[Exalted] Protectors of the River Province OOC

[The Nomad]

Marcao: I've not determined the available training time yet, but I doubt it will be as long as two months (four, if you don't have a trainer at hand), so you can't raise your charisma now. At most, you can commit the XP and note the training time actually done, but the raising will not be effective until you have done the whole training.

[Marcao]

It took us three weeks + 10 days to get to our destination where the black ship was and I assume it took us about the same time going back so that is over two months. I am willing to spend the xp and let it hang for now unless I find something more immediate that requires my xp.

[rhoenix]

Nomad, with my next XP purchase, it'll be the next two charms in the Ebon Shadow martial art, up through the Form charm. Would you like me to start making little inroads for Kolth now, showing that he's practicing for these two over the next little while?

[LadyTevar]

A moment later and he took a step back in order to remove his shirt in one practiced motion. His body was shaped by the hardships that he had faced but he bore no scars, it took terrible blows to mark a chosen. He did not wait for a comment; he allowed Liayna only a moment of reflection before his lips descended upon hers. There was hunger in his lips, but his hands promised gentleness as well as they sought to snare her to him

Rowr. Lucky Liayna

[rhoenix]

This game has inspired me to run my own Exalted game (table-top, of course), based on some of the ideas here. I eagerly away to continue this game, especially because it gives me inspiration for my other one.

[Marcao]

This game has inspired me to run my own Exalted game (table-top, of course), based on some of the ideas here. I eagerly away to continue this game, especially because it gives me inspiration for my other one.

sweet.

[rhoenix]

Nomad, whenever you're ready.

[Hotfoot]

Sorry for my delays, I've not been much good for posting lately, since my brain and my body have been under attack lately.

I'll get one last post in and then we can move on. Worst case, assume fade to black.

[The Nomad]

Thanks for the compliment, rhoenix. Hope you manage it well

BTW, I think it fair to warn you that a recent increase in workload has left me somewhat... tired, shall we say. I'll still visit this forum and try to update (mostly in the week ends), but much of my capacity for inspiration is currently eaten up by the transition from 'quiet start in the surgery/periodontology section' to 'hectic near-exams while handling agitated brats in pedodontics'.

Don't worry, I still have some nasty ordeals to put your characters through. Could you recap the elements I had accepted to guide your characters towards (First Age ships, etc. with links please), so that I can plan the campaign in the future?

[rhoenix]

Thank you, Nomad - this is proving to be a wonderfully interesting game, and my personal game I'm running lets me explore directions in fantasy D&D never let me do before - and it's wonderful.

Well, I have some personal ideas for Kolth, and some in-general stuff of things I'd love to see in an Exalted game. I'll begin with the selfish stuff first.

- Kolth finding his First-Age self (Aurananda's) Manse, and him going through finding out who she really was, learning from and gaining from this manse (likely one of the well-hidden types that can rise above the sands and submerge again, or something equally cleverly hidden), and other fun stuff associated therein.
I originally wanted Kolth to learn a horrifically nasty First-Age martial art eventually from his manse, but I ultimately decided against it. Even as munchkinishly sexy as Crimson Bier of Sorrows is (and yes, I know he won't ever be allowed to get it), I'm honestly thinking that this is actually where he should begin his journey into spells and spellcasting. Either that, or some of Aurananda's nastier items she had stored.

- Kolth finding his sister once again. I left it open-ended as to what Exalt type she is, but that might be a considerable amount of fun.

- Kolth's First Age other half. This might be a fun one - originally, I was going to be unimaginative and have her be a Dusk-cast Abyssal that he somehow has to convince to become a Solar, but that might be going a bit far. Honestly, I can't think of very many types of women that could handle Kolth for any period of time, let alone get along well enough with to be a partner in crime at times.

Now, for the in-general type of things.

- We've explored a little around Lookshy, and got introduced to an Abyssal. Exploring this world more would be much fun, whether it was with Yvela's nasty airship or otherwise, it would help illustrate the world better.

