811315
>>Alright, Valeriana, do your thing here.
And #22

>>811315
>>Alright, Valeriana, do your thing here.

>>811315
>Alright, Valeriana, do your thing here.
#22 is fine, though I'd prefer #21

>>811318
Yesss. #22. One of my faves.
We should have set up something with Starfall for her to let us know the coast was clear after a tap on the glass.

>>811315
>>Alright, Valeriana, do your thing here.
#22 Is fine for now.

File: Valeriana Kava.jpg (396 KB, 850x1420)

396 KB JPG

You step aside, as the area is cleared.

"Alright, Val. Your turn."

Valeriana chipperly walks up to the barred window, grabs one of the iron bars, and just,,, unscrews it.

You stare at the entire sequence of her spinning the bar around until it detaches from the frame. Then she starts with the next one.

"Um." Karas mumbles. "...are- wait, are those really just..." He turns to you. "Screwed on?"

"They are now." She puts down the second bar.

Once the third bar is down, there's enough space for someone to crawl through the window. Valeriana reaches inside, pulls the glass pane with a *pop*, and then folds it like a sheet of paper, and sets it aside.

You can feel Tia pinching your skin nervously.

>Get in.
>Pull the curtain open, but stay out.
>Call out to your dad.
>(other?)

>>811330
>>Pull the curtain open, but stay out.
>>Call out to your dad.

>>811330
>>Get in.
Pluck Tia out from where she's hiding and have her Transform back, doing that in front of Dad would make a bad first impression.
Make sure we're also presentable.
Also, Twilight charms are weird.

>Pull the curtain open, but stay out.
>Call out to your dad.

>>811330
>Get in.
This might be the first time I'm completely at a loss as to what just happened. Did she get replaced by a fae or were Twilights way way more amazing than I thought?

Whatever, time to have a nice private father daughter son moment with Dad. We changed right?

>>811330
>>Get in.

>>811330
>>Pull the curtain open, but stay out.
>>Call out to your dad.
Also, while I disagree on how to get dad's attention, I support everything else >>811333 said.

>>811335
>This might be the first time I'm completely at a loss as to what just happened. Did she get replaced by a fae or were Twilights way way more amazing than I thought?

Craft Charms, man. Craft Charms.

>>811339
Object-Disassembling Touch?

>>811335
Just wait until the high days of our kingdom and she gets to try out Shinmaic Calibration.

>>811346
http://rathess.xi.co.nz/exalted/index.php/Charms:Shinmaic_Calibration
>This Charm creates a miracle inside the region modified by Shinmaic Communion, with effects comparable to Solar Circle Sorcery.
>Solar Circle Sorcery
>Without going through the bullshit to get Solar Circle Sorcery.

Man, vote's a tie and I have no idea what to do here. I have to go AFK for some time, so I'll just leave it here to stew for a bit (and build some tension).

>>811348
Also, the area can be modified to include all of existence!

>>811346
>>811348
Once a twilight hits high enough Essence he becomes essentially a reality warper.

>>811351
Twilights are so cool.

Val deserves like, all the presents.

>>811349
Lemme help you out, EF. I haven't voted yet.
>Pull the curtain open, but stay out.
>Call out to your dad.

>>811352
What she needs, though, is all the XP. Them Charms ain't cheap.

>>811352
I do so love our curvy nerd.

File: Askar.png (779 KB, 647x792)

779 KB PNG

You pull the curtain open. The furniture and decor is different, but you still recognize it: Karas' old room. Low coffee table, pillows, the bookcase, the boxes full of little soldiers, the swords mounted on the wall.

A familiar figure is sitting on the couch, reading a book, back to the window.

"...Dad?"

Karas rubs shoulders with you, you both clumsily sticking your head into the window frame at the same time.

He sets down the book and turns around, with the biggest look of amazement on the face of anyone you've ever seen.

"...Karas? ...Maka?"

Karas is clearly trying not to laugh hysterically. You know exactly how it feels. It almost doesn't seem real, like you're watching some cheap "emotional moment" sketch at the theater, except it's way underacted. You're both restraining yourselves, and each other. You force yourself to bring a finger up to your lips and do a little "ssshhh!", but you're also kind of laughing.

