Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Baltika9]

+1 5A.

 

[Grimgravy]

5B - too many ifs and a shaky timeframe for me.

 

[Fangshi]

Actually... I am beginning to consider this seriously. How much blood would we need?

A fair bit, about 150-200 liters each. You will need to fully submerge the entire body in magically treated blood.

Also, we might get enough extra left to have our first Eternal Bloom ritual going. I know, I know. Wicked, right?

Certainly possible if you do a public drive 'for the good of the kingdom'. Even if the three ladies shared a tub you could probably shave half a decade off their age though how young do you want to make them? They are only around twenty seven/twenty eight right now anyway...

Do dreams of people cease to exist once they wake up? What about memories? Is it possible to find old dreams of a person that is deceased or awake?

They cease to exist but the demons/elves/goblins often watch or take part in the dreams of mortals, if there were any witnesses to a dream then they will remember it. The only way to find such dreams would be to see if a resident of the Dreaming was in or around them, you could then ask the creature/demon to 'replay' the memory from their memories of it. Phantasos as the embodiment of the entire plane likely remembers all that has happen there but he is also completely 'insane' by human standards. He does not think like a person so finding him and dealing with him can be quite interesting.

You could also try the dream and memory markets in some of the cities. The denizens of the Dreaming love novelty and stories in general and the nobility collect interesting people for just that reason, but not every demon has the power or the resources necessary to keep guests so many have to make do with 'canned' memories and dreams. You can find all sorts of things that way for the right price.

Is it possible to sort through the dreams and find who is currently dreaming about something in particular, rather than find someone and then find out what they are dreaming about like we do it now?

Sometimes. Some of demons can smell out particularly strong dreams/emotions (it is one of the ways Icelos/Phobetor sniffs out his prey), so you could tell them to look for lustful dreams, melancholy dreams, dreams of anger, and the like. The best trackers can even go further than that and can tell the difference between different types of anger, love, sorrow and the like. Nightmares also have a distinctly different feel to them as they are usually the result of the actions of demons upon the dreaming mind of mortals.

Current Tally:

Spoiler

Baltika9: 1.C, 2.Bvi (METAL), 3.A>D, 4.A, 5.A

Nevill: 1.D>A>Biv, 2.Bvi (METAL), 3.E, 4.A, 5.A

Absinthe: 1.x, 2.Bv, 3.x, 4.x, 5.A

Jester: 1.D, 2.Bv, 3.E, 4.A, 5.x

Azira: 1.Bi, 2.Bv>Bx, 3.C>E, 4.x, 5.x

Kz3r0: 1.D, 2.Bv, 3.E, 4.A, 5.A

archaen: 1.D>A>Biv, 2.Bvii (Diadem of Dreams - Morpheus' Nightmare), 3.E, 4.A, 5.x

Grimgravy: 1.C, 2.Bv, 3.C, 4.B, 5.B

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[Nevill]

Certainly possible if you do a public drive 'for the good of the kingdom'. Even if the three ladies shared a tub you could probably shave half a decade off their age though how young do you want to make them? They are only around twenty seven/twenty eight right now anyway...

I... uh... thought that the ritual prevents aging, not reverses it.

Don't get me wrong, I would be totally cool if it did that, too.

How does it work, though? I thought that if we started using it now, we won't be aging for quite some time (for how long? when do you need to do the next session, on average?). But apparently we can become even younger?

Also, about the public drive? I don't think it would be a good idea to let people know you bathe in blood, even if you have the best of intentions. It is just not the kind of thing people understand. 'Normal' people don't do that, period.

A sacrifice, a donation of blood - that one any soldier would be able to relate to. Their duty, their role and function is to protect people's lives at a cost to themselves, spilling their own blood if necessary. If they donate blood to restore the heroes who defeated the Watcher's army, they get to fulfill that function and become a part of that battle. Essentially, there is something akin to this in play:

In any battle each soldier needs to know that their comrades are there for them until the bitter end.

But to splill blood so that the King's pet witches would get prettier? That would be hard to sell.

