SJE/Session19
== Exalted Session 19 ==
The Watch are still locked in combat with bandits who keep taking swigs of a FastTime potion, aging before their eyes even as they move, attack and dodge in a dizzying blur. Rav and Brand manage to skewer their attackers with their direlances- Jaq is hard pressed till he manages to roll past the archer and pilfer his potion vial in the process. The remaining swordsman spots Jaq near the ravine edge and charges towards him at full speed (leaving a trail of blurred after-images behind him). Calling upon his inner reserves, Jaq somersaults over the shoulders of his attacker and then with a tap, pushes him over the side of the ravine!
“Waaaaahh….. !” {Splat!}
The Captain bags himself a prisoner, while the remaining bandit takes off at hyper speed. Rav races after him, shifting into his Eagle Warrior form for the speed boost and eventually runs the (now) sixty year old down, skewering him through!
The prisoner, Desert Bear (looking like 50, actually 30 something) makes a deal with the Captain- he’ll lead them to his hideout in return for freedom and a full water skin.
It seems these bandits set an avalanche on a military caravan a week back, in the wreckage of blue & silver Paragonese uniforms, they found a case of metal vials containing the blue FastTime potion. (as the bandits called it), this let them successfully attack the Gem wagon, despite its defence by a ‘witch’.
At the hideout, the band find the 16 casks of Ryku, water, food, supplies and the potion case. Much to the Captains happiness, he also finds a cask of wine!
They camp for the night of the 25th. Next morning they head out to Gem on an alternative, wagon friendly route.
Late in the 26th they pick up signs of a large number of people having moved through a wide pass in the direction of Gem. Perhaps a thousand men, marching in ranks…?
Worried at a possible Paragonese sneak invasion, Rav pretends to scout ahead (for Nervous Quills benefit) and instead turns into eagle form and flies for Gem.
As he nears Gem with dawns light, Rav sees a great host besieging the City. Trenches and lines surround the Ruby Citadel (about half a mile out on the approach for Gem), the Hot District (outside the walls of Gem) is abandoned and the City Gate is closed. Over 5,000 soldiers in silver and blue uniforms are dug in around the city and 3 siege engines near completion. Paragon has invaded.
Back with the wagon, 20 miles away, the rest of the party sleep. The Captain in particular is still haunted by terrible nightmares, of digging under the mountain still, clearing rubble, and then coming across a twisted and mangled black cage. At last a feeling of dark contentment and homecoming…..
With this the Captain comes awake with a terrible scream, feeling drained, lessened, his superhuman stamina and good looks fading, hair mussed, eyes becoming bloodshot again, his smile no longer glinting with inner light *ting*. And his Essence too is drained- as if he’d committed, or perhaps lost 10 motes!
On the 27th Rav returns and the wagon nears Gem. Parking in outcropping about 3 miles away from the besieged city the Watch mull over plans. The Ryku needs to reach the Palace before Calibration (in 1 day’s time) or Gem will be destroyed. But the Paragonese Army stands between them and Gem. An airlift from Rav is deemed too dangerous or fraught with risk as it will take the Lunar 8 trips to move the 16 casks. Sneaking through the tunnels riddling the volcano is considered but no one really knows the way, and it’d be impossible to get a wagon through.
At last they finalise a plan. Ravitsu will airlift Orchid into Gem after nightfall to organise a sallying force and open the City Gates at 4am. Orchid and Rav will then have to return as Orchids supernatural social skills will be needed to bluff their way through the Paragonese lines as a late delivery of combat-drugs. Jaq will infiltrate the camp and provide Paragonese uniforms to make the deception work. Brand and Captain will drive the wagon and provide protection. Nervous Quill is sent back to the mountains with the excess horses.
