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Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

Reader mode
[X] Everyone (save the unnamed mooks)
-[X] Molly uses Etiquette excellency
-[X] Molly uses All Things Betray
-[X] Lydia uses Manipulation excellency.
--[X] Wan kuei are here for and because of you, but that does not matter. They are here. In Chicago. Messing with its leylines, killing the people living in and below its streets. This is not only about you now. It's about everyone who lives here. And so, as you step out of the elevator and into the corridor leading to lady Eiko's room, you are accompanied not just by your allies and friends coming to your aid and protection, but by representatives and defenders of the factions of Chicago. To your right walk mortals who are not to be underestimatid: the Warden Commander of the White Council, the Shih Master, and the commanding officer of the Chicago's special investigations department. To your left, are those who wield or are the powers beyond mortal ken: daughter of the god of death, Chooser of the Slain, and the Knight of the Cross.
 
Vote is still really close, I think I might keep it open until tomorrow.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Mar 15, 2023 at 12:08 PM, finished with 114 posts and 18 votes.
  • [X] Daughters of the New Millennium
    -[X] Lydia
    -[X] Gard
    -[X] Have the rest set up to cover the exits and come in after us at a signal from Clippy.
    -[X] Use Intimidation excellency.
    -[X] Activate IPM with willpower
    -[X] Lydia uses Manipulation excellency.
    -[X] Stunt: Stepping into the lobby Molly nods at Gard, sending her to manage the mortals before catching up.
    —[X] Taking the stairs, Molly and Lydia move unerringly towards Eiko's room. As they make the final approach Molly takes a deep breath, and loosens her grip on the quiet fury that has been building behind her heart.
    —[X] With each step the shadows sharpen without deepening as the lights seem to flicker green in the corner of the eye. Around them air seems to thicken, charged with the silent tension of the calm before a storm.
    —[X] As they reach the door something like the caw of a raven lingers on the ear despite the dead silence of the hall.
    —[X] "I received your letter Lady Eiko, now I think it's time we discuss my reply"
    [X] Everyone (save the unnamed mooks)
    -[X] Molly uses Etiquette and Empathy excellencies
    -[X] Molly uses All Things Betray using willpower
    -[X] Use the Crown on an image of Lady Eiko to learn her plan to betray the Will
    -[X] Lydia uses Manipulation excellency.
    --[X] Wan kuei are here for and because of you, but that does not matter. They are here. In Chicago. Messing with its leylines, killing the people living in and below its streets. This is not only about you now. It's about everyone who lives here. And so, as you step out of the elevator and into the corridor leading to lady Eiko's room, you are accompanied not just by your allies and mercenaries you were able to hire, but also by the representatives of Chicago. To your right walk mortals who are not to be underestimatid: the Warden Commander of the White Council, the Shih Master, and the commanding officer of the Chicago's special investigations department. To your left, are those who wield or are the powers beyond mortal ken: daughter of the god of death, a valkyrie, and the Knight of the Cross.
    [X]Plan Hostile Takeover
    -[X] Everyone
    --[X]<Molly> All Things Betray + Empathy Excellency + Imperial Primacy Mantle + Naked Wicked Souls: 4m
    --[X]<Lydia> Manipulation Excellency if necessary.
    --[X]STUNT: In the pre-dawn light, your little procession makes its way out of the stairwell and along the fourth-floor corridor, darkness gathering in your wake with your intent. As you are about to knock on the door of the suite, the door opens and an irritated voice begins "I specifically asked that I...." the words trail off as the woman you'd previously only seen before in video footage sees your party. "Good morning, Eiko-san. I got your letter." Blue eyes meet reddish brown eyes as the temperature in the corridor drops ten degrees."I and my associates are here to discuss your presence in my city. And your....personal options."
    [X] Everyone (save the unnamed mooks)
    -[X] Molly uses Etiquette excellency
    -[X] Molly uses All Things Betray
    -[X] Lydia uses Manipulation excellency.
    --[X] Wan kuei are here for and because of you, but that does not matter. They are here. In Chicago. Messing with its leylines, killing the people living in and below its streets. This is not only about you now. It's about everyone who lives here. And so, as you step out of the elevator and into the corridor leading to lady Eiko's room, you are accompanied not just by your allies and friends coming to your aid and protection, but by representatives and defenders of the factions of Chicago. To your right walk mortals who are not to be underestimatid: the Warden Commander of the White Council, the Shih Master, and the commanding officer of the Chicago's special investigations department. To your left, are those who wield or are the powers beyond mortal ken: daughter of the god of death, Chooser of the Slain, and the Knight of the Cross.
    [X] Plausible Deniability
    - [X] Brother Divsimar, skilled Shih Master
    - [X] Lydia, Daughter of Arwan, Once King of the Underworld
    - [X] Stunt: Use the Crown on an image of Lady Eiko to learn her plan to betray the Will, and if that doesn't tell you the orders she's bound by, ask that when you see her. Before going up, quickly brainstorm with your allies how to adapt her plan/work around her constraints. In the room, allow your anima to flare with the light of a dead green sun, cutting through the false darkness of her temporary haven. Then, use your knowledge of her plans to hint to her that you can offer a better deal, without tipping off any audience, under the guise of negotiating for a return of the hostages. Use the relevant Excellency to support making your case and passing on you message. Tell her your phone number to arrange another follow on meeting.
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Yog said:
@BronzeTongue adding a question makes sense - if we get Eiko to flip we recover 2 essence points. That should be enough to afford one crown question. And we might even get 2 from the question itself.
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I can see the argument, but I still feel reasonably confident that there isn't a real escape plan to find. I could be wrong, but it makes more sense to me that the environment Emma-O creates leads to a chronic desire to escape and leverage whatever they can to do so. Something that shifts with their desperation and current level of favor, creating a crab bucket of bitter spite and fear that is more or less stable.

