Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Jester]

"Nanshe's people then set to work stripping the bodies of the mages of any valuables and Watcher's stones they possessed. The ghols took all the loot from the battlefield, they claimed that they did all of the dying so they should get all of the loot. If you want D&T can try to argue for some of it, just let me know."

"About three of the mages managed to live long enough to fire back and you lost four Arrows as a result"

Not all dying. Our ambush had eliminated most dangerous opponents they were able to kill like 20 people in few moments. If we were unable to dispose of them causalities would be a lot higher. So i would say we do deserve at least part of spoils from battle. Not the first or last part, but ambush. Green, amber and vermilion mage belongings for us rest of spoils for ghols.

 

[Fangshi]

Alright, I can add that as an option.

5. The Spoils of War: Nanshe's people have claimed all the spoils from your ambush. You could contest their claim to the loot should you wish.

A) You let the ghôls keep all of the valuables they have looted.

B) You demand the possessions from the vermillion, amber and green mages. Those three were the most powerful you noticed and your people killed them. By right their possessions should be yours.

i. You will take everything including their Watcher fragments.

ii. You will take only their spellbooks and artefacts, you will leave the stones.

C) You will claim all of the artefacts and spellbooks taken from the twelve mages your people killed.

i. You will also take their stones.

ii. You will leave their Watcher stones.

D) You will claim all of the loot from all enemies killed in the ambush.

i. You will also take their stones.

ii. You will leave their Watcher stones.

E) freeform


The odds of the interlude being finished before I go are not looking good I am afraid. IT will likely be up in forty eight hours or so.

 

[Karwelas]

5. The Spoils of War: Nanshe's people have claimed all the spoils from your ambush. You could contest their claim to the loot should you wish.

Bii

 

[Kz3r0]

5. The Spoils of War: Nanshe's people have claimed all the spoils from your ambush. You could contest their claim to the loot should you wish.


B) You demand the possessions from the vermillion, amber and green mages. Those three were the most powerful you noticed and your people killed them. By right their possessions should be yours.

ii. You will take only their spellbooks and artefacts, you will leave the stones.

 

[Grimgravy]

5 )Bii

 

[archaen]

5.Bii

 

[Nevill]

5Bii.

Doing all of the dying is admirable, but it kind of matters who did the killing, too.

Ask Nanshe why she counts the Watcher's stones as loot. What does she intend to use them for? They are too dangerous to do anything with them but to hide them away.

If she wishes to contain them, tell her that we have about 200 fragments of the Watcher already, and about a half of him if we measure the volume of the pieces. If she wishes to make them inaccessible to the enemy, giving them for us to keep would solve it. If I remember it correctly, the reason for the ghols collecting the stones was so that the Watcher could not contact the remnants (which failed, as the remnants had their own stones).

We should start some kind of Hague convention or something.

 

[Fangshi]

Ask Nanshe why she counts the Watcher's stones as loot.

She doesn't really. She is simply having her soldiers collect all the ones she can find so that she can encase them in lead and put them away for safe keeping.

What does she intend to use them for?

She does not intend to do anything with them at the moment. Whether or not that will change in the future you have no way of knowing but for now she seems content to simply seal them up and hide them away.

 

[Nevill]

Why don't she just give them for us to hide? So far the enemy never succeeded in taking back even a single one of our stones.

The reasoning being that if our 200 stones are compromised, her stash of about 60 small ones will not matter in the least. If her stash is compromised, well, it is going to spell trouble.

Just the common sense of keeping toxic wastes in the same place.

 

[Fangshi]

Why don't she just give them for us to hide? So far the enemy never succeeded in taking back even a single one of our stones.

Because she is an Empress and the ruler of a proud and free people? Why should she have to give up assets that she won with her own cunning and the blood of her people?

She is also sure that they are more than capable of dealing with the stones they have acquired and she sees no reason to turn them over to you. Particularly as she knows you will just give them to those vicious, little troglodytes.

 

[Nevill]

Why should she have to give up assets that she won with her own cunning and the blood of her people?

