Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Jester]

D > F.

3 Archmages in a week is just too much.

We need that to fulfil our quotas. Being white collar worker sucks sometimes.

 

[Kz3r0]

D > F.

3 Archmages in a week is just too much.

We need that to fulfil our quotas. Being white collar worker sucks sometimes.

Be thankful that we didn't glue together The Watcher while we were at it.

 

[Nevill]

Ahem.

I have an idea what TFM would be up to when he frees himself.

Seriously, how else is he going to oppose Mazzarin if he is three to five times weaker than him?

The third time they met was in battle. The Faceless Man, Shiver (Culwyeh), and three other archmages managed to fight him to a stalemate though they were forced to withdraw when Mazzarin's followers arrived.

He'll try to find the other archmages, and it probably won't be Alric.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Can we talk to the creature without TFM hearing us?

If you can keep it quick sure. The Faceless Man is not really paying attention to you right now so as long as you are not yelling you should be fine.

Maybe we could release it but tell it "drop the gate spell when he is inside it" while we are doing so. The creature should have finer control over when the spell ends than we could by attacking the gate, and if it fails it wasn't us directly trying to kill the guy.

Sure if you want to do it that way you can try but the creature may decide to immediately drop the gate as soon as it can. The spell does hurt it a fair bit.

Then that is my primary vote - D, release the creature but while doing so ask it to help us by holding the gate spell until just the right moment to tear TFM apart. It likely does has much better control over the spell than we would have by attacking the gate directly. Yes, it hurts it to hold it open, but it only needs to hold it for a few seconds, hopefully it's grateful enough for its release to do that. And if not we would still be probably left with D, if that happens we'll see how it goes. Maybe the creature will attack him, maybe not. Maybe it will attack all of us, but TFM will again need us to survive. And if the hostage isn't killed right away we can threaten TFM that if he goes through with that we will give him to Mazzarin. That ought to give him something to think about.

D (ask the creature to hold the gate until TFM is in it, then drop it on him) > B > F

edit:

Maybe we are pushing our luck a bit too far. Flop to B > Dii

 

[Fangshi]

D (ask the creature to hold the gate until TFM is in it, then drop it on him)

Sure, if there are no objections from the voters that is the plan Derryth will go with in D.

Current Tally:

Baltika9 Di
Grimgravy B
Kipeci A>B
Nevill Di
Kz3r0 Dii
Smashing Axe A>B>E>F>C>D
Jester B
archaen Dii
asxetos D>F
Zero Credibility Dii > B > F

A) 2 votes
B) 2 votes
C)
D) 6 votes:
i. 2 votes
ii. 3 votes
E)
F)
G)
H)

Post Flop:

A)
B) 4 votes
C) 1 vote
D) 6 votes
i. 2 votes
ii. 3 votes
E)
F)
G)
H)

 

[Baltika9]

Meh, I'd rather the Creature off him in it's own way. He's been here longer than us, he knows best.

 

[Fangshi]

Alright, I will split it then. All D votes will be counted together since they are so similar, the most popular variant will be the one you go with.

Di Is to let the creature do what it thinks is best, whatever that might be.

Dii Is to convince it to drop the gate on the Faceless Man.

 

[Nevill]

ask the creature to hold the gate until TFM is in it, then drop it on him

Assuming it even succeeds in killing the archmage, which I very much doubt, I am very uneasy about staying in the dreamscape with that creature. It is probably best for both of them to stay here when the shit hits the fan - just to be on the safe side.

But I'll go with what the others decide. I don't have a preference here.

 

[Jester]

Hmm trying to kill anyone who was able to survive few hundred years of attempts once screw over greatest of mages. I consider our chances to be slim and dont see reason to kill him. What did he do to us to warrant such answer?

 

[Nevill]

What did he do to us to warrant such answer?

Him being one of the Ancient Evils aside, he betrayed us right in the middle of the mission, took one of us hostage, and tried to get free despite our clear desire to contain him (which is why he resorted to taking hostages in the first place).

And he peeped on us in the bathroom.

