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[Exalted, ?] Most High

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Anasurimbor said:
It's a shame about Lily, especially after we put so much effort into recruiting her. Such a tragic time to be lacking in write-ins. Hopefully we will meet again someday.

Ulyssian really is a terrible friend. Unless you are Moon, that is. Then he's the best friend, willing to do absolutely anything.
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And is that not terrible? You have to admit, Moon is just an echo chamber at this point. Orm and his likes will continue in their blind devotion until she actually develops some actual connections and principles that are not related to us.
 
winking sequence said:
Syn is going to take advantage of whatever weakness there are in any of the option we take. For example, in Fortress Luseng, we can easily expect seeded Yozi agents.
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But the drawbacks from fortress Luseng are no where as catastrophic as the drawbacks of Pax, and it can be guarded against easiest, especially since we have very good control over the city itself AND we have our daughter.
That sort of control is basically non-existent outside of Luseng or as far as we can reach with our sword(Granted, that would be a BIG area, but not big enough and we can only be in one place at a time).
 
winking sequence said:
And is that not terrible? You have to admit, Moon is just an echo chamber at this point. Orm and his likes will continue in their blind devotion until she actually develops some actual connections and principles that are not related to us.
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I'm fairly sure my 'blind devotion' would survive such a development, for the record. Moon has principles independent of us; her idealism and her love of stories, to give just two examples. In any case, there's a difference between an echo chamber and a friend who trusts us enough that she's willing to sacrifice tens of millions of lives and betray her own ideology because she has faith in the righteousness of our vision. That's an awe-inspiring level of trust.
winking sequence said:
Fortress lacks a declaration of it's disadvantages because it is a conservative choice.
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Yeah, I acknowledge that much. We have just taken an enormous gamble very recently, though, so perhaps that's not a bad thing? Besides, we can leverage a prosperous Luseng, as we have in the past. Consider the context: the Pole of Air has been damaged, there's a fae invasion carving a swath of wrath and ruin through an entire Direction, elementals are running wild, the melting ice caps have triggered massive flooding, and things have just generally gone to shit. Where do people turn? Who can they look to for succor, an emblem of hope in these troubled times? Why, Luseng of course. The nation ruled by the most productive Satrap in living memory and graced by the literal reincarnation of one of the Immaculate Dragons.
 
Orm Embar said:
I'm fairly sure my 'blind devotion' would survive such a development, for the record.
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Okay.

Moon has principles independent of us; her idealism and her love of stories, to give just two examples.
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These things have been completely turned in our favor. They have been important when she was not brainwashed by us, but not now.

In any case, there's a difference between an echo chamber and a friend who trusts us enough that she's willing to sacrifice tens of millions of lives and betray her own ideology because she has faith in the righteousness of our vision. That's an awe-inspiring level of trust.
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How exactly she came to this state does not change what she is now. Right now, her choices and interests are completely aligned with us. That is what an echo chamber is. She really needs to separate ways with us and do her own thing.

Yeah, I acknowledge that much. We have just taken an enormous gamble very recently, though, so perhaps that's not a bad thing? Besides, we can leverage a prosperous Luseng, as we have in the past. Consider the context: the Pole of Air has been damaged, there's a fae invasion carving a swath of wrath and ruin through an entire Direction, elementals are running wild, the melting ice caps have triggered massive flooding, and things have just generally gone to shit. Where do people turn? Who can they look to for succor, an emblem of hope in these troubled times? Why, Luseng of course. The nation ruled by the most productive Satrap in living memory and graced by the literal reincarnation of one of the Immaculate Dragons.
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I prefer to be the hero who had created a collation from the chaos to do what really needed to be done and saved creation, not just from this threat, but the next thousand threats to come. :)
 
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is there any particularly detrimental effect in losing intimacy with Lily just like that? Considering we had to sacrifice a chunk of exp to prevent her from becoming a Major intimacy, I can't imagine simply losing her intimacy as just that. Just what exactly comes with fucking up your social interaction in Exalted to this level?
 
[ ] Sublime Grace of Mela

*Blood of Life - Moon will gain a matchless vigor, with grace to exceed the winds themselves, and a vivacious flush of beauty to rival the greatest of Gaian daevas. Further, her Shogun infertility is cured, allowing her to start a Dynastic Empire as the Scarlet Empress did before her. However, this will undoubtedly attract a great number of Dragon-Blooded suitors, as they instinctively recognize the ideal of Draconic perfection. All who behold her understand that she is literally Mela reincarnated, a herald of the end times and the avenging sword of the Dragons. The intrinsic truth of this is clear, and far greater than the power of a mere Sidereal Resplendency.

*Petitioner of Clouds Accordant to the Call of Battle - Within the Abilities of the Air Aspect (Lore, Occult, Linguistics, Stealth, Thrown), Moon/Mela may wield custom Charms of Solar-level potency. Her themes are training (of self and others), selflessness, wind manipulation, calculation, and battle. However, outside of wind manipulation, the majority of her effects, no matter how potent, are personal in scale or require teamwork to fully wield.
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I would argue that this power up really benefits options that has Moon make a DB collation. Turtling in Luseng is the least useful way to capitalize on this. Vote for Pax Odyssial or at least Open The Path.
 
