Myth: A New Age CYOA

[asxetos]

Smashing Axe i guess that Bari will be leaving pretty soon and we cant follow him if we want to loot the place though.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Smashing Axe i guess that Bari will be leaving pretty soon and we cant follow him if we want to loot the place though.

Fangshi said he'd wait around for us to clear up if we indicate we want to travel with him or something along those lines.

 

[Azira]

Yes, I asked about that in particular.

 

[Kz3r0]

1) The Vault, Red, Blue and Silver Orders - all of these locations are close to each other but it will take time to completely loot them. You are looking at about two months to get everything back to your tower.

A) Loot it!



2) The Library - this is closer and easier but there is no gold here. It would take about a week to loot the vault and a month to loot the whole library.

A) Loot it!




3) The Tower - this is the closest option and the easiest. You can explore the whole tower in two days.

A) Explore the tower



Part 2. Personnel: Your group is likely to split up if you let them. The question is what you want to do about it. You have good relations with most of them and many of them are dependent on you so I will go through them one at a time.

1) Thaïs: She will expect to be paid for her time if you let her go. If you want to keep her around you also have a few options available.


C) You keep her on but make her a partner.



2) Gareth and Brigit: the two of them are inseparable by this point. If you let them go they will go to her guild if you ever need them. If you want to keep them then you will have to make them a good offer and talk to her father.


B) You keep them on as part of the group.


3) Serpent and Christine: They will help you retrieve any treasure but Serpent wants to return Tyrvard's sword to his homeland. They will leave the city no matter what. You have a few options, you can let them go and wish them well or you can offer Christine a spot in your Circle and keep them in the group, they will rejoin when they get back from their "honeymoon". If you wish to go with them then see Part 3.


B) You offer them positions.



4) Amena, Ithapi, Biliku, Uttu and the orphans: They are your wards and your dependents. If you want you can make them go but they will otherwise stay as they have no where to go.

C) You keep them.



Part 3: The Plan Part 1: Do you want to stay in Muirthemne and build up your power base or go somewhere else?


B) Go - If you want to go anywhere else then pick this option.

Bari has invited you to come with him and return the Maul of the Dwarven Kings.


Part 4: Finally, what sort of information would you prefer to read about first:


D) Artefacts and People of great importance



I must say that we have been unfair to Miosguinn, he helped us a lot and saved Gareth and Brigit, Bari can go to hell for all I care, to me killing Miosguinn was a matter of convenience as is going to meet the Dwarven kings.
Sincerely I still don't understand Miosguinn as a chracter, he seemed good natured while all the bad came from his religion, I still think that he was too kind to us for no good reason.

 

[Fangshi]

The partnership is more like giving them a bigger cut of the loot and lieutenant positions in the company. Fangshi will they accept something like that?

Derryth will remain the senior partner in anything you do so she will still have final say in most matters but if you make them partners they will be a bit more vocal with their opinions. Now both Thaïs and Gareth are smart enough not to argue with you in front of the employees most of the time (if tempers run high they might for example) so Derryth is fairly confident that it won't undermine her position. Of course you would be putting a lot of trust in them but that is only a problem if you do not trust them.

For a comparison to the books think of how:

Spoiler

In the Books of the South and the Books of the Glittering Stone the "old hands" in the company relate to Croaker in a completely different way than the new hires. Murgen and Lady have a completely different dynamic with him than Sleepy for instance, which is partly do to the time and conditions under which each was annalist and/or in charge.

It will probably change the group dynamic a little but as long as you consult them/him/her Derryth thinks it will work just fine.

freeform (Keep them and also propose partnership to Gareth)

Sure I can add that as an option. It will take a bit of convincing to get him to accept the post since he is not ambitious in the same way that Derryth and Thaïs are but it should be doable.

The thing is though, we're more likely to receive titles and accolades from the dwarf king while the tale of our success is still fresh.

An important thing to keep in mind about the Dwarven situation is that they can not afford to acknowledge that the Maul was ever missing. The whole point of this secret expedition was to get it back before anyone knew it was gone. They are very grateful and they will probably lavish you with rewards but they will not be able to openly celebrate the return of the hammer. They will come up with some other excuse for why the King likes your group... old friends from his days in exile or something. They will try to keep it very quiet in that regard but there are interesting rewards on offer if you do go.

