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Myth: A New Age CYOA

Grimgravy

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Messages
3,469
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
Just because you can can vote for options not listed initially doesn't mean you should.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Until you realize that those options are guidelines, not solutions, and most of them come with their own pitfalls.

Considering what we know about singing beasts now, we can assume with a high degree of certainity that there were no winning options in that update and a conventional fight would have wiped us all.

Similarly how negotiating with Ullr and/or declaring war on the Arrows would have landed us in far greater trouble than a freeform choice of incapacitating the compound leader.

You have to actually think about what would work best, whether it is listed or not.
 

Fangshi

Arcane
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
1,997
Chapter 56: Silver Tongue, Bronze Fist

The dirt and the dust of the place clings to your clothing, it clings to your skin, it hangs in the air as you consider the man and the dwarf. If either of them makes even the slightest mistake there is a very good chance that this temple will be your tomb. That you will die down here with everyone you love, that you will fail to help the Kingdom, fail to realize your potential, fail to see the Empire again, hell, you will even fail to give Thaïs the answer that she deserves.

Yes, there is a very good chance that you will all die down here but then that is hardly new.

It seems that every couple of days you find yourself in these sorts of situations: the dwarven fort; Meletē's workshop; Nine's mind; many, many times in Nine's mind; the Dreaming; Blackrock, Blackrock definitely counts at least twice and the realization of how often you stand next to death should be terrifying, crippling and nauseating but it simply isn't.

You push it down, filter it out, this is just another trap, another puzzle, another problem that can, no, will yield to your mind. It is all simply a matter of figuring out how to win.

So, what have to got?

Two kids and a kidnapped friend. You can't win with this.

Not against superior numbers at any rate, not out in the open, not without some sort of edge, not with your friend a hostage- ah, that does not ring true anymore. She is not simply a friend. She is your counterpart, your better half in so many ways and losing her would be actually be like losing half of yourself. Just as the girls are not merely children, they are your children and if you lost her now, lost them now, you are not sure what you would do.

The panic begins to rise again, you beat it down.

It won't help.

They can not be children now, they are an archer and a warrior, one with a flare stored and the other with a concealed blade just as she is not your better half, she is, she is... a negotiator, a diplomat and a liar.

The grin creeps across your face though you fight it as best as you can.

You can not win this but she can.

As quietly as you can you whisper, "Caoilainn?"

"Derryth?" she whispers back, forgetting for a moment that only you and Thaïs can hear her.

"Time to practice a little teamwork," you gaze shifts from the cultists to Jan's hiding spot and back, "I need you to forward a plan to Thaïs. She needs to get the cultists to agree to an exchange, get Biliku close to Jan and give me an excuse to cast. I will shield her and then we will both hit them with the best offensive spells we have. The last point is most important, I need a reason to cast, understand?"

Her reply comes quickly, "Yeah, yeah, I can do that."

Dutifully she repeats everything you have said, or at least the salient points, Thaïs' glance meets your own as the cultists eye your group wearily and hurl insults and threats Jan's way.

It is almost comical, the hostage will secure not just her own freedom but your safety and her captors' destruction as well. It is a lot to ask for and a lot to ask of her, complete trust, but it has gotten you this far and it never ceases to amaze you that mages so often overlook this single, simple virtue.

The plan is quite simple really. Thaïs will pretend to mediate between your parties, ideally she will even find some way to get Biliku over to Jan to strengthen his position and keep the cultists from the spearhead but the entire negotiation will be a ploy. It will merely be an excuse to allow you to cast a single spell, the Warrior's Mask, once your counterpart is encased in bronze you will hit the cultists with the greater energy bolt stored in your ring. The two spells will activate within seconds of one another and hopefully the Warrior's Mask will shield Thaïs enough to keep her alive. Complete trust, you put your trust in her to set them up and she puts her trust in you to knock them down.

Wyrd, you hope this works.

She is whispering something to the Rand clone, he laughs and mutters something back, his blade tightening against her throat.

Caoilainn keeps you well informed, her words beating out a steady rhythm in your mind as she swings between hope and fear, "He says he does not need her. She says the dwarf is clearly terrified. He says that he hopes so. She says he will never get what he wants if the dwarf panics. He says, he says," he relief is palpable, "He says she may be right. He is going to let her speak."

His blade lowers slightly, pressed now against her collar, you do not doubt for a second that he could still separate head from shoulders in a matter of moments.

"Jan!" she calls out, "Jan can you hear me?"

"Y-yes!" the terrified dwarf shouts back, "What do you want?"

She laughs delicately, almost casually, and the very sound of her voice sets your nerves at ease, "Well, I should like to live," the cultists laugh in unison at her words and after a brief pause she pushes on, "I should like for my friends to live and I should like to see you live as well Jan. The only way that will happen is if you come out of hiding and give the spearhead to these gentlemen."

Not quite what you wanted but your confidante catches your gaze. Quickly her eyes dart from you to Jan and back. It takes you a moment to realize what she wants you to do but you share enough of her to eventually get the message. She wants you to advocate for Jan, pick a hard line and let her play the moderate. Well, you are no diplomat but for her you can play to ass.

"Ah, well, if- if you-" you do let him finish.

You might not be able to convince him of anything but it is a simple enough thing to fan his paranoia.

