Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
[X] Come as what you are, a Prince of Malfeas, a Champion of the Green Sun. A Sovereign from Before. You are here to receive a peace-offering from Lara, so that those that infringed on your domain and hunted undue targets may be swiftly dealt with to the satisfaction of both parties.
A queen and a ruler, we have been told to start acting like a God Empress for the kingdom charm anyway. Also we ping as a lord of hell just passively anyway to those that can look properly.
A queen and a ruler, we have been told to start acting like a God Empress for the kingdom charm anyway. Also we ping as a lord of hell just passively anyway to those that can look properly.
FriedIce
The Authentic Fake
- Location
- Hyperreality
[X] Come as what you are, a Prince of Malfeas, a Champion of the Green Sun. A Sovereign from Before. You are here to receive a peace-offering from Lara, so that those that infringed on your domain and hunted undue targets may be swiftly dealt with to the satisfaction of both parties.
Anima flare go.
Anima flare go.
- Location
- Germany
[X] Come as what you are, a Prince of Malfeas, a Champion of the Green Sun. A Sovereign from Before. You are here to receive a peace-offering from Lara, so that those that infringed on your domain and hunted undue targets may be swiftly dealt with to the satisfaction of both parties.
Kay.
A bit strong start maybe, but we have the strenght to back it up.
Kay.
A bit strong start maybe, but we have the strenght to back it up.
[X] Go meet some interesting people, there will be time enough to pay back the conspirators when Lara gives the signal
We have no idea what Malfeas is, and the only reference to Green Sun we have is from Mab, which was distorted enough to make us believe we were it.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
If we come on too strong from the start, we're going to miss out on observing a lot of White Court power dynamics; how they treat one another, how they treat their supposed betters or lesser, etc., how grudges and erstwhile alliances are handled, and so on.
Not that I don't see the allure of just kicking over the anthill, but there is a time for subtlety and patience, and that's now. Instead of walking into the room swinging our huge nuclear hatefire dick around like we own the place, why don't we at least start off lowkey?
[X] Go meet some interesting people, there will be time enough to pay back the conspirators when Lara gives the signal
Not that I don't see the allure of just kicking over the anthill, but there is a time for subtlety and patience, and that's now. Instead of walking into the room swinging our huge nuclear hatefire dick around like we own the place, why don't we at least start off lowkey?
[X] Go meet some interesting people, there will be time enough to pay back the conspirators when Lara gives the signal
Modus_Tollens
SCREAMING AT THE APOCALYPSE
- Location
- ALSO SCREAMING.
I think the intent of that write-in is symbolic. Not actually invoking Malfeas and its mandate but just... coming as a monster rather than a maiden. Where we normally try to dull the fact that we are a too-perfect effigy of a woman, trying to pass as the old Molly, here we just embrace that we are this beautiful but eldritch thing that wears a dress the way a house fire wears a house.
Our wine glass becomes decorated with frost ferns as we drink. Lady Raith has made some fine friends.
It has its advantages and I admit to wanting to see where it goes but it might compromise our actual goal of brutally murdering some dudes.
Last edited:
- Location
- washington
From a doylist view dp will only write so much anyways though. So we can only observe small parts.
Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
[X] Come as what you are, a Prince of Malfeas, a Champion of the Green Sun. A Sovereign from Before. You are here to receive a peace-offering from Lara, so that those that infringed on your domain and hunted undue targets may be swiftly dealt with to the satisfaction of both parties.
- Pronouns
- ImBuda
[X] Come as what you are, a Prince of Malfeas, a Champion of the Green Sun. A Sovereign from Before. You are here to receive a peace-offering from Lara, so that those that infringed on your domain and hunted undue targets may be swiftly dealt with to the satisfaction of both parties.
[X] Go meet some interesting people, there will be time enough to pay back the conspirators when Lara gives the signal
I see the point you are trying to make. I just dont agree.
Even for Christian fanatics, deliberate terminal self-harm is one of the items beyond the pale.
Death as the result of fasting or other forms of mortification of the flesh yes. Death as the side effect of another action yes, even something like a suicide bombing. Murder hell yes.
Suicide however is a direct repudiation of some of the most obvious tenets of Christianity.
It would be easier and simpler to avoid Christian iconography altogether in making a cult than to attempt to two-step suicide into putatively Christian ideology. Hence my going "this guy has been mindfucked".
