Tunnel:

The digging continues at a fair pace. The tunnel is close to halfway through now, and the diggers work less with sight and more by feel (something which the builder bugs are quite accustomed to, but could be near-claustrophobic for others). The earth trembles slightly as they progress -- it could simply be the rocks shifting with their passage, or indication of movement within the inner compound.

At the moment Dena, Evamae and Danae are effectively blind to what lies ahead of them. They can only hope the timing will be right.

Front Gate:

Dashu's swift flurry of blows take the archer out before he can even realize anyone is behind him. The Wood Aspect is well and truly dead, a testament to the Nightbringer's efficiency. Not that anyone sees him do it, of course... or, at least, that is the plan. [Private to Peleps Dashu: ok, attacking does give a slim chance you may be seen. But I'll give you a chance to reestablish surprise. Roll another Dex+Stealth. You can roll with a +2, with Third and the Blue Stripes distracting.

Unfortunately since Third triggered a Join Battle you'll now be moving with the tick count in mind. It will take 2 actions if you want to reach the other archer (approx 10 ticks. As fast as 6 if you will sacrifice some DV for speed. If you're sneaky enough it won't matter anyway since you have to be seen for anyone to make you use your DV!)]

The Immaculate Monks face off against Third's confrontational attitude. "This is no matter of superiority. I seek to ensure the continued survival of the Immaculate Philosophy and all who stand by it. To do so I must be able to tell truth from lies, and stamp out all those who would reject the foundations upon which our society stands." The older monk and and his companion brandish their two-handed goremauls in earnest, the both of them towering over Third at least a head and a half. The younger guard speaks, "If you draw our weapon before us, we cannot assure you that means you'll be subdued alive."

As hostilities rise, the Blue Stripes shift immediately shift their stance from a patient standby into a battle ready stance. "SUBJECT DESIGNATED ALLY CURRENTLY THREATENED BY HOSTILE PAIR AFFILIATED WITH THE IMMACULATE ORDER. OVERRIDING DRAGON-BLOODED PROTECTION PROTOCOL. PRIORITY: PROTECT DESIGNATED ALLY FROM HARM, USING ALL FORCE NECESSARY." In unison, they draw out their shields and goremauls, the size of which could easily contend with that of the Earth Aspects.

Suddenly, the battle does not look so favorable for the monks.

---

OOC: actions (Front Gate)
tick 0 - Third
tick 1 - Wood monk archer
tick 2 - Earth monk guardians
tick 6 - Blue Stripes (botching sucks!)

Dashu has a chance to sneak to the second tower before joining the battle in earnest, but it may take some time...
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:03, Sun 28 June 2009.

"Decent pace so far..." Danae observes quietly, keeping out of the way of the rubies and Dena as they carve their way through the rocks, fidgeting for a moment, and finally placing her helmet on, the seals snapping shut as the captured armor fully came online, and the internal visor began highlighting the area.  While it was still amazingly dark in here, as long as the slightest bit of light was emerging from the outside, she should still be able to make out what was going on.

"Hope everyone else can hang on out there until we're finished though..."

After Dashu polishes the first archer off, he looks around to see the most direct route to the second one.  With Third drawing attention towards the front of the gate, he felt the best course of action would be to stay out of the line of sight.  As such he turned his attention back to the gate and then smiled.  He suddenly took a running leap, putting everything he had behind his leap and extended his leg forward as though it was a flying sidekick.  However, when his foot touched the gate, he began sprinting along the wall towards the second tower without falling to the ground at all.  After all, his essence held him up.  He felt confident that with the others drawing the attention of the monks forward, no one would suspect an attack from the direction of the gate itself.

[Private to GM: Again activating the Wall-Climbing Technique.

18:18, Today: Peleps Dashu rolled 7 successes ... with rolls of 3,3,5,7,8,8,8,4,2,9,2,10,5,4,6. Dex + Stealth Roll (reestablish surpise).

