Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Fangshi]

That should not be a problem, provided that her charges will abide by the same non-aggression pact. Naturally, if they seek to do us or our people harm in any way, their protection will be void - without breaking the initial oath.

Naturally, she would be fine with a self defense clause. If someone or something attacks you, you have to defend yourself just as she does.

Actually, let's also postulate that she should not take under her protection people or beings that are hostile or otherwise harmful to us.

Not terribly practical unless you intend to keep her close by in the future. If she goes her own way she has no way of knowing whether a random person she hits it off with is an enemy of your or not and that is without taking into account that someone can be harmful to you without even being hostile. She could befriend someone that harms you without even knowing it and that would break the contract on her end. She could quite easily end up breaking her word unintentionally with this clause so she can not agree to it as written unless you intend to keep her 'in the loop' (options A, B and/or C).

I would also insist on adding a clause about the other sentient beings (no feeding on them, no killing or maiming them except for self-defense), with the exclusion of those that we specifically allow her to (such as the singing beasts or other demonic creatures) prior or after signing an oath.

She does not necessarily have a problem with that though you would need a reliable way to contact her if you want to expand the list of beings she is allowed to get 'proactive' about. Incidentally she would recommend against eating the rhyming beasts, they are poisonous, even to her.

 

[Nevill]

Not terribly practical unless you intend to keep her close by in the future.

That can be sidestepped by adding 'knowingly' to the wording. So if at any point she discovers she took one of our enemies under her wing, the protection clause ceases to exist.

She does not necessarily have a problem with that though you would need a reliable way to contact her if you want to expand the list of beings she is allowed to get 'proactive' about.

I don't really intend for her to be a weapon. I would be perfectly fine if she becomes a librarian in some magic tower and spends the rest of her days in peace. This mostly exists for her own sake so that she would be able to seek permission to get proactive if she really needs it.

Which of the deal options zerozero listed allow us to see her out of the fort before our reinforcements arrive? I don't think they need to know about that.

A non-aggression agreement between Nephila and the Lost.

Not to tell anyone that we freed her or any of our secrets.

Always tell the truth to you/members of the Lost.

Teach us any mage skills she has.

Information regarding the King, Location of artefacts and history of Spider artefacts, Rand & Eberhardt dealings etc.

Deal with the demons below the fort by either permanently killing them or sealing them away (we would help her achieve this)

Secure the tunnels below the fort (we will also help in this) by sealing them up and building new ones.

What kind of help would she need from us to secure the tunnels and seal the singing beasts?

Always tell the truth to you/members of the Lost.

She does require clarification with the third item though. Now did you want that to be any member of the lost or only specific people.

I think Derryth, Thais, Lyssa and people we would specifically point towards would do for now. It's up to zerozero to clarify this point, but I don't see why we need it to be more inclusive than that with the non-aggression pact in place.

 

[Azira]

I'm not formally voting yet, but I'm much more attracted to the idea of working out a deal, preferably an oath, with the demon. Rather than sleeping with it... Really...

 

[Fangshi]

Which of the deal options zerozero listed allow us to see her out of the fort before our reinforcements arrive? I don't think they need to know about that.

Ah, they will likely arrive in an hour or two so none of them. You will need to get her out of that cage, give her a meal so she does not attack, outfit her and send her into the tunnels with enough men to get started cleaning out the creatures, then there is the provision about her teaching you magic which would take some time as she does have some interesting spells. If you spent a few days with her you could learn some of the simple ones given the amount of free time you have on average. If you wanted to learn everything she knows you are looking at a time frame of a couple of months (longer if you observe the basic courtesy of teaching her in return) which may or may not be practical.

To do all that will likely take up more time than you have so if you don't want them to find out about her then you will need to sneak her around the fort and out the gates (since you collapsed the tunnels out).

That being said you could probably wrap her in a cloak, throw a hood on her and claim she is a servant until you are clear of the fort, she is not that far off a human as far as shape goes, assuming you are not planning to stay at the tower for any significant amount of time. (If you were going to stay longer than it would be easiest to hide her if you moved her up into your tower or left her in the passage.)

What kind of help would she need from us to secure the tunnels and seal the singing beasts?