If there would be any leftovers, we might consider this, otherwise we'll have to pass for now.

 

[Fangshi]

I... uh... thought that the ritual prevents aging, not reverses it.

Don't get me wrong, I would be totally cool if it did that, too.

How does it work, though? I thought that if we started using it now, we won't be aging for quite some time (for how long? when do you need to do the next session, on average?). But apparently we can become even younger?

All it really does is reverse all that wear and tear that the body naturally undergoes and which will eventually kill us all.

So it will take the body of a sixty year old and reverse the effects of aging until they are back at their prime. The same thing that happened with Mazzarin really, it took him from a desiccated corpse back to a healthy human being. It would attempt to do the same thing with the ladies so it would likely shave off half a decade or so (it would give their skin back any lost elasticity and the like), if they had any minor muscle damage from natural wear and tear it would also fix that though it is not a proper healing spell, it will not grow arms back and the like. It also will not 'rewind the clock' in the sense of turning you back into a child or a teenager, it simply 'fixes' you.

How long it works has a lot to do with how much blood/roots/magic you use. It also has a lot to do with just how powerful your magic is, if you have one very powerful mage preform the ritual it will last longer than if an average one does the same (a large number of mages would have a similar effect as well but that would require sharing and mages generally are not big on that).

Finally the larger the difference between your magically induced age and your real age, the harder it will be to stay young. This is not a huge problem for mages though as they do tend to gain power as long as they are alive. It just means that most do not really get better results from the spell as they grow more powerful, as they do age as well.

Some examples:

If cast on someone in their twenties (like the ladies) - It will take them to their prime but if they were already taking care of themselves then they should not see much difference as life has not worn them down too much yet.

Now jump twenty years...

If cast on someone in their forties it would take them back to the prime as well (provided enough magic was used) so all those aches, pains and minor injuries that one accumulates in life would disappear (for those men that start balding, even their hair would fill back in ).

Jump ahead thirty years and now you are starting to see real changes.

The spell cast on seventy year-olds would restore them to their twenties, it would give their skin back its elasticity, it would strengthen their bones and so on.

Another forty or fifty years and you go from being a near corpse to a healthy young man or woman and from there on out the spell is one of the only things keeping you alive.

The spell usually operates at maximum efficiency for about a year, sometimes two if you do not strain yourself and since most mages would be casting the ritual on themselves (with the help of an apprentice or two perhaps) that is the best that most can hope for.

However if a person could bring together an entire circle of mages willing to help one another then the spell could get fairly powerful. If they were willing to share or work on a cycle then a single casting could probably last each mage several years before it begins to degrade but keep in mind that this is all theory as getting such a group of mages together and keeping them together would likely be quite difficult for most people.

Now once the spell begins to degrade the subject begins to age again and will start to close the gap between their artificial age and their natural one (usually in roughly 20% increments of the total difference or so).

So if a thirty year old used it to become twenty again then when it wore off they would begin to age two or three years at a time.

If a thousand year old mage used it to become twenty then they would likely turn to dust and bone as soon as it began to wear off. Such ancient mages tend to set up secondary precautions in case of such an eventuality to keep themselves from instantly dying if they miss an appointment (naturally there are also more permanent sources of eternal youth out there as well so everything said above only really applies to that particular ritual, speaking of which, you might want to dunk Nine's head in some blood before the year is out, it won't take too much but she would likely appreciate it when she wakes up).

Also, about the public drive? I don't think it would be a good idea to let people know you bathe in blood, even if you have the best of intentions. It is just not the kind of thing people understand. 'Normal' people don't do that, period.

Sorry, I was not very clear there. I meant that it would be doable to 're-purpose' some of the blood taken in by a public drive for Bari and Co, provided such a campaign would work and that the King would be interested in it which you will have to take up with him when you see him.

