Okay, still trying to get caught up, so on and so forth, usual blah blah blah. I still need to get my Alchemical write-ups finished (I've got the ExEss write-ups, now I need to do the core system versions), but I don't want to get too far behind on this.
I'm gonna tell you now, it might be a little long, because this post features a fight that took multiple sessions to resolve (and gets a little graphic in places, be warned), but it was a ton of fun -- hopefully I can make it fun to read.
Before we get into it, just a couple of reminders: First, the Alchemicals splatbook (which, in case it needs repeating, I worked on) is still funding on Backerkit; come pledge and check out the previews! Second, the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide (which I also worked on) is up on DriveThruRPG in PDF and PoD. I'm always proud of the work I do on the books, and the TCPG was a delightful challenge because of the material I was covering.
And now, on with the show!
Previously on The Road Between Light and Dark...
We have a shot of Stray Dog Serenade in the Broken Antler settlement, examining a large totem structure with a burned skeleton inside. We hear his voice-over giving the name of the demon the totem is consecrated to: Elmorze the Hungry.
...
We then get a shot of Lecht forcing their way into Nadia's office in Silverpost, interrupting a meeting with pale, red-haired, read-bearded man. There's voice-over of Lecht from another episode, telling Nadia they want their sarcophagus back, and she explains that a man named Rhion Bryn has it.
...
There's a shot of Anica Liczka standing next to a basin of water with something burning with a green flame on the surface. There's voice-over of Stray Dog saying "Someone arranged for her to find that book."
...
A shot of the group in the bowels of a crashed airship, talking to a woman trapped in a cargo cage. Wandering Dawn says that everything comes back to Rhion, and then there's a shot of the woman with a voice that doesn't quite match her face saying that he's a major player out this way.
...
And finally, slightly out of order with the above clips, a shot of the group being assaulted in the night by some sort of magical flying ice-worm-things. Among them is Mahi (Oguri's bodyguard), a woman of Southeastern heritage (think khaki-colored skin, dark hair, South Asian features) dodging the creatures with unnatural speed, with a black, bleeding starburst mark on her forehead -- the mark of the Abyssal Exalted's Dusk Caste, the dark counterpart to the Solar Dawn Caste.
...
And now...
We come in on the group's small caravan on the Traveler's Road, headed south towards Larkim. The camera lingers on Mahi, bundled up tightly against the weather with a scarf wrapped around her face that appears to have several baubles and talismans woven into it. It's not too bad for the season, typical near-Northern spring, but for someone used to warmer climes it may as well be a glacier. She walks alongside the caravan, keeping an eye out for threats in her role as hired muscle.
Wandering Dawn comes up next to her. "Nice weather today, huh?"
She mutters something in Firetongue, which captions on the bottom of the screen translate as "Really?" before she switches to accented Skytongue (the local language) and says "I guess. Is there something you need?"
"I guess... I wanted to ask you about your Caste mark..." He glances up at her forehead, which looks normal now but very recently bore a dark, bleeding mark shaped like the Dawn Caste symbol that appears on his forehead in bright gold.
She glances at him, then at the rest of the caravan to see if anyone's paying attention, and then back at him. "You mean my Abyssal Caste mark?"
"Abyssal..." he says aloud, almost a question -- this is the first time he's ever heard the term with relation to the Exalted.
She raises an eyebrow. "Do you know what that is?"
"Eh... no. To be fair, the fact that it looks like mine, but... off..." That gets a laugh from her, but he continues. "...has kind of thrown me for a loop."
She gives him a thoughtful smile, which quickly fades. "I've never had to explain this to anyone before."
"How do I put this..." he continues. "When I saw it, it reminded me of... the light of the Unconquered Sun, but... not dimmer, like the color was 'off.' And as far as I know, the Unconquered Sun is the only one who give our kind of power to people, so where's yours come from?"
