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Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Aodh will be going to Gallia to take care of matters with the Martyrs of Ean and the King of Gallia.
So, RK-47 is sending out his trusted spymaster do deal with this:
Ingres_coronation_charles_vii.jpg

I see no possible way this could go wrong. I hope he inherited Ean's "bros before hos" mentality, otherwise I don't fancy our chances.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
treave, was the Golden Bull stolen during the sack of the Museum? Also, any recent unexplained cataclysms/meteorites on the planet?
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
You change your mind and agree to meet the Concordiat official. If you play your cards right, it is not impossible for you to secure backing from them, you think. It would give you another source of power.

treave, what does backing mean in this context? Information, bodyguards, bodyguards, that sort of thing? I'd rather avoid having to do something that would harm the Empire. Maybe we can double-cross the Concordiat if they're planning to invade us - we have many enemies within the Empire, perhaps use them as pawns to attack one of the cults we're having trouble with. In any case, we should have an advantage in negotiations with our political skills and telepathy.

Something is off with the Watchers. Multiple cult leaders have developed powers, and Watchers know about these. And yet it seems that every cult has a faction of Watchers backing it up. Why give support to one cult leader only, when they know that the leader is not the only one showing signs of power and thus possible being Ean's heir/Ean himself? It could be a powerplay to several higher ups in Watcher organization, but the whole organization divided between all those who show powers? Unlikely.

One possibility is that there are no factions inside Watchers. They just play all the Ean-shards for their own purpose and a few Watchers here and there are sacrificed for the sake of appearance. This way they got leash for all the shards and can choose the outcome of this whole thing.

Parts of your theory could be correct and sound plausible, but this part isn't true:

You knew that these cults were mostly led by people that were similar to you, though your Watchers had insisted that they were parasites off your power and had to be eliminated eventually. These cults were backed by various Watchers, though there were some that operated independently, like the Cult of the Returned Emperor. According to them, your – Ean’s – power had been inherited by these cults somehow, and as the original incarnation of the First Emperor, it was your destiny to defeat the pretenders and retake your throne. To that end, they would kill and manipulate events so as to bring you to power, eventually. You could sense that their goals were probably sincere, but there was still something they were not telling you.

However, the part where the Watchers describe the other players as "parasites" is interesting. It implies that killing (eating?) other immortals would restore the power that they "drain" from us.

Going after Jannik Inge Talos (thank you, root), however, has a couple not-insignificant benefits. For one, very important, it maintains stability. The secession of Scania would be an absolute nightmare, as it is closer to the other seceding territories than Ankida by far. Letting Talos so his thing unopposed may have a domino effect.
Next, equally important, it allows us to kill off an apparent shard of Ean with relative impunity and see what happens (e.g.: does it awaken memories, hunger perhaps? Do we absorb him?)
And, finally, it increases the confidence of our own Watchers in Dio. Hell, we may actually learn something about what is going on and maybe even make a friend of Talos/get him on our side. Yes, I do not trust the Watchers one bit.

“The most problematic of the cults is the one that assaulted the capital, but the Cult of the Returned Emperor in Skane and the Martyrs of Ean in Gallia have managed to rally several minor lords and ladies to their cause,”
...
“The Cult of the Returned Emperor was confirmed as definitely receiving funds from Free Scania. The masked men do not like this cult anymore than we do, and they plan to assassinate its leader, Jannik Inge. They had wanted me to travel to Free Scania to persuade the plotters there to abandon their backing and lead Jannik into a trap.”

Yeah, Scane seceding would be really fucking bad. But it doesn't seem to have gotten to that point - the madman's cult is still more prominent. However, you're right, we might be looking at the very likely possibility of a revolt or civil war if we avoid things up there for too long. Nevertheless, I want to talk with the Concordiat official because that situation is far more of an unknown, and thus, far more unpredictable. Also, I want to invest in a power base separate from the Watchers - we have already begun to move away from them, so I think we should discard them once they've served our purposes and we find better minions.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Esquilax:another reason A could be a better choice is that rewriting our plans with the watchers again is that they can become very pissy/lose their patience and decide to dispose of Dio.
Also,it seems foolish to allow Skyrim the chance at revolt.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
treave, what does backing mean in this context? Information, bodyguards, bodyguards, that sort of thing? I'd rather avoid having to do something that would harm the Empire.

