Corco's Villa (IC)

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

"My natural form cannot withstand rifle fire, and their warriors are skilled marksmen with greater range than mine. They would make short work of me before you made it to the stones."

"I don't suppose you can transform into a B-52 of dragons either. How about a creature that can emit a sleep gas?"

"Do you think you could tell if a place was a relative safe space for shapeshifting?"

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

"Perhaps we should return to the caves and consult the true Maximus... And reach out to your contacts in the resistance. If we could time our infiltration for the moment of a major resistance offensive, that could provide a distraction for the false Maximus if he is awake and interceeding on the front lines"

"Well I suppose we could do either. I'm not sure what use distracting Maximus is going to do when there's going to be 300 hybrid soldiers around. Maybe we should report back to Corco?"

[the_matrix_walker]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"I don't suppose you can transform into a B-52 of dragons either. How about a creature that can emit a sleep gas?"

"I'm afraid not...

What a delightful notion! But I'm afraid I've never met a creature that could do that."

"Do you think you could tell if a place was a relative safe space for shapeshifting?"

"If I were to inspect one of these temples, I may be able to interpret the symbology well enough to make an educated guess.

"Well I suppose we could do either. I'm not sure what use distracting Maximus is going to do when there's going to be 300 hybrid soldiers around. Maybe we should report back to Corco?"

Even though they do not currently possess them, a feeling runs across Vassarious' body that their scales are bristling at the notion.

"I believe it is our charge to do something about the situation... But perhaps you are right. Should we fail, Corco should know what we've learned. I would prefer to have a plan first. And we cannot forget that our communication can be sensed, so we should be away from here and on the move before making contact."

Are there any likely candidates on Vassarious' maps for another temple that may have magic that might conceal them on this world?

[TGLS]

I'll sit down and think for a little while.

"OK, maybe we're thinking about this the wrong way. About fifty to sixty years ago, somebody managed to get inside Maximus's tomb and rearrange the blocks without anyone noticing. Unless they're some out-world infiltrator, they'd probably take much longer than an hour doing this.

There has to be some way to get into the Emperor's tomb, and mess around with the blocks without anyone, including the emperor, noticing. I suppose it might be "be important enough to clear the whole tomb and yank out an important block so Maximus can't wake up". I suppose that whoever did this could have upped the security to prevent anyone else from doing it again.

Even still, I think finding out which priests have had access to the area behind the third wall fifty to sixty years ago is a step in the right direction. I suppose they might all be dead now, too."

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

Are there any likely candidates on Vassarious' maps for another temple that may have magic that might conceal them on this world?

A gate temple or a healing temple? Sure. There are a few different healing temples in the capital city outside of the complex, and there is a gate to Lithus about four hours away by automobile.

The stones in the temple are in the wings of the emperor's temple, and pretty much out of sight. Vassarious only found them through their mystical sense, and Hua saw the design because it was intentionally laid out in the center of the shrine rather than the wings. Someone may occasionally pass by... but its not going to be an instant spot as soon as stone start moving. At least by mortals under the conditions Vassarious saw originally.

I'm seeing some good thoughts come out here.

[the_matrix_walker]

Vassarious gets out their laptop and looks for information on the temples and sees if there are photos. They look for the details of the symbols there and try to determine if there is enough information to figure out if they might be shielded there, or if they could be with minor modification.

"It may have been the people in power, or just one person with the right access who changed the maintenance manual, and some unsuspecting worker made the change while doing what they believed to be routine maintenance. I wonder if we can hack in and try that same idea... submit a maintenance request after updating their instructional materials. It would be fitting to have their own maintenance people correct the problem.

I'm looking at other options, but if they don't pan out, perhaps we should head back to the gate and proceed to the caves where we can check in with Corco, hopefully undetected, and talk with Maximus' true self for a bit more intelligence on the complex."

[TGLS]

I'll start looking into where I could find information on the service records of the priests, particularly their access to the inner most section of the temple and how long ago have they served.

