Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
We did spend essence on this scene, so it'd probably be a good idea to milk it for all that we can.
Not sure we actually care about how he knows those names though, he's clearly got people spying on us. Sharing that fact was the point of dropping those names in the first place, so pressing him to admit he had a minion take some pictures and then go snooping in the family records or whatever doesn't benefit us much.
Unless the point is to do so in a way that makes him look worse, but this is pretty standard fare for a vamp like him so it'd be a tough sell.
I guess we could try that angle, and subtly mock him for making a play as corny as revealing that he knew who our minions are.
[X] Try to push, find out where he knows the name of your vampires from
-[X] [Stunt]: With something almost playful leaking into her eyes Molly replies "Well if we're sharing idle speculation, then perhaps she just didn't feel the need to be so blunt about it".
-[X] Something in her tone shifts, just the right mix of not-quite-condescension and amusement to come off like she wanted to reach out and ruffle his hair "It was a cute little ice breaker, but I hope you don't mind me saying your technique could use some work".
Maximum mean girl energy.
Not sure we actually care about how he knows those names though, he's clearly got people spying on us. Sharing that fact was the point of dropping those names in the first place, so pressing him to admit he had a minion take some pictures and then go snooping in the family records or whatever doesn't benefit us much.
Unless the point is to do so in a way that makes him look worse, but this is pretty standard fare for a vamp like him so it'd be a tough sell.
I guess we could try that angle, and subtly mock him for making a play as corny as revealing that he knew who our minions are.
[X] Try to push, find out where he knows the name of your vampires from
-[X] [Stunt]: With something almost playful leaking into her eyes Molly replies "Well if we're sharing idle speculation, then perhaps she just didn't feel the need to be so blunt about it".
-[X] Something in her tone shifts, just the right mix of not-quite-condescension and amusement to come off like she wanted to reach out and ruffle his hair "It was a cute little ice breaker, but I hope you don't mind me saying your technique could use some work".
Maximum mean girl energy.
Oh, I thought it was something like the jade's whole deal. Sounds like it's closer to the VtM paths of enlightenment though, in the sense that he's replacing his virtues and adopting a new morality.
COMMENTARY
-Okay, so he showed his hand with respect to the fact that his House has been surveilling us
But he didnt even try to socially engage.
Coupled with his low social dicepool, it seems evident that he just wanted to get a close look at Molly.
This appears to be corroborated by his completely ignoring Lydia, who is an occult bigshot in her own right, and one of particular relevance to someone who probably has ghosts with bad memories of him around.
Given all the bonuses we were rocking there, he should be an open book.
-He asked Molly if she was an angel. While staring at her.
I suspect that wasnt entirely in jest.
Especially if he has Auspex.
-*checks aura colours*
Red is lust.
Green is distrust and envy and obsession, depending on the shade.
Gold is spiritual.
Molly might be right about his being attracted, but definitely wrong about what he's attracted to and lusting after.
Not all lust is sexual. Lust for power is entirely valid.
-I didnt realise that people could defend against Hellscry Chakra
Is that a Discipline? Or are we looking at something else?
Now Im curious; curious enough to burn Essence.
-Point of order:
Hellscry Chakra rolls at DC 6. With All Things Betray and Demonic Primacy up, we should have had a -5DC buff.
Which would have changed our Hellscry roll from 11 successes to 12 successes.
Which would mean that even after the Discipline, we would still get 5 successes IE Legendary.
Instead of 4, which is just very good.
-Vittorio rolls Charisma ? + Etiquette ? + Specialty 2 = 6.
Which puts his Charisma + Etiquette at 4 dice. Normal for a mortal, low for a Whamp, and establishes him as not a social sort.
Which confirms that he wasnt here for social reasons, but rather to get a close look at Molly with occult senses.
Wonder what he saw.
You do not get DPE against Vitto for some reason.
@DragonParadox
QUESTION
1) Can we assume that we have at least one cyberdevil(in our phone or our earset, as well as the car) that is positioned to get a look at the faces of everyone we see here?
2) Are Vittorio Malvora's shoes a relevant focus for a Crown question about his secrets?
What of his watch? His suit?
I dont want to burn the man himself.
Okay, Occult Excellency + Crown Question for another look at him.
QUESTION
1) Can we assume that we have at least one cyberdevil(in our phone or our earset, as well as the car) that is positioned to get a look at the faces of everyone we see here?
2) Are Vittorio Malvora's shoes a relevant focus for a Crown question about his secrets?
What of his watch? His suit?
I dont want to burn the man himself.
Wait what?
Okay, Occult Excellency + Crown Question for another look at him.
So, I see how it is: Vittorio obviously reached Golconda through spiritual enlightenment!
- You guys did not work on spy-cameras so no in this case, not unless you take out your phone
- His clothes and accountants will get you one extra question
- To be fair neither is Lara, maybe their high nobility is above the threshold... or maybe its creepier than that (
)
We do have some murder to do tonight, so we should be a little more stingy with the essence.
I don't think MiM will give us essence for vampire souls, so we don't have easy regen available.
1)Ugh. Pity. Something to work on.
- You guys did not work on spy-cameras so no in this case, not unless you take out your phone
- His clothes and accountants will get you one extra question
- To be fair neither is Lara, maybe their high nobility is above the threshold... or maybe its creepier than that (
2) Excellent.
Burn an Occult Excellency for a second look at his aura in an attempt to burn through the shielding, then ask a question using his clothes about what secrets he's hiding.
