From Floor B25 - District of Earth, Inner Temple Level 1
(Danae, Dena, Dashu, Eternal, Third, Veldygar)

Danae, Eternal, Third and Veldygar are the first to enter the central column of the Inner Temple, breaching it from Inner Temple Level 1. They are accompanied by the machine spirits Harmony of Enlightenment and Garnet Cog, guarded by Veldygar's loyal tomescu Dezephiel while his metody, Gugoona, lurks sullenly dematerialized.

The Celestials discover that the center of the Inner Temple is one giant cylindrical chamber, four floors high, surrounded by circular balconies on all sides. The barriers on every level above the first open up onto the balconies, while walkways and stairs connect each level along the wall of the large chamber.

Dead center is where one would expect the central elevator to be, but its doors have been completely sealed off. The elevator shaft is sealed off inside a pillar of pure white jade, carved all along its length with a twining Elemental Dragon clearly meant to resemble Pasiap. However, this does not in any way indicate the way to Floor B21 and the Gatekeeper of Earth's Central Core is completely cut off. There are still stairways that lead there, and controls may be found to open up the elevator, given enough time.

Danae's group quickly ascends to the second floor using the stairs. Third and the machine spirits work out how to open the eastern barrier for Dena and Dashu to enter, while Hive Princess Evamae and her army of warrior insects keep outside forces occupied. Unfortunately, the six Celestials are soon beset on by attackers from above stationed in the central chamber. However, no alarm is raised, due to Harmony's disrupting of security, thus ensuring their numbers stay relatively small.

The Celestials fight off the Immaculates in their way. None of them are experienced as Stern Firmament was, but the fighting is still fierce. Dena, alone in her flight advantage, is the first to make it to the fourth floor, but quickly finds that the level above is guarded by the Immaculate Order's most powerful monks in the Earth District.

From Floor B23 - City of Pasiap's Resolve, South Sector 5
(Higura, Immy, Kilani, Nanaret, Perian, Xurizu)

The group including Higura, Kilani, Nanaret, Perian, Xurizu and a belated Immy enters from the south side of Inner Temple Level 3. Accompanying them is a rebel force formed from laborers wielding weapons fashioned from factory scraps, former Peace Forcers equipped with standard issue magitech armor and shock pikes, even ex-Immaculates who mostly refuse to fight, but gladly aid the group in passing through traps and barriers keyed to let only Terrestrials through.

Free has accompanied them personally, assuming his lupine warform while wielding his iconic ball and chain, hurling arctic themed spells whenever an iron ball to the face does not suffice. No less than five packs of Freerunners join in the fray, bringing an array of weapons with them from knives, blades, chains and axes to essence cannons and plasma tongue repeaters. The rare few who have mastered Terrestrial Sorcery contribute area damaging spells, while Freerunner alchemists and engineers make copious use of fuel bolts, grenade launchers and other such gadgets.

The rebel fighters are more than numerous enough to preoccupy forces outside the central column. Gulda Marin, Kigal Alivia, Profound Arrow and the Freerunner pack leaders (Irjin, Volya, Sable, Witherpaw and Odessa) take command of their respective groups, while a gleefully blood-soaked Free insists with his usual bombast that the other Celestials join their peers in the center of the Inner Temple.

Hive Princess Evamae and her Ruby Warriors have since left Dena to join the combat stirred up by these forces, sending updates of their status now and then to the Celestials wearing earpiece communicators. The Immaculates that oppose the combined might of the long-oppressed Earth District find themselves more than evenly matched, as their best combatants are protecting the Gatekeeper on the top floor of the Inner Temple. It's a chaotic, climactic battle, but one the rebels stand a good chance of winning, so long as the battle does not last too long.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:14, Fri 20 Nov 2009.

