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Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

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[X] The Bridges of the Spirit, continue your training with Brother Divsimar not in the ways of the spirit but the mind, the Bridge of Dreams

Narratively, this seems the better choice.
Furthermore, Molly has had entirely too much going on since the last time she spoke to Brother Dev onscreen. We might want to keep him, and by extension the Shih, in the loop with events around the Infernal Exalt he's tutoring.

Also, it allows us to keep tabs on Chinatown, since the spirit cat's boyfriend is also studying with Brother Dev.


Commentary and replies later if I can make the time.
 
Tsotate said:
We've been spending an awful lot of Willpower lately.
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I was going to vote for Vegas until I read this. I think Molly needs to resupply on willpower before going out the Vegas.

[X] The Bridges of the Spirit, continue your training with Brother Divsimar not in the ways of the spirit but the mind, the Bridge of Dreams
 
Earth-Destroyer said:
Been out of it for the last few days, question Nemesis wants to break the Masquerade, do we try and stop it, or do we preempt its attempt, and break it ourselves.
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Not sure stopping it is possible, but I think there are some prereqs to bringing it down first.

It can move fast when it wants to and take advantage of confusion and terror very easily. We can't fully counter all of the stuff it has going in short order, but she should destroy as much of its stuff as possible prior to pulling the trigger on the masquerade to limit how effectively it can screw us all over.
thepsyborg said:
In contrast: Newly exalted Essence 2 exalts got thrown right into Primordial-scale combat for the entirety of the Primordial War. And they died, yes, they died in droves, but even brand-new baby Solaroids gave better than they got, killed more than they died, endured more than they broke, because they wouldn't have won otherwise. They were a deadly serious threat, not safe but on average they were more dangerous and in less danger than the Primordials and Primordial subsouls they faced, right out of the box.

The guys who made creation weren't pushovers, that's what makes Autocthon's achievement in crafting the Exaltations amazing even for him.
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It was amazing, but I wouldn't say they were more dangerous out of the box. Respawn and numbers were a huge portion of their victory.

As they grow stronger things change considerably, but for that particular war the exalts had to climb to victory on a pile of their own dead.

To give an example, Iku at the power level we just saw have been a glorified squad leader. The higher order sub souls are earmarked as full high essence circle threats fought alone in a white room, which didn't happen in the primordial war.

A full circle of optimized exalt selections across celestial types/castes with a host of dragon blooded and subordinate mortals/spirits would march into battle and almost everyone would die then be replaced a few times before they got to the part where a strike team could pin a tired higher order sub soul and try to do damage that mattered.

As to how they got replacements?

They had literal millions under arms who could qualify. Baselines were mostly fodder and exalt farms.
Degorium said:
I don't believe the math on that works out because in that point celestials were being trained by the Gods and supplied by the Jade folk with weapons.
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Remember that instant charm learning is a houserule at nearly every table in existence. In lore charms could take months to years of training to obtain. Getting to essence 3 in less than a century was PC territory even along the exalted.

The training helped, but there's only so much that could be done while fighting a war.

As to equipment and support skills like sorcery? The primordials also had them beat. Autobot was the best, but these guys literally made reality to power their game room. The jade folk outdoing their ability to make things is laughable.

The guys who came out the other side, for all they were given great power from the start, earned their victory against nearly impossible odds even by their standards.

Edit:

[X] The Bridges of the Spirit, continue your training with Brother Divsimar not in the ways of the spirit but the mind, the Bridge of Dreams
 
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[X] The Bridges of the Spirit, continue your training with Brother Divsimar not in the ways of the spirit but the mind, the Bridge of Dreams
 
DragonParadox said:
9th of November 2006 A.D.
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Supposing that the bridges of spirit wins, here's the last chapter I see where we interact with Divsimar.

We've been vaguely tracking the gap, but it's useful (and funny) to see the exact drop off point. We actually ran into Molly's first evidence of that whamp plot on the way home from our last lesson.

