Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Nevill]

Alright, since we came here for armor, let's see if we can haggle them down on any or all of these prices:

J) Magic resistant leather armour (grants minor magic resistance to wearer, allowing them to weather the effects of magical spells slightly better.): 30 WPs each
O) Fire resistant leather armour (grants minor resistance to magical and mundane fire, they will not burn you as badly as others.): 20 WPs each
Y) A single piece of treated wood. It is completely fire proof and will reflect any fire based spell that hits it back at whoever cast it. If it is hit with ice magic though it will freeze solid and will be rendered useless until it defrosts. (15 WPs)

See if there are additional discounts for ordering things in a bundle, i.e. 2 armors and a shield.

 

[Fangshi]

See if there are additional discounts for ordering things in a bundle, i.e. 2 armors and a shield.

Spend more than 100 WPs total and they will give you a 10% discount.

J) Magic resistant leather armour (grants minor magic resistance to wearer, allowing them to weather the effects of magical spells slightly better.): 30 WPs each
O) Fire resistant leather armour (grants minor resistance to magical and mundane fire, they will not burn you as badly as others.): 20 WPs each
Y) He has a shield made from a single piece of treated wood. It is completely fire proof and will reflect any fire based spell that hits it back at whoever cast it. If it is hit with ice magic though it will freeze solid and will be rendered useless until it defrosts. (15 WPs)

So rolled for them and the results are as follows:

Magic resistant armour - 28 WPs
Fire resistant armour - 16 WPs
Shield - 10 WPs

 

[Nevill]

The shield discount is good. Can we have it added it to the item roster?

Is fire-resistant armor better than a regular armor in any way, sans, ah, the resistance? Does the quality of armor even feature anywhere? Does it handle any better or worse than the one we got from Ren?

Will probably go for a Firefighter's Dream of two suits of Fire-resistant armor and a shield. Fire spells are the most common among the attacking spells, after all.

Supplies:

F) Arrows: 10 quivers - 5 WPs
G) Bolts: 6 magazines - 3 WPs
P) Entangled Dice - 14 WPs
Q) An old can of oil - 5 WPs
R) 'Vomit disks': 4 disks - 20 WPs
O) Fire resistant leather armour: 2 suits - 32 WPs
S) Fire resistant shield - 10 WPs

89 WPs in total.

Spend more than 100 WPs total and they will give you a 10% discount.

If we add a bottle of whiskey for 101 WPs in total, would it count towards getting a discount?

 

[Fangshi]

The shield discount is good. Can we have it added it to the item roster?

Sure, I will add it to the official list.

Is fire-resistant armor better than a regular armor in any way, sans, ah, the resistance? Does the quality of armor even feature anywhere? Does it handle any better or worse than the one we got from Ren?

Nope. The armour is of much the same quality as the one you received in the prologue. Only difference is the resistance and the fact that it is much rarer in Mygard during a war than it was in Muirthemne in a time of peace.

If we add a bottle of whiskey for 101 WPs in total, would it count towards getting a discount?

I am sure they will keep their word.

 

[Jester]

"the only one she actually likes is Nephila"
Thats make it very sad for her daughters. I mean i know she is spider still... sad. Those girls deserve a hug.

"The dwarves already have these things, and with no magic involved:
You did not think it was possible but they are getting ever more excited as they go, Biliku grabs your hand, "They have these gloves that let you climb walls Derryth! They even let Uttu try them!""
Yeah but think if we add boots to those gloves. With solid footing the speed of climbing should be much better.

"The guy is one of the top cultists, he is already on our black list. "
Thought that it was pleasure cult guy. Not real cultist. I need start making notes in future.

"That could work, yes. Though it might leave her feeling a little confused."
Better confused that insane and we can explain what happened.

"That could also work. You would need to find the point in her memories that corresponds to the physical moment she was lost though. The book might help with that if you could get her to sit still long enough to use it without destroying it."
Hmm mby if we use the sleep spell based on our extensively researched oneoi or whatever rituals. That might help.

"Excellent. I'd like to note that on top of what Jester said we have resourses to ignite the discs after they are thrown with a variety of spells, so they should not pose a threat to us."
If we research "send item" spell based on retrieve item. We should get instantaneous aoe cc. Actually if we would make a retrieve&send item boxes which pass item to another box in line... We would get a mail service. Expect that infrastructure needed to be put would make it short to medium range device, or it would proper amount of fuel.

"Are there any drawbacks to teaching them a few of the oaths? Would they even be interested in learning them?"
They dont like Demons and we kind of made few pacts with them so later they could be our enemies. Time needed for them to learn and person teaching them. They tend to end up insane god knows why.

"12 Masking enchantment, if possible, something to obscure our magical radiation" that's actually a nice idea worth consideration.

Symptoms of withdrawal from energon addiction include but are not limited to:

Abdominal cramping
Agitation
Anxiety
Diarrhea
Dilated pupils
Goose bumps/hypothemia
Increased Aggression
Insomnia
Muscle aches
Nausea
Runny nose/sneezing
Sweating
Vomiting
Yawning

0:38

Spoiler

Fangshi additional questions:
Can we use our "false memory" to do photographic memory?
"Impressions III: A Mother's Song" "Impressions III: The 'Dwarven Incident'" addition to skill part?
Preparator of Timo brother and sister bombing was caught? (bit late to ask, mby even there was answer and i just dont remember)
Did we get an update on Martin?
Does Mother Song affect restoration of sanity?
"As previously mentioned there were not that many rolls this time and nothing terribly dramatic. No one was trying to kill you in this update so naturally it was less tense." - you would change your tone if Thais wasn't there.
"that girl mauled him." - doesn't matter had sex.
Mby reserve place for tally under org. changes to make it easier to track it.

