Ravana Quest [Exalted/Aberrant]

Havocfett · Feb 20, 2014

Scraped from here.

Introductions are in Order

Your name is Ravana. You don't have a last name, slum-dwellers don't get those on Za-Vant. A last name meant you were, somehow, people. Maybe kinda shit people, maybe not very important people, maybe rather oppressed people, but people with last names counted, people gave a shit about them.

No-one gives a shit about slum-dwellers unless someone makes them.

Your brother tried to make them. You didn't, not really. Which was why he was in a prison somewhere, waiting to be shipped off-planet to some dark prison, and why you were here, walking to a hangar, preparing to participate in the Seven Canyon Race.

It's the biggest racing event within three star-systems. Twenty four racers, two hours, eight hundred miles of the most dangerous canyons on the planet. The mortality rate regularly exceeds twenty five percent.

The prize is one favor from the Highest and Most Exalted of Za-Vant's Nine Monitors. A favor from Rama himself. Most winners ask for money, or a title, or a place at his side, or some shallow-ass bullshit.

You plan to ask for Indrajit's pardon.

Anyways, you've arrived at the hangar, which means you've spent more than enough time being introspective. There are things to do, people to impress, preparations to perform, audiences to woo, and a pardon to win.

Only question is, where do you start?

[ ] Head straight for your ship, you don't need to check out the competition. (Weight: 1x)
[ ] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against. (Weight: 1.2x)

Index:

Act One: The Race Act Two: The Swordsman Act Three: In Which a Drug Addict Meets God Infodumps

Havocfett · Feb 20, 2014

Rules:
We're using rolz.org for dice rolls. Follow this link. Roll what I tell you, when I tell you and please do not roll pre-emptively. The roll command is #roll[dice]

Options will often be weighted, meaning that votes for them count for more. Weighted Options are those that play to one of Ravana's Virtues or Principles. Or that get a cool enough stunt to make me want to see them more.

The system is basically exalted, albeit, tweaked.

I now have a tumblr you can ask me questions on. Maybe something doesn't make sense and you don't want to clog up the thread, maybe you have a question and the thread's been dead for a bit, maybe shit's really busy and you don't want me to miss it, maybe you want to ask about my OOC plans or ask how well you guys are doing or w/e. Whatever it is, you can ask the question in my Askbox here.

Stunting and Channeling:

I encourage you guys to write up fluff describing the upcoming posts, or options you're voting for (Called 'Stunting'). Doing this gets you Stunt Dice depending on how impressive the write-in was, and can result in options gaining more weight due to the strength of the stunt. It also allows you to pick a Principle or Virtue to Channel.

Channeling is simple, when writing a stunt (Or just during a vote), you can vote to Channel a Principle that fits the situation (You can use a stunt to justify a channel, making it possibly to get one to fit somewhere it normally would not!). Doing this gets you extra dice on the roll or check equal to the rating of the Principle or Virtue.

All posts will come with 1 stunt dice assumed. Depending on how in-thread chatter and character development goes, some options will have extra stunt dice or other bonuses (Like a Virtue Channel) attached, which will be clearly marked. One die stunts regain 2 motes (Only for non-Nova PCs) in addition to all other benefits.

2 Die stunts regain either one willpower or 4 motes (Only for non-Nova PCs) in addition to all other benefits.

3 Die Stunts will only be earned from very impressive write-ins. I'll tell you if a write-in is 3 Die worthy as soon as possible, so that it can affect the vote. They regain either one willpower, 6 motes (For non-nova PCs), or one Experience.

I'll do my best to incorporate at least part of every stunt into updates, though obviously edited or cleaned up a bit.

Using Charms or Powers:

A Characters Charms and/or Powers will be listed in their sheet from here on out. Using charms will normally be included in a vote when it comes up, however you can write in charm use whenever you'd like. If you write-in an Infernal Excellency, you'll also need to justify it according to the excellency's thematics and say how many dice you're going to buy with the excellency. (If I've forgotten to add the dice cap please tell me and I'll put it back in ASAP)

Charsheets:

Ravana Chandra

Sovereign of Theion:
The Infernal Exalted Ravana
Skills and Styles Thoughts on other characters Principles, Urge, and Virtues Statline and Charms
- Skills: I am unparalleled at flying and aerial daredevilry, a skilled brawler, gunslinger, and negotiator, surprisingly competent at scavenging and emergency medical attention. I am also a brilliant bluffer, bragger, and story-teller.
  
  All around, I am fucking awesome, without major weaknesses (No matter how much Surpanakha disagrees). I'm an Infernal Exalt and have a demonic advisor grafted to my soul. I am no longer just good at what I do, I am the fucking best at it.
  
  Styles:
  Foolish Daredevil Style: Give a man a spaceship, and he'll do something phenomenally stupid the moment he realizes people are watching. Normally the tendency to show off is beaten out of pilots rather quickly, either through near-miss crashes, actual crashes, or simply a decent driver's ed program. For some, however, the need to show off never leaves them, and only heightens when stakes are high and an audience watches with bated breath. Practitioners do the dangerous, the stupid, and the awe-inspiring time after time in a constant dance with death. (Mastered)
  Wild Alleycat Style: This style is far from a formal one, mostly used among street rats and other gutter scum in big cities. The savage, frenzied attacks and dirty tricks its practitioners use speak of vagrants with little to lose and much to gain. As well as unarmed combat, its form weapons (such as they are) are knives or improvised weapons, and it cannot be used in armour. (Mastered)
  Back Alley Bandage Style: Where people crowd together in teeming cities and spaceports, fights are sure to follow. Not everyone has the coin for a proper doctor, though. This style is used by the poor and desperate, a compendium of sloppy techniques sufficient to (usually) prevent the deaths of its patients. Practitioners follow their gut and their experience to do whatever is necessary to save lives, distasteful though it may be. Treatment rolls made with improvised equipment always qualify for this Style. (Novice)
  Street Scavenger Style: Street rats and gutter trash, vagabonds and squatters. Even amongst the stars, urban homeless are little but vermin under the feet of those better off. The skills such folk learn to survive a life of poverty and danger are consolidated into this Style, many variants of which exist, some even formalized into actual street-schools. Practitioners call upon urban rumours and gutter-gossip to find the choicest havens and begging spots, and set aside trifles like dignity or disgust in favour of survival, adopting dietary habits that make soylent green look swanky. (Proficient)
  Mendaciloquent Maverick Style: The truth is often stranger than fiction. Where, then, is the harm in embellishing it a little? It doesn't matter what planet you're from, anyone can be bedazzled by shifty bargains and tall tales, and this Style serves as a compendium of such techniques from across the galaxy. Liars and con-artists to a man (or woman, or squid-person), practitioners learn to talk fast and twist the truth, bluffing and blustering with half-truths and hearsay to lead their audience to the conclusions they want them to reach. (Proficient)
  Inferno Volley Style: Quantity has a Quality of all its own. Especially when it comes to blaster fire. This style is used by gunslingers, fighter pilots, smugglers and a certain type of barely trained thug. It focuses on putting as many rounds downrange as possible, because if you can't hit anyone, you might as well hit everyone. Its form weapons are blasters of all types as well as any ranged flame-based weapon or charm. (Novice)
  Infernal Monster Style: This style is a brutal, vicious thing, made not for self-defense, or dueling, or honorable combat, but gratuitous, gruesome murder. Its crushing blows, mindless rages, and unceasing barrages speak not of some disciplined martial artist or proud champion, but a barely-restrained Monster, one ready and willing to lay waste to all in its path at the slightest provocation. Infernal Monster Style can be used with unarmed blows, natural weapons, and improvised weaponry. It cannot be used in conventional armor. As the name hints, this is a valid style through which to learn Infernal Monster Charms and applicable expansions. (Proficient [Coadjutor Taught])
  Firebrand Demagogue Style: (Presence, Expression)
  A woman stands in the streets, cursing the ills of foreigners to all and sundry. An alien demands the release of political prisoners despite the policemen staring them down. A man recites his last sermon to a rapt audience, even as he's publicly flayed. Practitioners of this style are implacable demagogues, preaching what they deeply care about even in the face of the most horrific of opposition. (Novice)
- Thoughts on Other Characters:
  
