- Location
- Fabulously Rainbow Ireland
We do? That's kinda why Odyssial and Ulyssian were driven to excel because they wanted to make it so mortals have a better lot in life (down to rewriting the fabric of reality to do it).
[Exalted, ?] Most High
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
-
- Tags
- exalted (white wolf)
We do? That's kinda why Odyssial and Ulyssian were driven to excel because they wanted to make it so mortals have a better lot in life (down to rewriting the fabric of reality to do it).
Having a behemoth will, in the end, probably save a lot more lives. This thing is massive and bleeds lava. As long as we make sure we destroy the corpse if it dies, it'll be a great weapon versus the Deathlord Army.
Rihaku
The Internet
Mastering is extremely unlikely to do less damage than Containment; even if you master it effortlessly, it still has to slowly walk away from the city while continuously dripping lava from huge wounds. You will not be there to provide an epic number of dice on a bureaucracy roll so the city will take significant to massive damage.
But what will your friends think of you?! You were entrusted with these mortals' lives, and you throw them away so callously?
How Dynastic of you.
Yes, you could try that. You don't want to clog the harbor though so it'll still be a ways out.
Fanwork##
684 words
As the Behemoth roared, his bleeding form leaving a bubbling trail of melted earth on his way forward, he thought.
A picture bloomed in his mind, of a series of lines crisscrossing each other in a pattern identical to the one displayed by the various maps and plans he had consulted in his journey. As soon as they had assembled in the now familiar image of Luseng streets and buildings, they thickened and grew. The two dimensional schematics shifted into a life-like representation of the city, as memories of its design and recent glimpses of the reality of the place clicked together as puzzle pieces finally reunited.
In this theoretical construct, among structures carved of pure ideals projections, silhouettes appeared as his fantastic memory summoned Luseng's people. Fading in sight, they surged from nothingness as he saw them for the first time, lost in the configuration their activities had taken with the event of his arrival. Then, his calculating mind drew from this first scheme another, tracing their likely positions in the present based on an uncountable number of data. From the last and most recent variable, like the rampaging Behemoth, to the profiles he had made of Luseng's inhabitants with the reports he had devoured in his travel. As the gears of his mind turned, the list of his assets unfurled in the background, Exalted and mortals alike appearing at strategic points in his model according to their abilities. With them came the outlines of furrows carved through the city, canals destined to channel as safely as possible the burning tide coming their way, which split the city into safe, dangerous and doomed area. Fortunately, there was little of the latter.
As the first part of his work came to an halt and the second he took to plans his next move finally died to leave place to another, he blitzed forward, outpacing the Behemoth in the blink of an eye. His feet had barely settled upon Luseng's wall that orders tumbled from his lips, jolting awake his paralyzed troops. As his blunt voice echoed around, his matter of fact attitude, proclaiming that his speech had nothing to do with an attempt to save the city but was a plain description of the steps they would take to safeguard it, morale rose and officers and simple soldiers alike irrupted in a flurry of organized movements.
Had he not calmly announced minutes ago that he would handle the whole enemy force, and were they not broken, driven to an ignominious flight if not simply into the grave ?
What was one miracle more ?
Swept by the intensity of his presence and the implacable feel of his conviction, few among them had time to think about the Crown which had set upon their Satrap's brow. There was work to be done, lives to save. The bolder of them even permitted themselves the audacious though that soon, there would be others to crush, now that the Realm had finally raised a fist in anger and in Luseng's defense in the guise of Sesus Ulyssian.
- - - - -
Dragonlord Telomar had little experience with metalworking but he couldn't stop himself from thinking that, as it was, traversed by rivers of lava carefully channeled by experts hands, Luseng must look like the workshop of some divine blacksmith. As some of its parts was burned away, he wondered what kind of blades would birth from this forging and what others crucible would the world judge fit to temper them in. Idly he also wondered about the sanity of whoever had sent Sesus Ulyssian here. His was not a brittle metal, indeed he was nothing like Iron as he had proved here, and as unlikely to bend than he was to broke or melt, no matter the pressure, no matter the heat.