She ponders a moment, perhaps trying to find the words in the local tongue to explain it, then she gets an 'ah-hah' look on her face. "You know what Stray Dog is, correct?"
"Yeah, for the most part."
"Similar to that. When the Solar Exaltations came back, some of them came back through other forces not entirely under our control. His came through--" She stops herself. "I don't know how much you know and I don't want to say.[0] But mine came through the Underworld. Some Solars came back tainted by the essence of Death and were chosen to be the Lawgivers of the Underworld."
"In that case, no disrespect intended, but what are you doing outside of the Underworld?"
"Despite my power, I'm not originally from the Underworld. I like it in Creation..." She stops to consider her wording carefully, possibly due to the language difference, possibly trying to skirt a problematic story. "I am looking for someone against whom to test my skills that I've heard of out this way."
"I can respect that," Wandering Dawn says with a nod. "But you're not exactly here to... destroy Creation, are you?"
"I have no interest in destroying Creation. Some would expect that I would, which is why I keep my abilities secret, but I don't."
The Solar smiles. "I'm glad to hear that. You seem like you'd be a pretty difficult opponent to overcome."[1]
"I was already a trained swordswoman before... all this... but I do okay."[2]
"Well, if you ever want to spar some day, I'll be free to give it a try. And if you ever find who you're looking for while we're wandering together, I'll be rooting for ya!" And with that, having gotten good vibes off of her, he wanders off to leave her be and at some point off-camera fills in the others on the conversation.
A few days pass, and as the group approaches Larkim under the mid-afternoon sun, they see a caravan of mammoths 'parked' at the city. A Guild caravan -- only they use mammoths to haul their stuff. Wandering Dawn asks if they should take a break themselves, indicating stopping there to take a look. Lecht reminds him that they're headed for Larkim anyways -- and don't see any need to stop and talk to the Guild caravan. The Exigent plans to track down Rhion, kill -- no, not kill, curse him. Curse him, and let him repent, and then kill him when he fucks up.
There's a lot of noise coming from the town as they head in; the sounds of construction and rebuilding after the Broken Antler attack just under a month ago. Just outside the town appears to be a circus being set up, and Lecht makes a note to check it out in the evening. But once everyone's in town, the first thing that stands out right away is a new, bigger, better hunting lodge in the middle of town. Lecht hates to just suggest going to the bar, as they usually do in a town, but...
They have an idea.
They find some Guild guards and strike up a conversation, saying they're surprised that the Guild is dealing with the reconstruction of Larkim.
The guardsman explains that the Guild has been contracted to do the rebuilding, that they've got best access to the resources and the workers to fix things up after what happened. He does point out it's not like they're doing this out of charity, though. Lecht is surprised the town has the funds, and the guard shrugs and says he's not an expert, this isn't his office -- he pats the sword at his hip to indicate what is 'his office' is -- but he says the town is going to have to pay it off one way or another.
Lecht says he knows this remarkably-well for someone for whom this isn't his expertise[3], and changes the subject to say they're looking for Rhion. The guard, surprised, says he can't exactly take them directly to him, but he can take them to someone who can better help them -- his manager, perhaps. Lecht is fine with that, and explains they have business to discuss with Rhion.
The guard leads the trio a ways towards a building. At one point, the camera lingers one some nearby crates, and as the group passes in front of it the label becomes the title drop for this episode[4]:
"Bills Come Due"
The guard leads them to a building being used as an office, and knocks on the door. He talks to the commander through the door, and she dismisses the guard as she comes out. She's a tall woman, with brown skin like tree bark and green hair with a distinctly 'leafy' countenance. She's dressed in armor marked with Guild symbols, and carries a bow that looks like it's carved out of green marble.
Wandering Dawn recognizes her. "Hey, aren't you..."
Lecht asks "Who are you, again?" and Wandering Dawn quickly mutters to them that she was looking for that Shogunate ruin and took over that farmhouse.
