Winning Vote
Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
Arc 5 Post 17: In Bonds of Silk
In Bonds of Silk
8th of September 2006 A.D.
Not for the first time you consider drawing your sword then and there, surprise would serve you against the elder surely and, as your dark counsel is quick to remind you, it will likely serve him well against you. Yet as you weigh that risk against the prospect of dealing with a very human-like body and a likely distraught younger vampire you realize you do not even know what the prize of this whole game is, all you have is the name of the vampire who had set the elder on his task and the rough shape of the crime. A lot can go into the words 'human trafficking', you need to know how bad it is...
So it is that with a glance at the woman who had been by turn employed by vampires, almost killed by them and then at last healed you ask: What did your investigations reveal?
Lost 1 Essence -> Now at 6/12
Names, dates, pictures, false IDs and lines on maps flash through your mind and you begin to see the shape of it.
The White Court has always known the desires of the powerful and it has always known them, but long before the first far venturing fur trader had glimpsed the flash of the sun in the waters of Lake Michigan, before the first galleon made it across the Atlantic even they had learned not to put themselves too far forward. Powerful men often turn against lovers be they so carefully cultivated to suit them, resentful, suspicious. And so the incubus, the succubus had taken a step back for the most part, becoming purveyors of vice at one remove, a web of brothels and escort services, health spas and massage parlors, designed not to appear to the public at large but to the elite, particularly the political elite, though some of those files also include the military, high finance and, most distastefully, religious reasons. Most of the people being used this way are in some way beholden to their 'benefactors', whether they are in the country illegally or had some other reason to leave their old lives behind. Hooks behind hooks....
There is not a shred of doubt in your mind that the dirt in those files and now in your head is enough to start a dozen sex scandals and it would be more if you had some of the pictures and documents rather than just knowing they exist.
Among all the flurry of secrets the name of one of the folder hints at what Agent Greene was planning to do with it. 'October Surprise'. Maybe if you had not just been bombarded with the names of influential politicians you would have missed the context, but not now. She was planning to set it all off just before the elections this November.
I could almost admire... no, you do admire Agent Greene's guts. If only she weren't the sort of person who had been content to work with the Raiths before she came to believe they had killed her husband.
Regained 2 Essence -> 8/12
What do you do?
[] Introduce yourself properly, this charade has run its course
[] Offer to wipe the files, you already have a good portion of the material just by knowing what's in them
[] Kill the elder vampire, he's too dangerous to let live
[] Write in
OOC: So you know how Lara was able to call in a rescue helicopter on short notice, this is part of it, this is how the White Court have been infiltrating centers of power since the days of the Roman Republic.
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Wait. @DragonParadox does the information she has actually threaten masquerade? I mean, the perpetrators are white court vampires, but... does it actually factor into the infrormation and the crimes in any way?
The question is - did he know he lied? Remember, legendary intimidation excellency + perception rolled at -4 difficulty to read facial expressions = Molly should have detected lies. And if he didn't, what's his reaction going to be when he learns he was played and used?
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
I think this fits better now, with a bit of adjustment to take into account what we just learned.
Hopefully there will be no need for violence, and we can maybe setup Sitha as a valuable asset in the future. If she's running a charity, we might be able to funnel hard luck cases like our Ghouls into her organization to get them legit jobs, work histories, etc.
[X] Plan: Isn't It Ironic?
-[X] Offer to remove the evidence of Raith crimes from all of Sarah Green's devices and insure that any backup hard copies she might have hidden elsewhere are also dealt with. We'll keep copies of the files, if possible.
--[X] In addition to removing the threat of Sarah's evidence, we will also offer to assist her in finding the being responsible for her husband's death. This not only has the benefit of placating Sarah, it may also preserve her status as a useful agent, for us if not the Raith.
--[X] We'll offer Sitha an opportunity to serve by creating and operating a charity. This will allow her to benefit from Mercy In Servitude with minimal input from us.