 

[Nevill]

Sometimes. Some of demons can smell out particularly strong dreams/emotions (it is one of the ways Icelos/Phobetor sniffs out his prey), so you could tell them to look for lustful dreams, melancholy dreams, dreams of anger, and the like. The best trackers can even go further than that and can tell the difference between different types of anger, love, sorrow and the like. Nightmares also have a distinctly different feel to them as they are usually the result of the actions of demons upon the dreaming mind of mortals.

So, um. Considering what Nanshe said to us earlier:

The eighth army is comprised of cultists within the nobility and the merchant houses. They are strong but she does not know how strong.

Can we become a thought police find out who is involved with the Watcher through the Dreaming? How difficult would it be?

Also, a call to all 'undeclared' gentlemen - Jester, Azira, and archaen - can you please clarify your position on Operation: Challenge Accepted? I am not asking to vote in favor of it - just to vote. I'd like to see if there is interest in these kind of 'remote' operations without our direct participation. The access to the Dreaming gives us opportunities to coordinate the actions of the Lost and their allies across the whole world.

 

[Azira]

I'm not decided. It'll take resources on our part, and it seems like it's got very long odds of succeeding.
And just how reliable do we take Morpheus to be?

 

[Jester]

5A - personally dont care to much about that and doubt the odds, still wont stop you from trying.

Eternal bloom - If we will cast it cant we reverse internal organs only? We will extend life span with no oblivious signs of said change. Important part promote charioteer Stigr as hero, spread tale of his gutsy move as our thanks for saving life of our entourage. Added bonus is that mby people will be to absorbed in him to ask about who is Bari, army/royal guard should appreciate this and decreased attention on us. Dont like to be attention whore.

If we have to vote on that set it as Operation 'Kingdom Rider'.

 

[archaen]

I am thinking that we are trying get to do too much at once and putting way too much trust in the Demon Lord. If I was him and these two imperious mortals were asking for a million favors right out of the gate, I would be hatching a plot to get them into my collection using their own enthusiasm. I am not necessarily against working with Morpheus, but that we should have some caution when we throw every little plan we have at him asking for help without making sure our plan can't be done without the dreaming and second we don't get into debt, contractual or not, to Morpheus.

 

[Nevill]

Eternal bloom - If we will cast it cant we reverse internal organs only? We will extend life span with no oblivious signs of said change.

Well, it is a bit hard to differentiate between 28 and 23 years as it is. The change is unlikely to raise questions.

Important part promote charioteer Stigr as hero, spread tale of his gutsy move as our thanks for saving life of our entourage. Added bonus is that mby people will be to absorbed in him to ask about who is Bari, army/royal guard should appreciate this and decreased attention on us. Dont like to be attention whore.

Hate to remind you, but Stigr didn't do all that much in our battle. The name of the guy who saved us all with his chariot maneuver was Trygve. and he was instantly killed by the Shade.

Bari, like Neel, is just some volunteer who will never be around to give interviews once we are done with him.

I am all for keeping the restoration process away from the public. The donation drive is going to generate enough publicity as it is. Just flaunt your restored people after you are done, tell the public they will need rest to recover, and close the curtain on the whole show. I bet the king will try to make this about us and the Royal Army Guards anyway.

I am thinking that we are trying get to do too much at once and putting way too much trust in the Demon Lord. If I was him and these two imperious mortals were asking for a million favors right out of the gate, I would be hatching a plot to get them into my collection using their own enthusiasm. I am not necessarily against working with Morpheus, but that we should have some caution when we throw every little plan we have at him asking for help without making sure our plan can't be done without the dreaming and second we don't get into debt, contractual or not, to Morpheus.

I am milking our relationship for what's it worth. We have made one extremely powerful ally, why would we not want his help against nearly as much powerful enemies?

I don't put 'trust' in him, and neither I ask him for anything in advance. If I want him to help preserve our friends' sanity, I tell him how it benefits him. If I want him to connect us every night, I offer him a suitable compensation. As for his potential plan to drag us down, well:

1) 4A partially deals with it, as it involves him promising "not to abduct any member of your group or detain them, he also promises not to try and influence your companions to return to him at a later date when the contract is not in effect". Meaning we are safe from his manipulations for as long as our contract is in effect.
2) He should be way more interested in working with us than in taking us to the Dreaming. We are just 3 mortals, but we can bring him gifts far greater than ourselves.

