[LP CYOA] Epic

[treave]

That's where a more needlessly cruel man would capture them alive, then tie them to some stakes behind the pitfalls for their mates to discover tomorrow.

 

[Zero Credibility]

If you guys are relying on them being ignorant of our force size, killing their scouts might make them suspicious that something is up.

Better suspicious that something is up then knowing exactly what is going on.

 

[Storyfag]

That's where a more needlessly cruel man would capture them alive, then tie them to some stakes behind the pitfalls for their mates to discover tomorrow.

I'm willing to vote for this option!

 

[Esquilax]

Zero Credibility: It's nighttime right now, visibility is low and I doubt that any scouts would wander that close to the fortress. While they may be expecting to steamroll through the place tomorrow, I still doubt any of the scouts would be dumb enough to get so close for fear of being hit with arrows. They are expecting this campaign to go smoothly, they aren't going to be doing anything more than a cursory sweep of the area. Let them be lazy.

As far as B, I'm not sure how we'd benefit from bringing ourselves and 15 men. I could see a potentially risky and daring raid/assassination being performed with a suitably ballsy group of bros, though. Go from tent to tent slitting the throats of the sleeping Babylonians before the battle begins, that's true psychological warfare. But that would probably be biting off way more than we can chew. Still, I think infiltration into the area shouldn't be too hard - it's nighttime, there are tents everywhere, and catching a stray guard shouldn't be a problem.

 

[treave]

15 men divided into a few groups can cover a bit more ground. A camp with 8000 men is going to be pretty big, and you don't want to spend too much time around it. This scouting mission is more of trying to gauge the enemy's composition, checking them out from a relatively safe distance, confirming numbers, equipment, trying to spot any irregularities or oddities etc, not going right inside their tents and riffling parchment for information. You can choose whether or not to attempt actual infiltration though once you're there... if you go along, of course.

 

[CappenVarra]

C

 

[Zero Credibility]

Zero Credibility: It's nighttime right now, visibility is low and I doubt that any scouts would wander that close to the fortress. While they may be expecting to steamroll through the place tomorrow, I still doubt any of the scouts would be dumb enough to get so close for fear of being hit with arrows. They are expecting this campaign to go smoothly, they aren't going to be doing anything more than a cursory sweep of the area. Let them be lazy.

Oh, I'm all for letting them be lazy, but what if they won't cooperate? If possible, I propose we hide our guards right on the edge of our trap field and on any position where somebody might spot the hole in our defences. That way we get both - if they are lazy they won't come close and nothing will happen, and if they are not and they discover one or the other they won't be coming back to tell about it. Also, if they are not as lazy as we think we definitely should capture some of their scouts for interrogation. We are a telepath after all.

 

[Arpad]

B

 

[Esquilax]

I think that sneaking in and getting a ballpark estimate of numbers, equipment and maybe a few hints as to what the Gieloth leading the army are capable of should be about all that we should expect from this little excursion. If Ean had light manipulation abilities, an assassination would be a more distinct possibility (even then it's a stretch), but we've gotta be realistic here. Baiting a Gieloth in through the northern wall after we've unleashed our trap seems like the most reliable plan we've got at the moment for taking out one of these things out relatively easily. In one-on-one combat with the Honorblade at our side, Ean will fare pretty well against them.

It looks like C is going to make it, and I think that as long as we don't make a fuss we can use our telepathic abilities to make an estimate of how many psychic presences there are in the camp. That still won't give us much of a clue about logistics, equipment and potential battle plans for tomorrow however, but at least it's something.

 

[newcomer]

If you want to be slightly braver, we can attempt a long-range assassination by frying the Gieloth's mind, we have learnt how to protect ourselves from incoming backlash.

B

 

[Azira]

We haven't developed our telepathy enough for that, if I remember correctly. It works by proximity, and to actually read/scramble thoughts, we need to touch the subject. We needed to do that with Astarth, and he is a normal human. We'll not be able to remotely fry any Gieloth anytime soon. If we work on "upgrading" that side of our power though, we might in the future.

 

[Baltika9]

Treavebro, if we use our Honourblade, will we get leveling penalties?

 

[treave]

No. You'll get a chance to really unleash it once the battle begins.

 

[Azira]

Two questions treave

1) In the 4 years since we chose to bend our knees to Astarth, I assume Ean's been questioning the voices on the "Masters". Have they told him anything of essence yet?