It really isnt.
Even if we were in charge, we do not have any sort of power that will stop Whampires en masse going out to eat people.
MiS makes things easier for whampires who have control issues; those who dont, or value their freedom over the risk to the lives of mortal humans wont actually care.
We have to make it worth their while to not do so, much the same as Lara would. And that doesnt get easier by couping their govt.
This is the White Court, not the Winter Court, or even the Red Court.
The king does not have magical coercion powers. Whampires follow their leaders because its in their interests and they make a good argument, with any coercion being largely mundane; being boss does not translate to any magical control over the members.
Whampires can betray their leaders; Lara and Thomas did this to Lord Raith, Madrigal and Madeline did this to Lara.
They can repudiate them and walk away; the renegade Whites in Undertown did it, Connie Barrowhill did it to her father Charles, and they arent the only unaffiliated Whites out there according to the RPG.
Even as an Exalt, our authority over Whamps extends only as far as we can talk; we're not an Eclipse that can enforce binding oaths.
Furthermore, the other sides have agency.
We dont have the power to compel Lara into becoming a vassal again after several hundred years of service to her father.
Nor do we have the power to compel her subjects to remain loyal if she did so in the first place.
And I doubt we are interested in fighting a war to do so knowing what it would entail, or to deal with the aftermath of such a conflict; killing people's relatives doesnt make them all that much more inclined to be loyal to you.
Or even to assume that all the other supernatural players will remain passive while we do so.
All you'll achieve with such a power grab is shattering the White Court, and driving factions into the arms of other political players, and some knives at our back. And creating a power vacuum for others to fill.
Not to mention that it would be expanding our threat surface at the same time we're pulling aggro from both Nemesis and the lords of Yomi Wan. Nevermind the Denarians.
As a proposal, its just an all-round terrible idea.
COMMENTARY
Ah Bella. One of a very few Whites who get to talk to Harry under non-hostile conditions.
Come to think of it, she's never actually seen Molly's murderface, has she? Let alone Harry's. Never been kidnapped or threatened, with the closest she's come to personal danger being her first meeting with Molly.
In a lot of ways she's the most privileged person here.
Poor Charity. I have to say she's come a long way in five months, from .But she's seeing her barely-adult daughter go to war with just a teenager as backup at the same time her husband is away on another mission which still has the potential(small, but present) to go south very fast. And this is the fourth or fifth time in five months.
Speaking of Charity, we should probably see if we can get a couple dogs for the Carpenter household at Christmas as combination household pets, security and occult tripwire. We have three siblings under 10, and five under 15; they'll love them.
Same for Rosie, actually.
Lol Daniel; I can see why he felt obliged to make the offer, but I cant see him realistically expecting to get permission.
Then again, its worth recalling that he was the only kid present when Molly was kidnapped by Fetches, as Charity moved the rest to the panic room, and actually got his ass beat by a Fetch when he tried to intervene, and had to flee
Oh, God.
The thumbtacks in my belly became razor blades. If I'd hurt them… I didn't know what I would do.
"Harry!" Thomas called from outside. "Harry, come here!"
His voice was tense, excited. I went out the kitchen door to the backyard, and found Thomas climbing down from a tree house only a little nicer than my apartment, built up in the branches of the old oak tree behind the Carpenters' house. He had a still form draped over his shoulder.
I drew out my amulet and called wizard light as Thomas laid the oldest son, Daniel, out on the grass in the backyard. He was breathing, but looked pale. He was wearing flannel pajama pants and a white T-shirt soaked with blood. There was a cut on his arm; not too deep, but very messy. He had bruises on his face, on one arm, and the knuckles on both his hands were torn and ragged.
Michael's son had been throwing punches. It hadn't done him any good, but he'd fought.
"Coat," I said, terse. "He's cold."
Thomas immediately took off my duster and draped it over the boy. I propped his feet up on my backpack. "Stay here," I told him. I went in the house, fetched a glass of water, and brought it out. I knelt down and tried to wake the boy up, to get him to drink a little. He coughed a little, then drank, and blinked open his eyes. He couldn't focus them.
"Daniel," I said quietly. "Daniel, it's Harry Dresden."
"D-dresden?" he said.
"Yeah. Your dad's friend. Harry."
"Harry," he said. Then his eyes flew open wide and he struggled to sit up. "Molly!"
