Alchemical Solutions [Worm/Exalted] Thread 5: Eye Eyes Eyes Eyeing Eye Eyeing Eyes

Flamester · Feb 25, 2014

[X] Scenic Route

Demonic Spoon · Feb 25, 2014

We need Athletics(running) so that we can run away faster.

Darklord. · Feb 25, 2014

[X] Scenic Route

veekie · Feb 25, 2014

Menma said:
[x] Scenic Route

I love the world building and the character building, but if things to don't at least as nasty as cannon, I will be a little disappointed.

Given what happened with Coil, I have no doubt it'd live up to expectations.

Demonic Spoon · Feb 25, 2014

Bwuh? I could have sworn grom made a post giving us xp for the omake but he seems to have deleted it... :S

Gromweld · Feb 25, 2014

RCa said:
Good End Omake

Excellent work with the Exalted jargon, and I particularly liked the ending. +1 XP!

veekie said:
Might as well get even more XP!

I didn't roll Temperence nearly as many times as you think I did, and in those cases it was 50/50. Trolling Dennis is just part of that Friendship now, unless we deliberately choose otherwise. Anyway, still mostly good so +1 XP!

RCa · Feb 25, 2014

Done separately from Veekie's, so expect some overlap!

Gromweld said:
You stroll out of the meeting feeling more confident than you have in… well, a long time. You certainly don't remember you actually had any form of swagger to your step. Sure, the stares are still a little bothersome because your swarm and augmented sights almost reflexively pinpoint exactly where people are staring, but you definitely felt like you actually had a presence in that meeting. A meeting of the Protectorate.

Might be an Awareness/Investigation thing for the 'stares', but I think it's just fluff to represent our amazing beauty and clothing. The last few sentences refer to our Connections (PRT).

Failure? You didn't… no, that's just Colin trying to empathize. No need to get worked up, it doesn't seem like he's actually trying to blame you for the attack. More importantly, you're a little alarmed that your injuries have been noticeable enough for Colin to pick up on them.

Not sure what this is. Failed Valor check, or just sufficient familiarity with Colin that we didn't need to take one (perhaps Sense Motive?).

"We need your powers for the search effort more than your Tinkering. I'm willing to expedite your armor's reviews if you keep to your bed."

Possibly Connections again.

No, you don't detect any scarring or brain damage from constant use of Incomparable Efficiency Upgrade. There's still a bunch of readings you still don't quite understand, however, so there's probably something explaining the 'complete social ineptitude' in there somewhere.

Hah. Perhaps you can search your own brain and look for the places that match, Taylor?

The light frown of consternation and slight roll of his shoulders is the only clue that he's uncomfortable being put on the spot like this. You're now even more glad you didn't call him out on the extended medical leave in the meeting - that really would have backfired, you imagine.

Reference to succeeding a roll in the past update, possibly Temperance or a social skills check?

All six trains of thought are not enough to push away the cascade of emotions, so you just do your best to act like nothing is wrong. Your workshop isn't much father away, now, and then you can focus on getting back on track with your next ideas…

Not sure if this is a really subtle slip on Taylor's part or a typo on Grom's part. Let's assume the former!

Also, probably Conviction failure here.

It takes a few minutes for a more productive train of thought to finally win the battle for your mind, allowing you to focus back on your insects and their various tasks and observations.

Conviction success.

More importantly, it appears Iris has somehow managed to put an orange back together after splicing it into hundreds of component parts. You don't have any of your enhanced sights through your bugs, but from the look he has and the emotions feeding through the link, he seems even more frustrated than before.

Well, that's impressive. Did he do it inside-out?

You're tempted to pass him Incomparable Efficiency Upgrade, but committing the essence to the charm would be going against why you turned it off in the first place. You're also a bit worried about what kind of effect it might have on Iris. He might get even more ideas.

He'd be able to tinker like six fetich souls of the Machine God!

Using the clipboard-whiteboard that you still have from Gallant, teaching Iris written English proves far more easy than you first anticipated.

Probably only possible because we bought Linguistics (English).

"I told you before: no camps! We can have it taught in schools, but people will fight back if you try to make them change a part of their culture like that."

Social combat, go! Luckily, Iris trusts us when it comes to Nowhere Universe stuff.

Absence of Celestial Hierarchy to Dissuade Focus on Corporeal Desires
Resource Overabundance Encourages Low Temperance

Corruption Inevitable

Solution Requires Further Study

Solution Is Appropriate Use Of Personality-Overriding Spike.

