"Good luck," said Water Hornet simply, watching Renora leave. He genuinely hoped she would survive. 'No,' he corrected himself, 'I just hope it won't be because of us if she dies at this dreaded place.'
Turning to his Kai brothers and sisters he said: "Here goes the plan... Don't hesitate to stop me, if you disagree with anything."

"Sun Fox, once Lady Nematah is inside - or attacked - you count to ten and envelop the gate with smoke from the beast. While you are counting, those of us who can will gradually raise a dust storm. As the smoke starts to spread over the gate, and the dust storm gains strength, I'll try to connect with the mind of Kraans nearby to allow Sun Snake send a psychic surge through the link. Next, it's your move, Sabre. Could you put off some of the torches around that side entrance?" Hornet gestured to the side entrance he was talking about - it was not the one right next to the gate, but the next one to the left. "And then we run like mad towards the side entrance, the dust hopefully giving us enough cover. Raven, if you could magically attack the gate the moment we move - that might support the impression of attacking magicians. Swift, putting an arrow through a random guard's chest would also help - if you have some arrows not made in the Monastery. Whatever other distractions you can think of, I think we should employ them - distributing evenly between the area of the main gate and that distant side entrance."

"I have no plan what to do once we're at the doors proper, though; we'll have to improvise, and think quickly. If there are no guards, we'll have to be wary of traps; if the entrance is guarded - we might try to mind trick them...or simply batter our way in..." Hornet looked at Raven, Swift, Sun Snake and the two remaining Foxes in turn. "Once we're inside, we'll have to make a last 'bang' - even if it's just setting up a fire - to allow us disappear inside the fortress."

"Oh, and I was honest with the witch - I have no idea which side entrance to choose - so, unless you object, we will indeed let the toss of a coin decide."

Sun Snake nodded. "I believe I can combine Inviisbility and Pathsmanship to aid in our dash for the gate. If Swift Fox can lend her expert eye on what I am attempting to do to help guide you all, I believe I may be able to use my instincts to not only find the safest route to the gate, but also in a way that will allow the rest of you to follow it. Providing the Nexus cloud is great enough."

Sun Snake then held up a questioning finger to Water Hornet. "What psychic surge do you need against the Kraan? Also, I am not sure if I can target more than a mind at a time, although I am willing to try to combine our powers if you think it will help."


This is more a player checking in - Psi-surge generally cannot target multiple minds at a time until you have the Lorecircle of the Spirit I believe - can the Animal Control link get around that?

"Good," commented Hornet, clearly pleased they would have a 'guide' to lead them to the fortress walls.

Answering Snake's question, the young Magnakai nodded: "Yes, I heard Psy-surge had such limitations...but I don't think we need to psychically hurt the beasts. I was thinking of creating a channel to their minds, through which you would send a feeling of unease, dread and general aversion. I'd liken it to a situation where I would light up a fire visible by Kraans and you would paint the flames green...assuming Kraans were repulsed by green fire, that is."

OOC: Eh, in fact, I haven't checked this with Shadow, yet. :)
I imagined Hornet would open up a communication channel with nearby Kraans and Snake would (psychically) "scream" something repulsive through it. :) But maybe it's not possible.
But it seemed like a cool thing to do (and more fun than just use AK to order Kraans away - which, by the way, Hornet can't do; at least not straightforwardly).
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Sun 19 Apr 2015.

Swift didn't seem to have anything to say regarding the plan, although she did tuck the Jade Spike back into her belt and ready her bow and one of the wooden arrows, apparently in preparation for going along with the idea of shooting down a guard...


OOC: Can I shoot a guard while invisible without giving away my position though?  Like can Invisibility conceal which direction the arrow came from, perhaps clouding its presence until it actually hits the target?  (At which point it would be hard NOT to notice it!)

Sun Fox grinned, lightly punching Hornet on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

"That's a great plan! And here I thought you were mostly working as a diplomatic liason and researcher... when did you became a master spy?"

Then she raised her hand holding the smoke globe, and went on:

"However, are you sure I should use the smoke? Once inside the fortress, it might come in handy to have an easily deployable cover fog, and unlike here, we'll not have dust at hand. I just don't think the smoke would help as much now as it could later."

As Sun Fox says, if you create a dust cloud, the smoke would not help any, and basically be wasted; if you want to use the smoke, of course, you can, but then the dust cloud becomes redundant.

I'll be putting up the rest of the answers to your questions in the OOC thread - as soon as I'm done writing them. :)

"I heard once someone say that diplomacy and espionage have a common mother...," said Hornet with a grin, obviously pleased by Sun Fox's words.