"Easy, easy," I told him. "You're hurt. We don't know how bad yet. Lie still."
"Can't," he mumbled. "They took her. We were… is Mom okay? Are the little ones okay?"
I chewed on my lip. "I don't know. Do you know where they are?"
He blinked several times and then he said, "Panic room."
I frowned. "What?"
"S-second floor. Safe room. Dad built it. Just in case."
I traded a look with Thomas. "Where is it?"
Daniel waved a vague hand. "Mom had the little ones upstairs. Molly and me couldn't get to the stairs. They were there. We tried to lead them away."
"Who, Daniel? They who?"
"The movie monsters. Reaper. Hammerhand." He shuddered. "Scarecrow."
The thumbtacks in my belly became razor blades. If I'd hurt them… I didn't know what I would do.
"Harry!" Thomas called from outside. "Harry, come here!"
His voice was tense, excited. I went out the kitchen door to the backyard, and found Thomas climbing down from a tree house only a little nicer than my apartment, built up in the branches of the old oak tree behind the Carpenters' house. He had a still form draped over his shoulder.
I drew out my amulet and called wizard light as Thomas laid the oldest son, Daniel, out on the grass in the backyard. He was breathing, but looked pale. He was wearing flannel pajama pants and a white T-shirt soaked with blood. There was a cut on his arm; not too deep, but very messy. He had bruises on his face, on one arm, and the knuckles on both his hands were torn and ragged.
Michael's son had been throwing punches. It hadn't done him any good, but he'd fought.
"Coat," I said, terse. "He's cold."
Thomas immediately took off my duster and draped it over the boy. I propped his feet up on my backpack. "Stay here," I told him. I went in the house, fetched a glass of water, and brought it out. I knelt down and tried to wake the boy up, to get him to drink a little. He coughed a little, then drank, and blinked open his eyes. He couldn't focus them.
"Daniel," I said quietly. "Daniel, it's Harry Dresden."
"D-dresden?" he said.
"Yeah. Your dad's friend. Harry."
"Harry," he said. Then his eyes flew open wide and he struggled to sit up. "Molly!"
"Easy, easy," I told him. "You're hurt. We don't know how bad yet. Lie still."
"Can't," he mumbled. "They took her. We were… is Mom okay? Are the little ones okay?"
I chewed on my lip. "I don't know. Do you know where they are?"
He blinked several times and then he said, "Panic room."
I frowned. "What?"
"S-second floor. Safe room. Dad built it. Just in case."
I traded a look with Thomas. "Where is it?"
Daniel waved a vague hand. "Mom had the little ones upstairs. Molly and me couldn't get to the stairs. They were there. We tried to lead them away."
"Who, Daniel? They who?"
"The movie monsters. Reaper. Hammerhand." He shuddered. "Scarecrow."
Chapter Thirty-one
We listened to Daniel's recounting of the attack. It was simple enough. He'd heard Molly moving around downstairs and had come down to talk to his sister. There had been a knock at the door. Molly had gone to answer it. There had been an exchange of words, and then Molly had screamed and slammed the door."She came running into the living room," Daniel said. "And they broke down the door behind her and came in." He shivered. "They were going upstairs and Molly said we had to distract them, so I grabbed the poker from the fireplace and just sort of jumped them." He shook his head. "I thought they were just costumes. You know. Like… really stupid burglars or something. But the Reaper grabbed me. And he was going to… you know. Cut me with that curved knife." He gestured vaguely at his wounded arm. "Molly hit him and he dropped me."
"With what?" I asked him.
He shook his head. His thin, awkward, adolescent features were hollow with pain, weariness, and a kind of lingering disbelief. His words were all slightly stiff, wooden, as if reporting events in an unappealing motion picture, rather than actual experiences. "I couldn't see. I think she must have had a bat or something. He dropped me."
"Then what?" I asked him.
He swallowed. "I fell, and bumped my head on the floor. And they grabbed her. The Reaper and the Scarecrow. And they carried her out the door. She was screaming…" He bit his lip. "I tried to stop them, but Hammerhand chased me. So I ran out the back and up into the tree house, cause I figured, you know. He doesn't have any hands. Just hammers. So how's he going to climb up after me?"
He looked to Charity and said, shame in his voice, "I'm sorry, Mom. I wanted to stop them. They were just… too big." Tears welled up in his eyes and his thin chest heaved. Charity caught him in a fierce hug, squeezing him hard and whispering to him. Daniel broke down, sobbing.