You shout the dwarf down, "Don't move one damned muscle Jan, if you come out they will kill you, take the spear and slaughter the rest of us!"

"Yeah, what is to stop you from killing me!" he squeaks in agreement from behind the altar.

"Derryth," the Rand clone hisses, "Are you trying to get your friend killed?"

"I am trying to save her from herself!" you declare, it rings hollow in your ears but thankfully Thaïs seizes on your words and lends them credibility.

She begins to lay into you, "Save me from myself? Why of all the patronizing, arrogant-"

And now you see how she wants to play this. You have been fortunate, your Circle is supportive, largely because none of you were proper mages however most Circles, most mage partnerships, are subject to a lot of infighting, backbiting and general nastiness. She wants to stage just such an arguement and though you are not entirely sure why you will trust her and play along.

"Arrogant! Patronizing!" you feed off her performance, it is always so much easier to work with her than by yourself, "Without my brain you would be nothing but a pretty face! Seems damn obvious to me that you have no idea what you are doing!"

"Ladies-" the clone attempts to intervene.

"Oh really! Do you make such rapid progress without me then? How did your negotiations go with Jan before we arrived? How badly did you fail?" she adds the slightest hint of cruelty to her questions and though you know it is all fake it cuts a little all the same.

"At least I have not tried to get poor Jan murdered!" you insist as the scholar lets out a slight whine.

"Do not be such a child!" the clone's hold loosens on her slightly and she takes a single small step toward you. He holds her back and she puts up a slight struggle, "Why can you not bear to let someone help you! I am trying to save you, you imbecile!"

"Imbecile?" you do your best to feign indignation, all things considered you are fairly convincing, "I should have left you on the street where I found!"

"Grave robber!" she spits back.

"Sycophant!" you shout.

She gives you a wink and goes for the throat, "You, you, peasant!" you wince a little as memories of Christine assail you.

"Whore!" you reply, matching her tone the best you can, "Keep her Rand, or whatever you call yourself! I don't want her back! Deal's off!"

"Damn right it is!" your partner echoes your sentiments, "Do whatever you want with this ingrate, I do not care a whit!"

"Why you!" you shout together, red in the face.

"Derryth! Thaïs!" the girls cry together, a few tears and a quiver in their voices. You wonder what Berty has been teaching them as they are quite believable.

"Ladies, enough!" the clone screams.

In many respects the little act the two of you just put on would not stand up to scrutiny. Against an opponent that knows you and your past this little charade would never work. Such a falling out would simply be unimaginable but you have left few enemies alive and these cultists know you only by reputation. For them, mages used to working with mages, such explosions are only natural. Your 'falling out' has them riveted and the Rand clone completely off balance.

His knife is no longer on her, instead he is doing his best to restrain her and calm her down while the girls pretend to do the same to you. You are careful not to cast though, you want the cultists confused not directly hostile.

The clone and Thaïs are muttering to one another. He points at you, she shakes her head, he points again, and you whisper to Caoilainn, "What are they saying."

She laughs in your ear, "He just told her that she should give you another chance. That you can work things out. That the working relationship you developed serving the Kingdom should remain in place and that as the 'reasonable one' she will have to be the bigger person and apologize first."

It takes every ounce of your self restraint not to grin from ear to ear. He really said all that? Either this clone is a fool or your little production was even more successful than you thought. You hold back your smirk as your officer continues, "She just told him that if he is not going to kill you then she will," that might be taking it a bit far you must admit, "But he is doing his best to 'win her over' and she is slowly letting him 'win'."

After a few minutes of tense back a forth between captive and captor your better half speaks, "I- I may have overreacted, I am sorry," she provides you with the perfect template to imitate, embarrassment, a little self-righteousness and just a hint of mutual disdain.

You drop your gaze, cough and do your best to hide your face. Partly to sell your embarrassment and partly to hide the thin smile that keeps trying to break free, "I may have overstepped as well, I am- I am sorry."

"There," the clone declares with a sigh of relief, "Now, the trade is back on right?"

"What is going on out there!" the dwarf calls from his makeshift bunker.

"We are negotiating terms!" you yell back.

"Oh, ah, okay!" the dwarf answers.

You and your counterpart answer together with a nod and a embarrassed smile, "The deal is back on."

"And our odds have improved slightly," Caoilainn notes, "The 'not Rand' has not bothered to secure Thaïs again, the bloody incompetent."

In an ideal world Thaïs would have managed to keep a hand on the clone to prevent him from getting loose when you spring your trap but this is an acceptable outcome as well. With that blade away from her throat your confidante's odds have improved dramatically. It has also served to ingratiate Thaïs with her captor a little, either this clone is playing a very deep game or he simply is not as clever as the 'real' Rand.

She even takes the bold step of 'negotiating' for the clone's side, she begins, "The sooner these gentlemen get their spearhead the sooner we can all go free and the sooner we can talk."

"We can not expect Jan to just step out into the open though," you counter, "He would be a fool to trust to any of us since none of us have his safety as our primary goal."

Thaïs raises a hand, "One moment please," she turns to the clone, adopting a conspiratorial posture, her every movement serving to show her sympathy for the cultists, she is brilliant.

When she turns back to you she takes one last, hesitant glance to the clone, he nods to encourage her, "We have a possible solution. We will send someone to Jan to pick up the spearhead. A single cultist-"

"It should be one of my people," you insist, "It would simplify the trade."

