Grasp Your Destiny

[Tengu_temp]

The sun is rising slowly, dispersing the darkness of the night and illuminating the white walls, roofs and columns of Master Kalat's manor. It has been raining during the night, and the weather is slightly foggy and sleepy, discouraging those who don't have to from getting up yet. You, however, don't have that priveledge.
A strongly-built, man-like creature shaped from roughly hewn, dark red crystal marches through the mansion's halls, passing the rooms of each of the Master's students. And it doesn't shut up.
"Wake up! Wake up, solar champions! The sun has risen, and when a lord is up on his feet, so should be his retainers! Wake up! Master Kalat wants to see you!", it yells at the top of its lungs (if it even has lungs) in a rumbling voice. You might have gotten used to it already - the elemental warden hasn't appeared yesterday.

Kalat himself isn't hard to find - easily distinguishable by his green and blue robes and long, silver hair and wispy beard, the old master is sitting at a terrace, reading a book while waiting for the water inside an elaborate, portable machine consisting mostly of a cobweb of brass pipes and cylinders to boil. The manor's inner courtyard is visible from the terrace - several of the mortal guards are gathering on it currently, preparing for the morning training exercises.

(Time to introduce your characters! You are free to choose how your character's room looks and where is it located, however you want - no matter where your characters currently are and whether they're asleep or not, however, the elemental will find them.)

[kamikasei]

Gihren awakens while the elemental is still some distance away, with the result that its call serves as a gentle alarm rather than a blaring disturbance. His suite is at the edge of the manor, near to the still-misty forest and a cleared training area, making him either one of the first or last to be roused. The rooms, paper-walled in the Cilan style, are spare in furnishing though ample in extent - there is little to them but plain spaces for sleeping, eating, and studying, and stands for his weapons and armour.

It doesn't take him long to get ready once he's dismissed the warden - he's reached the point now where he can sleep through the comings and goings of the servants so long as they stick to their routines precisely, so he finds water and fresh clothing waiting in the next room after his perfunctory morning exercises - it wouldn't do to keep Kalat waiting, so he's quick about them. He's not sure he'll ever get used to having others do such things for him, but it's easier to let them than to talk them out of it, and it does give him more time to train.

Shortly thereafter he's stepping on to Kalat's terrace. It's a quiet morning in the heart of their secure manor and so he wears only a simple black silk robe and his ordinary steel sword. He'll lay the sword by if specifically asked to by the Master himself, but not for much else.

However many others may have arrived before him, Gihren ignores them - he stands waiting on the Master, and neither speaks nor sits until bidden. For those who don't know him well - which will be most of the people in the manor - he looks as if he might be annoyed at being roused so early and impatient to be done with whatever Kalat's summoned them all for; Kalat, and perhaps a handful of others, will recognize that the light in his eyes is actually a concealed eagerness to be given something to do.

[inirlan]

Nagusa's room was devoid of many objects you would expect to see in a room, the walls and furniture were all made of pure stone, as were most other things in the rather empty room, with the notable exception of the bedding, there was almost no flamable or even fragile object in the entire room. In front of the bed there was Nagusa's armor, a great and peerless wonder of the first age. It appeared to be sitting and holding a daiklave whose tip rested on the floor. The beautiful wolf pattern of the armor was mesmerizing and seemingly perfect to an astonishing degree.

This room was so empty for a good reason, dragon-blooded had a far more violent anima banner than the celestials, and a strong enough one could shred anything weaker than stone in a matter of seconds. And all of Nagusa's essence also fed his anima which combined with the fact that it was far easier to get to more powerful levels than with any other exalted he knew ment that Kalat's servants had to reinforce several parts of the mansion.

Nagusa was deeply asleep due to his extensive training the day before. The loud bellows of the elemental tore him out of his sleep. A bit of cold water allowed to completely wake up. He dressed himself and put the armor on, aided by the innate systems of said armor. After swinging his sword around a few times he put it into it's scabbard and opened the door to the balcony outside his room, balcony which gave to the inner courtyard. Nagusa casually jumped down from the 4 meters high balcony and landed a few meters from the training guards with a loud thump. He then walked torwars master Kalat and the solar that had already arrived with a slow and leasurly pace, however considering the speed enhancing properties of his armor and his natural speed, he was still quite fast.

With a slight movement he activated the mecanism to retract the helmet, which split into several part and slided down to his shoulder and higher back, letting his long blood-red hair flow freely in the soft breeze of the courtyard.

With respect he bowed for a few seconds before straightenning again, and with a voice full of curiosity and the energy of a wildfire he asked.

"Good morning Master Kalat, you wished to see us?"

[Terraoblivion]

In a bed tucked into a corner of an incredibly overstuffed room, Miko woke startled by the elemental's words. Even after two years she still wasn't quite used to that kind of noise and she usually slept in the morning. Her work took place at night and had for most of her life. Not wanting to keep Master Kalat waiting, however, she got out of the bed and began preparing.

This task was somewhat hampered by the amount of clutter in her room. In many ways it seemed more like a theater storeroom than like a place where someone lived. Racks of odd costumes lined the walls, priestly garb from dozens of cultures, modern and extinct. These were supplemented by a couple of elaborately carved wooden masks, hanging in what little free space could be found on the walls. A set of scroll stands in the middle of the room held a variety of prayer strips in several different languages, most of which Miko wasn't even able to read. Other props included staffs, censers, rosaries and other items of significance in Creation's various religions.

Despite the clutter, Miko managed to finish preparing without too much of a delay, quietly heading through the corridors from the remote wing her room was located in towards the terrace where Master Kalat usually met them. Once there, she took position next to the warrior who had entered Master Kalat's service only recently, bowing to their master and preparing to hear what he wanted them there for.

[Fri]

The elemental found Fu lying on top of one of the higher tree branch, chewing a sheet of leaf and enjoying the morning sounds and the after-rain smell with his hard hat covering his eyes.

As the elemental shouted at him, Fu pushed his hat upward and yawns.

"I'm coming." was the only thing said before he nodded, stretched himself, and jumped downward.

[Iry]

Within the room of Gregorias Furie there were only three things, or at least only three types of things. The first was a wooden bed of respectable craftsmanship and a matching wooden table without a chair in sight. The second thing was a wide variety of pillows that not only made up the majority of his bed but also served as a sleeping mask he keeps over his face and a comfy place for visitors to sit if they wished to join him for morning juice. The place might have once been a kaleidoscope of colors, but these days the pillows were mostly composed of whites, greys, and blues. The final type of thing in this room was an absolute abundance of fruit that was constantly replaced either by Gregorias himself or one of Master Kalat's servants. This was one of the few vices that he allowed to dominate his free time, when he was allowed free time.

When the crystalline elemental came calling, Gregorias tumbled out of bed and quite literally sprung to his feet with the grace of a landing crane. Donned in only his night-things, he locked the door on his way out and strolled to the wash room to cleanse himself for the day to come. This morning wash was nearly a ritualistic thing for Gregorias, and he has been known to become rather grumpy and spiteful when he is unable to keep himself clean. After all the washing was done, he pulled on his white-silken armor and gave a pointed twist to the bracer at his side. The resultant subtle hum was all that could be detected after Gregorias abruptly vanished from sight and began to make his way to meet Master Kalat.

With many of the other retainers gathered, Gregorias let the shroud of invisibility vanish as if he had been waiting in the room the entire time. Certainly it is unlikely anyone actually heard him come in. The armored man stood a perfect 6'0" within his armor, which was more of an indicator that he was slightly less than 6'0" on his own merits. The armor's white-silk mask was drawn back and away, showing off his unremarkable cheek bones and rather common looking eyes. If any culture could be said to influence his appearance it would be that of Rome, or it's Creation based equivalent. Indeed, his charcoal black hair is cut brutally short and just a bit messy, as cut it himself with a straight razor every morning.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Would anyone care for an apple?" To which Gregorias pulled forth a rosy red apple from his ever present haversack and offered it to the room in general.

[Tableface]

It takes less than a minute for Nonamé to compose himself, throw on what few pieces of his outfit he hadn't slept in, and head out his door. Behind him he leaves the mussed, heavily-scorched room that used to be the most well-decorated in the house, and as he stalks grimly through the halls--looking for all the world more like he was about to head off to a shootout rather than a meeting with the Master--he gives a brief wave and a half-hearted smile to the woman who used to be head of housekeeping. Her reply is less friendly.

He emerges onto the terrace with his hat hanging off the back of his neck, and hikes his goggles up to his forehead as he acknowledges Master Kalat with a tilt of his head.

[Tengu_temp]

"Greetings, my students." Master Kalat smiles gently. "May I interest you in a cup of tea? I believe I managed to create a method that pronounces the essence of the leaves' taste much more than traditional ways of brewing."
So that is what the contraption is for. No matter how many of you accept or decline (the drink does taste a bit better than normal high-quality tea, but it takes a refined taste to notice the difference), he continues.
"You are probably wondering what is the reason I called for you, what is the task I want you to perform." He gives everyone a brief, but deep look with his green eyes - and not just ordinarily green, as tiny emerald stars can be seen glowing in his pupils, a mark of a Chosen of Secrets. "I shall not make you wait any longer, then. There is a certain, extremely rare plant, the flowers of which possess exceptional healing capabilities - in the hands of a capable healer they make curing many illnesses a triffle. This plant, however, blooms only once in several years, letting out but a single flower as the sun rises - the same flower, unless preserved, withers as the sun goes down, its medical properties lost forever.
I am sure you can reasonably guess what am I going to say now."

[kamikasei]

Gihren accepts a cup, but cannot tell if the master's contraption has achieved its end. All the tea since he arrived at Kalat's manor has been superior than anything he ever drank in his previous life, and distinguishing between their merits is a skill he considers unbefitting for him to cultivate.

"Where is it, how soon will it bloom, and who will be trying to keep us from reaching it?" he asks quietly when Kalat gives the opening.

[inirlan]

Nagusa politely refused Gregorias' offer and waited for the master to speak.

When he offered a cup of tea, Nagusa nodded and took a small cup of tea. He was not as interested in tea as Kalat, but he had a sufficient knowledge of the subtilities of tea to notice a slight difference in the quality, his way of drinking the tea had a traditionnal and formal feel to it, coming from his education as a member of house Cathak.

After Kalat talked about the presumed goal of their next mission and Gihren said what they all thought, Nagusa added in a calm tone.

"Or already got said flower in his possession."

[Tengu_temp]

"It grows on the hillside of a nearby mountain - once you ask all your questions, for I have no doubts you will have many questions, I will show you its location. The plant has blossomed this very morning, and while you should be able to reach it and return before night, there is another reason why you shouldn't procrastinate: the smell of its flower attracts many wild beasts and spirits. Should any of them devour the flower before you reach it, your effort will be for naught."

[Tableface]

Nonamé glances back and forth between the other assembled Chosen, and asks the only question that he believes matters.

"What're you going to do with it?"

[Tengu_temp]

"The only noble thing." Master Kalat takes a sip of his tea. "The flower will be used to make medicine, for those who need it."

[inirlan]

Nagusa raised an eyebrow at Nonamé's question. To him Kalat's intention were obvious, but it was not his place to question the other students, instead he asked master Kalat his own question.

"How far is said hillside? If it's near enough I could be there in a few minutes."

[Terraoblivion]

Miko bowed her head lightly as she accepted the tea. She took a short moment to savor the smell before she began sipping of it. The result was underwhelming, as far as she could tell it was just ordinary, good tea. She didn't say anything as she listened to their master talk, however.

"Would we have the time to return it to you or do we have to learn the procedure to preserve it?" The question was asked in a soft tone of voice, almost as if she was not trying to draw attention to herself as she asked.

[Tengu_temp]

"It should take you around six hours to reach the mountain on foot.", the Sidereal answers Nagusa's question. "I am sure your armor lets you cover that distance in a much shorter time, but there are several matters you have to consider. Do you possess the means to share that speed with others? It might not be wise to arrive there alone, only to face an overwhelming challenge. Furthermore, the route you need to take leads through the forest, and I would rather avoid setting it on fire." Master Kalat is aware of what happens when the young dragonblooded spends more than a bit of Essence.

"You should have enough time to deliver the flower to me." He nods towards Miko. "In order to be sure not to waste it once you manage to obtain it, however, I will supply you with a jar of special alcohol. As long as it's kept inside, the flower will remain fresh, even without access to sunlight."

[Terraoblivion]

Miko nodded her head at the master in reply to his explanation. "I see, Master. Even so we should be on our way just to be safe. I have no more questions." Keeping her position, she looked over the others to see if they had anything more they wanted to add. She had traveled much and didn't know them as well as she should. Especially the topknotted warrior, Gihren she thought it was. He was new and she had been away when he arrived. He seemed like the honorable, dutiful sort, in some senses a lot like herself she supposed.

Quite the contrast to Gregorias. There was something wrong with that man. He seemed like the ghosts she worked with in some senses, out of touch with normal human behavior and utterly without humor even as he went through the motions of it. She knew him better than the others, though, having worked with him as he restored the armor left behind by her previous incarnation and simply because he had been around longer than anybody else. She understood him though, they were all different and some of them had backgrounds more different than others. He was probably like her in having one of the more unusual ones.

[Iry]

Finding none who wish to partake of his apple, he takes a sizeable bite out of it and sets it atop a nearby table to resume eating after he finishes asking questions. He does accept the tea, but rests it in his open palm to allow it to cool to a more comfortable temperature.

"Isn't it clear what he plans to do with the flower? Why, our Master has found himself a young lady to court and desperately desires to know if she loves him or not. I understand the plucking of petals reveals such information?" That was most definitely an attempt at humor.

On a more serious issure he inquires, "Master Kalat. I hate to be the one to ask the most obvious question, but if you discovered this bloom through supernatural means then why did you not send us out earlier so that we might have arrived at the dawn and assured a swift delivery before the arrival of all the beasts and spirits?" Gregorias was not challenging his master, but gathering information that seemed important for him to gather. This seems to be the only question he had to ask. The area was familiar to him, and if he had any questions he knew of a particularly reclusive ranger living in the woods that would be able to guide them if they encountered trouble.

[Fri]

Fu nods and swirl his hard hat mindlessly.

"Well, I'm always ready for an adventure. It's written on my hat after all." he smiles and pushes his glasses upward.

It's true. There are two lines of words written inside Fu's hat. On the left side, "Civilization through willpower" is written. And on the other side. "Always prepare your hat as if someone might ask you for adventure at any time."

[Tableface]

Nonamé simply grunts, evidently unsatisfied with the answer given to his question and its lack of specifics. As he plants his hat over his head and lowers his goggles over his eyes to conceal his near-perpetual glare, a combination of irritation and distrust can be read in his body language; whether it's related to this particular errand or his usual grumpy fare is anyone's guess.

[Tengu_temp]

"That is actually a very good question." Master Kalat gets up from his chair and glances briefly towards the practicing guards. "Why haven't I sent you earlier? Do not forget - this task is not just an errand I'm sending you on, but a part of your training. Don't you think it would be too easy if you just had to travel to the mountain unbothered in the night, wait for the flower to bloom, pick it up and return here? The distance gives you a big disadvantage, but I have faith in you - I am sure that you will succeed."

"As for what is going to happen afterwards..." He turns towards the group again, most specifically Nonamé. "If you suspect that I might use the blossom to foresee if the woman I'm interested in loves me after all, then you are more than welcome to assist me in preparation and distribution of the medicine. I'd be more than happy to get some help with those, in fact."

