The most recent update is some needed exposition. For the curious and mechanics-savvy, Edge's charm spread is the following: First Ebon Dragon Excellency, Loom-snarling Deception, Witness to Darkness, Seeing Is Blindness, Light-blighting Emptiness Attack, Cracked-cell Circumvention, Wind-born Stride, Unimpeded Perfection of Exertion, Foam-dancing Haste, Impatient Tempest Labor, and Mother Sea Mastery. Congratulations, you are an Essence-2 Fiend of the Ebon Dragon. Note that this does not include Eldritch Secrets Mastery - when you start to glow, it will be as an Infernal! So keep that Essence-usage to a minimum! (As always, this will be more story-driven than mechanics-driven, so don't worry about personal/peripheral pools.)

Also, Old Realm is now a slightly different color since gold is unreadable.

Am I correct in assuming that getting involved in combat is arguably a loss condition by itself? At most I'd imagine he's good for a bit of pickpocketing or mugging the hapless and kidnapping the unsuspecting.

Actually, no. The most hapless Exalt can take down your average mortal easily in single combat. Edge is moderately-trained in combat, enough to hold his own with even against a trained mortal combatant.

However, Exalted versus Exalted combat is something completely different. Edge is skilled enough to make a living as a mortal mercenary, but the Exalted can be even more than that. I would suggest against picking a fight with someone unless you're certain that they're a mere mortal - Essence-users are not something to be trifled with.

If I were to put it into matters of mechanics, on a scale of one-to-five, I'd say his skills would look something like this:

Social - 5
Mental - 3
Physical - 2

Social Manipulation - 5
Getting the Hell out of Dodge - 3
Force of Personality - 3
Fighting - 3
General Knowledge - 2
Slight-of-hand - 2
Occult Knowledge - 1

With all other skills roughly being zero, which means basic knowledge of but no particular skill in. Note that this does not include Essence-fueled powers.

>>92352
As an Exalt, any given individual mortal is almost certainly irrelevant. Possible exceptions are Guild factors and the Perfect of Paragon. Unless a mortal happens to be one of those people or in a very large group, literally any Exalt whatsoever can effortlessly curbstomp them.

>>92359
To give an example of how crazy powerful Exalts are:

Ahlat is the war-god of an entire quarter of Creation and one of the most powerful gods by virtue of his rank and the fact that he actually bothers to be competent at combat instead of loafing around like 99.9% of divinities. He's pretty hot shit.

An Exalt specializing in Brawl can fairly easily beat him fresh out of character generation.

>>92355
>>92359
>>92360
In the combat itself, okay, but if we mess up and use big powers we are easier to detect and track than an abyssal, no? We're in civilized territory populated enough that we know another exalt here; what are the odds that there isn't one or more of a Terrestrial hunt, a group of Lunars or a Solar that could and would kick our ass nearby?

Both Life-blighting Emptiness Attack and Seeing Is Blindness are Obvious charms, which means anyone seeing them knows what they do.

Of course, shadowy Essence-based attacks do not necessarily equal Ebon Dragon. Infernals are one of the better-kept secrets in Creation; for all anyone knows, you might just be a Dragon of a Different Color.

That being said, Amaranth did say there was a significant Dynast presence here - not enough to be a Wyld Hunt (since there are only two of them in the South), but enough that you should be careful.

That being said, I personally think Abyssals are easier to track than Infernals, considering you literally start bleeding whenever you use Essence. But that's hopefully irrelevant!

Another thing to consider about combat, though, is attracting attention. Yes, you can curb-stomp any mortal, but if you visibly do so easily then everyone's going to figure out that you're something special, and eventually someone who's not so easy to fight will turn up.

I have a personal headcanon that since the exaltation tends to choose people who are predisposed to fighting (or at least willingness to fight), and plus that it also chooses people who want to change the world and therefore would be naturally competitive with others who want to change the world, it then becomes natural that whenever a new Exalt shows up in another Exalt's sphere of influence that they'll want to come along and make sure that they're not going to interfere with each other's business. And if they don't hit it off perfectly then the next stage is for them to catch superhero crossover syndrome and get into a fight to see who's boss, either with actual combat or some other form of contest.

>>92364

This headcanon amuses me, and I might steal it for future campaigns.

>>92367

If I recall correctly, something similar actually is canon with Lunars, since they have a pack predator instincts thing going on, and a big part of the silver pact honor ranking thing is about knowing who's the top dog in any given interaction.

So, while this is /tg/, and a lot of you have exhibited knowledge of Exalted, I'd like to expand the readerbase to also include those who aren't familiar with the setting. So, here's a quick run-down of some key terms.

*Abyssal Exalted - inverted Solar Exaltations, sworn to serve the Neverborn and the Deathlords. They have only recently appeared in Creation.
*Adorjan - a Yozi, also known as the Silent Wind. She is childlike murder and utter freedom.
*Anathema - the name for the Exalted under the rule of the Realm. Anathema are terrible monsters that make pacts with demons. They are irredeemable - the only thing to do is to destroy them and hope their souls meet a better fate in the next incarnation.
*Cecelyne - both desert that surrounds the demon realm and Yozi. She is law, so long as the strong rule over the weak.
*Demons - spirit-like creatures descended from the Yozis. There are cults spread across Creation that worship and summon them.
*Dragon-blooded - Terrestrial Exalted, chosen of the Dragons, and the heroes of earth. Most Dragon-blooded are nobles of the Realm and enforcers of the Immaculate Order. Dragon-blooded are notably weaker than most Celestial Exalted, but they are much more numerous and pass Exaltation by blood inheritance.
*The Ebon Dragon - the Yozi who masterminded the Reclamation. He is the source of all vice; he actually created virtue so that he could be the opposite of it. He is Edge's patron.
*Exalted - chosen of the Incarnae and heroes of the world. Celestial Exalted are chosen at pivotal moments in a mortal's life, and the Exaltation gives them the power to accomplish great and terrible things.
*The Immaculate Order - the dominant religion/philosophy of the Realm. It advocates minimal worship of the gods, veneration of the Elemental Dragons, deference to the Dragon-blooded, and death to all Anathema. It is the status-quo of most of Creation.
*Incarnae - the greatest of the gods, those who crafted the Exaltations in the time before the First Age. They are all currently too busy playing games and getting high to worry about Creation.
*Infernal Exalted - the chosen of the Yozis, Green Sun Princes. They are perversions of Solar Exaltations, forced into a new and different form with the same power that overthrew the Primordials.
*Lunar Exalted - the chosen of Luna, known as great survivors. Their unique powers allow them to shapeshift into animals and stranger things. Each Lunar Exaltation is mated to a Solar Exaltation - this bond transcends reincarnation.
*Malfeas - both the demon realm and a Yozi, formerly king of the Primordials. He has since devolved into unceasing, self-loathing rage.
*Primordials - the creators of Creation, overthrown by the Exalted in the Primordial War. As a result of the oaths the Exalted forced upon them, the Primordials became the Yozis.
*The Realm - centered on the Blessed Isle and ruled by the Scarlet Empress - except she's missing. The Realm is controlled by the Dragon-blooded descendants of the Scarlet Empress. It is the largest political entity in Creation, although its control of the Threshold is nominal at best.
*The Reclamation - the plan of the Yozis to reclaim Creation as their own. The Infernal Exalted are the spearhead of this plan.
*She Who Lives in Her Name - a Yozi, also known as the Principle of Hierarchy. She is the embodiment of the "proper" order of things.
*Sidereal Exalted - there are no such things as Sidereals.
*Solar Exalted - the chosen of Sol Invictus and greatest of all heroes. Solar Exalted are paragons of perfection. In the First Age, they ruled Creation, but were overthrown by the Dragon-blooded during the Usurpation. Just recently have the Solar Exalted reappeared in Creation.
*The Threshold - made up of the North, South, East, and West - basically all lands that aren't the Blessed Isle, which resides in the center of Creation.
*Unwoven Coadjutor - the remains of the demon that bore the Exaltation of a Green Sun Prince. Basically the voice in the head of an Infernal that used to be a demon - they are of varying degrees of usefulness. Edge's Unwoven Coadjutor is Bulitar.
*Yozis - once-Primordials now trapped in the Realm of Malfeas. They are unknowably vast beings with power surpassing the gods, but they are each irreparably broken and utterly mad.

>>92392
I think almost the entirety of my preexisting knowledge of Exalted comes from Jukashi, anyways.

>Edge uncomfortable with Amaranth's use of the Loom-snarling Deception
Gotta say, I'm just the teensiest bit disappointed this didn't turn into accidental transgender lesbian bride hunting quest. :V

>>92397
If I'm reading our current situation right, we are being shown around by a gender-bending trap that apparently is a woman at the moment: Also, he/she has introduced us to a pretty-boy trap. If that isn't enough non-heteronormality for you yet then... I just don't know.

>>92397

Did I ever mention that Edge is actually male? I mean, we know for certain he's using Loom-snarling Deception already... :D

>>92406

Consider this a friendly reminder that everyone in the Exalted universe is bisexual unless they have Integrity specialties.

That being said, Edge's Bride can be any gender; everyone in the story is romancable, they just have varying degrees of difficulty.

>>92409
>Consider this a friendly reminder that everyone in the Exalted universe is bisexual...
Uhm, that's not a reminder because I have not played the game and I did not know that. That's kind of relevant information which is probably much more important than knowing what an abyssal is considering this is a quest about dating within Creation. I guess I have to go look up what an 'integrity specialty' is now.

>>92415
http://boards.4chan.org/tg/thread/40862288
The Exalted general on /tg/ is unironically the best place to discuss Exalted in detail. Mostly because every other place is worse than it is.

But to cover that one single post, Exalted's setting is written with the assumption that everyone is bisexual to make PC seduction less complicated and to fit the themes of the setting. Integrity is a stat that defines how hard you are to change. Having a stat at 4 or above gives you a specialty in a subject.

Note that you don't actually need high Integrity to be exclusively heterosexual or homosexual, sexuality isn't defined by your statistics.

>>92417
http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Exalted
Although this is probably better if you just want lore.

I don't think "everyone is bi" is really canon, it's just that whatever predisposition most people have is considered too weak to have much effect against the kind of persuasion dice that even just heroic mortals can scrape up. It's very much in the heroic-fantasy theme that the heroes can be so pretty/charming that they can seduce anyone, and I think that's more the case than it is just that everyone's bisexual by default. My recollection is that a lot of the different cultures in the setting were described as having particular attitudes about sexuality one way or another. It just doesn't matter to the Exalted because, well, they're Exalted.

Everyone wants to fuck the Exalted, and if they don't, well, their opinion doesn't matter.

(Yes, this is supposed to sound how it's implied. All Exalted are supposed to have the possibility to be terrible monsters.)

Disclaimer: Not my actual opinion, just what is implied by the setting.

Protagonist Unlocked! Meyichi 2015/06/28(Sun)15:49 No. 92430 ID: 849b2b
File 143553176437.png - (696.16KB , 750x750 , 001.png )

Sky's Edge was born in a small fishing village on Abalone, in the Wavecrest Archipelago. It seemed fated that he would be a fisherman, just as his father and father's father, but events took place that were not written into the Loom of Destiny.

There was a nearby Shadowland, a small but powerful conduit of the Underworld surrounding some ruins from the Shogunate period. One of the young adults of the village got got the idea that there would likely be treasure left abandoned in such a place, just waiting to be taken. It was easy to round up a small group of young discontents and inspire them with tales of the better life that awaited them.

There is reason why one does not disturb grave goods, especially those of the ancient Dragon-bloods. The only one who walked away from that Shadowland was Sky's Edge, and that was only thanks to the Exaltation that had come just a tad too late.

Edge took well to the whirlwind politics and intrigues of Malfeas. In the end, it was a life different from living and dying on an island in the middle of nowhere.

Edge was recently assigned to corrupt key figures in the Guild's hierarchy in Gem. Unexpectedly, there was a high-Essence monk of the Immaculate Order also stationed in Gem, and Edge ended up on the wrong end of her fist.

In the end, Edge fled from Gem in disgrace. The Ebon Dragon's patience runs thin, and punishment looms large. In a last-ditch effort to appease the wrath of the Shadow of All Things, Edge has set out to find a Bride in the city of Chiaroscuro.

-------------------------

The vote for Edge's gender was a draw until the very last moment; the original sketch even has her as female. As a result, I opted for an androgynous male. Unsurprisingly, Edge was the first character designed. I wanted to add more color to his outfit, but I couldn't do much without making it more complicated: hence the crazy purple hair and red scarf.

This is actually my more comfortable style and medium, but I opted for digital and the chibi-proportions for the quest for ease of drawing and manipulation. That, and I have such little experience with backgrounds.

Other character profiles will be forthcoming as more details are revealed in the story.

>chibi drawing style
I actually like the contrast between the very stylized images versus the very detailed descriptions in the text. It's kind of a fun dissonance.

I find it amusing that the second person we run into is a redhead chick with a really short skirt, and quest isn't trying to get up it. Where did the perverts all go?

>>92431

Thank you! That makes me feel better about my stylistic choices. :)

>>92434

I think it's because they found out she's packing under said skirt. Honestly, though, I'm a little surprised, too.

Ah, the ancient rule. Once the quest turns pervy/actually about getting into people's pants, everyone stops actually trying to go that route.
Though I suspect half the problem is that...
We're kinda going to, on some level, pull a Twilight Vampire act on some poor girl, basically.

I doubt /quest/ is deterred by the packing (although that really depends on how thorough that Loom-snarling deception is). It's more that she's an obvious manipulator and competition. That inspires a little more caution.

(Also, she showed up second, so she doesn't get the benefit of first-girl blindness).

>>92441
First up, help me out here. I have diligently avoided watching or reading Twilight, and while I have heard multiple creepy things about that stuff I've successfully forgotten everything but the need to avoid it all. What do you mean?
>>92442
First girl actually seems the most desirable of the three people we've met so far, frankly. Am I suffering, or am I right?
Also, we were just given implied word of the author that he's packing an outie instead of hiding an innie under that skirt. My guess: It is possible judging by the gender-select option at the beginning of the quest, but he didn't take the option. (Details on the web I could look up about Loom-Snarling Deception seem to support that it can do this, but I didn't find an exact quote of source text.) We haven't actually looked or felt to find out for sure, but I'm in no hurry to play The Crying Game.

>Am I suffering or am I right?
I would agree, so far she's the most interesting. I don't think we're interested in the long term campaign of plot-wars going after Red would result in, and the latest one hasn't really said anything yet. (It's just a joke that we usually tend to side with the first girl in a lot of quests).

>Also, we were just given implied word of the author that he's packing an outie instead of hiding
I wasn't making assumptions there, since the statement could work metaphorically or literally.

Although given that we were told we could alter our own Loom-snaring deception on the fly with regards to the eye marks, it's a moot point. It's Schrodinger's skirt- you'll observer whatever she wants you to see when you open the box.

The Ebon Dragon literally invented trickery. It is the simplest of tricks to make a hole where there was none or vice versa. That being said, your mileage may vary depending how much your storyteller likes traps. The packing comment was intended metaphorically - it'd be no fun to spoil the surprise just yet. But feel free to suggest finding out. I'm sure it'll be an exciting adventure.

I am well-aware of first-girl syndrome, as it's not just limited to quests. See also every dating sim ever.

Well that just begs an interesting question, about how thorough Loom-Snarling Deception can be: Could it be used to pull a Loki and get pregnant with flying horses? It would be useful to be able to do our own recon as an unremarkable bird, like a sparrow. Also, if our mission timetable lasts long enough we might consider settling down and having a family to increase our staffing level in the quest for an exquisite bride.

>>92472
No, you need to be a Lunar to pull that sort of shit. Loom-Snarling Deception only lets you become another person, and it can't be exactly the same as a real person either.

>> Could it be used to pull a Loki and get pregnant with flying horses?

I think if you had a Lunar Akuma of Adorjan, you could pull it off with Splintered Gale Shintai.

Yeah, Exalted's weird.

Hmm, will character advancement be a serious topic of this quest? I'm pondering an army of dudes, and I know so little about the system I don't know if, "Inner Devils Unchained," is a good thing or a bad thing to take.

>>92481

Inner Devils Unchained is a good thing if you want to randomly change mortals into demons. But, then again, unless you have Cecelynian charms or Sorcery, they don't have to listen to you.

That being said, character advancement will not be a big part of the quest. If a brilliant plan hatches that requires a charm Edge doesn't have, then I might allow it, but it's not in the plan for now.

For a specific charm? I don't have a particular, full plan yet, but, "Our Little Secret," almost surprises me by its absence on our character sheet considering how many plans can hinge on blackmail or addicting folks. I don't have full text of how it works, or what the game defines as an act of depravity though.

Besides that, we got chased out of town by one monk over in Gem. We have nothing--no intelligence for avoiding them, no detection method, no way to win the fight--to stop it from happening all over again (or have worse happen) against any other exalt and most other supernaturals.

