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Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
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9,611
Anyone else think the Ra ritual will turn the son of that priest into an immortal as well?

I suspect that it will revive NaRAm to fight the tentacles... considering how he is able to summon pillars of light
If any of those two are true, which they probably are, I was suspicious of the priest from the moment he appeared, then the "revolt" may be a setup as well, and will side against us if the priest becomes immortal/revives Naram.
 

Smashing Axe

Arcane
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Divinity: Original Sin
I don't see why our relationship with other immortals has to be necessarily antagonistic like it was with Shulgi. We may be able to cooperate with some of the less megalomaniacal characters, I still suspect Naram won't be a dick to us if we aren't tyrannical.
 

newcomer

Learned
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
919
Well, Ean should've mind-scanned them, and I think it's easy to rescan him the moment we announce our agreement, if we do agree to the plan...
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
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I don't see why our relationship with other immortals has to be necessarily antagonistic like it was with Shulgi. We may be able to cooperate with some of the less megalomaniacal characters, I still suspect Naram won't be a dick to us if we aren't tyrannical.
It's a gamble, though. Maybe he's just as ambitious as Shulgi, maybe not. However, it is up to us to make those gambles, and, quite frankly, I don't really trust the guy.
By the way, Treavebro, are there any other immortals out there besides the ones we know?
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Chapter 3.4: Underneath the Temple

"We won't need the Sceptre, Akil."

The young man was crestfallen that you decided not to go along with his plan. You know that he had been betting all his hopes on you aiding him to overthrow the Gieloth cult. "Master Runi, without the Sceptre, we will not be able to defeat Sekhenun! Only Ra's mighty fire can scourge the evil god from his temple!"

You raise your hand to silence his protest.

"First things first - how good are your rebels at fighting, Akil?"

"Well, we've had some practice... some of them served with the Heliopolis militia and have taught us how to fight."

"Have they ever fought in a real battle before?"

"N-no, sir."

"Secondly, how many of them are there?"

"There's more than five hundred of us, and we're all willing to lay our lives down to defeat these heathens!"

"That's five hundred lives on your hands, Akil. Their deaths are on you. There are a few thousand cultists, and like it or not, your friends will die. Can you live with that, knowing that they would have lived if you had not raised the banner for revolt?"

"I..."

"You are not cut out for this, Akil. Trust me. I know of a way to destroy Sekhenun for good, without sacrificing the lives of your friends. It is enough that we risk our own lives to save theirs." Inwardly you hope that what worked against Sekhenun's brethren will work for him - or else your bravado would be for naught. "We will sneak into the Temple at the next dusk prayer, using Akil's secret tunnel." Akil looks down, disappointed. You sense that he is not fully convinced of your ability to take on the Gieloth without divine aid.

"Time to get some rest then, brother." Samun nods at Kamun, and the both of them prepare to turn in. Mutyre had apparently nodded off, it seems, on her own bed. You look out the window. The Temple of the Sun, blacker than the night itself, looms in the darkness.

***

The tunnel entrance was in a hole under some planks of wood, in an abandoned shack close to the temple. There were very little guards around - you had counted only three as you made your way from the inn to the shack - most of them had flocked to the courtyard to attend dusk prayers.

Loyal little drones, aren't they?

You and your companions descend down the ladder carefully. Twilight has taken away most of the natural light available. You reach the bottom of the ladder first, and light your torch. The others do the same as they join you.

"I guess the cultists were too stupid to think that there was a tunnel here." quips Mutyre confidently. "Maybe. Only the high priest and my father knew of this entrance. It was how I escaped the temple when they came." Akil replies, in a subdued manner. You gesture at him. "Lead the way, then."

Akil walks to the front of the group nervously, and begins to head deeper into the tunnel. It is narrow enough that you have to travel in single file. You follow, and then Mutyre, with the soldier brothers bringing up the rear. The tunnel was roughly carved, and did not exhibit the same polish the Egyptians usually applied to their stoneworking - clearly made for a more utilitarian purpose. As you proceed, the air grows colder. "Where will this tunnel lead to?" Kamun whispers from the back of the line. "It's a bit cramped." Kamun and Samun were considerably bulkier than you, and the narrow tunnel was a tight squeeze for their frame. "We'll come out in the kitchens."

"Oh good, I hope there's food. The dates we had for dinner weren't very filling." laughed Mutyre.

"That's strange." Akil stopped suddenly. You nearly walk into him. You sense a strong feeling of puzzlement from him. "What's wrong?"