Also, how do we 'make sure our plan can be done without the Dreaming' and why should we? What kind of a plan would have saved us down there in the caves if we didn't involve Morpheus? Why should we limit ourselves in what tools we use to achieve our goals, as long as it does not break our character and we can afford them?

I know being overly reliant on him won't do us any good, but we haven't made any steps towards that direction yet. All our deals can be broken safely without inconveniencing us too much.

And just how reliable do we take Morpheus to be?

How reliable do you need him to be for the plan to work?

I am not talking about it in the context of the current choice, but I'd like to expand our partnership. The Dreaming offers some potential we barely began tapping into.

 

[Jester]

Important part promote charioteer Stigr as hero, spread tale of his gutsy move as our thanks for saving life of our entourage. Added bonus is that mby people will be to absorbed in him to ask about who is Bari, army/royal guard should appreciate this and decreased attention on us. Dont like to be attention whore.

Hate to remind you, but Stygr didn't do all that much in our battle. The name of the guy who saved us all with his chariot maneuver was Trygve. and he was instantly killed by the Shade.

If thats correct make sure they promote Trygve he deserve it. Expect army will get surge in recruitment.
And new question is who the hell is Stigr in that case?

 

[Nevill]

Trygve is dead. A promotion won't do him any good. He met the Dispersal Dream head on, driving the chariot in the midst of the Shade's mercenaries, and ensuring that the Dream would evaporate every last one of them.

I guess if we want to honor his death, we might visit his family when we get to Myrgard.

Stigr is just the driver of Bari's chariot. Other than participating in the battle with The Drowned Dead and our skirmish with the TWM, he didn't do anything heroic to stand out. Which isn't really the point, because you don't have to be a hero to be a part of our troops and for us to care about your well-being. What matters is that he stood with us and fought alongside us.

 

[Jester]

Wont his family get better money if he is higher ranking officer or noble?

 

[Nevill]

I don't think they would be all that worried about money right now. Money don't bring back the dead.

What they need is moral support and a shoulder to cry on. As women, I think we would be able to offer them at least that.

Besides, by singling out that particular soldier the state would be demeaning the death of his comrades. There were 22 fallen guards, and they all deserve no less. They gave their lives away just as he did.

I am giving Trygve a special mention because while the other soldiers died fighting alongside us, the kid specifically and consciously chose to sacrifice himself so that we may live. He even pushed Neel away from the chariot. He could have chosen to live and let someone else bite the bullet, but didn't.

I think Derryth would be able to respect that, as she, too, shares this trait.

 

[Fangshi]

Can we become a thought police find out who is involved with the Watcher through the Dreaming? How difficult would it be?

It is possible, it is also a gross violation of the dignity and privacy of the dwarven nobility but it could be fun as well.

The difficulty comes from convincing Morpheus and the demons to actually do that much work, they would have to sort through a lot of boring material and/or search quite thoroughly to root out the conspirators and there would definitely be luck involved. You will likely have to give them something... no idea what though, something interesting.

Also:

Spoiler

It really does seem fitting.

Wont his family get better money if he is higher ranking officer or noble?

Yes they would and it would be a way to help them financially if you want to try and convince the King to do so.

Current Tally:

Spoiler

Baltika9: 1.C, 2.Bvi (METAL), 3.A>D, 4.A, 5.A

Nevill: 1.D>A>Biv, 2.Bvi (METAL), 3.E, 4.A, 5.A

Absinthe: 1.x, 2.Bv, 3.x, 4.x, 5.A

Jester: 1.D, 2.Bv, 3.E, 4.A, 5.A

Azira: 1.Bi, 2.Bv>Bx, 3.C>E, 4.x, 5.x

Kz3r0: 1.D, 2.Bv, 3.E, 4.A, 5.A

archaen: 1.D>A>Biv, 2.Bvii (Diadem of Dreams - Morpheus' Nightmare), 3.E, 4.A, 5.B?

