[IC] [M&M 2e] Exalted: The Dawn of a New Era

[Anti-Eagle]

Spoiler: Info Show "Mark Ritter" (Broken Thorn of the Red Nile) | Initiative -1 | | Defence +0 | | Toughness +10 | | Fortitude +10 | | Reflex -1 | | Will +5 | | Damage 0 | | Notice +20 | - Super Senses 8 [Analytical (Taste), Infravision, Microscopic Vision, Rapid (Hearing and Vision), Scent, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision)]

"With enough work that sounds reasonably possible, have you twinned a hearthstone before? I'll admit I haven't seen that accomplished before... though..." Broken thorn thought for a few moments before opening a hole into his Throneworld. What isn't always possible within creation and its warped shadow, could be possible elsewhere correct? If we were to locate the manse perhaps it could be drawn out enough to accomplish this.

[Kaworu]

The Exalted ones, after a long discussion with Necromancer and themselves, finally decided – they wanted to help open the Gates.

Of course, it wasn’t too simple. Their condition was this: they will create a proxy for the hearthstone and they will give the Deathknights the proxy, keeping the original stone with them. In such a way, if something would happen – like an invasion of the Underworld – they could just disconnect the hearthstone from the proxy, thus ending the connection between worlds the Gates would establish.

The Skillful Necromancer agreed with no discussion – he wanted the Gates to work, and how exactly would it be achieved was not his concern.

So the circle of Exalted, and two Abyssals entered the dimension in which Thorn’s Infernal Palace has been located. They took to work immediately.

With more than enough of magical metals, especially Soulsteel, they added to the perpetum mobile machine a transmitter – in a form of a little, sticking-out antenna (it looked silly, but was working properly – they could always change the design later). Next, they have created a receiver in a black-and-golden box with a lot of green streak, the last benefit of vitrol Thorn has provided.

They had worked for some time – they needed first to make some plans and mathematical equations, then to build the machine. But, finally, the process was over and they had it – the mixed-material proxy they worked so hard to get.

Skillful Necromancer had wiped his brow, smearing machine oil over his forehead. The Dancer looked with an interest over his shoulder, her anima mark black-and-bloody on her head, as she used her Dark Excellency to try to understand the prototype she had been looking at.

The Abyssals shook hands of their co-workers, seemingly satisfied with the results of their shared effort. Some smiles were exchanged, just like patting each others backs.

They, they returned back to Creation, in order to finally put the proxy in its right place. Skillful Necromanced has sing a short song in the weird language of Neverborn, and the slot for hearthstone in the Gates of Flesh has changed, ready to accommodate the proxy. He had levitated towards it and put the machine in place.

Back on the surface, the Exalted of Creation were by the perpetum mobile, hands over switch that would enable the energy to flow freely towards the Abyssal’s creation.

- Any grand speeches? – asked the Necromancer, landing among the others.

[Kaworu]

- Ah, silly me – said Necromancer, looking at the lot – There also a second Gate needed. How could I forgot? – he asked his allies – A minute, please.

He went to the closer wall and holding his black chalk in his hand, had drawn an outline of doors, and then disappeared between them, before making a gesture towards others to follow him.

When all did, they appeared in Creation again. The Sun, the warm air, the colors – they did not realize how much they had missed it all.

They could have seen the Skillful Necromancer, waving his hands and singing in the forgotten language of Neverborn. Before their very eyes, a Gate of monumental proportions, made of marble-white and scalpel-sharp bones had risen. At the very top, there was a skull with a wide smile and a hole in the forehead. The Necromancer had flown up again, this time placing inside a single, black hearthstone that seemed to suck all the light inside and not letting it go.

- Now we are ready – he announced – Who wanna flip the switch?

Malfeas

Princess of Timeless Depths waited, patiently.

Of course, waiting had been much, much more easy since she had become a Devil-Tiger. Certainly being immortal played a big part in her own capability for patience.

So did being accustomed to the flow on time in a very intimate way, like nobody was before her.

She looked through the window of her undersea palace. All around her coral building, the acidic embrace of her Mother was being felt. No native demon was swimming in the Holy Sea, just children of Sea that Marches Against the Flames.

Just like it should be.

She looked at her closer proximity. Even though she had been inside a literal palace, the room in which she was currently was furnished rather poorly. A mat under her legs to rest on, small table made of light-yellow wood in front of her, and a set of equipment necessary to prepare green tea – or ocha, as it was called in her native language. She currently was after a brief tea ceremony and was sipping her warm, organic drink.

It was quite tasty.

When she put down the cup, she closed her eyes and breathed slowly, putting herself in a meditative state. Her third eye, accustomed to moving through time and space, opened gradually, letting her experience a vision she was waiting for.