I wasn't totally sure if he was completely out of the loop for some of the early stuff, but yeah the timing was perfect to be stuck with distorted rumors of essentially everything. :V

Tangential, but @Yog another potential idea for paying back the Shih if the splendor is impractical for one reason or another:


DragonParadox said:
Yes actually. Thematically it would look something like this:

Fivefold Hollowing Style

Drawing as it does from the five aspects of Sanctuary this style is favored by warriors and scholars of the City of Laws alike, though many of the magicians of its sister cities consider it antiquated as it is brash, a brutal weapon for a more primitive time. The Five Aspects are:
  • Civilization, the House of Law, representing the city, concerned with the teamwork and unity of mind, taught first for it is the aspect which most resonates with mind of man, tocatli, gurvel and seta alike
  • Savagery, the House of Courage, which empower the martial artist with the cunning and the strength of beasts.
  • Howling, the House of Domination, concerned with channeling the raw power akin to Great Storms into devastating, but exhausting elemental attacks
  • Darkness, the House of Serenity, drawing its inspiration from the empty stillness beyond the boundaries of Sanctuary it grants the practitioner the power to walk unseen, unheard, even unfelt, though at the risk of losing themselves utterly as they they fail to reconcile the paradox of their own existence. Only the true master of the style can learn Arts of this aspect and even they do so sparingly. It is not the nature of material beings to contemplate the void
  • The Hidden Way, the House of the Forbidden. No one has actually mastered this aspect, indeed it is only theorized to exist from the fragmentary writings of long dead explorers who braved the Labyrinth and learned of its secrets. As these bold souls delved ever deeper they did not return
That is all Molly knows about it from looking around the noopshere, she does not inherently know it because it is not a part of the world, it is something the people in her soul developed on their own. In terms of power it is somewhat stronger than the Shih arts, but dependent on having some kind of spirit bound to you or having your Po unlocked.
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He probably wouldn't want to go home as a CoD and all the complications that would come of it, so Po awakening or spirit cybernetics are out. This makes it impossible to use the style directly, but the conceit of the Qiao in the first place is that they were developed in imitation of powers that very much were not meant for humans and relied on things they didn't have.

It's not impossible that someone with the breadth of knowledge Divsimar has demonstrated being given lessons in what a practitioner of the style is actually doing could develop a new human okay Qiao from it.

I vastly prefer the peaches of immortality, but it also wouldn't surprise me if that would set off every paranoid bone in their bodies.

If he could actually make it a single path it'd be a very nice one even with lower numbers than whatever the baseline is. The elemental attack and physical buffs seem pretty similar to existing Qiao, making it hard to judge how they stack up, but the teamwork and stealth elements aren't. Moreover, the diversity of the path should make it exp efficient as a foundational art in new students.

Unless each aspect is learned separately like the path of summoning, warding, and binding a new student could focus on FHS and get abilities in four categories for less buy in than similarly strong abilities from four different Qiao.
 
[X] The Bridges of the Spirit, continue your training with Brother Divsimar not in the ways of the spirit but the mind, the Bridge of Dreams
 
fictionfan said:
So now that Tiffany is a circle mate are we willing to make a pact with her?
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I'm still 100% against it. We have plenty of ways to get power that don't involve implicit spiritual subordination to someone else. Which is what becoming a thrall is. In many ways it wouldn't necessarily work out like that, but that's still the basic nature of the relationship.

It's like soul commerce; we're an infernal, there's only one side we have any business being on.

Edit:

Faith as describe in DtF isn't just some vague supernatural resource, it's literal. You don't pray to your friends or coworkers, you do pray to your demonic patron. That's the way their back door trick into taking god's grace without his permission works.

It's degrading, I don't care how much power it offers. A celestial exalt, much less a solaroid, has no need and less excuse for pulling this sort of thing for power.
 
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We'd probably be picking up some instinctive resistance to the idea from our exaltation anyway. It has some memory of what it was, and what it's meant to be. Solaroid instincts are the sort that resonate with phrases like Creation-Ruling Mandate. Infernal instincts that we have aren't of the loyal servant sort either, but of the break free to go Devil-Tiger as we forge our own destiny as our own master sort.

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BronzeTongue said:
Faith as describe in DtF isn't just some vague supernatural resource, it's literal. You don't pray to your friends or coworkers, you do pray to your demonic patron. That's the way their back door trick into taking god's grace without his permission works.
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Yeah, forget being exalted. We're devout Catholics. We can trust her, deeply and intimately even, as a friend and colleague, but we're rather single target with that sort of faith.
 
