@DragonParadox is the "If selected, votes for [] Username will count as a vote for the newest vote by Username; otherwise, they count as a vote for Username's plan at the time of posting." is selected the tally is different
Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
Arc 13 Post 26: Riddle in the Middle
Riddle in the Middle
7th of February 2007 A.D.
Taking the moment of confusion for your own, peering through gem-bright eyes down the corridors of ages you hear a riddle in Latin, the same one Harry must have heard: "Ego sum principium mundi et finis saeculorum attamen non sum deus/I am the beginning of the world and the end of the ages, but I am not God."
With it comes the answer and it is in that moment surrounded by spirits still resolved to skewer you to death on crystal barbs, drain you to a husk or God knows what else that you realize one fundamental truth: Wizards are dorks, they have always been dorks, every single one of them.
Lost 1 Essence -> Now at 16/18 (Crown Question)
"Litterae M," you sound out confidently a split second after Harry's luck runs out. A web unseen, a spell of stasis falls over him and though he manages to blunt the worst of it still it starts to petrify the fingers of his right hand as it clutches his staff.
Harry takes 2 Dexterity Damage -> Now at 2/4
Three pairs of alien eyes are affixed to you and so you do what comes naturally, lie hard and fast: "Pardon gracious guardians, we were not expecting to make your acquaintance so soon after diving under the skin of the world, our failing of course and none of yours, merely stealth without peer."
Lost 1 Essence -> Now at 15/18 (Subterfuge Excellency)
"We have many peers," the spirit in front buzzes, half a warning and half boast.
"Understood," you answer in like tongue before turning to Harry with a put-upon expression. "And that Warden is why you don't just skim the security briefing..." At least you hope that 'litterae' can stand in for briefing. For all their reputation the Romans have nothing on modern English when it comes to the ins and outs of bureaucracy.
Lost 2 Essence -> Now at 13/18 (Etiquette and Occult Excellency)
No sense tripping over my own tongue, you reason and thus invoke the Language in which no confusion is possible: "[Hail to thee Inspiration's Children/Shape Keepers, bound to the weft of the world.]" Even as you speak the greeting so you know them true, spirits born not of the timeless cycles of the world or even of man's changing habits. These are the shards and reflections of a moment of transcendent inspiration, bound to guard the secret of their birth for should it ever be repeated even once they would cease to be.
Lost 1 Essence -> Now at 12/18 (SCCP)
Regained 2 Essence -> Now at 14/18 (Urge of the Forbidden)
For this Usum would name them 'Daemons of Genius', though you do not think they are deserving of that. As spirits of creation they oppose most of the beings and creatures that would deal mortals untimely ends before they can fufill their potential and nurture young minds when they can, for only thus can more of their kind come to be. Alas the thing you are investigating is likely... it, the reason for their existence and not just theirs. Daemons of Genius do not as a rule lie, if they say there are more of them around it is almost certainly so.
"[Seeking Identity, singular, plural? Seeking purpose?]" One of them asks as the trio of spirits, no longer to strange slowly relaxes their stingers away from you.
"[To guard/know the bounds of the shape-in-shadow-of-self]" Harry answers more slowly than usual, as though he does not quite trust this strange code with his thoughts.
"[Admirable to seek insight beyond. Beyond present locus in seeking fly]."
You had, you just realized, been politely invited to leave, but there are still so many questions, who had told them to deliver a riddle in Latin to wizards attempting to use the Sight instead of just attacking? Was it the same person who had been responsible for their creation, the one who mined the jade? Most delicately of all, what had that wizard made? That last question is a bit like asking someone which poison they are most susceptible to admittedly, but maybe if asked obliquely enough.
What do you do?
[] Try to ask more questions
-[] Who had bound them to offer that riddle to wizards?
-[] How long had they been around?
