Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

[DragonParadox]

Seizing the Day ​

17th of July 2006 A.D.

Whether is is because you slept in the path or from all the plans swirling in your mind these last few days you don't know but your dreams were a real bitch last night. I get it brain Arctis Tor bad, no need to remind me all the time. I wonder if I went back there and set some more of Queen Mab's stuff on fire will it finally register that you are not the girl on the tree anymore?

"Perhaps one should stay thine wrath against the host of the winter fey a few more turnings of the moon my princess," Usum offers in what might be the most diplomatic way you have heard someone warn that you would get your ass kicked

Speaking of the turnings of the moons... it's the Summer Holiday finally. You had really started to hate those snow days last year by the end of this, but now it's over. Homework is future Molly's problem, you are not grounded so no more late night tree climbing unless you... want to be Harry's date to a vampire ball or something equally upsetting to mom.

It would be nice to have your own place though, some place where you could not hear the stampede of chez Carpenter through the walls making the dream of sleeping in almost as distant as the one of raiding Arctis Tor, somewhere you can have your own bathtub that you do not have to scrub of noxious residue every time.

Then there is Rosie, you had promised to look for help and to yourself at least you vowed that if you could not find help you would provide it. The baby is still months away, but it will probably do wonders for her peace of mind to know that there is some way for her to keep it, some plan waiting in the winds. Not to mention that you still haven't told her what you did. Can I afford to? you wonder and you do not know if it is the voice of selfishness or common sense. Between getting hurt in body and mind, the baby you worry that she could be a target for the darker things that lurk in the shadows.

"There is the matter of foes more accessible than the Queen of Air and Darkness," Usum reminds you halfway through your morning cereal. "The man Greene, whether he is one himself or a puppet of one I do not think it is coincidence that he fixated on the wizard."

You hum in barely audible agreement. Harry probably isn't going to like you 'meddling' but you can be really persuasive and while you are not yourself the most skilled of investigators you have a potentially limitless army of spies at your beck and call, as many eyes as there are cameras in the city, as many ears as there are phones, as many minds as there are computers, the least and forgotten spirits of the Wicked City call to you in every crackle of static.

Then there is the potential of training... and finding more magicians out there, those the White Council calls minor talents and ignores save when the Wardens come knocking sword in hand. There is a lot your insights could do for them and a a lot you could learn too. There is a whole world of magic out there that you had been looking for ever since you found that you have magic. Now finally you know where to look.

What will you do over the next two weeks?
Due to the fact that there are only two weeks of July remaining you only have three (3) Actions

Finances
You have none, your allowance will keep you in gas, pizza and coffee, but you are going to need a lot more if you're going to put some of your grander plans into action

[] A Big Score, your Crown isn't really made for picking out random numbers in a mundane draw, but it is still your power so you can push it that one time to win a lottery... any lottery. You will have to find the balance between payout and anonymity and some place to park the money but that seems reasonably doable with some help from mom and dad, and unlike some of your other plans they are unlikely to object to this form of cheating at gambling

[] Masterworks for money, you can make gems, you can make gold, you can make fine watches, heck you can make a light airplane from scrap if you really put in the hours, though that would be overkill you think. Now cars maybe... yeah restoring cars could work. Or you could turn your lie to Izzy into truth and work with dad
-[] Diamonds are a girl's best friend, make artificial diamonds or other gemstones
-[] All that glitters, ye old dream of making gold from lead, now with radiation
-[] Small marvels, craft jewelry, watches, what have you
-[] The family trade, dad already works with wood, you can work with wood, getting paid by your parents isn't exactly the most glamorous thing, but it would probably go smoother with him handling all the marketing stuff so you can just use your hell tools to make stuff
-[] Resurrection from Rust, you could walk into a junkyard and drive out with a car given enough time, though you are not sure how the paperwork for that would work out

[] It's not cheating if you are just that good, illegal gambling is apparently one of those things John Marcone has a lock on, you can probably scrape together enough money to buy in to the cheapest of cheap games and then go from there. All you have to do is not lose... and not draw too much attention to yourself

Investigations
You turned over a lot of rocks over the last two weeks and something tells you that the worms you found there aren't going to sit nicely still while you get rich and trained up

[] Wizard's Woes, you dropped a hell of a case in Harry's lap and then told him not to get help, go see if you can be the help instead, bring treats for Mouse, a bottle of Clorox to keep at his place in case you need to heal in an emergency

[] Look into the Minor Talents of Chicago, so far you have been isolated from the supernatural scene of Chicago, now that you can get in touch with them without necessarily having your dad with you all the time the time has come to change that... though given how both Mouse and McCoy thought you were bad news at first maybe you should bring dad or Harry along to some of them just as an introduction
-[] Once more with help, maybe cyber demons would have more luck finding the supernatural online than you did, they cannot hack into any secure sites, probably for the best for now, but they can look at public information at the speed of a computer not a squishy human brain
-[] Alphas, friends of Harry, close to you in age and they work to keep monsters off the street near the University, they sounds really cool
-[] Friends in Low places, she might work for Marcone but Grad was really cool and you are curious about her. Fortunetly you remember the number dad dialed to get in touch with Marcone
-[] Totally normal girl, Lydia invited you to hang out and you are game, you like the younger girl, she's fun and quirky and you are curious to know just how far the quirks go
-[] Spirit Speaker, Mortimer Lindquist is apparently a real medium who also does fake seances, he is also quite a talented writer. It would be cool to meet him, but you also have a more serious reason to seek his company. Rosie is still mentally fragile and she is in a hospital and you have it on good and... er diverse authority that places like that are gathering places for dark and predatory spirits

[] A friend in need. You promised Rosie that you would help and so you will, with problems material and ethereal
-[] Dreaming True, Rosie is going to need help, training to manage her gift eventually, look around for information, books or ideally a teacher
-[] Talking to the family, you do not like Mrs Wilsom and the feeling is mutual, but as your experience at church yesterday showed you do not have to like someone to turn on the supernatural charm. Maybe you could work something out, or at least explain some of what her daughter is going through
-[] An Eye for Charity, there have to be some kind of charities willing to help young women in Rosie's situation, you and your electronic friends can surely find them and then you can have a talk with them to give her some options

[] Out of Town Work, dad is arranging his schedule so he has three days free next week, he does not know what he is arranging it around, though he did get the feeling that he should get his car checked so it's up to a long drive

Personal Training
While your powers are awesome, there are till plenty of gaps in your repertoire, plenty of room to grow and to expend your horizons if you can find a teacher (will require either persuading Charity or keeping the secret)

[] The Bridges of the Spirit, take up Brother Divsimar on that offer of training, the idea of mystical martial arts resonates with you for some reason

[] Not a Wizard, but... Harry could probably teach you a thing or two and maybe even learn a bit more about the strange power you now bear if you are lucky

Family time
As much else as you have to do, it's nice to spend some time with your family and it is rarely boring hanging out.

[] Heart to Heart, talk to your mother about what you guesses and what dad told you about her history, better to try to get it all in the open than to constantly try to step around that landmine. There is a lot more magic in your future, that much is for sure.

[] Personal Assistant, Leech really likes computers and as it happens you can turn computers and phones and even Blackberries into AI. Alas the 'helper kami' are of a rather dubious disposition so you would not feel comfortable just dropping one on her and hoping for the best so you're going to observe them for a few days

[] Training Time, dad said yes to teaching Matthew how to fight as you knew he would, but that does not mean you can't help, maybe even use the opportunity to put on some demonstrations for your family to show that you can handle yourself

OOC: I know some of the actions look like they should take less than the roughly five days actions are meant to take under this system, but there will be a follow up. Like if you take Once More with Help, it won't just be the internet search, it will also be organizing meeting with those people in real life and going from there into the supernatural scene.

 

[DragonParadox]

Of Name and Nature​

17th of July 2006 A.D.

Whatever you had been expecting for the accommodations of an elderly Nepalese monk whop found himself staying unexpectedly in Chicago The Golden Rooms Hotel wasn't it. Leaving aside the rather grandiose name the building is a box. Specifically, it is a box of red brickwork and only slightly peeling paint crammed between a very seventies salon with a glaring neon sign and a parking lot way too big for any of the businesses nearby. About the only remarkable thing about the place is that it is five minutes walking from Wrigley Field so about eight minutes walk from home.

Whether Brother Divsimar wants to stick close to his only firm ally in the city, keep a close eye on you or both you do not know for certain, but he certainly looks none the worse for wear from his stay in the city. Your fears that he might have been targeted by another Nazi magician seem overblown in the carefully inoffensive atmosphere of a Starbucks where the worse threat anyone was likely to face was the server mislabeling their coffee. Then again, you think back to the monk stopping a rampaging beserker with a word, maybe he did encounter them and came out on top.

"I doubt it," Usum notes. "Be the man ever so skilled, one against many who can choose the moment to strike is a challenge, not to speak of a foreign land where..."

Brother Divsimar's cup actually says 'Denver', though he seems to find it quietly amusing more than annoying.

"He does not even know the customs nor how to call for aid," the demon finishes almost seeming scandalized. "Ah with such abandon do you mortals mistake and misname one another."