I got up and walked to the far side of the room. Forthill joined me there.
"These creatures," I told him quietly, "inflict more than simple physical damage. They rip into the psyches of those they attack."
"This happened to Daniel?" Forthill asked.
"I'd have to take a closer look to be certain, but it's probable. Kid's gonna have it tough for a while," I said. "It's like emotional trauma. Someone dying, that kind of thing. It tears people up the same way. They don't get over it fast."
He knows what isnt being said.
Lord Skavis and Lady Malvora both knew what their heirs were doing in canon.
- Location
- Germany
Eh, I disagree on several counts.
Most Vampires enjoy their current lifestyle and going from part of a big organisation to being a lone predator ( and not a strong one for most of the regular Whamps) is a severe decrease in safety and privilege.
They can much easier fall victim to Formor, Fey, Warlocks, etc. on the supernatural side and to police or people going after their finances in mundane matters, without backup.
And even if the WC does break apart I still maintain that it would be a good thing compared to leaving it unchecked.
All in all I don't think too many will walk away and for betrayal, we have the tools to survive and deal with that, already. And much more so with a Hell behind us.
^^^
Incidentally?
Its worth noting that, according to Lara at least, House Raith if not all Whampires can identify sexual virgins on meeting them.
She did this to Carlos Ramirez in Turn Coat
Beside me, Ramirez swallowed. I knew only because I could hear it. When Lara makes an entrance, no one looks away.
She wore a white silk business suit, its skirt less than an inch too short to be considered dignified business wear, the heels of her white shoes just a tiny bit too high for propriety. It made it difficult not to stare at her legs. A lot of women with her coloring couldn't pull off a white outfit, but Lara made it look like a goddess's toga.
She knew the effect she had when we looked at her, and her mouth curled into a satisfied little smile. She walked toward us slowly, one leg crossing the other at a deliberate pace, hips shifting slightly. The motion was… awfully pretty. Sheer, sensual femininity gathered around her in a silent, unseen thundercloud, so thick that it could drown a man if he wasn't careful.
After all, she had drowned her father in it, hadn't she.
All is not gold that glitters, and how well I knew it. As delicious as she looked, as pants-rendingly gorgeously as she moved, she was capital-D Dangerous. More, she was a vampire, a predator, one who fed on human beings to continue her very existence. Despite our past cooperation, I was still human, and she was still something that ate humans. If I acted like food, there would be an enormous part of her that wouldn't care about politics or advantage. It would just want to eat me.
So I did my best to look bored as she approached and offered me her hand, palm down.
I took her cold (smooth, pretty, deliciously soft—dammit, Harry, ignore your penis before it gets you killed!) fingers in mine, bent over them in a little formal bow, and released them without kissing her hand. If I had, I wasn't sure I wouldn't take a few nibbles, just to test out the texture as long as I was there.
As I rose, she met my eyes for a dangerous second and said, "Sure you don't want a taste, Harry?"
A surge of raw lust that was—probably—not my own flickered through my body. I smiled at her, gave her a little bow of my head, and made a small effort of will. The runes and sigils on my staff erupted into smoldering orange Hellfire. "Be polite, Lara. It would be a shame to get cinders and ashes all over those shoes."
She tilted her head back and let out a bubbling, throaty laugh, then touched the side of my face with one hand. "Subtle, as always," she replied. She lowered her hand and ran her fingertips over the odd grey material of my Warden's cloak. "You've developed… an eclectic taste in fashion."
"It's the same color," I said, "on both sides."
"Ah," Lara said, and inclined her head slightly to me. "I'd hardly respect you otherwise, I suppose. Still, should you ever desire a new wardrobe…" She touched the fabric of my shirt lightly. "You would look marvelous in white silk."
"Said the spider to the fly," I replied. "Forget it."
She smiled again, batted her lashes at me while my heart skipped a beat, and then slid on to Ramirez. She offered him her hand. "You must be Warden Ramirez."
This is the part where I got nervous. Ramirez loved women. Ramirez never shut up about women. Well, he never shut up about anything in general, but he'd go on and on about various conquests and feats of sexual athleticism and—
"A virgin?" Lara blurted. Lara blurted. She turned her head to me, grey eyes several shades paler than they had been, and very wide. "Really, Harry, I'm not sure what to say. Is he a present?"
