I'm curious why do you think they are enemies because me and uju32 have gone back and forth but I wanna hear someone else's rational.
Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Tommy's men just took a pot shot at us with RPGs. Whether that was at his direction or by someone who has subverted his organization, it doesn't really matter to us quite yet. Either way, they're going to be our enemy for now.
Except we have no proof that his organization is actually subverted that is uju32's assumption in actuality two of his men with weapons that may not even belong to Tommy fired at us with a Outsider aligned magic user nearby supervising. There is no benefit to his organization even subverted to take such overt action that's why I was asking why you thought they were the enemy.
BoredMan
Maintaining the Agenda is our top priority
Anything is possible.
That's talking about a man taking a fall out of devotion for the organization. what does a criminal organization that exists primarily for profit gain by attracting this much attention? What do they gain at all by making business impossible for them in Las Vegas. Because if anyone saw their clothes Tommy is going to be wearing cement Shoes by the end of the week make no mistake.
There's a reason the lady in ishtar's service immediately jumps to either they were tricked or they were Enchanted because there is no benefit to be gained by doing this only emnity and possibly fuckin death.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Proof enough to be wary and to take steps to restore our Essence before announcing our presence.
You are being awfully cavalier about this for some reason that escapes me. Tommy's organization just took a shot at us, or someone impersonating his people. Either way, there is a group out there affiliated with Sandra the Outsider puppet, and we are at 1/3 Essence. Even if Tommy didn't give the order himself, that doesn't mean some of his people haven't been subverted or their communication channels compromised.
I'm not even trying to argue against contacting him, only that we need to restore our resources before doing so.
Oh yeah I'm fully on board with that. I don't want to make it seem like I'm against remarshling our resources in case it is trouble but I don't know writing off Tommy and his organization as subverted or enthrall without seeing them without an outsider wizard right nearby seems hasty.
BoredMan
Maintaining the Agenda is our top priority
...Why are you asking me this?
I have no idea whats going on over there, I didn't even know these guys existed before the last update. How the hell should I know what they stand to gain by doing this? How would you know? Tommy and his people could have reasons that seem legit to them hence me bringing up DP's comment or they could indeed be mindwhammied as you deduced.
We don't have enough information one way or the other so stop jumping to conclusions already.
Announcing our location to a possible enemy with unknown resources before recharging or interrogating those who attacked us for more context is impulsive at least.
[X] Ask Arlene about the general goings on in Vegas of late so you have context for all this
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
If that's the case, why are you including the part about contacting Tommy in your vote?
This rider basically amounts of us asking her questions, then having her contact Tommy. We could instead simply ask her questions, get the info, then decide on our next course of action. This should be taking a bleach bath for an hour or two, but we won't know for sure until we learn more. Immediately reaching out to Tommy precludes all of that.
You know what your right. Plenty of time to have our conversation about the state of Las Vegas and then take a hour-long bleach soak or dip or convergence.
[X] Ask Arlene about the general goings on in Vegas of late so you have context for all this
-[X] If she can, have her call Tommy in an hour and a half to come under some urgent pretext that isn't directly "we have your guys"
I don't really see how that changes things in regards to what I posted.
They do business together, but allies/associates doesn't equate to coming when called or showing up alone precisely because of the potential for shenanigans. Especially if lots of weird shit is happening and you aren't sure what's going on.
Our character reference was that he sells guns and drugs, but at least he doesn't trade in slaves. Not a ringing endorsement of his generosity and good will.
Your suggestion has some merit to it, but it's not risk free. If he's being manipulated by nemesis we can't guarantee we'll definitely see through it, and it also gives nemesis a chance to get more data on what we're doing.
I'm also pretty convinced that it's actively playing a low intensity mote tap game against us based on a basic level of understanding on how exalts work. We should be regenerating power before the next round, not entering a new bit of dicey social combat.
See I could believe they were running a Mote tapping game but we're the ones who spent all our essence. We only met any Outsider influence that would come from Sandra's faction of Outsiders after going on a side quest we volunteered for. Not even one that was related to why we were in Vegas like completely unrelated. So while they could be running a scheme for low intensity mode tapping it kind of doesn't make sense because that would require them to interact and be a part of the random schemes of a black vampire which is a different faction of Outsiders that want to delete reality including the wyld that Sandra's faction of Outsiders wants to consume reality into.
- Location
- Germany
If you tell it enough people, it ends up being pointless to go after individuals.
In the end Nemesis already wants to end the world as we know it, so if it is part of the basic supernatural primer, then it has one more reason to do so, but no more attention to spare for any individual than right now.
