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Myth: A New Age CYOA

Fangshi

Arcane
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
1,997
Absinthe said:
Fangshi, if we go to the academy, we can at least be there while we're lending them the ring, yes? Also, what about picking up a single spell for both the girls while we're there?

Yes, if C wins and the ladies go to the academy you will interview Albrecht's son while the fellows examine the ring. I can also give you the option to study a little if you want to spend the extra time and that will give the fellows more time to study the ring as well.

There is an element of luck involved though, the fellows will make a few rolls when studying the ring if they do really well they can be done in a few hours or so, if they roll poorly you might have to leave it with them for a day or so. In C though they should always be done with it by the time you are done visiting the royals.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
You are mixing up Albrecht's impressions of our actions and real facts.

Albrecht does not know we informed the Watcher, so I fail to see how this is relevant.

I mean:
After all, we would be refusing to tell Albrecht what we've been up to for Mazzarin.
There are reasons for us to keep our secrets besides "OMG, they are Mazzarin's slaves".
 

Absinthe

Arcane
Joined
Jan 6, 2012
Messages
4,062
No, I'm saying if Mazzarin were going to kill us for revealing this "secret" (what? he's back and knows longevity magics?), he would've already done so considering we told the The Watcher by proxy.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Which is what we know, but Albrecht does not. There is no real 'secret' in what we've done for him (as in, Mazzarin does not care about it in any way), but we might want to keep it a secret still.

Anyway, this is a pointless argument, as 6A is implied to be telling the truth about our interactions with him.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
No, I'm saying if Mazzarin were going to kill us for revealing this "secret" (what? he's back and knows longevity magics?),
Considering his 'Desert Storm' entrance, I don't think he's that concerned about secrecy.
The whole thing was probably a way of announcing his return, BLOBERT style:
"SUP BROS, I'M BACK!"
:lol:
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Yeah, he himself would probably prefer to make a big production out of his return. He loves attention.
 

Kz3r0

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2008
Messages
27,013
Here is my amended vote:
1.
C) ii.

2.
A) as much as possible.
B) 10/10/10
C)
D)
All on the crown.

3. C)

4. D)

5.
A) Yes

6.
B) No


7:
B - No.

8.

A. Yes

9.

B. No

10.
B) No
 
Last edited:

Jester

Arbiter
Joined
Mar 24, 2013
Messages
1,493
9) B no warp cheese
10) A

Waiting for the update. How long till vote closure?
 

Fangshi

Arcane
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
1,997
Jester said:
Waiting for the update. How long till vote closure?

Well, it only seems fair to give people time to vote on these new options that keep popping up but if there are no more last minute additions or questions from here on out I will probably close the vote in twenty hours and do the update within a day of that (sometime Saturday or Sunday afternoon).

Yeah, that sounds good. The vote will close in twenty hours and the update will be out within twenty four hours of that (probably closer to sixteen hours or maybe less since it won't need to be too long, I think each of the kids will get their own update as you proceed with the investigation but I will have to see where it makes sense to cut things based on how the rolls go).

Current Tally:

Nevill's package
Cii: Derryth + Thais + Biliku + Uttu - our team of investigators.
Civ: Lyssa + Berty + Skite + Mayer - our recruitment team.
Cvi: Most of the mice, including Myrra, Poppy and Martin - our spying team.

zerozero's Package
Bii - Berty, girls, half of Blackfort forces, some pathfinders
Biii - Derryth, Thais and royal guard, some pathfinders
Bv - Lyssa, Ceannard and Black Arrows, some pathfinders
Bvi- Nephila (with a disguise paid for by Albrecht's promissory note with Lysaa's mice


asxetos:
1. Nevill's package,
2. B) 30 energon cubes (10/10/10),
3. x,
4. x,
5. x,
6. x
7. x
8. x
9. x
10. x

Absinthe:
1. Nevill's package,
2: B (Nevill), C, D (seriously these rings are too good; lets also put this on the promissory)
3: Abstain for now. It might be better to let Albrecht's champion keep an eye on them. Might also be better to call him to Stoneheim instead.
4: D - Martin's pick of the castle + we send someone to go fetch a variety of smaller cheeses from the market.
5. A
6. A
7. A
8. x
9. x
10. x

Jester:
1. Nevill's package > C2
2. A) 5 mandrake roots (2/2/1 ?), B) 12 energon cubes (4/4/4 ?)
3. H
4. D
5. A
6. A
7. A
8. A
9. B
10. A

