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Myth: A New Age CYOA

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
I don't see why not. If you just want to talk to him it will not require a vote as it is not likely to change anything.
I would like to just talk to him for now.

So when he regains consciousness, I want to list the crimes he is accused of, and then tell him there are two ways it can be done. He can tell us everything he knows like a good cooperative citizen. Or we can turn him in to the King's judicial system for interrogation, and they are quite a bit less gentle and willing to entertain the notion of mercy than we are. So what is it going to be?

How long has he been a cultist? What were his reasons? How many did he manage to involve in the worship of the Goddess? If there are any of them who are not involved in working against the crown, we are willing to give them a benefit of the doubt.

What was he doing on the eighth floor? What were the orders of 'Doctor Miosguinn'? For how long he accepts orders from him, anyway? Why? The man only was around for 2 to 3 weeks. What did not-Rand tell him?

What was his plan?

How long did they know about the existence of the underground temple? And about the tomb? Does he know who the tomb belonged to?

What does he know about the Spider Goddess (not-Rand mentioned he does not even believe she is a real entity)?
 
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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Fangshi, how difficult would it be to request Hallr for ourselves to do as we see fit with him, and send him into the Dreaming? He is a dead man walking anyway, and the Dreaming is quite a bit more secure than a Pathfinder prison. Besides, Morpheus might like a company of an academician.

Can we request some arrows and bolts from the guards on our way out? King's orders and all.

Do we get to increase the number of the items we can enchant as part of our collective mage activities by virtue of practicing this for a whole month? Since Uttu's quiver is now petrified, I want to add some arrows to the item roster. One month ago we could enchant 10 arrows per hour for a week. Does the math still stand? Maintaining a small reserve of arrows enchanted with different spells would probably benefit us.

Why did we not learn The Path of Intellect and The Path of Clarity as part of our everyday activities? They are the ones we actually actively cast.

Can we ask Jan if he knows something about the 'guardians' down the stream? Apparently there were recorded claims of their existence.
 
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Fangshi

Arcane
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
1,997
Nevill said:
So when he regains consciousness, I want to list the crimes he is accused of, and then tell him there are two ways it can be done. He can tell us everything he knows like a good cooperative citizen. Or we can turn him in to the King's judicial system for interrogation, and they are quite a bit less gentle and willing to entertain the notion of mercy than we are. So what is it going to be?

He comes to choking on water and yelling threats. As he takes in his surroundings he begins to realize just how deeply in trouble he is, he blinks twice and opens his mouth to speak.

You cut him off and begin to list his crimes. You circle to his left as Thaïs circles to his right, you alternate speaking, throwing the charges at him rapidly: treason, conspiracy, attempted murder on several counts. He blinks, his lip quivers, more a moment he thinks to protest. He looks past you at Jan's impassive face, he hangs his head and he lets out a low whine.

You give him his options. A polite 'chat' with the two of you now or a nice long conversation with a government examiner later.

He chokes back a sob and agrees to tell you anything he knows.

Nevill said:
How long has he been a cultist?

His entire life. His parents were cultists as were their parents before them.

Nevill said:
What were his reasons?

Reasons? He needs a moment to think about that. When he does answer it is with a slight shrug.

He has never really thought about it to be honest. It is just who he is. The Goddess is a part of him, a part of his past and his culture and if he serves her well in this life perhaps he will even be rewarded for it though he will readily admit that he does not expect any sort of physical or material reward for his faith. In that detail he says he is different than his father and mother.

Nevill said:
How many did he manage to involve in the worship of the Goddess?

Some of his earliest memories are going to the local temple with his parents. It was underneath the local mill and the congregation consisted of about a dozen dwarves. His mother as the minister would read to them of the deeds of the Goddess, how she created the world and uplifted the dwarven race. He remembers it so clearly, the chanting, the smell of beer and incense, the laughing and even the singing when they were sure they could get away with it. Those are some of his happiest memories and simple recounting them to you brings a smile to his face momentarily.

Nevill said:
If there are any of them who are not involved in working against the crown, we are willing to give them a benefit of the doubt.

He says there are many who follow the Goddess and have no quarrel with the Crown but they most are afraid as they know they will be wrongly persecuted.

You hear Jan scoff at the idea behind your back.

Caoilainn speaks in your mind. She tells you that the penalty for all those who worship the Goddess is death, no exceptions.

