Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

[fictionfan]

How about we get started on our take over Harvard plan?
[X]Plan take over
-[x] Olivia sneaks in carrying Molly in a clear ice cold bleach bottle.
-[x]Molly sets about putting cyber devils in about every school computer they come across until they can arrange some club meeting or something that has been scheduled long in advance.
-[x] Olivia holds Clippy who keeps getting new information advising where Olivia should go to most efficiently take over the school network.
-[x][Stunt]After thinking about it for a minute you say "It seems more efficient to just start taking over Harvard".

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

I say it is time to dive into the place. We are not going to get much more from anybody else.

 

[mastigos]

Johann of Cleves, Warlock, Madman, Lover of Flame

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Wait ... the human warlock actually MADE this thing? That's RIDICULOUSLY impressive, even if he was a warlock.

"No, that is the weird thing, it's like a place that has all the four elements almost in imitation of the universe we are familiar with, but no one gave it that first jolt of motive power. It should be entirely livable, you could throw a baby in there and it should be fine, not that you should of course," you haste to add too late.

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I mean, it's practically the seed of a nascent universe and I was half wondering if Molly-the-nascent-Primordial was going to be the one providing the "first jolt of motive power"

 

[Degorium]

Wait ... the human warlock actually MADE this thing? That's RIDICULOUSLY impressive, even if he was a warlock.

I mean, it's practically the seed of a nascent universe and I was half wondering if Molly-the-nascent-Primordial was going to be the one providing the "first jolt of motive power"

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There's a reason everyone was arguing there was no archmages in Dresden Files. Regular Mages in Mage can do that if a warlock is a Mage and archmages existed in a world with no Paradox there would be no world.

 

[DragonParadox]

Wait ... the human warlock actually MADE this thing? That's RIDICULOUSLY impressive, even if he was a warlock.

I mean, it's practically the seed of a nascent universe and I was half wondering if Molly-the-nascent-Primordial was going to be the one providing the "first jolt of motive power"

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There is a reason why this was a potential adventure for you guys, I will say that much. Also a reason why Odin had to come over and deal with him in the absence of any wandering Exalted.

 

[Yog]

Wait ... the human warlock actually MADE this thing? That's RIDICULOUSLY impressive, even if he was a warlock.

I mean, it's practically the seed of a nascent universe and I was half wondering if Molly-the-nascent-Primordial was going to be the one providing the "first jolt of motive power"

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Yeah, I totally didn't expect this answer. Even if this is a pocket universe, it's still very impressive. And seems out of character for a pyromaniac warlock. I kinda assumed this was some ancient divine or natural thing that the warlock tried re-purposing.

Still, good to know.

 

[DragonParadox]

Yeah, I totally didn't expect this answer. Even if this is a pocket universe, it's still very impressive. And seems out of character for a pyromaniac warlock. I kinda assumed this was some ancient divine or natural thing that the warlock tried re-purposing.

Still, good to know.

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Fire can create as much as destroy keep in mind and this guy was old and working with some interesting people for an even more interesting cause.

 

[Degorium]

Yeah, I totally didn't expect this answer. Even if this is a pocket universe, it's still very impressive. And seems out of character for a pyromaniac warlock. I kinda assumed this was some ancient divine or natural thing that the warlock tried re-purposing.

Still, good to know.

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That's a surprise to hear from you I will admit. Because that was kind of the first thing I thought of especially when it gave an impossible ritual based on a flaw I thought it might have been like a Seeking proving ground horizon realm created by the Warlock to increase his strength.

 

[Goldfish]

It's impressive that Johann was able to create the Well, but I have a feeling it wasn't so much skill or power on his part that made it possible, but instead what went into its creation.

How many lives were sacrificed by the Warlock to create it? What kind of deals were made with inhuman entities?

 

[Degorium]

It's impressive that Johann was able to create the Well, but I have a feeling it wasn't so much skill or power on his part that made it possible, but instead what went into its creation.

How many lives were sacrificed by the Warlock to create it? What kind of deals were made with inhuman entities?