Sunnmøring:
1. Biv
2. x
3. x
4. x
5. x
6. x
7. x
8. x
9. x
10. x

Nevill:
1. Nevill's Package
2. B) 30 energon cubes (10/10/10) [promissory note from the King], C) Get another set of jewelry instead of the one we gave to Brothers Dietfried.
3. A
4. D
5. A
6. A
7. B
8. A
9. A
10. x

zerozero:
1. zerozero's Package
2. BD
3. ADEF
4. D
5. A
6. B
7. B
8. x
9. x
10. x

Baltika9:
1. Nevill's Package
2. B) 30 energon cubes (10/10/10) [promissory note from the King], C) Get another set of jewelry instead of the one we gave to Brothers Dietfried.
3. AD
4. D>C
5. A
6. A
7. B
8. A
9. A
10. B

Grimgravy:
1. B2
2. B (no more than 15) C, D
3. H (leave them be)
4. A Any cheese will do. Stop pandering to rodents
5. A
6. B
7. B
8. B
9. B
10. B

archaen:
1. Nevill's plan
2. BCD
3. FG - send for all our mercenaries after they issue the cheese. The armies have no mages and we have gained most of the value of the fort at this moment. There is no need to risk what is left our personnel for almost no gain. Even if one of the lords takes it over we can just unblock the tunnels and let the rhyming monsters massacre them if Nephila lets some live or sneak in our own murder force(Mice with cyanide for the soup).
4. C for eldritch horror mice, or mice in the dreaming, or Vegeta mice. Either way our forces will be clear.
5. A
6. A
7. B
8. A
9. A
10. B

Kz3r0:
1. Cii
2. ABCD
3. C
4. D
5. A
6. B
7. B
8. A
9. B
10. B

1. What to do?

Leading Option: Nevill's Plan (6 votes)
Nevill's package
C)ii: Derryth + Thais + Biliku + Uttu - our team of investigators.
C)iv: Lyssa + Berty + Skite + Mayer - our recruitment team.
C)vi: Most of the mice, including Myrra, Poppy and Martin - our spying team.

zerozero's plan - 1 vote
Biv - 1 vote
Bii - 1 vote
Cii - 1 vote


2. What to buy?

1 abstain

Mandrake Roots 2/9 votes (1 general vote that goes to the leading option)
1 vote for 5 roots (2/2/1 ?)

Energon Cubes: 8/9 votes (3 general votes that go to the leading option)
3 votes for 30 cubes (10/10/10) using an Albrecht promissary note
2 votes for 12 cubes (4/4/4) - One vote directly for 12 and one vote for anything under 15

Jewelry: 6/9 votes

Spell Ring: 5/9 votes
4 votes to buy it with a promissory note from Albrecht

1 vote to just buy it


3. Who to call?
(3 abstain)

A) 3/7 votes
B)
C) 1/7 votes
D) 2/7 votes
E) 1/7 votes
F) 2/7 votes
G) 1/7 votes
H) 2/7 votes


4. Cheese
(2 abstain)
A) 1 vote
B)
C) 1 vote
D) 6 votes


5. The Seekers
(2 abstain)
A) 8 votes
B)


6. Mazzarin
(2 abstain)
A) 5 votes
B) 3 votes


7. Nanshe
(2 abstain)
A) 2 votes
B) 6 votes


8. Sticky Bombs
(4 abstain)
A) 5 votes
B) 1 vote

9. Martin
(4 abstain]
A) 3 votes
B) 3 votes

10. Ring
(4 abstain)
A) 1 vote
B) 5 votes
 
Last edited:

Absinthe

Arcane
Joined
Jan 6, 2012
Messages
4,062
Baltika9, archaen do you want to put the spell-storing ring on the promissory note or pay it directly? Fangshi is assuming you are voting for paying out of our own pocket.
 

zerozero

Literate
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
41
You can make the same argument for Lysaa, she is a necromancer, she fought in the watcher army & wanted criminal and is now an essential member of the party

Yes, I can. Lyssa is another one of those risks.

Lyssa's situation has a few advantages over Nephila's. First, she is an actual human. The disguising spells might fail, either by happenstance, or by malice. Lyssa is not in danger of revealing her true form.


Lysaa is not in a magical disguise and is a wanted criminal, there are some ppl from both sides who will recognize her from the war and we are taking a risk with her.


Second, she is an actual human. Her motives and actions are far easier to understand and accept, while Nephila, though friendly, is still a demon. Lyssa is far more likely to coexist with us without causing accidents of unwanted kind.


