We should take advantage of these DC adjustors to try and get some forbidden knowledge from otherwise impossible sources; even the Crown requires a DC 9 to get info on Nemesis, but here we can get secrets on its plans and regenerate that lost Essence, two birds with one stone.
Also worth noting that Perditions Edge is one of those sites that the Yama Kings have been using to prospect for Exaltation shards and similar Before stuff.
There are few things that would convince me of the need for a side trip. That would though.
I wouldnt be averse to a quick lookover in case someone has stumbled across something like Usum's sibling thats currently powered down.
[X] You know where Joe Magarac is, where the plague should be triggered, fly in now and trust to the Shikome disguises to carry you
Our advantages now are anonymity and speed. As soon as we do anything, we're on a time limit. I'm not up for splitting the party or taking another side quest that delays us from GTFO.
Right now, any response team is going to think we're from kakuri and Molly has nothing to do with this. Infiltrating or engaging in unnecessary combat does more than delay us, it lets the locals have a bigger chance to figure out that our feel and abilities don't match our disguise.
[X] Exalted Violence Preperation
-[X] You know where Joe Magarac is, where the plague should be triggered, fly in now and trust to the Shikome disguises to carry you
-[X] Do the objectives sequentially, with the understanding that even with the worst possible reaction time from the Wardens you will have to deal with outside security
-[X] Have Lash improve everyone's dexterity and strength as much as possible before starting to move
-[X] Molly rolls willpower to activate By Rage Recast. No cost
-[X] Lydia rolls Willpower to activate Marble flesh. No cost
No one's getting any closer to anima Flare no one's going to disrupt the disguise yet but there's going to be no in combat rolls for setup rage recast gives us both flight and Transcendent anathema for aggravated damage Lydia's marble flesh doesn't seemingly affect her appearance over much and allows her to soak four more damage all together. Both us and Lydia are melee damage dealers so having increased strength and dexterity are crucial as well as increasing both of our speed and hit capacity. In combat with rage recast up we just need to activate Mo Kung and Viridian Legend exoskeleton Lydia is Mo Kung and impervious skin of stone meditation.
While Tiffany also relies on melee range combat at the moment she's our healer and probably who we're depending on to get Joe into a stable condition that we can take him out of here either into our hell or out of this hell directly into the real world. Hopefully with our Methuselah equivalent friend we can murder blend our way through any unfortunate guards that get in our way after we set off the pollen and make our way towards Joe's holding cell/ hospital bed.
Time can flow differently in the NeverNever, so I dont think we can expect Molly to know how much time has passed since we entered Yomi Wan.
But I would strongly suggest confirming with our own two eyes that our target is still in Perditions Edge where we last scryed him, and that the conditions havent changed.
BEFORE doing anything.
Nergul is very familiar wit Ebon Road, and Molly is familiar with Yomi Wan in a theoretical sense, so I think they would know if this could be an issue. In addition to that, I think, if we really needed to confirm, it would be better to use the crown (without telling anyone, unless the prisoner has been moved)
[x] You know where Joe Magarac is, where the plague should be triggered, fly in now and trust to the Shikome disguises to carry you
-[x] Split up so that you can do both objectives at once
VOTE [X] Try to infiltrate Perdition's Edge in the guise of an Akuma before starting the raid in earnest
Confirm that no one has moved Joe Magarac from where he was at last check(Perdition's Edge) before going loud.
It will also also allow Molly(and Lydia. And Lash.) to gather further intelligence that might be useful in the future, from divination foci to the faces of people and servitors.
Tiffany knows Joe's public name, which means she should be able to get a direction at least with a difficulty 8 find the faithful check. He's not a demon, but presumably cross system compatibility gives that some flex. He's got enough of a soul to damn to hell, so I figure he's got enough of one to be detected with that power.
We should take advantage of these DC adjustors to try and get some forbidden knowledge from otherwise impossible sources; even the Crown requires a DC 9 to get info on Nemesis, but here we can get secrets on its plans and regenerate that lost Essence, two birds with one stone.
We're standing in a storm with a lightning rod in hand; the power at our fingertips is dangerous and we should avoid playing with it. This right here is the sort of thing Tiffany was warning us about:
"Careful you don't bite off more than you can chew," Tiffany guesses what you are about to propose. "Just because you feel like a million dollars doesn't mean there isn't a thousand stacks of a thousand in there and by that I mean demons and drones."
The thrice rebellious Angel is telling us to be careful. When a woman who formally declared war on god to his face says to step lightly it'd be wise to heed her advice.
The name of the game is focus; get in, get out, get home.