-[] Where was the jade taken from this chamber taken
-[] What other spirits are around beside Porter
-[] Write in
[] Ask your one question of the chamber, they do not seem to notice that unlike Harry's Sight
[] Harry already got hurt doing this, no sense pushing your luck, leave them be and continue further east
[] Write in
OOC: I know that is a lot of essence to burn through but you guys had 18 total, I figured going down to 14 would not be that bad, especially since in the Nevernever you get one more back every three hours. For anyone wondering yes that is a legitimate Latin riddle that they included in medieval gramar books.
Last edited:
Rolls
Calcify vs Counterspell
Subterfuge+Stunt vs Spirits' Gnosis (just made it)
Etiquette (+2 DC because of the scary anima and even scarier charm)
Occult Insights
Calcify vs Counterspell
Subterfuge+Stunt vs Spirits' Gnosis (just made it)
Etiquette (+2 DC because of the scary anima and even scarier charm)
Occult Insights
Added that in, don't worry.
[X] Plan good neighbors
-[X] Explain that you have made pact with Porter, and that simply leaving them along puts both you and them in danger, for other might try to attack reality through here. You want to be good neighbors, though, for the benefit of all.
-[X] Try to ask more questions
--[X] How long had they been around?
--[X] What other spirits are around beside Porter
--[X] What offerings would they prefer from their neighbors as a sign of good will?
-[X] Ask your one question of the chamber, they do not seem to notice that unlike Harry's Sight
To make clear - this wouldn't instakill them, right?
-[X] Explain that you have made pact with Porter, and that simply leaving them along puts both you and them in danger, for other might try to attack reality through here. You want to be good neighbors, though, for the benefit of all.
-[X] Try to ask more questions
--[X] How long had they been around?
--[X] What other spirits are around beside Porter
--[X] What offerings would they prefer from their neighbors as a sign of good will?
-[X] Ask your one question of the chamber, they do not seem to notice that unlike Harry's Sight
To make clear - this wouldn't instakill them, right?
No question will insta-kill them, only repeating the act of which they were born.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
invited too, I think, or else another word is missing.
frozenchicken
Does not have a custom title.
....So, if I'm getting this riddle right, it was 'I am the beginning of the world (mundi) and the end of ages (saeculorum), but I am not God,' to which that answer was 'the letter M'.
...Yeah, Molly was right. Wizards are dorks.
...Yeah, Molly was right. Wizards are dorks.
That's actually a very interesting mechanic for a spirit to have. Because thematically it makes them spirits of mystery, not revelation, I think. I mean, I don't think a spirit of Newton's Law of Gravity or a spirit of General Relativity, or a spirit of a nuclear bomb would die when those things were replicated.
That is fair, they are spirits of genius not progress.
So, this is totally Merlin's signature. Because honestly, what else can M stand for here?....So, if I'm getting this riddle right, it was 'I am the beginning of the world (mundi) and the end of ages (saeculorum), but I am not God,' to which that answer was 'the letter M'.
...Yeah, Molly was right. Wizards are dorks.
I did read it.
Pertinently, I used to be a regular player in Alchemical Quest, which started on SB and moved to SV when this forum started a bajillion years ago, along with a bunch of old Exalted players.
I am reasonably familiar with the canon lore and mechanics of the Alchemical Exalted.
And in my opinion, you are wrong about your interpretation.
No, I think you are mistaken.
Primordial means a specific class of being; not just the Yozi in their prison in Malfeas, but every Primordial, including Autobot, Gaia, and those that didnt decide to join the Creation project. Devil-Tigers are supposed to evolve into something different; allegedly greater, but its left vague.(probably because the authors had no fucking idea or plan for a throwaway comment)
I dont think Infernal Devil-Tigers are a thing, or meant to be a thing, by the author of ExWoD; I searched the book, and all 4x mentions refer to the kuejin dharma.
Not in a universe where Infernals can be perma-enslaved by anyone who gets ahold of their soul with no recourse, where 4th Gen vampires are supposed to be high-end encounters for full Circles, where Yama Kings are end-boss material with no stat sheets, and the Earthbound are treated as existential threats.
Hell, all of the Exalted can be blood-bonded by vampires. Even now.