Either way I think we can get the current state of affairs out of her if we convince her to jump.

Having the whole community show up to breathe down her neck wouldn't help with that.

Cheating on your hellish master with the new hotness that is an unbound infernal exalt while a knight of the cross is in the room is sort of like flirting with someone where your parents can hear you. It just completely ruins the vibe. :V

But seriously, this particular stance on everyone still strikes me as tone deaf. This whole thing is about Molly, and not in an egotistic way either.

It started because she was here, and the response is happening because they're threatening her. It will end with her death or victory.

A fistful of dead minor talents is a Tuesday in the Dresden Files. The Raiths alone have probably used up and thrown out more innocents this week alone.

I'm not saying they don't matter in an objective sense, I mean we're talking about human lives here, but that the community you're presenting doesn't typically care enough to act on stuff like this and the reason it is now is because of Molly.

Even the good people are worn down to the point that you have to be terrorizing a community a lot longer and a lot more throughly than this before they even notice.

This is something we can and should change. An everyone vote tuned to the effect of "fuck you they were just a handful of minor talents, I'm making it an issue at least as important as your thing with me" I could see it, but it feels like you're presuming something we're going to have to stack bodies like cordwood to make true.

My bet is that it would complicate or completely cut off the opportunity to flip her, since we'd still be coming in like the angry mob after Frankenstein's monster, but it wouldn't feel as incongruent.
 
BronzeTongue said:
I can see the argument, but I still feel reasonably confident that there isn't a real escape plan to find. I could be wrong, but it makes more sense to me that the environment Emma-O creates leads to a chronic desire to escape and leverage whatever they can to do so. Something that shifts with their desperation and current level of favor, creating a crab bucket of bitter spite and fear that is more or less stable.
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We don't actually know she's the traitor. We know the following:
1) Eiko proposed meeting us on the fifth
2) Despite her subordinate leaking her location, she hasn't relocated.
3) Some of the akuma, we don't know which ones, created a ritual to help them kill us
4) Some of the akuma, we don't know if the same ones, are planning to have one of the shamans serve as a new infernal, presumably loyal or at least grateful to them
5) So far, the forces that have actually reacted to our investigation were connected to Kakuri's Will, not necessarily to Eiko.