[X] Try to infiltrate Perdition's Edge in the guise of an Akuma before starting the raid in earnest
I dig it. We have a solid homebase and no heat, along with -6 DC, let's use it. I have a feeling next time we sneak into Wicked City, it will either be not so Wicked anymore or we'll be tagged 'nuke on sight'.
Also think of the potential shinies in the form of VIPs and Mika's research logs that we have (in my opinion) a good chance of finding.
Nergul is very familiar wit Ebon Road, and Molly is familiar with Yomi Wan in a theoretical sense, so I think they would know if this could be an issue. In addition to that, I think, if we really needed to confirm, it would be better to use the crown (without telling anyone, unless the prisoner has been moved)
I wouldnt wager the success of this raid on it.
Id rather get to the fortress and have Lydia + Lash try to use their Awakening 1 + Supernatural Awareness first.
Good odds we are going to need that Crown question for something else before we leave this Hell.
Along the seemingly endless descent, whose sharp and unexpected turns do not seem to do more than add to the blur of the straight paths you consider what you had learned of the target of your raid. Perdition's Edge is clings to a spit of stone overlooking one of the Rifts like a enormous spider of iron and steel. Construction had begun when steam was still king and the telegraph the height of speedy communication. While the latter had been retrofired with broadband and communication lasers the power source had remained the same coal powered behemoth that swallowed vast amounts of Yin-touched rock into furnaces alight with the stolen passions of the damned, its oily smoke the perfect commingling of essence to mark the Wicked City and thus pumped throughout the Hell by the complex array of ducts and vents that had long ago replaced any semblance of natural wind.
It had seemed like Providence to find both Joe Magarac's prison and a perfect vector for the Hope Plague in the same place, and you are certainly not withdrawing your thanks to God over it, but it does make sense, the Rifts hold the most potent Essence in all of Yomi so any Yama King would want to dig their stamp as deeply as they can into them and then make sure that power flows far and wide. And if one is in the possession of a spirit of industry and productivity, what better place than that to make productive?
Same place.
The question is whether we are going to take our time to sneak in incognito, and then start inside the place after confirming stuff on the ground, or if we will go loud from here. Regardless, we are going to Perdition's Edge.
Tiffany knows Joe's public name, which means she should be able to get a direction at least with a difficulty 8 find the faithful check. He's not a demon, but presumably cross system compatibility gives that some flex. He's got enough of a soul to damn to hell, so I figure he's got enough of one to be detected with that power.
1) Awakening 1: Find the Faithful has a base DC of 8 if you have their mortal name.
Thats before the environmental maluses of All Is Poison kicks in, raising it to the cap.
Plus, it has a range of only *checks* 2 miles (Lash is Faith 2 atm).
And she is rolling 5 dice, unless she successfully raises her Perception with Manipulate Flesh.
Its useful for confirming his location, but it wont find him if he isnt where we think he should be.
And it probably wont give us pre-warning if he's been moved around in the fortress.
2)Tiffany's base Supernatural Awareness is Perception 3 + Awareness 2 = 5 dice at DC7.
Given the effects of All is Poison, that roll is anywhere from DC8 to DC10(cap is 9), and that doesnt account for any additional wards around him.
We get two bites at this apple, because we also have Lydia with the same ability to roll it, and she has that Merit that gives her an automatic success on rolls >DC6.
But its one of the reasons I want to keep everyone together.
Applying to the Wicked City in general probably.
Applying to our particular set of problems? Is likely a significantly more limited pool.
Not all foci are created equal, after all.
[X] You know where Joe Magarac is, where the plague should be triggered, fly in now and trust to the Shikome disguises to carry you
-[X] Split up so that you can do both objectives at once
[X] You know where Joe Magarac is, where the plague should be triggered, fly in now and trust to the Shikome disguises to carry you
-[X] Split up so that you can do both objectives at once
[X] You know where Joe Magarac is, where the plague should be triggered, fly in now and trust to the Shikome disguises to carry you
-[X] Split up so that you can do both objectives at once
[x] You know where Joe Magarac is, where the plague should be triggered, fly in now and trust to the Shikome disguises to carry you
-[x] Split up so that you can do both objectives at once
Okay I don't really have a strong opinion on whichever way we go whether we're splitting the party or not but we do need to actually utilize the resources we have with us. Tiffany has a Costless way to increase the effectiveness of literally every member of our party please include in your vote a way to utilize that. Whether it's Lydia having increased strength or dexterity so when you guys separate she can fight on her own more effectively or increasing our perception when we go scouting on the inside of the building presumably we bought the Fallen Angel directly into hell to play more of a role than one more melee fighter.
