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Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

Reader mode
[X] Free Lunch?
-[X] [Crown Question: Phone Call] Who hold the other end of this contract?
-[X] ATB via willpower, Empathy
-[X] Signal clippy to text Burny/Dresden the details of the question. Update Ebenezer ASAP
—[X] Attempt to get them on board with killing the boss over the hireling
-[X][Stunt] Taking a sharp breath a fire igniting in her voice. " As much as I appreciate the generosity of being paid in my own coin to make your job easier Broken Seeker, I have a counter proposal"
—[X] "I make some calls, maybe see how Ebenezer feels about helping his apprentice out of a jam. We have a discussion with your contractor, and if you're very nice I leave your name out of it."
—[X] A flicker of amusement briefly makes its way into her voice "You're very well prepared for me, for Dresden, and I'm sure for a number of other circumstances, but do you really want that one hunting you too?"
—[X] " You've already been paid haven't you? Not your problem if the other guy's enemies catch up before the job is done. Why not go home with a nice free lunch instead of gambling for seconds?"

[X] Yog
 
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The plans still look pretty spread out. I'll leave this up for a while longer since I could not answer questions all day and that obviously impacted planning.
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 6, 2023 at 1:04 PM, finished with 161 posts and 11 votes.
  • [X] Plan Information
    -[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What is the nature of the arrangements keeping Broken Seeker here?
    -[X] ATB via willpower, intimidation
    —[X] [Stunt]: Taking a breath, Molly prepares to open her proper eye for a look at the situation. " An interesting premise Broken Seeker, but Fixer you haven't been in a long time." A sharper tone entering her voice Molly continues " You've clearly put significant effort into keeping me out of risk; you're going to need to make a better offer than paying me in my own coin to solve your problems if you're seriously thinking this is going anywhere"
    [X] Plan Call and reinforcements
    -[X] The call
    --[X] Ask more questions about his deal, try to see how sincere he is
    --[X] Empathy excellency, ATB with willpower
    --[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What circumstances brought Broken Seeker here?
    --[X] Binding agreements can be a bitch, you can sympathize with that. Would it help if you murdered all his employers, their families, allies, and cute little pets? You and a lot of others (allude to but don't mention Denarians and Winter) need Dresden alive, and intact without interruptions to those states.
    --[X] How long does he have until he really needs Dresden dead?
    --[X] Reiterate that the moment real harm comes to your friends, all deals are off and you'll be finding and killing Broken Seeker. Unhealthy habits for an immortal monstrosity of a bygone age or not, these are your mortals, and you put work into them.
    -[X] Reinforcements
    --[X] Indicate to Harry (by writing on a piece of paper) to call Alphas for help in evacuating Izzy and Alec
    --[X] Have Harry call Murphy about the developing situation
    [X] Free Lunch?
    [x] Plan counter counter.
    -[x] Crown Question focus the current phone conversation. Question what weakness of Broken Seeker does Broken Seeker most fear being spread to the supernatural rumor mill.
    -[x] Intimidation excellency, "Broken Seeker, you misunderstand the situation, I in my magnificence am willing to grant you a reprieve to live a bit longer." Exploit information from Crown, to threaten him with capitulation, or his weakness spread to four winds.
    [X] Free Lunch?
    -[X] [Crown Question: Phone Call] Who hold the other end of this contract?
    -[X] ATB via willpower, Empathy
    -[X] Signal clippy to text Burny/Dresden the details of the question. Update Ebenezer ASAP
    —[X] Attempt to get them on board with killing the boss over the hireling
    -[X][Stunt] Taking a sharp breath a fire igniting in her voice. " As much as I appreciate the generosity of being paid in my own coin to make your job easier Broken Seeker, I have a counter proposal"
    —[X] "I make some calls, maybe see how Ebenezer feels about helping his apprentice out of a jam. We have a discussion with your contractor, and if you're very nice I leave your name out of it."
    —[X] A flicker of amusement briefly makes its way into her voice "You're very well prepared for me, for Dresden, and I'm sure for a number of other circumstances, but do you really want that one hunting you too?"
    —[X] " You've already been paid haven't you? Not your problem if the other guy's enemies catch up before the job is done. Why not go home with a nice free lunch instead of gambling for seconds?"
Click to expand...
 