The clone laughs, "I am not letting you touch that spearhead Derryth."

"How about one from each of our groups then," Thaïs suggests as a 'compromise', "We send them over unarmed. One cultist and one person of Derryth's choosing."

"But not Derryth," the clone is quick to repeat.

"And not you either," you add with a laugh.

"Is that acceptable?" Thaïs asks Jan.

He shouts his answer, "I don't know, I don't really want you sending a bunch of people over here either. Can I not just leave it for you?"

"Perfect," Caoilainn mutters her approval.

"No!" the clone bellows in answer, "There would be nothing stopping you from pocketing it."

"What about some sort of shroud?" you suggest, "Can you cast a darkness spell Jan? It would let you hide as long as you left the spearhead at the edge of the spell."

The clone once more objects, "I am not letting that dwarf cast anything while he holds that spearhead! If I even so much as suspect he is working on a spell back there-"

Thaïs lays a hand on his shoulder and he actually does quiet, she speaks calmly but clearly, "Please sir, no need to threaten violence. What if Derryth casts it instead? She knows a darkness spell and could easily mask Jan with the added benefit that she could immediately drop the spell if we suspect the dwarf is up to anything."

He answers her without even a hint of violence in his voice, "I do not like your friend," she shifts uncomfortably at the word friend, another subtle reminder to him of your earlier 'argument' and his role in patching up the situation, "I don't like her casting spells."

"The spell will not be directed toward our group though," she reassures him, "It will be directed specifically at Jan's location, we simply need to have Derryth agree to turn completely away from our group. The risk will be almost nonexistent."

"That could work," the clone mutters repeating the words, "That could work, yes. Derryth," he calls out to you, smug satisfaction writ across his brutal features, "What do you say. I will send one of my dwarves, you send one of your," he stifles a snicker, "One of your children, each unarmed, and you will provide a single darkness spell for our hesitant dwarf. Once I have the spearhead you will get your friend back and we can all go our separate ways."

You do not believe that last promise for a moment. As soon as he has the spearhead you are sure you are all dead. It will never get to that point if your plan works and so you agree, "Sounds good to me."

He singles out a dwarf who quickly relinquishes his blade and pack while you give Biliku her orders, "You are just there to act as an escort and a witness, kid. Stay out of the way and be careful," you lean in to muss her hair and whisper her true orders, "Cut down the cultist as soon as I launch my attack on their main body. Then make your way to Jan and keep both him and the spearhead safe, understood."

She snaps you one of her salutes, "You will do fine kid," she beams at you as you send her on her way.

With all eyes on your volunteers you whisper one final instruction to Uttu, "Kid, I want you to try and take out their leader when I launch my attack. He might be like Isolde so expect him to be fast."

"I'll, do my best," she answers with a determined nod.

It is all you can ask for.

You begin to focus, in a minute, two at the most, it will be over and that knowledge lends you a certain sense of serenity. There is no doubt here, there is no fear, there is only the plan and you will, will it into being.

You calm your mind, slow your breathing and as always with the Warrior's Mask you surrender to impulse. Reason and its formulae give way to instinct as you trace out the forms of the spells.

You trace the form of the warrior, long before soldiers and cities he tracks, he fights, he kills and it fills you with purpose.

Behind you, you think you hear an objection, you think you hear someone claim that the spell you weave is not of the school of Light. Well that much is true.

You trace the form of the conqueror, strength unbound, unbroken, and it fills you with rage.

Thaïs assures them that your spell is harmless, an unorthodox application of magic to achieve an identical effect but you are not sure they believe her.

You trace the form of the defender, eternal resolve and unquenchable courage and it fills you with determination.

It sounds like the clone is about to act, best not to give him any chance at all.

Caoilainn guides you to your goal, "A half turn to your left Derryth she is to the centre left of the pack," your officer coughs and exhales, "I just want to say, whatever happens, it has been a pleasure."

"Same here," you mutter, spinning on your heel.

As soon as you see Thaïs, you cast.

-----------------------------------------------

It was perhaps too much to hope for perfection.

To desire victory without sacrifice.

To earn glory without misery.

To learn without cost.

Sometimes the price of such knowledge is simply too high.

It is a friend.

It is a lover.

It is a child.

It is a family.

Today though it was merely a lot of pain and you had mandrake roots to cure that.

"Quit complaining!" Jan laughs as he picks through the dead.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you get set on fire?" you answer with indignation, nursing your still tender legs.

"Or electrocuted?" Thaïs chimes in next to you still smoking slightly and cradling her newly mended arms.

"Or petrified!" Uttu hurls the piece of stone that was her pack at Jan but the dwarf deftly dodges the misshapen projectile.

"Did you hit him?" Biliku enquires from her perch, "Please tell me you hit the coward!"

"I missed him," the younger girl mutters, "How are your eyes?"

"Still can't see," the older sister grumbles, "When is it going to wear off again?"

"Dear ladies you fail to see-" he comes up short as the four of you shoot withering glances in the general direction of his voice, "Fail to comprehend, the victory we have scored here today against a most sinister foe. Why, together we bested eleven cultist mages without a single loss-"

"What about my eyesight!" the older sister cuts the researcher off, and continues to mutter to herself, "Or my shield... I really liked that shield..."

