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Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

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BronzeTongue said:
Not super enthused about diving into a barrel of red flags but, just out of curiosity, does this work on animals?

Strapping ceramic plates and Kevlar body armor to some bears and training them to act as shock troopers sounds pretty hilarious.
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It says 'target's so as far as I can tell that means 'animate and does not want to die'. So animals are fine but not things without a mind of their own like zombies.
 
Molly could use Chirality Prohibition Index to increase the intelligence of her Bear Cavalry. It seems like it would only take a 1 or 2 days of training to elevate the Bears to around average human intelligence. 2 days of training could also grant them the ability to understand a specified language.
 
Ct613hulu said:
Molly could use Chirality Prohibition Index to increase the intelligence of her Bear Cavalry. It seems like it would only take a 1 or 2 days of training to elevate the Bears to around average human intelligence. 2 days of training could also grant them the ability to understand a specified language.
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Unfortunately I don't think that would work, the charm says 'a group of mortals* or bakemono'. An ordinary animal is neither.

*mortal is generally used to mean human in the book
 
zxzx24 said:
Find a way to make bears Bakemono?
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Oh yeah that will work, all your fomori making charms work on animals, it says target and animal fomori are very much a thing in the lore.

Edit: Although if you are going to make the bear into a fomori you might as well knock it out somehow and then cast the investment spell, no need to command the bear first.
 
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XenonPrime said:
It probably wouldn't be too hard for Molly to find somewhere to squat while she gathers some money, tricky to do it from the ground up but as has been mentioned 'gambling' can work.

Heck, she could even get a regular job somewhere, she can very convincing.
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IIRC, there is a perfectly serviceable tree house in the backyard.

Also, there is always Harry's couch. We could call Harry, tell him Charity is mom'ing at us too hard, and ask to sleepover for a few days. The chances of him telling a damsel in distress to piss off at this point are pretty low. Even if we're a Vampire slaying, Outsider squishing damsel in name only.
 
DragonParadox said:
You guys would have to do the equivalent of buying dots in summoning and binding linear magic and/or the ancient sorcery spell spell Emerald Spirit Binding. Right now Molly has plenty of raw occult lore, but she has no idea how to do anything with essence other than invoke her crown or her charms.
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Fair.
DragonParadox said:
Not necessarily, that will be for another vote, it can also be stewing in resentment. The one thing it will not be is contentment of any sort.
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Yeah, thats double plus ungood.
Rather not have them in the same household.

Rob Rimsill said:
Genuinely torn on this one.

On the one hand, I think throwing away her family's support just because they won't meet her halfway is a really, really dumb decision. Forget teaching from Michael, forget not having to worry about where the next meal is coming from, say goodbye to easy access to resources for kickstarting our crafting… there are so many reasons why I wouldn't do this.
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Molly had moved out of the house prior to Exaltation specifically because she was clashing with her mother ovee conduct and life choices. Quoting from the events of the book less than a week ago:

Recent History said:
"Just putting lots of little things together," I said. "Please, Charity. Tell me."
Her voice was rough, half strangled, as though the breath that carried her words had been tainted with something rotten. "I had some talent. It showed just before my sixteenth birthday. You know how awkward that kind of thing can be."

"Yeah," I said. "How'd your family take it?"
Her mouth twisted. "My parents were wealthy. Respectable. When they had time to notice me, they expected me to be normal. Respectable. They found it easier to believe that I was a drug addict. Emotionally unbalanced."

I winced. There were a lot of situations that could meet someone with a burgeoning magical talent. Charity's was one of the worst.
"They sent me away to schools," she said. "And to hospitals disguised as schools." She waved a hand. "I eventually left them. Just left them. I struck out on my own."

"And fell in with a bad crowd," I said quietly.
She gave me a bitter smile. "You've heard this story before."
"It isn't uncommon," I said quietly. "Who was it?"

"A... coven, of sorts, I suppose," she said. "More of a cult. There was a young man leading it. Gregor. He had power. He and the others, all young people, mixed in religion and mysticism and philosophy and... well. You've probably seen such things before."
I nodded. I had. A charismatic leader, dedicated followers, a collection of strays and homeless runaways. It rarely developed into something positive.

"I wasn't strongly gifted," she said. "Not like you. But I learned about some of what happens out there. About the White Council." The bitter smile returned. "Everyone was terrified of them. A Warden visited us once. He delivered a warning to Gregor. He'd been toying about with some kind of summoning spells, and the Wardens got wind of it. They interviewed each of us. Evaluated us. Told us the Laws of Magic, and told us never to break them if we wished to live."