To seal the tunnels she only needs explosives and a team to lay them where she tells them. To secure the tunnels she would need teams stationed at specific points to monitor for any attempts by the creatures to burrow up. It should not take long to set up those sorts of defences.

If you want her to make sure the creatures are dead, including their queen, then she will need men and provisions to conduct a proper investigation and possibly a military campaign.

Alternatively you could lend her one man for an evening and she could create her own soldiers though she would still require provisions unless you want her offspring ranging around for food.

 

[Nevill]

So what are our options if we want to leave for Myrgard as soon as possible?

Would that plan work?

1) Swear an oath of non-aggression with her with all the caveats mentioned above:

A non-aggression agreement between Nephila and the Lost.
An agreement not to feed on the sentients and not to kill safe for self-defense
Not to tell anyone that we freed her or any of our secrets.
Always tell the truth to you or the members of the Lost you specifically mention.

2) Feed her.
3) Ask her about the Eberhardt plots and other information that might be of immediate interest to us and would fit into those 1-2 hours we have until the Lords arrive.
4) Disguise her to avoid attention from the Great Lords and their forces. (We will probably fly away to the capital at this point)
5) Instruct some of our own men to cooperate with her to seal off the creatures or otherwise make them a non-issue. Take a word from her that she would do everything in her power to have them return to the fort safely.
6) Point her to Mabd so that she could go to her after she is done here.

We can't really learn her magic secrets here unless we stay or take her with us, and I am against both. Still, our paths might cross again in Muirthemne and we might work something out there.

Does she need money or other equipment to make it to Muirthemne safely?

Incidentally she would recommend against eating the rhyming beasts, they are poisonous, even to her.

Uh... thankis, I guess. Is there a reason she is giving us that advise? 'Cause we weren't big fans of eating our enemies in the first place...

 

[Fangshi]

So what are our options if we want to leave for Myrgard as soon as possible?

If you are in a rush than leaving her in the cage/killing her are the quickest routes by far.

Would that plan work?

Yes, that would work if you want her gone quickly and want to leave quickly.

Does she need money or other equipment to make it to Muirthemne safely?

Money, transportation and equipment would make her life easier, the question is how much you want to give her.

Uh... thankis, I guess. Is there a reason she is giving us that advise? 'Cause we weren't big fans of eating our enemies in the first place...

She said it because of the way you phrased your condition:

I would also insist on adding a clause about the other sentient beings (no feeding on them, no killing or maiming them except for self-defense), with the exclusion of those that we specifically allow her to (such as the singing beasts or other demonic creatures) prior or after signing an oath.

She locked right on to those parts of the sentence because she is still quite hungry. That hare you gave her was the equivalent of a handful or peanuts, it has quieted down her stomach a little but she still would like a proper meal, she has food on her mind.

 

[Nevill]

Yes, that would work if you want her gone quickly and want to leave quickly.

It's not like I want her gone quickly, it's just I don't know when we will visit the fort again, so there is no point in her staying there if we plan to release her.

Money, transportation and equipment would make her life easier, the question is how much you want to give her.

What does she mean by transportation?

How much money a person needs to get to Muirthemne from here? Especially if they know 'Invisibility' to avoid hostiles.

We paid Trakk about 7 WPs for protection. Can't imagine she needs much more than that.

Incidentally, how long Lyssa would need to learn 'Invisibility' from her?

Edit: What kind of equipment she needs? I assume the fort has standard armory and we have a lot of gear to spare after losing about 50% of our forces.

 

[Fangshi]

What does she mean by transportation?

Same as anyone else, a horse, a carriage, that sort of thing.

How much money a person needs to get to Muirthemne from here? Especially if they know 'Invisibility' to avoid hostiles.

She needs a lot of food to keep going, now she could just steal cattle and the like as she goes or she could pay for it but to pay for it she would need money, just like she could sleep in barns and deserted homes or at inns but again, money. So she can do with next to nothing or she can do with a few WPs your choice.

Incidentally, how long Lyssa would need to learn 'Invisibility' from her?

Maybe a day, maybe a little less to know it.

To master it, maybe three or four days, maybe a week.

 

[Grimgravy]

F>B>A

 

[Nevill]

Same as anyone else, a horse, a carriage, that sort of thing.

Would we ever see the horse again?

So she can do with next to nothing or she can do with a few WPs your choice.