--[X] If at any point combat starts, activate Melee Excellency and Viridian Legend Exoskeleton (both reflexive, 2 Essence cost)
-[X] STUNT: "Ah, you seek to hide evidence of White Court involvement in the sordid affairs of the wealthy and powerful. So this is what's going to happen; I'll make certain that none of Sarah's gathered evidence remains, including any backups she didn't trust to electronic storage. Her threat will have no teeth, so to speak. I'll even go so far as to offer her my assistance in discovering who or what killed her husband. After all, my interest in Detective Greene's murder is what caused our paths to cross today."
--[X] To Sitha explain, "You now have a choice to make that will set the tone for the remainder of your life. When you leave here today, you can choose to serve my interests and be forever free from the Hunger which resides in your soul. Or you can reject my largesse and become yet another predator preying on hapless mortals." Pause as if in deep thought before continuing, "Hmm, I have just the task in mind for you, my dear. I ask that you start a charitable organization, one dedicated to suicide prevention and the well-being of those impacted by suicide. You're young and inexperienced, so feel free to involve others as necessary, but you must dedicate at least 24 hours each week to starting and operating the charity, and all major decision making must remain under your purview. Give my offer some thought and contact me within 72 hours with proof of your commitment, or do not and seal your fate." Give Sitha a throwaway email address she can use to reach us.
Hopefully there will be no need for violence, and we can maybe setup Sitha as a valuable asset in the future. If she's running a charity, we might be able to funnel hard luck cases like our Ghouls into her organization to get them legit jobs, work histories, etc.
[X] Plan: Isn't It Ironic?
-[X] Offer to remove the evidence of Raith crimes from all of Sarah Green's devices and insure that any backup hard copies she might have hidden elsewhere are also dealt with. We'll keep copies of the files, if possible.
--[X] In addition to removing the threat of Sarah's evidence, we will also offer to assist her in finding the being responsible for her husband's death. This not only has the benefit of placating Sarah, it may also preserve her status as a useful agent, for us if not the Raith.
--[X] We'll offer Sitha an opportunity to serve by creating and operating a charity. This will allow her to benefit from Mercy In Servitude with minimal input from us.
--[X] If at any point combat starts, activate Melee Excellency and Viridian Legend Exoskeleton (both reflexive, 2 Essence cost)
-[X] STUNT: "Ah, you seek to hide evidence of White Court involvement in the sordid affairs of the wealthy and powerful. So this is what's going to happen; I'll make certain that none of Sarah's gathered evidence remains, including any backups she didn't trust to electronic storage. Her threat will have no teeth, so to speak. I'll even go so far as to offer her my assistance in discovering who or what killed her husband. After all, my interest in Detective Greene's murder is what caused our paths to cross today."
--[X] To Sitha explain, "You now have a choice to make that will set the tone for the remainder of your life. When you leave here today, you can choose to serve my interests and be forever free from the Hunger which resides in your soul. Or you can reject my largesse and become yet another predator preying on hapless mortals." Pause as if in deep thought before continuing, "Hmm, I have just the task in mind for you, my dear. I ask that you start a charitable organization, one dedicated to suicide prevention and the well-being of those impacted by suicide. You're young and inexperienced, so feel free to involve others as necessary, but you must dedicate at least 24 hours each week to starting and operating the charity, and all major decision making must remain under your purview. Give my offer some thought and contact me within 72 hours with proof of your commitment, or do not and seal your fate." Give Sitha a throwaway email address she can use to reach us.
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- Location
- Germany
So, human traficking, exploitation, forced prostitution.
In that area mostly as expected, neither the best nor worst options.
But the other half of it, the influence is astonishing.
Having proof that many powerful people didn't just have some sex scandals, but were involved with illegal and forced prostitution, that turns this from a huge scandal to a real conspiracy that makes them persecutable.
I definitly think we want the data, though we might want to work with the Library or the FBI in actually using it. Can't trust Daedalus with something this big.
In that area mostly as expected, neither the best nor worst options.