"All computers linked, share information? Many... large computers only store information, but… can be accessed from any computer. Anyone with computer can add information to network, but not remove? Not all information on Internet is true!"

Lore check for the information (possibly auto-success) and something else for the communication. Linguistics?

Introduction to Animating Intelligence Possible for Examination?

"I… think they might object to being examined. Besides, you still have trouble with those oranges."

Social botch? Woops!

Your attempt to apologize is somewhat lessened by your failed ability to withhold your giggles at his behavior. By the time you can control yourself, he's floating through the door and on his way to your workshop with your computer in-hands. More impressively, if his successful attempts at navigating to Tower's entries on Artificial Intelligences are any indication, he appears to be slowly figuring out how to use the computer as he floats along.

Next up on My Eye and I: Iris recreates I AM, Dragon responds.

You consider trying to coax him back through your swarm, but judging by the emotions you're getting through the link you figure it might be better to let him cool down a bit first. Maybe then he'll hopefully get around to building those bug-computer interfaces so you can stop dive-bombing the keyboard in your workshop like a terrible hunt-and-peck typist. You've been losing flies every-so-often to the process, and while it's not a matter of numbers (they reproduce fast enough that it'll never become an issue) or waste (you feed their broken bodies to the spiders), it just… takes so long to do anything. You can't abide such inefficiency.

Success of some kind, and a reminder that we don't have the keyboard yet we've just been doing it inefficiently.

Part of your Ratings Test included a full medical workup, and while they indicated that their scanners were having a hard time getting a complete read on your body they were (in hindsight) suspiciously silent when they finished doing the scans of your head. Though, that could have just been because of your various charms that are installed in your cranium - Shard of Perfect Administration was probably like nothing they'd ever seen before, at least.

Possible Investigation? Do we even have a brain that they could analyse like that?

It's as you're thinking this when you finally manage to get a fly over to where Chevalier has been sitting in a corner of his guest room, reviewing some files while idly munching on a protein snack bar from the Protectorate lounge kitchen. A single fly doesn't provide a wealth of sensory data, so it takes a solid minute before you're able to make out the subject of his files: you.

Possibly a War (Swarms) check to get a fly in place, then an Awareness or Investigation check for the senses.

You're once again tempted to reactivate Incomparable Efficiency Upgrade to get a better handle on the situation, but you fight the temptation and instead focus on Chevalier himself.

Temperance.

As you watch him for several minutes, you occasionally glimpse him looking up or away from the file in abstracted thought, almost shuddering as if pondering some horrible event. Well, the Locker certainly could have qualified for that but you're a little surprised that such a renowned Hero would be so… unnerved… by your trigger event - you're fairly certain Chevalier has dealt with the Slaughterhouse 9 and been to several Endbringer battlefields, so a single case of filth-induced torture shouldn't really phase him.

Successful Investigation to notice this?

You're fairly certain he doesn't notice the four new flies that dart into his room as he leaves.

War or Stealth.

Your swarm sight of the Eye of Autochthon has thus far shown him madly scouring the Internet for science reports, research papers, and technology manuals. Right now he appears to be looking into programming guides. You're not certain if you should be worried. Maybe you should ask Dragon to keep an eye on him?

Don't worry, Taylor. I'm sure she's very interested in Iris's current research subject.

Back in your room, Chevalier isn't giving off any vibes of hostility that you can detect with your bugs... but just in case, you start silently gathering a swarm together in your bathroom and prepare yourself to go invisible should he make any aggressive actions. Then you would extrude your armor, roll out of the way...

Paranoia check! Also Sense Motive and maybe War or maybe fluff.

"Sorry about the furniture configuration. Please, have a seat."

Social combat begins. Taylor uses Charisma+Presence, Chevalier uses Investigation.

Though, you notice, he doesn't seem to be looking directly at you. No, it's almost like he's looking just beyond you, but through your bugs you don't see anything of note besides the pillows and wall - nothing that would explain the strain behind his eyes right now.
...
Turning back to Chevalier - Robert - it's not admiration or lust you see him hiding behind his facade. No, it's… discomfort? Fear? Pain? But what would cause… oh.

Investigation. We also make an Investigation social attack here.

"Can you try turning off everything that you possibly can? I'll let you know why in a second, just humor me if you could."

While Chevalier is less guarded than he was before, you're not quite able to puzzle out what he's looking for now. With a sigh, you nod and then pulse out a strong 'refresh' of orders to all the insects in your range so that they either remain still where they are or - in the case of the spiders - continue operating as they have been. Then, with a focus of will, you turn off Shard of Perfect Administration - feeling the spider legs around your head retract into your skull as you do so.

