"Shadows of the Past" Prelude 2

[leticia]

Brian [to Mahir]: Alright. This is towards the end of your third year. As curious as you can be, you've caught snatches of the other Exalts, but your teachers have very firmly instructed you not to do so. They have told you that a True Meeting must happen at an auspicious time-- after you all graduate. Most of your days have been taken up with either training, or going out on lightning raids to strike fear into the hearts of both the Realm and local Wyld tribes.

Brian [to Mahir]: It is just after the morning practice bouts-- a severe, black-haired sifu named Lupo has been visiting Kether Rock, and he's been doing 'chase hunts' out in the desert and broken badlands with you in the mornings. He's an Elder, and quite capable of finding you in your armor, but you've earned grudging praise for managing to prolong the hunt a little longer each day. This time, he caught you in a maze of broken rock with nowhere to go but into the bright sun when he cornered you. After tapping you on the shoulder-- the usual mark that he's found you and confirmed it-- he grunts, and reaches into his sash. A delicate silver scrollcase that wasn't there before is what he pulls out, and reads the message in before looking over at you, his eyes flat and unreadable. He rolls the scroll up, and nods back at the fortress. "Enough playing," he says, scowling. "Your sensei Shin wants you to meet her up at the top of the rock. If you fly, stay cloaked," he orders. Of all the Sidereals, Lupo is the hardest to earn real respect from; he seems to almost have a grudge against the concept of glory at all.

Mahir quietly snorts, half at the continuing impossibility of evading the elder sifu, and half at the very notion that he might *not* fly, given half an excuse. After a lifetime on the ground, the freedom of glory of flight is still a joy that hasn't worn thin. He bows gracefully to Lupo, "Thank you, sifu, for the lesson. By your leave, I should proceed immediately to meet with sensei."

Brian says, "Lupo plants his right fist into his left palm, and nods slightly to you; his dismissal given, he turns and strides back towards the Rock. Bare to the waist, the scorching touch of the Sun in rising in the lands of Fire bothers him not, and he gives no sign of the heat as he makes his casual path back."

Having been dismissed from the current lesson, Mahir turns his eyes briefly to the sky, both to estimate the time and to get a sense of the winds. Satisfied, he turns his mind inward, focusing his essence, as he whispers the command words that activate the extra features of his Celestial Battle Armor, bright lines of essence radiate from his shoulders shortly before he fades from view.

Brian [to Mahir]: Give me a Dex + Stealth + 2 stunt, to see how well you evade the essence watchposts. What are the benefits from your cloaking device again?

<<OOC>> Mahir says "+2 stealth while moving from the adaptive camoflage, cloak is diff 3 on Perc+Aware to notice me."

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Not sure how the cloak stacks with deliberate Stealth attempts, since it's passive."

Brian [to Mahir]: Gotcha. Roll with +4, then.

Brian [to Mahir]: Two rolls.

Brian [to Mahir]: By them.

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 12 dice: <1 2 3 4 4 6 6 7 7 9 10 10> for 7 successes.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Got it."

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 12 dice: <2 2 6 7 7 8 8 8 9 10 10 10> for 12 successes.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 14 dice: <1 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 6 8 8 10 10 10> for 8 successes.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "In other news, omnomnomnomnom."

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Leftover turkey, form of...! Savory bread pudding."

Whoever's on tracking today is doing a superb job. You know which seemingly harmless rocks are actually concealed lightning ballistae or implosion bows, and they follow you as you move in. Kether Rock is well prepared and well protected. They do not, of course, shoot; instead, they bob in a subtle salute, honoring a Shining One in path to the heavens as he deserves, then rotate back to watching outside. Maduka Shin is not concealed; she's sitting on the side of the mountainoous fortress which has been your home and training camp for nearly three years now.

Maduka Shin is a tall, strong woman, as tough as the Rock itself, without its inflexibility that was the doom of the previous inhabitants. Steely grey hair tied back in a braid today, she's resting with her left smashfist resting on the hilt of her greatsword. Beautiful and stern, she has been the measure to which all around aspire. As your cloaked form flies up to her, you can see her eyes. Her scarred face nods gravely, and she indicates a benchlike outcropping of rock nearby her.

Mahir carefully suppresses his disappointment at being spotted by both the watchers and by Maduka Shin, as he quietly reminds himself that these are powers far beyond those he is likely to oppose Outside, at least for now. He carefully drops out of travel mode into a more leisurely hover, and comes to rest at the indicated point, dropping his Cloak as he touches the ground.

Brian says, "Sensei Shin nods. "Good work this morning," she says, then snorts. "Lupo won't be around long, but you got one of his 'good job' grunts this morning, I'm told." The Master of Kether Rock seems always to hear the whispers on the wind in her domain, secrets that she says are Sidereal in nature; she can help you with them, but not give them to you. "Be proud of it, little as it is. We have a situation, Mahir. Are you ready to take your graduation trial a little early?""