I folded my arms and regarded Lara steadily, but said nothing. This was Ramirez's moment to make a first impression, and if he didn't do it on his own, Lara would regard him as someone who couldn't protect himself. It would probably mark him as a target.
Lara turned to walk a slow circle around Ramirez, inspecting him the way you might a flashy new sports car. She was of a height with him, but taller in the heels, and there was nothing but a languidly sensual confidence in the way she moved. "A handsome young bantam," she murmured. She trailed a finger across the line of his shoulders as she moved behind him. "Strong. Young. A hero of the White Council, I've heard." She paused to touch a fingertip to the back of his hand, and then shuddered. "And power, too." Her eyes went a few shades brighter as she completed the tour. "My goodness. I've recently fed, and still … Perhaps you'd care to ride with me back to the estate, and let Dresden walk. I promise to entertain you until he arrives."
I knew the look on Ramirez's face. It was the look of a young man who wants nothing so badly as to discard the complex things in life, like civilization, social mores, clothing, and speech, and see what happened next.
Lara knew it, too. Her eyes glittered brightly, and her smile was serpentine, and she pressed closer.
But Ramirez apparently knew about glittery gold, too. I didn't know he'd hidden a knife up his sleeve, but it appeared in his hand an instant before its tip pressed into the bottom of Lara's throat.
"I," he said very quietly, "am not food." And he met her eyes.
I hadn't seen a soulgaze from the outside before. It surprised me, how simple and brief it looked, when one wasn't being shaken to the core by it. Both of them stared, eyes widening, and then shuddered. Lara took a small step back from Ramirez, her breathing slightly quickened. I noticed, because I'm a professional investigator. She could have been concealing a weapon in that decolletage.
"If you meant to dissuade me," Lara said a moment later, "you haven't."
"Not you," Ramirez replied, lowering the knife. His voice was rough. "It wasn't to dissuade you."
"Wise," she murmured, "for one so young. I advise you, young wizard, not to hesitate so long to act, should another approach you as I did. A virgin is… extremely attractive to our kind. One such as you is rare, these days. Give a less restrained member of the court an opportunity as you did me, and they'll throw themselves on you in dozens—which would reflect poorly on me."
She turned back to me and said, "Wizards, you have my pledge of safe conduct."
I inclined my head to her and said, "Thank you."
"Then I will await your company in the car."
I nodded my head to her, and Lara walked back to her bodyguard, who looked like he was fighting off a fit of apoplexy.
I turned and eyed Ramirez.
He turned bright red.
"Virgin?" I asked him.
He turned more red.
"Carlos?" I asked.
"She's lying," he snapped. "She's evil. She's really evil. And lying."
I rubbed at my mouth to keep anyone from seeing me grin.
Hey. On nights like this, you take your laughs where you can get them.
"Okay," I said. "Not important."
"The hell it isn't!" he spat. "She's lying! I mean, I'm not… I'm…"
I nudged him with an elbow. "Focus, Galahad. We've got a job to do."
He exhaled with a growl. "Right."
"You saw what was inside her?" I asked.
He shuddered. "That pale thing. Her eyes… she was getting more turned on, and they kept looking more like its eyes."
"Yep," I said. "It's a tip-off to how close they are to starting to take a bite of you. You handled it right."
"You think so?"
I couldn't resist jibing him, just a little. "Just think. If you'd messed it up," I said, as Lara slid into the car one long, perfect leg at a time, "you'd be in the limo with Lara ripping your clothes off right now."
Ramirez looked at the car and swallowed. "Um. Yeah. Close one."
"I've met several of the White Court," I said. "Lara's probably the smartest. She's the most civilized, progressive, adaptable. She's definitely the most dangerous."
"She didn't look that tough," Ramirez said, but he was frowning in thought as he said it.
"She's dangerous in a different way than most," I said. "But I think her word is good."
"It is," Ramirez said firmly. "I saw that much."
"It's one of the things that makes her dangerous," I said, and headed for the limo. "Stay cool."
We walked over and I leaned down to see Lara in the back of the limo, seated on one of the dogcart-style seats, all poise and beauty and gorgeous grey eyes. She smiled at me as I looked in, and crooked a finger.
"Step into my limo," said the spider to the fly.
And we did.