Saery was such a good judge of character. Still she was impossible sometime, help that kind of man ? Who did she take him for, the Founder himself ?
Taking a savage bite of a pilfered pastry-food was the nerve of war and bla bla- he felt himself grin. Things had taken a new and interesting turn.
- - - - - -
I'm leaning toward Containment for now but I wonder about the option of diverting his path. I'm just trying to think of a big enough attack which would launch him into the sea without blowing him up, which we don't want to do.
Playing cat and mouse with him in order to lead him there seems also dicey...
edit: By the way, I'm always pumped up to see you describe things in a way so much awesomer than what I've managed to imagine Rihaku. I mean, just the Cristal-like spider ? Or the cocky Duke ?
Cool.
684 words
As the Behemoth roared, his bleeding form leaving a bubbling trail of melted earth on his way forward, he thought.
A picture bloomed in his mind, of a series of lines crisscrossing each other in a pattern identical to the one displayed by the various maps and plans he had consulted in his journey. As soon as they had assembled in the now familiar image of Luseng streets and buildings, they thickened and grew. The two dimensional schematics shifted into a life-like representation of the city, as memories of its design and recent glimpses of the reality of the place clicked together as puzzle pieces finally reunited.
In this theoretical construct, among structures carved of pure ideals projections, silhouettes appeared as his fantastic memory summoned Luseng's people. Fading in sight, they surged from nothingness as he saw them for the first time, lost in the configuration their activities had taken with the event of his arrival. Then, his calculating mind drew from this first scheme another, tracing their likely positions in the present based on an uncountable number of data. From the last and most recent variable, like the rampaging Behemoth, to the profiles he had made of Luseng's inhabitants with the reports he had devoured in his travel. As the gears of his mind turned, the list of his assets unfurled in the background, Exalted and mortals alike appearing at strategic points in his model according to their abilities. With them came the outlines of furrows carved through the city, canals destined to channel as safely as possible the burning tide coming their way, which split the city into safe, dangerous and doomed area. Fortunately, there was little of the latter.
As the first part of his work came to an halt and the second he took to plans his next move finally died to leave place to another, he blitzed forward, outpacing the Behemoth in the blink of an eye. His feet had barely settled upon Luseng's wall that orders tumbled from his lips, jolting awake his paralyzed troops. As his blunt voice echoed around, his matter of fact attitude, proclaiming that his speech had nothing to do with an attempt to save the city but was a plain description of the steps they would take to safeguard it, morale rose and officers and simple soldiers alike irrupted in a flurry of organized movements.
Had he not calmly announced minutes ago that he would handle the whole enemy force, and were they not broken, driven to an ignominious flight if not simply into the grave ?
What was one miracle more ?
Swept by the intensity of his presence and the implacable feel of his conviction, few among them had time to think about the Crown which had set upon their Satrap's brow. There was work to be done, lives to save. The bolder of them even permitted themselves the audacious though that soon, there would be others to crush, now that the Realm had finally raised a fist in anger and in Luseng's defense in the guise of Sesus Ulyssian.
- - - - -
Dragonlord Telomar had little experience with metalworking but he couldn't stop himself from thinking that, as it was, traversed by rivers of lava carefully channeled by experts hands, Luseng must look like the workshop of some divine blacksmith. As some of its parts was burned away, he wondered what kind of blades would birth from this forging and what others crucible would the world judge fit to temper them in. Idly he also wondered about the sanity of whoever had sent Sesus Ulyssian here. His was not a brittle metal, indeed he was nothing like Iron as he had proved here, and as unlikely to bend than he was to broke or melt, no matter the pressure, no matter the heat.
Saery was such a good judge of character. Still she was impossible sometime, help that kind of man ? Who did she take him for, the Founder himself ?
Taking a savage bite of a pilfered pastry-food was the nerve of war and bla bla- he felt himself grin. Things had taken a new and interesting turn.