Chevalier succeeds his social attack. We fail our "what will this do to Iris" Occult check. Oops.

In a manner reminding you of Lisa's relief when you activated Loom-Server Migration in front of her, Chevalier's eyebrows quickly zoom to his hairline as his breath hitches in surprise. It takes him a few seconds, but eventually he regains his breath in a slow sigh as he nods his head sadly.

I really wonder what he's seeing (or not seeing) here.

"I'm sorry, Iris. I didn't realize… right. I'll let you know if I'm ever going to disable the charm in the future. Sorry."

Woops!

"Didn't y-... didn't Nice Guy die a few years ago?"

Small Lore (Parahumans) check here. Possibly a "get the gist" check earlier.

There's no malice in his voice, his deadly cannonblade isn't in his hand, but you can't shake the feeling this isn't a request. Forcing the creeping panic in your veins from agitating your swarms any further and giving away your distress, you swallow once and nod.

Check of some kind to not give away our distress? I think that's based on Manipulation + Socialize in normal circumstances, but we might substitute War (Swarms) or make two checks.

No, you're not going to strike first. You've done nothing wrong, how dare he make that comparison! You just need to-

-and just like that, Chevalier's gaze relaxes as he sighs with a knowing smile, falling back into his chair again.

Did we just get played? And I think we succeeded on a check of some kind, maybe failed a Valor roll to not respond to the accusation.

You snap your mouth closed after a few seconds, then try to kill him with your eyes. You really wish you had that power, now, especially with the way he's laughing at your glare.

No, Taylor, that's an Abyssal thing.

You lose track of time talking with Robert - Chevalier, he still asks to be called - and only notice how late it's gotten when Vista, Triumph, and Aegis return from patrol. The three are chatting happily, with Vista swinging some large shopping bags in her arms as they make their way to the Wards Common Area… which causes a gurgle in your stomach when you're reminded of the kitchen there.

Awareness.

You haven't been able to keep track of everything that Kathy and Mary were talking about earlier, but you have a sneaking suspicion that this dinner is more than just that. Unfortunately, you're not able to keep all of your smile out of your voice when you decide to rib him on it.

Temperance failure, or just a decision.

The first hint that something is different comes when the usual impossible-fold-up goes… slower than usual. Chevalier himself appears surprised by the process, but you barely notice him as you focus on the charm itself. Several seconds in - halfway through the process, but more than double the time it usually takes - you feel a sudden deluge of information as you start getting information on the armor… no, armors.

Reaction time?

That was… exhausting. Good… definitely good… but really mentally tiring. You do feel a lot better about the attack and all the small problems that have been building up. He even kept his few comments and recommendations about how you've been dealing with all the stares… tasteful. Brotherly, almost.

It was nice. You hope it works out with Hannah.

Therapy!

At the thought of dinner, your stomach protests its emptiness and your absent-minded omission of Lunch today. Well, since rest of the Wards seem to be congregating in the Lounge, you might as well oh, wait Dennis is coming towards your room… with his hair combed back?

Ok, this is just getting absurd. It's not like you didn't figure this out only this morning, but still...

Awareness! And possibly a Temperance failure to prank Dennis right back with our Manipulation+Presence. Plus another Awareness check for him not moving and such. And maybe a Temperance check (or a continuance of the last one) to cover him in flies.

Walking into the Wards Lounge, Missy's dress being carted along behind you by a squadron of flies using lines of spider silk

Sounds like War or Craft (Swarm). Followed by Presence.

Beyond those here, there's only Dean and Dennis left. Dean already went home early, but while you're somewhat sad he didn't get a chance to see you in the dress along with the rest of the team, you're mostly concerned with apologizing to him for yesterday.

Might be representative of our Compassion, might be representative of the voters.

You scoop Missy up on a laughing hug, doing your best not to get emotional again today. Ugh, people need to stop being so… weird.

I'm ... not sure what this is. I checked our charsheet to see we hadn't gained any Clarity (didn't lose any either though). Conviction?

In Missy's room, you do a few laps around the room as she quickly changes and then starts preening in the mirror. You would have believed it before, but it only takes you a few steps before you seem to start effortlessly gliding over the floor in tall, black, suede heels. There's no extra height to the toes, but the three inches in the heel almost feel like flats once you get used to walking toe-first.

Dexterity + Athletics, if it was even necessary under Exalted physics.

Dennis's high-pitched scream echoes through the hallway, eventually droning on into a more fuller, deeper tone.

