Alchemical Solutions [Worm/Exalted] Thread 23: We Wonder Where Who Wanders When Watchers Wane

[ctulhuslp]

*shrugs*
2 OCs on the Assembly is enough in my mind. Admittedly though, a third for Orichalcum may be needed, just in case.

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Yup. And given that only 300 million of people live in USA and fucking billions - in other countries, I think that there have to be at least some viable candidates.

By asking to Door to somewhere reasonably close (but still far enough not to be detected) from Saint, sending the drone to spy on him, and then retrieving the drone. Atleast I got the impression that once we buy access to someone, its not a onetime thing (or is that wrong? Even if it is, we can ask for access to somewhere near his base, and have Saki mark its location). Just going to spy on him now and again is basically an option once we locate where he spends most of his time (his main base or whatever).

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Now you are thinking with portals.

Will think about vials in another post soon (assuming I won't fall asleep anyway). However note that having constant access to him would basically give us the means to investigave him IC, and learn the things Taylor does not currently know (That Saint knows everything Dragon knows. That he can screw Dragon over bad with Ascalon. That he is constantly stealing tech from her. And so on). Being able to teleport to him with free actions to spy on him and his people for some hour now and again will be the investigating people want is it not?

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I think it can be twisted this way to fit IC.
I'll think more in the morning, I didn't sleep for more than 6 hours per night, if that, all week, and at least one night was ~2 hours of sleep. Not coherent enough to think it through.

 

[sun tzu]

EDIT:
*looks at sun tzu at "viewing users*
Hm. I guess citing so often is kinda rude or at least thoughtless if you did not intend to talk with the person cited?
My apologies.

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No apology need. If anything, I'll take some pride at being used as a reference like this. It'll help me maintain the delusion I have a future in academia. XD
(Besides, being auto-alerted that I'd been quoted in this thread is how I realized Grom had updated, so, not complaining. :lol )

 

[Datakim]

Thoughts on vials.

Most of this has been said really. We should get atleast one level 1 and probably one level 3 vial (though if we were to go to backing 2 in order to get more jobs and more "credits", the level 3 vial could probably wait for later purchase, if necessary).

The level 1 vial should be used for investigative purposes. Now I am unsure if we should try to have Taylor study it personally (maybe with Bonesaw and possibly Accord helping?), or if it would be wiser to wait for Iris. On one hand, iris would almost certainly do a much better job than Taylor. He likely has all mental stats way higher than we do.

However it would mean waiting 6 weeks. And Taylor right now does have high-level visual enhancements, Int 5, per 6+2nd aug, wits 6, 8x IEU with all mental augs that she could share with others (Bonesaw? Accord?), Lore and Occult both at 5 (and 2 dots specialty with parahumans, direct experience with SoPA, and TIE and SPU. And stunts ofcourse (we might be able to get away with having SoPA react to the vial in a stunt for example? I think it was stated we could actually communicate with the shard-charm now, after VoV experience?).

Heck, just putting the vial into TIE will likely give all sorts of interesting leads:

Endodiagnostic Analytical Routines (Perception 4): The Alchemical perfectly understands all properties, powers and other characteristics of any object in the moment of internalizing it. This knowledge remains even after the item is extruded. Through comprehensive empathy algorithms that harmonize with new technology, the Exalt also can internalize objects that lack an owner (claiming instant ownership in the process). Finally, the cumulative difficulty to make a copy, improve a copy or make an improved version of any internalized object via appropriate Craft rolls is halved, rounded up. The example must remain internalized for the entire period of crafting for this benefit to apply.

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And working on it with Bonesaw and possibly Accord in a team enhanced by SPU (with all 3 IEU boosted) would presumably reveal all sorts of other interesting things aswell. At the very least, it would probably be sufficient to convince Doctor Mother that we could do a lot to help with vial research. Our enhanced IEU that now does 8 mental threads and boosts all three mental stats and the significant benefits SPU gives when working on the research as a team would also likely be pretty convincing. Ultimately we could also perhaps give one of Accords men a soul, and then feed the vial to him to see what happens (if research suggests it won't prove disastrous).

Gromweld did mention that collaboration on vial research would be brought up during the next meeting, but it would not surprise me at all if Cauldron is not willing to jump at working with us unless we prove our worth first. If thats not true, then we can just give the vial to someone to drink, or keep it in storage waiting for Iris.

The level 3 vial is probably rare enough that we should either save it for Iris personally to study (if we do try to research a level 1 vial on our own, we can probably hand him all the research we have gathered first, and serve as an assistant with SPU, which would probably allow him to progress fast). Or we could keep it for use on someone. A vial of that power (especially if our understanding is first enhanced by exalted/Iris enhanced research) would give someone really potent powers. Granted, not sure we know anyone thats non-parahuman that we trust enough to be willing to give the vial to, but we could look for someone. Or just hand it to Iris to try and invent a POS submodule for shards.


On resources:
It occurs to me that if we plan to basically take "illegal" funds from Number Mans accounts anyway, it might be worth it to consider trying to use that money to produce more money rather than using it up. Note that we have multiple ways in which we could acquire more money. For example, we could purchase 1 credit of resources, then use that to buy high-tech materials, and build advanced tinkertech which we could sell to someone (lets say in Europe or UK?).

If Taylor finds the time to work on it personally, it would become Perfect tinkertech. Perfect level goods are basically incredibly rare (and probably never seen before on Earth!Bet), and so presumably would be worth shitloads of money. Heck, Cauldron for example would likely be willing to buy Perfect-level stuff from us, since its likely even Contessa can't create stuff of that level. Our SoPA would also mean we could have somekind of critter(s) we control build "merely" normal tinkertech while Taylor hangs around in PRT base. SoPAs multitasking means it would not bother our duties. And ofcourse, using spiders to weave silk would also be worth loads. People are willing to pay a lot for designer clothing and so on. How much would people be willing to pay for Perfect level spidersilk clothing?

