Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

I don't believe "swording good" is more valuable than Molly's, the elder exalted, capabilities with the essence we'd be expending on a gamble if Sandra is planning to do something right now or in a few hours.
That depends, I think, on the charm loadout. Solars get options that infernals do not, and dealing with, as in smiting, creatures of darkness is something they are good at. If nothing else, a baby solar has a mote pool of 10, and represent
There's a lot of things to say to that, but the one I'd like to start with is that this isn't an argument. All you're doing is conceding that the projections like the ones I and many others have posted in this thread are plausible but that you hope it won't happen so much that we can't actively counter it.

Then you cap it off with straight authoritarian apologia. I mean really, as long as they man the walls it's fine if they're a raging asshole? What happened to all that outrage over humanity being abused by immortals with too much power and not enough empathy?

This line of reasoning has played out a thousand times and almost always ends in Caesar instead of Cincinnatus.

Here's a thought exercise; open a news app and read for 15 minutes. Mark down every politician who's done something persuasive and astounding without regard to whether what they said or did was as ethical, or even as anchored to reality, as it was impressive at some point in their career.

That's your Zenith and Eclipse pool*.

People aren't all good or bad, but no one thinks they're the villain even when they're actively doing something most would call evil. If you give people power they will use it to push their vision on the world regardless of what you might think of it.

You talk a lot about your faith in humanity, but you seem awfully willing to make the choice to sell the entire world's future away for them without allowing them a chance to fight for it.

If you want Molly to fulfill that faith herself you should vote for her to return it.

Actually return it, not infantilize them into virtuous and powerless cattle. It's not a forgone conclusion that human civilization is a helpless thing to be ruled by immortal masters of one stripe or another, which is why they're so afraid of waking the mortals up.


* Yeah the timing probably doesn't work out for all of them to be candidates at the same time, but the point is to show what this translates to in practice. Those people are the profile we're talking about. Fundamentally you're banking on all of humanity agreeing with your definition of morality and then sticking to it when given immense personal power.

What do the people on your list think of that?
I don't think there's an actual argument to be had. You say "People aren't all good or bad", but what I am reading is you actually saying "people are bad". Sorry, but that's what I am hearing. Your argument, as I understand it, is that if specific humans are empowered above others, it will be bad for other humans, bad for humanity as a whole, even in the dire situation it is in Dresdenverse cosmologically. I don't agree

We already had these long discussions about the issue. Over and over and over. I disagree on the core premises with you. I disagree on what the possible and plausible outcomes are. I disagree on valuation of those outcomes with you. I present my arguments to you, you present yours to me. We don't agree with each other. So, what's the point?

I could spend pages and pages in arguments about the fundamental nature of man, of society, of heroism. Try and lay out why scenarios you posit are either implausible, or the outcomes they lead to are still positives compared to current situation. I don't have energy to do that, and I believe it would be pointless anyway - neither you nor I will change our position. So, I won't make those arguments. Because this is pointless.

And before you say "aha, so even two dudes on the internet cannot agree, this is why I am right and bringing in shining golden kings will be bad, and will create an inescapable yoke on humanity forever, or lead to a war between them!" - I disagree. People can agree and compromise and in the extremes, when it gets bad, they will on average try and help each other - that's just statistics and evolution in play. So, it's good to empower humanity.

To summarize my position for those just joining who haven't read previous rounds of arguments:
1) I maintain that exaltations, especially solar exaltations, select for heroism among other things. I disagree with the argument "oh, but it's classical heroism, not the modern ones" at least in cases of solars, lunars and sidereals, because actual canon example of characters and story bits in ExvsWoD indicate that people likely to try saving the world are more likely to be selected than serial killers who like to make balloon animals out of infant entrails and gift those to the mothers of said infants.

2) I maintain that Molly, as an already established exalt with a lot of experience, and someone who is a good person, can act as a check and balance on a new exalt emerging. I further maintain that, as a social exalt, Molly can influence a new exalt enough that they would ultimately also be what is broadly be a good person

3) I maintain that even at worst, emergence of a new powerful force that is ultimately human is a net positive for humanity as a whole, given current cosmological situation in Dresdenverse

4) I maintain that it's ok if exalts can't agree with each other on certain topics, as long as unity is maintained in defense of reality and humanity overall (on average, with caveats, etc).