I nodded and listened. She spoke more quickly now, the words coming out in a growing rush. They had been pent up a long time.

"Gregor resented it. He grew distant. He began practicing magic that walked the crumbling edges of the Council's Laws. He had us all doing it." Her eyes grew cold. "The others began disappearing. One by one. No one knew where they had gone. But I saw what was happening. I saw Gregor growing in power."

"He was trading them," I said.
She nodded once. "He saw my face, when I realized it. I was the next one to go. He came to take me away, and I fought him. Tried to kill him. Wanted to kill him. But he beat me. I remember only parts of it. Being chained to an iron post."

"The dragon," I said.

She nodded. Some of the bitterness faded from her smile. "And Michael came. And he destroyed the monster. And saved me." She looked up at me. Tears filled her eyes and streaked down her cheeks, but she did not blink. "I swore to myself that I would leave that behind me. The magic. The power. I had... urges." She swallowed. "To do things only... only a monster would do. When Siriothrax died, Gregor went mad. Utterly mad. But I wanted to turn my power against him anyway. I couldn't think of anything else."

"Hard to do," I said quietly. "You were a kid. No real training. Exposed to some nasty uses of power."

"Yes," she said. "Without Michael, I would never have been able to leave it behind me. He never knew. He still doesn't know. He remained near me, in my life. Making sure that I was all right. And... he was such a good soul. When he smiled at me, it was like all the light in the world was shining out at me. I wanted to be worthy of that smile.

"My husband saved my life, Mister Dresden, and not only from the dragon. He saved me from myself." She shook her head. "I never touched my power again after the night I met Michael. We married soon after. And in time, the power withered. And good riddance to it."

"So when Molly's talent began to manifest," I said quietly, "you tried to get her to abandon it as well."
"I was well aware of how dangerous it could be," she said. "How innocent it could seem." She shook her head. "I did not want her exposed to the things that had nearly destroyed my life."

"But she did it anyway," I guessed. "That's what really came between the two of you. That's why she ran away from home."

Charity's voice turned raw. "Yes. I couldn't get through to her how dangerous it was. What she might be sacrificing." She made no effort to stem or hide her tears. "And you were there. A hero who fought beside her father. Used his power to help people." She let out a tired laugh. "For the love of God, you saved my life. We named our child for you. Once she realized she had the talent, nothing could keep her from it."

Christ. No wonder Charity hadn't much liked me. Not only was I dragging her husband off to who knew where to fight who knew what, I was also setting an example to Molly of everything Charity wanted her to avoid.
"I didn't know," I told her.

She shook her head. Then she said, "I have been honest with you. No one else knows what you do now. Not Michael. Not my daughter. No one." She drew a Kleenex from her pocket and wiped at her eyes. "What has happened to my daughter?"
I exhaled. "What I've got right now is still mostly guesswork," I said. "But my gut tells me it all fits together."

"I understand," she said.

I nodded, and told Charity about the attacks at the convention, and about how Molly had gotten me involved. "I examined the victims of the first two attacks," I said quietly. "One of them, a girl named Rosie, showed evidence of a land of psychic trauma. At the time, I attributed it to the phage's attack on her."

Charity frowned. "It wasn't?"

I shook my head. "I found an identical trauma on Nelson." I took a deep breath and said, "Molly is the link between them. They're both her friends. I think she was the one who hurt them. I think she used magic to invade their minds."

Charity stared at me, her expression sickened. "What? No..." She shook her head. "No, Molly wouldn't..." Her face grew even more pale. "Oh, God. She's broken one of the Council's Laws." She shook her head more violently. "No, no, no. She would not do such a thing."

I grimaced and said, "I think I know what she did. And why she did it."

"Tell me."

I took a deep breath. "Rosie is pregnant. And she showed physical evidence of drug addiction, but none of the psychological evidence of withdrawal. I think Molly took steps when she found out her friend was pregnant-to force her away from the drugs. I think she did it to protect the baby. And then I think she did the same thing to Nelson. But something went wrong. I think what she did to him broke something." I shook my head. "He got paranoid, erratic."

Charity stared down at the altar below, shaking her head. "Is it the Council then, that took her?"

"No," I said. "No. What she did to Rosie and Nelson left a kind of mark on her. A stain. I think she forced Rosie and Nelson to feel fear whenever they came near their drugs. Fear is a powerful motivator and it's easy to exploit. She wanted them to be afraid of the drugs. She had good intentions, but she wanted her friends to be frightened."

"I don't understand."

"Whoever called up these phages," I said, "needed a way to guide them from the Nevernever to the physical world. They needed a beacon, someone who would resonate with a sympathetic vibe. Someone who, like the phages, wanted to make people feel fear."