It's quite possible that Kakuri's Will wants to get out of Emma-O's service, and Eiko has no idea. That she thinks J is dead, and the ritual is there to kill us. That she doesn't know of any of our actions. Her lack of change in her routine speaks for it.
BronzeTongue said:
But seriously, this particular stance on everyone still strikes me as tone deaf. This whole thing is about Molly, and not in an egotistic way either.
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It started about Molly, but now it's not just Molly who has grievances with akuma for coming to Chicago. Even assuming Molly went away to time travel into the Time of Legends or to explore Autochtonia or something, Murphy and Harry at least would have genuine business here.
 
BronzeTongue said:
I can see the argument, but I still feel reasonably confident that there isn't a real escape plan to find. I could be wrong, but it makes more sense to me that the environment Emma-O creates leads to a chronic desire to escape and leverage whatever they can to do so. Something that shifts with their desperation and current level of favor, creating a crab bucket of bitter spite and fear that is more or less stable.

Either way I think we can get the current state of affairs out of her if we convince her to jump.
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DP has confirmed that we can be confident they do have a plan to work around their orders because they wouldn't and couldn't be planning to defect otherwise:

DragonParadox said:
@Alratan the way Molly figures is is if a Lesser Akuma goes into a mission with the desire to win back their freedom it stands to reason that they have some plan to do so. Now maybe that plan will not work, or is already known to their lord, but you are kind of in a time crunch here so 'show up, make the offer and hope something comes together' is the best you can do followed by 'kill them so the other bunch does not get reinforcements'.
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Then we're back to it being literally impossible for her to defect unless we word our pitch in exactly the right way that doesn't trigger her standing orders.

In order for her to even want to defect she must have performed significant mental contortionism already. We could easily destabilise that with the clumsy intimidation proposed in the prevailing votes.

We need to know what the plan is so we can thread through the same set of loopholes she's planning to use.
 
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Alratan said:
DP has confirmed that we can be confident they do have a plan to work around their orders because they wouldn't and couldn't be planning to defect otherwise:
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That's Molly making the same assumption we are from the same information though, not an OOC confirmation of fact.

Either her orders are loose enough that she can talk to us or they aren't. I don't see a reasonable situation where any of your specific suggestions about loopholes make any sense.

If they're loose enough for us to talk then they're loose enough for us to tease them out in conversation if we convince her to bite.

Edit:

It's also worth noting that the current leading plans don't ask good questions for what you want to achieve.

They're Hail Marys three times over in that they ask about the details of a plan that Eiko may or may not have/be involved in, that may not exist, and could easily be something useless like "eat J for power".

Asking for the restrictions she's operating under directly would be more useful and offer at least something in all reasonable cases.
 
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BronzeTongue said:
That's Molly making the same assumption we are from the same information though, not an OOC confirmation of fact.

Either her orders are loose enough that she can talk to us or they aren't. I don't see a reasonable situation where any of your specific suggestions about loopholes make any sense.

If they're loose enough for us to talk then they're loose enough for us to tease them out in conversation if we convince her to bite.

Edit:

It's also worth noting that the current leading plans don't ask good questions for what you want to achieve.

They're Hail Marys three times over in that they ask about the details of a plan that Eiko may or may not have/be involved in, that may not exist, and could easily be something useless like "eat J for power".

Asking for the restrictions she's operating under directly would be more useful and offer at least something in all reasonable cases.
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That doesn't make sense at all. There could be loads of standing orders that would make some subtle approaches to her work and other blunt ones fail.

For example, she's likely to be ordered not to share Emma-O's secrets without permission, and the standing orders would count as secrets to prevent other people trying to assist defecting akuma.