 

[Zero Credibility]

He did tried to kill us once before in the mindscape, didn't he? He'll probably just keep trying until he finds a way to get back, and if we are in his way again, tough luck.

Once the creature is freed (or killed), what happens? I assume we can just return to our bodies and TFM to his bracers because the spell is no longer holding us here. We can't actually hold him here, can we? The reason I prefer the option of asking the creature to drop the gate on him is that I think the hostage may be safer that way. If we just leave it to the creature the only thing we know is that it will close the gate right away. Maybe TFM would be forced to defend himself our us against it then and the hostage will be the last thing on his mind. But maybe the creature will just leave, in which case he could take it out on her before we can point out to him just how stupid and suicidal that is. Afterwards he will be in our mercy and we know one thing he fears more that anything else.

 

[Nevill]

But maybe the creature will just leave, in which case he could take it out on her before we can point out to him just how stupid and suicidal that is.

Well, first, then it would be identical to C, which defeats the purpose of having multiple choices.
Second, the gate will still be standing. Theoretically, all TFM would need is to stall the creature and prevent its escape.
Third, and that regards the plan to kill him in general, if he traces the attempt back to us, which is not that hard, that might put a strain on our future relationship. Trying to kill each other while being bound to each other is a bit counter-productive.
Fourth, I am a bit afraid of the success here, even though I don't believe in it. We know TFM to an extent, the creature is unknown to us, and we've seen the army upstairs. TFM is the only one who stands between us and them.
Five, the plan is, again, too time-sensitive. If the creature drops the gate too late, that would be a disaster. If it drops it too early, no big deal.
Six, I kind of like the type of unwilling partnership we've had so far. He did try to kill us and have been an ass to us, but he did save us numerous times. It would be somewhat of a pity to end this strange symbiosis.

...I guess this means I am more in favor of Di, after all

 

[Zero Credibility]

Er, that's not the way I read this. The moment we free or kill the creature the gate will go down because the creature powers the gate and doesn't like that at all, trapping TFM with us again ("the creature may decide to immediately drop the gate as soon as it can. The spell does hurt it a fair bit.").

I'm not sure what TFM would do if the gate is closed before he goes through. Killing the hostage is a definite possibility if he is angry enough, but it is certainly not the smartest by far. If he can't use the gate he is stuck with us again. And if he then kills the hostage for revenge, well he does know what happened to the last person that betrayed us and caused a death of our party member, doesn't he?

 

[Nevill]

That's what I read as well. Maybe I don't understand what you are trying to convey.

The problem I see with trying to kill the mage - besides all of those I listed - is that it makes convincing him to spare the hostage difficult. True, it is not going to be easy as it is, but a direct assault would be a declaration of war.

If we are trying to off him now, then it means he is no longer useful to us - or so he would think. What is stopping us from giving him to Mazzarin then? What would make him step down and free Lyssa?

 

[Smashing Axe]

Him being one of the Ancient Evils aside, he betrayed us right in the middle of the mission, took one of us hostage, and tried to get free despite our clear desire to contain him (which is why he resorted to taking hostages in the first place).

And he peeped on us in the bathroom.

The guy's just doing what any reasonable person would do in a desperate situation. He wants a body and he's willing to do anything to get it. Let him have it, he's not all bad. He won't just kill us for no good reason. He's not crazy, not even evil, really. Just practical with a touch of arrogance.

I like him. He'd make a good master or ally. You know. Depending on what he wants. Isn't that what you want anyway? To make friends with everyone? This guy is a good friend! He's really powerful.

Also if he really wants to defeat Mazzarin, and if he needs allies to do it. Then raising us to archmages is on the table!

 

[Baltika9]

You're really desperate for some backstabbery.

 

[Nevill]

The guy's just doing what any reasonable person would do in a desperate situation. He wants a body and he's willing to do anything to get it. Let him have it, he's not all bad. He won't just kill us for no good reason.

Sure. Sadly, not any reasonable person has a reputation quite like his.

He's not crazy, not even evil, really. Just practical with a touch of arrogance.

