Veldygar fiddled with the controls of his shock pike, clearing his throat nervously. He had been in fights before. But that was the first time he would take part in an engagement of this magnitude. That he would follow the orders of another of his own free will, not compelled by a slave collar.

But, looking at Danae, he saw the Solar general in her, a kindred spirit. He decided he trusted her to see them through this ordeal.

"I am ready."

[Private to Veldygar Arhandor: OOC: 21:59, Today: Veldygar Arhandor rolled 8 successes using 6d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 7,10,10,9,10,2. Join Battle. Not everyday you see rolls like that. Though IIRC we will use Danae's roll?

GM note - You are correct, we'll be using Danae's Join War instead.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:06, Thu 24 Sept 2009.

At central column, south barrier (Danae, Third, Eternal, Veldygar, etc.)

In the next minute, the would-be ambush is set. Dezephiel crouches near the intersection with bow-arms readied, dwarfing both Danae and Veldygar in size. The others, along with the machine spirits, remain as inconspicuous as possible. Eternal remains cleanly hidden, rendered invisible by spectral Essence.

The scouts move cautiously, stepping carefully; they seem to still be unaware their presence is already known. There are only six of them, but they are well-armored, the leader an Earth Immaculate in heavy armor, wielding a grand goremaul. The other five are in blue jade lamellar, moving lightly on their feet with no obvious weaponry, also garbed in the robes of Immaculate Monks. They communicate non-verbally, with subvocal intonations and gestures, so it's difficult to know what they are intending.

Partially melded into the wall near Third, Garnet Cog holds up an articulated finger made of floating, not-quite-interlocking parts, and concentrates. Whatever happens next seems to have an effect on the Immaculates, who pause with marked confusion on their faces. When they come to a stop, it is just within range of the ranged combatants. They huddle as if to confer with one another.

---

OOC: I went through the trouble of rolling stealth separately... normally I would not, but there's few of you. Up to you now whether you will attack. They don't *seem* to see you, and your groups both got equal results in Join War.

[Private to Broken Eternal; Danae Adela; Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge; Veldygar Arhandor: Normally I won't reveal numbers like this, but since we're testing out new rules here are how the stats turned out. I mostly like the rules but am still uncertain about the DVs (right now Might is in the calculation; still not sure if it's too much.) Also derived stats are assuming use of Int instead of Dex, let me know if you like this, think another attribute would be better, etc.

PCs
Leader: Danae Adela (War 4)
Unit: Veldygar, Third, Eternal, Dezephiel
Magnitude 1, Might 5, Drill 1
Close Combat Rating 5, Ranged Combat Rating 5
Close Combat Damage 10L, Ranged Combat Damage 11L
Armor 9L, Hardness 0L, Mobility -0
Health Levels 10

Derived Stats
Join War 6
Close Combat 8 + 9 sux
Ranged Combat 8 + 9 sux
Dodge DV 5, Parry DV 9

Enemy
Leader: Earth Immaculate (War 4)
Unit: Air Immaculate x5
Magnitude 1, Might 4, Drill 4
Close Combat Rating 4, Ranged Combat Rating 5
Close Combat Damage 6L, Ranged Combat Damage 7Lx2
Armor 11L, Hardness 5L, Mobility -1
Health Levels 8

Derived Stats
Join War 7
Close Combat 8 + 8 sux
Ranged Combat 6 + 8 sux
Dodge DV 8, Parry DV 8]
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:39, Wed 07 Oct 2009.

Toward western major staircase (Dena, Dashu, Evamae, Rubies)

Dena and Evamae continue moving northward with the Rubies. They are unsure yet whether they have been followed, but they are making a good deal of noise. Northward is incidentally taking them closer and closer to the vicinity of the western stairs.

After communing via insect-speak relays from the front lines, Evamae says, "There ought to be another force near the major stairway, but lesser than they would have been. They're split in front and behind us now. However though they are lesser, I would expect them to be stronger than the force we left behind. Should we continue toward the stairs or divert path again, Tervila Dena?"