WoD also by the way.
Bending light for illusions is the realm of Forces in Mage.
You can also mess with minds of course for a similar effect, but that's not how I'd model Dresden-veils.
[X] Ask Arlene about the general goings on in Vegas of late so you have context for all this
-[X] If she can, have her call Tommy in an hour and a half to come under some urgent pretext that isn't directly "we have your guys"
Yog probably has the right of it, a talk to the mafioso might help.
Also about Tommy, @uju32 when he killed a hitsquad in the DF-sourcebook, it was one Rampire and some infected, not a real kill-team like we met in Cleveland, certainly not comparable to what we killed with Arianna's entourage.
And in technical terms he has minor supernatural physique. A bit better than Arlene in raw stats, a lot worse than the bigger Fey in town. Nothing compared to Molly.
In WoD terms, just slap some Celerity, Potency and Fortitude 1-2 on a human, no big deal.
Edit: In direct comparison, Mutt is the stronger fighter than Tommy.
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Sure, you could ask Mab or even Maeve to take you there now if you wanted to
Always nice to see new readers and participants.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Ah, sorry that wasn't clear, I meant does she have the potential to reach full world body plus fetched soul primordial state in the bounds of this quest, not if she could visit the gates to help winter, though that would admittedly be an absolute amazing world-building and/or true Creation side quest, with a side of bringing a little bit of Hope back to winter to go with what's left of its spite and duty.
Random aside: I really hope we get around to raiding that dragon lair for its corpse so we can make more and better armor than Molly's chain. Not that it's not good armor it's just a bit… basic for her at this point. Given we've got gossamer to play with and a whole deverga resource network to pull on for mortal matter, plus two favors from winter and three from summer.
Maybe, obviously present mechanics would not support that, but if we get that far I am open to expanding them.
The same thing could be said for Mab not noticing Maeve's infection, even after Leanansidhe submitted herself for purging. It's a matter of timing, methods used, resources appropriated.
You just espoused him as being this badass personally capable of fighting multiple vampires. This alone is his personal powerbase. Also, you are assuming that all members of his organization are suborned. Which is not a given.
You make the assumption that His crew is a singular unit, instead of several people, of which some might be suborned, and some might not be. You are also convinced that they are tracking us through GPS, which is an unproven hypothesis. Magical tracking, as well as humint, exist. And we have enough unique beings among us to make said tracking relatively easy. Calling him isn't likely to give our enemies actionable intelligence that they don't have, because we have to assume that they already know where we are. If nothing else, they should have exits and entrances to the building under constant surveillance.
Maybe an epilogue? We can progress to Elder Essence, but it would take a lot, and I mean a lot of XP. We are talking multiple real life years of progression.
Mote tap hypothesis definitely has merit. We should be taking measures to regenerate. Maybe ask Lash for some secrets? She should have some, and we are in a new scene.
Regarding calling Tommy - as I mentioned previously, it's to gauge his involvement. I believe that if he's an enemy, the call doesn't help him (much) because, after the ambush, we have to assume that our location is already known to the enemy. If he's not an enemy, he can be a potential ally. Regarding to his character references - we are an international arms dealer ourselves. We don't sell drugs, and have a shield of "legitimate head of state engaging in international politics", but basically we do sell guns to what is likely to be classified as an international terrorist organization (White Council). Glass houses and all that. In defense of Creation, I am open to allying with lots of people.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hella! Even if the story never reaches that point, it's fun to think about, though I've no idea how she'd really need to grow to accomplish that feat. Maybe have to learn how to spin unshape into essence as like a step one? Hmm
Thanks for answering<3
OK, the sun is in the sky I'm feeling a lot better... and the vote is closed.
Lets see how this goes.
Lets see how this goes.
Molly has seen some shit at this point, and the demon in her soul gives her an inhuman trauma response. Exalts don't shut down like that.
Also not what was being discussed, which was @uju32 's insistence on the idea that you can turn over a random rock and have good odds to find an exalted grade combatants.
Remember that WoG I posted earlier? He doesn't, he had support staff buffing him.
As to ignoring the possibility; the best you can say is there's no evidence against it, which makes the odds indeterminate. That's not the basis for legitimate caution, it's paranoia.
Arc 11 Post 56: Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper
12th of January 2007 A.D.