Spider corner time:
Sparassia sound about right. (Wink it)
You told to evacuate the cultist where did they go? Did they make it? Are they in capital? Did they saw anything on their road?
Your family reunions must be... interesting.
Did Morpheus and his brothers had to give Faceless a favour to? If so what was that favour?

 

[Fangshi]

Thats make it very sad for her daughters. I mean i know she is spider still... sad. Those girls deserve a hug.

Well Theridiidae can be a bit cold to her kids and is more interested in what they can do for her than anything else. She is all bout utility so she tends to have big broods and then let the children murder each other until only the most competent/paranoid/lucky are left. Mortality rates are high but so are birth rates so they balance out to a degree.

Sparassidae takes a different strategy, she cares for all of her own children but has fewer of them and they in turn have fewer children as well. Many of Sparassidae's children even chose to forego having kids at all so that they have more time to focus on their mother's work and the state of the Dreaming as a realm. They serve as the information network that ensures Morpheus will never be challenged and their presence makes the Dreaming less hostile/dangerous then a lot of other realms. Unfortunately Sparassidae's love does not really extend to her nieces and nephews. They are the servants of her sister and so they are enemies, Nephila is actually the only one to successfully make the trip to the Dreaming and seek her out as well so Nephila is the only one of Theridiidae's children that she has actually met in a civil setting.

Better confused that insane and we can explain what happened.

Hmm mby if we use the sleep spell based on our extensively researched oneoi or whatever rituals. That might help.

It will take resources and research time to pursue it (and you will have to eventually convince Mayer to let you help) but it is definitely an avenue you can pursue if you wish.

Can we use our "false memory" to do photographic memory?

Not on its own. You can use false memory to recreate a scene and plant it in someone's mind but you would probably need to refine it/strengthen it to create a memory that the target's mind would not eventually detect. You would also need to obtain all the relevant information to craft the memory which can be accomplished in a number of ways by a variety of magical and non magical means depending on the situation.

If you can fufill both of those requirements you can use it to recreate anything you can remember and project it into a target's mind. The spell will not help you with your memory though, or at least not magically. It is reasonable to expect that if you regularly construct 'memories' (down to the smallest detail from your actual memories) that your mind will become keener and your memory sharper. I can't say if it would be enough to give you a photographic memory and complete recall but your mind would become stronger with use and your ability to recall details is a part of that.

"Impressions III: A Mother's Song" "Impressions III: The 'Dwarven Incident'" addition to skill part?

Sorry about that. The descriptions of what they do can be found in the mechanics update for the last chapter but I forgot to move them over to the resources page I will do that now.

Tangentially, I also updated the organization and character sheets yesterday, they should now reflect the new stats, abilities and finances of the Lost.

Preparator of Timo brother and sister bombing was caught? (bit late to ask, mby even there was answer and i just dont remember)

They caught them. They were dwarves, a pair of republican 'extremists', but Timo did not believe that the men they executed were actually responsible for the bombing. He thinks the Cult had a hand in it though he has not been able to uncover any details.

Did we get an update on Martin?

The mice continued to map the passages through the Palace. They now know the quickest routes through the walls to reach the servants quarters, the barracks, the royal apartments and most importantly the kitchens. They have not uncovered any more information though.

Does Mother Song affect restoration of sanity?

Not in and of itself but Derry and Taide do find it calming as is only natural for such childhood memories and maintaining a calm and relaxed mind is good for sanity, as are the positive emotions the song elicits.

So in a round about way the song can help with sanity, it simply has a qualitative rather than a quantitative effect.

Sparassia sound about right. (Wink it)

Alright, done. She smiles softly and repeats her earlier words. You may call her whatever you would like as long as you do it as a friend and not an enemy. She is perfectly happy to accept the name.

I would advise caution though, you go around winking at spider demons too often and you will wind up like poor Ceannard...

You told to evacuate the cultist where did they go? Did they make it? Are they in capital? Did they saw anything on their road?

The ones that left the city early enough did but those that tried to flee after all hell broke loose died. No refugees have come from the south since violence broke out down there.

Some are still in the capital but most of them kept going into the Empire. She suggested that they go all the way west to Madrigal. At least until the current troubles have been dealt with and the cult has begun to wane again.

Your family reunions must be... interesting.

She nods slowly, "Yes, I don't imagine that too many families reunite to the sound of war drums and the clash of arms."

Did Morpheus and his brothers had to give Faceless a favour to? If so what was that favour?

Yes, Faceless received a vow from each of the assembled demons. In exchange for his help all eleven of them agreed to each preform a favour for the mortal.

Morpheus has fufilled his favour. Faceless wanted a very unique spell that would allow him to live forever (after a fashion). Sadly no one living in the physical world knew the spell. However, Faceless had learnt of a mage held in the
Dreaming who did.

The favour was a simple exchange. Morpehus would give Faceless that mage and his debt would be cleared. She does not know what happened to the mage, presumably he was destroyed when Faceless was done with him.

As for the other favours that Faceless is owed she does not know which have been collected and which have not. It is a very personal thing for a demon to discuss and she is not close enough with the other surviving members of their group to know whether or not Faceless has called in his marker with them.

 

[Nevill]

"12 Masking enchantment, if possible, something to obscure our magical radiation" that's actually a nice idea worth consideration.

