Marvel: Dr Doom
[Exalted, ?] Most High
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
-
- Tags
- exalted (white wolf)
Marvel: Dr Doom
Shirou Emiya
meianmaru
The Devourer of Fiction
Nah, I would say he is considerably more like Kiritsugu.
- Location
- The savanna.
Yeah, except even more hardcore, and with an endgame that isn't going to literally blow up in his face.
Anyway, hope you get well soon and stuff.
Anyway, hope you get well soon and stuff.
What Rains May Come
Rihaku
The Internet
What Rains May Come
Sesus Ulyssian did not give any indication to Ragmar that he was going to kill him. Better to close off any opportunities for heroic, last-minute desperation. The man was too treacherous by far to deal with, the very offer he bargained with poisoned with information designed to sow mistrust among Ulyssian and his allies. He did not care to listen to any secrets the Lunar intended to divulge, if in their divulging they would do as much harm as good.
Saying nothing, changing nothing of his affect or demeanor, he plunged his shining blade into the Lunar's neck and then up into his brain. Destroying light seethed off Ambition, as vast and deep as an ocean brought to boil, and the Lunar died.
Ulyssian struck twenty times more, to ensure that Ragmar wasn't simply playing dead, before incinerating the corpse in a burst of Solar power. A flurry of particulates burned golden in the air, and small pools of molten sunlight blazed across the ground, as every iota of matter that the Lunar had inhabited or shed across the entirety of the city was rendered into nothingness.
He paused. That was as thorough as he could afford to be at the moment, though it would be best to consult with a definitive authority on whether the Lunar's Exaltation had truly passed. From scraps of Odyssial's memories, Luna could not be trusted, but perhaps the God of Exaltations, what was his name?
...Lytek?
---
And that was that, Ambition's edge like the curtain falling on the previous distraught Act of Luseng's story. When it rose again, it rose on a new chapter for city and province.
The Celestine, Luseng's artificially created administrator, swiftly and immediately became an unstoppable force for good across the city. Forged from the ultimate Sorceries of Satrap Sesus Ulyssian, who was swiftly becoming the city's god-king in fact, if not in name, she wielded rare power, power of a level that would have been a halcyon miracle even in the Age of Dreams, much less this Age of Sorrows. From the virtuous, temperate, determined, and compassionate of the city's mortals, she deputized seven, raising them up to awesome heights of personal puissance - enough not merely to challenge, but to exceed all but the strongest of Terrestrial Exalts in their areas of focus!
Part commanding general, part beloved princess, and part national icon, the Celestine herself worked with furious unending energy for the people of Luseng, all hours of the day and night, never stopping to eat, drink, rest, or breathe - for she had been created without such frailties. When needed, she took the field against rogue undead, fae incursions, and the now-uncoordinated attacks of Ragmar's splintered horde, shattering all challenges with power to rival the mightiest of the Anathema kings. Before long, her pure-jade jian and powerbow were as symbolic of Luseng as its self-chilled trout, and women across the Satrapy adopted her style of wearing a string of Mandarin's pearls in her hair. Of their "King" and his personal friends, the white-haired and red-haired Dragon-Blooded that had arrived the day of the Purge, the people saw less and less, though Celestine assured them that their leader kept the common people ever in his thoughts.
Of course, nothing so idyllic as that could last.
Two short weeks after the Celestine's first emergence, Luseng had quintupled its tax revenues, halved its unemployment rate, and virtually eradicated starvation as a cause of death. What few contagious outbreaks occurred were quickly quarantined and seen to by an empowered Chief Physician: Grim Raptor, who had lost his wife and children to disease five decades ago. A grey-eyed septegenarian with steely hair epitomized his handlebar mustache, he could murder cholera with a two-finger pressure point strike, and strangle the consumption out of a man by joint-locking his exhaled breath.
Whispers began to spread, among the other Satrapries and the Realm proper, that the Celestine, and Sesus Ulyssian himself, were far too powerful to be Terrestrial Exalted, even products of the legendary Lung Feng Zao. Among learned circles especially, dominant opinion was that the Celestine was not a priceless Artifact that Ulyssian had excavated from the Emerald Mountain, as he had claimed.
