Session Start: Tue Nov 02 18:50:13 2004 Session Ident: #ethresh * Logging #ethresh to 'C:\Documents and Settings\Dave\My Documents\Exalted\Abyssal\Logs\AB-11-02-2004' you could see if stillborn is online i asked, no response yet oh yes, and i heard some amazing reviews of that new horror movie Saw i think yeah, Saw saw the ads hrmph mIRC.com isn't too much help well, we can just hope for the best i guess want to get started? my dinner is still cooking so I might get slow before too long while I'm eating okay When last we left you were in the command tent of Walking on Laughter. Shadow had apparently been captured by the Abyssal Silhouette of Flames and her life was being used as a bargaining chip. Walking in Laughter leans forward in his chair and steels his gaze upon you. "Then it is settled, ally. You shall lead the attack against Fell Harbor and become a minion of the Lion. In return Shadow will live and you will have the grandeur you have dreamed of. This is acceptable, yes?" * * Echo pushes his glasses onto the bridge of his nose. He mulls it over for a time, an eternity from the feel of it. He had played Walking On Laughter perfectly and soon he would devour the fruits of his conquest. But now he wondered. Would the Bodhissatva chastise him for having lost Shadow? She was but one Abyssal...and his plan was one of the utmost importance. Still, the Bodhissatva did not appear to be completely in his right mind at the moment, so it was a question of faith. Have faith in his masters ability to hate..and direct his wrath carefully. Still, Shadow would be an important asset in the future...her death would be damaging for those against the Lion. "Hrm..I do hope the Bodhissatva does not demand to see both of his prized Abyssals in person. If that is so, there is not much I can do but appease him and hope he does not suspect. Do you not agree?" Echo offers, genuinely frustrated by Laughters little gambit.* Laughter smiles showing that several of his teeth have been replaced by Soulsteel the way some mortals use gold. Its an interesting look. "That sounds like your problem." He leans back in his chair and chuckles to himself. From behind Shadow, Flame snickers.* * Echo rolls his eyes. "Indeed it is -my- problem." Echo stands and flicks a strand of black hair away from his face with a soulsteel finger. "But problems are epidemic, my good General. There is never just one. When the Bodhissatva finds out that Shadow is gone, I will be dead. So much for fame. So I give you this counter-offer." "If I fail to get my vessel to the Harbor with your war fleet at my back...then you may take Shadow and do unto her as you please. Even up -until- the invasion you may do with her what you will, what do I care. However, the Bodhissatva will sense that one of us is left behind if she does not accompany me. Surely he will suspect something. Rather than that, I will take Shadow to Fell Harbor and then stow her somewhere safe so she is s (safe so she is s) "So she is still...Fresh for you?" Echo smirks. "That sounds fair enough to me. You get Fell Harbor AND your..friend here gets to enjoy her company for a time. After all, in YOUR deal Flame there only gets Shadow IF I fail in my task, which I won't. In my deal, he has his fun either way."* Shadow gasps, becomes silent and simply stares at the ground in disbelief. Flame smiles and crooked grin and Laughter rolls his eyes. "All right, all right. By the Abyss man you are intent on controlling everything." He nods to Flame. In one smooth motion Flame clasps Soulsteel bindings around Shadow's wrists and pushes her towards you. "There you go child." Laughter says. "Those are my only pair and are quite valuable. I'll be incredibly ticked off if you make me us them." He demonstrates by flicking his finger. As he does so essence rises within him and Shadow grasps her wrists in pain. Within moments she is on her knees screaming at the top of her lungs. With another flick of his finger the essence, and Shadow's screams stop. "Like it? I designed it myself. Its kind of an essence burner." "You keep your end of the bargain and those come off her. You can present her to the Bodhissatva if you please. Fail me and she'll burn into a smoldering husk before you can remove them."* * Echo eyes the soulsteel bindings curiously. "Impressive. I always do like a little collateral when making deals..and I can appreciate anyone with similar desires." (rolling your perception + lore) (Rofl, that's what...3?) (damn, three successes. You have some serious luck. You notice a small hearthstone within the bindings. It looks like an eyeball. Laughter will be watching whatever is close to the bindings.) (Score) (You are certain he can't hear through the hearthstone though * * Echo extends his living hand, wrapped in black leather and dark iron. With a flash of his pearly whites and a twinkle in his ever beaming emerald eyes Echo says, "Then the deal is struck with a handshake."* (Gonna go grab lemonade right quick) Walking in Laughter stands up, Soulsteel armor, weapons, and trinkets clinking together. He extends his hand and you shake. "Done." As if bored by the entire event he waves a hand dismissively and sits back down. "Now go, you'll attack at dusk. We'll wait for you to get close to the harbor then we'll begin scaling the walls. You have temporary command of my Devil Hounds. They are 20,000 strong and an army unto themselves. Fell Harbor falls tonight."