A small smile appeared on her lips. Things were just going to be a lot more interesting.

Back in Creation

When the Circle, accompanied by two Abyssals finally activated the Gates of Life and Death, at first nothing too ordinary happened – or at least nothing unexpected. In the skeleton Gates of Death, there appeared a pitch-black hole in reality, showing ghosts of Underworld and the dark twin of Creation. For a brief moment the ghosts were looking at the Gates, seemingly not believing their own eyes, and then slowly they had moved closer, a new hope shining in their eyes.

Skillful Necromancer looked at this with a smile upon his lips.

Then, things went sour.

Nobody knew fully what exactly happened. For a moment, there was a gust of cold wind, not fitting at all with the sunny weather. Then, a forcefield of green energy and flames engulfed both the hearthstone the Necromancer put in the skull and the perpetum mobile the Exalted worked so hard to modify.

Next moment, the Gates made a long, whizzing sound, just like a piece of machinery that’s about to broke. The hole in reality flickered and erupted with a nauseating energy, making even the mighty Exalted to fall on their knees.

When they looked up, the Gates were functioning no more. Instead, there’s been a much wider hole between worlds, and it seemed that they had just created Shadowlands. And even though the sun was still shining, hungry ghosts appeared everywhere.

The last they knew before the undead attacked was a loud, high giggling, belonging to an invisible female.

Spoiler

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Okay, so! :-D

1. You are surprised and both Abyssals seem too.

2. The Eruption is Nauseate 12 Area effect. Please, roll for overcoming that.

3. The hearthstone, perpetum mobile and proxy are all covered in forcefield and flames. The forcefield is 12 Forcefield with Impervious. There’s also Flames that deal 6 Damage to every melee attacker. Both effect are obviously Infernal – the first is a Charm of She Who Lives In Her Name, the second of Malfeas.

There are also undead all around you.

Good luck! :-)

[Rhyvurg]

Kirnan's Reflexive Sidestep Technique had him reaching for his sword as the gate opened, but he was unprepared for the full extent of what happened. Coughing, he staggers back, trying to get away from whatever that was.

[Anti-Eagle]

Spoiler: Info Show "Mark Ritter" (Broken Thorn of the Red Nile) | Initiative -1 | | Defence +0 | | Toughness +10 | | Fortitude +10 | | Reflex -1 | | Will +5 | | Damage 0 | | Notice +20 | - Super Senses 8 [Analytical (Taste), Infravision, Microscopic Vision, Rapid (Hearing and Vision), Scent, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision)]

Broken Thorn stood laughing as the nausea enveloped him, his body breaking down and leaking tar out of his mouth and eyes "Oh, you got me. You got me good. I thought it would make a shadowlands and I helped you do it. I thought I was doing something good for once and here we are, surrounded by the starving dead." Broken thorn listened to the giggle as his arms began erupting in pain, he patted the necromancer on the shoulder "Oh, I had such high hopes. Perhaps balance could be found. Ha."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Ms. Price groans and hisses through her teeth as everything she and her fellow super-tech had put together goes completely wrong. She feels a pit open up in her stomach, but her overpowered constitution just writes it off to emotional dread. "Ugh... I suppose it was naive to assume this would all just work as advertised..."

She straightens up and swipes a series of golden symbols out from her tablet and into the air. Her anima swiftly returns and envelops her in shielding light as she casts the inventor queen's gaze at the enemies spawning nearby. She asks a number of general questions aloud - some might be obvious if she looks around and thinks about it for a second, some may be answered by teammates and abyssals, and the ones left over can be looked up by her tablet's browser if it can find a satellite connection.

"Where in creation are we?"

"Are there any fire hydrants nearby?"

"Can an artifact sword defeat a hungry ghost?"

...and, as an aside, "Miss Green, do you have any particular protocols for this situation, or will you help us improvise?"

Spoiler

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Turning on her Anima power and making a knowledge check about the hungry ghosts.

Any further actions depend on whether the shadowland spawned in a populated area. If the Necromancer had the foresight to build his gate somewhere isolated, then this situation isn't that bad.

So... what is the lay of the land in the immediate area? An abandoned warehouse? A downtown basement? An arch built outdoors?