  Abhas: Abhas is a dragon-blooded, only a mediocre flier, but his magic makes him truly dangerous in a race. Fortunately, most of it only applies if you're behind him, which you don't particularly plan to be. He gets super-pissed if you call him Abha because it's a girls name, so you do that all the time. He's actually a pretty OK guy, when you're not riling him up. (So, you know, basically never)
  
  UPDATE: You learned that he's now a wanted man and is missing. More of your friends are disappearing and you don't know why.
  
  Harmeet: Harmeet's actually pretty great. Child prodigy, like, thirteen or something ridiculous. Brilliant little girl, tech savvy, precocious, utterly unprepared for this. Most of her races so far have been strictly nonlethal, and even the Vindicar Open she participated in didn't end up having an actual death. She's a hell of a technician, and she's a wonder with explosives, but she can't actually compete with you in a race. you're a little worried about her. She's something like a little sister to you.
  
  UPDATE: You didn't manage to contact her when you called Chandra. You're not sure what's up there?
  
  Rax: Rax's a mantis-man (Not really, but goddamn if you're going to remember the names of a bunch of alien species. So mantis-man it is), his ships all angles and pointy things. To be honest, you don't know a lot about him. He's opportunistic, swears at things a lot, and is fun to shoot the shit with mid-race. A couple of times he questioned why you were rejecting his 'caliginous advances' (You don't know what those are), but you're not sure why or what the fuck those are. He's an OK racer, mostly known for never giving up, some truly stellar punch-ups off course, and that one time he volunteered for scientific testing of some sort with disastrous consequences.
  
  Marcelina: Marcelina is an uplifted squid, in one of those nifty exoskeletons they tend to wear when they're not in the water. She's not an amazing flier, but she's competent and doesn't get tired. It's honestly a little freaky. She's been nursing a grudge since that incident after the Vindicar Open, but you're not sure if she still has it. Squid body language is beyond you.
  
  UPDATE: She beat you at Ahmed Pasha's race due to circumstances beyond your control but has kinda gone missing since then?
  
  The Cyborg: The Cyborg. You don't know shit about her, beyond, well, 'she's a fooking cyborg', obviously. She's clinical, quick-witted, an OK flier but utterly ruthless. Her ship is sleek, and though it seems unarmed you've seen it explode into gunbarrels and flying murder often enough not to be fooled. She's utterly willing to just kill the competition to increase her odds, and she's probably got the highest kill-count in the race. She's got a couple droids as pit crew or whatever the hell.
  
  UPDATE: She tried to kill Harmeet and successfully mauled the fuck out of her and shot up your racer before Rax took her down. You don't know what the fuck.
  
  Blando: Blando McBlanderson from Bland City, Blanderia, Planet Bland and his gaggle of giggling waifus. He's a mediocre flier, but the stupid girls are willing to take shots for him with wild abandon, and he always seems to pull some way to pull a near-win or win out of his ass. You have never seen an original thought out of this fucker in his life, just tired, re-hashed speeches and a bizarre inability to pick which of his constant orbital of willing girls he wants to actually try to have a relationship with. He has an actual name or whatever, but you can't be arsed to remember it.
  
  UPDATE: Rax killed him. Kiiinda your fault.
  
  Ilana: One of Blando's Waifus, some mechanic with a love-hate-vaguely misogynistic dependence thing for Blando. You're not totally sure how she qualified for the Seven Canyons, but evidently she did. You figure she'd actually be a decent mechanic and tolerable racer if she'd just embrace the tomboy thing, kick Blando in the nuts, and strike out on her own.
  
  She won't, of course, so she gets no respect from you. UPDATE: Correction. She did. And she totally got mad respect from you and an exaltation for her trouble. Too bad it, uh, caused you to crash in a horrifying manner.
  
  UPDATE UPDATE: Oh, shit, you're still alive. She's probably not going to be happy about you letting Rax kill her boyfriend.
  
  Chandra: If anyone truly threatens your victory in this race, if anyone's a real threat to you, it's Chandra. He's skilled, disciplined, has a great ship, and has this entire 'cooler than liquid nitrogen' routine that kind of infuriates you. You've been competing with each other basically since you both joined the racing scene during the Vindicar Open. He's actually a pretty decent guy, not that you'd ever admit that to his face. The two of you are basically the only racers in the circuit (Harmeet not included, on account of being 13) who haven't either killed or directly caused the death of another racer.
  
  UPDATE: He's taking care of Harmeet for you, but Draupadi was at his house instead of him, what's up with that?
  
  Indrajit: Your brother, basically the coolest dude. He is a political activist and civil rights advocate, bright, literate, compassionate and driven. He was an inspiration to all around him. Then, you know, Rama arrested him on bullshit reasons for daring to publicly object to him and had him thrown in a black prison somewhere off planet. You joined the race to free him.
  
  UPDATE: You failed to free him in the race. ;_; Fortunately, you have a second chance at this entire thing!
  
  Surpanakha: Your coadjutor and kind of a huge asshole. She was some sort of demon noble in the past, knows a shitload of martial arts, and is absurdly abusive all the time. She's also super good at economics and politics and stuff. She's stuck in your head at the moment and offers advice and commentary. She doesn't think much of you.
  
  UPDATE: She is actually a huge prick. But is beginning to tolerate you more. She isn't calling you a shitstain as much, at least.
  
  Rathex Nasreddin: Another racer on Vant's circuits. Nowhere near your level. Generally an OK-ish dude with a ridiculously huge family. You never interacted much, but he's helping you with all the bullshit at Ahmed Pasha's so you guess he's cool?
  
  UPDATE: His sister is a pirate lady and a student of Surpanakha. Be afraid.
  
  Lady Nasreddin: Pirate lady with really important connections. She's a former student of Surpanakha which probably means she's a murderous psychopath. Seems positively inclined towards you, put you in contact with the Lodis.
  
  Draupadi: She was a member of the inner circle of Indrajit's social movement, alongside Indrajit and Mohini. She's, like, twenty six or so, a couple years older than you, and is a Brahmin descended from a fundamental or something. During your first meeting you hit on her while she was looking for Indrajit, so she ripped the engine block out of your then-bike with her bare hands. She doesn't like you much. You convinced her to send help for the clusterfuck at Ahmed Pasha's estate anyways, though.
  