]

"Found the wall it's. . . no it was a false alarm." Dena comments as she runs into a wall of stone buried in the matrix.  "Unbelievable, it's a piece of building material somebody dropped into the mix when they poured the berm, and they didn't bother recover it." she grouses quietly as she hands a slab weighing a quarter-ton to the ruby behind her to take out of the tunnel, along with their waste dirt.  "You'd think the Immaculates would have better quality control than that.  Also somebody remind me to learn how to grow some better claws before I do this again, I'm going to spend days regrowing the skin on my fingers."

Third is now no longer smiles and rage. It's simply quiet, as it drops into the stance, blade flicking out, etching a pattern towards the first monk, testing the earth monk's defenses. The blade leaves a line of color through the air as it flies out, scoring across the monk's chest. It saves itself in reserve, prepared to avoid any attacks they may make, to distract the monks from the true threat- The Blue Stripes, and the silent Dashu.

OOC: You rolled 4 successes using 13d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((1,5,3,4,5,4,2,1,8,10,2,4,7)). As a great man once said: BISOOOON! Additionally, ST: Are any Scene-Long charms still up, or will they need to be reentered?

Dashu dashes across the wall, right behind the backs of the Immaculates guarding the gate. They do not so much as notice his passage, and the Night Caste finds he can easily leap into the other hut without losing the advantage of stealth. [Private to Peleps Dashu: Woo! Doing it like a night caste should. ;) Again, you've got a chance to seriously screw this second archer as well. However, I'll rule that you won't act again before she can get an action in. If you want to reestablish surprise this time, you'll have to flurry the Dex+Stealth roll along with your attacks, unless you do so with your next action instead (this will possibly mean you'll be seen, but then again it might not matter by then!)]

The archer at the other makeshift tower is a woman, shaven bald just like her peers. She has a tense, bewildered look on her face. "Seziar? What happened?" Probably a name. She seems to have noticed her counterpart's sudden absence, but not the cause.

A verdant Essence display wreaths her body, resembling the boughs of an oak tree, strengthening her vitality as she fires off a pair of glittering green arrows at Third. [Private to Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge: 3 sux, 8 sux flurry.]

Meanwhile, the monk Third attacks manages to deflect its sword with the haft of his goremaul, the splash of color halting abruptly. Rather than immediately retaliate, he and his companion settle into the low, stable stance of the Earth Dragon Style, emulating the strength and solidity of their patron Immaculate Dragon, Pasiap. Third has another chance to strike, should it wish it.

The Blue Stripes are taking their time moving into an ideal combat position, assessing the combat potential of both Third and the monks.

---

OOC: actions (edited to add Dashu to the tick count, oops)
tick 3 - Third
tick 5 - Dashu
tick 6 - Blue Stripes
tick 7 - Wood monk
tick 8 - Earth monks
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:14, Wed 01 July 2009.

Third moves with surprising swiftness. Its natural skill is enough to dodge one of the arrows, but the other is better aimed. It seems to be speeding straight for the Exalt's center of mass, but then, moving with unconcious grace, the Solar rolls backwards, hands catching the ground and pinwheeling it backwards, to stand among the automatons. It raises the blade, flicking it across the ground once, leaving a scar on Pasiap's frame, then charges forward among the two Earth Aspects, striking at one. Dust raises from where its feet hit the ground, and once, twice, three times, that blade flickers out wildly, each time cutting for the Earth Aspect's throat, a gleaming band of color that kicks up a brief splash of sparks when it strikes home against a weapon... Or flesh. The insults against the solidity of Pasiap are brutal, the jade showing its strength as it cuts open rock with the ease of a hot knife through butter. After each violent slice, the blade is returned to its position by the Exalt's side. The blows are intense, violent, not caring for the power expended with them, as they carry the Solar through its strikes to let it avoid what blows the ponderous Earth Monks may bring its way.

OOC: Using First Dodge Excellency to fill out the successes I need- 3-however many dice of stunt I got.