But the other half of it, the influence is astonishing.
Having proof that many powerful people didn't just have some sex scandals, but were involved with illegal and forced prostitution, that turns this from a huge scandal to a real conspiracy that makes them persecutable.
I definitly think we want the data, though we might want to work with the Library or the FBI in actually using it. Can't trust Daedalus with something this big.
There are notes about how the vampires use their powers to recruit for the network and maintain loyalty but the thing that is most damaging is the mundane corruption, specifically how coordinated and wide... which will make a whole lot of authorities want to dig into the leadership, who are all vampires thus a risk to the masquerade.
Huh.A lot to unpack here, and a fair number of puzzling questions.
-Childhood indoctrination. Check.
Noting that she was completely unaware of the fact that her...elder
-Lexicon:
Athumi is Etruscan for nobility. Cilth is Etruscan for people/nation/fortress/citadel. Zio is Italian for uncle.
Which tells us that OldSkavis is Sitha's uncle, or grand to the multiple times uncle.
And that they are an Italian or Italian-American family.
Raises interesting questions about where her mother and father are; at least one of whom should be a Whampire.
-We still have all the Perception buffs running. So we can probably assume that OldSkavis is not lying to us.
Could be mistaken or witholding information, but not lying.
Called it on Sarah Greene working for the White Court.
But as described, she was eyes and ears, not hands. Informant, not agent. And given the way she's been treated, it seems likely she's not even been an official informant, just us
But the way OldSkavis said that she has information on ONE member of the White Court nobility makes it seem that the Court as a whole isnt involved in this; just one dude or a dude and some associates.
We appear to be in a Jury Duty situation.
-Madrigal Raith. AKA Darby Crane. Again. The Raith who moved from feeding on lust to fear.
The one who was involved in the Splattercon incident.
This is the second time in three months that his shenanigans have crossed Molly's path, knowingly or not.
For those who havent read Proven Guilty? His day job is as a horror movie director.
Horror movie director + human trafficking has very ugly implications.
=========
Bunch of very interesting implications
1)OldSkavis called an athumi as something other, which implies that he himself might be old, but he and is family are not White Court nobility. This is reinforced by Sitha not knowing what Raiths look like, given that she mistook blonde haired, blue eyed Molly Carpenter for a dark eyed, dark haired Raith.
2)He fingered Madrigal Raith without any prompting, which implies there's no love lost there.
As the nephew of the Pale King, Madrigal is nobility.
Which suggests he's either the athumi in question, or is connected to the person who did.
3)The Whampire Houses tend to handle things inhouse.
You'd expect a Raith to use Raith resources. Madrigal leaning on a lowranking elder Skavis to do his dirty work suggests that he recruited Greene as a personal agent, and its off the books.
If this was official White Court business? The Raiths historically have access to pretty good mind whammy, an occult knowledge database, significant influence in the legal system, and sorcerers on the payroll. I doubt the three strega Papa Raith was using in Blood Rites are the only ones.
Entropy curse would destroy the evidence.
Or they'd just vanish the perpetrator, stage his death and send him abroad.
This entire affair has all the hallmarks of being done on a much smaller resource budget than the White Court has access to.
MiS obfuscation. Subterfuge. 5 sux on 6 dice at DC5. Legendary
OldSkavis rolls to see Infernal magic. 4 sux on 8 dice at DC8. Great.
OldSkavis rolls diagnostics. 4 sux on 8 dice at DC8. Great.
OldSkavis uses vampire healing magic. 2 sux on 7 dice at DC8.
Molly rolls Perception. 6 sux on 7 at DC5. Legendary.
Molly noticing Elder fingerin the person who gave him orders. Per + Empathy. 5 sux on 6 dice at DC3. Legendary.
Vampire social perception on Molly. 5 sux on 9 dice at DC7. Legendary.
@DragonParadox
UncleSkavis should have failed to see MiS work; he rolled 4 sux against Molly's 5 sux to conceal.
