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15:39, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement.

Posted by GatekeeperFor group archive 1
Ledaal Xurizu
player, 86 posts
No Moon Lunar
Sorcerer and Test Subject
Tue 10 Feb 2009
at 21:36
  • msg #19

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

"I too would like to join you," Xurizu nodded to the police inspector he had escaped with.  "Whilst I probably don't have Nararet's skill at disguise I am not one for teaching, nor really for diplomacy," he says.

"But yes, Nanaret," he nods to the other lunar.  "Creed was apparently in contact with a being called 'Free', who Third said has some repute amongst the populace, though he is widely denounced as a myth by the Dragonblooded.  Patience ... I know very little about.  I cannot give you much more than her name."
Peleps Dashu
player, 154 posts
Night Caste Solar
Criminal Investigator
Tue 10 Feb 2009
at 22:23
  • msg #20

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

"Waiting a few days is fine with me," Dashu replies to Nanaret.  "It gives me time to learn  another trick I'll find useful on this excursion."  The inspector then turns to Xurizu and said, "If you need help with a disguise then I might be able to give you a hand.  In fact as far as getting there goes, if you're not comfortable with the amount of stealth needed to get by the sentinals, you might be able to ride with me if you change into your totem form.  Again, don't want to take too many people, though, or else it would look very suspect.  I don't know if we can pick up enough food supplies for 60 mortals and 10 exalts without looking completely suspicious.  This is a small town which looked to be geared entirely around mining.  3 people who are brand new in town loading up that much supplies would be difficult to justify to anyone.  We might be able to pick up enough salt for food preservation though.  Anything else?  That being said, we'll need something with which to trade."
Saina Nanaret
player, 67 posts
Tue 10 Feb 2009
at 22:51
  • msg #21

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

"Three people is good enough," Nanaret says, nodding, seeming unconcerned about not being able to grab the other supplies. They still had enough food, even without the variety some refugees hoped for. "I only pass on what I have heard. Mmm. Maybe we can find materials for Danae. But yes, we cannot carry anything heavy or large. Maybe if we only were shopping for ourselves. But so many people here... Think I that they will like the salt, though." Her bushy lemur-tail swishes emphatically.

"Trade? We do not have much that is unique. There is the insects' confection and the jar... but I not think good idea to trade what was a gift." The monkey-Lunar furrows her brow, scratching at her head with an oddly-elongated middle finger. "Unless Queen Bug would give us something to trade with."

"There are also strange mushrooms, that Turtle says make visions. Though that would make us drug peddlers, yes? Maybe best to go simple, bring some extra mining supplies. We say there were deserters."
Saffron
player, 38 posts
Wed 11 Feb 2009
at 03:01
  • msg #22

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

   Saffron overhears the conversation about going into town and suggests to Nana, "Not drug peddlers, but if I can make an antidote to the poison or a sleep agent, perhaps we can trade the excess."

Saffron's plans for the week:
   Saffron works tirelessly putting the hospital together, tending the sick, injured, and tired in mind and body, and training Tamra. As she adds to Tamra's skills, she tests her abilities frequently. Saffron also spends part of her time in training her mind and body. She performs tasks blindfolded and sets up obstacle courses to walk through.
   After a couple days, when things around her clinic have calmed down, Saffron settles down to begin working with the poison glands. She starts by trying to make an antidote to the poison. Second priority will be the sleeping agent. And third, just for fun, she'll gather a few mushrooms and attempt to make a powdered hallucinagen.