For attacks: You rolled 5 successes using 10d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((2,5,7,6,10,9,1,3,3,9)).
You rolled 6 successes using 9d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((4,1,10,3,7,6,6,10,9)).
You rolled 5 successes using 8d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((2,3,2,3,10,9,1,10)).

From an outsider's perspective, Third's evasion of the arrows looks like a startlingly narrow miss. Though the first arrow flies wide, missing by a long shot, the second still manages to inflict a small tear into its clothing, leaving its body unharmed as it sinks deeply into the earth. If not for Third's surge of determination to survive -- and to triumph -- the result may have been much, much worse. [Private to Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge: I gave a +2 stunt for the whole post and decided to apply it to both DV and attack. The above text is just a small cosmetic change here to hint that you saved yourself with a WP. :)]

Undaunted, Third continues onward with its blistering sword barrage. The skill it shows with the sword is exceptional; most any man, unarmored and unprotected by Essence, would have been grievously injured or felled by that succession of strikes. The Earth monk, however, is not nearly so fragile. Though the red jade daiklave strikes all three times, the first and third simply glance off the monk's fortified body... but the second pierces through, tracing a thin line of blood across the throat. [Private to Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge: With stunt, your attacks are now 7 sux, 7 sux, 5 sux. Against DV 5, this translates to 2 sux, 3 sux, 2 sux in. The monks have a current Hardness of 9 (5 from lamellar, 4 from Earth Dragon Form) and you do 7L with the daiklave. So... out of those 3 only the second one actually does damage.](1L damage)

By now, though, the Blue Stripes have completed their maneuvering, and the monks find themselves contending with a much larger concern. The red-beamed sentinel eyes focus on the monks currently harming their charges. One pair each takes on a single Earth monk, while the fifth moves toward the makeshift tower where the remaining Wood monk (now swiftly reloading her bow) still stands, raising its goremaul to strike at the comparatively flimsy scaffolding. Against that incredible force, the tower simply starts to fold inward, forcing the Wood Aspect to keep her footing... and complicating Dashu's chances of landing on it safely. [Private to Peleps Dashu: ok, I'll also want you to roll a reflexive Dex+Athletics diff 2--if you make it, you can make your attack on the archer right away, otherwise you'll fall instead.]

Two of the Blue Stripes attacking the Earth Immaculates miss, their goremauls whistling through the air, but the other pair beat down the monks with a demolishing blow each. The first monk struck goes down with a sickening crack, ill-prepared for the massive blunt weapon that crunches into his upper arm and shoulder. Letting out a strangled cry, he falls to the ground. (5B damage - total of 5B, 1L)

The other monk does not fare much better. Partially blocking with his (much smaller, though still large for human size) goremaul, the force of the Blue Stripe's swing actually pushes his parrying weapon right into his chest, the impact cracking one of his forearms and several ribs. (5B damage) He manages to stay standing, though, breathing heavily as he calls to the Wood immaculate, "Beril, the gate... inform them inside..." The older man coughs a plume of blood.

---

OOC: and here we discover why it's a good thing you never had to fight one of the HAS-units yourself. (I lessened the damage slightly from what was rolled because I realized the Earth immacs had a reflexive charm to aid soak further. Still, ouch!)

we'll pause to wait for Dashu since the Wood Aspect would normally go next.

Meanwhile, in the tunnel area, the digging continues laboriously.

Dena, Evamae and Danae feel the earth trembling they noticed before intensifying. Evamae, still in her insect form, speaks in a troubled voice. "I believe the inner compound has started to notice our efforts. They are preparing on the other side... anticipating our arrival. Should we attempt to contact the others and see how they are faring?"

---

OOC: a bit of a time discrepancy here, since digging is happening in long ticks, and the combat is normal ticks.

You may also try to roll Perc+Awareness, using hearing/feeling to see if you can make out anything about the numbers on the other side. Doing so will get easier and easier as you move forward so you can try multiple times.

