Best way to make a city carrying Atlas?

[vampire hunter D]

So, I was thinking on an old idea, and one component involves a giant mobile "creature" to carry a citadel or arcology on a decades long journey through the Deep Wyld. I'm calling it an Atlas, since that name seems appropriate. What method would be best for that? A giant technomagical automaton? Flesh and blood Behemoth? Artificial Spirit? Summoned Demons? Or something more srcane and esoteric?

[prototype00]

Friendly Ess 6+ Alchemical? It can also be the arcology, if need be.

[Baaldam]

Sorcerous Working, i'd guess, for the straight focus in the objective (a being that caries a citadel through chaos) over any lore/cosmology issues with origins, role, etc, yaddah, yaddah.
Or maybe some task-oriented elemental (earth, water [coral] or wood could fit fine, i guess) that evolved/grew along with the citadel in its back as ages passed and its endless journey advanced.

[vampire hunter D]

Friendly Ess 6+ Alchemical? It can also be the arcology, if need be.

not available in the First Age

[Baaldam]

Well, could you give us some context, since you cited the First Age, implying that is somehow relevant to the game or creature/situation you want to develop?

[Sith_Happens]

Palanquin is already held up by four perfectly animatable statues is my first thought.

[vampire hunter D]

Well, could you give us some context, since you cited the First Age, implying that is somehow relevant to the game or creature/situation you want to develop?

basically, it's for Gens Iza (or a Third Ed equivalent)

[Baaldam]

basically, it's for Gens Iza (or a Third Ed equivalent)

The ones who would go out of Creation in a comet or something similar?

[vampire hunter D]

I don't remember a comet being mentioned, but yeah

[Baaldam]

I don't remember a comet being mentioned, but yeah

I think something about the comet Gnosis & Gaia was mentioned somewhere, but might be mixing with stuff from Ink Monkeys or maybe some campaign concept someone posted in the forums. It has been years, hard to say for sure right now.

But back on the basics - ok, you want a giant mobile "creature" to carry a citadel or arcology on a decades long journey through the Deep Wyld, with a First Age gens of dragon-blooded as its inhabitants. I'd say monumentally ginormous elemental turtle made through sorcerous workings.

A gens of dragon-blooded should provide plenty of sorcerers with Summon Elemental, not to mention a whole gens of exalted ready to provide extra elemental essence. Looking at the corebook i'd say it might count as an Ambition 2 (Alter major metaphysical properties of a city-sized region) or 3 (Create a supernatural being of a singular nature and considerable power. Cast a city-sized region into a different realm of existence, or outside of time and space altogether, with set conditions for when it returns or how it can be accessed.) Solar Circle Working.

Personally i'd lean toward Ambition 2, unless interaction with the being as a character and its use of plot-devicey level powers are supposed to be a semi-regular thing.
Also because a Terrestrial Circle sorcerer cannot attempt Solar Circle workings of Ambition 3, by the book such world-shaking miracles requires the sorcerer at least be initiated into the Celestial Circle to push the boundaries so hard. Ergo, a celestial exalt to guide the whole thing (or an unique dragon-blood NPC that managed to reach beyond their usual limits of sorcerous understanding, what could be quite awesome on itself).

Finesse.... since we are coming with a with a rough description of how the working plays out in the world - colossal elemental or elemental gestalt of sorts with a citadel on its back - one might say Finesse 3 is appropriate here.


Means - oh boy, that's where things can get nothing short of hilariously ludricous because, well.... damn, we have a dragon-blooded Gens involved. How many sorcerers can they get involved, not to mention other dragon-blooded that while not sorcerers themselves might provide superhuman skills, artifacts or elemental-aspected in spades, in such a familial undertaking?

I kind of considered it for a time, but nope, honestly, i'm not even going to try to put that in numbers. Seriously, calling quits on that.

[vampire hunter D]

Baaldam. So you're suggesting a spirit or elemental type entity? Or an artificial behemoth?

I should go into detail of the mission sometime' shouldn't I?

[Baaldam]

Baaldam. So you're suggesting a spirit or elemental type entity? Or an artificial behemoth?

Since it involves a dragon-blooded gens, i'm definitely leaning toward an unique elemental made through Sorcerous Workings for the job, since that gets the job done while playing well to their strengths, in this case numbers, cooperation & elemental essence.

I should go into detail of the mission sometime' shouldn't I?

It would be interesting to get an idea for certain - knowing if one can or not count hundreds+ of dragon-blooded to support a job makes a definite lot of difference - but it's up to you if it's worth it or not.

[vampire hunter D]

Thought I had tonight: what if we go the Shingeki no Kyujin route and make the atlases so they need to be 'piloted' by an Exalt who merges with them while in control. Also' they would carry 'titans' which would be smaller (kaiju sized) ones used to carry ship-sized conveyances. Maybe smaller ones too for other tasks....

Thinking out loud right now

[Mizu]

If it is for a bunch of dragon blooded then thematically some giant elemental behemoth of a thing seems appropriate. I'd go with a big ass eastern style dragon serpent soaring through the void with a city on its back personally. Whether it is an elemental, construct, or some unique behemoth class being seems like something that should be decided on by the needs of the story.

[habitableexoplanet]

I think rather than a being created by the Dragonblooded, an entity befriended by them, which has its own reasons to attempt the journey, might make things interesting. You could still do "piloting" with a kind of mind-meld.

For that one possibility is a classic behemoth, i.e., following the 3rd edition corebook "immortal half-formed prototypes of the later life that would walk the face of Creation, often cast into the Wyld by the First Age Solar Exalted, and now massive threats to anything that crosses their paths." A large elemental spirit would also be a valid choice - it would probably have a friendlier relationship with the resident DBs.