Run by: Kukla

PC: Shadowed Fortune

 

Kukla says, "So, what's your plan here?"

You say, "Most of the little towns have live, 60ish people in them."

You say, "Ride in with Glaive, and use the same basic Insidious Undertone Technique / Caustic Hatred Diabtribe technique, meet with a majority of the residents, and create an Intimacy of Fear towards me."

You say, "Once people are feared, they are basically enslaved, because of Iron Tyrant Reign. Once they're enslaved, I'll be taking Oaths of fealty."

You say, "Having had my good work undone once before by wacky solar magic."

Kukla says, "Glaive has issues with this."

Kukla says, "He insists that they fear him."

You say, "..."

You say, "Is fearing both of us acceptable?"

Kukla says, "He's okay with that."

Shadowed Fortune hokays.

You say, "Frankly, Glaive chewing on his shield probally makes this an easier sale."

Kukla says, "Glaive also says /you/ have to wear the dress this time, he's not wearing it again. No one fears Glinting Thorn-Wrapt Crown, his female alter-ego."

You say, "No dress."

You say, "Fuck the dress."

You say, "Fuck subtle."

You say, "We are inspiring fear."

You say, "We are the terror that will consume Marukan."

Kukla says, "Well /he's/ not wearing the dress, and Mask says one of us has to!"

You say, "..."

Shadowed Fortune puts on the dress.

Shadowed Fortune adds Glaive to his 'revenge list'.

Kukla says, "So, what's your alter-ego name?"

The Torment of Desires Unspoken clears her throat. "Unspoken Desire for short."

Glaive says, "I would mock you, but people call me Barbie. We all suffer for the cause of universal annihilation.

Unspoken Desires mms. "Some more than others at the present. Well. Shall we be on our way?"

Mask mwahaha. "I get /so much mileage/ out of this dress. I double the number of apparent death-knights I have!"

 

Kukla says, "Yes, you shall. What die rolls strike you as appropriate here, and what seems, to you, to be the largest danger to your plan?"

Shadowed Fortune hmms. "Well, probally Manipulation + Socialize again. It's social-fu on a large scale, which is Socialize's general schtick."

You say, "Potential problems: Hipkrates and the Lookshy redoubt that's in Marukan, IIRC."

Kukla says, "Alright, so, this is more a measure of your ability to manage this without Hipkrates and the Lookshyan foreward guard getting OMGWTF on your collective ass."

Glaive says, "I can kill five dragonblooded, but not twenty-five, not with a powerful god at their back."

Shadowed Fortune nods. "Mind you, I'm hoping since Lookshy just went on active war footing, the redoubt will be largely recalled home. But, probally not entirely."

You say, "Oh, how far apart are the various little villages? Like, how long would it take to visit a majority of them?"

Kukla says, "It's an area the size of, like, australia."

Kukla says, "What are you using to get around?"

Shadowed Fortune wants to get an idea how long he has before heading to the capital- ah.

Shadowed Fortune hmms.

Kukla double-checks size.

Shadowed Fortune always fails to factor Exalted-scale.

 

You say, "Slight alteration to plan:"

Kukla says, "More specifically, it's about the size of Thailand, Vietnam, and everything in between."

You say, "We move straight for the capital."

You say, "No point in giving the white hats bonus time to track us down until we've done the killing blow."

Glaive cackles maniacally and sharpens his eponymous weapon.

You say, "Converting Marukan to my... to the Mask can be done at leisure afterwords."

You say, "But, upon hitting the capital, same basic idea- unexpected generation of fear, fear-slaves, oathtaking."

Kukla says, "Glaive can butcher his way through the local defenders while you do your work."

You say, "Exactly!"

Unspoken Desires says, "And who would suspect lil' ol me?"

Kukla says, "Glaive throws a tarp over his monstrous mutant horse and rides north with you."

Kukla says, "When people remark on the strangeness of it, he kills them and feeds them to the horse, who devours them completely and leaves no trace."

Kukla says, "The horse occasionally mutters blasphemies to itself under it's breath, especially when it seems winded."

You say, "Handy."

Shadowed Fortune should get one of those.

Kukla says, "Three dot familiar. Man-Speech Evolution **, Bone Plating ****, Carnivorous, Fanged **."

Kukla says, "Anyhow, you reach the capital without trouble."

Shadowed Fortune yays!

Kukla says, "Now, for the most part, Marukan is decentralized."

Huh?  (Type "help" for help.)

Kukla says, "But what you can do here is cripple their ability to centralize at the time when they'll most need to."