Theres also the fact that Taylor can probably make tinkertech that lasts better than normal. Its likely that the entities introduce deliberate flaws and issues in the technology tinker-shards create, to keep a world from advancing too fast. Taylor however is not a tinker in that sense, and would presumably be able to produce tech that lasts a lot longer by using TIE to analyze tech and figure out potential flaws and so on. And she would do it in record time thanks to IEU.

Heck, we have several powerfull allies, so its not impossible that we might be able to get something special worked up that would perhaps allow us to actually do this with PRT knowledge (maybe giving them a cut, or giving a portion to charity?). Or having Prayer (an adult) sell it for us for example (with Saki helping negotiate prices). And if not, we could arrange things through the Number Man.

Basically, we have the kind of unique exalted knowhow that would allow us to take the 5 dots of resources, maybe spending half on it on Philadelphia if we want to (and to soothe Saki), and then start using the rest to make more money by utilizing our unique skills. We could potentially buy medicine 4 and try to get somekind of patent going with Armsmaster for healing nanites that would easily be worth millions. If we could figure out a way to replicate the drugs in Sakis Hypodermic, we could sell them for insane amounts. And so on and so on. And as we gain more assembly members with more unique abilities and skills, our ability to acquire more money/resources will only increase.

Once Iris finishes the demesne, we might try to see if he can use its power to create adamant by making the stuff Prayer constructs permanent (Gromweld said it would be easier to do that). Adamant is basically magical material, and likely absurdly valuable on Earth (utterly unique, and also has very potent properties for weapons, armor, clothes and stuff).

Eventually, once we get Man-Machine Protocols, we can also start doing stuff such as using Autochtonian Elemental Benediction to bless magic items. (metal would allow us to make unbreakable items for example. People would pay a LOT for that). Or Crystal enhanced Perfect clothing made by the person with 5 dot of beauty rep would probably easily worth millions per dress/suit.

And ofcourse, Prayer can continue collecting kill orders with Crawler for their bounties, which would also boost her reputation as someone willing to take down the worst monsters among capes.

Bottom line: We don't really NEED Cauldron to give us lots of money. With a bit of inventiveness, time and effort, we can become filthy rich on our own by the time we actually start needing money in major way.

 

[sainen]

I want Mom Militia and I want Sister Vista, but I (probably) can't have both.

This saddens me.

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sure you can so long as you support Orihalcum Miss Militia and Jade Vista.

Bottom line: We don't really NEED Cauldron to give us lots of money. With a bit of inventiveness, time and effort, we can become filthy rich on our own by the time we actually start needing money in major way.

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we don't really need anything that Cauldron is offering.

 

[sainen]

What's Miss Militia's Grand Vision that qualifies her for Orichalcum?

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you'd be better of asking @uju32 because I don't currently remember

This.
Accord is a vision of just one type of Orichalcum.
Our other candidates fit other molds.

For example?
Chevalier and Miss Militia both are the spitting image of Fair-Skinned Rishi, and their canon career trajectory even duplicates his.

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[Twei]

Well, if we had Jade MM and Ori Armsy, we could keep together the classic pairing. Hrmm....

 

[Datakim]

we don't really need anything that Cauldron is offering.

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Well, they are the only source for vials (and by extension likely only easy source for POS shard-submodule and possible cures for C53s). Maybe having Iris hack into brains of parahumans with kill orders for all the shard goodies inside would also work, but not sure that would be all that better?

Doormaker/Clairvoyant combo, and access to other worlds/parahumans is also likely going to be tough to acquire on our own. Not sure how far Iris is in dimensional research? Iris is super-smart, but multiverse and the concept of other dimensions is very alien to Exalted. On the other hand, VoV basically figured it out instantly, so dunno.

Money though? That we can do all on our own so long as we have a bit of money to get started with. Heck, we could do it without getting anything from Cauldron and just using Prayers savings or whatever if we really had to.

you'd be better of asking @uju32 because I don't currently remember

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This is the canon description:

The Solar Exalted were Chosen to lead and to rule in radiant glory over their fellows and Creation itself. In Autochthonia, however, the Exalted do not rule. They exist to protect and serve. Alchemicals of the Orichalcum Caste, then, lead by example. Assuming a position as first among equals, the Shining Ones act as trailblazers, innovators and inspirational icons. By their excellence, they goad their societies to be excellent. Applying their genius to national infrastructure, the art of war or their own personal evolution, Archons stand at the cutting edge of Autochthonian society. Moving from success to success and greatness to greatness, they broadcast a message to their peers and subordinates: Anything is possible.

Exceeding the bounds of possibility is easier for these Exalts than it is for others, however, which sometimes produces friction and frustration. Many Shining Ones have little patience for those who are unable to keep up with their brilliant deductions, devastating martial prowess and instinctive political acumen. Nothing embitters an Orichalcum Caste so much as submitting a revolutionary proposal only to see it rejected by his Tripartite Assembly because they cannot understand it. Some of Autochthonia's most brilliant Archons labor in frantic seclusion behind the walls of high-security compounds and reinforced testing sites, emerging only once every few years or decades to unveil some incredible innovation or undertake a nigh-impossible mission on behalf of their nation.