- I've read much about Rathess and the Dragon Kings there; a good storyline there about "waking up" the remainder to sapience again would be a fun adventure, and could possibly give the PC's a good amount of followers/allies as well in time.

- The possibility of eventually claiming Lookshy as a Solar town, if it can be done flawlessly. Having this city as a good base of operations would be very useful.

- Meeting with Lunars would be fun, as would trying to make small inroads toward gaining other Lunar allies, aside from our resident Teamhair.

I'm certainly open to further discussion about the above, but there are my thoughts.

[Marcao]

I don't really have a great deal of elements planned into the story so far really.

1) I would eventually like to engage in a story where ideally the culmination would be fulfilling one of Yvela's current motivations. The Majestic Aurora really does open a lot of doors both in terms of story as well as a host of potential complications both for good or ill. Naturally, I am very much aware that finding the ship in the near future is unlikely but I did the write up for a reason. It still remains something that in my mind would be very cool, and coolness is always part of the appeal of playing an Exalted game.

2) I am interested in seeing if Yvela's perceptions about various things will change over time or simply harden. His animosity against the realm stems mostly due to the wyld hunt. Yvela never really liked the idea of being hunted and his animosity has spread from simply the realm to dragon blooded as a whole. This could be a potentially dangerous liability down the line, but so far his dealings with Lookshy have been positive. I am as of now uncertain as to how Yvela is going to go in this angle, since part of the "bias" is an echo from his previous life. Aurelis was a leader of men, and he was killed by those beneath him. Those that he had a heavenly mandate to rule and knew for a fact that he was superior to. It should be fun to write about.

3) In his background I left open the possibility that his first age lunar mate survived. Frankly, this is a thread that is not really huge in my mind. Ancient Lunars tend to be aloof, pre-occupied and if anything unstable (see Raksi, Leviathan, Ma-Ha Suchi for examples). Yvela's lunar bond is something that has potential to be interesting even if his lunar opposite is a nascent Lunar ala Teamhair but something that does not immediately add to the story.

4) I am not making it a secret that I am taking a general/admiral approach to my character more so than "rawr, I fuck you up in single combat" to Yvela. The payoff will occur when I have the necessary charms to start training tiger warriors and I pick up a few dots in the followers and resources backgrounds.

General in game things:

1) I am interested in finding out what sort of overall arrangement we are going to enter with Lookshy. To have the potential of a nascent full circle of solars (and a lunar) working for you is fucking huge. I expect to be suitably compensated for that (Yvela is technically a mercenary at this point and he still has not gotten "paid" for his first job). When you consider that Lookshy is one of the richest nations around (keeping 66 manta class transports up and running along the host of other magitech crap is expensive). Lookshy as a Solar town could be cool but its unlikely from what I am seeing, unless Liayna truly turns into a social-fu monster of ridiculous proportions.

2) The idea of going to Rathess is awesome and I am all for it.

3) Interaction more with the world would be cool. Creation is huge, we all want to see new sights, meet interesting people...and kill them. :P

4) Ultimately, the biggest difficult with the setting that we have is a matter of scale and our own respective ability. We will not become true movers and shakers in the setting for years in real time (assuming the game lasts that long). We will never be able to tangle with a Deathlord effectively or "change the face of creation" as it were in this particular story. The starting point of 0 xp does close a lot of doors. There is something to be said about starting from the bottom, but we are running a far more "gritty" campaign than what I am used to in most PbP games.

[rhoenix]

Here's a silly question, since I didn't find the answer to this when I was skimming through: I remember reading about how if Exalts use Charms for combat while using ordinary (e.g. non-Five Magical Material) weapons, that weapon would break.

Is this true? And if so, what book and page would this be on?

[Hotfoot]

Here's a silly question, since I didn't find the answer to this when I was skimming through: I remember reading about how if Exalts use Charms for combat while using ordinary (e.g. non-Five Magical Material) weapons, that weapon would break.

