"There's something familiar about that sound." Dena comments, leaning against the wall and pressing one ear to it to see if the sound is being transmitted through the rocks..  "I think I've heard it before.  They've got a summoned monster."

[Private to GM: 22:28, Today: Tervila Dena rolled 2 successes using 3d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 10,3,2. Int + Occult. ]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:52, Tue 11 Aug 2009.

Third considers, as it listens to the sound of the wail... 'Demon. Army-fighter, it's a combat demon. Unlikely that the Monks would be letting one run around in here. Most likely our contacts. Be careful, no use wasting essence fighting friends.' Third, thankfully, has not yet completely lost its aura, and still glows lightly with the colors of the sun, which should help avoid any unnecessary altercations...

Veldygar's teeth clenched, cursing himself for forgetting to check on the time of the day: he knew ordering a tomescu not to cry was futile.

Gugoona's findings, however, were quite interesting. He took his shock pike, just to be on the safe side. "We have incomings," he said. "No monks, apparently," he added precipitously. "They have strange insectoid creatures with them. It's likely they heard Dezephiel. Let us try to find who they are!"

[Private to GM: [OOC:12:52, Today: Veldygar Arhandor rolled 1 success using 6d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 2,3,5,9,2,3. Int+Occult.
12:51, Today: Veldygar Arhandor rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 10,5,8,6,5. Int+Lore.
What does Veldygar know about the insects?]]
This message was last edited by the player at 10:52, Tue 11 Aug 2009.

"It's a Tomescu actually"  Danae continued, looking thoughtful.  "Big cloud thing with a bunch of weapons sticking out of it--I remember they had one of the sorcerers call a few for a training exercise once--they scream like that because they apparently remember that they're technically going to die some day, at least twice a day...  More importantly..."

She hastened a little bit, still walking with a bit of a limp from the goremaul hit, but otherwise keeping up with the others.  "The Immaculate Order doesn't truck with demons...  so it's probably our Water Republic contact!"

Veldygar recalls what he had gleaned before about the insect race. [Private to Veldygar Arhandor: You'd actually rolled this before. So I'll repeat what I typed out last time.

You have heard before of large, uncommonly intelligent ant-like insects being used as laborers in Earth District. Your thought is that something or someone must have angered them to revolt. In terms of these giant bugs' nature, they may either be elementals, or genetic construct (you've certainly seen your share of this summoning demons for weird Wood District experiments)

I'll be nice and throw you a bit more since you rolled more Lore this time.]The insects are called builder bugs, though they are much more advanced than the typical sort. They're likely thousands of years old as a race, as they were present in Coils long before the Dragon-blooded got there, serving as the factory-fortress' inhuman laborers. The ruby-hued, combat-oriented ones are but one 'variety'.

The strange screaming behind the barracks door continues for a time, as the summoner of the tomescu allows it to run its natural course. With the monks currently regrouping/in hiding, the noise doesn't draw any more attention, though it is disturbing for everyone in the vicinity, like nails scratching a chalkboard.

Should Veldygar step outside at this time, he will see the figures of Dena (still in warform or no? will leave this up to her), several of the large red insects, Danae and Third, some sentinel machines taking the rear (they look like typical automaton sentries for the Earth District). Also another being, strange mix of humanoid and insect with a silvery blue carapace and vaguely feminine form. They are all walking in roughly that order down the outside hallway toward him, the insects and machines forced to move in single file due to their size. [Private to Broken Eternal: You can decide for yourself if you step out or just keep brooding inside the barracks :P]

Of the humans, the short, dark-haired one (which from Gatekeeper descriptions Veldygar thinks must be 'Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge') is glowing with an anima of sunset colors, obviously a Solar of the Twilight Caste.

[Private to Danae Adela; Peleps Dashu; Tervila Dena; Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge: I'm assuming Dashu is still attempting to be stealthy, so I won't mention his presence until he rolls me some Stealth, so I can see whether Veldy/Eternal/demons notice him. Or if he posts that he just steps out into the open, that works too!]

Dashu is shocked to hear the strange sounds coming from the barracks.  He's not sure what it is that he's hearing until the others chime in.  "Demon summoning is illegal in the Coils under most circumstances so its rare even among sorcerers.  It's odd that the terrestrials would summon such a thing.  I'll check it out," he said as the shadows wrapped around him and he advance.  He swiftly and nimbly moved through the space between him and his destination.  He kept to the sides of the tunnel so as to not draw attention to himself.

[Private to GM: Activating the form charm but not the anima power.... gotta preserve the motes at this point.

13:50, Tue 11 Aug: Peleps Dashu rolled 6 successes using 13d10 with ... rolls of 3,10,6,5,3,5,9,10,3,7,2,1,5. Dex + Stealth Roll.
]
This message was last edited by the player at 15:32, Thu 13 Aug 2009.