5) I maintain that the idea "humans cannot be trusted to be empowered" is defeatist enough that it shouldn't be entertained. If it's true, there's no point. If it's wrong, humans should be empowered.
 
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If we can't control the exaltation absolutely, is it worthwhile to set up multiple eligible candidates at once to increase our odds?
 
If we can't control the exaltation absolutely, is it worthwhile to set up multiple eligible candidates at once to increase our odds?
Possibly, but it's much harder to do. They have to be heroically fighting at the time, against overwhelming odds in order for an exaltation to notice them. We can provide one such fight easily. Just pick a candidate and start swording. Two or more are trickier.
 
I maintain that Molly, as an already established exalt with a lot of experience, and someone who is a good person, can act as a check and balance on a new exalt emerging.
I recall the argument back then was against our ability to manage multiple Exalts being released globally at once from a vault not just a single one.
 
I recall the argument back then was against our ability to manage multiple Exalts being released globally at once from a vault not just a single one.
I believe that at one point of that discussion I floated the slow release strategy, where we release exaltations one by ons, make sure they go to agreeable people, and create a growing alliance. This way each next exalt will be easier and easier to manage. Because it won't just be Molly managing them, it'll be Molly and those already allied with her.

The viability of that strategy was also disputed and we couldn't come to a consensus on whether this would be manageable at all.
 
I believe that at one point of that discussion I floated the slow release strategy, where we release exaltations one by ons, make sure they go to agreeable people, and create a growing alliance.
That doesn't come to mind at all, but it was awhile ago. Is releasing them from a vault only one at a time possible? I thought it was an all or nothing thing.
 
That doesn't come to mind at all, but it was awhile ago. Is releasing them from a vault only one at a time possible? I thought it was an all or nothing thing.
From the vault? Probably not. But infernals are not in the vault. And now we also learn that some solar and lunar ones are not in the vault either. The idea I floated at one point was to find infernal exaltations, and release those pne by one. Establish an alliance of 50 infernals. Get everyone to e5, and ourselves to elder essence. Then open the vault. Because if we are mot the only one managing mass release, it's much easier.

But, regardless, in this specific situation, an opportunity to get one solar is great. If we also can grab the lunar one afterwards (for Olivia probably? If we can direct it enough), we essentially will be at full circle power.
 
Adhoc vote count started by Goldfish on Jan 18, 2024 at 9:43 PM, finished with 119 posts and 18 votes.

  • [x] Interest, if this thing is happening maybe it could be directed, you certainly need all the help you can get
    [X] Concern, the world does not need any would be sun-gods trying for a do-over on the dawn of civilization, shut this thing down
    [x] Interest, if this thing is happening maybe it could be directed, you certainly need all the help you can get
    -[X] STUNT: For a moment, you feel fear, your imagination running wild with images of the possible excesses someone with the power like yours can do. You have an urge to shut that thing down, lock it away. But only for a moment. For in this place, accompanied by a shadow of the Fallen clad in the body of your artifice, and by a daughter of the god of Death - a legacy of the worst human monster in recorded history of this Age, before the eyes of a counterfeit god, you have faith not just in God, but also in your fellow man. And so with light heart, you address the statue, a plan to maybe try and get Daniel here starting to form in your mind.
    [x] Interest, if this thing is happening maybe it could be directed, you certainly need all the help you can get
    -[X] Activate EIPP for healing.
    [X] Plan Shining Answer
    -[X] Interest, if this thing is happening maybe it could be directed, you certainly need all the help you can get
    --[X] Convince it that releasing its charge before the darkness falls would allow the newly risen sun to better defend the lands of the living, to rally with allies
    ---[X] Empathy excellency
    ---[X] Present yourself as a possible measure for a candidate to test themselves against. You are mighty, and your power, even if turned to better purposes, is tainted enough to count.
    ---[X] Fetch Daniel from your kingdom if he's there.
    --[X] STUNT: For a moment, you feel fear, your imagination running wild with images of the possible excesses someone with the power like yours can do. You have an urge to shut that thing down, lock it away. But only for a moment. For in this place, accompanied by a shadow of the Fallen clad in the body of your artifice, and by a daughter of the god of Death - a legacy of the worst human monster in recorded history of this Age, before the eyes of a counterfeit god, you have faith not just in God, but also in your fellow man. And so with light heart, you address the statue, a plan to maybe try and get Daniel here starting to form in your mind.
 