Alright.

What can actually be done on that front? Masking a signal completely? Smearing it over an area so that the source is not easily located? Mixing it with other signals to make it impossible to tell who it belongs to?

Are there active enchantments that can store power from the sun or from other external sources, like Uttu's flare, and turn it into a spell?

Since there is armor that can enhance one's Dexterity already, can a plate armor be modified in a similar way to enhance the Strength of its wielder? Would that be an equivalent of a Power Armor?

Are there legendary smiths in the Kingdom, someone who can rival the Smiths of Muirthemne, perhaps?

 

[Azira]

Taking the radiation*(for lack of a better work) which makes mages easily identifiable for other mages, and harnessing it would be awesome. Not sure if it's doable though.

If we cannot harness that radiation for utilitarian purposes, then shifting it 5 metres sideways might work. If we have a bodyguard in that location. Somewhat of a dick move, but hey..

What I'd really like though, is to be able to "ground" the radiation, or diffuse it, so we can mask ourselves. Do something Rand-like.
Which is why capturing a Rand might be nice, if it can be done. For scientific purposes...

 

[Nevill]

If we cannot harness that radiation for utilitarian purposes, then shifting it 5 metres sideways might work. If we have a bodyguard in that location. Somewhat of a dick move, but hey..

It is not very practical, though.

Anyone who is close enough to care about 5 meters will be able to visually distinguish us from a bodyguard. Even though we do not wear robes that scream 'MAGES', we are still a) one of the few humans in a dwarven kingdom b) holding a staff that we use as a channeling device for our elemental spells.

This would not fool many of the enemies unless we hire a decoy to serve in that specific role, and I can't imagine there will be many applications for that job.

Mental spells are not easily identifiable as they are already. We used this to our advantage during the escape from Melete's workshop.

Dissipating the radiation is probably the way to go here.

Which is why capturing a Rand might be nice, if it can be done. For scientific purposes...

That's a risky proposition. His jailers would always forget if they secured his chains properly. :D

 

[Kz3r0]

Fangshi can the spideress in waiting tell us anything about The Doves 'religion?

 

[Fangshi]

Re: Magical dampening

What I can do is list how they would try to achieve the various effects you have listed, let me know if anything sounds interesting.

What can actually be done on that front?

The short answer is the mages do not really know. Not a lot of research has been done in that direction. Mostly because fireballs are more fun.

Masking a signal completely?

Lead would be the most likely starting point to achieve that end. If it can block magical signals coming in and out it might also block the signals your enchantments give off. You would have to remove parts of it though to actually cast as it is liable to stop your ability to channel energy.

Smearing it over an area so that the source is not easily located?

They might be able to build in some sort of device that amplifies the magical signal from your powers so much that it will blanket an entire area with it. If you can produce a powerful enough signal spread over an area you would render fine level detection near impossible. Of course you would lose the ability to detect mages as well, if it worked such a device would render all mages in the area 'blind' to magic.

Mixing it with other signals to make it impossible to tell who it belongs to?

As long as the armour has enough enchantments on it you will probably get that effect anyway since each active enchantment will retain the 'fingerprints' of the mages that cast it. Anyone that is used to your old signature will probably be thrown off by your new one as long as the enchantments are strong enough to make a sizable difference. They would eventually realize it is you though if they spend enough time around you. They would also likely realize what is going on if you begin to cast since that tends to throw off a fair amount of energy.

Are there active enchantments that can store power from the sun or from other external sources, like Uttu's flare, and turn it into a spell?

Not at the moment, no.

Since there is armor that can enhance one's Dexterity already, can a plate armor be modified in a similar way to enhance the Strength of its wielder? Would that be an equivalent of a Power Armor?

Maybe. It would have to be a significant STR boost though which would take time, money and resources.

Are there legendary smiths in the Kingdom, someone who can rival the Smiths of Muirthemne, perhaps?

Yeah, she is sleeping at the palace.

Other than Mel the best minds tend to work for the Academy and the rest would not work for you unless you were willing to pay a lot.

Taking the radiation*(for lack of a better work) which makes mages easily identifiable for other mages, and harnessing it would be awesome. Not sure if it's doable though.

Made a suit with built in semi-solid energon paste to help manipulate, concentrate and project magical energy. If they could pull it off you would essentially have a wearable magical battery but it might have unintended side effects. It would definitely require a bit of research time at the least.

If we cannot harness that radiation for utilitarian purposes, then shifting it 5 metres sideways might work. If we have a bodyguard in that location. Somewhat of a dick move, but hey..

Shifting it might be difficult to pull off without creating some sort of residual signal. What you could do is outfit a double in armour that matches your own signal. Then wrap yourself is some sort of dampening armour (lead maybe?) or simply take off all your enchanted equipment (since you give off no signal if you do not have active enchantments on you). The end result is that a casual read of the battlefield would make your double look like you and it might work to confuse your opponents.

What I'd really like though, is to be able to "ground" the radiation, or diffuse it, so we can mask ourselves. Do something Rand-like.

The dwarves are not sure how to go about that. Every active enchantment gives off a signal when it is functioning and your single cast spells give off a lot of energy as they are cast. They could try to build armour that would redirect that signal but they are not sure they can remove it without removing the enchantments.

Fangshi can the spideress in waiting tell us anything about The Doves 'religion?

The Weeping One has been lost for over five hundred years. Honestly it is a bit of a testament to the dedication of his followers that they lasted as long as they did before fracturing.