[Lord Raziere]

Agent Green:
".....I told you so. I warned you all, but did you listen? Noooooo. and why would be protocols for this!? This seems too highly specific to have those! Unless you mean shadowlands in general, which is generally: kill all the dangerous undead, perform funereal rites to make ghosts pass on, then salt the earth to purify the land itself. Any solution would be nice, but I'm going with gunning them all down!"
She will conjure gossamer dual pistols, one blueberry and pink colored the other lime and lemon colored and begin firing at all the hungry dead filling the fields with guided bullets criss-crossing through them as they bounce off the ground and curving in various different directions to create a storm of bullets coming at all the hungry dead she can see, a veritable hail of fated guided death.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Roll against nauseate:
(1d20+6)[25]

Attack Roll:
(1d20+8)[23]

Gossamer Pistols
Damage, Area Perception Visual, Selective, Ricochet 2, Homing 3:
(1d20+7)[27]

[Anti-Eagle]

Spoiler: Info Show "Mark Ritter" (Broken Thorn of the Red Nile) | Initiative -1 | | Defence +0 | | Toughness +10 | | Fortitude +10 | | Reflex -1 | | Will +5 | | Damage 0 | | Notice +20 | - Super Senses 8 [Analytical (Taste), Infravision, Microscopic Vision, Rapid (Hearing and Vision), Scent, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision)]

Black poisons continue to spill from his body, but Broken Thorn regains a bit of reason. "Got it. Hold them off, if we can shut the damned thing off that should be our first goal right now. If we can close the bridge we can atleast stop the progression." The cloth of his arms slowly begin to bubble, green fire spreading forth from them as the Huz begin to awaken in his body.

[Kaworu]

Even thought the necromantic eruption from the Gates hold some members of the Circle at bay, it seemed not to have an effect on the Abyssals. As soon as the hungry ghost started to appear, the Dancer was upon them. Before, when you saw her fightning in a building, there was a lot of skeletons around her and she had to contain herself. But now, in the open area, surrounded by enemies, she had a chance to show her true abilities.

She was moving gracefully, life autumn leaves dancing on the wind. Her big sword was just like a natural extension of her own hand, striking fast and in the exact place she wanted to. Not every ghost she attacked was falling to the ground, but a big portion of them were. She was also avoiding their attack in her dance to the music only she could have sensed, but actually, it was more a part of her attack than a defensive maneuver – her thick Soulsteel armor was defense enough.

Because Dancer was busy, she had no time to talk to you, but the Skillful Necromancer had. His long, slim hands were engulfed in a black, necromantic energy, as he was shooting dark missiles at hungry ghosts.

- I do not comprehend... This had no right to happen… none at all… The warp should be… contained inside the gates… not erupt…. And this sickening burst… the effect on this land… and most of all… this green barrier… I did not plan for this… – he explained best he could, in breaks between shootings. He seemed truly shocked, but it also could be that the fight was keeping his mind from completely encompassing what was happening around him.

At the same time, Dorothy got her answers to questions she had asked.

- You are in Detroit, Michigan. Current status in Creation: Shadowland. Amount of hydrants in a 100-meter radius: 4. Artifact sword can’t kill a hungry ghost, but special Charms can. Also, due to you being in Shadowland, hungry ghost are partially material. Typical attack have a chance of succeeding.

The greenish forcefield-fire aura was still blocking the access to Gates and proxy. They did not cast shadows, but the flames were flickering, and the sound of them burning Essence around reminded you of a childish giggle, mocking you and your actions.

And just then, some bystanders were trying to stand from the hit of the sickening energy. They were frail looking, putting hand on their aching stomachs… and the hungry ghost saw them too. They turned, slowly, and moved towards the innocents, probably with a very nasty intents.

The dream-bullets of Agent Green reached the ghosts, busting their heads and limbs. It seemed that the bystanders were safe… at least for the next few seconds. There was no end to the undead, and while they were not dangerous to the Exalted, mortals were in a lot of danger right now – especially considering the fact that they still were nauseated, i.e defenseless.

Spoiler

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Nauseate effects:

Kirnan – 14 (sickened: -2 to attack rolls and checks; nauseated: only single move action per round)
Thorn – 17 (sickened: -2 to attack rolls and checks; nauseated: only single move action per round)
Dorothy – 34 (ok)
Ravelynne – 25 (ok)

(Minimal value: 22)

GM NOTES:

The ghost are not dangerous… to you, but they are some bystanders, who are in danger. You can kill ghosts as they are appearing, but there seems no way for them to stop appearing anew different than using the proxy… which is still protected by Malfean Charms.

I am also considring giving the nauseated characters single regular or move action, but not both of them/ no full actions. Otherwise Thorn and Kirnan might be taken out of the fight for the whole duration of the fight, which would be (1) disadvantegous for you as a group and (2) boring for their players. Please, tell me what you think :-)

[Rhyvurg]

Kirnan shakes his head as the effect clears, then looks around to take in the situation. Hungry dead, necromancer who didn't see this bamboozle coming, and innocent bystanders. Green ended several, but more were coming. Time to go to work. Kirnan draws his daiklave as his longcoat splits down the back, turning into a pair of wings that carry him up over the ghosts, then down into the thick of them. Maybe a closer target would draw their attention.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Dorothy just kind of nodded in agreement with Green and Thorn. Her tablet's nav report gives her an extra thought to shout after to Kirnan as he takes his initiative: "Don't let them leave the shadowland! We can fight them as long as they stay here!"