  UPDATE: You put her in contact with the Lodis and told her that you're gonna go save the district. Also you got a bunch of sweet dresses as a gift for her and you need to actually go give them to her.
- Ravana's Principles:
  5 Dot: Live
  4 Dot: Fly; I Must Save Indrajit
  3 Dot: Drugs (Severe Addiction); Harmeet is the Little Sister I Never Had; Chandra (Friendly Rivalry); I Will Break the Nine Monitors; Theion (Reverence); I Am the Lord of Lanka; Surpanakha (My Psychotic Cannibal Mentor); That Antagonistic Hero Thing
  2 Dot: Abhas is fun to torment; I Live for the Applause;
  1 Dot
  
  Ravana's Urge:
  Find the Scourge of Adorjan and attend the Allthing Infernal
  
  Ravana's Virtues:
  Compassion: 3 Conviction: 3 Valor: 2 Temperance: 1
- Ravana Character Sheet
  Sovereign Caste Infernal
  Essence: 3 Mote Pool: Personal: 17 Peripheral: 38
  Soak: 6B/4L Health Levels: -0x5,-1x2,-2x5,-4x2,Incapacitated
  Backgrounds: Coadjutor 4, Manse 4
  Torment: Metagaoiyn
  Urge: Find the Scourge of Adorjan and attend the Allthing
  Dicecap from Charms: Attribute+Ability
  
  Charms:
  Charm Concept: Servile and Subordinate Characters
  
  Though they exist at his sufferance, not all know their place as subjects of the Empyreal Chaos. Those that do are servile, possessing Principles of awe, terror or loyalty to the Infernal, or having Motivations encouraging service to the Exalt's will. Subordinate characters are those who are members of a social group led by the Infernal. With an appropriate Policy, a group may be servile, or it may be subordinate if it belongs to another, larger group led by the warlock. Characters and groups that would be mutually servile or subordinate are instead treated as neither.
  
  CHARM CONCEPT: DESIRES
  In the context of the Isidorite Charmset, desires (or desirous Principles) are those Principles which express the desire to perform some physical activity toward an existing physical subject – the desire to eat something, the desire to fight someone, the desire to copulate with someone, the desire to sleep somewhere, etc. "Be the best swordsman in the land" would not qualify as a desire, while "defeat the best swordsman in the land" would. Similarly, an Principle of love would not qualify as a desire, while one of lust would, as it represents a physical activity. Isidoros is little-concerned with the abstract. A suitable Motivation can also be considered a desire, though an Urge never can.
  
  First Theion Excellency: This charm allows you to add dice or successes to a roll, for the cost of 1 mote per dice or 2 motes per success, as long as that role falls within or is stunted to be within the thematics of Theion. This charm may never be used to enhance a role that the infernal is conflicted about due to a conflict of interest with one of his Principles, Virtues or his Urge. Cannot be used with intentional subtlety or in a restrained manner, and must always add at least half the maximum possible dice when used.
  
  Theion's thematic keywords are: Prideful, Grandiose, Majesty, Demonstrate His Power, Self-Important, Allies look Upon Him in Awe, Enemies Look Upon him in Terror, Vast, Self-righteous, Respect he is Due, Eternal and Immutable, Intense, Authority, Unquestionable Eminence, Glorious Signs, Holy Splendor, Command, Demand, Lead Others, Inevitable Magnificence of One's Rule, Unswerving Conviction, Overbearing Arguments, Ostentatious, Magnificent, Self-Assured.
  
  Palate Without Limit:
  Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
  Keywords: Combo-OK
  Duration: Indefinite
  Prerequisite Charms: None
  Putrefying offal and fine steak each have their merits, contemplated alongside all other flavours by the petal-tongues of the All-Hunger Blossom. While this Charm is active, the Exalt gains all the benefits of Keen Taste Technique and Unsurpassed Taste Discipline (Exalted, pp. 225-226). He may also receive the benefits of Keen Scent Technique by "tasting the air", tongue flickering out to sample the all-spice of the breeze. These benefits apply to rolls using Abilities other than Awareness.
  
  Additionally, the Infernal's palate is refined beyond mortal comprehension, allowing him to ignore deleterious effects stemming from flavour or smell. Actual taste-based sensory rolls may even reveal basic details normally restricted to other avenues of perception, allowing the Infernal to determine someone's height and eye colour by licking up an errant drop of their sweat.
  
  Burning Gaze of the Firmament
  Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
  Keywords: Combo-OK
  Duration: Instant
  Prerequisite Charms: None
  Looking down from his heights to survey the glories he has unleashed, the Empyreal Chaos reminds himself that his order is for the greater good, even for those who must be destroyed. This Charm enhances sight-based sensory rolls to perceive the presence or nature of a thing that is the subject of one of the Infernal's Principles, adding (Essence) successes to relevant rolls. It cannot be applied if the target has higher permanent Essence, if the Exalt's Principle is one of fear or servitude, or if the target has somehow extracted an admission of weakness from the warlock during the current scene (including beating him into unconsciousness).
  
  Should Theion's gaze fall on something offensive to him, his wrath is sudden and ready. After using this Charm to notice something, the Exalt may choose to transform a relevant Principle into one of righteous anger or hatred. It is testament to the Shining Tyrant's forbearance that he did not give up his love for the Wayward Sun during the Rebellion. The fires of the King of All Kings could not burn their angriest for his greatest betrayer
  
  Ultimate Sovereign Fundament:
  Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
  Keywords: Combo-Basic, Servitude, Sorcerous
  Duration: Indefinite
  
  The Empyreal Chaos is elevated above all other titans, his splendor rising up on winds of praise by the subjects he rules. Use of this Charm requires a Motivation or Urge focused on founding or ruling a group, enhancing that drive in the following ways:
  
  • The MDV modifier it provides in social combat becomes (Exalt's Essence + 1), and when it adds a bonus against a form of influence, the Exalt may channel his Conviction to perfectly dodge it.
  • The warlock need not suppress Compassion to take actions that further the Motivation or Urge.
  • Stunts that resonate with it provide bonus successes rather than dice.
  • The first time in a scene that the Infernal takes an action opposed to the Motivation or Urge, he gains 1 Limit.
  
  An Essence 3+ repurchase sharpens the Exalt's dedication. Channeling Conviction to enhance resonant stunts provides bonus successes instead of dice. If a resonant stunt enhances a social attack, it is converted into unnatural influence that costs at least one Willpower to resist. The Sorcerous strength of the Charm is upgraded to resist countermagic as a Sapphire-level spell.
  
  An Essence 4+ repurchase changes the Charm's Type and Duration to Permanent, and its Cost to —, and being broken by countermagic merely disables the Charm for a scene. It affects the chosen Motivation or Urge permanently and irrevocably until a new one is chosen, at which point he must choose to enhance his new one or a remaining Motivation or Urge. If he lacks an appropriate driving goal, this Charm affords no other benefit than fulfilling prerequisites for other Charms.
  