"A scrap of metal is not worth worrying about," Jan dismisses the shield, "As for your eyesight I am certain that your blindness is merely the result of the rather standard spell of the same name and your vision will return in time, a few hours at the very most."

As insufferable as Jan is being he is largely right. That was a fight that could have gone far worse than it did. The initial attack was a thing of brilliance, the Warrior's Mask to protect Thaïs paired with two greater energy bolts in quick succession. All five of the dwarven cultists fell in that first attack and the clone fell with them.

'Not-Rand' did not go quietly though, the clone had a pair of metal plates embedded under its skin, each of which was enchanted in a manner similar to your rings. He managed to activate both as he was cooked by your lightning. You and Thaïs suffered the brunt of those attacks, a flame that flowed like water assaulted your legs while thunder that clung like mud seared her arms when the Warrior's Mask failed with your broken concentration.

Ultimately Uttu saved the day by finishing off the clone with her arrows. Even charred and filled with over a dozen arrows he managed to stagger forward a few steps and howl at Thaïs before collapsing in on himself. Thankfully when he died so too did his enchantments.

Near the altar Biliku managed to dispatch her opponent quickly and secured both Jan and the spearhead. Ideally it would have ended there but the noise you made managed to attract the remaining cultists in the area. Four more mages that lashed out with light and earth spells. The girls fought bravely buying you time to heal your wounds and launch another offensive which finished off the mages. They received their fair share of broken bones, cuts and damaged equipment for their trouble.

Jan for his part bravely protected the spearhead by fleeing back behind the altar, it is no wonder that the girls are a little annoyed with him, in truth you are a little annoyed as well.

"Now what Jan?" you manage to muster the question with the bare minimum of annoyance.

The researcher momentarily stops looting the corpses, "Well, now I must take the spearhead to father, it might prove instrumental to our long term defence of the Kingdom."

Thaïs asks the next question and by her tone it is clear that she is no more impressed with the dwarf than you are, "Care to explain what exactly the spearhead is meant to do?"

He squints at the pair of you, "It does what all spearheads do. It kills, however if the legends are true then it can kill anything, even a god. Surely you can see the immediate applications for such an artefact when confronted with opponents that refuse to die by normal means."

Well at least you went through all this for something useful, "So we take the spearhead, drive it into the Watcher fragments and no more Watcher?"

"Ah," Jan coughs, "No, I can not seem to get it to work. For the moment it is just a normal spearhead."

The researcher finishes picking over the bodies and piling the loot, he begins to scoop it all into a satchel bag one of the cultists was carrying.

You cock an eyebrow at his actions as you and Thaïs speak together, "What are you doing with all that?"

Jan coughs again, "Ah, well these are all cultist artefacts so I am taking them all for study."

You eye the pile: gold, spellbooks, the odd knife or blade, and that pair of plates that were embedded in the Rand clone. A decent haul all things considered.

You try to be diplomatic, "Put the bag down or I will kill you."

"What!" the researcher damn near chokes on his tongue.

Thaïs and the girls laugh, your partner speaks, "She does not mean it, ah, I think."

You give the worried dwarf a tired grin, "Of course I don't mean it but we did all the fighting, tradition mandates that we get first crack at the loot."

"Oh," the dwarf drops his gaze, "Ah, sorry, I have never really done this sort of thing before."

"I can see again!" Biliku shouts and hops down from her perch.

"Can we go now," Uttu whines, "Please."

Probably a good idea but first you have to divide up the loot.


1. The Loot: What do you want to take? (Vote for as many as you like, anything that gets a majority of the vote you will take. Anything that does not you will leave for Jan):

A) A pair of engraved metal plates taken from the clone's body.

B) Three black blades that bear the symbol of a spider.

C) A half dozen black knives that bear the symbol of a spider.

D) Five spellbooks written in the tongue of the Spider Goddess

E) Collected Gold (5 WPs)

F) Climb up the statue of the Spider Goddess and pry out the ruby eyes, though Jan would prefer you not loot a historic site. (150 WPs)

G) Climb up the statue of the Spider Goddess and pry out the ivory tusks, though Jan would prefer you not loot a historic site. (40 WPs)


2. What to do next? You have not actually lost that much time dealing with Jan and the spearhead. You could return to the Palace or you could do something else with the remainder of your day.

A) Check in with your recruitment team to see how they are doing.

B) Return to the Palace and see if you can help the mice spy somehow, this might be difficult give your lack of Animal spells but you might still be able to come up with something.

C) One of Albrecht's bastards, by the name of Letta, runs a very selective mercenary company. You want to investigate her and perhaps hire her. You will do so now.

D) You will visit some of the bars throughout the city in an attempt to gather information and contacts or maybe hire the odd mercenary that is not inclined to wait in line or apply to Lyssa's group. Who knows who or what you may find.

E) You will go to visit the Seekers. If you are going to lead these mages and trust them with your life then you want to get to know them before you leave the city.

F) Shopping - You go immediately to visit the Brothers Dietfried, you have a lot of equipment that needs to be replaced.

G)freeform - do something else


3. The Cloaks: Janine was going to oversee the production of cloaks for you at the Academy. Sadly she is now dead. Do you still want to give the Spinner to the fellows and have them weave you cloaks?