Mahir says, "Few of us are ever truly ready for the trials we face, but I will strive to my utmost to achieve what you ask of me."

Brian says, "Sensei Shin nods curtly, and then points out to the northwest. "Five days ago, a pair of Wood-blooded couriers sped to Shondala Monastery--" a local bolthole of the Wyld Hunt; guarded by secrecy and toxic alkaline flats more than armies, though it is flush (for its size) with dragonblooded troops; you've been told it's tactical to avoid, rather than raid before--" carrying a slung white jade coffer between their jade riders. There aren't many of those in Creation left outside of lost fortifications; they wouldn't use two for anything not important." She frowns, and shakes her head briefly. "Even more, once whatever was in the coffer was removed, and the riders sent away, five of the Hunt's top sorcerers in the area went into the mountain, somewhere in its tunnels and carved chambers. Only two of them came out; word is that the other three were cremated not long after, and both of the surviving sorcerers were rushed to a nearby Realm fort for advanced healing, since the top healers in the Monastery were two of the dead ones.""

Mahir nods, waiting for the full tale before speaking.

Brian says, "Maduka Shin quirks the scarred eyebrow, staring evenly at Mahir."

<<OOC>> Brian says "You can roll Int + Lore, War, or Larceny if you want hints here."

<<OOC>> Mahir says "If it's clear that she's expecting me to fill in the gaps, I can probably just wing it, but I'll roll the Larceny for shiggles. I just thought OOCly that there was more coming."

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 6 dice: <2 5 5 6 6 7> for 1 success.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Heh. NO HELP!"

Brian [to Mahir]: You're a Solar, and she's a Sidereal. She's made it clear that while she's your teacher for now, she expects you to grow into an independent command. You need to be able to understand your own missions-- since they'll be your responsibility to choose.

Mahir ponders for a moment. "The monastery is currently vulnerable, more so than they might be for quite some time, but if that was your concern, you would have called forward a Paladin. You are curious what is in those mountains that they would sacrifice so many resources for."

Brian says, "Maduka Shin nods. "We could break the Monastery easily," she says honestly. "We've got more troops, and heavier hitters. The desert listens to us better. But it's unnecessary exposure and expenditure of lives. The former is risky, and the latter, repugnant," she tells you, a stern glare. The Tiger Warriors live to serve, as do any of the Cult, but she will not let -any- trainee think of them as expendable. "Infiltrate a mountain carved into a monastery-fortress," she orders. "Get the contents of the coffer, or destroy them if they can't be moved, and get out alive. Do this, and you graduate. Michael will start giving you real assignments from that point out, not just testwork.""

Mahir grins slightly, and thinks to hinself, "A worthy test for a Deacon, and my own curiousity is piqued." Outwardly, he remains impassive, and merely presses his right fist to his left palm and bows. "It shall be done, Sensei."

Brian says, "Your Sensei returns the salute and bow just a shade higher than equal. "You can take what supplies you think you might need. Use your own judgment," she says, and turns away, looking over the desert as the sun rises."

Mahir turns away, and heads to the storerooms to gather the required provisions for the trip.

Brian [to Mahir]: Stunt an abstract for an Int + Larceny; list especially any specific things you want.

Once at the storehouse, Mahir ponders his options. Going in unarmored simply isn't an option, so the question is whether to rely on the advance camoflage of his armor, or attempt to cover it up. It's best to be prepared either way, as he pulls a voluminous overrobe off of a particular shelf, and then moves over to the foodstuffs to gather sufficient supplies for the journey, still pondering other options for disguise and concealment.

Brian [to Mahir]: Ok, 2-dot stunt.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 8 dice: <1 1 2 3 4 8 9 9> for 3 successes.

Brian [to Mahir]: You've got basic tools and such; you won't have any penalties to your rolls. Nothing special, but you have basic tricks of the trade. By direct flight, Shondala is about three days northwest. How do you plan to do the trip?

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Pretty much by direct flight, low to the ground with Cloak enabled."

Brian [to Mahir]: Stunts! What time of day, how long during a day, what you'll do when you start to get closer, etc.

With the powerful sensory capabilities of his armor, Mahir can travel just as safely by day or by night, and the night offers the comforts of concealment. He flies tight to the ground, revelling in the simple joys of bank and turn and climb, from before sunset to after sunrise, stopping long enough during the scorching height of the day to find a cave or an outcrop to gain shelter from the blazing sun before continuing onwards. His infiltration will happen in the earliest hours past midnight, to minimize the chance of detection, and he wants to make sure his body clock in in sync.

Brian [to Mahir]: Very nice. Okay, give me another Dex + Stealth +4 (2-stunt) roll for the approach.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 15 dice: <2 2 2 4 4 5 5 6 7 7 8 9 10 10 10> for 10 successes.

