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Green Sun, Black Shadows (CG/Exalted)

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Woohoo! update! Cant wait till next even if it is delayed. So what's going on with Lelouch's other souls? I've seen this stuff about Laharl as his Sun Heart Furnace soul? what's going on there and do we have any other possibilities? And has it been discussed what Lelouch's Devil Domain will be like or are we waiting longer for that decision?

EDIT: Just been rereading the beginning of the story and I noticed something interesting. From the conversation with CC and the unknown Sidereal.

He gestures at the city below. "And it will be a miracle if this place isn't a complete Shadowland in the next 24 hours. Even by forcing that moron of Clovis to collaborate this will take months of work. Unless..." He peeks at her.

"Don't look at me. The one in Area Eleven isn't mine. Go find the legitimate owner."

"Thanks for nothing then." He spats before turning the other way again.

Does that mean the Code Bearers are linked to those things cutting the Underworld off from Creation? And apparently Sidereals would be able to use them to quickly get rid off any shadowlands, stopping the Deathlords and Abyssals plans in their tracks if they can never achieve force projection beyond the Underworld.

EDIT2: Further evidence: CC mentions there's 8 Immortals, Seyrun says there's 8 foci locking the Underworld off, so C's world/Lethe has something to do with those foci's creation.
 
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Minion get! More assassin spiders is always a good thing, although I'd like to get a handle on sorcery so we can summon our own dudes instead of pestering others. And Lian ought to be helpful- being Chinese is a good cover to put her in the BK, but I'm worried that hiding the cannibalism could be tricky. Maybe send her to build up China's own resistance? Their army is laughably out of date and could use a restructuring. Giving Lian a military education and shipping her out might be a good idea.

A new Oramus charmset, eh? IIRC Earthscorpion wrote a quick excellency for him that was much more "eldritch horror" and less "mystic dreamshow." I'd love to participate, but my RL obligations have drastically grown as of late.
 
Peanuckle said:
Minion get! More assassin spiders is always a good thing, although I'd like to get a handle on sorcery so we can summon our own dudes instead of pestering others. And Lian ought to be helpful- being Chinese is a good cover to put her in the BK, but I'm worried that hiding the cannibalism could be tricky. Maybe send her to build up China's own resistance? Their army is laughably out of date and could use a restructuring. Giving Lian a military education and shipping her out might be a good idea.
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I don't think we want to support China. Remember, China is one of the three great powers, so they likely have a bunch of DB's, a connection to Heaven, and we'll be tasked to conquer them eventually.
 
Peanuckle said:
Minion get! More assassin spiders is always a good thing, although I'd like to get a handle on sorcery so we can summon our own dudes instead of pestering others. And Lian ought to be helpful- being Chinese is a good cover to put her in the BK, but I'm worried that hiding the cannibalism could be tricky. Maybe send her to build up China's own resistance? Their army is laughably out of date and could use a restructuring. Giving Lian a military education and shipping her out might be a good idea.
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Hiding her cannibalism isn't that hard. She can do that herself, because she does understand that it makes people uncomfortable. She likes normal food as much as anyone else, and she really only indulges in cannibalism if she's got a jerk who needs killing that she can seduce and draw to somewhere private.

As far as military training, it's not really in her wheelhouse, IMO. She could learn it if she was motivated to, but she's pretty much a seductive assassin rather than a general.
 
notanautomaton said:
I don't think we want to support China. Remember, China is one of the three great powers, so they likely have a bunch of DB's, a connection to Heaven, and we'll be tasked to conquer them eventually.
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Yeah, but in CG they're on the knife-edge of becoming another Britannian conquest. Pulling them one way or another is a matter of political trickery, which requires people on the inside. Lian is Chinese and Kaguya knows the princess, so we're pretty well set to turn China to our ends.

As for a connection to the Heavens... given the whole "Mandate of Heaven" aspect of Imperial Chinese rule, that might be literal. Still, that just means that twisting China to our ends is an even sweeter victory. Besides, we can't have such a large country so close be hostile.

Enjou said:
but she's pretty much a seductive assassin rather than a general.
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Excellent. She can murder the High Eunuchs that manipulate Tianzi (at least in CG canon. This'll depend a lot on how Alexander fuses the settings).
 