"We should notify them that we're getting closer..." Danae began, touching the walls, eyes shut as she attempted to get a 'Feel' for the area surrounding the infiltration group.  While the earth wasn't exactly a place where her expertise particularly laid in--for the purposes of establishing earthworks and similar, she had recieved basic training in battlefield architecture...

She ran a gloved hand across the wall, expanding her awareness to encorporate the walls, following the geomancy encorporated within, and following it out into the room beyond everyone.  If they were truly preparing for trouble, it was likely that they would be spending Essence to prepare their martial arts Forms...  Even a small expenditure of such would be enough to show up in the area's geomancy, if only in the tiniest, most infinitesimal manner...

She frowned, an expression of doubt that thankfully was concealed by the expressionless mask of her helmet--this was 'Probably' crazy, her excellence laid in the department of the 'Ability', not in the elemental nature of Pasaip--surely this was probably a stupid bit of arrogance to try and copy, if only in the most rude fashion, the talents of her opponents...

But...  And here was the great 'But' in the matter...  Did the Dragons actually 'Agree' with the actions of their children here?  While the Immaculate Order surely 'Claimed' their sanction--how often had the Dragons actually answered the prayers for help they sent?  How often did they send representatives to confirm the righteousness of their 'Children?'

Perhaps, this would be a good place to test the matter...  Exhaling lightly, she snapped her eyes open, quickly drawing out her impression of the area's geomancy, and attempted to map out the positions of the monks on the opposite side of the remaining earth.  If her readings were correct...  They might have a chance of surprising them still!

[Private to Gatekeeper: 13:43, Today: Danae Adela rolled 6 successes using 9d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 7,9,6,10,9,1,9,6,3. Perc + Awareness

An Excellent roll deserves an excellent stunt :P  3 dots in Awareness, and 4 dots in Perception--my armor also provides a bonus of +2 dice (Though technically, it might only apply to sight), either way though, the roll still probably maintains the same number of successes.]

Dashu lands both effortlessly and quietly onto the platform.  He immediately spins into a whirlwind of jade claws that is silent, deadly, and effective.  He immediately plowed his right claw into the shaven temple of the young girl while bringing his left claw down to cut her leg so that she would have more difficulty standing and to drop her balance.  He finally slithered his left claw around right after cutting the left and once again slashed at the archer's throat to silence her.

[Private to GM:
13:25, Today: Peleps Dashu rolled 4 successes using 7d10 with ... rolls of 3,9,9,9,3,9,6. Dex + Athletics.

18:36, Today: Peleps Dashu rolled 4 successes using 9d10 with ... rolls of 5,1,6,1,4,7,10,7,4. Dex + Stealth Roll (forgot to flurry it).

Adding 4 sux to all the attacks with 2nd MA Ex:

18:46, Today: Peleps Dashu rolled 4 successes using 8d10 with ... rolls of 1,3,1,4,10,8,7,4. Attack 1.

18:46, Today: Peleps Dashu botched using 7d10 with ... rolls of 1,6,3,1,4,3,4. Attack 2.

18:47, Today: Peleps Dashu rolled 2 successes using 6d10 with ... rolls of 3,1,5,7,3,9. Attack 3.

Final sux:

Attack 1 = 8 sux
Attack 2 = 4 sux
Attack 3 = 6 sux

if I get the surprise attack then I went ahead and added the sux to the claw dmg bonus (+6L) and my str (2) so the raw damage should be as follows (I like to make things easy for ya):

Attack 1 raw damage = 16L
Attack 2 raw damage = 12L
Attack 3 raw damage = 14L

DV = 2 (+4 from excellency)
]

Dena pauses a moment, arms buried deep in soil to feel the vibrations a bit.
"Perhaps. . . something but it's faint to me." she decides.  Knowing that her senses are quite dull compared to many others, Dena doesn't let it bother.  "If the Monks are preparing a trap on the other side, we should plan a way to avoid or counter it.  What devices do you have available Danae?  Perhaps we could open only a small hole, and pour poison gas or an object which explodes through ahead of us to soften them up."