Same place.
The question is whether we are going to take our time to sneak in incognito, and then start inside the place after confirming stuff on the ground, or if we will go loud from here. Regardless, we are going to Perdition's Edge.
And she is rolling 5 dice, unless she successfully raises her Perception with Manipulate Flesh.
Its useful for confirming his location, but it wont find him if he isnt where we think he should be.
And it probably wont give us pre-warning if he's been moved around in the fortress
Okay I don't really have a strong opinion on whichever way we go whether we're splitting the party or not but we do need to actually utilize the resources we have with us. Tiffany has a Costless way to increase the effectiveness of literally every member of our party please include in your vote a way to utilize that. Whether it's Lydia having increased strength or dexterity so when you guys separate she can fight on her own more effectively or increasing our perception when we go scouting on the inside of the building presumably we bought the Fallen Angel directly into hell to play more of a role than one more melee fighter.
Lash's boosts work for a scene.
If we do it now, they will lapse by the time we get to the fortress and find the dude.
Its both unnecessary and ineffectual right now.
When we find the dude, THEN its worth asking. But not yet.
Its a necessary risk. This place doesnt exist in a vacuum.
Committing to Going Loud and hitting the place to find that he's been moved, or is in the process of being moved for an audience with Mikaboshi, would be....embarrassing. At best.
And worse would making a ruckus and then finding out there's a bunch of magical wards or similar that we now have to break to get him out safely. And having to figure out how to do it while under possible attack.
Remember that we didnt bring Excalibur or Harry; no dedicated counterspeller on site.
Saving a Crown question for that.
Im not saying that we should go wandering off to see if we stumble across shit.
That would be dumb.
I am saying that we be more deliberate with going into Perdition's Edge as long as our cover has not been blown.
It both gives us additional intelligence, and it makes sure that we dont whiff when things pop off.
Or spends willpower.
If the goal is to determine if he has substantially moved from the building we're going to that would tell us right now without going in.
The Wicked City isnt a small place. Its more or less modelled on Tokyo, and Tokyo is HUGE.
Even Chicago is 24 miles across in its longer dimension, and its highest building is ~1400 ft high, which can be seen 40 miles away. Assuming physical laws are roughly the same, we would have to get a lot closer for Lash to even enter range of Awakening 1.
That we can see the fortress on the edge of the rift from our current position doesnt make it close.
Offhand we should grab some focuses while here right? Even rocks and shit are pretty decent for scrying the places we took them from and to see mikaboshi reaction to what we did and check on him a few more times in the future?
Its a necessary risk. This place doesnt exist in a vacuum.
Committing to Going Loud and hitting the place to find that he's been moved, or is in the process of being moved for an audience with Mikaboshi, would be....embarrassing. At best.
I'm not convinced this is a substantial risk. Even if it does happen the best place to plant the bomb is here so we need in anyway. I'm fundamentally uninterested in spending the next several updates rummaging around Perdition's Edge in what will inevitably turn into scope creep where we spend essence on interesting questions unrelated to what we're doing right now or get tempted by other shinies.
The risk profile here is significant, we need to be taking it a lot more seriously.
The Wicked City isnt a small place. Its more or less modelled on Tokyo, and Tokyo is HUGE.
Even Chicago is 24 miles across in its longer dimension, and its highest building is ~1400 ft high, which can be seen 40 miles away. Assuming physical laws are roughly the same, we would have to get a lot closer for Lash to even enter range of Awakening 1.
That we can see the fortress on the edge of the rift from our current position doesnt make it close
We're supposed to be with a couple of blocks, I think 2 miles should be enough to at least make some preliminary decisions on. If she can point to a quadrant of the facility then we have confirmation, if she can't we need to try something else.
Ngl I don't really get the worry of causing war between hells or a vacuum there's no chance whoever replaces mikaboshi would be immediately stronger than him or well equipped to take over their hell when most Yama kings couldn't even open a Microsoft document. Plus he'll already always fucking sucks and being worried about a power vacuum is fucking ridiculous. I'm with yog in this case uju not that I think we can do anything about mikaboshi right now I honestly firmly believe their past our weight class right now -'d we probably should you know make a plan instead of letting others fight over his scraps. But like the idea we'd be making shit worse is fucking ridiculous it's already fucking hell and it'd cause a multiple way war if any Yama king ever died to take over their scraps not an instant power up for any Yama king.
Trying to decide if spending another essence for another -1DC for a scene is worthwhile. Maybe in a fight after we get all our other buffs up? We are mostly murdering meaty demons here after all. Molly is a perpetual killing machine.