I can think of so many different forms of standing order, like 'work in Emma-O's best interests' that she could be using mental gymnastics to justify defecting to herself that a blunt approach would trigger. We need to hint and leave things ambiguous enough for her to double think around orders,

Another option could be about keeping secrets that we could easily trigger, or standing orders to report if they encounter a Knight of the Cross, or to suicide if a Knight makes them hope in their redemption, or all sorts of other contingency orders. Or, another example; orders to suicide if they decide to defect to one of Emma-O's rivals, which we count as. We may have to phrase this as her assisting her becoming free, for example; rather than her entering our service, as poaching may be something that Emma-O is particularly concerned about.

We just don't know, and there are no limits to the standing orders or contingencies she could have been programmed with.

Or there being intersections between different standing orders or the precise wording of orders she's exploiting.

Emma-O isn't an idiot. He likely has transhuman intelligence and is advised by ministers who also has transhuman intelligence. His standing orders are likely very well tailored to make defection very hard, particularly. Lady Eiko has found a loophole, but it would be very easy to block that loophole by backing her into a corner when her mental gymnastics don't work anymore.

In order to avoid those land mines, we need to know what they are.
 
Alratan said:
That doesn't make sense at all. There could be loads of standing orders that would make some subtle approaches to her work and other blunt ones fail.

For example, she's likely to be ordered not to share Emma-O's secrets without permission, and the standing orders would count as secrets to prevent other people trying to assist defecting akuma.

I can think of so many different forms of standing order, like 'work in Emma-O's best interests' that she could be using mental gymnastics to justify defecting to herself that a blunt approach would trigger. We need to hint and leave things ambiguous enough for her to double think around orders,

Another option could be about keeping secrets that we could easily trigger, or standing orders to report if they encounter a Knight of the Cross, or to suicide if a Knight makes them hope in their redemption, or all sorts of other contingency orders. Or, another example; orders to suicide if they decide to defect to one of Emma-O's rivals, which we count as. We may have to phrase this as her assisting her becoming free, for example; rather than her entering our service, as poaching may be something that Emma-O is particularly concerned about.

We just don't know, and there are no limits to the standing orders or contingencies she could have been programmed with.

Or there being intersections between different standing orders or the precise wording of orders she's exploiting.

Emma-O isn't an idiot. He likely has transhuman intelligence and is advised by ministers who also has transhuman intelligence. His standing orders are likely very well tailored to make defection very hard, particularly. Lady Eiko has found a loophole, but it would be very easy to block that loophole by backing her into a corner when her mental gymnastics don't work anymore.

In order to avoid those land mines, we need to know what they are.
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The option you're advocating for isn't asking for her standing orders, it's asking for the set of a plan she may or may not be involved in, which may or may not exist, that may or may not yield useful information.

What I'm getting at with the orders is that she's aware of them. If they're so tight that even an approach triggers an unworkable response then this isn't likely to work out at all.

If we can talk to her then we can apply social pressure to convince her to play her hand if she has one.

I really doubt she has any immediate and dramatic standing orders like killing herself ok contact with a knight, because those would be the exact sort of things that'd be exploitable by their enemies.

If the option on the table was "ask for her standing orders" there's arguable value even if I think it's unnecessary, but that isn't what's in the table right now.

On a more general level I think you're giving Emma-O way too much credit. He's dangerous sure, but I really doubt he's a mastermind super genius making plans within plans for everything. His many issues have lead him into bad decisions too frequently for me to buy his hype.

On the quest relevant level; where was this super Emma-O, tacticool genius with the heft to viably steal an exaltation, when he actually had one in hand for hundreds of years?

Why was "send twenty ish guys to kill some plebs and start a fight" his master plan?
 
BronzeTongue said:
The option you're advocating for isn't asking for her standing orders, it's asking for the set of a plan she may or may not be involved in, which may or may not exist, that may or may not yield useful information.

What I'm getting at with the orders is that she's aware of them. If they're so tight that even an approach triggers an unworkable response then this isn't likely to work out at all.

If we can talk to her then we can apply social pressure to convince her to play her hand if she has one.

I really doubt she has any immediate and dramatic standing orders like killing herself ok contact with a knight, because those would be the exact sort of things that'd be exploitable by their enemies.