Further southward, Dashu nimbly clings to the walls, which are stronger than stone, but his jade claws are enough to at least find purchase there. Unseen by the forces he is tracking, he figures out a rough idea of their numbers as they halt at a wide intersection.

There are three distinct types: the Earth Immaculates equipped with articulated plate and goremauls, Water Immaculates in reinforced breastplate and razor claws and the Air Immaculates in lamellar but no obvious weapon. All of this is jade equipment, but not magitech. The Earth monks are stronger but less numerous (Magnitude 1), while the younger Water seem to be the bulk of the force (Magnitude 2). The Air serve as scouts (Magnitude 1). However Dashu is unsure he is seeing all of the scouts, as several disappear from his line of sight and run silently northward, possibly pursuing the louder Ruby Army.

[Private to Peleps Dashu; Tervila Dena: Normally I won't reveal numbers like this, but since we're testing out new rules here are how the stats turned out. I mostly like the rules but am still uncertain about the DVs (right now Might is in the calculation; still not sure if it's too much.) Also derived stats are assuming use of Int instead of Dex, let me know if you like this, think another attribute would be better, etc.

Ruby Army
Leader: Tervila Dena (War 3)
Unit: Evamae, Ruby Guardian x30, Ruby Warrior x90
Magnitude 3, Might 3, Drill 5
Close Combat Rating 4, Ranged Combat Rating 4*
Close Combat Damage 12L, Ranged Combat Damage 13L*
Armor 9L, Hardness 1L, Mobility -0
Health Levels 9
* Ranged attack (acid streamer) only available 5x a day.

Derived Stats (before Magnitude Difference)
Join War 3
Close Combat 6 + 6 sux
Ranged Combat 6 + 6 sux
Dodge DV 7, Parry DV 6

No stats for enemy just yet, as you're not engaging.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:54, Wed 14 Oct 2009.

"We shall continue towards the staircase at this point, but stop the army before we reach it.  If we divert they may realize our plan or, if the stairwell isn't being threatened, send their armies back and find Danae.  However I don't wish to be caught between two enemy forces either.  We'll stop about five hundred yards short of their position and let the rubies rest until Dashu returns, hopefully with the position of their reinforcements." Dena decides after thinking it over a moment.  "It may confuse our enemies a bit, if they try to parley or the situation seems right I shall challenge their leader to single combat in order to draw the situation out more and hamper enemy morale.  Or, even better, we might be able to hit the two armies separately before they can unite and defeat them in detail.  I will all depend on the information we can gather."

Convinced he can't do any more from the current vantage point, Dashu decides to return to to the army he's with.  He quickly relays the information he's gleaned back to Dena as well as his uncertainty.  "I'm on my way back," he speaks into the communicator and begins to follow through on that promise.

A slight *Click* is the first--and likely only warning--the Immaculate scouting party would have recieved--barring their access to supernal awareness of course--that things were likely about to become /deeply/ unpleasant for them in the immediate future.

In theory anyway.

Forcefully tilting her Firewand forward, signaling the firing line to commence their attack, Danae quickly shoulders the weapon--Creation slowing as she pulled the trigger, igniting the firedust within the barrel of the gun, and sending the first of what would undoubtedly become Many gouts of flame into the Immaculate Line--undoubtedly supported from a barrage of arrows from Veldygar's Demon, an onslaught of fire from his shock pike--and whatever else could be mustered by the ragtag little team.

Of course, Danae wasn't so arrogant as to believe this, and this alone would be enough to immediately win the day--especially with one of the annoying Earth Monks among the opposite side--but it should stagger them, force them to bunch up--and hopefully begin wasting time and essence in activating their Forms.

An opening she planned to exploit--as once the fifth shot was fired, she dropped the Firewand, and started making her way in, to lead the charge and mop up anything the initial barrage missed!