"I suppose I should be grateful for whatever allies we have." Dena avows as she follows behind Dashu at a distance, attempting to watch for hostiles with her relatively weak senses.  Thick armored skin was a pain for actually observing anything, much less feeling.  "However if that. . . thing is an ally I have to question the Gatekeeper's judgment in choosing our allies for us."

Third looks towards Dena. "The binding of Demons is one of the spoils of victory. It is no more unnatural than the rulership over creation." It speaks matter of factly. It has its own private reservations over demon summoning, but for now, it is willing to forgive such minor sins in favor of overthrowing the greater sin being committed.

Dena flips one of her antenna out of the way.  In her more human shape it might have been a flick to move her hair out of her eyes, a relic grooming gesture humans used to play for time when they thought briefly.  "Yeah, natural.  I suppose I could certainly use a little more rulership over creation that what we've got now so I shouldn't complain about the screaming cloud of fog either.  Goodness knows I do enough unnatural things myself."

OOC~ Well I guess I'll bull on ahead then. 

Heading towards the door behind which she'd heard the screaming come, Dena pushes against it lightly.  Then she pushes hard.  Finding it wedged shut she finally grunts in irritation and kicks it completely off it's hinges before heading through to confront the screaming cloud of fog, and friends.

OCC:  Same here.

Dashu had moved ahead of the group for a bit but determined that there was no traps at the door.  Having signaled for the others to follow, waited for Dena to gently open the door.  Unfortunately, he would be kept waiting for all eternity on that one.  As she kicked the door open and made her entrance Dashu took a moment to slap his forhead and shake it momentarily.  He then did his best to sneak in unnoticed.

Veldygar's eyes widened when he saw the silhouette barging in. For a second he wondered if the Gatekeeper's information was accurate, or if he hadn't been misled by his metody's indirect description.

"Halt!" he said firmly, then: "er, if you please? Who are you?" His shock pike was held low, his attitude nonthreatening - as much as a jade armored warrior could be. He motioned his demons to remain quiet, and hoped Broken Eternal wouldn't just start a bloodshed.

Dashu slips through with neither Veldygar nor Eternal noticing him. Not even the other beings lurking in the room. The aforementioned fog-demon with limbs immediately takes on an attack position upon the violent and sudden entrance of Dena, though.

Meanwhile Veldygar and Eternal are faced with a Lunar in hybrid warform, half human and half wasp. At least they can tell she is feminine though the antenna, bug-eyes and striped wasp behind lend to an appearance almost as alien as the demon now facing her angrily. Dezephiel is unhappy about being motioned to stand down, clearly more than willing to disobey should Veldygar's binding on it not be so exacting.

Still, the various blades, spears and bows held by its limbs bristle menacingly. Near the entire front of the room is taken up by the tomescu's weird presence, so anyone who isn't as skilled with stealth and subterfuge as Dashu would find it very hard to squeeze past those limbs at all.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:18, Thu 13 Aug 2009.

Waiting, it seemed, had paid off.

As Dashu kicked in the door, she would find the dimly lit Barracks in a state of UnBarracks-like behavior, with beds and other bits of furniture pushed to the side, as one of the demons had wanted room to move around.  The furniture had been fine by Eternal's account--whatever didn't work to hinder those that chased them would work as a projectile in a pinch.  Now, however, those that sought them had finally found them, And Eternal was ready.

Near the very back of the Barracks, dimly lit as it was, the two entering the room (or standing in the doorway) would see the shadowy figure slowly ride from a seated position, his back against the wall as he rose in silence.  Though the room was not to dark as that he could not be made out, the details of his style of dress (the swords, the black jade armor, the skulls and spikes that adorned him) would be quickly lost one one aspect of his appearance alone--those stark, blood red eyes that actually seemed to glow in the darkness.  His face was all but invisible in light of such a daunting feature, and the quick flick of his arm was almost lost in the dim light, though the evidence of the motion was all too apparent all too quickly.

Th-Th-Thkkth!  Came three bare whispers, silently screaming across the room as three large throwing daggers found themselves firmly implanted into the door frame, mere inches away from Tervila Dena's carapace'd body--thought it wouldn't take much imagination to realize the targets would have been her eyes, had the intent been truly malicious.  Instead the three daggers laid impaled nearly beside her face, three very concise and clear warning shots that said, very clearly, that whoever laid within this room was not to be taken lightly.

He stood there, his hands falling back to rest on the hilts of his short daikglavie, which we sheathed in an 'X' pattern on his lower back.  "Identify yourselves.  Now."