* * Echo nods and quietly departs, grabbing hold of Shadow and scooting her out the door. Before he leaves he takes a quick glance towards Laughter and says, "Send the Devil Hounds towards the coast, one mile shy of my camp. That is where we will gather. I expect them there in a timely manner." With that, Echo leaves. He gives his retinue a quick nod and saddles up.* The boring logistics of moving 20,000 ghosts and their equipment is handled by underlings and you proceed back to Crimson Claw's camp. By you officer's calculations, all 20,000 can be aboard the transports by dusk. As it is you have about eight hours until that point. (You can just skip to the launching of the transports if you wish)* * Echo immediatly moves towards Desire with Shadow clutched in his hand. "Shadow, I do apologize. Know that I don't want any harm done to you...but some sacrifices need to be made." Echo says unpassionatly as he pulls her towards the zombie factory, where he assumes Design will be eagerly working. Echo is careful to keep Shadows bindings facing the woods, but he is still wary.* (*Design) Design is watching over the hulking, undead factory as it continues building the last of the transports. He turns and smiles when he sees you, "Almost done boss. How'd it go with the enemy commander?" He notices Shadow, "Oh, hello Shadow."* "Almost flawlessly. Except Shadow proved to be a somewhat poor spy. Look at these bindings. If they don't come off by the time we reach Fell Harbor, she dies." With that grim announcement, Echo then takes a glance at the transports. "They seem seaworthy. We're getting 20,000 men under my command by the way. I hope your boats...float." He smirks.* Design smirks, "Oh they'll float. Until I decide otherwise. We also contructed a sturdy pier to load the troops on. Should go pretty quick." He walks up to Shadow and looks at her bindings. Shadow still hasn't said anything to you since you've seen her. Her eyes have a kind of thousand mile stare and you can't tell if she scared witless or pissed. Design rolls the bindings in his hand and suddenly jerks them away, pointing them downward. He looks to you in alarm, "Echo there's a damn scrying hearthstone in here! That bastard can see everything." He continues looking over the Soulsteel device. He shakes his head, "I don't know what to do. It would take days to figure out the finer points of this thing, its a piece of torture artwork."* * Echo shrugs. "Just a thought. And I know about the hearthstone. We've nothing to hide at the moment. Well since everything seems to be going well, I'm going to go speak with Haumphantine. Make sure everything is prepared as of dusk."* Design nods and gets back to work shouting out order to busy war ghosts. As if on cue, Haumphantine clears his throat behind you. "Good work so far knight. You're really racking up the succeses. Who you going to get killed next, me?"* * Echo snorts. "I'm really quite sure I could have had you killed already Haumphantine. And if you're referring to Shadow, I -tried- to get her freed. You think I want her to die?" Echo snarls, grabbing hold of Shadow and pulling her close. "Laughter is responsible for this mess. Not me. But I'll clean it up as best I can. We're leaving at dusk. The Crimson Claws will join me on the lead ship, as will you."* The old ghost shrugs, "Sure. Why not head back to the doomed city. So, what's your plan fearless leader?"* "I'll explain on the way. Just try to relax for awhile. You are, after all, my prisoner. When we break camp, follow the men. They will join me on the lead ship." Echo then turns to Shadow. "Stay with Haumphantine. I don't want you hurt. We'll try to remove those bindings. You'll be safe Shadow, just try to trust me."* Shadow nods weakly, but doesn't say anything. She and the ghost move off to a nearby tent to rest. As you begin to help organize the loading of the Devil Hounds and get a sinking feeling and turn to see a figure in black armor. Ten figures to be exact. "Echo," The closest one says in a haunting tone. "We're to accompany your men on board the transports. The other fifteen will be here within the hour." He simply turns and walks away with the other nine empty armors. Just before he is out of sight he turns back to you, "And don't think you'll be doing this alone. The Crimson Claws may sail with you, but so do 200 of Laughter's men as well as three of my men. See you at dusk."* * Echo nods with a smile. Echo takes off toward Captain Theins tent, where he had asked Thein, the senior officers and Design to meet with him. He sighs. -Three- of the Dark Armored ones. Dangerous indeed, especially if they are to engage in single combat. Perhaps with good planning this could work. Or perhaps not. Echo opens the way into Theins tent, eager to use Designs sorcery to contact his master.