Yeah. If there's a banking system, we could probably deposit all the gold/jewels, take the light magical artifacts with us and keep the rest in a respectable warehouse or something.

There is the beginnings of a banking system but it is only regional at the moment. A promissory note won't do you too much good in a lot of places. However if you wanted to invest in the dwarven banking sector you could probably get in on the ground floor so to speak. The are a number of old warehouses lying around in the city. You would have to purchase one and staff it with guards but it could be done.

You will need to talk to the Dagda (Brigit's dad) anyway if you want to keep her on so I can add organizing a business relationship to that.

Sincerely I still don't understand Miosguinn as a chracter, he seemed good natured while all the bad came from his religion, I still think that he was too kind to us for no good reason.

Well he was no saint to be sure but the man did legitimately like Derryth, you largely stayed out of his business which was more than he expected would happen (he respected the trust you showed him) and you relied on him enough for magic advice that he sort of viewed you as a pupil.

Actually if he had not found the book and you had not found Nine (who despite everything is a much better teacher) the relationship that was developing there would have been a sort of master/pupil dynamic but your choices changed things.

Miosguinn was cautious by nature and did not see the advantage in making new enemies where it was not necessary so he wanted your group to leave rather than wind up fighting against him.

In many respects he was just your average person trapped in a web of his own making.

It is important to remember though that as much as he liked Derryth he was completely unrepentant. His mission in life was to revive Isolde and he did what he had to, to get as close as possible to achieving it... the man ultimately regretted nothing and would have accepted the Goddess' offer all over again if given the choice. He may have been friendly for a mage and even a bit likable once you got to know him but he was willing to kill the whole world just to get her back.

Current Vote:
Nevill Part 1: A A A Part 2: C C B C Part 3: B Part 4: C
Anabanana Part 1: A A A Part 2: C B B C Part 3: A Part 4: A
GreyViper Part 1: A A A Part 2: C C>B B C Part 3: B Part 4: D>A
Baltika9 Part 1: A A A Part 2: C B B C Part 3: A Part 4: A
Azira Part 1: A A A Part 2: C C B C Part 3: B Part 4: D
Smashing Axe Part 1: A A A Part 2: B B B C Part 3: B Part 4: D
Zero Credibility Part 1: A A A Part 2: B B B C Part 3: A Part 4: A
asxetos Part 1: A A A Part 2: C C B C Part 3: A Part 4: C>D
Kz3r0 Part 1: A A A Part 2: C B B C Part 3: B Part 4: D
Jester Part 1: A A A Part 2: C C>B B C Part 3: B Part 4: D>A
Kipeci Part 1: A A A Part 2: C C B C Part 3: B Part 4: C
Grimgravy Part 1: A A A Part 2: C C B C Part 3: B Part 4: Abstain

Part 1:
1.
A) 12 votes
B)

2.
A) 12 votes
B)

3.
A) 12 votes
B)


Part 2:
1.
A)
B) 2 votes
C) 10 votes

2.
A)
B) 5 votes
C) 7 votes

3.
A)
B) 12 votes

4.
A)
B)
C) 12 votes

Part 3:
1.
A) 4 votes
B) 8 votes

Part 4:
1.
A) 3 (5) votes
B)
C) 3 votes
D) 5 (6) votes

 

[Jester]

mostly like asxetos, but with few changes:

Part 1. Treasure
1) The Vault, Red, Blue and Silver Orders
A)

2) The Library
A)

3) The Tower
C) Our glorious leader big D will try to catalogue what is in tower.

Part 2. Personnel
1) Thaïs
C) You keep her on but make her a partner, our own PR and negotiation specialist.

2) Gareth and Brigit
C) freeform (Keep them and also propose partnership to Gareth) > B

3) Serpent and Christine
B) You offer them positions. (Write letter to Thyvard family with condolences.)
4) Amena, Ithapi, Biliku, Uttu and the orphans
C) You keep them.

Part 3: The Plan Part 1
C) Going to dwarf king with patchfinder, Nine, Amena and Thais, after making sure that rest of our party is fine. (Prepare HQ for our forces, ask Gareth to train Ithap, Biliku and Uttu.) i feel that telling him about his son is must, after all he saved life of our friends.

Part 4: information
E) History of magic and biographies of Grand Mages > A) History of Dwarven ale and other parts of high culture .