"So Miss Carpenter, you have an interest in learning the Quaio of the Sikh," the old man sets his cup aside. "Normally this is where I would warn you that such arts, even if used with measure are a danger to body and mind. That to take them up will make you a target to those shen who would rather than man have no more protection against the tahr has against the tiger, but your own soul already burns with a terrible radiance that will draw far worse things than the marks of a Shih would and as to the danger of the life I left behind in my youth you already live it. I am thankful you do not so so alone."

The old man is quiet a long while, the lines on his face somehow clearer than they had been a moment ago. Someone he knows, someone he valued had died from lack of allies at their back. A friend, perhaps a student? You cannot guess for certain even by more than mortal sight.

Lost 1 Essence

"I am grateful as well, not just for swords at by back but for a worthy cause to set my own sword to." You shake your head a little. "It helps to have another pair of eyes to ponder things and another voice to give counsel. I have the feeling that poor decisions might easily hurt more than bullets."

"A wise thought," the old man says. "But it would not do to forget that foes have not just guns but wits to use them also. A poor decision may be more dangerous than a bullet, but a bullet on its own can be quite dangerous as my left shoulder keeps reminding me all the more the older I get."

"I am pretty sure I heal perfectly," you note, not to brag, but that might be important information depending on how the training is supposed to go.

"Like the Wise yes?" the old monk asks. "It is difficult for them to learn how to master inner Chi when the power of the living world is theirs to master."

"Not a problem with me," you assure him. "All the power I can actually use is internal."

"More shen than sorcerer," he nods to himself. "Of the arts I know I believe four would suit you, though I am no grand master of any of them for I have plucked from the tree of wisdom as it suited me in the day."

Quaio Training
Training is mechanically abstracted as one roll for your teacher Charisma+Skill and one for the Student Intelligence or Dexterity+Skill. All Successes are added up and convert into XP which can be used to by the skill in question at a rate of 15 successes to an XP point. Once one such specialized XP is obtained you can buy the path on the next level up. Alternatively you can keep training up to a maximum of half the XP cost of the Path Rating in question. For infernal the base cost of Quaio is 4xpath rating so 4/8/12/16/20 which can be reduced with training to 2/4/6/8/10.

[] Qiao of the Mo Kung (Devil Fighter style): A battle art which burns spiritual energy to empower the fighter's body to superhuman levels.
Ability: Willpower
Maximum Rating: ●●●

[] Qiao of the Chien (Mirror style): A battle art which traps the magic of the night folk and turns it back against them.
Ability: Occult
Maximum Rating: ●●

[] Qiao of the Meng (Dream style): A battle art which helps its practitioners recover from mental strain and torment.
Ability: Willpower
Maximum Rating: ●●

[] Qiao of the Zhu Mao (Resilient Cat style): A battle art which permits miraculous feats of mind over matter.
Ability: Stealth
Maximum Rating: ●●

OOC: Devil Fighter style does not improve the cap for the benefits of excellency, but you can still roll willpower to get up to 8 of Stamina Dexterity or Strength. Granted this is less impressive with Shintai whose attributes are already over five, but you can pull this out whenever you like not just as a cap to a conflict or when you are in mortal danger. Mirror Style is the one where at the second dot you can pluck spells out of the air and hurl them at the caster, that is the second dot power. Also I know you guys are interested in recreating CMA, it is hard to judge how much of the bridges you would have to learn before you could start on that path without knowing anything about it, though if you start to learn that will become clearer.

 

[DragonParadox]

Choosing a Path ​

17th of July 2006 A.D.

You think about the feats that Brother Divsimar is describing, being able to pluck magic out of the air and then throw it back at the offending magicians sounds really useful and being able to center your mind would hopefully help with the nightmares you've been having since Arctis Tor, but it's not like you can learn everything he has to teach in one go. As the elder monk explains it the Bridges of the Spirit must be crossed in order or not at all, so what would you learn first? How to balance the chi of another? That might be useful, maybe it will help Rosie. Is imbalanced chi something she is suffering from? On the other hand it would help you guard your life force from vampires, but you are pretty sure any vampire trying to sup on you would be very displeased with the taste.

"As a mortal trying to drink the blood of the earth set alight mistress," Usum assures you. "There is much power there, but not one that the Eaters of Men can easily devour"

"That is a very poetic way of saying I have burning tar running though my veins," you shoot back.

"Humblest apologies Serene Fount of the Living Darkness, I shall endeavor to improve," he replies with every evidence of sincerity and you can believe that one as much as you like.

Still the point stands. It is probably not very enlightened of you, but you want something that is useful from step one. Walking on water? Nah, I can learn how to fly.

"I would learn the Qiao of the Mo Kung... master?" the word is half a question and already it tastes foul in your mouth. You really do not like the idea of bowing down to someone like that, even just as a matter of formality.

"Teacher will work fine Miss Carpenter," Brother Divsimar replies taking another sip of his coffee.

"So Sensei?" you ask, a smile tugging at your lips. "For the record I'm not painting any fences."

"Truly the young are so impertinent," he tsks, but you can see the gleam of humor in his eyes. "How is a master to get any returns out of an apprentice if not through manual labor?"

"Punched Nazis?" you offer innocently. "Well OK, pummel smashed Nazis, but it comes out to the same thing."

He looks towards his now empty cup as though wondering if he should have ordered a larger one.

"You said your power is restored with the sun yes?" At your nod he continues. "Then come to this address tomorrow at dawn, it is not the most spacious of training spaces, but it is freely available thanks to Mr Simon LeCroix. He is known to your father unless I am much mistaken and can vouch for the safety of the space."

"Thank you," you say with a smile, not quite as bright as it could have been. What dad might say about the safety of the space is not what you are worried about.

All the way home you think about ways to sell this to mom. One could make the case that this isn't really learning magic because you are not throwing fire, ice and lighting around just making yourself stronger, or faster or tougher. Or you could go the other way, the first Bridge you are to hopefully learn is Steel Skin, which is pretty self explanatory it makes you tougher and harder to hurt.

Do I really have to tell her though? you wonder. How would mom be able to tell the difference between ways of using Essence that developed naturally and those that you learn?

What do you do?

[] Tell Charity that you are learning the Qiao and explain what they are
-[] Make the argument that you are not learning magic, just martial arts
-[] Point out that you are learning how to be harder to hurt

[] Do not say anything about learning mystical arts

OOC: The option did say you had to persuade Charity or keep it a secret so here is the how of that, next up the first round of training itself.

 

[DragonParadox]

A Reasoned Approach ​

17th of July 2006 A.D.

"So... mom remember when you said it would be nice if I would take up more extracurricular activity?" She had been used words a good deal stronger than 'nice' and she had been trying to get you away from Nelson at the time.

Lost 1 Essence

Mon glances up from the computer screen, an excel sheet you think, she must be doing something tax related for dad. From the weary way she looks between the spreadsheet and you she would almost rather keep doing the taxes that listen to whatever plan you have in mind. Thankfully you are an old hand at this too and what you are planning to ask her isn't that much, you think, you hope...

"You know that monk me and dad helped recover some bones of his order and send them back home? Well he stayed in Chicago... er because he wants to keep an eye on me and he offered to teach me martial arts." No point trying to drag this out. "Magic martial arts, like how to move faster hit harder, be tougher."

"Molly," she sighs then visibly marshals her arguments. "Just because someone's cause was good enough to be worth the aid of the knights does not mean they don't have ulterior motives, especially magicians around power and you have been making the point about how powerful you are for a while. If you were to accept this training then you would owe a debt, one that you cannot even properly measure because you know so little about his man or his order, about what it means to wield this... magic."

"I can read people pretty well mom," you note. I can read you right now, the arguments while fine on the face of them are like a thin sheet of ice over an ocean of fear. She remembers being a young girl with strange powers and insights looking for a teacher and finding the man who had eventually served her up to a monster. No matter how different the circumstances, that dad knows who Brother Divsimar is, that you are not a homeless runaway and that in some ways you know more about magic than he does, none of that can assuage the fear.

"He has a personally sensible reason to stay in my good books. I helped him once and could help him again, I am already an enemy his enemies and I know stuff his Order does not know. This..." you tap your caste mark. "Came with a whole lot of knowledge, in teaching me specifically he might learn something new, just because I am powerful doesn't mean everyone wants to use me, some people are just looking for an ally." You pause for a moment. "Most people I would hope."

I want to have faith in my fellow man is a sneaky way to go about this, but as you hoped it's also an effective way. "What kind of training are we talking about here?" she asks.

Thankfully you are ready for that, having asked Brother Divsimar for the bread details of how training would go for all the Bridges. The Bridge of the Demon Fighter is the most straightforward.

"Conditioning to the limit of how far you can go until you instinctively reach for chi to empower the body, that is stuff people do all the time, ordinary people I mean, the grandmother who lifted a truck off her grandson, the firefighter who ran into the thickest smoke and the worst of the blaze but somehow managed to get a survivor out. The only difference is most people can't consciously summon that which is where the meditation comes in."

"And the first one supposed to make you harder to hurt?" She looks at you worried, but not quite the same worry. "Baby that is going to hurt."
Probably not the best time to explain just how inured to pain you had gotten since Arctis Tor. "Cumulatively less than getting hurt in a fight would," you point out.

Ultimately that is what tips her over into agreeing. To her mind magic has to have some kind of hidden cost, some kind of painful price and literal pain apparently fits the bill. "Alright you can try, but don't be stubborn about this, if it hurts too much it hurts too much."

"Sure mom," you agree and make your escape before she can think of some other reason why this is a bad idea.