Shadowed Fortune nods. "Exactly. And to coordinate information."

Kukla says, "Alright, so what's the thing that could most disastrously go wrong here?"

Shadowed Fortune hmms. "Hipkrates is still a big potential issue. Lookshayan agents- especially if the General Staff have an actual reason to suspect the Mask was behind the hijinx in Lookshy -might be on the lookout for agents of the Mask. Like Glaive."

Kukla says, "Meaning that they could come down on you like a ton of bricks with an aerially deployed attack team."

Kukla says, "Forcing you to immediately retreat to the underworld."

Shadowed Fortune nods. "Which would slow things down quite a bit."

Orduin Of The Tools has connected.

Orduin Of The Tools has left.

Shadowed Fortune would basically have to go the the Thorns border and start inwards.

Kukla tries to think about the difficulties involved here.

Kukla says, "How long woudl this take you?"

Shadowed Fortune ums.

You say, "It'd be kinda exponential."

You say, "Fear spreads itself nicely."

You say, "Glaive would do a lot to that end."

You say, "I figure, a week and I can have the majority of the city that /will/ fear me enthralled."

You say, "There'll be a stubborn resistance."

Shadowed Fortune shrugs. "But there always is."

Kukla says, "Glaive will solve that problem the way only GLorious Carnage Typhoon can."

You say, "Yes, if we can get all the resistance leaders gathered into one spot."

You say, "And have them wearing identifying marks."

You say, "Or he could just kill everyone, I suppose."

You say, "But then we have a lot of angry ghosts instead of loyal servants."

You say, "The Mask'll need loyal living servants to feed the army of warghosts when they march :)"

Kukla says, "Let's see..."

Kukla says, "Doing this before your foemen show up..."

Kukla hrms. "Quite hard."

Kukla says, "Keeping in mind that, if you fail, it's not because you suck - they're just that dangerous."

Kukla says, "Lookshy is no petty foe!"

Shadowed Fortune is well aware.

You say, "Curse their eyes!"

You say, "To quote Bloth."

You say, "Also? I'd love to hear Lookshy's rationalization for airbombing the capital of their closest ally ;)"

You say, "Right as they go to war."

You say, "'We swear, the Mask of Winter was infiltrating!'"

You say, "'Paranoid nutjobs.'"

 

Kukla is trying to decide how much you're being opposed by exalted as opposed to just mortals.

Shadowed Fortune nods.

You say, "Well."

You say, "Presumably, Lookshy has at least one Exalted agent in town."

You say, "Probally undercover."

Kukla says, "Indeed."

You say, "And they all known Wind Carried Words. And probally IM too."

Kukla says, "But of course, you're not stupid."

Kukla says, "The question is, can you find, and kill, this guy first?"

Shadowed Fortune hmmms.

Shadowed Fortune does have an incredible amount of Investigation :)

Kukla says, "That you do."

You say, "Which I so /rarely/ get to use."

Kukla says, "And now is such a good opportunity."

You say, "So, basically-"

You say, "This is a Death Note scenerio:"

Kukla says, "Do you prefer an opposed roll or a flat difficulty>"

You say, "Can we, in the roll of Kira, find and kill L before he discovers and informs Lookshy."

Shadowed Fortune hmms. "Probally an opposed roll is more appropriate."

You say, "Although it is tempting the RNG gods to hate on me ;)"

Kukla chuckles.

Kukla says, "They can get you either way. :)"

You say, "Yes, well."

You say, "In the ends, they will always get you. ;)"

Kukla says, "So speaks the void."

Kukla says, "His die pool is 4 Wits + 3 Larceny + Excellency, and he'll spend WP for an auto success."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune stunts!

Kukla says, "She shan't, because she's a nameless NPC droog. (Teresu Shiaika)."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "Quick question- is Glaive a /known/ deathknight? Or just deeply unsubtle?"

Kukla says, "He's known."

Kukla says, "That's why the tarp."

Kukla says, "He's willing to hang out in the periphery so long as he gets to traumatize the hell out of some people later."

 

The capital city of the Marukani is a sty.

This is only true for perhaps, a third of the town. Horses /everywhere/.

With Glaive safely stashed away for the moment, Unspoken Desire can get to work. She smiles. She flirts. She's pale and ever so polite to the big strong men. She even laughs at the same joke, about the mare with two studs. Over. And over.

When she asks about the Dragonblooded, though, eyes turn a bit cooler. One of those. Aren't they all? Oh, just the good ones man.