"I can't hear all that you're saying, but I know you're whispering," she says as she interrupts the group to re-introduce herself, summarized here by the caption that appears at the bottom of the screen:
Dreadful Thorn
Wood Aspect Dragon-Blood
Ex-Ragara Lost Egg
Works for Rhion now
She offers to take the group to Rhion. Lecht assures her that everything is on-board, and she says "I'm sure it is," in a tone that suggests she seriously doubts that but is curious to see where it's going. As she leads them down the street to where his office is, the group casually talks about how polite and helpful she's being (as if she's not even there), and Lecht comments that it's good to see people being better at being people.
Hearing the whispering, she says that she was a 'bad fit' for House Ragara, but she's got a good job with the Guild now. As Rhion's safety is her concern, she's not going to just point them at the office and let them wander off unobserved. Lecht, recognizing that it's not like they had a conversation before, formally introduces themselves and explains that they're here to get something of theirs that belongs to Rhion. She says she's not sure how to deal with that, but she's just glad they didn't take her bow when they fought her outside Eslund.
Stray Dog, a little offended, says they're not thieves.
She leads them to the Summit Leaf Teahouse, and explains that he's renting out the upper floors as his offices. She leads them inside and upstairs, where a young woman named Danica greets her. She smiles slightly too wide and says "Business for the boss," and Danica goes to knock on a closed door and there's some muttering through it. The floor is mostly open, possibly used for storage in other times, but right now it's got desks and tables and paperwork and maps.
While they talk, Stray Dog quietly asides to Lecht that if they just point at Rhion, he'll kill him instantly. Lecht mutters about Rhion leaving that book with the demon knowledge for Anica to find back in Silverpost. Stray Dog says he's made it a habit of involving himself in their business, and Lecht suggests that perhaps it's the other way around.
The office door opens and a mountain of a man with skin like terra cotta -- in both color and texture -- steps out. He's shirtless, with a gray and white hooded cape slung over his shoulders made of some sort of possibly-jade chain mail. He's got all the demeanor of a monk. Everything pauses for a moment and this caption appears on the screen:
The Monolith
Earth Aspect Dragon-Blood
Apostate Monk
Puts up with bring Rhion's bodyguard
Things pick up again, and the caption crumbles into a cloud of dust as he's followed by a man with pale skin and red hair and beard, dressed in fine clothing. Lecht has seen this man before, briefly, back in Silverpost. The dust from The Monolith's caption settles, and behind it is:
Rhion Bryn
Guild Merchant Prince
Surprisingly-competent mortal mastermind
"Ah, Grave Warden, it's good to finally meet you!" Rhion says, as if genuinely excited to meet the Exigent. Disturbingly chipper[5], he continues. "I am Rhion Bryn, and this is my bodyguard, The Monolith -- that's The Monolith, you have to say the whole thing." He then leans in and stage-whispers to them. "I'm explaining it because he's mute."
"I am not mute," the bodyguard says, his Skytongue thickly accented with foreign influence and annoyance.
Lecht, off-guard, says it's nice to see him again. They want to cut right to the chase -- First, Rhion has an item in his possession that Nadia left in his charge. Two, why did they leave a book of demon summoning where Miss Liczka could find it and start a riot across Silverpost?
"Ah, yes, the sarcophagus, a wondrous piece, very fascinating. I don't have it on me, but I can get it -- it's an important cultural artifact, after all, I've been having someone study it. But if I'd known you were coming, I'd have had it ready."
Lecht, annoyed, says that Nadia was supposed to send word, but Rhion must not have gotten it. Rhion says that Nadia was having some issues in Silverpost, and Lecht agrees with that, and Rhion continues by saying she's got some issues in general. But he can get them the sarcophagus back, they'd just have to go to Fella and he'll have someone there ready to meet them with it.