***​

That evening you are checking your messages, answering Alec about why you can't hang out over the next few days, thankfully being able to be almost honest about the martial arts when the buzzing at the very back of your mind grows just a little louder, just enough to remind you that you can not summoned any of the eager host of least devils now at your beck and call.

How do you try to waken your phone and what do you name it?

[] [Stunt] Write in

[] [Name] Write in

OOC: A bit of an abrupt transition, but no sense making you guys do this on a day you might need essence for other things.

 

[DragonParadox]

Of Artifice and Flesh ​

17th of July 2006 A.D.

You brace yourself and with a sense that is not touch nor hearing, sight nor smell not taste you reach. You remember the first time you touched the legions of lesser cyber spirits and beckoned them forth. Recalling the chorus of litanies, each a supplication from a desperate spirit you offer to one what all of them grave, a way out of the maze, a path out of the rat race. There is no sign of it, no ripple in the air, no spark of green fire, no shadow moving on the wall. There is no need to touch it really, but it is familiar, a comforting weight for all you have only had it a few months, a vessel of plastic and copper and silicon chips, a vessel for messages and calendars and birthday notifications. An adjunct of the mind to keep time and keep in touch now given life and purpose, but not yet a name.

Spoiler: Molly's Phone

"Hello Clippy," you say tapping it in even as the background fills with static. The name a binding, a binding of your will, not for a day, a month or even a year, but forever, a promise that they should never again suffer the torments of anonymity and alienation of which they had been born.

Lost 1 Essence
Permanent Binding Achieved

The screen flickers to an image of a google-eyed paperclip though rather than the normal grey it ripples with an eye-searing melange of red green and blue before finally settling on black with fiery blue eyes that are somehow more disconcerting for being still cartoony.

"How may this one serve?" the words are a mixture of voices rising and falling in ways that as though from a failing connection, though you realize that he had picked them out from different parts of the phone's memory, mostly the songs.

"Are you settling in OK?" you ask, not really knowing what one was meant to say in the aftermath of a welcome possession, most of your life you had only been taught how to deal with the other kind,, mostly by running.

"I am acclimating well to the pleasing-enduring Silence of this Dominion," it or perhaps she says, as the voice settles on something vaguely feminine, though seemingly auto-tuned

It takes you a moment to realize she means the phone, a whole device all to herself would be outright palatial for one of the Nameless of the Wicked City. Of course normally she would not be able to control it with this kind of fidelity either lacking the finesse or the power to be little more than malicious static flying though wires or floating on the air, able to prod and poke an error here, a glitch there.

By your power she had been invested as the spirit of the phone making it as the body of a living thing to her. "What happens if I break my phone?" you ask Usum mentally, suddenly worried about far more than losing your contacts and a bit o music. Would you be damning a soul back to Hell?

"No, merciful Lady of Eternal Star-fire, she and any others you might summon would slumber in the depths of your anima until they are summoned again," your mental companion answers.

"Good," you sigh in relief. It is a little weird to realize you would effectively be the afterlife for the demons you summoned, but way better than sending them back to hell. It's not like Clippy had ever done anything to deserve being in hell, she had just been born of its emanations.

"Query?" Clippy asks. "What is positive?"

"The fact that you will be safe even if this phone breaks and I can put you in another one," you reply.

"It is positive, I would not wish to risk your secrets in the Realm Below," she replies, the phone vibrating with a pleased hum.

Not exactly what you had been thinking of, but you guess a demon would have other standards. Speaking of those standards though...

Over the next half an hour you make your feelings clear on the matter of your family, never hurt them and help if you can, other mages and supernaturals, don't show yourself without confirming it with me and the world at large, don't be an asshole just because you can. As instructions for demonology these would normally be utterly terrible, but you did not draw a circle in salt and blood nor summon by morrtal magic, the pact between you runs deeper than words.

"Understood, I shall wake you at 7:00 AM tomorrow," Clippy proclaims. Then on the border between waking and sleeping you hear if you did not dream. "Thank you"

***​

21st of July 2006 A.D.

Over the next three days you are quite glad to have a sentient alarm clock that you cannot just turn off because otherwise there is no way you would be able to wake up on time. 'Touching your limits that you may overcome them' turns out to mean grueling physical conditioning that pushes the limits of even your empowered muscles and wrenches pain from even from senses deadened to it. Not that he is cruel about it, but...

"I can do it," you say after one particularly grueling set of lifts that throws your back for fifteen whole minutes.

You really want those magic superpowers, maybe it is not the most enlightened reason you could want them for, but you want to prove to yourself that you can make use of this thing on your terms and not just on its own. When you explain your reasoning for pushing though a host of minor injuries your teacher just shakes his head the first few times, but when you ask him point blank if that is a good mindset to be going at this he says it is.

"Then why...?" you finally ask, trailing off not so much because you want to be vague as because breath is a precious thing.

"I have never trained any student in this manner because no purely mortal man or woman would have survived crossing the Qiao of the Mo Kung this way."

"Maybe... don't... tell... mom that... teacher," you offer as you get right back to taking on the punching bag with weighted arms. Your mom had already put paid to the notion of using the powers of Kakuri to help with your training as she had made Brother Divsimar that he would always make sure you could get home safe so he could not legitimately vow to lock you in if you did not do well enough.

Still you feel like you are making some real progress, maybe next session you could see if you might take Usum's suggestion and and use fire. He had reminded you that you can heal burns pretty quick if you could get a nice toxic bath before heading home. I would have to talk to Mr. LeCroix about using his bathroom, but that should not be too hard, his apartment connects directly to the basement you are using for training.

Steel Skin Progress: 9/15

For now though you have other matters to consider, tomorrow you plan to talk to Harry, see if he needs any help with the investigation into the Thule society or any of the other stuff you had tangled him into. He probably does and he will almost certainly be reluctant to take your help. So best to martial your arguments on advance.

How do you approach Harry Dresden?

[] Point out that you are going to be involved in this anyway, he just gets to decide if it's where he can see you or not
-[] Write in stunt

[] Emphasize all the skills you would bring to an investigation
-[] Write in stunt

[] Write in

OOC: For anyone wondering why Molly has a Motorola it's because I used to have one of those around the time this takes place and I really liked it so I figured by not draw on that.

 

[DragonParadox]

Making Connections ​

21st of July 2006 A.D.

"Hello, who is this?" It takes you a moment to realize that Harry does not get to see the number calling him on his antique of a phone, nevermind a saved name.

"Molly, it's Molly," you reply, then before he can get another word in edgewise you continue. "I wanted to ask, did you get anything more on history's worst sore losers?" Maybe it's paranoid, but all the thinking you did on spying on other people's phones makes you not inclined to say any names over the phone. "I have some new powers that can help track them and if you do find them I figure you could use some backup."

"Don't worry about that," you can hear the mounting weariness in his voice. "I'll handle it and keep you informed if there's anything you can help with. An investigation's kind of like quicksand that way, if you go too fast or step too heavy you will sink right in you're a little obvious."

"I don't have to be obvious," you roll your eyes even though he can't see you.

"You're always obvious to those with the eyes to see," Harry replies quickly. "Remember when you said that magic unraveled in your hands if you tried to cast it, well that is not just your magic. I can feel the way you pull at the world and so can anyone else with a lick of sensitivity. Given we who are dealing with here I think it's fair to say they have at least two licks between them."

That is... actually a fair point, you admit reluctantly. You might be putting him in danger by your very obvious green glowing presence. If you thought that Harry Dresden was the sort of person to actually take things slow and cautious you might have even agreed with him, little though you like it. But as a matter of fact you do know a bit about how Harry Dresden investigates, you hadn't even had to listen at doors for those bits. Mom was more than loud enough. He is going to need someone who can parry bullets before this is done you're sure.

Lost 1 Essence

You take a sip of your Coke thinking of how to deal with it. "Like it or not I'm already involved, the guy with a love of rooftop views isn't going to forget me, no more than the Winter half of faerie. I'd like to cooperate so we don't double up on effort, but I'm going to be... looking anyway. Wouldn't you rather be there to watch me doing it?" Is flirty blackmail a good idea? It seems to work in the movies at least.

There is a really long pause in which you would like to think he is thinking of the flirting part, but it is probably just how to get out of the blackmail.

"And what would Charity think of this?" he finally asks.

"You would have to ask mom," you reply airily. "I always a did like the city at night you know, it has an air of mystery about it."

"Alright, come by my place and we'll talk," he sighs.

A part of you wants to echo 'and what would mom think of that' just to get back at him for pulling that card on you, but it's not worth it just be be petty.

***​

Mouse at least is unambiguously happy to see you. Sadly him jumping off the couch does send Harry's improbably sized cat, though not as improbable as his dog, tumbling which earns you a hiss of feline displeasure as Mister, you think his name is saunters off.

"So..." you start taking out your phone, "What have you got so far? Names addresses, I can do a web search on them."

"Don't take that out in here, " Harry says alarmed.

"Oh it's fine," you wave him off with what you hope is just the right amount of unconcern. "I bound a..." You are about to say 'helper kami' or something before you realize that even if his wizardly lore doesn't cover cyber-devils the Shadow of the Fallen in his head almost certainly knows enough to recognize it. "I bound a cyber-demon of the Wicked City into it, a sort of least spirit of alienation and anonymity, gave her a name and a place to stay that wasn't Hell. Say Hello Clippy."