A) Yes

B) No

C) Yes, you will convince Jan to oversee the project in his spare time though it will likely take him away from researching the spearhead.

D) Yes, you will let that little dwarf, the loud one, take a shot at leading the project. He seems very enthusiastic about his work.

E) freeform


4. Do you leave your petrified equipment with Jan to see if he can fix it (or find someone else on staff at the Academy that can fix it)?

A) You leave the equipment with Jan at the Academy. Perhaps they can figure something out.

B) You take the equipment with you. Perhaps you will figure out a way to fix it yourself or encounter someone in your travels who can.

Note: If you have any additional questions for Jan feel free to ask them. He will probably answer now that it is clear to him that you are not his enemies.
 
Last edited:

Fangshi

Arcane
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
1,997
Party/Organizational Changes:

Party Changes:

Note: while I am not going to manually empty out your spell rings every time they are used I will add a note next to them on the character sheet when they are spent. Both Heal rings and the Greater Energy Bolt ring are empty until you have time to rest and reload them.

Derryth:

Lost Item:
- Leather Armour - reduced to scrap during the fight (mostly by magic)
- 2 Mandrake Roots
- 6 Energon Cubes

Gained Items:
- Petrified Quiver
- Petrified Shield

Thaïs:
Lost Items:
- Modified Leather Armour - reduced to scrap during the fight (mostly by magic)
- 1 Magazine 20 bolts
- 6 Energon Cubes

Biliku:
Lost Item:
- Small, Round, Strange Metal Shield - turned into a chunk of stone

Uttu:
Lost Items:
- 3 Quivers of 24 Arrows (Standard) - turned into a chuck of stone with the rest of Uttu's pack (more or less everything on her back was clipped and had to be dumped)
- Snowflake Quiver - turned into a chunk of stone with the rest of Uttu's pack

Organizational Changes:

None that you are currently aware of.

Rolls:

A lot of rolls that could be broken down into essentially three sets.

The first set is what amounted to a social encounter where your team kicked the cultists' collective asses. It was a massacre really.

I was expecting Thaïs to do quite well going in but she exceeded even my expectations. She essentially won every rolls she had to make by a such a wide margin that she could have told them damn near anything and they would have nodded along and believed it. Maybe the Spider Goddess is going to have to make the next batch of clones she cooks up more charismatic to handle situations like this...

Aside from Thaïs, Derryth also had a number of social rolls to help and she did about what I expected her to. Most of her rolls were average with one or two poor ones and a few good ones.

Rand's clone had a number of rolls to make as well, he was essentially the main opponent as far as your negotiations went. He rolled well but nowhere near as good as Thaïs.

The girls even had a single pair of checks which they did fine on.

There were also a number of checks to see if the cultists would pick up on the way you were communicating but they failed all those.

The cumulative result of all these rolls was a solid victory by your group largely won through Thaïs' direction.

The second set of rolls had to do with the fight against the dwarves and the clone. There was not a lot to see here to be honest. You massacred them on the first turn and the only one that even go to hit back was the dwarf that fought Biliku.

The clone was the exception here. He was built to be a significant challenge since you were not really supposed to run into him like this. So he had Isolde's strength and speed with greater constitution and built in spell triggers rather than actual spellcasting ability.

Your opening volley essentially crippled him so he had to rely solely on his magic. He rolled quite well with his spells and managed to do substantial damage to both D&T. Their heal rings and mandrake roots negated almost all of that damage though. Uttu put out constant damage against the clone and it was only a question of time before she would put him down. If she had rolled horribly though there was a decent chance that both D&T would have died here.

The surviving cultists that were acting as guards had a number of rolls to see if they would hear what you were doing. When you started throwing around greater energy bolts they began rolling to see if they would notice the battle. They succeeded at about the same time that you managed to drop the clone which triggered a third fight.

Biliku and Uttu largely carried this fight and it cost them a bit of equipment as the earth mages started throwing around limited pertification spells. This was a long fight but not an interesting one. Everyone (your entire team and the four mages) had trouble hitting anything and it dragged on as your groups slowly ground one another down.

I probably could have stretched the update out to twenty pages or more by detailing the back and forth of those two fights but since nothing much happened and most of the action was against a couple generic cultist mages I did not see much point.

If your enemy had rolled better or you had rolled worse then it would have become quite likely that you would lose part or all of your group. Thaïs was the most likely to die, followed by Derryth, Biliku and finally Uttu.


Outside of the temple your other teams continued to roll as did most of the leaders of most of the factions in the Kingdom. Mazzarin had an interesting roll in this one as did Nephila.
 
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archaen

Cipher
Patron
Joined
Mar 10, 2014
Messages
633
1. A D E F G "We told that bitch we were going to destroy her. "

2. E < C

3. A
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
As promised, I claim all the glory! :obviously: :P

If you guys wait a bit before plundering and desecrating the place, I might come up with another of my kunningly suicidal plans on how to build a working relationship with the Spider Goddess. Much lulz will be had and Caoilainn will probably want to murder us again (I hope the girl develops a philosophical mindset, her nerves won't last long with us otherwise).

Yes, I want to invite an eldritch horror for a chat. I know, what can go wrong?

Then again, the idea might be crazy, but it's how you go about it that counts in the end.