Nevill said:
What was he doing on the eighth floor?

He had finished his rounds on the ninth floor about twenty minutes earlier and he was waiting for- he stops, uncertain if he should implicate anyone else in his crimes. You remind him of what is waiting for him if he withholds information from you and with a loud gulp he nods and continues. He says he was waiting for Janine to come down. They would going to take lunch in the quarters of his apprentice and discuss some of the more interesting theories about the place of the Goddess within the 'heretical' versions of the dwarven creation myth. He and Janine get into all sorts of arguements about it. You see he maintains that the Goddess fills a largely allegorical role, a way for early dwarves to explain the shift in their culture from a semi nomadic fishing and gathering existence to a settled agrarian one. The spider Goddess as a sedentary hunter and planner manages to kill the nomadic and 'bestial' Swimmer which is naturally portrayed as a great ell or other, similar fish. Janine on the other hand argues in favour of a literal interpretation of the texts, that there actually was a giant fish and that the Goddess was and is an actual entity. Clearly warming to the subject he begins to laugh kindly and says that she even argues that the Goddess created the world from the body of the dead Swimmer but he believes that to be nonsense.

He grows serious for a moment. He asks you not to harm Janine or his apprentice. They mean no real harm and if you just let him talk to them he is certain that he can convince them to come quietly. Janine is a dear friend and it would break his heart to see anything happen to her. From the way he words his request you are fairly certain that she is more than simply a friend to him.

Naturally, you do not mention her death or the death of his apprentice as you want to get as much information from him as possible.

Nevill said:
What were the orders of 'Doctor Miosguinn'? For how long he accepts orders from him, anyway? Why? The man only was around for 2 to 3 weeks. What did not-Rand tell him?

He does not know who you mean.

On a hunch you ask him if the name Rand means anything to him. He nods. Rand is the name of a human follower of the Goddess that visits both Janine and him from time to time. He first introduced himself at a private gathering of cultists about a year ago, give or take a few months.

He is a strange man, hard to place and it is funny but he can not remember much of anything about the man no that he thinks about it.

You sigh, that is largely to be expected.

However he does add a point of clarification. Although he can not remember much about Rand in general he does clearly remember the meetings he has had with him over the last two weeks for some reason. It is strange, there has been something 'off' about Rand for the last two weeks as well. A sort of cruelty that stands out in his mind and which he is fairly certain was 'new' for Rand though he is not really sure how he knows that.

Over the last two weeks he met with Rand four times and each time the topic of conversation between them was the same.

He wanted to know about the temple below the Academy, when it was built and by whom.

Hallr told Rand that it was built over two thousand years ago. He is fairly certain that the temple was built by a pair of noble Houses that enjoyed a great deal of influence at the time but he can not be sure and both have long since fallen.

Rand then asked about the tomb located in the temple.

Hallr told him that it was probably built by the same people but Rand was insistent that it was not. Hallr could not shed any light upon the mystery though and Rand became quite aggressive. Hallr informs you, with a fair measure of indignation, that Rand in a bit of a fit managed to destroy a five hundred year old mortuary urn that Hallr had been studying. You can hear Jan wince behind you.

Nevill said:
What was his plan?

He seems to want to gain access to the tomb. He has even suggested blowing it open with explosives but Hallr refuses to hear of such a thing. To deface a structure of such cultural and historical importance- Hallr practically clucks in incredulity -had Rand tried he would have been tossed out on his ear. Hallr is adamant on this point.

Nevill said:
How long did they know about the existence of the underground temple? And about the tomb?

He says that the upper echelons of the faithful have always known about the temple and that the Academy was founded to hide the temple and allow the cultists of the Goddess to worship without fear of government agents. Over time however, the leadership of the Academy has fallen out of the control of the faithful, much to the detriment of progress he might add.

You catch Jan fidgeting out of the corner of your eye. Eventually he can contain himself no longer, he hops to his feet and starts berating Hallr. He tells him that the Academy is dedicated to understanding the world and was created to help further the dwarven mastery of magic, not to act as a front for a bunch of fanatics. Hallr spits back that he is no fanatic and that his faith is complementary to his desire to pursue the truth.

It seems like the two scholars might actually come to blows so you quickly act to split them up and settle them down again. As Hallr's attention returns to you, you can hear Jan muttering to himself from the far side of the room.