Peanuckle said:
Yeah, but in CG they're on the knife-edge of becoming another Britannian conquest. Pulling them one way or another is a matter of political trickery, which requires people on the inside.
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Keep in mind that it was after the roughly year long timeskip that it was the case. At the time of R1 they are confident enough to think that they can stage a "liberation" of Japan. It's only after it's clear that the EU is going to fall that the Eunuchs really decide they won't stand a chance of maintaining their rule and decide to sell their country away to Britannia for high noble rank.

If we succeed in liberating Japan and not fucking it up then the Chinese Federation is going to be in a significantly less precarious position in regards to Britannia. That and the fact that Britannia is going to be having even more problems due to the various Celestial Exalts doing things at home and abroad makes them unlikely to ever surrender to Britannia. Of course, the fact that Xingke is likely to go Solar and quite possibly succeed in his coup because of it is something else to consider...

Lian is Chinese and Kaguya knows the princess, so we're pretty well set to turn China to our ends.
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IIRC Kaguya and Tianzi (who is the Chinese Empress, not princess, by the by) became friends over the R1-R2 timeskip, as Kaguya was getting political asylum in China at the time. So they don't know eachother yet, or at least not as well.
 
Erm...

I ordered 2E core, 2E: Sidereals, and 2E: Abyssals.

Before they arrive, could somebody give me a rough overview of which parts of them I should ignore and how to adapt them to the quest's homebrew?
 
Enjou said:
I don't think there's any noted homebrew changes for those Exalt types.
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Alright, so that's a load off my mind. Still, does the corebook or either of the splatbooks I just ordered have any blatantly stupid/game-breaking/canon defiling idiocy in there, like with the first two chapters of the Infernals book? Complete and total newcomer to actually playing Exalted here.
 
Alexander89 said:
Second, I have finally decided to begin in earnest the "Oramus Charmset Project", where I will gather people for a joint project to create a 2.5E playable Yozi charmset of Oramus, inspired by the work of Revlid (Isidoros, Metagaos, SWLiHN remake, etc). if you want to leave a legacy before the advent of Exalted 3ed that will be used by a lot of people around the internet this is your chance! This will start, again, after the 26 of April with an announcement on the Exalted threads of SV and SB.
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It begins...

PS: New post tomorrow.
 
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Lake Kawaguchi 1.1
  • Threadmarks
    • Peanuckle said:
    A new Oramus charmset, eh? IIRC Earthscorpion wrote a quick excellency for him that was much more "eldritch horror" and less "mystic dreamshow." I'd love to participate, but my RL obligations have drastically grown as of late.
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    The offer still stands if your RL now is more lenient.
    ====

    September 15th

    "Ne, ne. Lelouch?"

    You raise your head from the documents and look at Milly. Not right at her eyes though: recently you have noticed that when you do it people stare back...and don't stop unless you physically go away. Surely some sort of annoying after-effect of your ability to see Essence. "What is it Madame President?"

    "I'm planning a two-days trip to Lake Kawaguchi for the whole Council and-"

    "I'll pass."

    "Nuu.." Mily pouts. "You didn't even let me finish!"

    "Sorry, but I am busy with that other business." You reply, going back to your documents.

    "And is Kallen. While Rivalz has his work." She crosses her arms. "With only Shirley and Nina it will be 60% less fun!"

    "I can't help but notice you didn't include yourself, so the 'fun' part is clearly only from your viewpoint." You say dryly.

    Uhm, isn't the annual meeting over the Sakuradite's Global Distribution being held at Kawaguchi those days too? Even if it's only a farce to further Britannian's international bullying, with all the added security the girls will be able to relax without fear.

    {====}
    ​
    September 17th​

    "-And this is the cafeteria." You tell C.C. You have decided the time was right to introduce her to the Black Knights so now you're giving her a tour.

    "They make pizza?" She instantly asks.

    "Sure, every Saturday evening: if you manage to eat ten one after the other the first nine are free." You deadpan, only to cringe when the greenette's eyes start sparkling with greed. "I'm joking. Sheesh woman, is pizza all you care about? It's not healthy."