I wonder what is so unclear about the 'Ancient Evil' part.

I like him.

I do, too. Unfortunately, I accept no masters.

You're really desperate for some backstabbery.

I get flashbacks of the vote where I tried to get people to let Nine into Derryth's head for teh lulz. :D

 

[Zero Credibility]

Wait, what did you think by this then:

Second, the gate will still be standing. Theoretically, all TFM would need is to stall the creature and prevent its escape.

Anyway, I'm going with my vote because I think it does have a chance of dealing with him permanently. It certainly sound like that in the F choice and I do think the creature has a better chance of pulling it off. The big problem is that the creature may not cooperate, but in that case it probably doesn't really matter what we tell it or if we tell it anything. In that case, well I just hope that the creature can distract him enough to prevent him from killing the hostage. Or maybe he will try convincing us that he was just bluffing about that hostage thing once his choices are us or seriously pissed off us.

 

[Nevill]

Wait, what did you think by this then:

If the creature will try to leave, as was written in the quote, the gate would remain, only it would be offline. All TFM would need is to subjugate the creature and make it power up the spell once more. There is only one way out of here, so it is not very easy for the spirit to escape.

That's what I meant.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Ancient evils are greatly exaggerated in this world. We befriended Nine, and she's the combined personality of two ancient evils. At worst he'd do something like the mages who built the fortress we're in, and then only to people who he doesn't have a personal attachment to. The guy is sentimental when it doesn't cost him much. I suspect he'll spend the next few years at least farting around being a hedonist. I don't think he's the harem collector sort like Xu Jing, we should be fine. He'd be a woman anyway, so, you know.

Honestly, we should just keep unleashing arch-mages until they take care of each other, then move in and mop up and become ruler supreme of the world.

 

[Nevill]

They've already took care of each other once. Why undo that part and not move on directly to the world domination?

 

[Smashing Axe]

We have Alric, the Deceiver, the Watcher and Mazzarin are about still. Nine's out temporarily. We should throw some more in, stir up the pot.

Acting against him here would seem to lose us more than it gains us. I don't like the risk, and I want him either as an antagonist or ally, messing about the world. I doubt very much he'd do anything to us. He was speaking quite frankly just now, he's not hiding any more agendas. He thinks he's already won.

 

[Nevill]

Wait, the Deceiver is alive? Wouldn't surprise me, but we don't know that.

All you can hope for with the archmages is to get them out of the game temporarily. I have an impression they are all 'about', some more so than the others.

What use is stirring the pot to you, personally? Other than a good chuckle, I mean.

Edit:

Ancient evils are greatly exaggerated in this world. We befriended Nine, and she's the combined personality of two ancient evils.

Nope, she is neither. We've seen those personalities, and we decided not to touch them with a ten-foot pole.

 

[Smashing Axe]

The cunning, lucky and opportunistic can prosper greatly in chaos. Plus, lots of work for mercenary companies! When there's chaos we can more easily form alliances and put ourselves in a position of power. It's riskier but it's better for us than peace. It also tips the balance against Mazzarin's dominance.

That and letting TFM go seems like the least costly option available to us right now. All the others, if they fail, result in him not only being free, but hating us. That's a very bad place to be. And I don't think we're skilled or lucky enough to pull off a kill.

Edit: That said, I wouldn't be very surprised if he tries to steal the Halcyon Stone from us. Hopefully he's too preoccupied with the prospect of going whoring. Or whatever it is embodied archmages do for fun.

 

[Zero Credibility]

If the creature will try to leave, as was written in the quote, the gate would remain, only it would be offline. All TFM would need is to subjugate the creature and make it power up the spell once more. There is only one way out of here, so it is not very easy for the spirit to escape.

That's what I meant.

So, the situation would probably lead to a fight between the creature and him, with us possibly taking one side. Yes, it could work that way if he can capture and connect the creature to the gate again. I fear there's just too many unknowns here to predict what will happen and I am worried about his hostage. Maybe it would be better to let the fucker go, but I'm really getting sick of these ancient assholes coming back to mess with the world again.