Other than that, everyone is rolling at top tier levels of performance.
That translates to a minimum of 9 Soak, and possibly in excess of 12 Soak. For comparison, Molly's current non-shintai combat soak after she stacks Ebon Scales + VLE + Steel Skin is estimated to average 10 Soak.
And thats just what we know about, because there's no way someone with access to Rank 7 Combos doesnt have Celerity to back up his Auspex and Fortitude. This suggestion is remarkably ill advised.
And frankly, your cavalier attitude to Daedalus agents getting killed is unwise.
Yes, the organization is sketchy.
But as far as we currently know, a lot of them are just federal law enforcement trying to do their jobs. Treating them as expendable is very much at variance with our PC as characterized.
Nor does it consider the fact that handing this information getting out strengthens the hand of Daedalus against the Library.
Which we DONT want.
COMMENTARY
-Childhood indoctrination. Check.
Noting that she was completely unaware of the fact that her...elder
-Lexicon:
Athumi is Etruscan for nobility. Cilth is Etruscan for people/nation/fortress/citadel. Zio is Italian for uncle.
Which tells us that OldSkavis is Sitha's uncle, or grand to the multiple times uncle.
And that they are an Italian or Italian-American family.
Raises interesting questions about where her mother and father are; at least one of whom should be a Whampire.
-We still have all the Perception buffs running. So we can probably assume that OldSkavis is not lying to us.
Could be mistaken or witholding information, but not lying.
Called it on Sarah Greene working for the White Court.
But as described, she was eyes and ears, not hands. Informant, not agent. And given the way she's been treated, it seems likely she's not even been an official informant, just us
But the way OldSkavis said that she has information on ONE member of the White Court nobility makes it seem that the Court as a whole isnt involved in this; just one dude or a dude and some associates.
We appear to be in a Jury Duty situation.
-Madrigal Raith. AKA Darby Crane. Again. The Raith who moved from feeding on lust to fear.
The one who was involved in the Splattercon incident.
This is the second time in three months that his shenanigans have crossed Molly's path, knowingly or not.
For those who havent read Proven Guilty? His day job is as a horror movie director.
Horror movie director + human trafficking has very ugly implications.
=========
Bunch of very interesting implications
1)OldSkavis called an athumi as something other, which implies that he himself might be old, but he and is family are not White Court nobility. This is reinforced by Sitha not knowing what Raiths look like, given that she mistook blonde haired, blue eyed Molly Carpenter for a dark eyed, dark haired Raith.
2)He fingered Madrigal Raith without any prompting, which implies there's no love lost there.
As the nephew of the Pale King, Madrigal is nobility.
Which suggests he's either the athumi in question, or is connected to the person who did.
3)The Whampire Houses tend to handle things inhouse.
You'd expect a Raith to use Raith resources. Madrigal leaning on a lowranking elder Skavis to do his dirty work suggests that he recruited Greene as a personal agent, and its off the books.
If this was official White Court business? The Raiths historically have access to pretty good mind whammy, an occult knowledge database, significant influence in the legal system, and sorcerers on the payroll. I doubt the three strega Papa Raith was using in Blood Rites are the only ones.
Entropy curse would destroy the evidence.
Or they'd just vanish the perpetrator, stage his death and send him abroad.
This entire affair has all the hallmarks of being done on a much smaller resource budget than the White Court has access to.
Molly rolls to understand Etruscan. Int + Occult, Key Ability. 5 sux on 9 dice at DC5. Legendary.
MiS obfuscation. Subterfuge. 5 sux on 6 dice at DC5. Legendary
OldSkavis rolls to see Infernal magic. 4 sux on 8 dice at DC8. Great.
OldSkavis rolls diagnostics. 4 sux on 8 dice at DC8. Great.
OldSkavis uses vampire healing magic. 2 sux on 7 dice at DC8.
Molly rolls Perception. 6 sux on 7 at DC5. Legendary.
