Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Azira]

The mice seem ambitious. I kind of like them.

1D
2D

 

[Nevill]

I figure we need to do something with that army of theirs before the White Mage shows up and leads it right back to our fort.

Engaging them is suicidal. They still have an overwhelming advantage in numbers. So harrying them shoud be the way to go.

However, I propose to step it up a notch.

First, have our Pathfinders and Berty that we have conveniently dropped behind enemy lines set up a minefield ahead of the enemy on a path they will be retreating towards. The Blackrock reinforcements have horses, and the enemy force moves with the speed of their Thralls and Soulless, which is really slow. We should have no problems with this part.

Have our Blackrock forces wait in an ambush ahead, too. They should not engage in a direct combat, but they should see if there is an opportunity to harass them when their attention is turned elsewhere.

Then, have Lyssa, some dwarven grenadiers (or whoever is good with explosives) and - maybe? - a pair of Black Arrows get into the air balloon. Get it as high as it can go to be safe from the enemy spells, and maybe even higher than that with the help of the Strong Wind spell, and rain grenades from above for as long as you have them. With the numbers our enemies have, precision should not be a concern. Have our archers try and single the enemy mages with their arrows, if that is possible. If we get really high in the balloon, arrows may not normally fly that far, but gravity should help that since we will be shooting downwards. They'll just have to adjust their aim.

Coordinate this assault with the one from Stoneheim troops and/or Pathfinders for maximum confusion.

It should not take long to install a makeshift sail on the balloon to give it more sideways and upwards mobility. With luck, we would even be able to strafe enemy projectile spells that way.

Have everyone equip a chute. Tie them all with a single rope, or just have them grab onto it. If the airship is shot down somehow, have Lyssa guide the crew safely to our side with her Strong Wind spell. Kind of like this:

          /)
         /\)dorf#1
        / /)
       /  \)dorf#2               Or like this:
      /   /)
Lyssa \   \)...        <^^>    <^^>    <^^>    <^^>
       \  /)            \/      \/      \/      \/
        \ \)...        Lyssa--dorf#1--dorf#2--dorf#n
         \/)
          \)dorf#n

When they are not bombing, she can also help with splitting the larger enemy groups into smaller chuncks with illusion spells, sort of like what we did with Miosguinn when we broke the spider and ghost hordes attacking the dwarves. Though will it work with the enemy mages to guide them through? Still, it might split their attention if they try to control the horde and disbelieve the illusions simultaneously.

Give her enough Energon Cubes to pull it off, maybe even all of them safe for those we might need for our part in the plan and for the mice. Also give her a ring with Heal, just in case. We still have two mandrake roots for emergencies.

And of course, pursue them with the archers and a mortar, trying to inflict some casualties and to guide them straight into our Pathfinders' loving arms and their trap. Take the charioteers with you as well, though there is not much left of them. They will help if it comes to melee, though we really should try to avoid it. Derryth and Thais should assist with that, though this should primarily be a job for Ceannard and our mortarmen, as they are the only ones outranging the enemy.

Have Argus handle the smaller tactical details and consult with him on a matter of how to get through this with the least amount of casualties. We do not want to lose anyone here if we don't have to.

Communicate with your forces and coordinate your efforts through the eagles.

With death ahead of them, behind them, above them and generally everywhere, I think our enemies might just panic and rout. Even if they don't, they will have to spread their horde quite thin, as they would be essentially surrounded, and they will have trouble guiding a large number of undead if we disable some of the more experienced mages.

Lay that plan out for Argus and the rest of our commanders. Are there any adjustments they want to make?

Somebody should come up with a fitting name for the operation. I'll make it a 1D. Suggestions are welcome.

As for the mice, let's expand on the previous experiment and see where it will lead us. Though I propose a caveat that we should train a separate group of mice fiercely loyal to us back in Myrgard. Just in case, you know?

Make it a 2D, too.

 

[Fangshi]

The Plan

Well your commanders can not really comment of the magical aspects of the plan as they have a very poor grasp on what Lyssa, you or your enemies can do magically speaking.

As for the rest it could work and they do not see any glaring weaknesses in your general strategy. A lot will come down to how the enemy reacts though.

I can add it to the list if you want or we can wait for any further revisions first. All the same to me.

As for the mice, let's expand on the previous experiment and see where it will lead us. Though I propose a caveat that we should train a separate group of mice fiercely loyal to us back in Myrgard. Just in case, you know?

Make it a 2D, too.

Added.

 

[Nevill]

I can add it to the list if you want or we can wait for any further revisions first. All the same to me.