Sorcerers knew Sorcery wherever it tried to hide, and Mnemon was the greatest of Dragon-Blooded Sorcerers. Already disturbed by the new Anathema-reconciling Heresy that had spontaneously become fashionable among certain circles of Dragon-Blooded youth, the prospective Empress-to-be suspected strongly that the Celestine was a product of nothing less than a Solar Sorcerer. As a Terrestrial Sorcerer herself, after all, she had tested countless times the limits of that art, and been rebuffed every time. This was Sorcery, but it was not Terrestrial, and the Celestine was a perfect construct, utterly without exploitable or inconvenient flaws. The Celestial Circle could reach such heights, but rarely so flawlessly, and never faster than three months.
Sesus Ulyssian had been the Satrap of Luseng for only two and a half months, when the Celestine appeared.
And so the Deliberative of the Realm issued an invitation for Sesus Ulyssian, and for his able "Artifact" administrator - to visit the Imperial City, that they might look upon this paragon of Dragon-Blooded might, and congratulate him on his achievement, the revitalization of once-thought-doomed Luseng. An invitation worded strongly, so strongly it might as well have been a summons.
On the Western border of that Satrapy, Ragmar's hordes had splintered into a bloody anarchy of competing tribes, headed by beastmen warlords with more bloodthirst than sense. While the Celestine infallibly deflected any aggression aimed at the city proper, the carnage - and Luseng's rising star - began to attract attention of a different sort. For that reason, or perhaps others, the Icewalker Hordes of the Bull began to assimilate those disparate beastmen, quelling the internecine violence while moving in strength to deploy and reinforce their numbers in the province. Soon a thousand tiny streams of barbarian migration converged into a veritable river of men, an ocean of them. At their head appeared, from time to time, an old warlord, grizzled with age and battle, scarred but strong, who wore simple furs over his breastplate of stolen jade, the symbol of a dawning sun atop his brow.
Luseng's fragile peace looked swiftly to be shredded by the winds of change. From within the Realm and without, threats of titanic magnitude bore down upon its Satrap. The world was turning.
The world was turning, but Sesus Ulyssian had not been idle. In the depths of his Sundial Throne, two months passed as the two weeks crawled by outside, and the End of Stories forged from will and wonder his instruments of incalculable might.
---
First, you must determine your response to the summons of the Deliberative.
[ ] Blow Them Off / Decline - You don't have time to go to a fancy party, you've got a war to fight! Of course, no matter how good your reasons may be, or how politely worded your letter in response, they will almost certainly know it for what it is: an attempted deflection. After all, Mnemon is quite sure that you are a Solar Circle Sorcerer, and you are quite sure that some powerful DB sorcerers have suspicions about the Consort Celestine. She is simply too obviously powerful and sorcerous to be anything less than a product of the Solar Circle. However, it will likely be weeks, if not months, before they are capable of levying any major force against Luseng, assuming they even want to bother when you are nothing but a massive asset. And months outside can be years inside the Sundial Throne. Plenty of time to create a Sorcerous army the likes of which a mere Realm Legion would be utterly unable to oppose...
[ ] Agree - You will return to the Realm, to the Imperial City, but not to wheedle and plead with the likes of them. You are Odyssial, and they will soon understand what that means.
-[ ] Plan Nilul: Attempt to turn Mnemon by revealing your true nature (Sorcerers know that Anathema are just Exalts, though ones with interests diametrically opposed to the Realm) and offering to help her in the inevitable Realm Civil War as long as she agrees not to contest your absolute dominion over Luseng and surrounding areas. Of course, you'll pay nominal lip service to her reign as Empress / Queen and continue to support the Realm, but otherwise you will reign unchallenged. [Chances of success: Dependent on stunting and unknown factors]
-[ ] Plan Limit Break: This is the perfect opportunity to decapitate a good portion of the most dangerous Dragon-Blooded leadership and subsequently infiltrate and seize control of the Realm Defense Grid. Of course, you'll still need a plan as to what you'll do after seizing the Sword of Creation, but Limit Breaking Odyssial will probably have good ideas. You don't currently possess Odyssial's relevant memories, but you are confident that, having mastered both Ambition and the Scales of Sable Shimmering, you are more than powerful enough to survive its tribulations manually. And if something does go wrong, you might find that Odyssial is closer to the surface than you thought...