Someday the Weeping One may return or someone may take up the mantle and attempt to reunite his followers but for now you can rest assured that there is no god behind that faith.

The Doves belong to the militant wing of the Weeping One's faith. They are charged to protect the faithful and punish those that would harm the God or his followers. When the faith fell to civil war they did not take sides and instead isolated themselves from the other branches of the faith. They left the western Empire for the Kingdom shortly after.

Anything in particular you want to know?

 

[Nevill]

Well, yes. Who is or was the Weeping One?

What was their faith about? Who were his followers and enemies? Who are those 'that would harm the God or his followers'?

Do the Seekers oppose him as well?

What caused a civil war and what happened to the other faith branches?

I have been thinking about the Doves, and I like them less now. They are a resourse that is not easily replenished - unlike the Arrows, they can't quite fill their ranks from fresh rectuits. At a rate we are going through the personnel, they might be not worth it. And then there is this god of theirs. Any sufficiently elaborated scheme from our enemies to usurp his place, and we will have a sleeping bomb in our midst.

 

[Fangshi]

Well, yes. Who is or was the Weeping One?

He presented himself to mortals as an elderly blind man with a snake coiled around his left arm and a staff of oak in his right. He presented himself primarily as a God of healing and compassion and in a manner he was but he was not quite as noble as he used to pretend.

In truth he was a child of the Swimmer and his 'natural' form was that of a great, pale yellow maggot. Much as the Dreaming relies on dreams to continue to exist the Weeping One's realm relied on suffering.

Now the general level of suffering in the world was more than enough to feed the Weeping One and his realm but like most demons he wanted more. He wanted his realm to grow and his personal power to multiply and to that end he began to work. An unimaginative beast would have roused a few warlords and sent them off to kill and rape and pillage but the Weeping One was far smarter than that.

He understood that you could get far more suffering (and so far more food) out of a single person if they lived a long time. Even better, as a person gets older they suffer more physically from the effects of age and every little pain fed the Weeping One. Additionally, he recognized that mortals can endure a great deal and if you overexpose them to suffering they will become desensitized to it. Finally he realized that mortals will always find a way to hurt and torture one another, even without his interference.

With all that in mind he realized what he needed. He needed mortals to be safe, happy and prosperous. If they were safe they would live longer and suffer more. If they knew happiness they would experience suffering all the more when they lost it. Finally, if they were prosperous they would have children and in multiplying they would provide him more targets to draw from.

He reached the conclusion then that he could reap greater harvests of pain and suffering by taking on the role of a god of compassion and healing and so he did. He worked diligently to aid the great thinkers and medical doctors and he was quick to catalog all of their most helpful discoveries. His actions helped to preserve the knowledge of mortals from one age to the next and in every age he worked against the Leveler to the best of his abilities.

A little over five hundred years ago the Weeping One's uncle finally took notice of his growing realm. The Wyrm decided he would like that territory and so he attacked. The Weeping One disappeared and his realm collapsed as the Wyrm seized his throne and lands.

The faith of the Weeping One has been technically dead ever since.

What was their faith about?

Their faith is about helping the weak and curing the ill. The work to stop the spread of disease and they run hospices, almshouses and shelters. They also have temples throughout the western Empire where the sick and desperate congregate to pray to the Weeping One.

Who were his followers and enemies?

Anyone could join his faith back in its glory days. In the present most who dedicate their lives to his service are the children of full members of the faith.

When he was still in power he treated mortals much like a herd of cattle, all those that would threaten the long term safety and growth of his herd were to be destroyed.

The enemies of his followers vary depending on which branch of the church you look at.

Who are those 'that would harm the God or his followers'?

Depends, those that would kill members of his faith are enemies of his faith. Those that seek to commit genocide are also enemies of his faith. The term does not refer to a specific list and is entirely defensive in nature.

Do the Seekers oppose him as well?

Yes.

What caused a civil war and what happened to the other faith branches?

This is what she can tell you:

The high priest (whose official rank was that of the Serpent) and high priestess (whose official rank was that of the Rod) ruled the faith together and have always had a direct line to their god. When he disappeared five hundred years ago the faith began to fracture. The rank and file followers were never told that the God had disappeared but the upper priesthood did eventually find out. Some of them argued that the faithful were being punished for allowing suffering to remain in the world, they said that the faithful should mobilize and overthrow the Province. Then they could found a theocracy and begin the important work of wiping out suffering. The other branch argued that an insurrection would simply cause more suffering. The second group argued that the faithful should work closely with the government to minimize suffering in the Province.

What came next was predictable but still tragic. Both factions pursued their own strategies and inevitably came to blows. The high priestess and the Faction of the Rod sided with the government and informed the rulers of the Province that the high priest and the Faction of the Serpent were planning an uprising. The loyalists had to act as informants, spies and scouts for the army in the campaign that followed and it was only a matter of time before they picked up weapons and joined the fighting against the rebels.

Now, underneath the Rod and the Serpent was a third leader. The martial branch of the faith (led by the office of the Dove) was the youngest branch and had been established first as messengers. When members of the faith started to fall in large numbers to bandits, thugs, and monsters they took on the role of protectors to the surgeons, herbalists, philosophers, priests and politicians that served the two main branches of the faith. They had all vowed to protect their brothers and sisters from any threat but how could they protect them from each other?