Part 5: The back up plan:
Try to learn Bezzerker special the best vodka in world, sell it to masses named as "Tyrvard's still", hell mby even speak about it with dwarfs. Speak with Dwarf King about smithies relict's i recall there were some of them in orders tresures.

Fangshi few questions:
Reds and Silvers know what they have in treasury so what we can expect from there?
How long will it take to get to Dwarf king and back?
How much supplies we still have?
Is it possible to try forge documents that tower is ours? I know that there are monsters, area is offlimit and etc but mby its possible to claim land after Imperial forces will take care of their buisness.
Emm is there possibility to establish some kind of pernament transportation spell between city and Tower or make marker letting us easier make teleport to it?
Oh and state of economy of place we are now, wish to see if investing there would make difference.

 

[Kipeci]

1A 2A 3A

1C 2C 3B 4C

B, visit the dwarves and get in on that dwarven banking action.

C

---

I think that about covers it. If we're not able to leave in time for the dwarf expedition return thing just shave off whatever's the least popular looting stuff until time is made.

 

[Fangshi]

3) The Tower
C) Our glorious leader big D will try to catalogue what is in tower.

Sure, this is essentially A though. The tower could be dangerous still so Derryth will want to do a lot of it herself anyway. Thaïs will want to help (and good luck stopping her) but you should be able to control who gets to look at what without much difficulty.

Going to dwarf king with pathfinder, Nine, Amena and Thais, after making sure that rest of our party is fine. (Prepare HQ for our forces, ask Gareth to train Ithap, Biliku and Uttu.) i feel that telling him about his son is must, after all he saved life of our friends.

Sure, if you decide to leave you do not have to take everyone. You can leave some people behind to do some work for you and I will provide more options as we go along. Right now I am just trying to gauge intent since people seemed intimidated by a full list of sixty plus items.

Part 5: The back up plan:
Try to learn Berserker special the best vodka in world, sell it to masses named as "Tyrvard's still", hell maybe even speak about it with dwarfs. Speak with Dwarf King about smithies relics i recall there were some of them in orders treasures

I will see what I can do.

Reds and Silvers know what they have in treasury so what we can expect from there?

Unfortunately all the adults are dead and the kids were not allowed to play in the relic room. All you know about what the Reds have is from the one time you searched the room. It is mostly tools and broken mundane items but there were a few more smelting rods that the dwarves could not get working so you could grab those and see what you can figure out. Beyond that there is a little gold and the like and maybe a few other things.

Christine however has a bit better idea of what her Order had. There are gemstones and a decent if small magical library with a focus on attack and web based spells. If you offer her a position she will have no problem showing you everything, where as if you let her leave she Serpent can probably convince her to at least show you the way.

How long will it take to get to Dwarf king and back?

A few weeks to a month to get down there if conditions are good. As for how long till your back well that would be based on how long you stay. Dwarves are know for their hospitality so you could be down there the better part of a year if you want. I would say at least three to four months (you do not want to offend them by leaving a week after you get there for example).

How much supplies we still have?

Months. You are able to restock from the supplies in the tower and the Reds can teach you how to hunt for food as well. Supplies should not be a huge concern.

Is it possible to try forge documents that tower is ours? I know that there are monsters, area is offlimit and etc but mby its possible to claim land after Imperial forces will take care of their buisness.

Right now no. If the Imperials found you right now they would try and arrest you, you are still breaking the law after all. In time? Well who knows?

Emm is there possibility to establish some kind of permanent transportation spell between city and Tower or make marker letting us easier make teleport to it?

If your Circle works together you can open a gate to Thaïs' house on the surface but you do not have the sort of power source necessary to keep it open indefinitely. It is something that is possible but you will have to spend the time to acquire it. If you go see Madb she may be able to point you in the right direction.

Oh and state of economy of place we are now, wish to see if investing there would make difference.

The current state of the economy is booming following the war. Most industries are currently employed in rebuilding society and hunting down the remains of the Dark's forces. Muithemne operates mostly as a trade city, drawing goods from the east and the west, the north and the south together in the Grand Bazaar. The is also a healthy Black Market for relics and the like. In general the human economy operates similar to a medieval economy while the dwarves operate on early modern principles but I reserve the right to fudge things if needed.

History of magic and biographies of Grand Mages

I am going to count this a D since the archmages are all great persons and the history of magic is tied to their deeds.

