We need to make a way for Harry to get to (and ideally from) Demonreach quickly, as in "immediately". I already got it confirmed that a splendor that projects an area of "this is Demonreach" around Harry (giving him ridiculous battlefield control, I think) is viable.
Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
Arc 13 Post 55: Well of the Damned
Well of the Damned
14th of February 2007 A.D.
Lydia agrees to take the stone to Embermane before something else can happen to it, Sophia chooses to go with, in her words the island is 'too freakin' loud', though you aren't sure what she means, not then. So of course you keep looking, keep poking.
One would expect that the most feared warlock in generations would leave something to remember him by in his former abode, but the hut on the other side of the hill from the tower doesn't even have a bed in it, though there's a relatively clear place in the corner where perhaps one may have stood. Dad says it reminds him of the dwellings of hermits and monks who want to meditate away from even the company of their fellows. In a way he's close to right and in another about as far as one can be. This whole place is a fount of darkness welling up from below before being dropped into the main Northeast-Southwest ley-line hurtling down towards Mexico City. It is a minor miracle and a testament to the resilience of the spirit of this place that anything can grow here at all, much less that trees can grow and deer and boar can roam.
Not alone anymore... You pat the stones a little self consciously, only then realizing the gift that it had been giving you all this time your essence has long since been topped up by being here, a ley nexus stronger than any other you had seen on Earth, comparable to the five directional court nexuses in Sanctuary and the sixth at the world's center.
Shaking off the thought not without some difficulty you follow Harry, Dad a wide eyed Olivia towards the tower. It's more of the same empty of signs of habitation and filled to the brim with dark power. What is it with wizards and towers? you wonder amused, then feel like a bit of a hypocrite recalling where your palace is set in the grasp of twining dragons above the twisting Labyrinth. Again that nameless of deja vu.
"That's as far as you're going I'm afraid Murphy." Harry's voice is firm, but not without a measure of dread, a man getting ready for a fight. "I think that's where 'The Secret Keeper' and the 'Dark One' are and I don't think that last bit is Murphy's dark beer sadly. That's not a place to visit. Hell I wish I didn't have to go there, but it's mine now so what can you do?"
Even though you don't think you've seen Dad roll his eyes more than twice in your life, you can tell from his expression he'd like to now and it's not hard to figure out why. Sure Harry, going into the terrifying magical containment of the island you didn't ask for is just what anyone would do, Average Joe behavior.
She looks around, weighing something about how you and your dad look before finally agreeing to wait up here. "Watch your back down there, you never know what kind of bullshit wizards'll pull."
Harry has the grace to looks sheepish.
For her part. Olivia doesn't argue, though as you step down the first flight of stairs illuminated only by the growing radiance between your brows you hear her mutter. 'Mind protections, I need stronger mind protections....'
The path goes down and down again, each step even, twelve and twelve and twelve again, each at a right angle to the last.
"Seventeen hundred and twenty-eight," Dad half whispers when he notices you counting.
"Thanks Dad," you answer in like tone, this doesn't feel like the kind of place one should really talk at full volume in, like a library... of a cemetery.
The stairs don't end after the number Dad had guessed, but they do change, going straight down now, through the stone of the island, below even the lake floor you're pretty sure.
"This place could use an elevator," Harry complains.
"I could install one for you," you shoot back without thinking.
He doesn't complain again until at last after far more stairs than you care to keep counting there's a door made of the same magically neutral granite as the tower far above. There is a sudden sense of the spirit's presence, not physical, but very, very real as first one stone then another and another burst with ward-fire, a sequence... a code, or as Harry says 'a keypad'.
The chamber beyond is tall and surprisingly well lit by clusters of pale green quartz that... "Er... I don't want to alarm anyone, but there are a lot of demons here: naagloshii, you know but also a pair of taotie over there..." you point. "Known to the Shang as Those-Which-Without-Body-Devour. Also there's three at least of the Udug, Those Who Bring the Plague Wind... Usum says the 'bad air', but that does not sound very scary in English and they are pretty scary especially in urban areas. "
Your eyes go to the Sword, the same sword that Arthur once bore, the Sword you know can kill even one of the Great Dragons. Why bind all these horrors instead of killing them so that they may never trouble the world? That sounds like a question I'm uniquely suited to answer, you think.