The situation is pretty weird.

Still rather amazed, He walks up to the window with slow steps.

"...You're alright?! What's going on?"

"Ssssh!" You reiterate. "We're breaking you out!"

Karas is making large gestures inviting him to climb out of the window.

"...What about Eskarin?" He immediately thinks of your sister.

"It's fine, we'll get her too."

He grabs your hands, and you and Karas gently pull him out and into the garden. He eyes the rest of your circle.

"...Thank you for taking care of my son and daughter." He immediately smiles and nods to them, guessing part of what's going on, putting an arm around both of your shoulders.

You and Karas hug him back It's been so long.

Not QUITE that long, but it FELT long.

"I missed you."

He kisses your forehead. "I'm glad you're okay."

>What do you know about where they're keeping Eskarin?
>Did they hurt you or sis?
>Do you know what happened to mom?
>Let's get you out of here, we'll go and free Eskarin.
>Come with us, we're going to free Eskarin.
>(Other?)

>>811384
>>Did they hurt you or sis?
>>Do you know what happened to mom?

>>811384
>>Did they hurt you or sis?
>>Do you know what happened to mom?

>>811389
?Actuallt no, mom can wait.
The only thing that we need to worry about at the moment is if they've actually hurt Eskarin. If they have, we need to get her out now. If not, we can wait till the wedding when Mikahil and Lynne are back with us.

>>811397
If you wait for two hours for the wedding to start, there's a very high chance that they will realize that Askar is gone in the meanwhile.

>>811384
>What do you know about where they're keeping Eskarin?
>Did they hurt you or sis?
I guess the question is if we're going to go after her right now or not

>>811406
At this point we've kind of ruined the element of surprise we needed to crash it mid-ceremony. What we can do instead is bust in on Rankar with his entourage once our family is safe and politely tell him the wedding is cancelled.

>>811384
>>What do you know about where they're keeping Eskarin?
>>Did they hurt you or sis?

>811405
What if we put someone in his place? We have a few shapeshifters on our side, maybe they could stand in as a double?

>>811405
>>811407
Why did we come rescue rescue dad anyway?
We've completely ruined all our planning up to this point.
We aren't very smart.

>>811424
The best faults a character has are the ones commited by the players. And we are nothing if not impuslive

>>811428
Yes, but we were doing so well not charging in before we were ready, despite some people REALLY wanting to.
Then we blow it two hours before our planning was going to pay off.

>>811424
Well, the one good aspect is that by securing our family first, we have less to worry about if there are surprises when we face Rankar.

>>811432
I do wish more people had been online earlier to stop it, but too late for that talk now.

Can disguise charms be used on other people? Because if Starfall can make Dad, Karas, and us unrecognizable while we make our way into the wedding, we can still pull off the original plan.

>>811441
Not really, unfortunately.

>>811441
We did already knock out all the guards, they aren't going to just forget about that.

Where the hell is Starfall though?

>>811453
That's silly.
Disguises aren't like transformation, whatever works on you should work for other people. The trade off is people can more easily see through a disguise than someone who has transformed themselves. Still, magic. It doesn't have to completely make sense.
Maybe we can think of something else, I just don't want to lose our planning up to this point because a couple people jumped the gun.

All together, you hide back in the bushes.

Next to all the passed-out guards.

"Did they hurt you?" You immediately ask.

"No, no, I'm fine." Askar raises his hands, trying to calm you down. "Listen, what you're doing is really brave, but... Are you sure? Rankar has a lot of men."

"Don't worry about us." Karas boasts. "We can take care of that."

"Just trust us."

That's all he needs to hear. "...Alright."

"Is Eskarin safe?"

"I saw her yesterday, even if just for a few minutes. She's alright. Rankar wouldn't dare hurting either of us. Even if he has the throne, we still have too many friends to be that disposable."

"Where are they keeping her?" You ask.

"Her room. South side, top floor." He glances up.

That's about ten meters up. You can jump up to the window, but if you do, the entire city will see you, up there.

"...we need to get to her from the inside. How many guards are patrolling the palace?"

"Less than there used to be yesterday." He points out. "I think a lot of them are at the wedding preparations. But In a few minutes, they're going to come and pick me up."