21:07, Today: Tervila Dena rolled 2 successes using 2d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 10,5. Perception + Awareness.

[Private to Danae Adela: Yeah, the Ashigaru helmet I don't think I'd have count for more than vision. However your stunt makes up for that, in any case.]

Danae opens her awareness to the conduits of Essence in the fortress, and the brighter pinpoints that would indicate life -- and power. She finds that she has a small measure of success, though achieving this without some sort of magical aid suited for the task is... more difficult than she would have thought.

She senses anywhere from 20-30 people in the room her companions are digging to. She can sense what is likely a very large compound beyond the earth and rock packed all around them. If she could rank the individuals within by 'brightness', the brightest source of Essence she can sense is near the rear of this large region. There are maybe a half dozen arrayed in the area of a mid-range brightness, and possibly a score more that are barely flickering candle-flames compared to the solid beacon of their elders.

So it 'feels' something like this to Danae. But she cannot be certain her 'feelings' are exact.

#####||                ~~#####   Approximate 'feel' of the room beyond. (Overhead!)
 1 ##||=======HH===~~~~~~#####
####//    4 4       ~~~~~~####   ~   uncertain areas (walls?)
###||    4 3         ~~~~~~###   ||  granite walls
###||--+  4           ~~~~~###   #   earth
###||44|              ~4~~~###   H   doors
###||+3|    4 4 4 4   ~4~~~###
###||--+    4  2  4  ~~~~~~###   1 - direction diggers are approaching from
###||  4        3  ~~~4~~~~###   2 - very bright essence source
###||  3 4  ~~~~~~~~4~3~~~~###   3 - mid-range essence source(s)
####~~     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~####   4 - dim essence source(s)
#####~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#####
###~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~###

Dena's feelings of what lies ahead are more... murky. She knows there's warm bodies ahead, she can hear several muffled voices, but she can't really make out any details or words.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:22, Wed 01 July 2009.

"There!!" the Wood aspect, apparently named Beril, suddenly shouts. With so little time and space to maneuver -- the scaffolding is quickly falling apart -- she is forced to dodge with very little clearance. She bends back from the first strike, but Dashu's claw still gashes three parallel surface wounds into her forehead. The second claw strike misses her leg by a hasty side-step. The gash at her throat tears off a small chunk from her neck but does not finish her, instead lessened by the resilience that the Wood Essence still pulsing around her lithe body. (2L total)

The Immaculate woman is panting from the effort of just barely having saved her own life -- if that would even last. She leaps from the crumbling tower, and fires a pair of arrows at her mysterious assailant as she hovers briefly in midair, glowing oak-leaves sprouting from the twin arrows that streak toward where Dashu still stands. She shouts as she falls, not bothering to hide her message: "Honored Seven Coals! We're under assault outside! Five rogue machines and two rebels! Open the gate!!"

[Private to Peleps Dashu: I rolled her awareness, and I had her spend a willpower. So she does see you coming, if barely. (My motivation for this is that she was actually alert for the possibility of another assault as she noticed her partner in the other tower disappeared.)

As for your damage: Her DV was 5, so your first attack went in with 3, your second missed, and your third also in with 3. With the charm she activated before you attacked, she had a soak of 9L. Your damage for both that hit was a raw 11L. So, default to essence ping... I rolled 4 dice of damage for 2 strikes that hit. Got 1L each, for total of 2L.

Beril's attacks on you are 5 sux and 2 sux. Looking at your sheet, you have a dodge DV 7-4(4 actions)=3, so, first is in with 2, and second misses. You'll probably have to stunt for the first arrow. Or you could stunt parry instead, that would mean it's in with 3 instead of 2, but you can add to your DV with MA Excel.]