-[ ] Write-in: You
[ ] Invite Delegation - Invite a delegation to come visit Luseng instead. Will likely consist of numerous extremely powerful Dragon-Blooded and dozens of lesser DBs, enough to make direct force a dicey proposition, but at least they won't force you to waste weeks outside the Sundial Throne traveling.
---
Then, the Bull of the North. Though he himself is not particularly dangerous to a fighter as puissant as Ulyssian, much less Ulyssian plus Moon, Celestine, and The Lily, he does command the allegiance of a Solar Circle Sorcerer, and a Circle of Solars of which he is part.
The Icewalker + Beastman hordes comprise 340,000 fighting men and women and the bulk of their forces have been moving towards Luseng in the past weeks. So far they have not sent forth any messengers or made any entreaties towards you, Sorcerous or otherwise. Concerning...
[ ] "Liberate" Them - Attempt to assassinate the Solar Circle comprising the Icewalker leadership. If you want Lily's help, you will have to convince her that this is either morally justifiable, or the only way. Difficult and dangerous, even with Nilul's help. However, if you succeed, you will have shattered the Bull of the North in a single blow, and your renown among the common people of the Realm will rise even further. Not to mention neatly ridding yourself of the Golden Horde bearing down on the city you've invested literally hundreds of thousands of XP into defending.
[ ] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
[ ] Gird Your Loins - It will be weeks yet before the Tribes are at full muster, and then they must proceed at an agonizingly slow pace across Luseng's territory, heavily forested and too warm for their furs, before they are within striking distance of the city itself. You simply don't need to take action when you could more profitably spend that time on greater Solar Circle Workings. Your font of inspiration is active yet, and so long as your sorcerous ingenuity does not run dry, you can simply create the solutions to your problems... [You will be using Normal XP on Workings if you choose this]
You may also attempt write-ins for either option, such as attempting to maneuver the forces of Empress Slay into open conflict with the Bull, or attempting to slaughter the Deliberative (a questionable decision).
Finally, you may perform two (2) Ambition 3 Workings of the Solar Circle before these two threats come to fruition. These two Workings are the ones you have been Working (!!) on in the last two subjective months. Brainstorm some ideas, and I'll write up that decision point when we have some sort of consensus on what you guys want. You could create a living apocalypse storm to harry the Icewalker Hordes, though of course Samea will attempt to oppose it with spells or Workings of her own.
Prophecy-wise, you've been using your powers to further improve Luseng and fan the flames of the Grand Heresy, but since it's only been two weeks outside the Throne, not a lot has happened. These things take time! Sorcery is much more - direct.
Sesus Ulyssian did not give any indication to Ragmar that he was going to kill him. Better to close off any opportunities for heroic, last-minute desperation. The man was too treacherous by far to deal with, the very offer he bargained with poisoned with information designed to sow mistrust among Ulyssian and his allies. He did not care to listen to any secrets the Lunar intended to divulge, if in their divulging they would do as much harm as good.
Saying nothing, changing nothing of his affect or demeanor, he plunged his shining blade into the Lunar's neck and then up into his brain. Destroying light seethed off Ambition, as vast and deep as an ocean brought to boil, and the Lunar died.
Ulyssian struck twenty times more, to ensure that Ragmar wasn't simply playing dead, before incinerating the corpse in a burst of Solar power. A flurry of particulates burned golden in the air, and small pools of molten sunlight blazed across the ground, as every iota of matter that the Lunar had inhabited or shed across the entirety of the city was rendered into nothingness.
He paused. That was as thorough as he could afford to be at the moment, though it would be best to consult with a definitive authority on whether the Lunar's Exaltation had truly passed. From scraps of Odyssial's memories, Luna could not be trusted, but perhaps the God of Exaltations, what was his name?
...Lytek?
---
And that was that, Ambition's edge like the curtain falling on the previous distraught Act of Luseng's story. When it rose again, it rose on a new chapter for city and province.
The Celestine, Luseng's artificially created administrator, swiftly and immediately became an unstoppable force for good across the city. Forged from the ultimate Sorceries of Satrap Sesus Ulyssian, who was swiftly becoming the city's god-king in fact, if not in name, she wielded rare power, power of a level that would have been a halcyon miracle even in the Age of Dreams, much less this Age of Sorrows. From the virtuous, temperate, determined, and compassionate of the city's mortals, she deputized seven, raising them up to awesome heights of personal puissance - enough not merely to challenge, but to exceed all but the strongest of Terrestrial Exalts in their areas of focus!