- - - - - -
I'm leaning toward Containment for now but I wonder about the option of diverting his path. I'm just trying to think of a big enough attack which would launch him into the sea without blowing him up, which we don't want to do.
Playing cat and mouse with him in order to lead him there seems also dicey...
edit: By the way, I'm always pumped up to see you describe things in a way so much awesomer than what I've managed to imagine Rihaku. I mean, just the Cristal-like spider ? Or the cocky Duke ?
Cool.
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Fancy Face
Tactically Superior
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Organized Containment
Lava is bad, mmkay?
Lava is bad, mmkay?
Are these Behemoths 'smart' or are they kinda like a puppy?
Comparing Attempt to Master It with Containment
+ Doesn't show off Anathema behavior
+ Gain a heavy combatant in open space + heavy labor work + special properties of Behemoths like free lava
- Kills of a lot more people immediately
- Harder to actually even succeed in the action
+/- Behemoth would need to be trained and kept loyal i.e extra upcost
Hmmmm...it would really depend if gaining this extra Behemoth would save more lives than the people that would get killed right now. For example, the Behemoth might be able to dive deep into the Jade Mountain and get w/e is deep inside it, and that may well tip the sides. Or by the virtual of strength, kill off invaders that would have killed more people. Though it'll basically be a bet to see if it'll be worth the initial risk/cost of damages and human lives and upkeep costs. Ultimately, I'll say that if we ever manage to get in another large scale war like this previous one, having the Behemoth in control would probably save more people than people who gets killed by the lava. Though this would change if it's much too hard to control the Behemoth. Sigh...I'll still stick with Master It for now.
Comparing Attempt to Master It with Containment
+ Doesn't show off Anathema behavior
+ Gain a heavy combatant in open space + heavy labor work + special properties of Behemoths like free lava
- Kills of a lot more people immediately
- Harder to actually even succeed in the action
+/- Behemoth would need to be trained and kept loyal i.e extra upcost
Hmmmm...it would really depend if gaining this extra Behemoth would save more lives than the people that would get killed right now. For example, the Behemoth might be able to dive deep into the Jade Mountain and get w/e is deep inside it, and that may well tip the sides. Or by the virtual of strength, kill off invaders that would have killed more people. Though it'll basically be a bet to see if it'll be worth the initial risk/cost of damages and human lives and upkeep costs. Ultimately, I'll say that if we ever manage to get in another large scale war like this previous one, having the Behemoth in control would probably save more people than people who gets killed by the lava. Though this would change if it's much too hard to control the Behemoth. Sigh...I'll still stick with Master It for now.
[X] Organized Containment
If we wish to profit from the reputation of a hero, we must first play the part. Questions about the provenance of the Crown can be deflected by the obviously beneficial results of us using it to help containment, but taming the behemoth invites suspicious inquiries that the Crown's use will compound, even if the wrangling proves successful. A pet behemoth just doesn't fit with the narrative of 'powerful Dragon-Blood with an absurdly potent Artifact sword' that we want people to buy. Also, we can't throw the Shikari at it if we attempt to deal with it ourselves. Well, we could, but they'd be less likely to die horribly, so what's the point?
If we wish to profit from the reputation of a hero, we must first play the part. Questions about the provenance of the Crown can be deflected by the obviously beneficial results of us using it to help containment, but taming the behemoth invites suspicious inquiries that the Crown's use will compound, even if the wrangling proves successful. A pet behemoth just doesn't fit with the narrative of 'powerful Dragon-Blood with an absurdly potent Artifact sword' that we want people to buy. Also, we can't throw the Shikari at it if we attempt to deal with it ourselves. Well, we could, but they'd be less likely to die horribly, so what's the point?
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- Location
- Fabulously Rainbow Ireland
Simple "We have been proclaimed chosen/blessed by the Dragons by Hesiesh and the Mouth of Peace"
Empty words that Syn will be more than happy to pull out from under us at the worst possible time, should we choose to rely on them. A reputation must be built on deeds. Do we save the city or try to get ourselves a pet monster? A hero would do the former, so that's what we should do.