[Private to Gatekeeper:
22:51, Today: Danae Adela rolled 2 successes using 6d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 9,4,5,6,9,6. Join War (Wits + War - Mag).
22:51, Today: Danae Adela rolled 2 successes using 8d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 3,9,4,6,6,8,4,4. Ranged Attack! (+9).

Yeck, not the best of rolls, but there you have it, hopefully my stunt should help things out a notch :P

And that Might and Ranged Combat Rating helps quite a lot too :D]

Firing his shock pike, Veldygar methodically fired following Danae's instructions. When she started jumping into the fray, he hesitated a split-second, then sent Gugoona to help her carve a bloody swath across enemy ranks, and remained behind to cover her with Dezephiel.

[OOC: Unless you tell me to join you in Melee, in which case I will edit this post to reflect that.]

Third waits by the wall as the barrage is fired, before, as she charges forward, spinning around to run along by her side, blade out as the Solar runs with her, prepared to bring a bit of its own particular brand of pain for these Immaculates.

At central column, south barrier (Danae, Third, Eternal, Veldygar, etc.)

It so happens that the Earth Immaculate has been listening to the ground at his feet. One cannot always be so lucky with ambushes... "Wait! There's an enemy force waiting down the next corridor!" Nonetheless, even though the scouts are aware of the attackers waiting for them, they cannot be completely sure on tactics, without knowing their weaponry The Earth Aspect decides to trust in the superior armor of himself and his comrades. "Normal formation. Let us out the ambushers with caution."

They are met with the barrage from Danae and her two ranged attackers: a bewildering combination of gouts of flame, unseen force blasts and a rain of seemingly endless arrows. (3L damage on enemy unit) Nearly every one of the scouts are struck at least shallowly, hissing in pain as their armor fails to completely protect from scalding and puncturing. The Air Immaculates grit their teeth and -- at the Earth Aspect's command -- return fire with a storm of chakram that flicker as quickly as an eyeblink from their gauntleted fingertips before their opponents can close in.

[Private to Danae Adela: Attack is 11 sux total. Your Dodge DV is only 5 so .. honestly you might want to bump that up with a War Excellency if you have one. I don't think you can stunt to make your entire unit parry ranged, that's stretching it a little for me. Anyway post defense and your next attack which I'm presuming you'll use to lead the entire unit in melee... I'll leave it to you to decide that.]

Toward western major staircase (Dena, Dashu, Evamae, Rubies)

Dashu is able to give his report through the communicators before returning to the army physically. Since the communicators are connected through Danae, her group hears Dashu's report as well: there are three groups of Magnitude 2 or less, of Water Immaculates and a smaller amount of Air and Earth Immaculates, in Inner Temple Level 1, Southwest. In addition, the Air Immaculates have been sent toward the western staircase where Dena is now approaching.

Hearing this, Evamae says, "The Air Aspects are likely to be stealthy. They may even have projectile weapons. We should fortify our rear, but we will also need to get a closer look at what awaits at the staircase." As ordered, though, Evamae has the Rubies stop at 500 yards from the stairs. Even so, the long column of Rubies is forced to spill out into adjacent corridors and rooms to hold roughly in the same area. "However, I believe that it is unlikely those guarding the staircase will advance unless they think the need is greater than the importance of the position they guard. My opinion is that we should turn to face southward, and attempt to envelop the smaller force behind us. Starting with the Air Aspects, and if the others advance, then we can use the corridors to our advantage to take the groups one at a time."

"You may use my advice as you see fit, of course, Creator." The Hive Princess bows her head respectfully.

Dashu manages to remain stealthy enough to pursue behind the group of Air Immaculates heading north. He cannot see their exact position, unfortunately, only knows they are stealthily approaching the rear of the Ruby Army.

[Private to Peleps Dashu; Tervila Dena: Dena you'll probably want to roll Join War here. Dashu, roll a separate Join War (note: Wits+War-Magnitude, Mag. for a solo unit is 0), unless you will join Dena's attackers.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:33, Wed 07 Oct 2009.