Yog said:
That was my idea at first too, but on the second thought, circumstances are more important. We need to know if there's a magically compelling contract, or a debt, or if there's anything else like that. Identities are important, but they are a) a gamble (if naagloshii is lying, and is here on his own recognizance, the question gets wasted) b) not as relevant as the exact circumstances under which naagloshii came here.

We'll get identities later, using one of naagloshii's minions, or some of his clothing, or the van, or anything else.
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This doesnt, or at least shouldnt matter. What does matter, I think, is who is involved, not just the mastermind but any minions or allies he has recruited for this. Because if someone pointed him at both Dresden and us, that person might also have contingency plans in play here that even Seeker doesnt know about.

Hell, even Seeker might even have recruited backup thats not immediately visible, but which he can call in. A preset summoning for a greater demon he can call in, or a swarm of lesser ones. Like when we fought the Will of Kakuri and there was that whole ritual construct on the NeverNever side.

Or like Duke Skavis summoning an Outsider.

Or from canon, when Dresden went to the duel in Raith Deeps at the climax of White Night but had a backup mercenary force waiting in the NeverNever for his signal.
Figuring out if something like that exists is the crux of the question of establishing the IDs of everyone involved in this.

BronzeTongue said:
1) That should be partially covered under my question already. Understanding the construct should include some details of who's paying. Unless you're suggesting we solve this by directly murdering whatever (ideally red court adjacent) entity ordered this hit in the first place, in which case a name would be useful but I don't know how we'd convince BS to wait on us.

In the aftermath we should definitely leak all of this we can to Ebenezer so he can smite people for it though. Killing everyone ourselves would be nice, but pissed wizard interrupt works too*.
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Click to shrink...
See my worry above.
The Ebenezar angle is a nice touch though. I somehow overlooked the fact that Seeker was deliberately hiding his name, suggesting an attempt to pass it off as one of several potential naagloshii.

EDIT
Welp.
Moot point now.
 
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DragonParadox said:
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 6, 2023 at 1:04 PM, finished with 161 posts and 11 votes.
  • [X] Plan Information
    -[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What is the nature of the arrangements keeping Broken Seeker here?
    -[X] ATB via willpower, intimidation
    —[X] [Stunt]: Taking a breath, Molly prepares to open her proper eye for a look at the situation. " An interesting premise Broken Seeker, but Fixer you haven't been in a long time." A sharper tone entering her voice Molly continues " You've clearly put significant effort into keeping me out of risk; you're going to need to make a better offer than paying me in my own coin to solve your problems if you're seriously thinking this is going anywhere"
    [X] Plan Call and reinforcements
    -[X] The call
    --[X] Ask more questions about his deal, try to see how sincere he is
    --[X] Empathy excellency, ATB with willpower
    --[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What circumstances brought Broken Seeker here?
    --[X] Binding agreements can be a bitch, you can sympathize with that. Would it help if you murdered all his employers, their families, allies, and cute little pets? You and a lot of others (allude to but don't mention Denarians and Winter) need Dresden alive, and intact without interruptions to those states.
    --[X] How long does he have until he really needs Dresden dead?
    --[X] Reiterate that the moment real harm comes to your friends, all deals are off and you'll be finding and killing Broken Seeker. Unhealthy habits for an immortal monstrosity of a bygone age or not, these are your mortals, and you put work into them.
    -[X] Reinforcements
    --[X] Indicate to Harry (by writing on a piece of paper) to call Alphas for help in evacuating Izzy and Alec
    --[X] Have Harry call Murphy about the developing situation
    [X] Free Lunch?
    [x] Plan counter counter.
    -[x] Crown Question focus the current phone conversation. Question what weakness of Broken Seeker does Broken Seeker most fear being spread to the supernatural rumor mill.
    -[x] Intimidation excellency, "Broken Seeker, you misunderstand the situation, I in my magnificence am willing to grant you a reprieve to live a bit longer." Exploit information from Crown, to threaten him with capitulation, or his weakness spread to four winds.
    [X] Free Lunch?
    -[X] [Crown Question: Phone Call] Who hold the other end of this contract?
    -[X] ATB via willpower, Empathy
    -[X] Signal clippy to text Burny/Dresden the details of the question. Update Ebenezer ASAP
    —[X] Attempt to get them on board with killing the boss over the hireling
    -[X][Stunt] Taking a sharp breath a fire igniting in her voice. " As much as I appreciate the generosity of being paid in my own coin to make your job easier Broken Seeker, I have a counter proposal"
    —[X] "I make some calls, maybe see how Ebenezer feels about helping his apprentice out of a jam. We have a discussion with your contractor, and if you're very nice I leave your name out of it."
    —[X] A flicker of amusement briefly makes its way into her voice "You're very well prepared for me, for Dresden, and I'm sure for a number of other circumstances, but do you really want that one hunting you too?"
    —[X] " You've already been paid haven't you? Not your problem if the other guy's enemies catch up before the job is done. Why not go home with a nice free lunch instead of gambling for seconds?"
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Votes tied.
 