But first, can I urge you guys to see Letta? The Seekers are awesome, but they will be working with us for a month while we will leave Letta behind after a few days (I want to give her a task straight away), and I would *very* much like to have some bodyguards with us who I can fully trust (and who are not in their early teens) for the next few days.

Besides, if we barge in as we are now, shirtarmorless, smoking hot and with bits of petrified equipment hanging from our backpacks alongside trophy artefacts of the Dark, I am sure we will have full attention of the Ten Sovereigns. Let's not miss our chance to make the right first impression on the guys we want working for us on a permanent basis eventually.
 
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Nevill

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The idea is rather simple, actually, though a more detailed plan will be put forth after a thourough talk with Jan and Hallr (we should not forget our dear professor here, I have a few questions for him as well).

It is inspired largely by this post, and especially this part:
Fangshi said:
He does give you one other piece of advice though. Like most of her fellows she breaks the worlds down into three parts. Those that are weaker than her, those that are her equals and those that are her superiors. You would do well to demonstrate that you belong to the second or third group.
Currently we have managed to become one of the mortal enemies of the Spider Goddess, and we are fighting a war that is proving to be increasingly difficult as she throws more and more of her minions against us. The most we can do is to respond to her threats - Rand, not-Rand, not-Eberhardt and now the army of cultists infiltrating every nook and cranny of the Dwarven Kingdom.

I think it is time for us to go on the offensive and show her that we are not ones to be messed with. Our prior history largely supports this claim.

And you'll probably ask what can a mortal threaten a Goddess with? Because that didn't go well last time we tried it. :lol:

Well, that's what allies are for.

Like it or not, we are one of the power players now. We are fairly minor and insignificant by ourselves, as mortal men tend to be, but taken together, the Lost have proven to be a major influence on the world. In this chapter alone, we have brought down political forces thought to be untouchable, awakened forces beyond our understanding, and broken down whole armies nearly by ourselves. Incidentally, we have made acquaintances among several Fallen Lords, a Demon, and one very powerful Avatara while we were at it. These contacts are nothing to scoff at.

The greatest mage to exist have taken us under his 'protection' and owes us a favor. The same mage even Gods do not want to anger. Why would we not use his reputation to bolster ours, now that the cat is our of the bag and the Watcher and Albrecht both know that he is at large, thanks to us?

We can contact the Goddess via one of the artefacts in Jan's possession (not by ourselves, though - I would likely have used one of the cultists to pick up the egg and then speak with the Goddess through him with necessary precautions). From there, we can offer her an ultimatum. She should know about Mazzarin by now if her spies are worth their salt. So we will tell her this.

The mage still owes us for a service we have provided him, and we are yet to claim the last favor. So we should let her know that if she continues to harass us and seek to do us or our friends harm, we shall request her total and complete annihilation alongside with her whole cult as our final payment. He is two to three times more powerful than her, and even she does not dare attract his ire. If he wanted to, or asked to, he could slaughter her and her kin with ease (we might want to make Nephila and her aunt an exception, though). More than that, we can write a will so that our request could reach Mazzarin from beyond our graves. He gave his word to grant us our wish, and it should not matter if we are alive or not when the wish is made known.

But we are willing to go even further. If we die, from any cause, we will make it so that the Goddess is destroyed. Rand will sneak up on us? She will pay for it. The 'Eberhardt' will get back at us? She will pay for it. The Watcher will finally corner us? She will pay for it. We will catch an exceptionally nasty cold? She will pay for it with her life as well. What, this seems unfair? Well, she probably should not have tried to murder us before, that have made us a little paranoid. At least it covers all potential foul play by her that could result in our deaths. The bitch should really take care that we don't accidentally die now.

And the best part of it, we are not bluffing. We can really do this. As long as we leave the last favor unclaimed, that is. And I really am willing to use it to have the last laugh at the Goddess' expense if she so much as looks at us funny.

To hell with the promises of ultimate power. This, too, is power, and it is already ours to wield. Mazzarin can be the blade that we will hold under her throat.

At the very least, with this 'agreement' in place, we can handle the threats of the Watcher and the ghols much more easily. She would be stuck with us, and will have to work together with us. From our side, we could really benefit from her dismissing the Eberhardt rebel movement and revealing the secrets of the spearhead now that we have it and the option to take it from our cold, dead bodies is not there anymore.

It does not even require us to spend our favor. I believe that even a threat of using it in that way would be enough to make us far less attractive targets.
 
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Baltika9

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The greatest mage to exist have taken us under his 'protection' and owes us a favor. The same mage even Gods do not want to anger. Why would we not use his reputation to bolster ours, now that the cat is our of the bag and the Watcher and Albrecht both know that he is at large, thanks to us?

I vote for this.
 

Nevill

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All right. So, a standart vote until I inevitably spout some freeform heresy. :D

1. The Loot: What do you want to take?
A) A pair of engraved metal plates taken from the clone's body.
Yeah, why not? Those are essentially another pair of spell rings, if I understood correctly.

B) Three black blades that bear the symbol of a spider.
C) A half dozen black knives that bear the symbol of a spider.
Jan can keep them on a condition that he lets us borrow them if we have need of them (to mask ourselves as cultists, for example).