Brian says, "The Shondala Monastery is carved out of the living rock of a lonely former volcano, deep in the souther desert. The caldera collapsed on itself long ago, and the wind scoured it into a reformed peak like a jagged flame held into the sky. Terraces have been carved over it, with railed walkways going between each. Mortal monks patrol most of them, but at each of five entrances-- one up high in each of the four external directions, and a large, grim gate open in the direction of the Blessed Isle-- there are small clusters of Dragon-blooded guards, mostly monks but some Legion veterans. Two medium implosion bows, rare and expensive, hold watch over the gate into the mountain; the portals leading onto the guardways are watched by two lightning ballistae each. On some of the larger platforms, regular ballistae and catapults are found. It may be a monastery, but like most Immaculate ones, and all belonging to the Hunt, it is a siege-ready fortress. None of the weapons are aimed at you, and while everyone is on a clear state of high alert, no one is preparing weapons in your direction."

Brian [to Mahir]: I'm going to rule that the passive effects combine with the adaptive camo; you get 2 dice from the camo, +3 automatic stealth successes when moving, +2 more (5 net) when stationary.

Brian [to Mahir]: So you got 13 there.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Thank you for that, because it had occured to me that the Cloak was mostly useless compared to my base Stealth pools."

Mahir carefully circles the mountain top several times, staying at the limit of his perception range, carefully scouting each of the gates for weaknesses or possible entrance points, before approaching closer.

Brian [to Mahir]: Perception + Awareness or Larceny +1 for casing the joint.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Larceny +1"

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 8 dice: <3 4 8 8 9 10 10 10> for 9 successes.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Oh SNAP!"

<<OOC>> Leti says "How come the dice like HIM? =p"

<<OOC>> penguin says "He bribed them with cookies."

<<OOC>> Mahir says "It's all about the foodz."

Brian [to Mahir]: The gate itself is a weakpoint, despite being the most heavily guarded. It's not flush with the mountains like the portals are; it's set forward from the slope a bit for a courtyard. Now, the courtyard's full of murderholes, but you're pretty sure that the secondary gate under the lip of the natural cavern the gate's built over is a normal portcullis and door set-- and mostly open, with the gate firmly closed at the moment. You could fly over the gate, under the lip, and into the fortress from there.

Mahir can't help but chuckle to himself at the limitations of the terrestrials. So linked to the ground, they simply can't properly think in three dimensions. He swoops closer to the main gate, trading out the speed of his travel mode wings for the greater control and stealth of the hover mode, as he slips quietly over the upper edge of the tightly locked and guarded main gate.

Brian [to Mahir]: Two patrols of double-brotherhoods of Immaculates line back and forth along the sides of the courtyard. The portcullis is, indeed up, with two great gaping holes to either side of the main passage where the final redoubt blocks can slam into place if lockdown is necessary. Shortly after you arrive, five more monks march out of the inner gate. They bow to one of the brotherhoods, three women in white, red, and green and two men in blue and black, who bow back, and begin to file back into the monastery, their relief taking their place in the double on the left.

Mahir considers for a moment whether to shadow the retiring patrol. They're off-duty and tired, so they're unlikely to notice a ghostly presence following near the ceiling, but are they going the way he wants to go? "Deeper into the mountain" is the answer, after a moment, and he moves carefully to follow them as they retire from duty.

Brian [to Mahir]: Stunt stealth.

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 12 dice: <2 3 3 4 4 4 6 8 8 8 8 10> for 6 successes.

the first lesson in infiltration is how to tail someone, because they know where they're going, and you don't. Mahir has practiced this scenario over and over, and he moves both with the ease of long practice, and with the utmost care as he keeps an auspicious distance between himself and the pentad of monks ahead.

Brian [to Mahir]: 2-dot stunt, your usual bonuses apply.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 15 dice: <1 1 2 3 3 3 4 6 7 7 8 9 9 9 10> for 8 successes.

Brian [to Mahir]: Success! None of them seem to notice you flying behind them, though eventually, you're forced to walk or risk taking up too much space in the 8' tall, 6' wide hallways. You hear muttering and grumbling about that "Blasted ceremony in the peak-- not worth the risk," though the one is hushed by his senior quickly. The halls are quiet, save for soft prayers and the occasional far-off sounds of practice bouts are ongoing.

Mahir grins for a moment, before sobering. Just because they're making it too easy for me right now is no reason to get over confident. He disengages the Essence Wings, and moves on silent feet through the corridors, searching for any tunnels that lead upward.

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 8 dice: <1 2 3 4 4 7 10 10> for 5 successes.