Well, then I suppose she can tell us how come they are treated as assets.

Particularly as she knows you will just give them to those vicious, little troglodytes.

Actually, we don't want anyone having access to them, be it dwarves or ghols. There is simply no need for a living being to contact the entity behind them.

I mean, literally all they do is let the Watcher subdue and take control over the affected individual. Why would anyone want to give the mage more troops?


Anyway. I understand Morphy is working on a 'favor for a favor' basis, but since we have an account...

How much does it cost (in IPs) to connect us to a person of our choosing, be it Gareth, Eagle or Alric? I assume the person in question matters, but are there other factors?

Can objects be transported through the Dreaming? A portal on one side, a portal on the other - it seems doable. What would it cost us to have a crate shipped from one location to another in such a fashion?

Now that he has his favorite toy, how would he like to have a manual to go with it? I am talking the authentic journal detailing TWM's story and life experiences. We have captured it because we though it would help us defeat the mage, but it appears we didn't need it after all. And since we know Morphy is a collector at heart and the journal and the mage make for a perfect set...

It's like an original pedigree certificate!

It is funny, too. Recite him a page we tore off the journal as an example of what was going through the TWM's head two weeks prior to his defeat. Very insightful and quite entertaining.

Our only condition is to be allowed to read it together. Other than that, we have no problem with giving it to the Prince... if the price is right.

So, how much?

 

[Fangshi]

Well, then I suppose she can tell us how come they are treated as assets.

She says that she considers them assets because they are directly tied to the Watcher. She wants to keep them for that reason. She thinks they might make a useful weapon though she is still not exactly sure how. So she sees no reason to turn over such assets to you (and through you, the dwarves).

Actually, we don't want anyone having access to them, be it dwarves or ghols.

And yet you will give them to Albrecht, won't you?

I mean, literally all they do is let the Watcher subdue and take control over the affected individual. Why would anyone want to give the mage more troops?

She has no intention of giving the Watcher more soldiers but she also has no intention of just sitting around and waiting for you or the dwarves to solve this problem. You may well fail and the Watcher may yet wipe out the Kingdom but she is determined to see her Empire survive.

How much does it cost (in IPs) to connect us to a person of our choosing, be it Gareth, Eagle or Alric? I assume the person in question matters, but are there other factors?

Mostly just the difficulty of making the connection. So the distance you have to cover to connect the minds in question, any defenses that he will have to be overcome, the power of the target, their ability to and the likelihood of them striking back at him for meddling in their dreams, that sort of thing.

Also the prices may fluctuate a little due to 'natural market forces'. You are fairly sure that by that Morphues means 'how much he likes you at any given moment'.

Can objects be transported through the Dreaming? A portal on one side, a portal on the other - it seems doable. What would it cost us to have a crate shipped from one location to another in such a fashion?

Sure but you would need mages on both ends capable of opening the necessary portals. He would also need to arrange for security on his end to keep anyone from slipping through.

Price would depend on what exactly is being moved, how long it would take, how likely it is to have consequences for him and again, 'natural market forces'...

Now that he has his favorite toy, how would he like to have a manual to go with it? I am talking the authentic journal written by TWM himself detailing his life experiences We have captured it because we though it would help us defeat the mage, but it appears we didn't need that after all. And since we know Morphy is a collector at heart and the journal and the mage make for a perfect set...

It is funny, too. Recite him a page we tore off the journal as an example of what have gone through the head of TWM two weeks prior to his defeat. Very insightful and quite entertaining.

Our only condition is to be allowed to read it together. Other than that. we have no problem with giving it to the Prince... if the price is right.

So, how much?

Maybe five IPs or so. More just for the novelty of it (and because he likes you) than anything else. Anything written in that book would also be in TWM's head and Morpheus has all of eternity to tease that out of the mage, he has no real reason to rush. In fact, taking his time will likely make the whole experience even more enjoyable.

 

[Nevill]

Maybe five IPs or so. More just for the novelty of it (and because he likes you) than anything else. Anything written in that book would also be in TWM's head and Morpheus has all of eternity to tease that out of the mage, he has no real reason to rush.