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I get the distinct feeling you probably wouldn't want to sacrifice anyone or involve any Supernatural Powers other than your own in that process because it botches the neutrality granting it it's own characteristics rather than being a mostly sterile Realm. Can you imagine trying to make a Horizon Realm that's not cursed to all fucking hell via sacrifice? holy moly I'm not saying it can't be done but geez. Then this the fact that most Supernatural Powers had their own lean or character to their strength and power that would contaminate the realm immediately making it some kind of Hell realm if it's infernal or some kind of afterlife realm if it's death or winter realm if it's kind of weather deity or Fay

 

[BronzeTongue]

Ok, let's talk about responsbilities and limitations. There are several things to note:

1) Cyber devils are not human. They are:
a) immortal both in terms of age and in terms of surviving the damage to their physical vessels. If the phone or a laptop or whatever other piece of equipment they are in gets destroyed, they return to either our anima, or Sanctuary if they are from there. Spirit killing charms change that, but we can dismiss them in this case, as implausible. In terms of age, a mobile phone is likely to survive for less than a decade, which, for inherently immortal spirit, should not be a lengthy time.
b) In case of Wicked City native devils, they are also native of an inherently torturous environment. Both Wicked City and Sanctuary originated city originated cyber devils, they are clearly neuro divergent from humans. For example, as I understand it, they don't suffer from boredom, and have unlimited attention span.

2) In this particular situation, a cyberdevil will have an out in the form of bricking the phone they are in. Binding rituals change the equation in some ways, but, again, not plausibly relevant here

3) There is an argument to be made that when it comes to Sanctuary-native spirits, Molly has a right, and, in fact, an obligation, to assign unpleasant, dangerous and even suicidal tasks to them if such tasks further her own well-being and, to extend that, agenda. Because to Molly-the-Primordial spirits of Sanctuary are as blood cells (or gut flora) to humans. And Molly is aware of that on some level. So, just as a human has a right and, one could argue, obligation, to amputate a leg caught under a tree to get out of a trap and survive, so might Molly require to command individual spirits to perform unpleasant tasks.

Respecting sapient beings is very important, but it shouldn't prevent Molly from acting in certain situations.

Now, to be clear, I don't think this is one of such situations, as Karl passes at least initial checks. But it's still an important point that needs remembering.

4) We are actually interested in keeping Karl and other practitioners alive, and, ideally, as parts of interconnected network. He is in potential danger from outside parties and for himself, as a magic practitioner capable of violating the Laws. Getting him a cyber devil to keep an eye out on him and call for help if needed costs us nothing and potentially averts certain future problems.

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I'm not against employing them entirely, it's specifically the interaction of giving someone we don't really don't know control of a cyber devil after it's been ordered to obey their every whim and then leaving until one day we maybe get back to it.

Even if nothing went poorly that is still itself the wrong thing to do. All that I'm asserting is that they shouldn't be given orders like that unless we both trust the person involved's intent, abilities, and actually have some means to keep tabs on the situation.

To draw a comparison, a paranet branch with cyber devil staff would be totally fine as long as they're organized, reporting to the home team, and not under orders phrased in a way that gives the people they're working with near unlimited authority over them.

How mentally close they are to human doesn't factor into it.

 

[Degorium]

It's impressive that Johann was able to create the Well, but I have a feeling it wasn't so much skill or power on his part that made it possible, but instead what went into its creation.

How many lives were sacrificed by the Warlock to create it? What kind of deals were made with inhuman entities?

Click to shrink...

There's also the fact that you can be a warlock for looking through the currents of time and a universe without a motive force behind it kind of is suspicious if you think about the laws of magic and what that might mean for how he constructed this realm. Then again he might just have a niche for barbecue.

 

[BronzeTongue]

"Thanks I'll look you up," his parting words sound a mite defeated... and being honest with yourself it's not hard to guess why, you just dread the teasing.

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Oh boy, this is going to be fun if he actually gets anything.

I mean, the alphas got some pretty juicy gossip on Molly even before she ate a minor god in front of most of the important members of the Summer Court. Might go from disappointed to dodged a bullet in the course of a conversation even if he remains interested in working together. Flirting with a green sun princess requires an unhealthy amount of confidence for most people.

"I don't think Harvard does seances," you shake your head. "We are going to have to trick or sneak our way onto campus."

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… it's a university campus, silly looking shit happens all the time.

When I was in college a stupid number of people could get into the dorms or other locked buildings without a keycard by knocking and looking embarrassed. Lydia doesn't look like she's in the right age range, but Molly and Olivia do so as long as they're together that won't matter.

People will assume whatever doesn't make it their problem as long as it's loosely normal looking. Someone's kid sister visiting, an unfortunately baby faced freshman, something like that.