Tracking. Dragonblooded in Lookshy. Around the peripherary of the Elders- probally friends with one or two of them. No offical position in the government, but some sinecure from Lookshy; maybe a 'paid retirement'. They could be anywhere- but not really. They need to be at the nexus, where criminality wouldn't be noticed, but the upper crust could mingle without fear. Such places are rare... but every city has at least one.

She walks down the street, stopping in front of a 'apothocary', fronting a brothel and gambling den. Here?

 

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "2 die stunt. Very nice."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune thanks :) "Wits + Investigation? Or, dare I hope, Manipulation? ;)"

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Wits, sorry. :)"

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "Well, worth asking :)"

 

(Judge) Kukla rolls 10: [ 3 4 4 5 7 7 8 9 9 9 ]

    Resulting in 6 successes.

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune buys 4 successes with the Second Excellency.

(Judge) Shadowed Fortune rolls Wits + Investigation: [ 3 3 3 5 5 7 7 9 ]

    Resulting in 3 successes.

 

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "Push."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune mutters.

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "You meet him exactly. Assuming you spend a WP for an auto success, you win."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune does so!

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Never let it be said I am not a generous god."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune has never said such :)

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "I assume you have Glaive fillet him in the night."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "Oh yes."

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Alright. Eventually, they're going to show up because he stopped reporting in."

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Your goal is to wreak as much havoc as you can in that time."

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "How much havoc can you wreak?"

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "Yes, well. By that point, the city should be either burning or under my control."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "Hopeful, quite a bit :)"

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Sounds like time for you to roll your havoc-wreaking die pool :D"

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune loves the havoc wrecking die pool! ;)

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "Do I get an equipment bonus for Glaive ;)"

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Yes! +3 dice!"

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune stunts, to abuse the pattern spiders ;)

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "They cry."

 

One death. Such a simple thing. It hardly went unremarked upon- indeed, the neighborhood was badly shaken. How could such a thing happen?

It was later looked back upon and remarked- that was only the beginning.

Glaive is not, and has never been, a 'subtle' soul. With a terrible power, he could tear through the city, ravaging at will. But even so, the Marukani are a hard people- they would not break easily. Not to the mere fear of death.

But a whisper works through the streets. Unspoken, but heard. Desire to be free of the fear, to be free of the thoughts of death that now confronted them. In the wake of Unspoken Desire, the people of Marukan began to understand fear. To whisper to each other- of the possibility of freedom. Of some measure of safety.

Those who knew fear heard where to find Unspoken Desire. Her anima blazing in the basement of the building she rested in during the day, accepting the oaths of those who had been broken during the night. Accepting them into her service, and the service of the Mask.

 

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "2 die stunt. :)"

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune presumes Manipulation + Socialize? :)

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune buys 5 successes, and rolls dice!

 

(Judge) Shadowed Fortune rolls Manipulation + Socialize + 3 + 2: [ -1- -1- 3 3 4 4 5 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 <10> ]

    Resulting in 9 successes.

 

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "What do you have combo'd with your excellency?"

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune doesn't need one, both charms are scene-long :)

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "They just enhance my social fu. :)"

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "And they are?"

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "Hate Sowing Bitterness (for instant Fear creation) and Insidious Undertone Trick (for unexpected social attack fu)"

-= OOC =- Kukla would say you can completely devastate the place over the course of the week.

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Everything that you don't devastate, Glaive rapes/burns/cleaves/pillages."

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "You're an object of silent dread, and Glaive whips up an appropriate reputation of absolute terror."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "Excellent on both counts :)"

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "While you instantly inspire broken fear, Glaive has this neat trick where people burst in to helpless weeping when you say his name."

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Less useful, but more entertaining."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune hmms. "Would the Boss prefer the ones who gave their Oath be marched back to Thorns, or does he want them as a supply depot for teh war machine's march to Lookshy?"

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "He wants them in the underworld, pronto."

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Alive, preferably."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune can do!

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "But Lookshy will annihilate the place if the alternative is to leave it under your control."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune nods. "Yeah, they're pricks like that."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "Aight everyone!"

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune cuts the shroud. Like, a lot.

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "In ya go!"

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Now how much does that cost?"

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "During the night?"

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Right."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "Nuthing. I mean, technically, blood."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune says, "But, ya'know."

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Right."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune thinks he can get a volunteer from the audience :)

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune idly wonders if the slaughter Glaive inflicts and the repeated cuttings of the shround Shadowed does might create a Shadowland where the city stood :)

-= OOC =- Kukla says, "Unfortunately, no. Too many people flee the city wholesale once Glaive goes to town."

-= OOC =- Shadowed Fortune drats. "Well, worth a shot :)