Brian [to Mahir]: Eventually, you catch a changing of the guard. Each wearing red and the triple candles of Hesiesh, they're each wearing a heavy load of artifacts-- bracers, not like your hearthstone ones, but more intricate, with wrapped and inscribed prayer strips over them, strange adamant discs that go over the forehead and eyes with a circlet to hold it to the head, deep red jade short daiklaives, and strange belts made of glyphed plates of jade in various colors linked by silver chains. They're taking off the visors, bracers, and belts, but only one at a time; two are looking around, though not very diligently. They're sour-faced and stressed; something is wearing on them.

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 15 dice: <1 2 3 3 4 4 5 6 6 6 7 9 10 10 10> for 8 successes.

Brian [to Mahir]: With the protections of your cloaking device and adaptive camouflage, you don't seem to be picked up yet, though there are some strange glimmers and reflections on the facemasks/discs.

Mahir ponders the adamant lenses. Most often used for making the invisible visible. With that, he spends three motes from personal to activate the full sensory capabilities of his armor, engaging both the ability to perceive Essence patterns as well as dematerialized spirits.

Brian [to Mahir]: Roll Perception + Lore or Perception + Occult, situational bonus +3 and stunt bonus +1.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Lore, I have no Occult."

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 10 dice: <2 5 6 6 7 8 8 9 10 10> for 8 successes.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Taking back two motes of the three I spent on Sight."

Brian [to Mahir]: They're granting the wearers essence sight, you're sure of that, from the way they lens incoming motes. You can probably stay hidden; unlike immaculate armor, yours doesn't have a perpetual flaw, and you can keep your movements and respiration in keeping with the natural flow around you. Still, they certainly seem to be inspecting the invisible-- or the spiritual.

Mahir nods, secure in the concealment of his armor and his prowess, but foreward that whatever lies ahead is not always going to be visible to plain sight. Keeping his full Sight engaged, he continues to move upward towards the peak.

Brian [to Mahir]: You're going to have to cross the room to get to the upward path; it's a square room with a number of mats in the middle, where people are either limbering up, taking off the special equipment or putting it back on, and benches around the side. Your cloak will help you move even in the open, but you're going to have to balance that against the essence sight of the guards. The door is open for now, but there are only two finishing off the meditation half-hour to attune to a set of gear; when they finish-- your essence sight estimates about five minutes-- they'll go up, and the door behind the watchguards will probably close.

Mahir ponders the situation for only a moment. There's nothing to be gained by waiting, the guards that still have their essence sight remaining are tired and worn out, and the fresh guards aren't warmed up yet. And I didn't get to this point by shrinking away from a risk. With that, he sets out with confidence, pausing now and then as people move about the room, seeking always the empty place, the gap in vision, the smallest concealing shadow.

Brian [to Mahir]: Nice, 2-dot stealth, usual bonuses.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 15 dice: <1 1 3 3 3 4 4 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 10> for 9 successes.

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 14 dice: <2 2 2 2 3 4 4 6 6 6 8 8 9 9> for 4 successes.

Brian [to Mahir]: You make it past easily. The floor begins to slope up sharply, to the point where it's active labor to keep going up. There are steps, but they're tall and short, with little toeholds. Worse, they're of variable height and variable length, so that there's no easy rhythm on the stairs up. They wind, circling, branching off at various points. A few false starts leave you backtracking and avoiding patrols, but mostly, you're ascending with little difficulty.

Mahir continues his careful ascent, ever watchful for more sentries, or any sign of the rather unknown target.

Brian says, "There are fewer patrols up here, but their essence burns stronger. There appear to be rings of Craft Charm carved tunnels, back and forth, creating artificial length to the trip to reach the hidden top areas. They're moving around with steady purpose; the fatigue of the lower area guards isn't found there, and all of their faces are grim and harsh. What are you doing to avoid detection?"

Artificial tunnels pose an additional challenge, with none of the natural nooks and crannies to offer fragments of shadow in which to hide. But Mahir is a Night Caste, born to the shadows, and protected by the powerful First Age craftsmanship of his armor. He moves with a deliberate grace, not a single whisper of breath or telltale footstep will escape, as the essence fields of his armor bend light and vision and even essence itself to conceal him from watchful eyes.

Brian [to Mahir]: The patrolers up here are in groups of three, moving in triangular formation to cover themselves and others around as they pass. The formation shifts slightly, so at least one of them can cover looking behind or around when they need to. They don't know that there is someone to hunt, but they know that something important is there to be protected. Roll Stealth with +2 stunt dice.

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 14 dice: <1 1 2 2 2 5 5 5 6 6 7 9 10 10> for 6 successes.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 15 dice: <1 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 7 7 8 9 9 10> for 7 successes.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "I should probably invest in a Stealth excellency at some point, and I've still got +3 succ on that roll from Cloaking Device."

<<OOC>> Brian says "Yeah, you're clear with change."