"I think your strategy is sound Evamae.  We can take far fewer casualties destroying the enemy in detail." Dena switches to her communicator.
"Dashu, we're going to charge the enemy momentarily.  On the off chance that they retreat you may need to be ready to get out of their way if you're still behind them."


23:45, Today: Tervila Dena rolled 2 successes using 3d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 10,6,3. Join War.

"Veldygar!  Third!"  Danae called out, raising her voice enough to be heard as she charged in, Impeccable Spark flying out from it's scabbard as the first wave of Chakram's closed in, her brilliant mind quickly running trajectories of the oncoming hail of metal, and determining the Best Path that the companions could take in order to evade the worst of it, giving them a shot at dodging the rest on their own.  "Sidestep left, and shift your profiles facing them by thirteen degrees to the right!  Keep pushing forward, and don't flinch unless you want to take a few hits!"  Switching Spark to a reverse grip, Danae continued to push forward, jinking to and fro to foul the aim of the Immaculates, and occasionally lashing out at the projectiles with quick, accurate blows, knocking them into their peers, and clearing open a path for everyone else to dodge.  Of course, being the one to lead the charge, she had to run through the majority of the blows--but her own quick movements and minute shifts caused the few that got close to glance harmlessly off the heavier plates of her Ashigaru armor.

The storm began to let up a bit as the Celestial Force reached close combat range, and Danae shifted Spark back to an overhanded grip, holding it with both hands at this point, as she leapt off into the center of the lines, twisting in mid-air to deliver a stunning, spinning kick to the Air Monk closest to her position, and leaving him to deal with those right behind her.

As was her usual strategy, it was her role to take on the strongest of the opposing group--and as she tucked into a roll, having passed the picket of Air Monks, her own target seemed to be momentarily surprised--but that would hardly stop him from counterattacking...

But from her experiences in the lower level, Danae was now quite familiar with the fighting style of Earth Monks, and Spark quickly struck outwards to arrest his motion, several lightning-speed cuts aimed to keep him from building up the momentum needed to bring his full power to bear!

[Private to Gatekeeper: 10:00, Today: Danae Adela rolled 4 successes using 8d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 7,1,10,5,9,3,6,3. Close Combat Attack!.

13 successes on Close Combat.  I'm also spending 8m Personal on Second War Excellency on the dodge attempt, bringing the group's DDV up to 9]

Taking whatever cover he could from the flying chakram and other ranged attacks, Veldygar followed Danae's instructions, covering his fellow Solar with intense suppressive fire.

Moving in lockstep with its fellow Solars, Third's feet touch the ground lightly as its body moves to avoid each strike, dodging between blows, staying in the jetstream of Danae's movements, avoiding the chakram with light grace, avoiding them with gentle movements of its body, the blades leaving the most delicate of cuts along the edge of the fabric that the Solar wears- Not even deep enough to cut it open.

At central column, south barrier (Danae, Third, Eternal, Veldygar, etc.)

The barrage of chakram is foiled by Danae quickly snapping commands, her natural leadership ability bolstered by a touch of Essence. Rather than clattering onto the floor, the razor-edged circular rings dissipate in a flash of blue light as soon as they touch the ground. [Private to Danae Adela: A +2 stunt for the defense. +1 for the attack.]