Even as the daggers flew off though, a hand quickly reached up to the air, catching them out from mid-air, as Danae settled down from the flying leap, investigating the weapons with a critical eye. "Decent tools, lots of Black Jade...  I'm guessing though that between your small numbers, ominous demeanour, and employment of demonic servitors, that you're our Water Republic contacts?"

She tossed the knives up once, then tossed them underhanded back to Eternal.  "Relax, we're the ones the Gatekeeper sent you to link up with" She edged Impeccable Spark's sheath off to the side somewhat, and slowly partially drew it, allowing the shine of oristeel to show up.  "Sorry about the noise, they were heavily fortified down on the outer levels, and we had to break in directly.  Fortunately, we managed to lock one of their garrisons out, and entirely neutralize another, so I figure it's a fair trade-off."

"Oh, well, it seems we are between friends, everybody relax" he said to eternal and his servants. "Who's its summoner?" he indicated Dena. "Its brash entrance nearly caused a clash!" He reflected too late that she might be some kind of Demon-Blooded, and therefore a free-willed victim of the Terrestrials' experiments, though he doubted so extreme a hybrid could be possible... then he remembered details of the Gatekeeper's descriptions. "Aem, you wouldn't be a Lunar, by any chance?" he said, trying to make it sound casual.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:14, Thu 13 Aug 2009.

Third slowly enters the room, following the others. It studies those waiting in the room, eyes moving across. Demon, Demon Summoner... It studies the curious black figure at the back of the room. Interesting... Not something that it had ever heard of, before... It smoothly approaches the shadowy figure. "Interesting. Is that a mutation?" The wan Solar studies him curiously, considering- There was mention from those who infiltrated the city of an unusual Exalt, unmentioned in  any databanks. "Interesting. Third hopes you do not mind its studying." The Solar smiles slightly as it looks over the man curiously, thoughts of other things gone for the moment as it studies something entirely new and interesting.

Dashu had been satisfied that no one had really seen him enter after Dena's entry.  Since it was established that these were not enemies he didn't feel inclined to remain silent much long.  He suddenly speaks up from a dark corner of the room with a small sarcastic hint in his tone, "Good guess, bud.  Round two.  What am I?"

"By some coincidence, yes I am.  Tervila Dena, Full Moon Lunar.  I do apologize for our abrupt entry.  I suppose I've had to tear through so many doors and gates in this place already I've forgotten how else to get through a doorway." Dena suggests pleasantly, at the same time her pores open and she starts wafting pheremones, counting on her pleasing subliminal scent to disarm the tension in the room.

[Private to GM: New Friend Aroma and all that Jazz. .
20:37, Today: Tervila Dena rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 9,8,8,3,6. Pheremones. ]

Veldygar's eyes widened when Dashu appeared seemingly from nowhere. "A man who likes surprising his acquaintances a little too much for their tastes?" He had almost blurted: "Another sociopathic sneak-around," but he guessed he did not need to antagonize two specialists of stealth in one sentence.


"Well, let us introduce ourselves properly. I am Veldygar Arhandor, and this is Broken Eternal," he motioned to his companion. "We are envoys of the Gatekeeper of Water, as you might have guessed," he smiled. He looked at his demons, and indicated, almost as an afterthought: "Those are Dezephiel and Gugoona, my servants. Dezephiel is a bit nervous, but it means to do a correct job as a bodyguard, so please have more consideration for doors next time, in case I am not quick enough to stay its battle ardour, okay? And don't leave anything dissolvable near Gugoona, 'accidents' might happen. Don't tease it with indestructible items of jade or anything else too, you might hurt its feelings and make it feel inadequate."

He snickered. "Oh, I am starting to get verbose, am I not? Better get the discussion back on tracks. Gugoona mentionned insectoid creatures accompanying you. I presume they are your allies, are they not?"

Dashu grinned at at Veldygar's assessment of him.  "That's a correct answer, but another correct answer would have been a 'Night Caste.'  Name's Peleps Dashu.  So you're the one in charge of this demon, huh.  Well, better, you than the terrestrials."

Though Veldygar mentions Gugoona, no one else can actually see it, unless they can see dematerialized spirits. This may make Veldy seem a bit off his rocker, but then again he is a sorcerer. A bit of insanity is possibly even required.

When introduced, Dezephiel's only reaction is to pull back toward the rear of the room to let the newcomers in. The cloud arsenal continues to brood, its limbs tucked close to its body as it waits and watches for the first sign of any untoward hostility toward its master or itself. At least it has stopped screaming!

The meeting of strange and unusual individuals continues in another form, as two other entities in the vicinity emerge to meet each other. Namely Veldygar's mentor, the clockwork god known as Garnet Cog, and the spirit AI that Third liberated from the Water District, Harmony of Excellence. The two divine beings materialize (Cog's form looking very much like a bunch of interlocking mechanical parts matched together to form the shape of a clockwork woman, while Harmony takes on the shape of a golden-hued woman floating in lotus position with six arms tracing esoteric symbols in the air) and immediately begin to communicate in an archaic, unintelligible machine code.