---

OOC: actions (front gate)
tick 6 - Third (forgot you were Speed 3! sorry!)
tick 8 - Earth monks
tick 9 - Dashu
tick 12 - Wood monk, Blue Stripes

"Alright... I think I've got an idea what's going on in there..." Danae began, snapping back into awareness of the material world again.  "We're definately badly outnumbered from sheer numbers...  A fair number of ordinary fighters--probably not issues on their own...  But I count at 'Least' five acolytes in there right now...  And there's definately one potential Immaculate Master in that pile as well, and he's got a fair escort, and an additional Acolyte to boot...  It's going to be fairly tough...  We've got at least one group of defenders waiting for us to come out though--an acolyte, and a few lesser fighters.

She nodded, and prepared Impeccable Spark for battle.  "We're more-or-less going to be fighting the moment we break through, be ready everyone"

"Perhaps. . ." Dena pauses a moment to move a huge slab of rock from overhead, in order to avoid swallowing a mouthful of dirt.  "Perhaps we could send one of the Rubies to another location, order it to dig as noisily as possible to draw attention and force them to split their forces."

"I am certain there must be at least twenty waiting inside," says Evamae, returning from another stint of depositing earth outside in time to hear Dena and Danae's words. "Maybe half that close to where we will break through."

"I do not have any tricks to suggest, however I do think it would be best to see if we can at least use the tunnel to our advantage for a short time. It can serve as a bottleneck, forcing the enemies to come at us in smaller numbers. Of course... it would also disadvantage us, as we would also be fighting in tight spaces. But it may be a good way to thin the enemy a bit from the start with less risk to ourselves."

While the digging has continued, it seems at least one of the Ruby Guardians that had left to deposit the unconscious Peace Force soldiers have returned. Allowing one of the Rubies to pick up the slack, Evamae reverts to her more compact humanoid form.

"I will send the message..." She touches her earpiece communicator, sending a message to Third and Dashu. "We are approaching our entry point into the inner compound. We would like to know how you are faring at the front gate. Numbers are heavy here so you must draw as many from the outer compound away as possible."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:52, Wed 01 July 2009.

"We are in the midst of doing just that." says Third, as it steps forward, the Solar striding between the two Earth Aspects, towards the wounded Wood Aspect, just a little too late- so it would seem- to silence her, but moving in nonetheless. Chaos reins around it as the HAS units slice and chop at the  Earth Aspects, leaving them dizzied, but a preternatural calm falls around Third as it approaches the Wood Aspect, ensnaring her within it, the movements too slow to miss, but life seems to congeal around the Immaculate, making movements too slow, too weak, to stop that oncoming movement from the seemingly unspectacular rebel. The blade goes from by its side to pointed straight forward, hand mirroring the stance of the blade, holding the sheath, before Third blurs forward, feet striking the ground, leaving cracks where it touches, suppressed violence flying forward. Three times the blade flickers out- First cutting across one side of the Wood Aspect's body, then flickering across the other, shining lights moving across the form of the monk. Then the blade leaps back, arm extended backwards, the blade pointed wickedly towards the monk's center of mass, and with a sound like the wind whistling through a rocky peak, kissing the mountaintops, the sound of sun shining too harshly for life to survive. The blade thrusts forward, aimed for the sternum of the Dragon-Blooded, to kill her- It would be faster to aim for the heart, but Third needs to use a death that will call to those inside. It does not think of this as good, or as bad. It simply is what needs to be done. "You should have stayed quiet. You've ruined everything. For yourself, and your friends inside." it says. Still enough of the act is in there, to make the truth of it seem just plausible enough.

OOC: You rolled 7 successes using 10d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((8,6,5,6,10,9,8,6,10,1)).
You rolled 3 successes using 9d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((3,7,9,6,4,3,7,2,1)).
You rolled 6 successes using 13d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((5,5,3,5,8,2,5,7,3,6,9,10,9)).

Beril completes her message in midair. With the ground swiftly rushing toward her (or her to it) she manages to tuck her body into a compact shape and impact the ground safely, bouncing back onto to her feet.