Becoming serious again he then looked the fortress wall and the gate over. "You're right; let's not waste the smoke now, then. Hmm. And this will also allow you to participate in raising the dust, for I might have to completely focus on deterring Kraan patrols."
Hornet fell silent, considering the situation once more.

OOC: OK, keeping the smoke for later is good news.

"Well it all sounds good" Fox said with a smirk "But I think we have more than enough mastery over Nexus to use our own powers here to infiltrate our entrance"

Fox looked up at the torches.

"In regards to the torches I could do something else. Sun Fox and I could Enflame the torches fiercely to blind them on the battlements. That could actually be more helpful than simply removing them"

"A good idea," nodded Sun Snake approvingly.


So I'm on trailblazing duty to the gate, and I can psi-surge if needed (though it's an expensive use) at the gate?

Swift seemed to have been examining the run up to the gate and reassessing her chances of taking down one of the guards.
Returning the bow to her back and the arrow to her quiver, she took up the Jade Spike again and looked towards the others, waiting to see if they'd figured out the plan...


OOC: Trying to keep track of all this is giving me a headache...  Hehe.

Jut as the group was finishing their planning, Renora's cloacked figure emerged from the petrified forest, marching toward the fortress with a decise, self-assured stride.

The soldiers immediately noticed, with the fires of two patrols stopping and one Drakkar shouthing, loud and clear for all to hear:

"Stop! Who's there?"

Renora's answer was spoken too low for the group to hear, but whatever she said, it did seemed to placate the guards, for they moved closer to her cautiously but purposefully, without the urgency that would be expected of meeting an enemy.

One of the two patrols stood near the wytch, discussing whit her in low tones, until a second joined; going by Sabre Fox's reckoning, it was clear that this particular one was the one goup with a different patrol route from the others. In short order, the group departed toward the gates, escorting the woman there - and when they reached it, a new discussion was started with the group, but it wasn't long before one of the guars at the gates was waving his torch in direction of the battlements, clearly a signal for those inside.

It took a few moments, but eventually, in answer to the signal, the massive gates of Gazad Helkona started to open...

And here you go!  ^_^

For a brief moment, Water Hornet had felt doubt creep into his mind. Had they been right to trust the witch? But when the giant gates started moving, he instinctively cleared his mind of any superfluous thoughts and started counting.

'Ten...'

With trained precision Hornet checked that all equipment's straps and laces were fastened well.

'...five...'

The rapier and Turtle Shield appeared in his hands.

'...two...'

The young Magnakai glanced at Sun Fox and brought together his focus.

'...one, zero!'

Hornet invoked his powers of Nexus.

OOC: Nexus Push is -2WP, right?
Camo roll: 3. With a re-roll. Hmpf. :-P

Water Hornet found it much harder than he expected to concentrate on following Sun Snake's movement, trying to connect with the minds of flying beasts and see and breathe in the raging storm of dust.

His eyes stung and were filled with tears and he begun coughing just a couple of steps towards the walls. At least he tried to project the emotions over his ordeal over the psychic link - he urged Kraans to stay away from the storm as far as possible, lest they would met with same trouble as Hornet did; and the young Magnakai was sure to add a mental image of a falling Kraan that flew too close to the storm.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:42, Wed 22 Apr 2015.

Sun Snake closed his eyes to the mundane world, allowing himself to instead feel it through his other divine senses. His natural instincts were honed to try and find the safetst path through the whirling chaos, but his intellect had always been geared to the wlefare of others. It seemed oddly simple now to combine those two aspects, and once more find a path of safety that others could follow by.


Let's go!

OOC: Keeping with the "Metal Gear" theme, here's some more mood music...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfZdD6ktWOw


As the gate started to open, Swift closed her eyes for a moment, appearing to concentrate on something.

Then she opened them again and slowly began to walk out of cover as the dust started to rise.
As she did, her figure started to become faded and indistinct, like the ghost in her past, the movement of the red scarf and her cloak blowing in the wind becoming lost in the swirling patterns of dust.

Only a brief glimmer of green light from the Jade Spike remained visible as she faded into the rising clouds, and soon even that was gone as she broke into a run and literally vanished in the direction of the gate...

There was a sudden flash of light as Sabre Fox made the torches flare up, and then night was plunged into a much deeper darkness as they all were estinguished all at once, leaving the dazzled soldier totally unable to see anything around themselves.

