Segev Stormlord
GM, 759 posts
Mon 4 Apr 2016
at 03:21 | The Nameless LairWith the backing of the surprisingly accommodating Silent Thunder Leaves, Azalea and the others have limited difficulty in integrating with the group traveling to the center of Ma Ha Suchi's power. The fact that this is the destination is not lost on the majority of the human prisoners, which fills them with obvious dread. And sadly, unless they wish to resort to violence (which doubtless their Lunar escort would not be so cooperative about), there is no freeing all of the human captives. But they are cleared to care for them. And any beastmen that they wish to aid in recovering form the exhausting and lengthy march.
The humans, perhaps obviously, attempt to congregate near Beatrix and Azalea, though they remain leery of Silent Thunder Leaves and Austringer. Few, if any, even notice Merlin's presence unless he makes himself known. It's clear they hope that the Exalted might save them from the promised slavery...or worse...for those given as "tribute" to the Goat-Wolf.
It takes less than three days to finish the march, even with the pacing insisted upon by Azalea. As they draw near, the largest beastmen start to direct the human captives towards holding pens. A musky animal stench is thickening in the air as the forest gives way to a great, trampled caldera with an unnatural miniature mountain at its center. Caves with natural-looking crenelations poke out of its sides at odd angles, but the military-minded can note that they provide overwatch of the entire valley and the surrounding woods. Unnervingly, the whole thing is well-hidden by the woods themselves; one could not see this place from anywhere on the ground.
Perhaps the most disturbing sight for the civilized is the massive pits filled with humans who look to be allowed less dignity than animals at a slaughterhouse. They're not being gored, but the treatment and...shudder-worthy attentions...given to them by the bipedal beasts which leap in and select them are dehumanizing, and make it obvious why they value the literal scraps they might possibly still have with which to cover themselves. The infamous breeding pits.
"Welcome to the Lair of Ma-Ha-Suchi," intones Silent Thunder Leaves. Having traveled with her, it is clear she's trying for "grand," but it falls flat as she has no real idea how to speak to a group and her voice trails off.
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Merlin
player, 452 posts
If you knew he
would have to kill you
Mon 4 Apr 2016
at 23:11 | The Nameless LairMerlin keeps his place and continues to observe. He objectively looks at the camps and understands what the Beast is likely about, but finds that it is all to inefficient. Why waste the efforts of 9 months when one but needs a day's services from a competent midwife. Merlin has a hard time believing that not one of those women in the 2nd camp ever helped another woman give birth. They should all be trained to help each other. In many cases the woman would likely survive to serve again. Merlin shakes his head at the inefficiency and now knows why Ma-Ha-Suchi's experiments have been less than fruitful.
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Austringer
player, 56 posts
Wed 6 Apr 2016
at 02:10 | The Nameless LairAustringer crushes his hands together behind his back, focusing on the pressure to keep from springing into action and tearing appendages off the beastmen until they are all dead or his rage burns itself out. Killer of the Arsani household or not, Ma-Ha-Suchi has now proven he needs to be put down. And if no one else is willing, I will be the one to do it., he thinks.
But the captured mortals, especially the kid with the goats, have to be his first concern. Rescue, then punishment. He leans over to Beatrix and says, sotto voce, "I hope you have an actual plan for getting all these people out of here. Or should I just dive in and start carving these monsters up?"
He tries his best to look unobtrusive, torn between wanting to look supportive to the nearest captives and not wanting to frighten them.
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Segev Stormlord
GM, 762 posts
Fri 8 Apr 2016
at 15:20 | The Nameless LairWhile they don't gather around, it is clear from how they choose to position themselves that most of the captives prefer being nearer Austringer than Silent Thunder Leaves. Presumably, they also would rather not be near the beastmen, but they're not given liberty to avoid them very much.
They do gather close when Azalea administers to them, seeking comfort where they can get it. The younger ones have definitely improved in color and energy level with her aid, and Merlin and Beatrix have heard some quiet whisperings of whether it's really a good thing that the teens are healthier, especially as they eye the pits.
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Azalea
player, 193 posts
Mon 11 Apr 2016
at 14:57 | The Nameless Lair
Azalea maintains her attempts to restore health to those that lack it, although her constant proximity to those may have made Exalted planning a little trickier - you can't discuss things like that next to patients. She didn't do much to the trip other than administering her treatments and occasionally meditate or perform some slow stretches to rid herself of fatigue (which may or may not look like martial arts to those that know such things).
Still, she keeps an eye on her companions when they seem to be discussing something of importance, in case her presence is needed; after all, she can excuse herself for a few minutes.
When they reach their destination she looks around apprehensively, but keeps her thoughts to herself.
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Segev Stormlord
GM, 765 posts
Mon 11 Apr 2016
at 21:49 | The Nameless LairFor most, the struggle to restore health with so few resources and such a grueling pace would be a losing battle, with "victory" measured in how much the degradation of one's patience could be slowed. Azalea, however, has managed to truly reverse the worst of it, moving like an incarnate blessing amongst those she treats. The younger ones even seem to have moments of joy in the travel, forgetting for a bit where they are headed and under what circumstances.
When the little goat boy looks bleakly out at the pits yawning in the valley below, and stares in trepidation at the towering rock formation that is more gigantic stalagmite than structure, therefore, his voice is uncharacteristically soft. "Must we go down there?" he asks. "Is there no other way?"
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Segev Stormlord
GM, 771 posts
Wed 20 Apr 2016
at 18:56 | The Nameless LairAs the newly arriving Exalted survey the valley, they are able to observe activity and overall mood of the place, as well as evaluate it as a prison and a fortress.