Mahir the shifting patterns of movement seem like a powerful deterrent, but every advantage is an equal disadvantage, to a clever adversary. By timing his movement to the steps of the guards, Mahir slips through the cracks in their defenses as easily as he would slip through the crack of an opened door.

Brian [to Mahir]: You sneak through most of the patrol rings with only a few close calls when patrols bypass each other. They're mostly circular routes, of course, with the occasional nexus never too close to one of the external portals. There are closed doors on the inside of the ring as well as other routes that go up; eventually, when you're at level with the highest external portal, as far as your instincts can confirm, the only way up is through them. Each of the doors is roughly the same-- highly abstract symbols running over them with the five symbols of the Immaculate Dragons on them, always following the same pattern-- Fire, Wood, Earth, Water, Air, though which one is on "top" of the circle of the five shifts. It's not always the same shift, but there were more Earth-ascendant portals below, then wood, then fire, and now air forms the majority of the closed doors, though two or three are marked with water ascendant.

Mahir concentrates for a moment at a gap in the patrols, mulling over the significance of the elemental symbology. The chest that was flown in was white jade, leading him towards one of the Air Ascendant doors, but which one? And might the Water Ascendant doors lead to the same road, but with fewer guards?

<<OOC>> Brian says "You want that from a Lore aspect, a Larceny aspect, or an Occult aspect?"

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Larceny has more dice, but I suspect Lore might get me better results. Unless I just cast the whole thing as "picking the lock". Basically trying to get any hint about which door to try first."

<<OOC>> Brian says "Well, pick which one you want, 2 dot stunt."

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Int+Larceny, then, and I'll look at the whole thing like picking a combination lock."

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 8 dice: <1 2 3 3 4 4 5 8> for 1 success.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Bleh. Can I try again with Lore?"

<<OOC>> Brian says "You'd need a new stunt, or it'll start the clock of +1 difficulty per repeat attempt, even using a new Ability. All you're sure of is that your Essence Sight is telling you the glyphs have locking mechanisms behind them that respond to essence, somehow."

\[Mahir(#90),saypose] Mahir shakes his head at the readouts from his Sight displays, "Yeah, they're locked, I could've guessed that much without advanced technology." The question is which door, however, as he casts his mind back to the Immaculate texts he forced himself to read back at Kether Rock. Know thine enemy is a powerful lesson, as he tries to place his mind in their patterns, to guess what might be behind each door.

Brian chuckles. "Two dot again."

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Trying for Int+Lore this time, and then I'mma go turn my laundry, and then I'll start popping them open."

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 7 dice: <5 5 6 6 7 8 9> for 3 successes.

Brian [to Mahir]: You know that the elemental signs each govern different aspects of reality; in a very real sense, culturally, they are the only definitions that Immaculates accept. Water is the element of martial arts-- always big in the Hunt, naval activities (of course), but also of government, policing, and theft. Air colors the perception of stealth and throwing weapons from a militant point of view, but also the sciences, academics, magic, mysticism, and language. You do know that sorcerers were involved; they may have been following Air signs, though Water might have involved protection against thieves, and for some reason, all of the Fire locks have more motes of essence floating through them. It's all dissipating, uncommitted, but the Fires have been fed either more recently, more completely, or both. Air is the second best "fed". The others, no matter what is ascendent, are about the same.

Mahir ponders the meaning of the essence flows for a moment, then decides. A more complete answer would take too much time, and he's deep in hostile territory. Sorcery flows from air, and white jade. He searches out the Air aspected door closest to the peak, and begins to carefully examine the locking mechanism and the lines of essence flow.

Brian [to Mahir]: Perception + Larceny, +2 stunt.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 9 dice: <1 2 2 3 4 6 6 6 9> for 1 success.

Brian [to Mahir]: The lock frustrates you, at least this time. There are no moving parts on this side of the wall at all. The discs are set into the stone, with just enough room to turn around, probably in tune with the mechanisms behind them.

Mahir takes a moment to admire the craftsmanship of the lock, with no obvious weaknesses, before resorting to less obvious methods. Placing his left hand flat against the stone in the middle of the door, he release three motes of essence from his personal store and begins to twist the essence flows around the lock. The physical nature of any lock flows from its essence, and if the essence is open, by what means can mere matter gainsay that truth?

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Lock Opening Touch."

Brian [to Mahir]: The locks are individual, one under each sigil. Which one do you pick to work with?

Brian says, "No stunt, just choice of where your Essence goes."

<<OOC>> Mahir says "The Air Ascendant sigil, if I have to choose, on the assumption that's the keystone."

Brian [to Mahir]: Okay, roll Dex + Larceny +2 stunt, and add your Essence in bonus successes.