Despite having been one of the exalted for decades, Ms. Price has yet to really arm herself for combat. She presses the button to summon her limo from the conference center's parking lot, but it will take some time to arrive, especially given the new alterations to the environment. She'll focus on the rogue gates for now.

She runs to the nearest hydrant as fast as she can go in dress shoes. "Someone clearly sabotaged it!" she shouts to Necromancer over her shoulder. "We need to cut the power! Let's see how these barriers hold up to conventional firefighting..."

As she approaches the hydrant, she contacts its spirit and issues commands that are probably inaudible to everyone else. On the Inventor Queen's authority, she grants it the power and permission to direct its spray at the green fires enveloping the offending structures. One imagines that a fire hydrant, being a public servant by design, will want nothing more than to assist in this matter given the chance.

Spoiler

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She's using animate objects! The hydrant only gets 15 character points, but that should be enough to mimic a firefighter with a hose and whatnot.

[Anti-Eagle]

Spoiler: Info Show "Mark Ritter" (Broken Thorn of the Red Nile) | Initiative -1 | | Defence +0 | | Toughness +10 | | Fortitude +10 | | Reflex -1 | | Will +5 | | Damage 0 | | Notice +20 | - Super Senses 8 [Analytical (Taste), Infravision, Microscopic Vision, Rapid (Hearing and Vision), Scent, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision)]

Broken Thorn regained control over his form as he approached the flame. This was hellfire. Was it his? He reached out and grasped it, it didn't feel like him. His was a bit more artful than a wall of fire... but he might be able to lower it with enough effort and turn the damned thing off."" Black poison continued to bubble off of his form as he reached out into the fire and began to bend it to his will, trying to breaak. He reached out and felt the barrier. Where had it come from? "Ribs crack, bones break, the fire inside bends... smoke sinks into all and the world boils as a ripe fruit. What comes after? Brandy. We make of the world what we want..."

[Kaworu]

The chaos at the park continued. The Exalted, in an unlikely alliance of the Circle and Abyssals, fought the never-ending armies of hungry ghosts. Who will prevail?

The Dancer and the Necromancer, still engaged the undead, probably not being able to think of something else. The warrioress danced, swinging her heavy sword here and there, and her friend stood in place, sending missiles of necromantic energy at the enemies.

At the same time, the Circle had some ideas of how to deal with the problem at hand. Broken Thorn, as the most knowledgeable in the field of Infernal magic, used his own talents to nullify the flames that's been surrounding the proxy. It worked fairly well and now, at least, other Exalted could approach the force-field without getting themselves burned.

Then, Dorothy issued her commands to a fire hydrant. It moved a little bit, like a tree pet by a wind. It was not able to move from the place it was set, but it was certainly alive. Soon, a stream of cold water moved at the proxy. Since the hellfire was no longer there, and the forcefield was of a different nature, the hydrant did not accomplish too much. Still, it was a nice idea at the moment.

Next, Kirnan moved into the battle, landing in the midst of enemies. Some of them focused on him, some on the bystanders. It was easy to see that the hungry ghosts were not able to think too much and behaved more like animals than souls of people – or maybe, as zombies in typical horror movies. As such, it was kind of hard to manipulate them – but hey, now in the center of it all, it would be fairy easy for the Solar to defend the innocents!

Agent Green still shoot at the enemies, her dream-like bullets hitting them fast and hard.

What a shame, that there still were so many of the undead...

[Rhyvurg]

Kirnan sets his feet, adjusts his grip, then sends his blade into a flurry of strikes and arcing throws that carves a swathe through the massed undead. "We need a plan to stop this beyond just fighting them..." He can't see the others from where he is, but they would be able see the light of his anima erupt from the middle of the throng of ghosts.

[Lord Raziere]

(OOC: Sorry I haven't been responding, I don't have an excuse)

Revelynne:
She tries to assess the situation. Clearly this wasn't wasn't working.
"Yeah, there is too many. We're going to have to get....creative."
First, to figure out how all this works. She focuses, trying to tap into any knowledge or powers of Sidereal foresight she can muster to figure what to do in this situation, her eyes glowing with the light of stars and her Chosen of Secret caste marks glowing green on her forehead as she tries to look through the Loom for answers.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Checks to figure out how to get rid of the shadowland:
Knowledge (Arcane Lore): (1d20)[3]+15
Precognition Notice check: (1d20)[18]+3
Postcognition Notice Check (1d20)[16]+3

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

With no more fires to put out, the hydrant sits still for lack of anything more to do. Dorothy lets it return to normal so she can animate something else. She then joins Mr. Ritter at the base of the shielded tower.