 

[asxetos]

I like jester's proposal of splitting the party temporarily to visit the Dwarven King but i strongly suggest leaving Thais behind to set up the Company since she is going to be the public face / PR woman.

 

[Jester]

Sure, this is essentially A though. The tower could be dangerous still so Derryth will want to do a lot of it herself anyway. Thaïs will want to help (and good luck stopping her) but you should be able to control who gets to look at what without much difficulty.

Ok A it is.

Part 5: The back up plan:
Try to learn Berserker special the best vodka in world, sell it to masses named as "Tyrvard's still", hell maybe even speak about it with dwarfs. Speak with Dwarf King about smithies relics i recall there were some of them in orders treasures

I will see what I can do.

Those barbarians will know gentlemanly pleasure of high quality alcohol and Tea... Tea still need some work. Will wait till Asia escapade. Spreading the imperial Britain culture would be interesting.

Christine however has a bit better idea of what her Order had. There are gemstones and a decent if small magical library with a focus on attack and web based spells. If you offer her a position she will have no problem showing you everything, where as if you let her leave she Serpent can probably convince her to at least show you the way.

Forgot to ask is anyone in circle opposed to her joining?

A few weeks to a month to get down there if conditions are good. As for how long till your back well that would be based on how long you stay. Dwarves are know for their hospitality so you could be down there the better part of a year if you want. I would say at least three to four months (you do not want to offend them by leaving a week after you get there for example).

Some things like Dwarven hospitality never changes, sound like something from sticker i would buy. Dwarfs tend to be awesome.

Emm is there possibility to establish some kind of permanent transportation spell between city and Tower or make marker letting us easier make teleport to it?

If your Circle works together you can open a gate to Thaïs' house on the surface but you do not have the sort of power source necessary to keep it open indefinitely. It is something that is possible but you will have to spend the time to acquire it. If you go see Madb she may be able to point you in the right direction.

Party used "escape dungeon". Imperial patrols avoided.

 

[Jester]

I like jester's proposal of splitting the party temporarily to visit the Dwarven King but i strongly suggest leaving Thais behind to set up the Company since she is going to be the public face / PR woman.

Yeah thought about it, still she could be helpful with interaction with Dwarven nobility too and i expect that before we train kids a bit and Serpent journey end we wont be able to do much here.

 

[Fangshi]

Forgot to ask is anyone in circle opposed to her joining?

Not really. She is a bit standoffish and the other girls have about the same opinion of her that you do which is decidedly mixed for now but everyone likes Serpent and you are all willing to make the effort (including Christine) to make him happy.

The poor guy just really wants you all to get along...

We will see if it happens or not.

Party used "escape dungeon". Imperial patrols avoided.

Sort of. Enough mages have to stay in the casting circle to keep the gate open (for a short range gate like this lets say you need at least three mages casting constantly to keep it open). So three of your mages would have to stay behind or you would have to juggle things to keep the gate open. It can be done but it won't be good for quick escapes.

 

[Jester]

Forgot to ask is anyone in circle opposed to her joining?

Not really. She is a bit standoffish and the other girls have about the same opinion of her that you do which is decidedly mixed for now but everyone likes Serpent and you are all willing to make the effort (including Christine) to make him happy.

The poor guy just really wants you all to get along...

We will see if it happens or not.

She still is alive? Check. All limbs? Check. No brainwashing? Check.
I would say we are very lenient... thats count as getting along i hope? :D

Party used "escape dungeon". Imperial patrols avoided.

Sort of. Enough mages have to stay in the casting circle to keep the gate open (for a short range gate like this lets say you need at least three mages casting constantly to keep it open). So three of your mages would have to stay behind or you would have to juggle things to keep the gate open. It can be done but it won't be good for quick escapes.

But we can cross to other side and start casting there? If yes there is no problem, if no we would have to send stuff, civilians and guards to other side and proceed on foot.

 

[Nevill]

It is mostly tools and broken mundane items but there were a few more smelting rods that the dwarves could not get working so you could grab those and see what you can figure out.

Wait, did we secure the ones that we managed to fix?

Anyway, the vote:
Loot everything, keep everyone, make Thais and Gareth partners, and go to the Dwarven King.

Nevill Part 1: A A A Part 2: C C B C Part 3: B Part 4: C

 

[Azira]

I've edited my votes. I'm OK with Derryth offering partnership to Thaïs and Gareth both.