    "No need to worry bo-Zero." She corrects herself at the last second. Mask or not mask, you have one hell of a glare. "As long as it is edible I can eat anything and not gain an ounce." Well, that's awfully convenient. "Also, pizza is the best food in the world. Even sweeter than the ambrosia of Gods. I would know, as I once managed to steal a sip of it."

    "Buuuulshit! I refuse to believe anything created by mortals can be better than refined prayers! That's just not how things work!"

    Seyrun's protests aside... "You stole ambrosia? From a God I presume?" You raise an eyebrow. "That took balls."

    C.C. just smiles in a mysterious manner. Alas, you don't care enough to press further. Locating a certain redhead you walk towards her. "Kallen."

    "Zero." She replies dutifully before looking at C.C. following after you. "Who's she?"

    "This is C.C." You introduce her. "She is trouble with certain people from the Britannian army so she decided to join us. I can personally guarantee for her." You walk next to Kallen, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Please watch after her."

    Before Kallen could answer Leila calls you from the Mobile Base, a worried tone in her voice. "Zero! You have to see this!"

    "I'm in front of the Lake Kawaguchi Convention Center hotel. The hotel-jackers have identified themselves as the Japan Liberation Front." The announcer's voice comes from the TV as you walk inside, your fellow Infernals, Leila's subordinates and other Black Knights watching it. Kaguya, you note, has a thunderous expression. "The members of the Sakuradite Allocation Meeting, most notably Chairman James, were taken hostage together with several tourists and hotel employees." The screen changes to show a group of Britannians on their knees, held at gun point by Japanese soldiers.

    When the camera shifts to show Milly, Shirley and Nina among the hostages your glare harden.

    "This footage was taken by the perpetrators. The leader of the group claims to be Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe of the now disbanded Japanese military."

    "Wretched imbecile!" Kaguya slams her fist on the table. "How dare he!"

    "You know him?" Yelena asks.

    "Yes, even if I would rather not." Kaguya hisses. "Among the bad apples of the JLF he's the worst." She takes out a cellphone and makes a call. "Katase-dono? Are you seeing it?" She listens before snarling. "What do you mean you knew nothing about it?! He's your subordinate, it's your duty to keep him on a leash!" She ends the call and angrily tosses the cell away. Lian catches it and puts it on the table. "Kusakabe will get everyone killed and Britannia will shove all the blame to the Japanese. We have to do something!"

    "Not to mention, the representatives from the EU are here too." Claus Warwick comments, scratching his head. "If we let them die...well, that would be bad."

    'Britannia's policy is to never make concessions to terrorists.' You reflect. 'However, considering there are hostages from all over the world Clovis is likely to hesitate before ordering an all-out attack, both for fear of public repercussions and hope to gain political favor with the relevant parties.' If it was someone like Cornelia they would have walked all over the hostages. Once again you're glad to have left that fool alive: the loss of reputation for killing a member of the Imperial family was worth it.

    The only question, now, is how to do it. Just saving Milly and the girls would be enough for you, but there must be some way to take advantage of it.

    [] Write-in.

    ====
    Learned:

    Seeing Is Blindness (Ebon Dragon - 8 XP, 3 Days)

    In-Training:
    Dexterity 4 (10 days left) (7 Xp not yet paid)
    Intelligence (7 XP not yet paid, 24 days left)

    Fourth-Soul Devil Domain (9 XP not yet paid, 5 days left)
    Nemesis Self Imagined Anew (Ebon Dragon - 8 XP, 2 Days)
    Impossible Dragon Constitution (Oramus, 8 XP, 2 Days)
    Flesh of Horrible Hallucinations (Oramus, 8 XP, 2 Days)
    Living Paradox (Oramus, 8 XP, 3 Days)
    By Pain Reforged (Malfeas, 10 XP, 4 Days)
    Scar-Writ Saga Shield (Malfeas, 10 XP, 4 Days)
    Preposterous Molding of Zero (Oramus - 8 XP, 2 Days)

    Current: 134 Xp
    Total acquired: 337 Xp
    ====

    Who remembered about this part of the show? :p
     
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    • I'm honored by the cameo of my omake. :D

    On what to do, not sure yet. We have quite many options with our absurd amount of Celestial Exalts, but we shouldn't assume that the opposition is simple mortals. This could actually be a trap by some Sidereals for example, or we just might have bad luck at running into Britannian DB rescue operation. Or that bad luck will be arranged by the Sids.
     