=====
Not quite. Thousand and First Hell is similar to Spirit of the Living World, but not the same; the populations of our Hells are sapient and ensouled, with a working connection to an external mythos and soul-reincarnation system. They are not,as far as Im aware, Molly demons.
They cannot be summoned, or bound like demons.They do not count as arcane links to Molly the way inhabitants of the Hell of an Ex2 Devil-Tiger world-soul would. Molly cannot just possess them and walk around in their skin, like Devil-Tigers can.
Nothing here is as self-contained as the Devil-Tiger charmtree from 2E is.
More broadly, the Exaltations themselves appear to have changed with the time and environment.
The very charms are different.
=====
We dont have the basic requirements.
Even in Creation That Was, you needed at least E6, which may not even be physically possible in this reality zone where the very rules of reality are different, starting with the fact that Creation was an animist universe with spirits in everything, while the Dresdenverse is not.
And you'll notice that Holden didnt make any intimation to suggest that ExWoD Infernals are capable of pursuing the Devil-Tiger Path, let alone the Primordial path.
And made it clear that entities as relatively middling as the Yama Kings can enslave Infernal Exalts forever.
It very much does so.
Primordials and their Third Circles get into serious fist fights with Exalts; one was famously strangled by Merela as the culmination of a battle/campaign in the First War.
Angels and archangels dont do stuff like that, at least according to Butcher.
They are supposed to be so overwhelming they are not allowed to act directly in reality because of the risk of breaking it.
Meantime the Primordials caroused in reality just fine until they got thrown out.
Actual commentary on the update later.
You burn this, we can never use it again.
Scenes are renewable Crown focuses, locations and people are not.
And this place is important enough that we are likely to need it as a focus in the future; you dont leave guards on a place for centuries, if not millenia, if it isnt very important.
Porter can tell you any spirits around besides him.
If our spirit ally didnt or couldnt say, these guys certainly wont.
As for offering, no.
There are precedents you do not want to set in negotiations.
This is one of those.
Stop burning important focuses recklessly.
You burn this, we can never use it again.
Scenes are renewable Crown focuses, locations and people are not.
And this place is important enough that we are likely to need it as a focus in the future; you dont leave guards on a place for centuries, if not millenia, if it isnt very important.
Porter can tell you any spirits around besides him.
If our spirit ally didnt or couldnt say, these guys certainly wont.
As for offering, no.
There are precedents you do not want to set in negotiations.
This is one of those.
The people in your soul can be summoned and bound, but then technically with the right spell and enough power behind it you could summon (teleport) and bind (mind control) a human off the streets of Chicago. Your people cannot be summoned and bound more easily than normal because unlike the Yozis Molly is not bound by Surrender Oaths
So they are precisely as vulnerable to summoning and binding as every other mortal.
Fair enough.
I assume that Heaven will probably have Opinions about people doing that shit too, like they do elsewhere.
Ivar
Dark Reaper
- Location
- Russia Moscow
I think it's more connected in our case with the fact that Reality is extremely thin and made of papier-mâché compared to previous iterations. Like, there are two explanations here. Either the archangels are hundreds of times stronger or reality is simply extremely fragile.
BoredMan
Maintaining the Agenda is our top priority
Anyone else immediately thought of those Beedrills from pokemon?
@DragonParadox Errors.
After technique it should say "you taught" or something along those lines.
Missing period.
Missing "as" before clear.
Missing "a" after with.
Last edited:
Molly is being mentally modest (rightly or wrongly) with the lack of taught up there, she saw the technique and recounted it.
- Location
- Estonia
So the only reason we don't regain Essence from that is cause we already do from learning the nature of the guardian spirits right after in the same scene, right?
BoredMan
Maintaining the Agenda is our top priority
Okay, though "stumblingly recounted the technique him" is still rather hard to parse the meaning of.
So the only reason we don't regain Essence from that is cause we already do from learning the nature of the guardian spirits right after in the same scene, right?
I mean it's not really a secret, just hadn't occurred to Molly before.
BoredMan
Maintaining the Agenda is our top priority
Fixed, thanks for the edits.
A small gift costs us nothing. As to the focus - it's only valuable if it's used.