Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

While this is useful, learning who of Winter Court are actually subverted is way more useful. Again, Lara Romani is a prolific film star ( @DragonParadox , how many films are in her filmogaphy? More than 10? More than twenty? She was a top star, after all, so she should have been prolific). She likely signed autographs, and she lives and does business in Chicago. observing her paying for a coffee or something is easy. We have a glut of foci about her. We have far less about Winter Court, and they are far less reachable. Using this limited focus on her is a waste.
I was using it for Lara Raith because I wasn't sure this was a relevant focus for the Winter Court or for Outsiders.
I was going to wait and use Mab's chair in Mac's bar as a focus for sweeping for Outsider-infection/infiltration in Winter.
If the QM confirms that its a relevant focus for Outsiders or the Winter Court, I'd happily use it on them.

Speaking of which:
The moment Lara wrote this down, the Archive knew of it.
Damn but Ivy is fucking scary.
Molly did not really look up her library of erotic films, not least because she did not want to explain that in her search history and because it felt weird to ask that of the cyberdevils, but dozens of movies.
@DragonParadox
QUESTION
1)Is the note a relevant focus for Outsiders/the Enemy?
2)Is the note a relevant focus for the Winter Court?
 
Usually Bloodbuff only works for physical attributes.

Given how Whampires can go fully white-eyed and even faster and stronger than usual I would apply the same mechanic.
Usually.
But given that we've seen White Court vampires go from just plain hot to mind-bendingly alluring in canon, I suspect they can buff their social attributes as well.

At least, that's my working hypothesis.
It might be interesting to see a Shikome Assassin and a White Court vampire attempt to out-social each other.
 
Yes to both, though you are likely to get the most of it asking about the intersection of the two, either that or something to do with Lara herself. Asking about the nature of outsiders or something else vast like that will give you a brief or cryptic answer.
Okay then.
Changing my question.

VOTE
[X]Plan Arctic Windfall
-[X]Lets just get the negotiations with Lara done first and then once Mab makes her offer I'll see
-[X]Try to activate Boiling Sea Mastery in the bathroom
-[X]Activate All Things Betray: 1 WP
-[X]Activate Hellscry Chakra: 1m Essence
-[X]Etiquette or Empathy Excellency if absolutely necessary
-[X]Crown Focus: Note. Question: Identities of the people in Winter that the enemy in the note has subverted?: 1m
-[X]STUNT: You shrug as you turn the taps in the sink wide open, then with an effort of will expand the acuity of your perceptions. "Some things may be unavoidable, Lydia." Your lips quirk a little at the idea of the Queen of Air and Darkness requesting help willingly, then you shimmy out of your chainmail and the undershirt beneath it before dumping the undershirt in the sink. "I certainly dont think our...mutual friend would seek help if they didn't need it." You pull your undershirt out of the water for a quick inspection, flick it, then pull it on."The more information we have, the better." You don the chainmail again, then grab some paper towels to dampen your neck, hands and face before meeting Lydia's eyes. "Lets just get this done first." And as you exit the bathroom behind her, you let a little Essence slip into your senses and the room blooms in new colors.



STATUS
Willpower 8/9wp
Essence 11/12m (+2 Essence regen, -2m spent)
Essence spent in this scene so far: 3m

All Things Betray: -3 DC to Perception
Hellscry Chakra: Detect Creatures of Darkness, scan auras.
Boiling Sea Mastery: -1 DC to all rolls


RATIONALE
See if we can get ourselves wet enough to activate Boiling Sea Mastery.
We went to the bathroom of a high end cafe and saloon with functioning plumbing, there's no reason not to take advantage of the environmental advantage the QM gifted us.

We aren't reading Lara as clearly as we want to.

ATB + Hellscry Chakra should help read Lara better. And if there are any watchers from Winter, it would help pick them up. We have Demonic Guide(-2 DC to Awareness rolls) which when added to ATB(-3DC to all Perception rolls) makes even a DC9 check down to DC4.

And if BSM procs, that goes down to DC3

If glowing doesnt matter, ask the Crown question immediately.
If glowing matters, wait until after the meeting.
Commentary after this.