OOC:
20:18, Today: Saffron rolled 5 successes using 8d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 2,9,9,10,8,3,2,6. Craft Medicine - soporific.
20:18, Today: Saffron rolled 6 successes using 8d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 9,3,2,9,10,6,9,7. Craft Medicine - antidote.
Alus Tycho
player, 35 posts
Wed 11 Feb 2009
at 10:15
  • msg #23

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

"I wouldn't go trading any possessions just yet," rasps Tycho's metallic voice as he enters into both room and conversation, a fresh gleam of sweat slick across his bone-white brow from the noisome training taking place in the other corridors. The Solar's thick fingers clutch around a trio of old mining tools - hammer, pick, and shovel. Tycho has began training the mortals to wield them as weapons this week, a more dangerous prospect than throwing rocks or facing padded spear points. Reddish stains mark all three tools, blood or rust it's hard to tell, though Saffron has had to deal with more than a few scraps already.

In training the mortal's, the metallic Solar has also been training himself. Learning slowly how better to teach, organize, and lead them. It is an unfamiliar place for him, the forefront. At least, as anything but another strong arm in the throng. His skills were all in paper and planning, as a strategist rather than a commander. The trust the mortals place in him as an instructor has slowly been bending Tycho's staunch refusal to see them as little more than burdens and even though he has trouble conveying it, he was proud of how dangerous they had become.

Even so, he already wants to make them more dangerous. If it came to facing off against the Peaceforce, the refugees would need every advantage they could muster. He looks around for Danae, once more to pester the poor craftswoman with a task. Not seeing her straight off, he goes on.

"There isn't much too trade that we can spare. If you're going to trade something, trade skills. You've all got them. If you're careful, keep from drawing too much attention, those will probably be more valuable in the communities than anything we could scavenge out of the caverns."

"Or, if you want, I could put the mortals to task seeing if this mine is as really tapped out as it looks," he says, holding up the old tools. They were old, but still in good condition. Easily ready still for work. "I'd rather have them learning to hit people instead of rocks, but it might be good for building their strength. Heavy labor usually is."
Gatekeeper
GM, 445 posts
Exalted Storyteller
Five Coils Artificier
Thu 12 Feb 2009
at 20:12
  • msg #24

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

Saffron's alchemical crafts prove quite fruitful, with Tamra assisting. She initially produces with the mushrooms five doses of Draught of Blessed Respite, which when imbibed helps the user sleep. Half a dose puts an imbiber in something of a trance state, awake but distracted, that allows the user to get some benefits of true sleep while awake. However she is certain that using this draught regularly has some addictive qualities to it.

With the poison she creates one dose of a Venom Allaying Draught which is specifically an antidote to the cavefish poison. She also discovers through her work the possibility of a more potent, general antivenom, but finds that she will need at least 2 more samples of lethal poison from different sources to complete this recipe.

From here Saffron could produce 5x sleep potion or 1x cavefish antivenom per hour, assuming supplies last and she has the time. [Private to Saffron: I found, in researching Exalted alchemical crafting, that there's actually a thaumaturgical art for it. (Oadenol's Codex p.130-2) Since you didn't actually buy any Occult for thaumaturgy I decided I'd just have you use Craft(Water) as if you actually had the equivalent Art of Alchemy degrees. It matters less for you anyway, since you're a Solar and I think your crafts could more than approximate things, but if you actually wanted to learn Occult for the 'magical' side of thaumaturgy I would let you do so free of training time, since I think it's something you ought to have known anyways. You'd probably want about 3 dots in it.]

Dena and Third have already left on their excursion to the builder bug hive, though it may not be too late yet for someone to join them belatedly. In the next three days, Nanaret, Dashu and Xurizu take the time to train before heading for the Conclave. Anyone who might produce trade goods for them to bring should do so before they leave, as well. [Private to Alus Tycho: I am... not sure what sort of roll would be needed for mining! I've never had to do that before! more likely, you won't be able to get any fruitful results in the very first week you attempt it though, but you could definitely incorporate mining into the mortals' training in the Revolution thread.]

The rest stay put to continue training the refugees or continue to toil with crafting.