Part commanding general, part beloved princess, and part national icon, the Celestine herself worked with furious unending energy for the people of Luseng, all hours of the day and night, never stopping to eat, drink, rest, or breathe - for she had been created without such frailties. When needed, she took the field against rogue undead, fae incursions, and the now-uncoordinated attacks of Ragmar's splintered horde, shattering all challenges with power to rival the mightiest of the Anathema kings. Before long, her pure-jade jian and powerbow were as symbolic of Luseng as its self-chilled trout, and women across the Satrapy adopted her style of wearing a string of Mandarin's pearls in her hair. Of their "King" and his personal friends, the white-haired and red-haired Dragon-Blooded that had arrived the day of the Purge, the people saw less and less, though Celestine assured them that their leader kept the common people ever in his thoughts.
Of course, nothing so idyllic as that could last.
Two short weeks after the Celestine's first emergence, Luseng had quintupled its tax revenues, halved its unemployment rate, and virtually eradicated starvation as a cause of death. What few contagious outbreaks occurred were quickly quarantined and seen to by an empowered Chief Physician: Grim Raptor, who had lost his wife and children to disease five decades ago. A grey-eyed septegenarian with steely hair epitomized his handlebar mustache, he could murder cholera with a two-finger pressure point strike, and strangle the consumption out of a man by joint-locking his exhaled breath.
Whispers began to spread, among the other Satrapries and the Realm proper, that the Celestine, and Sesus Ulyssian himself, were far too powerful to be Terrestrial Exalted, even products of the legendary Lung Feng Zao. Among learned circles especially, dominant opinion was that the Celestine was not a priceless Artifact that Ulyssian had excavated from the Emerald Mountain, as he had claimed.
Sorcerers knew Sorcery wherever it tried to hide, and Mnemon was the greatest of Dragon-Blooded Sorcerers. Already disturbed by the new Anathema-reconciling Heresy that had spontaneously become fashionable among certain circles of Dragon-Blooded youth, the prospective Empress-to-be suspected strongly that the Celestine was a product of nothing less than a Solar Sorcerer. As a Terrestrial Sorcerer herself, after all, she had tested countless times the limits of that art, and been rebuffed every time. This was Sorcery, but it was not Terrestrial, and the Celestine was a perfect construct, utterly without exploitable or inconvenient flaws. The Celestial Circle could reach such heights, but rarely so flawlessly, and never faster than three months.
Sesus Ulyssian had been the Satrap of Luseng for only two and a half months, when the Celestine appeared.
And so the Deliberative of the Realm issued an invitation for Sesus Ulyssian, and for his able "Artifact" administrator - to visit the Imperial City, that they might look upon this paragon of Dragon-Blooded might, and congratulate him on his achievement, the revitalization of once-thought-doomed Luseng. An invitation worded strongly, so strongly it might as well have been a summons.
On the Western border of that Satrapy, Ragmar's hordes had splintered into a bloody anarchy of competing tribes, headed by beastmen warlords with more bloodthirst than sense. While the Celestine infallibly deflected any aggression aimed at the city proper, the carnage - and Luseng's rising star - began to attract attention of a different sort. For that reason, or perhaps others, the Icewalker Hordes of the Bull began to assimilate those disparate beastmen, quelling the internecine violence while moving in strength to deploy and reinforce their numbers in the province. Soon a thousand tiny streams of barbarian migration converged into a veritable river of men, an ocean of them. At their head appeared, from time to time, an old warlord, grizzled with age and battle, scarred but strong, who wore simple furs over his breastplate of stolen jade, the symbol of a dawning sun atop his brow.
Luseng's fragile peace looked swiftly to be shredded by the winds of change. From within the Realm and without, threats of titanic magnitude bore down upon its Satrap. The world was turning.
The world was turning, but Sesus Ulyssian had not been idle. In the depths of his Sundial Throne, two months passed as the two weeks crawled by outside, and the End of Stories forged from will and wonder his instruments of incalculable might.
---
First, you must determine your response to the summons of the Deliberative.
