[Exalted, ?] Most High

[meianmaru]

Vote tally:
##### 3.21
[X] Ordering the Constellations
No. of votes: 2
Thomasfoolery, dragon

[X] The King Stands Alone.
No. of votes: 8
meianmaru, Van Ropen, SirLagginton, Fumbles, Usernames, Ridiculously Average Guy, Brekouh, CharlBaal

[X] Negotiations
No. of votes: 19
meianmaru, CharlBaal, Alectai, Cavalier, Van Ropen, LordOfMurder, SirLagginton, afterthought53, Fumbles, inawarminister, Serous, dragon, Random Asian Person, 1986ctcel, me.me.here, Reckless_Sun, Brekouh, Thomasfoolery, Emerald Oracle
-[X] Try to turn them from Hell's service. Extremely difficult in all likelihood, but the Princess of Lies is at your side to help!
No. of votes: 19
Thomasfoolery, meianmaru, Alectai, Cavalier, Van Ropen, LordOfMurder, SirLagginton, afterthought53, Fumbles, Random Asian Person, 1986ctcel, Reckless_Sun, Brekouh, CharlBaal, inawarminister, Serous, dragon, me.me.here, Emerald Oracle

[X] Assassination
No. of votes: 12
veekie, Orm Embar, Usernames, Yzarc, Savonarola, CrossyCross, Dark Lord Bob, sithmor, Tasoli, CrawlingChaos74, Ridiculously Average Guy, aja318

[X] Relax With Friends
No. of votes: 4
veekie, BSRK Aditya, The Nomad, aja318
-[X] Ivory
No. of votes: 2
veekie, aja318, BSRK Aditya
-[X] Saery
No. of votes: 1
The Nomad

[X] Medical Balm
No. of votes: 33
veekie, meianmaru, CharlBaal, Alectai, Guile, Cavalier, Van Ropen, LordOfMurder, SirLagginton, afterthought53, Fumbles, Diller, inawarminister, Orm Embar, Usernames, Yzarc, BSRK Aditya, Savonarola, CrossyCross, Dark Lord Bob, sithmor, Tasoli, Random Asian Person, CrawlingChaos74, The Nomad, 1986ctcel, me.me.here, Ridiculously Average Guy, Reckless_Sun, Brekouh, dragon, aja318, Emerald Oracle

[X] Arch-Predictionist
No. of votes: 30
meianmaru, CharlBaal, Alectai, Guile, Cavalier, Van Ropen, LordOfMurder, SirLagginton, afterthought53, Fumbles, Diller, inawarminister, Serous, Orm Embar, Usernames, Yzarc, Savonarola, CrossyCross, Dark Lord Bob, sithmor, Tasoli, Random Asian Person, CrawlingChaos74, 1986ctcel, me.me.here, Ridiculously Average Guy, Reckless_Sun, Brekouh, dragon, Emerald Oracle
-[X] Naval
No. of votes: 30
meianmaru, CharlBaal, Alectai, Guile, Cavalier, Van Ropen, LordOfMurder, SirLagginton, afterthought53, Fumbles, Diller, inawarminister, Serous, Orm Embar, Usernames, Yzarc, Savonarola, CrossyCross, Dark Lord Bob, sithmor, Tasoli, Random Asian Person, CrawlingChaos74, 1986ctcel, me.me.here, Ridiculously Average Guy, Reckless_Sun, Brekouh, dragon, Emerald Oracle
-[X] Academy
No. of votes: 25
meianmaru, CharlBaal, Alectai, Cavalier, Van Ropen, LordOfMurder, SirLagginton, Fumbles, inawarminister, Serous, Orm Embar, Usernames, Yzarc, Savonarola, CrossyCross, Dark Lord Bob, sithmor, Tasoli, Random Asian Person, CrawlingChaos74, 1986ctcel, me.me.here, Reckless_Sun, Brekouh, Emerald Oracle
-[X] House
No. of votes: 3
afterthought53, Savonarola, dragon

[X] Studying With Moon
No. of votes: 26
veekie, meianmaru, Alectai, Cavalier, Van Ropen, LordOfMurder, SirLagginton, Fumbles, inawarminister, Orm Embar, Usernames, Yzarc, Savonarola, CrossyCross, Dark Lord Bob, sithmor, Tasoli, Random Asian Person, CrawlingChaos74, The Nomad, 1986ctcel, me.me.here, Brekouh, CharlBaal, dragon, Emerald Oracle

 

[Pipeman]

Weeeeeeeeell we could try setting her up with Resolute Flame and so they can perform "experiments" together with his bloodline to help her with her super DB plan, two birds with one stone.