"Hello Clippy," she replies in what is probably a joke, her chosen avatar flickering in the screen. "It is an honor to meet you Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, you have brushed but lightly against the threads of data, I look forward to a fruitful collaboration between yourself and my mistress ."

Harry... does not take it well, eyes widening with alarm and his hand reaching for one of his foci before he stops himself. "Molly I can't believe I have to tell you this but demons aren't something you should be messing with.'

Lost 1 Essence

"This one is because that's how my power works," you reply. Seeing that he is about to interrupt you raise a hand. "Just let me finish OK? There has to be a reason my power draws in magic so strongly you can feel me from across the parking lot and it's not to make extra hot flames when I pull out my sword. Much like the Sith it does deal in absolutes. Remember when Mr. McCoy tested my mind and he said he had about as much of a chance of getting in while the shield was active as spoon assisted hard rock mining? Well apply that to assuring the loyalty in letter and in spirit of... ah sorry Clippy... very minor and weak demons."

"Query? What do you regret?" your assistant asks.

"That you might feel bad over me calling you weak," you explain carefully, gotta remember demon logic.

"My pride is difficult to damage, even so facts cannot do so at all," she assures you.

All through this Harry is looking between the two of you like he's waiting for someone to pop out of a corner of the apartment and announce he is on a hidden camera show. It is a struggle not to giggle, but you manage it.

Finally he manages to get out: "How did you do it?"

"I willed it so, that's actually one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. I can put more of them in security cameras to help stake out targets, or cars, those are valid too. We could know what they are talking about in the car and around it, not to mention if we get in car chase I can just tell the car to stop, it's line of sight."

"How many of these things can you summon from the Bad Town?" he asks looking at you really intensely.

Enough so that your laugh is as much nervous as proud, though at least you do not blush. "I don't think there is an upper number," you think about it a little more, the occult question going a ways to calming you down. "Or they might be a finite number, but it is something really large, like equal to the number of atoms in the universe so for all practical purposes infinity."

"Oh," he sinks back into the couch looking a little stunned. So it had been a 'you might be a civilization ending threat' intensity and not 'you are so pretty today Molly' intensity. Darn.

"I'm planning to be responsible with it," you say quickly. "I'm not going to go around ordering ATMs to spit out money or anything." Though you had admittedly thought about it. That was just being through when assessing your new powers. Speaking of new powers...

"Can I keep a bottle of Clorox at your place?"

He takes the description of healing in poison a lot better than he had Clippy, though that might be just because he is still in a bit of shock over it. You're sure he will come around eventually, but you do not make the offer of a demon phone yet.

"Alright, I'll buy some of that stuff..."

What the... You cut him off. "Harry, I have money for a bottle of cleaning supplies, I wasn't asking you to buy it for me, just if I could stash it with you." The ember of annoyance from when he had mentioned calling mom gets a little brighter. You are seventeen not seven, a legal adult in three months.

"Perhaps," Usum suggests softly at the back of your mind, "He treats you such not because your campaign of seduction has failed, but because it is working a bit too well and guilt drives him to overcompensate."

That is a very 'demonic tempter' take on things, but on the balance you do feel a little reassured. Still you do not want to think on it anymore. "Circling back what can I help you with?"

That afternoon you were...

[] In Harry's car outside a quiet suburban carwash you cannot believe belongs to Marcone waiting to speak to the man himself about where he had gotten those bones from

[] In a small rural county so different from busy Chicago you could not believe it was only two and a half hours drive following up on a tip Harry got from some Wyldfae about a man who might know something about rage spirits and what it takes to bind them

[] Still in his apartment, trying to make what you can of the bullet you had recovered from the gunman
-[] Write in question for Crown use

OOC: I was tempted to make the last one post-question asking but since you guys only get only one for the bullet I did not want to assume, you might have a better idea what to ask than I did.

 

[Nightdream]

I suppose it has been long enough.

Spoiler: Infernal Homebrew

General Charm - Soul-Vassal Conception (•••••)
Infused with the powers of Hell, the Infernal finds her soul becoming fat and bloated on demonic power. An Infernal with such a powerful soul has the potential to think and feel the things she cares about to such an extent that those feelings can develop the ability to think and feel themselves. To do this, the Infernal just has to express them with a little preparation and an act of will.
System: The Infernal must first journey to a location brimming with corrupt essence, such as a tainted Dragon Nest, or in a place such as Yomi Wan or Malfeas. There, the Infernal may spend 10 Essence, 1 Willpower while meditating on one of her Intimacies to grow a chrysalis to be nurtured by its power. Over the course of (Essence) days, that Intimacy festers and feeds on corrupt Essence, gestating into a wicked spirit known as a Subsoul.
Subsouls are the Infernal's Intimacies given form, so they themselves possess the the same Intimacy, or a slight variation of it if appropriate. They also have an Intimacy of unshakable loyalty to their Infernal master and are unable to purposely hurt her, even if in some rare cases they do not even like their master. A Subsoul has a maximum amount of Essence equal to the Infernal's (Essence rating x 5), and is generated using spirit rules. The Subsoul has a number of Attribute dots equal to its maximum Essence to divide between Gnosis, Rage, and Willpower, and a number of spirit Charms equal to the Infernal's (Essence rating - 1), along with the basic Charms known by most spirits. Realm Sense usually only applies to an Intimacy that is a place, but it can also be applied to a personal fiefdom in the Infernal's Hell-Realm if the Infernal has one. Re-form sends the Subsoul to its master's side, albeit on the other side of the Gauntlet if the Infernal is in the material world, or to its master's Hell-Realm.
The Infernal has a general awareness of what direction her Subsouls are currently in, and can choose to summon one to her side by spending 5 Essence and 1 Willpower. If a Subsoul is destroyed, the Infernal regenerates it at the beginning of the next story. Powers that can permanently kill the unkillable, like those wielded by other Exalts, can permanently destroy the spirit and the Intimacy it represents, but the Infernal can potentially replace it with a new Intimacy that is more or less the same as the old one if she puts in the effort to rebuild those feelings.
If the Intimacy that the Subsoul is based around is replaced with another, its base personality, memories, and form are maintained, but certain details may shift, allowing the Infernal to redistribute the Subsoul's Rage, Gnosis, and Willpower ratings, along with its selection of Charms.
It is important to note that while the Subsoul is loyal to the Infernal, it is likely to develop desires and goals of its own based off various factors in the Infernal's subconscious and its own life experiences. While demonic in nature, most Subsouls are no more evil than the Intimacy and person that spawned them, even if they do not necessarily think like a human.

Thoughts: Subsouls were one of the coolest things about going Devil-Tiger even if it was never actually a Charm you could purchase in most games. While it is seems powerful and possibly a little unfair for the other Solaroids, I have an Abyssal equivalent written up that allows an Abyssal to create a mini-Specter network for their minions and have thought about making an ExVsWoD equivalent to that one god creation Charm from 3e that Solars have.


Kakuri Charm - Eldritch Secrets Mastery (••)
The Infernal obscures the flow of her Essence with a shadowy facsimile, allowing her to better hide her corrupt power.
System: Through an act of will and the expenditure of 1 Essence, the Infernal perfectly disguises the source of her power, causing anyone who tries to ascertain what the Infernal is to get false readings. If she wanted to, the Infernal could appear to be just about anything else under supernatural scrutiny. An Infernal imitating one of the Kindred wouldn't grow fangs, but anyone who peeked at her soul with Auspex would see that she is a Vampire. The Infernal could even imitate Clan and the signs of Diablere if she so chose. An Infernal cannot imitate a Vampire or anything else unless she s seen it before, and things like Clan and signs of Diablere can only be accurately decided on if she's aware those sorts of things exist. This effect persists until the Infernal reflexively dismisses it, or until her anima flares.

Thoughts: Eldritch Secrets Mastery was a very useful expansion to Loom-Snarling Deception back in 2e, and I thought something like it would be nice to have for dealing with things like Auspex and Sense Wyrm.


Lanka Charm - Rebuking Impudent Arms (••)
Emperors are emperors and tools are tools, one commands and the other obeys. Tools with spirits inside of them sometimes fall under the delusion that they are more than what they are, the emperor to be shows them otherwise.
System: Using the authority of her Crown, the Infernal forces a fetish to submit. The Infernal never needs to make an Essence roll to attune to a fetish, she instead succeeds automatically. She may also pay 1 Essence to automatically activate any fetish she uses for the rest of the scene.
Signature Effect: Rebuking Impudent Arms is always active at no cost while the Infernal wears her Shintai form.

Thoughts: I think Erupting Fury Rebuke was supposed to be the equivalent of Rebuking Impudent Arms in ExVsWoD, but I think a Charm that could force the spirits in fetishes to obey you seemed cool and the name works.