 

[Fangshi]

But we can cross to other side and start casting there? If yes there is no problem, if no we would have to send stuff, civilians and guards to other side and proceed on foot.

Well you have six mages curently so it is not a problem as long as you have three casting on one side of the portal it will stay open. If you start losing mages then you will have to either find a power source or make the trip on foot.

Wait, did we secure the ones that we managed to fix?

You managed to find one of the ones you fixed. Jori had one and it was destroyed, it is possible that the others were destroyed as well. There were a few that the dwarves did not have time to fix and you could try to get them working but you do not really have any knowledge in that field of magic (neither does Bari really. He is a soldier not an inventor/mechanic). If you could find a proper tinkerer then maybe.

 

[Jester]

Wait, did we secure the ones that we managed to fix?

You managed to find one of the ones you fixed. Jori had one and it was destroyed, it is possible that the others were destroyed as well. There were a few that the dwarves did not have time to fix and you could try to get them working but you do not really have any knowledge in that field of magic (neither does Bari really. He is a soldier not an inventor/mechanic). If you could find a proper tinkerer then maybe.

Thais friend the inventor did she went in direction of dwarf halls?

Some gadget that a client that could not pay gave to her. She actually tried to convince her to come along on the expedition, but the inventor was adamant about leaving for the south. Said something about going where her inventions would be appreciated, Thaïs sighs and explains that the inventor really is a dear but just has no luck with people.

If she did mby we can make her our mad head scientist. Would be nice to ask Thais if she came back to city or if she did say where exactly she went.

 

[GreyViper]

mostly like asxetos, but with few changes:

Part 1. Treasure
1) The Vault, Red, Blue and Silver Orders
A)

2) The Library
A)

3) The Tower
C) Our glorious leader big D will try to catalogue what is in tower.

Part 2. Personnel
1) Thaïs
C) You keep her on but make her a partner, our own PR and negotiation specialist.

2) Gareth and Brigit
C) freeform (Keep them and also propose partnership to Gareth) > B

3) Serpent and Christine
B) You offer them positions. (Write letter to Thyvard family with condolences.)
4) Amena, Ithapi, Biliku, Uttu and the orphans
C) You keep them.

Part 3: The Plan Part 1
C) Going to dwarf king with patchfinder, Nine, Amena and Thais, after making sure that rest of our party is fine. (Prepare HQ for our forces, ask Gareth to train Ithap, Biliku and Uttu.) i feel that telling him about his son is must, after all he saved life of our friends.

Part 4: information
E) History of magic and biographies of Grand Mages > A) History of Dwarven ale and other parts of high culture .

Part 5: The back up plan:
Try to learn Bezzerker special the best vodka in world, sell it to masses named as "Tyrvard's still", hell mby even speak about it with dwarfs. Speak with Dwarf King about smithies relict's i recall there were some of them in orders tresures.

Im having what he has.

 

[Nevill]

So, questions. Sorry, there are quite a lot of them.

Chapter 1: The Guardhouse - what would have happened if we stuffed both Tyrvard and Serpens in the same tent?
Chapter 2: Homeward Bound - what have saved us back there? What would have happened if we attacked the Fetch?
Chapter 3: The Library - what did the choice with Brigit entail? What was in the basement?
Chapter 4: The Incantation? - what would have happened have we stayed? How would different choices with Eris played out? Why did her 'sisters' kill her?
Chapter 9: A Strange Reward - what was that about the Journeyman plates? Did it even affect anything? Would we be able to teturn to our friends in time?
Chapter 10: Uninvited Guests - what would have happened if we attacked the leader or Christine?
Chapter 12: Aftermath - I take it the ring never affected anything? Why would they even give one to you?
Chapter 13: Revelations - so Nine can teach us all of that stuff in out free time? (yeah, I know I am playing with fire here)
Chapter 14: Under Siege - how well would a spiderfolk diplomacy had gone? :D
Chapter 15: Opening Moves - how well would a mage duel with Abharsair would go? Which relics did they want, and why?
Chapter 17: Casualties - what would have happened if we let Miosguinn go? What did he intend to do in the offices? What would have happened if we left the kids back in the chapel?
Chapter 18: The Hunt - what spell would Miosguinn have cast if we missed him? What was in the basement?