Whatever he can get from the Concordiat, which would be handled in another choice.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
treave: serious question, maybe meta: have there been any more Terrasphagos incursions after Ean jumped into the rift? Did doing so at least stop/lessen them?
I just want to know if it was a complete loss or not.
Edit: and could you also give us some fluff on Ean Jr?
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
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11,370
Codex 2012
Terasphagos incursions occurred on a regular basis until about five hundred years ago, though they were never as strong as the second wave that you encountered. Even so, the Empire continued to lose land and were forced to wall off the section you can see on the map. There have been no Terasphagos sighted at all for the past two hundred years, and as mentioned the last incursion was five hundred years ago.

Ean's son, Telal, ruled for nearly a hundred and fifty years, and under his reign the Empire saw a massive expansion in colonization, spreading throughout the coast of the Mediterranean. The descendants of these colonies that moved inland to seek a more independent lifestyle would eventually intermingle with the Skane and other local tribes, and establish the kingdoms that currently make up the Empire. His rule also marked the first war with the Skane. Legend has it that is was over a Skane princess that he fell in love with, and he amassed a force of a hundred thousand men just to make her his.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Ean's son, Telal, ruled for nearly a hundred and fifty years, and under his reign the Empire saw a massive expansion in colonization, spreading throughout the coast of the Mediterranean. The descendants of these colonies that moved inland to seek a more independent lifestyle would eventually intermingle with the Skane and other local tribes, and establish the kingdoms that currently make up the Empire. His rule also marked the first war with the Skane. Legend has it that is was over a Skane princess that he fell in love with, and he amassed a force of a hundred thousand men just to make her his.
images


Thanks, treave.
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
I don't see why Dio should go and meet with the Concordiat diplomat. Peace have been maintained a long time without immortals on our side (well Athena and the rest might have their hand in here but if they have done so in the past, why wouldn't they do it now?) so why change it now? Just send some other prominent noble. True, they might give Dio a power base, but what do they get in return? And what happens if the diplomat Dio meets is an immortal?

We also need maintain status quo between the cults. We need to figure out what happens when one of the shards is killed. Do the killer get level up or what? Aodh is going to take care of Joan and that might make him even more dangerous opponent to us. The only way to counter this would be to go after Jannik Inge. Concordiat behind us won't help if Aodh manages to make himself the Emperor.
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
There's been a recent peace against the Concordiat, sure, but they have done a lot of fighting against us as well, and their weapons are actually more advanced than ours are. Getting invaded by the Concordiat while we deal with potential civil wars and the cults would be downright disastrous, without even mentioning that the Concordiat is closest to the areas of our empire that are the most stable and probably least cult-ridden.

Don't get me wrong, it's important to check in on the cults, but this is a bigger deal.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
You know, it's a damn shame we eidn't take the combat upgrade. With Dio's political savvy we could've made him an Imperial General, changed his house's name to Tullius and went to Skyrim to fight the Stormcloacks, FUS-RO-DAH-ing all the way.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
treave: some questions, some serious, some less so. Does Dio have any memories of Ean's life after the labyrinth?
Did the tea the Master offer Ean have the same smell as the smelly shit the Watcher pulled out on Dio?
Does Dio feel any presences inside himself, like the voices?
We haven’t heard the voices since the mountain crumbled.” Artemis spoke up, her tone as indifferent as her face. “Our powers are still here, of course, and we sense that they are still within us… but for some reason they do not speak to us anymore.”

And, finally, the most important question of all: had we gone with the Masters after the rescue, would this have been our assigned Master Mistress/ "duty station"?:
ilsa.jpg

Inquiring minds must know.

Edit: Is implanting memories an ability in the setting, since Shulgi could implant suggestions?
 

aleam iacis

Liturgist
Joined
Nov 4, 2012
Messages
115
Codex USB, 2014 BattleTech
Hi guys, I'm a newbie/lurker(I've read the 2 vampire LPs, the planeswalker LP, most of the threads of fate LP, the warhammer 40k &42k lps, Arcanum by RK47, the blackwell trilogy, rogue survivor, one of the Sengoku Rance ones, and all The Barbarian ones), but I wanted to ask(since nobody else did, I guess as Japanese weaboo is so reviled here), is the new LP character/Ean shard based off a successful Dio Brando from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure? Blonde guy, super talented and cold, selfish and amoral, gets taken into a noble family, tries to get rid of his new 'brother' and 'father'...