Ah, but it wouldn't be an authentic experience. Anything he'll pick from TWM's head would inevitably be colored by the mage's current understanding and knowledge. The beauty of a journal is not the information it contains, but the fact that the writer himself did not know what would happen on the next page.

It's a difference between reading a book, and a summary of the plot.

It is sad to see that a connoisseur like Morpheus does not understand the nuance. Guess that must be a mortal thing.

 

[Fangshi]

Ah, but it wouldn't be an authentic experience. Anything he'll pick from TWM's head would inevitably be colored by the mage's current understanding and knowledge.

He prefers living memories to dead paper to be honest. It is why he prefers stories told in person over those found in books. He is thousands of years old (maybe tens of thousands of years old) there are not too many scenarios he has not dreamt up or seen play out thousands of times. He is less interested in the content and more interested in the way it is told at this point.

 

[Nevill]

Fine. Back to Nanshe, I guess.

Did we manage to identify the burned and melted corpses of the mages that were hit by the Rotting Mist Dream?

Derryth has already heard about the Dream, and that the ghols held it, but does she have a reason to suspect that Nanshe may have it and perhaps even cast it?

(I honestly intended to ask about it on my own, and then it was revealed that she has access to it. I don't know how to reconcile my knowledge as a player with the one the character has)

Ask Nanshe about the battle. I want to know about how did it go, and about what she did to protect her warriors (lead-laced armor). I think Albrecht might be interested in this, at least for his Royal Guards. It would also be interesting to see what she will say about the melted bodies.

Ask her who played the role of TWM's decoy if it was indeed a person. Did we see any humans with her?

Ask her about ghol history. Where do they come from? We have heard stories that they originated from the south. Does she know what is down there? The Mythverse map does not go very far into their lands.

Ask her what was the reason for a gholish-dwarven conflict. We've heard their side, but I am sure the ghols tell their own stories.

Ask her about what is happening in the south. Who are the gholish troops stationed there? Were it the tribes who formerly served in the Watcher's armies, the ones she led out of the Great Temple? What is it that they are trying to achieve?

 

[Azira]

Votes!

1C; iii, iv & v
2B
3F>Gi
4B
5Bii

 

[Absinthe]

3F>A
5Bii

Why am I still using 'we'? Because if we want to contact the Emperor, we should not do this through the Empire's official channels. Those are controlled by the Brannons - who were proven to have a say in the Empire's foreign policies - and they would be able to put a 'right' spin on the letter. No, we should go straight to the man, and the only way I can see of doing it reliably would be to contact the Heron Guards, who a) are loyal only to the Emperor b) have had contact with us and thus can at least vouch that we aren't the spawn of satan Damh claims us to be.

If the Heron Guard receive the news about what happens in the Kingdom and if we can convince them that those events are important enough to get the Emperor's attention (and I think they are), we would have a chance to pull it off. Albrecht does not have that kind of channels available to him, that is why I insist we do this.

Albrecht is more capable than that. I'm sure he has more than just the "official" channels available to him for contacting Alric. Given his Pathfinders, I'm sure he's no stranger to unofficial channels. He might even have a direct line (artifact or something). At any rate, Albrecht's men are best suited to this task, so we should leave this to Albrecht (option F).

- Contact Gareth in the Dreaming. Morpheus should assume his human form for that, and since Gareth is not a mage, it should not raise too many questions. Morpheus is the one we hired to cast this spell to contact him, end of story.

I disagree with this already. The rule of The Lost is that there are no secrets between us. We'd be lying to Gareth now, setting a bad precedent. Considering how Gareth has already done work for The Faceless Man ("Keenan" I think) I don't think he's in a position to judge us anyhow.

Plus your plan (option G) puts The Lost at risk. Sneaking into the Heron Guard (elites who are loyal to the emperor alone) seems like the kind of task that is more than a bit difficult and likely to get our men caught even if they manage to deliver the letter. Rather than preserving anonymity, I think it would expose our crew. Again, I'd rather let Albrecht handle this.