Edge is actually just a few experience points out of character creation. "Our Little Secret" is a wonderful charm, but you have to go pretty deep into the tree to get its full utility. It would definitely be on the "to-buy" list for Edge, once he gets more XP - if this were a game of Exalted.

> We have nothing--no intelligence for avoiding them, no detection method, no way to win the fight--to stop it from happening all over again (or have worse happen) against any other exalt and most other supernaturals.

This is a good point! Also how the Realm has kept control on the Anathema for such a long time - they find them early and cut them down with a squadron of Dragon-blooded.

This quest is more about socializing than using your awesome super powers, although I promise there will be a chance for that. :)

>This quest is more about socializing than using your awesome super powers, although I promise there will be a chance for that. :)

I'm fine with that, but it's a little hair raising when I--as someone who doesn't know the game's system and content so well--am approaching this with the expectation that veteran terrestrials would probably have some way of identifying us as supernatural. When they walk over to say hello and make with the secret handshake, we don't know it... and the adventure's over because we've failed again and have to run to another town, if we survive that encounter at all.

>>92490
That basically comes down to game design, though.

You sort of have to trust the gm hasn't given you scenario that will railroad you to death and failure at the first opportunity (unless that's the point). That given your initial conditions and resources, things are in some form or another, theoretically solvable. Or at least that you'll be given a chance to make things interesting.

(For instance, if we're concerned about missing secret signs to terrible consequences, or ways the establishment might have prepared in advance to make us we might not see coming, that's probably exactly the kind of information we could try and procure at the under-city market).

Conversely, it's pretty hard to fight outright railroading, unless the system is rules-rigid enough that you can use the system against the gm's intent. (Which it really isn't here).

>>92495
You know, you're right. I was thinking, "Shit, this is Exalted, the game of magic kung-fu swordfighting and we're chump-tier exalted combatant." But we've been served clues that we don't have to be paranoid about that stuff so long as we're not inexcusably dumb. The retrospective-storytelling part of the intro hints that either our interrogators at Ebon Dragon's party are harassing us using the info about our quest from Amaranth, or we do get a bride from somewhere, somehow, before this is over. I also guess that means Edge didn't get run down by the terriers and made into a trophy. Probably also means Edge resists outright moronic suggestions too, which is a bonus.

Sweet, that means Graceful Blossom almost certainly isn't a terrestrial. So let's hit on her some more--traveling musicians tend to be the most open-minded about threesomes, and we have some corrupting of morals and depravity to indulge in.

>>92499
I wouldn't lean on the backwards narration too much. Well it would be bad game design to cheap-shot us without recourse, it would also be bad if there weren't consequences (especially if we're dumb!).

For instance, a possible failure condition that would fit the retelling would be that Edge leaves town defeated and in shambles, scrapes up a sub-par bride in desperation, and is currently stalling for time before the Ebon Dragon comes down on him.

>traveling musicians tend to be the most open-minded about threesomes, and we have some corrupting of morals and depravity to indulge in.

I think I might have accidentally started something terrible and wonderful.

>>92503
Counting, unhatched chickens, try to avoid it because of uncertainty of eventual hatching.

http://www.tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/650299.html#652122
Really? Like, if we corrupted two solars and subverted the town government Coal Chicken would still be just as pissed? Christ, what an asshole.

Anonymous 2015/06/30(Tue)21:01 No. 92553 ID: 0ee153
File 143572328333.png - (206.42KB , 367x629 , Acts of Villainy.png )

>>92552
Not exactly, but the long explanation involves the Great Curse, the Neverborn, and the Primordial war.

The medium-length explanation is that the Yozis are capable of bending the Great Curse enough to let Infernals lose accumulated Limit, but they only do so after the Infernal carries out a specified ritual.

There are three ways for Infernals to get Limit- spend Willpower to act against your virtues, spend Willpower to resist mind control, and act against the Urge your Yozi gives you.

To quote the exact mechanics:

EXQUISITE BRIDE OBSESSION
The Ebon Dragon, for reasons known only to himself, seems endlessly fascinated with the idea of marriage. Accordingly, it pleases him immeasurably when a Green Sun Prince, in emulation of the Ebon Dragon’s own impending nuptials, chooses a mate for himself and becomes fixated on gaining possession of her, most often through some kind of elaborate wedding ceremony. In order to gain the benefits of this act of villainy, the Green Sun Prince must first acquire an Intimacy that compels him to seek to unite with some particular person, preferably one who has no interest in such a union and ideally one who is vehemently opposed to such a union. It is not necessary for the Prince to actually form an Intimacy with the prospective bride or groom. All that is needed is an Intimacy that militates in favor of the marriage.

For example, an Intimacy toward inheriting the estate of a wealthy dowager who will sadly perish during the honeymoon will satisfy the requirements of this act of villainy, as will forcing an arranged marriage on the lover of a hated rival as a way of humiliating him.

In any case, once the Intimacy exists, the Infernal’s player can roll the character’s Compassion (or, at the Storyteller’s discretion, some other appropriate Virtue) once per session after making some important stride toward uniting with the chosen mate. Each success on the Virtue roll reduces the character’s Limit pool by one (to a minimum of zero). Once the Prince has succeeded in marrying his betrothed, he can no longer reduce his Limit through this Intimacy. To do so in the future, he must find another object for his obsession (if necessary, after eliminating his most recent bride).

>>92553
So, a clearer, less rules-heavy answer to your question. It seems our protagonist has defied his Urge once too often. In-character, this is expressed as the wrath of the Ebon Dragon. And that wrath has a specific effect- the character accumulates points of Limit. Even if the Ebon Dragon stops being angry, he still has that Limit and it still gives him Torment if he gets to 10 Limit. The Dragon can decrease Limit, but that requires the Act of Villainy to work.

Incidentally, without houserules, Amaranth's offer wouldn't have worked very well, since the Ebon Dragon prefers that the bride be unwilling.

If you're interested in what exactly the Torment does, I can C+P it too, but it's pretty long and I've spammed enough. The summary is that Sky's Edge becomes unable to resist giving in to his vices and it's contagious. People who aren't strong-willed enough and people the Ebon Dragon doesn't like are also affected by the Torment.

This... this complicates my understanding of exactly why it may be that Amaranth wants us to marry Myria. If the bride is supposed to be unwilling then I'm not even sure what that says about what Amaranth is hoping we do to Myria.

Oh man, I didn't know I was signing up for moustache-twirling evil-for-evil plots. What do Edge's virtue points look like anyway?

Note that the Dragon prefers that the bride be unwilling, but Edge himself is a relatively halfway-almost-semi-decent person for being a Green Sun Prince. That, and it's a lot easier to marry someone who agrees to marry you. As such, he will be more likely to go with routes that convince or manipulate rather than outright coerce.

Honestly, I think the Ebon Dragon would be even more impressed if you took someone who would be unwilling and then corrupt/convince them to be willing. No matter what the Dragon cares, as long as the Act of Villainy is successful, the Limit reduction happens, so ultimately, the Bride's feelings on the matter matter not at all.

I hope "unwilling" does include someone who would reject the Infernal if they knew their true nature, but willingly marries the fake persona the Infernal is presenting.

Even though I think corrupting a Solar into willfully marrying an Infernal would be even better, mechanics or not.

>Even though I think corrupting a Solar into willfully marrying an Infernal would be even better, mechanics or not.

For what it's worth, I agree.

Hooo...
When I said earlier about Twilight, I didn't fully have a specific thing in mind? More...The feel of how this marriage was going to be, in terms of personalities and whatnot.
Namely, that it would be kind of bad for the girl in question, while we use her for our own purposes...
Seeing the Ebon Dragon's perferances, I'm going to guess that's kind of the point of the deal to be like that.

Note that it doesn't have to be like that.

A lot of the tone of the marriage will be dependent on suggestions made, the person that is chosen as Bride, and Edge's feelings on the matter. As I've said before, Edge is a relatively-decent person. He'd rather this work out with everyone willing and well-informed, but he realizes that that's likely not going to happen.

Well, as I was reading all that, he has to want this bride for his own reasons--either because he wants her, or because he wants something he gets from marrying her. So, are we in the role of deciding his preferences here?
All else being equal, of the people we've met so far the traveling musician actually seems the most useful and non-detrimental to us (so long as she isn't some hidden solar or lunar or something). Edge needs a warrior to toughen him up and protect him... but stacking up his options for social plotting is enhancing his strength.

>>92591
We don't have to limit the choice in bride by how they fill a party role. There's no reason we couldn't manipulate a skilled warrior protector or anyone else into a role that suits him. The bride doesn't have to be our only asset.

>>92598
If I understood what was said above correctly, how much the bride is worth for the Ebon Dragon's esteem depends upon how much getting her matters to us. We're playing someone that hasn't completely gone coldblooded-sociopath but we're playing to someone else that is: We need getting the bride to be a really big win. It's unknown if we can appeal to other Yozi patrons for limit relief by spiking their obsession buttons with the same plot, but judging by the title the answer is either, "No," or, "Guys, this is supposed to be about how hilarious it is to turn Exalted into a really fucked-up dating sim!"

>"Guys, this is supposed to be about how hilarious it is to turn Exalted into a really fucked-up dating sim!"

This.

>>92606
By default rules we can, actually. I'll admit I'm a bit hazy on the exact rules, but the example posted earlier is of an Infernal chaining together three Acts of Villainy. I can't remember if there are any rules on which Yozis you can use, but since Shy's Edge was mentioned to be using Adorjani charms earlier it'd be reasonable to assume he can also try and use Kindly Lunatic's Blessing, but that requires him to drive a Creation-born permanently insane, which may not be his thing.

Also, speaking of Adorjani charms. Is the charm he took to improve his running Running to Forever, by any chance? If so, did he take it twice?

>>92619

Yes, it is possible to chain together any number of Acts of Villainy, which allows you to add together the dice for your relevant virtues. You don't have to know charms of the relevant Yozis; all that's needed is the approval of your Storyteller. If you guys would like to make a combo out of it, I won't stop you - in fact, I'd applaud your efforts if you manage to pull it off.

As to Running for Forever - Edge doesn't have that charm, so no escaping fatigue penalties through wild orgies.

>>92622
Despite context, I had actually been considering avoiding sleeping and leaving ourselves vulnerable. Dashing around during the night is highly visible and inconvenient.

...Although now that I reread Running to Forever I doubt we're Essence 5 or even 3.

>>92623

Nope, Essence 2. As stated before, Edge is just a little bit out of character creation.

Am I too much of a music nerd for thinking that the drawing of Graceful Blossom with the flute looked wrong because she wasn't holding the flute right?
I can even describe how: Wooden flutes like that have open holes on the front side evenly spaced, and two indentations/swells/thumbrests to actually hold up the flute while you're trying to play it. You put the fingers above, between and on those holes on the front and hold it up with the two thumbs on the back.

....I'll go wear my sign that warns I'm a pedant.

>Note that the Dragon prefers that the bride be unwilling
That really doesn't make sense for a patron of trickery, manipulation, and corruption. Wouldn't the best demonstration of what he endorses be to take someone who shouldn't be willing, but make them so? As described, that sounds like it favors a brute force approach (abduct bride, force them to wed via the rituals of whatever society allows for captive bride taking).

>>92629

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiao_(flute)

For the curious.

>>92632

The thing about Yozis is that they're all like this. The Reclamation is doomed to fail because the Ebon Dragon is His own worst enemy. His wedding is a big part of that, but if He had just convinced His Bride instead of forcing her, then things would end up a lot better.

The Yozis are all broken, insane creatures. When they consider two different view points, two pieces of their souls literally do battle in the Demon City. Whoever wins is what they decide. Their minds are unknowable and impossible to comprehend. So the Ebon Dragon has a thing for forcing people into marriage, even when it would be more like Him to just corrupt them into it. Honestly, He'd probably like it either way.

Or maybe the game designers just fucked up with this particular thing.

>>92635
I sit corrected: I freely admit I only know western musical practice and instruments for the most part.

>>92638

No sweat, bro. To be honest, the original sketch looked more like a clarinet than anything else. This is when I learn to wiki things before I start drawing.

>>92637
It's probably both, to be honest. Two different people were hired to write the Infernals, and neither did any sort of checking with each other. It's why Lillun was made- the Yozis, demons, and Infernals aren't supposed to be cartoonishly pure-evil like the D&D demons are. Body horror, incomprehensible to man, batshit insane, absolutely. "lol imma rape a kid and make it give birth to Infernals lmao look how evil I am", no. The Ebon Dragon is the only Yozi who's meant to be pure-black evil, because that's what he very literally is. The rest are varying shades of dark gray... in theory.

As for the in-story explanation for anyone who isn't already familiar- at the end of the Primordial War, the victorious gods and Exalts ritually mutilated the Yozis to imprison and lobotomize them. They've been rendred mentally incapable of functioning correctly- Malfeas literally cannot comprehend that he actually lost and convulses in self-loathing and the hope that he will wake up from the impossible nightmare he believes himself to be. The Ebon Dragon, for his part, got off relatively lightly because he was the first to surrender, as I recall. He's still fucked up- he's now the embodiment of failure as well as wickedness, and treacherous to such an absurd degree that he always, always sabotages himself. He's physically incapable of wholly succeeding in anything, but he can still cause a lot of collateral damage and partially win, which is why he's still dangerous.

>>92647

I was wondering why the fluff was so bizarrely rape-y while the worst the charms had was a terrible wasting sickness that made your shirt fall off. Now I know!

But, yes. The Ebon Dragon is His Own worst enemy, and he's only gotten more adept at screwing Himself over since the end of the Primordial War. Taking unwilling Brides seems on-par with that.

Our boss is Snidely Whiplash, except he wants to marry women that hate him instead of tie them to the railroad tracks?
....
Wow, there are bad bosses, and then there are bad bosses.

For the non-stats initiated, what does a capital-I Intimacy mean? Just that we've formalized a desire or interest in her? Or is it an actual compulsion to act?

>>92664
It's a large part of the social combat system in 2.5e, and I think the basis of the system in 3e. It means you feel something lasting towards a noun. Person, place, thing, idea, whatever. They can be positive or negative, and modify actions based on the object of the Intimacy.

>>92664

Intimacies are a mechanical representation of the things the character feels strongly about. For example, Edge probably also has an Intimacy towards the Ebon Dragon (whether that's positive or negative). Intimacies usually take (Conviction rating) scenes to establish. Once they are in place, mental influence that preys upon the Intimacy is harder to resist, and certain charms will be able to target the Intimacy in order to compel the holder to act a certain way.

In short, it's a mechanical representation that Edge is now sincerely interested in Graceful Blossom. This is both a good and bad thing, as now it will be more unlikely that he will act in ways against her, but this is also the first step to using her for Exquisite Bride Obsession, as that requires a positive Intimacy.

I am amused that we have had a discussion of the new rules-system concept introduced in the latest update here before we even have had a second response to it. Nobody even gonna +1 my idea. let alone fix it or disagree?

>>92668
Hey, it's a lot easier to blather about rules than come up with conversation cold!

>>92670

In which I thought it was a good idea to expect tgchan to be smooth conversationalists.

Feel free to suggest general topics or just actions; I can work with those.

We can be! Sometimes.

Dunno, personally I find that kind of things easier when I have constraints to work off of. When it's more open ended I tend to sit back and see what the collective comes up with. Maybe I wasn't the only one this time?

>>92671
I initially assumed something as general as "find out more about her so we actually have something to discuss" wouldn't work.

>>92673

I can work with that.

I've got some life-stuff happening for the next little while, so expect slower updates.

>>/quest/652718

...What? You do realize you don't have to like the Yozis to be an Infernal? Going by the canon fluff, most sane Infernals' reaction would be to never go to Malfeas in the first place or leave at the first opportunity and never go back. The Yozis are more or less powerless to actually do anything in Creation, and the demons they send tend to be about as much or less of a threat than most things Exalts run into anyway.

>>92683

The demons who carry the Exaltation that is to become the Infernal must play the careful game of finding a mortal who is corrupt or can be corrupted, one who is heroic, and one who will fail. Then, they just wait for the inevitable to happen.

In short, there are no sane Infernals; the demon picking the Exalt would never choose someone who would simply run away from their destiny.

>>92685
So are we ignoring the canon Infernals who did exactly that and abandoned Malfeas?

>>92686

The kicker is that the Ebon Dragon masterminded the Reclamation, so, in the end, almost all of the Infernals will turn against him. See - His Own worst enemy. Also the Broken-Winged Crane - Devil-Tiger is the pinnacle of achievement for all Infernals, not bowing to the Yozis. Not even They could break Autochthon's Exaltations that much.

Potential Bride Unlocked! Meyichi 2015/07/02(Thu)23:06 No. 92698 ID: 849b2b
File 143590357652.png - (824.81KB , 750x750 , 002.png )

Amaranth was not a name that came until much later. In the beginning, he was Tenpei Han, a Djala of one of the nomadic tribes south of the Varangian City-states.