For a soul to imbue an Archon with life, its past incarnations must have been visionaries who pursued larger-than-life goals without restraint. The cleric who institutes sweeping doctrinal reform, the senior plutarch who brings vast prosperity to his city, the celebrant who attempts to establish international orthodoxy, the victorious Militate general, the revolutionary Scholar engineer—these are the lives that combine to create the personality of a Shining One. Because opportunities to pursue epic goals are mostly restricted to members of the Tripartite, Orichalcum Castes who possess memory-echoes of lives among the Populat are rare. This exacerbates (and to the Archons, justifies) already endemic trends toward arrogance.

The Flames of Autochthon often attempt to assume a leadership role when working in an assembly, outfitting themselves for that purpose as the situation dictates. This can be of great benefit if the Archon is skilled at recognizing group aptitudes and delegating tasks accordingly, or disastrous if the Exalt is simply willful. In any event, an Archon can be counted upon to head up group think tanks, to place himself in the thick of battle or to step forward to inspire the masses on behalf of his fellows.

Their obsession with progress tends to drive Orichalcum Castes to upgrade themselves early and frequently, climbing the ladder toward transhuman evolution as quickly as the demands of minimum enlightenment allow. Technologically inclined elder Archons often incorporate complex fabrication facilities into their own bodies, while martially inclined Shining Ones transform themselves into mobile combat platforms bristling with experimental weapon systems. As they grow sessile, Orichalcum Castes literally become the cities of tomorrow that they have spent centuries designing, acting as test beds for their own infrastructural, technological and sociological theories.

Caste Markings: Orichalcum Caste Charms are clean, streamlined devices of burnished brass, gold and orichalcum. Crystal windows and alchemically hardened glass reveal bubbling fluids, spinning gears and sliding pistons driving Essence to power these implanted artifacts. The animas of the Archons blaze forth as storms of golden fire and actinic vortices of white lightning. Metal brought into this firestorm often sparks and dances with traces of energy for minutes afterward.

Anima Effect: By reflexively spending five motes, Shining Ones may charge their bodies with golden lightning for a scene. This energy visibly surges at the point of contact whenever they strike in close combat, while projectiles crackle with a destructive nimbus as they race toward targets. This power adds the character's Essence to the raw damage of all attacks. It activates automatically at no cost whenever an Alchemical's anima reaches the 11+ level of display.

Caste Attributes: Orichalcum Castes are forceful beings in every respect: immensely strong, confident and brilliant without measure. Although not necessarily likable, they are literally and undeniably awe-inspiring. As such, their Caste Attributes are Strength, Charisma and Intelligence.

Associations: the color yellow, gold, orichalcum, the element of lightning, illumination, inspiration, leadership, excellence

Sobriquets: Archons, Blessed of Noi, Flames of Autochthon, Shining Ones

Concepts: advisor to the Tripartite, cleric of the Great Maker, defender of the state, mad scientist, national spokesman

The shortcomings of your doctrine are self-evident. I have found a better way.

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That does not immediately scream Miss Militia to me. Ofcourse, theres probably some leeway normally and not everyone is going to be the perfect representative of their caste. On the other hand, Gromweld has stated that the later ones are going to be toughest to fullfill, so the VERY last one should probably be as close as possible and not deviate that much from the epitome of the caste.

Spoiler: Fair-Spoken Rishi. Scroll of Exalts

Fair-Spoken Rishi
The Elder Statesman

Quote: This course of action is sufficient in the short term, but it will ultimately prove detrimental. I'd like to propose an alternative.

Once, many centuries and a great deal of Clarity ago, Fair-Spoken Rishi was one of the greatest up-and-coming military minds of Yugash. He served with verve and distinction in the Diamond Fields Conflict against Claslat, won two key victories in the campaign against the Apostate Industry of Silence, and at the height of his career, not only captured the Gulakian town of Kemprast, but also negotiated exceedingly favorable terms for its return while concealing the fact that his supply line had been cut by the vagaries of the Great Maker's biotectonic workings.

Then, shortly into his second century of service, Rishi retired his commission. Some believed he had simply proven his dominance on the battlefield and wished to move on to new challenges. They were mistaken, but the Archon did not bother to correct them. In truth, Rishi's victories had always left him feeling hollow, even those that pressed him to the limit of his skill and intellect. During his final decade as a general, he conferred often with the famed lector Jeruen. Jeruen counseled the troubled Exalt, explaining that his works were holy because the Machine God recognized the necessity that prompted them but profane in and of themselves. Ideally, Autochthon's world-body would operate in perfect clockwork unity, and the Eight Nations would integrate harmoniously with the Great Maker and with one another.

Rishi found his first peace in these notions and put aside soldiering to broaden his horizons. He honed his rhetoric while studying the laws of Yugash and the other nations. Soon, he was counted an honorary plutarch and, shortly after that, realized that he would accomplish little with his oratory unless he also became conversant in politics.

In his four centuries of service to Yugash, Fair-Spoken Rishi has released hundreds of memorandums, essays and treatises on the nature of ideal law and its possible enforcement. Many infer pacifist or even anti-Yugash leanings from Rishi's writings, though he always stops well short of actually criticizing his government or any of its policies. Instead, Rishi prefers to present scenarios set in deliberate but nonspecific contrast to highprofile laws or current events. Those who speak out against the Exalt soon discover that he has many friends in unexpected places. Rishi spends his political capital carefully but effectively, and he will not allow himself be pushed around or criticized by young jingoists.

Of course, no Alchemical spends centuries exclusively drafting and proposing legal reforms. Rishi has been called upon to install his old war Charms on behalf of Yugash from time to time, and he has always complied with a silent bow. Moreover, he has been used as an international diplomat on many occasions, and often as a wartime negotiator. Rishi has made a few friends and contacts in the other Autochthonian nations, and they make sure that his writings are disseminated outside of the borders of Yugash. He keeps in touch primarily through the Vision Transmitting Protocol, though when he has longer missives to deliver, he has been known to grant favors to younger Champions willing to act as couriers.