Lysaa is a bit secretive and we are not 100% sure of her motives but has shown trustworthiness.
We don't know if the Watcher or Mazzarin has ultimate control over her, mazzarin use to control her mind for years, the watcher may bound her soul them we don't know but are willing to take the chance.
I suspect Mazzarin influence tied to the necklaces. Mazzarin is out for himself and what he sees as the greater good.
Nephila being a demon, if need be can be bound to oaths, contracts and verbal agreements. She has shown to operate in good faith by giving us information and sealing the tunnels, everything that we asked for.
Strangely the 'evil' baddies have been straightforward with us, the Fetch in the first arc did give us everything for the gate to go home, the reds & blues became our allies before dying. both the fallen lords have been fair, Morpheus the dream demon has been fair, Nanshe the ghoul has been fair



Third, Lyssa is not a daughter to the Spider Goddess who we suspect is behind the cultist forces. She is not Rand's former servant. She isn't the one who put Albrechts on the throne. In our current situation, Lyssa has much better chances to remain unnoticed as she is not really connected with the major players in the dwarven kingdom.


Nephila even being the daughter of the Spider Goddess doesn't owe allegiance to her. She knows how her mother operates, her mother will eat anyone for power and she respects her but is afraid so she would be cautious.
She was rand's prisoner just like the previous owner's of Blackfort, if Rand has ultimate power and control he would not need the prison, she would be far more useful to him if he freed her when he had the chance when he ransacked the place.
With Nephila connections to the major players, this could be useful to us as she would know more secrets and make connections that we can't.
We can keep Nephila in the background, she doesn't have to be joined to the hip with us.


The disguise from the Dietfried Brother's is solid, they have used the same techniques on other demons.

Yes, but they also warn that it would not hold against a dedicated attempt to dispel it.

The other demons also probably aren't under nearly as much scrutiny as we or our allies.


The Dietfried brother will charge us 100 wps instead of 500 wps due the humanoid shape of Nephila. So their must be demons that are much harder to disguise that are happily walking around Mrygard.
We don't have to advertise that Nephila is the new spokeswoman of our party, she doesn't have to be with us for all our meetings, she doesn't even have to speak. She could have a cover story as a maid and be unobtrusive and be in the background. If we teach her illusion spells all the better.


I believe that the King is more important, you could lose the 2nd city & armies and it makes little difference to your reward.

The state of the 2nd city and the army is the King's responsibility and the king is not going to blame you. He cares more about the immediate danger to himself.

Now here is where I would require proof. From my point of view, from the glimpse we got of his mind, from what he was talking about in the last update, it is obvious to me that he cares about his people, first and foremost.

Also, our income is dependant on the healthy state of the country. You can't lose the whole southern half of it and expect that things will go just as smoothly. Do I really have to point out that losing a war affects the economy negatively?

We have invested much in this country and we are not going to give it up without a fight.


The king is out for himself just like all the powerful people in power throughout history.

Our Reward is based on what bargains we strike with the king and what he perceives that he owes us.
Our income is based on the rule of law and our association with the king.
If the king gets disposed, they are unlikely to be friendly to us as we are perceived as the king's allies.
It is likely he will be tared with the brush of treason to legitimize the rule of whoever takes over, evidence will be made up and we will be tared by the same brush. All our assets will be stripped from us and we will be lucky just to be banished.


I am kind of curious, though. Why do you think Derryth and Thais decided to stay and fight for the Fort Blackrock? For what phantom reward and what benefits? I get it that it was a relative success, but if we thought about it in terms of rewards only, we would never be able to achieve what we did.


I thought the reason for Blackfort battle was because we can and you like doing it.

To counter this what sort of gain will you expect by joining the battle south if the king dies.


Do you not find it suspicious that 2 ppl want you at the battle (TWM & Mazzarin), there seems to be more at play than the battle which I think is a distraction.

No, I do not find it suspicious, because TWM wants his private battle (he does not want us walking away with the army), and I have no idea what Mazzarin wants and if he even remembers who we are. Again, do you have any proof of that?


Ultimately the TWM is a servant of the Watcher, he will tow the line and do what he is told to serve the Watcher regardless of what he thinks.
Remember that Mazzarin sent us a letter in in gold with the big letter M on in telling us to go south, this was attached to one of Lysaa's eagles that was late coming back to us.


The pregnant necromancer with the wolverine healing powers is probably the most important thing. The baby is an upgraded version of the TWM and could be the potential host body for the watcher or another fallen lord.

Alright. Actually, it makes a whole lot of sense. So what?


Who would you like to fight a resurrected watcher/ fallen lord in a body that has wolverine healing abilities or the TWM that we beat 3 times, can contain if we put him in the dreaming or destroy enough temples he is not coming back.


Do we know where she went or where she is kept? Why do you think she is still in the city? Do you expect her to give birth in a month?