[X] Free Lunch?
-[X] [Crown Question: Phone Call] Who hold the other end of this contract?
-[X] ATB via willpower, Empathy
-[X] Signal clippy to text Burny/Dresden the details of the question. Update Ebenezer ASAP
—[X]Attempt to get them on board with killing the boss over the hireling
-[X] [Stunt] Taking a sharp breath a fire igniting in her voice. " As much as I appreciate the generosity of being paid in my own coin to make your job easier Broken Seeker, I have a counter proposal"
—[X] "I make some calls, maybe see how Ebenezer feels about helping his apprentice out of a jam. We have a discussion with your contractor, and if you're very nice I leave your name out of it."
—[X] A flicker of amusement briefly makes its way into her voice "You're very well prepared for me, for Dresden, and I'm sure for a number of other circumstances, but do you really want that one hunting you too?"
—[X] " You've already been paid haven't you? Not your problem if the other guy's enemies catch up before the job is done. Why not go home with a nice free lunch instead of gambling for seconds?"

[X] Plan Information
-[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What is the nature of the arrangements keeping Broken Seeker here?
-[X] ATB via willpower, intimidation
—[X] [Stunt]: Taking a breath, Molly prepares to open her proper eye for a look at the situation. " An interesting premise Broken Seeker, but Fixer you haven't been in a long time." A sharper tone entering her voice Molly continues " You've clearly put significant effort into keeping me out of risk; you're going to need to make a better offer than paying me in my own coin to solve your problems if you're seriously thinking this is going anywhere"
Yog said:
This is a bad idea because it presupposes that there is a contract. The "what led Naagloshii to come here" or "under what circumstances did it decides to hunt Dresden" are better, because it covers both the possiblity of truth and the possiblity of Broken Seeker lying.
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Click to shrink...
I don't think this is something we'll get monkey's pawed on. There's strong evidence that there is some sort of agreement going on here in the background.

Artemis1992 said:
@BronzeTongue
If you vote for you own Free Lunch? plan it would be among the top-plans.
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Still somewhat concerned the other side might be the red king or something, but since the thread seems boiling to get to the action instead I might as well jump before we go off anyway.
 