[ ] Blow Them Off / Decline - You don't have time to go to a fancy party, you've got a war to fight! Of course, no matter how good your reasons may be, or how politely worded your letter in response, they will almost certainly know it for what it is: an attempted deflection. After all, Mnemon is quite sure that you are a Solar Circle Sorcerer, and you are quite sure that some powerful DB sorcerers have suspicions about the Consort Celestine. She is simply too obviously powerful and sorcerous to be anything less than a product of the Solar Circle. However, it will likely be weeks, if not months, before they are capable of levying any major force against Luseng, assuming they even want to bother when you are nothing but a massive asset. And months outside can be years inside the Sundial Throne. Plenty of time to create a Sorcerous army the likes of which a mere Realm Legion would be utterly unable to oppose...
[ ] Agree - You will return to the Realm, to the Imperial City, but not to wheedle and plead with the likes of them. You are Odyssial, and they will soon understand what that means.
-[ ] Plan Nilul: Attempt to turn Mnemon by revealing your true nature (Sorcerers know that Anathema are just Exalts, though ones with interests diametrically opposed to the Realm) and offering to help her in the inevitable Realm Civil War as long as she agrees not to contest your absolute dominion over Luseng and surrounding areas. Of course, you'll pay nominal lip service to her reign as Empress / Queen and continue to support the Realm, but otherwise you will reign unchallenged. [Chances of success: Dependent on stunting and unknown factors]
-[ ] Plan Limit Break: This is the perfect opportunity to decapitate a good portion of the most dangerous Dragon-Blooded leadership and subsequently infiltrate and seize control of the Realm Defense Grid. Of course, you'll still need a plan as to what you'll do after seizing the Sword of Creation, but Limit Breaking Odyssial will probably have good ideas. You don't currently possess Odyssial's relevant memories, but you are confident that, having mastered both Ambition and the Scales of Sable Shimmering, you are more than powerful enough to survive its tribulations manually. And if something does go wrong, you might find that Odyssial is closer to the surface than you thought...
-[ ] Write-in: You
[ ] Invite Delegation - Invite a delegation to come visit Luseng instead. Will likely consist of numerous extremely powerful Dragon-Blooded and dozens of lesser DBs, enough to make direct force a dicey proposition, but at least they won't force you to waste weeks outside the Sundial Throne traveling.
---
Then, the Bull of the North. Though he himself is not particularly dangerous to a fighter as puissant as Ulyssian, much less Ulyssian plus Moon, Celestine, and The Lily, he does command the allegiance of a Solar Circle Sorcerer, and a Circle of Solars of which he is part.
The Icewalker + Beastman hordes comprise 340,000 fighting men and women and the bulk of their forces have been moving towards Luseng in the past weeks. So far they have not sent forth any messengers or made any entreaties towards you, Sorcerous or otherwise. Concerning...
[ ] "Liberate" Them - Attempt to assassinate the Solar Circle comprising the Icewalker leadership. If you want Lily's help, you will have to convince her that this is either morally justifiable, or the only way. Difficult and dangerous, even with Nilul's help. However, if you succeed, you will have shattered the Bull of the North in a single blow, and your renown among the common people of the Realm will rise even further. Not to mention neatly ridding yourself of the Golden Horde bearing down on the city you've invested literally hundreds of thousands of XP into defending.
[ ] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
[ ] Gird Your Loins - It will be weeks yet before the Tribes are at full muster, and then they must proceed at an agonizingly slow pace across Luseng's territory, heavily forested and too warm for their furs, before they are within striking distance of the city itself. You simply don't need to take action when you could more profitably spend that time on greater Solar Circle Workings. Your font of inspiration is active yet, and so long as your sorcerous ingenuity does not run dry, you can simply create the solutions to your problems... [You will be using Normal XP on Workings if you choose this]
You may also attempt write-ins for either option, such as attempting to maneuver the forces of Empress Slay into open conflict with the Bull, or attempting to slaughter the Deliberative (a questionable decision).
Finally, you may perform two (2) Ambition 3 Workings of the Solar Circle before these two threats come to fruition. These two Workings are the ones you have been Working (!!) on in the last two subjective months. Brainstorm some ideas, and I'll write up that decision point when we have some sort of consensus on what you guys want. You could create a living apocalypse storm to harry the Icewalker Hordes, though of course Samea will attempt to oppose it with spells or Workings of her own.