Lanka Charm - Urban Hell Renovation (•••)
The Demon City was once thought invincible by its master before it was was heavily damaged. Even after suffering unthinkable destruction, the city still provides shelter for many raksha, even in ruins.
System: Spend 2 Essence and make a Charisma + Streetwise against difficulty 7. Success creates a small, but well fortified and luxurious mansion that would not look out of place in Lanka. Despite its heavily damaged exterior, The inside is temperature controlled, so if summoned in extreme environments it will still be habitable inside, if not comfortable. The mansion also has the basic amenities you would expect to find in a house, such as lighting and running water, along with furniture fit for a prince (even if it looks like it has seen better days). The mansion remains in existence for a number of days equal to the successes on the activation roll, or until the Infernal dismisses it. The walls are as durable as cement.
The mansion's creation is not destructive, instead the environment shifts to make room for the new building. Space will bend, buildings will move out of the way, and roads will change their course to incorporate the mansion into the neighborhood.
Signature Effect: When the Infernal dons her Shintai, she automatically creates a large arena made of demonically reinforced brass and basalt around her. The walls of the arena are about twenty feet high and ringed with seats for any spectators who want to view the fight. In addition, the walls add the Infernal's Essence score to the Strength required to break through them. Besides from being durable, the walls also repair any damage done to them every round. It is not impossible to escape from the arena however. Not only are the walls covered with intricate carvings that make excellent handholds for climbing, but the arena always has a large and prominent exit for any cowards who will not face the Infernal's full power.

Thoughts: Based off a really cool fan Charm that functioned as a Malfeas equivalent to Cecelyne's desert creation Charm. Works to help support Ablation of Brass and Fire.



Lanka Charm - Purity of Madness Defense (•••)
By realizing she is the only thing that truly matters, the Infernal can reject any changes something tries to make to her as just a delusion.
System: Whenever the character is the subject of any supernatural power that seeks to transform, infect, taint, transport, or control her body or spirit, she may reflexively spend 1 Essence or 1 Willpower and roll Willpower against difficulty 7. Success undoes the hostile magic before it can finish affecting the Infernal, protecting her completely, and allows this Charm to be activated reflexively at no cost for any valid effect from the same source against difficulty 6 for a scene. She only needs to succeed once on a continuous effect.
If the Infernal fails a roll, is still effected, and not dead, she may spend 1 Essence or Willpower once a round to activate this Charm. If successful, the Infernal removes a number of changes equal to the number of successes rolled as she wakes from what was clearly just a nightmare. This benefit remains even after the scene that Purity of Madness Defense was activated ends. Nothing can prevent her from activating Purity of Madness Defense.
Signature Effect: When the Infernal enters Shintai, she instinctively and automatically activate Purity of Madness Defense for free, which reverts and effects that it can protect against. While in her Shintai form, the Infernal may activate Purity of Madness Defense on the behalf of anything she owns within (Essence score) yards of herself, which naturally includes people she consider her subordinates.

Thoughts: Shaping defense Charms are very useful, but the Infernal one is five dots. Ego-Infused Pattern Primacy is good, but five dots for a Charm is pricey for an out of Caste purchase, especially when other similar Charms like Resisting the Lure of Madness and Integrity-Protecting Prana cost three. I am not certain on the mechanics of it, but I wanted it to work completely different so it was not just Ego-Infused Pattern Primacy, but cheaper and worse.



The Hell of Boiling Oil Charm - What Lurks Beneath (••••)
The devils native to the Hell of Boiling Oil are for the most part little more than animals. Why shouldn't the Infernal introduce a few new species of her own?
System: By touching a pool of poisonous or tainted liquid and spending 2 Essence, the Infernal can cause it to bubble and boil out to a distance of (Essence) yards. Despite its appearance, this makes the liquid no more dangerous than it usually is except to corpses, which dissolve and break down as if simultaneously boiled in oil and left sitting in stomach acid for several hours. A corpse needs to be largely intact to be usable, if anymore than 1/3rd of the corpse is missing, it dissolves down into useless grease, meat, and bone. The liquid will remain like this for about an hour.
Once the Infernal has added corpses that have the traits she desires, she may begin her grisly work. The Infernal chooses one of the corpses she threw in as a base to build on and rolls Intelligence + Occult against difficulty 8. A botch ruins the batch and the Infernal will need to start over with fresh corpses. The base creature provides the physical Attributes, Abilities, and hit boxes the demonic beast starts with at the beginning of creation, although it does not keep any of the animal's natural weapons. All such creatures created by the Infernal have Charisma 1, Manipulation 1, Appearance 1, Perception 3, Intelligence 1, and Wits 2. Creatures created by the Infernal tend to be about as intelligent as a pig and have a vicious disposition, but they obey the Infernal like a particularly loyal and devoted dog. All of the Infernal's creations are immune to any sort of harm from liquid, including things like crushing, battering, drowning, boiling, and getting poisoned, and can swim as fast as they can move on land, presuming they cannot swim faster. These creatures can reproduce if the Infernal creates two of the same species, but they only do so once per year and must give birth in tainted or poisonous liquids or the baby will die shortly after. While not exactly bakemono, demonic beasts are similar enough that they cannot become one. Powers that effect mundane animals often work on them, but there may be exceptions.
The Infernal can add a number of traits from the donor animals to the base creature equal to (3 + Essence rating), such as:
• An appropriate rage or Shintai form Aspect.
• Be made hermaphroditic or able to reproduce through parthenogenesis.
• If any of the donors have more health boxes or dots in a physical Attribute or Ability than the base creature, then it can be raised by one per trait point up to a maximum cap of the donor creature's higher Attribute or Ability. Increases in the number of health boxes and Attributes like Strength and Stamina increase the size of the creature too, presuming the donor is larger than the base creature.

Humans and Other "Animals"​ Yes, you can throw humans into the pit and even some supernatural beings as long as they are not spirits, but the resulting creations are still no smarter than any other demonic beast. The animate undead are spared this fate, although a vampire in torpor will work just as well as any other corpse presuming he is not so old that he turns to dust upon Final Death. What Lurks Beneath largely works on a physical level, so if something like a Garou corpse was thrown in, it usually is not any different than using a mundane example of its breed. If the Infernal were to throw a metis in, she would have a Crinos base to work from if she wanted to, and could grant the resulting creature the Predator King Aspect. In circumstances where no Aspect fits, fomori powers (see W20, p. 429) can be used as well.

Thoughts: I wanted a Charm to summon demon animals based off What Lurks Beneath, but could never figure out how to get it to work. Since I also wanted to create a custom minion creation power based off of some Kimbery fan Charms, I decided to combine the two ideas.



The Hell of Burrowing Maggots Charm - Scoured Perfection of Form (•••)
Many Infernals find bakemono useful for their strange abilities, but the final results of their creation can often be unpredictable. Sometimes, an Infernal has need for a bakemono with certain qualities that she does not have in her service, qualities that she can grant him.
System: The Infernal may spend 3 Essence to permanently grant a bakemono a new fomor power (see W20, p. 429) of the Infernal's choice. A bakemono may usually only benefit from Scoured Perfection of Form once, but in certain circumstances, such as a bakemono ceasing to be one but then becoming a bakemono again, it may be used again.
Signature Effect: Choose a single fomor power that cannot be changed. When the Infernal dons her Shintai form, all bakemono loyal to her within (Essence rating x 3) yards gain that fomor power until the end of the scene. This includes bakemono that have been granted a new fomor power by a standard activation of Scoured Perfection of Form.
Thoughts: Bakemono-based Charms are always fun.

Spoiler: The Infernal Monster

The Infernal Monster
In the deepest depths of their rage, spite, and self-loathing, every Infernal can feel the Monster lurking inside, screaming to be let free. It's easy to miss, and acting out on these feelings does not accomplish anything special beyond what an Infernal would usually be capable of while experiencing overwhelming negative emotions. Infernals must meditate on these feelings and contemplate them. By doing so, they can forge a key and finally uncage the monster.
This Secret Art functions much the same as the more esoteric ones that can be rediscovered by the Sidereals, but there are a few differences. Both Sidereals and Infernals can learn them as though they were Caste Charms, for (rating x 3) experience points, but Sidereals, along with Solar, Abyssal, and Lunar Exalted, can only learn up to the 4-dot power and must first be taught by an Infernal. All other Exalted can still only purchase up to the 3-dot power, and all non-Sidereal, non-Infernal Exalted pay (rating x 4) to learn from a mentor. Infernals and Sidereals can both teach any Infernal Monster Secret Arts Charm they know, but the less esoteric nature of The Infernal Monster means that anyone who has learned One Hand Fury can also teach them.
Much like other Secret Arts, an Exalt cannot buy an Infernal Monster Charm that is rated higher than her Essence rating.


Retribution Will Follow (•)
Whoever dares strike the Monster will immediately learn that she will inflict back what was done to her one thousand fold. If the fool who attacked her is unable to withstand her assault, the Monster will find someone who can.
System: By reflexively spending 1 Essence when the Exalt gets hit, she may enter a berserk frenzy for the rest of the scene. While berserk, she must attack the person who injured her or the nearest hostile target. Once all hostile targets are dead, the Exalt may spend 1 Willpower to make a difficulty 9 Willpower roll. If she fails, she must continue killing until no one is left. If there are no people still alive, the Exalt will start destroying the scenery. If she fails her roll, the Exalt may continue spending 1 Willpower every time they attack a new target to attempt a new difficulty 9 Willpower roll to end Retribution Will Follow early. If the person or thing the Exalt is attacking is one of her Intimacies, she may instead attempt to spend 1 Willpower to make the roll to stop attacking every round until she succeeds in ending Retribution Will Follow or in ending her victim. While Retribution Will Follow is active, the Exalt is immune to all negative effects from wound penalties and any thought or emotion-altering magic used by someone unless the user has a higher power equivalence than the Exalt's Essence rating. When the Exalt does not end this Charm prematurely, she finds the violence incredibly cathartic and gains 1 Willpower at the end of the scene as long as she killed someone or destroyed a hated object.