Nevill said:
Does he know who the tomb belonged to?

It belongs to a saint of the Goddess', an ancient warrior that fought in the Kingdom's interests against all manner of foe but little is known of his story and much is contested.

Some say he betrayed the Goddess; others say he was betrayed by the Goddess; some claim he helped her preform a great task, possibly driving off a ghôlish invasion in the early days of the Kingdom or something else suitably impressive; yet others say that he was not a mortal at all but some sort of spirit that owed the Goddess his life.

Hallr believes he was probably an early King of the dwarves and a follower of the Goddess' religion and was buried in that temple as a sign of respect for his faith.

Nevill said:
What does he know about the Spider Goddess (not-Rand mentioned he does not even believe she is a real entity)?

He believes that she represents an important stage in the development of dwarven civilization. The point at which they first adopted settled agriculture, by taming, planting and harvesting the various naturally occurring cave crops that surrounded them in the deep caverns below Stoneheim. It is his belief that originally the Swimmer was worshiped by the dwarves but as their needs and outlook changed they invented a new god to satisfy their desires. He also believes that the later outlawing of the Goddess' worship and adoption of the 'universal' god Wyrd coincides with the transition of the dwarves from an 'underground' race and civilization to an 'above ground' civilization.

He believes that the Goddess as a symbol and her texts as a moral guide can still serve the dwarven people well in the modern age, even if they do have to be modified somewhat. He begins to laugh again, he says this is another point that he and Janine fought endlessly about.

He asks if you might take him to see her soon. You temporize while your better half redirects him to other topics.

Nevill said:
Fangshi, how difficult would it be to request Hallr for ourselves to do as we see fit with him, and send him into the Dreaming? He is a dead man walking anyway, and the Dreaming is quite a bit more secure than a Pathfinder prison. Besides, Morpheus might like a company of an academician.

Albrecht trusts you enough to give you a fairly free hand (really he has few other operatives he can rely on at this point) so if you make a point to ask for Hallr then you can have him to do with as you see fit. You would need to provide assurances that he would never become a threat though.

Nevill said:
Can we request some arrows and bolts from the guards on our way out? King's orders and all.

The bolts they use won't fit in Thaïs' crossbow and they do not use arrows as they have no archers.

Nevill said:
Do we get to increase the number of the items we can enchant as part of our collective mage activities by virtue of practicing this for a whole month?

Yes, it is taking you less time to cast those enchantments as you are close to mastering some of them. You can enchant a bit more in the same amount of time should you wish.

Nevill said:
One month ago we could enchant 10 arrows per hour for a week. Does the math still stand? Maintaining a small reserve of arrows enchanted with different spells would probably benefit us.

That should be doable if there is interest. I would also need to know if you lot want to pick the types of enchantments on the arrows or just leave them up to the party to figure out on their own.

Nevill said:
Why did we not learn The Path of Intellect and The Path of Clarity as part of our everyday activities? They are the ones we actually actively cast.

Derryth is too stupid. She can not grasp the runes.

The way I set up many of the dwarven enchanting traditions bound them to specific stats. (I wanted to try something new out and I decided it was plausible to have the dwarves learn magic in a vastly different manner from humans.). So Lyssa and Thaïs at INT 8 are smart enough to learn those spells but Derryth at INT 7 is not.

It cuts both ways though, if Derryth had been the one to learn the riddles way back when you first came to the Academy then she would have been able to grasp several spells that the other two would not be able to manage due to her higher WIS (8 as opposed to 6 for the other two).

If Derryth ups her INT she will be able to learn the two paths she does not know. There is also a slight chance that she will have an epiphany and figure it out from studying the other two but so far she has not rolled well enough to pull it off.

Nevill said:
Can we ask Jan if he knows something about the 'guardians' down the stream? Apparently there were recorded claims of their existence.

He has heard stories about fish-like dwarves abducting people ages ago but as far as he knows it is all just rumour.

Supposedly that pool and the tunnels connecting to it were part of a very old mine and one day the miners struck water either through incompetence or sabotage. Many of the miners became trapped on the lower levels as the water rose. Legend says that they prayed to all manner of beings and that something actually answered them. It saved them but it made them into monsters.

He does not believe it of course, just a story used to terrify the novices.
 
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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Damn. He really knows nothing, as not-Rand said. Just a pawn. I almost feel bad for him.