Click to shrink...

3CDs don't age, so they'd have infinite lifespan to burn on training time reductions!

 

[meianmaru]

I would say that the plan:

Medical Balm
Arch-Predictionist
-Naval
-Academy
Studying With Moon

Has won at this point, unless major reversal comes out of nowhere. The Evocations have gotten only some votes, and even less arguments, but King Stands Alone has the majority. So the only point worth arguing over seems to be Negotiate/Assassinate, unsurprisingly.

 

[Diller]

[X] Assassination

Pipeman has convinced me though I'm worried about how we can pull it off without people knowing we did it. Is the plan to expose them as Anthema still viable? That does seem like it could be our best shot especially if we used stunts to help out.

 

[Alectai]

Could I get some compiled descriptions? I'm thinking of having a lineart done for up to two major characters.

Probably Moon and someone else, either Nilul or Ulyssian.

 

[Savonarola]

[X] Assassination

Pipeman has convinced me though I'm worried about how we can pull it off without people knowing we did it. Is the plan to expose them as Anthema still viable? That does seem like it could be our best shot especially if we used stunts to help out.

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That's actually the easy part, since we possess a perfect disguise effect. Just use Perfect Mirror and we can frame basically anyone for it! That's one of the principle benefits of not negotiating, since we can beat the rap easily.

 

[1986ctcel]

That's actually the easy part, since we possess a perfect disguise effect. Just use Perfect Mirror and we can frame basically anyone for it! That's one of the principle benefits of not negotiating, since we can beat the rap easily.

Click to shrink...

[X] Assassination

Pipeman has convinced me though I'm worried about how we can pull it off without people knowing we did it. Is the plan to expose them as Anthema still viable? That does seem like it could be our best shot especially if we used stunts to help out.

Click to shrink...

And then their infernal Exaltations will be released and seek out NEW hosts who may be much more dedicated to the cause of the Yozi whereas if we turn them then they only have 48 Green Sun Princes on their side. We have the chance to permanently reduce the size of the Yozi's forces if we negotiate and short of constructing our own Jade Prison we won't get a chance like this again.

3CDs don't age, so they'd have infinite lifespan to burn on training time reductions!

Click to shrink...

Plus getting Mr I AM THE MESSIAH ORDAINED BY THE DRAGONS together with the closest thing to a REAL Anathema (besides a Yozi's jouten or an Abyssal/Deathlord) would be freaking hilarious.

 

[Rihaku]

Could I get some compiled descriptions? I'm thinking of having a lineart done for up to two major characters.

Probably Moon and someone else, either Nilul or Ulyssian.

Click to shrink...

Moon is pretty much exactly as her picture looks, though I can't give a link until I'm off my phone. She's in Sword though, and probably the Odyssey story-only thread as well.

Nilul looks like a young Scarlet Empress, though she has more delicate / beautiful individual features as well as a sort of insidious edge to her beauty. Her face is often turned up in a pout or artful moue.

Priest's "Uly posing in a cool place" pic is a pretty accurate reference for Ulyssian.

 

[Alectai]

Okay, we've aready got a Ulyssian, so I'll have either Moon or Nilul, depending on prices.

What kind of clothes would they be wearing in an ideal image?

 

[Savonarola]

And then their infernal Exaltations will be released and seek out NEW hosts who may be much more dedicated to the cause of the Yozi whereas if we turn them then they only have 48 Green Sun Princes on their side. We have the chance to permanently reduce the size of the Yozi's forces if we negotiate and short of constructing our own Jade Prison we won't get a chance like this again.