As soon as the lights were gone, the group moved, weaving through the darkness and the dust like wolves on a hunt, silent and hidden but yet moving fast, not stopping and nimbly avoiding the suddenly standing patrols, Sun Snake's steps leading them along.

Sun Fox and Silver Raven brought up the rear, standing a considerable distance behind the others and letting lose streams of blue fire and lightning toward the main gate - Raven firing one from each hand, while Sun Fox was wielding her silver scimitar and apparently commanding the magic to surge from it with each new slash of the blade.

But the focus of the Magnakai was more on the side door they'd choosen as their goal; two soldiers were standing there, moving their spears around with uncertainty, but suddenly, one of the two stumbled back, the glinting green hilt ot a dagger barely visible just under his chin, in the only place where the Drakkar's armour let an opening above the nick but under the helmet and mask.

While his companion stumbled back and slowly sunk to the ground, the other soldier waved his spear around frantcally, hoping to find the attacker who'd struck down without even revealing himself, but the spear hit only air, and then twin blades struck at the same time, one cutting the spear arm away at te elbow where it was unguarded so that the ther could be thrust with impossible power and strenght right through the secnd's Drakkar's breastplate, killing him instanly.

A few moments later, Swift Fox materialized from the shadows to recover her dagger from th man she'd killed, while Sabre Fox removed Vigilance from the second's one body; by the time Sun Fox reached the group, she found them standing over the two corpses, which cause her to let out a small chuckle.

"You were fast, weren't you?"

Then, she turned toward the side door in front of them - a small slab of metal within the rock walls, just a bit taller than Sabre Fox and devoid of any decoration, handle or keyhole - and she asked, thoughtful:

"So, how do we enter now?"

Well, Sift Fox managed one of her stealth kills, and Sabre Fox had a roll of 8 which, with a +11 CR, ends up being an instant ko, so... I think this one time you got away with putting on a really minimal effort, so no CS battle reduction - those were some awesome rolls.

Next hurdle: how do you get past a closed door?

Sun Snake blinked as the efforts of guiding the group had finished - and he'd barely taken in the scene before the two sentries were dispatched.

He moved closer to the gate. "Sabre, can you look to see how easy scaling over would be with your eyes and expertise." Sun Snake gestured to Swift Fox. "Perhaps we can try to feel out the area now we can touch it, and try to find some mechanism to disable the traps. Or a weakness around."


Yay, we got to the fortress! Maybe we should call it a win and head back?

Sun Fox eyes looked upwards and said, her tone doubtful:

"Would that be prudent? The cloud doesn't cover all the way up to above the wall - there's the risk the kraans might see Sabre Fox if he attemps to climb."

The hunting DC for climbing without falling is 7.

The camouflage DC for hiding and going unnoticed by the flying patrols while you climb is 12 (it'd have been higher, but Hornet reduced it by pushing away as many kraans as he did).

OOC: Hats off to our sentinel killers - the stealth one and the epic-style one. Every saved CS point will count ^_^
(And a personal thanks to the 'guide through the dust' ;) )

Closer to the walls it seemed the whipping of the dust was not so intensive; or maybe it was just a consequence of Water Hornet pulling his focus together back again.

He spent a moment just looking at the dead bodies. Even after all the years at the Monastery, he was surprised how effective at killing a Magnakai could be. The arrival of the rest of the group spurred him into action, though.

"Dawn Sword, search the bodies - they might have a key of some sort," he said to the girl, than glanced at Sun Snake and added, "please. And be careful."

Hornet himself approached the small door, stopping a couple of feet away. The surface of the door gave no clue how to pass to the other side. "I hope it's not trapped," he mumbled awakening his Kai skills, again.

OOC: Will use Mind-over-Matter to examine if there's a mechanical lock opening/closing the door. A roll is required, isn't it?

Swift tucked the Jade Spike and the pink-handled dagger she had drawn to attack the second guard with back into her belt and examined the door closely.

Raising her right hand, she placed it against the door and seemed to concentrate for a moment.
A crackling aura of what looked like gold-tinged lightning flickered around her hand for a moment, spreading out around the door before disappearing.

Swift slowly drew her hand away from the door and looked back at the others.  She looked a little wearied by whatever she had done, but still alert.
"It should be safe to damage it now if we have to.  At least as far as I can tell" she remarked calmly.


OOC: Is the door actually locked or just closed?
Either way, it could be safe to break it down now...  Maybe!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:23, Thu 23 Apr 2015.

The door is both closed and locked - and yes, Hornet, a roll is required to unlock it.