We will never know if we don't try, I suspect that she is either in the city or close by in a spider goddess temple given the heighten security.
I have no idea on necromancer births but I don't think anyone else does except for Fangshi and he is not telling :).

Do you not think that it is suspicious that there is a necromancer army with no guarantee of winning showing up around the same time as the breakout and Alric is on the other side of the continent in Madrigal.



Why is she an immediate concern?


She will be easier to capture when she is not surrounded by the whole necromancer army.
We could stop her birth of the evil super baby.
She would make a fine prize for Morpheus, probably worth more than the TWM.[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]
 
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archaen

Cipher
Patron
Joined
Mar 10, 2014
Messages
633
I am wondering if this baby is some gambit to bring the Watcher back? Maybe the baby can absorb the essence of the watcher from the stones or something.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
zerozero said:
Lyssa is not in a magical disguise and is a wanted criminal, there are some ppl from both sides who will recognize her from the war and we are taking a risk with her.
There are. Fortunately, necromancers are unlikely to qualify as witnesses, and her interaction with the good guys was quite limited because she was working in the rear.

She is not reliant on a spell to protect her.

zerozero said:
Strangely the 'evil' baddies have been straightforward with us, the Fetch in the first arc did give us everything for the gate to go home, the reds & blues became our allies before dying. both the fallen lords have been fair, Morpheus the dream demon has been fair, Nanshe the ghoul has been fair
Let's see. The fetch didn't confess her plan before we forced her to and intended to omit a crucial piece of information if we didn't. The reds didn't ally with us until they were on a brink of destruction and intended to make us their slaves right before that. Nine is not a Fallen Lord, and I would not trust the Faceless farther than I can throw him - he is as far from straightforward and fair as it is possible without actually being hostile to us. Morpheus is a demon - all he has is his word, but he is in no way our friend and if not for our agreement he would probably scheme to lure us into the Dreaming.

The 'baddies' are contistently shown to be manipulative bitches who would screw us over in a heartbeat if only we let them to.

zerozero said:
She was rand's prisoner just like the previous owner's of Blackfort, if Rand has ultimate power and control he would not need the prison
Right, but the previous owner of the Fort died, while we know that Rand is up and about. We have no idea what kind of control, if any, he has over her. That was one of the factors that made us release her - we didn't want a potentially hostile demon in the fort.

The difference with Lyssa is that we don't know if any of her 'contacts' from before survived and are around to mess with us, while with Nephila we are fairly sure of it.

I also do not understand the logic that because we have took a risk once, we should take all of them.

zerozero said:
The state of the 2nd city and the army is the King's responsibility and the king is not going to blame you. He cares more about the immediate danger to himself.
Now, see, because you say it is so doesn't make it so. :)

He is not seeking to blame us in ether case. His rule and his country are falling apart and we are the only ones who try to prevent it.

He does not have a preference for any of the choices, I think he is pretty clear on that.

zerozero said:
To counter this what sort of gain will you expect by joining the battle south if the king dies.
That's easy. I do not expect him to die. The dude survived two wars and led his people in and out of exile. He can manage a little civil unrest.

zerozero said:
Ultimately the TWM is a servant of the Watcher, he will tow the line and do what he is told to serve the Watcher regardless of what he thinks.

Remember that Mazzarin sent us a letter in in gold with the big letter M on in telling us to go south, this was attached to one of Lysaa's eagles that was late coming back to us.
We have no idea. He has shown a healthy disregard for the opinion of his own master. If the Watcher's hold continues to weaken, he may just go rogue.

Me, I prefer him in the Watcher's employ. The archmage is not very bright in terms of strategy, and is squandering the potential TWM has. However, by your logic, the Watcher does not want us in the city or near Stoneheim, instead he wants us to go settle our petty private strife.

Mazzarin didn't send us any letters and didn't try to contact us since we parted ways. :| It was pretty obvious that the letter we received was, in fact, from TWM.

zerozero said:
Who would you like to fight a resurrected watcher/ fallen lord in a body that has wolverine healing abilities or the TWM that we beat 3 times, can contain if we put him in the dreaming or destroy enough temples he is not coming back.
No, I wouldn't, but the mother would have to give birth for that to happen, and the baby needs to grow up. If the signs of pregnancy followed the normal schedule so far, I have no reason to believe something will change. I still do not see the situation as our primary concern for now.

zerozero said:
Do you not think that it is suspicious that there is a necromancer army with no guarantee of winning showing up around the same time as the breakout and Alric is on the other side of the continent in Madrigal.
No. Who has that 'guarantee of winning' that you speak of?

The woman is obviously important, but if someone sets our house on fire as a distraction, I am still going to put out the flames before continuing with the investigation. That we realize that some pressing matters were meant to keep us busy does not mean we should not pay attention to them.