Danae and her attackers advance diligently, sidestepping or ducking projectiles that never truly deter them. Closing the distance, the Dawn Caste moves straight for the leader while Dezephiel obediently takes up the front line, occupying the Air Immaculates as they are forced into melee combat by the proximity. Third and Veldygar flank the scouts, keeping the fight between Danae and the Earth Immaculate isolated while Eternal -- a menacing presence wreathed by shadow, lurking in their midst -- steps in with his dual blades to support Danae personally. Only the Immaculates' superior equipment and Charms keep the well-coordinated attack from becoming a crushing victory. (2L unit damage, for a total of 5)

The leader is not nearly so advanced on the Earth Dragon Path as Master Firmament, but he is no fool, either. "Anathema, you dare taint the holy Temple with your presence? Know that even should we fall here, your would-be invasion will not only be expected, but thwarted by our superior forces!" Holding his goremaul defensively to fend off another flurry of slashes from Danae, he attempts to access his communicator. "Grandmaster, Orichalcum Alert has been confirmed. At least one Celestial leader, and an enemy sorcerer consorting with demons... Grandmaster? Please respond!"

It seems that Garnet Cog's curse on the communicators is working. Thwarted in his report, the Earth Immaculate passes on his command for two of the Air scouts to split off and retreat. The wounded pair break away and start sprinting eastward, while he and the remaining three press the attack. It's obvious that the goremaul-wielding commander is contributing the most raw power at close range, while the scouts are forced to attack barehanded. [Private to Danae Adela: Enemy unit got 11 sux vs a Parry DV of 9-1=8.]

---

OOC: actions (long ticks)
tick 10 - Danae's group
tick 13 - Earth+Air Immaculate scouts(3)
Fleeing scouts(2) moving at 8x30 yards/tick since tick 5.

[Private to Broken Eternal; Danae Adela; Veldygar Arhandor; Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge: On tick 5 (after Danae's close attack), enemy commander flurries to Signal high command and Split Unit. Then tick 8, attacks with remaining scouts in his unit. Split Unit rules also dictate that the enemy now counts as Magnitude 0, not 1. (Thus Danae's unit gets a further +1 sux to attacks from the Magnitude Difference.)

We've been forgetting to count -DV for attacking, too. (It's -1 DV.) So I'll be remembering that from this post onward.

Danae will have to also issue a Split Unit command to get someone to pursue the fleeing scouts. Also, note that a solo unit gets x100 multiplier to speed...]
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:49, Fri 16 Oct 2009.

Toward western major staircase (Dena, Dashu, Evamae, Rubies)

The column of Rubies turns 180 degrees back around, and advances to meet with the group of Air scouts moving north. Dashu is behind the enemy scouts, positioning himself to support the attack as a solo unit at Dena's command.

The Air scouts cannot miss the mass of giant red insects marching down the corridor toward them. Knowing they are outnumbered, they do not attempt to step into their midst and attack, but turn and retreat toward the larger force of Water and Earth Immaculates waiting further southward.

They may well pass Dashu by altogether, unless he reveals himself, as he's currently well hidden.

---

OOC: actions (long ticks)
tick 0 - Air Immaculate scouts (fleeing at 10x30 yards/tick)
tick 2 - Dena+Rubies, Dashu
Earth+Water Immaculates are 1500 yards distant, holding action.

[Private to Tervila Dena; Peleps Dashu: See corebook p. 163 for speed multipliers. I should add that Skirmish formation is not possible in the Inner Temple corridors, they're just too narrow. In fact given the size of the Rubies, I'd rule that only Close formation is reasonable...

Also, here's the stats of the first group of enemies. Dena+Rubies is Magnitude 3 so has a +2 difference with the Scouts. Dashu has a -1 difference, being a solo unit commanded by Dena. The different applies to attack rolls only and adds or subtracts from successes.

Air Immaculate Scouts
Leader: Senior Air Immaculate (War 4)
Unit: Air Immaculate x10
Magnitude 1, Might 4, Drill 4
Close Combat Rating 4, Ranged Combat Rating 5
Close Combat Damage 3B, Ranged Combat Damage 7Lx2*
Armor 9L, Hardness 5L, Mobility -1
Health Levels 9
* Air Immaculates can throw 2 projectiles for every 1.