All he asks is that they go now, ask him no further questions, and leave him to his business in Larkim. Wandering Dawn says that Lecht can go ahead and the others will stay behind, and Rhion quickly adds that all of them have to go. They complain, but he says that he has altered the deal, and they should pray he does not alter it further.
Wandering Dawn points out that he never answered the second question, and Lecht says the deal for the first question involves the second, and Rhion says "Very well-put, much more concise than I have. But I have wondered what happened to that book; it vanished from my things. Did it cause some sort of trouble?"
Wandering Dawn's been watching The Monolith all this time, and picks up on some turmoil there. He asks if Rhion pays him well, enough to risk his life for him. The Monolith says "Gladly. Rhion's a man of vision, despite his lack of conditioning and discipline."
Lecht, whose own turmoil has been building into annoyance this whole time, channels the power to blast out a window with a Crypt Bolt, knowing that the sudden commotion will get the people downstairs to evacuate the teahouse. They then point at Rhion, explaining that they've been learning to negotiate without having to resort to violence. However...
"Hi," Stray Dog says. "I'm violence."
Rhion's assistant Danica rushes downstairs to evacuate the startled people on the first floor, as we move into the big combat setpiece for this story much earlier than I planned. (Not a complaint, just an observation.)[6]
The Monolith is the first to move, rushing at Lecht with a punch that aims straight for center mass, and they brace themselves to block it with their staff. Rhion, behind him, tells him he's got this, that he's stronger than just any random wizard. In the meantime, Rhion rushes for the window to try and make a getaway.
Lecht looks The Monolith in the eyes. "I do not think it's worth what you're being paid," they say before they direct a Crypt Bolt downwards to punch a hole in the floor beneath the monk -- only they overdo it, and the floor collapses beneath them. They fall through with The Monolith, while Wandering Dawn, Rhion, and Dreadful Thorn were close enough to the wall that they manage to remain on the remaining portion of the second floor. Stray Dog initially falls, but thanks to a custom personal mode we homebrewed for Mind-Hand Manipulation he catches himself and hovers back up to the same level as the missing floor. He channels Essence for his own bolts, green fire pooling in his hands and overflowing to drip and sizzle on the floor, as he telekinetically grabs a desk and flings it at the window in front of Rhion. With a thud that shakes the building, it embeds itself in the wall and covers the possible exit.
Next, having gotten his feet under him, Wandering Dawn summons golden armor and a lasso made of sunlight and turns his attention to Dreadful Thorn. He readies the Piercing Gaze of Hesiesh, his direlance, like it's a bat or a golf club and uses a couple of his own Charms to swing at her and send her flying with a bright flash of light. Specifically, he sends her flying at the wall that Lecht blasted the hole in, widening the hole with a smash that -- if this were a TV show -- has one of those 'three instant replays from different angles' moments as she's launched out of the building and through the air.
We then cut to an outside view of above as the Dragon-Blood sails through the air, trailing behind motes of golden Essence, as she skips across a couple of rooftops like a stone on a pond and comes to rest on one of them. The camera suddenly cuts to a close-up shot of her eyes opening and her slowly rising to her feet, and goes back to that distant angle from above. The 'camera' moves in closer as she grabs her bow and starts to rush back towards the teahouse, parkouring across rooftops on the way.
The camera suddenly shifts, pulling forward and turning around to reveal the high angle is from the perspective of a tall, muscular woman with ruby-red hair riding a giant wasp that looks like it's made of stained glass, an agata -- a First Circle demon often summoned as a mount. She's dressed in leathers and furs and a skirt that goes all the way down -- but as the skirt ripples in the wind, we get glimpses of the caribou hooves she has instead of feet. Her face is obscured by a metal mask that's mostly featureless except for some stylistic accents around the edges and eye holes, very much like Vega's mask from Street Fighter.
As she gets a grip on the reins and rides in closer, a caption appears on the screen:
Carmine
???
Working for Rhion?