Thinking about it, Containment would also require us to do less rebuilding, while also allowing us to save more infrastructure and resources.
And while Metis is conspicuous, Luseng is but a recently conquered Satrapy whose Immaculate Order has neglected its duties. This suggests that the strength of the Immaculate Faith with the populace is still relatively low, so I would not be too worried about the reactions of the public, especially if we save virtually everyone.
EDIT: Note, this does not mean we should not take all precautions possible. Its just that if we do sufficiently well, and give a plausible sounding excuse, they are probably not going to dig deeper.
And while Metis is conspicuous, Luseng is but a recently conquered Satrapy whose Immaculate Order has neglected its duties. This suggests that the strength of the Immaculate Faith with the populace is still relatively low, so I would not be too worried about the reactions of the public, especially if we save virtually everyone.
EDIT: Note, this does not mean we should not take all precautions possible. Its just that if we do sufficiently well, and give a plausible sounding excuse, they are probably not going to dig deeper.
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- Location
- Fabulously Rainbow Ireland
How? Since we'll be demonstrating to everyone here just how "blessed" we are by using our magic crown and skills to save the city in addition to us valiantly destroying the Fae's entire army singlehandedly and saving the refugees.
This too
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[X] Organized Containment
Grasping for yet more power at the cost of countless mortals suffering is something the old Solars would have done, and they were reviled for it. If we act to protect humans, we can sow the seeds of doubt in the Dragonbloods under our command, the Shikari and perhaps even our Sidereal minder.
Nevermind that the thing is not that useful. Uly pretty much wrecked it as collateral damage. Neither the Lunar, nor the Abyssals are going to be particularly impressed by it. Their armies might be, but if we can save the city, we can set up an army from the refugees by using bullshit Solar War Charms and have them clash conventionally.
Grasping for yet more power at the cost of countless mortals suffering is something the old Solars would have done, and they were reviled for it. If we act to protect humans, we can sow the seeds of doubt in the Dragonbloods under our command, the Shikari and perhaps even our Sidereal minder.
Nevermind that the thing is not that useful. Uly pretty much wrecked it as collateral damage. Neither the Lunar, nor the Abyssals are going to be particularly impressed by it. Their armies might be, but if we can save the city, we can set up an army from the refugees by using bullshit Solar War Charms and have them clash conventionally.
How? She basically writes the Order's dogma. Look, there are any number of ways to rationalize away the Crown's existence, one of the most effective of which is actually just telling the truth about its orgins, but pinning the credit for our victory on Hesiesh is just stupid. Not only does nobody know that Hesiesh is supposedly returned, it gives Syn some of the goodwill for our deeds, and lets her discredit us at will. Part of the point of coming here was to develop our own dominion.
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[X] Organized Containment
Sending Uly's immaculate entourage to contain the behemoth while Ulyssian does the important work seems like the best idea to me, if we're really lucky they might even die heroically while performing the containment and the behemoth will survive long enough to be captured alive after the lava flows are dealt with.
The best part is they won't be able to disobey Ulyssian's orders otherwise he'll be able to execute them for treachery, it's a win/win situation where the worst possible result is not losing any dragonblooded soldiers and gaining the corpse of behemoth to make crafting materials with.
Sending Uly's immaculate entourage to contain the behemoth while Ulyssian does the important work seems like the best idea to me, if we're really lucky they might even die heroically while performing the containment and the behemoth will survive long enough to be captured alive after the lava flows are dealt with.
The best part is they won't be able to disobey Ulyssian's orders otherwise he'll be able to execute them for treachery, it's a win/win situation where the worst possible result is not losing any dragonblooded soldiers and gaining the corpse of behemoth to make crafting materials with.