Free Celestials Reunited (ALL Characters)

With twelve uncollared Celestials combining forces, the Inner Temple's central column is quickly cleared of all opposition, the Immaculates either killed or routed. As soon as it's cleared, the machine spirits and Third reset all barriers and traps blocking the way inside. This leaves only the stairway up to Floor B21 insecure, but the Immaculate Masters apparently waiting above make no move to descend.

This leaves the situation deceptively calm. Outside the barriers, the Earth District rebels and Evamae's Ruby Army are still fighting to keep the rest of the opposition at bay. Decisions must be made quickly about who will negotiate with the Gatekeeper of Earth, and who will join the assault on the Gatekeeper's sentinels to ensure the negotiators remain undisturbed. The former will ascend through the reactivated elevator, while the latter will take the stairs.

It might also be wise to leave a few to guard the temple center against enemy breaches, set up triage and healing for the wounded, or further examine the controls in the area.

---

OOC: Finally, fast forwarding done. Now that you've all reconvened IC, you have a moment to discuss plans and divide into new groups. Decide whether you will stay put, join the fighting or negotiating group, or any other ideas you may have.

For simplicity's sake, assume you've evened out to no motes and willpower spent, and no damage. We'll assume you stunted plenty, and healers had the time to patch you up.

Kilani had done little in the way of leading the charge. She did know details of the area, however, and had shared her tactical knowledge with those who would be leading the charge. She had organized those soldiers who had defected with her into a medical rescue squad. The soldiers were still inexperienced with the ways of medicine, but she was talented enough for most of them. And they learned quickly, under her guidance.

She hadn't shied away from the battlefield, either. She led her makeshift squad to provide support for the frontline, and lending her Anima to help protect them. And when the lull came and the forces reunited, Kilani had given only small greeting, instead making her priority the establishment of a sanitary field hospital. And since that point, she'd not been seen out of it, working tirelessly to heal every wounded person she could find, friend, foe, and civilian.

Thirds mind is at its most energetic, thoughts leaping as it prepares for the negotiating with the Gatekeeper of Earth, thinking through the processes of the Gatekeeper's mind. Its intelligence will need to be at a peak, but the Solar is confident in its ability to show the ancient device the error of its ways as it sits, legs crossed, its thoughts becoming sharp and hard, beating them into weapons to throw against the gatekeeper. It pauses for a moment in its thoughts, and walks among the other Exalted, seeking out those whom it's begun to grow attached to. To Danae, it offers congratulations on her successful military skills in leading them so far. To Dena, gratitude for her skillful deception of the Terrestrials. To Higura, a brief curt nod and a congratulations on meeting with the rebels and freedom fighters. And finally, the Solar approaches Broken Eternal, holding out a hand. 'You still have a spot of blood here.' the Solar says, waiting for permission to wipe the speck away from the strange Exalt's cheek, head slightly downcast.

Eternal lived for bloodshed.  Of course, 'living' being a very relative term when considering the Death Knight.  He had been a whirlwind of death and carnage in the previous engagements, living up very much to his proclaimed profession as an Assassin.  He had moved without sound, save for the telltale sounds of his screaming opponents, or the splatter of their blood as he liberated it from their body.  He fought as a man without fear of death, brazenly throwing himself against several opponents at once, only to drive them before him, and survive them with nary a wound to celebrate their struggle against such a malevolent force.

Once they had reached this haven (lull) in the battle, the dark warrior took the time to tend to his affairs.  His cloak was removed, as he evaluated his blood covered darkglaives.  The short blades were almost completely covered in the blood of his foes, the sign of a good battle.  And though he did enjoy bathing in the blood of his enemies, he was not without pride in his equipment.  With both blades in hand, he quickly twirled them forcefully in front of him in a forceful 'X' pattern.  The blades sang with a low hum as they sliced through the air, the sheer speed of the motion sheering the blood from the blades and painted the walls with the Immaculate vitae--adding a bit of color to the temple walls to be sure, and easily a reminder of why crossing blades with the Abyssal was paramount to suicide.