Beyond that playing together with others will also make your songs more powerful. A full 'band' (group of musicians) can do more than a single musician alone. Of course if there are divisions within your band then your magic will also suffer. He has seen more groups fragment and fall then he cares to mention.

Other musical magic. He says that if someone challenges you in this way it will trigger a 'battle of the bands'. Very dangerous, very difficult, high mortality rate even amongst demons unless both parties are quite careful but he will admit that it is 'pretty fucking Metal''.

I'm fine with Songs of Power and all that, but I think reducing it into a shoehorned metal battle/competition/etc. is pretty fucking lame to be honest. I like the concept more because of the under-utilized aspect of mythology and tolkien's writings than the "metal concerts fuck yeah" thing.

 

[Nevill]

Albrecht is more capable than that. I'm sure he has more than just the "official" channels available to him for contacting Alric. Given his Pathfinders, I'm sure he's no stranger to unofficial channels. He might even have a direct line. At any rate, Albrecht's men are best suited for this task, so we should leave this to Albrecht (option F).

I know nothing about his unofficial channels and what he 'might' have. I want to have control over what we are going to write, and I don't want Brannons to stand in the way of the letter reaching the Emperor.

Besides, Albrecht is quite arrogant when it comes to these things, as we've seen. And he is far from being a neutral party, what with the Brannons trying to support his would-be murderers.

Personally, I want to play the middle-man, and I also want to express my own stance on what is happening in the Kingdom, not just Albrecht's.

I disagree with this already. The rule of The Lost is that there are no secrets between us. We'd be lying to Gareth now, setting a bad precedent.

I don't think we are lying. Morpheus is the one we use to cast the spell, is he not? That is the only reason he is present.

We just do not mention the detail about him being a demon, because there is a proper time and place for these things, and they are not here and not now.

If you want to tell him straight away that you are allied with a necromancer and a ghol, are buddy with a demon, and are carrying a Fallen Lord in your backpack - and if you want to imply that we are lying by not mentioning any of that - go right ahead.

Some things I will tell him in due time, such as Lyssa's identity, because I intend to make her a part of our Circle, and that is our common business. And some things are going to stay private, unless there is a good reason to reveal them.

Considering how Gareth has already done work for The Faceless Man ("Keenan" I think) I don't think he's in a position to judge us anyhow.

Uh... would Gareth, a survivor of the war with a Fallen Lord, willingly and knowingly work with a Fallen Lord?

He worked with her because she didn't introduce herself as such. A bit different from our case, don't you think?

Plus your plan (option G) puts The Lost at risk. Sneaking into the Heron Guard [...]

Ummm... sneaking into the Heron Guard compound? Holy reading comprehension, Batman! Where does it say that?

How does sending a letter with a single purpose of not exposing our crew would expose our crew?

An arrow pinning the letter to the roof of the compound. An unaffiliated messenger hired by a masked man to play the role of a one-time postal worker. How can any of these be traced to us?

How hard can it be to send a single letter anonymously, anyway?

 

[Absinthe]

I know nothing about his unofficial channels and what he 'might' have. I want to have control over what we are going to write, and I don't want Brannons to stand in the way of the letter reaching the Emperor.

Now you're trying to imply Albrecht is incompetent at statecraft. He can handle this on his own.

Personally, I want to play the middle-man, and I also want to express my own stance on what is happening in the Kingdom, not just Albrecht's.

I don't. I don't see the point in it and playing middleman is a great way to be stuck politicking, which I'm frankly getting enough of already.

I don't think we are lying. Morpheus is the one we use to cast the spell, is he not?

It's plainly deceptive.

We just do not mention the detail about him being a demon, because there is a proper time and place for these things, and they are not here and not now.

I don't see the need to bring in Morpheus at all.

How hard can it be to send a single letter anonymously, anyway?

Pretty fucking hard when you send it to the emperor's finest men (ultimately the emperor himself) and they decide to go looking for answers. Heron Guard being who they are, I'm pretty sure people would tell them all they knew even if we try to pay them not to, and I doubt you could "just shoot an arrow" there without getting caught.