[kamikasei]

Gihren displays a trace of surprise at Gregorias' question. He knows the other man is one of the longest-standing students at the manor, so surely he knows better by now than to ask why Kalat has made things needlessly awkward for them? "It's all part of the lesson", which he's learned to interpret as "I'm a contrary old fart who enjoys messing with people's heads", is one of the first mantras he learned after submitting himself to Kalat's tutelage.

"I shall fetch my gear. Shall we meet at the stables, or at the gate?" In other words, is the path suitable for horses, or foot?

[inirlan]

Nagusa didn't bat an eye at Kalat's explanation, as it was pretty much standart procedure of those who thought him before to make non-challenging tasks more difficult for his trainning.

"We should use horses if possible, it would allow us to cover more distance in less time. If the terrain permits it we could be there in less than an hour on horseback, which is far from unnecessary considering that we have to find said flower before the beings that can smell it clearly find it. Before we go, could you give us a short description of the flower, master?"

[Iry]

Gregorias only gives a nod to what Master Kalat says. It was just as he suspected, but it was always important to find out for sure. In the role of a spy what you guessed was true held precisely no value compared to what you knew was true. The gentleman carefully finished his tea once it was cold enough and discovered that he noticed no difference in the taste of it. Perhaps tea-tasting would appear on his list of priorities to master, right after saving his own life, saving others lives, and a million other things that Gregorias found more important than actually tasting tea.

Still, Gregorias managed a happy smile and set the cup down, only to resume munching upon his delicious red apple. "As much as I love outrunning horses, Nagusa is correct. It would look rather strange if others saw us sprinting across the horizon carrying each other. This is especially true since I would have to carry Lady Shirogane and Nagusa would have to carry all the rest."

[Tengu_temp]

"You can take horses with you, should you so desire. Bear in mind that they won't be able to gallop freely the whole way, however - there is no road or trail leading to the mountain, just the forest."
Master Kalat pauses, noticing that someone is approaching - it's one if his servants, carrying a large, lidded glass jar, filled with a transparent liquid.
"Ah, and here we have the preserving alcohol - please, take it with you. As for the flower itself, its shape resembles an orchid. Its petals are red, spotted with yellow and green dots, and as large as a grown man's hand - it is hard to mistake for something else. The plant itself is a thorny vine."

[Fri]

"Don't worry, master. We'll get it in no time." Fu put his hat on. "So, anyone want to bring the preserver? I won't trust myself with something that important."

[inirlan]

Nagusa smilled and poked Gregorias in the ribs with his elbow.

"Gregorias, you must have mixed the order, I'd carry Lady Shirogane and you would carry the rest since you can lift more than I do."

In fact during the training it came to light during their trainings that when both used their strength-enhancing armors Gregorias was still able to beat him in terms of lifting strength, but by only 200 pounds.

"And you forgot Nonamé's Swiftrider which even I can only barely match in speed when I go all out."

As the preserving alcohol was brought and they wondered who should carry it Nagusa voiced his opinion.

"Gregorias and I are fast and our cloaking systems could allow us to hide from anyone trying to catch us, so we could put it in the pockets of one of our armors."

[Terraoblivion]

Miko studied the two artifact armors, she had never noticed either of them having pockets. It made sense she supposed, after all soldiers needed to carry things too. "Nagusa has a point. If one of them carries it, the rest of us will look out for the flower." She eyed the alcohol for a bit, trying to see if she could recognize it or remember anything about it before quickly determining that it was beyond her knowledge.

[Iry]

Gregorias gives a chuff at the friendly impact to the ribs, and cast Nagusa a sidelong glance. "Good sir, the flames of your... passion... are too much for anyone to bear save perhaps Gihren. Now that I consider it, I believe it would be wise for you to carry Gihren even if we do ride upon horses."

It was absurd, but it was delivered with a deadpan seriousness. Gregorias gave a swift check to his haversack to ensure that there was enough room for the lidded container of alcohol. "We're in luck. We must only eat three apples and one pear before we can comfortably fit the preserving jar into my haversack. From there, I should be able to safely transport it back to the estate if anything unexpected attempts to delay our return."

[inirlan]

Nagusa immediately countered Iry's comeback with his own, all while smilling broadly and talking in an amused tone.

"If you accept to carry me while I carry Gihren, sure why not."

When Gregorias brought up the fruits Nagusa sighed and answered in a slightly less amused tone.

"Okay, give me an apple before I set fire to something. Have you got a green one?"

[Tableface]

Nonamé makes a noise of what sounds like approval towards Nagusa--assuming that anyone has managed to crack his complicated way of communicating through variances of the noise 'ugh'--for after all, anyone that eager to set fire to something can't be so disagreeable.

"Better get goin'. We're being timed for this," he grouses as he pulls out the folded jade bird that is his Corona out of his sidebag and tucks it under one arm. He doesn't offer to carry anyone, but by this point it would be well known to the others that he wouldn't be able to rightly refuse (much to his own chagrin). He gestures expectantly towards Kalat. "Location?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Thank you." Master Kalat nods towards the servant once someone (most likely Gregorias) takes the jar. Then he turns towards you again. "Come with me. I believe showing is usually better than telling."

He leads those of you who decide to follow him into the mansion's foyer, from which he takes the circling stairs up - they lead up the tallest tower in the manor, not really possessing any specific use. It might be around for decoration only, or for situations when someone wishes to look at the surrounding wilderness from far away. Like now.

"There.", the master says, pointing northwards once you reach the tower's highest level, devoid of walls - there are only several columns holding the roof. The fog obscures visibility, but if you focus and stare into the direction he's pointing towards, you can see the shapes of several mountains far away. He's pointing towards the central, largest one.
"Do you see it?"

[kamikasei]

"On foot seems best then, as quickly as we might without spreading ourselves too thin. Perhaps Gregorias would take the lead, as he has both speed and stealth to serve him as a scout."

Gihren turns to Kalat. "Unless there is something else unexpected you wish to mention, Master, we shall head out as soon as we are all gathered at the gate."

[Iry]

Gregorias gives something of a nod to the words of Gihren. "Since there appears to be no need for infiltration on this mission, I would be pleased to accept the task of scout."

With that said, Gregorias would dig about in his haversack until he discovered a delicious looking green apple. A swift toss sends it gently arcing through the air towards the presumably expectant Nagusa. Once everything is said and done, he would make his way to the gate to await the others on their journey. He already possessed everything that he needed. At the gate, he can be found carefully inspecting a plump pear for any sign of imperfection. Certainly this is the fated pear mentioned earlier that needed to be consumed.

[Fri]

"So let's start our little adventure then!". Fu then quickly snatched his big, prepacked backpack from his room and led everyone toward the gate.

He hums cheerily and eyes around for something as they left the gate. After a while it seems that he finds what he's looking for. A good and stout looking branch. With a quick slash he snaps the branch, and uses it as a walking stick.

[Tengu_temp]

"Of course, I am not stopping you - feel free to head on your journey at any time you consider appropriate.", the master answers Gihren's question. "Unless you happen to have some further questions that require answering?"

[kamikasei]

Gihren bows to Kalat and again to the others, before returning to his suite. He dons his armor and weapons, laying aside his sword for his daiklave and strapping on his throwing knives in a few concealed and visible locations. After a moment's consideration, he takes up a coil of rope and a skin of water, too, leaving him otherwise unencumbered, and takes up a heavy cloak to keep his breastplate from being seen from too far away - for all the good discretion will do him traveling with a half-dozen Exalted, it's still worthwhile to keep your whole hand from showing to an enemy.

He reaches the gate with minimal delay, and waits for the others before they set out. Not knowing the area they're heading through all that well, he lets Gregorias take the lead as per his suggestion, and stays around the middle of the group, keeping a wary eye out for danger and a hand near a knife all the while.

[Tableface]

"We have half a day to retrieve a flower that is attracting all manner of mean things," Nonamé recaps, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Taking horses would be advisable."

[Terraoblivion]

After Master Kalat dismissed them, Miko bowed to him before turning to Nonamé and nodding slightly as she smiled at him. "You are right, Nonamé, we don't have much time, we shouldn't waste it on walking."

She quietly began walking towards the stables, nothing about their task seemed to shake her composure. On the way she glanced at her wrists at ankles, ensuring that she had remembered to put her armor on. Satisfied that she had remembered it, she called her naginata from elsewhere testing it too. Rather than sending it back immediately, however, she took a short while to trace some of the patterns on it with her finger, before she was satisfied to return it. Having made certain she was prepared she continued on to the stables, lifting her robes enough to avoid getting the dung of the place on them. It was times like this she regretted that she always wore white.

[inirlan]

Just as Miko was about to enter the stables Nagusa noted that she aprehensively lifted her dress to avoid getting it dirty. In tune with his noble education he stopped her and politely offered his assistance.

"Wait here Lady Shirogane, I shall bring you your horse, no need to stain your immaculate clothes."

The dung didn't bother Nagusa that much as it would not stick on the armor and simply rinsing it with water would remove the dirt immediately, additionnaly his armor was hermetical. He entered the stables with a sure step and took a horse that Miko had used before and brought it to her along with the riding gear.

"I know that my help will not be necessary, but if you wish so I can help you onto the saddle.

[Terraoblivion]

Miko giggled slightly as she shook her head. The dragonblooded really was way too hung up on chivalry. "You do know that some of the funeral rituals i have had to involved materials much more disgusting than this, right? Thank you for bringing the horse, however. These clothes are impractical at times."

[inirlan]

Nagusa couldn't suppres a smile, he knew that what he was doing was rather ridiculous, but it was fun to play noble knight from time to time. He then added :

"And unsetteling methods, there is this exotic method I heard about, if I remember correctly it involved removing the brain by liquefieng it and pulling it out through the nose... Not exactly the most pleasant mental image but I've heard more gruesome tales."

[Tableface]

It takes less than a minute for Nonamé to make it down to the gate, having calculated and tested the swiftest ways to exit the mansion from any place within it out of a combination of paranoia and compulsiveness.

Once outside, he lets the black jade bird beneath his arm drop. Before it hits the ground the front and back sections spring apart with such suddenness it's a shock that it isn't accompanied by a comic sound effect. The newly exposed framework bobs briefly in the air before holding at waist-height, and after a quick check to make certain its hearthstone is inserted Nonamé swings a leg over and hops on. As the swift rider dips beneath his weight, he looks something like what maybe might could be akin to at ease.

Nonamé fixes the others assembled and arriving with a look that could be either discouraging or inviting, depending on whether or not they would enjoy irritating him, as he scoots forward to make room for another rider.

[Tengu_temp]

(Is there anyone who decides to go on foot?)

[Fri]

(no)


"Oh, I thought we're going to walk there." said Fu as he noticed that he's the only one that's preparing for a leisurely trot.

He shrugs and throws his walking stick. "Oh well," he says, before going to the stable to pick a horse.

[kamikasei]

((Glorious Retconning Technique: I'm going to assume Nonamé spoke before the group split up, and so Gihren heads to the stables rather than the gate.))

One of the stable hands brings Gihren his horse. It seems his attempts to keep them from doing too much for him day-to-day just spur them to be more and more solicitous when they think they can get away with it - he still hasn't decided if this is just their way or if they're playing with him. For the sake of haste, he accepts the reins from the boy with reasonably good grace.

It takes him but a moment to affix the few pieces of gear he's bringing to the horse's saddle, before he hoists himself up. In his cloak, and with his shield and other martial gear left in the stable, there's little enough to mark him as other than an ordinary traveler - only the hilt of his daiklave behind his head, the size and nature of the weapon concealed beneath his cloak. He waits for the others to begin to file out before following in the middle of the group.

[Tengu_temp]

A guard at the gates gives you a casual salute as you leave the manor - soon afterwards you hear a soft hum in your ears for a second, which means you've left the area protected from intruders by concealing magic. The forest isn't very dense, the distance between trees is large enough and the amount of foliage small enough that horses have no trouble passing through, although the mist limits their visibility, and they don't enter higher speeds on their own - you'd have to force them. It's still faster than walking on foot, though.
It's very quiet, as if nature itself hasn't really awaken yet - combined with the mist, bathed in the soft morning light, this creates a very dream-like atmosphere.

(Note - depending on what you pay attention to during the journey, feel free to roll Perception+Awareness and/or Perception+Survival.)

[inirlan]

Nagusa was on a brown horse, a horse chosen because it was average and would be the least missed if it died, a precaution Nagusa always took when taking a horse since he could be faster than any horse and because the mounts of dragon-blooded warrior are rarely used in combat anyway because the anima would kill them sooner or latter. During the travel Nagusa payed attention to any suspicious sound or movement in hope of spoting any ambush or trap they could encounter.

(Perception + awareness)
[roll0]

[inirlan]

(What the hell?)

[roll0]

[Terraoblivion]

The cold doesn't seem to affect Miko despite her bare arms and the robes hiked up to leave much of her legs uncovered as well. Instead she is quietly looking around the forest. She had been there many times before, but it was still a beautiful area and the mist made it come off differently than she was used to. She could always make sure to keep an eye out while doing so well, even if she didn't think that there was much risk yet.

In my other Exalted games an attempt at streamlining has meant that people roll three stunt dices separately with every roll and then the GM just uses as many as are relevant. It helps speed things up a fair bit and makes it easier to see what is going on with stunt dice.

Perception+Awareness: [roll0]
Stunt: [roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

(Rolls get broken when you preview a post that already has them. As for stunting, you can do that if you want, but don't have to - I can always just roll the stund die for you if necessary.)

[kamikasei]

The beauty of their surroundings is wasted on Gihren - he literally cannot see the forest for the trees, branches, rocks, undergrowth, and outcroppings that might conceal an assailant or give some sign of their passage. He devotes a minimal amount of unconscious attention to keeping his horse following after Gregorias' lead and otherwise drinks in the terrain around them with preternatural awareness.

[Tableface]

Swift riders, in general, are more comfortable to ride than horses. Beyond not having to deal with all the messy upkeep and clean-up that comes from owning a living creature, they also ride smoothly on a cushion of air, a sensation described by one First Age traveler as "like a cloud--or a good dose of opium."

Knowing this would explain how Nonamé manages to look so smug while not actually looking any different at all as he rides alongside the horses.

Hanging near the periphery of their procession, periodically switching locations, Nonamé scowls at their immediate surroundings, seeming more on edge and yet more at home than in the walls of Kalat's mansion. He keeps his eyes and ears open--out of habit rather than suspicion.

(Perception + Awareness)
[roll0]

[Iry]

Gregorias actually goes on foot, turning down any offer of a riding horse if he is offered one. Under normal circumstances he would be glad to enjoy a relaxing ride upon a horse but he had accepted the role of scout. As the group of them began to move past the guard tower towards the concealing wards, he gave the guard at the watchtower a friendly-seeming wave and simply vanished from sight before the eyes of everyone involved. It was no secret that Gregorias wore an ancient suit of armor that had similar functions to those that Nagusa had.

To the keenest of eye, Gregorias was nothing but a ripple of light identical to the effect from the movie 'Predator'. More frightening was the fact that he could, with some amount of concentration, call upon the dimming aura of his own anima banner to further obscure the ripple to nearly perfect stealth. The disembodied voice of the spy called out from a bit ahead of the group as he quickly took the lead.

"I'm going to keep up a patrol around you for a little over 100 yards in every direction while we're in the forest. With any luck I'll see anything coming long before it sees any of you coming."

More than simply racing through the fog-filled forest, Gregorias takes to the trees when he can. As a deftly agile person, he invisibly leaps to the largest and thickest branch that can handle his weight and makes tremendous speed leaping from one large branch to the next. In spite of it all, his particular knack for stealth allows him to keep the jostling of leaves and the flexing of the branches to a bare minimum. If and when the forest proves to have too little foliage to make good time through the trees he would certainly hit the ground running. There is an economy of motion to his scouting that does not permit unnecessary flips, twirls, or other acrobatic nonsense.