We then cut back inside, where The Monolith delivers another strike at Lecht with perfect precision, blocked only by the sturdiness of the Grave Warden staff as it blocks the blow. Lecht then holds an arm out to the side and starts tracing runes in the air as they chant, gathering power for a spell.
Meanwhile, up on what's left of the second floor, we cut in on a shot of Rhion trying desperately to dislodge the desk from the wall so he can escape through the window because he doesn't know if he can safely make a run for the steps. The focus then shifts to the sight of Stray Dog, still floating in the air, twirling to add a dancer's flourish to his Glorious Exalted Bolt. He unleashes a blast of literally-unholy green flame from his hands, the fire dripping from his hands like molten wax and flying through the air like napalm.
Rhion is engulfed in the flame, shrieking in agony as the hellfire burns meat from bone. Rhion's scream continues to echo even after the flesh is gone and he's a rapidly-carbonizing skeleton, until it reverberates its last and the bones collapse into a sooty pile.
Wandering Dawn, focused on the Dragon-Blood assaulting their friend, readies that golden lasso and uses it to snag The Monolith and pull him back, lifting him up into the air and leaving him hanging like that where his connection to the earth is interrupted and he's suddenly short of leverage for certain attacks.
Outside, through the hole in the wall, we see Dreadful Thorn rushing into a better range to get a good shot, Essence running through her arms and fingers as she readies the bow with unnatural speed and grace. She fires an arrow at Wandering Dawn, who sees it out of the corner of his eye and whirls around to deflect it with his spear. She fires a second shot, such that when the Solar deflects it it ricochets (as intended) right at Stray Dog, who's just barely quick enough to wave his hands and burn the arrow before it can reach him.
Dreadful Thorn reaches like she's grabbing another arrow, but instead she gathers Wood-aspected Essence into a bolt like an arrow, firing it from the bow into the teahouse where it explodes and poison-laced vines of Essence reach for Wandering Dawn and Stray Dog. The Solar resists, but Stray Dog gets scratched up by thorns of magical energy.
Meanwhile, on the first floor, Lecht holds off on casting their spell and tries to blast The Monolith while he's occupied escaping from the lasso. But his body adapts to the attack, as the mountain is shaped by weather and time, and he blunts its impact on himself. He then starts swinging to try and pull Wandering Dawn down with his weight and momentum, but the Dawn Caste just releases the Essence generating the lasso and drops him to the floor where he lands hard.
"Hey, fallen Monolith!" Wandering Dawn shouts as he drops down onto the Dragon-Blood with his spear, trying to direct all of his momentum right into the point of the spear, also hitting hard. Then he readies another attack and swings with Heaven Thunder Hammer again, blasting the bodyguard through the stone wall with an upwards arc for maximum distance. The sudden hole punched in the wall reveals the soldiers gathering outside. We get a quick shot from their perspective as they look into the teahouse, where looking at him is like looking into the sun at dawn, the iconic Solar anima blazing.
Meanwhile, up above, Dreadful Thorn glances up at the sky with a smirk. A moment later the demon wasp zips into view and Carmine dramatically jumps off of it to land near her on the neighboring roof, and the wasp itself whirls around, ready to fight. The mysterious woman looks up and spots Stray Dog, and the eyes on the mask widen with recognition -- the effect is like Spider-Man or most animated versions of Batman, where the mask's eyeholes change shape with the wearer's expressions.
"Fuck. You." (Which, to be clear, isn't 'fuck you,' but as if to say 'fuck, it's you.') She then mutters, but loud enough for Stray Dog to hear, "I guess we're doing this."