"...What, really?" Karas asks.

"Rankar's letting me watch his little bastard marry my beautiful little angel." He whimpers.

"Where is him?" Your brother growls.

"I think he's in the garden, where the wedding celebration is starting, entertaining his guests before the main event."

"Alright, here's what we're going to do..."

>We need to rush into the palace and break her out right now, before the guards come and bring the two of you down at the wedding in the garden.
>You'll have to get back inside, pretend nothing happened and you're still a prisoner, and go to the wedding. Don't worry, we'll crash it.
>Let's wait for them to raise the alarm, stay hidden, and when they escort Eskarin to the wedding in the garden, we take out her watchers along the way, and set her free.
>Let's go to the wedding celebration right now, and take out Rankar before any of this happens.
>(Other?)

>>811465
>>You'll have to get back inside, pretend nothing happened and you're still a prisoner, and go to the wedding. Don't worry, we'll crash it.
When we start the attack, Dad should grab Easkarin and get her out of there. We should have a couple people ready to escort them out if we can.

>>811462
All that means is increased security.
And we can deal with that. If they believe Flying Blade is a mortal despite evidence to the contrary, we can convince them the same after we're in power as long as no one starts glowing.
>>811465
This >>811473 seems like a me a solid plan. Just have Val put the Window back the way it was and no one can accuse dad of knowing anything.

>>811479
>seems like a me a solid plan
Seems to me little me a solid plan
I have no excuse for how bad that grammar was, I can only ask forgiveness.

>>811482
And again I fucked up the correction.
I'm not even going to try again, you people know what I meant.

>>811473

If we pick that, then was the points of doing all of this? We might as well get our sister out here since the operation is in progress. Where will we hide anyway?

>>811465
>We need to rush into the palace and break her out right now, before the guards come and bring the two of you down at the wedding in the garden.
>Let's go to the wedding celebration right now, and take out Rankar before any of this happens.
I kinda want to just go out all right now, we missed the timing a little, but all our people are still in place minus Lynne and Mik. We send someone up to secure imouto while we go and crash the party.

>>811489
>If we pick that, then was the points of doing all of this
There wasn't one and there never was except people, myself included, being impulsive and fucking up everything.

(this is why you need Amata to be the brains of the outfit)

>>811496
I agree, but SOMEONE had to stay behind and run Tianna.
It's up to you if you interpret that statement as explanatory or accusatory.

>>811493
We might as well go through with it all the way instead of backing out now. At least that's my line of though.

>>811500
Maka, Amata, and Tia are the perfect trinity. Social, Mental, and Physical.

>>811465
>>(Other?)

Disguise using the outfits of the knocked out guards and get the sister out steathily. Or even maybe, be her escort. Put that 13 dice zenith to good use.

>>811496
We had Val and Mikahil!
That should have been enough for such a short trip!
It's not our fault everyone always goes along with what we say!
It's probably partially our fault. But we have so many Social dice, can you really truly blame us? No, you can't, because your Social defense just failed against our massive dice pool.

>>811506
>>811473
These seem to be the two main options/writeins, but we've had very little votes.

>>811465
>>You'll have to get back inside, pretend nothing happened and you're still a prisoner, and go to the wedding. Don't worry, we'll crash it.

As if Maka wouldn't love to crash the wedding party the most.

>>811525
>but we've had very little votes.
That seems to be a theme this thread.
Maybe they're still celebrating/crying about the election? I can't think of another reason why we've had so few people this thread. This is usually a pretty popular quest.

>You'll have to get back inside, pretend nothing happened and you're still a prisoner, and go to the wedding. Don't worry, we'll crash it.

Never miss a chance to crash a wedding.

>>811465
>You'll have to get back inside, pretend nothing happened and you're still a prisoner, and go to the wedding. Don't worry, we'll crash it.

>>811506
I like this idea. Especially if Starfall magically shows up to help us with them. Seconded!

>>811551
>I like this idea. Especially if Starfall magically shows up to help us with them. Seconded!

You have no reason to doubt Starfall's competence when it comes to covert ops.
ESPECIALLY if it's in front of an audience she can play Magical Girl to.

>>811580
fug. me, etc.