Most Yugashite Exalts of recent vintage have met Rishi at least once. He believes that, although Alchemicals are servants of the state, the moral example they set will ultimately chart the course and determine the fortune of Yugash. As such, he is quite willing to act as a mentor and sponsor to any younger Champion whose actions align with the Archon's beliefs. His advice, frosted with Clarity, focuses on navigating the path between ideal results and the real acts required to achieve them.

Fair-Spoken Rishi finds Project Razor both alarming and fascinating, and of late, he has thrown himself into study of ancient editions of the Tome of the Great Maker, attempting to learn about the people and the culture of the forgotten world to which his nation may soon return. He even considers requesting a transfer onto the project as a diplomat.

Motivation: Forge peaceful accords between the inhabitants of Autochthonia

Other Notes: Fair-Spoken Rishi's Artifact rating refers to his suit of orichalcum superheavy plate, a memento from his soldier days that he typically dons only when he's recalled to military service or is aware of some threat he'll need to combat. Rishi enjoys the Backing of Yugash's plutarchs, living like one of their Class, and has Allies throughout the nation's Alchemicals. He has many Contacts among Yugash's social reformers and among their fellows in other nations familiar with the Exalt's writings

Hmm. Not sure I see it really? MM is a decent and friendly person that is generally liked, but not sure a superb diplomat would be the first thing she brings to mind?


Comments on MM from Gromweld:

Also, Miss Militia is technically equal in rank to Armsmaster, but she's smart enough to act as 2nd in command to appease his ego (and since she's not chomping at the bit for the position). You'd only know that if you looked at their internal files, however, which you haven't.

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This. Miss Militia is showing signs of painkiller addiction/abuse. That's what Taylor's comment to Piggot was implying as well, as bad/over-used prescriptions are how it starts.

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If we someone convince Miss Militia to join our Assembly, then her power will be suitably effective.

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Another consideration: she might no longer be limited to only weapons...

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Dragon has been the only thing keeping the dude [Armsmaster -Datakim] sane, though Miss Militia has tried to help as well.

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Remember, the Twins said their favorite cape was Miss Militia.

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Worth noting is that Marrow is the upper-tier in terms of starting loadout, due to her age and long tenure as as combat-heavy superhero. On the low end, we have Taylor: young, with only about an effective year of "combat" experience against the Trio. Exalting someone like Chevalier, Miss Militia, or Armsmaster would yield similar results as Marrow, while Exalting someone younger would yield similar results as Taylor. Converting someone young with combat experience (Missy, Weld, or Kinzey) or older with less combat experience (Danny) would get the middle-ground.

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Chevalier and Miss Militia would be fine for letting the kids be kids, while Armsmaster would make it into a training exercise. If you want hijinks, Bladedancer and Lockstep are the go-to chaperons. As for the others, Crocker and Gust wouldn't pay attention at all, while Erasmus would pay too much attention...

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If taken at character creation, Integrated Arsenal System gets an installation of every mundane weapon (except for thrown) in the Exalted books, all of them are Excellent, and all have the exalt's magical material composition/bonus. The sub-mod to make things Perfect still exists, but is house-ruled to be an Essence 5 sub-module instead of Essence 3, and would need to be purchased one-at-a-time for individual weapons. Soooo... yes, they basically become quasi-Miss Militia, but for what it's worth, Miss Militia's base parahuman shard has WAY more weapons in her arsenal, it supplies her with infinite ammunition, and the converted shard-charm would have even less restrictions and more Bullshit.

 

[sainen]

Well, if we had Jade MM and Ori Armsy, we could keep together the classic pairing. Hrmm....

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I think that's a crappy plan, no the grounds that I've been wanting to Exalt Vista as Jade for what is basically 2 years irl.
I could deal with having either Armsmanster or Miss Militia for Ori, but Jade is Vista's damn it.

 

[Twei]

I think that's a crappy plan, no the grounds that I've been wanting to Exalt Vista as Jade for what is basically 2 years irl.
I could deal with having either Armsmanster or Miss Militia for Ori, but Jade is Vista's damn it.

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This is also true. On the other hand, Vista is young and MM isn't.

DECISIONS THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO MAKE RIGHT NOW

 

[landcollector]

Eventually, once we get Man-Machine Protocols, we can also start doing stuff such as using Autochtonian Elemental Benediction to bless magic items.

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The mote calcs don't really leave room for Weaving Engines on Taylor (also, the perma Clarity on a charm that can't be removed once installed isn't very desirable). Maybe the selected Ori candidate.

 

[Datakim]

The mote calcs don't really leave room for Weaving Engines on Taylor (also, the perma Clarity on a charm that can't be removed once installed isn't very desirable). Maybe the selected Ori candidate.

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That benediction was just one example. But yeah, The general idea apparently seems to be to install all the exemplar stuff (MMWE, GMWE, TOA, maybe TAE if tinker-style?) on our Ori.

And yeah, it kinda sucks that we won't be able to get any weaving-protocols for a loong time.

However theres not enough support for Taylor to get MMWE (not that a single Exemplar 1 would be terribad), and it is admittedly true that she is kinda filled with important charms already. Particularly if we want IAT back. On the other hand, if theres a timeskip, Taylor is the only one who could reach E5 (unless Iris manages to pull a vat from somewhere, somehow), while the rest would remain at E3. Ohwell.

 

[Yeangst]

I'd love to swing for the fences and recruit Legend. It'd take convincing, but so would any Gold candidate other than Accord.

Edit: crap forgot about the Eden shard thing. But it would still be really cool.