"Yeah, I think I get the idea..." Harry looks around in a sort of horrified awe, not that you can blame him. There are paths branching off the chamber, twelve of them.
What do you do?
[] Using your Crown and this scene as a focus ask why the prison was built
[] Try to speak to one of the lesser prisoners, to get some idea what they are doing in here, you can give then a voice even though that
[] Try to find the ones Demonreach mentioned before
[] Write in
OOC: Welp here you are... in the place a more traditional infernal would kill to be, the building-blocks of an army that could conquer the world laid out before you. It's a good thing you are playing Molly Carpenter, huh?
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Does this mean we are missing on the chance to negotiate the price for this service? That's certainly wasn't an expected outcome of the vote.
Essence transformers to cleanse the taint? Why, certainly.
It will still owe you a favor that you can parley in the same way as if you had passed it off in person. It's just that IC it's safer for everyone to get that thing back fast and OOC I did not want to drag this out seeing as you guys did not vote for it.
[X] Plan prevention
-[X] Using your Crown and this scene as a focus ask what the current breakout plans in regards to the currently held prisoners are
-[X] Try to speak to one of the lesser prisoners, to get some idea what they are doing in here, you can give then a voice even though that
I am unsure if I want to see imprisoned exalts. That's a lot of danger.
-[X] Using your Crown and this scene as a focus ask what the current breakout plans in regards to the currently held prisoners are
-[X] Try to speak to one of the lesser prisoners, to get some idea what they are doing in here, you can give then a voice even though that
I am unsure if I want to see imprisoned exalts. That's a lot of danger.
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Do they? The point of the Masquerade, such as it is, is that they dont know.
And how do you prevent hostile powers weaponizing other elements of the US government against "the person who subverted the US govt"?
This isnt a hypothetical, by the way; the entire plot of Fool Moon that the FBI werewolves were after Marcone because (they believed)he had subverted Chicago law enforcement and the law couldnt touch him.
==
And as a further complication, this is the US, which has an unusual(for the West)number of politico-religious kooks in its politics and national security apparatus; the Air Force for example, has reputedly had a dominionism problem leading all the way back to the Academy.
I dont think that works at all.
There are good reasons why the Library has done its best to keep the rest of the US government out of supernatural affairs since the Cold War kicked off in earnest.
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Furthermore, this doesnt happen in a vacuum. Other nationstates are not going to simply watch the United States corner some resource and not attempt to do something about it; China, Russia, Germany, India and every other old or emerging industrial power all have interests that our enemies will be happy to egg them on.
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I asked the QM off-thread about trading fissiles like plutonium because of just how easy it would be for Molly to refine cheap uranium ore to enriched uranium and plutonium for sale to nations for use in nuclear power plants, and was told that Monoc wouldnt touch it as too high profile.
I think thats the same principle that applies with regards to sole-source strategic materials of the sort that you are thinking of.
The whole attraction of shit like diamonds and gold was that you are one producer of many, and the product is fairly fungible.
We cant afford the public scrutiny that comes from being sole source, or even major source, of anything.
Not when we and our associates commit homicide, assault and battery, kidnapping and imprisonment on the regular.
At least, as far as any mortal legal code is concerned.
And most journalists and law enforcement.
1) Remember that the Will of Kakuri was avoiding Lake Michigan and its leylines for a reason.
The real heavy hitters all know about this place.
2)Odin knowing something doesnt mean that all his minions do.
Or even that they are allowed to say if they do; the terms of Marcone's contract with Monoc Securities does not extend as far as unrestricted intelligence access.
Gard in this quest was roughly the same age as Kattrin, which makes her one of the younger Valkyries.