Stray Dog is focused more on Dreadful Thorn, some of the green light flashing across his eyes. "You scratched me," he says, turning to showcase an infinitesimal scratch on his face with a baleful darkness in his eyes. He throws two bursts of that green napalm-like hellfire. She tries to cushion the blow with her own power, her anima blunting the effect but not enough to stop her from catching on fire. The fire spirals away from the point of contact to sear away flesh where it touches and boil meat away from bone starting at center mass, leaving perhaps her hands and feet.[7]
Carmine, flinching away from the flames, looks at Stray Dog. With a voice that naturally carries, she says "We don't have to kill each other, but I can't just let this go and I'm not gonna surrender." It's clear she intends to try and get him to stand down.
"Surrender?" he yells. "I'll kill you all!"
With a weariness that suggests more than a little familiarity with Stray Dog's rage, she sighs and says "Stray Dog, please don't kill us all."
Down on the first floor, Wandering Dawn steps out into the street, looking at the soldiers arrayed around him, knowing full well they see and recognize him for what he is. To their credit, they're not fleeing -- these are professionals, after all, and if the sight of a glowing, violent lunatic were enough to scatter them to the winds they wouldn't have lasted long in the face of various spirits, elementals, Dragon-Bloods, and who knows what else when you fight for the Guild.[8] Wandering Dawn holds the direlance up and levels it at them.
"Run, while you still can."
He pulls the lance back a bit as it bursts into flame and light, the Essence stored within it spreading over everything as he charges forward to barrel through them and rip it up. He sweeps through the battle group, swinging and striking. Once he stops and the dust settles, he's surrounded by bodies and the sound of still-living men fleeing.
Nearby, Lecht channels their power and now they're also at iconic anima -- everything goes supernaturally dark, an effigy of the dead goddess Vesmara appearing over Lecht, with ghosts appearing staring up at it. Then the darkness collapses as Lecht feels the hand of the goddess directing and aiding them to fire a blast at The Monolith where he's getting to his feet down the street. It hits him, hard, but he's not out yet.
We cut back to Stray Dog, who's gesturing and pointing at Carmine. Each motion calls into being a plane of invisible force that cuts through the smoke like glass, and as she moves to dodge it, she blurs and splits into three for a moment. The planes of pure force cut up two of the figures there, which flicker out.
Carmine says, again, "Okay, I guess we're doing this," as she chants something in Infernal Old Realm and waves her hand over her arm, magic surging through her body her arm seems to peel away to reveal a jade Teodozjia's paw, very much like Stray Dog's customized version of Wood Dragon's Claw. She holds it up where he can see it, which seems to enrage him further as the silver sand of Cecelyne whirls up from the ruined ground beneath him.
She then gestures to something above, up on the roof of the teahouse, and there's a roar and an unnatural gore-stench as a blood ape that had been tagging along suddenly materializes. It reaches down to grab the top of that hole in the wall and swings into that spot. He then realizes he's got sand in his face and unleashes a shattering roar that sends ripples through the sand at Stray Dog. The Infernal quickly readies his artifact shield, properly bringing it to bear in combat for the first time -- Irenio's Bell, made in part from the Malfean brass temple bell of a demon prince. He bangs on its with his own jade paw-hand and it absorbs the blast of sound, leaving the shield humming.
Outside, the agata zips around the teahouse to see what that pretty glow is. It spots Wandering Dawn as light shines through it as well, the demon wasp producing its own glow that slightly entrances the Solar. He's not sure he can destroy this thing -- it's too beautiful as it shines down on him like light through a stained glass window. He's only snapped out of it by the sound of a deep, gruff voice nearby.
"Anathema," The Monolith says. "Your wicked anima betrays your degeneracy," he says as he begins running at the Solar, the Earth Aspect's footsteps thundering on the ground like an avalanche coming down a mountain. His own anima banner hits iconic, tearing up the ground with chunks of earth and rock orbiting him like they're caught in a wake.
"Hit me!" Wandering Dawn calls out as he braces himself. The Dragon-Blood's fist comes at him with an overhead strike and the Solar blocks it, but it does push him back. He smiles up at the scowling monk. "That's not an attack," he says as he calls upon his Glorious Solar Arsenal to generate a glowing shield and go in for a strike. The Monolith braces himself for the blow, and mid-strike the Solar shifts his swing to knock the Dragon-Blood and send him flying again, slamming him into a building down the street.