 

[Nevill]

Now you're trying to imply Albrecht is incompetent at statecraft. He can handle this on his own.

Telling the Emperor off was not one of the highlights of Albrecht's statecraft, that's for sure.

I don't. I don't see the point in it and playing middleman is a great way to be stuck politicking, which I'm frankly getting enough of already.

Well, and I do.

The world's greatest empire suspects us in conspiring with the Dark. If we don't take measures by trying to distance ourselves from this slander somehow - and trying to play a matchmaker between the Empire and the Kingdom as we are protecting them both from the Watcher might be a start - we risk being hanged one day.

I want to start politicking before the others politick us out of existence.

If you see another way to restore our good name (heh! is there even a good name to speak of?), feel free to suggest it.

It's plainly deceptive.

Depends. We haven't told him about Nine or Lyssa. Is it deceptive?

Don't think so.

I don't see the need to bring in Morpheus at all.

The reason is because the Dreaming is faster than sending an eagle or a messenger. It took about a month for Calaeno to go to Muirthemne and back.

We expect that the war will be over in two months, one way or the other.

Pretty fucking hard when you send it to the emperor's finest men and they decide to go looking for answers.

Islam the letter has all the answers. It will state who sent it, and why.

It is not hard to understand why we don't want to make out contacts in the capital known to the public.

Heron Guard being who they are, I'm pretty sure people would tell them all they knew even if we try to pay them not to

Which is why the plan is not to pay them for 'not telling all they know', but for them to not know anything in the first place.

How do you interrogate an arrow?

What can you infer from 'a man in a mask asked me to deliver the letter for a gold coin'?

 

[Absinthe]

Telling the Emperor off was not one of the highlights of Albrecht's statecraft, that's for sure.

That is neither here nor there. All the same, I'm pretty sure it was, considering that Alric was supporting the rebellion against Albrecht. Yes, Albrecht had to send a firm message that he wouldn't accept this shit. Accusing him of incompetence on that basis only suggests you're the one who's incompetent at statecraft, Nevill.

Well, and I do.

The world's greatest empire suspects us in conspiring with the Dark. If we don't take measures by trying to distance ourselves from this slander somehow - and trying to play a matchmaker between the Empire and the Kingdom as we are protecting them both from the Watcher might be a start - we risk being hanged one day.

I want to start politicking before the others politick us out of existence.

We're in no danger of that yet, we have a somewhat positive rep with the Heron Guard, we can easily build a good reputation as enemies of the dark in the upcoming campaign (not like we have a choice unless we want to make enemies of the Seekers), and worst case scenario Mazzarin will vouch for us or we could even make a deal with the Faceless Man if we really want.

Islam the letter has all the answers. It will state who sent it, and why.

And yet it is only natural to be suspicious.

It is not hard to understand why we don't want to make out contacts in the capital known to the public.

That's our problem, not theirs.

How do you interrogate an arrow?

You have watchmen who see it happen and go after the one who shot it. It's a pretty ordinary reaction.

What can you infer from 'a man in a mask asked me to deliver the letter for a gold coin'?

You can tell when and where they got it and investigate more witnesses, for instance.

At any rate, I'm done here. Just pointing out why G is stupid, F is better, and imo even A beats G.

3F>A

 

[asxetos]

1A
2B
3Gi
4B
5Bii

How is the metal scale going up in a band of 3? Can we, lets say, cast 10 Warrior Masks at once? Is it going to be a totally different spell set?
I belive Nevill's plan for Alric is fine, but i also agree with Absinthe that for a circle with a no-secrets policy, we have too many secrets already. I believe the rest will accept Lyssa when she is introduced at the next meeting, and i also think we should reveal Nine and our Morpheus connection too. But thats a discussion for another time.

 

[Nevill]

That is neither here nor there. All the same, I'm pretty sure it was, considering that Alric was supporting the rebellion against Albrecht. Yes, Albrecht had to send a firm message that he wouldn't accept this shit.