He then laid the now-clean blades onto his cloak, and then with careful movements, removed the black jade breastplate, still somewhat unfamiliar with the armor, having dealt with it for only a relatively short amount of time.  The blades had been new to him as well, but there was very little difference in weapons for him, as he was trained how to use any implement of war effectively--maul, chakram, pike...even things that were not meant for death could reach such results with minimal difficulty in his trained hands.  With the breastplate removed, however, it gave way to reveal his pale, almost alabaster upper body.  His physique, masked by his armor and dark cloak, was incredible, forged by a life time of perpetual training and dedication, all against his will.  More curious still, and easily as disturbing as the deathly pale color, was the complete lack of imperfections found.  There were no scars, moles, freckles, discolorations--not even hair.  In death, it seemed, there was perfection in the flesh.

He rolled his shoulders easily, a motion repeated from years in captivity, though he felt none of the joy that it had brought him them, feeling the air kissing his cold flesh.  He then began to check the rest of his equipment, his knives, and so fourth.  He was an unstoppable killing machine when the battles began, but he was not without sense--a machine was made up of several parts, and he would make sure that each part was well oiled and maintained in order to be the most efficient killing machine that he could be.  He pulled a black rag from a pouch on his belt, and then with a practiced bend, picked up one of his blades and began to labor over the blade, polishing it.

He spoke very little to those he traveled with, and they spoke very little to him unless it was in regards to the fighting they were constantly surrounded by, and Eternal was fine with that.  Third, however, was the exception. Eternal had no idea why the Exalt showed such interest in him, and did not care one way or another.  As long as he/she did not get in the way of his vengeance, or any of them for that matter, he didn't care one way or another what they did or said to him.  He faced Third, his red eyes void of any discernible emotion, be it annoyance, endearment, or (the more likely) hate.  He brought the darkglaive up to his shoulder and let it rest there as he addressed Third.

"If it offends you, then remove it."  He said, his voice dark and brooding, as it always was.  Blood spattered other parts of him, but it was bits of his leather armor, or on his cloak--of his flesh, only the tear-shape drop on his face marred him.

Dena sits and appears to brood for a few minutes, nodding in recognition to Third when he speaks to her but otherwise paying little attention.  In reality she's simply thinking very hard and trying to develop an intelligent strategy.
"Alright then.  We know that the Gatekeeper of Earth is stubborn, and conservative.  We need to appeal to that somehow.  We know Danae is a reincarnation of one of the builders of this place and apparently some of the rest of us are, perhaps we can approach it on the basis of being the old guard, and try to frame the Terrestrials as a new-fangled leadership approach that obviously didn't work, and that we're here to return to the tried and true system." she suggests.  "In the meantime we need to decide who speaks and who keeps Immaculates away."

"Problem!"" Danae suddenly chimed in, raising a hand up.  "Our other evidence suggests that he's convinced himself that he's the Pasaip written of in the Immaculate Texts--with all the 'Die Anathema!' implications that might have."

She was looking rather better by now then she did coming into the Inner Temple, having had a little chance to rest, recover, and otherwise tidy herself up in light of everything.  Despite being first on the front lines, she had already begun showing some signs of acute exhaustion by the end of the battle in front of the central column, and it had only been getting worse as the fighting continued.  The last while of rest had done a whole lot of good.

"In short, we're dealing with a defensive powerhouse here--he'll be utterly set in his current beliefs--and it's fair odds that our opposite numbers will have gone through his records more throughly to cleanse any angles we might use to convince him of our cause, in the event we get up there.  I'd rather not risk getting in a fight with him that may destroy him...  But we also need to anticipate the possibility of those strong guys showing up again from here on out, we've certainly made enough noise, and they've certainly had time to recover..."