[roll0] Awareness.
[roll1] Stunts.

[Fri]

Fu like master kalat's mansion, but a leisurely journey through the wilderness once in a while isn't bad for relaxing. He rides his horse in a leisurely pace, while enjoying the dreamlike wilderness.

He nods and smiles at gregorias as he goes to scout. "Be careful. We don't know what we're going to meet in this dangerous wilderness." he half joked.


Perception + Survival [roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3][roll4][roll5][roll6]

[Tengu_temp]

Roughly two hours pass after you've embarked on your journey - nothing of note has happened in the meantime. The mist hasn't lifted yet, even though it's no longer early morning, and the forest gets noticably thicker the closer you get to the mountain - still, thanks to Gregorias and his scouting finding a route that your horses can pass through is not a problem.

Gihren and Nonamé notice that, some distance from you, there's a large area where the mist seems thicker than usual, and slightly different color. That's weird... Your route leads into the area - you could circle around it, but it'd most likely take you some extra time.

[kamikasei]

"There is something about the mist ahead," Gihren tells the others quietly. "Gregorias, can you investigate? Lady Shirogane, do you see any trace of sorcery about it?"

[Terraoblivion]

Miko looked in the direction Gihren pointed, squinting slightly to get a clearer look. Her mind raced as she tried to think if she could recall anything that would cause a phenomenon like that. She also looked into the immaterial realm of the spirits trying to tell if it was the work of gods.

First i spend 4 motes to buy two successes on my occult check to see if i know anything about the mist. Then i use Spirit-Detecting Glance to see if any spirits are around.

Intelligence+Occult [roll0] +2 successes

[Tengu_temp]

Miko doesn't recall any supernatural phenomena that could fit what you see before you - some are similar, but there are small, yet vital differences that disqualify them. The lack of spirits, for example - she doesn't notice any around the thicker mist.

[Iry]

Gregorias lands upon the soft grass of the forest floor with an inaudible thump. A few careful steps carry him towards the thick and discolored mist, and he scoops up a single branch to give it a subtle wave through the cloud to see if the branch emerges without incident. If it happens to be free of sudden deformity, destruction, or unexpected sentience, Gregorias will risk his life and limb to plunge into the mist and begin a thurough investigation of the foggy area. All the while he is nothing more than a shimmer on the horizon to the rest of the group.

[roll0] Investigation.
[roll1] Stunts.

[Tengu_temp]

The branch gets stuck in the mist! Because it's not mist at all - thin, yet very durable strands of spiderweb are stretched between the trees, almost invisible in the fog and only changing its appearance slightly, until one looks closely. They don't form a complete net and it should be possible to maneuver between them, albeit that'd require caution...

Whatever spinned those webs remains invisible.

[inirlan]

With a swift movement Nagusa jumps of his horse and readies his shield and sword. With a simple mental impulse he activates the essence sight function of his armor, drawing the two motes from the internal reservoir of his armor, before activating the data analysis program integrated in the armor(the +2 awareness boost for 1 mote/minute). First Nagusa begins with a 360° sweep of the surroundings for any trace of essence before concentrating on any traces he found. If he doesn't find any he tries to determine the extent of the spider webs.


Awareness + Perception + Armor Bonus
[roll0]
Eventual Stunt dices
[roll1]

[Tableface]

Nonamé parks his swift rider near the entrance to the webbed section of forest, and draws Grassfire. His tongue pokes against the inside of his cheek as he sizes up the density of the webbing, trying to determine if he'll need to pack up his ride to make it through.

"Better go through," he remarks flatly. "Either it's nothing or it's something, and if it's something better we deal with it than leave it for someone else."

[Tengu_temp]

Nagusa doesn't detect any traces of essence around... But he notices something else instead! A large shape is skittering in the treetops above you, barely making any sounds, and it is getting close to the place where Gregorias is standing! It's hidden and you can't see what it is exactly, but it doesn't seem to be humanoid, and several others, deeper in the web-covered area, are following.

You have only a moment to react!

(Nagusa restores 2 motes.)

[Terraoblivion]

After studying the area, Miko turns her head to look at Gihren, a slightly annoyed expression on her face though it doesn't extend to her voice. "I'm sorry, Gihren. I don't know what it is. However, it is not related to any spirits, there are no dematerialized beings anywhere around here." However, before she can say anything more Nagusa springs in action and starts moving closer to the patch of oddly colored mist.

Not wanting to wait until something tried attacking him, she concentrated for a brief moment as a wondrous naginata appears in her hand. Looking more like a showpiece, waves of green snake along its black, wooden shaft towards the massive, filigreed golden blade. Leaving no time, she jumped from her horse and moved towards where Nagusa was standing, looking out for anything that might come from ahead.

[inirlan]

As he spots the shapes moving around them he puts his sword in his left hand and signals the direction of the things he detected with a simple hand gesture, before taking a throwing knife from it's sheath, and slashing in the webs in a way to get a good amount of webbing on the blade without it getting stuck or unthrowable, while using the dragongraced weapon charm to make the sticky webbing burn. Then he throws the knife covered in sitcking fire, in hope of gluing a flamming beacon on one of the shapes to make detection easier for his companions. However since his lack of skill at throwing it would probably only briefly illuminate the creature instead, giving them a clear view of their foe.


Dexterity + Throwing
[roll0]
Stunt Dice
[roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

The flames on Nagusa's dagger burst when it hits the shape skulking among the treetops - it falls down and crashes to the ground, right next to Gregorias. It's a giant spider, a bit larger than a human, its long legs and carapace covered in brown and yellow fur, forming arrow-shaped patterns. This particular spider isn't moving, the knife stuck right into the middle of its charred head, but three others, which drop to the ground nearby, are! And there seems to be at least one more in the treetops...

Everyone, roll Join Battle. The spiders move at Tick 3 - you can post your action already if you move faster, or at the same time.
Nagusa will move again at Tick 8.

EDIT: Nagusa's attack was a 2-die stunt, but since he's at max Willpower he's getting motes by default.

[Tableface]

Nonamé's head jerks to the treetops, towards the one spider still skulking. A tight grin crosses his face as an idea enters his head.

(Wits + Awareness)
[roll0]

[Terraoblivion]

Miko had anticipated the spiders and so she pushed off from the ground the moment they came into sight. She spun her naginata once readying its angle to point against the spiders in a single fluent motion as she propelled herself towards them. Not even a flicker of an expression went across her face as she sprang into action, seemingly unaffected by the danger she was jumping into.

Join Battle: [roll0]
Stunt (hah, as if): [roll1]

[kamikasei]

Gihren springs in to action as his horse passes a tree near the path. Swinging himself half out of the saddle, his legs brace against the trunk while one hand goes to the hilt of his daiklave. Pivoting on the other hand placed on his saddle, cloak catching the burst of motion, he takes on the aspect of a winged creature stooping on prey for a pregnant moment before his legs flex and propel him towards a pair of the spider-creatures. There's a flash of gold that halos him as he lands, poised, blade held as if ready to begin a duel, cloak only hesitantly settling about him, slightly past his targets.

Attacking two of the spider-things.
[roll0]
[roll1]
Damage is +10L (over successes).
And for stunts: [roll2]

-2 DV until tick 8 when Gihren can act again.

[Tableface]

The Abacus calmly holsters his plasma tongue repeater, eyes fixed on the spider lurking above. Hardly the worst thing he's fought. Hardly worth wasting a pellet on. Hardly worth the minor risk of being at fault for a forest fire.

Nonamé rises up out of his saddle, bracing himself, and pulls back his left arm, fingers flexing tightly beneath the leather of his gloves. The grin vanishes from his face, drawing into an unpleasant grimace, and the Corona dips at the nose before suddenly rocketing into the treetops. With a triumphant roar he swings his empty fist upwards towards the creature, blasting high above the ground.

(Blowing 1 mote to make the Swift Rider go up)
(Bare Punch, Dexterity + Martial Arts +1, -1 Acc +3 Dam Fierce Attack)
[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

Nonamé's fist slams into the spider, pushing it off the branch it was sitting on - before hitting the ground it manages to latch itself onto the wide trunk of a nearby tree, however.
He also notices that there are two more spiders among the treetops, further away but coming your way!

(2 bashing damage to the spider, one die stunt.)

[inirlan]

Drawing five more motes from the internal battery of his armor, the servomuscles begin to get into full operation and the essence field of the armor takes over the functions of the slugish mortal nerve system of the dragon-blooded. In a blurry flash of red Nagusa steps on the dead spider and uses the bonus elevation from the spider to step on a low branch and going in a squat position for the fraction of a second uses his full force to push against the branch, using it's elasticity to increase the force of the leap and send him higher. However this jump does not directly send him to the spiders but sends him against the trunk of a tree, and the same time he impacts against the tree he strikes against the trunk with both his legs in a stunt that would probably have shattered his shin if he hadn't his armor, and jumped in an arc giving him a clean shot at one, possibly two of the spiders, slashing at them as if it was all one movement. After completing his run however the young dragon-blooded simply falls torwards the ground at a great velocity and the only thing he can do is to brace himself against the impact, be it against a tree, the ground, or a poor deer that happened to be there, realizing to late that he forgot to plan the landing.

"Oops..."

I use the velocity magnifier engine to make a three action magical flurry with no penalty.
First daiklave strike
[roll0]
[roll1]
Second daiklave strike
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Tengu_temp]

(It's not your turn yet - you'll move again in Tick 8. Wait for everyone else to do their actions before that.)

[inirlan]

(Ah sorry, I forgot that.)

[Iry]

Gregorias seems to become perfectly still as he watches the spider fall from the tree-tops in slow motion. A moment passes, and another after that, and finally Gregorias springs into motion! The shimmering blur that is the solar charges right up the presumed corpse of the spider and places one firm foot upon it's head. With a monumental shove, he sends himself sailing up and through the air away from the mist until he reaches a overhanging tree branch and swings once, twice, thrice to catapult himself even further up into the dense foliage overhead! With the grace of the gods, he lands lithely upon a much higher branch and obscures himself from his foes. Gregorias may be many things but the one thing he most definitely is not is the type of fighter who stands tall before his enemies and strikes them down with righteous fury.

Committing 3 Motes to Graceful Crane Stance.
[roll0] Re-establishing Surprise.
[roll1] Stunts.

[Fri]

Fu jumps from his horse and pulls the cloth-wrapped thing that's hung behind his back.

In one fluid motion, the cloth-wrapping is completely undone, showing his inticrately designed artifact bow as he flew through the air.

"Ah, the wilderness. One moment you're all lovey dovey, a second later you're all angry.

No need to burn the forest yet!" he says as he gracefully land. He's going to try something simple first, to gauge the enemy. He pulls a broadhead arrow from his sheathe and shoots one of the attacking spider.

dexterity+archery. [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

The spiders Gihren is targetting leap into his direction, trying to pounce him - but, as he moves past them, sprays of blood burst from the deep cuts on their bodies and they fall gracelessly on the ground. One of the arachnids is cleanly cut in two, while the other one scuttles back on its legs, despite its heavy wounds. (One die stunt, the second spider receives 4 lethal damage.)

Another spider moves towards Gregorias, trying to grab him with two of its furry legs - but before it can do that, Fu launches an arrow that severs one of them, letting Gregorias avoid the dodge easily. (2 lethal damage to the spider.)

The spider Nonamé is fighting tries to pounce him, but he moves out of the way without any effort. From the other two spiders in the treetops one skitters towards the battlefield, while the other one seems to be getting away!

Movement order, in ticks:
Gregorias 4
Miko 6
Nonamé 6
Nagusa 8
Gihren 8
Fu 9
Spiders 9

The situation has changes slightly, so you can change your actions even if you posted already.

[kamikasei]

I guess most people are in the trees then, besides Gihren and Miko? Well, Fu's on the ground but attacking into the trees...

In that case, I'll have Gihren attack the spider he wounded, and if Miko doesn't finish off the uninjured third one that should still be on the ground (assuming I'm counting right) he'll also attack it. Which means... I think... either a single attack at 16, or a flurry at 14/13... right? So I'll roll 16 and 13 and if the second attack is needed you can knock off the last two die of the first attack to bring it down to a flurry.

Jeez, this game is complicated.

[roll0]
[roll1]

+10L, -1/-2 DV depending.
"Hnh." Gihren makes a subvocal sound of dissatisfaction, eying the wounded spider with distaste - though it's directed at himself rather than at his target. He circles the retreating creature, carefully noting the movements of his allies in his peripheral vision, before striking. He clears the distance to the spider with one sideways leap, swinging his blade around unexpectedly from its flank, aiming to neatly sever its head from its noxious thorax before spinning him around to stab backwards into the other creature advancing on the spear-wielding exorcist.

[Iry]

From somewhere in the foliage high above, Gregorias calls out. It would take a very keen ear to place where the voice comes from, and like a ghost amongst the trees he begins to stalk the fleeing spider.

"One of them is getting away. He's mine."Using my reflexive move each tick to close the distance with the fleeing spider. I'll give him the business end of my weapon when it's my turn again.

[Terraoblivion]

Miko's attempt at springing into action didn't go quite as well as she had thought, instead she stumbled slightly forward disorienting herself. She shortly regained composure to see that most of the spiders had already been defeated by her companions. They were really good, all of them. As expected from anybody like her and even more so from Master Kalat's students. One of them was left before her, however.

Her movements flowing gracefully from recovering her stance into pushing off ahead, she closed the distance to the spider. The butt of her naginata caught its legs, sweeping them away under it and ruining its balance leaving it as easy prey for her. Continuing the movement the blade of her naginata swept down towards the spiders neck, slashing into the weak point of its chitinous covering.

As she looked up from her victim the others saw her white hair and make-up glowing faintly to accompany the half-filled golden dish on her forehead.

I spend 5 motes on the first melee excellency.

Attack: [roll0]
Stunt: [roll1]

Base damage is 10L

[Tableface]

As the Corona's ascent slowly halts and gravity begins to reassert itself on its Solar passenger, Nonamé delivers a swift kick to the back of the device and uses the momentum to swing his swift rider above his head. He curls the rest of his body inwards, tensing, and begins his descent, focused on one of the remaining tree-skulking spiders. As he once more crosses the treetops, ready to swing his ride back under him before reaching the ground, he drives forward with his feet, aiming to spear the large arachnid with a force-assisted kick.

An attack against the spider in the treetops that isn't running.

MA + Dex: [roll0]
Damage: Base 5B
5 ticks

[Tengu_temp]

Both Miko and Gihren aim at the same part of their respective spiders, and both of them are successful, slashing their targets in two. The separated halves twitch a bit, but that's all the life that's left in them.
(One die stunt each.)

The force of Nonamé's kick sends the arachnid flying - it crashes against a nearby tree and falls down to the ground, upside down. It quickly returns to normal position, however - the attack wasn't enough to take it down yet.
(Also a one die stunt. 4 bashing damage to the spider.)

Apart from the one escaping from the battlefield and relentlessly pursued by Gregorias, there are only two spiders left. Neither looks as if it was about to back off from the fight, however.

[inirlan]

To his dissmay Nagusa observes that his companions already killed most of the spiders and that there wasn't much left for him and sighed. Nagusa leaped torwards the least injuried spider and not bothering to use any of his charms for this weak foe, he uses both arms to stab downwards as he lands on the spider, pinning it to the ground, and then removing with a strong pull directed at about 90° from the entry angle, designed to brutally cleave a gap in the spider's torso.