In protest the Dove and her followers refused to take sides and began to isolate themselves. Thirty seven years ago the Dove of the time (Ada's grandfather) decided that he could not watch as his faith destroyed itself. He decided to lead his followers out of the west and away from the civil war that was destroying their faith. He hoped that their god would finally speak to him if he could separate himself from the 'corrupt' leaders of the faith.

Naturally, he received no sign from the god as the Weeping One is still missing and presumed dead. His descendants continue to wait and watch to this day, lost soldiers dedicated to a dying faith and a dead god.

 

[Nevill]

Okay, this is just weird. Three days in, and there are only 3 votes. Where are you, guys?

archaen, Kz3r0, Grimgravy, Baltika9! I know you are out there!

There are some choices that would be a crime to overlook.

- We will probably go to see Nanshe, because the pay-off is great and because if we don't, the Thin White Mage might die or free himself and come for us again.
- Ceannard is pretty much the only one we can ask to escort us to her, and count on him keeping his mouth shut afterwards. He had seen weirder things working for us. Anyone else, and we run the risk of our association with ghols becoming public knowledge - with everything it entails.
- That, in turn, means we are guaranteed to lose 100 WPs on hiring the Arrows. At this point paying another 100 WPs to hire the Arrows for good is just being thrifty.

So the only major point of contention here would be to decide on how to best hire the Arrows and what to do with them afterwards - take them to the South, use them in the city, or both.

There is probably an incentive to leave at least a part of them in Myrgard to train the Greys. I would prefer to lend them to Albrecht, as we are leaving our affairs in quite a vulnerable state (we need to protect Melete and the spearhead, deal with Rand and his clones, investigate the cloning facilities, escort the Boys to the Fort, be vigilant of the Weazels and the Watcher agents in their ranks, be wary of Hesse and the criminals he might be hiding, etc), but they would serve in the south just as well.

Then there is a question of who else to take to the south. Do we take our plain mercenaries/mortars/whatever else we hired with our money, or not. A case can be made for a big army in our direct employ as well as not being 'wasteful' with our resourses, because, let's face it, most of them will probably die there. But maybe it is the case of 'better them than us'.

The question with the escort is quite simple in my opinion. Hamundr is the only captain who had proven himself in combat, and out in the open he would prove more useful than infantry which we have plenty of anyway thanks to our hiring efforts. The chariots would be wasted sitting beyond the walls of Myrgard.

Come on, we can do it!

 

[Kz3r0]

1. Arrows Contracts:

E) You want to absorb the Arrows, their assets and personnel since you use them constantly anyway (All E votes will count together the winner will be the most popular option should E win):
vi. You offer to buy the Arrows and keep Ceannard on as a partner (his officers will also stay on as officers naturally). You will make such a deal in private. In public, you will have Albrecht hire the mercenaries as his personal forces (not unlike the Seekers) and have him pay the first 200 WPs out of the treasury. You should then be able to use the Arrows for the good of the state without too many questions raised, though any deals that only benefit you should be handled discreetly.


2. Equipment: You went shopping at the Brothers Dietfried and this is what you found:

C) Bottle of Energon Whiskey - 12 WPs for emergencies and for our mice.
F) Arrows: 10 quivers - 5 WPs for Uttu.
G) Bolts: 6 magazines - 3 WPs for Thais.
P) Entangled Dice - 14 WPs
Q) An old can of oil - 5 WPs
R) 'Vomit disks': 4 disks - 20 WPs
O) Fire resistant leather armour: 2 suits - 32 WPs for Derryth and Thais
S) Fire resistant wooden shield - 10 WPs for Biliku

Total - 101 WPs. Discount - 10 WPs.

Overall - 91 WPs.

3. Mercenaries: If you feel you could use a bit more muscle when you head south you could hire on additional mercenaries for one month contracts. Their rates are as follows (you can vote for as many as you wish but if you go over your funds you will need to take a loan at 25% monthly compound interest):

None,





4. Your expedition south: Aside from the Seekers who do you plan to bring with you to the south? (There are so many options here that I will just let people come up with their own teams. You have the Boys, the Greys, any mercenaries you might hire, any escort you might request, and any named characters you have in the city to choose from, go wild).

Derryth, Thais, Lyssa, Biliku, Uttu, Berty futher referred to as 'our group'.
40 dwarven grenadiers
40 dwarven warriors
2 dwarven mortars
20 human Legionaries
4 elephants from the Hounds
20 dwarven charioteers from the Royal Guards escort
The Black Arrows will escort us to Nanshe and then return to the city to act as Albrecht's enforcers.


5. Nanshe and TWM: Morpheus claims that Nanshe has contacted him and requested that you come to pick up the Thin White Mage. He can not prove that she is acting freely and that it is not a trap but she seemed fine from what he could tell.

A) You go to meet Nanshe (If you vote for this option then please list who you want to take to the meeting.)
Our group and the Black Arrows will go to the meeting.


6. The Spy: The maid you found was definitely a spy. She seems to be motivated to sell information due to substantial debts she owes. None of that will matter to the Pathfinders though, she is aiding the Cultists and will be killed for her actions. What do you want to do?

F) You will inform Timo and Albrecht of her ties to the Cultists. You will then have the Pathfinders/Timo's agents follow her and attempt to map out as much of the Cult as possible. Should this prove successful she may then be used as a double agent to feed the cult information. Hopefully she will lead your allies back to Rand or his doubles which they may detain or destroy as they are able.


7. Your Sleeping Inventor: You are leaving the capital and Mel is still asleep. What do you want to do with her.

B) You will leave her at the palace. Admitedly the security there is not great but few people know she is there, she will just have to sleep for a month or two more while you handle affairs to the south.