Click to shrink...

By that argument, killing most any Infernal, Abyssal, Sidereal, or any Celestial belonging to an organization with infrastructure and codified goals is a crapshoot, which just plain isn't true. Training them takes time, raising their essence takes time. Hell, even finding a candidate for Exaltation takes time. This is a significant setback. You know what the new Infernals won't have? A position within the Realm, an in with House Mnemon, one of the Houses most closely linked to the Immaculate Order. It would be worth seeing Ayala dead just to set them back, to deny them that. Killing them is valuable, both in the short term because it keeps Nilul safe and hinders the Reclamation's plans, but because in the long term? We deny them a potential SCS Circle Sorcerer. They're rare and they're dangerous, and frankly, I just don't like Ayala's views regarding releasing the Yozis.

Negotiation is a ridiculously long shot. Everybody seems to be assuming they'll just fall in line. They'll have concessions. Agendas of their own. More balls for us to juggle, things for us to deal with. People are talking about having them guard the Academy, and I'm just like... what? You want to put Infernal traitors into the center of our power, next to Nilul? That's both a terrible idea both because they're traitors and by definition not the most trustworthy people and because Nilul is not going to be okay with this. Like, at all. Also, how the fuck do you want them to justify their presence there to their superiors, who they have to deceive (and may not even be capable of deceiving in the first place) about their activities, lest we draw down a huge shitstorm. Too many unpredictable variables, too many things that could go wrong. The benefits of the option are theoretical, many are unlikely to ever materialize, and most of its advocates are assuming the best case scenario. Safer to just kill them and be done with it. They're Infernals, they signed on with the enemy. We're not obligated to offer them anything.

 

[Pipeman]

Well, it's probably noteworthy that Ayala likely doesn't want to release the Yozi for shits and giggles alone, but as far as I agree largely argued that it was the best for Creation.
And, while she has some First Age memories, odds are pretty low she has memories of the time before even the Primordial War.
We on the other hand can not only provide a direct witness report of how shitty things were back then but Odyssial was weird enough to have exact casualty rates to back his claim of releasing the Yozi in any way being a hilariously terrible idea for pretty much everyone who isn't a Yozi.

That said, killing them is very much going to seriously set the Yozi back.
I mean, Ayala is badass enough to reach SCS within a single year from now. That means she's either been active for a long time and is already mid Essence 4-ish or the speed with which she grows is of similar magnitude to Uly's own. In one case they'll need years to train up her replacement to similar levels and in the other they'll have to do the same and are deprived of someone who shoots way ahead of the normal Solaroid power curve.
Similar things can probably said about Fei Ling, since she's likely equally badass and thought herself capable of easily taking on the guy, who, regardless of "only" being a DB with Shogun bloodline, just murdered Polemgaos, provided he is exhausted.
Of course, this also means that it's going to be incredibly hard to cultivate equally capable allies, but that only matters if we have a remotely good chance to pull converting them off.

 

[Anasurimbor]

[X] Ordering the Constellations
Horrible overkill for most situations, but incredibly useful if you really want to kill something fast.

[X] Negotiations
-[X] Try to turn them from Hell's service. Extremely difficult in all likelihood, but the Princess of Lies is at your side to help!
I know this is risky, but Cavalier had some good stunts, and the payoff is simply far, far too tempting. Ayala is clearly a PC-worthy Exalt and seemed fairly interesting and amiable in the previous quest. Even ignoring that, Solaroid allies are a bit hard to come by when playing a Realm game.

[X] Relax With Friends
-[X] Pearl
Annoying that this isn't compatible with Arch-Predictionist, but I don't want to build up too much stress.

[X] Medical Balm
I would prefer a secret mission with Ivory, but that isn't an option until she is healed.

[X] Studying With Moon
Might as well use those Lore charms to maximum effect.

 

[Rihaku]

Okay, we've aready got a Ulyssian, so I'll have either Moon or Nilul, depending on prices.

What kind of clothes would they be wearing in an ideal image?

Click to shrink...