 

[Versac]

Discussion is moving way too fast these days for me to really participate in a back-and-forth way, but I'll drop a few thoughts:

• "This person has issues" and "no, it's their shard" is very much not a zero-sum game. Shards explicitly work off of and deepen the host's existing mental issues - it's not a coincidence that the most drastic influence was in a borderline feral child.
• I don't really have strong opinions on Jade candidates, other than to say that this one should definitely come next after Aisha takes Moonsilver. The proposed candidates are decent caste matches, but nothing compared to Ori. I suppose I could be convinced by strong arguments (or vote trading, if we want to open that can of dire worms), but other than being somewhat wary of Missy I don't see anything compelling.
• Speaking of Orichalcum, the more I think about it the more convinced I am that Alexandria is blatantly the best candidate by a huge margin. I'll write up a thing at some point, but I think we have time given the schedule for me to be lazy. So far the only viable arguments against that I've seen are "it'd be nice to feed Auto a Tinker at some point" and "I don't like Cauldron", and "she's too used to being the public face for a shadowy administrative leader after having been shown the true crisis before humanity".
• On Tinkers: the more Wildbow writes the more clear it becomes that Tinkertech is less some technological advance that can be theoretically replicated and more a vector for shards to directly play off of their hosts' creativity while prompting resource shortage. There are some legitimate pieces of technology there, sure, but a Tinker shard is very much not just a bundle of schematics.
• Accord is cool. But he's strictly inferior to Contessa. Fite me irl.

 

[landcollector]

So far the only viable arguments against that I've seen are "it'd be nice to feed Auto a Tinker at some point" and "I don't like Cauldron", and "she's too used to being the public face for a shadowy administrative leader after having been shown the true crisis before humanity".

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Well, there's also the lingering worry of "Giving Alexandria's shard to Autobot for tinkering might, if we are unlucky, wake up Eden. Not Good.".

 

[Twei]

Accord is cool. But he's strictly inferior to Contessa. Fite me irl.

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i'll fukin cut u sware on me mum

but really, this opinion intrigues me and I wish to hear more​

 

[Gromweld]

Gromweld, why aren't you using the time tag? It automatically adjusts for everyone's time
Dec 3, 2016 at 2:59 AM is when the voting starts.

Stratagemini, you should probably remove the X's from your vote and repost it after the voting starts so there will be no problems with the tallying program.

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I was trying to (and spent a good 10 minutes trying to figure it out), but it wouldn't work for some reason. However, I've just gone ahead and copied what you posted and it seems to work now? Weird. The only annoying bit now is that you can't force it to use CAPS LOCK so it looks kinda weird in the announcement...

To uh, decrease dreaded Worm Morality Tangent, let's return to the topic:
How do we go about getting some non-NA capes short list with goddamn psychological profiles attached? Because hey, Sirkalla is OC and she is a precious treasure. Why not look for another one?

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Early on, there were voiced concerns that the Assembly was going to turn into an OC parade, and I definitely was of a similar mindset; a big draw of fanfiction is to see familiar characters in new situations, and so having the main POVs be almost entirely new people would undoubtedly turn some people off. We're now at 2 canon (Taylor, Aisha) and 2 OC (Marrow, Twins), and most of the major contenders for the remaining spots are canon characters.

There is also the narrative concern that our cast is already exceedingly bloated, and trying to flesh out more characters that haven't even been named in the story would be difficult to do without their intro completely overtaking the narrative (Example: LORD GRASP, DEVOURER OF SCENERY). To be fair, I have plans for some new-ish characters to show up that are plot-relevant and not just 'oh here's another OC that could work', but there's already so many people that deserve screen time and we're extremely limited on that front.

"But wait," you say, "wouldn't it be 'plot relevant' to hunt down new characters that would be better fits for the castes?" Well, Voice In My Head #7, consider that there's not a lot of dramatic tension for adding new character just for the purposes of interviewing Alchemical candidates; we need to spend screen time on the ones that work for it to make narrative sense for us to pick them, so there's no conflict/tension because the readers already know who's going to be picked and who's completely superfluous. In that way, it's effectively a waste of our screen time to add anyone that isn't either going to be doing a lot for us outside of the interviewing process or be a new Assembly character.

And... well... we already have a crapton of people that are helping us outside of the interviewing process. If we were much earlier in the narrative then it'd make sense - which is why we got a bunch of new characters when we moved to Philly - but now we're starting to ramp up towards the end-game, and so each new character has to be extremely efficient/economical in order to be worth adding at the 11th Hour.

We already have a Vote in the queue regarding Cauldron's list of candidates, which will be coming up in 9.5. If that doesn't satisfy people, I'll put up another vote, but for now I recommend waiting to see how things pan out.

 

[Gromweld]

DOUBLE POST BECAUSE I DO WHAT I WANT

Edit: crap forgot about the Eden shard thing. But it would still be really cool.

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This has been brought up a bunch over the last few days and I keep forgetting to comment on it. So: Eden is brain-dead to the point of being unrecoverable. Her screaming is basically what happens if you push hard on a fresh corpse that has a bunch of air in its lungs. Concerns that her screaming might attract Scion is one thing, but you can safely put to bed any concerns that she would somehow 'wake up' if we exalted another Cauldron-created cape.

 

[Stratagemini]

Also, while the stunt about Adamant was amusing, its probably not really valid now. Iris is busy charging up his essence laser for the next 1000 hours or so, and its improbable he could have just made a slab of adamant offscreen. You might want to record it for later though, after Iris finishes the demesne.


Beyond that, I disagree about money (we have so many ways to create it, and its not all that usefull to us frankly), and about not having even a single soulgem stunt. Though those

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Hmmm... Wasn't there something a while back in-story about the cradle converting materials from earth into the same materials but with Essence. Maybe it could make marrow's adamant permanent?