She wore a white silk business suit, its skirt less than an inch too short to be considered dignified business wear, the heels of her white shoes just a tiny bit too high for propriety. It made it difficult not to stare at her legs. A lot of women with her coloring couldn't pull off a white outfit, but Lara made it look like a goddess's toga.
She knew the effect she had when we looked at her, and her mouth curled into a satisfied little smile. She walked toward us slowly, one leg crossing the other at a deliberate pace, hips shifting slightly. The motion was… awfully pretty. Sheer, sensual femininity gathered around her in a silent, unseen thundercloud, so thick that it could drown a man if he wasn't careful.
After all, she had drowned her father in it, hadn't she.
All is not gold that glitters, and how well I knew it. As delicious as she looked, as pants-rendingly gorgeously as she moved, she was capital-D Dangerous. More, she was a vampire, a predator, one who fed on human beings to continue her very existence. Despite our past cooperation, I was still human, and she was still something that ate humans. If I acted like food, there would be an enormous part of her that wouldn't care about politics or advantage. It would just want to eat me.
So I did my best to look bored as she approached and offered me her hand, palm down.
I took her cold (smooth, pretty, deliciously soft—dammit, Harry, ignore your penis before it gets you killed!) fingers in mine, bent over them in a little formal bow, and released them without kissing her hand. If I had, I wasn't sure I wouldn't take a few nibbles, just to test out the texture as long as I was there.
As I rose, she met my eyes for a dangerous second and said, "Sure you don't want a taste, Harry?"
A surge of raw lust that was—probably—not my own flickered through my body. I smiled at her, gave her a little bow of my head, and made a small effort of will. The runes and sigils on my staff erupted into smoldering orange Hellfire. "Be polite, Lara. It would be a shame to get cinders and ashes all over those shoes."
She tilted her head back and let out a bubbling, throaty laugh, then touched the side of my face with one hand. "Subtle, as always," she replied. She lowered her hand and ran her fingertips over the odd grey material of my Warden's cloak. "You've developed… an eclectic taste in fashion."
"It's the same color," I said, "on both sides."
"Ah," Lara said, and inclined her head slightly to me. "I'd hardly respect you otherwise, I suppose. Still, should you ever desire a new wardrobe…" She touched the fabric of my shirt lightly. "You would look marvelous in white silk."
"Said the spider to the fly," I replied. "Forget it."
She smiled again, batted her lashes at me while my heart skipped a beat, and then slid on to Ramirez. She offered him her hand. "You must be Warden Ramirez."
This is the part where I got nervous. Ramirez loved women. Ramirez never shut up about women. Well, he never shut up about anything in general, but he'd go on and on about various conquests and feats of sexual athleticism and—
"A virgin?" Lara blurted. Lara blurted. She turned her head to me, grey eyes several shades paler than they had been, and very wide. "Really, Harry, I'm not sure what to say. Is he a present?"
I folded my arms and regarded Lara steadily, but said nothing. This was Ramirez's moment to make a first impression, and if he didn't do it on his own, Lara would regard him as someone who couldn't protect himself. It would probably mark him as a target.
Lara turned to walk a slow circle around Ramirez, inspecting him the way you might a flashy new sports car. She was of a height with him, but taller in the heels, and there was nothing but a languidly sensual confidence in the way she moved. "A handsome young bantam," she murmured. She trailed a finger across the line of his shoulders as she moved behind him. "Strong. Young. A hero of the White Council, I've heard." She paused to touch a fingertip to the back of his hand, and then shuddered. "And power, too." Her eyes went a few shades brighter as she completed the tour. "My goodness. I've recently fed, and still … Perhaps you'd care to ride with me back to the estate, and let Dresden walk. I promise to entertain you until he arrives."
I knew the look on Ramirez's face. It was the look of a young man who wants nothing so badly as to discard the complex things in life, like civilization, social mores, clothing, and speech, and see what happened next.
Lara knew it, too. Her eyes glittered brightly, and her smile was serpentine, and she pressed closer.
But Ramirez apparently knew about glittery gold, too. I didn't know he'd hidden a knife up his sleeve, but it appeared in his hand an instant before its tip pressed into the bottom of Lara's throat.
"I," he said very quietly, "am not food." And he met her eyes.
I hadn't seen a soulgaze from the outside before. It surprised me, how simple and brief it looked, when one wasn't being shaken to the core by it. Both of them stared, eyes widening, and then shuddered. Lara took a small step back from Ramirez, her breathing slightly quickened. I noticed, because I'm a professional investigator. She could have been concealing a weapon in that decolletage.