Third, of course, is already waiting for her. Without a proper weapon to block his attacks, she can only rely on her body's reflexes and her Essence to avoid the flurry of blows that attempts to cut through her body and end her life. The first blow leaves a gash on her side that makes her hiss with pain. (2L) She bends her body, *barely* managing to clear the second, but the swift and brutal stab toward her sternum catches her as she rights herself.

A gasp issues from Beril's throat -- she'd not expected such speed and skill from a mere rebel -- but the blow is partially absorbed by her jade breastplate. Rather than stabbing through her sternum it bounces upward to nick her chest up to the clavicle. (1L) "What... ruin, do you speak of? You are delusional. You... cannot... wipe us all out."

[Private to Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge: Well, she managed to avoid the second blow, but you got a couple more damage dice due to her wound penalties and your stunt. Still, it wasn't QUITE enough to kill her (silly dice, again); she's at her last -2.]

The two Earth Immaculates, faced with the might of the Blue Stripes, are far from reckless. The one that was knocked over staggers to his feet, and despite the agony surely burning through his crushed shoulder, grips his grand goremaul with both arms. Rather than retaliate against the incredibly skewed odds, the both of them back away toward the gate, so that the massive machines cannot surround them. "Wicked machines... the Council does ill to trust them completely..." growls the younger of them.

"It is the heretics, the Anathema who cause such chaos to run rampant," replies the grim older man with blood trickling from his mouth.

Behind them, the gate mechanism begins to whir noisily...

---

OOC: actions
tick 9 - Dashu, Third
tick 12 - Wood monk, Blue Stripes
tick 13 - Gate opens!

Earth monks are guarding/holding action, waiting for gate to open.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:36, Thu 02 July 2009.

At the tunnel, the terse message from Third at least reassures the digging group that something is being done. Perhaps enough to draw some of the inner compound fighters away. But Evamae seems to believe that, according to Jhenli's approximations of the numbers within, the garrison monks are divided roughly evenly between the outer compound (the one the front gate opens into) and the inner (the one Dena and the others are digging toward).

"The weakest of them should not be difficult for you, Creators," she says, brandishing her double shock pikes now that they are coming closer. The Rubies continue the efficient rhythm of digging, always at least two digging at any time and two carrying earth out.

The ground continues to quake -- then suddenly jolts violently, as if from a massive impact beyond the tunnel. The earth above the Exalts and their builder bug allies starts to come apart, ruining some of their hard tunneling work as large fragments of earth and stone start to rain on the group.

---

OOC: Dex+Athletics diff 3. Or you will fall prone and take 6B levels of damage (you can soak this, though, to a minimum of 1B.) Unfortunately this also applies for flight capable PCs like Dena since you've got earth surrounding you from above, as well.

You should get to the wall soon, I just don't want to end up with weird time paradoxes. ;)

"Rather impatient of them, wouldn't you agree?" Danae observed, glancing about the tunnel and quickly taking in the rocks--before hopping back in a tight arc, and bringing Impeccable Spark's pommel up to shatter one of the larger falling rocks to bits, scattering it harmlessly on the ground below.

"At any rate, at least they're saving us the time of cutting through the granite...  I see they're reluctant to fight a battle on two fronts as well--this can probably be taken as a good sign... I think"


[Private to Gatekeeper: 23:15, Today: Danae Adela rolled 3 successes using 8d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 2,4,9,9,4,9,3,5. Dex + Ath]
This message was last edited by the player at 06:25, Thu 02 July 2009.

Dena grimaces as the tunnel begins to collapse around her, and moves to interpose an arm over Evamae and block any debris from falling on the insect princess.  A large slab bounces off her back and cracks in half when it encounters her spiked carapace.

10:39, Today: Tervila Dena rolled 2 successes using 4d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 4,8,9,4. Dex + Ath.