The only reason Money isn't useful is because we have PRT backing. but that can change pretty easily as far as Taylor knows, because she doesn't know Rebecca Costa-Brown is Alexandria.

 

[ChandraMagic]

The on;y reason Money isn't useful is because we have PRT backing. but that can change pretty easily as far as Taylor knows, because she doesn't know Rebecca Costa-Brown is Alexandria.

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Ah, no, she has...some idea that things aren't exactly as they appear in that regard. And that's about all the hints you get from me~

 

[Versac]

Well, there's also the lingering worry of "Giving Alexandria's shard to Autobot for tinkering might, if we are unlucky, wake up Eden. Not Good.".

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Pretty sure canon has that Cauldron irretrievably finished off Eden's core mind some ways into their vial program - hence why Scion couldn't just throw a few switches when he found the Garden. What's the WoGrom otherwise?

EDIT: Satisfyingly ninja'd.

That said, playing with Balance would be waaaay too risky for my taste. But temporal stasis? That'd be even a higher short-term priority than Tinker stuff. Just need to vet with Cauldron that it's a different batch than the loopers, like Alabaster, Gray Boy('s shade), or Cod....

You know what? Fuck those guys.

i'll fukin cut u sware on me mum

but really, this opinion intrigues me and I wish to hear more​

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Contessa can both predict Thinkers and run hypotheticals. Shit's broken, yo.

 

[Datakim]

@Gromweld, no Mobile Sensory Drone writeup afterall?

"This person has issues" and "no, it's their shard" is very much not a zero-sum game. Shards explicitly work off of and deepen the host's existing mental issues - it's not a coincidence that the most drastic influence was in a borderline feral child.

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Accord probably had some pre-existing OCD or other such thing, but he was apparently able to lead a normal life before triggering. Gromweld has confirmed that his shard screws him to an abnormal degree. We also know a soul would help. And frankly, I want to start trying to ensoul people in larger quantities if we can (cult 2 would give us more motes!)

I don't really have strong opinions on Jade candidates, other than to say that this one should definitely come next after Aisha takes Moonsilver. The proposed candidates are decent caste matches, but nothing compared to Ori. I suppose I could be convinced by strong arguments (or vote trading, if we want to open that can of dire worms), but other than being somewhat wary of Missy I don't see anything compelling.

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Well, Chevalier was stated to be a good match for Jade by Gromweld at some point. Ofcourse that was two years ago.

Speaking of Orichalcum, the more I think about it the more convinced I am that Alexandria is blatantly the best candidate by a huge margin. I'll write up a thing at some point, but I think we have time given the schedule for me to be lazy. So far the only viable arguments against that I've seen are "it'd be nice to feed Auto a Tinker at some point" and "I don't like Cauldron", and "she's too used to being the public face for a shadowy administrative leader after having been shown the true crisis before humanity".

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Prayer already does the brute force thing, and there are better Zion thinkers we could find.
Conflict of interest with Cauldron is a valid concern.
Cauldrons exposure with one of Cauldrons top people in our Assembly would be catastrophic (granted, exposuer would be bad already, but we could spin it if we could figure out a way to help C53s and so on).

And ofcourse, some people just prefer someone else. I don't really want GU for our assembly, but I can't exactly say Uju is wrong to have different personal preference.

On Tinkers: the more Wildbow writes the more clear it becomes that Tinkertech is less some technological advance that can be theoretically replicated and more a vector for shards to directly play off of their hosts' creativity while prompting resource shortage. There are some legitimate pieces of technology there, sure, but a Tinker shard is very much not just a bundle of schematics.

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I am confident that Armsmasters shard (or any tinkers, but if we exalt a tinker, Armsmaster is almost certainly it) would be sufficiently awesome after the primordial of innovation and technology is finished tinkering with it.

Accord is cool. But he's strictly inferior to Contessa. Fite me irl.

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Contessa is off-limits for exaltation by Gromweld veto, so its a moot point. Also, Contessa of this story is a bit handicapped (though far less than many others in fairness) by Essence screwing with her precog anyway.


---

On free actions.

Taylor should try to get Accord to accept a soul. Both so we can see how it works out for ourself, and to get the ball rolling on the soul thing. Anyway, while I suck at writing stunts, I atleast tried for free action for Taylor:

Article:

"So, I have one these 'shards' from this recording attached to me aswell", Accord spoke with poorly hidden strain in his voice, "To see my truest enemy at last", he whispered. Weaver continued the presentation in a concise tone, "A soul would allow you to resist it, and grant other benefits. My report was comprehensive." Accord turned, and quietly nodded.

Would appreciate help.


Saki should arrange a get-together with the Assembly in her safe space (and ONLY assembly for this, not good idea to bring her together with Bonesaw yet, if ever), to try and talk things through. Lord Grasp and Prayer would hopefully help keep things together. Probably after Cauldron meeting (if its with Taylor included, we can talk about the apocalypse and all the revelations. If not, Taylor can do damage control).

Prayer should do something really cool. Yeah.


On other dimensions:
If we do get another dimension access, what dimension should we get?
- Something nearly identical to our earth, except uninhabited perhaps? Would have the advantage of knowing where all plentifull resources are (which would have been mined on Earth!Bet, but still ready and waiting on exalted!Earth. Animal life would make things easier for Taylor to use SoPA to help things along, but would mean we would be committing mass-exctinction event if we unleashed Wyld to consume the world eventually? Yeah, they would not be sapient, but its still pretty cruel thing to do.
- A barren wasteland with no life perhaps? Could perhaps unleash Wyld as soon as possible, without worrying too much about other things?