File: Maka's magic trick.webm (479 KB, 1280x720)

479 KB WEBM

Fuck.

I just realized we missed a chance to do our magic trick for the soldiers.

>>811589
What a shame, we'll do it eventually.

>>811580
Is she here with us, though? I thought we sent her ahead? To Eskarin?

>>811604
>Is she here with us, though? I thought we sent her ahead? To Eskarin?

You did, but I meant in the sense that she knows what she's doing, and you don't need to micromanage her. She can be out there and do her own thing.

>>811506
Backing this too I guess.

I don't know what Talon will do, maybe we can put a helmet on him.

>>811580
>ESPECIALLY if it's in front of an audience she can play Magical Girl to.
No, bad Starfall. No using that charm until either we leave or the Realm does.

>>811465
>You'll have to get back inside, pretend nothing happened and you're still a prisoner, and go to the wedding. Don't worry, we'll crash it.
Except we'll go in as guards. We'll have to make up a cover story, like we were sent as backup. And do something with the knocked out guards. Complicated, but whipping off our uniforms in the middle of the ceremony would be priceless.

"For starters, you'll get back inside. Val, can you repair the window?"

"Sure can."

That's when Askar looks at the window, and gets even more confused. "...Actually, what the heck happened here?"

"Long story." Karas smiles, understanding your plan. "Get back in, pretend nothing weird happened, go to the wedding when they come and call you."

You nod. "We're gonna crash it right at the critical moment."

He seems quite relieved at the idea of the marriage not happening. "Be careful... there's going to be A LOT of guards."

"We'll worry about the guards. When we break in, you focus on grabbing Eskarin and carrying her to safety."

He nods.

You help him back into the room. Before he pulls the curtains, just as you hear knocking on the door on the other side of the room, he looks back at you one last time.

"Be careful."

He disappears behind the silk.

You hear the door opening and guards talking to him. He leaves the room. Meanwhile, under your eyes, Valeriana puts the glass and bars back at their place.

You still have no idea how that works.

"Alright, we've got about a hour and a half before the ceremony." You assemble to hatch the second part of your plan.

"Are we literally going to barge in, or are we going to, like, hide among the guests in disguise?" Aexel asks.

"You guys can probably hide in disguise, but I and Maka can't possibly pull that off. Someone there WILL recognize us." Karas mumbles. "Even if we dress up as guards. We're just too recognizable."

"Well, I can use the Hearthstone of Gender Change." You point out.

"You DO kind of still look a bit familiar you're transformed, but not so familiar that people will recognize you even when genderswapped. Probably." Zareen notes. "But what about him?"

Everyone turns to face Karas.

>You guys mingle with the guests, I and Karas will hide and break in from outside at the right time.
>We will mingle with the guests, Karas will hide and break in from outside at the right time.
>...Hey, Karas? Have you ever tried being a girl?
>(Other?)

>>811624
>>You guys mingle with the guests, I and Karas will hide and break in from outside at the right time.

>>811624
>...Hey, Karas? Have you ever tried being a girl?
You can borrow on of our dresses

>You guys mingle with the guests, I and Karas will hide and break in from outside at the right time.
But no, let's do this one.

>>811624
>...Hey, Karas? Have you ever tried being a girl?
It will be an excellent distraction.

>>811624
>>You guys mingle with the guests, I and Karas will hide and break in from outside at the right time.
We should definitely make Karas a girl sometime, but now is not the time for experimentation.

>>811624
>>You guys mingle with the guests, I and Karas will hide and break in from outside at the right time.

>>811624
>...Hey, Karas? Have you ever tried being a girl?
Holy shit, you're baaaaaack! I fucking missed you.

>>811624
>>You guys mingle with the guests, I and Karas will hide and break in from outside at the right time.

We'll try our Hearthstone on Karas some other time. Now is not the right time.

>>811624
>>You guys mingle with the guests, I and Karas will hide and break in from outside at the right time.
We need to go get Mikahil and Lynne and fill them in on what's changed.
They can also come in with us.

>>811638
>>811648
I want to at least tease him a little, that's what dawn little brothers are for.

>>811638
Experimentation? He's probably much more skilled in it than you think.

>>811656
The teasing will be more effective if we wait until we actually force convince him to do it.