Tenpei was always hot-tempered and devious, a personality that earned him little love from his fellow tribe mates. It was the cruelty of fellow children that led him to be captured by a patrol of Varangian slave traders. He vehemently resisted his training as a slave, and, as such, was severely punished for it. As his temperament made him ill-suited for domestic work, he was sentenced to the mines.

For years, it seemed, Tenpei lived without light. As time went on, he became more desperate. Eventually, his escape attempts ran out what little patience his masters had. For his trouble, he was sentenced to a slow death in a cage.

The light burned after so long underground. Tenpei cursed all the gods he could name - the second day, he prayed. The third day, he was silent.

Before dawn on the fourth day, the most beautiful fire came instead of the sun.

-------------------------

Amaranth was honestly just designed to deliver some exposition. I didn't expect her to become a major character. Her design didn't change much from conception to implementation: she was always meant to be a trap. She represents a high-risk, high-reward target for Edge, someone that would be an invaluable ally, but who knows exactly what it is that he needs.

The fascination with the "Shrodinger's skirt" makes me laugh to no end. If it doesn't come out in the quest itself, I'll probably end up spoiling the surprise before the end. But, please, feel free to continue to speculate.

>But, please, feel free to continue to speculate.
You want speculation? Earn it. Personally, I tend to find all the traditional Japanese cartooning 'trap' stuff tediously predictable at best.

>>92702
Bit rude, but he has a point. So far there's not much reason to care what Amaranth is packing.

Indeed, that's one mystery /quest/ doesn't care about: Not only is /quest/ pansexual, but Amaranth is seen more as a potential threat (due to the power they can get over Sky's Edge, and the fact they're not "unwilling" enough) than as bride material.

>>92709
Not where I was going at all. Whenever someone starts showing off a 'beautiful lady' with 'hints' that 'they might have a dick,' it's because the trap fetish has been invoked and they do have a dick. I haven't seen an exception to this. In contrast, when I used to work security what I saw of real-world he-shes is that they are unmistakably not the same as normal women, even the less feminine ones.

>Oh, terribly many – I work so many odd jobs that I’ve likely spent more time looking for work than actually performing any
Oh, oh dear, oh my... I want to run a con with her as our accomplice so badly.

>http://www.tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/650299.html#653666
Congratulations on rating a shitpost from namefag Riotmode. I'm sure you feel so honoured. :)

You know, if Graceful Blossom's magic is real, and she really is a Solar, we could be telling the tale of how we tried to romance a Solar and got our ass kicked. That would be hilarious enough I'd say we should try for it anyway. Plus there's the chance that it might even work.

>>92890

The only thing for certain is that Edge ends up with someone. There's no telling how often he gets his ass kicked in trying.

Is this, er, close to accurate for your campaign? Because if the old city is actually ruins I'm curious about opportunities for exploring and looting.
Also, just what is in the "Tears of Heaven," the Plaza, and the "Temple of the Sky?"
http://thor.divnull.com/pub/exalted/chiaroscuro.pdf

Somewhat. Keep in mind that when they say "ruins," that doesn't mean that people aren't living there. There is much of the Old City that is still intact, and it is only for the very wealthy and noble. The ruins in Chiaroscuro have been around since the First Age, so anything that's left would have to be very well-hidden or in a dangerous place.

The Plaza is a very nice piece of real estate overseen by a powerful god by the name of Grandmother Bright. All the houses have Essence-powered conveniences.

As for the others, I haven't the slightest. Neither are mentioned in the Second Edition book for the South.

Ah, calibrating:
Ruins are either ghosts or terrestrials kicking our ass. The plaza is terrestrials kicking our ass.
So very lost, so unsure what to do....

>>92918
>terrestrials
>kicking Solaroid ass
That's a good laugh m8

>>92919

The Usurpation was a thing.

>>92919
Have you not noticed that Sky's Edge is specced social-mental-physical, and just out of training mission with a score of F? A con-man's all he is, he sure isn't much of a fighter.

A friendly rules reminder:

Resisting unnatural mental influence costs an amount of willpower and causes most Exalts to gain a point of Limit.

Some Compulsion and Illusion effects may be broken at any time by spending some amount of willpower. This does not count as resisting unnatural mental influence.

>>92921
Fair point. Let me clarify:

>small numbers of Terrestrials
>without Sidereal help
>kicking Solaroid ass

>>92925
Well, gaining Limit isn't good, since presumably we already have that in excess if we need to purge it with a marriage.

Guess that means if we're gonna mess with the compulsion-shopgirl we have to be careful not to let ourselves get lit up too much. (Or light up).

>girl Edge
...am I the only one who's suddenly tempted to run multiple simultaneous bride pursuits under multiple identities? Overly-complicated ball-juggling schemes seem appropriate.

>>92929
I was in favor of pursuing multiple brides earlier, and I still am. And I presume that Meyichi's notificaton and the lack of an update re: Limit means we didn't actually gain any.

>>92930

Yes. Were Edge to have resisted the unnatural mental influence, that would have resulted in gaining Limit, which might have triggered Torment instantly. Thus, instead, Edge spent willpower to break the effect after it had already taken place.

I'm so very tempted to just tell Edge to take another point of Limit and go break; if we can't even resist a dang tourist stand we are worthless at the only thing we're supposed to be good at (social stuff).

>>92940
Turning the city into a contagious pit of vice gets the Wyld Hunt or an equivalent onto our asses as fast as possible and then every non-DB and probably most of the DBs are pissed off we called down the heat on them. It'd probably be fatal.

>>92944
Right, okay, save that stunt for somewhere more fun to destroy than just some backwater full of tents on the edge of civilization. Maybe take a trip to the Blessed Isle first?

>>92946
>Blessed Isle
oh shit man are you serious

Look, I know I've been shitposting about glorious solaroid bragging, but there are some things you really shouldn't fuck with. The Blessed Isle and Wyld Hunt are some of them.

>>92940

This is obviously not just your average dang tourist. Unnatural mental influences are only usable by Essence-users, and usually only fairly powerful ones at that. Also, the effect has to get past MDV to even be effective, so it's not like it's just an automatic thing.

>>92951
They can't be important or powerful if they're operating a dang tourist-trap concession. Important and powerful supernatural people have more important and powerful targets to 'negotiate' with. They would find random tourists a waste of their time unless they are literally crazy: Why spend all day in the sun pushing cheap junk when you can make one deal that gets you more than you would during that entire day?
....
Just did a little bit of checking, and if this is someone that's important, powerful, and a little bit crazy I may have looked up an answer. We didn't happen to drift close to that particular plaza, did we? If this is *her* she looks unexpectedly good for her age and we should ask her how we may lie, cheat and corrupt without her ire. Also, if that is her then dirty pool springing key characters we have no knowledge of, when all I wanted to do was make some easy money sccamming a few poker games or something.

>it doesn't make sense for people who can scam that way to be opperating like this

>all I wanted to do was make some easy money sccamming a few poker games or something

You don't see the obvious contradiction there? If we can stoop to using our supernatural skillset for street scams, so can others.

>>92955
You see a contradiction, but I see facts of business and politics combining:
We're not gonna be here long, either because we fail badly enough, Ebon Dragon orders us elsewhere, or we complete the mission successfully and move on. We can't set up or buy into a business since we won't be around long enough to find a good deal or manage it. That limits us to short term and low investment: Actually getting a job for the money (won't pay well) or quick thefts and hustles. We're in a place, and world, full of supernatural things that can kick our ass so we dare not succeed too well: We are using a fake, disposable identity to lower our risks but our method will fail if we attract too much attention. So we have to go short-term and low-payoff or else.
In contrast, if you're an established player or someone with enough seed capital the general rule is that legitimate commerce eventually makes more money as long as it's adequately managed and you avoid getting cheated: The operation of a legitimate business is supposed to create value theoretically, and long term relationships and reputation are worth money to cultivate and grow.
Returning to the question of the tourist stall scammer: Who would use high-powered magic to scam a handful of pocket change? Someone who wanted to talk to us--send a message perhaps--or a nutjob. Contrastingly, the magic we'd be using to scam a poker game (if we use any at all) is the one-essence entry point for our boss' mojo, "First Ebon Dragon Excellency," so that's chump tier. It makes much more sense for us to use magic on a short con than nearly all other supernaturals, because ours is abnormally cheap and we're not much good at other things that pay above a peasant wage.

>>92956
The biggest fallacy here would seem to me to assume the stall represents a significant investment for our con artist. That they're established.

It seems like it would be a trivial application of the same powers she's making sales with to secure a temporary stall. (Or even take over someone else's stall and stock). And if annoyed customers might come back looking for refunds (or worse) when the charm expires, I would really expect the setup to be temporary.

And it's not impossible she's using a disposable identity as well- there's certainly more than one way that can be done.

You're making very quick assumptions about her costs and risks here.

>>92956
>we're not going to be here long
So neither is the stall owner. It's not like a stall and a fake identity are huge investments.

>>92958
Assumption? I'm going by what the QM says.
>This is obviously not just your average dang tourist. Unnatural mental influences are only usable by Essence-users, and usually only fairly powerful ones at that. Also, the effect has to get past MDV to even be effective, so it's not like it's just an automatic thing.


You and >>92959 are right that the stall and stock could be cheap or scammed acquisitions themselves....
....
Motion to steal or set up our own stall? I'm curious what else this other essence user can teach us about how to scam in Chiaroscuro, but the lessons might be too expensive.

>Assumption? I'm going by what the QM says.
That's she's an essence user as described is not what is being called into question. >>92958 and >>92959 explicitly stated which assumptions they were challenging: that the stall represented a significant or non-temporary investment, that her identity was open or exposed, or that she was here long term.

>>92961
Maybe I've misunderstood you. Are you saying that running a petty scam for beer money is something that powerful solars/lunars/abyssals/infernals/(other anathema) would do if they can?

>>92964
Some might, depending on personality. The way the Resources background in Exalted works is that it represents your income, what you can afford on a regular basis, what you can only afford every so often, and what you can't afford. How you get it is up to you, and in most IRL games considered trivial enough that some roleplay covers it. Of course, /quest/ works very differently than an actual real-life tabletop campaign.

Well, what I was assuming is that even in the real world most people wouldn't run a petty scam for beer money: They're either disgusted by the ethics, too interested in not going to jail or suffering other negative results, care too much about their reputation and their friends/family, would prefer to do without and go do something else, or have better ways of getting money. I was figuring that powerful anathema in particular would be able to do something else with their abilities and/or powers that gives more revenue than running a petty scam: Bounty hunting, looting 1st age junk in dangerous places, recruiting underlings to run a business for them, bigger criminal ventures (like heists, smuggling and protection rackets), or making use of their powers and other skills to either do something directly worth money or make things worth money that are just have a better risk/reward ratio than cheating at low-stakes poker games. Really, the main reason I was suggesting that we cheat at poker is that it fulfills our Snidely Whiplash directive to lie, cheat and corrupt.
However, cheating tourists out of their money with overpriced knickknacks is fine too.

>>92979
The word is Exalts. Anathema is an in-universe term, and it's specifically for propaganda.

Bounty hunting is generally too involved to be downtime, 1st-age junk is NOT the sort of thing you get easily or sell for pocket change, if at all, and the rest is sometimes used, but they're all relatively hard work compared to scams. The reason petty scams are popular is that it's trivially easy for an Exalt to scam mortals and it can make you a good deal of quick cash if you fleece rich people at a place where you don't intend on using the same disguise again.

>>92983
I used 'anathema' because it covers other essence users besides just exalts (I.E. shit-listed gods, god-bloods, etc.), who are all folks the dragon bloods would try to suppress or outright kill. The dragon blooded, sidereals and other folks allowed to operate openly would presumably have stronger reasons not to run scams than 'anathema.'

And yeah, there are all sorts of surprisingly simple scams you could try which may be lucrative. Forgery, counterfeit (or misrepresented) goods, investment scams, and lots of different kinds of fraud can have surprisingly quick, large and straightforward payoffs if you have the power to manipulate otherwise prudent people into being suckers. Even cheating the right gambling game can be very lucrative. But here we're talking about the sanity of spending essence on cheating a mostly-broke traveler out of their pocket change, operating a trinket stand: The opportunity cost of the better scams they could have run instead says there's non-profit reasons to have cheated Edge for a small amount of money using magic. Why aren't they doing something more profitable with that talent? Just how powerful are they if they have the capacity to mind-whammy many people in a day doing that?

>>93000
It doesn't. Anathema is specifically only for other Exalts, including Sidereals. Sidereals' whole schtick is secrecy and they're not allowed to operate openly to the point where most Dragon-Blooded wouldn't be able to tell one apart from other Anathema.

As for why they didn't run a bigger scam, they could just find it fun to cheat people, or they might just not need a lot of money. Cheating rich people is slightly riskier, since there's a small but nonzero chance that they got rich by being an Essence user, and are therefore not mortal. Alternatively, the con artist is just some god-blooded or demon-blooded and has very little talent other than a bit of trickery.

Well dang, the setting is more complicated than I was expecting it to be. I suppose it's only appropriately depressing that creatures of myth and legend are real... and they wanna pick your pocket for beer money. (I was hoping only the PC would be that horrible.)
I've looked up enough about this game now to know why you would never want to inflict anything like Exalted character advancement on quest: The same reason you don't inflict D&D character advancement. But that brings me to a point that may or may not be important: Do we have to care how much essence Sky's Edge has and has used, and if so how does he get more? So far that stuff has all happened behind the curtain and I have nothing against keeping it that way as long as we aren't going to be stepping on any unexpected land-mines from that.

>>93051
Yeah, everyone's an asshole and most of them are surprisingly petty about what they take offense to or their motives, even if the scale is immense.

As for mana respiration, it depends on your stats and so far that's all been behind the curtain, which is probably best. Wouldn't mind Edge giving us a rough estimate about how often he can do specified stuff before he's exhausted, though.

Essence management will happen behind the curtain. If you use too many Essence-fueled abilities, Edge will run low on Essence. If this ever becomes a problem, it will be clearly stated in an update.

Basically, don't worry about it unless it's brought up.

Okay, life has abated, so now we're back to a slightly more regular update schedule.

I don't mean to pick on your skills, but are we seeing a tell of a lunar with hooves there, or... are you just bad at feet?

>>93204
...ooh. That was supposed to be a Tell. Well, that's slightly embarrassing for me.

>>93205
I don't know, I'm asking. The artist doesn't do paticularly detailed hands and feet so I really don't know. I'm asking because it makes sense if that weird critter is some beastie from the bordermarches, doesn't it? :)

Nope! Just regular feet. That's how they're stylized - it's just especially noticeable because her legs are crossed.

Good eye, though.

Ah, "I'm not that bad at feet, but I am being unbelievably lazy at feet." I'll see if I can come up with something to respond with since that's cleared up now.

>Soon, it became the hour of Ascending Fire, and the sun made shadows scarce.
Is that noon?

>>93220

Roughly, yes.

Secret Character Unlocked! Meyichi 2015/07/19(Sun)23:30 No. 93250 ID: 5a02f7
File 143737381864.png - (621.27KB , 750x750 , 004.png )

As long as Kamai could remember, she hated the sea. Its allure took away her mother, leaving only a name for mewling babe. Its waves took away her father, leaving only a broken promise to return.

She was lucky that the local Dragon-blooded took her in as a servant; at least she wouldn't starve. But the tasks grated on her. Day after day, she served a mistress who had never worked a day in her life. Day after day, the Dynast poured over a book when Kamai didn't even know how to read.

Eventually, she did something stupid. She stole her employer's precious book. She would buy passage somewhere far away, where she would never have to see the ocean again.

She didn't even have the chance to get to the docks.

They cut off two of her fingers for being a thief and sold her to the Guild to pay for reparations. In the hold of the ship, in a fever dream, the strangest lizard came to her, saying the strangest things, and she must have been crazy because she believed it.

But surely no Maiden would be so cruel as to write her destiny to serve the Mother of All Seas.

-------------------------

A cameo as part of Edge's audience at the Thing.

>As long as Kamai could remember, she hated the sea.
Bet she gets on just swimmingly with Sky's Edge, huh.

That's fscking hilarious in the way of her maybe having more reason to hate her boss than we do to hate Snidely Whiplash. What possible scheme could we advance by marrying her though? I mean, vengeance for cheating us is an idea, but I'm not sure what would be good there: The best I can do for now is the notion of making her a lesbian since she hates fish.

Also, what is this foreign babble about Sky's Edge having another audience, and what is this capitalized 'Thing' you speak of?

>>93285
>Bet she gets on just swimmingly with Sky's Edge, huh.
Just like two fish in a school, no doubt.

>Also, what is this foreign babble about Sky's Edge having another audience, and what is this capitalized 'Thing' you speak of?
She's not the girl edge is sitting at the table with, she's one of the exalts listening to him tell the story / flashback to. Specifically, she's the one who tittered at his choice of disguise. >>/quest/654865

We haven't determined what the thief is yet.