Crown Question changed:
==
[]Crown Focus: Note. Question: Identities of the people in Winter that the enemy in the note has subverted?: 1m Essence
==
Limited question will be to identify the infiltrators in the Winter Court.
Give us identities.
That does several things:
  • Confirms Mab is not one of the people subverted by the Enemy before the meeting today
  • Ensures Molly doesnt stumble into any of them unawares
  • Their identities can be traded to Mab for purging her court(assuming Mab is uninfected) and being owed a favor or three by Mab might be useful in the future
  • Each identity is itself a Crown focus to follow up on if necessary.
  • And it also open the potential to trade an exorcism or dozen if we so choose
 
Last edited:
Current tally:
Adhoc vote count started by uju32 on May 18, 2023 at 4:35 PM, finished with 50 posts and 17 votes.

  • [X] Lets just get the negotiations with Lara done first and then once Mab makes her offer I'll see
    [X] Crown question, using the note: "Who in the Winter Court is manipulated by the enemy alleged to in this note?"
    [X] No, this just makes it all the more important for someone to help the Winter Court
    -[x] Spend Willpower to active All Thing Betray
    -[x] Activate IPM
    -[x] Activate Hellscry Chakra
    -[x] Activate Empathy excellency.
    [X] Lets just get the negotiations with Lara done first and then once Mab makes her offer I'll see
    - [X] I don't want to get tangled up with Mab and Winter in the first place, but the fact that I exist is going to change the status quo. Entanglements may be unavoidable.
    [X]Plan Arctic Intelligence
    -[X]Lets just get the negotiations with Lara done first and then once Mab makes her offer I'll see
    -[X]Try to activate Boiling Sea Mastery in the bathroom
    -[X]Activate All Things Betray: 1 WP
    -[X]Activate Hellscry Chakra: 1m Essence
    -[X]Etiquette or Empathy Excellency if absolutely necessary
    -[X]Crown question, using the note: "Who in the Winter Court is manipulated by the enemy alleged to in this note?"
    -[X]STUNT: You shrug as you turn the taps in the sink wide open, then with an effort of will expand the acuity of your perceptions. "Some things may be unavoidable, Lydia." Your lips quirk a little at the idea of the Queen of Air and Darkness requesting help willingly, then you shimmy out of your chainmail and the undershirt beneath it before dumping the undershirt in the sink. "I certainly dont think our...mutual friend would seek help if they didn't need it." You pull your undershirt out of the water for a quick inspection, flick it, then pull it on."The more information we have, the better." You don the chainmail again, then grab some paper towels to dampen your neck, hands and face before meeting Lydia's eyes. "Lets just get this done first." And as you exit the bathroom behind her, you let a little Essence slip into your senses and the room blooms in new colors.
    [X]Plan Arctic Windfall
    -[X]Lets just get the negotiations with Lara done first and then once Mab makes her offer I'll see
    -[X]Try to activate Boiling Sea Mastery in the bathroom
    -[X]Activate All Things Betray: 1 WP
    -[X]Activate Hellscry Chakra: 1m Essence
    -[X]Etiquette or Empathy Excellency if absolutely necessary
    -[X]Crown Focus: Note. Question: Identities of the people in Winter that the enemy in the note has subverted?: 1m
    -[X]STUNT: You shrug as you turn the taps in the sink wide open, then with an effort of will expand the acuity of your perceptions. "Some things may be unavoidable, Lydia." Your lips quirk a little at the idea of the Queen of Air and Darkness requesting help willingly, then you shimmy out of your chainmail and the undershirt beneath it before dumping the undershirt in the sink. "I certainly dont think our...mutual friend would seek help if they didn't need it." You pull your undershirt out of the water for a quick inspection, flick it, then pull it on."The more information we have, the better." You don the chainmail again, then grab some paper towels to dampen your neck, hands and face before meeting Lydia's eyes. "Lets just get this done first." And as you exit the bathroom behind her, you let a little Essence slip into your senses and the room blooms in new colors.
    [X] No, this just makes it all the more important for someone to help the Winter Court
    [X] Yes, I did not really want to get tangled up with Mab anyway
 
Yes to both, though you are likely to get the most of it asking about the intersection of the two, either that or something to do with Lara herself. Asking about the nature of outsiders or something else vast like that will give you a brief or cryptic answer.
[]What information does Lara have that leads her to believe that the winter court might be subverted?

If we ask everything Lara knows on the subject that seems like how to get the maximum information out of that focus.
 
[X] Crown question, using the note: "Who in the Winter Court is manipulated by the enemy alleged to in this note?"