2) The honourblade, does it look like a normal sword? Seeing as it's made from part of us, I have a grisly image of a bony sword with an edge of tooth enamel, the hardest and most durable substance in the human body. Possibly with a pinkish hue, from other tissues.
If this is the case, then it's a rather obviously out of the ordinary weapon..
If on the other hand it looks like a normal sword to the untrained eye, we can more easily carry it around on our person without raising suspicion, should we decide to shapechange ever so slightly and go spying/infiltrating..

 

[treave]

Two questions treave

1) In the 4 years since we chose to bend our knees to Astarth, I assume Ean's been questioning the voices on the "Masters". Have they told him anything of essence yet?

Besides what they said right after the Sekhenun arc, they have been quite silent on the matter. Actually, you'll notice they haven't said anything much at all. All they've been doing in the past few years is to encourage you to finish off the Children, nothing more.

2) The honourblade, does it look like a normal sword? Seeing as it's made from part of us, I have a grisly image of a bony sword with an edge of tooth enamel, the hardest and most durable substance in the human body. Possibly with a pinkish hue, from other tissues.
If this is the case, then it's a rather obviously out of the ordinary weapon..
If on the other hand it looks like a normal sword to the untrained eye, we can more easily carry it around on our person without raising suspicion, should we decide to shapechange ever so slightly and go spying/infiltrating..

Well it certainly doesn't look like a demonic sword, that's for sure. The rib was ground into powder and mixed in during the forging. For now it looks like a khopesh made out of dark steel1 but less hooked at the end than the example given. It's a shape-shifting weapon, so it can take the shape of almost anything you want.

But Ean hasn't had to use it to its full potential so far.

---

1. The colour of the metal is clearly unusual, though not as unusual as an actual bone sword. You used some mystery materials Sekhenun told you to retrieve from a room in the tunnels under the temple. Also, when you dropped by the Pahnrath chamber, it was empty. Just to clear that up.

 

[Azira]

Sneaky little gits those voices.

Good to know about the sword. I imagine it could be turned into a whip as well, for utilitarian purposes. And should we later gain the knowledge to secret acids/poisons, I imagine it could do much the same. Ean could go tentacle raping the tentacles themselves.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Alternative option for the Honourblade as time progresses...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vmq_PkV5OQ

 

[treave]

An infectious agent that turns your own body against you... or maybe creates an evil doppleganger with all your abilities, huh?

*jots down a note*

 

[Azira]

He'll not be as groovy as Ean. Just you wait. He'll look downright silly when he tries to cry "sally forth!".

 

[Esquilax]

I'm still pretty dead set on B. I'm worried about the effects that C would have on morale: if I was a soldier on the fortress and my general suddenly decided to go reconning the enemy camp solo I would think that he was completely unhinged. I feel that B strikes a nice balance between secrecy and information-gathering: our guys will use the cover of night to obtain info on equipment, numbers and possible leads as to the Gieloth's abilities, while we can remain on standby to prevent Kharun from doing anything stupid/reckless. I'd rather find that information out through recon rather than risk broadcasting our telepathic presence.

Then again, B also has the risk of revealing all the cool traps we set up if one of our guys gets captured. Tough choice.

 

[newcomer]

So the voices hasn't told us anything... what about Phanrath's memory? Did we managed to patch up his light manipulation ability?

 

[Helly]

treave, what can our power tell us of this young Kharun ?
Is he but a raging berserker, or does he appear to have a mind (and agenda) of his own ?
I wouldn't want to find out the hard way that he's Shulgi or that good ol' shepard (or a pupper of the Gieloth)

 

[anus_pounder]

If sword-voting is still going on, I vote for Eve. If not...err....have a brofist.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

That's where a more needlessly cruel man would capture them alive, then tie them to some stakes behind the pitfalls for their mates to discover tomorrow.

This sounds good.

Also, when you dropped by the Pahnrath chamber, it was empty. Just to clear that up.

Missed this. Guess we'll be running into more children in the future. Also, just thought of something - Sekhenun used Pahnrath's body as a 'womb' in order to procreate - does that mean Sekhenun was actually a male gieloth?

 

[Baltika9]

That's where a more needlessly cruel man would capture them alive, then tie them to some stakes behind the pitfalls for their mates to discover tomorrow.

This sounds good.

Also, when you dropped by the Pahnrath chamber, it was empty. Just to clear that up.

Missed this. Guess we'll be running into more children in the future. Also, just thought of something - Sekhenun used Pahnrath's body as a 'womb' in order to procreate - does that mean Sekhenun was actually a male gieloth?

It's a tranny gieloth. This is, after all, the Kodex Kool Klub.