What were the stats on Isolde and Miosguinn? What happened to her, what did the goddess turned her into? Why was she referred as the goddess' 'experiment'? Was that thing really Isolde, or just something that had a resemblance to her? How would Miosguinn know? Was she even sentient - well, different from the other Blues? I know she was a mage, but I don't remember her speaking a single word, and Miosguinn had to control her through magic. Why did she hate us so?

Why did Miosguinn joined our expedition, again? Did he have some goals of his own he tried to achieve, or was he completely enslaved by the goddess? How does this process work? Can you rebel against a god controlling you? What was that about destroying the world for Isolde? Did the goddess threaten him to take her back if he ever disobeys? What were Isoldes in the tanks all about? Why did he need them? Was Isolde that we killed not the first one he created?

What were the other possible ending encounters? What was in the vault Miosguinn cleared? Who was guarding the treasure?

Is the Dwarven Quarter free for looting now as well?

 

[Jester]

STR: 4/10 DEX: 5/10 CON: 6/10
INT: 7/10 WIS: 8/10 CHA: 2/10

Wisdom level up.

 

[Fangshi]

Thais friend the inventor did she went in direction of dwarf halls?

Yes, she left for the dwarven kingdom a day or two before you left in search of the stone. It might be wise to take Thaïs with you if you want to find her and recruit her. Assuming of course that she even made it to the dwarves and is still with them.

Wisdom level up.

You beat their goddess twice I figured that deserved a boost to willpower/wisdom.

 

[Jester]

Thais friend the inventor did she went in direction of dwarf halls?

Yes, she left for the dwarven kingdom a day or two before you left in search of the stone. It might be wise to take Thaïs with you if you want to find her and recruit her. Assuming of course that she even made it to the dwarves and is still with them.

When we get to city, we will find out dont we? No plan survives contact with enemy.

Wisdom level up.

You beat their goddess twice I figured that deserved a boost to willpower/wisdom.

Deceiver maxed wisdom didnt he? Guess we will have to make a cool sounding stage name for Der... personally prefer "fluffy the terrible".

 

[Fangshi]

Chapter 1: The Guardhouse - what would have happened if we stuffed both Tyrvard and Serpens in the same tent?

Hawt Berserk on Gowerman sex of course...

They would have fought. If they managed to get through a few days without murdering each other they may have become friends. It was the most drastic route to take though.

Chapter 2: Homeward Bound - what have saved us back there? What would have happened if we attacked the Fetch?

Eris saved you. She could sense the shadows swarming in massive numbers and she decided to take a risk and light up all of the runes. The shadows themselves were only attacking you to try and drive you off so you could not meet/help Eris. They are sentient undead remember. Now that you have helped her they don't much like you and will attack you on sight but they are unlikely to attack the tower again unless your wards fail.

If you attacked Eris then I would have given you choices on how to fight her. Ithapi and Amena would have helped her and there was a decent chance you would lose someone. Chain lightning is dangerous and even Tyrvard couldn't eat too many of those.

Chapter 3: The Library - what did the choice with Brigit entail? What was in the basement?

The puzzle box? It would have helped you with your DEX and INT and it would have made her like you more as you listened to her problems and advised her on what to do about her feelings for Gareth.

The basement was just a basement. Dust, boxes and darkness... nothing more. Though there was a slight chance that the creatures would catch up to you while you cleared a way out.

Chapter 4: The Incantation? - what would have happened have we stayed? How would different choices with Eris played out? Why did her 'sisters' kill her?

If you stayed you would have had to fight off the thing that broke in. You might have lost people, it would depend on who you left at camp and how spread out you were when the attack hit. You would have had new options and if you had raided the vault you would have grabbed everything.

Well if you had trusted her then she would not have told you about the shadow attack that the spell would trigger. As a result you would not have checked the runes and they would have burst through. You would have to fight them off.

If you betrayed her and dumped her out into the space between worlds it would have worked fairly well but there was a high chance that something else might come through and then you would have had to fight it off and try to escape while the shadows forced their way in from outside. It could have gone very poorly for the group.

If you had simply refused to help her then it would have led to a fight but Amena and Ithapi might have decided to stay out of it. You and Thaïs might have had to eat a chain lightning or two and there was a decent chance someone would die.

Chapter 9: A Strange Reward - what was that about the Journeyman plates? Did it even affect anything? Would we be able to teturn to our friends in time?