* They all turn their heads in unison as you enter. Thein bows with a flourish and frowns when the other officers give a half hearted salute. They are all exhausted. Most have been out helping the grunts cut down timber for the transports. Their uniform are stained with black mud and by now every ghost in the camp has heard about Laughter's massive army.* (Can i do a perception+awareness check, want to take a probably useless security look) (sure) (0 successes. You sure don't feel confident about it, but you can't see anything wrong with the situation.) "Gentlemen. As you probably all well know, our plan moves ahead as expected. We will sail for Fell Harbor at dusk, which approaches rapidly. Also, many of you probably have no idea what is going on. Understand this- we are rallying for war. We're breaking camp and attacking Fell Harbor." "The Crimson Claws will be with me, acting as Marines on the lead transport ship. Thein, see to it that the Crimson Claws are -not- the first in the fight. We will have 200 of Laughters men on the ship with us. I want them to leave the ship first, no question." "Officers, we are not returning to this camp. Take what we need. Design, I must speak to the Bodhissatva immediatly. The rest of you are dismissed, prepare accordingly. If anyone questions why I want Laughters men hitting Fell Harbor first...send them to me."* All in the room nod. They may not understand everything that's going on, but soldiers aren't expected to. The officers file out of the room to prepare their men along with Thein. Design walks up to you, "What message do you wish to send?"* "I realize you are drained by the building of these ships. But we need men waiting for us from the Bodhissatva. How I am to be famous and powerful if there is no fight..? All the same, the Bodhissatva must have a force assembled to meet us. It needn't be massive, but it needs to put up a worthy fight." Echo winks.* Design nods, "I can pull this off before I've attuned to the last of the ships. But this will be the last message until after the battle is over." He pauses for a moment before the perky cartoon devil pops up on his shoulder, eager to hear your message word for word.* "My lord, even now a battle fleet is moving against the harbor. I lead it. For now, trust that I am your faithful servant. However, if you can spare the men, some may be needed to mop up any surviving warriors of the Lion. I -need- you to trust me now, my Liege, in this, the most dire moment I have ever known. Your devoted servant, Echoing Words From the Darkness."* The red devil gives a quick nod and flies into the distance. Second later the amorphous blob of floating eyes and teeth appears before you and your Liege's voice booms. "Echo. Do what you must." And just as quickly the wicked looking cherub disappears. Your master's voice entirely devoid of the feeling it always is. It is almost as if he's given up.* (Err, Your master's voice is entirely devoid...) * Echo grins. "It's the best I could have heard. We'll get just the fight I want...yes..." Echo lays a hand on Designs shoulder. "Meet me on the lead ship at dusk. Be ready...we're sailing into history."* (Are you ready to go straight to the attack?) (Yep) (very well...) The sea is relatively calm this close to land and the pitch black water has an eerie beauty to it. Like all water in the Underworld, this has the look of solid obsidian and anything more than an inch below the surface is impossible to see. As a traveled mariner you are familiar with the beasts dwelling under the undead waves, and they are not to be trifled with. The inside of the transport is very much devoid of ornamentation or extra parts. It is merely a rectangle of wood, not unlike the dimensions of a coffin with one hundred rows on the sides. There are neither sails nor instrumentation; direction must be gauged by sight and forward motion attained by raw muscle. The boat creaks and moans under the pressure of 500 fully armed and armored war ghosts and you don’t feel terribly confident this hulk will remain afloat. As if reading your mind Design leans in to your ear, "Don’t worry, this is one of the better ones. A couple we had to rush, I wouldn’t want to be in those." Remaining by close by your side Design whispers, "On your signal I can destroy any or all of the boats. Remember this is going to take my full concentration."* "How long will it take?" Echo responds in a whisper.* "Seconds... very long seconds. If the Shackled Husks on board this ship realize what's going on they might be able to react quickly enough to disrupt me."* "They will be busy. I will tell you when the time comes." Echo nods to Design with a grin.