Prophecy-wise, you've been using your powers to further improve Luseng and fan the flames of the Grand Heresy, but since it's only been two weeks outside the Throne, not a lot has happened. These things take time! Sorcery is much more - direct.
[X] Agree
-[X] Plan Limit Break
[X] "Liberate" Them
-[X] Plan Limit Break
[X] "Liberate" Them
Usernames
Merc gonna merc ya
[X] Agree - You will return to the Realm, to the Imperial City, but not to wheedle and plead with the likes of them. You are Odyssial, and they will soon understand what that means.
-[X] Plan Limit Break: This is the perfect opportunity to decapitate a good portion of the most dangerous Dragon-Blooded leadership and subsequently infiltrate and seize control of the Realm Defense Grid. Of course, you'll still need a plan as to what you'll do after seizing the Sword of Creation, but Limit Breaking Odyssial will probably have good ideas. You don't currently possess Odyssial's relevant memories, but you are confident that, having mastered both Ambition and the Scales of Sable Shimmering, you are more than powerful enough to survive its tribulations manually. And if something does go wrong, you might find that Odyssial is closer to the surface than you thought...
I don't fucking trust Mnemon with the sword of creation. Besides, it time for a solar to lead The Realm. It just much more effective. a dragon blooded can't handle the bullshit. This is the whole reason why Zao wanted Ulyssian to become Solars. At least the Realm will survive, stronger under solar rulership.
[X] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
Yeah...Let not fucking fight each other. With The bull on our side and if we manage to get sword of creation, we can take over the realm.
-[X] Plan Limit Break: This is the perfect opportunity to decapitate a good portion of the most dangerous Dragon-Blooded leadership and subsequently infiltrate and seize control of the Realm Defense Grid. Of course, you'll still need a plan as to what you'll do after seizing the Sword of Creation, but Limit Breaking Odyssial will probably have good ideas. You don't currently possess Odyssial's relevant memories, but you are confident that, having mastered both Ambition and the Scales of Sable Shimmering, you are more than powerful enough to survive its tribulations manually. And if something does go wrong, you might find that Odyssial is closer to the surface than you thought...
I don't fucking trust Mnemon with the sword of creation. Besides, it time for a solar to lead The Realm. It just much more effective. a dragon blooded can't handle the bullshit. This is the whole reason why Zao wanted Ulyssian to become Solars. At least the Realm will survive, stronger under solar rulership.
[X] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
Yeah...Let not fucking fight each other. With The bull on our side and if we manage to get sword of creation, we can take over the realm.
AZATHOTHoth
༼ つ ☀️_☀️ ༽つ
[X] "Liberate" Them - Attempt to assassinate the Solar Circle comprising the Icewalker leadership. If you want Lily's help, you will have to convince her that this is either morally justifiable, or the only way. Difficult and dangerous, even with Nilul's help. However, if you succeed, you will have shattered the Bull of the North in a single blow, and your renown among the common people of the Realm will rise even further. Not to mention neatly ridding yourself of the Golden Horde bearing down on the city you've invested literally hundreds of thousands of XP into defending.
Hmm, I don't know what else to choose.
Hmm, I don't know what else to choose.
[X] Agree - You will return to the Realm, to the Imperial City, but not to wheedle and plead with the likes of them. You are Odyssial, and they will soon understand what that means.
-[X] Plan Limit Break: This is the perfect opportunity to decapitate a good portion of the most dangerous Dragon-Blooded leadership and subsequently infiltrate and seize control of the Realm Defense Grid. Of course, you'll still need a plan as to what you'll do after seizing the Sword of Creation, but Limit Breaking Odyssial will probably have good ideas. You don't currently possess Odyssial's relevant memories, but you are confident that, having mastered both Ambition and the Scales of Sable Shimmering, you are more than powerful enough to survive its tribulations manually. And if something does go wrong, you might find that Odyssial is closer to the surface than you thought...
[X] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
-[X] Plan Limit Break: This is the perfect opportunity to decapitate a good portion of the most dangerous Dragon-Blooded leadership and subsequently infiltrate and seize control of the Realm Defense Grid. Of course, you'll still need a plan as to what you'll do after seizing the Sword of Creation, but Limit Breaking Odyssial will probably have good ideas. You don't currently possess Odyssial's relevant memories, but you are confident that, having mastered both Ambition and the Scales of Sable Shimmering, you are more than powerful enough to survive its tribulations manually. And if something does go wrong, you might find that Odyssial is closer to the surface than you thought...