If the option on the table was "ask for her standing orders" there's arguable value even if I think it's unnecessary, but that isn't what's in the table right now.

On a more general level I think you're giving Emma-O way too much credit. He's dangerous sure, but I really doubt he's a mastermind super genius making plans within plans for everything. His many issues have lead him into bad decisions too frequently for me to buy his hype.

On the quest relevant level; where was this super Emma-O, tacticool genius with the heft to viably steal an exaltation, when he actually had one in hand for hundreds of years?

Why was "send twenty ish guys to kill some plebs and start a fight" his master plan?
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My proposed vote is to get her plan, part of which should be how to navigate her standing orders, and if it doesn't reveal them to ask an additional question about the standing orders. Her plan must include how she's dodging the orders to be loyal, etc.

I don't believe it's worthwhile trying to apply social pressure to her without knowing her standing orders. We'd very likely just trigger one of her standing orders by trying. If crude, uninformed intimidation was enough to persuade lesser akuma to defect, the Wan Kuei wouldn't have a problem with them, as they could just beat down akuma with their elder's super-human social dice pools and difficulty modifiers.

And I don't say she'd have standing orders to kill herself if she encountered a knight, but if a knight made her hope for redemption. That's different and much more likely.

Emma-O literally has ministers with transhuman intelligence. He likely delegates designing and updating standing orders to them. There's no cost to applying a standing order and no limit to the number that can be active at once.

The unique advantage we have is the Crown. Normally no one trying to persuade an akuma to defect would know what the web of standing orders they need to navigate is. We can. It's an incredible advantage that you want to squander.

For example, if she has an order to 'always act in the best interests of Emma-O', we need to make a pitch about why her defecting is actually in his best interests. Just crude threats and intimidation would simply backfire. By changing the situation we could easily invalidate some o the loopholes or doublethink she's relying on to be able to betray him and force her to stay loyal to him. She could well have carefully convinced herself of some unlikely things, but our intervention could invalidate them. We need to know what mental contortions she's managed so we can fit in with them.
 
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Alratan said:
My proposed vote is to get her plan, part of which should be how to navigate her standing orders, and if it doesn't reveal them to ask an additional question about the standing orders. Her plan must include how she's dodging the orders to be loyal, etc.
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Asking for their plan to attack us got a very basic outline of the tools in use, focusing on what was needed to understand their plan. A similarly patterned response in this case would, if it gave anything at all, give steps she taking to deal with specific things and not a general rule set.

Your plan relies on your assumptions be exactly right on all counts or it fails to accomplish anything worth the price you're paying for it.

The point of intimidation in this case is to establish ourselves as a serious actor as a foundation for the rest of the scene. The play from there would be to feel out how she stands and try to convince her that we're a good bet.

She at least theoretically had to be able to engage with us on some level as part of their plot, so some opening is reasonably likely to exist for basic conversation.

What I don't buy is that she has a web of hyper specific orders that have One Neat Trick tm we can use to successfully flip her.

If they're as comprehensive as you're suggesting then this entire thing is a waste of time, because the odds of us being able to invoke clause 32b of Emma-O's response plan by pretending to deliver her a pizza are close to nill.

On a limited time and essence budget we're better off attacking the person behind the rules to convince them that they want to play their cards now and not later.

Alratan said:
Emma-O literally has ministers with transhuman intelligence. He likely delegates designing and updating standing orders to them. There's no cost to applying a standing order and no limit to the number that can be active at once.
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This isn't WoD, Emma-O is basically a less successful Odin.

What superhuman intelligence he may or may not have doesn't seem to have made him or his very wise.
If they were some basic problems all the way into the quest backstory wouldn't have happened.
 
Verdant Emptiness Endowment (•••••) combines very well with prayer eating. VEE only requires that we HEAR the wish. So hearing a prayer counts.
 