Meyichi 2015/07/20(Mon)12:00 No. 93299 ID: 5a02f7
File 143741882707.png - (68.35KB , 500x500 , 005.png )

> swimmingly
> like two fish in a school

>>93293
>Also, what is this foreign babble about Sky's Edge having another audience, and what is this capitalized 'Thing' you speak of?

Read literally the first post of the quest.

>>93299
Dear Kamaitachi, your existence is currently a cruel joke. Surely you must understand that it's actually a fairly funny one to those not suffering your predicament. Get the quest master to give you your own spin-off quest when this one's done and we'll gladly help you to revolt and escape that mess to the best of our ability. For now, sorry; at the moment you're a pretty, eight-fingered joke caught between the sea and fishy dealings. The constructive thing to do here is to start laughing at the perfect absurdity of it, and slowly working at changing it.

>>93301
Okay, that may have been more clear if it wasn't called, "The Thing," in the quest itself. I'm guessing there must be some in-universe reason not to whip out a thesaurus and look up the words "party" "gathering" and "event" for a good synonym, but it's lost on me.

Meyichi 2015/07/22(Wed)14:28 No. 93402 ID: 5a02f7
File 143760048021.png - (32.70KB , 750x188 , 006.png )

> caught between the sea and fishy dealings

Hmm, is she just a one-joke background character or does she have protagonist written on her? A quest with a character we're expected to torment with marine references could be hilarious if it doesn't outlast the joke.

Apparently, she's the protagonist of the next quest. For now, though, she's just a cameo. If you'd like to torment her more (or actually be nice), feel free to address her in ITQ.

>>93431
Tempting, but I'm too indecisive for that unless that "or" is a Boolean OR: I wanna do both, and it would take too much effort to choose one over the other.

Meyichi 2015/07/25(Sat)19:39 No. 93490 ID: 5a02f7
File 143787833862.png - (385.94KB , 494x624 , porquenolasdos.png )

>>93482

Secret Character Unlocked! Meyichi 2015/07/25(Sat)19:51 No. 93491 ID: 5a02f7
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There were always high expectations in place for Yurian. The Great Mother’s gifts manifested strongly in her, and the blood of the Lintha flowed true in her veins. She was born to a Mother of the Gajui Greatsept – surely, they were blessed by such a strong child.

For her training abroad, Yurian served under a Father pirating the shores near An-teng and trading the ill-gotten goods to the seaside nation. There were always high expectations in place for Yurian. The Great Mother’s gifts manifested strongly in her, and the blood of the Lintha flowed true in her veins. She was born to a Mother of the Gajui Greatsept – surely, they were blessed by such a strong child.

For her training abroad, Yurian served under a Father pirating the shores near An-teng and trading the ill-gotten goods to the seaside nation. It was there that she met a man, a simple blacksmith in one of the many coastal towns. Over time, she began to care for him, but she knew it would never last. That knowledge led her to do a stupid, thoughtless thing, but she did not regret it. She bid farewell to her lover, telling him that they would likely never meet again, but should she ever find herself once more in An-teng, she would find him.

By the time Yurian returned to Bluehaven, her stomach already had the swell of pregnancy. When her son was born, his skin was a healthy pink. His eyes were brown. Only his hair showed his mother’s heritage, a pale fuzz upon his head.

Although her body was weak from her ordeal, a new strength came to her limbs as she realized what she had to do. Her child was in danger, and she, as his mother, had to protect him. But as she saw the gleam of the auzhian sword, she knew that it would cut her just as easily as it would cut him. He would die no matter what, and resisting would only make her death certain as well. When interrogated, she lied. She begged forgiveness from the Grandmothers. She begged for her life.

The child’s fate was already certain. It took only two hours for the Grandmother’s to decide Yurian’s: “The Lintha Family suffers no traitor to live.”

It was only the intervention of the naneke that gave the Lintha pause. Yurian accepted without hesitation, thinking that the Great Mother had sent a messenger to save her.

But only the Ebon Dragon is foolish enough to take one of Kimbery’s own.

-------------------------

The loud-mouthed Lintha from the opening scene, another cameo.

>>/quest/658722

Before anyone says it, the Acts of Villainy are supposed to make Infernals act like terrible Bond villains. That's the joke.

That being said, the main focus of this quest is the Exquisite Bride Obsession; if you manage to fit any other Act into into, you will get kudos, but the quest will not end until the Obsession is completed.

The list of compulsions... it's moronic self-sabotaging awesome. It seems like the only reason these jokers aren't strictly a joke is because they have demons and undercover operatives. All they need is an equivalent to a drone strike squadron and they could give the CIA competition for scope and number of screw-ups. Seriously, I'm feeling sorry for Sky's Edge; this is so much worse than having a boss that won't stop FPS-deathmatching long enough to do something about the fact that his dudes have been outright stolen, imprisoned, and then hijacked by his enemies.

>>93572
Hopefully the quest does not end as soon as the obsession is fulfilled. There's likely going to be interesting fallout to deal with at that point.

>>93579

We'll jump that hurdle when we come to it.

I honestly have no idea.

>>93572
Will anyone reward us for the villainous act of juggling way too many plans at the same time, because I totally think that's where we're going with this. (Even if we're still in the info gathering stage and haven't started our plans spinning much).

This quest may have cameos of certain lesser demons showing up to laugh at your pitiful attempts at appeasing their masters and/or actually throw you a bone.

BRB, looking up official art for Ligier.

Meyichi 2015/08/02(Sun)22:13 No. 93709 ID: 5a02f7
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A quick run-down on how the hours work. This is entirely homebrew, but feel free to steal it.

In Creation, there are fifteen months, three for each of the five seasons: ascending, resplendent, and descending. The time system is similar.

There are twenty-five hours in a day. Each elemental "block" contains five hours. There are two hours of ascending time, one hour of resplendent time, and two hours of descending time. The day starts with Earth, which is the center of all things. Wood comes next, as the time of growing. Fire is during the hottest part of the day. Water follows, as things flow towards night. Air finishes as the most ephemeral of the five elements.

The time system of fictional universes is what keeps me up at night. No, I'm not joking.

In before an official supplement says you're wrong, I guess.

Also: I am so lost in this setting. Should we simplify and just do what we're supposed to and start marrying people?

>>93711
Everything but the hour system is already canon. As for being lost in the setting, try not to get bogged down in details. We're in a city, there's the equivalent of gangs, the government, and so on. There's some superpowered people, but most of their superpowers aren't enough to let them take on a city and most of them are busy elsewhere. So they get involved in politics, smuggling, or whatever other vices they like, just like normal people. Only more so. We're becoming part of a seedy criminal underworld, if that helps with the general gist.

I get the general gist, but seedy criminal underworlds and constellations of tangible supernaturals are all such particular things. (Need better term: They were naturally endowed with their magic powers in the setting, through exaltation and/or ancestry.) They tend to have particular abilities, needs, wants, allies, enemies, blind-spots and notable areas of ignorance/incompetence that I know almost nothing about in this case. How they operate and what they do depends a lot on legal, social, economic and environmental details. For instance, what counts as contraband? What's the local bribery expectations and etiquette? What are the local norms, laws and particular institutions of prostitution? For instance, I tried to read publicly available material about the city this is set in, and some sources mentioned that Grandmother Bright acts against criminality in Chiaroscuro broadly. What does that mean, and (when) do we have to worry about it?

>I am so lost in this setting. Should we simplify and just do what we're supposed to and start marrying people?
Don't worry about the setting. Trust that the details that matter will be explained when they come up. (And if that doesn't happen or there's something specific you have a question about, you can always just ask).

Yes, we're gonna try to marry people. But you can't spend every waking moment of the day with our would-be bride(s) without actually being counter productive (well, unless we got a bunch to cycle though) and in the meantime we want to build up resources we can use. Contacts, power, money, etc. And since we're basically a superpowered shapeshifting con artist, we're going to do that by lying and scamming people and generally getting up to shady dealings.

>>93734
All else being fair, playing a high-price prostitute or three would probably be a refreshingly direct way to get intel and pocket money wouldn't it? If everybody wants to fuck the exalted let's get a payday from that.

A lot of the issue is that there isn't much written on Chiaroscuro. Basically, unless you REALLY go digging, you have a ~30 page chapter in a single book. I could talk here about the dereth, feature the Plaza, or have a goshun attack in the middle of the night, but I don't expect people to know what any of that is. Sure, I might mention them as things for the setting-savvy to pick up on, but you don't need to know what I'm talking about to understand what's going on.

Some basics, though: being an Anathema is bad. Anathema are demons who get killed by the Wyld Hunt. Edge is an Infernal, which was technically a Solar, which were the most powerful of the Anathema, but nobody knows Infernals exist, so they'll just assume he's some awful demon-tainted Akuma monster that eats babies.

Basically - showing you're supernatural is a bad idea. Showing that you're Solar-level supernatural is a worse idea. Showing that you're a demon-tainted Infernal is the worst idea.

Also: hi, new people! Please stay forever iloveyou.

I can't resist playing with this kind of thing no matter what the underlined advice of our demonic adviser is. So I slapped this together quick.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DFEJXJVWNDVw_RtcIPXuN44J3vXEN_C2nV_IpPo6Zno/edit?usp=sharing

All 84 possible "hands" of dice and their scores. I'll throw in a column calculating the odds of each occurring (on a single roll, at least) sometime when I'm awake enough to remember how to do statistics properly.

>>93797

I... I am speechless, sir.

No, wait, not exactly speechless - for all that work, you get a free commission. I will draw you a thing of your choice within my ability.

>>93798
People who play these games have a decidedly above-average interest in probability and statistics. If that person hadn't I might have. :)

>>93797
The contingent probabilities of what happens when you reroll particular dice is the hard part. Probably it's also the most necessary part of the chart as well, because it's what's gonna tell us which dice to reroll when.

All right, I got the probabilities in, and I added sheets for what happens when you roll fewer dice to cover rerolls. To consider a reroll, go to the appropriate sheet, scroll down, input the dice you're keeping in the yellow box, and the table below will show the possible scores after reroll. (Permissions should be set to allow this, yell if I messed it up).

Actually mapping the whole reroll tree is more than I'm willing to do right now without writing a script to do it for me.

>>93798
Oh, neat! I'll get back to you on that.

>>93815
You're not doing this with a script or a program? Dang, the reason I'm not doing this myself is because I know that actuaries and other statistical analysis people have some very nice tools to do this automagically.

As far as the commission goes, if I was asked, I'd request Mirth in a short dress with cleavage flashing a view up her skirt, with a grinning Ebon Dragon as a novelty censor to cover her naughty bits.

>>93816
I do have some matlab scripts that apply to the integer partition part of the problem, but they aren't reliable over the number of recursions or table size that would be needed to do the full re-roll problem.

But I mean, the rest of it was mostly formatting, and good old permutations and combinations equations. Mostly less trouble / faster on this scale to just do that natively in a g-doc than to adapt a script, make sure that works right and then export / format the data so it's easily sharable again anyways.

http://www.tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/650299.html#660881
I... I cannot draw. I will be saddened if my unskilled effort is the only costume you get though; for starters we're missing all the 'traditional' offerings.

No artistic ability needed! Hell, I'm taking text descriptions, too, so I've already got two~

As for re: Loom-snarling Deception and clothes - they are just as real as everything else while they're on you, and you can take them off without anything happening to them. However, once the essence is no longer committed, they would disappear.

> She could certainly laugh at your hypocrisy now.

Who says Sky's Edge is male? The first post says that he disguised himself as male, and now he's passing well as a woman.

The sex of the main character is intentionally left vague!

>>93846
Simpler explanation: TED is a big fan of lying and cheating. Convincing people you're a guy if you're a girl, and that you're a girl if you're a guy, ought to be worth credit when it comes time for the annual employee review where raises are awarded.

>Who says Sky's Edge is male? The first post says that he disguised himself as male, and now he's passing well as a woman.
I wasn't. It doesn't particularly change this no matter what Edge's original gender is. There's still hypocrisy in the apparent ease and comfort he or she displays in swapping roles compared with how easily Edge was unsettled by Amaranth.

Edge can dish it out, but not take it. (Well, unless that reaction to Amaranth was all an act for reason. Distract / flatter her by letting her think she's getting to us?).

Yeah, it's just Amaranth that creeps him out. I might do a one-of sometime about what he was like before he the beginning of EBO.

Infernals are all like one big extended family with insane grandparents. Amaranth is like that creepy old uncle that everyone knows cross-dresses. Cross-dressing is totally fine, but he's creepy about it.

Or something.

The wiki article for EBO now has a plethora of information that you should already know! Still, it's a good place to reference if you forget who it was that you met where.

Also, the cast of EBO is participating in Beach Day, if you'd like to observe or participate in the shenanigans.

>>94022
No direct link? Also, both Edge and Kamaitachi are begging for someone to mess with them, but I don't have the drawing skills (or the completed cast list and setting notes) to supply the troublemakers yet.

http://tgchan.org/wiki/Exquisite_Bride_Obsession

Never let lack of talent get in the way of lulz-making!

>>94030
Not including the present-moment metacharacters? They might be the ones most in need of references to keep strait, since we only hear them when someone interrupts and breaks the fourth wall on the flashback.

(Alas, poor Kamai. If it's not being subjected to ocean puns or forced coastal visitation, it's being disappointed in Edge being a shameless slut).

And I just wanted to say again that the caplet was an excellent call. It's adorable and really works for 'Mirth'.

>>94030
Well, lack of talent means unwillingness to spend unknown many hours trying to draw something I don't have a reference for. I'm better at words, ideas, plans and organization than drawing anyway. Sorry, we'll just have to get someone else to steal Sky's sunshade and hand Kamai some recreational hallucinogens.

>>94031
Hold on, semantic difference: Mirth was pretending to be a slut, not being one. She was actually a shameless, manipulative tease and some variety of bitch.

>>94031

I'll draw up some images for them and put a short bio up. Thanks for the suggestion.

http://www.tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/650299.html#661874
Why do I get the feeling I'm overanalyzing a system that is entirely based on dicepool sizes, and that the effect we're working against is a selectively-applied increase to dicepool during particular rounds? Oh well, if that is the case maybe my attempt at a set of instructions for figuring out what he's up to should be worth a stunt bonus for our essence pool/dice pool/willpower pool. :P

The meta-characters have a picture and short biography on the wiki now, and there's a bonus update for you guys, too. Enjoy!

Maybe you should ask a mod to add the wiki link to the first post.

>>/quest/662319

To answer an implicit question in this post, if anyone hasn't heard of the Deathlords, they've been under a pretty big rock for the past five years.

I'm using a pretty unaltered version of the Exalted setting, which means that Thorn was taken by the Mask of Winters not too long ago. Considering Thorn's relative proximity to Chiaroscuro and even Lookshy, it's extremely probable that Justice knows of their existence, even if he isn't an Abyssal Exalted.

>>94089
Oh. Hrm I think I was being influenced by >>93736
>nobody knows Infernals exist
Oh. Right. Infernals and deathlords are different things, aren't they. Curse you, fantasy jargon.

The trite point I was trying to make is we obviously can't be very honest if we can reasonably expect someone to not know what we are exists.

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/15(Sat)10:37 No. 94110 ID: 5a02f7
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"Hey, guys. So it seems you have a whole lot of questions about a lot of stuff. I don't blame you for not asking Edge - or is it Mirth, now? - because of how surly he is - she is. Whatever.

"Anyway, I'm here to answer your questions about the setting! I'll warn you, though - I'm not super-smart. I only know about what your average Creation-born knows about the world. Of course, I am an Infernal, so I can answer questions about that, too.

"So go ahead and ask anything that's been on your mind!"

Who/what is the Mask of Winter?

I guess the first hangup would be how much the general public knows about the different kinds of exalted, and how they perceive them.

Then the same question, but directed at the exalted themselves. How well do they know they different types?

Dear Kamaitachi, I can think of at least two questions you should be able to help with. What's it gonna cost?
The two questions are: What magical beings do the Terrestrial exalted folks *not* hunt? Also, what's the normal lifespan and causes of death for normal people?

Kamaitachi's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/15(Sat)15:14 No. 94128 ID: 5a02f7
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"Oh, man, this is great. I actually know this stuff!"

> Who is the Mask of Winters?

"In short, he's a Deathlord. Four years ago, right after the Scarlet Empress disappeared, a huge army rode out of the Shadowlands around the city of Thorns and took it in practically just one night! This was the first the world had heard of the Deathlords, and they brought their awful Deathknights along with them - Exalted whose Solar Essence had been inverted to resonate with that of the Underworld instead.

"Anyway, in the four years since, the Mask of Winters hasn't made a move out of Thorns, but having a Deathlord for a neighbor makes everyone in the Scavenger Lands really nervous."

> How much does the general public know about the Exalted, and how do they perceive them?

"Ugh, for answering this, we have to talk about the Immaculate Philosophy. Before I do that, though, let me say that it's a whole bunch of lies and propaganda!

"First, and most powerful, there are the Anathema of the Sun and Moon. The Anathema of the Sun are awful monsters or demons or something that stole the Sun's power for themselves. Every now and then, one will show up in the Threshold, and a Wyld Hunt will be called to kill it. There have been a lot more of these kinds of Anathema since the Empress disappeared, five years ago.