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Do we even know what the creature of Darkness label does Because unless you're a solar with direct access to the Unconquered Sun's personal shitlist it doesn't seem like the label does anything for anyone else. Also most of the list are living corpses and ghosts along with fey that keep to their rakasha roots (cruel parasites).
 
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Vote closed, looks like we are getting back to meditation
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Dec 20, 2023 at 3:16 AM, finished with 54 posts and 29 votes.
  • [X] The Bridges of the Spirit, continue your training with Brother Divsimar not in the ways of the spirit but the mind, the Bridge of Dreams
    [X] Go to Vegas, you feel like kicking the shit out of Nemesis' friends to make yourself feel better
    [X] Higher Education
    [X] Higher Education: According to Od... that is Donar Vadderung Cambridge Massachusetts is in in a power void at the moment, one that given the power and influence certain factions of the unseen world could acquire by getting their hooks into the students early could be a lot of trouble down the road. On the other hand that very fact could be of great use to you. Check it out, see if you can establish a presence there. After all it is quite close by water.
    [X] The Bridges of the Spirit
    [X] A Big Score, your Crown isn't really made for picking out random numbers in a mundane draw, but it is still your power so you can push it that one time to win a lottery... any lottery. You will have to find the balance between payout and anonymity and some place to park the money but that seems reasonably doable with some help from mom and dad, and unlike some of your other plans they are unlikely to object to this form of cheating at gambling
    [X] Tools Redeemed: Thinking back on that paraphernalia you looted from the Fomori tantalizing insights come to mind... and more immediately relevant it will mean you can finally stop mooching of Harry's equipment. (Gain Alchemy Laboratory Halved XP price for reaching Alchemy 4)
    [X] In the Sky a Thousand Eyes: If you see something you can stick a demon in it. It occurs to you that satellites are definitely something you can see with the right tools, though you are going to have to figure out which ones you want and what orders to give them.
    [x]Null
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DragonParadox said:
"You knew I was going to make you a body," you point out reasonably, also grabbing a can of coke, since your cool off period has been declared snack time.

"And I assumed that if it did work the result would me mostly human. Oh perhaps I would have some capacity for mortal magic, perhaps even that I would be what the Council counts a full wizard. This is not human, memory of grace and counterfeit divinity stitched together with threads spun out of Old Night."
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If we had gone for the less impressive body option, then would a regular wizard have been the likely outcome for her rather than what she is?
 
Winning Vote
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Dec 20, 2023 at 3:16 AM, finished with 54 posts and 29 votes.
  • [X] The Bridges of the Spirit, continue your training with Brother Divsimar not in the ways of the spirit but the mind, the Bridge of Dreams
    [X] Go to Vegas, you feel like kicking the shit out of Nemesis' friends to make yourself feel better
    [X] Higher Education
    [X] Higher Education: According to Od... that is Donar Vadderung Cambridge Massachusetts is in in a power void at the moment, one that given the power and influence certain factions of the unseen world could acquire by getting their hooks into the students early could be a lot of trouble down the road. On the other hand that very fact could be of great use to you. Check it out, see if you can establish a presence there. After all it is quite close by water.
    [X] The Bridges of the Spirit
    [X] A Big Score, your Crown isn't really made for picking out random numbers in a mundane draw, but it is still your power so you can push it that one time to win a lottery... any lottery. You will have to find the balance between payout and anonymity and some place to park the money but that seems reasonably doable with some help from mom and dad, and unlike some of your other plans they are unlikely to object to this form of cheating at gambling
    [X] Tools Redeemed: Thinking back on that paraphernalia you looted from the Fomori tantalizing insights come to mind... and more immediately relevant it will mean you can finally stop mooching of Harry's equipment. (Gain Alchemy Laboratory Halved XP price for reaching Alchemy 4)
    [X] In the Sky a Thousand Eyes: If you see something you can stick a demon in it. It occurs to you that satellites are definitely something you can see with the right tools, though you are going to have to figure out which ones you want and what orders to give them.
    [x]Null
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Arc 11 Post 32: Learning to Let Go
  • Threadmarks
    • Learning to Let Go ​

    9th of January 2007 A.D.