OOC: Laborers' Conclave group, make your last preparations before leaving. Training posts, also Int+Larceny if you're going to make disguises beforehand. (I may give some extra bonuses for the 'disguise as miner' way since there's plenty of gear around for that.) Once you feel ready to go then post in the Conclave thread.
Saina Nanaret
player, 70 posts
Thu 12 Feb 2009
at 23:06
  • msg #25

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

"Mmm... Tycho, Healer Saffron, anything of value to spare for trade would be much appreciate." Nanaret nods. "Trading skills... we would need stay long enough to do so. I do not know how long we will stay, best we not attract too much attention. As Dashu describes, is a watched and well-guarded place."

She shakes her head sadly, a little agitatedly. "These laborers, they are still yet citizens of Coils. Maybe none yet have developed desire for freedom. But we will see..."

Nanaret's three days are spent largely in an unusual training regimen. It appears to involve a great deal of observation, at first: studying the behavior, actions, speech of people around her, even their mode of dress. By the second day she is starting to mimic -- not in any prominent location, but mostly in the privacy of her room, now and then venturing out in her new guise to test its effectiveness. She may have at one point attempted an impersonation of any one of her companions or even refugees, though she takes care not to abuse it. It's just a trick, she explains to those who catch her in disguise... and even those who don't.

By the end of the third day, when Nana has successfully impersonated a refugee working as a miner, the kitchen cook, one of Danae's assistants, and Saffron herself (chosen not for any reason except she has known Higura and Saffron longest, and Saffron is female like her), she decides she's more or less perfected the mockingbird's way.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:31, Fri 13 Feb 2009.
Yaishin Higura
player, 54 posts
Thu 12 Feb 2009
at 23:37
  • msg #26

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

The moments Higura does not spend trying to help shape and define their now growing community, he spends it in quiet contemplation - or at least it might seem so from the outside. Inwardly, Higura works carefully on unlocking a complex puzzle... His mind and memory. Working with the delicate matter of memories and streams of consciousness is a difficult task in and of itself; for him, it takes on an all new challenge.

He used to be whole once. Human - at least, in form and psyche. Now, he is different. An organic interface, human yet machine, a distinct existence yet a part of the great engine called Prochorus. Somewhere at the intersection of all these ensembles, Doctor Higura exists.

Prochorus had sent him into the world with certain qualities, and certain abilities he was reshaped to be able to use. Unfortunately, not all of these abilities were available to him right away - in part due to the limitations of his newly shaped physical body, and partly so as to not arise suspicion from the Five Coils masters he would be sent to serve at the onset. With that in mind, the doctor has to sometimes sit and attempt to retrieve parts of his own self, piece by piece.

The time he spends in quiet solitude are such times. Delving into his own memory and being, he tries to recall some of his functions, bringing relevant aptitudes to the surface in a way he will be able to make use of them in the future...
This message was last edited by the player at 23:51, Thu 12 Feb 2009.
Peleps Dashu
player, 161 posts
Night Caste Solar
Criminal Investigator
Fri 13 Feb 2009
at 05:37
  • msg #27

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

Dashu spent the next few days training the last boon he wished to know before they proceeded.  This was an inherently more social experience than his training the previous week.  This time, he talked repeatedly with mortals and got volunteers to try and lie to him.  By the end of the week, none of the mortals effectively could without a great deal of focus.

He also spent some of his spare time helping the others with their disguises.  And perfecting the one he had previously began working on.  When the time came to leave, he was ready.
Saffron
player, 39 posts
Fri 13 Feb 2009
at 19:26
  • msg #28

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

   When Saffron completes the trials with the mushrooms and gills, she revises her previous opinion. The antivenom could be traded to the village if they needed it, but the work to create it was more intense. Her work with the mushroom reveals it to be very useful, but possessing of an addictive quality. She couldn't just sell the excess to a settlement and hope they were responsible, if they did not have a doctor of their own to dispense it.