Is this true? And if so, what book and page would this be on?

That would only happen under certain circumstances. You may be thinking of the solar charm "heavenly guardian defense" which states that if a mundane weapon is used to perfectly parry an attack that deals 25L damage or more before soak the weapon breaks. There are several charms out there that can destroy mundane equipment. It is one of the perks of having artifacts although there are charms that can break/destroy weapons made of the magical materials too iirc.

[rhoenix]

That would only happen under certain circumstances. You may be thinking of the solar charm "heavenly guardian defense" which states that if a mundane weapon is used to perfectly parry an attack that deals 25L damage or more before soak the weapon breaks. There are several charms out there that can destroy mundane equipment. It is one of the perks of having artifacts although there are charms that can break/destroy weapons made of the magical materials too iirc.

That made me breathe a sigh of relief - thank you.

[The Nomad]

It is one of the perks of having artifacts although there are charms that can break/destroy weapons made of the magical materials too iirc.

I don't think so, except for Charms/spells that create pyre flame, an Underworld substance that can corrode anything but jade, soulsteel, earth, stone... but other magical materials resist the stuff relatively well, so it can generally be scrubbed off the object before the damage is too great.

Note that I generally consider that attacks that inflict over 15L of base damage, even if parried, will destroy most shields, and even weapons. 25L base damage, if parried, will destroy any mundane weapon or shield, perfect defense or not.

EDIT: Oh yeah and about turning Lookshy into a Solar base... forget it at once. Even Dragon-Blooded have perfect social defenses (unlike their rather pitiful physical ones), which most important NPCs will have, and most will have permanent equivalents to Righteous Lion Defense. I bet Orduin would be rather pissed if his new access privileges were revoked as well as his Gunzosha status merely for hanging around seditious troublemakers

[The Nomad]

Didn't really know how to close this chapter. I presume I will have to make a scenario that would introduce you to clues and leads to Rathess. I have many ideas, and don't know which to choose. Stay tuned for Chapter 2!

Now, on to the 'reward business'

Yevela and Kolth: Basically, the Seventh Legion rewarded you with good lodgings (by the city's standards, also they are in the normal accomodation areas reserved for citizens), that you don't have to pay anything for, and the salary equivalent of a high Resource 2 (meaning that, while Resource 3 items are still out of your league most of the time, you can actually get reasonable numbers of Resource 2 objects, unlike normal Res 2 which lets you purchase items/services of that level only once in a while.) You are also allowed to move in the city, but not access any sensitive zone.
Also Yevela, you are now officially confirmed as the captain of the Storm Herald. You cannot use it at your discretion for now, but you more or less understood that you could be granted greater liberties in the future.

Ake: While you were not included in the original mission payroll, you still get normal Resource 2, a comfortable lodging in the District of Trade, and you can move in the city's inner districts by day, though this privilege is not to be abused - you are still on probation, and your background is being checked.

Teamhair: Same as Ake, though with the dance + salary, you get the same 'improved' version of Resources as Yevela and Kolth.

Orduin didn't actually get a financial reward (he did as was expected of a Gunzosha after all). But he did get access to several things:
* ability to train into Terrestrial Circle Sorcery at the Academy of Sorcery and study of some spells [excluding spells in the vein of Demon of the First Circle and Assassin's Fatal Touch...]
* unrestricted access to the Gunzosha Tactical Manuals modules (they are not to leave the Academy of course)
* ability to, once a year, requisition enough adamant, orichalcum, jade or moonsilver as well as the workshops required to to build a personal-scale magitech contraption of Artifact 1 level ( or wait three years for Artifact 2, or 8 years for an Artefact 3; he had an allowance for the equivalent of ten years of material. This allowance could be prolongated if he continued satisfying his superiors). [this will likely be your only source of magical material before long, so use it wisely]
* access to study models for typical artefacts or magitech devices [personal scale only, subject to my approval]


Liyana : aside from a good welcome fucking, Liyana was too new to the game to get anything

Hope this satisfies all of you

EDIT: I forgot to mention that there will be three months between now and the next mission. But between your everyday life, other duties, activities, interviews and probations, you get the effective equivalent of one month of training time.