She paused then, and looked thoughtful.  "Then again...  Our prior incarnations were nothing if not paranoid--that Terian left behind firedust Just In Case I'd have to use a primitive firearm in this situation suggests there may be other failsafes too...  Such as a command code maybe?  One that would reboot the Gatekeeper to a state before he had been altered by the Terrestrials?  If there was one of those somewhere in here--probably in another secure part of the column--then we'd have a fair shot at fixing the Gatekeeper...  Assuming we can get to his sanctum and activate the code without getting evaporated anyway."

"Hmm, I hadn't picked up that bit of information.  In that case it seems to me we have two options to tailor our approach, either we play up to the Gatekeeper's delusion in order to get it off guard while you sneak-attack it, or we try to provide it with absolute proof it's not Pasiap and strike while it's dealing with the logic of that.  I'm not sure how we can prove our point so I think playing it's little game will be easier.  Perhaps we could pose as good anathema who've come to be collared again, after being set free by bad terrestrials plotting against 'Pasiap,' who are even now preparing their armies to assault it."

...sigh. It's always like this. Sure, Immy, we're done with the killing right now, go ahead and have a bath and get clean and not icky and, oh, hey, you finally got it out of your hair. Yep, sure did, ok, so go chat with your new hammer-spirit-to-be for awhile and then everybody goes off while you're planning and all of a sudden oh hey we're gathering an army over here would you mind if we tore through the Temple again? Honestly, why did she bother? Maybe she should dye her stuff red or something, except it wasn't really red, more like... kind of a... red-brown kind of thing, um. Which would hide the stains. But would be so ugly. And then everybody would think she went around bloodstained all the time, I mean, she already smelled like iron and stuff, what with all the armour and weaponry and, um, nail-homes and all, and then she'd never be able to sit down for a polite dinner again, which, admittedly, she hadn't had in a very long while, but some habits were meant for something, right? Some things you still had to do even if you really didn't need them.

Her sword flared for a second, and the blood quickly boiled away.

She should really find out how to do that for her armour, really. It'd making cleaning so much faster, and everyone knew that she barely had enough time as it was, running from here to there to every every where and taking care of people. Especially the taking care of people. People were very silly, and it took much, much longer to take care of them as opposed to taking care of her things, and, um, now that she thought about it, she should find some way of doing that to people, too, except people were always a lot more complicated than polish and stuff. Whetting. Well, in a way, it was kind-a like polishing and whetting, but then again not really, because she figured most people would protest if you actually rubbed rocks on them or something. Unless they really liked that kind of thing, um. Which she didn't actually mind, per se, but she would much prefer not to know, y'know? Unless you were also some rock spirit of sorts. Earth Dragons didn't count.

"...oh, but then we'll have to be careful about the hammer, right? Um. Actually, if you really really wanted, I think I could make a whole set of tools for you or something, hammer and tongs and, um, not anvil, I guess, I couldn't carry that around with me, but I could probably make an entire portable workshop for you if you want. It won't even be that hard; I'm thinking the hard part would be the inscriptions and stuff, because sooner or later I think we're going to be working with the orichalcum and that kind of stuff, right? And all those are horribly hard, so the stuff will need to be even harder, and then whatever stuff we use for it is going to be crazy hard to inscribe properly. Although I'm sure we can work something out!" Maybe whatever it was she used on her sword could work for tools as well? Or, if not, she could just use her sword. Probably. Um. Hmmm. Would it still melt?

But then somebody else is talking to her, and... (well, not her, all of them, kinda, so. But she still had to listen. Probably. Right.)

"Um. Either way, I think I'll probably be in the assault team, right? I mean, I think I'm a lot more useful there than I would be talking to some brain-locked creature."

"I intend to have words with the Gatekeeper, if at all possible," Perian interjects. "There are enough tales in the Earth District, I think, to sway its master - and I have learned many of them."

"And I am not certain that it is wise to only plan to strike it down. How much do the levels below us depend on it to enable life? What would the other guardian's responses be, on learning of their sibling's fate?"