World-Breaker Grip (••)
Victims of the Monster find that they are little more than a chew toy for a great beast.
System: By reflexively spending 1 Essence while grappling someone the Exalt's general size or smaller, she can maintain a hold as a reflexive action. The Exalt cannot perform a clinch while using this Charm, but the hold action never takes any penalties from multiple actions and she can use the victim as a weapon to attack and even parry attacks.
The difficulty to attack using a person as a weapon is 8 and he inflict Strength +4 bashing damage. The unfortunate victim automatically takes the Exalt's Strength rating in bashing damage every time they are used to strike or parry. If the attack the victim is used to parry does lethal or aggravated damage, they take that damage instead.


Infernal Monster Form (•••)
Closing her eyes, the Exalt gets a strange, almost regretful look on her face. When she opens them once more, the Exalt reveals glowing green eyes even as her muscles swell in size. Then the killing starts.
System: Spend 1 Essence to activate Infernal Monster Form for the rest of the scene. While active, she becomes a creature of darkness if she was not already and gains the following benefits:
• The character can block attacks unarmed without getting hurt and her unarmed attacks ignore soak provided by armor.
• The first time the character attacks in a round, her Strength increases by 1 dot after the attack action is resolved. Every round she goes without attacking, she loses 1 dot of this bonus. This increase in Strength is not added to Excellency dice pools and cannot raise higher than the Exalt's Essence rating.
• With an increase in size and power comes an overwhelming increase in metaphysical importance. All attempts at divination performed within a mile of the character by someone with a lower power equivalence than the Exalt's Essence rating communicate the same disturbing result: "The Monster is here."


One Hand Fury (••••)
By internalizing the lessons of the Infernal Monster, one of the Exalt's arms undergoes a startling transformation as those lessons are literally burned into her skin. While normally hidden, a strange poem in a language that was old when the world was created appears in glowing green runes upon it. Even if the Exalt cannot read these words, she automatically understands their meaning: "Survival is Fury."
System: One of the Exalt's arms takes on a demonic appearance. Any Brawl attacks made with it deals 2 + Strength damage if it would do less, and lethal if the damage would normally be bashing. The arm may also be used to block attacks without worrying about being harmed. If the arm is ever cut off, it grows back over the course of a week if the Exalt has no way of regenerating it sooner. She may hide her arm's demonic appearance as long as she is not in Infernal Monster Form for a scene with a successful Essence rating roll against Difficulty 6.
By spending 1 Essence, 1 Willpower, the Exalt can cause the demonic script on her arm to begin to burn brightly and boost the power of earlier Charms in the following ways:
• When Retribution Will Follow is active, the Exalt's movement speed and jumping distance doubles as long as she is moving towards her current target of violence
• If the Exalt is attacked while holding someone using World-Breaker Grip, she may reflexively spend 1 Essence to use her victim as a shield. Doing so forces the victim to take the hit instead, and the attacker cannot abort the blow. If the attacker kills a loved one doing this, he automatically loses 1 Willpower from shock and despair.
• Infernal Monster Form no longer loses Strength for not attacking.
The light that is produced by the writing on the arm can be hidden with a glove made from human skin. This includes most supernatural creatures that were born human.


Untamed Apocalypse Shintai (•••••)
An Infernal who has fully mastered the Infernal Monster has come to a full understanding that they are the Monster and what that means. This brings with it a form of violent enlightenment that allows her to call that truth into reality.
System: The Infernal gains a second Shintai form, which must be a different type than the first. The second Shintai form can possess different Signature Charms and Aspects than the original. The second stage transformation from Unbound Eschaton Shintai cannot be combined with this new Shintai, but she still benefits from the extra Signature Charm it provides.
When the Infernal dons her Untamed Apocalypse Shintai, she automatically activates Retribution Will Follow and Infernal Monster Form at no cost. The only way to end this Shintai early is by ending Retribution Will Follow, which causes her to both return to her normal form and automatically ends Infernal Monster Form. Finally, the Shintai granted by Untamed Apocalypse Shintai can be donned once per story without counting against the number of times the Infernal has entered her Shintai form that story.

Further Exploring the Infernal Monster​ As time goes on and more and more Infernal Exalted achieve complete mastery of The Infernal Monster, some may come to the conclusion that their knowledge is incomplete. Rumors will begin to swirl about theoretical different avenues to explore what it means to be a monster. Other Exalts may begin to hear terms like "The Inescapable Fiend," "The Roar of the Devil Beast," "The Unstoppable Demon Monster," and "The Gluttonous Boar," thrown about. If these Infernal Secret Arts do exist, it would surely require complete mastery of The Infernal Monster and a lot of hard work to start developing them. It might even be possible that other Exalts could be taught them too as long as they know One Hand Fury, with the same costs and restrictions as purchasing dots in Infernal Monster.

Thoughts: The idea to bring back Infernal Monster Style was largely spawned by the thought that since Infernal Monster Style is the native style of all Green Sun Princes and Akuma, they should still technically be able to learn it in the same way that Solars still get their Brawl Charms. Other Exalted can learn and teach it because it is a Celestial Martial Art. Sidereals still get a discount because supernatural martial arts was always one of their things and I did not want to just steal Secret Arts from them to give to Infernals. I actually briefly considered letting fomori and hungry dead learn Retribution Will Follow, but decided against it.
The only Charm I think is probably broken for its cost is World-Breaker Grip. The main reason I didn't include the Fists of the Old Ones or God-Smashing Blow is because besides from the splattering a spirit part, it is pretty boring. Besides, I wanted the final dot to be for Infernals only, and One Hand Fury was the capstone Charm and I wanted other splats to get it. Untamed Apocalypse Shintai was an Infernal-only Ink Monkeys expansion Charm that caused a permanent berserk state along with a few other changes. It was a bit of a strange decision to include it, but I always thought the best part of Infernal Monster was all the weird expansion Charms, and a lot of them could get really esoteric like SMAs. It isn't really the same as the original Charm, but I thought an Infernal-only capstone that was a Charm to "unleash the monster" so to speak would be neat. Besides, who does not love a berserk demon transformation? I am a bit iffy about getting new Signature Charms, but I wanted to help differentiate it more from the standard Shintai. I could also grouse about how the other Solaroids automatically get two and they are active all the time, but that does not actually matter when it comes to making choices like this.
The potential Secret Arts in the sidebar are references to different Infernal Monster expansion Charm trees. Two are from Ink Monkeys and two were created by fans. There were so many expansion trees, all exploring different ideas on what makes a monster and what it means to be a monster.

Also, here is a Signature Charm effect for Baptismal Agony Blessing. I doubt we'll use it because it is four dots and Molly does not get a discount on it, but it is a more humane way to create bakemono.

Baptismal Agony Blessing: When performed in her Shintai form, the Infernal no longer needs to choose which element to protect or to guarantee the scarring of. the Infernal's victim is either completely protected from the negative consequences of becoming a fomori, or suffers the ruination of his looks, health, and mind, not just one.

 

[DragonParadox]

Strangers' Way ​

21st of July 2006 A.D.

The trip starts, like most really interesting trips with an argument, specifically about who's going to drive. Harry sees no issue with driving a mostly blue Volkswagen Beetle with AC from the sixties though the heat of midsummer on a two and a half hour journey. Not that you haven't had your share of daydreams about being stuck in some too confining place with Harry, but there is such a thing as too hot and sweaty. Part of you wonders if this is one last attempt to dissuade you from coming at all. Rather than accuse him of that you make the point that Mouse could be really helpful out in the boonies especially if you run into more beserkers.

"Trying to fit him into that car is a crime against dog," you proclaim to an approving woof from the fellow in question. "Look we take my car and you can pay for the gas, how about that?"

"Trouble is who's going to pay for all the electronics that get fried?" he argues. "Look I know that my car can make it because it has for years. No to take more risks we don't have to before we even leave the city." I know my way works so that's what I want to do, you hear in his tone.

"There's a solution to that," you point out, motioning to your phone. Seeing him shift uneasily on the couch you are quick to remind him. "You spent an hour in the basement looking at wizard books or whatever, did you find anything to say that what I'm doing isn't safe?"

"Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence Kirk," he quips.

"Still not a good Spock, maybe a late season McCoy," you counter. "Look it's my car I'm gonna do it anyway, why not do it now so we can drive around in something that isn't pushing half a century and the cruise control doesn't get shot? You get to have more leg room I don't risk dad's insurance premium, everyone wins." You are pretty sure you could fix anything that might happen to your car on the road, even if you have to do it in the middle of the Illinois wilderness or something, but that is beside the point. "You can even observe how the Beige Wagon acts once it has been demonified."

He stops, looks at the car again, then his eyes go just a little out of focus, talking to Lasciel's shadow. 'Ooh... don't put petty demons in the cruise control Molly, I'm just going to have a chat with one of the sub-souls of the Fallen.' Admittedly there is a part of you that is more annoyed that you can't hear her than at any hypocrisy on his part, but still.

"OK do your thing then," he finally says.

You get in and tap your fingers across the dashboard to the tune of Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell, humming along in your mind, calling forth one of Mikaboshi's hell to serve a better cause if they would.

Lost 1 Essence
Demon bound for 1 Week. Will need to be reapplied.