Vote is still tied at 4
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 6, 2023 at 2:10 PM, finished with 167 posts and 11 votes.
  • [X] Plan Information
    -[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What is the nature of the arrangements keeping Broken Seeker here?
    -[X] ATB via willpower, intimidation
    —[X] [Stunt]: Taking a breath, Molly prepares to open her proper eye for a look at the situation. " An interesting premise Broken Seeker, but Fixer you haven't been in a long time." A sharper tone entering her voice Molly continues " You've clearly put significant effort into keeping me out of risk; you're going to need to make a better offer than paying me in my own coin to solve your problems if you're seriously thinking this is going anywhere"
    [X] Plan Call and reinforcements
    -[X] The call
    --[X] Ask more questions about his deal, try to see how sincere he is
    --[X] Empathy excellency, ATB with willpower
    --[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What circumstances brought Broken Seeker here?
    --[X] Binding agreements can be a bitch, you can sympathize with that. Would it help if you murdered all his employers, their families, allies, and cute little pets? You and a lot of others (allude to but don't mention Denarians and Winter) need Dresden alive, and intact without interruptions to those states.
    --[X] How long does he have until he really needs Dresden dead?
    --[X] Reiterate that the moment real harm comes to your friends, all deals are off and you'll be finding and killing Broken Seeker. Unhealthy habits for an immortal monstrosity of a bygone age or not, these are your mortals, and you put work into them.
    -[X] Reinforcements
    --[X] Indicate to Harry (by writing on a piece of paper) to call Alphas for help in evacuating Izzy and Alec
    --[X] Have Harry call Murphy about the developing situation
    [X] Plan Call and reinforcements
    -[X] The call
    --[X] Ask more questions about his deal, try to see how sincere he is
    --[X] Empathy excellency, ATB with willpower
    --[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What circumstances brought Broken Seeker here?
    --[X] Binding agreements can be a bitch, you can sympathize with that. Would it help if you murdered all his employers, their families, allies, and cute little pets? You and a lot of others (allude to but don't mention Denarians and Winter) need Dresden alive, and intact without interruptions to those states.
    --[X] How long does he have until he really needs Dresden dead?
    --[X] Reiterate that the moment real harm comes to your friends, all deals are off and you'll be finding and killing Broken Seeker. Unhealthy habits for an immortal monstrosity of a bygone age or not, these are your mortals, and you put work into them.
    -[X] Reinforcements
    --[X] Indicate to Harry (by writing on a piece of paper) to call Alphas for help in evacuating Izzy and Alec
    --[X] Have Harry call Murphy about the developing situation. Warn her about probable surveillance.
    [X] Free Lunch?
    [X] Free Lunch?
    -[X] [Crown Question: Phone Call] Who hold the other end of this contract?
    -[X] ATB via willpower, Empathy
    -[X] Signal clippy to text Burny/Dresden the details of the question. Update Ebenezer ASAP
    —[X] Attempt to get them on board with killing the boss over the hireling
    -[X][Stunt] Taking a sharp breath a fire igniting in her voice. " As much as I appreciate the generosity of being paid in my own coin to make your job easier Broken Seeker, I have a counter proposal"
    —[X] "I make some calls, maybe see how Ebenezer feels about helping his apprentice out of a jam. We have a discussion with your contractor, and if you're very nice I leave your name out of it."
    —[X] A flicker of amusement briefly makes its way into her voice "You're very well prepared for me, for Dresden, and I'm sure for a number of other circumstances, but do you really want that one hunting you too?"
    —[X] " You've already been paid haven't you? Not your problem if the other guy's enemies catch up before the job is done. Why not go home with a nice free lunch instead of gambling for seconds?"
    [x] Plan counter counter.
    -[x] Crown Question focus the current phone conversation. Question what weakness of Broken Seeker does Broken Seeker most fear being spread to the supernatural rumor mill.
    -[x] Intimidation excellency, "Broken Seeker, you misunderstand the situation, I in my magnificence am willing to grant you a reprieve to live a bit longer." Exploit information from Crown, to threaten him with capitulation, or his weakness spread to four winds.
Click to expand...
 
[X] Free Lunch?
-[X] [Crown Question: Phone Call] Who hold the other end of this contract?
-[X] ATB via willpower, Empathy
-[X] Signal clippy to text Burny/Dresden the details of the question. Update Ebenezer ASAP
—[X]Attempt to get them on board with killing the boss over the hireling
-[X] [Stunt] Taking a sharp breath a fire igniting in her voice. " As much as I appreciate the generosity of being paid in my own coin to make your job easier Broken Seeker, I have a counter proposal"
—[X] "I make some calls, maybe see how Ebenezer feels about helping his apprentice out of a jam. We have a discussion with your contractor, and if you're very nice I leave your name out of it."
—[X] A flicker of amusement briefly makes its way into her voice "You're very well prepared for me, for Dresden, and I'm sure for a number of other circumstances, but do you really want that one hunting you too?"
—[X] " You've already been paid haven't you? Not your problem if the other guy's enemies catch up before the job is done. Why not go home with a nice free lunch instead of gambling for seconds?"
 
Don't like any of these plans tbh but we are in a bit of a corner here. I'm not sure if threatning him with Ebenezer is a smart idea or not when he has hostages...
[X] Plan Information
 
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BoredMan said:
Don't like any of these plans tbh but we are in a bit of a corner here. I'm not sure if threatning him with Ebenezer is a smart idea or not when he has hostages...
[X] Plan Information
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
We need new leverage here, we can't really get through this without a bit of aggression.

In a lot of ways it makes them safer, because it gives us a card to play that isn't roll initiative. Right now as far as he's concerned he can do anything short of killing them, because we can't reply short of kicking off an event which will almost certainly kill them.

Once we have leverage that he can't stop us from applying while inside the van his ability to pressure us by doing stuff like eating their fingers while dictating terms is a lot more limited.
 
[X] Free Lunch?

I like most of Yog's plan, but this has a better stunt.
This:
-[X] Signal clippy to text Burny/Dresden the details of the question. Update Ebenezer ASAP
—[X]Attempt to get them on board with killing the boss over the hireling
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Is a terrible idea though.
Nothing stopping the boss and hireling walking you into a trap.