* Thirty minutes later all 40 boats have been launched and make their way quickly towards Fell Harbor. As you get closer you see that only six ships are in the harbor itself, and four of them are docked. Most are mercantile ships being used to transport troops into Fell Harbor. Only two are warships and the big one is directly between your ships and the harbor. You recognize its silhouette instantly as that of a heavy trireme, most likely the Behemoth. It is similar to an imperial trireme except it is roughly twice the size and is heavily armored with black bones of an ancient beast. You know its captain in passing - he is the commander of the Southeaster Fleet that is usually anchored at Fell Harbor. For the moment the Behemoth is staying where it is. You don't see much activity on the harbor itself, nor the ships docked there. Something else catches your eye near the coastline. In the distance you can see one of the beaches Laughter’s men are camped at. You suddenly realize how Laughter disposes of the bodies of traitors and captured soldiers. He pitches them into the sea, much to the delight of the local wildlife. It is hard to see at first, but you definitely can see the tiny ripples that signify something below the surface. They are most likely Eichids. Horrors with dozens of thin tentacles each armed with razor sharp claws (Think black spiky Octopuses). The beasts hunt in swarms and you’d guess there are several hundred in the area looking for another free meal. As an experienced sailor, you realize anybody who falls into the water will be torn to shreds, even an Exalt like you. One of the three Shackled Husks on board turns to you, "Echo, bring us to bear on that large warship and order your men to board her. We cannot have her causing trouble for the landing of the other transports. I and my men will stay here and continue on to the shore."* * Echo sighs. "Are you quite sure? But.." Echo asides to the Husk. "You will not deprive me of my role in this victory, creature. The -instant- we take the vessel I am moving on Fell Harbor with her." His eyes speak truthfully, even though he hardly trusts the Husk. "CRIMSON CLAWS! RALLY YOURSELVES! We are boarding the Behemoth, let it be known we walk into battle!" Echo adds, a tight grip on his warbow. Something tells Echo it was a good idea to have a full quiver like he does. He'll need those arrows, no doubt.* (brb) Slowly the fleet of transports close in on the harbor. Dusk is rapidly giving way to total darkness and it is begining to become difficult to see. Your transport has moved slightly in front and is on a path to intercept the large warship and provide a screen for the others. Oddly enough you can see no movement on top of the Behemoth and the transport runs along side her without violence. The heavy thunk of wooden planks being laid from the transport to the trireme is drown out by the war cries of the Crimson Claws. Moments later the first of your men have run up and onto the Behemoth - to find nobody. The entire top deck is deserted. You see in a far corner near the command platform and figure motioning to you. You recognize it as the captain. He makes chopping motions with his hands and screams a blood curtling scream. Design grins and joins in screaming and carrying on. Those on the transport below cannot see over the side of the trireme and can only imagine the horrrible battle being waged up there.* * Echo releases a battle cry as well and runs onto the vessel, his men all behind him. "That's it, Crimson Claws advance! Take the lower decks!" Echo winks at Captain Thein admist all the confusion, and proceeds towards the edge of the ship. "We have this, make haste for the harbor!" Echo yells down to the transport below. "Design, on my mark..." Echo says to Design as they both move towards the awaiting Captain."* You hear the transport pull its boarding planks and shift away from the warship. Design looks at you and shakes his head, "They're too close, its too dangerous for the Behemoth." He grins, "But I could start on the ones farther away."* * Echo nods. "Please do. Kill them all my friend. When the vessel gets further away, destroy her."* Design smiles and walks to the center of the ship and sits down. With a deep breathe he closes his eyes and exhales. In the distance you see a bright blue flare arc into the sky. The transport farthest away disintigrates into utter nothingness. Like popcorn popping nearly three quarters of the ships are gone over the next couple seconds. Most explode in brilliant displays while some seem to putter out and merely break apart in the dark waters. You see the Shackled Husk from your transport stick his head up to look at the explosions. He turns his helmeted heads towards you an instant before his entire ships in engulfed by flames. The entire transport fleet has been destroyed. Not a single one made it to shore.* (bah, excuse my spelling. angel just got home and has election coverage on the tv and is talking to me. can't... concentrate... ung) (Kerry ain't doing so hot. No upsets, nothing surprising..looks like it won't be as close as expected) (eh, yeah no upsets so far. PA, OH, and FL are still to close to call even though the polls closed an hour ago. Those will likely decide it) * Echo gives a quick flourish and a bow towards the shattered transports. "Oh what a shame, what a shame! Amazing work Design! Truly you and I have done the unimaginable!! Twenty-Thousand of Laughters finest...killed instantly. What greater victory, what more stunning accomplishment can one ask for?" Cackling madly, Echo raises his arms to the sky triumphantly. All the planning, the plotting...all worthwhile.