"Wait, that's not... Dennis…"

People all around the base are reacting to the tone in a panic, while Armsmaster is rapidly armoring up in his workshop as Dragon says something unintelligible to him under the droning siren.

Awareness (Swarm) if it's even necessary.

And then the world is falling.

Oh shit.

Intimacy: Danny Hebert (Guilt) -1 Decrease!

This does not appear to be reflected on our Character Sheet; the intimacy is still at 3 dots there.

[ ] Scenic Route
Things will be rough, but we'll have a more gradual escalation of Badness. This will likely be the longest of the three modes, with more chances to stop and catch our breath and see how life progresses around us.

[ ] Shai'Hulud
The cast of characters will wax and wane rapidly in response to the breathless peril; a near-constant sense of danger and escalating threats - both personal and universal - to match the levels of Canon!Worm. The shortest of the three modes, with 'short' being a relative term.

[ ] The Final Age
The highest of stakes, but the costs will be greater than those of life and limb. Players will be required to step beyond the Dice in order to Sacrifice for the Greater Good. A medium-length Epic with high potential for Tragedy Endings.

In order: Not sure (if anything in specific); Dune; possibly an Exalted reference. Probably other references in the chapter itself that I'm missing, of course.

EDIT: Oh man, totally Imp'd.

Demonic Spoon · Feb 25, 2014

cenotaph said:
Also War, because mass combat event.
So that should be 9 XP down for Reputation 3, 4 xp down for War 5, which is most of what's available.

There is a battle to administrate. Time to earn our Masters of Battle Administration.

Uh, checking the front page, 3 dots of reputation only goes up to a regional level, so it's probably not worth it atm?

veekie · Feb 25, 2014

Demonic Spoon said:
Uh, checking the front page, 3 dots of reputation only goes up to a regional level, so it's probably not worth it atm?

It's also a blanket +3 bonus to all social rolls where it applies(and diplomacy during an Endbringer battle is MUCH easier when you're a known heroic self sacrificing type, even villains would trust you not to send them to their deaths). Regional means state-wide bonus, possibly multiple states. That's pretty good.

A Nation's Virtue · Feb 25, 2014

[X] Scenic Route

Larekko12 · Feb 25, 2014

[X] Scenic Route

landcollector · Feb 25, 2014

veekie said:
It's also a blanket +3 bonus to all social rolls where it applies(and diplomacy during an Endbringer battle is MUCH easier when you're a known heroic self sacrificing type, even villains would trust you not to send them to their deaths). Regional means state-wide bonus, possibly multiple states. That's pretty good.

I'm convinced. We rather need that +3 social bonus.

1986ctcel · Feb 25, 2014

[X] Scenic Route
Things will be rough, but we'll have a more gradual escalation of Badness. This will likely be the longest of the three modes, with more chances to stop and catch our breath and see how life progresses around us.

I also support purchasing

War 4xp
Reputation (Wards) 9xp

Demonic Spoon · Feb 25, 2014

Might as well buy presence(swarms) as well, it'd fit into the budget.

cestus41 · Feb 25, 2014

*delurks*
[x] Scenic Route
*fades away

Gromweld · Feb 25, 2014

RCa said:
Done separately from Veekie's, so expect some overlap!

Right after I posted the XP gain, too! Drat!

RCa said:
Well, that's impressive. Did he do it inside-out?

No, but he's miffed because he had to cheat to get it to work - which violates the whole reason he was doing it in the first place! So he's still angry at Nowhere Physics and then angry at himself, too!

RCa said:
Next up on My Eye and I: Iris recreates I AM, Dragon responds.

If I didn't already have a naming theme going, this would probably get a title spot.

RCa said:
I'm ... not sure what this is. I checked our charsheet to see we hadn't gained any Clarity (didn't lose any either though). Conviction?

Gained a point, lost a point. You're out of ways to lose Clarity for the rest of the day, though!

RCa said:
Oh shit.

Yes.

RCa said:
This does not appear to be reflected on our Character Sheet; the intimacy is still at 3 dots there.

Fixed! Thanks for catching that.

+1 XP!

landcollector · Feb 25, 2014

GamingGeek said:
[X] The Final Age
The highest of stakes, but the costs will be greater than those of life and limb. Players will be required to step beyond the Dice in order to Sacrifice for the Greater Good. A medium-length Epic with high potential for Tragedy Endings.

Because fuck it, we're Exalted, even if the mechanical variation. This is what we were made for.

How can we bring in THE GLORY OF ROBOTIC COMMUNISM when everyone is dead? That's what the Final Age route sounds like it entails to me.

landcollector · Feb 25, 2014

GamingGeek said:
It's simple. The people who survive the final age are the seeds for the new and even greater new era!