But, regardless, in this specific situation, an opportunity to get one solar is great.
What we really need to do is use a Crown question or two to check the time table on this Final Dusk thing and Sandra's plans so we know what we're working with before anything else. That way we'll know if we even have time to heal and replenish and if so by how much. Just need the right questions.
 
What we really need to do is use a Crown question or two to check the time table on this Final Dusk thing and Sandra's plans so we know what we're working with before anything else. That way we'll know if we even have time to heal and replenish and if so by how much. Just need the right questions.
Oh, totally agreed. If we are minutes away from the catastrophe, that's one thing. If we are days away, that's a different situation entirely.
 
Random Word of Butcher:
Fun fact: I was at Jim's book signing for Cinder Spires last month, and asked Jim more or less that exact question. I asked if the adversary could cause an archangel to act against it's nature. My thinking was more along the lines of Lucifer, as there is a precedent of an angel acting against it's nature, but Jim's response is still appropriate (Transcribed as best I can from memory):

"If you're asking if Nemesis can control an archangel, the answer is no. One of the things that makes any angel an angel is that they are absolute. They can't be changed. Nemesis isn't all powerful. We'll learn a little more about what it's capable of in future books."
old.reddit.com

Who did the angels fight with in the past?

>Fun fact: I was at Jim's book signing for Cinder Spires last month, and asked Jim more or less that exact question. I asked if the adversary...


Today's White Council can do impressive Golems.
No idea how good Egyptian wizards from 1000+BC were.
Older isn't always better, in some areas there can be progress.
Not just the White Council; the sorcerer from Down Town was apparently entirely self-taught.
Not to mention Victor Sells' attack drones.

If a self-taught dude in the Undertown equivalent of a cave with a box of scraps can do it, I doubt Egyptian wizards from a time when magic literally had state sponsorship could have done worse.


Not if they were breaking already. And the thing is likely working at only partial performance
You do not fix a malfunctioning computer by replacing its motherboard with bubblegum.
Thats just silly.
Nevermind that you cant fix something whose workings you dont understand.

You say that like there isn't a certain kind of person who'd have the magic robot game down to reflex that'd do it because they can.
Such people usually die really quickly :V

 
The Riddle of Ra​
12th of January 2007 A.D.
COMMENTARY
The Sun Red At Dawn is apparently an additional contingency against major Outsider incursions, involving a temporal passageway from pre-history.
And the late Cobbler was specifically here to fuck with it, on the eve of Sandra's plotting coming to fruition.

That leads me to believe that he and Sandra were working together.
Which explains how Sandra knew we were at the Canals and going back to the Hanging Gardens with Mayeda, and could lay an ambush along the strip for us; Cobbler probably tagged us with a ghost/spirit, then called her.

It also provides confirmation that elements of the Black Court are actively playing footsie with Outsiders and Outsider agents.
Even if only at a deniable level.


The Sahara Desert was last green 5000-6000 years ago.
So whenever this Solar was active, it would have been at least 5 thousand years ago.
Coincidentally, the Archive is also around 5,000 years old.

I have questions; I just am not sure Ivy is allowed to answer them.



Given that the unlamented Cobbler specifically aimed his gun to silence the statue, this strongly suggests that he, or his boss, knew of the prophecy and/or the statue's function. That means that he specifically was in Vegas to sabotage it. And it speaks of knowledge of events that are at least 5000 years old.

I am now very curious about who his Sire is, because he evidently had a hand in the plans going down here.
Probably an Antediluvian-equivalent, given the time scales involved here.

And the revelation that a Solar was active in Egypt that Was sheds very different light on Cobbler's looting of Egyptian artifacts.
We want to find his lair and see if there's any records there to see. And if there are any artifacts.
Those cards he showed are probably worth looking over as well.



We also need to ask questions of the Ferryman.
Because if he had even an inkling of this dude's plans for Vegas and did a deal with him anyway, we likely have no choice but to have him killed; we might not be able to do it yet, but we can pass the word along.



I know better than to get in the way of a primed Solar Exaltation, and hope others do too.
Its almost certainly going to trigger, and I have zero faith in our ability to contain it. Nevermind the potential for other people to try to trigger it.

But I cant but fear that this is going to end in tears.
The world rolled boxcars to get Molly out of an Infernal; Im really apprehensive at having to roll again for a Solar candidate.
Especially a Dawn.