Let's add it. If there are corrections or revisions to be made, we can do it on the fly if everyone agrees to it.

Guys, does anyone want to speculate about what the enemy is up to?

 

[Kz3r0]

1D
2D
I guess that the enemy can set up ambushes for covering their retreat, I have no idea of what kind they will be tho.

 

[Azira]

Flopped.

 

[Jester]

vote D&D
"this going to be nuts"

 

[archaen]

Fangshi Do we have our wisdom fetishes ready and if so how long to use them? If it isnt long I would ask Nevill to add to his plan that Lyssa uses one so she has much stronger casting.

Do we want to ride out on chariots and harrass them from the rear?

 

[Nevill]

Actually, I am wary of indulging ourselves too much. If they draw us out too far from the fort, they can turn around and try to crush us.

I want them to think they can get away if they only try hard enough, and direct our strikes so that we could lure them to the minefield, whereupon we will spring our trap from multiple directions and try to shock and overwhelm them - still without entering an outright fight.

Anything that helps this, goes.

I'd probably take the chariots, all 8 of them, and load them with soldiers and grenadiers. The grenadiers are not to engage, but to cover our bases if the enemy decides to turn a part of his host against us to delay us. Our mobile forces can not fight the enemy directly, so the dwarves could put some satchel charges between us and the enemy, if needed, and ensure that nothing dangerous will reach us. The soldiers are a safety measure, and besides, Hamundr will not leave us alone anyway.

The grenadiers that won't fit on the chariots can take a ride in the balloon. That reminds me, we should probably give Lyssa the Heaven Stone as well. The only thing that can harm them in the sky is magic, and Lyssa is the only one who can guide them back to safety if they get in trouble, so we should protect her better. We will still have the necklaces and the bracers.

If the foci is ready, sure, we might use them. But the ritual takes two hours, and I am afraid we simply don't have that time.

 

[Fangshi]

Fangshi Do we have our wisdom fetishes ready and if so how long to use them? If it isnt long I would ask Nevill to add to his plan that Lyssa uses one so she has much stronger casting.

Yes, she has them ready if you want to use them but the ritual takes a few hours to complete as Nevill mentioned so there will be a trade-off there.

That reminds me, we should probably give Lyssa the Heaven Stone as well.

You can certainly do that if the voters want.

 

[archaen]

A few hours for the ritual is too long for the plan.

If we are sending out chariots to harrass wouldn't archers be better as the riders if we don't want them to engage? I am confused as to what we are going to be doing during this plan? Are we sitting in the keep?

This is out of left field: Order everyone back to the keep. Have all the girls use the wisdom ritual and load them and our body guards on the balloon. Have Lyssa take us in the balloon over the army that is now away from all witnesses but our pilots. Wrest control of the soulless, using energon cubes and our massive will power, from the necromancers and use them to murder the remaining casters and then order them to destroy the thralls and then themselves. Mind wipe our pilots and replace it with us using some other spells than necromancy using false memory.

Nevermind, we can only control ghasts and thralls and don't have the mass versions. It would have been funny to murder them with their own army.

 

[Nevill]

I thought the archers are a part of our mobile troops. It's very similar to the force we hit the TWM with:

Myora does not like how 'soft' your force is (you suspect that, that is her way of saying she wishes you would bring her with you) but you explain that you need speed and ranged fire power more than anything else and she does agree that the force you have put together certainly has those two attributes.

And of course we come along. The enemy has mages, remember? If they didn't, our forces would have moped the floor with the undead. We will provide general support and serve as leadership, just as we've been doing for the whole siege.

Necromancy is a bit too sketchy for my tastes, as is mindwipe. Not to mention that probably even with 9 WIS Lyssa isn't going to command several hundreds of undead alone.

 

[Grimgravy]

CC > DD

 

[Jester]

Ok time to inform masses of our victory. We must buy bards, messengers and puppeteers. Dyr will be the right sock.

 

[archaen]

Alright, I guess I am on board with 1.D 2.D

I always wondered where cranium rats came from...

Can we ask the mice at what rate their gift breeds true and what exact modifications are required to have them cast? Is their life span increased as normal mice only live about a year? This is why I am assuming these are descendants of the original gifted mice and not the originals themselves. If we are going to have an army of mice mages their training might take up most of their lives.

 

[Fangshi]

Can we ask the mice at what rate their gift breeds true and what exact modifications are required to have them cast? Is their life span increased as normal mice only live about a year? This is why I am assuming these are descendants of the original gifted mice and not the originals themselves. If we are going to have an army of mice mages their training might take up most of their lives.