"The hellfire listens to you. That's helpful." The man is seemingly bleeding foul-smelling tar and reciting poetry, but it seems to be working, so there's no sense questioning it. Dorothy adjusts her glasses to regard the forcefield, now that it's more clearly visible. "Do you have any thoughts about the shield itself?"

Without warning or hesitation, she reaches out and touches the forcefield with her bare hands to test it and feel how it works, trusting her anima to absorb the brunt of any energy surge it produces. Even if it burns her hand and blows her back ten feet, she'll brush herself off and calmly continue her analysis, happy to have that information.

"If we can find a gradient in its output, we may be able to locate the projector or a weak point."

Spoiler

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A fresh crafts check to identify the shield and discern how it works: (1d20+30)[38]

...and a Perception check to feel the force field itself: (1d20+5)[8]

The perception check, besides any new ideas you might suggest based on the knowledge/crafts roll, is mainly an attempt to discern:
1. From which direction the force seems to be projecting
2. Whether it feels "softer" in some places than others

[Anti-Eagle]

Spoiler: Info Show "Mark Ritter" (Broken Thorn of the Red Nile) | Initiative -1 | | Defence +0 | | Toughness +10 | | Fortitude +10 | | Reflex -1 | | Will +5 | | Damage 0 | | Notice +20 | - Super Senses 8 [Analytical (Taste), Infravision, Microscopic Vision, Rapid (Hearing and Vision), Scent, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision)]

For a moment he seemed to be mumbling in egyptian as his curse briefly faltered, then he returned to what was most comfortable for the listeners. "This wasn't me, but it's like me. Fire is easy, if I can do anything I can make it listen, the force behind it though... That's more existential." Broken Thorn reached into the barrier but didn't breach it. "Gradients, projector, weak points."He felt out, math was never his strong suit, but he knew those words by other names. Everything followed the same rules deep down. Spoiler: Rolls Show Notice: (1d20+20)[32] Knowledge (Arcane Lore): (1d20+20)[26]

[Kaworu]

Agent Green reached out to the Loom of Fate for help with issues at hand.

First, she saw how to get rid of the forcefield. It was strong, yes, but if all Exalted present would at the same time strike it, there was a high chance of breaking throught it. Combined attack was the solution. Once broken, the force field would not reappear and the proxy could be easily turned off.

But, she also saw something else. Not in the future. In the past.

She was in a traditional Japanese room, looking at a beautiful lady in kimono. Her long, black hair was shining, as her anima flared to life. She was giggling, looking at the havoc she had created with her Infernal Charms. At her foredead, there was a caste mark – the face of clock. Revelynne saw such a caste for first time in her career of being Exalted – and she was a Champion of Jupiter for some time.

Who was this woman, exactly?!

When the vision faded, the woman looked at the Gates. She know that, once the power would be turned off, the shadowland would fade immediatelly. This is why this... Japanese warlock... had put so much effort in blocking their access to proxy and Gates. Cause once the heartstone would be put out, all the disaster would stop.

This was their chance... and their challenge.

At the same time ,Dorothy was working with her understanding of the force field. To her Exalted intellect and perception, little things could escape.

The force field was... well, perfect. No discerntable weak points, everywhere its power was exactly the same – which was powerful. Yet, there was a weak point... after a fashion. Where the field itself was perfect – after all, this was a creation of She Who Lives In Her Name – the Charm was not. It was just a one-time magic. Either the field would stay up, or, broken by a physical force, it would go away immediatelly.

It's was either on or off, just like a switch... that demanded a lot of strength to be turned off. But still.

The Broken Thorn, who was a little bit more familiar with Infernal magic, came to this exactly same conclusion. Breaking throught would not be easy, but possible – what's more, once done, it was a perfect solution to their problems.

At the same time...

Kirnan still fought with the hungry ghosts. Some of them, pretty midless, still attacked humans and did not react to his actions. Some looked at his bright, Solar anima – he certainly catched their attention, but they did not look very aggressive at the moment. More like... surprised?

Yes, there were some who decided to attack him, perhaps understanding came to them throught their enormous hunger for fresh meat.

At the moment, three of them came at Kirnan. He had advantage over them and the first movement belonged to him. Also, they were maybe a challenge and danger for mortals, but not much for him. Still, if he would be overcomed – and there was much, much more hungry ghosts around him than the 3 aggressive ones – it could get out of hand.