"And they used my Molly," Charity whispered. Then she stared at me for a moment. "You did it," she said quietly. "You tried to turn the phages back upon their summoner. You sent them after my daughter."
"I didn't know," I told her. "My God, Charity. I swear to you that I didn't know. People were dead, and I didn't want anyone else to be hurt."

The wooden pew creaked even more sharply in her grip.
"Who did this thing?" she said, and her voice was deadly quiet. "Who is responsible for the harm to my children? Who is the one who called the things that invaded my home?"

"I don't think anyone called them," I told her quietly. "I think they were sent."

She looked up at me, and her eyes narrowed. "Sent?"

I nodded. "I hadn't considered that possibility, until I realized what all of the attacks had in common. Mirrors."

"Mirrors?" Charity asked. "I don't understand."

"That was the common element," I said. "Mirrors. The bathroom. Rosie's makeup mirror in the conference room. Plenty of reflective steel surfaces in a commercial kitchen. And Madrigal's rental van's windshield was reflecting images very clearly."

She shook her head. "I still don't understand."

"There are plenty of things that can use mirrors as windows or doorways from the spirit world," I said. "But there's only one thing that feeds on fear and uses mirrors as pathways back and forth from the Nevernever. It's called a fetch."

"Fetch." Charity tilted her head, her eyes vague, as though searching through old memories. "I've heard of them. They're... aren't they creatures of Faerie?"

"Yeah," I said quietly. "Specifically, they're creatures of deepest, darkest Winter." I swallowed. "Even more specifically, they're Queen Mab's elite spies and assassins. Shapeshifters with a lot of power."

"Mab?" she whispered. "The Mab?"

I nodded slowly.

"And they've taken my daughter," she said. "Carried her away to Faerie."
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Molly knows her mother loves her; she has ample evidence of it.
But she has gotten in two seriousface fights to the death with supernaturals this week since Exalting.
No reason to believe things will slow down.

I like Charity. She's a tough woman. And the poor woman's family was attacked less than a week ago by fetches of the court of Queen Mab. They invaded her home and forced her to hide in the panic room. She's still traumatized. But the woman knows that this my way or the high way shit doesnt work on her daughter. Didnt work on her when she was Molly's age either.

This shit was unhealthy enough when Molly was only a White Council-level magical talent.
Now that she's a claimant to an Infernal Exaltation, putting both women in a situation where resentment can fester between them could actually destroy their relationship totally.

Poor Michael though. Caught in the middle.
 
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BronzeTongue said:
Not super enthused about diving into a barrel of red flags but, just out of curiosity, does this work on animals?
Strapping ceramic plates and Kevlar body armor to some bears and training them to act as shock troopers sounds pretty hilarious.
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Nah, bears wont fit into an urban landscape, and are hard to sustain as well.
You want turtles, obviously.
:)

Alternatively, rats. Call them the Foot Clan.
 
XenonPrime said:
Conquering the Chicago underworld with an army of devoted rat demon ninjas sounds like an excellent idea, also I want to see Harry's reaction to that being a thing.
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I'm pretty sure this is one of those things that's funny until you realize that the person talking about it is both able and willing to implement the plan. Then it's less zany and more apocalyptic. I mean, and army of demon ninjas is also an army of demons beneath Chicago who answer only to their sole overlord: A woman who was tortured by Winter until she broke.
 
Madsamurai said:
I'm pretty sure this is one of those things that's funny until you realize that the person talking about it is both able and willing to implement the plan. Then it's less zany and more apocalyptic. I mean, and army of demon ninjas is also an army of demons beneath Chicago who answer only to their sole overlord: A woman who was tortured by Winter until she broke.
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Entirely correct, which is part of why I want to do it, mainly to see how people take the revelation.
Especially when said demon army is (probably) no threat to the people of Chicago whatsoever beyond the potential effects of said overlord taking her revenge upon Winter.
 
XenonPrime said:
Conquering the Chicago underworld with an army of devoted rat demon ninjas sounds like an excellent idea, also I want to see Harry's reaction to that being a thing.
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Rats underground and corvids in the sky.

As in, if she so chose she could use Chirality Prohibition Index to bestow a group of 5 creatures with essentially 30 points of abilities every week while only using around half her Essence pool at E2. If she finds and secures a Dragons Nest in the Chicago area, she could train more, faster.

Given six months, and yeah. Small army.
 
[X] Agree after all

DP indicated that we can re-negotiate it later so I think keeping a safe stronghold in the person of our house is a good plan.
 
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