I wonder if it might be worth it to create a wyld-zone on some barren world we get from Cauldron, and later try to have Iris find a way to a world that Cauldron can't access (bonus if its one with a shard to study) to actually build somekind of infastructure/Autochtonian-aspected essence on. I mean its not like I am saying I don't fully trust Cauldron, but well I don't fully trust Cauldron. We could presumably have Prayer hunt down and capture some horrible criminal, and then have Iris try to breach into that dimension, VoV style.


On Alchemicals:
It might be worth it to keep waiting for the reveal for a little while longer? We have many things going on now, so this might not be the best time? Saki just got out, and will need some time to adjust, and when the truth is revealed we probably want to have our social expert at the top of her game.

People might try to go after Iris or disrupt things if the truth is revealed now. Even if he can handle it, it would likely be an annoying distraction. We could wait until he gets the first demesne finished (once that happens, its too late for anyone to try to stop things).

SoPA is broken, so Taylor is not operating at full capacity. If the reveal causes trouble, it would be good if it happened after SoPA has repaired itself. Also, Taylors big help with Philadelphia would likely make people accept it better (show everyone that we are not limited to taking out bad guys, but can help productive rebuild aswell).


VoV incident:
I dunno. Lying would be easiest, but would likely be exposed at some point in the future. Given that Taylor is basically glowing and not looking great, saying that it was Taylors power, but malfunctioning badly due to Jack Slash using a superweapon might be be best. We could then point out that it also inflicted some permanent damage that will take quite some time to heal, to try to gain sympathy. Also state that we can't control sapient beings without the superweapon Jack Slash unleashed, but that we did retain the ability to control animals, and will try to use it to undo as much harm as possible.


Autochtonia disaster:
Hard to say really. I could see this affecting how Sakura develops.
Overloading might be crafting related?
Guns might be weapon skills?
Kamikaze perhaps conviction (or whatever virtue is used to make hard decisions).


Interlude:
This is in many ways a personal preference, but I will say that we DID vote for Prayer to have a talk with Armsmaster previously. This would allow us to see what happened. Also, I am rather curious if Armsmaster has figured out what the thing Vision of Vengeance pulled from the head of Jack Slash was. I mean he did have a recording, and they now have a translator. So Armsmaster would certainly have seen VoV refer to him and others and state they were infested by parasites, followed by Prayer explaining about parahuman powers.

Does Armsmaster know about entity shards at this point? And if he does, we can be sure Uriel and such also know.


XP:
I would encourage 1 dot of backing for Cauldron. So long as Taylor gets it, it should not be a huge thing, since SoPA allows Taylor to multitask like crazy. This is particularly true now thanks to MSD and Iris. And going to 2 dots is not exactly a massive job increase. Particularly since Cauldron is a conspiracy where you don't exactly work 9 to 5.

For the record, this is the post I made previously with all of Gromwelds comments on backing, and some more comments from myself on the matter: Alchemical Solutions [Worm/Exalted] Thread 23: We Wonder Where Who Wanders When Watchers Wane | Page 97

DOUBLE POST BECAUSE I DO WHAT I WANT

This has been brought up a bunch over the last few days and I keep forgetting to comment on it. So: Eden is brain-dead to the point of being unrecoverable. Her screaming is basically what happens if you push hard on a fresh corpse that has a bunch of air in its lungs. Concerns that her screaming might attract Scion is one thing, but you can safely put to bed any concerns that she would somehow 'wake up' if we exalted another Cauldron-created cape.

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Does that mean that throwing a vial with Aisha to try and save XP is viable idea afterall? Or would you be personally opposed to having to invent two shard-charms.

Hmmm... Wasn't there something a while back in-story about the cradle converting materials from earth into the same materials but with Essence. Maybe it could make marrow's adamant permanent?

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Cradle leaks essence a bit, but not to the point of converting things to Magical Materials.

The only reason Money isn't useful is because we have PRT backing. but that can change pretty easily as far as Taylor knows, because she doesn't know Rebecca Costa-Brown is Alexandria.

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The trouble is that money won't help with the most important things.

Will Money help convert the planet faster? Not really?
Can we buy Magical Materials for our manse? Nope.
Can we purchase a big truck to pull Auto into our universe? Unfortunately not.
etc.

I am not saying its useless (money is never useless ofcourse), but it won't help solve the biggest issues we have. Regardless, we have other ways of acquiring money, so using our Cauldron credits on it would be a waste. Taylor can create stuff people would pay millions for, and do it fast as hell. Taylor cannot create Eden vials. Or get access to other worlds. Or get super-teleporter access to a specific person.

Also, its atleast implied that Taylor figured out that Alexandria is RCB in the whole meeting where the Iris incident happened.

Contessa can both predict Thinkers and run hypotheticals. Shit's broken, yo.

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I bet she can't predict Iris though.

Round ball rolls to victory!

 

[Twei]

I bet she can't predict Iris though.

Round ball rolls to victory!

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?: "Behold the mighty Thinker 12!"

Fortuna: "...ow."

Iris: [INDIFFERENCE][CONFIDENCE]

...

Prayer should do something really cool. Yeah.

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She's certainly been somewhat lacking in cool things of late.

 

[Gromweld]

@Gromweld, no Mobile Sensory Drone writeup afterall?

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Stop making me do things that I've said I'll do!

Does that mean that throwing a vial with Aisha to try and save XP is viable idea afterall? Or would you be personally opposed to having to invent two shard-charms.

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Giving an extra vial may indeed end up resulting in a second shard-charm for the candidate. What kind of shard-charm will be determined by my dice and just what kind/quality vial we give, and each shard-charm shaves a month off the time limit... so consider your options carefully.