[roll0]
Stunt Dice
[rollv]3d10[rollv]

Damage is 13L

[Tengu_temp]

Nagusa's attack cuts through the spider's chitinous armor like through butter, eviscerating it in a spray of blood and other nastiness.
(1 die stunt.)

The spider Gregorias is folling reaches a strand of the web and starts tugging on it with its front legs erratically. Whatever this bizarre behaviour means, a bad feeling seems to linger in the air around it...

[Iry]

Gregorias knows very well what that tugging means. "Send Help Immediately".

With deadly determination the solar wraps his arm around the nearest massive branch and bends it backwards with all muscles straining to contain the quivering and taut branch. He swiftly positions himself before the branch and lets it go, letting the momentum of the tree combined with his own prodigious leap cause him to go screaming down towards the seemingly unsuspecting spider. As he streaks downwards, Gregorias pulls forth the handle of his Goremaul and presses a single button that causes the shaft to extend to it's normal brutal length. One sweep of his arms carries it up and over his head until he is poised to strike.

Like a comet he falls, whipping through leaves with such speed that it would slice bare flesh if he were not armored from head to foot. At long last it is time to strike! With all the supernatural force he can muster, that Goremaul snaps forward with the combined momentum of his own powerful swing and the velocity of the launch to land squarely upon the spider's back before it can get anything more than a half seconds worth of tug on that strand of web. With any luck, the thunderous impact will generate enough of a concussive blast to shove Gregorias backwards such that he can lithely roll to a landing some half a dozen yards away from the crater.

[roll0] Unexpected Attack Roll.
Damage is 22L, Piercing.

[Fri]

"I wonder whether this is a normal day for this forest or these spiders are something new..."

Fu is curious, but the questions can wait for later. He can feel that there's might be more trouble brewing though.

"It looks like it IS time for some fire after all."

In a fluid motion, Fu pulls another broadside arrow and suddenly it bursts into flames as he launches the arrow. He's going to see whether the web is flammable or not.

Attacking the tugged web with fiery arrow essence.
[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

Fu's arrow hits the web and it immediately catches fire - if the spider really was sending messages that way, than it probably didn't even manage to say hello. It jumps back from the fire, but doesn't have much time to feel surprised - immediately thereafter Gregorias smashes it with his mighty maul, causing the arachnid to literally explode - luckily, the shockwave from the attack throws him far enough not to get all covered in sticky spider innards and fluids.
(Fu - 1 die stunt, Gregorias - 2 dice stunt.)

The last remaining spider, dazzled by Nonamé's attack, leaps into his direction again, but Corona is already in a different place even before the creature jumps.

Initiative order in ticks:
Miko 11
Nonamé 11
Nagusa 13
Gihren 13
Gregorias 14
Fu 15
Spider 15

[Terraoblivion]

Under the pale, flickering light that shone from Miko the grass took on a strange hue as thin shadows cut across it in strange, unexpected angles, as she ran towards the remaining spider. Without slowing down she caught a fallen branch with the end of her naginata, throwing it into the air and using a quick flick of hand to hit it with the weapon and send it hurtling through the air. The branch bounced off a nearby tree, changing its course to head towards the spider from the opposite direction of her.

The moment the branch hit the spider, knocking it around and turning its focus the other way, a pale golden flash swept up from below. Smiling thinly, almost faintly shyly, Miko stood with her naginata in hand next to the two halves of the spiders corpse having used the opening to cut the creature in two.

I just attack the spider completely ordinarily.

Attack: [roll0]
Stunt: [roll1]

Base damage is 10L

[Tengu_temp]

Miko's blow leaves you with no opponents.
(2 dice stunt.)

The fire from Fu's arrow is still burning - slowly, but steadily, it follows the spiderweb's threads.

[Fri]

Fu puts his bow down and watches the web burns.

"I think we need to find out whether I have to put a "there be giant spiders" sign here in my map."

int+lore check for the giant spiders
[roll0]

"And, also, it's our responsibility or something."

[Tengu_temp]

Fu notices that these spiders look young.

[kamikasei]

Gihren looks quietly impressed at Miko's finisher, though he says nothing beyond an approving "hmmm". With a sweep and flick of his blade, he casts off the blood of the fallen spiders, making to sheathe it again before noticing the spreading flame.

"Seems a shame to waste it," he laments quietly, taking his waterskin from his horse and hefting it, testing the weight while eyeing the fire with an appraising look. Abruptly, judging the distances correct, he sprints toward the fire, springing off the ground and kicking off a tree... then another... then another, gaining height as he nears the blaze. Timing the throw carefully, he hurls the waterskin up ahead of him, catching back up to it at the apex of its arc and bringing his blade around - and back - and again. The skin splits into two hemispheres of water, before his blade cuts and subdivides them into drops, droplets, rain. With a last kick Gihren cuts his forward momentum and drops back to the ground, the water continuing on in a quenching spray to extinguish the flames.

[Tengu_temp]

Gihren executes his maneuver perfectly - not only does he extinguish all the fires, but he also manages not to get caught in any of the remaining webs in the process.

(That was a 2 die stunt.)

[Iry]

Gregorias lands as lithely as a feather upon water, which is a very apt metaphor as it begins to practically rain from the perfect cuts of Gihren's blade upon the water skin. Taking a moment to marvel, Gregorias taps the button upon his Goremaul that causes the hilt to slide into itself for ease of carrying and concealing. The shimmering fellow swiftly darts off into the woods with the expectation of reinforcements even though his heart tells him that was the last of them. As he scuttles up a tree, he spies out the area and inspects it for further dangers. His eyes are alert, his ears are perked, and he even tries to catch the scent of things upon the air.

[roll0] Awareness.
[roll1] Stunts.

[kamikasei]

Gihren satisfies himself that the fires are indeed all out before sheathing his blade and turning back to the horses. "We should be on our way as soon as the others can return. These creatures have wasted too much of our time without even designs of their own on the flower," he comments to Miko (and anyone else in range), hoisting himself back in to the saddle and rearranging his cloak about himself again.

[Tengu_temp]

Gregorias doesn't notice any incoming spiders around. Maybe that one didn't manage to send a message, or maybe it wasn't sending any message but doing something else, after all...

(1 die stunt. I assume you don't go away from the group further than the previously declared 100 yards?)

[Terraoblivion]

Miko had stopped to wipe her naginata in the wet grass to clean off the blood. "We shouldn't even have wasted time fighting them once we learned what they were. We have still not reached where the flower is likely to be found, a shame about the web, though. Fine silk could have been made from it."

[kamikasei]

"In truth, I expected them to be a feint from something more dangerous, that we would draw out by fighting its minions. It seems we were being over-cautious." Gihren looks around at the webs with displeasure - there certainly seems to be plenty of it left for any use the exorcist may want to put it to, and meanwhile to his eye it's just a hazard draped liberally over their surroundings.

[Tableface]

Nonamé drifts carefully down the path. His arms are folded over the handles of his ride and his body is slouched forward onto them with that air of satisfaction only available to those who have learned how to make peace with utterly stupid actions. It is something most Exalted have to come to terms with eventually, after all.

"What she," he jerks a finger towards Miko, "said. Let's take this as a lesson that not everything is out to get us, and not kick, slice, or burn the next thing that crosses our path. Don't have much time to waste," he concludes, gesturing lazily down the way.

[Fri]

"They looks young though. I believe their parents would be around. But if you guys are sure that we should leave them alone, so be it. Though I'd prefer to make this area safer by exterminating their nest."

[kamikasei]

"That's something we can deal with in its own time. Meanwhile we're on a deadline."

[Fri]

"We have a deadline? I always forgot about that. Oh well, carry on then."

[inirlan]

"Don't worry Fu, we can go back latter if you want to. But we'll probably see them again if this flower really draws all kinds of beasts and spirits."

[Iry]

Gregorias does indeed keep within 100 yards at all times, and once he is finished scouting the surrounding area he reports back to the rest of them.

"No more sightings of spiders, but that was definitely a call for reinforcements if my gut instinct is right. I suspect this place may be crawling with them by the time we try to ride back through the forest, so we should consider a detour to ensure we get the blossom delivered in a timely fashion. Afterwards, we can come back and clean up the threat."

[Terraoblivion]

Miko shrugged slightly, not wasting anymore time before returning to her horse and getting in the saddle. "Actually it looked like these spiders had had some time to spin their webs. We might be able to just leave them alone, they haven't been a threat so far unless you stumble into their webs. So we shouldn't disturb nature at random."

[kamikasei]

"Might as well put the question to Kalat. It's the sort of thing it would amuse him to turn in to a lesson of some sort."

Gihren makes ready to ride.

[Tengu_temp]

No spiders attack you again, or even appear in sight, and soon you leave the area covered by their webs. The forest returns to its dream-like appearance once again.
A bit more than an hour later, you are close to your destination - you can see the mountain rising above the trees, barren at the base but covered with more greenery higher, nearer to the top. The closer you get the more apparent it becomes that the challenge hasn't ended yet - the slope might be gentler from the other side, but from the one you're approaching it's very steep, almost completely horizontal. There are some rock ledges and small trees here and there, at least...

[Iry]

Gregorias has ceased his shimmering since the forest was put past him. It was important to allow his armor to replenish its power after extended uses such as his continued use up to and through the forest. Now, he looked up and up and up until he settled upon the toweringly high cliff.

"... Anyone think to bring rope?"

[Tableface]

Nonamé pokes his tongue against the inside of his cheek, digesting Gregorias's question. Now that it's been mentioned, it does seem like rope should have been one of the first things on their list of necessities when being told they were going to visit a mountain. Mentally he files "rope" on his list of things to obtain in the near future, right beside "better boots" and "identity".

"I'll take a quick look around, see if there isn't an easier way up." He pats his swift rider in that ostentatious way which is supposedly to call attention but is really straight-faced bragging. "Won't be a problem if you decide to start on this end without me."

[kamikasei]

Wordlessly, Gihren unhooks and holds out his rope.

[Terraoblivion]

Miko stops and looks up the slope, reigning her horse in to do so. "I don't know about the rest of you, but i have no way of getting up there. Unless you have something that can get me up there i will have to try and go around." She should have predicted this and tried to find a way to overcome her lack of mountaineering skills.

[Tableface]

As Gihren shows his rope, Nonamé takes a small breath of relief that at least one of them had come prepared--and suppresses a grunt of annoyance that it wasn't him.

"Maybe half of us are capable of making that climb without risk, and even then it'd be a bit of work and time." He pauses a moment, rethinking his earlier plan. "We need to find another way up. Save scaling it directly or other methods for the-" he takes a quick look at the sky "-unlikely event we start running out of time."

Following the mountain with a glance to his left and right, Nonamé looks to Nagusa. "Nagusa, you and I have speed on our side. You take one way and I'll take the other. Look for signs of it maybe evening out further along, and meet back here in ten or so minutes. Twenty of you need it."

After what is likely the longest string of sentences the others have ever heard him say, he holds out his arms towards the group. "Unless we have a better idea," he invites.

[Iry]

Gregorias seems to simply stare up the length of the mountain for a long while. He continues to stare as he scoops up the rope and throws it over his shoulder. He even peers at the mountain while he listens carefully to the words of Nonamé. Once at the base of the mountain he reaches a hand forth and presses it to the rock as if he were communing with the spirits of nature. It is true that he finds some calm within himself and assumes the natural grace of the crane that is part of his legacy as a Solar Exalt. Yet, that is not all Gregorias does...

The man crouches down and engages in some very short calisthenics to which the sounds of popping knuckles and necks can clearly be heard. He takes up a simple racers stance, as if he were at the start of some kind of competition. Ready. Taut. Certain. Abruptly the man takes off at a frightening speed that is surpassed only by Nagusa and the Swiftrider, but the true miracle happens when he leaps off the ground and lands upon the sheer face of the cliff and begins to race right up it in all defiance of gravity.

As Gregorias tears up the face of the mountainside he shimmers out of existence on account of what he fears the mist to be. At the speed he was going, he will meet the mist within seconds.

Graceful Crane Stance activated for the scene.
Spider-Foot Stance activated for the scene.
Essence Cloak activated for the hour.
Running vertically up to the mist then inspecting it while moving horizontally.
[rollv]7d10[rollv] Investigating the Mist.
[roll0] Stunts.
Dashing 18 Yards Per Second means I can reach the top of the mountain in 56 seconds. Presumably it should only take 30-40 seconds to reach the mist.

[inirlan]

Nagusa was looking at the mountain side to see if there were enough flat parts to allow him to get to the top with successive jumps, but that would be dangerous, because at that height fall could probably knock him out or even break a few bones. Nonamé's suggestion was quite welcome, since they should be able to find the best path if they go around the whole thing and with their combined speed it was quite possible to do so very fast.

"Good idea Nonamé, but in ten minutes we should be able to cover a combined surface of roughly twenty miles*, and that mountain doesn't seem that big, so why not meet at the other side of the mountain? I'll go left, you'll go right, okay?"

(*over 30 kilometers)

[Terraoblivion]

Miko looked around the people springing in action, running all over the place. "Wouldn't it be a better idea that those whose armor allow them to move quickly do it on their own, while you let someone sit behind you, Nonamé?" Her eyes followed Gregorias as he ran up the side of the cliff. "And perhaps they could carry someone too..."

[Tengu_temp]

The top of the mountain comes closer and closer to Gregorias as he sprints up the cliff, but before he can reach it, he sees some movement close to it - there is some sort of a creature there! And, judging by what follows next, a creature that somehow has seen through his armor's cloaking, because a human-sized boulder starts to tumble down loudly from the same location, followed by a tiny avalanche of smaller rocks it rips from the cliffside on the way! And it tumbles into Gregorias' direction!

[Tableface]

"No, ten to twenty minutes," Nonamé tells Nagusa. "We don't know for sure how wide around this thing is, and the 'master' said there could be some danger. The time is so we can tell if something's wrong."

Having addressed his Dragon-Blooded friend, Nonamé gives Miko a look that--while no one can actually see it--gives the distinct impression that he's raising a brow behind his goggles. "If you or one of the others wants to come with me, that's fine. I wouldn't mind the extra pair of eyes, just in case. But the less splitting up we do, the better-" he casts a glare up the cliff "-and it'll save us time if the fastest of us take a quick look for an easier way up. And since Greg decided to go running off without a word..."

Nonamé turns his swift rider around, ready to go. "Unless you're suggesting half of us carry the other half around all the while, which is just silly." He scoots ahead to make room for another rider, but in a fit of delayed reaction turns his attention back up the side of the cliff.

[Iry]

Gregorias ponders over the strange nature of these creatures to catch him coming from so far away. While he sprints up the mountain-face he decided to try another tact. Gregorias charged directly towards the Avalanche and as the first boulder came careening towards him he leaps off the cliff-face with forward momentum and lands atop the rock with perfect balance. Just as fast as he landed, he kicks off again and sails through the air towards another sizeable boulder, kicking off that one as well. His acrobatic display might be a marvel to behold if he wasn't effectively invisible from this distance. Finally, when it looks like a particularly large boulder is careening straight towards the solars waiting below he shoves off from his boulder with mighty force to send him sailing into that boulder which he impacts and leaps off in such a way as to hopefully send it careening off away from causing them any harm.

Presumedly, as the avalanche begins to burn itself out, Gregorias will use the cover of several bouncing boulders to sequester himself onto a narrow ledge and hide, in the hopes that the creature above assumes that he was caught by the boulders.