And frankly, while Im willing to talk about it to the skinwalker, I dont really want to kill people for his benefit.
 
Last edited:
Adhoc vote count started by Goldfish on Aug 6, 2023 at 2:50 PM, finished with 173 posts and 14 votes.
  • [X] Free Lunch?
    -[X] [Crown Question: Phone Call] Who hold the other end of this contract?
    -[X] ATB via willpower, Empathy
    -[X] Signal clippy to text Burny/Dresden the details of the question. Update Ebenezer ASAP
    —[X] Attempt to get them on board with killing the boss over the hireling
    -[X][Stunt] Taking a sharp breath a fire igniting in her voice. " As much as I appreciate the generosity of being paid in my own coin to make your job easier Broken Seeker, I have a counter proposal"
    —[X] "I make some calls, maybe see how Ebenezer feels about helping his apprentice out of a jam. We have a discussion with your contractor, and if you're very nice I leave your name out of it."
    —[X] A flicker of amusement briefly makes its way into her voice "You're very well prepared for me, for Dresden, and I'm sure for a number of other circumstances, but do you really want that one hunting you too?"
    —[X] " You've already been paid haven't you? Not your problem if the other guy's enemies catch up before the job is done. Why not go home with a nice free lunch instead of gambling for seconds?"
    [X] Plan Information
    -[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What is the nature of the arrangements keeping Broken Seeker here?
    -[X] ATB via willpower, intimidation
    —[X] [Stunt]: Taking a breath, Molly prepares to open her proper eye for a look at the situation. " An interesting premise Broken Seeker, but Fixer you haven't been in a long time." A sharper tone entering her voice Molly continues " You've clearly put significant effort into keeping me out of risk; you're going to need to make a better offer than paying me in my own coin to solve your problems if you're seriously thinking this is going anywhere"
    [X] Plan Call and reinforcements
    -[X] The call
    --[X] Ask more questions about his deal, try to see how sincere he is
    --[X] Empathy excellency, ATB with willpower
    --[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What circumstances brought Broken Seeker here?
    --[X] Binding agreements can be a bitch, you can sympathize with that. Would it help if you murdered all his employers, their families, allies, and cute little pets? You and a lot of others (allude to but don't mention Denarians and Winter) need Dresden alive, and intact without interruptions to those states.
    --[X] How long does he have until he really needs Dresden dead?
    --[X] Reiterate that the moment real harm comes to your friends, all deals are off and you'll be finding and killing Broken Seeker. Unhealthy habits for an immortal monstrosity of a bygone age or not, these are your mortals, and you put work into them.
    -[X] Reinforcements
    --[X] Indicate to Harry (by writing on a piece of paper) to call Alphas for help in evacuating Izzy and Alec
    --[X] Have Harry call Murphy about the developing situation
    [X] Plan Call and reinforcements
    -[X] The call
    --[X] Ask more questions about his deal, try to see how sincere he is
    --[X] Empathy excellency, ATB with willpower
    --[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What circumstances brought Broken Seeker here?
    --[X] Binding agreements can be a bitch, you can sympathize with that. Would it help if you murdered all his employers, their families, allies, and cute little pets? You and a lot of others (allude to but don't mention Denarians and Winter) need Dresden alive, and intact without interruptions to those states.
    --[X] How long does he have until he really needs Dresden dead?
    --[X] Reiterate that the moment real harm comes to your friends, all deals are off and you'll be finding and killing Broken Seeker. Unhealthy habits for an immortal monstrosity of a bygone age or not, these are your mortals, and you put work into them.
    -[X] Reinforcements
    --[X] Indicate to Harry (by writing on a piece of paper) to call Alphas for help in evacuating Izzy and Alec
    --[X] Have Harry call Murphy about the developing situation. Warn her about probable surveillance.
    [x] Plan counter counter.
    -[x] Crown Question focus the current phone conversation. Question what weakness of Broken Seeker does Broken Seeker most fear being spread to the supernatural rumor mill.
    -[x] Intimidation excellency, "Broken Seeker, you misunderstand the situation, I in my magnificence am willing to grant you a reprieve to live a bit longer." Exploit information from Crown, to threaten him with capitulation, or his weakness spread to four winds.
Click to expand...
 
uju32 said:
[X] Free Lunch?