Dawn Sword nodded and obeyed Water Hornet's order, even if she looked a bit queasy as she did so; however, after a few moments of frisking the dead soldiers, she shook her head and stated:

"They don't seem to have any key, Master Water Hornet, the only things I found are a pouch with a few iron coins on each of them, and their weapons.

Speaking of which, if any of you wants to help themselves to any of the Drakkarim's stuff, here's a list:

2 money pouches, total of 37 kika
2 Darksteel Spear
2 Darksteel Dagger
2 Darksteel Short Swords
2 Hammer of Blood Shield (+1 CS, -1 damage received)
1 Drakkar Armour (+12 END, +2 CS, +6 fatigue)

The helms wouldn't fit on any of you, since the masks are tailord to the wearer's face and so are the helmets to the head; as for the armour, it is big and heavy, so anybody without either Huntmastery or the Weponsmastery "Armour Knowledge" improvement will only get half the stated values of END and CS boosts - but will still take the full increase on fatigue, of course. There's a reason Kai are lightly armoured, after all - you're just not trained to fight well with all that weight on yourselves! ^_^

Water Hornet wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "There is a plain mechanical lock - it can be opened, but it will be difficult," the young Magnakai indicated the area where the door met with the stone, "the slit is impossibly thin. Plus, even when unlocked, we'll have to push the door from the inside - the door was made to withstand a serious siege and is therefore a sturdy piece of metal."

Hornet looked around, searching for anything that'd help them get inside, and noticed results of Dawn Sword's efforts. "Well done," he said, giving the girl a reassuring smile, "the iron coins are Kika, their currency; we should probably take it."

OOC: Translated into game mechanics' terminology: it is possible to use Mind-over-Matter on the lock, but DC is rather high (7). Plus, once unlocked, the door has to be pushed from inside with some force - meaning additional use of Nexus push (there are no handles on this side to pull it) - unless we come up with some other way to move the mass of the door.

EDIT:
I'm just putting up info so everyone knows what we are at. Maybe someone has an idea how to lower the given DC (or can think up of an alternative way to open the door).
If not, I'll try MoM, of course.

Also, I wasn't looking for traps (especially magic ones) - just for the record. :) (But Swift seems rather sure it's safe, doesn't she? :) )

This message was last edited by the player at 15:42, Thu 23 Apr 2015.

I ought to point out, both the MoM and the Nexus rolls can be repeated until you succeed, since there's no penalty for failing other than spending WP repeatedly on each new attempt (if the attempt requires WP, that is) and, where Nexus is concerned, the possibility that the repeated sounds of air smashing the door might attract notice from nearby soldiers (like ones above the walls).

That said, repeated attempts take time, time during which the sentinels will start searching for the attacking mages, so the more rolls you use, the more likely you'll be discovered. You luckily have a very good margin (26 rolls of total attempts at finding a way past the door) thanks to your choice of the wide-area cloud of dust, but even so, you might want to be quick about it! ^_^

Silver Raven nodded to Hornet's idea, then kneeled to recover the money and hand them to Swift Fox, before taking one of the shields on the ground for himself and strapping it to his back.

"I agree about the wall" Fox said observing it "I think I could climb it, but I highly doubt I would go undetected. It's probably best to focus on the door. I can make an attempt on that"

Yea I don't think it's even possible for Fox to beat a 12 camo roll without serious aid here!

"I didn't want to rule out any avenue, incase we saw something we missed earlier. I agree through is far better than over. However, be careful - there is a solder half asleep somewhere close to the gate. He might not be in view of the gate, but he might hear us if we are too noisy."

"That might be a problem," said Water Hornet turning to Sun Snake, "attempting to push the door open from inside with Nexus could create quite a noise..."

He then looked at Silver Raven: "Raven, I recall there was a Brotherhood spell that would create a sticky magical net. Do you think it could be used to pull the door open once we unlock it? And could you cast such a spell?"

Swift offered Raven a smile and slipped the Kika into her belt pouch before looking back at the door, narrowing her eyes and peering at the place where Hornet had indicated the lock as being.

"Does anyone know how to cast the Silence spell?" she asked in a low voice.  "If we didn't need to worry about how much noise we made, this might be easier.  And as a last resort we could just break the door down if we had to..."


OOC: You know those people who say "Violence never solves anything"?  They probably just didn't use enough of it! ;)

Can Mind over Matter attempts from more than one person be co-ordinated to increase the chance of success with the lock?  Swift can help if so.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:45, Fri 24 Apr 2015.