I bet she can't predict Iris though.

Round ball rolls to victory!

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Do Not Predict The Happy Fun Ball.

 

[uju32]

Answering posts since last night in order:

We have a Moebot, there's no reason we can't just show up to talk things over like sensible people (and utterly steamroll him due to the overwhelming might of our social chops).

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Reminder:
Dragon is Taylor's Ally 3. Not Prayer's, not Saki's.
We don't get to automatically assume that she rates the same level of importance for them as she does for her.
Just as Willow isn't as important to Taylor as she is to Prayer.

The Moebot needs to be convinced that this is necessary, which is something that isn't immediately obvious.
Then she needs face time, and time away from the larger concerns that she is going to be dealing with.

Frankly, the Saint issue is the kind of thing you point your Moonsilver at as a side project.
It's literally the kind of problem that we are recruiting a Mission Impossible-type candidate for, who comes with Husk-Sculpting Array as standard.
So we can proactively approach potential problems obliquely instead of with a hammer.

Eh, I'm not sure this is a good idea

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That's the consequence of being a good guy: you need to be able to justify your actions to your peers and superiors before taking precipitate action.
And precrime is not a category of the penal code.

It's a standard that applies to everyone.
Note how the PRT has not gone after the Elite, and how the Yangban were allowed to grow.

And Saint only hasn't killed Dragon because he still wants her alive. Do we know either of these things IC?

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We most definitely know about GU in character.

Lore 5 covers this because she is public record, even though the PRT and other govts will have deliberately downplayed it in public.

Spoiler: Extinction 27.3

In a manner typical for royalty, Glaistig Uaine was fashionably late. The Faerie Queen.
Just like String Theory's terror campaign had driven people to desperation in their attempts to stop her from her scheduled sprees of destruction, Glaistig Uaine had drawn entire flocks of capes down on her head, by virtue of her habit of finding, killing and claiming the 'spirits' of capes.
Thing was, they'd sent multiple teams after her, and they'd failed. Thirty two capes killed and claimed.
So they sent more after her. Again, they failed. Of the fifty who were forced into a retreat, thirteen were killed and claimed.
When that wasn't enough, they hit her with everything, only for her to surrender.
She walked into the Birdcage of her own will.
Now they'd let her out.

And she has been in the Birdcage for at least a decade collecting those who've died for one reason or another.

We are well aware IC that among the capes she claimed is enough of a combination of powers that if she wants to leave, she'll make it out no problem.
Hell, if she chooses to massacre all ~600 capes in the Birdcage, she'll come out even stronger.
The governments put her at a cape buffet because they had literally no other choice that wasn't worse.

Unless I get a specific Word of Wildbow that states otherwise, for this quest Lustrum's misandry was not shard-impulse driven - that was entirely human nature, a leader getting drunk on their own social status/power.

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Point of order:
It's implied in canon that she was more one of those radical feminists that young activists tend to be. Not that she's a misandrist.
Things seem to have snowballed beyond her instructions, and she was held responsible.

While I'm beginning to agree with @uju32 on the necessity of talking to GU, I just realized that if we're going to flip GU, doing it through Cauldron is the exact wrong way to go about it.

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Point of order:
Getting Cauldron's help does not equate to having them Door us into the Birdcage.

It can be something as mundane as pulling political strings so that the government approves our request for an audience with GU.
Or having a court case about prisoner rights triumph, so that the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center's Board of Directors is obliged to allow qualified and vetted volunteers to provide regular medical care to the inmates.
Or simply digging up a regulation that states the govt HAS to allow medical visits to the inmates as long as appropriate volunteers are available.

Many ways to skin this particular cat.
Cauldron haven't kept a low profile for three decades by flaunting their power publicly when small nudges will do.

Theres also an old Word of Gromweld (though dunno if its still valid?), that we could (in theory) fix Alexandria with omnitools, since her body is more like a royal warstrider than a human flesh and blood thing, and so can be "repaired". It would however require massive amount of successes, and so is clearly inferior to just taking her to Sakis sanctum.

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Oddly enough, that is wrong by RAW.
Fixing a warstrider requires, and I quote:

Spoiler: Warstrider Repair Rules, WoTLA pg 148

To remove these penalties, a technician must first spend twice the amount of time the warstrider is in arrears on routine maintenance. For example, if the warstrider had gone 25 hours without maintenance, the technician(s) would have to first spend 40 full hours on routine maintenance (two 10-hour blocks multiplied by two, with the last five hours of arrearage ignored). Then, each penalty must be repaired individually, with each separate repair requiring both one hour of repair time and an Intelligence + Craft (Magitech) roll at a difficulty of 3.

Especially complicated repairs, such as reattaching severed limbs, require additional time, manpower, resources and increase the difficulty to 5, all at Storyteller discretion. On the other hand, Charms—especially high-level Solar Craft Charms—might speed up even the most difficult repairs to
something that can be done within minutes.

Basically GM fiat, else by RAW we could fix her straight out with Omnitools and SPU.

Need to read a bunch more posts and reply.

 

[Yeangst]

That's the consequence of being a good guy: you need to be able to justify your actions to your peers and superiors before taking precipitate action.
And precrime is not a category of the penal code.

It's a standard that applies to everyone.
Note how the PRT has not gone after the Elite, and how the Yangban were allowed to grow.

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We're not regular good guys. We're Champions of Autochton. Stopping pre-crime is totally something Soulsteels do.

And as for blowback from authorities with more conventional morality( not that PRT or Cauldron are among these), we have a bunch of ways to avoid that. From using Saki to charm blitz everyone to having Aisha make sure she's never caught.