Grimgravy: 1.C, 2.Bv, 3.C, 4.B, 5.B

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And an update on the general timeline of updates:

The Interlude should still be up before the end of the weekend, likely some time within the next twenty six hours or so.

The vote will close on Tuesday (thirty six hours from now). So if anyone has any further questions feel free to ask them.

And finally the update will come sixteen to twenty four hours after the vote closes.

 

[Kz3r0]

Actually this is a question that could piss off Morpheus, considering how the Oneroi enslaved him and that their master was a demon as well I wonder if the Oneroi's master wasn't part of the dreaming as well.
So, can we just ask who was the Oneroi's master?

 

[Nevill]

It is possible, it is also a gross violation of the dignity and privacy of the dwarven nobility but it could be fun as well.

Well, we certainly don't intend to use 'we saw it in the dream' as evidence, so no one has to know their privacy was violated in such a fashion.

After we'll have a list of suspects on our hands, we can set the pathfinders to the real secret police duty. I am sure concrete and tangible evidence to support the case will be coming up shortly, and the cultists will be quick to drown each other if we take several of them at once. Conspiracies always fall apart that way.

Hell, we don't have to do anything with it, officially - the whole operation might stay an inside thing.

Now, what to promise Morpheus... I have no clue, honestly. I'd promise him the Watcher's agents, but it seems wrong as it promotes a prosecution of innocent parties as well ('the more you condemn, the more rewards you get'). Ah, we'll figure something out.

Hm. What is happening with our two Oneiroi prisoners? How do they even manage to sleep after they made an enemy of the Dreaming? Is Morpheus a forgiving type?

And if not, how much would those two be worth to him? I have no problem trading them away to get to the next batch of villains.

 

[Nevill]

Some spell questions.

1) How long would it take for us to pick up Bestial Tongue from Lyssa? It would be nice to talk to the mice directly, and besides, Martin is our personal companion.
2) Did Lyssa use Tame on the mice or didn't she? The spell renders the affected animal "friendly and loyal", which is more than can be said for our mercenary force. It looks to me like she mostly used the old-fashioned method of cajoling the animals into service rather than charming them with magic.
3) How well do animal spells work on 'sentient' beings? What separates animals and 'more complex' creatures? The line have become very blurred with the introduction of the Rodent Commonwealth who do not behave like animals at all, but have their community modelled after humans instead, with many traits common to sentient civilizations (ancestors worship, oral tradition, tool usage - including weapons!, etc).
4) Did we manage to successfully modify Retrieve Item spell to not require line of sight? Otherwise how could we pull the pin and blow up Gullveig? Will such changes be reflected on the spell list?
5) What is the difference between Control and Dominate (which was only mentioned in passing?
6) Can we customize the Fear spell to clarify the type of fear we want to invoke in a target? A panicking fear that urges the target to flee, a paralyzing fear that freezes them in their tracks, an intimidating fear that makes them pull their eyes away and submit to our will.
7) What is the difference between Enhanced Projection and the other types? What kind of projection did Lyssa use to simulate wight attacks in the 'In for a Pound' chapter? My guess is that she used Animated Area Projection, and it was already nearly perfect. What is the use of Enhanced Projection, then?
8) Do False Image/Smell/Sound have individuals or area as their target? What spell do we use to make several people hear things that aren't there?
9) How does violent projection work? The way it was presented in the Martin vs wererabbit fight is that it is used momentarily to make your target think they are wounded. Is there a spell to make your target think they are trading blows with a real opponent instead?

Is Astrid still working on her remote bomb that can be activated by retrieving it? Can the bomb be used with sticky substances, like the yellow sap? I am trying to create a non-lethal ensnaring device here.

 

[Fangshi]

So, can we just ask who was the Oneroi's master?