I intend to chase after her after we have some measure of stability in the south.
 
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zerozero

Literate
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
41
zerozero said:
Lyssa is not in a magical disguise and is a wanted criminal, there are some ppl from both sides who will recognize her from the war and we are taking a risk with her.
There are. Fortunately, necromancers are unlikely to qualify as witnesses, and her interaction with the good guys was quite limited because she was working in the rear.

She is not reliant on a spell to protect her.

You do know that Mazzarin knows, he will use this info as he sees fit.
All it takes is rumors and we will be under the spotlight

zerozero said:
Strangely the 'evil' baddies have been straightforward with us, the Fetch in the first arc did give us everything for the gate to go home, the reds & blues became our allies before dying. both the fallen lords have been fair, Morpheus the dream demon has been fair, Nanshe the ghoul has been fair

Let's see. The fetch didn't confess her plan before we forced her to and intended to omit a crucial piece of information if we didn't. The reds didn't ally with us until they were on a brink of destruction and intended to make us their slaves right before that. Nine is not a Fallen Lord, and I would not trust the Faceless farther than I can throw him - he is as far from straightforward and fair as it is possible without actually being hostile to us. Morpheus is a demon - all he has is his word, but he is in no way our friend and if not for our agreement he would probably scheme to lure us into the Dreaming.

The 'baddies' are contistently shown to be manipulative bitches who would screw us over in a heartbeat if only we let them to.


The faceless man could of killing us when he/ she first got out of dreaming, he did what he said he would do
Morpheus has done what he has said he would do
nanshe has generally kept to her agreement


zerozero said:
She was rand's prisoner just like the previous owner's of Blackfort, if Rand has ultimate power and control he would not need the prison

Right, but the previous owner of the Fort died, while we know that Rand is up and about. We have no idea what kind of control, if any, he has over her. That was one of the factors that made us release her - we didn't want a potentially hostile demon in the fort.


Nephila at this point was in the prison for centuries, she was in our mercy. We could of killed her or let her starve to death. We freed her to help us in sealing the tunnels, information and translating: and if I remember you said in a previous post that you saw her in a teaching/ adviser type of role in Muirhemne. We didn't release her because we were frighten of her.


The difference with Lyssa is that we don't know if any of her 'contacts' from before survived and are around to mess with us, while with Nephila we are fairly sure of it.


A previous contact Mazzarin knows and he is just south of the city


I also do not understand the logic that because we have took a risk once, we should take all of them.


Given the type of decisions that Derryth & co has made, we have taken a lot of risks time and time again, everything we do is a risk .... and the nature of mages is to take risks for power


zerozero said:
The state of the 2nd city and the army is the King's responsibility and the king is not going to blame you. He cares more about the immediate danger to himself.

Now, see, because you say it is so doesn't make it so. :)

He is not seeking to blame us in ether case. His rule and his country are falling apart and we are the only ones who try to prevent it.

He does not have a preference for any of the choices, I think he is pretty clear on that.


I am not to sure I can argue myth dwarven psychology and cultural norms but I can comment on human nature - most ppl are selfish to a varying degree, you can do some un-selfish acts but nearly impossible to be un-selfish for your entire life.

Remember this is the guy who convicted an innocent dwarf to death and got you to be a part of it. he did this for his gain.
Now as with most ppl in authority and in power - they think more about themselves, perfect example are politicians which the king is.
Derryth is selfish but generally good, we played along with this trial knowing that the dwarf was innocent and we did it for our gain.
He is giving us a choice as he cannot control us and needs our help.


zerozero said:
To counter this what sort of gain will you expect by joining the battle south if the king dies.
That's easy. I do not expect him to die. The dude survived two wars and led his people in and out of exile. He can manage a little civil unrest.


Ok but you haven't answered the question what would you gain from joining the battle in the south? Given all the other hostile armies against the necromancer army everyone except the cloaked riders who are neutral.

So the King asked you to investigate the Royal family and 'deal' with it (this means kill) because he had a momentary lapse of confidence.
This was a act of desperation, he asked you to potentially kill his own family to save him, this will hurt his pride and if this got out his reputation as a ruler will be in tatters.


So the threats to him:-

Royal household - traitors

Great/ Minor Houses - revolting and trying to overthrow him

Civil unrest (possible uprising)

Necromancer influence

Spider Goddess cult

I think that there are a lot of threats to his life and rule. The Watcher has been planning for awhile to dis-stabilize the dwarven kingdom.

If he was this good of a ruler, he would need us to do anything for him.



zerozero said:
Ultimately the TWM is a servant of the Watcher, he will tow the line and do what he is told to serve the Watcher regardless of what he thinks.