8. Your Northern Team: Once you know who is coming with you, you will need to organize those that are remaining behind. (Who will look after transportation and training for the Boys and Greys for example.) Since this question depends so much on all of the other questions I am going to leave this open as a freeform question. How do you want them to run things in your absence? You tell me.


9. Escort: Albrecht will of course give you an escort drawn from his own Royal Guard. You have met all of the key commanders at this point so the question becomes who do you want to come with you.

A) The chariots (20 war chariots with two dwarf teams)



10. Operation 'Fata Morgana'.
You will have Mayer open a store accepting pre-orders for the Energon Cubes for a price of 0.5 WPs each, and spread rumors about it in mage circles (well, the Royal Academy, mostly). You will have Albrecht buy the cubes from anyone willing to sell them for 2 WPs each. You will then see how many would give in to their greed and decide to make a profit over a deficit product, unwittingly supplying you with their cubes in the process. Of course, you will refund the pre-orders so that no regular customers would come to harm.

A) You go for it (specify the amount of funds you are willing to spend on buying the cubes).
50 WPs


11. Interrogating the Captain: You might wish to interrogate the Weasel captain Berty caught yesterday. It will delay your departure but it might be a worthwhile use of your time. Do you take the time?

A)
iii. An in depth and expertly conducted session. You will take the time to do this properly. You will wear down her mind over the course of hours before you carefully extract only the information you desire. This will be tiring for both of you and for the prisoner and it will take substantially more time to get the desired effect but it will not harm her in any meaningful way and it will also help you strengthen your own mentalist techniques. (time: 7 hours)




12. Custom Magic Armour: Since you spent much of yesterday being measured anyway you could choose to send those measurements on to the palace and have the King commission custom armour for your use. Feel free to specify the type or armour, any enchantments you would like to have on it and how many suits you want. You can have armour made for any of the named characters you currently have in the city as Derry, Taide and the girls have all been measured and the rest can be measured before you leave. Please keep in mind that the more powerful the armour the more time it will take to finish. Also the more suits you have made the fewer dwarves will be available to work on other projects for the Kingdom. Finally, even the simplest of armour will not be ready before you leave so you will not have access to the armour unless it is shipped to you or you return to the city.


13. Tutors: You can hire tutors for the children to teach them the basic while you are gone. You will hire:
C) You will hire more advanced teachers alongside basic tutors - the tutors will focus on teaching the basics while the more specialized teachers will pick out any students that show exceptional skill for more advanced training. Unfortunately you will not be on hand to filter applicates you will be trusting this to whoever you leave in charge. (20 WPs monthly for six tutors and four specialist instructors, you will need to spend an additional 6WPs for the first month to cover this on top of the fourteen WPs you have already set aside).



14. General Orders: Once you have decided who is going, who is staying and who will be in charge of what you will need to decide if you want to leave any standing orders for you staff. This is a pure freeform option, put forth packages and they will be added to the list.

 

[Nevill]

Questions for the Lady.
Does she know the original name and title of the Wyrm?
Does she have any advice on how to behave ourselves with him and/or how to deal with him? I understand that the best answer is 'not to deal with him', but now that he has noticed us we might no longer have a choice in the matter.
We know of the Wyrm's relationship with the Spider Goddess (he wants her realm), but what about his relationship with the Dreaming and its inhabitants? Is he hostile towards them?

Question for the King.
If we take Hamundr with us, which now seems likely, can we do so on a condition that he will not have to commit suicide to restore his honor in case of our demise? He is a good guy, but sometimes we have to take certain risks, and his determination to keep us safe at all costs gets in the way.

Questions for Timo.
How amiable are the relationships between him and Reinhard? How likely is Reinhard to take his advice or a recomendation?
Does he know what king of reception can we expect in the Royal Army? What is Reinhard's disposition towards us?
I am asking these questions because I would like to know if there is a way to put our illegal mortars to use under Reinhard's command or even under our own. I guess if Timo knows about a former necromancer inour employ, there is no harm in telling him about the mortars if he didn't know already. Some quick and dirty scheme like hiding the mortars in the desert and letting Reinhard's scouts 'find' them. The problem for us would be to retain control over them, and that is why we need his help. We would approach Reinhard about it (there is no Assembly in the South, so what the commander says, goes), but it is a delicate matter which is why we would like to ask Timo's opinion. If Reinhard is displeased with us for one reason or the other, such a plan can easily backfire.

 

[Fangshi]

Does she know the original name and title of the Wyrm?

Phlogiston or Phlóx for short. He was often called the 'Insatiable Flame', and the 'Eternal Fire' though as the ages rolled on he has simply become the Wyrm.

Does she have any advice on how to behave ourselves with him and/or how to deal with him?

As you noted, it would be best to simply avoid him. If you can't then you need to remember a few things. He likes to push those weaker than him around, do not let him do so. Although, she adds with a smile, she does not think that will be a problem for the two of you.

He is always ready to make a deal but she recommends against striking bargains with him. He will always seek advantage from any contract he enters, usually at the expense of his partners. If you have something he wants and you are not sure you can fight him off it may be better to just give it to him or destroy it, he will not hesitate to kill anyone that gets in his way.

He will not see you as an equal no matter what you do but if you are polite, yet firm, in your positions he might see you as an interesting and amusing child or pet which is really the best you can hope for.

We know of the Wyrm's relationship with the Spider Goddess (he wants her realm), but what about his relationship with the Dreaming and its inhabitants? Is he hostile towards them?