The plates were worth a small fortune. It was a chance to get some loot though I would have rolled to see if the shade of the Journeyman would notice from beyond the grave. He may have lashed out at you but it was about a 5% chance of it happening so you probably would have been fine. The tiles would have slowed you down a bit so I would have skipped to the scenario you got after talking to Christine with all of the battles near their ends.

Chapter 10: Uninvited Guests - what would have happened if we attacked the leader or Christine?

If you attacked the leader you would have injured him and he would try to flee. Christine would be forced to interfere as a result and the two of you would have fought.

If you attacked Christine you would have incapacitated her and taken her prisoner. Where it went from there would have been up to your choices.

Chapter 12: Aftermath - I take it the ring never affected anything? Why would they even give one to you?

A bunch of things were happening there. Neith wanted you to keep going. She wanted you to reach the offices and threaten the Reds so that she could move in with her forces and save the day by killing you all. She hoped that her victory would reunify the Red and Silver Orders under her leadership and humiliate Casgair's wife who she despised for reasons I hinted at.

This is essentially what was going on with the Damned:

-Decades ago the creatures attacked them and killed a lot of them.

-This attack undermined the traditional leadership of the Damned. A number of heresies popped up as a result

-Five years back Miosguinn finally locates his "Goddess". She greatly enhances his power and he rises through the ranks of the Blues almost overnight. He also begins growing the "first" Isolde.

-Fast forward to about three years ago. The various sub-sects had unified into the three Orders. The Reds under Casgair and his wife, the Silver under Neith, and the Blues under Abharsair. Neith and Casgair have a history together which led to tensions between the Reds and the Silver. Abharsair was largely considered a brute and a joke.

-the dwarves under Jori set out to find the Maul

-Miosguinn, Abharsair's spy on the surface signs up with your group

-Miosguinn finds the book and learns the Gate spell

-Abharsair begins creating his army

-The dwarves prepare their last stand only to be reinforced by your group. Neith becomes aware of your presence and decides to use you to secure power.

-The Reds and Christine set out to attack the dwarves

-Your group demolishes the Reds and Neith's messenger spider gives you the ring.

-The Blues infiltrate and assault the Reds and Silver, slaughtering most of both Orders including the priesthood and Casgair's wife.

-Your group arrives and saves the remaining Damned. You then decide to fight a whole army with maybe twenty people...

-You kill all of the Blue generals except Miosguinn and he loses control of most of the horde

-You set your trap, as does Miosguinn. He beats your allies, Neith dies saving Casgair who quickly dies himself and you destroy Miosguinn's army.

-You pursue him and end his threat. The Damned are functionally destroyed.

Though Neith did succeed after a fashion. She reunified the Damned... it is just that now you are their leader.

Chapter 13: Revelations - so Nine can teach us all of that stuff in out free time? (yeah, I know I am playing with fire here)

Nine can teach you all that and more and when you ask she is always eager to teach you.

Curiously when you ask her for advice she tells you that the only power worth having is that which you earn by your own efforts and that "Power that is simply handed to you is of little lasting worth." You are not completely sure what she means by that but when you ask for clarification she just gives you a knowing smile.

Chapter 14: Under Siege - how well would a spiderfolk diplomacy had gone? :D

Game Over...

Actually it just would have triggered a much more difficult fight but you could have survived. You would probably have to run away though.

Chapter 15: Opening Moves - how well would a mage duel with Abharsair would go? Which relics did they want, and why?

The duel was difficult but winnable. Abharsair was not a terribly skilled mage. He had brute power but you are already much more skilled than he is. You could have taken him but Miosguinn and the other mages would have captured you afterward.

They wanted the black fang, it has unique properties. I can not say any more. Be careful with it and if you want to know more then put in the research time.

Chapter 17: Casualties - what would have happened if we let Miosguinn go? What did he intend to do in the offices? What would have happened if we left the kids back in the chapel?

He would have gone back to his office to get his artefacts and wake up the Isoldes. He then would have started ambushing the patrols of the creatures to rebuild his numbers. Within two months you would be looking at another horde of Blues besieging your tower. Once he knew you were there he could not let you go.

If you left the kids in the chapel they would have set up a makeshift barricade with the one working smelting torch poking out. They would probably have been completely fine as there were no Blues left in the area but I would have rolled an encounter for them just to see if anything came by.

Chapter 18: The Hunt - what spell would Miosguinn have cast if we missed him? What was in the basement?