He pauses, watching his fellow Exalts intently, eyes and posture probing. "I know little about these beings - except in fragmented memory, mayhap. Still, from what you have told me already, I have formulated a few approaches for discussion - ways to convince the Gatekeeper to side with us. Even if we were not who we are, simply through righteousness."

"So. Tell me more, teach me. I will help, but the more I know, the more I can do in turn."

After a moment, Perian discusses some possible venues of conversation.

"I know some of Pasiap's true tales, and might tell some within the Gatekeeper's hearing. When the true power responds, and its own does not, what then?"

"If the Gatekeeper's knowledge has been so thoroughly cleansed, then the signs will be easy to recognize, if it can simply be encouraged to inner reflection. Again, I believe I may encourage it in this direction, and do far better if I were to know about its kind. And once it knows that it has been betrayed, that the role it wears has duties other than it has followed... what then?"

"On a more basic level, I can communicate what has been done in this District, in its name. Show it what evils were wrought for greed - appeal to the virtues it aspires to, and so bring it about."

He stops, his gaze meeting that of any who would look at him. "Alone, I might be ignored, or stopped too soon. Together, we can reach it, we can be heard. Who will go with me?"

"I'm not sure I can offer much advice beyond what has been said here," Xurizu says from wear he leans against the wall.  The gunzosha armour he is wearing is without a helmet, the camouflage subsystem currently reset to show a neutral dark blue.  From the looks of him, he has definitely seen some close up fighting, although he has also done his best to clean himself.  "I wasn't there whilst those who negotiated with the Gatekeeper of Water made their bid, though there was talk earlier of getting that Gatekeeper to vouch on our behalf too.  It might help give your various statements more weight."

"While I can admit to a little curiosity to meeting the Gatekeeper, negotiation is not my forte.  I'm also unsure of how useful my spells might be fighting in close quarters against its sentinels.  I think I might contribute most by remaining here.  I am not completely ignorant of the medical arts, and I would like to study some of the remains of the battle and the temple itself.

It was about that time that a weary Kilani made her entry into the command area where people were discussing. "I think... That's everyone..." She gave a weary sign. "Everyone we can save is stable, now..." She slumped in the first open seat, or just to her knees next to the table if there wasn't one open for the work-weary Battles.

As she'd arrived in time to pick up the tail end of discussion, she brightened considerably when Xurizu spoke up, and nodded. "I would be glad for the aid. The Dragons gave me a very rare medical artifact, and teaching someone else to use it would be a tremendous boon I think. My energies burn out rather quickly..."
Her familiar popped out of her robes, a tiny mole that perched on her shoulder, then hopped down and rushed over to look up at Xurizu, before speaking, and bowing it's little head.

"Nice to meet you, Moon-Chosen!" - it spoke in a squeaky-high Old Realm voice.

Kilani managed to grin and laugh lightly. "I think Ghibari likes you." ^^;

To the others, Kilani spoke up gently. "I know we haven't had much time to talk, but I would like to go. And help out. I don't know anything about the Gatekeeper or whatever guards it... so I don't know how much help I'll be... But I can't keep hiding! Everyone is risking their lives and all I can do is try to save them." She frowned slightly, then and crossed her arms in a closed manner. "Still...  I don't want to complicate things. If it would be easier without having to worry about me, I'm alright with that."

"I will go with you, Mister Perian." Higura says, when Perian asks.

Until now, the doctor had been quiet, listening to his allies' words and the pros and cons of an approach to the Gatekeeper of Earth. Taking a step forward, the Chosen nods slowly in Perian's direction, before casting his glance around the rest of the group. Dressed in Gunzosha armor (without the helmet) and carrying one of the Peace Force's Blaze Lances strapped across his back, Higura looks much different now that when he first made contact with the group of escaped Celestials. The doctor does not seem to pay much heed to the change, however, acting exactly as he has been all along, mild-mannered and soft-spoken.