Escape routes are fairy open; the security - such as it is - seems based on numbers of presumably-loyal beastmen swarming over the area, and the sheer amount of open terrain in the caldera to cover from the spire to the pits to the edges. As she turns her attention to it, however, Beatrix notices that the game trails and natural paths through the forest are more reminiscent of a defensive labyrinth. In fact, looking up at the sky, either the sun has decided to traverse North to South, or they've walked quite a distance around the caldera from the direction they seemed to have been approaching, before the foliage became clear enough to see it below.
If rumors of First Age artifacts and weapons of war are true, they are not visible in the obvious open spaces surrounding the Lair, but it is large enough that giants could conceivably call it a home.
Those whose minds are more on threats from the air than most who dwell in the Age of Sorrows will, eventually, however, look closely at the treeline of the woods surrounding this barren place, and notice towering figures with head and shoulders rising above the canopy, positioned in places which would give them an excellent view of the surroundings and allow - with sufficient range on any weapons they might wield - a deadly crossfire to any interlopers...or unwelcome aerial scouts.
The beastmen look more uniform in towards the center, favoring mixes of goat and wolf that are almost grotesquely handsome. More variation (and smaller sizes) are common in the ramshackle camps round about the exterior, though no structures nor shelters of any sort exist for the annulus that forms half the distance from the edge of the stripped bowl to its center. Beatrix also notices a...pattern...to the beastmen "using" the breeding pits: they have particular traits around each pit, with the central group of larger beastmen apparently carefully selecting the more varied sorts to breed with. Her keen eye picks out an examination of infant and toddling beast-children in the pits that are examined before adult beastmen are "chosen." This seems a complex breeding program, with design belying its apparent chaos.
The beastmen of the "varied" sort only seem so in the center area. Almost like there is some invisible filter, most congregate and coagulate into groups of like animal traits as things get further out into the camps, and where there aren't the large goat- and wolf-like creatures keeping order, there are no-beast's-lands across which visible hollering can be observed.
If there is any hope of getting mortals out without official permission, it lies either in so terrifying any pursuers that they don't want to find the absconding party, or in exploiting the ...tribal?... tensions and keeping the favored horde at the center from establishing order.
This whole structure would be a dream for siege engines, it seems, with the spire's base at the nadir of a killing ground, rather than its peak, but the sheer numbers and the lack of space to set up with any cover belies that. Rules of war state that armies move on their stomachs; the supply lines for a sieging force would be prohibitive this far from...anywhere. Though perhaps they could hunt. That raises a question, though: how are the denizens of the Lair kept fed?
It also doesn't appear that there's really "order" so much as brute force and a pecking order. What organization there is seems to be of the self-made kind, with tribes avoiding each other. Even as Beatrix watches, one encampment is loping off, leaving rough-dug burrows of shelters behind, apparently taking little with them as they head up the slope some forty degrees from where the party stands. It seems like the beastmen herding this group of captured humans are about to start fighting amongst themselves over dibs on the abandoned site, though they keep glancing at the larger ones that have gathered the disparate groups of raiders together, and keep the bickering to a low murmur.
It's surprisingly easy for Austringer to pick out one or two more Lunars in the few minutes since the party arrived at this vista: they have moonsilver tattoos. At least one flares his silver-disk caste mark while Austringer watches, in a dominance display with one of the larger beast-men.
But the vast majority of activity seems to be beastmen, or, in some cases, humans. The humans look universally downtrodden, and the LUCKY ones are merely bent-backed servants or slaves hustling about on whatever duties they have as they try to stay out of the way of the clear masters of this place.
It takes a bit to realize what he's seeing, but Austringer is able to pick out four shaman-types working their way around the breeding pits, performing some sort of periodic ritual blessings on various captives being...selected...from them, and in one case helping with what looks to be a rather difficult birth. The three are heavily shrouded in pelts, which hides most of their features, but the specifics of some of the ritual behaviors called to mind some of the training in the Silver Way he received. When he finally gets a glimpse of one when a gust of wind blows the wolf-head hood back, he sees not only that its no beastman, but that the figure is tattooed and bears a hollow silver circle on his forehead.
It's unclear if the others are similar, or are more mortal shamanic priests, but their manner of dress does stand out in its similarity.
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Beatrix LeSchaye
player, 428 posts
Solar
Zenith
Wed 20 Apr 2016
at 19:06 | The Nameless LairBeatrix looks about while Azalea works, and begins speaking to some of the local beastmen. From person to person she strikes up animated conversations, leaving some of them looking baffled, and others seeming emboldened as they go back to their business around the Nameless Lair. She does this for some time, and eventually has spoken to several members of each of the non-Exalted social strata within Ma-Ha-Suchi's domain.
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Merlin
player, 455 posts
If you knew he
would have to kill you
Thu 21 Apr 2016
at 01:32 | The Nameless LairMerlin skulks around with the main group of humans, blending in....as it were. He keeps his eyes open for any hint of active danger, but does his best to not present himself. He even goes so far as to hunch over and keep his own hood over his head and masked face.
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Segev Stormlord
GM, 772 posts
Mon 25 Apr 2016
at 15:17 | The Nameless LairFor those without preternatural balance or specialized forms of motion (such as mountain goat hooves), the descent into the caldera is difficult and dangerous, with narrow footholds at the top of an otherwise steep incline, and large dusty swaths that give way beneath incautious steps. Mortal humans can easily twist ankles or fall into a tumbling descent which likely would result in broken bones or fatal impacts with hidden sharp and solid rocks.
Even the smaller beastmen seem to have difficulty with it.
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Azalea
player, 194 posts
Thu 28 Apr 2016
at 13:26 | The Nameless Lair
Azalea herself doesn't seem to be particularly adept at climbing, but she seems much more focused on helping those that have trouble than she is on safeguarding her own descent.
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