  Transcendent Desert Creature:
  Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Permanent
  Keywords: None
  Duration: Permanent
  Prerequisite Charms: None
  
  Cecelyne is always home within herself, finding sanctuary in her eternal wastes. An Infernal who learns this Charm gains the following powers as permanent enhancements to his competence:
  • He suffers no negative effects from exposure to a place of desolation, including penalties, environmental damage and even visual impairment.
  • All foraging rolls that would normally have a difficulty of 4+ have a difficulty of 1 instead (see Exalted, p. 139). This does not make impossible rolls possible in a place where the Storyteller determines absolutely nothing edible can be found.
  • The total penalty for starvation or thirst cannot rise above -3 within a place of desolation. The Exalt's perfected metabolism no longer produces waste of any kind, including sweat.
  • All mundane attempts to track the character automatically fail with zero successes unless the character allows himself to be tracked. Magically assisted tracking efforts suffer an external penalty of the Infernal's Essence rating instead.
  • He adds his Essence rating to the difficulty of all efforts to notice him with an Awareness roll in a place of physical desolation (spiritually desolate places as defined by Withered Soul Wastes don't count for characters who know that Charm). This benefit may be turned on and off at will.
  
  Indomitable Hedonism Drive
  Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Permanent
  Keywords: None
  Duration: Permanent
  Prerequisite Charms: None
  Some compare Isidoros' endless stampede to that of the Silent Wind. They are fools. The Black Boar's rampages are driven by his passions and his greed, and once his eye is set on something it is impossible to convince him to let it go. The Infernal treats any of his desires as his Motivation for the purposes of calculating MDVs and stunt ratings. However, the Infernal cannot roll to regain Willpower from sleeping unless he has satisfied at least one of his desires since he last slept – if he has done so, he gains one automatic success on that roll.
  
  ~~Green Sun Nimbus Flare~~ Blue Nova Coronal Eruption
  Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
  Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
  Duration: Instant
  Prerequisite Charms: Insignificant Embers Intuition or Burning Gaze of the Firmament
  The Infernal's blows spark and seethe with the searing white radiance of Theion's true heart, burning opponents. Blue Nova Coronal Eruption may enhance any physical attack whose target is (Essence) yards or less away. If the attack inflicts any levels of damage, this Charm then inflicts two additional levels of unsoakable lethal damage from fiery tongues of Primordial Essence erupting from the wound. This damage is applied after the damage for the wound transmitting it, but still in Step 10 of attack resolution.
  
  Invincible Crown Halo (x2)
  Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2;
  Type: Reflexive (Step 7)
  Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
  Duration: Instant
  Prerequisite Charms: Ultimate Sovereign Fundament
  
  Warriors with the temerity to assault the Empyreal Chaos find their weapons and traps quailing in terror, turned aside by the very law of the world. The warlock's anima surrounds him in a white halo, a space of visual authority that lends him natural soak equal to his (Charisma + Essence) , plus the collected Magnitude of all servile mortals who witness the attack (servile Essence users count as 100 mortal witnesses for the purposes of this Charm).
  
  Weapons and other sources of harm that fail to inflict any levels of damage on the Infernal shiver and moan in fear of retribution until the Exalt's DV refreshes twice after the attack. This adds a bonus success to rolls to find the source of attack if it is hidden, though it may instead impose a -1 external penalty to appropriate actions at the Storyteller's judgment (for instance, when the attacker must roll to remain still and quiet to keep from disturbing a delicate gossamer bridge).
  
  The Exalt may add +5m to the Charm's cost, extending its duration to the rest of the scene.
  
  Teeth Without Number
  Cost: — ; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Permanent
  Keywords: None
  Duration: Permanent
  Prerequisite Charms: Palate Without Limit
  
  The world is nothing less than a grand buffet for the All-Hunger Blossom. He can match its infinite variety with as many mouths and more. While this Charm's prerequisite is active, attacks the Infernal stunts as bites inflict lethal damage, and he may spend a single mote in Step 8 of such an attack to count 10s twice for the purposes of determining damage. Additionally, the warlock may reflexively alter any part of his body he wishes into a fully functional mouth - he can shift his fingertips into feeder tendrils, widen his pores into lamprey mouths, open baleen filter-slits in his feet, and so on. These Obvious transformations do not impede normal uses of that body part, though reversing them requires a miscellaneous action.
  
  Normally only crushing clinch attacks can be made as bites, but this Charm's transformations also allow the warlock to punch with canine-tipped knuckles or kick with a leg that splits open into a crocodile-mouth. Though his mouths usually leave no trace when not manifested, if the warlock suffers any degree of hunger penalties with Palate Without Limit active, others can detect traces of shifting could-be craws beneath his skin with a (Perception + Awareness or Medicine) roll at difficulty (6 – hunger penalty), minimum 1.
  
  SPRAWLING MARSH INDULGENCE
  Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Permanent
  Keywords: None
  Duration: Permanent
  Prerequisite Charms: None
  Metagaos' body is a place of stinking and lush fertility, where life is lost within life. Upon learning this Charm, the character is altered in the following permanent ways:
  • A natural affinity for the subtle movements of plants allows him to ignore penalties to movement or perception inflicted by obstructive vegetation, and the difficulty of any attempt to physically bypass or scale such obstacles is reduced by (Essence), to a minimum of one.
  • He can ignore any Poison effect or environmental hazard stemming from vegetation. This immunity also applies to toxins and hazards produced by raw Wood Essence, such as the native magic of Wood Elementals or the anima flux of Wood Aspect Dragon-blooded.
  • Any attempt to perceive him while he is using ambient vegetation to help conceal his location or presence has its difficulty increased by (Essence ÷ 2). This increase is doubled if he has not moved since his DV last refreshed.
  • His immune system becomes a welcoming and mutable thing, allowing him freely ignore the effects of any mundane Sickness currently afflicting him. The external symptoms of such diseases manifest as normal, and they remain just as contagious, but the warlock does not suffer. Such diseases can still be cured.
  
  King of All Kings Numen
  
  Cost: 7m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
  Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Sorcerous
  Duration: One action
  Prerequisite Charms: Ultimate Sovereign Fundament
  
  Though he may go amongst them, it is not for his beloved subjects or hated enemies to touch the Empyreal Chaos. This Charm expands the Infernal's anima from his body, creating a shimmering barrier of light. This allows him to ignore all penalties to his Parry DV, and functions as a Blockade Movement action against all who attempt to come within three yards of the warlock, preventing them from engaging him in close combat. The Exalt rolls (Charisma + Presence) rather than the usual dice pool to prevent a foe's approach.
  
  An Infernal may learn the Court-Sealing Anima Ambit with an Essence 3+ repurchase, allowing him to add +2m to the Charm's cost. The aura extends to (Essence + 2) yards around him, preventing others from entering the area or moving within it. Servile and subordinate characters may move freely within the area as long as they remain at least three yards from the Exalt and are not subject to one of his negative Principles. Ranged attacks that pass through the expanded aura suffer an external penalty of (Exalt's Charisma), regardless of their target.
  
  Imperishable Majesty Stance
  Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2;
  Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
  Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
  Duration: Instant
  Prerequisite Charms: King of All Kings Numen
  
  The Empyreal Chaos is an eternal, unapproachable beacon that stretched his glory across vast infinitudes to rule everything. Activating this Charm flashes the Infernal's Caste mark brightly, a brief blaze like a torch. This release of raw, cosmic might pushes away a physical attack that is not unexpected, perfectly parrying it even if it is unblockable. This Charm is subject to the Imperfection of the Shining Tyrant.
  