Just because I've seen people making suggestions, here are my two cents:

Michael(and Sanya for that matter) are NOT Dawn candidates.
None of the permanent Knights are, or have ever been.
They would be Zenith candidates, but not Dawns. Priests, prophets and leaders, not generals.

Knights arent chosen for martial ability, they are chosen for their faith, and their ability to inspire faith in others.
Swording good is secondary. See Butters. Or indeed, see Murphy. Five foot nothing puts you at extreme disadvantage in melee combat, yet she wielded the Sword at Chitchen Itza just fine, and Butters wielded it against Ethniu.


Charity would be a Lunar for her repeated survival in the face of adverse odds and fierce protection of her chosen family.
Dresden would be a Sidereal of Endings for how often he's been the full stop to any number of plots and major supernaturals. Or a Lunar, just for how often he keeps getting up after getting beaten into the earth, and surviving adverse odds.


The other people in our general circle of mortals, Whampires and ghouls who might qualify for Celestial Exaltation would be Daniel, Olivia, Murphy.

Daniel would be a Dawn and only a Dawn. Olivia would be a Night or a Dawn.
Murphy would qualify as either a Night or a Dawn. Billy Borden of the Alphas would definitely be a Dawn. Possibly a Night, due to his leading a pack of vigilante werewolves prior to Dresden's death, and handling Chicago Alliance security afterwards.

John Marcone would be either an Eclipse, a Night or a Dawn. Man is practically a Solar warlord already.
And is basically exhibit A for "Great is not necessarily good."



Nicodemus would definitely be a Zenith, but he'd have to lose his Coin; Solar Exaltation in ExWoD prevent possession.
So would Polonessa Lartessa, who would probably qualify to be a Night Caste.
None of the other Denarians appear to make the grade.

Rashid would DEFINITELY be a candidate for elder Sidereal of Battles or Endings.
Ebenezar might or might not qualify as a Night Caste.



But the QM undoubtedly knows who they intend that shard for.
So Im not particularly fussed about it.
It will be whoever the plot decides should get it.


Not in any magical sense, that is something that can be done with Ancient Sorcery, but not by a Sorceress with two spells to her name. You do know what the conditions for Exaltation are, so if you could arrange those in close proximity to letting one of those loose you might get somewhere.
Should the Sun Not Rise exists, and automatically spikes all these plans.
Should The Sun Not Rise (•)
The Solar's legend and legacy are her own, and though the candle of her life may gutter out, her workswill not vanish when she does.

System: Should the Solar die with at least one point of Willpower remaining to her, the guttering sparks of her vitality restore her to fitful life at some point during the next three days. She has only a short time – a few hours at most – before her injuries reclaim her, but may use this very brief reprieve to locate a hand-selected successor, and, with her final breath, pass her Exaltation onto the mortal inheritor of her choice. Her chosen successor need not be physically present when she expires, but if he is not, she must spend a point of Willpower to send her Exaltation to him.

The newly-Exalted Solar automatically gains both Past Life 3 and Mentor 3 (in the form of the Exaltation's former bearer instructing and advising him in his dreams).
I dont see any reason why we should have any influence on where this Exaltation is going; thats literally a 1-dot charm available to all Solar Castes in ExWoD.

Im assuming that whoever the longdead Solar is, the timing of this prophecy and the cult's arrival in this city means the Solar already picked their chosen successor when they died, likely via divination of some sort, and arranged for the Exaltation by to show up to the new candidate at the appropriate time.

Fucking with the destinations of Exaltations was beyond the efforts of the Primordials during the War, and the Sidereals only managed it by subverting the functions of Lytek's Office after staging a mass murder of living Solars.
It should still be beyond that of a solitary Solaroid improvising.
 
Are you planning to leave? You can only heal using that when you are not doing any strenuous activity.
Talking itself is not, but you are not in a safe place right now, certainly not one you control. I had assumed you guys would want to withdraw from the city or at least find a hotel room or something before initiating healing and essence recovery.
Gonna note that we can sit in a bleach bathtub with a new laptop and a phone and still work.

The marvels of modern tech means that you CAN do social over the phone without stressing your body.
Just HMP the hotel's security cameras to provide ongoing surveillance of everyone entering and leaving the place so you have warning of anyone starting shit.

I suggest a hotel suite at the Luxor. Its thematically appropriate.
 