I like most of Yog's plan, but this has a better stunt.
This:

Is a terrible idea though.
Nothing stopping the boss and hireling walking you into a trap.

And frankly, while Im willing to talk about it to the skinwalker, I dont really want to kill people for his benefit.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
My view is that we want to kill our way up this particular plot either way.

Broken Seeker will get his, but he's got the leverage to make it unpalatable to give it to him first.

He could try to play a double-double cross, but no one in this entire arrangement trusts each other beyond the strictest limits of their word anyway. Even that's tenuous.

If we get to the point of an actual deal instead of a counter play from him then we also get to the point where our people are out of his hands and we can maneuver to get enough leverage to keep things civil.

Playing treachery Jenga under these conditions isn't profitable or safe under these conditions.

My greatest concern with my plan as written is that we end up in a slugging match with someone out of our league, but ideally we'll get a break point if the result is really crazy. We do have other people here to work with after all.

I also want to highlight the other route here again; we're flying by the seat of our pants here and the goal of this action isn't solely to get the deal it nominally offers.

Some kinds of leverage need people to know you have them to work, the intersection of Ebenezer's name and Broken Seeker's caution is one of them.

In the case where BS counters with an offer our threat he need to play another card to match ours, which is more information to work with in the next round.

The game we're playing here as I see it is to keep the ball in the air until we find and potential alternative we like or it becomes clear we can't before BS closes the scene.

At which point we should absolutely attack, because there's no way his position doesn't get stronger with more access to Alec and Izzy*.

The odds of their survival are highest on a deal, which is why we're talking at all, but lowest in any situation where BS walks away with them in his pocket. We might as well take minuscule odds over functionally nonexistent ones.


BoredMan said:
Yeah this plan gives me a bad feeling.
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Maybe just bringing Ebenezer into it and not making a counter point?

I think we need more pressure on our side, but that doesn't strictly require going further.
 
BronzeTongue said:
My view is that we want to kill our way up this particular plot either way.
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Click to shrink...
Yes, agreed.

But the goal right now is to free our friends and ending this hostage situation. Thats a short term thing, measured in minutes and hours. Finding and killing whoever is behind the plot is a much longer term affair, on the order of weeks and months.
If only because it will need investigation and scouting.

We certainly arent going to have Seeker holding our friends for that long.

Also, Seeker is thoroughly untrustworthy.
If he isnt lying, there's a good chance he will do his best to distort the spirit of any agreement.
We cant rely on any information he gives us without multiple corroborating sources.
 