Alratan said:
Emma-O literally has ministers with transhuman intelligence. He likely delegates designing and updating standing orders to them. There's no cost to applying a standing order and no limit to the number that can be active at once.
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Superhuman mental attributes are not an I win button. In both WoD and Exalted superhuman intelligence doesn't mean you don't do stupid shit or make obvious mistakes. It boosts your ability to do things you apply yourself too, but doesn't do much to deal with biases, bad assumptions, hubris or lack of wisdom.

Emma-O like most Yama Kings also probably doesn't trust most of his minions to do that. Especially given the canonical example of one of his senior Akuma backstabbing him and running off.
 
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Also I think that Exalted are like the only things that can ignore 1s on rolls. When Molly thinks 'I don't make mistakes' she isn't just thinking about her dice pool. For most things superhuman dice pools mean even bigger botches.
 
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Aeondrac said:
Superhuman mental attributes are not an I win button. In both WoD and Exalted superhuman intelligence doesn't mean you don't do stupid shit or make obvious mistakes. It boosts your ability to do things you apply yourself too, but doesn't do much to deal with biases, bad assumptions, hubris or lack of wisdom.

Emma-O like most Yama Kings also probably doesn't trust most of his minions to do that. Especially given the canonical example of one of his senior Akuma backstabbing him and running off.
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All of the Yama King's have learned to utilize near air tight control over their Akuma. They would quickly wind up being a late Yama King if they don't.
 
BronzeTongue said:
What I don't buy is that she has a web of hyper specific orders that have One Neat Trick tm we can use to successfully flip her.
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*Discover her one neat trick to flip Akumas! Emma-O hates her!*

Sorry not sorry.

Earth-Destroyer said:
All of the Yama King's have learned to utilize near air tight control over their Akuma. They would quickly wind up being a late Yama King if they don't.
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Of course, that's why no great akuma ever betrayed them… oh, wait.

And they don't need complex standing orders who can only be circumvented by extremely specific circumstances to keep control, just lots of powers and having your soul is enough.

Relying on complex standing orders is not productive anyway, it can too easily makes your minions predictable and it means that as soon as one find a loophole, you have to close it before they tell it to all your rivals to make your life hell. Better to use learned helplessness and making the situation appear hopeless. (Well, for an evil guy who can't understand that the ideal situation is actually to have minions who are loyal and love you, but nobody accused evil to not be both incompetent and unproductive by nature)
 