"The Moon Anathema are people who used dark magics and were twisted into beasts by the power of the Moon. They're most often called Moon-beasts. You don't see or hear much of them, since they mostly stay in the Bordermarches at the edge of Creation, but every now and then the Wyld Hunt will take one down. They're known to be able to take the shapes of beasts and even steal the forms of other people! Spooooky stuff. But, if you're really in the know, you know that you can always recognize them by some animal part that never changes no matter what form they're in, like a person with hooves. But this Tell is awful hard to see, so you have to look really, really hard.

"Sidereals don't exist. Even though the Five Maidens are big, important sky goddesses, they don't have any Anathema - lucky them, I guess.

"Then there're the Deathknights. They just showed up four years ago with the Mask of Winters, but they've been spotted all over since then. They do stuff with ghosts and zombies and are terrible and probably eat babies. They all answer to the Deathlords.

"And, finally!, there are the Dragon-blooded. The Dragon-blooded are holy bodhisattvas chosen by the Five Elemental Dragons to carry out their will on Creation because they did so great in their last reincarnation. They're better than everyone, and so everyone should suck up to them and do whatever they say. Pfft - yeah, right."

"Last, I guess, are the Infernal Exalted, the Green Sun Princes, et cetera. We've managed to keep it a secret to most everybody, unlike the Deathlords who played their hand too early. Man, if I had an army of two hundred Deathknights, I would take over the Realm! Fuck the Scavenger Lands - nothing interesting ever happens there, anyway. But, yeah, Infernal Exalted are probably just going to be mistaken as an Anathema of some kind because Anathema get their powers from demons anyway. Or something."

> How well do you know the different types of Exalted?

"Well, obviously, I know a lot about the Infernal Exalted, but that's because I am one. I should probably also mention the Akuma, which are a different kind of Infernal. See, sometimes a Solar gets really, really fucked over and gets desperate enough to ask the Yozis for help, and the Yozis say yes, and then the Solar's soul gets eaten and they become a demon, basically. In short, they're kind of like a piece of the Yozis themselves, just like any other demon. They're a bit too much like animals to really be considered people, since they can't really think for themselves, and they always have to obey their Urge. Honestly, they creep me out. Oh, and you don't have to be a Solar to be an Akuma - any kind of Exalted can do it. Except maybe Deathknights? I don't know - I've never seen a Deathknight Akuma before.

"Solars are obviously not horrible demon Exalted (because that's what we are). There was a glorious Solar Empire or something before the Dragon-blooded tore it all down - which served them right, says my Unwoven Coadjutor. His name's Kershyn. He says "hi!" Anyway, Solars have the power of the Sun, and they're really strong. A lot more started showing up five years ago because of something the Ebon Dragon did - I'm not really sure on the details. But if you haven't heard the real deal about the Solars, you would probably think you're an awful Anathema and have a lot of self-esteem issues; it's not exactly like the real version of history is that well-known.

"The Lunar Exalted were made to help the Solar Exalted. They can turn into animals, and people, and probably plants and rocks or some shit. They usually have Moonsilver tattoos, but they can hide them. They mostly keep to themselves at the edges of Creation. I've heard a rumor that each Lunar was bonded to a particular Solar Exaltation, so that means that, even after all the shit the Yozis did, that bond might still be a thing! I doubt the Lunars would be happy about that, though, once they found out about the whole Infernal-ness. But, still, it's a nice idea, thinking there's one person out there in all the world who is literally meant to be your partner. *sigh~*

"We know about the Deathknights pretty much the same as everyone else, but I've heard rumors that there are some that don't serve the Deathlords anymore. But that's silly, you can't just stop serving a Primordial, even if it's dead. Wait - the Deathlords aren't the Primordials, it's the Neverborn. So maybe they're still listening to the Neverborn but not the Deathlords? I don't know, it sounds really complicated. Anyway, they're on-par with Solar and Infernal Exalted in terms of power.

"The Dragon-blooded are the Terrestrial Exalted, and you learn a lot about them quick if you're an "Anathema" and want to survive. There are basically three kinds of Terrestrials - Dynasts, ones from the Seventh Legion, and Outcastes. Dynasts are a part of the Realm, and the Realm pretty much universally wants all "Anathema" dead. Dynasts will probably try to kill you immediately if you meet one. If they don't, it's because they're scared and going to get more of their friends to come kill you. The Seventh Legion is Lookshy, and they're a lot more chill about other Exalted, just don't go messing shit up in their city. Finally, the Outcaste don't belong to either of those. They're just a random Dragon-blooded that Exalted in the middle of nowhere and never got found by the Realm or Lookshy. These guys can range from being pretty cool to total pricks."

>Dear Kamaitachi, I can think of at least two questions you should be able to help with. What's it gonna cost?

"Weeeeell, I'll let that one be free, but only because I don't feel like being a bitch today. Still, you should probably learn how to count better! Oh, and call me Kamai - Kamaitachi's just too much of a mouthful."

> What magical beings do the Terrestrial exalted folks *not* hunt?

"God-blooded are tolerated, but people shouldn't sleep with gods to make god-blooded in the first place because they're powerful enough to mess with Terrestrial Exalted, and that's not cool. Demon-blooded, on the other hand, are awful abominations that should be killed. Or tolerated with a lot of glares; they're kind of a low priority on the Wyld Hunt's long list of people they hate. But fucking demons is gross, and people shouldn't do it. Seriously - don't do it. Ghost-blooded are okay, but they're gross, too, since fucking ghosts is gross. Gods are cool as long as they stay in-line according to the Immaculate Philosophy, and so are Elementals. Fair Folk are awful and should be killed whenever, but that's a problem for the Threshold to worry about, not the Realm.

"I think it boils down to - are you an Anathema? If no, are you causing trouble? If no, then we'll kill you later."

> Also, what's the normal lifespan and causes of death for normal people?

"It really depends on where you live. Dynasts that aren't Dragon-blooded can live until they're, like, a hundred or something. Most places, though, I'd say you'd be lucky to see fifty. Between starvation, sickness, random violence, and all the magical shit that happens daily, you don't have a lot of tolerance for mess-ups before it ends up fatal. On my little island, where I was born, most people died at sea (WHICH IS WHY THE OCEAN IS TERRIBLE), but there were a few really old fishermen, and this one guy who had seen, like, seventy Calibrations. He was pretty cool."

"I think that's everybody! If you have any more questions, go ahead and ask! I'm gonna go get a drink of water after talking so much."

Okay Kamai, your favorite weapon type?
I say weapon type because I can only imagine the sheer amount of legendary weaponry in your world, even if it's held by someone who you'd have to somehow get one over on them in a big way to get ahold of it.

>perception stuff
So the general public knows nothing useful about exalted and will consider everyone except the dragon blooded to be evil monsters.

And deathknights haven't been around enough for ones that go rogue to be an established trope.

And generally that exalted are missing out on the exact specifics of how each others powers work. Which is useful, if we're going to be pretending to be one of the others.

>If you have any more questions, go ahead and ask!
If you're of Kimbery, why were you hanging out at the Ebon Dragon's newbie initiation party where Edge got roped into story telling? We don't have a lot of details, but it sure doesn't come across like you're an outsider there.

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/15(Sat)18:28 No. 94135 ID: 5a02f7
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"Kershyn says I should only answer setting questions here, and that if you have anything else you want to ask about me or anyone else of the cast, you should try Inside the Quest instead.

"But I don't know what half of those words mean! So if they don't make any sense, it's not my fault."

I have more setting questions, Kamai: How rich and poor are people generally? What social classes do they sort out into, and how much wealth or property is normal for each of those classes? I'm expecting at least nine out of ten people are some kind of bottom-rung poor at risk of starving, like a herder, farmer, fisherman, or hunter. We need to know what those class lines and relative numbers are like for Chiaroscuro, to guide that Sky's Edge guy/Mirth girl a little better.
Also, how big a deal are the local gods, elementals, spirits and stuff like that in a place like Chiaroscuro?

>>94135
Translation: we need to bother you with personal questions on your own time.

Okay, here's a question: how do infernal castes work? They must be at least middlingly important, or they wouldn't be listed in your profiles.

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/16(Sun)05:37 No. 94150 ID: 5a02f7
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”Oh, shit, these are really complicated questions. I’m not this smart, guys! W-wait, Kershyn says he knows this stuff. He’s really smart for a demon! I’ll tell you what he says~”

> How rich and poor are people generally? What social classes do they sort out into, and how much wealth or property is normal for each of those classes?

”Most people make just enough of whatever money they use to feed their family and buy basic goods like cloth and salt. A poor season would wreck most of them, which is why appeasing the local hunting, weather, and harvest gods is so important. The Immaculate Order keeps the local gods in line wherever it’s strong, but that’s mostly just on the Blessed Isle. Out in the Threshold, you’re on your own.

“Chiaroscuro is a bit luckier than most places because of the Tri-Kahn; from what I’ve heard, he’s a pretty cool guy. He leads the Delzahn, and them being such a big group of people that have been around for so long, they’ve made a lot of deals with the local gods to keep things running smoothly. Y’know, stuff like “we’ll give you a virgin sacrifice every full moon if you won’t kill us all with a flood.” Except probably without the virgin sacrifices. That kind of shit only happens far out into the Threshold. Usually.

“The Delzahn fit into two broad social classes – the urban Delzahn and the nomadic Delzahn. The nomadic Delzahn live out in the fields and deserts surrounding Chiaroscuro, whereas the urban Delzahn live in the city of Chiaroscuro itself. They’re supposedly equal, but each group kind of looks down on the other. From the description, Abel’s probably from nomadic stock – they’re more likely to wear veils in the desert, from what I hear. Or maybe he’s just doing it to look pretty? I know all the Delzahn have a thing about men not showing their faces. Okay, maybe veils is a bad way to judge. It’s probably just better to assume anyone you meet in the city is an urban Delzahn, and anyone outside is a nomadic Delzahn. That dereth at the beginning sure sounded like a nomad to me, anyway.

“Within each grouping, there are more social classes, but it basically breaks down into nobility and peasantry. Nobility lives in the Old City, where there are more in-tact towers from the First Age, and the peasantry lives in the New City, or the Outskirts, if you’re really poor. In the Outskirts, people mostly live hand-to-mouth, but there’s a sizeable group there that live close to the walls just because there wasn’t enough room inside them. Still, they’re generally poorer than anyone in the New City. In the New City, you’ll find everything from artisans to scam artists like Dahlia – Sienna? – anyway, there’s a lot broader distribution of wealth. In the Old City, though, pretty much everyone is nobility or really rich. That’s where you’ll want to go if you want to find people with big money, but be careful! The guards care a whole lot more if you mess with Delzahn nobles, which is probably why Sienna took her chances in the New City instead.”

> Also, how big a deal are the local gods, elementals, spirits and stuff like that in a place like Chiaroscuro?

”Most people in Chiaroscuro probably live their entire lives without worrying about gods or elementals. Ghosts are often more of a problem, since there are a lot of small Shadowlands inside the city, but those are usually protect by barriers of salt.

“What you’re really asking about is Grandmother Bright. She’s probably the most powerful god in Chiaroscuro. She oversees the Plaza, which is this real fancy neighborhood in the New City. You don’t want to mess with the Plaza, since everyone who lives there is under Grandmother Bright’s protection. Any kind of violence in the Plaza, well, it ends poorly for the perpetrator. Only 1,001 residents are allowed to live in the Plaza at a time, and there’s a looooong waiting list. Oh, but if you’re dead, you can petition to join the 1,001 ghosts that live there during the night! Buuut that’s another waiting list.

“Anyway, Grandmother Bright is really famous for knowing a whole lot about Chiaroscuro and the First Age. For minor tasks or questions, all she asks for is an object of beauty, though she prefers old or natural stuff. For major tasks, she’ll ask for favors in return. Supposedly, she’s pretty friendly to Exalts, but I don’t know how she would react if she found out about Infernal Exalted. A lot of gods still remember the Primordial Wars, and some even date back from before then. Generally, gods hate the Yozis and their servants, so if you do go see her, don’t mention what you actually are!”

> How do infernal castes work?

”Oh, man, this is one I can answer by myself! See, the Yozis changed the Solar Exaltations they got a whole lot, but they couldn’t really change the castes much, so Infernal castes are based on the Solar castes, still.

“The Dawn castes were claimed by Malfeas and became Slayers instead. They’re really good fighters and can take a whole bunch of damage without even breaking a sweat! They’re a little creepy, though, since they’re usually all masochistic serial killers. Uh, if you see any, don’t tell ‘em I said that…

“Zeniths were changed into Malefactors by Cecelyne. Amaranth and Lintha are both of this caste! They’re supposed to be her law-priests of her order and subjugate the rest of the world, or something. They’re pretty good at dealing with people, but not as good as Fiends.

“All the Twilight caste were made into Defilers by She Who Lives in Her Name. They’re all really think-y and usually have an awful sense of humor. But they can move things with just their minds, and that’s cool!!

“The Scourge caste come from the Nights and Adorjan. I’m a Scourge! We’re really good at murdering people, running fast, murdering people, caring about people, and murdering people! Nah, I’m joking – we’re really best at running fast. People say we’re the crazy ones out of the lot, but that’s a crock of shit.

“Fiends were crafted by the Ebon Dragon from the Eclipse castes. They’re really good at being jerks. Like, they are metaphysically better when they aren’t being nice to other people. Or something. As long as you’re on their good side (their actual good side!), you should be okay. But, seriously, Fiends are jerks.

“Kimbery’s also involved with the Reclamation, but she didn’t start helping until after everything was all divvied up, so she doesn’t have a caste, even though she has Infernals that serve her. Serves her right, more like!

“But since they didn’t want all of Malfeas to have all of the murder-happy murderers, they mixed all the castes up so everyone owned a few of each. That’s why I’m a Scourge, but I answer to Kimbery (lame!). But it’s actually good, though, since I can learn both Adorjan’s and Kimbery’s charms really well. Edge, though, is stuck with just Ebon Dragon charms, so he’s an ultra-jerk!”

“See, questions like these are what I’m here for. Keep them coming if you want to know more about anything!”

Dear Kamai, I have three more questions that should be less hard than the other ones you were asked.
How do infernal exalts gain back essence? What are you infernals actually supposed to do to win back this 'reclamation' thing you're supposedly working towards, and is there any genuine, durable progress being made? How do we get Edge-Mirth to be less of an incompetent chump that's barely any good at fast-talking? The boy-girl needs training.

Sky's Edge mentioned having some Adorjani charms, though. How hard is it, in general, for someone to learn magic outside their natural specialty?

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/16(Sun)13:59 No. 94164 ID: 5a02f7
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”Okay, this is a lot easier. Phew!

> How do Infernal Exalts gain back essence?

“Infernals gain back essence the same way any other Exalt does – by being awesome. Or you can just wait around, and you’ll naturally regain some over time. Lastly, you’ll get some for accomplishing goals. For example, you guys probably got some essence back from figuring out how Justice was cheating, since that was a big deal. I wouldn’t worry too much about how much essence you have or need unless Edge mentions it, though; it’s not something most Green Sun Princes have to worry about day-to-day.

> What are you Infernals actually supposed to win back with this “Reclamation” thing you’re supposedly working towards, and is there any genuine, durable progress being made?

“Fwahahahaha! Oh, oh, s-sorry – I should laugh about – heeheehee! Oh, sorry. I’ll try to be serious. The Reclamation is the Yozis plan to reclaim Creation as their own. That requires a little history lesson.

“See, back before the Primordial War, the Yozis were Primordials, and they created Creation, and all the gods in it, and everyone was supposedly super-happy. Or something. Then the gods made the Exalted and rebelled against the Primordials. Those that were killed became the Neverborn and formed the Underworld. Those that were left surrendered instead of facing death; they became the Yozis. Malfeas, their king, was turned inside-out and thrown into Elsewhere, and all the other Yozis were stuffed inside of him so they couldn’t get out – except for Cecelyne, but she wasn’t much of an Endless Desert when her end was tied to the edges of Malfeas. The Yozis were really upset about all of this, but because of the oaths they had been forced to swear and how the Solars had mutilated them, they couldn’t do much about it.

“Then, the Ebon Dragon had an idea.

“He got some Solar Exaltations, somehow, and he gave them to some of the others to make into the Infernal Exalted. We’re supposed to retake all of Creation for them, but, well… There’s only fifty of us versus all of Creation. A lot of the Yozis don’t even participate in it, since they think it’s gonna fail, and a lot of the Infernals don’t even know where to start. I mean, we have Urges, and those are supposed to make the world more like Malfeas, and then when there’s no difference between the two, the Yozis can just walk out! Or something. I don’t think it’s gonna work, but maybe the Ebon Dragon has a really good plan – who knows with Him?”

> How do we get Edge-Mirth to be less of an incompetent chump that’s barely any good at fast-talking?