Night arrives and everyone sets off on their tasks. Rav goes DBT and carries Orchid aloft. They go high and then dive for Gem’s mid-Shades, the Granite Tower. Rav also flies in Stealth mode, sensing strange currents in the air and movements in the wind as if something else was in the sky above Gem. On descent though, Rav crashes into another aerial ward, an orange glow outlining Orchid and him, burning and repelling them. Taking a chance, Rav shifts back to human form and the two Exalts plummet through the warding (aided by gravity), reaching terminal velocity before Rav sprouts wings again and glides down instead of hitting the Granite Tower roof with lethal results. Even so, both are badly burned, still smouldering from the fiery wards above.
Gritting their teeth through the pain they catch a palanquin through the strangely quiet streets of Gem and make it to the Palace. Talking to Auntie, they arrange for the sally force and opening of the gate for the Ryku. Orchid makes a big deal of the dangers they have faced crossing the lines (without revealing how), eliciting much sympathy from Great Aunt Marigold, and then tells the shocked septuagenarian that they must re-cross them once more! Orchid is near maimed as it is (on her last -2 health level) can she survive much more airlifting?
Jaq makes it into the Paragonese camp, ninja-ing in and then invoking Easily Overlooked Presence Method to blend in with the soldiers and wagoneers of the Paragonese Army. (I do insist he take off the ninja balaclava to blend in!)
Nicking 4 uniforms and donning one, Jaq heads out, but is challenged by a suspicious sentry. Unfortunately Jaq’s bluff skills are not as perfect as his larceny skills and he falls for the old trick question of
“Who is your superior?
“Sergeant Nobby, Sir”
“of 2nd Squad, 3rd Battalion?”
“Er… yes sir!”
“There isn’t a Sergeant of that name and I belong to 2nd Squad! Spy! ALERT,
Chased by 5 cavalry and with infantry scrambling behind them, Jaq races away for a few seconds before coming to a sudden stop and freezing perfectly still. Invoking Invisible Statue Spirit and becoming perfectly invisible, Jaq hopes to avoid his pursuers. But the cavalry unit keeps bearing down on his position, looking to catch up with their enemy who they naturally assume has run off in that direction.
With a great cavalry horse about to overrun him, Jaq sidesteps, catching hold of the saddle and swinging up behind the rider and pushing him off!
The other 4 cavalrymen spot this and move in, attacking the hapless Night Caste (who isn’t very good on a horse). Soon sporting arrows in his back, Jaq is spending Essence like water to keep dodging with Reed in the Wind. His Gyro Chakram does take down one of the pursuers, but they still have the advantage of numbers and Jaq is no warrior or horseman.
The Captain meanwhile is back at the wagon, totally bored. Brand is still playing with his soulsteel Alchemical direlance “Point goes in, point goes out.” Ad infinitum So the Captain takes to drinking the rest of his wine again and falls into drunken slumber, again tormented by demonic dreams. Awakening he is even more drained, Essence flowing out of him and towards Gem.
Orchid does some ward watching and finds a weak spot in the Eastern quadrant. Out of sight of the Palace Rav goes DBT and picking up Orchid he starts picking up speed, flying as strongly as possible to break through the wards. They make it somehow and are out in the open. Ravs stealth capabilities are a bit impaired though and soon the two hapless fliers are buffeted and savaged by strong gusts and gouts of wind that almost send the Lunar into a deadly spin. Heading up into the clouds, they see strange shapes forming in the clouds white mist- the shape of birds and flying beasts… are there perhaps air elementals loose in the skies above Gem?
Avoiding them, they eventually reach the wagon in the early hours of the 28th. But Jaq is still return -pursued still by 3 Paragonese lancers he has a mere 5 motes of Essence left and capture and death is looking more likely by the second.
Paragon has invaded. The Captain is rapidly de-Exalting. Ravitsu Cail has 4 days to live before Ssseths poison kills him. The Ryku must reach the Palace in 24 hours or Gem will be destroyed. Jaq is injured, outnumbered and out of Essence and carrying the uniforms they need. 1 day is left to Calibration.
Never has Gem been so imperilled! Never has Creation teetered so close to the edge of destruction! Never have the stakes been so high!
Tune in next week!
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