I have no idea what to do with him. As one of the 'faithful', he is too dangerous to be left alone, and since Janine is dead, our chances of working amiably together are pretty slim. Turning him to the government is a death sentence. For the moment, I do not see many alternatives but to send him to Morpheus.

Still, there is something amiss. The cultist agents we've killed were organized, and most of them came from Hallr's department. If he wasn't commanding them, as I initially thought, then who gave them their orders? Janine? Rand?

Derryth is good at sensing if someone is lying. Does he appear to speak the truth? We noticed something was 'off' the first time we've met him.

There is a discrepancy in his story as well. When we first met him, he said Jan was heading to the sub basement twelve:
The naturalist frowns as he reads your permission and hands it back, "I can not believe that boy would do anything treasonous but I did see him and I do know where he is going, it is the only place he ever goes when he is not in his office. Sub basement twelve, where we store all of the items we come into possession of that are interesting but not terribly dangerous. If you want I can take you there immediately."
Yet when we arrived there, he did not even as much as look at the door.
He leads you deeper to the bottom of the stairwell. The door to the twelfth floor is made of simple wood, there are no enchantments on it and he pays it little mind. Instead he begins searching the far wall, tapping at a cluster of brick a metre off the ground and half a metre from the left, "In truth, Derryth, the twelfth floor holds nothing of value. It connects to a shallow cave filled with old crates of junk and an underground spring."
[...]
He leads you down one final flight of stair and stops in front of a heavy black stone door. Splashed across its surface is what appears to be blood and it has a single flawless enchantment etched on its surface in the form of a silver web, "This is the oldest chamber in the entire academy and it is warded by the oldest magic as well. I will ask that you not tell others about what you are about to see."
What made him show us the way to the temple that was supposed to be a secret?

Was it because he thought we would not be able to tell this to anyone anymore?

Who else knows about the existence of the temple?

Rand is the name of a human follower of the Goddess that visits both Janine and him from time to time.
Who else did he visit? Someone have provided Rand with false papers to allow him access to this sub level. Who would have had the authority or capability to do so?

He first introduced himself at a private gathering of cultists about a year ago, give or take a few months.
How often do these private gatherings occur? What is the purpose behind them? Who attends them regularly? Can he name those who attended the last one?

He believes that the Goddess as a symbol and her texts as a moral guide can still serve the dwarven people well in the modern age, even if they do have to be modified somewhat.
What if the Goddess is not a symbol? What if the Goddess is an entity that has her own ways and is against altering them? Would he think she would still be worth following then if the texts are to be taken literally?

If we had a way to contact the Goddess to prove that she is real, would he risk it?


Moving on. There is a high concentration of cultists in his department. Is it because he preached his faith to his students, or is the whole department a front for cultist activities? Did he convert his apprentices, or did they join him because they sought to work with someone like-minded? What was his department doing, anyway?

Did his students work with other departments or academicians on a constant basis?

(I still want to know who was the head honcho in this cultist cell. Either he is lying, or someone organized his students behind his back. I'd like to know who the potential suspects are. Except Janine, I mean.)

The bolts they use won't fit in Thaïs' crossbow and they do not use arrows as they have no archers.
*grumble grumble*. And I guess the ones Rand was peppered with after he was electrocuted can not be recovered?

Yes, it is taking you less time to cast those enchantments as you are close to mastering some of them. You can enchant a bit more in the same amount of time should you wish.
How many is 'a bit'? The previous limit was 7 items with ~1 hour dedicated to it each day.

That should be doable if there is interest. I would also need to know if you lot want to pick the types of enchantments on the arrows or just leave them up to the party to figure out on their own.
Well, with no magical quiver to rely on, and with a bit of free time, why not? Pick them automatically. I figure a mix of a few 'special' arrows (distracting riddle for, ah, distraction, and poison oath for non-lethal takedowns) and a quiver or so of elementally enchanted ones would work best.

Derryth is too stupid. She can not grasp the runes.
Not even with a Path of Intellect woven into her jewelry? :)

Also, since when Thais became our better half? Not that I mind or even disagree, just want to know why are we considering ourselves to be 'worse'.
 
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Fangshi

Arcane
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
1,997
Nevill said:
Derryth is good at sensing if someone is lying. Does he appear to speak the truth? We noticed something was 'off' the first time we've met him.

