That doesn't force a redemption plot if you don't want one, regardless. The option's there, but that doesn't mean it gets taken.
Maiden in Grey (Exalted/Worm)
- Thread starter TPK
- Start date
I think if you're on the edges of the Shadowlands, where it and "Normal" Reality start to overlap each other, then you end up in the Normal World at Dawn, but if you're still deep in the Shadowlands you will be stuck there until the next time Dawn rolls around.
I wouldn't be surprised if someone corrects me soon though. My Lore isn't the best.
Well, if it is Exalted zombies, then they can't be active during the day... Err, if Earth Bet's sunlight affects the undead the same as UCS. Which it admittedly might not.
Or if this is a shadowland then they are in the Underworld during night and returns to
pheonix89
Wants to be Seven Of Nine
- Location
- North American Plaguelands
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Maybe. Thing is, she doesn't have any UMI, so just spend a WP and that's that. (Yes, game mechanics, but so is Join Battle being the ultimate social PD, and Taylor actually mentioned that IC.)
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
A shadowland is where Creation (or Earth Bet in this case) overlaps with the Underworld. During the day, the shadowland is treated as Creation, and any living being leaving during the day enters Creation. During the night, the shadowland is treated as the Underworld, and any living being leaving at night enters the Underworld. If you are undead, you always enter the Underworld upon leaving a shadowland, unless certain Charms are used. (Remember, all undead except the most mindless have some Charms, and the mindless ones can be commanded through Charm use.)
TPK
Hello, friend.
Willpower use doesn't flares your anima like that.
Last edited:
No. Only motes flare your Anima.
TPK
Hello, friend.
After typing that response, closing the window and checking the rulebook, checking my paper copy, and typing the response again, somehow I still missed a word.
Using willpower doesn't flare your anima.
Aaron Peori
Rest in Peace
No, but Lesser Horrors Scorned does, and motes are easier to stunt back than wp.
TPK
Hello, friend.
-- -- --
Ahead of us the snow stopped, baring the plain street and sidewalk for almost twenty feet in front of a barricade. I could see the underlying structure of it, fifteen feet tall and made from wood. It was covered in a layer of plywood, to keep it from being torn apart, and there were a few partially decomposed corpses lying just inside the cleared boundary.
They hadn't died there for the first time. There weren't any stains left on the ground like you'd find where a corpse started to rot.
"Don't move!" A man called out from the barricade, and I stopped. There was a burly man in a winter coat and hat looking over the top, and though he didn't look armed I spoke up just to make sure.
"I've got a kid here. She was alone on the street with some zombies when we found her."
Sophia kept walking, but shifted states as she stepped over a body. "Hey Mitch, it's me. Mind opening up?"
Mitch coughed into his mitt. "Shadow Stalker, hey! Glad to see you've got people with you this time, instead of stuff. Not that we don't appreciate the libations, but lives are nice too, you know?"
The man on top of the barricade didn't move, except to grab at something that I couldn't see. I was starting to feel nervous. Something about this didn't feel right, whether it was the way he moved or how his head kept twitching, but I couldn't figure out what he was trying not to look at through the muffling layers of winter gear.
The crossbow moved from Sophia's back to her hands in an easy, practised motion as she grabbed the stock with one hand, flipping it through the air to grab the handle in a smooth flip as her voice hardened into a familiar sneer that reminded me of nothing so much as the worst of my time in high school, at the beginning of my Sophomore year. "You're babbling, Mitch, but you aren't opening the door."
I stepped up beside her, and the man's attention snapped to me before going back to stay on Sophia. "Is this normal?" I asked.
She shook her head. "It better not be what I think it is." Louder, she continues, "If this is some sort of fucking power play, then somebody's getting volunteered!"
Mitch didn't say anything.
"A power play?" I asked quietly. "I thought this place was supposed to be safe?"