[280] 22-01-14 15:08:54 GMT
Research
3d6 <= 15 : 3 + 3 + 2 = 8 ... success

So, where can I find this information?

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

Vassarious gets out their laptop and looks for information on the temples and sees if there are photos. They look for the details of the symbols there and try to determine if there is enough information to figure out if they might be shielded there, or if they could be with minor modification.

This is a roll against research...I mean tradecraft. Vassarious finds that information on these walls is officially secret. He is able to scrounge up a few pictures on the web, but they aren't terribly high quality.



The stones themselves are supposedly not understood by any-one except Maximus himself, though you have some strong evidence to the contrary. Vassarious quickly gleans (occultism! roll) that the configuration of the stones produces the effect, rather than any symbols.



He's not sure how to reproduce the effect... he suspects that they healing temples and gate temples won't produce a shielding effect without modification.

Originally Posted by TGLS

I'll start looking into where I could find information on the service records of the priests, particularly their access to the inner most section of the temple and how long ago have they served.

There are Six classes of people who could fit that description.

• High Priests, who manage and direct other priests
• Secretary Priests, who wait on the emperor ready with news, food, and to fetch anything he might desire.
• Architecture Priests, who build and maintain the structures of the temple
• Janitor Priests, who keep the place clean (but only a few will be allowed in the third wall)
• Animal Guards, a lot of whom serve a short time (6 months) guarding the temple complex
• Imperial Guards, who are usually drawn from the most elite ranks of the army, and spend 6 months to a year on temple duty.

The records can be found thusly:

• High Preists are a matter of public record and history books.
• The three lesser categories of priest's records will be kept in the offices of the priests, which is inside the first wall but away from the tourist area. A backup is held in an office building downtown. You can also make public inquiries about individual priests.
• The Animal Guards will have their own records, kept in their barracks, but you suspect the office building down town and main priest's offices will have backups of that for reference.
• The Imperial Guards use military records, which will be kept in a very different set of buildings, though they are still at the capital. The Priests probably keep their own set of records about the guards as well.

[the_matrix_walker]

"How long do you think it would take for you to make the journey to the caves and consult with Maximus and check-in if I remain here? You can pass the gates freely with your claimed identity, but I cannot get across in this form, nor assume one to use, as it is immediately known by the opposition. I'm not fond of the idea of splitting up again, but at this point, it seems I'm little more than a liability."

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

The records can be found thusly:

• High Preists are a matter of public record and history books.
• The three lesser categories of priest's records will be kept in the offices of the priests, which is inside the first wall but away from the tourist area. A backup is held in an office building downtown. You can also make public inquiries about individual priests.
• The Animal Guards will have their own records, kept in their barracks, but you suspect the office building down town and main priest's offices will have backups of that for reference.
• The Imperial Guards use military records, which will be kept in a very different set of buildings, though they are still at the capital. The Priests probably keep their own set of records about the guards as well.

So I guess the priest I followed back would have access to at least the second bullet point? Though I suppose that wouldn't be part of his regular duties, so I guess I would need to come up with an excuse.

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

"How long do you think it would take for you to make the journey to the caves and consult with Maximus and check-in if I remain here? You can pass the gates freely with your claimed identity, but I cannot get across in this form, nor assume one to use, as it is immediately known by the opposition. I'm not fond of the idea of splitting up again, but at this point, it seems I'm little more than a liability."

"It shouldn't take that long... I'm more concerned that the Emperor will figure things out and tell them to arrest 'Kunnifax'. Maybe we could try and contact the rebels on Lithus. Maybe we could use them as a go-between with the Emperor's fragment."

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

So I guess the priest I followed back would have access to at least the second bullet point? Though I suppose that wouldn't be part of his regular duties, so I guess I would need to come up with an excuse.

Yes, he should have a few reasons to the attend the building. Now that I think of it, more than many other priests, as dignitaries could have some odd requests.