>>811624
>>We will mingle with the guests, Karas will hide and break in from outside at the right time.

"Hey, Karaaaaas~"

He turns his back to you and crosses his arms. "No."

"But-"

"NO." He stomps his foot. "You already get your laughs from your "Karas looks pretty in a dress" jokes. You're not going to compromise my masculinity any further."

"You're no fun." You pout, trying not to laugh too hard. "Anyway, it was just a joke. Even when genderswapped, we're still somewhat recognizable, and if we're together, there's even the risk that we might get mistaken for one another."

He turns back to you, eyeing the others in the circle. "Wait, does genderswapped Maka really look like me?"

"Eeeh." Aexel shrugs, making a "so and so" gesture with his hand

"Somewhat?" Valeriana wonders, considering the issue.

"No idea." Talon replies.

"I'd have to see you naked first." Zareen suggests with a wink.

"The real question is, would genderswapped Karas look like Maka?" Valeriana is still pondering.

Silent staring at Karas ensues.

"Quit that." He breaks up the comedy sketch. "We need to get going."

You nod. "You guys mingle with the guests. I and Karas will hide nearby, and jump in at the right time. That'll be your cue."

"Alright". They all agree, but Zareen raises a meaningful point: "What about these guards here? We just knocked them out, but they might wake up soon."

You turn to Valeriana. "Can you use more of that anesthetic?"

"I can try, but high dosages are tricky, even for me."

>We can't risk anything. We'll have to kill them.
>We'll have to tie them up and hide them.
>Can't we carry them outside the palace courtyard and lock them up somewhere?
>You take care of them, Val. Be careful.
>(Other?)

>>811677
>We'll have to tie them up and hide them.
Karas and Maka can take care of that, they have an hour and a half before they need to do anything other than meet with Mikahil and Lynne to update them and receive updates.

>>811677
>>You take care of them, Val. I trust in your ability.

Encouraging words. And Val needs more chances to shine.

>>811677
>>You take care of them, Val. Be careful.

>>811677
>>You take care of them, Val. Be careful.

>>811677
>>You take care of them, Val. Be careful.

File: 9qLzgTFk_400x400.jpg (7 KB, 326x326)

7 KB JPG

>>811677
>"I'd have to see you naked first." Zareen suggests with a wink.
I can ship it.

>>811677
Could two people even use the same hearthstone at the same time?

>>811677
>You take care of them, Val. I trust in your ability.
>>811687
Agreed.

>>811719
The gender-swapping effect of the Hearthstone of Gender Change is not something that needs the hearthstone to be attuned to be sustained. It's a permanent change.

You can use it, hand the hearthstone to someone else and deattune it, and then he can attune and use it too. And so on.

>>811719
I'd have to check Old MacDonald's Codex, but if it only causes the change back and forth instead of sustaining it, then Maka could unattune and hand it over to Karas. As always, QM has last word.

>>811677
>Can't we carry them outside the palace courtyard and lock them up somewhere?

"Alright. You take care of them, Val. Be careful."

She nods.

"I trust in your ability." You add.

She smiles in response. From her small bag, she takes out a glass vial full of a bluish liquid, and a large, hollow needle.

One by one, she injects every passed-out soldier with a carefully-administered dose of anesthetic.

It takes about two minutes. Once she's done, you do your best to keep the sleeping guards well-concealed under the tall grass and bushes and leaves, and you're set.

"We're going then." Zareen says goodbye. "We'll wait for your signal. Be careful."

The rest of the group leaves. You, Karas, and Tia (still hiding under your clothes) are left in the garden.

"So, how are we doing this?"

>Let's stay hidden here until we hear the ceremony is starting.
>Let's put on guard uniforms and stand around without drawing attention.
>Let's try and sneak inside the palace, find some unused room like a closet or something like that, and hide there.
>We shouldn't wait here in the palace grounds. Let's jump over the wall and wait outside until the time of the wedding.
>(Other?)

>>811734
>Let's try and sneak inside the palace, find some unused room like a closet or something like that, and hide there.

>>811734
>>Let's stay hidden some where until we hear the ceremony is starting.