[X] Lets just get the negotiations with Lara done first and then once Mab makes her offer I'll see
- [X] I don't want to get tangled up with Mab and Winter in the first place, but the fact that I exist is going to change the status quo. Entanglements may be unavoidable.


It might waste the note, but hopefully not.
I think it might be better to ask how the enemy alleged in the note is manipulating Winter than who.

Molly doesn't know about nemesis, a list of names doesn't tell her that much about how to respond to the situation.

Asking how though should get us a description of nemesis infection and possibly some of the important people who've been grabbed depending on how specific it gets.

The crown tends to deal in the concrete, so I'm willing to bet we'd bet a response closer to "suborning the winter lady/ Leansidhe to push for X" than "by mind controlling nobles".

See if we can get ourselves wet enough to activate Boiling Sea Mastery.
We went to the bathroom of a high end cafe and saloon with functioning plumbing, there's no reason not to take advantage of the environmental advantage the QM gifted us.

It's not the most important secret, but I'd prefer to avoid throwing obvious flags telling people what to look for when we're using something esoteric.


I mean, the greater Akuma countered BSM completely by accident; this isn't a hypothetical problem. People don't need to be able to contest charm power to notice we soak ourselves when doing important stuff and trying to dry us off.


We should craft something to facilitate this sort of thing when we can.
 
Plan Arctic Intelligence is pretty much exactly the same as this one. If we want to beat the top vote we should be voting for both I think.
[X]Plan Arctic Windfall
[X]Plan Arctic Intelligence
 
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To those voting for Arctic Windfall, there are two versions of the plan showing up on the tally, one with the old question, one with the new, and I don't think it's assigning your votes properly if your just voting for the plan name.
 
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To those voting for Arctic Windfall, there are two versions of the plan showing up on the tally, one with the old question, one with the new, and I don't think it's assigning your votes properly if your just voting for the plan name.
I only see one Arctic Windfall on the most recent vote tally?
 
I think it might be better to ask how the enemy alleged in the note is manipulating Winter than who.

Molly doesn't know about nemesis, a list of names doesn't tell her that much about how to respond to the situation.
Asking how though should get us a description of nemesis infection and possibly some of the important people who've been grabbed depending on how specific it gets.

The crown tends to deal in the concrete, so I'm willing to bet we'd bet a response closer to "suborning the winter lady/ Leansidhe to push for X" than "by mind controlling nobles".
I dont think so.

Manipulated =/= Subverted.
There's a lot of people who were manipulated by Outsider-infected people.
Fewer who are actually possessed.

Its the possessed people we want. We get rid of them, and they cant stay manipulating people
If we ask for everyone who was manipulated, the list will be HUGE, and full of unwitting dupes.
And Mab would probably be top of that list.

It's not the most important secret, but I'd prefer to avoid throwing obvious flags telling people what to look for when we're using something esoteric. I mean, the greater Akuma countered BSM completely by accident; this isn't a hypothetical problem. People don't need to be able to contest charm power to notice we soak ourselves when doing important stuff and trying to dry us off.

We should craft something to facilitate this sort of thing when we can.
I dont think it matters here.
Its not obvious, and there's very little chance of distinguishing it from Molly sweating, or intentionally running water on herself to deal with a bathroom accident.

I dont expect Lara to be able to tell from one episode, any more than OldManSkavis Leinth did when we showed it to him in Greene's house. If she can, I'd have to worry about everyone who was at the big throwdown in South Chicago, from Gard through the Einherjar to the little girl. And most of the humans in the Jade Dogs won't be able to resist interrogation.

I mean, Thomas might be able to resist his sister asking questions.
The vampire fledgelings among the Jade Dogs certainly cant. Neither can Isabella.
And all of them have seen Molly do construction work, which means they've all seen her do the water thing.


Yes we should
Our next Armor version should have something that does that.
Maybe a liquid metal form that is toggleable, or condensing water out of the air on a activation roll.
To those voting for Arctic Windfall, there are two versions of the plan showing up on the tally, one with the old question, one with the new, and I don't think it's assigning your votes properly if your just voting for the plan name.
Only one version shows up on the tally.
New votes supersede old ones.
 
Current tally:
Adhoc vote count started by uju32 on May 18, 2023 at 9:47 PM, finished with 63 posts and 20 votes.