[roll0] Acrobatics + 1 Willpower.
[roll1] Stunts
[roll2] Reestablishing Suprise.

[Tengu_temp]

Judging by the lack of further boulders falling down, the creature might've been fooled by Gregorias' deception.
(1 die stunt.)

The avalanche reaches the mountain's base - none of the rocks hit anyone, but they scare those of your horses that stayed nearby.

[Iry]

Gregorias glances out over everything below him in altitude. He imagines that from this height he should be able to see any potential critters waiting to ambush his allies as they begin to make their way around the mountain. Once he feels somewhat comfortable peering at everything he could possibly see, he's going to turn his attention towards the top of the mountain.

As a scout, Gregorias begins to scuttle along the cliff-face to once again head for the top of the mountain. He wants to get a look at this creature that saw him before he could ever see it. He wants intelligence on what it seems capable of before he returns to the group. So it is that Gregorias crawls spider-man style up the cliff while working on keeping himself unseen and unheard during his ascent.

[roll0] Investigating the Ground.
[roll1] Stealth up the Cliff.

[Terraoblivion]

Miko followed Nonamé's gaze up the mountain, seeming distinctly unimpressed by his criticism. "I was thinking of having the faster of you cart the rest of us up there, it should be faster than going around, not that you should carry us around constantly. You could do it alone on using this," she gestured to the swift rider. "But i suppose having Gregorias scout could work too."

[Tengu_temp]

As Gregorias approaches he notices that the creature he observes isn't just one, but three! To be precise, they're bears - large, brown bears, waiting near the cliff as if standing guard, with several more large rocks and boulders around to drop on further climbers. Something about this scene seems very wrong...

They didn't appear to have noticed him.
(1 die stunt.)

[Fri]

Fu watches the bouncing boulders around him.

"I wonder what's happening up there..." he said as he wipes some dust from his hat.

As they wait, Fu tries to remember what he knows about the general area, especially the mountain.

intelligence+lore[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

Fu hasn't set his foot in this area for some time, but he remembers it pretty well. Going around the mountain and approaching it from the opposite direction will take a significant amount of extra time due to surrounding hills and other, lower mountains, not really suitable for horseback riding - you might save some time on climbing that way, but it's unlikely.

(What else do you want to know?)

[Fri]

(uh... hm... is it a dangerous place? Any wild animals for instances?)

[Tengu_temp]

No dangerous animals live in the close area... Normally.

[kamikasei]

Gihren reins in his startled mount. "Fu, do you know this area at all? Is there likely to be any way around, or are we as well to wait for Gregorias to lower the rope? Although if we take that approach, we'll have to leave the horses behind..."

He eyes the mountainside speculatively; he's reasonably sure he can climb it himself without too much bother, but how able the others might be and how quickly they could all get up he can't judge.

[Iry]

Gregorias cautiously scuttles down the wall, keeping to the ledges and small trees to provide additional cover above and beyond the shimmering aura that obscures him. After what seems like a short while, and was actually less than 5 minutes total even including his reduced speed from having to move instead of dash, Gregorias arrives at the base of the mountain again.

"There are three ursine-looking creatures up there, and they appear smarter than your average bear. There are a number of boulders designed for them to knock downwards and cause avalanches. I could not get close enough to the top to see if any other paths are similarly guarded but we should count on a rain of boulders no matter which way we go. The most frightening thing was their ability to spot me, or at least my ripple, from more than 100 yards away."

The dancing ripples of light twist around as Gregorias inspects the mountain once again.

"I did not spot any dangerous creatures or bandits lurking around this half of the mountain base. We've got a couple of options on our hands. We can try to ascend the far side of the mountain. It is likely better defended but at least we can stay grouped together. We can try to ascend this side of the mountain. I can probably exhaust the enemy of boulders and make myself a target, while the rest of you climb the mountain from just far enough that the avalanches don't risk harming you. Those are the best options I can think of given our resources. Any other ideas?"

[Fri]

"That's strange. From what I can remember, normally there won't be any dangerous animal around here." Fu puts his hand on his chin. "I wonder what they are..."

He then turns toward Gihren. "And from my knowledge to the surrounding area, going around the mountain would take a significant amount of our time, since the terrain isn't exactly good for horseback riding, there are other hills and mountains around here."

[roll0] for either int+survival or int+lore to check whether fu got any knowledge on the creature that gregorias had just described

[inirlan]

"Maybe they are spirits. Or there is an exalted, maybe even several exalted, behind all this. Either way, they can move the boulders, so they are material, and that means that they will be mince meat as soon as we're up there. Gregorias do you think you could run up like that while carrying me? I'd be able to slice through or at least deviate any boulder they send down and us and once we're up there we can eliminate the opposition, collect that flower and get back down in no time. However if we fall from the top... That's gonna make a nice thump when we reach the ground, but what is life without a bit of risk?"

[Iry]

Gregorias never ceases his shimmering and he responds to the inquiry directed at him.

"Are you suggesting that I carry you up and that the two of us retrieve the flower while the rest of them sit comfortably at the base of the mountain? An interesting predicament. Is it the intent of our Master Kalat to encourage our teamwork, such that we all stay together? Or is it the intent of our Master Kalat to encourage us to know our limitations, such that we do not bring every tool to a job that needs only a few?"

[Terraoblivion]

"What colors were the bears, Gregorias?" Miko had given it some thought and come to the most likely explanation so far. "If they are strange, unnatural colors they are likely air elementals known as Huraka, though this kind of behavior is very strange for those. The effect of the flower could explain that though. In any case i think the flower is most likely up there."

[Tengu_temp]

The bears had a natural, brown color. In fact, their whole appearance was completely normal, just not their behaviour - their vigilance and lack of unnecessary movements was very unnatural, almost lifeless.
Fu doesn't recall any natural creatures that could fit the description.

[Iry]

Gregorias might be rubbing his chin in thought, or he might be covering his face with his hand, or any other thing that involves an arm blur covering a face blur. In any case, the voice is clear and strong.

"The bears had a natural, brown color. In fact, their whole appearance was completely normal, just not their behavior - their vigilance and lack of unnecessary movements was very unnatural, almost lifeless."

[Terraoblivion]

The first reaction that registered on Miko was a slight shrug, followed by a frown. "This is tricky. There are quite a few things that could be going on then. The most likely is that they are ordinary bears, that are just being controlled by something. At least i think so." Her expression slid back to its usual calm. "Can you get up there to distract them long enough for the rest of us to join you?"

[Tableface]

Nonamé's gazes darts between the speaking parties, and he miraculously manages to bite back a number of insults and criticisms. "We... are making a lot of assumptions on things we know nothing of. But if there are-" he pinches the bridge of his nose, suddenly realizing how absurd his life has become in the past few years "-magic bears throwing rocks at us on this particular piece of cliff we'll probably have problems anywhere."

The Abacus flips his hat back, and steps off of his swift rider as he shrugs out of his shirt. He twists the sturdy silksteel into a makeshift climbing aid, and loops his arm through the light framework of the Corona, lifting it onto his shoulder and back, muttering something about what sort of mountain's easiest point of ascent is a half-mile sheer cliff.

"I," he declares, pointing a finger sharply at the high edge of the mist-shrouded cliff, "am going to climb this mountain and punch a bear in the face." He swings his shirt up to gain purchase on a protruding rock, and begins climbing.

Dexterity + Athletics to climb the mountain
5d10

[kamikasei]

"Who punches a bear? Honestly, you fight like an Immaculate," Gihren mutters to himself. He dismounts with a sigh and casts his cloak over his horse's back.

"If the bears are being controlled, then someone we haven't seen yet is controlling them, which means we'll likely need as many of us as we can get up at the top of this cliff. Those of us best able to climb can clear the way, and haul or carry any less suited to the task once the path is relatively safe."

That said, he starts the climb himself, veritably leaping up the mountainside. As much as possible he grips the rock with only one hand at a time, ready to draw and cleave any boulder coming his way.

[roll0]

[Iry]

"Well then, while you gentlemen are busy climbing the mountain I'm going to distract the bears to keep any boulders from knocking you off the cliff face. Once their boulders seem exhausted I'll come back to pick up anyone who does not wish to make the climb. While there is great merit in my carrying our most competent swordsmen up to the top of the mountain to deal with the bears, I think the more prudent course of action is trying to get all our fighting force to arrive at roughly the same time."

And with that, Gregorias turns about and takes that same familiar racers stance. A mere moment later he is once against sailing up the cliff-face with all the reckless abandon that he had the first time he ascended. Yet, this time he angles somewhat to the side to ensure those climbing will be in no danger from the boulders that he is about to attract. With a yell, he makes no pretense of hiding his presence and calls out a challenge to the bears so they know exactly where he is and which direction he is coming from!

"Listen up you sorry sacks of fur! I'm going to come up there and shove berries so far up your ass that you'll be tasting them for weeks to come!" It was absurd, but it was all he could come up with on such a short notice.

[Tengu_temp]

Nonamé and Gihren start to climb the wall - the former proceeds much more steadily, while the latter's decision to always have one free hand slows him down significantly. Nevertheless, both make progress.

The bears notice Gregorias, and send more boulders tumbling into his direction - they spread out and do so at different points, trying to make the avalanche as wide as possible and hard to escape! The other climbers aren't in its area, at least...
There is no emotional reaction to his taunt - they don't even roar.

[Fri]

Fu shrugs and gives and amused smile at his comrades.

"And here goes nothing"
he says before he starts to climb the cliff.

athletic+dexterity [roll0]

[Iry]

Gregorias sails up the mountain towards the falling rocks, and the wide spread of the falling boulders only serves to make his mission easier. He narrows his ascent to a straight line, sprinting towards the first boulder before leaping off the mountain and on top of the great falling chunk of earth. Just as before, he kicks off the boulder and leaps to the next in the line making inexorable progress towards the top of the mountain while presenting an obvious if shimmering target.

After deft acrobatics, Gregorias spies a large boulder at the head of a cluster and veers off to a particularly decent sized tree growing out of the craggy and sheer surface of the cliff. He grasps the branch and pulls it back in a similar fashion to the forest, but this time he lets the branch snap upwards and into the falling boulder to cause it to bounce backwards and into several other boulders to smash them away in haphazard pattern.

With that large threat taken care of, Gregorias sprints out from his momentary cover and stands atop the now-broken tree with supernatural balance and calls up a challenge once more. "You think you can defeat me just by throwing oversized marbles? Come on, give me your best shot!"

[roll0] Dexterity + Athletics + Excellency

[inirlan]

Nagusa didn't try to argue, he had a habit to simply rush straight forward with the simplest solution, rather striking now than latter even if you can't muster all your force right now, unless doing so was really, really, really stupid in an obvious manner. A bad habit it may be in the eyes of others, but he wasn't going to change that easily.

While Gregorias kindly distracted the bears, Nagusa rushed to a part of the mountain sufficiently far from the bears, but also a short distance from the rest of the climbers, because he was somewhat likely to require a fair deal of essence quite soon, and he would avoid scorching his companions if possible.

With a swift motion Nagusa used his running momentum to jump in the air torward the mountain, using his momentum and strength to punch a hold into the rock if he couldn't catch on a natural one, before using his limbs to sling him torwards holds or ledges situated higher on the mountain face, trying to reach the top as soon as possible.

Athletics + Dexterity[roll0]
Possible stunt die[roll1]

[Terraoblivion]

The others starting to climb was followed by Miko sending a long glance up the cliff after them. She had to get up there somehow and the only way was to climb herself. And do it without being hit by boulders on the way up.

Not wasting anymore time, she quickly crossed the short distance to the face of the cliff. Surveying it, she kicked off the ground, grabbing hold of a small ledge, steadying herself by keeping her feet on the cliff as she went for other handholds.

Dexterity+Athletics [roll0]
Stunt [roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

Fu climbs up swiftly, not much slower than as if he was taking a stroll on his own two legs. He quickly leaves Gihren and Nonamé behind, unless he chooses not to.
Miko's pace is not so swift, and it doesn't help that her clothes aren't really suitable for climbing. Nevertheless, she keeps close to the wall and moves up at Gihren's speed.
Nagusa's armor gives him a speed advantage - he will reach the top even faster than Fu. The bears haven't noticed him yet, though...

Or have they? After their next attack on Gregorias proves to be completely ineffectual, they stare into his direction for several moments... But their reaction to his taunt is turning away and moving into the direction of the side of the cliff the rest of the party is climbing! This shouldn't be possible - the climbers aren't in their sight yet, ad they don't make enough noise to be heard... Something suspicious is happening here!
And yes, there are rocks on that side, as well, ready to tumble down.

(Gregorias - 2 die stunt, Nagusa - 1 die stunt.)

[Iry]

Gregorias gives an audible groan and calls out loud enough to be heard once the falling rocks have settled upon his side of the mountain.

"The good news is that I've managed to just about exhaust their supply of boulders on this side of the mountain. The bad news is that they've given up on trying to pulverize me and are heading to your side of the mountain. Looks like we're going to have to resort to our backup plan!" And with that, Gregorias becomes a blur of speed along the side of the mountain as he moves to outpace the bears. At such a breakneck pace, a normal person would have tripped on the outcropping of rocks along the way, but with the grace of the crane he is delivered smoothly to his target.

"Lord Girhen, you'll just have to forgive me later!" And with one arm, the racing solar moves to scoop Girhen off the wall and haul him straight towards the top of the mountain at breakneck velocity. For all intents and purposes, he's trying to deliver Girhen to the top of the mountain before the bears manage to get to their rocks!

"Nagusa will be able to provide backup in just a moment. I'll make sure the rest are safe and help them get up the mountain." he mutters to Girhen, mid ascent.

[kamikasei]

An unreadable expression passes across Gihren's face as Gregorias seizes his free hand, but it's quickly gone and he reaches up with his other hand - the one that had been taking its turn holding him to the rock - to draw his weapon.

"Right. You might bring Shirogane first - we'll want her eyes up here if there's some sorcery at work."

Blade drawn and ready to slash at any downfalling boulders, Gihren holds himself tensed to swing up and in to position between the rocks and the approaching bears once Gregorias reaches the top.

[Tengu_temp]

Gregorias, Nagusa and Fu are climbing quickly, but before them or anyone else manages to reach the bears, they are already above the group, and push down rocks at them! Most of them are small, 1-3 feet in diameter at most, but there is another huge, rolling boulder - it already rips out any plants and stones it meets on the way, and if nothing stops it, it will be followed by a large avalanche at the moment it reaches Nonamé and Miko!
Most of the smaller rocks tumble into Nagusa's direction.

Gihren (and only him) suddenly notices a silver, shining string, appearing seemingly out of thin air and extending into his direction! Before he has a chance to react or take a good look at it, its end touches his forehead and the whole string disappears - and he can feel some alien, hostile presence in his mind, trying to wrestle control over it!
(The attack is targetting Integrity, so you can use reflexive Integrity charms.)

[kamikasei]

Gihren's eyes widen as he feels the thread-thing infiltrate his mind, then close. Concentrating on his lifeline mutual grip on Gregorias and on the flow of his breath, he shuts out the rest of the physical world and looks inward. The intrusion is an elusive presence slipping through the shadowed thoughts and hidden motives of his mind - but his will is a solid core, and with a breath that is more than breath he sends searing light blazing out from it, driving away shadows. Within his head, to himself and to the thread and its master if they can hear, he speaks - not a howl of defiance, but a firm and definite rejection.

"No.

I am no being's servant. My will is my own. You will not have it, or me, and my sword will be turned where I direct it, nowhere else."

He opens his eyes, burning with golden light.