>>811734
>Let's try and sneak inside the palace, find some unused room like a closet or something like that, and hide there.
We used to live here. Do we know any secret or seldom-used passages?

>>811734

>Let's stay hidden here until we hear the ceremony is starting.

Here being anywhere we can reliably stay hidden from the patrolling mercs.

>>811734
>>Let's try and sneak inside the palace, find some unused room like a closet or something like that, and hide there.

Now I hope Val's concoction doesn't inflict them with mutatations.

>>811734
Wait wait. The ceremony is in the garden. How would hiding inside the palace help us?

What if we both jumped to the top of the palace from here and hid behind a parapet overlooking the garden so we keep watch for the perfect moment and swoop down for maximum dramatic entrance?

>>811748
This is assuming nobody sees people literally jump to the roof of the palace from the ground floor.

>>811734
>>Let's try and sneak inside the palace, find some unused room like a closet or something like that, and hide there.

>>811748
The top floors of the palace are in clear view of most of the city, and there's a sizeable crowd outside. it's the reason you didn't just free Eskarin by jumping up to her window and entering.

>>811734
>We shouldn't wait here in the palace grounds. Let's jump over the wall and wait outside until the time of the wedding.
Someone needs to tell Mikahil and Lynne what's going on.

>>811759
We could send Tia out in one of her alternate guises to fetch them?

>>811751
>>811756
Yeah, good points. Dumb thought was dumb.

>>811759
Damn you're right. We should send Zareen or Radiant Starfall to tell them what's up so they can walk close to the palace.

Hell maybe Mik can bluff his way into the wedding by pretending to be a late guest.

>>811764
I think we should keep Tia close as our big gun in reserve and send someone more discrete.

>>811773
I'm fine with that, too. I'd say Zareen since Starfall is probably still under cover or will be sticking with the servants and, hopefully by extension, Eskarin. It's a good point, though. We should bring them in and get them up to date.

>>811784
Zareen and the others have just left, however. You're also not sure where Mikahil and Lynne ARE right now. They might still be at the Iblan's, but they could also be doing who knows what, or be on their way here.

You left a note for them at the safehouse telling them to head to the palace in case they returned there and did not find you.

>>811793
Ah, right, right. Guess we'll just keep an eye out for any small critter with moonsilver tattoos poking our leg.

>>811793
It's fine for now, I'm sure they'll show up to save our butts in a suitably heroic moment

>>811806
>"I declare this marriage illegitimate by the power of BUREAUCRACY!"

"We should hide and wait for... about a hour." You suggest to Karas."

He scratches his head for a few seconds.

"...the broom closet at the end of the long corridor?"

Memories of childhood hide-and-seek games comes flooding back. You and Karas walk up to the window, narrow and facing an unimportant back corner of the garden not too far from here. It's exactly opposite to the front area, where the preparations for the wedding must be nearly done by now.

"Alright, we need to get in." You mumble.

karas judt grabs the bars and lightly bends them. There's some cranking noise of flexing metal, but you hope no one noticed that.

The glass window is closed, and locked from the inside.

>Break the glass as quietly as possible.
>Try and knock the entire wooden frame of the window off in one piece. (p+n)
>Ask Karas to deal with it.
>(Other)?

Rolled 7, 8 = 15 (2d10)

>>811829
>Try and knock the entire wooden frame of the window off in one piece. (p+n)

Rolled 3, 8 = 11 (2d10)

>>811829
>>Try and knock the entire wooden frame of the window off in one piece. (p+n)

Rolled 4, 10 = 14 (2d10)

>>811829
>>Try and knock the entire wooden frame of the window off in one piece. (p+n)

Rolled 3, 7 = 10 (2d10)

>>811829
>Try and knock the entire wooden frame of the window off in one piece. (p+n)

>>811829
>>Try and knock the entire wooden frame of the window off in one piece. (p+n)

Rolled 10, 7 = 17 (2d10)

>>811829
>>Try and knock the entire wooden frame of the window off in one piece. (p+n)

[P+N=7 8 3 8 4 10 3 = 5 successes]

Carefully, you press your forearms on the window frame of the window, on either side of the glass, then shove in forcefully.

The entire window goes *POP* and falls inside the closet. You catch it just in time before it crashes on the ground.