"The path branches into three ways. This wasn't here when I came through here before."

"You were here as a child, weren't you? You might have missed it." offered Mutyre.

"No, I don't think so. I remember seeing the plans Father gave the workers. The tunnel does not branch. This was not here before."

"The cultists know about this tunnel, then. That's the simplest explanation." you say. "They are the only ones who would have the opportunity to expand it."

It's the simplest explanation, but it doesn't make things simple for you.
So, where to now? Should you probe the path a bit?

The voices give a sound suggestion. You tell your companions to wait a bit, and squeeze your way past Akil to stand at the fork. The leftmost path tilts slightly upward, and the air is warmer. The central path keeps at your current level, and widens out a few steps beyond the fork. The rightmost path tilts slightly downward, and grows narrower. The air wafting from that passage is cold.

You close your eyes and spread your mind out cautiously, only probing tentatively lest you give yourselves away. The leftmost path leads to a group of humans... cultists. There is a feeling of pleasure and contentment. Probably it is the way to the kitchens that Akil mentioned.. There are other humans in the central path - in that direction you feel fear, loathing and a sense of resignation from them. There is also a weak alien presence... probably one of the Children. In the rightmost path, there is again a Child of Sekhenun, but beyond that there is a strange barrier you cannot penetrate. You feel the Child on the rightmost path begin heading up the pathway, towards your party.

You must decide, and decide quickly.

***

A. You move up the left path, towards the kitchens. Best to stick to the original plan. Humans you can deal with swiftly and without any fuss.

B. You go straight, on the central path. Judging from their emotions, it is possible that the humans there are prisoners of the Gieloth - if so, freeing them can gain you information and more aid to defeat the cult.

C. You charge down the right passageway. The Child does not know you are here - your telepathy assures you of that. You can surprise it, defeat it, and check out the strange barrier. You suspect it is a shortcut to Sekhenun.
 
Joined
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B. We need better info and those prisoners just might have it.​

Although C isn't bad either - one less Child to worry about if we can surprise it. A is kind of pointless though - we are not here to fight human cultists.
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
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C

If the child is alone, we can test drive his abilities and gain far more valuable information that the prisoners can offer.

Treave: how are our senses? Can we see in the dark? Do we feel vibrations under our feet when someone is walking near us? Or have we just ignored them and focused on our telepathy?
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Treave: how are our senses? Can we see in the dark? Do we feel vibrations under our feet when someone is walking near us? Or have we just ignored them and focused on our telepathy?

Good catch. Your reliance on telepathy has kept your senses at a peak human level. You can see, smell, hear, taste and feel better than most, but nothing that'll really help against the Children.

Spending about fifty years in a psychic-dampening pit fighting endless waves of monsters will solve that, though.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
9,611
Treave: how are our senses? Can we see in the dark? Do we feel vibrations under our feet when someone is walking near us? Or have we just ignored them and focused on our telepathy?

Good catch. Your reliance on telepathy has kept your senses at a peak human level. You can see, smell, hear, taste and feel better than most, but nothing that'll really help against the Children.

Spending about fifty years in a psychic-dampening pit fighting endless waves of monsters will solve that, though.
Let me gues, we're standing right above it.
 

Azira

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Codex 2012
We don't know that the children aren't psychically linked or at least capable of communicating in such a way with eachother. If that's the case, then it's a bit early to tip our hand..
I'm currently learning towards B. Freeing hostages and killing a weak child of Sekhenun should be possible without putting the whole place at full alert. But if we could conceivably block the more mature child's telepathy with our own and take it down without arising suspicion, that would be a big plus, so provided someone comes with the right arguments, I could be swayed to C. :M
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Ah, sorry, both presences are weak in comparison to the ones you felt at Memphis and Tuwanu. Didn't mean to imply that one was weaker than the other, it's just Ean recognizing a Child as having a weaker presence. You do not know which is stronger, nor do you know what strange and terrible powers each of them might wield.
 

Smashing Axe

Arcane
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Divinity: Original Sin
A - I suspect these things are psychic, or at least their maker is. One blinks out, it will cause concern. We can likely deal with the human cultists quick enough to avoid this.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
#Azira makes a good point, we don't know what sorts of communication or warning mechanisms they could have in case of C, or even B (since treave says there's a slight alien presence). i don't know though - it's hard to decide between B and C. I do like how C would help us really get our current followers on our side, and convince Akil; we don't know if we'll have any way of dispelling the barrier, though.
 

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