So its entirely possible she wasnt around when Merlin was.
3) Mab knew very well what we were on our first meeting. She outright tells us this.
"Have you considered that you simply do not see the cost, having read but the first page in a repository of knowledge vaster than all the libraries of men?" Her tone actually softens, which has the gift of being scarier than if she had kept up the ice queen persona.
"What..." you cut yourself off. What do you know? What can you tell me? It would practically be inviting a fey debt, but would that be so bad. You are starting to get why dealing with the fey is so hard.
"I know more of that which has laid in my halls for ages of the world than you do, more than you could learn for years and decades to come, though all the keys are in your hand."
"No." The word comes out as a gasp forced past your lips, like you had been running all out and for just a moment you see a flicker of surprise upon those pale perfect features. "If you want to make a deal with me I'll listen after we settle things here. I am not going to leave Harry in a lurch here because I'm chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."
"What..." you cut yourself off. What do you know? What can you tell me? It would practically be inviting a fey debt, but would that be so bad. You are starting to get why dealing with the fey is so hard.
"I know more of that which has laid in my halls for ages of the world than you do, more than you could learn for years and decades to come, though all the keys are in your hand."
"No." The word comes out as a gasp forced past your lips, like you had been running all out and for just a moment you see a flicker of surprise upon those pale perfect features. "If you want to make a deal with me I'll listen after we settle things here. I am not going to leave Harry in a lurch here because I'm chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."
I do not understand the reasoning behind this.
Demonreach can take care of itself once all its defenses are active, and there are multiple Ways off the island to Chicago and elsewhere; in Turn Coat, Peabody uses one, and Rashid uses another.
Harry needs other shit way more than he needs a Demonreach splendor.
Especially if we are following the rules about how many artifacts anyone can have.
COMMENTARY
=Mollys so hardened she doesnt even notice the island's doom aura.
It says something about the island that after insisting on coming all this way, Murphy found an excuse not to progress further down into the depths.
Olivia there's no surprise about; given that she has both Telepathy and Mana Manipulation, she can see clearly enough to understand she would rather not see more without better protection.
Or at all.
=Interesting that Demonreach is a nexus here.
So we're looking at a superpowerful Dragons Nest-type dealie, just aspected towards darkness; if I had to guess, in this setting the Dragons Nest and associated leyline(s) are being used to dilute the power being shed by the prisoners.
=Loling at Harry immediately shutting up about the stairs because he knows that when Molly makes that kinda suggestion, she's serious. Like a friendly genie.
=Thats the question isnt it, Molly?
Especially if she meets the Englishman, the dude with a British accent who insists that he belongs here.
Certainly not that the demons and other prisoners cant be killed at all in this AU; the Swords at least are allowed to permakill anyone who chooses to oppose them in their duties. So you have to consider that there's a purpose to having a prison instead of just an execution ground.
Maybe while they live, others cant take their place. Or killing them causes more havoc than imprisoning them.
Or its simply not their time.
Hellscry Chakra stacks with All Things Betray when viewing dark shit.
Not that it matters, since Molly rolled 10+ successes anyway.
Just pointing it out.
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Im inclined to ask permission from Alfred to talk to one of his lesser prisoners.
Use Source Code.
Save the Crown question for after we leave the island, and the vicinity of all these greater demons and spirits.
I wouldnt go looking for the Dark One or the Secret Keeper yet though; thats the sort of thing that needs prior research IC.
VOTE
[X] Try to speak to one of the lesser prisoners, to get some idea what they are doing in here, you can give then a voice even though that
Use the Crown and the scene as a focus AFTER we leave the island.
Sure, Alfred has met Celestial Exalts before, but there's no reason to assume he's seen them in action, or immediate urgency why we should just let him look at the Crown in action.
Dude's powerful enough to imprison Mab, and this is the heart of his power; better not to risk it.
[X] Try to speak to one of the lesser prisoners, to get some idea what they are doing in here, you can give then a voice even though that
Use the Crown and the scene as a focus AFTER we leave the island.