"I have met with the Gatekeeper of Water alongside Nanaret and Third, when we made our escape from the Water District. This should help us prepare for this new encounter, I would believe. As Miss Danae said, however, this particular Gatekeeper has ended up caught in either delusions, or alteration of its core program, leading to its present state. In either case, it will need to be assessed, and I believe I can assist Third with this endeavor. As Third delves into its program and machine functions, I can delve into its living mind, to help get a better understanding of what caused its current condition. We have one note of hope in the form of the Gatekeepers' age - because they are an ancient, esoteric combination of spirit and machine, I doubt the Terrestrials have the necessary knowledge to completely change the AI's programming. If they did, they would likely have done so with all the Gatekeepers, and we would have faced the same thing down in the Water District."

Higura pauses then, lowering his head slightly. "There is also one other reason why I think I might be able to help. My... previous self, Dusan the Mindwalker, used to deal with the Gatekeepers before the takeover. I can recall some of those experiences. It is not quite as reliable as I would be, as my experience in the upper levels left me with a very scrambled mind and memory... But it is better than nothing, I believe."

Veldygar stretched his painful limbs. While he was not totally out of his element in a fight, such protracted warfare did not suit him. He was far more at ease in a sorcerer's workroom or a courtly dinner.

Looking for Garnet Cog, he drew her apart from the crowd of Celestials and insectoid warriors.

"You... know a lot about Five Coils, don't you?" he asked her. "And about me. Is there a chance I could be of use when dealing with the Gatekeeper of Earth? I... the Dragon Blooded have used me to influence the mortal masses, but I doubt this kind of power would work on the Gatekeeper..."

Nanaret has been fighting almost non-stop since her group stepped into the Inner Temple. She is not nearly so unapologetically visceral as Eternal, as she continually struggles to keep Ranavalona disciplined and under control. She recognizes the advantage of her counterpart's power, but has no intention of allowing it to supersede her nature... or absolve her from the guilt of atrocities she has committed under the Bitch Queen's influence.

Yet the former gladiatrix never shies from embracing Ranavalona's fury, when need be. It has gradually developed from a last-ditch survival instinct into a focused ferocity, blotting out all outside distractions from the fight and allowing her to transcend her supernatural limits as a Lunar. The focus is so extreme, though, that Nanaret still loses large gaps in her memory after the fury fades -- but more and more, she finds herself losing the fear involved with that bewildering shift. She learns to trust in herself, and the result of that tempers Ranavalona's attitude, while increasing her speed and surety as a combatant.

When the central column is secure, the dark-skinned, short-haired Lunar doesn't remove her armor (a suit of former Burning Feather gunzosha, much like Xurizu and Higura's, but shifted into black and indigo hues with silvered edges). She only lifts the visor of her helmet to dispel the illusion of an inhuman, almost robotic appearance that magitech armor is often known for. Underneath the armor she still wears her dark blue catsuit, barely glimpsed beneath the metal-alloy plates that hug and protect her body securely. Her hook swords remain sheathed at her belt, in this operation used secondary to Sixth Coil, the steel and moonsilver serpent staff Danae made for her.

Once Nanaret has cleaned her staff (on the robe of a deceased Immaculate, no less) and listened to some of the words and opinions of her peers, she says, "I prefer go with Doctor Higura. However, you need more for assault on Gatekeeper guards, I offer my weapon to you." Her hands caress Sixth Coil's sections, still held loosely in her gloved hands. "Otherwise, I can help turn belief of Gatekeeper against programming done to him. What he believe, can be reflected back to him in new light. This I can do."

She looks at the pale-haired man she now knows is Perian. "Kares Perian, you maybe better speaker. But we speak together, makes words stronger. I remember little of Coils before, but Doctor Higura knows."