Derived Stats (before Magnitude Difference)
Join War 7
Close/Ranged Combat 8 + 8 sux
Parry DV 10, Dodge DV 8]

"Evamae, kindly take command of the army for the moment." Dena suggests.  "I'm going to fly ahead and join Dashu, then try to block their progress for a few moments while the rest of the army catches up.  I suggest you keep a massed formation and simply use the army's momentum to smash them like a hammer."
With those simple instructions Dena flares her wings and takes off, trailing purple lightning as she heads over the heads of the army at high speed on the way to join Dashu.

(Hmm, presumably Dena, being one person, has no formation penalty to her move.  She normally does a dash of 48 yards a tick before anima banner so that gives her 4,800yards on the x100 scale.  I'm gonna presume she can manage to exceed them handily without worrying about it.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:10, Thu 22 Oct 2009.

At central column, south barrier (Danae, Third, Eternal, Veldygar, etc.)

Using insights extracted from long buried memories and the blessing of the Unconquered Sun, Danae guides her small group into a seamless defense against the Earth commander and his scouts. Dezephiel's tangle of demonic limbs contribute significantly to the maneuver, while Danae's Iridescent Spark, Veldygar's shock pike and Third's red jade daiklave deflect blows from jade gauntlets and goremauls alike.

Danae tasks Broken Eternal to catch up with the two fleeing scouts. The Earth Immaculate, true to his element, seems determined to survive as long as possible, marshaling his courage while organizing his remaining scouts into an ideal formation that leaves few openings for the Celestials' next counterattack. Eternal is much more fortunate: stepping lighter than a breath, he flickers from shadow to shadow, reaching the would-be escapees and eviscerating them mercilessly from behind. One crumples with a clean slash down the spine; the other all but explodes into a crimson mess on the nearby wall as he drives his daiklave through her.

Seeing his last chance of informing his superiors die with his messengers, the Earth Immaculate and his three Air subordinates fight doggedly but futilely. Were Danae and her companions not so evenly matched with him, and his numbers not so dwindled, the outcome may have been different. Instead, the Celestials and demon aide absorb the attack and rally together for a final offensive surge that fells the remaining Air Aspects and overwhelms the Earth leader, disarming and subduing him.

[Private to Danae Adela; Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge; Veldygar Arhandor; Broken Eternal: You are in front of the nastily trapped corridor described earlier, leading to a barrier blocking the way to the central column. Will you wait for the others to join you? How will you attempt to break through the traps and barrier? Third's memories, Danae's skill with magitech, the machine-spirits (Harmony and Garnet Cog), possibly even the Earth leader (if you kept him alive) could help with that. Or will you find another way up?]

Toward western major staircase (Dena, Dashu, Evamae, Rubies)

"Very well, Tervila Dena, I will comply,", says Evamae promptly, and begins to pass on orders to the Rubies as Dena rises on the wings of her warform. She moves so swiftly there isn't even time for normal senses to even pick up a blur. Dena is gone, traversing the same hall space the Air scouts move through in a fraction of the time.

Dashu is already there. The scouts step into the vicinity of the Night Caste and immediately find themselves under attack. They can't even pinpoint who, where or how many beset them, only that they seem to come from everywhere at once, tearing them apart with black jade claws once worn by one of their own. Dena reaches them, essence lash crackling as she contributes to the attack -- more intimidating than damaging, in her case, but both go a long way to demoralize the scouts by the time the Ruby Warriors rush in.

They're still picking themselves up from the double-team Celestial attack when the group of young Air Immaculates are swallowed up and crushed by the torrent of red carapaces, razor sharp forearm blades and acid-dripping mandibles. Only a single figure, the apparent leader of the scouts, manages to extract himself far enough to make a last ditch attempt to escape the fate of the others, but Dena catches up to him before he can get more than a few paces away.

[Private to Tervila Dena; Peleps Dashu: You are 900 yards north from the larger group of Water and Earth Immaculates on this floor, the ones you prevented the Air scouts from reaching. You are also 1100 yards south of the western staircase leading up. Will you proceed to clean up the rest of the Immaculates waiting southward, proceed straight to the stairs, or both? Or will you rejoin Danae and the others at the central column?]