[Lord Raziere]

Revelynne:
As the visions end, she says
"Wait what? What was that caste mark....?"
She shakes her head. More important things needed to be done, the mystery of the clock caste could wait. She turned to the force field and yelled
"I have foreseen what to do! We must strike the forcefield of the Gate in one combined strike! That will take out the forcefield, then once we take out the hearthstone the shadowland will abate!"
She will charge forward to strike with her fists at the forcefield using her Dream Ravager Hand technique, as to ravage and take energy from the forcefield itself in strike to break it.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Attack Roll:
(1d20+8)[15]

Dream Ravager Hand Strike Damage: (the drain willpower part is irrelevant here I feel)
(1d20+10)[29]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Dorothy nods and draws her tablet to check on her own best source of physical force. "Limo," she says, a command to be relayed to her vehicle, "disengage safety protocols. Come as quickly as possible. Prepare to assume combat mode."

In a parking structure a block or two away, a limosine that was slowly navigating its way to an exit flashes it brights and revs it engine. It has a ground speed of 800 kilometers per hour, and it wants to use as much of that speed as it can to get to its master. It scrapes between cars with squealing tires and a showers of sparks. It sends already-panicked civilians diving aside to get out of its way. It breaks its windshield on the lever arm by the ticket booth on its way out.

While that's happening, Dorothy turns around to see Kirnan's situation. "Hmm. That might be an issue. Hang on. Kirnan!" She holds up a hand to excuse herself from the force-field party, calls out to Kirnan and runs off in her heels to extricate him from the fray so he can come help with the objective. As she does so, she's overcome with a certain elation. To join another Solar in battle against the creatures of darkness feels like she's satisfying some deep, primal urge.

Sigils in various languages earthly and otherwise flow through the light of Dorothy's anima banner as she channels her essence into her custom handheld computer. The tablet springs to life, jumps out of her hands, and perches on her shoulder with a set of little gripper-feet.

Upon coming to a set of hungry ghosts in the street between Kirnan and the rest of the group, she need only snap her fingers and point. Her created pet charges up its flash and does the rest.

Spoiler: Blinding flash attack!

Show

Mechanically, Dorothy says something to her Limo as a free action, then switches powers to Animate Objects again, then uses her standard action to animate her tablet, then uses her move action to run towards Kirnan.

Then, her tablet tries to attack an enemy. The blindness attack is a 15-foot cone with a reflex DC of 20 and the Light descriptor, which should be fun to use against hungry ghosts if they happen to be crossing the street to get to potential victims on the sidewalk.

If they're not bunching up like that and she's just getting in melee with one or something, the tablet might use Discharge Touch instead. For dramatic purposes, I imagine Dorothy and Kirnan fighting back-to-back when she breaks out that move, him swinging his massive magical buster sword and her juggling her unnaturally hazardous robot familiar. If it comes up, Discharge Touch is an Electric attack with +10 on the attack roll and a toughness DC of 25.

Meanwhile, her limo has speed 6 and was told to come to her and to ignore the usual algorithms that keep automatic vehicles from getting into accidents. One imagines it should get here in time to serve as Dorothy's contribution to the big combined attack.

[Rhyvurg]

Kirnan takes a breath. "Thanks! Come on, Green seems to have a plan, we hit the barrier with everything we've got, at the same time." He indicates the Sidereal with his sword.

Spoiler

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Readied action to attack the shield at the same moment everyone else does

[Anti-Eagle]

Spoiler: Info Show "Mark Ritter" (Broken Thorn of the Red Nile) | Initiative -1 | | Defence +0 | | Toughness +10 | | Fortitude +10 | | Reflex -1 | | Will +5 | | Damage 0 | | Notice +20 | - Super Senses 8 [Analytical (Taste), Infravision, Microscopic Vision, Rapid (Hearing and Vision), Scent, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision)]

Flaming green bees, the Huz, began bubbling breaking out of Broken Thorn's body in swarms. They formed a cloud over him before charging into the barrier."Oh, that's all it needed..." Spoiler: Rolls Show Notice: [roll0] Knowledge (Arcane Lore): [roll1] I forgot to take these out of my post before I posted, they don't actually relate to anything right now.

[Kaworu]

The Exalted gathered around the force field, guided by the Sidereal and her visions. They had waited a few seconds, to get coordinated, and attacked – everyone at the same time.

Powers of various nature and color erupted from their bodies, flying fastly in the direction of the proxy. The forcefield weaved, trying desperatedly to hold against the outlash, but it was obvious it would not hold. The green surface of the power shattered into a hundred little shards, in which the Exalted could see wicked reflections of themselves.