The basement was mostly storage. It did have a secret escape route that he would have taken when he was done in his office and had the Isoldes up and running. You could have set up an ambush for them down there.

If he realized you were in the building he would have started trying to glamour your allies and turn you against each other. If you had split into teams he would have tried to turn you against each other. I would have presented your allies as a combat encounter, "A group of Blues comes around the corner and attacks..." sort of thing and it would have been up to you to figure out that they were actually your friends.

Fighting illusionists is dangerous business.

What were the stats on Isolde and Miosguinn?

Isolde(s): STR 8 DEX 9 CON 2 INT 7 WIS 3 CHA 1 and a bunch of spider special skills

Miosguinn STR 4 DEX 6 CON 4 INT 8 WIS 4 CHA 4 and a few spider and divine special skills

What happened to her, what did the goddess turned her into? Why was she referred as the goddess' 'experiment'? Was that thing really Isolde, or just something that had a resemblance to her? How would Miosguinn know? Was she even sentient - well, different from the other Blues? I know she was a mage, but I don't remember her speaking a single word, and Miosguinn had to control her through magic. Why did she hate us so?

She was not the real Isolde. Miosguinn's goddess does not actually have the power to bring back the dead. She was a part of the goddess "grown" in a tank like the six you saw. She was sort of a "natural" hybrid rather than the abominations that the Blues created with the book. He knew she wasn't really the girl he knew... he pretended he didn't.... but in his heart he knew and it only made him more desperate. Yes she had human level intelligence but the way she saw the world was fundamentally inhuman.

She hated you because she wanted to kill and eat you.

Why did Miosguinn joined our expedition, again?

He joined because you were going anyway. It was a chance to check in, keep tabs on your group and make some money/spells/artefacts doing it. Simple as that, he had no idea that things would play out as they did.

Did he have some goals of his own he tried to achieve, or was he completely enslaved by the goddess?

His sole long term goal was to get Isolde back, beyond that he really did not care. It is possible that a stronger person could still have resisted the Goddess but he did not even want to. He was her slave but he followed her willingly. She kept her word to him and so he would not break faith with her.

How does this process work? Can you rebel against a god controlling you? What was that about destroying the world for Isolde? Did the goddess threaten him to take her back if he ever disobeys? What were Isoldes in the tanks all about? Why did he need them? Was Isolde that we killed not the first one he created?

He traded his independence, his sanity, and his free will for the power to "bring back" Isolde. If he were a different man, a better man, perhaps he could have fought his goddess but he did not want to. He would have killed every living being in the world to have her back again. In helping his goddess he was trying to destroy the world. He did not actually want to hurt people, he just did not care anymore if he did.

If he had decided to rebel and if he could and did succeed then she would have taken back her gifts (at least the ones she could). He would have lost the ability to create more Isoldes and the ability to control the ones he had. For him that was simply unacceptable.

The "first" Isolde (the one Tyrvard killed) was his first attempt at recreating the real Isolde. She was not perfect... the ones in the tanks would have been closer though again they were all fakes. The real Isolde has been dead for over thirty years.

What were the other possible ending encounters?

Abharsair
?????
Casgair
Casgair's Wife
Neith
?????
Christine
Biliku and Uttu
Breamas
The Forgotten
?????
?????
Jori and the Dwarves
Your Friends
Nine
The Guardian

and many more.... it all comes down to your choices really.

What was in the vault Miosguinn cleared?

A lot of gold, gems, and the like. Ornate weapons, the odd magical item and the stone. It was just a secondary vault.

Who was guarding the treasure?

Traps, puzzles, riddles and the Guardian. Derryth would have loved the challenge. Miosguinn just blew it all up...

Is the Dwarven Quarter free for looting now as well?

Well you will meet no organized resistance now but you can't do it while Bari is around and it will take months to search everything. If you stay in the city I will include it as a option. The area is also still filled with ghosts and the odd spider here and there.

Oh, that reminds me. Biliku and Uttu know some of the techniques the Damned used to breed loyal spiders. If you want them to set up a breeding program in your tower you can do that though it will take time.

 

[Baltika9]

Fangshi, how many more brofists do you need for the Serpent-Christine bonus series?

 

[Jester]

Fangshi, how many more brofists do you need for the Serpent-Christine bonus series?

Sound like bribe proposition... you are learning how this world works young grasshopper. ;D