---

OOC: Just need a decision from each group before I continue fast forwarding, we won't dwell here long. Details in PMs.

Plenty of jade equipment, if you want it: The Air scouts encountered by both groups have blue jade lamellar and infinite jade chakrams. The Air scout leader encountered by Dena and Dashu carries the lamellar and chakram along with a blue jade baneclaw and a hearthstone amulet. The Earth leader encountered by Danae's group carries a grand goremaul, white jade reinforced breastplate and hearthstone bracers.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:50, Sat 14 Nov 2009.

Third sheathes its blade once again, looking at the corridor. 'Our best option, Third is inclined to believe, is to use our mechanical aids to hold the barriers open, so we are able to move through. Ideally, with at least one barrier open, we should be able to make our way through with time.' It looks towards the others. 'Though perhaps we would be able to figure out the triggering mechanism, if we wish to devote more time and care. Third leaves it up to you, Danae.'

Fiddling with the controls of his slowly cooling shock pike, Veldygar raised an eyebrow upon contemplating the tunnel. "Will keeping the doors open prevent the magnetic force from affecting our equipment?" He asked. "What about the sensors?" He wondered if the spell of Emerald Countermagic could disrupt the workings of the trap long enough for them to cross the corridor. And there was still the problem of the barrier.

[OOC: 11:55, Today: Veldygar Arhandor rolled 4 successes using 7d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 9,2,1,7,9,9,2. Per+Occult.]
This message was last edited by the player at 10:56, Sun 15 Nov 2009.

Garnet Cog answers Veldygar's first inquiry promptly. "Leaving the outer barrier open won't entirely eliminate the magnetic trap, it will only prevent us from being trapped in it permanently, and keep the humans from suffocating without air. The material, sadly, is also spirit proof, I do not think any of us can pass through it dematerialized."

The trap itself is not purely a sorcerous effect; if countermagic could affect a trap with permanency built into the design, then countermagic ought to also effectively neutralize the powers of an artifact of appropriate level. As Veldygar has never seen such occur, he is reasonably sure countermagic would have no effect here. Even if it would, he is pretty sure Emerald would not suffice; Sapphire Countermagic or better would be more appropriate.

Harmony's jarringly mechanical voice rises soon afterward. "IF-DEMATERIALIZED, GARNET-COG-AND-I-WILL-BE-UNAFFECTED-BY-MAGNETISM. I-PROPOSE-THE-FOLLOWING.

1. INSTRUCT-THE-SENTINELS-DESIGNATED-BLUE-STRIPES-TO-HOLD-OPEN-THE-TRAP-BARRIER.

2. I-AND-GARNET-COG-WILL-WORK-MANUALLY-ON-THE-INNER-BARRIERS-TO-UNLOCK-THEM.

3. CELESTIAL-EXALTED-MAY-PROVIDE-VERBAL-AID-FROM-BEYOND-THE-TRAP-PERIMETER, OR-TEMPORARILY-REMOVE-EQUIPMENT-AND-WORK-WITH-US-DIRECTLY."

[Private to Danae Adela; Third Beneficiary of Orderly Knowledge; Veldygar Arhandor; Broken Eternal: To keep this from stalling again, my suggestion is mostly to let the spirits/machines handle it, but if you want to risk it you can also participate. Ideally, whoever has the highest Wits OR Int + Lore OR Larceny total should lead, and the rest will add to the roll(s) via teamwork rules.

Bonuses for First Age knowledge from Past Lives may also count, but a lot more so should a PC be leading the attempts.

However, those of you stepping into the 'heavy air' region beyond the outer barrier may also be subject to penalties (lesser if you remove metal/magical material equipment). Let's not dwell on this long, I'll wait until tonight (about 12 hours from now) for a decision.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:36, Fri 20 Nov 2009.