VOTE
[X] Concern: You dont think you can stop an active Exaltation following its nature at short notice, and there is the potential for this to go very wrong, and no way to tell beforehand.
 
[X] Concern: You dont think you can stop an active Exaltation following its nature at short notice, and there is the potential for this to go very wrong, and no way to tell beforehand.
 
Should the Sun Not Rise exists, and automatically spikes all these plans.
Should The Sun Not Rise (•)
The Solar's legend and legacy are her own, and though the candle of her life may gutter out, her workswill not vanish when she does.

System: Should the Solar die with at least one point of Willpower remaining to her, the guttering sparks of her vitality restore her to fitful life at some point during the next three days. She has only a short time – a few hours at most – before her injuries reclaim her, but may use this very brief reprieve to locate a hand-selected successor, and, with her final breath, pass her Exaltation onto the mortal inheritor of her choice. Her chosen successor need not be physically present when she expires, but if he is not, she must spend a point of Willpower to send her Exaltation to him.

The newly-Exalted Solar automatically gains both Past Life 3 and Mentor 3 (in the form of the Exaltation's former bearer instructing and advising him in his dreams).
I dont see any reason why we should have any influence on where this Exaltation is going; thats literally a 1-dot charm available to all Solar Castes in ExWoD.

Im assuming that whoever the longdead Solar is, the timing of this prophecy and the cult's arrival in this city means the Solar already picked their chosen successor when they died, likely via divination of some sort, and arranged for the Exaltation by to show up to the new candidate at the appropriate time.

Fucking with the destinations of Exaltations was beyond the efforts of the Primordials during the War, and the Sidereals only managed it by subverting the functions of Lytek's Office after staging a mass murder of living Solars.
It should still be beyond that of a solitary Solaroid improvising.

Seeing the future over the span of millennia would tax even a Solar's abilities. Most likely the reason why this thing is acting like an AI is because it is some kind of caretaker mechanism meant to trigger the Exaltation at a proper time. The mechanism appears to be sentient and therefore it might be something you can communicate with and influence. Is the Exaltation itself driven by a shard of its previous bearer? Molly has no idea.
 
You do not fix a malfunctioning computer by replacing its motherboard with bubblegum.
Thats just silly.
Nevermind that you cant fix something whose workings you dont understand.
The analogy is stretched to the point of uselessness. You can switch copper wire for lead wire and still run the current through. Not as much, and it'll melt more easily, but you can.
And the late Cobbler was specifically here to fuck with it, on the eve of Sandra's plotting coming to fruition.
Not to fuck with it. To steal it. Initially this was a theft, I am fairly sure. Remember: if given a solar exaltation, a Neverborn can make abyssals. And classical abyssals at that, not the freed versions from ExvsWoD. This was a grab to have their own exalted.
Coincidentally, the Archive is also around 5,000 years old.
Much older than that, as was stated by @DragonParadox .
Charity would be a Lunar for her repeated survival in the face of adverse odds and fierce protection of her chosen family.
Many lunar candidates can work as solar candidates too. There's a big overlap. yes, lunar fits her better, but it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility, I think.
Nicodemus would definitely be a Zenith, but he'd have to lose his Coin; Solar Exaltation in ExWoD prevent possession.
Only if you completely ignore how solar exaltations are those that aim at people performing heroic deeds, and there's intent behind it. The prophecy is specifically about exalted stopping the apocalypse. That's not what Nicky does. He is disqualified on the merit of his character, not his coin.

Now, if he threw the coin away, that would be the heroic act worthy enough of becoming a solar. But only if he didn't expect the reward. So, not going to happen.
Should the Sun Not Rise exists, and automatically spikes all these plans.
Should The Sun Not Rise (•)
The Solar's legend and legacy are her own, and though the candle of her life may gutter out, her workswill not vanish when she does.

System: Should the Solar die with at least one point of Willpower remaining to her, the guttering sparks of her vitality restore her to fitful life at some point during the next three days. She has only a short time – a few hours at most – before her injuries reclaim her, but may use this very brief reprieve to locate a hand-selected successor, and, with her final breath, pass her Exaltation onto the mortal inheritor of her choice. Her chosen successor need not be physically present when she expires, but if he is not, she must spend a point of Willpower to send her Exaltation to him.