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 11 dice: <1 3 5 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10> for 8 successes.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 11 dice: <1 2 3 4 6 6 8 9 10 10 10> for 8 successes.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "+Ess4"

The Air lock resists for a few moments, but within the space of a breath, your essence reconfigures into a phantom Solar wind blowing across the boundary between physical and immaterial. The lock turns with a click, and the door slides upwards into the ceiling. Beyond lies another one of the long, variably-stepping corridors with the different colored steps. The first one by your feet is colored blue.

Strangely for Immaculate architecture, the entire place is decorated in fairly realistic portrayals of the Elemental dragons, all wrapped together, in bas-relief jade on the walls. Every so often, one dragon stops, and its head, open in a roaring maw, turns towards the corridor, extruding from the wall a bit. The one by your feet has black jade with little claws not quite out of the wall on the blue step. The next closest one is white, over a white step; further up, green, over a white step, then red over a green step, blue over a blue step, and black over white. You can't quite see any further than that up due to the angle of the hallway.

Ah, more puzzles. Mahir ponders what could possibly warrant this level of defensiveness, and why it is out here in the Threshold and not safer within the strongholds of the Realm. He watches the dragons for a few moments, timing their movements, and puzzling over the variations in the color scheme. Water over air, earth over earth, only two dragons out of six that match the element of their step. He searches out the flows of essence and tries to match the correspondences.

Brian [to Mahir]: They're not actually moving, btw. They're statues. They're just wriggling into each other. Int + Lore or Occult +2 again, and +2 situational more for your essence sight.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Lore."

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 9 dice: <1 4 5 6 7 8 8 8 8> for 5 successes.

Brian [to Mahir]: As your essence sight tunes carefully you recognize that the entire hallways is a very, very old artifact. There are huge build-ups of concentrated essence in every step that has a dragonmaw, whether at foot level or at head, pointing at the other side. That essence forms a solid sheet of invisible but very active energy that stretches from the dragonmaw to the floor vertically, and from to the next dragonmaw horizontally-- they're always on alternating sides-- except where the color of the floor matches the head; in that case, it seems that the step essence is grounding out the essence of the entire 'circuit', meaning it's building up even worse, violently even, in those steps.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Laser tripwires?"

Brian [to Mahir]: You can't precisely tell from what you can pick up what will happen if you pass through the essence-sheets that extend from dragonmaw to dragonmaw, but the grounding in the steps looks really unhealthy.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "If I go airborne, is it possible to zig and zag and duck and get through without touching, or are we talking about "walls" here that block steps? I can't tell."

<<OOC>> Mahir says "It sounds like left, then right, then up and over, repeat?"

Brian [to Mahir]: It's mostly from chest to waist height. There are a few-- two that you can see, probably more deeper up the tunnel, that go to about head height; you'd have to stunt a Dex + Ath to make through without touching the essence sheets. Remember, each maw is jutting out a little from the -physical- walls of the corridor, to your left and your right. One dragonmaw starts on your left; the next one further up, the white one at waist height, is on your right. Connecting each is an invisble sheet of essence-currents-- well, invisible to human eyes, it looks like sheaves of lightning in essence slight that gets drawn into a miniature grounding-out vortex every time (like with the second and fifth ones) a maw jade matches the step jade.

Mahir takes one more look around the nearest side of the cooridor, time is ticking and he'll need to move pretty soon or risk a patrol, but a trap this complex must have an off switch for legitimate users, if it's actually leading him in the right direction. Carefully avoiding any of the colored jade, he searches with both mundane and magical sight for the key to this lock.

Brian [to Mahir]: Hmm. Perception + Occult or Larceny.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Larceny."

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 7 dice: <2 5 6 7 7 7 8> for 4 successes.

Brian [to Mahir]: You've got a limited amount of time before the door realizes it's not supposed to be still open; probably no more than a minute or two. And, unfortunately, you can think of one really easy way to secure the steps-- if this is a manse, and the patrollers are attuned to the manse. The local geomancy around you is all very thoroughly tapped and channeled into both the security sytems and the defensive ones, but you could try to spend about 15 seconds trying to see if you're inside a geomantic nexus via your Essence Sight. It'd be a Per or Int + Occult + 2 situational from your essence sight.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "My Occult is zero. I'm gonna just chance it with the flight, it's time to move."

<<OOC>> Brian says "Stunt it."

Mahir shakes his head as his mental countdown of the time window between patrols hits zero. No more time to consider the options, have to just take the best available and run with it. He subvocalizes the command word to activate his Essence Wings, turns his Essence Sight to full, and mental composes a quick prayer to the Unconquered Sun for quickness of limbs and of mind before launching himself into the air and down the hallway. There's barely enough room to maneuver, and none available for stopping once he's begun.

Brian <to Mahir> chuckles. "2-dot. Dex + Athletics away.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 10 dice: <2 2 3 4 5 5 8 9 10 10> for 6 successes.