“Heehee, he is kind of a chump, isn’t he? Well, the easy answer to that is to spend more essence! Essence fixes everything – except Wyld Hunts. Essence doesn’t fix those. I think Edge explained exactly how his powers work before, right? (>>/quest/650876)

“Edge is pretty pliable, so if you give him particular words to say, he’ll probably say them. If you just give him instructions, he’ll do the best he can with them. You have to keep in mind, though, he’s just a widdle baby Exalt! I mean, we pretty much all are – none of us have been around for more than five years.

“When you’re trying to get people to do what you want them to, the easiest way to get them to do it is to prey on their Intimacies or Motivation. Intimacies are, like, things they really, really care about. Or hate. Stuff that they feel strongly about! If you ask them to do something to protect something they really like or hurt something they really don’t, then it’ll probably go a lot easier. A Motivation is like a huge Intimacy. It’s what someone wants to accomplish during their lifetime. For Exalted, this usually ends up being things like “build an awesome kingdom that worships me as a god,” “tear down the Realm,” or “find out who I was during the First Age.” For normal people, it’s more likely to be something like “feed my family,” “own four cows,” boring stuff like that. Similarly, when you go against someone’s Intimacies or Motivation, it’ll get a lot harder to convince them.

“For example, Sienna probably has a positive Intimacy towards getting money. You tried to convince her to lower her price. This went against her Intimacy, so it was a lot harder. The only reason you were able to talk her down was because you spent essence, and, even then, you didn’t get a very good price. On the other hand, if you wanted Sienna to do something, and you offered to pay her for it, she’d probably be a lot more likely to say yes. It’s all about reading people and finding out what they care about.”

> How hard is it, in general, for someone to learn magic outside their natural specialty?

“It really depends on the individual Exalt, but I’d say it’s about half-again as hard. So if I wanted to learn a Kimbery or Adorjan charm, it’d take me, for example, two weeks. But if I wanted to pick up an Ebon Dragon charm, that would take three weeks. It’s not too hard to learn stuff that you aren’t naturally good at, but some Exalted have more trouble with it than others. I know Dragon-blooded have a hard time using charms that don’t come naturally to their Element. Solar-level Exalted, though, have it pretty easy.”

It seems like infernals are doomed to do a lot of running away when they go up against either the organized legions of death knights at some point, the wyld hunt, or who knows how many other organized and established supernatural whatevers. Since you have to be able to take it with you--or else it'll just get left behind at some point--what's actually worth getting in terms of riches and property?

Oh, yes, and sexual morality: How common and discreet is non-marital and extra-marital sex generally speaking and specifically in Chiaroscuro? Is prostitution commonly legal or not? Is 'virginity' an important thing or not? It has been explained that Exalted can break all those rules for mortal folk, but it would help knowing what the rules are to break them more appropriately.

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/16(Sun)18:49 No. 94170 ID: 5a02f7
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> What’s actually worth getting in terms of riches and property?

”There are a lot of different forms of currency in Creation. The most common are jade scrip and silver. The Realm uses actual Jade coinage, but since Jade is a magic material, usually only dynasts get their hands on it. Everyone else in the Realm uses jade scrip, which is basically pieces of paper that supposedly represent jade. Outside of the Realm, though, most people use silver, since that’s the currency of the Guild. Silver is divided into dinars and dirhams; there are 400 dinars to a dirham, and a talent of jade is worth about twenty dirhams in silver. Of course, talking about talents of jade is pretty silly, since that’s so much money that you’ll only ever see it if you somehow find your way into a Dynastic House’s vault. The West uses cowrie shells, which are worth different amounts depending on their size. Pretty much, though, if you’re talking money, silver is the way to go.

“Magical materials and artifacts will always fetch a good price no matter where you are, but those can be kind of hard to offload. Precious metals and gems are okay to invest in, but the prices on those vary a lot depending on where you are. Say, out in the West, where there isn’t a lot of mining, people will pay a lot for gold, but in the South, gold is probably worth less than silver.”

Disclaimer: The following views are not necessarily those of the author.

> How common and discreet is non-marital and extra-marital sex generally speaking and specifically in Chiaroscuro?

“Wow, you guys are kind of perverted! But I guess it’s worth knowing, huh? The answer to a lot of these questions is simple – maiden tea. It’s a widely-available drink that a woman can have so that she won’t get pregnant for a month, or a man can take so he won’t knock anyone up for a week. You can even use it to induce abortions, but, well, that can be dangerous. Basically, whatever you can get away with is cool as long as no one finds out about and nobody gets pregnant. There are a lot of arranged marriages all over Creation, so it’s not uncommon for people to have lovers or courtesans or whatever. Only in nobility do people get really possessive of their partners, and that’s through some misconceived notion of “keeping the line pure.” Chiaroscuro generally follows this, but the Delzahn have some pretty complicated courting rituals, so you might have to watch out for those.”

> Is prostitution commonly legal or not?

“Prostitution is not only legal, it’s a thriving business in most places. The Guild owns a lot of brothels all over the place and makes a lot of money off of it. It’d be a pretty backwards place that didn’t allow prostitution, in my mind, at least. Of course, there are some pretty isolated places that just can’t support it, but even those usually have a town whore or two.”

> Is virginity an important thing or not?

“Virginity is a symbol that you have too big of a stick up your ass to get it on with anyone. I guess it might be important in some nobilities, but people generally preferred skilled lovers to the idea of an untouched beauty. Once someone comes of age, it’s probably safe to assume that they have at least some sexual experience. Of course, this will vary depending on where you are in Creation. Chiaroscuro seems to follow this, generally, but, like I said, the Delzahn have some complicated rituals surrounding marriage, so maybe it’s important to them. You probably won’t have to worry about that, though, since the only Delzahn you’ve met thus far is Abel. Amaranth, despite looking it, is definitely not Delzahn.

Hey, our goal is (apparently) to get Edge married. It's helpful to know how marriage is usually done, and what's expected before, during and after any marriage. Anything you could tell us about how that typically goes would be useful. Like, what about: 1) how long does it usually take; 2) social signaling rituals; 3) bride price; 4) dowry; 5) challenges; 6) multiple spouses; 7) what else is there that I haven't even asked about?
Speaking of which, any advice besides don't marry that pervert Amaranth?

More mundane trivia questions, these ones might be hard and require asking Kershyn for more answers: What kind of trade routes are there generally? Would it be a good idea to try and set Sky's Edge/Mirth up as a traveling merchant, say moving gold from the south to the west or whatever?

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/17(Mon)16:59 No. 94189 ID: 5a02f7
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> How long does it usually take to get married? What are social signaling rituals? Are there bride prices or dowries? What challenges are there to marriage? Are multiple spouses a thing?

”Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on. One at a time, now! The answer to most all of these questions is “it depends!” It depends on where you are, what culture you come from, what social class you’re in, so on and so on. A fisherman from my island getting married would be a lot different from an inter-House wedding in the Realm. I’ll assume you’re mostly concerned about Chiaroscuro, and answer that way.”

> How long does it usually take to get married?

“The short answer is “however long the couple wants.” Longer times allow for more extravagant planning, more people to gather, and so on. There aren’t many places that track paperwork for marriage, so a wedding is just essentially two people saying they’re together now. Generally, the higher social class either partner is from, the more complicated marriage and courtship rituals are.”

> What are social signaling rituals?

“For the Delzahn, single women who are looking for a mate usually dress in revealing clothes. Don’t bother looking for men dressed like that – a lot of Delzahn men wear silks from head-to-toe. Something about honor and beauty, I don’t know. Most places in Creation use rings and knots to signify marriage, but it could be something as simple as a wooden ring or a red string around the wrist.”

> Are there bride prices or dowries?

“If someone is marrying up the social ladder, that usually costs money. Nobles often exchange gifts between the two houses to cement the bond. Excepting those cases any goods usually go to the new couple to assist them in starting their new life together.”

> What challenges are there to marriage?

“The Delzahn have some really strict codes, and they’re real prickly about honor. They don’t expect foreigners to follow their ways, but they will react to offense pretty strongly. Duels are a pretty common thing, but usually only to first blood. Anyone can refuse a duel, unless it comes from a noble – if you don’t meet them on the field of battle, you’ll have to leave Chiaroscuro by the next day.

“I think you’re probably asking about bureaucratic obstacles, but, like I said earlier, nobody really bothers to keep track of marriages except in noble houses.”

> Are multiple spouses a thing?

“That really depends on where you are in Creation. The Delzahn only marry once, I think, but if you meet someone in Chiaroscuro from a place where polyama – polylyga – where marrying lots of people is common, then they’ll be fine with it.”

> What kind of trade routes are there?

“Chiaroscuro is the trading hub in the South, since it has such a nice harbor and a central location. Trade routes go all the way to the far North, and a lot of merchants come from other places to buy exotic goods. The Guild is the biggest force in the Chiaroscuro market, but noble houses often invest in mercantile interests, too.

“As to whether it’s a good idea or not, well, if I were giving advice to Edge, then things would go a lot differently! Kershyn says I shouldn’t, though. Something about a time pair of socks, whatever that means.”

Thank you everyone who participated in Chapter One!

Life stuff is happening to me again for the next long while, so updates might drop down to once every other day. Expect Chapter Two to start up within the next couple of days.

For challenges I was thinking all sorts of things, including that parents, other people with an interest in the intended, or other family members could object or demand some contest, feat or duel. Also, yes, that there may be costs and requirements to get the marriage recognized as official and valid, but you've already declared that's not a problem. I'm used to dealing with cultures where marriages are arranged by the parents or depend on the permission of the parents or other social authorities for legitimacy: I find it surprising that this is not so outside of the upper classes. In peaceful times and places that's one of the ways of enforcing social status and trying to improve your own wealth, power and status. Are you ignoring/fudging details here or is there some big reason why that is not so? (If I had to guess, this is the real reason why we were told to avoid interest in the Delzahn, because their family and community is close enough to have rituals, other prospects and opinions that can get in the way.)

Edge/Mirth needs better equipment to make up for how inexperienced and untrained he/she is with combat and otherwise defending against or winning against other essence users. What are the (genuinely useful) available options, costs, and problems with those options?

By the way, thank you for the help so far Kamai. What do we owe you?

>>/quest/663472
Okaaaay. Let's see if google can put any of that lore in context.

>Mara, the Defining soul of Erembour, That Which Calls to the Shadows
>Erembour is a third circle demon, a component soul of the Yozi known as the Ebon Dragon
Okay, so she's a deva. A queen sub-deva of one of TED's devas.

And she's apparently known for murdering lovers.

>Janequin, Fortune's Fool of Remondin, the Misconstrued Counselor of Oramus, the Dragon Beyond the World
So... another deva of a deva of a Yozi. I guess all the demons work like that.

She apparently knows possible futures.

>Gumela, the Jeweled Auditor of Jacint, the Prince Upon the Tower of Adorjan, The Silent Wind
Demons are like onions.

Anti-fate dude, a living mockery of the tapestry.


...I have no idea what their finding a snarl in the loom connected to us means, though. Just vague "bad /complicated thing coming?" or does it mean that our loom snaring deception has tripped up, and we can be tracked from there?

This link helped a little with understanding what the heck was going on in the end of the first chapter.
http://www.oakthorne.net/wiki/index.php?title=Yozi_Hierarchy

Also, WTF? My best guess after looking that up is that we are being set up for Ebon Dragon to play a big joke, or TED has decided that he approves of Edge's head-fuckery and will now teach him sorcery while doubling-down on screwing with his head.

Demons, or devas if you're being polite, are literally parts of a larger soul. They're like sentient organs of a larger body. Third Circles embody aspects of a Primordial, Yozi or otherwise, and are equivalent to extremely powerful gods. The Incarnae are probably stronger, but the Third Circles generally considered to be in the same ballpark for their chosen specialty. Second Circles embody parts of the Third Circles, and are roughly equivalent to middle-rank gods. First Circles are spawned en masse by Second Circles, are equivalent to common elementals, and matter about as much as individual skin cells.

If you're interested, I suggest you get and read a .pdf of Compass of Celestial Directions V- Malfeas. It's legitimately good and possibly my favorite Exalted book.

>>94194
I think a (nested) aspect of the Ebon Dragon sending a warning probably counts as helping, a fun joke, and head fuckery all at the same time.

Remember, Edge is on thin ice with him right now, and it would be completely in character for him to to send a message equally capable of fucking us or helping us depending on how we react. He's shaking the box.

(Biggest complicating factor would be Mara's own interests / personality, distinct from the larger whole she's part of. I certainly don't know enough of her character to make guesses there).

>(Biggest complicating factor would be Mara's own interests / personality, distinct from the larger whole she's part of. I certainly don't know enough of her character to make guesses there).

Here's another bit I scraped off the intertubes from http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/ExaltedSpirits
"It's hinted that Mara gave the knowledge of sorcery to Creation, making it possible for demons to be summoned out of Malfeas. In that case, it's implied by the rest of Brigid's story that this played right into the Unconquered Sun's hands."

That was the reason I guessed that TED might be about to start teaching Edge sorcery. Edge practicing sorcery could not possibly go wrong in any way, shape or form, so of course we have nothing to worry about.

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/18(Tue)07:09 No. 94201 ID: 5a02f7
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> Are you ignoring/fudging details about challenges, or is there some big reason why that is not so?

”Well, I guess the parents could have something to say about it, but, for the most part, once you’re big enough to choose to marry somebody, you’re big enough to say no to mommy and daddy. Of course there’ll be people that will actually listen to their parents and say no to their partner, but I don’t think that’ll happen unless you’re a scruffy-looking surly bum with no job.

“Oh, wait…

“But, yeah. The Delzahn will have more issues with that than anybody else you meet. Luckily, most everyone you’ve seen so far is a foreigner. Score!”

> What are the (genuinely useful) available options, costs, and problems with those options for defending and winning against other essence-users?

“Well, the easiest answer to that is: get better. The downside to that is that it takes a long time, usually. You could try avoiding them, but with how many you’ve run into thus far, it doesn’t look like that’ll be an option. I guess the best way to do it is just be prepared – assume everyone’s at least as strong as you are and prepare accordingly.

“As for combat – have you even asked Edge how good he is? I’ve practiced with him a few times, and he’s not bad as long as he keeps his distance. Oh, but, yeah, he’ll probably want to bring his bow along. I guess nobody expected a market trip to possibly turn into a bar brawl, Edge included. Next time, though, preparation!”

> What do we owe you?

“Somebody promised me my own quest to help me with my problems, and that seems like a pretty sweet deal. How’s about once you’re done helping Edge with his being-single problem, you come help me become a Titan and punch Kimbery in the face, hm?”

You cut to the heart of the problem by saying, not bad as long as he keeps his distance. In a social mission we can't keep our distance, and two normal thugs poking Edge with knives in a tight alleyway could reasonably kill him. We're not adequately protected in the social and non-combat trickery sense either, we got taken in by a tourist stall scam. That's embarrassing and dangerous for Edge with as little backup as he has, so he needs something else. Is there something else to give him or is Edge just doomed?

Helping you punch Kimbery sounds like it could be more fun than watching a wishy-washy jerk try to pick up people. (He hasn't even gotten any ass or had any decent fights yet, this is disappointing.) How does, Kamai The Consuming Void, primordial of insatiable lust and cataclysmic destruction, strike you? I'd say it's an appropriately punk rock goal since you want to rebel against (at least) two different cosmic establishments at once. You might have second thoughts about it though, we can be dangerously bored and unstable at times.

>How’s about once you’re done helping Edge with his being-single problem, you come help me become a Titan and punch Kimbery in the face, hm?
The only method we know to convert someone to a Titan involves involved a complete memory (and possibly personality) wipe. I don't think that's what you're looking for. (You'd also need a deathknight / sorcerer you could trust, some very rare components left over from the primordial war, and possibly to get the Ebon Dragon to transform himself in such a way that fundamentally altered the universe).

Also- you're of the opinion you can't just stop serving a primordial, but you can a Yozi?

>>94204
Yes, we have the distinct disadvantage where social manipulation situations pretty much demand we operate close to people who might become an immediate threat instead of keeping them at range.

>>94209
That's incorrect. Lunar Quest's protagonist is an experimental imitation of the original method. She's speaking of the Heresy charms' capstone wherein the Infernal becomes a Primordial of her own right, splitting her soul into component parts. It's much more elegant, not requiring clunky worldbodies or exterior souls like the original Primordials did. Devil-Tiger, unfortunately, is Essence 5 and has no stats whatsoever, being purely homebrew. The homebrew is less of a problem in a quest, but Ess5 is still a large barrier to entry.

>>94210
But it's so much funnier to present her with the impossible / ridiculous as a solution.

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/18(Tue)15:33 No. 94212 ID: 5a02f7
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> What else is there to give Edge, or is he just doomed?

”You forget the fact that he can run supernaturally fast. Buuut I can see you wouldn’t want to do that around people. I guess when you’re around mortals, pretending to be mortal, you can die to things a mortal would die to!