"If you meant to dissuade me," Lara said a moment later, "you haven't."
"Not you," Ramirez replied, lowering the knife. His voice was rough. "It wasn't to dissuade you."
"Wise," she murmured, "for one so young. I advise you, young wizard, not to hesitate so long to act, should another approach you as I did. A virgin is… extremely attractive to our kind. One such as you is rare, these days. Give a less restrained member of the court an opportunity as you did me, and they'll throw themselves on you in dozens—which would reflect poorly on me."
She turned back to me and said, "Wizards, you have my pledge of safe conduct."
I inclined my head to her and said, "Thank you."
"Then I will await your company in the car."
I nodded my head to her, and Lara walked back to her bodyguard, who looked like he was fighting off a fit of apoplexy.
I turned and eyed Ramirez.
He turned bright red.
"Virgin?" I asked him.
He turned more red.
"Carlos?" I asked.
"She's lying," he snapped. "She's evil. She's really evil. And lying."
I rubbed at my mouth to keep anyone from seeing me grin.
Hey. On nights like this, you take your laughs where you can get them.
"Okay," I said. "Not important."
"The hell it isn't!" he spat. "She's lying! I mean, I'm not… I'm…"
I nudged him with an elbow. "Focus, Galahad. We've got a job to do."
He exhaled with a growl. "Right."
"You saw what was inside her?" I asked.
He shuddered. "That pale thing. Her eyes… she was getting more turned on, and they kept looking more like its eyes."
"Yep," I said. "It's a tip-off to how close they are to starting to take a bite of you. You handled it right."
"You think so?"
I couldn't resist jibing him, just a little. "Just think. If you'd messed it up," I said, as Lara slid into the car one long, perfect leg at a time, "you'd be in the limo with Lara ripping your clothes off right now."
Ramirez looked at the car and swallowed. "Um. Yeah. Close one."
"I've met several of the White Court," I said. "Lara's probably the smartest. She's the most civilized, progressive, adaptable. She's definitely the most dangerous."
"She didn't look that tough," Ramirez said, but he was frowning in thought as he said it.
"She's dangerous in a different way than most," I said. "But I think her word is good."
"It is," Ramirez said firmly. "I saw that much."
"It's one of the things that makes her dangerous," I said, and headed for the limo. "Stay cool."
We walked over and I leaned down to see Lara in the back of the limo, seated on one of the dogcart-style seats, all poise and beauty and gorgeous grey eyes. She smiled at me as I looked in, and crooked a finger.
"Step into my limo," said the spider to the fly.
And we did.
But none of the other whamps there have met either Molls or Dia before.
Molly and Lydia both walking in there are going to give all sorts of mixed messages.
VOTE
[X] Go meet some interesting people, there will be time enough to pay back the conspirators when Lara gives the signal
Always leave yourself room to escalate. The other option doesnt do so.
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[X] Come as what you are, a Prince of Malfeas, a Champion of the Green Sun. A Sovereign from Before. You are here to receive a peace-offering from Lara, so that those that infringed on your domain and hunted undue targets may be swiftly dealt with to the satisfaction of both parties.
Shock and awe them, and learn by seeing how they react.
Shock and awe them, and learn by seeing how they react.
[X] Go meet some interesting people, there will be time enough to pay back the conspirators when Lara gives the signal
-[X] Activate IPM with willpower for the opening scene.
-[X] [Stunt]: Briefly Molly considers hiding behind a mask, posing as lost and ignorant, before the idea shatters against a deep well of indignation.
--[X] For a moment she is once more in a strange city beneath a green star, the teeth inside her unseen eyes grinding at the thought of giving these petty monsters another inch after they've taken so many.
--[X] Exiting Black Rider the shadows didn't grow close, the air didn't take a chill, and the light was not even a flicker greener as she passed. She moved with merely mortal grace, at unhurried mortal speeds, and with good but not exceptional teenage posture.
--[X] Despite that, there was an edge to her presence. A weight that drew the eye and demanded recognition with all the tenderness and subtlety of a branding iron.
--[X] Without saying a word Molly's entrance all but screams one message to a room of ancient predators: I am mortal, and you will kneel anyway.
Not sure this is a good idea, but it sort of got stuck in my head because of the context here.