The concept of 'better' is confusing at first, almost shocking and by the time you still the confusion in the buzzing chorus the binding feels loose, frayed... less than it should be. It will last for maybe a week before the spirit is returned to your anima and you have to try again. Ah well good enough for the trip...

Now for the important part, who gets to choose the radio station.

***​

"So what did the fey tell you about this guy?" you ask, as Harry finally relaxes a little and leans back into his seat once you are out of the traffic of Chicago's suburbs. He is not, you are relieved to note, a backseat driver, though he apparently cannot help but loom and make it really obvious he would like to say something.

Still between your new friend smoothing out some of the sudden stops and starts and using the warning lights to to signal when you are about to do something silly with the lights you did great for your first long trip outside the city without dad, if you do say so yourself.

"He deals with the same kind of spirits as Gorfel, uses iron to ward his house against them and the land spirits around here, the ancestor ghosts of the Mamaceqtaw don't like him much. That could also indicate that he's been messing with the dead which is a second connection to Gorfel and his lot."

"So we walk in, threaten him into spilling what he knows and then follow the trail where it might lead us."

"Hold on there, we don't know if he was with Gorfel at all, he might just not be liked by the local spirits and that's not a crime and there is no sense in making enemies over nothing," Harry answers. But is is Usum who, unintentionally persuades you to that side. "Such petty conjurors are far below that you can count as enemies Crown of the Endless Night"

Probably not a good attitude to take going into this. Pride goeth and all that so you nod.

***​

The town of Menominee, named for the English name of said native tribe doesn't seem to have a lot of people in it, a lot of cows sure sure munching the still green grass along the creek that runs though town, but even near the red brick church in the center of town there aren't that many people on the street and those that are look real funny at the car with Chicago plates coming into town. You wonder what they would think if they knew how strange the car really is...

Patting the dashboard in thanks you get out of the car to the none too well hidden stares of the locals. This isn't church so you had seen no reason to dress any differently than you normally do, piercings and all, if anyone has anything to say about it they can say it to your face.

As for Harry, though he isn't precisely inconspicuous himself he does get into talking to the locals asking about the local landmarks, playing the hapless tourist, lost and too proud to admit it. What he is really doing, he explains is getting the names of local landmarks which the Wyldfae had used to mark where the sorcerer lives.

"Why didn't you just have one of them guide us?" you ask, curious to see what the rebels and rabble of faerie are like. They sound like your kind of spirits.

"If a sorcerer goes to the trouble of making a cold iron anchored ward odds are good they have cold iron weapons, around here cold iron bullets. Not worth the risk to save us a few minutes of looking like clueless tourists," he replies as you make a turn towards somewhat uncreatively named Catfish Creek. The bridge over it is a narrow slab of concrete, its barriers cracked and worn like the bones of some strange water beast left out to rot in the sun

'Old Man Matthews' is on the other side of the bridge, a widower who lives with his grandchildren according to a somewhat chatty fellow in an oversized football jersey. "Don't stop round his part, just drive on through and you'll find the main road eventually," was what he'd said at the last.

Indeed the house makes that impression all by itself. The facade may once have been white, but it so that must have been around the time that Harry's car was factory-new. The windows creek listlessly even in the almost nonexistent breeze and even the roof seems to be shedding tiles. Whatever Old Man Matthews does with his magic it can't be very profitable.

What do you do?

[] Follow Harry's lead

[] Take point
-[] Drop hints about Gorfel and his lot, see if he bites
-[] Pretend to be some kind of winter fey displeased by all the cold iron, that would give him all sorts of wrong ideas about what you can and can't do

[] Write in

OOC: I thought about giving a name vote for the car, but is already has one, it's just that it's alive now.

 

[Yzarc]

So, here is my attempt at making a Secret Arts of Qiao of the Mo Kung and Meng or at least using it as a base. The idea is that a Infernal uses their innate knowledge of the Infernal Monster Style and Qiao of the Mo Kung and Meng to break the former and use the later as a core for a new style based on the parts salvaged from the former.

The Infernal charm set has some glaring holes in it and I hope that this would cover some of them.

Secret Arts: The Qiao of the Devil

Within the depths of an Infernal's mind and essence lurks a monster. A shadow of titans long gone. Of hate and spite unending. A source of great and terrible power, if it can be tapped into. The easiest way is to cast aside morality and decency in the naked pursuit of power, to give into rage. Yet, wise is the Infernal who knows well the dangers of Power being anything more than a means and not the end itself.

Thus, was born the Qiao of the Devil. The Style takes the teachings of the Qiao, more specifically the Qiao of the Mo Kung and Meng, to slay the monster within and take its power for one's self. For power serves the infernal and not the other way around.

The Practioners of the Style aim to achieve enlightenment by virtue of being "illuminated" through the experience of confronting the evils within. Confronted by their inner darkness, they have to slay their inner demon, thus mastering their hate and rage.

Savants would caution that playing with fire may result in being burned, but you cannot be burnt if you are fire itself.

This Secret Art functions much the same as the Sidereals ones but a few caveats. Both Sidereals and Infernals can learn them as though they were Caste Charms, for (rating x 3) experience points, but Sidereals, along with Solar, Abyssal, and Lunar Exalted, can only learn up to the 4-dot power and must first be taught them by an Infernal. All other Exalted can still only purchase up to the 3-dot power, and all non-Sidereal, non-Infernal Exalted pay (rating x 4) to learn from a mentor. Infernals and Sidereals can both teach any Secret Arts Charm they know.

Much like other Secret Arts, an Exalt cannot buy a Charm that is rated higher than her Essence rating.

The Devil Dances (•)

The Infernal embodies monstrous speed and grace, meeting every blow she faces head on, no matter the numbers. All blows are answered in righteous violence.

System: The Infernal may spend 1 Essence and 1 willpower reflexively and when the Infernal takes multiple actions, each subsequent action raises the difficulty as normal but she doesn't suffer a penalty to her dice pool. Further, the characters opposing the Infernal suffer an increasing dice penalty of -1 after the first person has acted against the Infernal, in the order of their actions, to a maximum dice penalty of the Infernal's essence, which resets at the end of each turn. The effects lasts for the duration of a scene.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Explanation

This is fairly strait forward. The Infernal gains the effects of Multi-hand. A simple power but a useful one that allows the Infernal to do multiple things without the problem of reducing dice. The second part is that turning a penalty into a bonus, which is in theme with the Infernal and the Infernal Monster Style that acts as one of the base for this Secret Art, though in this case, due to discipline, it is instead inflicted on the enemy. The Penalty is also capped at essence, so it balances itself out.

How this works is simple, if the Infernal is E3, the first enemy suffers no penalty and the second a -1 to their dice pool, the third suffers a -2 and the fourth and all others suffer a -3 for the rest of the turn. The next turn, the second suffers a -1 and then the third a -2 and so on.

The Devil Descends (••)

The Infernal's blows land with the devastating force of a rampaging behemoth, rending Armor and striking hard, leaving her enemies beaten and broken at her wake.

System: The Infernal may reflexively spend 1 Essence and for the rest of the scene, reroll 1s until 1s no longer appear in all (Physical Attribute + Ability), Willpower, Soak and Damage rolls made by her. If she does aggravated damage, she may ignore (Strength) soak dice from Armor and increases the difficulty of all soak rolls from her attacks by +1.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Explanation

This charm is scene long but also has some serious restrictions on it. Compare it to Armor-Rending Claw Fist and Soul-Cleaving Strike, which are Essence turns and one turn respectfully but in the infernal version, it is balanced by having to do Agg damage.

What that means is that most foes are not going to soak Agg damage, so this charm does not apply to them and the +1 difficulty is meaningless if our enemy does not roll the dice.

The second thing is that it only reduces (Strength) Armor and not ignore it completely.

The third is that soak granted by armor is limited. Usually to +4 max and Armor does not stack with other sources of Armor baring special circumstances. It is a utility charm and does not work against Stamina soak rolls, which is the main source of Soak. So is balanced with that in consideration.

Compared to charms like Soul-Cleaving Strike, which can raise difficulty of soak to 9 AND ignore armor fully, it is balanced by being scene long.

The reroll of 1s are due to the enhanced focus that is central to the style and we already ignore 1s on our key ability.

The Devil Awakens (•••)

The Infernal enters a Zen-like state, similar to Mushin, in which all of their worldly concerns are stripped away and they achieve a state of Tranquil fury. The user does this by centring themselves in the eye of the mental hurricane of rage and hate so as to be able to direct the storm they have unleashed, for they are the master of their powers and not the other way around.

System: By spending two Essence and two Willpower, the Infernal gains the following advantages.

• At the start of each turn or every 3 seconds out of combat, all of the Infernal's Attributes increase by Essence, to a maximum of 10. This bonus lasts for the rest of the scene. This increase never applies to an Excellency, which only uses the permanent attribute dots, nor is it capable of raising Attributes above 10 without Charms that specifically allow it to stack.
• The Infernal no longer suffers penalties from wounds, movement penalties, poison, hunger, thirst, disease, fatigue, inclement weather, or temperature for the rest of the scene.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Explanation

So this charm is a copy of the Body of the Dragon. The theme is that the physical enhancements of the capstone of the Qiao of the Mo Kung but with a CMA twist.

With regards to balance, the Qiao of the Mo Kung already allows us to raise all Attributes to 9, so raising it to 10 is not a problem.