If we turn up a relevant secret, it replenishes us for +2 Essence.
3) But Thomas isnt, and pound for pound he's one of the deadliest Whamps in the White Court.
Not Lord Raith in his prime, who was alleged to be able to rip the life out of people at a distance in combat time just like Kueijin elders, but enough to almost manage to assassinate Etri, sovereign of the svartalfar.
Maybe its age, but I dont get the impression that Vito is much older than Thomas is. So Im hearing alarm bells here.
I mean, looking back, Leinth was subject to Demonic Primacy, and he's like an elder from the time of Rome.
I think we will be able to restore at least one mote through our Urge, if we manage to gleam the secret of their sudden enlightenment.
We've burned 1 Essence, and so we're currently on 14/15 Essence.
[14 - (Occult Excellency 1 + Crown Question 1) ] + Crown Question Occult Secret 2 = 14/15 Essence
- Location
- Germany
I think he wasn't?
Keep in mind that will put you within a single mote of anima flaring, which may come with its own social consequences (your anima is made of flaming eyes, it is not subtle).
He was. This was Molly rolling Intimidation
DPE is misspelled as DCE, but its there.
Dude just had a 2DC buff from something, whether a Discipline or an intimacy.
Yeah.
Worth it; this is important.
If we just had an Outsider come up to take a close look at us, I think we really wanna know.
Yeah, but we only get motes back for supernatural secrets and the most critical information we want from this would be related to what he's doing not his powers.
There's also the possibility that it's a purely spiritual thing in a religious sense. He's a fanatic/true believer for something right down to his soul.
Important but not time critical in the sense of this immediate event. Especially since we might end up killing this guy tonight anyway.
We can investigate more later based on this encounter, but being one mote from anima flare for something that either won't matter till after or will be rendered moot by the time this event is over isn't a good idea.
The Urge restores 2 motes not 1.
1)His name is not on the list of seven or nine vampires and ghouls that we have for the serial murder campaign pointed at human magical talents. We have no current specific IC reason to worry about him as a threat
Thats why Im advocating we take a second look and damn the costs.
2) This is time critical.
This guy dropped an invasion force of around a hundred uberghouls and a human archmage on a similar meeting in White Night
Furthermore, if he is being ridden by an Outsider, he has potential access to Outsider attacks like he did in canon.
Neither Molly nor Lydia has any anti-shaping other than her native countermagic, and all the mortals we can see here dont even have that. If there's the potential for shit to go south from this avenue, we need
3)Neither Mab nor Maeve were able to hide their auras from Hellscry Chakra.
That a young Whampire is able to do so when the Queen of Winter was unable to do so is the sort of anomaly that should....focus attention and minds.
The scary hypothesis is that he has something that is actually able to either remove, or partially remove his status as a Creature of Darkness. Not make him powerful enough to resist DPE, but outright move him to the border of CoD status, where some of the effects start to lose effect.
And the revelation thing... The dude might have True Faith. Which generates strange effects.
Anyway, @uju32 are you up for making a vote? I agree that we should immediately look into the dude. For one more reason than was mentioned here: the guy has an effective defense against our sensory charms. If he's a test case for such measures, trialed by outsiders, we can't let them believe that they are effective, because they are. So, we need to show that they aren't, and are, in fact, counter-productive.
I don't have time to make a detailed vote right now, sorry.
Given as Hellscry Chakra worked, he either is still a CoD, or is under the influence of something that is.
I suspect that we're looking at the result of an Investment, from either an Outsider or a Yama King-tier entity. Kinda like how Lord Raith has an Outsider Investment that protects him from mortal magic.
In canon he was the apprentice/minion of the archmage Cowl. And thats in addition to being possessed by an Outsider.
Either would be enough to account for spiritual revelation.
I wrote a draft early in the morning.
I was just stalled on the stunt and had to go handle other things. This is my working draft:
[]Plan Double Take
-[]Take another look at his aura
-[]Impervious Primacy Mantle
-[]Occult Excellency
-[]Crown Focus: Suit and accouterments:
-[]STUNT:
Its incomplete, as you can see.
- Location
- Germany
Maybe they just didn't have the right powers active?
Vampires for example habe Soul Mask at Obfuscate 6, to specifically defend against having their Aura read.
No idea if Fey have an equivalent, or if it has to be specifically activated at a cost, or is passive.
- Location
- Germany
It's always for the scene, which depends entirely on the storyteller.
You could count the entire party as a scene, or split it in the parts before Lara announces the slaughter to come and the parts before.
This is what I am going for, a two scene party.
If we don't know he's a threat IC why would Molly go full damn the torpedoes to snoop on him right this second? She is after all aware of her own essence economy rules.
A similar meeting only in the broad strokes. He doesn't know what we know. It's also possible that he isn't involved yet here, because we got that list from the crown. If he was involved we should know about it.
This whole plot is very different from the books after all. In the DF it had already been running for some time in multiple cities before it made it to Chicago, and the whamps knew what Dresden was going for before he even showed up at the Raith's party.
More importantly, unless you ask a question formulated entirely on meta gaming we won't get information that actually applies here.
Even if it is time sensitive, which we don't have actual evidence for in the AU, we can't articulate how in a way that makes sense.The time critical bit is also barely related to the occult excellency expense in any case.
Maeve was occupied and Mab distracted. She was also very obviously focusing on putting on a show.
Not being able to use stealth powers while operating at show off levels of strength is a pretty common limitation across power levels. Even exalts have that issue with flaring while under most charm based stealth effects.