The newly-Exalted Solar automatically gains both Past Life 3 and Mentor 3 (in the form of the Exaltation's former bearer instructing and advising him in his dreams).
I dont see any reason why we should have any influence on where this Exaltation is going; thats literally a 1-dot charm available to all Solar Castes in ExWoD.

Im assuming that whoever the longdead Solar is, the timing of this prophecy and the cult's arrival in this city means the Solar already picked their chosen successor when they died, likely via divination of some sort, and arranged for the Exaltation by to show up to the new candidate at the appropriate time.

Fucking with the destinations of Exaltations was beyond the efforts of the Primordials during the War, and the Sidereals only managed it by subverting the functions of Lytek's Office after staging a mass murder of living Solars.
It should still be beyond that of a solitary Solaroid improvising.
Should the Sun not Rise does not spike our plans. Rather, in the presence of exalted prophecy, it reinforces them. We are a heroic exalt, and a part of a heroic exalt circle. If we provide the suitable candidate, then the selection directed by a dying exalt through time and space and transcendent effort is likely to favor that candidate.

Because, remember, this is an exaltation that seeks a hero to save the world. That's explicit in the text. So, yeah, if Should the Sun not Rise is in play, Daniel is almost 100% certain to work, and he gets an awesome Pharaon past life mentor headvoice. Who will probably ship him with Lydia.
 
Seeing the future over the span of millennia would tax even a Solar's abilities. Most likely the reason why this thing is acting like an AI is because it is some kind of caretaker mechanism meant to trigger the Exaltation at a proper time. The mechanism appears to be sentient and therefore it might be something you can communicate with and influence. Is the Exaltation itself driven by a shard of its previous bearer? Molly has no idea.
Can the exaltation observe what is happening around it right now?

In-character it would make sense for Molly to assume that exaltations have conscious guides, because hers did, and that's the only example she knows about. I don't think we lose anything by making a social attack on the exaltation before its release. Essentially presenting it a valid candidate and imploring it to at least consider them, and swearing appropriate oaths of alliance and explaining our reasons and need for allies.
 
Can the exaltation observe what is happening around it right now?

In-character it would make sense for Molly to assume that exaltations have conscious guides, because hers did, and that's the only example she knows about. I don't think we lose anything by making a social attack on the exaltation before its release. Essentially presenting it a valid candidate and imploring it to at least consider them, and swearing appropriate oaths of alliance and explaining our reasons and need for allies.

Only way to know would be to ask it.
 
Only way to know would be to ask it.
Yeah, I think before we release it, I think we should address it, and its guardian.

Also, as a joke question - we can actually see the exaltation right now, right? Do we explode if we ask "how is this made?" (having loaded up BSM, excellencies, path of fortune, etc to try and roll at least 5 successes for this).
 
Yeah, I think before we release it, I think we should address it, and its guardian.

Also, as a joke question - we can actually see the exaltation right now, right? Do we explode if we ask "how is this made?" (having loaded up BSM, excellencies, path of fortune, etc to try and roll at least 5 successes for this).

You cannot really see it, Molly knows the statue in front of her is some kind of key to an empowering mechanism similar to her own.
 
Vote closed, a lot more interest than concern it seems.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jan 19, 2024 at 6:01 AM, finished with 133 posts and 20 votes.

  • [x] Interest, if this thing is happening maybe it could be directed, you certainly need all the help you can get
    [X] Concern, the world does not need any would be sun-gods trying for a do-over on the dawn of civilization, shut this thing down
    [x] Interest, if this thing is happening maybe it could be directed, you certainly need all the help you can get
    -[X] STUNT: For a moment, you feel fear, your imagination running wild with images of the possible excesses someone with the power like yours can do. You have an urge to shut that thing down, lock it away. But only for a moment. For in this place, accompanied by a shadow of the Fallen clad in the body of your artifice, and by a daughter of the god of Death - a legacy of the worst human monster in recorded history of this Age, before the eyes of a counterfeit god, you have faith not just in God, but also in your fellow man. And so with light heart, you address the statue, a plan to maybe try and get Daniel here starting to form in your mind.
    [x] Interest, if this thing is happening maybe it could be directed, you certainly need all the help you can get
    -[X] Activate EIPP for healing.
    [X] Concern: You dont think you can stop an active Exaltation following its nature at short notice, and there is the potential for this to go very wrong, and no way to tell beforehand.
    [X] Plan Shining Answer
    -[X] Interest, if this thing is happening maybe it could be directed, you certainly need all the help you can get
    --[X] Convince it that releasing its charge before the darkness falls would allow the newly risen sun to better defend the lands of the living, to rally with allies
    ---[X] Empathy excellency
    ---[X] Present yourself as a possible measure for a candidate to test themselves against. You are mighty, and your power, even if turned to better purposes, is tainted enough to count.
    ---[X] Fetch Daniel from your kingdom if he's there.
    --[X] STUNT: For a moment, you feel fear, your imagination running wild with images of the possible excesses someone with the power like yours can do. You have an urge to shut that thing down, lock it away. But only for a moment. For in this place, accompanied by a shadow of the Fallen clad in the body of your artifice, and by a daughter of the god of Death - a legacy of the worst human monster in recorded history of this Age, before the eyes of a counterfeit god, you have faith not just in God, but also in your fellow man. And so with light heart, you address the statue, a plan to maybe try and get Daniel here starting to form in your mind.
 