Brian [to Mahir]: Your wings catch on the curents of Essence evaporating off of the connecting screens. It takes them a moment to stabilize, but you guide them with your body, reinforcing them with your will when the abrupt drops of the groundings comes by. You're not sure what will happen if you intercept one of the screening elements, and a couple of times your wings come within a hair's breadth of telling you. Thankfully, though, you're a Solar, and a hair's breadth is all you need. The staircase is _long_ this time, well over fifty yards long, and there are a number of tight spots as the placement of the maws rise and fall. At the top, there's a final grounding stair, blue jade on blue jade that's the landing before another one of the Five Dragon Seal doors, shut closed for the moment.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Safe spot to land, or do I have to LOT while hovering?"

Brian [to Mahir]: Very bad space to be on, quite probably deliberately so.

Brian checks something.

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 18 dice: <1 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 5 6 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 10> for 9 successes.

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 19 dice: <2 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 9 9 10 10 10 10 10> for 12 successes.

Brian nods.

Brian [to Mahir]: anyway, pose ahead.

Mahir grins at the absolute paranoia of whoever built this place, as he struggles to maintain his hover against the grounded essence of the final stair long enough to slap his hand to the door. He forgoes the subtlety of his first trial in favor of speed, wrestling with the essence of the door locks, using his superior Essence to force it open.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "LOT again."

Brian [to Mahir]: +2 stunt once more. Dex + Larceny with 4 automatic successes from Essence.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 11 dice: <2 3 4 4 4 5 6 6 8 10 10> for 5 successes.

Brian chuckles. "It takes a bit more jostling to open than the first one, but eventually, it clicks into place, responding to your inherently superior Essence. The lock clicks back, and the door slides open, revealing a short triagonal foyer to what is -definitely- a corridor shaped on manse geomancy. White marble runsalong the floor in interlocking hexagonal tiles. Ivory inlay in complicated, aniconic, geometric patterns lines the walls, each with little glimmerings of essence as the focal power of the Manse's design collects Essence. The foyer is running at about 60 degrees off the tunnel you're on, to bring it flush with the internal geomantic geometry. Your essence sight sees and registers the middleweight-strength Earth Essence pulsing through, though here and there it seems to be getting caught in caustic pools of essence, like double-rows of "footprints all mixing together. The Earth aspect is "cleaning" up the footprints, but it causes strange near-holographic impressions of whoever left the "footprints"-- nothing distinct enough for details, but it's certain that they were there. Off in the distance, you hear a clattering set of skitters, all moving in time.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Let's not leave any footprints for someone else to find, then...."

Mahir moves carefully into the room, maintaining his hover. He's not sure entirely what's going on with the floor, but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to find out. The urgency of the mission is crowding him forward, now that he's been forced to start burning essence, discovery is inevitable, and he needs to get the job done before it happens.

Brian [to Mahir]: Roll Perception + Awareness, +1 for stunt.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "I've still got other stuff I need to work on today, also, so we need to try to wrap up soonish? 30-45 minutes would be ideal."

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 9 dice: <2 2 3 3 5 6 6 8 10> for 3 successes.

<<OOC>> Brian says "I'll try to fit it in by then, but I suspect that just means we'll need to finish tomorrow night. It happens."

Brian [to Mahir]: The clattering sounds are growing louder, accompanied by strangely musical hisses and just barely inaudible, angry conversation.

Mahir mentally prepares himself for a possible conflict, reaching out with all his senses for possible ambushes, as he proceeds into the cooridor.

As you turn the corner, the essence-coloration shifts. Good, strong Earth flows around it, the glimmering white motes flashing along the corners of your enhanced sights. But a strange wind blows across the current, invisible to mortal eyes. Flowing it are many, tiny, fragmentary emanations of essence, coalesing briefly into useful motes and then shredding forward, devouring some of the geomancy but pushed back as it goes. This strange Essence-wind and its dust of motes herald the appearance of utter abominations.

Tagged by your Sight as being materialized coalscences of Essence-- a natively dematerialized spirit of some alien and twisted Essence, but solid hear and now-- you might have otherwise thought them particularly horrific beastmen. Their upper bodies are burly, naked to the waist men and women with scars and hard muscles abounding, but their hands hands are massive, scorpion-like chelae, clicking in tune to their arguments-- something about their binding, and anger at 'the boss lady'. Below the waist, they're also naked, but not in a recognizably human way. Four legs and the aft half of a giant scorpion, segmented and vile, ending in a long, wicked tail with a poison-dripping stinger behind it form the base bodies for these strange beings. There's something unusual, forced and calcified in their essence that is unlike the natural elementals or little gods you've communicated with before, but reminscent of the spirits and demons bound by summoners, whether your Sidereal teachers or your rarely seen fellow students, or more often, the few mortal sorcerers around the Rock, to act as guards, laborers, or research companions. They're patrolling and arguing their way down the corridor, about five of them, heading your way.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "How much space clear between the patrol and the walls and ceiling, and how many of them?"

