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Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
Did any of us think to ask if Molly knew or suspected Mab had protection from scrying by Nemesis?
If it couldn't, angels would guard Outer Gates and there sould be no problems.
Winning Vote
Arc 7 Post 21: A Quiet Unveiling
A Quiet Unveiling
31th of October 2006 A.D.
The flute is cold even in your hands, heavy with the weight of more than silver. She had to offer some kind of gift in return, you remind yourself sternly. But not this gift though. It has the feel of a peace offering, whatever other layers of subtle meaning may lay beneath it. Usum start to speak up, his thoughts on the many and no doubt clever, but you mentally shush him. There is no need, you have made your decision. All that remains how is marshaling the courage to say it.
"Gifts have been given and received, other things perhaps less merry might pass between us in time, a history lies behind us demanding its due before us the path untrod paved with hopes and fears." The chill of winter feeds you as kindling feeds a flame. As you had been in that day in Arctis Tor with a blade so you are now with words, each flowing into the next with deft skill that does nothing to hide the urgency you had felt ever since this morning speaking to Lara, ever since weeks ago when you learned what killed Detective Greene... ever since you had seen those puppet-tears in the world hunting Harry's teacher. "But for any of that to have meaning, for there to be a path Shaped Creation has to keep on ticking, the world is where I live and it's where I keep all those dear to me. For what I am about to share with you I ask no recompense guardian of the Outer Gates."
"That task belongs to another, a mortal. I am the Queen of Winter and need no other title as you need none but the Green Sun-That-Was-Before-The-Sun upon your brow. Offer thine counsel and I shall promise to take it in the spirit it was given. The cup has now been drunk almost to the dregs, the sword not red with blood but black for how many times it has been spilled and only the staff is left to hold in place the Wheel."
Gone is our compassion, almost to the last and Valor has been dulled though the long war. All that is left us is Conviction, understanding comes almost without thought. Would that it did not, a part of you says, for the wheel too you know, though you had never given it name and shape with words. The Wheel of Ages turns from perfection to atrocity. There is so much farther to Fall...
This... this is the revelation that Queen Mab would have used to gain your aid, your service, whatever else she might wish of you, but she delivered it poorly, not from lack of skill, but like a fencer lowering her blade upon being warned of greater peril.
For a long moment you hesitate upon the name. Would it hear, could it hear, that soul sickness that had spread so far and to so many? In the end it is its very chimeric nature that makes tilts the balance, there if no way you can speak of it obliquely with what you know, not without utterly obfuscating it and if there is one thing you do not need now it's a lack of communication. Thus you meet the Queen of Winter 's icy gaze as unreadable as the stars above a blizzard's veil. "Nemesis has found its way inside your house as parasites are wont to slip even under the best guarded doors it has infested senior members of your Court."
There is a reason you had brought of all things a notepad along, it's not just so that Clippy can complain about antiquated technology. The click of the pen is unnaturally loud in the silence to follow, the faint scratch of metal on paper somehow even louder. It occurs to you that you might be writing a death warrant... for all but one of these at least.
As she takes the paper the queen of winter seems to freeze in place, her great power turned against her at the last, but you know better. Tis not Winter's power that sends bolts of black rage though her aura, but the vestige of an all too mortal heart that would not surrender itself to the cold. The cup is not near as empty as she might wish.
"By your best judgement Miss Carpenter how likely is the enemy to know or even guess what was on that paper?"
Isn't that a question as loaded as that old submarine. Lara knew something, enough to warn you off dealing with Mab, but the final leap had been done by means of your Crown whose full powers are known to fewer people than can be counted on one hand and all of them whom you trust with your life.
"You do not have to answer." There is a pause in Mab's precise diction, a breath that one might almost mistake for a sigh. "Ordinarily I would offer boons for the answer but I realize this will do little good here. If what you say is true, and I must proceed as if it is awaredness of how likely the foe is to be prepared will inform the needed speed and manner of my reaction."
At these last words your mind flies back to Slade. She wouldn't do something like that to her own child would she? The truth is you do not know and it horrifies you.
What do you reply?
[] I'm sorry I cannot give details
[] It is very unlikely those named or other instances of the infiltrators would know about the name, though they might know you suspect the general shape of the plot
[] Write in
OOC: Ludicrous amounts of successes were had in this update by both parties. It is probably best no one mortal was here to witness it.
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Rolls
Molly Speaks: Not quite as ludicrous as it seems since there are some exploding 10s do not explode twice
Mab Counters: Would have bowled over anyone else, especially since she is working with less of a dislike malus thanks to your previous choices... but did not quite need it
You now know what the Fair Folk Graces are... for whatever revelation that leads to given that Mab does too
Molly Speaks: Not quite as ludicrous as it seems since there are some exploding 10s do not explode twice
Mab Counters: Would have bowled over anyone else, especially since she is working with less of a dislike malus thanks to your previous choices... but did not quite need it
You now know what the Fair Folk Graces are... for whatever revelation that leads to given that Mab does too
We should find a way to use a question to know for sure before answering. This is too important to guess about.
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Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
Molly 17 v Mab 16. We still beat her.
Though I am confused as to what she is asking of Molly and didn't we offer the use of Exorcism spell?
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I also note we just informed the Archive that there is a major nemesis infection in Winter's court and gave her the list of names. That's something that happens when you write something down.
QM answered better.