[The Nomad]

Mmmh, very limited feedback... I take it most of you are discontent with the 'rewards'?

[SirNitram]

I'm very happily with mine(Mmmm, magical materials and gunzosha learning modules).

[LadyTevar]

Hon, ever heard "no news is good news?"

If I'd been discontent, I'd have been bitching.

[rhoenix]

Mmmh, very limited feedback... I take it most of you are discontent with the 'rewards'?

I can't speak for the others, but that's just fine. Stash spots are always good.

I think all of us are just eager to continue.

[Marcao]

Mmmh, very limited feedback... I take it most of you are discontent with the 'rewards'?

I am very much satisfied with the perks so far. They are very suitable at this time. *nodnod* like Rhoenix, I am interested in continuing onwards as soon as feasible and I may throw out a few posts which will take place during the three month in game hiatus. :)

[Academia Nut]

I'm good with the reward, I've just been busy with the new semester/work/writing/playing Warhammer Online/etc and it seems like everything is on the back burner at the moment. Everything. I paradoxically don't have a front burner right now.

[Hotfoot]

The reward is good, but yes, busy busy busy...don't worry, something will be coming soon.

Edit: Three months, huh? Lot of time for a wandering caravan to stay in one place. I guess Liayna will have to find SOME way to pass the time...

[LadyTevar]

The reward is good, but yes, busy busy busy...don't worry, something will be coming soon.

Something, or someone?

Nomad? I've thought up a great one-day scene.

It starts with Orduin going off to the library:

[20:54] TevarTahalshia: Honey?
[20:54] TevarTahalshia: Can Teamhair go have an orgy with Liayna?
[20:55] Nitram Tahalshia: *imagines Ord just staring for a moment* Uh.. Go ahead.
[20:55] TevarTahalshia: Well, your'e going to the Library again... right? You're going to be in there all day again?
[20:56] Nitram Tahalshia: Yes, all day. I do apologize. But it seems you've a way to spend time.

So, Teamhair invites Liayna over to spend some time together, getting to know each other Very Well...
Then, Ake and Ysela drop by, looking for Ord.

[20:42] Zerlyel: rawr?
[20:43] TevarTahalshia: Well... if he walked in and saw the two red-heads playing with each other... do you -really- think he'd make that SelfControl save?
[20:43] Zerlyel: with temperance 2?
[20:43] Zerlyel: unlikely.
[20:44] TevarTahalshia: Thta's why I suggest Ake with him... so both ladies can have some fun before trading off.

So, Orduin comes home to see the four of them enjoying a very lively orgy.

[21:00] AcNut64: The cheesy porn plot factor increases! The boyfriend comes back from a long day at work only to discover an orgy in his house... and joins in!
[21:01] Nitram Tahalshia: *Insert quip about tattoo'd military vet being the boyfriend*

So, as Teamhair pauses to make Orduin feel -very- much at home, one has to ask...

[21:02] TevarTahalshia: [21:02] HotfootB5: Might as well complete the cliche, have Rheonix's character be watching from a concealed position, only to get found out and punished by having to join in
[21:02] TevarTahalshia: Yeah... were'd Kolth be?
[21:02] steeleffigy: with as large a harem as possible
[21:02] steeleffigy: Psh, that's assuming you'd ever find him
[21:04] TevarTahalshia: Follow the smell of blunts

And thus, you have a lot of bonding between the Exalted (except for Kolth, the loner), and it only takes a full day for all the RP.

[21:04] AcNut64: Yes. You do realize we're going to give The Nomad a heart attack when we spring this on him, right?

[rhoenix]

And then the blackmail begins.

What? Inquiring minds want to know!