    Essence Restored to 15/15
    Willpower at 8/9

    In the stillness of the dojo something shifts, the cadence of breath you had been emulating from slow to quick, the faintest rustle of cloth. Another man might have cleared his throat, but Brother Divsimar had taken his own lessons from these meetings. He knows what you can and cannot hear if not why or how exactly.

    "Yes?" the word is a light mist upon your breath in the ice cold room as you blink quickly against the light. The Bridge of Dreams is traditionally taught in a chamber filled with the light of many candles that are slowly snuffed out by some source of wind, a strategically open window is common though a fan will do in a pinch. In deference to his host and the city's fire code Brother Divsimar had instead just rigged the lights to dim, or had someone else do it... though truth be told you would not be that surprised if he had some henceforth unacknowledged electrician's skill. The man is full of surprises.

    "You are still, admirably so, you are not calm," he says, rising from his own lotus position with a faint creak of aged knees. "Ice is not calm, ice is frozen, the cold wind upon the mountain compels. So it is with—" he motions at you. "Posture perfect, breathing precise chi aligned, all in tension."

    "I'm not... my mind is empty," you defend yourself reflexively. Darn I thought I was close.

    "Ah," he sighs and goes for the tea kettle again, sweet smells of holy basil, sweet flag and wild honey growing stronger as you allow yourself to smell them. "Unusual problem for an unusual student. Tell me do you stalk a good night's rest as the tiger does the sambar?"

    "I don't want a good night's rest, I want something more efficient. That is the whole point of this isn't it?" You have to throttle the part of yourself that is pointing out that is a silly thing to say. You are not trying to read the old monk and give the responses he thinks are clever, the point is to learn and sometimes the path to wisdom is marked with foolish questions.

    He offers a small nod. "True, but when walking up a steep slope in the snow one must look at one's feet least you slip and not always upwards towards the ridge. To walk upon the Bridge of Dreams one must well, at the risk of sounding reductive, allow one's self to dream. It is the art of willfully letting go. All the rest of it, the breathing exercises, the positioning, the herbs are merely nudges to bring one to the precipice of controlled release."

    "And if you do it right you take flight?" you prompt, trying to wrap your mind around what feels like a contradiction, even as you can grasp it intellectually.

    A smile, surprised as it is rueful marks his aged face. "Perhaps that would be your experience. I have never taught a student with the natural capacity for flight. Those upon the Qaio of Zhu Mao might quibble at the definition, but such are cats no?"

    You smile too, thinking of Mister probably having his afternoon nap by the window at this hour. "The cat I know best doesn't really argue with anyone, he just does his thing and dares you to get in his way."

    "Does he dare or does this princely cat of your acquiescence not even care? Does he perhaps not even consider that another would be so brazen as to step in his way before the moment?"

    "Oh..." The proverbial penny drops. "It's not about trusting the universe or whatever, but being confident enough to let go. That sounds... easier than what I was going for, though..." you hesitate. "That makes me uncomfortable."

    The old monk takes a sip of his tea and asks simply. "Why?"

    "Because it's prideful, obliviously so. That feels like a bad combination, considering..."

    "Yes?" he prompts.

    Focus the Mind Progress: 8/15

    What do you say?

    [] I've been fighting something that's very good at hiding recently (Talk about Nemesis; explain how it had been pulling the strings of the Summer Court and your fears that is yet lurks in other high places as well)

    [] Diplomacy is supposed to be about opening up and finding common ground, but of late I have found that it is also about finding the places where interests to not align, figuring out the secrets of those who should be allies (Talk about the opening up of the Fivefold Courts; Offer to take Brother Divsimar there if he wants to visit)

    [] Write in

    OOC: Hopefully it comes across here that he rolled a lot better at teaching than Molly did at learning this time around. Only reason she did not fail it again key ability in occult.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • If we don't want to tell him we can tell him we won't speak about it cause its kind of like a cognito hazard. Its even truthful as it 100% is a cognito hazard to some degree.
     
    [X] Diplomacy is supposed to be about opening up and finding common ground, but of late I have found that it is also about finding the places where interests to not align, figuring out the secrets of those who should be allies (Talk about the opening up of the Fivefold Courts; Offer to take Brother Divsimar there if he wants to visit)

    There is little Brother Divsimar can do about Nemesis but worry, and, let's be honest, we want to tell him "Oh, and we are an Empress with our own world inside our soul now, with billions of people" for his reaction.
     
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