He was a spoilt little child that wanted far more than fate had given him. Morpheus refuses to say more for the moment, he claims it is a matter for demons not mortals.

Well, we certainly don't intend to use 'we saw it in the dream' as evidence, so no one has to know their privacy was violated in such a fashion.

Well now, does that make it better? I wonder...

Hm. What is happening with our two Oneiroi prisoners? How do they even manage to sleep after they made an enemy of the Dreaming? Is Morpheus a forgiving type?

They are or were in a Pathfinder prison.

He has been having a little fun with their dreams, but recently they have stopped dreaming, he does not know why.

He might forgive but he will never forget and vengeance is far more fun than turning the other cheek.

And if not, how much would those two be worth to him? I have no problem trading them away to get to the next batch of villains.

They would not be worth too much, their minds just are not that interesting. They are clever enough but their thoughts are stale and boring and he would not go too far out of his way to acquire them.

Some spell questions.

1) How long would it take for us to pick up Bestial Tongue from Lyssa? It would be nice to talk to the mice directly, and besides, Martin is our personal companion.
2) Did Lyssa use Tame on the mice or didn't she? The spell renders the affected animal "friendly and loyal", which is more than can be said for our mercenary force. It looks to me like she mostly used the old-fashioned method of cajoling the animals into service rather than charming them with magic.
3) How well do animal spells work on 'sentient' beings? What separates animals and 'more complex' creatures? The line have become very blurred with the introduction of the Rodent Commonwealth who do not behave like animals at all, but have their community modelled after humans instead, with many traits common to sentient civilizations (ancestors worship, oral tradition, tool usage - including weapons!, etc).
4) Did we manage to successfully modify Retrieve Item spell to not require line of sight? Otherwise how could we pull the pin and blow up Gullveig? Will such changes be reflected on the spell list?
5) What is the difference between Control and Dominate (which was only mentioned in passing?
6) Can we customize the Fear spell to clarify the type of fear we want to invoke in a target? A panicking fear that urges the target to flee, a paralyzing fear that freezes them in their tracks, an intimidating fear that makes them pull their eyes away and submit to our will.
7) What is the difference between Enhanced Projection and the other types? What kind of projection did Lyssa use to simulate wight attacks in the 'In for a Pound' chapter? My guess is that she used Animated Area Projection, and it was already nearly perfect. What is the use of Enhanced Projection, then?
8) Do False Image/Smell/Sound have individuals or area as their target? What spell do we use to make several people hear things that aren't there?
9) How does violent projection work? The way it was presented in the Martin vs wererabbit fight is that it is used momentarily to make your target think they are wounded. Is there a spell to make your target think they are trading blows with a real opponent instead?

1. Well it is a school you know nothing about but the ladies are all quite bright, it should not take more than a few weeks and it would likely take less.

2. She did not use Tame on the mice, given how many of them there are in the fort she thought it would be wiser to try and work with them first rather than jumping directly to subjugating them. After all if negotiations broke down she could always force a handful of them to serve loyally but once she starts to control them that way there will be no way to return to negotiating.

They have also all been magically altered at least a little already which will make it slightly harder to properly bind them.

3. In theory they could work if the ladies realized that humans and the like are themselves animals but it would be difficult to pull off and it would not be what the spells were designed for. In some respects animals spells are very similar to mental spells in their mechanical effects, though the ritual and philosophical underpinning of each make them seem quite different to their practitioners, in fact a sufficiently 'unorthodox' and wise mage might be able to realize this fact (and there may well be other such similarities between different schools and traditions masked by the pageantry of wizardry) if they took the time to really question what they are learning.

Could an animal based spell work on a 'sentient' species? Yes, it could but it would not be easy. The mind of sentient species are generally more cluttered and complex than those of animals, even low INT and WIS characters are likely to possess a mind that surpasses those of many animals, as a result it is much more difficult for animal based spells to influence 'sentient' than it is for them to influence regular animals. As your target's mind grows in complexity the animal based spells begin to lose much of their force and by the time you are dealing with a human or a dwarf those animal based spells become a far less effective means of persuasion or control than simple using mental spells or illusion spells.