"Look, I'd love to let you in, but I've got to get the password." The gatekeeper protested feebly, seeming to gain strength from simply repeating others' words. "And it's against the rules to let people in without one. Keeps Empire Eighty Eight from sneaking somebody in."
I glanced at Sophia, then stepped forward as she seethed in silent indignation. "Mitch, right? There wasn't a password before Sophia left, was there."
Mitch shifted, but didn't meet my eyes, and I nodded. "Right then."
I hefted the girl in my arms and held her out to Sophia, who took her mutely.
My hands were free now, and I wanted to light them up in a serpentine display of dirty yellow power, to let my essence spill out and burn the barricade, blast it to splinters and bring the gatekeeper back so that I could kill him again. The low background noise in the back of my head surfaced into a throbbing bass voice that overwhelmed me and swept me along with it.
I leveled my hand at the guard, pointing a single finger at where he cowered behind a wooden barrier, as if that would stop me, as if my master's masters could be den-
My power twisted instinctively.
He had to pay for this.
"I'm not dealing with this." I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again I scanned the wall in front of me. The door was easy to find, one of the metal security doors. It had probably been pulled out of the frame of a house nearby.
I looked along the length of the wall and was surprised to see that it incorporated the buildings it ran through, and the adjacent structures were reduced to little more than rubble and charred wood, as if torn down and burned.
I let my hand burn hot as essence poured out of it, casting long shadows down the street behind me as I pointed to the door. "You have until the count of ten." I said, "to let us in. One."
Mitch stared at me, wide-eyed, and terror dawned on his face as he understood me. "Shit!" He squeaked, and ducked away.
"Two. Three. Four."
Sophia took a look at my hand and stepped back, jeering. "I think she means it!"
"Five. Six. Seven."
The door rattled, and I stopped counting. Was he going to open up?
"Why aren't you counting?"
"I don't want to blast through it and hit him." I explained. "If he's going to be reasonable, then I can wait for him to let us through."
Sophia took the bolt from her bow and began to use the built in crank to relieve the tension on the line. It was difficult to tell through her full face mask, but I thought she was smiling when she said, "But he's not trying to open the door any more, is he?"
It was true. "What's the hold up in there?"
"Ha! I knew it, you won't blast the door down if I'm behind it!" He jeered. "Damn capes- this whole mess is your fault, I know it! We all know it, murderers, fake heroes!"
"Fuck it." Sophia snarled. "Fucking knew this was going to happen sooner or later. I'm going over the wall Taylor, take your kid back."
But I wasn't listening to her.
I took a step forward, feeling my tendons creak and my muscles fight against each other to move. When I exhaled my anima banner flared, breaking past the dull shimmer and into a blaze of light that did nothing to illuminate the shadows I cast.
When I reached the door I stopped. My voice was normal, a small thing. "Stand back." I said.
"You can try." Mitch hissed back. "It's a steel door, so unless you want to kill me you can't just blow through it, cape!"
I shoved my fingers into the gaps where the reinforced door met its steel frame, and the metal gave, squealing and booming as I distorted the metal sheet inside the tattered facade. The wooden supports the door was attached to splintered as I heaved, and tore the mangled door out of its place in the wall, frame and all.
"Holy- holy-" Mitch was revealed as I turned my attention back to where the door had once stood. He lay on the ground, hands up to cover his face, hunched over in a picture of cowardice. Beyond him lay a section of Brockton Bay's northern reaches, warehouses and factories that seemed almost untouched, almost a perfect match for my memories.
I smiled then. "Come on, Shadow Stalker. The door's open."
Then Mitch screamed. "HELP! I'm being attacked!" and a ways along the wall, a siren began to wail.
Ahead of us the snow stopped, baring the plain street and sidewalk for almost twenty feet in front of a barricade. I could see the underlying structure of it, fifteen feet tall and made from wood. It was covered in a layer of plywood, to keep it from being torn apart, and there were a few partially decomposed corpses lying just inside the cleared boundary.
They hadn't died there for the first time. There weren't any stains left on the ground like you'd find where a corpse started to rot.