They are the first in their respective families to be able to cast full spells and they need their drug to do so for any extended length of time however they both have parents and grandparents that demonstrated some magical aptitude. So based on that their talents seem to go back about two generations at least.

Some of their respective siblings can also channel a little magical energy but not enough to do more than create a tiny light or a single spark.

They do not feel comfortable enough to tell you what was done to them, though you could force that information out of them if you want.

They are eight and ten months old respectively and they do not know how long they will live. Their parents averaged three years and their grandparents averaged a year and a half. You have no way of knowing if that is a direct result of their previous master's experiments or if it was simply a side-effect.

 

[Nevill]

What do they think about the dwarves and the ghols?

If we are going to introduce a third faction in the struggle for world dominance, might as well see what their political affiliations are.

I'd especially like to know their opinion on the inhabitants of the fort, since those are the ones who will try to co-exist with them at first. I find it hard to imagine the dwarves will take their new neighbours seriously unless we specifically order them to (both of their positions are that of mercenaries in our employ, but it's a bit hard to accept a mouse as an equal), and it might backfire on them.

Were the mice present during the attack on the fort? Maybe they know what happened to the missing dwarves whose bodies we didn't find? Or maybe they know what was the deal with Rand and how he escaped into the tunnels while others did not.

She frowns, "Yes and No. These records are not simply a mess, they are purposefully misleading. Without Jawbone around it will take me quite some time to sort out everything Blackrock has been up to. I should be able to piece together enough to get them functioning within the week but it could take substantially longer than that to uncover their entire history and discover any hidden assets they may possess."

Are they knowledgeable enough about the affairs of the fort to help us with this? They might have heard something.

They do not feel comfortable enough to tell you what was done to them, though you could force that information out of them if you want.

Do they want to see more of their kind if it means someone else would have to go through the same procedures?

Basically, do they think it was worth it?

We hopped aboard the wagon that lets us train our own mice, but maybe they themselves don't think it is a good idea.

 

[Fangshi]

What do they think about the dwarves and the ghols?

They don't think much of anything about either group. As long as they are not directly threatened they do not much care.

I'd especially like to know their opinion on the inhabitants of the fort, since those are the ones who will try to co-exist with them at first. I find it hard to imagine the dwarves will take their new neighbours seriously unless we specifically order them to (both of their positions are that of mercenaries in our employ, but it's a bit hard to accept a mouse as an equal), and it might backfire on them.

They have nothing in particular against the inhabitants of the fort. They have lived most of their lives in the tower you have currently claimed for yourself so they have had little contact with most of the other inhabitants of the fort.

Were the mice present during the attack on the fort? Maybe they know what happened to the missing dwarves whose bodies we didn't find? Or maybe they know what was the deal with Rand and how he escaped into the tunnels while others did not.

They were present and they hid when the attackers swept the towers. They have no idea what happened to the defenders as they were in the tower at the time.

The regular mice (that live in the lower levels of the compound) might know something but if they do they have not offered any information. You could try to threaten them or bribe them if you want or you could use spells to make them talk as well.

Are they knowledgeable enough about the affairs of the fort to help us with this? They might have heard something.

They don't know anything about that really. They were taught magic, experimented on and kept in the tower so they do not have a good understanding of what was going on in other parts of the fort.

Again the 'regular' mice might know but that would take a little negotiation on your part. If you provide them with a list of questions I will give you their demands...

Do they want to see more of their kind if it means someone else would have to go through the same procedures?

Basically, do they think it was worth it?

They like being able to cast magic but it did hurt a lot and they are well aware that they are addicted.

For them, it is worth it, but they would have liked to be asked before they were experimented on. The were never given a choice and that bothers them a little.

They do not much care if there are more like them. In general they only care about their families and each other.

 

[Nevill]

Again the 'regular' mice might know but that would take a little negotiation on your part. If you provide them with a list of questions I will give you their demands...

Alright, let's try it.

1) What happened to the missing defenders? Did they make it out of the fort or not?
2) What was the deal with Rand? Did he come into contact with enemy forces? (I kind of doubt that, since there were ghols and TWM thought he had a huge advantage, so hiring Rand to capture us would probably be excessive, but still).
3) What is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything? Somehow, I can't shake off the feeling these mice know more than they are letting on...

 

[Fangshi]

Right. To answer each question this is what they want:

1. For question one they want your assurance that no cat or feline aligned party will be allowed access to the fort without at least two guards and a forty eight hour notice given in advance.