Yes, he is. This is not that surprising as he is hostile to everyone after a fashion, it is simply his nature. The Wyrm seeks to spread his power at all times and if he senses an opening he will take it. One of the leading causes of planar collapse is an invasion by the Wyrm. He will push into any realm that has grown large enough to be worth his time but is still weak enough to be easily beaten. He will then kill the ruler(s) if he is able and absorb the plane in question into his own lands. More demons have died that way than she cares to count.

All of this is not to say that he can't be reasoned with. It is possible that he can be convinced to change his mind if a person is subtle in their arguements and if he thinks winning a battle will weaken him instead of strengthen him he is quite likely to withdraw (it is important to keep in mind that the idea of actual defeat has not occurred to him in millennia).

This can give an individual some room to work with him towards specific goals for brief periods of time.

Interestingly if you can trick him or otherwise best him he will not get angry. It happens so rarely that it amuses him more than anything. He will treat the situation as a man would if they were outsmarted by their pet dog, he will find it cute and he will blame himself for acting the fool. That does not mean he will give up though, he will remember his error and seek to 'fix' it at the first opportunity.

If we take Hamundr with us, which now seems likely, can we do so on a condition that he will not have to commit suicide to restore his honor in case of our demise? He is a good guy, but sometimes we have to take certain risks, and his determination to keep us safe at all costs gets in the way.

Albrecht can order the Captain not to but this is a matter of dwarven honour and the King doubts that he will listen. Hámundr has his own code and if you take him with you, you will likely have to deal with it.

How amiable are the relationships between him and Reinhard? How likely is Reinhard to take his advice or a recommendation?

They do not always see eye to eye but they are brothers and that bond runs true.

Reinhard is always willing to listen to Timo's advice and he will rarely ignore his brother completely but Reinhard is very much his own dwarf. He often has different goals and priorities, as such he often ignores Timo's 'sage advice'.

Does he know what king of reception can we expect in the Royal Army? What is Reinhard's disposition towards us?

Reinhard prefers to judge people personally rather then rely on gossip and rumour. It is likely that the Prince has not made up his mind on you yet and is waiting to meet you before making a decision.

You will likely be received politely but cautiously.

If Reinhard is displeased with us for one reason or the other, such a plan can easily backfire.

He is not displeased so far as Timo knows.

 

[Jester]

wait, wait wait wait. Can we actually decrease our signal to point it seem like minor enchantment? Or... i got it even better make it into modes.

"They might be able to build in some sort of device that amplifies the magical signal from your powers so much that it will blanket an entire area with it. If you can produce a powerful enough signal spread over an area you would render fine level detection near impossible. Of course you would lose the ability to detect mages as well, if it worked such a device would render all mages in the area 'blind' to magic.

As long as the armour has enough enchantments on it you will probably get that effect anyway since each active enchantment will retain the 'fingerprints' of the mages that cast it. Anyone that is used to your old signature will probably be thrown off by your new one as long as the enchantments are strong enough to make a sizable difference. They would eventually realize it is you though if they spend enough time around you. They would also likely realize what is going on if you begin to cast since that tends to throw off a fair amount of energy."

First sort of lead part (research on different things possible to use to mask signal. Personally i think that lead alloy with addition of lighter but durable metal might be perfect. Ah metallurgy. Other possibility is to use a very thin coating of heavier density metal on light base making actual armour.) gathering shielded signal if possible and decreasing actual traceable transmission to enchantment poulse level. Gathered signal can be used to make blank screen to mask our position change (i expect gathered signal would give us limited time of blanking with advantage of passive recharge and make needed amplification mechanism/spell/enchantment less bulky) if needed after compromising ourselves with casting helping us to loose tracker in "crowd" of signals (i nickname it chameleon system). Movement spell or short tp would be very viable build with this thing. Or right before actual cast to hinder enemy wizard threat detection. Sound tactical usage especially if we will make personal communication spells decreasing any drawbacks to our side. Taking into consideration that we would probably have armours of T, D, L with charged "cloak" timespan of each battery wouldn't need to be overly long. I wanted to get our soldiers gear enchanted either way, why not make it even more adventitious as screen? (why have one decoy when you can have 400? Still would need to add system to turn them on and off or turn off for some time sort of stealth mode when we dont need our army to look like a Christmas tree to enemies) (I will get those custom uniforms. Even without my precious spinner ,if needed. Dmn you random dwarven egghead Lotar Tallmound. )

[Actually i can see possible upgrades to this like retrofitting basic battery with emergency casting battery, short time invisibility, sort of technology tracking the signals bigger than our emitted screen for keeping magical tracking (we would need to synch it with output), cd player. I think making battery spell cast able is waste of time for first prototype, i expect it will take far to much time]

So my proposition is this untill Fangshi comment on this, is to make "mode armour" plan: research on signal damping as priority (alloys etc), followed by chameleon system basics (detection jamming mechanism, wonder if it will increase chances of hitting targets), drawing actual mode armour blueprints (damping + chameleon), backing us blueprints (to make sure we know how make basic one even if research staff decide to draw new design on old blueprints. I kinda expect that from them.), checking if adding enchantments increasing defence while keeping low weight is possible (drawing blueprints).