  Imperfection of the Shining Tyrant
  One who is the Universe Emperor should carry a majesty that is reflected in his subjects. The Imperfection of the Shining Tyrant adds +3m to the cost of Charms invoked in scenes that do not involve sufficient subordinates to witness their glory. This applies when, to the Infernal's knowledge, there are not at least (Exalt's Essence) Magnitude servile mortals. Each individual servile or subordinate Essence user counts as 100 mortal witnesses for this purpose.
  
  Greater Imperfection of the Empyreal Chaos:
  The King of All Kings rests his power on a throne that oversees the universe. Even the subjects he must destroy are components of his greater glory; a perfect order that can be shattered only by the titan's rejection of his own authority. On learning Theion Cosmic Principle (see Return of the Scarlet Empress, p. 209), the Imperfection of the Shining Tyrant is more keenly felt.
  
  To exploit this flaw, the Primordial must be maneuvered into adopting an Principle reflecting abnegation of authority over someone he formerly ruled. This usually requires transforming an existing Principle for a subset of a larger group. For the rest of the story, the titan cannot use Charms suffering the Imperfection of the Shining Tyrant to attack or defend against the subjects he has rejected. Contempt or murderous wrath are not rejections of authority.
  
  Greedy Gawping Grip
  Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
  Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Touch
  Duration: Indefinite
  Prerequisite Charms: Teeth Without Number
  Metagaos latches on, and refuses to let go. So do all things become part of him. This Charm targets any object the Infernal is in physical contact with and owns, skin stretching and unnatural teeth clamping around it to fuse it with his flesh. The warlock no longer needs to occupy his hands to manipulate the object, and treats it as part of himself for all purposes, allowing him to channel Touch effects through it. It cannot be removed except by severing it with an appropriate Crippling effect. If wielded as a weapon it gains the Natural and Martial Arts tags and ignores improvised weapon penalties (though it is not treated as an unarmed attack for Martial Arts Styles).
  
  The warlock can even manifest the mouths of Teeth Without Number through the object, allowing him to warp its structure into inorganic mandibles or open a fleshy maw in its surface. Close combat attacks made with a fanged object are lethal and treated as bites. The Infernal can treat fanged weapons as though they had the Clinch tag, though this halves their damage bonus. This Charm deactivates if the object leaves contact with the Infernal.
  
  Arousing Indelicate Passions
  Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
  Keywords: Combo-OK, Emotion, Stackable
  Duration: One scene
  Prerequisite Charms: Indomitable Hedonism Drive
  Isidoros leaves heady need in his wake, rousing more than just rabbles. The warlock chooses one of his desirous Principles, rendering it Obvious to anyone who can perceive him while this Charm is active. This applies an Emotion effect derived from the context of the desire (lust inspires lust, hunger inspires hunger, etc) to any characters who directly interact with the warlock or perceive him indulging in that desire. This unnatural mental influence lasts for one scene unless resisted for a single point of Willpower, and applies the normal penalties to inappropriate activity (Manual of Exalted Power: Alchemicals, pp. 147).
  
  By Pain Reforged
  Cost: 1hl; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
  Keywords: Combo-OK
  Duration: One scene
  Prerequisite Charms: None
  Pain puts life in perspective, pushing aside all other distractions. This is the simplest truth Malfeas has learned from
  his imprisonment within himself. Use of this Charm allows an Infernal to ignore all negative effects associated with bashing damage she has suffered. Such injuries do not cause wound penalties or slow her down in any way. If reduced to Incapacitated by bashing wounds, she does not fall unconscious, but remains fully aware as further bashing trauma converts to lethal. Aggravated and lethal injuries penalize characters protected by this Charm normally. When this Charm ends, all suspended penalties resume immediately.
  
  Infernal Monster Form
  Cost: 6m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3; Type: Simple
  Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
  Duration: One scene
  Prerequisite Charms: Raging Behemoth Charge or two of the following (By Pain Reforged, Teeth Without Number, Wind-Born Stride, Weight Exaggerating Ego Density, Sea Within Veins Prana)
  The Infernal's eyes close and his face assumes a curiously sad expression, as if he almost regrets the carnage about to follow. When they open, they burn vivid emerald and his muscles swell impossibly, increasing his overall size and mass by 10%. Style compatible armor resizes with him, but most clothes tear unless very loose-fitting. Use of this Charm is compatible with Lunar tattoos. The martial artist gains the benefits listed below.
  • Every unarmed attack inflicts piercing damage and grants the monster a cumulative dot of Physique for the scene. This dot does increase the damage of the attack that provided it. No combination of Charms including Infernal Monster Form can provide more than (Essence) additional dots, and this bonus is treated as a dice bonus from Charms. This Physique gain occurs even if the attack misses but only occurs once per attack regardless of the number of targets.
  • He can parry lethal and ranged attacks unarmed without a stunt.
  • He decreases the Speed of all unarmed attacks by -1, to a minimum of Speed 3, provided he attacks once rather than as part of a flurry.
  • His body expands metaphysically as well as physically, causing him to exist outside of fate and as a creature of darkness native to Malfeas for the duration of the Charm. These states carry all the usual advantages and disadvantages. In addition to basic removal from fate, the character's presence imposes automatic failure on all thaumaturgical divination methods (such as astrology) used within a mile, causing them to return a single disturbing result: "The monster is here."
  
  The Infernal Exalted may reflexively enter Infernal Monster Form as an innate power rather than a Charm activation whenever they activate a Shintai Charm. This has the usual cost, but ignores the restrictions of the Form-type keyword. While Infernal Monster Form is active, all Shintais gain the Rage keyword, but that keyword's usual effects do not apply.
  
  Many-Armed Wrathful Deva Method
  Cost: 3m (1wp); Mins: Essence 3, Melee 4; Type: Supplemental
  Keywords: Combo-OK, Stackable, Obvious
  Duration: One scene
  Prerequisites: Infernal Monster Form
  So much destruction, and only two knuckled instruments to inflict it with. The Monsters frustration is all but palpable. This Charm can be activated when Infernal Monster Form is active, to enhance any attack that benefits from the Speed-reduction provided by that Charm. The Infernal's anima immediately flares to the 8+ level, if it was not already higher, and manifests within itself a set of fists. These clenched anima-fists cannot be used to manipulate anything; instead, they reduce any multiple action penalties afflicting the Infernals unarmed attacks by one, and increase the number of attacks he can make while still benefiting from the Speed-reduction of Infernal Monster Form by one. The Infernal may stack up to (Essence) activations of this Charm at once.
  
  If the Infernal knows One Hand Fury, these anima-fists take on the same appearance as his demon-hand. Further, if he makes a mundane flurry of unarmed attacks after reaching his full complement of anima-fists, he may spend a single point of Willpower in Step 1 of his first attack, before spending any motes on Charms enhancing that flurry. All but (Essence) motes committed to this Charm are released (all motes are released if the Infernal is under a Rage effect), as the anima-fists solidify into real arms, attached to the Infernal at his spine, waist, elbows, wrists, or anywhere else they will fit. These fists provide the usual benefits, and disintegrate at the end of the scene.
  
  At Essence 6+, an Infernal who knows Joyful Cessation of Restraint may increase the number of unarmed attacks in that magical flurry by spending two motes for each additional attack. He may add one such unarmed attack for every set of anima fists he has active past the first five.
  