Not enough successes.  Hmm, will Dena's Central Directional Mastery charm protect her in this situation?

Danae remains unharmed, the falling rocks splitting as easily as flesh against the edge of Impeccable Spark. Dena, rather than dodging the preemptive cave-in, simply allows them the chunks of earth to fall on her without any concern. They break apart into harmless dirt as they strike her warform body, sloughing off her and settling harmlessly on the ground. [Private to Tervila Dena: Yes, the Central Direction charm does work! I'm assuming here that you use it, though if I'm wrong I'll edit this post.]

Evamae does not fare so well, falling on her knees but managing to roll away and avoid any harm, her armor and carapace taking care of the rest. One of the Rubies is knocked to its side as well, a particularly large rock fragment impacting with its chitinous shell, dazing it slightly but doing minimal damage. (1B on Ruby Guardian)

The Hive Princess struggles to rise, using the shock pike hafts to haul herself up while the poor Ruby Guardian lolls back and forth until it can roll upright. Two more Rubies in the tunnel at the time manage to keep their footing and doggedly continue the clearing of earth.

Another, lesser impact strikes from ahead. And another. The shaking is constant, now, though not nearly so devastating as that first blow. [Private to Danae Adela: at this point I will assume that if you have at least 2 Athletics you can keep upright, which you do, so we won't time-waste with more rolls.][Private to Tervila Dena: Your charm will pretty much keep you safe at this point.]While annoying, the impacts also shake loose the earth close to the granite wall, and speeds up the process of digging immensely.

---

OOC: ok, last minute charms, preparations, whatever... Join Battle for the tunnel folks is imminent.

"Get ready everyone" Danae warned, making sure her weapon was drawn, and that the Fivefold Bulwark Stance was once again assumed.  "I'll move in first--there's a high probabiltiy they're ready to focus their fire on the first one to poke their head out--and I've mastered a Perfect Defense...  Assuming I can react faster, I could also do a good job of scattering their defenders in the process..."

She adjusted her posture again, and delved once again into her memories...  She had a technique to allow her a high speed flurry of accurate blows...  But it would be taxing on her Essence, and wouldn't be significantly more advantage then just attacking ordinarily...  She knew there was a technique a step above this though--flaring Essence into her nervous system, and compressing it with utmost will--she would gain the ability to momentarily accelerate her reaction time, laying out with a whirlwind of blows in the space of an instant.  With the Essence charge augmenting her own reaction times and physical abilities, she would have the speed to perform this action as well...

At any rate, it would be important to at least clear out the initial attackers quickly, before the others in the room realized just what they were up against.

Her free hand went to the grip of her Firewand--if her senses were correct, then to her right, immediately after entering the room, there would be attackers above--she would need to be ready to open fire on them when the initial group was scattered...

[Private to Gatekeeper: Attempting to Stunt Learn Iron Whirlwind Technique for the upcoming battle]

Dashu easily bats both arrows flying his way out of the sky.  It was more of an essence fueled reflex than anything but it got the job done.  He then dives off the crumbling tower himself, so as to not get caught up in the debris.  He focuses his dive in the direction of one of the earth monks and extends both claws forward.  He prepars to tuck and roll with the impact from hitting either the monk or the floor.

[Private to GM:

Well my form charm does add my Essence into my dodge DV but I fogot to factor that into my calculations earlier (my bad)... plus its more fun to bat stuff out of the sky anyway so I'll use my claws and my excellency to raise the DV to 6.

Adding 4 sux on the attack with the 2nd Ex.

Peleps Dashu rolled 7 successes using 13d10 with ... rolls of 3,4,6,1,8,3,8,10,5,9,3,10,4. Attack on Earth Monk.

Total Sux = 11
Str + Dmg (claws)= +8L

Assuming no DV penalty from diving off a building (that's a bit much of an assumption though).

Dodge DV = 10
Parry DV = 5 (+4 from the excellency)
]
This message was last edited by the player at 22:13, Thu 02 July 2009.