The two of you (well, three actually) climb inside and you do your best to put the window back the way it was before. It doesn't QUITE fit the frame anymore, but you doubt anyone will notice right now.

Tia, finally, emerges from under your clothes, returning human.

Karas sits down on the ground. "It feels so weird to be back... and have to hide like this."

"I know." You sit down as well. Nothing to do but wait. "Still, dad and sis seem to be doing fine."

"Your father is..." Tia mumbles, breaking out of his silence. "He looks... strong."

He's just a mortal and nowhere on Tia's level, but you guess she's not talking about physical strength.

"Yeah. Don't piss him off." Karas chimes in. "Believe me, he's a wonderful person, but you don't want to see him angry."

This does NOTHING to make Tia feel more at ease.

"Don't be so nervous. I'm sure it'll go fine with him."

"He said earlier he didn't want to marry her daughter off." She mumbles.

"She meant Eskarin."

"I know."

"I know that you know."

"..."

"..."

You take a deep breath and try to relax. The distant stomping of armored boots patrolling the corridors keeps you on edge, but you still try your best.

One hour to wait, hidden among the brooms and cleaning supplies, with barely enough space to sit on the floor.

>Just wait.
>I wanted to tell you something, Tia... (what?)
>I wanted to tell you something, Karas... (what?)
>(other?)

>>811879
>>I wanted to tell you something, Tia... (what?)
I'm sure he's a big softy that'll be happy to hear that he's going to be a grandpa, but if anything the thing he'll be most mad about is that we're double married.

>>811879
>I wanted to tell you something, Karas... (what?)
"I was always jealous of how pretty you were in my dresses."

Seriously, though, does this mean we have agency to make up things that Maka can reveal? I mean, it's not like we have a whole of things we've been good at keeping from either of them.

>>811879
>Just wait.

>>811913
>Seriously, though, does this mean we have agency to make up things that Maka can reveal? I mean, it's not like we have a whole of things we've been good at keeping from either of them.

KIND OF. Up to a point. You can suggest!

>>811879
>I wanted to tell you something, Karas... (what?)
>Wanna try comparing our genderbent bodies later?
>You should give your lunar a chance. They're excellent partners~

>>811913
I think it was just a sort of "anything you want to talk about if not let's move on" prompt

>>811921
Sweet.
>>811879
>I wanted to tell you something, Karas... (what?)
>Did you ever make a move on any of the maids or servants in Tianna? Or a mortal?
>Wanna try comparing our genderbent bodies later?
>You should give your lunar a chance. They're excellent partners~
>You're invites to try Tia with me if you want! Or I can help things between you and him, I swear on my tits I won't take him from you.
>You don't have to be so insecure about your masculinity, you know? You're an exalt now, and a prince, my brother. No one will doubt you.
>I want to go shopping for clothes with you. I miss playing with you, haha.

>I wanted to tell you something, Tia... (what?)
>You're kinda cute when nervous.
>How do you like Gem so far?
>Thought of names for our kids?

>>811952
These sound fun

>>811945
You're probably right, but you never miss a chance to spice up the narrative! Actually, there is something that's kind of been talked about before that might be appropriate now...

>I wanted to tell you something, Karas... (what?)
I know I pick on you a lot, and kind of fed you to Silk that time, but having you back in my life and here with me when we finally makes things right means more than I can ever say. *sniff* I mean, I thought you were all DEAD and I had just run away...

>>811952
>Did you ever make a move on any of the maids or servants in Tianna? Or a mortal?
This I also like.

Wow, this is a lot to unpack.

>>811967
The thirst for this quest is real.

And I'm going to second it all >>811952
AND also add
>When we retake Gem...where should we stay?

>>811967
We trust you, EF. Whatever feels best for the moment.

>>811967
I'd say just to pick a topic or two you like and then we can move on

>>811967
There was much more I wanted, but they might be pushimg boundaries. Stuff like
>Does my own sexualitt bother you?
>If we weren't siblings, what would you think of me?

>>811988
Well, have to seize the opportunity, right?

Time is long without anything to do but wait...

"Hey, Karas?"

"What?"

"I was always jealous of how pretty you were in my dresses."

"Fuck off."

You giggle. "You shouldn't be so insecure about yourself."