Winning Vote
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 6, 2023 at 3:49 PM, finished with 178 posts and 14 votes.
  • [X] Plan Information
    -[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What is the nature of the arrangements keeping Broken Seeker here?
    -[X] ATB via willpower, intimidation
    —[X] [Stunt]: Taking a breath, Molly prepares to open her proper eye for a look at the situation. " An interesting premise Broken Seeker, but Fixer you haven't been in a long time." A sharper tone entering her voice Molly continues " You've clearly put significant effort into keeping me out of risk; you're going to need to make a better offer than paying me in my own coin to solve your problems if you're seriously thinking this is going anywhere"
    [X] Plan Call and reinforcements
    -[X] The call
    --[X] Ask more questions about his deal, try to see how sincere he is
    --[X] Empathy excellency, ATB with willpower
    --[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What circumstances brought Broken Seeker here?
    --[X] Binding agreements can be a bitch, you can sympathize with that. Would it help if you murdered all his employers, their families, allies, and cute little pets? You and a lot of others (allude to but don't mention Denarians and Winter) need Dresden alive, and intact without interruptions to those states.
    --[X] How long does he have until he really needs Dresden dead?
    --[X] Reiterate that the moment real harm comes to your friends, all deals are off and you'll be finding and killing Broken Seeker. Unhealthy habits for an immortal monstrosity of a bygone age or not, these are your mortals, and you put work into them.
    -[X] Reinforcements
    --[X] Indicate to Harry (by writing on a piece of paper) to call Alphas for help in evacuating Izzy and Alec
    --[X] Have Harry call Murphy about the developing situation. Warn her about probable surveillance.
    [X] Free Lunch?
    [X] Free Lunch?
    -[X] [Crown Question: Phone Call] Who hold the other end of this contract?
    -[X] ATB via willpower, Empathy
    -[X] Signal clippy to text Burny/Dresden the details of the question. Update Ebenezer ASAP
    —[X] Attempt to get them on board with killing the boss over the hireling
    -[X][Stunt] Taking a sharp breath a fire igniting in her voice. " As much as I appreciate the generosity of being paid in my own coin to make your job easier Broken Seeker, I have a counter proposal"
    —[X] "I make some calls, maybe see how Ebenezer feels about helping his apprentice out of a jam. We have a discussion with your contractor, and if you're very nice I leave your name out of it."
    —[X] A flicker of amusement briefly makes its way into her voice "You're very well prepared for me, for Dresden, and I'm sure for a number of other circumstances, but do you really want that one hunting you too?"
    —[X] " You've already been paid haven't you? Not your problem if the other guy's enemies catch up before the job is done. Why not go home with a nice free lunch instead of gambling for seconds?"
    [x] Plan counter counter.
    -[x] Crown Question focus the current phone conversation. Question what weakness of Broken Seeker does Broken Seeker most fear being spread to the supernatural rumor mill.
    -[x] Intimidation excellency, "Broken Seeker, you misunderstand the situation, I in my magnificence am willing to grant you a reprieve to live a bit longer." Exploit information from Crown, to threaten him with capitulation, or his weakness spread to four winds.
    [X] Plan Call and reinforcements
    -[X] The call
    --[X] Ask more questions about his deal, try to see how sincere he is
    --[X] Empathy excellency, ATB with willpower
    --[X] Crown Question: [Focus: Call] What circumstances brought Broken Seeker here?
    --[X] Binding agreements can be a bitch, you can sympathize with that. Would it help if you murdered all his employers, their families, allies, and cute little pets? You and a lot of others (allude to but don't mention Denarians and Winter) need Dresden alive, and intact without interruptions to those states.
    --[X] How long does he have until he really needs Dresden dead?
    --[X] Reiterate that the moment real harm comes to your friends, all deals are off and you'll be finding and killing Broken Seeker. Unhealthy habits for an immortal monstrosity of a bygone age or not, these are your mortals, and you put work into them.
    -[X] Reinforcements
    --[X] Indicate to Harry (by writing on a piece of paper) to call Alphas for help in evacuating Izzy and Alec
    --[X] Have Harry call Murphy about the developing situation
Click to expand...
 
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Arc 8 Post 53: Through Distant Ears, On Bloody Lips
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    • Through Distant Ears, On Bloody Lips ​

    18th of November 2006 A.D.

    Like a star on the edge of going nova you burn, anger, disgust, fear, but above all else curiosity, bubble beneath the skien of your mind: Who called you and bound you to this task Broken Seeker, you ask not him but the universe itself, the threads of fate that bind all things. And in the song of those threads you are answered:

    Lost 1 Essence (Crown) -> Now at 8/15

    From afar one might mistake the figure standing alone under the fierce eye at the sun at midday for a princess of elder days, long before the Spanish first sailed up the Rio Grande or the Colorado, before ships had even come from the east over the sea. Her face and features were not foreign to these lands and if her buckskin shift was adorned with more gold than the harsh scrubland was likely to see, well that could be accounted by a traveller from the great empires of the south.

    And it was all of it a lie of which the fathomless black of her eyes spoke clearly. The stranger had not been a woman, had not been human for many a long year, for Arianna Ortega was the daughter of the Red King himself who could ward off the fiercest and most terrible light in the shadow of her own flesh mask.

    Alone she stood before a cairn, not a burial mound, not a temple though mortal archaeologists had mistaken it for both through the years. The scorching heat of the sun at its zenith which shapes this barren land as the smith's hammer does molten metal does not warm the stones. For all the long shadows it casts not snake nor scorpion nor small desert rodent seeks its shade for it is poison to things great and small. Thence arose voice at once high and shrill, low and booming speaks from within and though it speaks no tongue you know it is as clear to these ears as plain English: "Speak quickly Blood Whore, I have hunted your kind before, we share foes not loves."

    The vampire laughs, as though the threat, or the notion that the tainted spirit had loves was the funniest thing it had heart all year, to be fair it might have been. "I offer you a chance to escape the bonds of your masters' parting curse Messenger, to devour a thing beyond them and upon thy throne unmoving to ascend..."

    "You offer empty flattery!" the voice from the mound booms as something part serpentine, part leonine and part cephalopod starts to writhe out of the stones before it wraps around itself in a vaguely humanoid form. "Blood and Bone, soul and mind, these things I take as tribute, not in the form of your enemies loose in the world, but bound before me. Do you have this thing beyond my once-masters?"