  Clenched-Fist Krodha Soul
  Cost: - ; Mins: Essence 3. Melee 5; Type: Permanent
  Keywords: Native, Overdrive
  Duration: Permanent
  Prerequisites: Many-Armed Wrathful Deva Method
  
  Every punch he has yet to throw lies dormant and bubbling in the Monsters soul, screaming of bruises uninflicted and bones unbroken. This Charm grants the Infernal an empty Overdrive pool with a capacity equal to the motes he currently has committed to its prerequisite. The Infernal gains one offensive mote whenever his DVs refresh while under a Rage effect. If he wishes, he may spend this mote immediately upon acquiring it; if he does so, then for the rest of the tick he gains two offensive motes whenever he makes an unarmed attack which benefits from the Speed-reduction of Infernal Monster Form. However, he then loses all offensive motes from his Overdrive pool at the start of his next action, before his DVs refresh.
  
  If the Infernal solidifies his anima-fists, the capacity of the Overdrive pool this Charm provides becomes fixed at (Essence x3) motes for the rest of the scene, and he immediately gains that many offensive motes as his anima flares to totemic.
  
  Hijacked by Hunger
  Cost: — ; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
  Keywords: None
  Duration: Permanent
  Prerequisite Charms: Greedy Gawping Grip
  
  Masts become stems and fenders fangs, when the spores of the All-Hunger Blossom hitch a ride. This Charm enhances its prerequisite. The Infernal can already use it to target object-scale vehicles, but doing so now lets him make piloting rolls reflexively, grants him (Essence) automatic successes to any roll to control the vehicle, bypasses the minimum traits usually needed to properly pilot it, and allows him to repair it using magic that would heal his body. Ramming attacks performed by the vehicle already count as bite attacks, and can be enhanced by the relevant Charms - with this Charm, the final damage inflicted on the Infernal's vehicle by its own ramming attacks is reduced by (Essence), to a minimum of zero.
  
  Additionally, Greedy Gawping Grip can be used to target unintelligent or willing mounts, provided they have been infested with the Infernal's self-seed. Such mounts benefit from the effects describe above, and can make their own bite attacks through manifested mouths.
Chandra:
Skills and Styles Thoughts on other characters Principles and Virtues
- Skills: I am an superhuman racer, pilot and swordsman, a great gunslinger, sneak, detective and parkourist, a competent scavenger, emergency medic, and a passable conversationalist.
  
  All around I am an excellent combatant, above average investigator and functional in other aspects of my life. I'm not very empathic or expressive, and the realm of politics and paperwork frustrates and confuses me. I have recently gained powers over time as a result of becoming a Nova that I do not understand and have increasing control over.
  
  Styles:
  
  Mantis Style: A sword style often practiced with paired weapons; Mantis Style is characterised by rapid movement, aggressive focus and a highly linear approach to combat; advancing relentlessly on a selected target, striking with explosive speed and never letting up. Form weapons include all forms of sword, as well as similar bladed weapons, and it cannot be used in heavier than medium armour. (Mastered)
  
  Leaf on the Wind Style: Some pilots steer. Others soar. And a very few dance, like leaves on the wind. Quick thinking and cleverness are greater assets than any hyped-up ship or reckless stunt, and a canny pilot can turn his opponents against themselves. Practitioners of this style use crafty flying and precise manoeuvring to avoid combat and get ahead, often working the other racers in their tactics as they trick or trap them into disqualifying themselves or each other. (Mastered)
  
  Stoic Sentinel Style: Oft-seen amongst bodyguards and bouncers, practitioners of this style are unmoved and unreadable, wearing impenetrable masks of apathy or cool professionalism. Little will ruffle their feathers, attempts to appeal to their emotions fall short, and reading their intentions is an exercise in futility. (Proficient)
  
  White Veil Style: Across the galaxy, from the gleaming skyscrapers of capital-worlds to the seamy offices of rusted spaceports, many patrons wish their rivals dead. They turn to those of exquisite skill for such deeds. Practitioners of this Style are unremarkable and unnoticed as they make their way towards targets, working patiently and methodically towards the right place and time to strike. When their moment comes, their work is quick, quiet and conclusive, using subtle weapons that leave no trace to end lives pitilessly and professionally before fading away unseen. (Proficient)
  
  Inferno Volley Style: Quantity has a Quality of all its own. Especially when it comes to blaster fire. This style is used by gunslingers, fighter pilots, smugglers and a certain type of barely trained thug. It focuses on putting as many rounds downrange as possible, because if you can't hit anyone, you might as well hit everyone. Its form weapons are blasters of all types as well as any ranged flame-based weapon or charm. (Novice)
  
  Back Alley Bandage Style: Where people crowd together in teeming cities and spaceports, fights are sure to follow. Not everyone has the coin for a proper doctor, though. This style is used by the poor and desperate, a compendium of sloppy techniques sufficient to (usually) prevent the deaths of its patients. Practitioners follow their gut and their experience to do whatever is necessary to save lives, distasteful though it may be. Treatment rolls made with improvised equipment always qualify for this Style. (Novice)
  
  Wall-Running Gymnast Style: Parkour, free-running, the wingless flight... there are many names for the fast, agile style of movement beloved of a certain class of agile gymnast. Traceurs tumble and toss themselves around with reckless abandon; vaulting over obstacles, leaping across gaps and dodging around anyone who tries to bar their way. This Style cannot be practiced with any equipment that incurs a mobility penalty. (Proficient)
- Thoughts on Other Characters:
  
  Ravana: Ravana was one of your few friends. You'd met as kids on some stupid-ass adventure, and you'd been rivals ever since. He was one of the few people who kept in touch with you after you discovered the wonders of being an inscrutable coolguy and being mysterious at everything, even if it was in his weird-ass antagonistic way. He was a drug-addicted adrenaline junkie with a bizarre heroism streak and what might even be called ideals, held together by absurdity and a surprisingly well groomed pompadour.
  
  Now he's dead, and you are going to murder the shit out of whoever's responsible.
  
  Indrajit: Indrajit is an inspiration. A kind of annoying inspiration, he never liked your tendency to default to lethal force or your kleptomaniacal tendencies or your completely ironic love for puppets, but an inspiration nonetheless. His cause was something worth believing in, something you could see the truth of in your upbringing and everyday life. You'd drifted away from him a bit over the past few years, and he had a hard time staying oddly close to you like Ravana managed to. He did know about Yashar though, and seemed to approve.
  
  You plan to free him. Maybe because you liked him, maybe because he's Ravana's brother, maybe even because you believe in the cause. You don't know. The introspection stuff's kind of always been beyond you.
  
  Yashar: You're, uh, not totally sure what your relationship with Yashar is. You kind of rocketed into each others lives one day in a rush of adrenaline, sword-fighting and bizarre personality conflict, and have been uh, something ever since. She's constantly pushing you to come out of your shell, you're constantly pushing her to find something to look forward to besides her next fight. She belittles you, you annoy her by refusing to respond. You spar whenever she's on-planet, she's a dragon-blood, far more skilled than you, though that may have changed, but she always bolstered you with magic during the spars. Her way of being fair, you think.
  
  You're both basically the only person in the galaxy the other really opens up to. And, well, that counts for something.
  