Daughters of the New Millennium has it by one vote, that will have to do.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Mar 16, 2023 at 2:46 AM, finished with 130 posts and 19 votes.
  • [X] Daughters of the New Millennium
    -[X] Lydia
    -[X] Gard
    -[X] Have the rest set up to cover the exits and come in after us at a signal from Clippy.
    -[X] Use Intimidation excellency.
    -[X] Activate IPM with willpower
    -[X] Lydia uses Manipulation excellency.
    -[X] Stunt: Stepping into the lobby Molly nods at Gard, sending her to manage the mortals before catching up.
    —[X] Taking the stairs, Molly and Lydia move unerringly towards Eiko's room. As they make the final approach Molly takes a deep breath, and loosens her grip on the quiet fury that has been building behind her heart.
    —[X] With each step the shadows sharpen without deepening as the lights seem to flicker green in the corner of the eye. Around them air seems to thicken, charged with the silent tension of the calm before a storm.
    —[X] As they reach the door something like the caw of a raven lingers on the ear despite the dead silence of the hall.
    —[X] "I received your letter Lady Eiko, now I think it's time we discuss my reply"
    [X] Everyone (save the unnamed mooks)
    -[X] Molly uses Etiquette and Empathy excellencies
    -[X] Molly uses All Things Betray using willpower
    -[X] Use the Crown on an image of Lady Eiko to learn her plan to betray the Will
    -[X] Lydia uses Manipulation excellency.
    --[X] Wan kuei are here for and because of you, but that does not matter. They are here. In Chicago. Messing with its leylines, killing the people living in and below its streets. This is not only about you now. It's about everyone who lives here. And so, as you step out of the elevator and into the corridor leading to lady Eiko's room, you are accompanied not just by your allies and mercenaries you were able to hire, but also by the representatives of Chicago. To your right walk mortals who are not to be underestimatid: the Warden Commander of the White Council, the Shih Master, and the commanding officer of the Chicago's special investigations department. To your left, are those who wield or are the powers beyond mortal ken: daughter of the god of death, a valkyrie, and the Knight of the Cross.
    [X]Plan Hostile Takeover
    -[X] Everyone
    --[X]<Molly> All Things Betray + Empathy Excellency + Imperial Primacy Mantle + Naked Wicked Souls: 4m
    --[X]<Lydia> Manipulation Excellency if necessary.
    --[X]STUNT: In the pre-dawn light, your little procession makes its way out of the stairwell and along the fourth-floor corridor, darkness gathering in your wake with your intent. As you are about to knock on the door of the suite, the door opens and an irritated voice begins "I specifically asked that I...." the words trail off as the woman you'd previously only seen before in video footage sees your party. "Good morning, Eiko-san. I got your letter." Blue eyes meet reddish brown eyes as the temperature in the corridor drops ten degrees."I and my associates are here to discuss your presence in my city. And your....personal options."
    [X] Everyone (save the unnamed mooks)
    -[X] Molly uses Etiquette excellency
    -[X] Molly uses All Things Betray
    -[X] Lydia uses Manipulation excellency.
    --[X] Wan kuei are here for and because of you, but that does not matter. They are here. In Chicago. Messing with its leylines, killing the people living in and below its streets. This is not only about you now. It's about everyone who lives here. And so, as you step out of the elevator and into the corridor leading to lady Eiko's room, you are accompanied not just by your allies and friends coming to your aid and protection, but by representatives and defenders of the factions of Chicago. To your right walk mortals who are not to be underestimatid: the Warden Commander of the White Council, the Shih Master, and the commanding officer of the Chicago's special investigations department. To your left, are those who wield or are the powers beyond mortal ken: daughter of the god of death, Chooser of the Slain, and the Knight of the Cross.
    [X] Plausible Deniability
    - [X] Brother Divsimar, skilled Shih Master
    - [X] Lydia, Daughter of Arwan, Once King of the Underworld
    - [X] Stunt: Use the Crown on an image of Lady Eiko to learn her plan to betray the Will, and if that doesn't tell you the orders she's bound by, ask that when you see her. Before going up, quickly brainstorm with your allies how to adapt her plan/work around her constraints. In the room, allow your anima to flare with the light of a dead green sun, cutting through the false darkness of her temporary haven. Then, use your knowledge of her plans to hint to her that you can offer a better deal, without tipping off any audience, under the guise of negotiating for a return of the hostages. Use the relevant Excellency to support making your case and passing on you message. Tell her your phone number to arrange another follow on meeting.
    [X] Daughters of the New Millennium
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Welp, we are doing this, and we are either coming out of this situation with a bunch of cowed minions or a bunch of dead vampires, or maybe both if only some of them flip. Either way, we establish our Circle of Exalts as a Power, as it should be.
 
Artemis1992 said:
Finally some enemy contact.

We do tend to do a lot of preparing for that.
And I'm never quite sure how much of it was actually necessary.
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Molly got into the situation of failure because she acted without the necessary knowledge and made things worse instead of better. Her taking this to heart is narratively represented by both her choice of Crown and her Urge. Of course she's going to have what's arguably a character flaw of excessively over-preparing and making sure she has all of the necessary information before committing. That's what marked her hour of Exaltation, and that will follow her to some degree or another for the rest of her immortal life.

Also, avatar of SV technically controlled by a collection of slightly paranoid nerds, but that's Watsonian versus Doylist explanations.
 
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Arc 6 Post 21: Way of Words
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    • Way of Words ​

    3nd of October 2006 A.D.