That brings me up to the question again. How much does she need? 5 WPs? 10 WPs? More?

I can probably spare up to 10 WPs if she would be willing to cooperate with us further in Muirthemne - exchange a few notes on spells and the like.

 

[Fangshi]

Would we ever see the horse again?

All she an promise is that she would try really hard not to eat it.

That brings me up to the question again. How much does she need? 5 WPs? 10 WPs? More?

I can probably spare up to 10 WPs if she would be willing to cooperate with us further in Muirthemne - exchange a few notes on spells and the like.

Oh five should do perfectly fine for her, if you wanted to be generous then ten would be more than she needs and would give her a bit of a cushion.

She would not have time to make the notes now before you leave if you want to be gone quickly but she could leave them with Madb in Muirthemne if you go that route or she could leave them in your tower if you go with some of the other options, finally if she stays with you then that won't be necessary of course.

 

[Nevill]

So let's modify G:

1) Swear an oath of non-aggression with her with all the caveats mentioned above:
A non-aggression agreement between Nephila and the Lost.
An agreement not to feed on the sentients and not to kill safe for self-defense.
Not to tell anyone that we freed her or any of our secrets.
Always tell the truth to you or to the members of the Lost you specifically mention.
2) Feed her.
3) Ask her about the Eberhardt plots and other information that might be of immediate interest to us and would fit into those 1-2 hours we have until the Lords arrive.
4) Disguise her to avoid attention from the Great Lords and their forces. (We will probably fly away to the capital at this point)
5) Instruct some of our own men to cooperate with her to seal off the singing beasts or otherwise make them a non-issue. Take a word from her that she would do everything in her power to have them return to the fort safely.
6) Point her to Mabd so that she could go to her after she is done here. Mabd is considered a part of our people for the purposes of the non-aggression pact.

i. You give her equipment and a bit of money to make it to Muirthemne safely as a token of your future cooperation.
ii You give equipment to make it to Muirthemne safely, but don't give her money.
iii You let her provide for herself.

And I'll vote Gi (or GC with the new choices).

I don't plan to stay in the fort any longer than I absolutely have to, so if there is anything we want to learn from Nephila, we will have to do it in Muirthemne. To that end, I am willing to provide her with a bit of resourses as an investment a sign of goodwill.

I don't see a reason to kill her. She is not one of the Spider Goddess minions - so if we want to spite or weaken the deity, that does nothing. She is not our enemy or a threat to our people - the oath would ensure that. There is just no point.

 

[asxetos]

I am voting Gi from Nevill's post. Since Nephila is not leaving before the army comes, can we also ask her to spy on them for us? We should also find a way to free her from Rand's deal (and maybe all previous deals too if possible).

 

[Nevill]

She would not have time to make the notes now before you leave if you want to be gone quickly but she could leave them with Madb in Muirthemne if you go that route or she could leave them in your tower if you go with some of the other options, finally if she stays with you then that won't be necessary of course.

I want to turn Mabd's shop into a hub for our meetings with her, and make Mabd a go-to person if any of us needs anything from the other. Sort of like how when we wanted to send a message to Gareth and Brigit without knowing where they were, we sent a letter to Ian instead.

I am not prepared to divulge information about our secret tower to Nephila just yet. It is called a 'secret tower' precisely because we don't blab about it. And it is a bit too close to her mother's former place of power.

 

[Kipeci]

Ei

Let's keep it clean! We'll feed her first, so it's mostly likely that he'll come back. Besides, aren't you interested in the mechanics?

 

[zerozero]

I will modify H to make it easier to read and options

1 - Swear an oath of non-aggression and co-operation towards us.

Not to tell anyone that we freed her or any of our secrets.

Always tell the truth to the current core and others of the Lost that you specify.

Not to kill sentient life indiscriminately.

2 - Feed her, provide a disguise and weapons.

3- Ask her about information the King, Location of artefacts and history of Spider artefacts, Rand & Eberhardt dealings etc.

4- A contract to secure the tunnels and get rid of the demons. We will provide resources to help.


Options

A- Join the Lost Guild - a unique member with spell knowledge that we can learn and potential spider army. Another oath to act as a member of the Lost whilst in the guild.