2. For question two they want 10kgs of cheese imported from Bibbiano in the south of the Province. You could probably acquire some in Myrgard though it would be a bit expensive. Since you have been fair with them so far they will accept your 'word of honour' on the deal. If you agree they will give you three weeks to acquire the cheese, or else...

3. Their negotiator gives you a wink and requests only time. That experiment, he insists, is still ongoing and some day they may just have an answer for you or maybe a question. You are not sure if he is being serious or simply having you on.

 

[Nevill]

Well, we (hopefully) don't plan to exterminate them, since they have proven themselves to be valuable allies. And I think the dwarves might appreciate having them around after they took down a Shade almost by themselves. However, I do not want to let them get completely out of control. If they, in turn, will promise not to steal or spoil supplies from the Fort, we can officially include them in our roster of forces and provide them with a fixed allowance - which also means they would have to watch their population and control it by themselves, sending the excess into the wilderness. It's better than being eaten by a cat, if you ask me.

All bets are off if they break the terms of contract, though.

Note to self: "Besides, there are always weasels".

I'll wait for the others to comment before I promise anything, though.

 

[Jester]

Ok if we will go with 1 we got to make some regulations of those rats. Like amount of food they using, population or if they aren't wiling to compromise mby teach them agriculture and possibility of starting alliance. WE WILL DOMINATE THE GANZE WELD MY FUHRER MUAHAHA. Rats are able to understand that our continued well being will be beneficial for them. After all we are people buying food for fort. Course they can migrate when things will start to go bleak. Usually leadership tend to loose heads when such things occur, so i guess they are receptive.

Hmm when we wake up inventor mby we can ask her to make miniature gliders and invigilator tools for rodent commando. We could find some plant wizard to make uber crops yields plants, might be nice business.

Oh and Fangshi i demand update of all rodent factions we met in here: "Known Organizations and their Relations with the Lost (based on last known information):". And we should spread the word of defeating one more horde of undead leaded by shades. PR is important those days.

 

[Kipeci]

Will this improve our mercenary company's reputation, by the way? The caliber of foes here seems a bit higher up than highway robbers, so playing up the role of our men in this would probably turn out to our benefit.

 

[Nevill]

Oh and Fangshi i demand update of all rodent factions we met in here.

I second this.

Hmm when we wake up inventor mby we can ask her to make miniature gliders and invigilator tools for rodent commando.

And this. It is too hilarious to pass up. Besides, we've seen her make a mechanical bird already.

And we should spread the word of defeating one more horde of undead leaded by shades.

Shades? What shades? There never was an army of undead, to hear the Lords talk about it!

Anyway, back to the plan.

The air balloon is easily our most valuable asset. It packs more punch than all 50 of Ceannard's archers combined, it is extremely mobile, and there is no hiding from it. And Lyssa is essential for its continued operability and the survival of its crew. Therefore, I think we might want to shield her from certain eventualities as much as possible.

Is there anything we can do to play around the lightning storm like the one TWM cased, I wonder?

We should give Lyssa a spyglass to better assess the situation and properly prioritize threats and targets alike.

We should also have her use her aphids. The damn vial is sitting in our inventory for more than half of the chapter already, and I don't think there will be a better chance to use it. Spread the aphids among the living targets - there aren't that many of them in the first place. The small critters are going to be hard to shoot down, and if they bury themselves in mages' robes, they will have a hell of a time trying to get rid of the insects. Meanwhile they will either lose control over the horde and stop casting their spells, or run a risk of being blown up alive. That ought to disrupt the enemy plans.

That is, if they notice them at all. We can try and be sneaky with them, assassinating the mages before they understand what is happening. I imagine there are a lot of flies in the area with all those rotting corpses around.

Prioritize targeting the senior necromancers. Meta knowledge aside, it stands to reason that the older they are, the more experience they would have. The archmages can mask their age, but humans can not.

We should also establish an emergency signal. If we get in danger of being surrounded, or the enemy will one-up us somehow, have Uttu fire her flash arrow. That will signal to Lyssa (or maybe to all troops?) to drop whatever she is doing at a time and come back to help us. Whether it means carpet-bombing the forces trying to surround us, confusing them with illusions, attacking the enemy mages with aphids or what-have-you is up to her.

So, in short:
- Give Lyssa the Heaven Stone
- Give Lyssa a spyglass
- Prioritize hitting the older mages
- Make use of aphids
- Establish an 'SOS' signal in case things go south

Any additions to this list, or maybe objections?

 

[Grimgravy]

Mouse diplomacy.....ugh. Flopping to straight CC.