Molly noticing Elder fingerin the person who gave him orders. Per + Empathy. 5 sux on 6 dice at DC3. Legendary.
Vampire social perception on Molly. 5 sux on 9 dice at DC7. Legendary.
@DragonParadox
UncleSkavis should have failed to see MiS work; he rolled 4 sux against Molly's 5 sux to conceal.
Other than that, everyone is rolling at top tier levels of performance.
Dude has The Illness Unveilled, Stamina + Medicine 7, and a minimum of Fortitude 7 and Auspex 2
That translates to a minimum of 9 Soak, and possibly in excess of 12 Soak. For comparison, Molly's current non-shintai combat soak after she stacks Ebon Scales + VLE + Steel Skin is estimated to average 10 Soak.
And thats just what we know about, because there's no way someone with access to Rank 7 Combos doesnt have Celerity to back up his Auspex and Fortitude. This suggestion is remarkably ill advised.
And frankly, your cavalier attitude to Daedalus agents getting killed is unwise.
Yes, the organization is sketchy.
But as far as we currently know, a lot of them are just federal law enforcement trying to do their jobs. Treating them as expendable is very much at variance with our PC as characterized.
Nor does it consider the fact that handing this information getting out strengthens the hand of Daedalus against the Library.
Which we DONT want.
If a massive criminal investigation is launched into the operations of a major supernatural player that threatens the masquerade pretty much be default since it is not like the vampires are going to take it lying down. Also if you look into their operations signs of magical compulsion start to pop up all over the place.
That was not a contested roll, it was just him rolling an auspex to read your aura, fixed DC at 8. Four is enough for detecting subtle shifts in said aura.
Actually, I wouldn't trust the Library with it either.
Hmm... I am tempted to wipe, then recreate the data. @DragonParadox do we know if the data she has is irreplaceable? We are deleting some files on her computer. Would we be able to recreate those? I mean, we aren't burning physical papers or anything like this.
Also... and I am just saying, wouldn't Prince of Ruin attitude restore the data magically? I think you said that for a hard drive it could (but not for a book?)? Or am I misremembering.
If we can recreate the data, I think the best thing to do here, from the perspective of bringing justice to the victims, would be to erase it here, to lull the vampire into the false sense of security, then recreate the information from our mind.
Uhm... about that Madrigal messed up considerably worse than he indicated to his 'friend' here. The White Court is very much involved, but neither of the vampires know, because they did not read the files.
- Location
- Germany
So mundane investigators will definitly need help.
That would be the Library's job for the most part, but in this case Molly would also happily take part as a heavy hitter who can 1v1 almost any White Court Elder.
He could have been mistaken. But at -4DC buff to our Perception, he couldnt have lied and not been detected.
Fair enough.
Looks like another reason to get BMI soon, since it hides us from supernatural senses as well.
- You can restore some of the data but not all as it says in the update, there is no way you can perfectly reproduce pictures or documents from memory, Molly does not have the skills
- PoRA would restore something like an operating system to allow a PC to work at all, but it would not restore specific data to make it run a certain way.
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- Location
- Germany
I do love this turn of events.
The best I hoped for from using the Crown was to generate enough moral outrage to justify killing the leech here.
But instead we have something valuable enough to break the White Court's dominance over a lot of crime in the USA.
Or if we are selfish blackmail-matetial on dozens of very important people...
The best I hoped for from using the Crown was to generate enough moral outrage to justify killing the leech here.
But instead we have something valuable enough to break the White Court's dominance over a lot of crime in the USA.
Or if we are selfish blackmail-matetial on dozens of very important people...
This is so big I'm not sure we can take it down. I was thinking local people smuggling for vampiric juice boxes, not this.
We don't need to lie either, just never share more than the minimum they need for anything and make them sweat for the rest.
If we tell him who we are but give no conclusion on the action then we're where we are right now but they're better informed.
If we tell them who we are and wipe the drives then we end amicably and we've removed a hurdle to their follow up investigation. They'd find out eventually, but if you start looking for a jade elder who just got into town it'll likely take a while to realize you're on the wrong track.