Sure, Alfred has met Celestial Exalts before, but there's no reason to assume he's seen them in action, or immediate urgency why we should just let him look at the Crown in action.
Dude's powerful enough to imprison Mab, and this is the heart of his power; better not to risk it.
We can't use the scene as a focus after leaving the scene.
My guess is that it's probably for multiple reasons. To start, the white god has to play fair to a certain extent, which means that fighting things of significant power has an inherent risk independent of their relative power.
Then there's the issue of people who're vile but necessary to some function of reality and/or whose death would inherently cause problems. The primordials got made into Yozi for the same reasons; offing them would delete important parts of Creation's physics on top of whatever spite shot they'd throw out at the very end of things. There's also the Neverborn issue; some things leave behind consequences even if you kill them without immediate reprisal.
Once you have a mega-prison for those guys it becomes economical to put lesser prisoners in the same place if you're someone who can temporarily win out over a more powerful force but lack the punch to permanently kill it. Which would be more common for wizards than actually being able to permanently solve this sort of thing.
I am certain we have done so before.
Several times.
We just remember the scene.
=Mollys so hardened she doesnt even notice the island's doom aura.
Partly that, but it's also that Doom is the natural habitat of the Infernal Exalted.
BoredMan
Maintaining the Agenda is our top priority
We could just use a recording from the scene.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Well at this point if we want to always have more firepower then the opposition then Spawning Pit Sanctification (••••) pays for itself.
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I am absolutely serious when I say that I believe Kemmler based Lydia on what he learned here. He had an abyssal exalt, as close to a champion of fundamental concept of death as is possible to get, to study, and the Demonreach leyline to meditate upon.
I'd like citations, please, I don't remember that.
BoredMan
Maintaining the Agenda is our top priority
Still though... We could literally just use a recording of the scene. Which we've done before.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Is not quite as good a focus being a extra step removed.
The recording is a separate focus, and I have a lot of questions. The one I voted for in the previous vote (what are the effects / consequences for Harry), the one about all the current plots against Demonreach, the one about all the current escape plans, the one about all of its vulnerabilities and backdoors, the one about what Kemmler did to it. Many questions.
BoredMan
Maintaining the Agenda is our top priority
Shouldn't have brought her out here, honestly. Wasn't much of a point and it induced risk.
Technically we already can via healing potions.
@DragonParadox Errors.
Missing "the" after towards.
Should be sunk I believe. Also an unneeded space in between island and the comma.
Missing "need" in between these two words.
Binding Utterance
Missing "is" in between.
Missing "a" before boar.
Present tense.
To Answer to Things Unasked
Also needs a question mark at the end.
Should be "from the way those".
Let's ask for it without ambiguity:
@DragonParadox, can we use the scene as a focus after we leave?
Not a recording, the scene itself.
Because I am like 95% sure Uju is thinking of us using a recording, so something one step removed, but better be 100% sure one way or the other.
While waiting:
[x] Yog
Since, as I said, I am pretty sure waiting to use the scene means not being able to use it directly anymore.
You cannot, to use a scene as a focus you have to be in the scene, literally look around
Fixed all of them, many many thanks, hope you are enjoying them in spite of all the errors guys.
[X] Plan prevention
-[X] Using your Crown and this scene as a focus ask what the current escape and breakout plans in regards to the currently held prisoners are
-[X] Try to speak to one of the lesser prisoners, to get some idea what they are doing in here, you can give then a voice even though that
-[X] Using your Crown and this scene as a focus ask what the current escape and breakout plans in regards to the currently held prisoners are
-[X] Try to speak to one of the lesser prisoners, to get some idea what they are doing in here, you can give then a voice even though that
BoredMan
Maintaining the Agenda is our top priority
@DragonParadox New errors.
Missing "what" in between.
"The" is not needed here it's needed in between "towards stone". "That" should be than.
Should be present tense or "takes" needs to be took instead.
Also fixed, thanks again