Danae nodded after a moment's consideration.  "It's a good plan I think, we should be able to neutralize the worst of the traps this way...  Third?  Would you mind take the lead here?"  She glanced back to the Twilight.  "You've got much less equipment then the rest of us, and you're the best with actaully reprogramming these kinds of things.  I'll provide what support I can, as will everybody else-but it's probably for the best that we hurry up, before that last patrol winds up being missed."

Third bows its head, placing the jade daiklave on the ground. 'A wise suggestion. Third should be able to do so.' it says, carefully removing the modest armor it wears under its robe, prepared to enter and aid directly with the work, once the blue stripes have gotten into place.

"I am not an expert on such matters, so I will defer to your judgement," Veldygar said. The Eclipse was leaning against a nearby wall, resting after the harsh battle.

"I believe it's time we headed for the stairwell." Dena suggests after a moment's thought.  "We'll pause there and wait in case the enemy army decides to try attacking again, it will make a decent defensive position anyway.  If the terrestrial army doesn't move we'll head inside to back up the others."

Central column, south barrier

At Danae's command, a pair of Blue Stripes position themselves in front of the grooves that Third found, purposefully triggering the descending outer barrier. Catching the bottom edge with their massive gauntleted hands, they hold position and keep it lifted high enough for Third and the machine-spirits to move through.

Third immediately feels the heaviness of the air in this area pressing down on it, an uncomfortable, claustrophobic weight. Nonetheless, the Twilight Solar concentrates its efforts on coordinating the disarmament and opening of the barrier. Where its hands cannot easily reach, Cog uses her affinity toward magitech to manipulate the delicate mechanisms remotely, while Harmony patches herself directly into the circuitry, attempting to reroute any security measures triggered by the tampering. Third's prodigious mind provides the programming technique and ingenuity needed to work around the traps in a timely manner, aided by advice drawn from Danae's own practical experience with First Age machinery.

Finally, the heaviness lifts, returning the privileges of easy breathing and posture. The task is complete -- or as complete as it can manage.

According to Third, the trap has not been completely deactivated, only temporarily bypassed. As soon as it issues the final command to open the barriers into the central chamber, there will be only thirty seconds for all of them to step through before security systems and barriers are reset. On the other hand, their attempt succeeded well enough that they will have several minutes of reprieve before a general alarm is sounded. Time to bring them away from the source of the alarm, even to let Dena and Dashu into the central column from the outside.

Western staircase

Dena decides not to pursue the Water and Earth Immaculates, moving straight toward the staircase. She, Dashu and the Ruby Army find the way there clear of monks, though that may not last long, now that they've eviscerated one of the scout groups.

Then they hear word from Danae's group. They succeeded at breaching the center of the Inner Temple, and will be entering immediately. No time to wait or meet up -- their window is only 30 seconds long.

Using her memory of the Hive Queen's map, Evamae suggests that Dena, Dashu and the Rubies take the stairs up, then head due east until they reach a barrier. She tells Danae's group to open up the eastern barrier into the central column on Inner Temple Level 2, assuming they find some mechanism on the inside by which to do so.

"We should meet and recombine our forces as soon as possible, Creators," the Hive Princess advises over the comm so all the Celestials can hear. "The real opposition will be at the center, and they will know we are here. If we move fast, we should be able to crush the Immaculate guards and ascend to the Gatekeeper's level before they have time to organize."

All together

No one can argue that haste is needed. Danae, Third, Eternal, Veldygar and their various followers hurry through the barriers before they lose the element of surprise. Dena and Dashu climb the western stairs to the next level, shielded by the might of the Ruby Warriors of Irix Chilomena.

They will meet in the middle, upstairs.

---

OOC: As explained earlier, I assumed some decisions so that we could fast forward through tedious traps and battles. Therefore, this thread will now close. You will meet with all PCs in 'Floors B25-B22 - Inner Temple, Central Column' once I have finished narrating how everyone gets there.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:30, Wed 18 Nov 2009.