I- join the party now, we can use a disguise and use a combination of illusion and mental spells between our mages to keep up the ruse and invisibility in emergencies.

II- She stays in the fort securing the tunnels and getting rid of the demons. We will come back to the fort to get her. The men will provide her will food and she will have to main a low profile and not cause trouble.

III- Meet her outside the fort and we will meet up with her at a pre-arranged spot, prove her with a horse, rough map, letter of introduction to Gareth and some wps. If we don't meet up go to IV back-up.

IV- Have her travel to Muirthemne with a letter of introduction to Gareth, provide a horse, rough map and more wps.

V-Give her an escort to Muirthemne as well as IV benefits.


B - Re-locate to the Muirthemne catacombs and retain her as an ally. Useful in providing guards, a powerful ally in the area and possible magic training exchange.

I-Provide a rough map and hopefully see her there.

II- Provide a horse, rough map and some wps. We will meet up in due course

III-Provide a horse, rough map, letter of introduction to Gareth and some wps. Gareth will provide support to help her setup.

IV- Same as above but give her access to the secret tower but swear an oath non-aggression and co-operation with the allies in the tower.


C- Introduce her to Mabd the mage to set her up with a circle. We would Provide a horse, rough map, letter of introduction to Mabd and some wps. Try to maintain her as a friendly ally.


D-Free her on to the world and hope for the best.

I- Provide her with nothing but your thanks.

II-Provide a horse and some wps as a goodwill gesture.

 

[zerozero]

Thanks Fangshi, I am impressed with the amount of work and detail in your responses to mine, Nevill and other contributors questions, it gave me a lot to work on. And thanks to Nevill for your feedback.

 

[Nevill]

So... basically, Gi would be equivalent to HC, right? I based it mostly on your own suggestions.

Or is there a difference somewhere?

We should probably leave only one of these to prevent splitting the votes. I am fine with removing G altogether and leaving only H options, provided that they will be counted as one.

Fangshi, can we finally find out what the Ring of the Master does if we ask Nephila about it?

Does she know the language Gullveig's spellbook is written in? Does she know what wards shield the TWM's diary?

Also, while we are at it, does Lyssa trust us enough to tell us about these?

String of Wolf Teeth (Unknown)
Big Blue Feather (Unknown)
Preserved Snake Tongue (Unknown)
Cracked Mirror (Unknown)

 

[zerozero]

Thanks Nevill ... everything is in flux and I am throwing out ideas and I have used some of your suggestions to build the H option

 

[Fangshi]

I will modify H to make it easier to read and options

Certainly, I will update the post with the new information.

We should probably leave only one of these to prevent splitting the votes. I am fine with removing G altogether and leaving only H options, provided that they will be counted as one.

Looks the same to me, I will replace G with the new H.

Fangshi, can we finally find out what the Ring of the Master does if we ask Nephila about it?

It would take her a few hours to narrow down the identity of the ring and give you a definitive answer. So the answer to that question will depend on just what you do with her.

Does she know the language Gullveig's spellbook is written in? Does she know what wards shield the TWM's diary?

Yes and yes. She can read Gullveig's spellbook (and it is a spellbook) but it would take her days to go through the whole thing and properly 'gut' the book. She also recognizes most of the wards on TWM's diary but again it would take her more than the few hours you have to properly disarm them since she is no expert and it would be slow going to prevent triggering one.

Also, while we are at it, does Lyssa trust us enough to tell us about these?

She hesitates, then she takes a deep breath and nods. She is willing to tell you a little now as long as you do not push her too far:

The teeth are an old tool from her first apprenticeship. When worn tightly around the neck they allow someone to communicate with wolves and dogs, she does not actually need them anymore but for a while they were quite helpful and they hold a certain sentimental value for her.

The feather was something she created when she worked for Mazzarin and is useful if you are lost underground. If held in the right hand and whispered to using the Bird's Song it will attempt lead you toward the open sky.

The snake tongue is enchanted to remove pain. You wrap it around or place it over a wound (or a pinched nerve or what have you) and the pain from it will cease. It has no healing properties though, it merely tricks the mind through a form of illusion, it convinces you that there is no pain in much the same way as the violent projection convinces you that you have been injured.

The mirror... she does not want to talk about the mirror and she asks you to please let her have that secret for now at least.