   When Nana is not busy and before she leaves. Saffron seeks her out to offer her services to the settlement. "Could you find out if the miner's have a doctor. If they do not, we can trade my services to them for the time being."
Saina Nanaret
player, 72 posts
Fri 13 Feb 2009
at 20:12
  • msg #29

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

When Nanaret and her group are ready to leave, she appears with her monkey-ears and tail hidden. Even the yellow night-eyes are gone. She looks an ordinary person; she's even unfastened her dreadlocks, which apparently had been extensions to begin with. With her miners' cap and worksuit, the tools at her belt, her purposefully grimy face and dirt-blackened nails, any cursory glance would see nothing more than a typical Five Coils laborer.

Nanaret listens keenly to Saffron's request, while considering whether to bring her weapons hidden on her person, or make do with the miners' tools. She replies, "I understand, I will try. Though we must be careful, Healer Saffron; would not wish you be recognized as escapee. But I wonder, would be possible to bring to the miners a sample of what you have made? So they know you are truly a medic?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:31, Fri 13 Feb 2009.
Ledaal Xurizu
player, 95 posts
No Moon Lunar
Sorcerer and Test Subject
Sun 15 Feb 2009
at 13:17
  • msg #30

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

Xurizu spends his time waiting for Nanaret to perfect her disguise with training of his own.  Or, well, he spends a lot of time talking to people, especially to Dashu, getting them to try and tell him if they thought he had just misled them.  Soon, there weren't many who could.  He started then, to work on a more powerful technique, one that he thought might fool even his friend Dashu, but at the end of the three days, he had not quite mastered it.

"If it's possible, could we delay travelling into the settlement for another day?" he asked of Nanaret and Dashu, though if they weren't happy with that, he'd just have to pick up his studies later.

His own disguise had needed some work.  He was in no way bulky enough to pass easily as miner, his whole frame wrong and--without Nanaret's supernatural skill at disguise--no way of gaining those muscles.  This might have been easier if I'd followed my instincts after that fight... he thought back to the battle, before they'd even left the forbidden floor.  But I didn't.  He'd therefore settled on the disguise of a mining clerk, a similar role to that occupied by the late Granite Creed, one more concerned with digging into figures than seams below the earth.  It would give him an excuse to be asking different questions to Dashu and Nanaret, and he'd almost certainly not be seen as a threat.
Saina Nanaret
player, 74 posts
Sun 15 Feb 2009
at 14:34
  • msg #31

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

Nanaret shrugs to Xurizu; "No problem with it, though Dashu seems to be more hurried, do you not think?"

She waits respectfully for a reply from Saffron, sitting patiently until she gets one, though if she has to wait too long she'll simply swipe a couple of the bottles and apologize later. As much respect as she holds for the healer, she does have the instincts of a filch, and her supernatural powers make her only better at it!
Peleps Dashu
player, 166 posts
Night Caste Solar
Criminal Investigator
Sun 15 Feb 2009
at 15:24
  • msg #32

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

"Sure we can wait 'till tomorrow.  Not really any longer though."
Saffron
player, 41 posts
Sun 15 Feb 2009
at 20:30
  • msg #33

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

   Saffron agrees to give Nana a vial of the mushroom soporific. As she hands it over, she jokes a little, "Don't use it all in one place."
Saina Nanaret
player, 76 posts
Sun 15 Feb 2009
at 22:43
  • msg #34

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

"Thank you very much, Healer Saffron," Nanaret replies, her nimble hands securely in her jumpsuit pants, as if she'd never even considered stealing a bottle herself. To the medic the Lunar looks the picture of innocence. She stretches out one of her long-fingered hands to accept the bottle, and swiftly secrets it away into a toolbelt pouch.

With one more day to go, Nanaret devotes the time to training her senses. She starts with a more meditative approach, finding a different place every hour to sit, concentrate and attempt to pick out pertinent details from the environment around her. She makes note of individual sounds, of visual details, nuances of smell. She takes a turn helping the cooks, assaulting her palate by helping to taste-test the pungent fish and mushrooms. Then she attempts to navigate from one side of the mining settlement to the other, first blindfolded, then with her ears plugged shut. At the end of the day she takes her usual turn of the 'night' watch while the rest of the encampment sleeps.