Seeing the future over the span of millennia would tax even a Solar's abilities. Most likely the reason why this thing is acting like an AI is because it is some kind of caretaker mechanism meant to trigger the Exaltation at a proper time. The mechanism appears to be sentient and therefore it might be something you can communicate with and influence. Is the Exaltation itself driven by a shard of its previous bearer? Molly has no idea.
Initial caveat:This is your quest, so you get to decide limits.
That said? No, not really. Not in a setting where time travel is explicitly possible, though forbidden to mortal wizards by the Laws, and your goal is very narrow.


In Cold Days, we are explicitly told that the potential of major events can be sensed days away because their echoes ripple backwards; that was in part how Dresden was warned of the Outsider attack on Demonreach.

Something like a magical desolation in the middle of a continent of several hundred million people seems like the sort of magical beacon that divination magic would be able to use as a beacon.

Im halfway expecting that the Dawn has been timetravelling for the last five thousand years, and the idol's job is to notice the appropriate events and activate a signal, so the Dawn can stop time-travelling, show up and die, and in the dying release his/her shard to hunt for his successor.



More broadly, there's narrative issues with this scenario.

In the Primordial War, the Primordials themselves could not stop a Celestial Exaltation moving on to the next candidate immediately after killing its current Host.
Didnt matter where it happend, or when; the Exaltation would immediately respawn among mortals.

During the Usurpation, it took most of the Sidereal Order working together and crafting a deepseated plot to entrap the Solar Exaltations, and they only managed it by essentially subverting Lytek's Office and line of succession.
Essentially, faked credentials.

In canon ExWoD, the Black Vault was inherited from Creation That Was. Its origins are unknown.
The Infernal Exaltations literally couldnt be imprisoned; they were just buried in Yomi Wan, in the hope that the sin generated by the Hells would keep them quiescent, which it did.

In this quest, Usum was entombed in the heart of the power of Winter, just in case, and once he woke up, he was still able to move.

Now we are talking about apparently solitary Solars being able to bottle up Solar Exaltations?
Seems a bit much for even an Elder Solar. You have to question if the setting would be anything like it is if it was apparently straightforward to entrap what was an autonomous titankilling godweapon.
 
Now we are talking about apparently solitary Solars being able to bottle up Solar Exaltations?
Seems a bit much for even an Elder Solar. You have to question if the setting would be anything like it is if it was apparently straightforward to entrap what was an autonomous titankilling godweapon.
"Was" being the important word there. Almost everything in Future World of Darkness is lessened, even the Exaltations, which are now susceptible to tampering. The crossover book outlines the difficulty at which it's possible for human Mages to tamper with Exaltations, and Mages are below Primordials.
 
Now we are talking about apparently solitary Solars being able to bottle up Solar Exaltations?
Seems a bit much for even an Elder Solar. You have to question if the setting would be anything like it is if it was apparently straightforward to entrap what was an autonomous titankilling godweapon.
Depends on how it's done. As you said - this is a setting where mortal magic allows time travel, and death curses can be super powerful. So, a clever solar sorceror-king who wants to send their exaltation to the future creates a drath curse, which, a moment before theor exaltation would depart, sends said solar into the future, exaltation included. The destination point is determined by a set of conditions tied to the statue. The moment they arrive to the future, they finish dying and the exaltation is released as normal.

At least that's how I would do it with only powers shown in canon
 
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