[X] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
- Location
- Southern Virginia
[X] Agree - You will return to the Realm, to the Imperial City, but not to wheedle and plead with the likes of them. You are Odyssial, and they will soon understand what that means.
-[X] Plan Nilul: Attempt to turn Mnemon by revealing your true nature (Sorcerers know that Anathema are just Exalts, though ones with interests diametrically opposed to the Realm) and offering to help her in the inevitable Realm Civil War as long as she agrees not to contest your absolute dominion over Luseng and surrounding areas. Of course, you'll pay nominal lip service to her reign as Empress / Queen and continue to support the Realm, but otherwise you will reign unchallenged. [Chances of success: Dependent on stunting and unknown factors]
[X] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
We face war on two fronts now. The best option is to attempt to defuse both. We'll almost certainly succeed with at least one of them and again a powerful ally.
Mnemon is basically her mother, except she's terrified of Mom because she knows full well Her Redness has thrown in with the Scarlet Empress. She's ruthless enough to make a deal with Anathema and knows what Ulyssian really is anyway. We will not be turning the Sword of Creation over to her here, mind, but strengthening the Realm is what we intended and this is the best path to it without having to devote a whole lot of effort to completely reshaping all of its institutions. Between her, Zao, and Ulyssian we can almost certainly build a strong enough coalition to avoid the Civil War. There is a risk of her turning on Ulyssian, but meh that's a risk with practically everyone, and she definitely won't side with Anys Syn and the Scarlet Empress if they emerge together. Nilul vouching for the strategy is an important factor here.
And the Bull of the North and his Circle are fellow Solars and defenders of Creation. Internecine fighting should be avoided on principle.
Granted I have zero expectations of plan "kill everyone and figure out what to do later" not winning. I suspect people may be underestimating just how difficult decapitating the entire Dragonblooded leadership when they are expecting Ulyssian to be Anathema and then tackling the RDG is going to be, though.
-[X] Plan Nilul: Attempt to turn Mnemon by revealing your true nature (Sorcerers know that Anathema are just Exalts, though ones with interests diametrically opposed to the Realm) and offering to help her in the inevitable Realm Civil War as long as she agrees not to contest your absolute dominion over Luseng and surrounding areas. Of course, you'll pay nominal lip service to her reign as Empress / Queen and continue to support the Realm, but otherwise you will reign unchallenged. [Chances of success: Dependent on stunting and unknown factors]
[X] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
We face war on two fronts now. The best option is to attempt to defuse both. We'll almost certainly succeed with at least one of them and again a powerful ally.
Mnemon is basically her mother, except she's terrified of Mom because she knows full well Her Redness has thrown in with the Scarlet Empress. She's ruthless enough to make a deal with Anathema and knows what Ulyssian really is anyway. We will not be turning the Sword of Creation over to her here, mind, but strengthening the Realm is what we intended and this is the best path to it without having to devote a whole lot of effort to completely reshaping all of its institutions. Between her, Zao, and Ulyssian we can almost certainly build a strong enough coalition to avoid the Civil War. There is a risk of her turning on Ulyssian, but meh that's a risk with practically everyone, and she definitely won't side with Anys Syn and the Scarlet Empress if they emerge together. Nilul vouching for the strategy is an important factor here.
And the Bull of the North and his Circle are fellow Solars and defenders of Creation. Internecine fighting should be avoided on principle.
Granted I have zero expectations of plan "kill everyone and figure out what to do later" not winning. I suspect people may be underestimating just how difficult decapitating the entire Dragonblooded leadership when they are expecting Ulyssian to be Anathema and then tackling the RDG is going to be, though.
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SirLagginton
Shadow Cabal Caerbannog Bun-Bun
- Location
- Arrrghhh
[X] Agree - You will return to the Realm, to the Imperial City, but not to wheedle and plead with the likes of them. You are Odyssial, and they will soon understand what that means.