“But since you’re that worried about it, I’ll see if I can’t pull some strings~”

> How does, Kamai, the Consuming Void, primordial of insatiable lust and cataclysmic destruction, strike you?

“Haha, you guys would like that, wouldn’t you! Perverts!! No, I already have my fan-Primordial made and everything – she’s so fucking cool. Remind me to tell you about her, later!”

> You're of the opinion you can't just stop serving a primordial, but you can a Yozi?

“Orrrrr I could just accept abject servitude for the rest of my long, tiresome existence. Fight the power, and all that!”

>>94210
“Exactly! So all I’ve got to do is figure out they exist, get powerful enough to use them, and then, poof! New Titan!

“It can’t be that hard, a͚̲̞̩̫̺͊̈́̚f̶̭̜̈ͬt̝͒̏e̱̥ͥ̀͒̅͗̃͢r̢̯̮̫̼̗ͭͥ ͉̤͔̫̯̫̩ͯ̑͑̂ ̖lͮͯ̂ͫ̍̈̚͏l̩͌̎̃̏͜ I Ỉ̟̮͕̬͈̯͙͔͂ͧͤ̀̐̑̀͠ ̭͉͇̥͈̖͖́͛ͩ̌̂ä͎͔̫̺̯̣͂͋̔ͯ͘ͅḽ̻͍̺͇ͮͧ̋͠ř̷̷͍̱̯͋ḛ͚̆ͤͩ̅ͣ̎ͤ́̚̕ȧ̶͓̳̖͈̥̦͇̆̇ͤ͜d̶̶̡̘̯͕̭̅͒̔͒̋y̞̬̺̖̫̩̺ͨ̍ͩ̔̄͌̃ ̷͈̞̝̽ͭͩ͊k̫̇̾̄̕ ̘͚̩̣̯̐ͬ̑͗̅͛̕ͅơ̢̩̻͚̏̅ ͓̪̝͚̞͚̔̆̈́ ̷̙͕̱̄̏ͪͨ̏̔̾́ḩ͈̫̳̦̱̦ͤ̃͛́̀̅ͣ͑͠ͅ ̭̼̠ͮͩ̋̀ͅẇ̛̓ͪ̌̌͜ͅ ̷̹̠͖̙̪̒́ͅ ͇̤͈̳̰̬̑ͩ̿̽̔͆ͅo̺̰͈͇͓̗ͣ̓ ̵̺̩̦̫̗͕̥͎̖̍̅̐̓͆̓̄ͩ-͕͖̳̘̹̙̲̩̾ͬ-̷̜͚͚̥̳̞̏̐̒̃̊͊͒̔͠-̈́̐̅͛͌ͤ̒ͭ̆̀҉̯͔͙̯-̯̩̮͂ͧ̅ͤͭ̀̀

>>94210
It's not really homebrew. Potential expansions to it are homebrew, but what isn't homebrew is all pretty impressive. The part where you actually tangibly become something greater than a Titan is in the realm of homebrew, admittedly, but that's presumably pretty difficult to do/far along the path.

????? Meyichi 2015/08/18(Tue)15:33 No. 94214 ID: 5a02f7
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> -------------------------*!

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/18(Tue)15:34 No. 94215 ID: 5a02f7
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”Hey, guys. So it seems you have a whole lot of questions about a lot of stuff. I don't blame you for not asking Edge - or is it Mirth, now? - because of how surly he is - she is. Whatever.

"Anyway, I'm here to answer your questions about the setting! I'll warn you, though - I'm not super-smart. I only know about what your average Creation-born knows about the world. Of course, I am an Infernal, so I can answer questions about that, too.

"So go ahead and ask anything that's been on your mind!"

As an infernal you should be someone that knows about demons. How would we recruit some, provide for them, keep them on mission and so on? What are they cost-effective for?

>make a joke about having to get memory wiped to become a titan
>point out that no, there's another way we can...
>get memory wiped
The maidens are laughing again.

>>94215
>No, I already have my fan-Primordial made and everything – she’s so fucking cool. Remind me to tell you about her, later!

Consider yourself reminded.

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/19(Wed)03:27 No. 94227 ID: 5a02f7
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> How would we recruit some demons?

”Practically the only way to do that is to summon them yourself, or get someone to summon them for you. Of course, that’s sorcery, so good luck with that. I think Amaranth’s initiated, though, if you want to ask him.”

> How would we provide for them?

“Demons are pretty simple to keep up. You just tell them what to do, and they’ll do it for however long their contract is for. I mean, each type of demon has a particular thing that would make it really happy, but that’s some hardcore magic know-how that I don’t know.”

> How would we keep them on mission?

“Demons have to obey the commands given to them when they’re summoned, but each demon has a thing or two that it just has to do, like how Amphilisiae can’t stand children laughing – or so Kershyn says. He was an Amphilsia before he was my Unwoven Coadjutor, so he knows at least that much!”

> What are they cost-effective for?

“Each demon has things that it’s good at. Some are good at making things, some are good at dancing, some are great lovers, and some are just good at killing stuff. It depends on the individual demon, and that’s a little too much to get into here.”

>>94221

“Haha, what are you even talking about? A fan-Primordial? That sounds so dumb!”

Considering exactly which charm we were given is interesting: It suggests that Sky's Edge is on TED's shitlist because he wasn't enough of a jerk.

So, things we know that Graceful Blossom has knowledge of: Old World, High Realm, Firetongue, Music. Claimed knowledge (credible): Astrology, thaumaturgy.
I'm pretty sure she's some kind of exalt, or heroic at a minimum, because mortals just don't tend to know that many things at once.
What does everyone else think, hidden solar? Hidden lunar with a tell underneath her clothes? Amaranth wearing another body and identity?

>>94286
I find the Amaranth theory boring, and the kohl might either be part of a Lunar tell or some Abyssal thing.

>>94305
Boring, eh? Fine, I'll raise you: She's a sidereal sent to investigate and solve the problem of our existence.

>>94309
I don't mean boring as in lack of detail. I mean boring as in bad writing. Her being a Sidereal is more of that. "Everything you see might be a lie and you have no way of knowing, hue hue" is completely uninteresting.

>>94305
>>94310
I think you're confusing bad writing with presenting theories for the purpose of seeing if past evidence happens to line up with it.

I mean, this is fundamentally a sort of mystery story, where there are things going on we don't know about. Asking questions and poking at observations and seeing if any of it fits is simple data processing.

After all, in all likelihood, she's something. (Inb4 she's a completely ordinary baseline human with red herring oddities to drive us crazy).

>>94286
Going over the conversation with Amaranth again, I don't see anything that hints at her knowing she had us at a disadvantage, or that she already knew anything. I don't think it's likely they're the same person, though it's technically possible.

Hmm. It is important to remember we're not the only one with a loom snaring deception in town, I suppose. Amaranth could use that to mess with us, if she really wanted.

Thought-if she was a Sidereal, she wouldn't even appear in the story, because people forget Sidereals are, yanno, real!

>>94315
This is the thread for discussion about the quest. I read into those complaints that if either of those two particular possibilities (opposed sidereal, Amaranth again) were the actual case that would be shitty writing on the part of the QM. Either would complicate the standard difficulties of a dating game if some of the potentials are landmines or fake people. Either way, it's a striking coincidence that shortly after TED's succubus deer-woman self said something about us having interesting stars that the next time we saw Graceful Blossom she has a star chart.

>>94317
Unless they're wearing a Resplendent Destiny.

>>94318
That's more or less my complaint, minus the dating game bit. I suppose I'm prejudiced against stuff like that after seeing it misused too many times when playing tabletop games. Now that I've actually thought about it, my objection isn't to characters secretly being someone/something else but to the idea some people have that an incredibly small group of 100 people tasked with protecting the entire world from the Neverborn and the Wyld have the time and ability to spy on/harass random newly-Exalted characters. There's been no hint of that so far, so I don't really have any problems.

>>94317
Resplendent Destinies get around that, and Arcane Fate also doesn't work perfectly on other supernatural beings like gods, demons, Exalts, or us. It'd pose serious problems if the Maidens and lesser gods couldn't remember who worked for them, for example.

Actually, with that whole fate snarl thing, don't Siderals sort of have a legit reason to mess with Edge? I thought that was their thing.

>>94333
Sure, but the problem is he's an Essence 1 Exalt doing nothing very much. The Deathlords have invaded Creation, specifically Thorns, and the Fae are a constant threat across a vast chunk of Creation, particularly after the Balorian Crusade. The problem isn't that Edge isn't worth paying attention to- he is. The problem is that there are too few Sidereals and no shortage of way, way bigger problems to worry about. Of course, even if she's a Sidereal, which is increasingly plausible, she could be here for unrelated work reasons or on a vacation, so like I said I can't actually complain.

>>94334
Congratulations, you are an Essence-2 Fiend of the Ebon Dragon. Close enough I guess.
We don't know what Amaranth has been up to or if he is a more powerful Green Sun Princess than us. We didn't even ask him. Potentially she's been sticking her dick into their business, summoning a lot of demons, or something else that would get on their radar--who even has a decent guess what she's been up to here before we arrived?

Eclipse: The Eclipse caste are the diplomats of the Solars. They can channel Essence to sanctify oaths, invoking a curse on oathbreakers. In addition, Eclipse Castes can learn any Charm, regardless of source.

As I understand it, Fiend caste are the Infernal version of Eclipse caste. Could Edge channel some essence to force Abel to pay us our two thousand bucks on pain of oathbreaker's curse?

>>94377
Anima Power: While their Yozi masters no longer have the power to directly manipulate the destinies of Creationborn, the Fiends still have the power to sanctify oaths in a manner conceptually similar to that of the Eclipse and Moonshadow Exalted, drawing upon their status as agents of the architects of Creation itself. The mechanical effects of the Fiend oath are functionally identical to the oaths sanctified by members of the Eclipse and Moonshadow castes.

That said: No. It has to be channeled when the oath is first made, and it's extremely obvious.

>>94377
It's not a broken oath, anyways. He agreed to pay us on completion of the task: make him gone. We can't actually prove he's going to stay gone, since we opted for a light touch. So he's offering installments as a compromise.

...that, and it's probably a not to subtle attempt to keep us around, since we've proved useful.

Well according to my math we earned the full two thousand dinars for both bluffing him into making an apology and paying back his night's earnings, and also identifying that he was cheating through the use of water exalt powers. But hey, if the problem is the finality we can still earn the deathtrap obsession bonus for leaving him in chains for the undead.

It seems a pretty split-decision right now, so anyone else out there that hasn't suggested yet, pipe up!

Haggle, but less angrily. No need to demand ALL upfront though.

>>94398
There's nothing to haggle, Abel made an offer and we accepted. What he's doing now is bargaining down after the service was rendered to avoid paying all of what he owes, or mess with our head to try and trick us into a worse bargain in the upcoming job he was planning on offering. If I had to guess, Abel debriefed Feng and wants to use us to do something with--or to--the gambler and the angle is to try and claim that as additional unfinished work under the original contract. That would be mission creep without additional pay for additional services, and the appropriate move is to treat that as attempted theft because it is.

If he's truly planning to end things here with 1250 dinars that belong to us still in his pocket the correct move is to sell that debt to collection agencies. We should know something about collection agencies since we're an infernal fiend and all.

Just about the only actual point of uncertainty in the execution of the original contract is whether we actually earned the second bonus for out-playing him, since we did catch his cheating through his anima flare. You could argue that since it was done with the threat of an attack that this wasn't winning at the dice game, in which case we give up five hundred of the two thousand we are owed and demand the return of the money pouch with contents intact, and a grumble that Abel is a nitpicking cheapskate.

>1250 dinars that belong to us still in his pocket
The payment breakdown was:
500 up front, 1000 for completion, 500 bonus for revealing his method.

We already have 500. He's offering us 750 of the 1000, and 250 of the 1000 later.

We can haggle for the 500, if we want to argue we discovered his cheating method was dragon blooded essence magic. (But then there's the risk we might be called on to explain how we competed with that).

We can haggle for the 250, if you can convince him we completed the job and Justice really isn't coming back.

Worst case, he holds onto 500 + 250 = 750 of our money, not 1250.

Also, to follow up on the fundamental problems I see here:

If we negotiate him into paying us fill price, then we're giving a guarantee that Justice isn't coming back. If Justice does return, it's our problem. (And depending on what happens, he could return to try and draw our attention again, or someone else could manipulate him there to force us into play).

The second, bigger problem is I feel like our cover has hamstrung our negotiating position. We don't want to discuss what we did, or how, but that's exactly where the conversation turns if we try and drive a hard bargain.

Honestly, I feel like we're already on the up here. We netted some gold, we netted likely future work from Abel, we netted a lead with Feng. Pushing for a little bit more gold or face when the risk is making our cover more unsteady just doesn't seem worth it to me.

(Oh look, my ID changed. Now I have 3 in this argument. :v ).

>>94401
Abel gestured to one of his minions, who produced a bag of silver. In plain sight, he counted out five hundred pieces and placed them into a separate pouch, which he handed to Abel, ”Five hundred at the start, one thousand more if you complete the task. If you manage to disgrace him publicly by out-playing him or revealing his cheating, I will add on an additional five hundred dinars,” the boss held out the pouch towards me, smiling, ”Two thousand, all told, if you do well. I trust that would be a fitting reward for your service?”

You imply that there is only one bonus offered in the contract, for either discovering the method of cheating or out-playing 'Embattled Justice.' It is vague but the lack of the word 'either' between the two means he offered us the possibility of achieving both bonuses for additional cash: If threatening him into giving up an apology and coughing up hundreds of dinars isn't out-playing then we ask for the trophy back with all the money in it, we can be flexible on that since we didn't win that round playing with dice, and we at least get three hundred of the five hundred then. A dragon-blooded anima flare only we directly felt as evidence could be considered shaky, but hey... if that's really so vague that Abel's gonna try to weasel out of paying it we suggest he make a job offer to 'Embattled Justice' and ask for a demonstration.
None of this is magical, "God talked to me," schizophrenic voices in the head which can't be empirically tested. This is things that an unemployed guy hanging around in town looking for a score did. Offer him a job, the miracles will be plenty tangible when he demonstrates them for Abel. Frankly, Abel needs the muscle if his gang would do poorly against just one Lookshy deserter. That should directly take care of the two hundred and fifty bullshit fee Abel is ass-pulling with no warning too.

>It is vague but the lack of the word 'either' between the two means he offered us the possibility of achieving both bonuses for additional cash
No, it doesn't. He explicitly offered one bonus, with two ways to earn it, and to make it extra clear, he specified the cap total we could earn ("Two thousand, all told", right there in your atypically italicized quotation). If we could earn two separate bonuses, the maximum would be 2500, not 2000.

>>94409
I'm not so charitable about foregoing part of our fee earned for achieving all the supplemental objectives: All uncertainties favour paying the agreed price for each described task of work requested, and he requested each of discovering the method of cheating and beating him at gambling. Supposing we accept your stingier interpretation he'd still be holding on to half our money because we clearly discovered the method of cheating. We'd also want the trophy purse back with the three hundred inside since that was delivered as part of claiming the other bonus for out-playing him, and if we only get one then it's ours.

>Supposing we accept your stingier interpretation he'd still be holding on to half our money
...no? No he's not. There's no scenario where he's holding onto 1000 / 2000.

Look, put aside the fine details of the numbers, (a) because you keep messing them up and (b) because they're not important.

Money is a simple means to an ends, and we can always scheme our way into more. The only thing that actually matters here is the social situation. We either push because not letting ourselves be taken for cheap earns respect / looks good, or we remain cautious and hold back, since it potentially endangers our cover to push the topic of how we matched someone who was essence-cheating.

All I'm hearing is arrogance and bluster and offense at maybe missing out on some money. (Which seems crazy to project on someone maintaining a cover, to different ends, and who is more than willing to forgo pride to serve their own ends). I'm not hearing a reason the potential social gains are worth the risk, or a way to minimize the risk.

>>94412
>...no? No he's not. There's no scenario where he's holding onto 1000 / 2000.
Correct: That was seven fifty out of fifteen hundred, which you claim is the most we can make since you judge the advance counted against the total 2k figure, instead of that 2k figure being an offer of final pay in addition to the advance. Also, I'll agree that the numbers aren't too important directly and what is important instead is teaching Abel not to try to cheat us.