If we introduce ourselves and tell them we can't let them erase the data then we either initiate hostilities without the advantage of surprise or we force them to leave and we have a long term conflict where we've given up our initial advantage of confusion and doubt.
I'm thinking the best thing to do is destroy the data to mollify the vampires, then recreate it by tracing financial data to prove the same thing now that we know where to look.
If we trust the library enough we might be able to get them in on this too. Their remit isn't really raiding local slavers, but advising Congress and keeping the government from being subverted or destroyed by supernatural forces is.
If we can prove to them that this is the real deal then they could very well already be equipped to prune out people like this from positions of power.
Which wouldn't directly help the victims, but it would hurt the people victimizing them.
That doesn't mean telling them right now in the middle of a volatile situation where the assumption works in our favor though.
We don't need to lie either, just never share more than the minimum they need for anything and make them sweat for the rest.
On a related note, I don't think we should do this; it either doesn't change the situation or changes it in a negative direction.
If we tell him who we are but give no conclusion on the action then we're where we are right now but they're better informed.
If we tell them who we are and wipe the drives then we end amicably and we've removed a hurdle to their follow up investigation. They'd find out eventually, but if you start looking for a jade elder who just got into town it'll likely take a while to realize you're on the wrong track.
If we introduce ourselves and tell them we can't let them erase the data then we either initiate hostilities without the advantage of surprise or we force them to leave and we have a long term conflict where we've given up our initial advantage of confusion and doubt.
I'm thinking the best thing to do is destroy the data to mollify the vampires, then recreate it by tracing financial data to prove the same thing now that we know where to look.
If we trust the library enough we might be able to get them in on this too. Their remit isn't really raiding local slavers, but advising Congress and keeping the government from being subverted or destroyed by supernatural forces is.
If we can prove to them that this is the real deal then they could very well already be equipped to prune out people like this from positions of power.
Which wouldn't directly help the victims, but it would hurt the people victimizing them.
I think it's worth considering that what Greene knows might not be exclusive to what she did for Madrigal. If her job was to pay attention to investigations that might stumble over white court ops, or even just his stuff in particular, then she could be a leak for the whole court that Madrigal is trying to cover up having created.
Say, if we infect the computer with a cyberdevil, then destroy the computer, and then resummon the cyberdevil, will they keep the information from the destroyed computer in their memories?)
Alternatively, if we summon a cyberdevil into a computer, then wipe the files, would the devil be able to restore them?
Mother Nyx
Mother of Elpis
- Location
- The Kei Klub
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Why would we ever delete that data? Letting her drop the bomb or dropping the bomb ourselves seems so much more satisfying.
- It would have about the same level of lingering memory of the files as Molly does
- That on the other hand would work fine, the devil what literally uses the computer as its brain is at least as good at restoring data as a professional service
Do we need to summon it before wiping the files? Or would afterwards work too?
Good night guys, see you tomorrow with more White Court skulduggery
Before if you want it to be guaranteed, after would be a Computers Roll.
Fair enough.
So Madrigal Raith being a failson. Again. Why am I not surprised.
I womder if he was using her to gather information he could use for his own private schemes.
What you are proposing is the urban fantasy equivalent of trying to eat a power source bigger than your head.
Because Unintended Consequences are a thing.
Do you want to kick off a second supernatural war? There's already one ongoing, and it was considered a victory that the White Court, while officially allied to the Reds, has stayed out of it.
You want to bring them in on a war?
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- Location
- Germany
This is really huge, but I see absolutly no reason to leave the vampire alive in it.
Even if he believes us that we deleted the data, he'd still have an interest in killing Greene and also in investigating us.
Much better if Madrigal never learns what happened here besides his agent being gone.
Even if he believes us that we deleted the data, he'd still have an interest in killing Greene and also in investigating us.
Much better if Madrigal never learns what happened here besides his agent being gone.