Spending 4 motes of peripheral essence on the Second Integrity Excellency.
Remaining essence 28/39 (30/39 after stunts).
7d10 + 2 successes, [roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

Gihren's resolve is too strong for the alien presence to pierce through, and he can feel it being forced out of his mind. The string appears again before his eyes, but now it blackens and crumbles into dust. He still can't see where it leads to, though - its other end just gradually fades into the air.
(1 die stunt.)

[Tableface]

As Nonamé pulls himself another yard by his aching limbs, he glances upwards at the gathering avalanche. His expression blanks and then hardens and he is spurred to action, half by an unwillingness to be stopped and half by a lack of desire to have to climb up again. He throws his wound shirt over his shoulders and leans back to get a good idea of the distance between him, the top of the cliff, the rocks, and Miko. Then he decides to act anyway.

With a deep breath, Nonamé kicks off the cliff. He hangs in midair for a moment before the beginnings of his graceful descent are abruptly and painfully halted as Corona springs to life, jostling him and wrenching his shoulder as he disentangles it from the framework. The swift rider bobbles in the air as he scrambles to both mount and direct the machine down towards Miko, stopping near her.

"If you still want a free trip up," he offers, gesturing to the pillion.

EDIT
Spending Personal motes to keep the Swift Rider in the air, and he intends to take it to the top of the cliff. Given that we're all of two turns away from it, I'm hoping it won't exhaust too many motes.

[inirlan]

As Nagusa saw the avalanche falling torwards Nonamé and Miko at first wanted to try to deviate the falling rocks, but since Nonamé seemed to have everything under control, the dragon-blooded decided to instead concentrate on getting up there as soon as possible. The smaller rocks shouldn't be able to pass his armor so as soon as he reached a large ledge next to him he drew his daiklave and strapped on his shield, and keeping the shield over his head to deviate most of the rocks he jumped diagonaly in order to avoid the worst of the avalanche and plunged his sword into the rock, and secured his feet into small gaps in the rock, and waited for the first wave to pass before flinging himself upwards in order to reach the top and begin cutting the bears into ribbons.

[Terraoblivion]

The rumble from above triggered a panic in Miko, making her jerk her head from side to side, looking for a quick way out of the way. Before doing much more than stall she saw Nonamé disappear from sights, falling down the side of the cliff. Forgetting about the rocks for a moment she looked down to reach for him, revealing the swift rider.

She jumped. "You could have done that from the start. You are about as bad at this as i am."

[kamikasei]

"Something just tried to ensorcel me," Gihren warns Gregorias by way of explanation for his blazing eyes and caste mark. "I'd say we're going to meet the circus master at the top."

[Iry]

Gregorias glances behind him to make sure that Miko and Noname' are safely out of harms way, because if they were not then something drastic was going to have to be done. Of course, even though they were, something drastic was going to have to be done. With steadfast determination, Gregorias darted to the side in deft avoidance of the massive falling boulder, only to carefully duck and weave through the falling avalanche with the same kind of nimble grace that he has used to avoid them this entire while. The only difference is that Girhen is now riding along at over 30 miles per hour for all these gut-wrenching, g-force ignoring maneuvers!

"He probably has more tricks than a little sorcery and a few circus bears up his sleeve. Let's just hope that, when we inevitably blunder into them, they were not prepared for such overwhelming force! Get ready, we should be hitting the cliff top any second now."

[roll0] Even more Athletics!
[roll1] Stunts

[Tableface]

The Corona tilts and jets skyward before Miko has a chance to make herself comfortable--though this could be attributed to that it's hard to get comfortable when riding near-vertical on a flying piece of ancient technology past an avalanche than out of any personal spite on Nonamé's behalf. "I could," he calls to her as they climb towards the top, "but it would've been impractical and exhausting from the bottom! You're right on the rest, too!" He throws a grin over his shoulder that would look exuberant under normal circumstances but just looks unhinged right now. "I'm going to give some air once we hit the top, in case you can see anything!"

[Tengu_temp]

Both Gregorias and Nonamé, as well as their passengers, avoid the avalanche, but the rest of the group isn't so lucky! Nagusa, despite his effort, is still hit by several large rocks - most of them bounce off his armor harmlessly, but one hits his leg just when he's about to leap up and leaves a bruise. Fu is forced to jump to the side in order to avoid the rocks, but the large boulder loosens the ledge he grabs and causes him to lose his grip! He falls only a few feet down before catching onto the wall again, but that makes him lag behind the rest of the group now...

Everyone but Fu can reach the bears now! They're probably going to learn that bothering a group of Exalted is not a very good idea very soon...

Feel free to join Roll Battle, but no matter what you roll you should be able to move before the bears. Gihren and Miko can reach them only if Gregorias and Nonamé respectively come close to the bears, of course.

Gregorias, Nagusa - 1 die stunt. Nagusa receives 1 bashing damage from the rocks.

[kamikasei]

[roll0]

Gihren vaults up on to the ledge, or plateau, and sizes up the bears at a glance. Dashing forward, he heads for the furthest one he can reach, aiming to cut off their retreat. When he deems the time right he roots his lead foot in the ground and spins around it, delivering a great sweeping strike to the foremost bear from its front that casts an arc of gouting blood behind the blade to spray out and blind the one behind it. Blood in its eyes, it's little able to fend off Gihren's swift second cut.

[inirlan]

Join battle - [roll0]

Nagusa smiled, seeing how he managed to avoid any damage, just before a large rock hit his leg. Channeling his essence Nagusa infused his skin with it and for a short moment made it as strong as jade itself, the sudden increase in resistance sending the entire kinetic eneregy back to the rock that shattered in a thousand pieces.

Then without much effort he finished his climb, catapulting him over the edge, torwards the fleeing bears. As he fell torwards one of them Nagusa stabbed torwards it, spinning the sword as he struck, which combined with his momentum giving his sword and arm enough momentum to both pierce through the bear and then wound the one behind it. Once this was done Nagusa positioned his sword in a 90° angle compared to his arm with the edge pointing torwards him and pushing with his left foot against the bears chest brutally removed both his sword and arm from the bears chest, extending the wound.


1st attack [roll1]
[roll2]
2nd attack [roll3]
[roll4]
3rd attack [roll5]
[roll6]

[Tengu_temp]

You can feel the the hides of the bears are much thicker and tougher, resisting much harder against your blades, than how these of ordinary bests should be - but nobody has any doubts anymore that these are not ordinary bears. Gihren's and Nagisa's Daiklaves cut through the creatures, leaving behind long, deep criss-crossing wounds, the sprays of blood covering their fur in red - but even despite that the bears are still standing, showing no signs of hesitation. And all the time, they don't let out even the tiniest sound.

(Gihren, Nagusa - 1 die stunt each. Each of the attacked bears suffers 8 lethal damage total.)

[Terraoblivion]

Join Battle - [roll0]

Once on the swift rider, Miko kept close to Nonamé, trying to find her balance on the thing. She had seen it before, of course, but this was her first time sitting on the vehicle and she still wasn't quite certain how easy keeping your balance on it was. It turned out that it wasn't anywhere near as difficult as she had feared. Still, she held on firmly as a series of sharp turns and swift, aerial maneuvers brought the two of them out of the way of the falling boulders.

Having gotten used to sitting on the contraption, she closed her eyes in concentration for a moment and when she opened them, a pale fire flickered in the whites of them. Looking beyond the veil of the physical and into the immaterial realm, Miko tried spotting whichever hidden puppet master was controlling the bears and had tried taking over Gihren as well.

Just disregard these rolls, after rereading the scene i am not attacking anything until i have more information. I do activate Spirit-Detecting Glance, however.

First Attack [roll1]
Second Attack [roll2]

[kamikasei]

"These things aren't just being controlled - they've been strengthened somehow," Gihren calls back to the others, sizing up the remaining bears.

Did Gihren in fact get the lead bear, or are there others that got away?

[Tableface]

Join Battle - [roll0]

The Corona crests the edge of the cliff. Its momentum begins to slow, leaving Nonamé and Miko on a device that is preparing to make a sudden return to earth. As Nonamé begins to auger it into a favorable path of descent (that is, one aimed near a bear) he looks questioningly over his shoulder.

"See anything?" he asks.

Taking a Guard action as gravity kicks back in, and so Miko can get a look for anything.

[Tengu_temp]

Miko looks into the spirit realm, and notices a figure around, floating in the air above the mountain! It's a pale, androgynous creature, almost seven feet tall but very thin, its form covered in a long, white robe - it is hairless and its features are barely distinguishable, almost like a mask, and its eyes seem to be closed. There's also another unusual feature - it has four arms! The lower pair is folded, while the upper one is risen with its hands spread like a puppeteer's - and indeed, silvery strings extend from two of the fingers of its left hand and one of the right hand, each leading up to the forehead of one of the bears. The spirit is pretty close, but since it's several yars in the air it's hard to reach from the ground - that'd require a mighty leap.

There are three bears left, two heavily wounded and one unhurt. None of them are running away, I don't know where did that idea come from.

[Terraoblivion]

Miko raises her hand and points towards where the figure is. "Fly me there. Some spirit is controlling the bears, if we stop it they should resume normal behavior. I also think that i just might be able to cut the strings before we fight it directly."

[Iry]

Gregorias watches at Gihren leaps into the frey and begins to obliterate the bears, even if they prove tougher than what one would normally expect. As a blur, he creeps up last bit of distance along the sheer side of the mountain. While he tenses himself for the potential for violence, he instead focuses his attention towards locating the vitally important flower that they should be searching for. It would be important to know if it was in any danger or somehow being held hostage by whatever foul creature was controlling these bears and had already spotted all of them.

[roll0] Join Battle.
[roll1] Awareness.

[Tableface]

Nonamé swerves the rider to follow Miko's directions. "Whatever you say."

Feeding another mote into the Rider, and breaking guard to follow Miko's orders.

[Terraoblivion]

As the swift rider approached the spirit, Miko suddenly got up to balance on the back of it for a short moment before kicking off and jumping towards the spirits. Sweeping her naginata to the side, she put the full momentum of her jump into the swing back, aimed directly at the spirit. Going down deep she steadied herself with a hand before spinning and getting up looking straight at the spirit. "As you can see, we have the means to hurt you. Stand down and let us pass and you will not suffer further harm."

I use Spirit-Cutting Attack to be able to actually attack the spirit, should rattle it enough that it might want to talk.

Attack [roll0]
Stunt [roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

Gregorias reaches the very peak of the mountain. There are no flowers here, he notices something on the other side of the mountain, below him - the slope is generally much gentler here, but in one place it's almost cliff-like, and at the bottom of the steep part, where its angle once again becomes gentle, a thick entanglement of some sort of vines seem to be growing, and climbing up the slope. In fact... isn't that a speck of red among the vines?

The spirit flies back, dodging the blade of Miko's naginata, and opens its eyes, looking directly at her - except that it doesn't have any eyes! Instead, its sockets are filled with some sort of thick mucus, silvery and glistening just like the string it holds, and slowly dripping now that nothing blocks it.
"Is that all you have to say? I know what have you come here for. You will not get it, for it is mine." Its voice is as androgynous as its appearance, and barely a whisper - it'd be almost unhearable if not for otherworldly reverberance in it.

The spirit raises its upper arms, sending the bears to attack - they gang up on Gihren, trying to maul and bite him without paying attention to their injuries! At the same time it points one of its lower, free hands, into the swift rider's direction - two strands of string appear on its middle and index finger, and they rush towards Miko's and Nonamé's foreheads, becoming visible for a moment for the latter! If they reach their targers, they can feel the alien presence trying to enter their minds, just like Gihren did before!

Fu climbs up the slope and reaches the ledge where the battle is happening. He prepares his bow, ready to fire.

Miko - 1 die stunt.

Each bear attacks Gihren once.

Miko and Nonamé are targetted by an attack targetting Essence+Integrity. They might try to dodge as well, depending on the former's reaction.

Current battle initiative order:
Noname 7
Nagusa 7
Gihren 8
Miko 9
Bears 10
Spirit 12

[inirlan]

With a few quick steps Nagusa positions himself in a position where he flanks the bears, and suddenly realises that besides the bears only Ghiren is between him and the ledge.

"Ghiren, get your ass over here unless you want to fall all the way back down!"

Then his anima banner, before only a simple glow he emited, suddenly erupted in a blue flame covering his entire body and his movements became blured, looking like a large blue fire flickering in the breeze. He filled his daiklave with the power of his essence and struck the rock once. The essence now coated the edged of the blade, normally sharper than any razor, now blunt, jagged and yet unstoppable. That was on purpose, simply cutting the rock would have no effect, he would have to create deep fractures in the rock. A first blur of motion occured and a deep fracture going to the right appeared the characteristic sound of breaking stone. A second strike and a second fracture appeared to the left. With each strike the flames became strong, roaring in a strange manner as they increased, the earth at his feet became scorched and the air began to blur around him. Then he held his blade high above his head, delaying the coup de grace just long enough to let Ghiren escape before brutally plunging the sword into the ground in front of him.

The the stone cracked in a sickening, deafening noise, as if the earth's own bones had been brutally snapped. The stone could no longer resist such damage and the part where the bears stood collapsed in a rumbling sound, as if the mountain itself was moaning, sending a chill down Nagusa's spine, before beying overshadowed by the final roar of Nagusa's anima banner, distinctively sounding like that of wolf, and the large pillar of pure blue flames surrounding Nagusa had a shape reminiscent of one of these noble and savage beasts.

Powering a 3 action magical flurry(armor function) with his own essence, the flurry concisting of 3 five-dragon blows. Total expended essence : 11, total essence expended in this scene : 13(note : due to my Breeding of 6 I trigger my totem aura at only 13... Stay the hell away because I now cause 1L/turn to everything withing two yards)

[kamikasei]

Gihren's daiklave forms a whirring barrier of orichalcum and fear between him and the bears, who however heedless of injury they may be are hard-pressed to find an opening through which to attack. Hearing Nagusa's warning, he interrupts his rhythm to meet one claw-swing with the flat of his blade, letting the mighty strength of the unnatural creatures fling him to safety - or at least, out of immediate Terrestrial doom.

"Shirogane! What do you see?"

[roll0] - stunts for parry, if relevant. Also removed the bit about shooting the spirit - forgot that only Miko can actually see it.

[Tableface]

There's a blinding flash of silver that passes through Nonamé's field of vision. At the last moment, he tilts his head out of the path of the strange string. As he focuses his attention at the empty spot he believes the attack came from, his forehead shimmers and the golden disc of his caste mark flares into focus--and he hopes the fact that it's shaped like a bullseye only pisses the spirit off more.

Corona dives to the ground as its rider tears off his goggles and tugs one of his gloves off with his teeth. Taking them in hand with his loose shirt, Nonamé leaps from the machine and throws the errant pieces of clothing to the ground as the rider spins to a stop some yards away.

"Miko," he begins, standing up next to her, "I want to try something. I need you." With the sound of scuffed leather he pulls Grassfire free from its place at its hip, and standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder with the exorcist he points it towards where he thinks the spirit is based on her directions and its last attack. His bare finger slides down the trigger, making room. "Hold my hand."

Taking 5 ticks to draw a weapon.

The fact that it takes five seconds to draw any weapon has always bugged me.

Edit: oh, spent 1 Peripheral Mote to activate Surprise Anticipation Method

[Terraoblivion]

Narrowing her eyes to focus better, Miko's gaze fixed on the thread. Rather than try to avoid it, however, she swept her naginata up to use its supernatural sharpness to cut through the strand just before it hit her. "Is that all you can do? Leave and we will not be forced to harm you, continue opposing us and feel the punishment for violating the Creation Ruling Mandate."