* The Crimson Claws and Design join you in your cheers. The joyous sounds slowly give way to an odd sound, quite out of place. With a cold shock of horror you realize it is Shadow. She's on the floor behind you screaming. Holding her hands up at her head you see the tiny hearthstone eyeball frantically shift back and forth across the water, the blue flames of the burning ship dancing off its reflective surface. Shadow's screams reach a fever pitch and her voice begins to crack under the strain. Red haze, almost like a fire slowly rises from her mouth, eyes, and ears. The cheering suddenly stops and 300 hundred horrified ghosts stare at the dying child-Exalt. Design takes a step forward, "By the Abyss... her essence is burning up. Her power is eating her from the inside out!"* (You succeed at a compassion roll, you MUST try to aid her or burn a willpower point to resist) (Bah) (And so does Design...) * Echo leaps towards Shadow. It's not her time yet. She has much she can do for Echo, so much potential...so many enemies could be killed by her hand. She must not perish, not yet. "Design! Help her!" Echo cries. He reaches out with an armored hand and grabs hold of the bindings. He stares into the eye with a cool, collected look. "I know you can't hear me. I held my end of the bargain. Didn't I." Echo points to the hand he shook with. "I held my end."* In the back of your mind, behind the shrieks of the dying Exalt, you feel the bond between you and Walking on Laughter break. The heavy shadow of the oath fades from your soul, and the oppressive gloom of a great curse is placed upon Laughter's. It seems luck be damned, Laughter has decided to break the oath and kill Shadow anyways. Design kneels beside you and the convulsing Exalt. "We have to do something quickly." His mind races. "Her essence is burning... burning her from the inside out. We have to get rid of her essence, now!" He places both hands on her chest and closes his eyes. "Focus with me Echo, we have to release the tainted motes of essence." Your knowledge of essence manipulation is limited compared to Designs, but you are pretty certain that forcing such a large amount of essence - especially the burning red kind - cannot be a good thing, you may well be risking your life.* * Echo blinks. "If it must be done...I suppose it must be done." Echo quietly ignores his own terror, preferring to act ignorant in the face of possible damage or death. Yet, what does he have to fear? He is like a god, a hero walking among weaklings. He has come off an amazing victory...truly this will make it complete. Echo reassures himself, doing as Design asks. Still..* Haumphantine's eyes grow large in terror. "You fools! We'll all be killed!" With that he turns and runs below deck. The red haze above Shadow grows to engulf both you and Design and a large number of the Crimson Claws seem to agree with Haumphantine's assessment and follow him down below. (50,000 people have now thrown their votes away btw) (ok, the moment of truth, rolling Willpower + Essence) (how's that?) (Nader) (you roll 3, design rolls 9. The good part is you've saved her life. the down side is your successes is your soak against the explosion of essense that's coming...) (bastard) You put your entire mind into pull her tainted essence from her body. You can almost see the red haze drift away from Shadow on Design's side, yours however is not doing quite as well. Like air being sucked out of a room, you feel a kind of pressure on your body and mind. At the peak you and Design open your eyes at the same instant. Design looks at your with terror and manages a single word, "Echo-" and then nothingness. The explosion has no flames, just pressure and a pulse of air. Shadow shrieks and suddenly stops, he body falling limply to the deck of the ship. Design is tossed like a rag doll and slams into a nearby mastpost. Your vision goes red. (rolling damage) (holy crap dude) (Did i die?) (I died didn't I) And your vision stays red. You take 7 aggravated damage. (rofl) (you have a -2 and a -4 left) You can't figure out what happened, but your entire body feels like it is on fire. You eyes open slightly enough to see Design stirring and several of the Crimson Claws laying crumpled about the boat. Several more are staggering around trying to help the injured. In the distance you see blue arcs of Lotus Fire slamming into the outer wall of Fell Harbor. Walking on Laughter has begun his assault with a vengence.* (we can end there if you'd like) (Sure) it could have been worse I guess. you won't need to worry about wasting weeks and weeks recovering though haha but you won't be fighting anytime soon hmm PA might go Kerry but only like 3-14% of precincts are reporting and, as a teaser for next time. Some of the shackled husks survived and made it ashore and those appear democratic nice heh of course they did tomorrow i'd be surprised if Kerry was president really? well sure I think he has a decent shot. I'm not big on deciding based on 2% of the results he needs to win PA, OH and California just to hold his own yeah, that is pretty assinine well CA is his hands down I think fox'll probably call it 15 minutes before CA even votes i looked on CNN.com and they don't say how many precincts are reporting all they say is what they project which is annoying, cause on other sites states that have already been called for Bush are honestly heated battles Session Close: Tue Nov 02 21:39:19 2004