Getting into the basement of a dorm or the back room of a library should hardly even be a trick.

 

[Yog]

That's a surprise to hear from you I will admit. Because that was kind of the first thing I thought of especially when it gave an impossible ritual based on a flaw I thought it might have been like a Seeking proving ground horizon realm created by the Warlock to increase his strength.

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I'm not actually all too familiar with Mage lore, something I'll have to remedy that.

Fire can create as much as destroy keep in mind and this guy was old and working with some interesting people for an even more interesting cause.

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As a plasma physics researcher doing fusion research I know that well. And Divine Ignition was at the start of all things in the setting. It's still a bit surprising. It's still a bit surprising that he had enough sanity for his creation to be using recognizable non-bizarre morality and testing systems.

I get the distinct feeling you probably wouldn't want to sacrifice anyone or involve any Supernatural Powers other than your own in that process because it botches the neutrality granting it it's own characteristics rather than being a mostly sterile Realm. Can you imagine trying to make a Horizon Realm that's not cursed to all fucking hell via sacrifice? holy moly I'm not saying it can't be done but geez. Then this the fact that most Supernatural Powers had their own lean or character to their strength and power that would contaminate the realm immediately making it some kind of Hell realm if it's infernal or some kind of afterlife realm if it's death or winter realm if it's kind of weather deity or Fay

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So, I looked back to what Odin told us initially:

"I traced... Katrina," he spits out the word as though it burns his lips. "Back to Boston, traced her connections. Johann of Cleaves is dead and with him the threat to turn all that youthful vim and fire into actual fire. That is what he did you see, turn the metaphorical into into the literal. It was a very unique form of warlock's madness that left him surprisingly sane, or at least coherent for someone who had dabbled in black magic since before Columbus set out to the New World."

"So we are talking what? Spontaneous human combustion of the students?" you ask horrified.

"And anyone who read their inflammatory leaflets and then of course once fear set in you would have people shake themselves to death with its chill, using the natural pathways of emotion to transmit the curse. There is only so much that could be plucked from old Johann's skull once it had been removed from his shoulders, but he was aiming for exposure, something too big to be covered up entirely. "

"Why... Why didn't dad hear anything about this? When was this?"

"Two months ago almost to the day," comes the unflappable reply. "Far be it from me to say the plans of the One whom your father serves, but my guess is because it was being handled. The Knights are not called in to throw water over flames that are already being stomped out. Still I hope you understand now why Cambridge might need someone watching out for trouble. With the warkock removed there is a power vacuum in the area that you could take advantage of to set up, he had removed all other major players from the area and so far none have had a chance to set up. Monoc would be available to help deal with common foes and would offer favorable rates for those who are not common, in far greater strength than in Chicago given the local entanglements and certainly you might learn more than mortal scholarship." His single eye burns with the white of soulfire for an instant, the offer clear as it is manifest.

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And the stuff doesn't fully align. According to Odin, he was planning to set up a self-propagating cognitohazard that would make people self-combust. He was apparently looking to do this to the best and brighest of a new generation, something that would break the Masquerade (a goal we later learn is now shared by Nemesis). Odin told us that he killed a lot of local powers, though he didn't provide the reason for it.

Now we learn that his plans were different, or far more complicated at least. We know that he made the Well somehow, but left it unfinished (my guess is that the la. We know that the Well can lure people in already, and functions at least partially. However, we also know that the place can let people go, and with boons to boot.

My guess is that the idea was to make something that would grant people magic en-masse. To make all, or nearly all, of the Harvard alumni, the future elite of the society, into practitioners, and thus break White Council's "no interference in politics" policy. Local powers were at least partially sacrifices to power the ritual.

Anyway, I think I need more foci. At least two more "what was the goal for making the Well?" and "where can I find the design notes?" or "how was it made?". If we are to improve it, and I am not opposed to making it actually function and granting moral Harvard students superpowers, I want to see how it was built in the first place.

Oh boy, this is going to be fun if he actually gets anything.

I mean, the alphas got some pretty juicy gossip on Molly even before she ate a minor god in front of most of the important members of the Summer Court. Might go from disappointed to dodged a bullet in the course of a conversation even if he remains interested in working together. Flirting with a green sun princess requires an unhealthy amount of confidence for most people.