D) Five spellbooks written in the tongue of the Spider Goddess.
Mage currency is always nice. However, we can't read them, and our girls do not have magic training. If Jan was any different from the other mages, I would have preferred to leave it with him on a condition that he shares the knowledge. He gets toread some fascinating books in a dead tongue, and we get new spells.

Unfortunately, Jan does not know the language either. Fangshi, is it possible for our girls to come up with a small dictionary for translation purposes in a few days we have left? Or is it too much to ask?

I just don't want to be burdened with yet another books we never get to read. Still, there are always girls to translate for us, and there is always, ugh, Christine. I think I'll take them for now.

E) Collected Gold (5 WPs)
Money is money. We need it more than Jan does.

F) Climb up the statue of the Spider Goddess and pry out the ruby eyes, though Jan would prefer you not loot a historic site. (150 WPs)
G) Climb up the statue of the Spider Goddess and pry out the ivory tusks, though Jan would prefer you not loot a historic site. (40 WPs)
Seriously, leave the strange statues alone. When it was ever a good idea? Don't you remember how a similar trip nearly ended for Gareth and Brigit?
They make the crossing and they reach the statue.

From there it should be a simple matter to retrieve the rubies and pack them away.

She does her job well. She checks for pressure plates, for trip lines, for needles and hinges and alarms. She finds them all and disables them. Well all the inanimate ones at least. As she removes the rubies she hears a hissing from above her.

That hissing is soon joined by another, then another. Within seconds dozens, maybe hundreds, of reptilian voices ring out through the cavern. On leathery wings they descend towards the thieves in a swarm.
We don't have a professional trapmaster with us, and our resourses are exhausted. Don't be greedy and don't defile temples, no matter who they belong to. It is never worth it.

2. What to do next?
C) One of Albrecht's bastards, by the name of Letta, runs a very selective mercenary company. You want to investigate her and perhaps hire her. You will do so now.

I want to put her to investigating the 'Unforgotten, Unforgiven' case so that we may have results by the time we leave the city. That means we should put them to work now. Besides, I kind of want to meet them while we are fresh from the fighting for the crown and the kingdom. I have a feeling it would be easier to talk to Letta if we pose ourselves as a fellow protector of people, fighting the good fight with utmost dedication and without fear. Just look at us, we look like we went straight through hell - all to save our friend along with the prince and prevent a conspirasy. :salute:

The mages will probably just snicker at morons who let themselves get ambushed. Mages are not someones who can appreciate battle scars.

3. The Cloaks: Janine was going to oversee the production of cloaks for you at the Academy. Sadly she is now dead do you still want to give the Spinner to the fellows and have them weave you cloaks?
C) Yes, and make Jan the head researcher.

He is a bit of an asshole, but he is Albrecht's son and he is dependant on his father's goodwill quite a bit:
Honestly the only reason why I am given this room all to myself is that many of my colleagues are afraid I could use my connection to my father to take their funding away. They put me down here and let me do what I want, honestly, I am fine with that."
Since we are on good terms with Albrecht, I think we will be able to work with him nicely. Besides, Jan would not destroy the Spinner out of curiosity. It is a priceless artefact of his dear Spider Goddess, after all!

By the way, it is one of the questions he never answered:
He says its construction reminds him of a number of motifs he once encountered in a temple south of Stoneheim but he seems unwilling to go into too much detail at the moment. He probably does not trust you enough to tell you more.
I'll put a list of the questions for him and Hallr tomorrow. Though I have half of a mind to just mindrape Hallr.
 

Nevill

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Fangshi said:
Derryth:
Gained Items:
- Petrified Quiver
- Petrified Shield
Is that Uttu's quiver and Biliku's shield? I don't remember us having a quiver before.

Can they get dispelled? Potentially by other earth mages from the same Academy, even? Or is it cheaper to get new ones?

Do we have our escort waiting for us outside the Academy?
 

Absinthe

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We don't have a professional trapmaster with us, and our resourses are exhausted. Don't be greedy and don't defile temples, no matter who they belong to. It is never worth it.
I agree that it's trapped and that it would cost us goodwill with Jan. But I feel obligated to point out that Derryth is a professional trapmaster.

Seriously, looting abandoned tombs/temples/etc. with traps all over them is her specialty.

EDIT: Yeah, fuck it. Voting 1ADFG. Jan will have to enjoy the cultist gear and coin while we loot the place. Thais will have to win him over some more. It's too late to worry about pissing off the spider goddess and her cultists anyway. Derryth will just have to be careful about triggering traps, but she's a pro at this.

2C May as well meet Letta's crew right now.

3A We still want those cloaks. Also, we should have them de-petrify our gear.
 
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Grimgravy

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
Any way to unpetrify our stuff? The girls magical gear is a tough loss. Must look into that.

1) ADE
2)E
3)C. Jan isn't a cultist. So if he'll do it for us, let him.
 

Fangshi

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Nevill said:
Fangshi, is it possible for our girls to come up with a small dictionary for translation purposes in a few days we have left? Or is it too much to ask?

They probably could if you gave them a few weeks. There are risks though in trying to learn and cast a spell that way. If you accidentally introduce any errors into the translation then the spell might fizzle or it might do something unexpected.

Your other option is not much better, the girls could translate them but they know nothing about magical theory so there is the chance that they would introduce errors into the mechanical end of things (as opposed to the linguistic errors the ladies might make).