Remember that Mazzarin sent us a letter in in gold with the big letter M on in telling us to go south, this was attached to one of Lysaa's eagles that was late coming back to us.

We have no idea. He has shown a healthy disregard for the opinion of his own master. If the Watcher's hold continues to weaken, he may just go rogue.

Me, I prefer him in the Watcher's employ. The archmage is not very bright in terms of strategy, and is squandering the potential the TWM has. However, by your logic, the Watcher does not want us in the city or near Stoneheim, instead he wants us to go settle our petty private strife.


i don't think anyone knows the full extent of the watcher strategies or the TWM except Fangshi, I think it is too much of a coincidence to be drawn to this battle at this time given the state of the city.



Mazzarin didn't send us any letters and didn't try to contact us since we parted ways. :| It was pretty obvious that the letter we received was, in fact, from TWM.


Remember that we got 2 letters from the eagle - one from the TWM telling us to got to the battlefield and another one with a M on it.
If the TWM sent the mazzarin letter as well- how does he know that we have a connection to Mazzarin to write M on it and to dress up the letter so extravagantly to suit Mazzarin's taste. I don't think Mazzarin advertises that we resurrected him.


zerozero said:
Who would you like to fight a resurrected watcher/ fallen lord in a body that has wolverine healing abilities or the TWM that we beat 3 times, can contain if we put him in the dreaming or destroy enough temples he is not coming back.

No, I wouldn't, but the mother would have to give birth for that to happen, and the baby needs to grow up. If the signs of pregnancy followed the normal schedule so far, I have no reason to believe something will change. I still do not see the situation as our primary concern for now.


Nobody knows how the pregnancy will go except Fangshi.

This pregnant necromancer was that important that she was broken out of a pathfinder prison, she has incredible healing and survival powers and the baby will probably have the same if not more.
This baby will make a perfect host for the watcher/ fallen lord / evil being. i think that we should be worried, this will be much harder to deal with when it matures than now when it is relatively vulnerable.



zerozero said:
Do you not think that it is suspicious that there is a necromancer army with no guarantee of winning showing up around the same time as the breakout and Alric is on the other side of the continent in Madrigal.
No. Who has that 'guarantee of winning' that you speak of?

I mean that the necromancer army has no guarantee of winning, it is surrounded by the ghoul army who are hostile to them, the mazzarin army who are hostile to them, the Eberhardt force who are hostile to them, the dwaven army who are hostile to them. The only ones who are not hostile to them are the cloaked riders who seem to be out for themselves.


The woman is obviously important, but if someone sets our house on fire as a distraction, I am still going to put out the flames before continuing with the investigation. That we realize that some pressing matters were meant to keep us busy does not mean we should not pay attention to them.


I take it you mean the battle south as the fire but are we really needed, look at the hostile armies against the necromancer army who can deal with it (See above).


I intend to chase after her after we have some measure of stability in the south.


She and the forces protecting her are not going to hang around for us. She will probably look for more allies and a secure location, she will be long gone.
 

Grimgravy

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
3,469
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
Ugh...
managed to totally miss promissory note business. I don't care how 2D is paid for.
9B as much as I wish all our rodents were dead and gone.
10B
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
zerozero said:
You do know that Mazzarin knows, he will use this info as he sees fit.
I ruled Mazzarin out. Forget necromancers, he knows about our involvement with the Fallen Lords. That's a death sentence.

But if Mazzarin sought to ruin us, all he needs to do is snap his fingers. Why start rumors and use middle-men when you can do everything yourself?

This is why I see it as a non-issue.

zerozero said:
The faceless man could of killing us when he/ she first got out of dreaming, he did what he said he would do
He also betrayed us in the Dreaming to get to that point, threatened to kill Lyssa and the girls to get our compliance, and would have stolen Nine if Uttu didn't get her from our backpack first. Not to mention our acquaintanceship started with him trying to drive us to suicide.

No thank you, I don't want to do anything with him for the moment.

zerozero said:
Morpheus has done what he has said he would do
He is a demon. He is bound to do what he says he would do. He was trying to get us to absolve him of his oath not to abduct us when we first met him.