Also this LP rocks(as do the others I mentioned)!!!:love:
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
A - 3
B - 10

***

Chapter 7.9: Scheming in Crete

Scholars were uncertain whether the mythical Aegean War that preceded the foundation of the Shinar Empire truly occurred, but there were signs of a large conflict from artifacts and weaponry dating back to that time period. It was also then that the people of Crete was supposedly cursed by the Greek god Zeus, dooming them to a life of undeath. No one approached the island for centuries, fearful of the walking dead, but by the time some brave Shinari scholars visited the island in 1116 A.C., they found nothing but strangely well-preserved buildings. It was totally uninhabited, with no human presence anywhere on the island. As their archaeological efforts continued slowly over the next century, the island stubbornly refused to yield any corpses to the scholars. Even the tombs and mausoleums were empty. It was not long after that that the Greeks moved in. They were starved on space on Peloponessus, and it did not make sense to waste good, fertile land - and inhabitable buildings - on the basis of a fairytale. The legendary palace of Knossos was refurbished to become the official residence of the island's ruler, and it had become a thriving part of the Empire ever since.

***

"It seems that your reputation for throwing lavish banquets is well-earned, Governor Charmion." You raise your glass of wine, tipping it slightly towards the well-fed, jolly chief of the island. He unleashes a deep-throated belly laugh, his rolls jiggling in tune to his sonorous voice. "Just as long as you enjoy it, Sir Camna. Have you seen the bulls?"

"How could I not? This place is full of them. They appear to be a bit damaged though, if you don't mind me saying so."

"It is not my fault, Sir Camna." says Charmion solemnly. "My predecessor was... sensitive about his endowments - or lack thereof. To have Minos's very realistically made bulls poking him in the eye at every corner was too much for his poor ego to handle, I fear, and one day he snapped and took a chisel to every statue. I was here by the next week."

You laugh. "You appear to be enjoying the place, at least."

"Oh, far better than dull old Korinthos, or gods forbid, New Athens. I like it here, despite that feeling you get sometimes that someone might be spying on you. It must be the draft in this palace, it makes one feel uneasy."

You knew that feeling. You knew what was giving you that feeling, though - you had not come alone. Two of your Watchers were around... somewhere. It seems that they had learnt to trust your judgment, though it only meant that you had better not betray that trust. You aren't confident that your fledgling powers would allow you to survive should they actually decide to make a concerted effort to kill you.

"Oh, I don't know. It could be the ghosts of the ancient Cretans. What do you think, Officer Zhang?" You turn to the Easterner standing next to you.

The Concordiat diplomat was named Zhang Su, an officer of the fifth grade in their bureaucracy. As they had grades from one to ten, it appeared that Zhang was smack-dab in the middle of the hierarchy. He wore a rich silk robe in the tradition of his country, dyed a brilliant gold. It shimmered as he moved, almost as if it were made of real gold threads. His skin was tanned, a feature of a man that has spent many years in travel, and he bore the height and grace that separated the Easterners of the Concordiat from the stockier Southerners of the Shinar Empire.

"I don't really believe in ghosts, Sir Camna." When he spoke, he spoke in fluent, if slightly accented Shinari. "The feeling of being spied on is a feeling every human gets. However, if there is one... well, I think I'd like to meet it." Zhang gave a tight smile. "At any rate, I believe there is something we need to discuss, Sir Camna."

"Ah yes." winked Charmion. "Business dealings. I love trade with the Concordiat, Crete thrives on it."

You pat the governor on the back and grin. "I'll make sure you get a good deal out of this, governor. Just keep things quiet. This is for the prince." Charmion gives you a knowing nod, and escorts you and Zhang into a more private room.

***

"I can guess why you are here." Again with that tight, stretched smile from Zhang. "You are here on the Prince's orders. You have become well known amongst certain circles for that little game you played with his clerk, Sir Camna." You could read a slight tension, held in check by plenty of confidence. Zhang feels slightly different from any other person you had encountered, but you are not sure why.

"Perhaps I am here on his orders. Perhaps I am here for more. Do you know what the Prince wants?"

Zhang shrugs. "I will be straightforward. The royal family of Tamur is agitating for war. They want to reclaim their ancestral lands that the Empire has stolen. We have managed to restrain them thus far to little skirmishes, but they have centuries worth of vengeance that will not be satiated."

"That is very informative. Many in the Empire treat Tamur as nothing more than a Concordiat puppet. Do you mean to say that they are a raging beast held back only by the firm but caring leash from the east?"

Another tight smile. "You know your foreign affairs, Sir Camna. True, things aren't as simple as I have put it, but it is not as simple as Tamur being a puppet for our intentions either. You should know that."