So in the case of the Blackrock rodents, they are more difficult to control and the smarter and more sophisticated they become the harder they will be to control. The spell-casting mice for example would get to roll as 'sentients' (at a higher level of resistance) for many tests where as most of the other animals you have encountered would not. If the mice continue on their path then at some unknown point in the future they may well jump over the 'line' between the 'basic' animal species of Myth and the 'advanced' and 'sentient' species of the setting. If that happens then you would be better off treating them like you would a dwarf or maul rather than a pet.

4. Yes, you did. It is actually a separate spell and it needs a separate entry but I have not had a moment to actually get to it lately. After I am done with what I am working on, and after I get the Interlude posted and the update out tonight, then I will look at giving the character sheets and the spell/skill listings a pass to see if I missed anything else. So there will likely be some changes there in the next day or two, my apologies for falling behind, long weekends, alcohol, and getting work done just do not mix too well it seems.

5. Control lets you play the puppeteer and manipulate another creature provided you do not do anything else and you maintain a line of sight to your target. It also gives the target a chance to resist the spell and a second chance to resist if you ask them to do something they strongly disagree with. So it is quite a powerful spell (though not one you have much control over at the moment) but it also has a number of restrictions.

Dominate is the Deceiver's favourite trick and has far fewer limitations but you do not really know anything about it at the moment. Based on the stories from the war it grants the caster complete control over their target but beyond that you know very little (it is safe to assume though that it has far fewer limitations than control).

6. You can if you want, normally the general spell would let you pick the type of fear when you cast it but you could also create specialized versions of the spell that only create a certain type of fear. If you did it would speed up the spell somewhat as you would be removing an entire step from casting it. It would likely take a little time to devise but it is well within the combined abilities of the ladies as it would be a fairly simple change (a few days to do properly).

7. Enhanced projection is just a more powerful version of projection, the image it conjures up is harder for the target to resist.

Lyssa used Animated Area Projection with Derryth and Thaïs fueling her spell.

Animated Area Projection is harder for her to cast by a fairly wide margin, she would not have been able to pull off the spell if Derryth and Thaïs had not been helping her. Enhanced projection requires less effort and it is not a ritual so you do not have to worry as much about positioning. It is like saying which is better a mallet or a screwdriver, they are simply different tools.

8. Single targets. Lyssa would need to improvise group versions of those spells if you want to hit more than one person at a time.

9. It makes the target think they are wounded.

It can not really simulate an entire fight by itself though, you would likely need to use multiple spells to achieve that.

It could be woven together with other illusion spells and set into a sequence that could simulate an actual duel if you knew the proper meta magic spells.

Alternatively if Lyssa taught her fellow mages a few of her illusion spells then the three of them could work together to stage a 'fight' though it would require crackerjack timing.

You could also do it by combining mental and illusion spells though that would only fool the target in all likelihood.

Is Astrid still working on her remote bomb that can be activated by retrieving it? Can the bomb be used with sticky substances, like the yellow sap? I am trying to create a non-lethal ensnaring device here.

Yes, though she has been spending most of the last day with Bari so she has not made much progress since the last update.

I don't see why it couldn't work so yes, you could make a sticky bomb as easily as anything else.


Finally the Interlude is late, obviously, but it should be up today as soon as I have a moment to give it a few more passes and alter a few things (part of it has to be rewritten and extended a little).

I was going to do the editing yesterday, but whiskey...

I will close the vote when I post the Interlude and I will then likely begin work on the update immediately so the interlude will likely be up in the next nine hours while the update will be out within sixteen to twenty four hours.

 

[Nevill]

Well now, does that make it better? I wonder...

It does. We are not the ones sifting through their dreams and private stuff, the demons are. Those have access to their minds anyway.

I don't really care for little green men reading my thoughts, especially if they live in another dimension and our paths are likely to never cross. But a violation of my privacy by another man is likely to be very uncomfortable. It really does make a difference to have your mail read by an ad bot (or something just as alien) and a fellow human.