Your best option is to get a mage that knows the language to translate them for you but you only know two people that fit that description, Christine and Nephila.

Nevill said:
Is that Uttu's quiver and Biliku's shield?

Yes, for the moment they are little more than junk. They were not the only items that were turned to stone but they were the only ones that were 'of note' (the rest you can simply replace).

Nevill said:
Can they get dispelled? Potentially by other earth mages from the same Academy, even? Or is it cheaper to get new ones?

Grimgravy said:
Any way to unpetrify our stuff? The girls magical gear is a tough loss. Must look into that.

You don't know if they can be dispelled.

Jan does not know of anyone at the Academy that could undo the spells though you could leave them with him and let him try to fix them or try find someone else at the Academy that can fix them. If you hold on to them you might encounter an elementalist at some point that would fix them though I give no guarantees unless you specifically go looking for someone.

It might be difficult to find exact replacements though you could likely source magical shields and quivers of some sort through the Brothers Dietfried.

You do not know how much it would cost to fix them or what alternative items are available so you do not know if it would be cheaper to try or simply get something else.

Nevill said:
Do we have our escort waiting for us outside the Academy?

Yeah, the Academy likes to handle its own security without teams of armed guards marching about so they waited outside (it seemed easier than having the different branches of the government get into a pissing match). They are currently garrisoned in the tavern across the street from the Academy, there are twenty of them though they are not in uniform. Seventeen of the twenty are Royal Guards while three of them are Pathfinder officers pretending to be Royal Guards.

Nevill said:
By the way, it is one of the questions he never answered:

Right, the spinner.

Well like he said he recognizes its design from a temple he has been to south of Stoneheim. It's purpose is obvious, feed it with a substance and it will attempt to weave thread from that substance. Through manipulation of the spinner's components the operator can alter the thickness and properties of the thread. A skilled operator might even be able to slip enchantments into the thread as it is formed instead of waiting for an item to be woven first then enchanting it later.

He has no direct experience using anything like the spinner and he is not aware of anyone else who has either.

He does not believe that the spinner is an artefact of the Goddess however.

He has not told this to anyone yet but his research suggests that in the early days of the dwarven people there were a number of competing spider based faiths, not just those dedicated to the Spider Goddess. Most of them quickly lost power and faded over time, becoming minor heresies, then memories and finally mere myths. One of these minor faiths has managed to survive surprisingly well though. He does not know much about them but they are said to worship, 'She Who Waits' and they seem to be openly hostile to the followers of the Spider Goddess.

Your spinner bears a striking resemblance to an idol he encountered within the treasury of a cultist temple south of Stoneheim. An idol he believes originally belonged to that minor sect. He recovered the idol and brought it back to Myrgard fourteen years ago but it disappeared within three weeks of reaching the city. He has not seen it since.
 
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Absinthe

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She would be the one Morpheus is protecting, I take it. We might want to get in contact with her. She should be able to give us useful pointers on detecting followers of the spider goddess.

Also, guys, we're looking at a ton of loot here and we do have huge debts to pay.
 
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Baltika9

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I agree that it's trapped and that it would cost us goodwill with Jan. But I feel obligated to point out that Derryth is a professional trapmaster.

Seriously, looting abandoned tombs/temples/etc. with traps all over them is her specialty.
A part of being a professional is knowing when enough is enough. And right now, risking more adventures with an exhausted party and depleted supplies is kinda dumb. Besides, don't want to spoil our relationship with Jan over these trinkets. Even if he is a coward, he will have his uses (and won't keep us away from important clues and relics in the future because we will steal them).

AD- we have the resources to decipher the books and more weapons never hurt. The girls need some replacements anyway.
C>E>F
D
(make the little explosion-happy dwarf head researcher)>Nevill's C

Also, I vote to kiss Thais when no one is looking (shyly with lots and lots of blushing involved)
 

Nevill

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A part of being a professional is knowing when enough is enough. And right now, risking more adventures with an exhausted party and depleted supplies is kinda dumb. Besides, don't want to spoil our relationship with Jan over these trinkets. Even if he is a coward, he will have his uses (and won't keep us away from important clues and relics in the future because we will steal them).
Yes, if we want to make use of Jan, he is worth more to us than his weight in gold. He is the only sane researcher in the Academy that we can trust. Try anyone else, and you will either find insane experimentators, or cultists (and I do not want our Batman cape malfunctioning mid-flight). I expect to have him as our go-to dwarf if we need anything from the Academy, and we use its services quite often.

Besides, attempting anything risky without another pair of healing spells is just greedy. And a professional is never greedy.

Also, I vote to kiss Thais when no one is looking (shyly with lots and lots of blushing involved)
I support this and I would not shy away from it after a near-death experience. Besides - Derryth, shy? :lol:

Our whole team needs a big hug, but I expect that nearly losing our soulmate would especially facilitate our resolve to finally make our feelings known to Thais. We might not be alive tomorrow.
 
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Kz3r0

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27,013
Guys, please, the first priority here is shopping, everything else is asking for trouble, and don't waste your time with useless rocks, let's buy other gear and be done with it.
 

Azira

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Codex 2012
1ADE
2F>C

3C, Jan as head researcher, he knows of the item and its properties, he ought to be capable of producing what we want without breaking the spinner.
 

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