"Don't move!" A man called out from the barricade, and I stopped. There was a burly man in a winter coat and hat looking over the top, and though he didn't look armed I spoke up just to make sure.
"I've got a kid here. She was alone on the street with some zombies when we found her."
Sophia kept walking, but shifted states as she stepped over a body. "Hey Mitch, it's me. Mind opening up?"
Mitch coughed into his mitt. "Shadow Stalker, hey! Glad to see you've got people with you this time, instead of stuff. Not that we don't appreciate the libations, but lives are nice too, you know?"
The man on top of the barricade didn't move, except to grab at something that I couldn't see. I was starting to feel nervous. Something about this didn't feel right, whether it was the way he moved or how his head kept twitching, but I couldn't figure out what he was trying not to look at through the muffling layers of winter gear.
The crossbow moved from Sophia's back to her hands in an easy, practised motion as she grabbed the stock with one hand, flipping it through the air to grab the handle in a smooth flip as her voice hardened into a familiar sneer that reminded me of nothing so much as the worst of my time in high school, at the beginning of my Sophomore year. "You're babbling, Mitch, but you aren't opening the door."
I stepped up beside her, and the man's attention snapped to me before going back to stay on Sophia. "Is this normal?" I asked.
She shook her head. "It better not be what I think it is." Louder, she continues, "If this is some sort of fucking power play, then somebody's getting volunteered!"
Mitch didn't say anything.
"A power play?" I asked quietly. "I thought this place was supposed to be safe?"
"Look, I'd love to let you in, but I've got to get the password." The gatekeeper protested feebly, seeming to gain strength from simply repeating others' words. "And it's against the rules to let people in without one. Keeps Empire Eighty Eight from sneaking somebody in."
I glanced at Sophia, then stepped forward as she seethed in silent indignation. "Mitch, right? There wasn't a password before Sophia left, was there."
Mitch shifted, but didn't meet my eyes, and I nodded. "Right then."
I hefted the girl in my arms and held her out to Sophia, who took her mutely.
My hands were free now, and I wanted to light them up in a serpentine display of dirty yellow power, to let my essence spill out and burn the barricade, blast it to splinters and bring the gatekeeper back so that I could kill him again. The low background noise in the back of my head surfaced into a throbbing bass voice that overwhelmed me and swept me along with it.
I leveled my hand at the guard, pointing a single finger at where he cowered behind a wooden barrier, as if that would stop me, as if my master's masters could be den-
My power twisted instinctively.
He had to pay for this.
"I'm not dealing with this." I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again I scanned the wall in front of me. The door was easy to find, one of the metal security doors. It had probably been pulled out of the frame of a house nearby.
I looked along the length of the wall and was surprised to see that it incorporated the buildings it ran through, and the adjacent structures were reduced to little more than rubble and charred wood, as if torn down and burned.
I let my hand burn hot as essence poured out of it, casting long shadows down the street behind me as I pointed to the door. "You have until the count of ten." I said, "to let us in. One."
Mitch stared at me, wide-eyed, and terror dawned on his face as he understood me. "Shit!" He squeaked, and ducked away.
"Two. Three. Four."
Sophia took a look at my hand and stepped back, jeering. "I think she means it!"
"Five. Six. Seven."
The door rattled, and I stopped counting. Was he going to open up?
"Why aren't you counting?"
"I don't want to blast through it and hit him." I explained. "If he's going to be reasonable, then I can wait for him to let us through."
Sophia took the bolt from her bow and began to use the built in crank to relieve the tension on the line. It was difficult to tell through her full face mask, but I thought she was smiling when she said, "But he's not trying to open the door any more, is he?"
It was true. "What's the hold up in there?"
"Ha! I knew it, you won't blast the door down if I'm behind it!" He jeered. "Damn capes- this whole mess is your fault, I know it! We all know it, murderers, fake heroes!"