We are representing mortals here, and forcing the thought of "Kine but better than you" down the throats of some vampires sounds delicious.
Independent of that, we should make sure to have our mental defenses up for the opening bit. We've done this song and dance before, reflexive isn't actually the same as already up for some purposes. We want to make a good impression so bouncing the initial probes without a hint of effort would be ideal.
Edit:
To be clear, I don't intend this as a "play at being a hapless mortal" thing. It's just that exalts are still human, that's the point.
So it's more throwing the exalted "contradiction" at them full force. Yes we're human and better than you, what of it?
-[X] Activate IPM with willpower for the opening scene.
-[X] [Stunt]: Briefly Molly considers hiding behind a mask, posing as lost and ignorant, before the idea shatters against a deep well of indignation.
--[X] For a moment she is once more in a strange city beneath a green star, the teeth inside her unseen eyes grinding at the thought of giving these petty monsters another inch after they've taken so many.
--[X] Exiting Black Rider the shadows didn't grow close, the air didn't take a chill, and the light was not even a flicker greener as she passed. She moved with merely mortal grace, at unhurried mortal speeds, and with good but not exceptional teenage posture.
--[X] Despite that, there was an edge to her presence. A weight that drew the eye and demanded recognition with all the tenderness and subtlety of a branding iron.
--[X] Without saying a word Molly's entrance all but screams one message to a room of ancient predators: I am mortal, and you will kneel anyway.
Not sure this is a good idea, but it sort of got stuck in my head because of the context here.
We are representing mortals here, and forcing the thought of "Kine but better than you" down the throats of some vampires sounds delicious.
Independent of that, we should make sure to have our mental defenses up for the opening bit. We've done this song and dance before, reflexive isn't actually the same as already up for some purposes. We want to make a good impression so bouncing the initial probes without a hint of effort would be ideal.
Edit:
To be clear, I don't intend this as a "play at being a hapless mortal" thing. It's just that exalts are still human, that's the point.
So it's more throwing the exalted "contradiction" at them full force. Yes we're human and better than you, what of it?
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-Their current lifestyle involves the ability to feed at will, as long as they are reasonably discreet, and you're proposing changing that anyway. Privilege is easy to acquire when you can charm(and Charm) people.
And like I pointed out, the White Court is not the only game in town. The Fomor wont care how many humans they kill, for example.
The Reds wont either. Nor will any number of otherworldly gribblies they can do deals with for power, from necromancers to darker things; Lord Raith's magic immunity came from Outsiders afaik.
The Whites favor stability. That doesnt mean they cant chaos shit up as much as the Reds.
-No it is not.
The other claimants to fill the power vacuum they would leave are far worse. I much prefer the White Court to the Fomor, for example. Or the Reds. Or the Blacks. Or even the Jade Court. Nevermind any other gribblies we havent seen.
Hell, just pushing a significant faction of the White Court to bend the knee to another Yama King is one potential consequence; if they have to deal with archdevils, they might as well go shopping for deals.
-We have at least one Yama King gunning for our head.
Possibly more. And we have Enemy Denarians 2 as a Background, at the same time we've firmly established Nemesis and the other Walkers as an antagonist. We dont need to expand the avenues by which anatagonists can reasonably presume to attack us.
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We should be fully capable of finding temple dogs (using some favorite toy of Mouse's as a focus) that would be amenable to joining our household. Or other similar divine and semi-divine beings.
[X] Go meet some interesting people, there will be time enough to pay back the conspirators when Lara gives the signal
-[X] Activate IPM with willpower for the opening scene
-[X] Etiquette excellency
1)Temple Dogs are both hella rare and unnecessary.
It says a lot that Ancient Mai was shocked to find Dresden in possession of one during the events of Turn Coat.
Much less hassle to walk down to the local shelter. Or, more likely, consult Abby or Lydia and go to a reputable local breeder.
2)Molly has a Training charm in her charmtree that gives powers to minions, and would literally allow her to make ninja turtles.
And Lydia has a similar charm that affects dogs and gives powers.
If we find it necessary, we can to buff any animals at our leisure if Charity and Michael let us.
3)You are burning resources prematurely with your plan.
Dont do that until you know what the lay of the land is like. I fully expect this to go the same way White Night did in canon, and the bad guys to pull in reinforcements.
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- Location
- washington
so uju any ideas for your hell cause we're getting pretty close to possible access?