After being liberated from the influence of She Who Lives In Her Name, it was pretty easy to come closer and put the heartstone out of the proxy. When they have done it, a long, deep sound, like a dying whale, came out of the Gates. At the same moment, necrotic Essence stopped pouring out of them. The hungry ghost stopped, looking around, surprised to see themselves in such a situation as they were. After a few seconds, they stopped disappearing into nithingness, slowly, to reappear again in the Underworld – this time not so terribly hungry, just sad and confused.

- It seems we have succeded... - said the Necromancer, looking at the chaos his invention had caused – I really have no idea where it all came from... – he scratched back of his head.

- Neither I do realize – explained the Dancer. She was looking at the Gates, the proxy and the heartstone. On her foredead, the black-blood mark of her Caste, the dark rising sun, was easily visible. She was using her own Dark Excellency in hopes of explaining this situation. All in vain.

- We should look to the bystanders... – she added, looking around. Even thought they all fought with the hungry ghosts, they were injured people in the park. There was simply too many of them ghosts for the Exalted to take good care of everyone and everything.

Spoiler

Show

Everyone is getting 2 Hero Points – one for taking care of the field and second for protecting the innocents.

You can heal the injured ones, talk with the Necromancer about future of his invention and what ar you gonna do with the heartstone etc. Agent Green could communicate to other the exact contents of her visions etc. Generarly, this post is kinda “lazy” - just please try to summary all that happened and your reaction to that.

Next post gonna change the scene and show... something different :-)

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Dorothy Price The Inventor Queen Defense: +5 | Toughness: +5 Fort: +15 | Ref: +15 | Will: +15 Speed: Rank 0 (30ft) | Initiative: +0 Notice: +5 | Hero Points: 6 | Damage: 0 "Right. I can do some basic triage and transport those who cannot wait to the hospital," she says. "Ms. Green, if there is anything we need to do to manage knowledge or media coverage of this event, now would be the time to let me know. I can help construct a neuralyzer if you need it." She shuts down her excited limo's combat AI and gives her anima banner a chance to calm down as she assesses the injured bystanders. She asks her questions dispassionately, clearly well-intentioned but still somehow off-putting. "What happened?" "Are you hurt?" "Everyone who needs it, I can take to the emergency room now." Mr. Ritter will probably give the better assessment of everyone's needs and injuries, and will probably do a better job of introducing himself and explaining the help he's offering. The emergency transport the inventor queen offers is nothing short of absurdly fast. Thankfully for anyone concerned with preserving the secret of magic, passengers in the back seat are comfortably nestled between tinted windows and are unlikely to notice the non-euclidean tunnel that acts as her shortcut to the hospital. She exchanges names and contact information with the party and with the abyssals, if they have any. She discusses with the group how they might investigate the leads they have on the invisible saboteur, and how they might investigate the origins of the power stone itself. For now, she takes the stone back into custody and stashes it in her own lab for safe keeping. If Thorn offers to use his own extradimensional space, she declines. She doesn't believe that he's responsible, but feels obligated to consider him a suspect due to the circumstances.

[Rhyvurg]

Kirnan breathes a sigh of relief, flexing his shoulder. It had been a while since he'd been in such a prolonged fight, most adversaries folded faster than this. He stalks back and forth through the area, making sure no ghosts or wounded mortals had been missed. He doesn't dismiss his sword right away, he might still needed it if those fool Abyssals haven't learned their lesson.

[Anti-Eagle]

Spoiler: Info Show "Mark Ritter" (Broken Thorn of the Red Nile) | Initiative -1 | | Defence +0 | | Toughness +10 | | Fortitude +10 | | Reflex -1 | | Will +5 | | Damage 0 | | Notice +20 | - Super Senses 8 [Analytical (Taste), Infravision, Microscopic Vision, Rapid (Hearing and Vision), Scent, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision)]

Broken Thorn, or rather Mark, pieced his body back together. The Huz returned to their hives through his ultraterrestrial form, and the black poison of his body reformed back into a human shape. Slowly he gathered a crowd, of those who hadn't been ripped apart or drained, and gave his grand speech of a greater time before them and that such incidents were heralds of the adversary seeking to destroy the great works of the world. Not adversary as traditionally would be his kind, but of the true adversary. Each of them he handed one hundred dollars and a calling card, offering them protection and work away from such threats in the future if they so desired. And somehow this seemed to work. They were terrified, but he was a persuasive sort. The nearby hospital would be sufficient, assuming they weren't cursed. If they were... this would be dealt with. "Good luck," he uttered as several left with Ms. Price. They would need it. And then he turned to the Black Suns, "Please, take a seat..." He suspected them of misgivings but he didn't believe it was their fault the experiment had turned out as it had. It was exactly what he expected of them, but their kind wasn't capable of channeling hellfire, even with his assistance. This was something else. He didn't entirely trust them, but he had a thought. "I'm... unfamiliar with your lords beyond a certain degree, though I suspect they would be displeased both with failure and your restoration of the lands beside us. I'm not suggesting striking out on your own, but if you are inclined I can offer a place of sanctuary where you could continue your experimentation free from the influence of those who care as little about the welfare of the dead as you believe us to be. I have considerable resources."