The next day, Nanaret puts together her outfit again, deciding to go without the hooked blades after all. They would only complicate things. Thus prepared, she slips away to join Dashu and Xurizu at the settlement outskirts.

(OOC: ok, finally, that should be all from me till after the conclave stuff!)
Tervila Dena
player, 122 posts
Full Moon Lunar
Messenger
Sat 28 Feb 2009
at 16:18
  • msg #35

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

Dena makes her way back to the mining settlement, having finally convinced a surprisingly individualistic and stubborn onyx worker it didn't need to follow her and see to her needs.  She turns to Third as they climb a wooden ladder up a wall into the settlement proper.
"It seems busy.  Perhaps some important event has happened while we were gone."
Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge
player, 78 posts
Sat 28 Feb 2009
at 20:11
  • msg #36

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

Third nods solemnly. " We should find someone to inform us of what's happened. " it says, and seeks out one of the other Exalted still there to learn what they may have missed, and to gather them together to be able to tell about what they've discovered. Third goes over the primary details- That there is a hive of specialized insects, who are still loyal to the Celestials, and are seeking to make contact with Free, and will be sending an envoy to the Celestials next week to discuss their plans. He finishes by stating " The only way for us to truly find freedom will be to liberate the entirety of Five Coils. If we simply flee this place, it will mean nothing. We will simply be fleeing forever from the Dragon-Blooded. True freedom can only come when none are left enslaved."
Danae Adela
player, 107 posts
Sat 28 Feb 2009
at 20:16
  • msg #37

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

Danae seemed lost in thought during the start of the meeting--troubled by some detail or other.  Nonetheless though, as Third finished making the report on the situation of the Builder Bugs, Danae nodded.  "I agree--even 'Assuming' it was the right thing to avoid conflict--we'd never manage to get beyond the District of Fire without having sufficient forces behind us to punch through.  So long as the Dragon Blooded have ahold of Five Coils' systems--then these tragedies are just going to keep happening..."

Pausing as she collected her thoughts, Danae tapped her chin.  "Third--are you in a particular rush to have a new sword constructed?  If this 'Free' fellow has managed to stay at arm's reach--he's probably also holed up in the depths of the areas off the grid--as well as who knows what other horrors.  I'm done most of the heavy lifting by this point--but I've gotten an idea for another weapon while I was at it--if I can finish that up, I should be able to join with the group tracking him down...  Of course, if you plan on entering dangerous territory yourself, I don't mind holding off for a bit."
Gatekeeper
GM, 508 posts
Exalted Storyteller
Five Coils Artificer
Sat 28 Feb 2009
at 22:58
  • msg #38

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

Third and Dena find fewer Exalts about to greet them -- besides Danae, of course, who has been holed up in the forge long enough to be considering a break.

Nanaret, Xurizu and Dashu have yet to return, though this is not unusual; they have to proceed with much more caution, having ventured beyond the area the builder bugs have pulled offline. The camp has little choice but to trust they will return safely, lacking a way to communicate with them from afar.

The others have spent a great deal of time training the refugees. Most of them are actually away from the main settlement at the moment, though the sounds of their toiling can still be heard from within. Right now it appears to be the rhythmic sound of mining picks and the rumbling of ore carts: apparently Tycho, or one of the others, had thought of incorporating mining labor into their regimen. It is certainly a physically exerting job, and may provide useful resources as well. [Private to Danae Adela: You'll have observed some of the materials being brought in: iron ore, limestone, coal, clay, ochre.] [Private to Grinning Turtle, Alus Tycho, Yaishin Higura: If you're not busy, you might want to drop in your own end of week reports here.]