You do know that King Tamur XXX, the thirtieth of the royal Tamur line to ascend to the throne, was a young king fervently believing that his destiny was to reclaim all of the lands his ancestors once held. It wouldn't be a surprise for such a young and ardent believer to lack pragmatism. He was like Runikylos, except with far less brains and charisma.

"Kill King Tamur?" you suggest, half jokingly. Zhang only shakes his head, though you sense he appreciates your suggestion. "He's been lucky. My superiors think differently, but it looks like invasion will happen anyway. It won't hurt us."

"That begs the question, though, of why you are here. Are you telling us this in hopes of bloodying your vassal's nose in a failed war?" There was a flicker of wariness in his eyes, for just an instant.

"Very astute, Sir Camna. Perhaps. Perhaps for more."

You had to do it; he was hiding something, and you had to push him to find out what it was.

"You can tell me, Officer. I'm sure we can work out something... beneficial to us. My prince has authorized me to make any offers I can to benefit both the Empire and the Concordiat." That was strictly not a lie, but you would make sure any offers made would also benefit you.

"What I want is something pretty simple. Have you heard of the Labyrinth of Knossos?"

You had heard of it in legends, and in your memories you have seen the Emperor - you - rescuing a maiden from a bull-headed giant and slaying it with a slash of your sword. You nod your head. "I thought they were just stories."

"It's a real construct, Sir Camna. The Concordiat has an interest in its history, and would like to explore it. Of course, the Empire is unlikely to give us permission, so..."

"You know where it is." It was not a question, but a statement of fact.

"Yes, that is why I'm here." He was indeed here for the Labyrinth. You smile at Zhang. "What can I do for you, then?"

"We need you to open the door."

"That's an amazingly simple request, Zhang. Why do you need me? I am sure there are plenty of other doormen willing to help you."

"It has to be you, Sir Camna, and no others. You are special, are you not?" Zhang's tight smile splits to show his teeth, widening into an ugly grin.

You struggle to keep your nerve. If it was the Labyrinth of legends, associated with the First Emperor, there was probably only one reason why they'd need you. They knew of your powers, and somehow that was needed to open the door. Your mind starts whirling. Did they know from your Watchers? Did they have an extensive spy network of their own? Could Runikylos have sold you out to them? After all, this was his idea, though your Watchers haven't reported anything on him having any contact with the Concordiat. In fact, from what you knew, few people in the Empire had any contact with the Concordiat, beyond that of the usual trade links, illegal or otherwise. You keep your composure and give Zhang a winning smile.

"What happens if I don't?"

"Then you don't, and we go on our separate ways. We have other ways we can try. If you do, then matters in Tamur will be resolved to your pleasure. I think that is incentive enough." said Zhang matter-of-factly, and that was that.

***

A. You accept the offer. This is why you were here, were you not?
1. You ask for the invasion to be halted. This would improve your standing in Runikylos's eyes.
2. You want Tamur. Obtaining kingship by conquest is an old tradition, and you know just the right puppet for such a purpose. Without Concordiat support, Tamur would fall easily once it started a fight.
3. You want something else (Propose your own reasonable option).

B. You reject the offer, going your separate ways. This was a bit too risky for your tastes. Best not to do anything strange for now, until your Watchers can find out more about the Concordiat's intentions.

C. Your Watchers are close by. You attack Zhang to bring him in for interrogation and find out what he knows. You can dispose of him quietly once you are satisfied. The currents around Crete can be treacherous at times.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
I wanted to ask(since nobody else did, I guess as Japanese weaboo is so reviled here), is the new LP character/Ean shard based off a successful Dio Brando from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure? Blonde guy, super talented and cold, selfish and amoral, gets taken into a noble family, tries to get rid of his new 'brother' and 'father'...

:troll:

The character was designed separately from Dio Brando, but the recent release of the anime inspired me to tweak it a little so that it was a blatant 'homage'.
 

m4davis

Scholar
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
557
did it just say ean struck down the minotaur and saved a maiden in the process well I think we can be confident enough to say at the very least those memories are fake
A 1
 

Smashing Axe

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
2,835
Divinity: Original Sin
Uhhh. I've no idea what to ask for at the moment. I definitely want something power related. Also suspect this guy is an immortal, or perhaps an immortal engineered human? I don't know. I wish we chose A in the last vote, a bit of political pull with the prince will do nothing to prepare us for the Eanocalypse.
 

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