[Lord Raziere]

Agent Green:
She will breathe a sigh of relief and say
"Now thats done....I had this other vision....of the past...."
She explains seeing that kimono-wearing woman with the strange caste mark
"It....wasn't like any Exalted Caste I've ever seen, and I've seen much. She had a clock of all things on her head. Her anima was sickly green which means she was some kind of Infernal? Thorn do you have any idea who that could be?"
She asked, knowing that he was not only Infernal, but perhaps the only Exalt who was older than her here.

[Anti-Eagle]

Spoiler: Info Show "Mark Ritter" (Broken Thorn of the Red Nile) | Initiative -1 | | Defence +0 | | Toughness +10 | | Fortitude +10 | | Reflex -1 | | Will +5 | | Damage 0 | | Notice +20 | - Super Senses 8 [Analytical (Taste), Infravision, Microscopic Vision, Rapid (Hearing and Vision), Scent, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision)]

He wasn't exactly happy at the suspicion placed upon him over the shadowland, he understood it but he wasn't happy about it. A brand new hearthstone touched by so many exaltations would have done wonders to stabilize his home. "A clock you say?" A bakelite chair materialized under Thorn as he took a seat, "The infernal exaltation is more... malleable than those of other varieties, given time and effort we can change and create of our own as I have. I don't believe we were designed this way, at least in intent. A quirk or side effect of us being changed so thoroughly. Most of us don't live long enough to do this, our creators certainly don't intend us to get to this point, so it's not entirely known even amongst ourselves. One day you simply realize you can. If another of my kind has made this realization and walked away as I had, they would certainly be dangerous. Not only because of the resources they could have built in this time, but in their knowledge and the sheer unknown of what they could have become. From my understanding of those I met, my growth inward is a rather tame application of this change. Like building a house out of the components of an atomic bomb when you could just build the bomb. We weren't intended to exceed ourselves, but those who do don't think small." He paused, "I'm rambling, give me a moment to collect my thoughts. This exaltation is familiar to me, but I need to remember who that 'mask' belongs to." (continues when I get the roll results) Spoiler: Rolls Show Broken Thorn has eidetic memory, I'm rolling Arcane Lore for a knowledge check but if that's not acceptable he has jack of all trades, simply remove the skill bonus. Knowledge (Arcane Lore) (1d20+20)[36] (That would be a +5 rather than +20 if it's not arcane lore that applies)

[Kaworu]

Thorn looked into back of his mind, trying to find some data about the mysterious Exalted. However, whoever that was, he did not know her. The theory of her being a Devil Tiger was legit, looking at the things Agent Green said about the vision, but who that was, what were her aims and, more importantly, what mysterious powers she had access to was beyond him.

Actually, there were only 50 Infernals originally, but over time the number of known Green Sun Princes has shrinked somehow. There were rumors about them achieving Enlightment and liberating themselves from the shackles of Yozis, but beyond guessing about their identity and nature, the rest of Infernals had nothing solid to base their theories on.

Some even said that the "lost incarnations" dated back to the Second Era. If this would be the case, there was obviously no way to say something sure about them in modern age.

[Anti-Eagle]

Spoiler: Info Show "Mark Ritter" (Broken Thorn of the Red Nile) | Initiative -1 | | Defence +0 | | Toughness +10 | | Fortitude +10 | | Reflex -1 | | Will +5 | | Damage 0 | | Notice +20 | - Super Senses 8 [Analytical (Taste), Infravision, Microscopic Vision, Rapid (Hearing and Vision), Scent, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision)]

"No..." he uttered after a few moments. "I don't think I've met them if they're my kind. Perhaps one of the forgotten like me, but I don't remember any with a clock caste. Familiar in its difference perhaps but if I've met them it was before their change. There are only so many of us, if I had seen their face and access to the records perhaps, though as I said they don't enjoy the thought of us growing beyond them. Names and faces are missing. In the records and in our minds." Broken Thorn stood up, "I'll admit I am unfamiliar with the vision of the starchildren, is there much to them in your circle?"