OOC: Keep up the discussing, we can hopefully time-skip by the end of next week in RL time. Don't want to lag longer than that, just giving a chance for Conclave to do something before I have to skip forward.
Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge
player, 79 posts
Sat 28 Feb 2009
at 23:30
  • msg #39

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

Third shakes its head smoothly. 'Third can make do without the sword for longer. Third's skills can work without a sword, and Third is willing to wait for you to complete your device. ' It bows. ' Third is no great fighter. Third prefers evasion. Please do complete your own device, Third shall wait. It is far more likely that we shall encounter a Dragon-Blooded with a Daiklave available than anyone with a weapon like your own." it says politely, smiling faintly. It will need to spend some time in the coming week, training its abilities further, as it considers quietly to itself, what direction to take its skills in. 'But yes. If the surface is as hostile as seems to be believed... Approaching it with the whole of Five Coils behind us seems to be wisest.' it says, bowing its head.
Tervila Dena
player, 123 posts
Full Moon Lunar
Messenger
Sun 1 Mar 2009
at 01:45
  • msg #40

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

"Perhaps you'd consider a friendly match Third?" Dena suggests.  "I am interested in learning of your art and comparing it to my own.  The experience would likely be good for us both."

OOC~ If we have time to kill I'm in favor of burning the time in training and spending a little experience.
Yaishin Higura
player, 61 posts
Sun 1 Mar 2009
at 03:08
  • msg #41

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

"I would tend to agree. There are many whose lot has been affected by the Coil's administration." Stepping silently into the conversation, the doctor smiles politely at the other Exalts, looking at each of them in turn. "Our kind was not the only one who was denied rights when the Coils were taken over - many of the mortals and civilians, in fact, will corroborate this fact. This should be their fight as well."

He rubs his chin with a gloved hand, and shakes his head softly. "I am sorry to interrupt. I only thought the information could have some use in this conversation." He smiles and inclines his head before continuing. "The refugees are being shaped up into much different people than they were when you all first met them. No, I should not say reshaped, but rather restored. More and more, I believe they begin to understand the truths we speak to them. We are working to break the invisible shackles that held them - the propaganda that kept them docile and controllable is slowly wearing off. And when it does... It might cause a domino effect, and trigger the same feelings in other groups and people within the Coils."

"We must be prepared for that eventuality."
Tervila Dena
player, 124 posts
Full Moon Lunar
Messenger
Sun 1 Mar 2009
at 03:22
  • msg #42

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

"Ah, that's right, the refugees.  I kept meaning to go see them but somehow meeting the insect hive has kept my attention." Dena admits.  "But. . . fight with them at our side?  I can't imagine that mortals can challenge dragonblooded without suffering horrible casualties.  Wouldn't we just be feeding them into the meatgrinder?"
Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge
player, 80 posts
Sun 1 Mar 2009
at 04:07
  • msg #43

Re: Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement

Third pauses for a moment. "They cannot fight head to head with Dragon-Blooded. But if they can harry their flanks, leave them unprepared, then it will be that much easier for us to deliver the killing blows. And every mortal who has tasted freedom will be able to give others the taste for it. It will spread like a drop of dye through fabric, and suffuse the Five Coils. They shall not be meat for the meatgrinder. They shall be sand within the gears, their hardness tearing apart the machiner of the Dragon-Blooded oppression. If any among them must die, they shall die making a great difference in the world. If they didn't want that, they would never have followed us." It bows its head. " There is more about the Hive, however. Among other things, they were the ones who cut off surveillance to this place, and they made reference one again to the Black Smoke. It was the work of a Dragon-Blooded, wielding a strange weapon. They are attempting to reopen communications with the Gatekeeper of Water, as well- They were apparently cut after we were transported out, but the Queen, Chilomena, is attempting to reopen communication with them." It tilts its head towards Dena. "I would not refuse the match, though I cannot proclaim myself to be any great fighter."[Private to GM, Tervila Dena: If we want to play out the fight, we can probably do it in a private thread so we don't have to worry about synchronization, something like that?]
This message was last edited by the player at 04:07, Sun 01 Mar 2009.
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