<<OOC>> Brian says "They're jostling into each other as they come down the corridor, so you'd have to go high, but their thick lower bodies are working in your favor there; there's plenty of space between each one."

Mahir is still hoping to pull this off without bloodshed or an alarm, but the odds are against him now. Flattening himself nearly to the ceiling, he attempts to ghost past the abominations, watching them closely for the first twitch of a muscle that might betray an attack.

Brian [to Mahir]: Dex + Stealth + 2 stunt, 3 autosuccesss.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 15 dice: <1 1 3 3 3 4 5 5 7 8 8 8 10 10 10> for 10 successes.

<<OOC>> Mahir says "I ain't *here* man!"

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 10 dice: <3 4 4 5 7 7 8 9 10 10> for 8 successes.

Brian [to Mahir]: The jostling, grumbling, angry scorpion-things growl at each other in Old Realm as they pass you by, leaving the caustic essence trail in their wake. It's mostly just grumbling about being stuck "here" and wondering when they'll get more monks to 'taste'-- and complaints that they weren't able to finish the tasting. One reoccuring theme does catch your ear, mostly cursing (very quietly) the arrogance of some "sun-get" that they spit when they call her, "that damn boss."

Mahir files away the small bits of intel, he'll spend time later pondering the power structures implied within those words. He continues upward, focusing on the main task of finding the cache.

Brian [to Mahir]: The corridor turns in about a 120 degree angle, leading on to the next section. It's a long and lonely stretch, punctuated only by the interference left from the scorpion-thing's essence trails, but eventually, you come across a huge gate with the same five-dragon seal as before. As you come close to the door, you feel an overpowering sense of dread pressing into your mind. Like a silent roar, it fills your eardrums-- or at least, your perceptions of your eardrums, and causes your vision to swim as a social attack attempts to overwhelm your mind.

Brian says, "Your defensive choices?"

Mahir has known fear, and he has known dread. As a mortal boy he faced starvation and battle and was never far away from a painful death. As a man, he faced temptations and torments of the mind and the body on a daily basis. His will was strong, and his gift of solar essence could only make it stronger. No mere door will stop the Nightbringer from his goals.

Brian [to Mahir]: Nice, 2-dot. Anything being done in addition to the stunt?

<<OOC>> Mahir says "I don't think I *have* anything else, I think 2-dot on DMDV will have to do."

<<OOC>> Brian says "Well, you could spend a willpower point or expend a virtue channel."

<<OOC>> Mahir says "DMDV is 7, pool of 13."

<<OOC>> Mahir says "Nah, we'll just see what DV does."

<<DICE>> Brian rolls 10 dice: <1 1 4 4 6 7 8 8 8 9> for 5 successes.

<<OOC>> Brian says "With two automatic successes, tie goes to defender. The attempt to order you to flee and never look back is immense, but you steady yourself and are able to avoid the compulsion."

Mahir shakes off the last of the compulsion and begins to examine the door carefully. This one is clearly different, and he wants to check it before simply forcing the lock.

Brian [to Mahir]: Perception + Larceny +1 stunt.

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 8 dice: <1 1 1 3 3 4 5 6> for a botch!

Brian [to Mahir]: You're certain that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this door. It is exactly the same other than the white jade rather than dark stone backing.

Mahir carefully places his hand to the surface of the door, releasing his essence to coerce the lock into its opened state.

<<OOC>> Brian says "Dex + Larceny with the 4 autosuccesses again."

<<DICE>> Mahir rolls 9 dice: <2 3 4 6 7 8 8 9 10> for 6 successes.

Brian says, "As the lock finally pops open under your touch, the door slides down into the floor rather than up into the ceiling. You hear a WARNING, SYSTEMS FAILING! come from inside your armor as the cloaking device and the adaptive camo short out in unison, and a snarl from without. An enraged female figure is standing within what briefly looks like a laboratory room, though it's a bit hard to concentrate on.

The being within is of no great stature, but she looms larger than life, moving with a tigers feral grace. Dried blood streaks her face, her nails are blood-crusted talons, and her teeth come to points. A black tattoo resembling a birds claw marks her left breast, the rest concealed beneath dark red leathers and raiment of midnight silk. A decaying brown dog-like entity is snarling at you, by her heels. Under her golden wolf-ears crown, strung with braids of garnet twisted like tree roots, her hair forms a cloud of ebon fibers so fine they cannot be distinguished as individual strands. Her eyes, if one dares look into them, are pools of blood filled with alien stars. In one hand, she has an immense black-iron slashing sword; in the other, a mottle green and brass axe. Both are raised and ready, and both the spirit-- her essence burns with the power of a _Green_ Sun, a clear demon out of Malfeas-- and her spirit-hound are filled with rage in your direction."