Ridiculously Average Guy said:
[X] Open The Path

Let's take over. Also, Pax Ody is a bad idea when Syn is about to come in with friggin' Liger.
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Why not let Moon take over? Why babysit terrestrials, when we can cozen some celestials while Moon does the same to terrestrials?

About Syn, even if she does go with personal might option, why will Pax be worse than Open?

Usernames said:
[X] Open The Path

It time to take the sword of creation.
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Why not wait for some time so that we will also have the legitimacy to claim it as the leader of our new collation we got through Pax with the public support of Mela? If we do it now, we will be fighting DBs forever, weakening the Realm even more.
 
[X] Open The Path

This is the plan we originally wanted, though we will have to work to protect the realm from other exalts, it would be a good idea to handle it all.
 
Okay, I think the main problems/opportunities we have are:
  • The melting of the ice and the resultant flooding
  • The oncoming fae incursion
  • Protecting over selves from vengeful parties who have figured out that we are the cause
  • Speeding up the reactivation of the pole
We are well positioned to stop the melting of ice - the alternative buff to Moon suggests that we can use our sorcery to make artifacts that counter the melting.

We are also in a very good position to deal with the fae incursion because of our past life feat - we can set up over selves as an expert general regarding the fae.

It would be best if we have a scrapegoat for the vengeful parties - can we somehow pin this on the fae?

There is a canon example of an artifact that can act as an artificial pole (in 2E anyway). With enough solar sorcerers and twilights, we can probably replicate this feat.

So, we can:
  • Publicly reveal ourselves to be solar exalted - declare that saving creation is the most important goal, and in the immediate future that means dealing with the deactivation of the pole. Say that we will welcome allies who can assist us in this goal - may they be celestial or terrestrial
  • Use our sorcerous prowess to slow down the melting.
  • Start gathering solar and lunar exalted under our banner to fight the Fae. Are sidereals still available, or are they completely unwilling to work with/in a group? Pearl can assist in sidereal acquisition efforts.
  • Send Moon to covertly convince and aid the defecting DBs. Moon will be a secret ally, Zao can be the public face. Moon can be used as a public face too, but we have to be willing to fight the Immaculate Order head on. Syn will go completely crazy if we do this.
  • Set up camps for refugees, use them as prayer factories for elementals of cold. Use them to stabilize the region further.
  • Start a collaborative project for getting a new pole activated/reinforce the existing pole. Set up a grand cathedral in Luseng by bootstrapping our existing base.
Suggestions?
 
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winking sequence said:
And is that not terrible? You have to admit, Moon is just an echo chamber at this point. Orm and his likes will continue in their blind devotion until she actually develops some actual connections and principles that are not related to us.
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I think that substantially overstates the case. Moon honestly has had very little screen time in this quest. Off screen she has spent most of her time in a desperate attempt to not get left behind by Ulyssian. At this she has failed utterly; each passing day has left her even further behind. While she may still be cheerful, there can be little doubt this fundamentally insurmountable gap frustrates her.

There haven't been any hard choices for her to make until now. I don't think she agreed solely because that was what Ulyssian wanted. Not even primarily. That was just an excuse to justify an act of incomparable selfishness. To tell her that she was not wrong to help murder millions. That sacrificing them on the altar of self improvement was not merely morally justifiable, but morally correct.

I don't think she would have been willing to do this six months ago, no matter what Ulyssian said. Perhaps not even before she came to Luseng. But that was before she experienced the cruel truth of power from the losing side. A fundamental gap that no amount of training, effort or preparation can truly overcome. A gap that she, uniquely, is being given a chance to overcome.

For all that I don't like the other consequences, the chosen path is the one that gives Moon by far the most agency. How she uses it will be quite interesting. For all that she is tender towards Ulyssian, she is also quite willful and ambitious. At first, she had to hold back. Then he did. But what about now, now that they are truly equal?

Just be glad that she won't have powerful social charms like Lily. Or will she?
 
Anasurimbor said:
I think that substantially overstates the case. Moon honestly has had very little screen time in this quest. Off screen she has spent most of her time in a desperate attempt to not get left behind by Ulyssian. At this she has failed utterly; each passing day has left her even further behind. While she may still be cheerful, there can be little doubt this fundamentally insurmountable gap frustrates her.

There haven't been any hard choices for her to make until now. I don't think she agreed solely because that was what Ulyssian wanted. Not even primarily. That was just an excuse to justify an act of incomparable selfishness. To tell her that she was not wrong to help murder millions. That sacrificing them on the altar of self improvement was not merely morally justifiable, but morally correct.

I don't think she would have been willing to do this six months ago, no matter what Ulyssian said. Perhaps not even before she came to Luseng. But that was before she experienced the cruel truth of power from the losing side. A fundamental gap that no amount of training, effort or preparation can truly overcome. A gap that she, uniquely, is being given a chance to overcome.

For all that I don't like the other consequences, the chosen path is the one that gives Moon by far the most agency. How she uses it will be quite interesting. For all that she is tender towards Ulyssian, she is also quite willful and ambitious. At first, she had to hold back. Then he did. But what about now, now that they are truly equal?

Just be glad that she won't have powerful social charms like Lily. Or will she?
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I am mostly feeling this is alternative character interpretation, but okay. I'll keep this in mind.
 
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