Hm, it depends on whether it's supposed to be a formal portrait or a representative photo of them in action. That'll take a bit of describing so it'll have to wait until after work.

 

[Windlass]

[X] Assassination
[X] Arch-Predictionist
-[X] Naval
-[X] Academy
[X] Medical Balm
[X] Studying With Moon

Hmm, biiiit of a tough call. I like the Yozis (hence my name!) but I don't really see Ody cooperating their chosen if it isn't necessary, and... well, they were considering killing us! Ling Ling thought she could do it, too, even after witnessing Polemgaos getting the full Ulyssian Experience (trademark pending). That shit is, um, worrisome. Best nip the threat in the bud, yeah?

 

[1986ctcel]

[X] Assassination
[X] Arch-Predictionist
-[X] Naval
-[X] Academy
[X] Medical Balm
[X] Studying With Moon

Hmm, biiiit of a tough call. I like the Yozis (hence my name!) but I don't really see Ody cooperating their chosen if it isn't necessary, and... well, they were considering killing us! Ling Ling thought she could do it, too, even after witnessing Polemgaos getting the full Ulyssian Experience (trademark pending). That shit is, um, worrisome. Best nip the threat in the bud, yeah?

Click to shrink...

Yeah but Ayala told her to knock it off because they have SCIENCE! to do and don't you want the amusement of eventually setting her up with Flame? It's gets rid of a threat to Moon AND can give us immortal super Dragonblood 3CD thingies?

 

[Windlass]

Yeah but Ayala told her to knock it off because they have SCIENCE! to do and don't you want the amusement of eventually setting her up with Flame? It's gets rid of a threat to Moon AND can give us immortal super Dragonblood 3CD thingies?

Click to shrink...

Naaah, the only thing I ship Flame with is the grim reaper. I am, um, kind of confused as to why in the everloving fuck you want to power up someone who hates us with a literally burning passion? We want a superpowered DB ally, we can become a Solar Sorcerer down the road and uplift Moon ourselves.

 

[Rihaku]

3CDs don't age, so they'd have infinite lifespan to burn on training time reductions!

Click to shrink...

Then the Charm wouldn't work anymore! Or it would burn away the 3CD's power in return.

I would say that the plan:

Medical Balm
Arch-Predictionist
-Naval
-Academy
Studying With Moon

Has won at this point, unless major reversal comes out of nowhere. The Evocations have gotten only some votes, and even less arguments, but King Stands Alone has the majority. So the only point worth arguing over seems to be Negotiate/Assassinate, unsurprisingly.

Click to shrink...

I'm probably going to split it into two plans, one where you go Max Stress and buy everything, and one where you focus on your friends and limit your Stress levels.

[X] Assassination
[X] Arch-Predictionist
-[X] Naval
-[X] Academy
[X] Medical Balm
[X] Studying With Moon

Hmm, biiiit of a tough call. I like the Yozis (hence my name!) but I don't really see Ody cooperating their chosen if it isn't necessary, and... well, they were considering killing us! Ling Ling thought she could do it, too, even after witnessing Polemgaos getting the full Ulyssian Experience (trademark pending). That shit is, um, worrisome. Best nip the threat in the bud, yeah?

Click to shrink...

Polemgaos didn't get anywhere near the Full Uly Experience! He got an almost fair fight!

Yeah but Ayala told her to knock it off because they have SCIENCE! to do and don't you want the amusement of eventually setting her up with Flame? It's gets rid of a threat to Moon AND can give us immortal super Dragonblood 3CD thingies?

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure why you guys think Ayala and Flame would be compatible?! Flame is kinda a dick, he might be compatible with, like, Moon or Nilul if they weren't already your friends, but he's not very like able. His personality is based on Uly's, combined with extra fanaticism.

 

[Pipeman]

Anyways, how high are the odds that the Infernals actually knew about who we truly are, that we could hear them and they were putting on a show for us?

These parts are making me a bit paranoid:

"When I'm done with today's fight, I should send him a messenger, let him know we've found her."


Click to shrink...

Among the Dragon-Blooded, at least.