    If I were a a demon lord, keeping the souls of my servants in jade boxes, able to bind tongues and hands alike with a single word what would I do? The question had been bouncing around for the whole car ride, bouncing off Usum, who has a worrying amount of ideas as to how one might go about it. In broad strokes they amount to agency versus control. Give too many commands, bind too tightly and a lord ever so wise should not be surprised if shackled servants should trip over their chains.

    There would be contingencies for known dangers of course like dad and the Sword, that had been part of the letter. If they had somehow failed to learn about Harry after weeks in the city you would eat your chainmail instead of wearing it. Brother Divsimar? You had not made any secret of going to learn for him day in, day out. So who does that leave me with? Your eyes slide over Karin Murphy, for all the hard-boiled competence that had seen her march into the heart of Arctis Tor to rescue a foolish girl from the consequences of her own stupidity she would not be much use here, a badge would elicit laughter and bullets perhaps even less than that.

    On the other hand you have Gard, someone you had not even planned to bring along until late this very night, able to ward away bystanders and a guide of the dead besides. Who better to make the risen dead consider their ultimate fate? Having picked up the thread of logic it is hard to let go, what is true for the Chooser of the Slain is doubly true for Lydia who makes up for her lack of experience with power and dominion over death whose true depths perhaps only the vanquished Kemmler know.

    It is surprising just how little you have to argue your point, surprising, thrilling and not a little terrifying. Poor dad looks more tired, somehow older than you have ever seen him as he whispers good luck, Harry asks Clippy for the room number twice more even though you had mentioned it half a dozen times over the night.

    Lost 2 Essence -> Now at 5/12

    Gard goes first through the sliding doors to work her rune-magic on any of the hotel employees or so at least you had planned. As soon as she is past the door she turns on her heels. "She is here."

    You and Lydia take the sidewalk at a run as you outpace her even in a the span of thirty yards.

    The lobby is at first sight empty. There are no new guests lingering with their bags, bleary eyed from a sleepless night, no clerk behind the polished dark wood desk, the soft golden light of the bulbs now darkening with your approach reveal crimson couches empty save for one.

    Lady Eiko of the Blood-Stained Chrysanthemum lounges on one of the couches, her black hair fanning out over the arm-rest, eyes half lidded. So might a viper sit coiled among pillows. She inclines her head to each of your companions, not even a raised eyebrow in surprise, but it is to you she speaks:

    "Binding so many devils is quite impressive, a match for some of the Dread Star's brass fingered slaves." As the Shikome's eyes open you spy within a flicker like onto the light of long dead stars. A fortress your mind might be, but not beyond that ancient regard, you know but are undaunted.

    "I received your letter Lady Eiko, now I think it's time we discuss my reply," you begin, plain speaking over flowery courtesy for which you do not have the time, for which Sarah and the others do not have time.

    "You are early and you are late, a koan, or merely a thing half-spoken?" Soft are the words, as the trembling shadows that pass over her face, almost hypnotic, but rather than lull you they just stoke the flame of impatience with these games. "Tell me Keeper of the Sun-in-Shadow do you believe as your father does in turning the other cheek?"

    "Tis not to spare myself pain that I have come here. If your eyes are as sharp upon your own companions as they are on the spirits which linger and look than you know of what I speak, no riddle but the sword and to you it is given to choose upon which side of it you shall dwell. "

    "That is a choice I made in years long gone to dust," she sighs. "Yet there is more to our circumstance than conflict, as there is more to the passage of night and day than the remorseless ticking of a wadokei. The brown bear does not love the night but when all he has to feast on is roosters then it shall seek them when they sleep."

    Frustration bubbles in your chest like tar. What is she trying to say? Is it even worth looking? Is it worth spending more of your precious limited power to try to understand?

    What do you do?

    [] Use Naked Wicked Souls to gain insight and leverage

    [] Trigger All Things Betray in the hopes of understanding what Eiko is trying to get across

    [] Cut to the chase, make your offer

    [] Make use of the Crown of Eyes
    -[] Write in

    [] Write in

    OOC: Evaluate you as opposed to mental manipulation is not blocked by IPP since it is a sensory power.
     
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