    There is silence but for the whisper of the wind and for a moment it seems as though the blood priestess' pride would overmaster her, but she smooths out the signs of anger upon her false face, speaking again in dulcet coaxing tones: "We have then for we are at war with the wizards of the white and not all whom we take are fit to join the dance macabre. There is another wizard we wish you to harry and to hunt... "

    Regained 2 Essence -> Now at 10/15

    Like smoke the vision dissipates before you can learn what the Skinwalker was paid in or if it spoke true about its purpose, but now you have a name, one on the other side of the war beside against which to direct Harry's formidable teacher The vampire did try to aim him against me, it just did not seem to take very well, not as payment at least, though that would not stop Broken Seeker from trying to hunt me of his own will.

    Lost 1 Willpower -> Now at 7/9 ATB

    "As much as I appreciate the generosity of being paid in my own coin to make your job easier Broken Seeker, I have a counter proposal," your voice is sharp though not as much as your senses have sharpened. "I make some calls, maybe see how Ebenezer feels about helping his apprentice out of a jam. We have a discussion with your contractor, and if you're very nice I leave your name out of it."

    "Now, now sister," he laughs, but you can hear the fear beneath it, the conversation is getting away from him fast. "it is one thing to fulfil one's contract to the letter, not the spirit, quite another to betray one's contractor ."

    What do you reply?

    [] Make it clear you know who that is already, on the one hand there is a good chance it will spook him into caving, for now at least, your friends safe and sound. On the other hand you will have revealed extreme divinatory powers to someone who is definitely not your friend.

    [] Use the moment of uncertainty to get more out of him
    -[] Write in questions

    [] You have heard enough, time for battle
    -[] Write in plan

    OOC: Just barely managed to get this out in time, hope the quality is decent.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Something like this?

    [] Going Dutch?
    -[] [Crown Question: Phone Call] Who hold the other end of this contract?
    -[] ATB via willpower, Empathy
    -[] Signal clippy to text Burny/Dresden the details of the question. Update Ebenezer ASAP
    —[] Don't slip BS' name to Ebenezer yet but keep him aware of the situation as possible.
    -[] [Stunt] Taking a sharp breath a fire igniting in her voice. " As much as I appreciate the generosity of being paid in my own coin to make your job easier Broken Seeker, I have a counter proposal"
    —[] " I make some calls, maybe see how Ebenezer feels about helping his apprentice out of a jam. I might even be convinced to keep your name out of it when I do"
    —[] A flicker of amusement briefly makes its way into her voice "You're very well prepared for me, for Dresden, and I'm sure for a number of other circumstances, but do you really want that one chasing you too?"
    —[] Something cold sweeps in; a touch of what he expects to hear, to feel. "You can hurt my mortals, and that's certainly leverage right now, but it has a shelf life and I know you"
    —[] " Even if you dodge the wizards' till their blood is dust I will remember the insult if nothing else" Laced in every word is a question; how much risk is this really worth, how much aggravation?


    Sort of goes back and forth over the point, but I don't want to totally hide behind Ebenezer here. Broad goal is to get push this into the long term in BS' head.

    He has us right now and knows it, so immediate term stuff is likely to be less effective.

    Ebenezer is a complication with a very useful rep in the medium term as he sees it, but it's possible that he might think he can hide long enough for time or vampires to solve the problem.

    Emphasizing from an angle he can understand that we'd absolutely carry a grudge and are prepared to make it excruciatingly unpleasant for him whenever we can out of spite is another way to push his profit-loss function around.

    Edit:
    Never mind.

    Edit2: removing Xs so next tally doesn't scrape this
     
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    I'm all right with more of our divinatory powers being revealed in this instance. It's not like they're exactly secret at this point, though we've done well to hide the full extent of our ability. That was only ever going to be a temporary state of affairs. Even with revealing more of our ability, however, it still won't be a full revelation, and it leaves plenty of room for misinterpretation by others.

    Also, the only reasonable way we save Izzy and Alex is to avoid a fight here, and this seems like the best way to do that, IMO.

    [X] Make it clear you know who that is already, on the one hand there is a good chance it will spook him into caving, for now at least, your friends safe and sound. On the other hand you will have revealed extreme divinatory powers to someone who is definitely not your friend.
     
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