The Hanging Gardens, you soon find, are different from most Vegas establishments in more than the obvious way. Where most casinos would rather the customer never see natural sunlight until their wallets had been aired out completely here there are plenty of glass roofs looking in on quieter nooks hidden away behind curtains of silk or greenery, the music softened such that whispers could be clearly heard, though not, Arlene assures you, overheard and to be honest you are just glad at the chance to sit yourself down between a pair of fashionably overstuffed pillows and and listen to someone talk. A bath would be even more relaxing, but that would be awkward to explain and you are not sure you want to risk giving away the secret of your recharge, just yet. Maybe if her plan to get Tommy here without mentioning the prisoners works.
"This city could be a great, a melting pot of passions, a fulcrum of adventures, but it is rotten at its core. The flesh trade goes one way, the line of eager visitors would be revelers goes the other, like two conveyor belts in a single great machine that seeks to turn dreams into sordid fantasies and people into hollowed out husks. Sometimes, not often, a tooth in that machine comes loose: a crooked cop who sends word ahead when a raid is about to happen, a local businessman who procures warehouse space. I prefer to make examples of them, what information they would be willing to give under duress would be of dubious quality and quick to expire beside however supposing I did hook a larger fish the best way to get information out of them while respecting the sanctity of their minds and souls." Arlene nods in the direction of an admittedly already rather perturbed Harry. "Offering them some assurance that they would survive the experience is one of the best ways to get them to talk. Tommy is of not well liked then at least respected by people in that foul business."
"So you asked him to come guarantee the safety of a prisoner?" You half-ask, mildly impressed and not trying to hide it. If she had only implied the parts about it being a prisoner from someone else's organization she would not have technically lied at all. A very useful skill to have.
"Alright we have about half an hour before he shows up lets see if I can get you up to speed on this 'wretched hive of scum and villainy'," the smile makes it clear she knows she's quoting Star Wars, the look it's paired equally clear that she is not joking.
"The first thing you need to know is that the Red Court and the White operate as a single monstrous organism, stripping everything from its victims in this town. Still the latter are a lot more likely to show their faces them the former. I could tell you were Bog Corey is on any given night just judging were most of the buzz is, but the main instigator of the blood trade among the Red Court goes only by the name of Socrates, if that is even a name and not a position under their perversion of nobility. For something more actionable there's Alfredo Marcel at the Xanadu... he's a very young for how much power and influence he has amassed, mostly off the back of enthralling Silk." Arlene sighs. "I swear I've tried to help the girl so many times and she never listens."
"That's why Kenneth was at the Xanadu to begin with wasn't it?" Tiffany interjects. "You sent him there to lure this Silk away from her vampire patron, but he proved able to turn her not just against the idea but against him, hence fight."
"And now you want us to sweep the whole thing up for you," Harry continues. He does not say anything about the subsequent fire thankfully and Arlene does not catch it on his face.
Before things can continue too much down this line Lydia steps into the awkward breech "I heard from those who have passed that people matching the description of the hitmen who tried to kill us also killed a Sergeant Stella Andrews was that also Tommy's... er people?"
"It's not impossible," she sighs. "Right before he was killed I heard that Special Vices was coming under the influence of the Red Court, it certainly matched the pattern of their last half a dozen or so busts, squeezing out the mortal competition, so she might have been squeezed back."
"You don't seem very broken up about that," Harry says, eyes narrowing in deepening suspicion.
"I worry more about people without the benefit a a gun or a badge to protect them," she answers coldly. "Either way something strange is going on with the leeches, they are acting like someone is fighting them in the streets when there's not even a proper challenge."
"A body without a head will often curl into a ball," Tiffany offers offhandedly before looking mildly embarrassed at the sudden silence. "What if their leader is dead?"
"And what, they are fortifying before they get the knives out?" Arlene asks, not-quite-scoffing.
"Assuming some kind of collective intern leadership, or more likely an adjunct keeping the death of the previous leader a secret it would not be beyond the pale, it would not be the first keep to bar its gates until succession has been settled."
Regained 2 Essence -> Now at 7/15 (Urge)
Before you or anyone else can say more a nervous server walks in with news of guests, plural, 'Little Tommy' had shown up with three friends at his back, but so has Mr Oliver Adkin in person. Great either elderly Khemetic cult leader can trace cell phones or the literal crowd of ghosts we spoke to recently has been gossiping and the Pallbearers put two and two together.
Who do you meet with?
[] Oliver Adkin, high priest of the cult of Ra Descending
[] Little Tommy, leader of the outfit whose members tried to kill you and did kill a police sergeant recently
[] Split the party
-[] Write in how
OOC: Keep in mind you are still at 7/15 Essence; Lydia is at 6/7 and Lash is at 0/3 Faith.
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