Click to shrink...

Is there really much reason for them to delay the message until after the fight and how good would Uly have been at seeing through such deception?


Outside of that, I think that, if we end up negotiating, it would be worth noting that as much as Ayala apparently likes to play that role, odds are very low she truly cares about nothing but SCIENCE! and, even if that's truly her highest of priorities, she's going to be a lot more competent and practical in the pursuit of that goal than appearances might suggest.

It's also important to remember that, while Nilul has the ability to find out more about their motivations and potentially drain some willpower during the negotiations, that we'd need to be talking long enough for her to figure out their motivations in the first place and that willpower drain requires us offering a deal or bringing arguments good enough that it comes to a roll at all, but bad enough that they are willing to spend Willpower to resist.
Given that both of them know about her and should be familiar with Fiend capabilities, it seems unlikely that they'll let this drag on enough that it might disadvantage them unless they genuinely believe we have an offer worth considering.

 

[Rihaku]

I'm really surprised Ordering the Constellations is actually losing. The King Stands Alone is really good, don't get me wrong, but OtC is insane!

Anyways, how high are the odds that the Infernals actually knew about who we truly are, that we could hear them and they were putting on a show for us?

These parts are making me a bit paranoid:

Is there really much reason for them to delay the message until after the fight and how good would Uly have been at seeing through such deception?

Outside of that, I think that, if we end up negotiating, it would be worth noting that as much as Ayala apparently likes to play that role, odds are very low she truly cares about nothing but SCIENCE! and, even if that's truly her highest of priorities, she's going to be a lot more competent and practical in the pursuit of that goal than appearances might suggest.

It's also important to remember that, while Nilul has the ability to find out more about their motivations and potentially drain some willpower during the negotiations, that we'd need to be talking long enough for her to figure out their motivations in the first place and that willpower drain requires us offering a deal or bringing arguments good enough that it comes to a roll at all, but bad enough that they are willing to spend Willpower to resist.
Given that both of them know about her and should be familiar with Fiend capabilities, it seems unlikely that they'll let this drag on enough that it might disadvantage them unless they genuinely believe we have an offer worth considering.

Click to shrink...

Infallible messenger doesn't work across dimensions, so she'd presumably have to use a more advanced spell, one that may take more effort or willpower to use.

Or she could just not give a fuck about Nilul.

But yes, your concerns could also be well-founded. They could have been putting up a show, though it would have required Fei Ling to outroll Ulyssian on stealth.

 

[Thomasfoolery]

I'm really surprised Ordering the Constellations is actually losing. The King Stands Alone is really good, don't get me wrong, but OtC is insane!.

Click to shrink...

By a large amount as well, Clearly the Star-power of a Constellation is inferior to the Name-power of a King.

 

[Pipeman]

Then the Charm wouldn't work anymore! Or it would burn away the 3CD's power in return.

Click to shrink...

Damn you, GM, and your fixing of silly and easily abused exploits!

But yes, your concerns could also be well-founded. They could have been putting up a show, though it would have required Fei Ling to outroll Ulyssian on stealth.

Click to shrink...

Does Uly have anything going for him in that area beyond 5/5 and the Excellency?
I mean, the master assassin is presumably more focused on that area than we are.

In fact, I find myself wondering whether Fei Ling somewhat dropping her disguise by showing how unnaturally light her steps are combined with all the other "hints" that they know more than they are admitting to point towards this not necessarily being a trap but an attempt to judge both our competence and intentions.
The again, even if I'm not reading way too much into this, using this to make us think they aren't setting up a trap could easily be part of the trap.

 

[Gerrou]

[X] Negotiations
-[X] Try to turn them from Hell's service. Extremely difficult in all likelihood, but the Princess of Lies is at your side to help!
[X] Arch-Predictionist
-[X] Naval
-[X] Academy
[X] Medical Balm
[X] Studying With Moon

Cavalier's write-in was already great, and now we can have Nilul participate in the conversation too - better odds than for some of earlier choices. After the last update, and taking into account her portrayal in the Odyssey, Ayala sounds like a reasonable individual (and an interesting character!). What's more, Ulyssian is not irrational enough to start actively hating on a person for her faction, unless he knows for a fact they are enemies; much less with no prior experience dealing with Infernals. From what he just heard, Ayala doesn't personally care about Nilul. Hatred of Titans should not necessarily apply here either as, again, Ayala didn't show in that short conversaton much loyalty to the Reclamation itself.