If he can break his agreement with us to his benefit and keep this knowledge from spreading, I think he would have done so.

zerozero said:
nanshe has generally kept to her agreement
Was there a way for her not to? She told us plainly that she would have robbed us completely if she could have gotten away with it. Being honest and/or decent has nothing to do with it. Now, I'll give you that she tried to compensate us with things that were not terribly important to her, but I would still advertise extreme caution when dealing with her, as we work for two very different sides.

zerozero said:
We freed her to help us in sealing the tunnels, information and translating: and if I remember you said in a previous post that you saw her in a teaching/ adviser type of role in Muirhemne. We didn't release her because we were frighten of her.
As I said, it was one of the factors. We freed her because we couldn't have left her in the fort. Rand was also mentioned as a reason for that.

zerozero said:
Given the type of decisions that Derryth & co has made, we have taken a lot of risks time and time again, everything we do is a risk .... and the nature of mages is to take risks for power
True, true, but there are smart risks aka gambles, heroic risks like what we did with Miosguinn or at the Fort, and stupid risks like what we did with Melete's workshop. One needs to maintain a delicate balance there.

zerozero said:
Remember this is the guy who convicted an innocent dwarf to death and got you to be a part of it. he did this for his gain.
Innocent? Eberhardt was innocent of the most heinous crime of conspiring with the Dark, but he was still guilty of treason, and we have collected numerous evidence to that effect. He and his family would still hang, though some of his allies may have escaped.

As for 'doing it for his gain', Albrecht does what he believes is best for the country, and, naturally, thinks that he knows what's best. He sees instability as harmful, and so he tries to root out its causes. Now, he may be conceited, but I would not call him selfish.

zerozero said:
Derryth is selfish but generally good, we played along with this trial knowing that the dwarf was innocent and we did it for our gain.
The motives of Derryth are largely in the air, though I did that to be done with the unpleasant business quickly and to prevent a civil war among other things, seeing how the Eberhards had control over most of the officers and money. I just trusted that Albrecht knew what he was doing.

zerozero said:
Ok but you haven't answered the question what would you gain from joining the battle in the south? Given all the other hostile armies against the necromancer army everyone except the cloaked riders who are neutral.
I would gain access to Stoneheim and its resourses (we still have trading contracts to take care of, and 20 of our mercenaries are stuck there); fame as a war hero; an in with the military and the younger noble dwarves; a weakened Watcher who is seeking to kill us at all costs; and possibly Great Houses who are more loyal to the crown after we are done dealing with traitors. I would save the country that I made my investments in, preserve the military for future use against the ghols or rebels or what-have-you, and secure Albrecht's rule (as without external threats internal ones will have to keep quiet) for a while at least.

Not a bad list, all things considered.

zerozero said:
This was a act of desperation, he asked you to potentially kill his own family to save him, this will hurt his pride and if this got out his reputation as a ruler will be in tatters.
To save him? He asked us to save his country, not him. If he could just take his family and get away from it all, he would have done so. In fact, if you believe his words, that's exactly what he is saying here:
"If Jori had failed, if you had failed, then I would have been humiliated in front of the entire Assembly. I would have lost my throne and my crown and I would have been forced into exile but now I wonder if that might not have been better for me."

He knocks back his drink and pours another one, "At least if I had fallen, at least if I had even died, I would not have to see this, I would not have to dothis."
The problem is that he can't, because there is no one else fit for that job - or at least he thinks so. He has the "I am the state" mindset, though maybe a more benevolent one than Louis XIV had.

I see no reason to think that internal threats are more important than external ones. He will have to manage one while we tackle the other.

zerozero said:
I think that there are a lot of threats to his life and rule. The Watcher has been planning for awhile to dis-stabilize the dwarven kingdom.
If he was this good of a ruler, he would need us to do anything for him.
That's a good argument, let me apply it to all instances of people that needed our help at some time or the other:
If Mazzarin was any good as a mage, he wouldn't have needed us to revive him.
If Morpheus was nearly anywhere as powerful in his realm as he says he is, he wouldn't have needed us to rescue him.
If Melete was such a genius, why did she not escape her prison with her contraptions?

Do you see a lapse in logic in all of those? Because I do. :)

zerozero said:
If the TWM sent the mazzarin letter as well- how does he know that we have a connection to Mazzarin to write M on it and to dress up the letter so extravagantly to suit Mazzarin's taste.
We told him about Mazzarin's return during our first meeting, and his journal speaks about our connection non-stop. He is ancient enough to remember what Mazzarin is like.

Seriously, this 'letter from Mazzarin' was a very poorly disguised trap. :|

Hell, it even pointed us to the exact same location where TWM is waiting for us to answer his challenge. :lol:

zerozero said:
I take it you mean the battle south as the fire but are we really needed, look at the hostile armies against the necromancer army who can deal with it (See above).
The necromancers are not the only threat. The ghols, the rebels and the cultists are another. Espesially now that we know some of the cultists infiltrated the ranks of the dwarven army. If the rebels are allied with the cultists, this might result in them taking control of Stoneheim or all sorts of nasty things.