Yes, and now he is going to ask for help. This will be considered a weakness, as if he is backtracking from his previous decision.

The Brannons may even demand the heads of the supporters of the Dark - that is, us - in exchange for the Imperial help, if they smell blood in the air.

Meanwhile, if we do it, the King gets to save face as we explain that it was a misunderstanding due to rash action on both sides. We can allow ourselves to play the role of a neutral party, but the King has no such luxury.

We're in no danger of that yet, we have a somewhat positive rep with the Heron Guard

They are not the ones who decide. They did nothing to prevent the embassy from being closed, even though Eagle wasn't exactly ecstatic.

They serve the Emperor, and if the Brannons have Alric's ear, they will dance to the Brannons' tune.

worst case scenario Mazzarin will vouch for us or we could make a deal with the Faceless Man if we really want.

Yes, Mazzarin - who has Alric on the run from Muirthemne - vouching for us would be a nice final nail in our coffin.

Thankfully, the man can't be bothered to notice us unless we call for him, and the 'Dex is very reluctant to.

You have watchmen who see it happen and go after the one who shot it. It's a pretty ordinary reaction.

You can fire an arrow from several blocks away... It's not like we want it to hit somewhere in particular.

Again, it is one of a hundred ways to have a letter delivered.

You can tell when and where they got it and investigate more witnesses, for instance.

In a dark alley, with no one around.

Puh-lease, the Pathfinders still can't find the archer who waltzed into the Royal Palace in broad daylight.

Just pointing out why G is stupid, F is better

Back atcha'.

 

[Nevill]

I belive Nevill's plan for Alric is fine, but i also agree with Absinthe that for a circle with a no-secrets policy, we have too many secrets already. I believe the rest will accept Lyssa when she is introduced at the next meeting, and i also think we should reveal Nine and our Morpheus connection too. But thats a discussion for another time.

Yeah, I want to uphold these principles too.

But you have to consider carefully what you can and can not reveal. It's like with the dwarves - they are pure bros, and you will have to try to find a more dedicated friend than Bari, but they are just not going to accept some things, period.

We can explain Lyssa to Gareth, though just barely. The rest are not going to have nearly as much problems with her as a man who had lost most of his friends to necromancers. But at least we can convince him to give her a chance.

Nine is completely off-limits for now. No way, no how Gareth will accept a Fallen Lord in our ranks. He would sooner believe that we were corrupted or brainwashed - and Nine can surely do that. The only path I can see of reconciling them is to show that Nine is not a Fallen Lord, and that might have to wait until she wakes up, because even we are not sure of what we will find once she does.

Morpheus... is an interesting case. Mages are expected to deal with weird stuff, and even Mazzarin employs demons as if it is nothing. It is not very objectionable for someone like our merc company, and we have used our alliance with the Demon Prince to further the cause of Light (or at least to fight against the Dark). It certainly helps matters that Morpheus has a good understanding of humans and knows how to wear a veneer of civility.

But in conjunction with our other allies things are starting to look highly suspicious. I'd rather not pool everything at once at poor Gareth, he will have trouble digesting it. I mean, if someone pointed at a person and said they conspire with demons, siblings of the Dark Gods, necromancers, ghols and Fallen Lords, you would not think twice before concluding that they are a horrible person. It is much easier to assume they are compromised and subverted than to think they are trying to do something good.

We should handle it one thing at a time.

 

[Karwelas]

Gareth? You mean that guy that rules Empire, yep?

We should keep Nine in secret how long we can (aka - until we don't find body for her. This is one of our goals if I remember.)

Morpheus is indeed interesting thing but I think we should keep our relationship with him secret for now. Or only people that don't shit their pants and instant burn us should know about him.

Lyssa... well. Nobody like necros. Some people may start trust them if we tell we trust her... but most of them will judge her as 'evil shit' and this can end bad for her. And we don't want that.

By the way, Fangshi. Can you post links to the rules of spellcasting and our goal list in the OP? This may be useful. (Spellcasting rules. Goal list is rather more extra thing.)