  • [X]Plan Arctic Intelligence
    -[X]Lets just get the negotiations with Lara done first and then once Mab makes her offer I'll see
    -[X]Try to activate Boiling Sea Mastery in the bathroom
    -[X]Activate All Things Betray: 1 WP
    -[X]Activate Hellscry Chakra: 1m Essence
    -[X]Etiquette or Empathy Excellency if absolutely necessary
    -[X]Crown question, using the note: "Who in the Winter Court is manipulated by the enemy alleged to in this note?"
    -[X]STUNT: You shrug as you turn the taps in the sink wide open, then with an effort of will expand the acuity of your perceptions. "Some things may be unavoidable, Lydia." Your lips quirk a little at the idea of the Queen of Air and Darkness requesting help willingly, then you shimmy out of your chainmail and the undershirt beneath it before dumping the undershirt in the sink. "I certainly dont think our...mutual friend would seek help if they didn't need it." You pull your undershirt out of the water for a quick inspection, flick it, then pull it on."The more information we have, the better." You don the chainmail again, then grab some paper towels to dampen your neck, hands and face before meeting Lydia's eyes. "Lets just get this done first." And as you exit the bathroom behind her, you let a little Essence slip into your senses and the room blooms in new colors.
    [X]Plan Arctic Windfall
    -[X]Lets just get the negotiations with Lara done first and then once Mab makes her offer I'll see
    -[X]Try to activate Boiling Sea Mastery in the bathroom
    -[X]Activate All Things Betray: 1 WP
    -[X]Activate Hellscry Chakra: 1m Essence
    -[X]Etiquette or Empathy Excellency if absolutely necessary
    -[X]Crown Focus: Note. Question: Identities of the people in Winter that the enemy in the note has subverted?: 1m
    -[X]STUNT: You shrug as you turn the taps in the sink wide open, then with an effort of will expand the acuity of your perceptions. "Some things may be unavoidable, Lydia." Your lips quirk a little at the idea of the Queen of Air and Darkness requesting help willingly, then you shimmy out of your chainmail and the undershirt beneath it before dumping the undershirt in the sink. "I certainly dont think our...mutual friend would seek help if they didn't need it." You pull your undershirt out of the water for a quick inspection, flick it, then pull it on."The more information we have, the better." You don the chainmail again, then grab some paper towels to dampen your neck, hands and face before meeting Lydia's eyes. "Lets just get this done first." And as you exit the bathroom behind her, you let a little Essence slip into your senses and the room blooms in new colors.
    [X] Lets just get the negotiations with Lara done first and then once Mab makes her offer I'll see
    [X] Lets just get the negotiations with Lara done first and then once Mab makes her offer I'll see
    - [X] I don't want to get tangled up with Mab and Winter in the first place, but the fact that I exist is going to change the status quo. Entanglements may be unavoidable.
    [X] No, this just makes it all the more important for someone to help the Winter Court
    [X] Yes, I did not really want to get tangled up with Mab anyway
 
I dont think so.

Manipulated =/= Subverted.
There's a lot of people who were manipulated by Outsider-infected people.
Fewer who are actually possessed.

Its the possessed people we want. We get rid of them, and they cant stay manipulating people
If we ask for everyone who was manipulated, the list will be HUGE, and full of unwitting dupes.
And Mab would probably be top of that list.
Molly doesn't know what nemesis is, and she was warned about manipulation rather than possession. She has no reason to think to ask that specific question other than our OOC knowledge.

Limiting the question to the higher echelons of winter will help filter out the background noise.


I dont think it matters here.
Its not obvious, and there's very little chance of distinguishing it from Molly sweating, or intentionally running water on herself to deal with a bathroom accident.
The ruling was that it has to be a significant amount of water, it is noticeable.

I dont expect Lara to be able to tell from one episode, any more than OldManSkavis Leinth did when we showed it to him in Greene's house. If she can, I'd have to worry about everyone who was at the big throwdown in South Chicago, from Gard through the Einherjar to the little girl. And most of the humans in the Jade Dogs won't be able to resist interrogation.
The thing is this is a chronic pattern with us. In the past we at least used oils that could be passed off as something magical, but getting casual with the details is the sort of thing that comes back to haunt you.

A little bit of cover now makes the job of someone trying to pick us apart by investigating our behaviors significantly harder in the future.

Doing stuff like this makes it as simple as pattern recognition and a small data set.
 
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