She does know the rituals involved in creating these, she quickly produces three innocuous sheets of paper from her pack and slips them into her book (I will add them to her spellbook when I have a moment). It seems that she still has her secrets and she is still keeping the odd thing from you...

Part of you wonders if there are other spells she has not told you about but the only way you could be sure is if you thoroughly searched her possessions and her person. You doubt she would willingly submit to such a check.

So two steps forward and one step backwards with her... as always...

 

[Nevill]

How long will it take for her to reach Muirthemne if we cooperate with her and give her money and equipment? I wonder if we can have her borrow TWM's diary to let her have a crack at it while she travels?

I still haven't abandoned hope to come visit Gareth and Brigit and get to our money stash to pay off the debt. It would be nice if our visit coincided with Nephila's arrival.

Can she translate Gullveig's documents for us while we are here? There aren't that many of those.

Assuming we free her, is she willing to learn from Gullveig's spellbook together (when we both have time to go through it)? The oath would prevent her from mistranslating or otherwise keeping secrets from us, right?

 

[Fangshi]

How long it will take her to reach Muirthemne if we cooperate with her and give her money and equipment? I wonder if we can have her borrow TWM's diary to let her have a crack at it while she travels?

On foot she is slightly faster than you and it took you about eleven or twelve days to go from one capital to the other if I remember right. So on foot it would take her ten or so, if she had a horse and did not encounter any trouble then she could likely do it in half that (roughly, so five to seven days).

Can she translate Gullveig's documents for us while we are here? There aren't that many of those.

Most of them literally are lists of enemies organized by region, type, power, hatred and, ah, beauty... seems the Shade hated a lot of people for a lot of reasons. She could probably write them up for you and organize the data a bit but it would take her half an hour or so and you do not have much time.

There are also a lot of supply lists and official documents pertaining to her position as quartermaster of the northern army, they are not terribly useful now since the army has been destroyed. Unless you just want a clear picture of how powerful the enemy force was that you destroyed in which case I could likely type that up for you.

There are three letters though that she will need some more time with, they are written in code and it will take her a bit of a time to crack it.

Assuming we free her, is she willing to learn from Gullveig's spellbook together (when we both have time to go through it)? The oath would prevent her from mistranslating or otherwise keeping secrets from us, right?

Sure, she has no problem with that if you want to try and schedule something. If you give her the items you want translated/cracked/identified now she can work on them in her free time no matter which choice you take (she will leave them at a suitable location based on the choice, the only two exceptions would be if she comes with you in which case she would not have to deposit them anywhere or if she goes her own way in which case she would not be able to guarantee when or where she could return them).

 

[Nevill]

Alright.

So I am thinking:

2. Nephila says she knows the wards on the TWM's journal and the language Gullveig wrote her books in. You can enter an agreement and give her several items to translate, crack, or identify, and then return to you at a place of your choosing and share the information.
A. You give her the following items:
i) The Thin White Mage's journal
ii) Gullveig's spellbook
iii) Gullveig's documents
iv) Gullveig's cyphered letters
v) The Ring of the Master
B. You don't give her anything. You will sort it out on your own.

And I'll vote for Ai, ii, iv.

Obviously, the vote only applies if you do not kill her.

The reasoning behind the vote is that we are unlikely to have much free time in the nearest future to take care of these things by ourselves. We don't know the language the letters are written in, so breaking the code by ourselves without a linguist does not seem feasible. I don't want to give an unknown artefact ring away, and it only takes several hours to identify it - it can wait until our reunion.

The spellbook I am unsure about. It might be too valuable to just give it away, and it makes more sense to go through it together. Still, our of the items it looks like the most time-consuming one to deal with.

Gullveig's documents we can identify right here - it only takes half an hour. Unless someone have better ideas of how to spend our time.

Finally, the option with the Thin White Mage's journal is a mixed bag. On one hand, she says she recognizes the wards protecting it. On the other, we can turn it over to the Academy, and they might have a better chance at disarming it. Do we want them to read it, though? At least Nephila would be under an oath not to reveal our secrets.

 

[Jester]

Come on recruit her, to be awesome evil we must be equal opportunity employer. Let those pesky paladins discriminate while we embrace our fate as just and competent management.

 

[Jester]

2) A i III IV