And those that trigger the 'Watcher alarm' and have people act upon their dreams do not deserve their privacy in the first place.

He has been having a little fun with their dreams, but recently they have stopped dreaming, he does not know why.

Goddammit, they were killed in that prison raid, weren't they? Eberhardt fuckers.

I hope Trakk's family is ok. Though they were in a safehouse, not in the prison.

They would not be worth too much, their minds just are not that interesting.

Well, I am certain Bari didn't want Miosguinn just because he had a good voice and very melodic screams.

Morpheus wanted Caoilainn to 'help repay the debt' the Oneiroi owed him. Is she, a simple mercenary on a guard duty, more interesting to him than two actual mages who had a hand in wronging him personally? Ah, well, it might be for the better if he does not want his vengeance anymore. Less blood on our own hands.

 

[Fangshi]

Well, I am certain Bari didn't want Miosguinn just because he had a good voice and very melodic screams.

Demon Lord =/= Grief stricken widower. Their priorities might be different.

Morpheus wanted Caoilainn to 'help repay the debt' the Oneiroi owed him. Is she, a simple mercenary on a guard duty, more interesting to him than two actual mages who had a hand in wronging him personally? Ah, well, it might be for the better if he does not want his vengeance anymore. Less blood on our own hands.

Caoilainn is more interesting (and a cynical person would note also far cuter) than the Oneiroi mages. She also is not a brainwashed cultist, they really are not all that much fun to fuck with. They are all about worshiping the 'master' and 'avenging' themselves on their 'enemies', there just is not much of a 'meal' there for a dream demon so they can do little to repay their debt except die.

Caoilainn however has desires and dreams and fears that would be delightful to experience, Morpheus would love to have her as his guest.

I also would not assume that he does not want vengeance, he might just be setting his sights a little higher than a pair of cultists...

 

[Nevill]

I also would not assume that he does not want vengeance, he might just be setting his sights a little higher than a pair of cultists...

Oh? Does he care to tell us more? Who knows, we might be able to do a favor to the both of us if we know enough. We certainly aren't on good terms with his captors anymore.

As far as we know, the Oneiroi demon is dead, and the cultists with him. Who else is left for him to take his vengeance upon?

 

[Kz3r0]

Considering how pleasant is this chit-chat I would like to ask Morpheus about the Spider Goddess while we are at it.
Another thing I would like to ask is about The Watcher, would be Morpheus interested in getting some of his pieces to toy with?
Does he think that can handle an archmage broken in little rocks?

 

[Nevill]

If TFM was a sufficiently challenging opponent for Morpheus, then the Watcher can probably overwhelm him. A man who can go toe-to-toe with Mazzarin is probably stronger than a God, not to mention a Demon.

I wonder how much of an apocalypse it would be to let the Watcher inside the Dreaming and allow him access to everyone's sleeping mind. That's some Cthulhu LP material.

 

[Fangshi]

Considering how pleasant is this chit-chat I would like to ask Morpheus about the Spider Goddess while we are at it.

He nods and smiles. He says that he knows her and has 'known' her for some time. He winks and you both roll your eyes.

She is powerful, she is patient, she can be cunning but he finds that she gets angry too easily. She is one of the more 'human' gods he has encountered and she is also one of the most active in mortal affairs.

He likes her most days but she can be a pain and it is terribly troublesome when she decides to try and kill him which happens far too often.

Was there something in particular that you wished to know about her?

Another thing I would like to ask is about The Watcher, would be Morpheus interested in getting some of his pieces to toy with?

He thanks you for the offer but he must sadly decline. While he is a collector there are some things that simply are not worth the risk. He will not involve himself directly in opposition to the Watcher, he has no wish to die.

Does he think that can handle an archmage broken in little rocks?

The archmage's body is broken but no one is sure if his mind is broken as well. Morpheus is not sure what would happen if he drew the Watcher's attention to the Dreaming but he has no intention of finding out.