Much like in Exalted canon.

We forge our own path, taking cannons to canon. Besides, a lot of Exalted canon from what I've read on SB is pretty stupid.

Blackout · Feb 25, 2014

*Disengaging Lurker Mode*
[X] Scenic Route
*Re-Engaging*

Alratan · Feb 25, 2014

uju32 said:
We can't afford 3 dots of Reputation, I suspect; we're still injured, so Resistance[Pain] is pretty much a must there.

Resistance [Pain] does nothing for us in terms of resisting Wound penalties.

Gromweld · Feb 25, 2014

Honestly, I was not expecting this to be such a landslide. I thought I made all three choices fairly equal?

Also surprised people haven't been guessing which choices lead to which Endbringers.

nyanderful said:
Oh yeah, that'd let us coordinate with Colin when he decides to try solo Leviathan.

That assumes Levi is here.

nyanderful said:
Question:
Lung is neither maimed nor in the Birdcage. Does he get his Leviathan rematch?

YOU DECIDE! Re-read the section where Lung fought off Levi to discern your answer.

sun tzu · Feb 25, 2014

So. Endbringer attack, way ahead of schedule. Inevitable, I guess.
Now, it's not all bad. If we can beat the Endbringer here, that's one less city in the world getting roflstomped. But that's a big if.
Our mental acceleration Charm is supposed to apply only for dramatic actions, so I'm not sure how useful it is for a fight. It probably would help to give it to Dragon as battle coordinator, but we've already seen what happens when we try that.
Kid Win, thanks to our help, is way further ahead in his technical development than in canon, having even figured out his specialty. He could potentially become a huge asset to Brockton Bay... but right now, I doubt he's at the point where he can make a difference. Armsmaster, meanwhile, at least has his nanothorn, so...
Our combat abilities are... nowhere near any Endbringer's league. We can't fight them. However... we have the best stealth in Earth Bet. We might be able to sneak up on one, and hit them with a tinkertech weapon.
And then, last but not least... We've got Intelligence 4, War 4. That makes us one of the greatest tacticians on Earth Bet. If we can use a Reputation as a Ward to convince the powers that be to let us help coordinating the battle, that might make a bigger difference than anything else we can do.
And then, of course, there's Iris. But any use of the Eye of Autochton has to be very, very carefully considered. :eek:

Anyway:

[x] Scenic Route

Demonic Spoon · Feb 25, 2014

Gromweld said:
Honestly, I was not expecting this to be such a landslide. I thought I made all three choices fairly equal?

Also surprised people haven't been guessing which choices lead to which Endbringers.

That assumes Levi is here.
YOU DECIDE! Re-read the section where Lung fought off Levi to discern your answer.

Why hello there invisitext. Lung isn't going to fight leviathan because he's come to the conclusion that it's fucking pointless if I recall my canon worm correctly.

Grom, I think reading Worm itself has tapped many people out for more grimdark. Also the third option is just NO because I hate tragedies.

Also, pretty sure everyone thinks the first option is leviathian, the second behemoth, and the third simurgh.

Elero · Feb 25, 2014

Anasurimbor said:
Also, let's optimize our armor for dueling. It's not like we have to worry about multiple enemies right now.

I wouldn't be too sure of that. Remember that Coil already broke the rules to try and kill us, since with his upgraded power we're the only thing standing between him and world conquest. I wouldn't be surprised if we get "accidentally" hit in the back while fighting Leviathan by an anti-tank weapon or a mercenary Blaster.

veekie · Feb 25, 2014

Demonic Spoon said:
Why hello there invisitext. Lung isn't going to fight leviathan because he's come to the conclusion that it's fucking pointless if I recall my canon worm correctly.

So it'd take a social combat to sell him on the rematch. Chancy, but possible if we can leverage Reputation into it.

Alchemical Solutions [Worm/Exalted] Thread 5: Eye Eyes Eyes Eyeing Eye Eyeing Eyes

Flamester

Demonic Spoon

Darklord.

veekie

Demonic Spoon

Gromweld

Learning By Mistake

RCa

Demonic Spoon

veekie

A Nation's Virtue

南國山河南帝居

Larekko12

landcollector

1986ctcel

Demonic Spoon

cestus41

Gromweld

Learning By Mistake

landcollector

landcollector

Blackout

Fed By Comments

Alratan

Gromweld

Learning By Mistake

sun tzu

Demonic Spoon

Elero

veekie