He rolls his eyes, exasperated. There are clearly a lot of possible replies going through his brain, but none he decides to voice out loud."I'm pretty damn secure." He finally settles for that.

"It's just us. No need to be ashamed of a little talk."

"Us and Tia." He eyes her.

"Don't mind me." She replies, nonchalantly. And you know Tia well enough to know that she really MEANS it.

"If you're so secure, what would the problem with using the Hearthstone be?"

"I like having my things down there the way they are, thank you very much."

"They can stay." You suggest. "The Hearthstone is not limited to two genders, you know."

Karas is stunned for a moment, but then just lets out a long, exasperated sigh. He's long given up on being surprised by you.

"Come on. I'm really curious to see if we'd really look that much like each other."

"Alright, fine." He snaps. "We'll do it later."

"Promise?"

"I know you wouldn't shut up otherwise, so yeah. But nobody else gets to see it."

"Deal."

(cont...)

>>812018
We'll break him yet

Some more time passes...

"Hey, Karas?"

Groan. "What now?"

"How goes it with Lynne?"

"How WHAT goes with Lynne?"

"You know what."

Sigh. "Yeah, I know *what*. Why is it always about sex with you?"

"It amuses me. So you've done it!"

"We haven't *done* anything. He teased me a couple of times about it, but he's just an annoying idiot like that."

"Maybe HE's insecure and that's how he tries to come out to you."

"Lynne is not insecure, he's just insufferable."

"You should give him a chance, you know." You wiggle your eyebrows and elbow Tia suggestively. "Lunars are excellent partners."

He rolls his eyes, but your insistence is breaking through. He seems to be willing to give you a serious answer, if nothing else to shut you up. "He's hard enough to tolerate as a friend, circlemate. or ally, at times. I can't imagine him as a lover."

"He's very... trickster-y, but, come on, he's kind of cute."

"He's not, really. He's annoying and I only put up with him because I have to and because he wouldn't leave me alone."

"I'm sure he's just looking for attention." You smile. "Give him a chance."

"I'll think about it." He concludes. The most non-committal answer ever. But you'll hold him to that.

(cont...)

Some more time passes...

"Hey, Karas?"

No reply, just a grunt. He rolls his tired eyes in your direction.

"Did you ever make a move on any of the maids or servants in Tianna?"

He turns his eyes away.

"Come oooon. I'm your sister!"

"Still none of your business."

"I'll help."

He slowly, tiredly turns his eyes back to you. "...Help with what, exactly?"

"Well, in case you need any! I didn't want to imply anything."

He turns his eyes away again, without another word.

(cont...)

>>812046
Hmm, we should talk to Lynne too, give him some tips about Karas.

Some more time passes...

"...The maids."

"Uh?"

"The maids."

"...Which one?"

He makes a vague gesture. "...Not the real ones. The... fake, hobgoblin ones that Silk made. I, um..."

"They are pretty hot." You admit. Silk is dumb about a lot of things, but she sure built them well."

"...Yes." he averts his eyes, embarrassed.

"...Nothing to be ashamed about!" You reassure him.

"...I'm a man. I, uh. I have my... needs, and... those maids, they're all over the place..."

"You don't need to justify anything to me." You try and put him in a comfortable space. "It's perfectly normal. Besides, after Celestial Exaltation, sexual urges and libido increases up to ten times normal."

"...Really?"

"Amata told me so. Apparently someone from her weird group actually made a study about that! The more you know, right?"

You just made that fact up. One hundred percent.
I mean, it's something that happened to YOU, that's for sure. You have no proof that it's a universal thing. It MIGHT be, for all you know.

"Why not with real girls, though? Or real boys."
You're pretty sure Karas prefers girls to boys in that regard, though you think it's a preference rather than an exclusive.

"I'm.. I'm in a weird place about that." He mumbles. "There's a lot of girls in the army now. They're, uh."

"They all enlisted and asked to join the elite corps after you took command, you know?" You hint.

"...Huh. Really?"

"You're super popular! You didn't realize?"

He looks down. "...I couldn't quite tell. But... as their commanding officer, would it... really be appropriate to, you know..."

>No, it wouldn't.
>Yes, it would.