Without removing her gaze from the spirit, she slid her hand to the side to take Nonamé when he asked for it. "What is it you want?" The question was said quickly and in a low voice, trying to avoid letting herself be distracted from the enemy at hand.

[Tengu_temp]

None of the bears manage to harm Gihren - and similarily, Nonamé avoids the string and Miko cuts through the other one before they even manage to connect. The spirit tries to respond to Miko's words, but at the same moment Nagusa crushes the rock, sending the bears tumbling down, most likely to their demise, the strings linking them to the spirit's hands snapping, darkening and turning into dust almost instantly. It seems to be surprised.
Nagusa - 2 die stunt, choose do you want to regain motes or willpower.

Nonamé - remember that you can draw a weapon as a part of a flurry, too. Before you attack with it, of course.

[Tableface]

Nonamé keeps his repeater high and his eyes open--for all the good it does him--as he places Miko's hand onto Grassfire. "You can hit it. I can hurt it. Why don't you do your thing and I do mine?" he asks with a grin as his breaths begin to deepen. "You just need to pull the trigger when I do--and maybe guide me a little."

There's a -2 external penalty to this sort of action, but I'm hoping with someone who can see it guiding Nonamé's hand that this might be reduced. He's angling to have Miko use Spirit Cutting Attack with the repeater at the same time as they both pull the trigger.

[kamikasei]

Gihren blinks at Nagusa's dramatic move. "I hope you haven't just crushed our horses..."

[inirlan]

Nagusa disregards Ghiren's rebuke, stating his opinion on the matter.

"The bears already sent an avalanche down the same way, the horses either ran away in which case they were outside of the rockfall or they were already dead in which case they could hardly become any deader."

Then he turns his head in direction of his other companions, who seemed to be fighting an invisble foe, before asking Ghiren :

"Looks like they are fighting a spirit or something... I haven't got much experience in that domain, have you got an idea how we could help them?"

[kamikasei]

Gihren shakes his head. "I think Miss Shirogane will have to be our guide there - if she thinks our weapons can hurt it, we can at least attack where she directs."

[Terraoblivion]

Miko nodded, still keeping her gaze fixed at the spirit. "That should work. If we time it carefully, if not the attack is going to fizzle." Raising the gun, she guided Nonamé's hand to aim at the spirit. Furrowing her brow in concentration, her finger tensed against the trigger. Even the slightest mistiming would doom the attempt, they had to get it right the first time. She sent Nonamé a glance to see if he was ready too before, finally pressing down, pouring her essence into the weapon.

I use Spirit-Cutting Attack to make us have a chance to actually hit. I'll leave the rolling to Tableface.

[Iry]

Gregorias darts across the top of the mountain towards the speck of red he previously witnessed. The movement is filled with some caution, however, in his expectation that there might be another layer of defense placed across the precious bloom. He glances behind himself to inspect the righteous destruction created by Nagusa and cannot help but chortle at the display.

In any case, while it looked like the battle was going in their favor, it was vitally important to secure the asset they had come for in the event that they would be forced into a retreat. So it is that Gregorias digs about in his haversack to ensure that the fluid-filled jar was ready for use. The nigh-invisible blur decides to take one additional precaution in the event of potential traps. As he draws near the plant he takes a long and deep breath to ensure that no pollens or other mystical smells might try to befuddle his mind or paralyze his limbs. It was likely a foolish gesture but better safe than sorry.

[Tableface]

Nonamé closes his eyes and takes one last deep breath. Around him he can briefly feel the nature of Creation pull towards him, feel the fire of the South as it gathers in his chest and then in his gun, mingling with the exorcist's own puissance. The foreign but pleasant sense of camaraderie he feels at Miko's help is pushed aside for a moment of empty clarity. Focused, he opens his eyes again, now filled with stern fury.

"Repent!" The shout comes as he and Miko squeeze down on the trigger. His caste mark quivers and then blazes across his forehead as a final testament of the grievous wrong the spirit has tried to commit. For the briefest of moments a halo of faint indigo flares into being, irising to a close around Grassfire's barrel. With a bonfire roar, silver flame erupts from the weapon and spirals towards the offending spirit as arcs of blue dance through the fire.

Fueling this with Blossom of Inevitable Demise Technique, doubling the raw damage of the attack. Additionally spending a point of Willpower to channel Conviction, to punish an attempt to stand in the way of the Chosen of the Sun.

ATTACK: [roll0]
VIRTUE: [roll1]
And I'm too much of a pansy to roll my own stunt dice.

Edit: You must be mistaken, at no point did I mix up the names of his gun and his ride. This was not editied in any way.

[Tengu_temp]

The flame hits its target right in the chest, passing right through and emerging from the other side! The spirit falls down to the ground, with a see-through, round wound left by the attack, its edges black, burned and smoldering. It is not dead, however - it looks up at the Corona slowly, grasping the wound with two of its hands. Its expression shows much less pain than it should, however.
"So be it... The blossom is yours..."
Its body suddenly disappears in a flash of light (visible only for Miko, of course), leaving only a small will-o-wisp behind, which immediately darts into some direction and disappears from sight.

(7 damage. Both Miko and Nonamé regain 2 essence from a 1-mote stunt.)

As Gregorias gets closer to the tangle, he can see that indeed, the spot of red is the flower you're looking for! He doesn't notice any strange smells or pollens in the air, but as he approaches, something different and unexpected happens... Two of the thick, dark vines of the plant suddenly come to life! And now that they started to move, you can see that they're not really vines at all, but previously well-camouflaged humanoid figures, each around 3 feet tall, seemingly made from thorny branches, with simple features and huge, green eyes. They look a bit like a child's wooden toys... They land on the ground and look around, wooden swords in their hands and excited smiles on their faces.
"Where are you? We know that someone is here! Show yourself and state your intent!", yells one of them in a high-pitched voice. The other one shouts something in a language Gregorias doesn't understand.

[kamikasei]

There's some frustration in Gihren's voice as he speaks, turned toward the direction in which Noname fired. "Lady Shirogane! What is the situation?"

[Terraoblivion]

Watching the spirit for a moment to make sure it was gone, Miko let go of the repeater. "The spirit controlling the bears has been defeated. Seems like it was a weak one, at least most spirits wouldn't be defeated this easily. In any case, we should be safe from mind control now, but i will warn you should anything else get here. Now let us-"

Before she could finish the sentence she heard the high squeaky voice, "-get over there and prevent a breakdown of negotiations." Breaking into a sprint, she ran towards where the sound came from. Once there she squatted to come face to face with the stick person, smiling as she spoke in a friendly tone. "Hello there, little fellow. We have been sent in search of a flower with great powers of healing so our master can use it to cure the sick of the land."

[Tableface]

Nonamé gives his repeater a few dramatic twirls before slamming it back into his holster. "Owe you," he remarks after Miko, before gathering up his discarded bits of clothing and gear and shrugging back into his shirt and goggles. As he folds up the Corona and stuffs it into his sidebag, he turns his attention to Gihren and Nagusa and freezes as he suddenly notices that a large section of the cliff is gone along with the furry assailants. He reacts the only way he can think how: an impressed whistle and a thumbs-up.

At the sound of voices he turns his attention back to their mission, and wanders over to join in the conversation. He keeps his hat askew and his caste mark visible, and keeps his mouth shut for the moment. Much like the spirit they'd just blown a hole in, this seems more the exorcist's field of expertise.

[Iry]

Gregorias takes one look at the strange stick-like creatures and simply assumes they are just another layer of defense conjured up by whatever spirit Miko and Noname' were doing battle with just moments before. At the same time that Miko begins her sprint towards the creatures, Gregorias leaps off the ground into a somersault that will carry him up and over the two figures.

His somersault carries him directly into the path of the sunlight, so that it's rays might dazzle and blind anything that tried to follow his movements with their eyes and lose track of his location. The leap is aimed to carry him to the far side of the plant, placing it between himself and the figures. His landing is graceful, and he immediately falls still so that the figures might have an even more difficult time discovering him.

[roll0] Stealth
[roll1] Stunts

[Tengu_temp]

The stick people don't look into Gregorias' direction when he leaps over - they apparently weren't sure where he was, just that someone was here. Another one, similar to the other two but unarmed, emerges from the vines (how many more can still be hidden there?). The attention of all three is focused on Miko and Nonamé once they appear in sight, though, and then run forward to meet them (although they don't go too far away from the plant).
"Ooooh..." The stick people look up at them in amazement, listening to Miko's words. "Does that mean you're heroes? On a quest?"

[Terraoblivion]

Miko nodded, the smile still present on her face, her voice carrying a softness that the rest of the circle is likely unused to hearing. "We are trying to be, at least. We are hear to cure the sick, following the example of the great hero, Wekesa. I can tell you about him, if you want to hear."

[Tengu_temp]

The lead stick person looks at the other two, as if reading the reaction from their faces, and all three nod in unison.
"Yeah, tell us! Tell us!"
The other two start bouncing and waving their stick arms in excitement. The leader settles for staring at Miko with expectation, instead.

[kamikasei]

Blade cleaned and sheathed, Gihren joins the others at the cliffside and raises an eyebrow at the odd creatures below.

"Do we have time for this? There is still the journey back to consider," he murmurs to Miko.

[Iry]

Gregorias crouches in silence, listening to what parts of the conversation that he can. He expected the stick creatures to be hostile, but perhaps that was not the case. He settled down in his shimmering hiding place behind the plant and prepared to give them about... one half of an hour. That should be enough time to decide if the sticks were friend or foe, and if they had to act in spite of the disposition of these strange creatures.

[Terraoblivion]

Miko sends Gihren a short glance and nods, before returning her attention to the stick people, trying to avoid losing their attention. "Very well. A long, long time ago, in a land far to the south of here reigned the Golden King Wekesa. He was a just, merciful ruler who defended his people against those who would steal their land and he asked little of them except that they would treat each other well.

One day, however, a dreadful plague struck his country. The doctors were helpless before it as the people died. Seeing his people suffer like this, Wekesa took up his spear and his shield and stood before them. He said that he would go into the world to find a cure for the plague and that he would not rest until he had found a way to cure his people. Though many wept at the thought of losing the comfort of seeing their beloved king, others rejoiced that their king would willingly risk himself searching for a cure for them.

Wekesa searched the world, looking at the highest mountains and beyond the widest oceans. Nowhere he looked had anybody heard about a plague like this, however. He despaired and was almost about to give up and turn back to tell his people the sad news that there was no cure. In one final attempt he headed for a legendary astrologist living in a deep forest far to the east on the very edge of the world. This astrologist was said to be able to read the stars so well that he had learned everything in the world.

Through the woods he went, traveling until the trees rose above him and the ground disappeared far below the branches. There he found a small hut, with an old man sitting at the firepit. Knowing that this had to be the astrologist, Wekesa through himself on the knees before the man and begged him to read the stars and tell him how to save his people. So overcome by the honesty and sincerity of the king, the old man agreed to cast one final prophecy, but only if Wekesa agreed to never tell anyone where he lived.

The truth revealed by the stars was much more horrifying than anything Wekesa could have imagined. The plague had been sent by the evil raksha king, The Green Lord, to kill the people of Creation and the only way to stop it was to make The Green Lord end it himself. Having done his duty the old man, made Wekesa leave. But to help the king he gave Wekesa a mighty charm to protect him from the glamour of the fae and a vial containing the essence of Meru itself.

Wekesa traveled to the castle of The Green Lord and asked to see its master. Amused The Green Lord had Wekesa brought before him. Arrogant and certain of his power, he swore to retract the plague if only Wekesa would prove himself by completing three tasks for him, but if he couldn't he would have to serve The Green Lord forever. Despite the risk, Wekesa agreed without hesitation.

First The Green Lord had four priceless, golden crowns brought in and placed before Wekesa. He told that Wekesa had to choose the only real one and hand it to him. Wekesa looked on them for hours, testing them in every possible way. No matter what he did, there seemed to be no difference between the four, they all seemed truly real. Fearful that he would fail, he suddenly felt something scratching against his chest. It was the charm the astrologist had given him. He reached for it to move it out of the way, but the moment he touched it clarity struck him. He picked a crown up and handed it to The Green Lord.

The moment he did, a look of frustration passed over the face of the raksha and a sound of shattering glass was heard and the three other crowns disappeared. Wekesa had chosen correctly.

Next The Green Lord conjured up a terrible monster with four heads and a body made of slithering, squirming snakes. Defeating it was Wekesa's next trial. Every time he stabbed at the beast, the spear just slid through and the wound closed as he pulled it out. It was a mighty battle lasting for the rest of the day and the night, but it was always the same. Finally, Wekesa began to tire from struggling against the vicious monster and his movements became slow. Then finally the monster bit him in the side. A few broken pieces of glass fell to the floor as the beast recoiled in pain, having drunk the essence of the astrologist's vial. Bound by the laws of reality themselves, the wounds the beast took no longer closed themselves and Wekesa able to slay the beast.

Wekesa's victory triggered a howl of rage from The Green Lord as the raksha bent over, smiling cruelly. It gave Wekesa his final trial, one it was certain he could not complete. It told Wekesa to kill himself. But it's confidence was misplaced, as Wekesa just nodded before pointing his spear towards his heart and throwing himself at it.

So died the great hero, his sacrifice forcing The Green Lord to uphold his oath and cure the disease. So was the fury of the raksha, however, that it let out a long, terrible scream pouring all of its being into it. So terrible was the scream that all its courtiers was killed solely from the hatred and spite of it. As for The Green Lord itself, it died from the pure exertion of the scream."

Bringing her story to an end, Miko comes up with a somewhat sheepish look. "But, ummm, we are not trying to copy Wekesa's death, just to cure the sick. Don't get any ideas."

[Tengu_temp]

All three stick people stare at Miko intently as she tells the story with expecting looks on their faces - their silence generates a sound vacuum that begs to be filled. When she finishes, their reaction differs - one starts jumping up and down and cheering, another one cries, moved by the heroic sacrifice of the hero, while the third one actually strikes a conversation.
"Woah, what an awesome tale! Do you know more? Please, tell us! We can bring you some food if you're hungry!"
The stick person looks at Miko and Nonamé with a begging expression in its huge eyes. The other two soon do the same.

[Tableface]

Nonamé looks left and right obliviously, before suddenly realizing they're also fixating on him. The perceptive would notice a mild twitch at the corners of his eyes and mouth as he suppresses a cringe. "We have something to do, but we'd be happy to tell you more once it's done. Would you mind waiting a moment?" He gives a sideways glance toward Miko that clearly (maybe desperately) intimates 'please take it from here'.

[Terraoblivion]

Miko shook her head at the stick people, still smiling at them. "I'm sorry, but we are still busy. We have to get this flower back to our master, we didn't come here for sightseeing, remember?" She got up and began moving towards the others, smiling a bit nervously, with a clear hint of 'sorry, guys' to it.

[Tengu_temp]

"Aww..." The stick people lower their gazes, looking sad and disappointed.

"No!" Their leader steps forward, looking at the huge Solars with eyes filled with determination. "Please stay, just for one more story! You've told one already, your master surely won't mind if you arrive a bit later to tell one more! We want to hear it so badly, please stay!" The little figure's eyes shudder and glisten a bit, as if it was going to cry any second now.

(It's social combat time! Feel free to roll Join Debate. The stick people leader rolled 2 successes.)

[Terraoblivion]

Miko just shakes her head as she looks at it, though she still smiles gently. "I am sorry. Our master will be using this flower to cure the sick. The longer we wait the greater the risk that someone who could have been saved dies."