Then she addresses the others. "Some of you can stay, search for... command code, or something like, yes? Stay here as backup, or help with healing." Nanaret tilts her head thoughtfully, then fetches the gear she'd taken from one of the Immaculates held by Hive Queen Chilomena, Jade Willow. It is a green jade powerbow, and she presents it to Kilani. "Here. You wish fight, this weapon maybe help more." [Private to Kilani Sorune: dunno if you want it or not, but if you do go ahead!]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:52, Fri 20 Nov 2009.

Dashu had sat back listening to the others musings.  He leaned his back against the wall with his head back, trying to figure out to deal with this latest set back.  He was drenched in blood from from the fighting, not a state he relished.  It meant that there had been entirely too much fighting, by his standards.  In his own opinion, the whole liberation movement had not really been advisable.  Let the coils suffer under the burden of the dragons if it wished.  He had no more use for these people.  He only wished to get out of the biggest slave camp in history and see the rest of the world.  But the liberation movement helped get him to the top so he would go along with it for now.  Besides, it wasn't as though he disliked the other celestials.  They had, after all, been fellow slaves.

Finally he spoke up.  "I'm an investigator.  It's what I do.  If it's evidence we need, then I should be able to get it.  The question is, what sort of evidence are we looking for?  Some sort of physical evidence?  Perhaps find some trace of how the dragons reprogrammed it?"

Garnet Cog, in her mobile, materialized form, resembles a feminine figure made of mechanical parts and clockwork gears. She seems stronger, more real here, as if being so close to one of the powerful AIs of the Coils gives her a more certain form than the indirect presence she'd been channeling through the mechanical puppet Veldygar has.

"Veldygar, I believe the Gatekeeper of Earth will recognize you. You have much to learn, yet, but I can tell you this: you once had an important place in the Five Coils. Though now I am your mentor, I once served as your aide. You lived a life in the Coils as Sharia of the Peak of Promises. She sealed the original Gatekeeper's Oaths, so that they would serve the Circle that ruled the Pillar of Creation."

"But those Oaths have since worn thin. The Gatekeepers, in the absence of the Clockwork General and his allies, serve the Terrestrials. They may have lost memories, they may have truly believe they have been cut free of the Oaths. But should you invoke them again, they may well recognize what they had sworn, Veldygar." She gestures toward the others, her arm shifting jerkily, as if her material form is not quite complete or perfect. "The rest will be up to your peers to convince." [Private to Veldygar Arhandor: When the time comes, you can feel free to make up exactly what wording Sharia used for the Oaths, as long as it involves that the Gatekeepers were to obey the Pillar of Creation Circle and issue no directive that would be of harm to them or the people they rule. Or something like that. :)]

Harmony, hovering in the vicinity of Third and Eternal, floats toward Dashu and Danae, who showed the most interest in searching the column. Her materialized form takes the shape of a petite feminine figure with six arms, floating in lotus position. "Should there be a sign of tampering, it may be recorded on archives or backups. If you wish to access data, I can aid you in bypassing security measures. However, much sensitive data has been essence-locked for Dragon-blooded use."

"May I remind you that at the Gatekeeper of Water Central Core, there were panels that reacted only to Celestial Essence. We can search for controls or circuitry incorporating Orichalcum, Moonsilver or Starmetal. But please be careful not to trigger alarms. I can only delay them for so long."

---

OOC: Once everyone has decided where to go, Assault and Negotiation groups will each move to different threads. You may be able to switch between groups as this goes on, so don't feel like you're 'stuck' in one if, for example, someone in the Negotiation group calls for help. (Earpiece communicators are owned by Danae, Dena, Dashu, Third and Evamae, + one extra no one's using yet.)

For those who want to access local databases: Int+Lore.
For those searching for Celestial access panels: Perc+Awareness, Investigation or Craft(Magitech) could work.
You can use Past Lives, Savant or First Age specialties if you have them.

[Private to Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge; Veldygar Arhandor: I got tired of writing Harmony with the awkward caps, cursive and dashes. What was I thinking! So, different fonts. And red for Garnet which is more appropriate given the gem color.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:23, Fri 20 Nov 2009.