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- Yes you did hence Molly only being shaken rather than doing anything unwise
- She is asking how likely is Nemesis to know that you know which depends on how you came to know the information
- She interjected before you could offer the exorcism
[X] It is very unlikely those named or other instances of the infiltrators would know about the name, though they might know you suspect the general shape of the plot
Technically Angels would be better for multiple reasons, since even the weakest proper combat focused one could eat the winter court and their next ten best friends like cheap enchiladas if the rules allowed them to.
Butcher doesn't usually leave plot holes that big (though he does have some doozies out there) so there's probably some sort of explanation. Maybe they are fighting the Outsiders and the outer gates are just the spill over of two nearly omnipotent powers squaring off or something.
Maybe if free will didn't exist the white god and co could perfectly seal it off, but his equivalent of a perfect defense flaw for the effect is that entities under it have to be able to choose to open it up, or perhaps actively choose to keep it in motion, and therefore have to put up a token fight at the glowing weak point. Something like that.
That said, I do think it's fair to say Nemesis isn't necessarily locked at Fallen Angel level. They're powerful, but they're shadows of what they were. Anduriel was also a 'regular' Angel, and I think Nemesis is closer to Uriel in aggregate. Haven't found the WoJ I thought I saw that in again yet though.
Holy shit she does have that deep lore. Those are creation Faerie terms.
[X] It is very unlikely those named or other instances of the infiltrators would know about the name, though they might know you suspect the general shape of the plot
... At least we are not conversing in Old realm, and she's not calling us Prince of Earth.
She and hers were made in part using gossamer. It's not that deep a lore. Exalted Raksha are still adjacent to Creation. Beyond Outer Gates lies not the Wyld, but Oblivion it seems.
... At least we are not conversing in Old realm, and she's not calling us Prince of Earth.
Isn't that interesting. That's definitely a literal translation of some other language, possibly Old realm or some Malfean language. It also mangles a lot of history, and a lot of enities. Mab knows something, but it's distorted.
- Location
- Germany
One is missing though.
Compassion, Valor, Conviction.
Where is Temperance?
I don't remember the corrosponding item from the top of my head, but there should be one.
The greater the power the more said power is constrained from action. A more powerful entity is not always the correct answer to any problem. You want an entity that is powerful enough to do the job and free enough to actually do it. If the Heavens got stuck having to defend the Outer Gates then Hell would by it's nature turn itself towards tearing them down, and every action by the White God's servants would be matched by an action from Hell.
Winter is counterbalanced and constrained, but far less so than Heaven, and by a force that seems designed from the ground up to not get in the way of their task defending the Outer Gates.
Heaven could likely do the job, but it would cost them dearly and cause major problems. Winter seems purpose built to do just this task, and so can do it without nearly as much cost to creation.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Maybe Nemesis is why the Angels actually Fell in the first place? If that's the case, it might be too dangerous for them to remain at the Gates for any appreciable length of time.
And she knows about Ligier given she explicitly used the Green Sun to refer to Molly and she also knows that said Green Sun burned before the Sun existed.
This implies at least some direct cultural continuity with the Shaped Raksha of Creation.
The question now is how complete her knowledge is, she knows of Ligier but does she have the context that the Green Sun was a he who was a component of a greater being?
So many questions birthed by just that one phrase, so much danger present in just the implications of what has been communicated here.
It's a damn good thing we didn't bring any mortals along!
Come on, where's your sense of adventure? I'm sure Harry would have loved to hear the secrets of beings reigned in dreadful majesty before the world was round and spinning. It would have made his nightmares so much richer and more varied.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
[X] It is very unlikely those named or other instances of the infiltrators would know about the name, though they might know you suspect the general shape of the plot
-[X] Although of potentially much less import than Nemesis infection among the upper echelons of Mab's Court, the involvement of a Naagloshii in the Chicago area that seems to have a vested interest in one of the intelligence sources we used to gather the information we just shared, might also be of interest.
-[X] Although of potentially much less import than Nemesis infection among the upper echelons of Mab's Court, the involvement of a Naagloshii in the Chicago area that seems to have a vested interest in one of the intelligence sources we used to gather the information we just shared, might also be of interest.
My crackpot off the cuff theory is that our* original thought that the name was basically coincidence.
Now I'm tempted to think that with the wyld changed or cut off the they're actually "biologically" related as well. To stay in reality they needed to feed on mortal passions and take on masks in line with reality. Maybe over the ages they drank so deep they stopped being masks at all.
* or at least my
The constraint thing is true, but it's also generally being constrained to doing a job, and it doesn't have to be a passive one. Think like the Angel of death that came to protect Shiro's soul.
It's not necessarily impossible to have an entity that could be solely constrained to a task like this purely on the basis of the fundamental setting rules, though something else is obviously blocking them.
As to Heaven and Hell specifically; that's a political conflict. The fallen don't want the outsiders around any more than the upright ones do. They only counter each other to advance their agendas, and both think too long term to take a risk like meddling with the security at the gates.
Would they be completely lost and having no idea what we're talking about, or would they have…
?Come on, where's your sense of adventure? I'm sure Harry would have loved to hear the secrets of beings reigned in dreadful majesty before the world was round and spinning. It would have made his nightmares so much richer and more varied.
*Harry has a breakdown and discuss it with Bob*
*Bob basically answer with: meh, seems about right*
*Harry dresden.exe has ceased functioning, do you want to reboot? Y/N*