"I did it to him twice!" he says, excited, as he backs up closer to Lecht.
Meanwhile, the Exigent is taking up the magical power they built earlier and using it to send a Flying Guillotine, but it's skin is too tough for the bone chain to get purchase. It dives out of the hole straight for Lecht, slashing with claws and swinging with fists as they back up to weather the blows with their staff.
Up above, the demon wasp does a high-speed dive at Wandering Dawn. He's still having trouble bringing himself to hit it and just raises that golden shield to defend himself.
And back inside, Stray Dog's got slaughter on his breath. Carmine's reveal of the altered Wood Dragon's Claw, so much like his own, has not gone the way she thought it might. He's wide-eyed and furious, and he raises both hands, green fire dripping from his palms. "Pray. Fast." He launches flame at her, getting a solid hit as she moves like someone more used to taking hits than dodging them. but she moves with a skill normally only seen in his Solar compatriot, and he barely clips her.[9]
Stray Dog's stunned for a moment as the world seems to glitch around him, remembering two versions of that attack for a moment, and everything slows down for a moment so we can see a new caption within that glitching...
Carmine
Autumn Aspect Getimian
Working with Rhion, not for him
...and then proper reality reasserts itself, revealing that barely clipped or not, she still catches flame. Green fire swarms over her body, giving her intense pain, and she drops to her knees.
"Fuck, fuck, I yield, I yield," she screams. "Knock it the fuck off, Stray Dog, you win!" The fire suddenly goes out and, gasping in pain and getting her breath back, she yells something in Infernal that captions on the screen translate for the audience as "Stand down, stand down, getting out of here is more important." The demons do, in that moment, stop their attacks and back off.
Stray Dog, understanding Infernal, backs down, and his Circlemates understand 'she obviously made the demons stop attacking,' which stops the fight long enough to chat...
But that'll come next time, as that's where we left off for that session.
[0]-- She doesn't want to 'out' Stray Dog's ties to the Yozis if the Solar doesn't already know. It seems unnecessarily like a dick move to her.
[1]-- "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."
[2]-- "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."
[3]-- To be fair, just because the guy's a Guild-hired mercenary doesn't mean he doesn't pay attention when business is discussed in front of him.
[4]-- Normally, when I begin a new 'episode,' I title the relevant post with the episode title, but I'm pretty proud of this title -- and honestly, had I known how the rest of the session would go, I might've gone with 'Battle at the Summit' instead...
[5]-- It might help if you know that for Rhion, the voice I used is the voice of Evrart Clare from Disco Elysium. Which means, as those of you who've played the game may assume, his mountain-man of a bodyguard is basically Measurehead.
[6]-- As a quick note, there's a lot going on in this fight scene, and I might not name every Charm that gets used, mostly for the sake of narrative flow. Just know that in general, everything that was done was a legitimate power and nothing got handwaved. Also, in one spot I rearrange a couple of attacks in terms of order in a way that doesn't actually change the conflict, but again for the purposes of narrative flow (namely, a "Character A attacks Character B, Character C attacks Character D, Character B attacks Character A" sequence got re-ordered).
[7]-- Kinda like the blasters in Mars Attacks.
[8]-- To be fair, normally the sight alone isn't enough, you usually need to back it up with Charms or social influence rolls or both. Just saying.
[9]-- Admittedly, this a little flourish with the text inspired by one of the Exalted Essence novellas, which depicts Getimian Charms working like this. I'm actually reluctant to say which one, because the presence of the Getimian is actually kind of a reveal, and I don't think this site has 'spoiler' tags. So if you want to know, just ask. But I certainly won't stop you from getting the novellas and reading for yourself; I haven't read them all, but I've greatly enjoyed the ones I have.
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