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The issue is that he has zero supernatural connections. Not "only can capture / call a minor fae" level like Alphas. Zero, as in "are fae real?" level. He can look us up in the internet. Which... could lead him places, I guess. We are probably already an urban myth.

… it's a university campus, silly looking shit happens all the time.

When I was in college a stupid number of people could get into the dorms or other locked buildings without a keycard by knocking and looking embarrassed. Lydia doesn't look like she's in the right age range, but Molly and Olivia do so as long as they're together that won't matter.

People will assume whatever doesn't make it their problem as long as it's loosely normal looking. Someone's kid sister visiting, an unfortunately baby faced freshman, something like that.

Getting into the basement of a dorm or the back room of a library should hardly even be a trick.

Click to shrink...

What level of legendary success does it take for a sorority seance to cause an Infernal Exalt and company to show up?

There's also the fact that you can be a warlock for looking through the currents of time and a universe without a motive force behind it kind of is suspicious if you think about the laws of magic and what that might mean for how he constructed this realm. Then again he might just have a niche for barbecue.

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Looking is ok, like animal necromancy, it's "swimming against" that's against the Law. Though I am guessing it'll get you on a watchlist regardless.

 

[Degorium]

Looking is ok, like animal necromancy, it's "swimming against" that's against the Law. Though I am guessing it'll get you on a watchlist regardless.

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There's the thing from the Lore that we know so far. I was making reference to the fact we know that there were previous creations and that Wizards/Warlocks can seemingly arbitrarily travel backwards in time. If you know whether that be through observation or contacting Outsiders that God is the latest in a line of creators then you can go back to a universe that is dead but still has all the elements of a working one the moments before let there be light.

If only to see it for yourself as a pyromaniac. But that was just generally an offhand supposition / thought.

 

[Goldfish]

[X] Trick the staff into giving you admission
-[X] If confronted by school staff, we're just a group of students passing the time between classes and studying.
-[X] Etiquette Excellency

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

[x] You have enough information time to head to the other side.

We have 3 powerful people prepared with knowledge, and a goal seize the controls for ourselves.

 

[Yog]

@DragonParadox there should be houses / apartments / rooms for rent on campus. Don't those work for a seance? Solving the problem with an awesome power of money seems the simplest solution.

 

[BronzeTongue]

The issue is that he has zero supernatural connections. Not "only can capture / call a minor fae" level like Alphas. Zero, as in "are fae real?" level. He can look us up in the internet. Which... could lead him places, I guess. We are probably already an urban myth.

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He didn't know he needed to look before. The first few layers of occult nonsense will just be nonsense, but if he keeps poking he'll get something.

What level of legendary success does it take for a sorority seance to cause an Infernal Exalt and company to show up?

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Wrong way around; this is rolling half your dice pool in 1s level botching.

 

[Goldfish]

@DragonParadox there should be houses / apartments / rooms for rent on campus. Don't those work for a seance? Solving the problem with an awesome power of money seems the simplest solution.

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That's why I think we should just keep it simple and act like we belong. It's not like we have to pass identity checks at every crosswalk or door we step through. Just lean into the student angle and no one will think twice. Our age alone is as good as walking onto a job site carrying a clipboard and wearing a hardhat.

 

[DragonParadox]

@DragonParadox there should be houses / apartments / rooms for rent on campus. Don't those work for a seance? Solving the problem with an awesome power of money seems the simplest solution.

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They might, but the most likely ghosts are in the historical buildings, the ones that are not for rent.

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

A huge university like Harvard their will be apartments nearby almost as old as the university. Up to private penthouse that take up the whole floor.

 

[Yog]

@DragonParadox sorry to bother you again, but
a) What is the current time of the day?
b) Do we need some manner of specific building, or would any historical building like Massachusets Hall work, for example?
c) How large and flashy is the seance expected to be?

 

[DragonParadox]

@DragonParadox sorry to bother you again, but
a) What is the current time of the day?
b) Do we need some manner of specific building, or would any historical building like Massachusets Hall work, for example?
c) How large and flashy is the seance expected to be?

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• It is 7 PM
• That should work
• Lydia is planning to literally flare her aura and draw the dead on campus like moths to the silver flame of quasi-material existence so 'very'.

 

[Goldfish]

7 PM in January means the sun has long set and it's dark out except for outdoor lighting. Students will still be roaming the campus, but few staff will be out and about. It'll be even easier to blend in without effort.