    Yeah we need to assume Sidereal fuckery here.
    Possibly Abyssal fuckery but Sidereal bullshit seems the most likely...

    Thus, we need to be sneaky.
     
    Alexander89 said:
    Who remembered about this part of the show? :p
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    I remembered this and wondered if you were going to go through with it or not, given how things have changed.


    Now, as to dealing with this, I can see two routes so far.

    1. Do like in canon - go as Zero, and convince both Clovis and the JLF to let us in through the front door. Then once we're in we have our forces slaughter the JLF like in canon, while our demons murder the fuck out of the leadership while we're talking to them. Might be good to use Eldritch Secrets Mastery to make them think we're a Dragonblooded in case they check. (which makes us dangerous to them, but not anathema so not that dangerous) Or a mortal, but if anyone tries Unnatural Mental Influence on us and we resist it'd at least be likely suspected we're an enlightened mortal that can use Essence. Bust out the hostages, use the opportunity as a PR coup for the Black Knights, and also better our relations with the E.U. for saving their people.

    2. Go in as our persona of "Eric Granfield", and talk to Clovis (or whoever's in command there) and convince him to let us go in through the tunnel with an elite spec-ops team we have with us. Or just use Eldritch Secrets Mastery to convince him we're Dragonblooded, and then reveal we've got a few bound demons at the ready and we could quietly kill off the tunnel defense force and infiltrate the building. Just in case he suspects we're not really who we say we are (he might have checked, he might not have) handing over a little fabricated evidence regarding C.C. might be good - a few photos of her along with a high ranking Britannian official (Lelouch in disguise) to both gain trust and sow further dissent. The downside here is that it might be harder to get good PR for the Black Knights, at least not without discrediting the Granfield persona.

    I'm leaning towards the first option myself - the right use of Charms could make it work. Clovis would see himself as having nothing to lose by letting us try (either we succeed and the decision to let us try looks good for him, or we fail, die, and he loses a thorn in his side). Plus Euphemia is probably in there, so he might be a bit desperate.

    I'm not sure we need to assume Sidereal involvement here. This is an event that was supposed to happen in canon, so Fate is running as it should by and large, in spite of the errors we introduced. Not much reason for them to involve themselves.

    We also need to consider that Milly is not helpless. She may take action on her own if she feels that she needs to, and her familiar at least is likely on the inside with her. There are limits to how she could deal with things, though. She might at least use emotion effects to keep people calm.
     
    Yeah, canon here was pretty much a solid win on all fronts, so it'd be great if we could replicate that. Can we contact Milly via invisible demon?
     
    Enjou said:
    I'm not sure we need to assume Sidereal involvement here. This is an event that was supposed to happen in canon, so Fate is running as it should by and large, in spite of the errors we introduced. Not much reason for them to involve themselves.
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    Erm. Oramus kind of put out a lit cigar on a not-insignificant portion of the Loom a little while ago, and any analysis of the original course Fate was taking or the rough geographical epicenter of said cigar-burn would show that Japan is where things went down.

    Remember, this iteration of the Second Usurpation resulted in all 300 Solar Exaltations being sealed, and after the Shogunate and the Great Contagion, things rolled right over into some semblance of Earth's ancient history. This kind of massive Fate-glitch probably hasn't been seen for millennia, because there haven't really been any factions in play with both the desire and the ability to fuck with Fate on this grand a scale.

    It doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to me that a single Sidereal might be sent to identify the source of the error and provide on-site correction if things don't come back together on their own. Just so they would find out sooner rather than later if it turned out that some sort of Ultimate Bullshit Raksha was turning Japan into its private Wyld-tainted playground, or a Pattern Spider had gone completely off its nut, or something similarly apocalyptic.

    I doubt there's a trap, per se, but I'd definitely assume that there's a Sidereal hanging out in the background to monitor how the Loom is adjusting to the removal of Zero from its original framework.
     
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