Not going to bother enhancing this with anything, but i think this qualifies as a social parry, though i must admit that i never truly understood how they work.

Join Debate [roll0]

[Tableface]

Nonamé just stares, looking for all the world like his mind is another place. And it is, a very angry, very exasperated, very tired place where he isn't retrieving flowers at the request of some enigmatic man with a conspicuously pleasant house. Then the stickmen whine, and that tears it.

"No," he remarks sternly, glaring down at them. "We have more important things to do, and if you really enjoyed that story you'd follow Wekesa's example and try to put others before yourselves." He sounds like a parent talking to a group of children, something that makes him feel even more ridiculous.

Join Debate: [roll0]

And a Charisma+Presence attack to get them to not be obnoxious and obstructive.
Attack: [roll1]

[Iry]

Gregorias watches as the sun slowly creeps along the sky on it's eventual voyage to the far side of the world. For a few passing moments he contemplated exactly what happened to the sun whenever it impacted the water far to the west and quenched itself. Would it be a charred husk? A cooling rock? Would it send up a massive cloud of steam?

Suddenly, Gregorias is snapped out of the daydreaming he was doing while Miko told her tale, and he gives a rueful squint at the pleading little bugger. Some part of him that values expediency far more than the lives of these little stick people causes his right hand to quiver menacingly at the hilt of his Goremaul. With a stern effort, he swallows back that impulsive urge.

Just. A. Few. More. Minutes. Give them a chance to talk the stick-people out of their stubborn insistence. Where the hell was Nagusa, anyway?

[Tengu_temp]

The stick people seem to shrink a bit under Nonamé's gaze.
"Um... We didn't think about it that way, but...", one of them mutters shyly, before standing proudly. "You're right! Such selfish behaviour is not fitting for heroic guardians such as us!" The spirit looks at the other two, and they nod in unison. Again. "Take the blossom with you, to your master! We're not going to stop you any longer!"

"But if you have some free time in the future, could you pay us a visit then?", says another one. "It gets boring here with no new faces around!"

[Tableface]

Nonamé gives the little creatures a look of surprise. "Er, really?" He looks disarmed, not having expected them to acquiesce so easily. "Well, um, sure. If we get the chance I'm sure one of us," even as he begins to say it he knows he's volunteering, "could come and tell you a few more."

Scratching the back of his neck, he approaches the blossom.

[Tengu_temp]

"Woohoo! Thanks a lot! Don't forget, alright? Promise that you won't forget!" The stick people snap back almost instantly to their previous cheerful and excited selves.
"Um, are you sure you're not hungry, though? We could give you some tasty snacks for the journey back! Very tasty!"

There are no other obstacles that block your way to the flower, hidden or visible. It's free for the taking now.

[Fri]

Fu looks really interested at the stick people. He loves meeting new people and culture after all. Even if it's a culture of tiny stick peoples. He let the others deal with the flower and crouched down near them.

"Sure, we'll do that. Are there more of you guys around here?"

He then touched one of them softly with his finger, out of curiousity. "And some snack would be great. What do you guys eat?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Nope, there's only three of us! What about you? How many of you are there?"

The stick person Fu is touching doesn't seem to be discouraged in the slightest. The spirit's skin feels like wood.
"Eat? We don't eat normal mortal stuff, but we have plenty of food for guests if they get hungry! Like a lot of awesome berries, they're very tasty! Want some?"

Note that you can use Intelligence+Occult to see if you remember any details on these spirits from your studies.

[Terraoblivion]

Miko had been about to move away from the stick people when she heard Fu accepting the offer of food. She tensed up as she spun to look at the man. She had to stop him and tried to catch his attention and shake her head to make him say no to the offer, but she had to do it subtly to avoid insulting the stick people.

[Iry]

Gregorias still has a fair amount of time until he stops shimmering, and so he takes it upon himself to carefully take out the container provided by Master Kalat and set it to the side of the flower so that it becomes visible just as Noname' is approaching the flower. With any luck, Noname will be able to cut the flower infront of the three stick people and place it into the container with fewer questions asked than if the flower simply vanished into nothingness.

Of course, it was odd that the container was appearing at all, but he doubted the three figures were paying much attention to such things at this moment. Even if they were, it would be an easy lie for one of the two of them to discourage the little people from further investigation.

[Tableface]

As Nonamé plucks the flower, he notices the jar shimmer into being at the edge of his vision. So that's where Greg was. "Great to see you," he mutters disingenuously as he carefully places the flower in the jar and edges it back towards where it came; it would be safer where no one would be able to see it, after all.

The flower secured, he turns and walks back to and then past the small group, not trying to get away but not intending to stick around any longer than necessary.

[Fri]

Fu raises his eyebrow toward Miko. He then looks at the stick people again. Too bad he knows jack **** about spirits.

He then shrugs. It's what being an adventurer is anyway. To boldly taste what no man had ever tasted before!

Despite Miko's warning, Fu nods at the stickmen's offering.

[Tengu_temp]

"Wahoo! Just wait here!"
Two of the stick people turn around and run towards the brambles, completely ignoring Nonamé picking the flower and putting it inside the jar (which he does without any hindrances, though the fluid in the jar has a strong, weird smell). The spirits leap into the tangled vines, and reappear soon, carrying a large leaf with a small pile of orange berries on it, which they lay in front of Fu.
"Here you go! Enjoy!"
All three stare at him, waiting for some kind of reaction.

[Fri]

"Thank you." Fu smiles and examines one of it.

[roll0] intelligence+survival.

"Do you eat this all the time? What do you call it?"

He pulls a handkerchief and put the berries on it.

"But it seems like we already finish our business here. Thanks for the snack, guys. I'll enjoy it in our journey home."

[Tengu_temp]

"Nope, we don't eat those! We save them up for the guests!" The stick person's explanation is accompanied by cheerful laughs from the other two, for some reason. "They don't really have a special name, they're just berries. But they're very tasty, believe me!"

Fu is not familiar with the berries - they must not be a part of the mortal world, but be created by spirits or some sorcery instead. Judging from the smell, however, they are edible, but hallucinogetic.

"Aw, you're not going to eat them here? Maybe your friends are hungry and would like you to share, too!"

[Fri]

"Sorry little dudes. My friends will be mad at me. Don't worry, I'll definitely eat them. Just not right now."

[Tengu_temp]

"Alright." The stick people sound only very slightly disappointed. "Hope you'll like the taste!"

Is there anything else you want to do around here, or will you heading back to Kalat's mansion? There should be enough time to investigate the webs, if anyone wishes to do that.

[Fri]

Fu scales down the cliff and looks for their mounts.

"So, time to get back to master kalat?"

[Terraoblivion]

Rather than trying to scale the cliff, Miko turned her attention to Nonamé. "Can i get a lift back down? I am not too confident in my ability to scale that thing."

[Tableface]

"Why did I even bother to pack it up," Nonamé mutters to himself as he pulls the swift rider out, sets it up, and prepares to ride it off a cliff. "It'll be a hell of a ride down, though."

[Fri]

Safe at the bottom of the cliff, and looking that their mounts are also still safe and sound, if maybe slightly disturbed by the commotion, Fu relaxes and mindlessly threw one of the berry to his mouth as he wait for the others to come down.

[kamikasei]

"Well, we can hope that the hard part is done with, though there may be more things drawn to the flower that haven't arrived yet. The question now is whether to return all together, or send the flower ahead with the swiftest two or three among us while the rest clean up the mess we've left - I for one would like to know those webs are being investigated, in case the spiders were being controlled by a spirit like the one that drove the bears, or some other creature." Gihren looks around at the others. "It's up to us all. Together we are stronger, but the extra time the journey will take is more time for some danger to show up."

((Do we need to roll to climb down?))

[Terraoblivion]

Miko just shrugged and sent Nonamé a faint smile as she takes a seat. "I dealt with the trip up, right?"

"And i think we should investigate as well, Gihren. Something was up with those spiders and i do not feel comfortable letting them stay without certain that they are not a danger to anyone. And i think i should head along with investigating, from what we have seen it seems likely that if something is up a spirit is behind it and you will need me to deal with that."

[kamikasei]

Gihren nods. "I'll join you then. Speed is not my forte. Who shall take the flower back, in that case?"

[inirlan]

Nagusa was relieved when they finally were preparing to leave. He had laid down in order to avoid frightenning the stick-thingies. That and to take a nap. He quickly stood up, revealing a patch of ground charred by his now extinguished anima banner(not sure how fast it goes away actually).

"Hm... Nonamé on his swiftrider is pretty much the fastest of us, though if he'll slow down a bit Gregorias or I could keep up with him, if we add a passenger on the swift rider we could split ourselves into two groups of three people. Bringing the flower back to master Kalat is more important, and since my anima is likely to flare up again as soon as there is trouble It would be safer to have Gregorias go with the group bringing the flower back."

[Tengu_temp]

After eating just one of the berries (it's very sweet and juicy) the world around Fu becomes brighter and more colorful. Nothing is waving to him or floating in the air yet, but the world will surely share some of its hidden secrets with him if he eats more.

(There is no need to roll for climbing down here. You can assume you reach your mounts safely.)

[Fri]

Ooh. This is something.

"Hey guys. this spirit berry stuff is deh lih cioush."

Fu eat another one and tries to look at his natural surroundings once more while in the effect of the berry that he named...

Wisdom berry.

survival+perception[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

Things start to reveal their true colors for Fu - literally, it turns out that the plants around are all colors but green, the ground underneath his feet is blue, and the sky has swirling, changing colors. The clouds start to race each other, the trees some to get closer and closer when he's not looking, and the sun seems to wink at him approvingly - a sure sign he's doing a good job as a Solar. The horses aren't very talkative yet, though, they only mutter among themselves.

You realize that most of what you see right now is probably not real, and just an effect of the berry. Probably.

[Terraoblivion]

Fu's words made Miko spin in place, eyes slightly widened in worry. "Did you actually eat any of those berries? Didn't you see i tried to warn you? Dump the rest and follow the rest of us. Hopefully the effect doesn't last too long." Moving towards the explorer stretching her hand out commandingly to make him give her the berries.

[Fri]

"But... but miko..."

Fu focused his sense toward the sight and sounds of his friend. Is that really her? What does she look like? Or it's just another tree.

Then he shrugs and silently pocket all of the berries. This is going to be useful sooner or later.

survival+int [roll0]


from what he tasted, fu want to know whether it's dangerous, poisonous or addicting, at least for normal people if not for solar.

[Tengu_temp]

No, the berries are not poisonous and most likely not addicting. They just make you very high. Too many of them might knock a mortal out, though.

[Tableface]

Nonamé stares slack-jawed at everyone, a dull--at times, disbelieving--look on his face. He shakes himself out of it and flaps his mouth, not even sure where to start.

"I- you- this..." he closes his eyes and presses hard on his eyeballs, "... let's start at the first part.

"Why do any of you think the spiders are controlled by any spirits? Why can't they just be your normal giant spiders who've set themselves up someplace like I'd assume a giant spider would? Playing exterminator is fine, by why are you trying to dress it up like some serious inquiry?

"Speaking of dressing up, Gregorias in that invisible suit of his was the last thing I 'saw' with the flower, and why by Venus's sagging teats are you all yammering about splitting up? It's in the stupid jar, it's preserved, we have time! Splitting up is what the stupid and desperate do, and I'd like to hope we at least aren't desperate.

"And you," he jabs a finger at Fu, "stop eating those berries!" He glares for a moment, quietly realizing he'd just abandoned any hope of maintaining the appearance of a laconic gunman. "Or give me some. Because if we're going to be wasting our time as glorious champions of the heavens chasing spirits-cursed flowers and such at the command of an old enigmatic bastard who breaks us from the arduous task of lounging around in his mansion, I might as well have the excuse of having been high!"

He ends his rant, out of breath and looking about ready to invent a power that allows him to throw spears from his scowling eyes.

[Fri]

"I'd give you some, but Miko will kill me if I do that. Anyway, these berries are precious speciments. And currently in limited quantities. I'm going to try to deal with that problem later at our place.

Aanyway, let's get back now. I'm curious on what master kalat want to do with these flowers. And then we can get back to do more heavenly champion stuffs that's more fitting than picking flowers. Like exterminating giant spiders or something. But first, let's get back to master kalat."

[kamikasei]

Gihren blinks at Noname, slowly, patiently. "The spiders were behaving oddly to my eyes, and to Miss Shirogane's as well. There's no need for a spirit to be behind it, except parsimony. Now, since we are all going that way anyway it seems better to me to look in to it en route rather than waiting for Master Kalat to send us back out after we return, but if you think you need the whole group of us to defend you as you and Gregorias return with the flower, we can accommodate you."

[Tableface]

Nonamé's hand flies to his holster, reflexively poised over Grassfire. He fixes his intense, angry gaze at Gihren. "You," he raises a finger and waves it slightly in the warrior's face, taking a moment to run his tongue over his teeth, "you don't get to put words in my mouth." His voice is low, and surprisingly even. "I am saying flowers and bugs are not things worth dividing over.

"And in case you missed my point, we are the Chosen champions of that." He poins a finger skyward. "You," the finger moves to Miko, "can see and slay spirits without any rituals or pomp, you," he points to Gihren and then Nagusa, "between the both of you could probably kill just about anything. You," this time Fu, "... probably have some amazing talent, and Gregorias," he gestures all around him, not sure where the Night Caste is, "can turn invisible and run up walls. I ride around on a flying bicycle, by Hesiah's fire, and I have talents of my own that don't just involve shooting things and being pissy.

"We spend all our time sitting in a mysterious man's house, waiting for him to give us orders which amount to 'kill this thing or retrieve that object' while the world outside screams and cringes. Does this strike none of you as irresponsible?"

[Fri]

"Actually, he's kinda right. I kinda long the days when I travel the road and the wilderness... finding new places for men to live....

But I'm sure Master Kalat have some reason." He continues as he opens and closes his fist, as if he's trying to test his own strength. "Plus he's a funny old coot.

After this, we can annoy the old guy together if you want to. It's almost the time for my next travel anyway. Staying too long in one place makes me itchy. This hat is made for walking you know" He grins and taps his hard hat.

[Terraoblivion]

Having heard Nonamé accusations, Miko sighed slightly before turning to him, her voice still in the calm tones she normally uses, though with an edge to it that was usually lacking. "I don't know how you have been spending your time. But i have not been lounging around the mansion since meeting Master Kalat. I have been spending most of my time on the road, serving to help the people deal with the spirits of their dead." She looked across the rest of the group, before her eyes returned to focus on Nonamé. "In my experience everyone here has been similarly occupied. We have all had our own tasks and concerns that have occupied us, including training and learning to better be able to content with the very real dangers in this world."

Flashing a small, morbid smile, the sense of superiority in which was clear, she continued. "Or you think we are ready to compete with the Deathlords and unruly spirit courts already? I can tell you about what they will do to you if you try. How many details do you want?" She dropped the smile and shrugged. "There is much in this world that we are not ready to contend with yet and to do that we must learn and improve our abilities. If we have to fetch flowers in return i think that's a cheap payment."

[kamikasei]

Gihren remains impassive - Nonamé would have to be looking closely and well to see the anger he's keeping throttled back. "It strikes me that if you think your talents are wasted under Kalat's tutelage, you can leave. So long as you're here and pledging to do as he asks, it strikes me as irresponsible to waste time on complaints."

He walks past the other man toward the cliff edge. "I will accompany Lady Shirogane to the webs, then, unless you have some actual reason to offer why we should all return together."