Preferably give those directives to Mayer so he can give Academy people next step after they complete each step, if that and Mayer down to earth personality wont make amount of progress reasonable i dont know what will. Idea with passive charging might be dangerous to hand to other people, thats why its not included for now there still might be cultists there. Making battery powering one specific system will heavily increase time and research resources needed to modify it into cast able version. If we decide to ask them to research that might be best way to ensure minimal danger, although they are knowledge seekers so they might pursue it regardless (still they would be limited by founding so mby not). With those goals we will be able to stop project on each step if necessary and allow us to add new ones.
(again place where my pet spinner would help. Dmn you Tallmound. )


"Maybe. It would have to be a significant STR boost though which would take time, money and resources."
.... MELETELE I THINK I GOT A WORK FOR YOU!... Oh btw if our inventor work on alcohol does high quality stuff like Thygard blood wine (or whatever we decide we call it) adding her bonuses to creative thinking? We should research that. All assistants to distillery. TIME TO DO SOME SCIENCE!


"Three days in, and there are only 3 votes." Still have vote to update. Hard week, have more time now so might do it today.



"I would advise caution though, you go around winking at spider demons too often and you will wind up like poor Ceannard... "
Well the wink part and other things in brackets were more like my commentary, not Derryth. Guess in free form questions there might be slight character difference. On other hand who knows mby Ceannard think it was totally worth it.

 

[Nevill]

Albrecht can order the Captain not to but this is a matter of dwarven honour and the King doubts that he will listen. Hámundr has his own code and if you take him with you, you will likely have to deal with it.

Well, it has more to do with his standing orders, and the quality we take him in, no? Don't take him with you as a bodyguard ('must protect us at all costs'), take him along as the commander of the charioteers ('must listen to our orders'). We need a battle unit, not a babysitter.

 

[Jester]

"Reinhard prefers to judge people personally rather then rely on gossip and rumour. It is likely that the Prince has not made up his mind on you yet and is waiting to meet you before making a decision.

You will likely be received politely but cautiously."
Sound stance.
"They do not always see eye to eye but they are brothers and that bond runs true.

Reinhard is always willing to listen to Timo's advice and he will rarely ignore his brother completely but Reinhard is very much his own dwarf. He often has different goals and priorities, as such he often ignores Timo's 'sage advice'."
Still i expect that getting Timo respect will be a good coin for him.

 

[Fangshi]

.... MELETELE I THINK I GOT A WORK FOR YOU!... Oh btw if our inventor work on alcohol does high quality stuff like Thygard blood wine (or whatever we decide we call it) adding her bonuses to creative thinking?

It helps her find inspiration but it also makes her black out sometimes and when she wakes up she has usually built something new. Unfortunately she often does not know what her new invention is or what it does. She does not mind though, it is just another excuse to do some more experimenting!

On other hand who knows mby Ceannard think it was totally worth it.

The best he has had in years, despite the bruises and sore neck...

Well, it has more to do with his standing orders, and the quality we take him in, no?

To a degree and Albrecht will make sure to phrase it that way but the Captain has always been opinionated and stubborn. It is just who he is. He should follow orders for the most part, especially since you will be his commanding officer but of all the Royal Guard captains he is the most likely one to disobey your direct order if he thinks it is foolish. Albrecht finds that independent streak to be useful in a chariot commander that often has to operate without a direct means of communicating with his command group. If you want someone that will slavishly follow orders you are better off taking the light infantry captain. If you want someone in between you should take the heavy infantry captain.

Still i expect that getting Timo respect will be a good coin for him.

That is correct.

 

[Nevill]

Albrecht finds that independent streak to be useful in a chariot commander that often has to operate without a direct means of communicating with his command group. If you want someone that will slavishly follow orders you are better off taking the light infantry captain.

Nah, this is why we prefer Hamundr out of the three, among other things. We don't need slaves, and we appreciate people with the initiative (hell, just look at our choice of partners).

As for disobeying the orders, I hope we have had a chance to prove it to him that our orders may often be reckless, but rarely foolish.

It just felt like he didn't have much choice when he tried to protect us. If anything, we want him to have more freedom in his options.

 

[Grimgravy]

1)Evi > Eiii
2)I want the dice (P) plus some roots, crystals, and up to 1 bottle of the energon hooch. plus armor / shields to replace the stuff we lost. I'd prefer to get stuff (leathers for the mages maybe chain for the girls) from the royal armorers. Not opposed to a couple vomit disks.
3)F
4)meh. whatever the consensus is
5)A with the black arrows
6)F>A
7)B
8)meh. whatever the consensus is
9)A
10)B
11)Aii
12)see 2. Comparable leathers for D & T. Leather for chain plus a shield for the girls. All with as much enchant as we can get but still reach us before we meet Nanshe.
13)B
14)meh. whatever the consensus is

No more damnable options please.....to much going on here and I haven't the time to overcome analysis paralysis.

 

[Jester]

No more damnable options please.....to much going on here and I haven't the time to overcome analysis paralysis.

Drinking on the job?

 

[Nevill]

Just want to remind people that we need to fix our armor situation one way or the other before heading south.

That goes for Azira and Jester, mostly.

If you guys do not want enchanted armor, then let's at least buy a regular suit, or do something about it.

We have lost 2 suits of armor, a shield and a quiver fighting the cultists. We have compensated for the loss of the quiver with our enchantments, but what about the rest of the items?

Also, Fangshi, can the Lady answer some questions about the Seekers? Who is their long-dead master? Is it Wyrd? I can't imagine many of those who would oppose all of the Dark Gods. Why are they called the Seekers, what do they seek? What are their goals? To avenge their master? To resurrect him? To ascend to his place by collecting all of his Dreams and recreating the One Dream?