In any case, it seems like a good idea to gather in the barracks to talk in earnest. Though the monks seem to have retreated for now, it probably wouldn't be safe to mill around with the door open or in the hallway.

---

OOC: And here I am realizing that you guys have amassed a really WEIRD menagerie of demons, genetic constructs and spirits. O.o

After introductions, coming up with some way to continue upward progress would be prudent. Both groups know that the center of the Inner Temple, where the most direct way up to the Gatekeeper of Earth would be found, has been blocked from the rest of the Temple by a series of locked gates and barriers. Gugoona and the builder bugs, if conferred, would indicate they have also found staircases, one in the west wing of the temple and one in the east. They also indicate that those stairs are likely being watched very closely -- monks would most certainly be prepared to fight them coming up.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:35, Fri 14 Aug 2009.

Eternal narrowed his eyes, the red slits visibly dimming as Danae plucked his daggers so carefully from the air.  His warning shots had suddenly been intercepted by one of the ranks that he had not seen yet, though from the skill of the catch, he guessed it to be a Solar Exalt.  It could have just as easily have been a Lunar Exalt, he thought grimly, but from his knowledge those tended to have small 'tells' that suggested their shifting nature--and his senses could detect no such thing on this dagger-snatcher.

He caught his own daggers with practiced ease, sheathing them in their hidden places on his person, his moves so fluid as to make it hard to detect where those lovely bits of black jade had gone off to.  It was very possible that he had simply slapped them into Nowhere, and the whole slick arms was simply slight-of-hand to confuse the eye--but that would be over thinking things a little dramatically.

"There will be no 'relaxing' as long as these walls stand." He said darkly, looking towards Danae, though making no move to unsheathe his own blades any further.  He stared at them as they all packed into the Barracks, glad at least that meeting their contacts was out of the way.  And Veldy had done the pleasures of introducing the two of them!  Which was all the same to Eternal, who had loathed the idea of introducing himself.  What was there to say, after all?  He stared at them, meeting their eyes silently, unblinking--until one of them approached him.

He didn't know what to think of Third at first, and his mannerisms and body language did not change at his/her approach.  He simply stared at this strangely beautiful thing as it spoke to him...saying things that Eternal understood, yes, but that did not stop them from being bizarre, strange things to hear.  "Not a mutation.  An abomination."  He said simply, looking at Third with those menacing red eyes, eyes that cried out for blood without making a sound.  "As long as this studying does not interfere with my blades, I care not what you do."

Third's experience with body language is, to say the least, and it summons up a pleasant smile in response to those red eyes locking on it. The figure is short, slightly off in it's mannerisms, and has long-since sheathed the red jade sword, which lies forgotten on the ground next to it." Third is more interested in you than the weapons." it says, as it curiously lifts the man's arm, studying the pulse for a moment- Or lack thereof- and curiously studying the man. It's a long-shot, but... "Peleps Dashu, you were part of the group that visited the Laborer's Conclave. Was the one you mentioned acting as bodyguard to the Wood Aspect similar in aspect to this one?" The connection seems tenuous- For all it knows, this man is simply another Night Aspect like Dashu, but that mind has been grinding away at the information invisibly, and Third has learned to trust those sorts of instincts.

" Ah, Third apologizes." It looks towards Veldygar, and Broken, and bows carefully, in a way that seems just slightly too smooth and practiced to be entirely real. " Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge." It kneels next to Broken Eternal again, an expression on it's face somewhere between a small, inquisitive child, holding a screwdriver, considering the family VCR, and a schoolgirl admiring the guy who smokes behind the gym lockers. The painfully concealing robe and androgynous features likely only make matters more awkward. Most likely for the best, then, that Broken Eternal doesn't seem overly bothered by such flaws as a complete lack of etiquette.

OOC: Going to assume for the moment that Third might make the vanishingly unlikely connection that this fellow may be an Abyssal, and that Peleps and the others would've shared their misadventures in more detail. If this seems unreasonable, I'll edit.

At Third's question Dashu turned his attention away from Veldygar and looked the dark figure over himself.  Unfortunately he was ill equipped to make speculations about spirits and exalts.  "I can't tell right now, Third.  He might be.  The one we saw had a bloody caste mark like mine and her anima was dark instead of light.  I can't really see either of those things right now."  Then he decided to address the figure directly, "Hey.  You mind showing me what you got up here."  With that, Dashu pointed to his forehead.  It should have been obvious to any one familiar with Celestials that he wanted to see the man's caste mark."