  Harmeet: Harmeet...you've been kind of estranged from Harmeet for a while. It wasn't a conscious thing, just, as you closed yourself off from everyone else she kind of got included. She's a good kid, though. She's smart, picks up on stuff quickly, empathic. She has a near-mystical affinity for technology, and she learned ethics from Indrajit right up until he was arrested and it kind of shows, once you get her away from the explosives and advanced technology.
  
  I mean, you weren't exactly planning on becoming a dad, uh, ever, but as these things go...
  
  You couldn't really ask for a better adopted child.
  
  She deserves better, though.
  
  Ilana: She killed Ravana. Maybe. Kind of. It's hard to blame her after actually talking about it with you, and she actually went out of her way to help you and Abhas and save your asses. You don't know anymore. Maybe you should have told her that you were gonna disappear before legging it off of Vant.
  
  Abhas: A young Dragonblooded in the Pratihara Dynasty. He's your former employer, got you your original advertising contract with Pratihara. You didn't keep in contact much, though, and then your relationship was strictly business. He's a bit of an oddity in his family, spends too much time hanging out with low-caste like you, maybe was a bit of a black sheep as a result. He's good people. Looks out for his own, tries to do his best for others, took the blame for everything that went down at the Pratihara Manse. He had to abandon everyone and everything he knew, his wealth and lover and family to run away with, well, you and Harmeet.
  
  You don't want him getting hurt.
  
  Rax: You...don't know anyone by that name. Should you?
- Chandra's Principles:
  5 Dot: Survive.
  4 Dot: I Gotta Find Out Who Killed Ravana; Oh Shit I'm a Parent; Fly
  3 Dot: I Need to Free Indrajit; There's Always Time for Puppetkind; Yashar (It's Complicated); I Laugh in the Face of Danger; Conceal, Don't Feel
  2 Dot: I Fucking Hate Time Bullshit; Cigarettes (Addiction); That Stoic Coolguy Thing; Abhas (Professional Relationship); Cyborg (Going to murder her).
  1 Dot:
  
  Chandra's Virtues:
  Compassion: 2 Temperance: 3 Conviction: 2 Valor: 3

EarthScorpion · Feb 20, 2014

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against.

Only a fool wouldn't check out our adversaries. We're good - hell, we're fucking awesome - but who knows what nasty little tricks some rich flyboy might be preparing?

Vanathor · Feb 20, 2014

havocfett game? Works for me!

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against.

fitzgerald · Feb 20, 2014

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against. (Weight: 1.2x)

Koden · Feb 20, 2014

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against.

notgreat · Feb 20, 2014

This looks interesting. Should I read the thread that has this character? I did read the short you wrote, I'm surprised that the weight is in scouting (probably the smart decision) rather than the one where "he hadn't been paying attention to the other racers".

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against.

Still, this is a quest, so we go with the "smart" decision.

Olive · Feb 20, 2014

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against.

SirLagginton · Feb 20, 2014

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against.

Strypgia · Feb 20, 2014

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against.

It's never bad to have more intel. Much better than going in blind. You don't survive long on the streets without knowing to scope out what you're up against.

Mishie · Feb 20, 2014

[x] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against.

Sure we're an amazing pilot, but well, better safe than sorry with our brother on the line.

Aleph · Feb 20, 2014

Eheheheheheheheheheh...

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against.

havocfett said:
Ravana:
Skills: I am unparalleled at flying and aerial daredevilry, a skilled brawler, gunslinger, and negotiator, surprisingly competent at scavenging and emergency medical attention. I am also a brilliant bluffer, bragger, and story-teller.

All around, I am fucking awesome, without major weaknesses. I'm a normal person, don't need that transsapient crap to be good at what I do.

Modest too, I see. And completely unbiased, I'm sure.

PhoenixFTW · Feb 21, 2014

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against.

Seems like the obvious choice to me.

Yun · Feb 21, 2014

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against. (Weight: 1.2x)

kinglugia · Feb 21, 2014

[X] Go scope out the competition, explore the hangar, maybe talk with someone. It's a good idea to know what you're up against.
...Do we need to stunt this?
Should we?
Also: Exalted. In Space?
Now I gotta see who's the aliens.

Aleph · Feb 21, 2014

kinglugia said:
...Do we need to stunt this?
Should we?

You stunt for rolls. havoc hasn't asked for a roll, and said to roll only what he tells us to, after he tells us to do so.

kinglugia · Feb 21, 2014

Aleph said:
You stunt for rolls. havoc hasn't asked for a roll, and said to roll only what he tells us to, after he tells us to do so.

Ah, okay. Thanks.

Havocfett · Feb 21, 2014

Meet the Competition

You stride into the hangar, swagger in your step, boots ringing on steel floors, announcing your entrance to all and sundry. Some heads swivel.

Good.

You scan the hangar. It's an open floor plan, all the ships, their pilots, their crews, and their hangers on are visible to the rest. Theoretically it discourages sabotage and the like, and encourages you to put a face to the people you're going to be shooting at shortly.

A quick once-over of the crowds lets you dismiss most of your competition. Frankly, the vast majority of the twenty-four racers are simply irrelevant in the face of your skill. Oh, they have nice ships and neat tricks, transhuman augments or turbochargers or whatever, but those won't make up for their blatant inferiority to you. You outright dismiss sixteen racers and their crew.

The other eight...

Three of them are mediocre fliers. They're not good, but they're enough to be a threat, especially in a race as chaotic as this one.

Closest to you is Marcelina, hanging out with her crew by that weird, bulbous, starfighter she's been flying since you joined the circuit. She's a squid, in one of those nifty exoskeletons they tend to wear when they're not in the water. She's not an amazing flier, but she's competent and doesn't get tired. It's honestly a little freaky. She catches your eye, raises some of the flaps on her armor, and waves her tentacles in what's either a silent hello or a reminder that she doesn't want you anywhere near her after that incident after the Vindicar Open.

Rax is way on the other side of the hangar. He's a mantis-man (Not really, but goddamn if you're going to remember the names of a bunch of alien species. So mantis-man it is), his ships all angles and pointy things. To be honest, you don't know a lot about him. He's opportunistic, swears at things a lot, and is fun to shoot the shit with mid-race. A couple of times he questioned why you were rejecting his 'caliginous advances' (You don't know what those are), but you're not sure why or what the fuck those are. He's an OK racer, mostly known for never giving up, some truly stellar punch-ups off course, and that one time he volunteered for scientific testing of some sort with disastrous consequences.

Harmeet's gang (Well, Harmeet and a couple of her friends who watch her matches and a doll you expect has a small bomb in it) are in the slot next to your ship. Harmeet's actually pretty great. Child prodigy, like, thirteen or something ridiculous. Brilliant little girl, tech savvy, precocious, utterly unprepared for this. Most of her races so far have been strictly nonlethal, and even the Vindicar Open she participated in didn't end up having an actual death. She's a hell of a technician, and she's a wonder with explosives, but she can't actually compete with you in a race. you're a little worried about her.

Another four are adequate fliers. You're sure they're very impressive to people who suck ass, and they may even trip you up here, considering the nature of the race, but you're pretty solidly superior to them.