Another possibility for helping to rationalize Metis - while we cannot hide it, can we use perfect mirror to do the opposite, creating a visual effect to make it more obvious that the crown comes from an evocation of our sword? It would help put weight into our excuse that our un-DB like showing was because of our blade.
Rihaku
The Internet
Glad you liked it! Certainly the effort was helped along by your powerful stunting.
Mm, they're pretty unlikely to actually die in this case, the hazard is pretty easy for exalts to avoid and the beast itself is cumbersome and slow.
Well, riding the Behemotg away does sound more epic than arranging the equivalent of a super fire brigade, and no one even knows you can do the fire brigade thing. You're not known for administrative prowess, but rather martial achievement, so mastering the beast to save the people could be spun as both virtuous and heroic.
Also you get a giant, if exceptionally clumsy, earth-mover out of the bargain. The thing can do the work of a thousand men! Maybe even ten thousand.
Well, that does require you guys to both buy Tiger Warrior Training and spend a month on that rather than spamming Prophecies or conquering your foes.
Rihaku
The Internet
Your manipulation is pretty crappy, but that is a pretty good plan, so you might get a bonus to convincing people, especially with a stunt. It could be a way to use Ambition openly without rousing that much suspicion, as well as contain the suspicion from your overpowered performance in the fight.
Of course, even better would be if you could get Nilul here to make the excuse for you, while you stay silent and just provide the effects! Or hell, even Ivory.
meianmaru
The Devourer of Fiction
Sorry if this has been commented upon already, but I don't have the time to read all the other replies right now.
Attempt to Master It is also Anathema -suspicious, because we use Crowned by Metis also there.
[X] Organized Containment
To be honest, Attempt to Master It sounds all kinds of useful and awesome so I wouldn't be disappointed if that wins, but given that we'll somehow have to sell people on the "Crowned by Metis is not an Anathema power" idea, we'll very likely want to have their goodwill for saving the city.
Just driving the thing off will do serious damage to our new satrapy and won't do much of anything with all the doubts people will already have a bout a "Dragonblooded" pulling off what we just did and in that particular manner, especially not with presumably at least one Bronze Faction Siddie around.
Better to try to get Ambition's brokenness more openly acknowledged and hopefully get the future benefit of being able to act more freely out of it and organizing the containment should work better for that given that it generates more gratitude without appearing even more terrifying.
After all, while showing off even more would be awesome, we're trying to convince people that we aren't going to eat their souls and stuff and enslaving massive behemoths doesn't seem like it'd contribute much to that.
To be honest, Attempt to Master It sounds all kinds of useful and awesome so I wouldn't be disappointed if that wins, but given that we'll somehow have to sell people on the "Crowned by Metis is not an Anathema power" idea, we'll very likely want to have their goodwill for saving the city.
Just driving the thing off will do serious damage to our new satrapy and won't do much of anything with all the doubts people will already have a bout a "Dragonblooded" pulling off what we just did and in that particular manner, especially not with presumably at least one Bronze Faction Siddie around.
Better to try to get Ambition's brokenness more openly acknowledged and hopefully get the future benefit of being able to act more freely out of it and organizing the containment should work better for that given that it generates more gratitude without appearing even more terrifying.
After all, while showing off even more would be awesome, we're trying to convince people that we aren't going to eat their souls and stuff and enslaving massive behemoths doesn't seem like it'd contribute much to that.
[X] Attempt to Master It
While you do give valid reasoning, something about the way you describe AtMI makes it seem appealing enough to remove my neutrality on this issue.
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Rihaku
The Internet
You're not enslaving it, you're taking it! And it is perfectly congruous with your previous unbelievable acts, so no problems there - people expect you to be a great warrior and man of action, perhaps a strategist of superior skill, but that doesn't translate well into complex engineering and administrative challenges.
- Location
- Fabulously Rainbow Ireland
Uh the whoie reason a lot of people voted to go along with this (at least that I remember) is that Syn WOULDN'T be able to "discredit" us if we succeed since we'd become a hero of the realm that was blessed by the Dragons.