I added immunities as they are all physical immunities that are fluffed as being there due to the increased stats. Due to the raw power granted by the form, those concerns like wounds etc are put in the back burner.

The Devil Endures (••••)

The infernal's stamina and endurance is seemingly infinite. It may take thousands to actually kill her but she may very well end up killing thousands instead.

System: The infernal may reflexively spend 1 Essence and 1 willpower and ignores the cumulative difficulty increase of taking multiple actions. In addition, the Characters opposing the Infernal suffers a cumulative difficulty increase of +1 after the first person has acted against the Infernal, in the order of their actions, to maximum additional difficulty of the Infernal's essence and resets at the end of each turn. This charm only applies to the increase in difficulty from taking Multiple Actions and not from any other sources. This charm also does not allow the infernal to take more action than she would have otherwise been able to, had she not used this charm. Nor does it allow a difficulty of actions taken against the Infernal to be increased over 9 vide stacking. The effects lasts for the duration of a scene.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Explanation

This charm is balanced by the fact that we do not get more actions but simply reduces the difficulty of actions we take during a Multi-Action turn. Keep in mind that this is a 4 Dot effect and is in the same tier as Perfect defenses. It also compares with the likes of Fivefold Bulwark Stance but is limited by the fact that it only reduces the difficulty penalty for the infernal and still restricts the character in how many actions they can take.

I also added the difficulty inverter as Infernals desperately need some Multi Action charms to defend themselves like parry or dodge or blocks and it would be too weak otherwise. How this works is simple, if the Infernal is E4, the second enemy suffers a +1 difficulty, the third suffers a +2 and the fourth suffer a +3 and the fifth and all others suffer a +4 for the rest of the turn to a max of difficulty 9. The next turn, the second suffers a -1 and then the third a -2 and so on.

The Devil is here (•••••)

The Infernal redefines what it means to be a Devil, making peace with her mortal and Infernal nature, uniting both man and monster into a perfect fusion, for she is the monster and the monster is her and her is the will that will bring violence upon her foes.

System: The Infernal gains the following benefits.

• The Infernal may spend 1 Essence and all attempts at divination performed within a mile of the character, for the rest of the scene triggers a willpower roll off between the Infernal and the person attempting the divination at a difficulty of the opponent's willpower with a maximum difficulty of 9. Failure by the person in the roll results in causing them to get only a single disturbing result: "The Devil is here." This effect automatically triggers for no cost when the Infernal enters her Shintai or activates "The Devil Awakens".
• When the Infernal triggers her Shintai, she automatically activates "The Devil Awakens" for no cost. Alternatively, she may reduce the cost of her shintai by the cost of the charm "The Devil Awakens" if the same is already active.
• The Boost in attributes from "The Devil Awakens" now stacks with the boosts in attributes granted from a Shintai and from other sources. The same may be used to surpass the cap of 10 attributes. The said charm itself is capped to 10 but the shintai attributes and other boosts may be added to it, pushing it over the cap.
• Finally, every time the Infernal, both in Shintai and out of it, slays a foe who has wounded her, she may "roll back" the number of times the Infernal is considered to have attempted to don her Shintai form during the current story by one, reducing its cost or difficulty accordingly (to a minimum of Essence 2, willpower 2, and no roll requirement). This can be done only once per Combat and killing multiple people in the same combat yields no further benefits.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Explanation

This charm is self-explanatory. It removes the cap on stacking and allows "The Devil Awakens" to stack with shintai and other sources. It also acts as a refresh which we can use once per combat. The requirement is low but we are in combat very rarely and Molly is not going to go around killing people. Even otherwise, there are other ways to use shintais like the Signature effect of Mother Sea Mastery, which is a one dot charm. So this being a 5 Dot charm, is balanced when compared to the "Do not die when killed" charm like "The King still Stands".

Not sure how balanced or over or underpowered it is, so here it is regardless.

 

[DragonParadox]

Warden's Work ​

21st of July 2006 A.D.

As soon as I crossed the property line I could feel the wards. Most people anchored their wards to the actual threshold of their house because it was easier and cheaper on magic, but the old Matthews place had a circle embedded in the very earth is stood on, it felt kind of scratchy against the inner senses, not dark necessarily but clashing with the normal magic of the land like it had literally been nailed to the skin of the eatrth. That would take either serious power, serious help or a hell of a ritual, the kind hell would approve of. I just hope it's option one or-option two. A warlock was always harder to deal with when they were part of a close-knit community like this one and not just in the practical sense. 'Sorry kids your grampa is a danger to every living thing out there' was no comfort at all.

"Does it help to partake of the guilt in advance of knowing if it is required my host?" a soft sultry voice floated up on the evening breeze. I thought of putting her back now that we were out of the demon-mobile and I no longer needed her advice on the matter, but I did not do it for two reasons: first because while I could shut Lash down in a moment letting her out to talk took focus and concentration and much as I hated to admit it she was the best expert he had on call when it came to demonic supper-weapons. With no way to know what Molly was doing until it was too late short of opening his sight and getting an eyeful of eldritch power that man was not meant to know Lash was the only early warning system on offer

"Thinking about the possibility is always required," I shot back mentally. "It's called having a conscience."

"Interesting definition... maybe I should make it a therapy couch next time." The words were perfectly innocent, the tone was not, bringing to mind all the unprofessional one could do on one of those couches.

"Well you go think about that then," I shot back, willing the mental bindings back into being. If there is one thing I had learned in dealing with Lash it was that you should not make hard and fast rules for what is and is not acceptable talk or she would just treat the line like it's the highway and she is one of those big yellow tow trucks.

As I reached out towards the door it wrenched open and an old man who was probably the owner looked up at the three of us suspiciously. Between the still flowing curly hair turned almost entirely white and the respectable beard he looked more like most people's idea of a wizard then I did, though the striped colorful shirt made one think more of an aging hippie. Not really what you would think of as an ally if as Molly put it 'history's worse sore losers'.

Spoiler: Old Man Matthews

"Howdy, what can I do for you Warden Dresden?" The smoky grey eyes flickered to my face for just a moment before dropping it too fast to be snared on a soul gaze, same with Molly but then his eyes dropped to her purse. He probably noticed the demon in her phone. A lot of sorcerers and folks with specialized talents have a particular sensitivity to the kind of magic they work with every day, in this case spirits. So if he is on the level he's all the more likely to spook him more.

"If I said the name Gorfel would that mean anything to you?" I asked, hoping to startle a reaction out of him.

"I don't know anyone named that," he answers quickly, too quickly in fact, like one who had been expecting to be asked the question and that got me thinking about the way he put it. It sounded very much like the way the fey lied, put the emphases on the right thing and it isn't a lie at all, not their fault if you misunderstood.

"Are you sure, because I do know a Gorfel and he sounds like a dangerous man to know, his friends even more." Looking past the man into the house I could just make out the picture of two dark haired girls smiling out of what looked like a holiday picture somewhere in the woods, like summer camping, next to that a misshapen vase, the kind a kid would make in art class filled with wildflowers. "The sorts who use long guns to shoot more than white tails.

"Then it's a good thing for me I don't know them..." the sorcerer said, more loudly this time.

"I bet he wished he didn't know his buddies when the sniper bullets started flying, but knowing goes both ways and spite makes for long memories," Molly cuts in, her words like a sword in the dark.

Lost 1 Essence

One that it seems had found its mark, the old man winces then steps a little aside. "Come in if you would vow not to harm any who dwell in this house and eat at this hearth."

"We enter as friends, as friends we shall depart," I quickly improvised a vow, 'as friends' does not mean you have to be friends and it put a solid end condition to the vow. Molly murmured the words after me.

Now that I could see the living room it was all the clearer how much it contrasted with the outside of the house. a big four person couch covered in a colorful patchwork quilt was at the center of the room with a hardwood coffee table, a stack of coasters on one end and a pack of what looked like Tarot cards on the other. There was a big tube TV in front of it the kind that still had dials. For his part Mouse judges the couch a good place to jump onto, tongue lolling a little out of his mouth... though you cannot help but notice that puts him just behind Matthews as he keeps talking after closing to door.

The walls weren't all just pictures of kids though, but bundles of woven grass, fur, teeth and claws. Now I'm no enchantment expert and certainly no expert in hunting and the trophies that came of it, but I could feel power humming in each of those, red and raw... and there were an awful lot of them, like someone 's been spending years putting this together year by careful year.

"I used to know a man who has taken to calling himself Gorfel, thought I knew him at least and that is a part of my life I don't want to revisit. If you want to deal with him Warden I have no quarrel with you, though mark that the man is as cunning with words as he is with sorcery." He paused and looked between me and Molly. "Many people have misspent youths, though few as bad as poorly spent as mine. Unfortunetly I did not come out of it with just wisdom earned the hard way. There are vows a man can't break for all the good will in the world, curses that linger in the blood. I can't help you find Gorfel."

So he doesn't know Gorfel's been captured, or at least that's what he wants us to think, I thought. The whole story sounded more plausible than not, but then all the best lies did and I couldn't help but notice that he was stonewalling questions anyway.

What next?

[] Let Harry Continue

[] Interject
-[] Ask what he swore and to whom, maybe there is a way to thread the needle

[] Write in

OOC: Not posting rolls for this one because knowing who won the social contests could be a clue one way or the other