Abhas is a dragon-blooded, and currently having what you're sure is a wonderful conversation with some kind of lizard person. He's only a mediocre flier, but his magic makes him truly dangerous in a race. Fortunately, most of it only applies if you're behind him, which you don't particularly plan to be. You definitely don't want to get under his gun-sights, though. Him and his crew are currently in frantic conversation with the next person worth mentioning. He gets super-pissed if you call him Abha because it's a girls name, so you do that all the time. He's actually a pretty OK guy, when you're not riling him up. (So, you know, basically never)

The Cyborg. You don't know shit about her, beyond, well, 'she's a fooking cyborg', obviously. She's clinical, quick-witted, an OK flier but utterly ruthless. Her ship is sleek, and though it seems unarmed you've seen it explode into gunbarrels and flying murder often enough not to be fooled. She's utterly willing to just kill the competition to increase her odds, and she's probably got the highest kill-count in the race. She's got a couple droids as pit crew or whatever the hell.

Then there's these fuckers. Blando McBlanderson from Bland City, Blanderia, Planet Bland and his gaggle of giggling waifus. He's a mediocre flier, but the stupid girls are willing to take shots for him with wild abandon, and he always seems to pull some way to pull a near-win or win out of his ass. You have never seen an original thought out of this fucker in his life, just tired, re-hashed speeches and a bizarre inability to pick which of his constant orbital of willing girls he wants to actually try to have a relationship with. By some miracle, one of the girls, some mechanic with a love-hate-vaguely misogynistic dependence thing for Blando is actually a qualifying racer. Her name's Ilana, and she'd actually be a decent mechanic and tolerable racer if she'd just embrace the tomboy thing, kick Blando in the nuts, and strike out on her own.

She won't, of course, so she gets no respect from you.

All of one other competitor in this race has skill worthy of your respect. Chandra, your old rival. His ship, a beaten up Star Asp, is attended on by two mechanics. He's shooting the shit with, uh, some chick with a sword, you don't know who, a couple feet from it. By the looks of things he's doing his entire 'I'm cooler than liquid nitrogen' routine, sunglasses included. If anyone truly threatens your victory in this race, if anyone's a real threat to you, it's Chandra. The two of you (And Harmeet, but you really don't count her in this statistic) are the only racers here who haven't either outright killed or caused the death of another racer.

You turn and head for the snack table, but as you approach you notice movement out of the corner of your eye.

It's a pilot, all pale and short and blonde haired. No-one important, you remember watching him race. You'd dismiss him, but he isn't by his own ship or hanging out, no, he's got a multi-tool and what looks like a swiftly-cooling plasma manifold in hand and he's walking away from Abhas' ship. Sabotage, blatant at that, and the stupid dragon-blood's too busy chatting up a psychotic robot to notice.

You should do something about it. But...Indrajit's life is on the line here. Can you really afford to?

Pick One

[ ] You can't risk losing this race. Let the sabotage go. (Conviction, 1.2x)
[ ] You aren't going to get someone killed for a minor advantage. Warn the dragon-blood of the sabotage. (Compassion, 1x)
[ ] You're not going to tell him, but you are making sure that pale-face over there doesn't go and sabotage your ship. (1x)
[ ] Write-In

Pick One

[ ] Talk to one of the other racers.
->[ ] Shoot the shit with Harmeet. She's kind of great. (1.2x)
->[ ] Your rival is here. You aren't taunting him. This cannot continue. (1.5x)
->[ ] Talk with Rax, he's at least generally amusingly foul-mouthed. (1.1x)
->[ ] Talk to someone else [Specify] (1x)
[ ] Go meet with the crew, last minute check ups and shit. (1x)
[ ] Cause an Incident (Detail. 1.3x)
[ ] Write-in

Roll 4d10, Putting Puzzle-Pieces Together

fitzgerald · Feb 21, 2014

[X] You can't risk losing this race. Let the sabotage go. (Conviction, 1.2x)
[X] Tell him just as the race is about to start. Gleefully, and with much enjoyment

[X] Talk to one of the other racers. (1x)
->[X] Shoot the shit with Harmeet. She's kind of great. (1.2x)
---->[X] Warn the kid about the blatantly lethal racers,

EarthScorpion · Feb 21, 2014

[X] You can't risk losing this race. Let the sabotage go.
[X] Shoot the shit with Harmeet. She's kind of great.

Man, if the fucking Deebee can't keep an eye on his own ship, he doesn't deserve to have a chance. He's the one with the bullshit massive transhuman integral line auguments. If he hasn't self-enhanced with a warning or diagnostic set, that's his fault. For being shit.

Though we're not an utter bastard. We'll go chill with Harmeet, and when we're there, we can drop a few hints about suspicious characters and sabotage, telling her to keep a close eye on her vessel. And we're even sober and not high, unlike the last time we talked to her. Admittedly, she might find us less funny in that case, but meh.

SirLagginton · Feb 21, 2014

[X] You aren't going to get someone killed for a minor advantage. Warn the dragon-blood of the sabotage. (Compassion, 1x)
[X] Talk to one of the other racers.
->[X] Shoot the shit with Harmeet. She's kind of great. (1.2x)

I don't want to get a supposedly decent guy (and only a mediocre flyer) killed because of some asshole going about with sabotage, plus some friendship point with a Dragonblooded could come in handy. Shame it isn't happening to the Amazing Bland Boy though (you're taking a stab at pretty much every quest ever with this aren't you?).

Harmeet sounds interesting, and I kind of want to see her expectations for the race.

kinglugia · Feb 21, 2014

[X] You aren't going to get someone killed for a minor advantage. Warn the dragon-blood of the sabotage. (Compassion, 1x)

[X] Talk to one of the other racers.
->[X] Your rival is here. You aren't taunting him. This cannot continue. (1.5x)

veekie · Feb 21, 2014

[ ] You aren't going to get someone killed for a minor advantage. Warn the dragon-blood of the sabotage. (Compassion, 1x)
Not to mention we're in this for the competition. Winning because someone else sabotaged our rival is cheap

[ ] Go meet with the crew, last minute check ups and shit. (1x)
[X] You're not going to tell him, but you are making sure that pale-face over there doesn't go and sabotage your ship. (1x)
[X] Shoot the shit with Harmeet. She's kind of great. (1.2x)
Rolz is down so:
4d10=26

Oh wait, it's back up:

EarthScorpion · Feb 21, 2014

veekie said:
Not to mention we're in this for the competition. Winning because someone else sabotaged our rival is cheap

No. No we're not.

We're in this to get our brother's freedom. And the goddamn Deebee is already cheap because he's a fucking posthuman supersoldier.

Havocfett · Feb 21, 2014

veekie said:
Not to mention we're in this for the competition. Winning because someone else sabotaged our rival is cheap

Uh, actually you're in this to save your brother from life in a horrible political prison. (Also, rolz is working)

Ravana Quest [Exalted/Aberrant]

Be, So It Is

Be, So It Is

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Games Questers Play

Silent Princess

Shadow Cabal Caerbannog Bun-Bun

Shadow Cabal Token Adult

Princess of Stabbity

Insert Witty One-Liner Here

Hora hora~

Princess of Stabbity

Hora hora~

Be, So It Is

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Shadow Cabal Caerbannog Bun-Bun

Hora hora~

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Be, So It Is