-[X] Plan Nilul: Attempt to turn Mnemon by revealing your true nature (Sorcerers know that Anathema are just Exalts, though ones with interests diametrically opposed to the Realm) and offering to help her in the inevitable Realm Civil War as long as she agrees not to contest your absolute dominion over Luseng and surrounding areas. Of course, you'll pay nominal lip service to her reign as Empress / Queen and continue to support the Realm, but otherwise you will reign unchallenged. [Chances of success: Dependent on stunting and unknown factors]
[X] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
[X] A Dragon of the West
-[X] Plan Nilul: Attempt to turn Mnemon by revealing your true nature (Sorcerers know that Anathema are just Exalts, though ones with interests diametrically opposed to the Realm) and offering to help her in the inevitable Realm Civil War as long as she agrees not to contest your absolute dominion over Luseng and surrounding areas. Of course, you'll pay nominal lip service to her reign as Empress / Queen and continue to support the Realm, but otherwise you will reign unchallenged. [Chances of success: Dependent on stunting and unknown factors]
[X] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
[X] A Dragon of the West
I'm strongly inclinded to brush off the summons and appeal to the Bull for a military partnership. We have a glorious seat of empire, he has a wonderful army. The Realm can't defeat us both at this stage, and we'll be well positioned to spread Lungseng's greatness throughout the north.
[X] Blow Them Off / Decline
[X] War By Other Means
[X] Blow Them Off / Decline
[X] War By Other Means
- Location
- Southern Virginia
Kill the Dragonblooded leadership and seizing the RDG does not, in fact, automatically confer the loyalty of the Realm. It will probably make everyone with a stake in an Anathema seizing the throne throw every possible resource at killing him. At best fearful obedience would prevail, but then Ulyssian still has to find a way to actually establish order in the Realm since no one there is going to be inclined to be ruled by him. Whereas Mnemnon can just sit down in the throne and be Scarlet mk II.
[X] Agree
-[X] Plan Nilul
[X] A Dragon of the West
Seizing the Grid now means biting off more than we can chew. Would say more, but the plane is boarding now.
-[X] Plan Nilul
[X] A Dragon of the West
Seizing the Grid now means biting off more than we can chew. Would say more, but the plane is boarding now.
[X] Agree - You will return to the Realm, to the Imperial City, but not to wheedle and plead with the likes of them. You are Odyssial, and they will soon understand what that means.
-[X] Plan Nilul: Attempt to turn Mnemon by revealing your true nature (Sorcerers know that Anathema are just Exalts, though ones with interests diametrically opposed to the Realm) and offering to help her in the inevitable Realm Civil War as long as she agrees not to contest your absolute dominion over Luseng and surrounding areas. Of course, you'll pay nominal lip service to her reign as Empress / Queen and continue to support the Realm, but otherwise you will reign unchallenged. [Chances of success: Dependent on stunting and unknown factors]
[X] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
-[X] Plan Nilul: Attempt to turn Mnemon by revealing your true nature (Sorcerers know that Anathema are just Exalts, though ones with interests diametrically opposed to the Realm) and offering to help her in the inevitable Realm Civil War as long as she agrees not to contest your absolute dominion over Luseng and surrounding areas. Of course, you'll pay nominal lip service to her reign as Empress / Queen and continue to support the Realm, but otherwise you will reign unchallenged. [Chances of success: Dependent on stunting and unknown factors]
[X] War By Other Means - Attempt diplomacy. Samea is a Sorcerer of the Solar Circle, and you are all of you so few in this world... surely it would be a tragedy of the highest order, and a blow to the survival of Creation, for her to perish in some pointless internecine conflict. The Bull is a useful secondary general as well, for fights that don't require quite your level of annihilating power. But how will you convince them?
Just putting this out there:
If we can afford it, we might want to spend one of our workings on getting another 3CD. War, training or combat could be the focus for it. War and training and things that we are currently not that good at, while combat would give us an Uly tier combatant, which is perfectly capable of dealing with multiple Realm regions.
Since we have made Luseng the seat of our power, we could consider applying workings onto Luseng to make it more defensible. Warding a city is only an Ambition 1 working, so we would be able to carry out more such protective workings, and at lower cost.
Since we have made Luseng the seat of our power, we could consider applying workings onto Luseng to make it more defensible. Warding a city is only an Ambition 1 working, so we would be able to carry out more such protective workings, and at lower cost.