The situation in the south is a mess, but there is only one side that I want to win, and if you look at it from that angle, they are definitely outmatched.

zerozero said:
She and the forces protecting her are not going to hang around for us. She will probably look for more allies and a secure location, she will be long gone.
We have taken our sweet time getting to the capital, she might already be long gone.

I can't waste time on a wild goose chase when there is a clear immediate danger that I can take care of.

9B as much as I wish all our rodents were dead and gone.
I knew it, I knew you cared!
:love:
 
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Absinthe

Arcane
Joined
Jan 6, 2012
Messages
4,062
Was there a way for her not to? She told us plainly that she would have robbed us completely if she could have gotten away with it. Being honest and/or decent has nothing to do with it. Now, I'll give you that she tried to compensate us with things that were not terribly important to her, but I would still advertise extreme caution when dealing with her, as we work for two very different sides.
Uhh... She wrote us the Purple Sun scroll (part of a Nightmare spell, remember?) along with a spellbook from one of TWM's pet mages which she admittedly had little use for.

The Purple Sun scroll at least is pretty damn slick.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
It occured to me that we might be missing on our chance to have a bear dormouse cavalry... :M
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Fangshi said:
Of the champions: Hesse's and Welf's are with Hesse and Welf. Berg's and Seinsheim's are with Berg and Seinsheim. Raginar's is with Hesse. If you are curious who/what they are in case you have to fight them they are as follows:

Hesse - Alfhild (Asger's wife) - dwarven swordmaster
Welf - The Boar - maul weapons-master
Berg - The Artisan - human weapons-master
Seinsheim - Galena and Treva - grey mages from the Western Empire they fight as a pair
Raginar - Asger (Alfhild's husband) - dwarven swordmaster
Fangshi, what is this 'champion' system the dwarves have? Every house seem to have one. Who are they? Enforcers? Right-hand men? Bodyguards? What is their position and role in the house and how does one become a champion?
 

Fangshi

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Jan 9, 2014
Messages
1,997
Nevill said:
Fangshi, what is this 'champion' system the dwarves have? Every house seem to have one. Who are they? Enforcers? Right-hand men? Bodyguards? What is their position and role in the house and how does one become a champion?

Well that is a long story so here is the short version.

Back when the race of dwarves were young arguments between houses were solved by duels to the death between the leaders of each house. The problem with this is that if you have the leaders murdering each other constantly then it tends to lead to chaos and internal divisions so over time the practice of having a champion developed.

It was the champion's duty to fight in his lord's stead and battle to the death for the good of the house. That worked for a time as it left the command structure of the houses in place while allowing the bloodshed needed to solve problems between them.

This system largely came to an end when the dwarves broke through to the surface and first encountered the ghôls. It was hatred at first sight but the ghôls outnumbered the dwarves at least ten to one. There could be no more fighting between dwarves when faced with such a threat so a system of laws (the ancestor of the current dwarven legal code) was developed and the champions lost their purpose.

They were quick to discover a new purpose however.

As arguably the best warriors the dwarves had the champions were put to work as bodyguards and captains in the war against the ghôls. Those that survived mastered military tactics in a trial by fire as the ghôls relentlessly threw themselves at the gates of Stoneheim.

As the dwarves began to win the war and go on the offensive they realized they needed field commanders, some of the house heads and their heirs volunteered but many more sent their champions in their place. From that day forward the office of champion came to represent something between a bodyguard, a house 'whip' (or policy enforcer), a general and a trusted confident.

A champion can specialize in any one of those things or do all of them.

For example Argus is Albrecht's closest friend, his enforcer, his commander and his bodyguard. The Boar, by contrast, is a bodyguard and a commander but he is not a friend or even an enforcer as he is an outsider and others are used to manage members of the house.

One becomes a champion by being chosen by the lord of a house to serve as one (you can always refuse but it is considered a great honour and only one dwarf has ever refused the call to be champion, it happened five years ago). The position tends to be held for life (until either the lord and/or his champion die). When a champion dies the lord in question will select another, it is respectful to wait at least one week before doing so but it can be done immediately (the longer a lord waits the greater the 'honour' paid to the dead champion, some lords have chosen to never replace a favourite champion though that does expose them to greater risks). The exact way a lord goes about selecting a champion varies and there are no rules to it.

When a lord dies it is traditional for his heir to appoint a new champion from their own inner circle and most heirs have a 'champion' of their own ready for the occasion beforehand. Some heirs choose to use their father/mother's champion and that is seen as a great honour for the champion and a sign of profound trust in the person by the new lord. Most champions though retire when their lord dies/retires, after a lifetime of fighting it is likely to be their only chance at peace.
 
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