"Fuck it." Sophia snarled. "Fucking knew this was going to happen sooner or later. I'm going over the wall Taylor, take your kid back."
But I wasn't listening to her.
I took a step forward, feeling my tendons creak and my muscles fight against each other to move. When I exhaled my anima banner flared, breaking past the dull shimmer and into a blaze of light that did nothing to illuminate the shadows I cast.
When I reached the door I stopped. My voice was normal, a small thing. "Stand back." I said.
"You can try." Mitch hissed back. "It's a steel door, so unless you want to kill me you can't just blow through it, cape!"
I shoved my fingers into the gaps where the reinforced door met its steel frame, and the metal gave, squealing and booming as I distorted the metal sheet inside the tattered facade. The wooden supports the door was attached to splintered as I heaved, and tore the mangled door out of its place in the wall, frame and all.
"Holy- holy-" Mitch was revealed as I turned my attention back to where the door had once stood. He lay on the ground, hands up to cover his face, hunched over in a picture of cowardice. Beyond him lay a section of Brockton Bay's northern reaches, warehouses and factories that seemed almost untouched, almost a perfect match for my memories.
I smiled then. "Come on, Shadow Stalker. The door's open."
Then Mitch screamed. "HELP! I'm being attacked!" and a ways along the wall, a siren began to wail.
Last edited:
*sigh*
Mitch just had to be an idiot and piss off both the Abyssal and known Ward-aligned cape, didn't he? And now the situation's probably going to get worse.
Still, interesting chapter regarding the current situation and possible state of relations between mundanes and capes in BB. Looking forward to the next one.
This is Worm. You are surprised?
RoboRenee
Trans of gender
- Location
- FFXIV, probably
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Mitch is kinda special, ain't he? "You won't kill me, you murderer!" Can he tie his own shoes?
He also suspects a black cape for working with E88.
Edit: Or rather, gives that as a reason to be careful. That she could work with them.
TPK
Hello, friend.
That one, at least, isn't his fault. Shadow Stalker wears a costume that covers all of her skin.
That doesn't mean that Sophia's not going to kick him while he's down.
He's an idiot.
I liked the line 'as if that would stop me, as if my master's masters could be den-"
She knows what she is... or things are 'leaking'.
Oh yes, this is going to be Good!
I liked the line 'as if that would stop me, as if my master's masters could be den-"
She knows what she is... or things are 'leaking'.
Oh yes, this is going to be Good!
TPK
Hello, friend.
Fixed that, and also a font that should be there.
TPK
Hello, friend.
Somebody on SB asked, so here's a list of charms Taylor's used so far, just to get caught up. They're not in any particular order.
- Memory's Sweet Repose (custom Integrity charm)
- Crypt Bolt Attack
- Eyes Like Daggers Glance
- Second Presence Excellency
- Command the Dead
- Corpse-Might Surge
- Chains Cannot Hold
- Stubborn Monkey Hesitation
Oooooh.
Immediate guess: Lunar Danny.
Secondary guess: Infernal Danny.
Tertiary guess: Solar Danny.
Because zombie apocalypses are a prime time to Exalt as a Lunar, thinking your daughter's dead and it's partially your fault is prime Infernal material, and Solar…
Well, zombies. Plenty of opportunity for heroism.
Immediate guess: Lunar Danny.
Secondary guess: Infernal Danny.
Tertiary guess: Solar Danny.
Because zombie apocalypses are a prime time to Exalt as a Lunar, thinking your daughter's dead and it's partially your fault is prime Infernal material, and Solar…
Well, zombies. Plenty of opportunity for heroism.
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
... has she been gone so long that she needed a charm to remember her home? Or maybe it helps willpower recovery when she dwells excessively on things she's lost?
He might just be a heroic mortal, perhaps with the admin shard helping him since Taylor didn't get it.
If he is Exalted, though, Sophia's admiration suggests Lunar.
Last edited:
esseresse
R'lyth Power Make-up
- Location
- divorceville, state of depression
- Pronouns
- They/Her