 

[Rihaku]

Damn you, GM, and your fixing of silly and easily abused exploits!

Does Uly have anything going for him in that area beyond 5/5 and the Excellency?
I mean, the master assassin is presumably more focused on that area than we are.

In fact, I find myself wondering whether Fei Ling somewhat dropping her disguise by showing how unnaturally light her steps are combined with all the other "hints" that they know more than they are admitting to, points towards this not necessarily being a trap but an attempt to judge both our competence and intentions.
The again, even if I'm not reading way too much into this, using this to make us think they aren't setting up a trap could easily be part of the trap.

Click to shrink...

Well, it wouldn't be stealth vs stealth, it'd be her Awareness vs his Stealth, with him getting a modifier due to being quite far away and still being able to hear.

By a large amount as well, Clearly the Star-power of a Constellation is inferior to the Name-power of a King.

Click to shrink...

I'm wondering if I should just make all the purely mechanics decisions myself, rather than putting it up to a vote. Engineering plans aren't designed by democracy either!

 

[Guile]

Guys, we can't just pick Assassination, we need to know why they're here. What is the Infernal host aiming for? We can't protect Creation if we don't know where the blow is going to land, it's just too big.

What's the option to take if we want to try and talk them around, and then if that doesn't work, murder them in the middle of a conversation?
[X] Negotiation
-[X] Leaving the option open for murder mid-word if they don't play ball.
[X] Relax With Friends
-[X] Saery, in the medical wing
[X] Medical Balm

In retrospect, this seems like a pretty good pick, if it's possible. Presumably not too many budding admirals and captains take Medicine 5, and we still only have Medicine 4, so if Ivory needs healing... Reconnect with Pearl on her deathbed, then go make sure it's not a deathbed! Saery is just wondering why we're so casually disrespectful to a professor.

It's been well over 6000 years, and Ulyssian is not exactly Odyssial. The deva who killed Nio is long scattered to ambient essence. And if there's one thing Odyssial was good at it was sacrificing his own happiness to expediency. This looks like petty rationalization, especially in the absence of Ulyssian ever demonstrating strong emotions towards the Yozis previously. His rage was at the nature of Creation itself, and altering it is the kind of justice he aspires to. The Yozis are just a pathetic remnant of what they were and altering them is a mere footnote on his ultimate achievement. And what utility is infinite punishment of beings who can only arguably bear moral responsibility in the first place? Is Ulyssian a sadist?

Click to shrink...

Against the Yozis? Presumably, yeah. If he had time, he'd probably redesign Hell to more efficiently punish them.

Those early memories of the war and Odyssial's mortal life are the only ones Ulyssian has right now. He knows damn well how terrible the Yozis were.

 

[Rihaku]

Guys, we can't just pick Assassination, we need to know why they're here. What is the Infernal host aiming for? We can't protect Creation if we don't know where the blow is going to land, it's just too big.

What's the option to take if we want to try and talk them around, and then if that doesn't work, murder them?

[X] Relax With Friends
-[X] Saery, in the medical wing
[X] Medical Balm

In retrospect, this seems like a pretty good pick, if it's possible. Presumably not too many budding admirals and captains take Medicine 5, and we still only have Medicine 4, so if Ivory needs healing... Reconnect with Pearl on her deathbed, then go make sure it's not a deathbed!

Against the Yozis? Presumably, yeah. If he had time, he'd probably redesign Hell to more efficiently punish them.

Those early memories of the war and Odyssial's mortal life are the only ones Ulyssian has right now. He knows damn well how terrible the Yozis were.

Click to shrink...

That option would be negotiate. Do bear in mind that that will be a far harder fight than merely ambushing them, though.