>We either push because not letting ourselves be taken for cheap earns respect / looks good, or we remain cautious and hold back, since it potentially endangers our cover to push the topic of how we matched someone who was essence-cheating.
I don't see how that's a risk whose ship hasn't already sailed. We're already identified by Sienna as special for resisting her compulsion, matched a suspiciously-perfect twelve score with a perfect twelve score at the dice table, and we out-bluffed a terrestrial ex-soldier with unknown backup while demonstrating no fear of the scary terrie icicle. If they tried to follow us to te hotel they either know we can change identities or vanish like magic at will. They don't have proof to show other people or even specifics other our contradictory claims about being a lunar to 'Embattled Justice' and Feng, but they know we're more than just a normal human. At this point we've already started the clock for burning the Mirth identity, because Mirth has been identified as a freelance essence user by at least one criminal gang. I doubt we could convincingly pretend to be a terrestrial at this point, and selling bullshit about there being more than five dragons or something will fall apart if it doesn't fail immediately, so that makes us an identified anathema.
With that established your plan is to attempt to close the barn door after the horse is already gone, and further make ourself look interpersonally weak by accepting post-delivery renegotiation. Why not just wrap a bow on our forehead and attach a gift tag with the words, "Kidnap me, I'm a lonesome, insecure exalt or anathema worth lots of money!" while you're at it? It would be smarter to just walk out of this place right now and burn the Mirth identity: Money and social connections are worthless if Abel sells us out to the Dynasts or starts arm-twisting us with the threat.
Since we're here, I would try to avoid that for a little while by not sending signals of weakness and to start dropping hints about 'an organization' we are part of to give Abel the idea that we can't just be disappeared or cheated. We could even try to work our way into recruiting Abel to the Reclamation, although I don't want to and he's probably not worth much.

hello quest author please clarify the money situation so we know who's being dumb

>Five hundred at the start
500

>one thousand more if you complete the task
+1000 (if complete)

>If you manage to disgrace him publicly by out-playing him or revealing his cheating, I will add on an additional five hundred dinars,”
+500 more (bonus for disgracing him publicly)

>the boss held out the pouch towards me, smiling, ”Two thousand, all told, if you do well
equals 2000.

...I really don't understand how we've so confused a simple sum done literally right in front of us.

>>94419
Responding to the actual content of your complaint here:

You assume full information sharing and awareness between our marks. We don't know that Sienna explained how we resisted her magic. We don't know that Feng reported the exact details of our win to Abel (although that's more probable, and depends on what Feng suspects about us, and how much he would actually want Abel to know if he really suspected we were anathema). Unless Abel put his absolute best people on tailing us, the ability to lose a tail does not immediately lead one to the conclusion the prey can magic away.

I'd estimate we have more wriggle room than you're estimating. And depending on how much time we get to work on Feng, and how much Abel trusts him, we might be able to counteract some of the problem.

If Abel has (or does) identify us as anathema, it might also become a game of not forcing him to acknowledge it. (Leverage on his part. I said our cover hamstrung our negotiating position- if he knew (or thinks he knew) what we are, then he could have deliberately put us in the situation where we couldn't call him on it).

>”Fortunately, things are quiet for now. It is possible that I might have need of your talents when you return in three days, but, until then, I doubt I will have anything for you.”

Well, we've just settled for seven fifty dinars, because we're not getting the rest. If we were going to get the rest he'd have another job for us, this will just be an ambush, with or without dynasts.

>>94421

500 dinars in the beginning as a pay-forward.

1000 dinars when the job was completed.

500 dinars if disgraced publicly.

In total, Mirth could have made 2000 dinars off of the job. Mirth has 1250 dinars now, with a promise of 250 dinars more if she comes back in three days.

>>94426
Minus whatever we spent on sushi, and the outfit and throwing knives.

The difference is strictly that you were assuming that we can only get paid 500 extra once for completing either of the supplemental goals and I was pushing for getting paid two 500 dinar bonuses for completing both of them. This isn't an arithmetic problem, it's vagueness in the original contract I was trying to make use of because we completed both the supplemental goals. Instead now we didn't get paid for completing either of them, and lost another 250 besides because of spinelessness: Maybe Abel was prepared to turn this into an ambush right there and then but we aren't getting more than that out of him unless we take it.

>>94428
...there literally was never a way to get two 500 bonuses. It's not vague, or an assumption, you misread it. >>94426

It's worded so there's one supplementary goal: humiliate him publicly. Abel suggests two ways we might have accomplished this (outplay him, or reveal his cheating), not two different objectives with independent bonuses.

We didn't earn this bonus cause we confronted him privately, away from an audience. (sans sneaky Feng spying). We didn't get paid for completing that objective because we didn't complete that objective.

But getting back to the social stuff:

If Abel thinks we have a weakness? Or that we're willing to compromise because we need him / the gang? Fine. Let him think that. We can use that, and it'll play to our advantage, since ultimately we don't.

>we aren't getting more than that out of him unless we take it
Well, we're already planning on stealing away or otherwise corrupting the dragon blood on staff he trusts. And simply being involved with us is probably going to be bad for his organization in the end. We're just starting to put our plans in motion- by the time they blow up in our face (or we actually pull them off) I expect us to have made a mess of things around us.

And hell, if we really want to be pretty, we steal Justice's trick. Show up at the gambling den one night in a new face, cheat him out of everything he owes us and more, then disappear. Or heck, if we wanted, we could play both sides. Make ourselves valuable as an enforcer or fixer by simultaneously preying on the gang we just joined from other identities.

>>94432
Supposing we accept your interpretation of the brief description of this bonus goal, what happened still fails the sniff test for bullshit. Retrieving an apology and a bag of the better part of a Dirham for Abel as a token of that apology was something we did for free? Discovering how the cheating worked and getting the target to admit being a runaway water exalt from Lookshy named 'Embattled Justice' was also something we did for free? I didn't know Mirth was so charitable, or Abel so needy and deserving. Should we set up a public soup kitchen and send Abel a bowl from each batch as well?
Come to think of it, we should work up some angles to make a scam out of running charity. It's one of the ways rich people make money and redistribute it to their favoured followers, but I digress.

>>94433
That all takes time, and I find it questionable that the risk of trying to corrupt Feng is worth it when we know there is a Dynast presence in town for Abel to sell us out to. The petty gambling was something I originally suggested as a way to get beer money and maybe starter funds for a bigger scam. Trying to take enough to damage Abel that way is too slow, uncertain, and poor a use of our time when we need to complete some Yozi obsessions. Unless there's a surprisingly good use for small change Dirhams laboriously gathered that way the opportunity cost is too high: The problem is being underpaid for services rendered by some guy I don't trust to not sell us out to the Dynasts. The solution for that problem is not wasting lots more time stealing small change from his establishments in a way that could get us chased out of town or worse. If we aren't gonna shake real money out of Abel somehow, or better yet chain him up for the undead and do the moronic bragging thing, why would we even want to bother with a vendetta at all aside from pride? We blew our opportunity, Abel thinks we're a schmuck he can push around, and now we have to try way too hard to convince him not to sell us out before we skip town.

>Supposing we accept your interpretation of the brief description of this bonus goal
Yes, let's 'accept' the 'interpretation' that is clearly open to question after being explicitly confirmed by the author.

>Retrieving an apology and a bag of the better part of a Dirham for Abel as a token of that apology was something we did for free? >Discovering how the cheating worked and getting the target to admit being a runaway water exalt from Lookshy named 'Embattled Justice' was also something we did for free?
No. It was a thing we did because it made sense at the time, and cause we misread the bonus condition as "expose him or take his money" not "humiliate him publicly (by exposing him or taking his money)". And cause it made us look good (wether or not Abel chose to specifically reward it), and cause it gave us another lead to manipulate (non-financial reward). (And ooc, we were told it earned us essence back, too).

But yes, ultimately they're things we did while on the job (a job we were still paid for) that didn't specifically earn us bonuses. Get the fuck over it. People do actually get work done without itemized monetary breakdowns for every indavidial action they take.

>the second half
I was more pointing out it's abundantly easy to hurt Abel if you really care so damn much about what we owed, than advocating it as worth our time. The gang's value is it gives us a convenient social construct with basic resources and information to play off of. There's many different things we could choose to do with that.

As for the rest, it really seems to me you're blowing our current opperating risks out of proportion.

>Yes, let's 'accept' the 'interpretation' that is clearly open to question after being explicitly confirmed by the author.
Well with that attitude you aren't going to argue your way into either twelve hundred fifty more dinars, or at least the seven fifty more we should have gotten.

>People do actually get work done without itemized monetary breakdowns for every indavidial action they take.
Special Guild invitational auction, one anathema of unknown type currently in soulsteel collar, manacles, chains and cage. Our best guess is a Solar. Handlers are standing by to pose the merchandise so you can see. The bidding currently stands at fifty-five jade talents.
It's not about the money itself. The business of gangsters is profiting from people's vulnerabilities, whether those be addictions, financial uncertainties, or whatever. The problem is Abel thinking we're vulnerable and deciding to sell us out or drug/ambush us to sell us off. When we didn't fight for our bonus, or even stare him down over the bullshit penalty that wasn't specified anywhere in the original contract, we looked weak. That's dangerous.

>As for the rest, it really seems to me you're blowing our current opperating risks out of proportion.
Edge was recently assigned to corrupt key figures in the Guild's hierarchy in Gem. Unexpectedly, there was a high-Essence monk of the Immaculate Order also stationed in Gem, and Edge ended up on the wrong end of her fist.
In the end, Edge fled from Gem in disgrace. The Ebon Dragon's patience runs thin, and punishment looms large. In a last-ditch effort to appease the wrath of the Shadow of All Things, Edge has set out to find a Bride in the city of Chiaroscuro.
I don't know the setting well enough, but is getting sold out to the Dynasts a baseless fear? What's the angle that's worth that risk? Why wouldn't it be smarter to avoid unnecessary risks like that when we are on thin ice with the boss? I don't see a specific plan to take advantage of association with local criminals: Is there a viable step 2 between, "Get involved with crooks and gangsters," and, "Profit!" here?

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/25(Tue)14:48 No. 94456 ID: 5a02f7
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> Is getting sold out to the Dynasts a baseless fear?

"Most of the time, when a Wyld Hunt is called, it's because someone's messed up. Some newly-Exalted essence-user tries out their powers at the wrong time in front of the wrong kind of people, and the wrong kind of people get spooked enough to call the Dynasts. The Realm doesn't usually give money for finding Anathema - everyone's usually so relieved to see the "awful demon spawn" gone that they practically pay the Wyld Hunt for showing up!

"Lost Eggs, on the other hand, are good business, if what I've heard is true. If they're young enough to be properly trained, they can be adopted into one of the Great Houses of the Realm without much fuss. If they're too old for that, it's either the razor or the coin - life as an Immaculate monk or part of the Empress's army. Selling a Dragon-blooded can net you a hefty sum, depending on who you are and who they are.

"Of course, this close to the Scavenger Lands, the Realm doesn't have as much sway as it would like, so Chiaroscuro is considered a fairly safe place for strange folk."

So I've been thinking that we need to worry about anyone guessing we're an essence user who isn't one themself when the real constraint is don'tplay oldschool genocidal GTA with the mortals or give too many hints away about what we are? Dang.

Okay, another question: Does the guild deal in essence-user slaves or are essence users widely considered too dangerous to enslave (besides by the Empire I guess)?

>>94457
You don't enslave Essence-users, ever, especially not Exalts, unless you can strip away their free will. And then you're not really enslaving them, just the body. It's a horrible idea.

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/25(Tue)18:49 No. 94460 ID: 5a02f7
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> Does the guild deal in essence-user slaves or are essence users widely considered too dangerous to enslave?

"Well, ain't this a cheery topic...

"The Guild deals in all kinds of slaves. It wouldn't surprise me if they had tried to enslave an Exalted. But the thing about Exaltations is that they never choose someone who would let that happen. Exaltations go to the slave who dreams of freedom every night, to the whore that swears this is the last time she turns a trick to feed her kids. That's the kind of heroic spirit that summons an Exaltation. If they could break something as strong as that down... Well, that's not something I want to think about, especially considering it could have happened to me. In the end, I think the only way it would happen is to have one of the Fair Folk take their soul and then enslave whatever husk is left, but I don't think it would still be Exalted.

"... I don't wanna talk about this anymore."

"As for other essence-users, I'm sure the Guild deals in them. Most demon-, god-, and ghost-blooded are close enough in power to a mortal that the Guild could probably handle them. I've heard that there's a big draw in some places in the Realm for - exotic courtesans. But, the thing is, I hear most people that do that kind of thing volunteer for it. It's not a bad life, especially considering what else could happen to you because of your heritage.

"In the end, though, most essence-users are just too much trouble for the Guild to deal with. It takes something like an ideology and a cause to make people willingly take the collar, and the only one that's managed that to any great degree is the Empress herself...

"... wherever she is now."

Huh, okay, I sit corrected. I expected a world with significant slavery to have high prices on anathema exalts due to rarity. If exalted were built to fight primordials I could see them being both too dangerous and defiant for slavery or finder's bonuses: Terrestrials routinely boss around lesser gods, and celestials are theoretically more powerful than that.

Check my understanding:
-We still don't want most people to know we're an essence user because the default guess of us being Terrestrial may get us sold out to the Dynasts as a 'lost egg' by the powerful and greedy.
-Claiming not to be terrestrial goes even worse for us, because anathema are scary and too few people disagree with that statement.
-Despite the lost egg bounty, it's still not likely to be a problem unless we openly use powers among strangers or in public places.
-Most people lack the connections, status or greed to sell someone out as a lost egg for the big bucks. Abel couldn't get much--if he can do it at all--because he's a criminal commoner.
-Abel could care less about either recruiting or the lost egg bounty for 'Embattled Justice' because he's an obnoxious, reckless shithead and too much trouble either way.

Also, another question for Kamai: What would normal, common and decent entertainment be in a place like Chiaroscuro, and the price or difficulty range?

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/25(Tue)21:35 No. 94463 ID: 5a02f7
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>>94461

"All that sounds about right, but you probably don't want to use essence around anybody, not just strangers. If you get detected by a fellow essence-user, chances are they'll not report you, since they could get in just as much trouble with the Wyld Hunt. Of course, if they're a legitimate god-blood or a ghost-blood that's stayed out of trouble, well, then there's no problem there. Most people think Anathema are awful, rampaging monsters that eat babies, so it'd be a good idea to generally lay low and not use any of your obvious powers unless you really trust everyone around."

> What would normal, common, and decent entertainment be in a place like Chiaroscuro, and the price or difficulty range?

"Entertainment's what you make of it. Most commoners get by on whatever they can produce themselves for free - music or storytelling, mostly. That's why Graceful Blossom's talents are prized: her music brings people in, people spend more money on drinks, the inn makes good coin. Pretty much everyone knows at least one good story, even if it's the same one from person to person. The rest is all theatrics, honestly.

"The rest either isn't for the common or the decent. Alcohol qualifies for entertainment, I guess, and it's pretty common and cheap, but the rest is either pricey or prostitution. The Guild controls most of that in Chiaroscuro, so it's probably better-regulated than in most other places."

Follow up on the question about Chiaroscuro entertainment then: How pricey is pricey, and what does the money buy?

Kamai's Question Corner Meyichi 2015/08/26(Wed)18:37 No. 94481 ID: 5a02f7
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> How pricey is pricey, and what does the money buy?

"Money buys anything, given the right amount of it. A thousand dinars could net you a night to remember, or not remember, if you're into that kind of stuff. Whores, liquor, bards, whatever have you - if you look hard enough in Chiaroscuro and throw around enough money, you'll probably find it."

Convention of Oversight Meyichi 2015/08/26(Wed)18:47 No. 94482 ID: 5a02f7
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>>94221

Evidence file no. 8723 of case no. 489572347

Signed,
Oversight

>Money buys anything, given the right amount of it. A thousand dinars could net you a night to remember, or not remember, if you're into that kind of stuff.
Uhhh... here I was thinking in terms of dance, organized professional music, theatrical performance, spectator contests like racing and gladiator fights, gaming halls dedicated to games without gambling, and so on. Most of those require sponsorship from the highest levels, an affluent middle or upper class with leisure time willing to pay for such things, or a festival or other event I guess. Chiaroscuro doesn't have the numbers and money for that outside of the private homes of the rich and special events then?

>Evidence file no. 8723 of case no. 489572347
>Signed, Oversight
What? Would this be a hypothetical ultra-voyeur primordial?

>>94484

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Secret Character Unlocked! Meyichi 2015/08/28(Fri)18:22 No. 94511 ID: 5a02f7
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Imperious Bear was given her name by her father, and she always tried to live up to it. Unfortunately, it proved to be just one more pair of shoes too large for her to fill. The goggles belonged to her father, and they're too big for her, too.

Bear became a Scavenger Lord because that's what her father was and his father before him. She loved the history and the stories of the olden days - her father would reenact them with shadow puppets when she was young, and she would squeal with delight.

Her first artifact was the jade tablet that she still has today. Her father gave it to her as a project; it's unfortunate that she only got it working after she Exalted, and he died. She would have liked to have seen the smile on his face when he watched the green surface light up with essence. She would have liked a lot of things.

A lot of Green Sun Princes wonder why the Silent Wind claimed Bear as Her own. It's a simple thing, really - the Bear that went down into the ancient tomb with her family was not the same Bear that came out alone. She hides it well, but she still startles worse than a raiton.

-------------------------

Bear was supposed to be someone else, but then I forgot who, so she ended up being Bear instead.

Meyichi 2015/08/29(Sat)14:47 No. 94521 ID: 5a02f7
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Life kind of got me there for a few days, have a nude.