He does not appear to be lying from what you can tell.

Nevill said:
What made him show us the way to the temple that was supposed to be a secret?

He knew that Jan knew about the temple and was headed there. He also knew that you are genuine heroes fighting against the Dark and the necromancers. If Jan was a necromancer and was trying to do something with the remains that are in the tomb then Hallr did not want him to succeed. So he took a risk and showed you how to find the temple.

He was and is convinced that if he can just show you around and introduce you to the other cultists that you will realize that they are not a threat to the Kingdom. He says that they are good people and loyal to the Crown if you will just give them a chance. He suggests you begin your interviews with his apprentice, a bright young lad well versed in scripture, or Janine, he insists that a more levelheaded follower of the Goddess you will not find.

Jan mutters a few choice words about zealots and murders while Hallr shoots him a dirty look.

Nevill said:
Was it because he thought we would not be able to tell this to anyone anymore?

He was certain that you would not want to tell anyone after he had explained everything but it did not work out as he planned. He eyes Biliku wearily as he trails off.

Nevill said:
Who else knows about the existence of the temple?

Many of the priests of the Goddess in the city know about its existence but few have visited it. It is hard to get people past the checkpoint for the most part.

Nevill said:
Who else did he visit? Someone have provided Rand with false papers to allow him access to this sub level. Who would have had the authority or capability to do so?

A clerk in the administrative branch of the Academy could draw up such papers without raising any real suspicion. Hallr knows of a couple dwarves in that department that are part of the faith though he initially refuses to name, names. You once more remind him of the skill and efficiency of the Royal interrogators and he caves in with a whimper. The assistant to the head of admissions is a cultist as are three of the clerks working in the import office. He gives you their names and insists that they are the only cultists in the department or at least the only ones he knows about.

Nevill said:
How often do these private gatherings occur?

Once a month, at the end of each month.

Nevill said:
What is the purpose behind them?

He blinks, unsure as to how to answer that question.

The purpose of them is to worship the Goddess. Though admittedly a lot of social networking and reveling also goes on.

Nevill said:
Who attends them regularly?

Anyone is free to attend.

Nevill said:
Can he name those who attended the last one?

He says he can't... he just can't. Some of them have families. Some of them have children. He glances over your shoulder at Jan. He says he is not a proud dwarf, or a strong one, but he will not put them at risk of his own free will.

Nevill said:
What if the Goddess is not a symbol?

Well, if she were real then he would be both relieved and concerned. Relieved for himself since he would be assured a place in a physical heaven, and concerned for many of the people he has known in his life for they would be condemned to the dark waters of hell. He says most of them do not deserve such a fate in his estimation. He laughs and insists that the Goddess is not real, thankfully.

Nevill said:
What if the Goddess is an entity that has her own ways and is against altering them? Would he think she would still be worth following then if the texts are to be taken literally?

He dismisses your concerns and insists that she is not real. He says that it is a common mistake of the young to read gods and demons onto all the good and evil in the world. There are no higher powers, just people doing what they can. He adds with a slight chuckle that, that is more than enough as far as he is concerned.

He also argues that there is a great deal in her texts that can be of use to a person all throughout their lives, one just has to be willing to separate the parts that are universally helpful from those that belonged to a different time and place.

Nevill said:
If we had a way to contact the Goddess to prove that she is real, would he risk it?

He confidently maintains that since the Goddess does not actually exist that there is no way to contact her. Jan laughs at that and shakes his head.

You are not sure if he actually could handle the truth about the deity he worships. You worry slightly that it might break him so you back off for now.

Nevill said:
Moving on. There is a high concentration of cultists in his department. Is it because he preached his faith to his students, or is the whole department a front for cultist activities? Did he convert his apprentices, or did they join him because they sought to work with someone like-minded? What was his department doing, anyway?

A little of both. He has had great success converting many of his students to the faith but a handful came to him already believing in the Goddess. He has managed to put together quite the team to, he says with pride.

He is also quick to insist that though faith is a factor in choosing his assistants he makes doubly sure that each is up to the tasks he assigns them. They are all capable mages and researchers and are able to maintain the standards of academic conduct he expects from all members of the Academy.

His department has the great responsibility of cataloging and maintaining all of the artefacts on sub-basement nine of the Academy. Each has to be checked twice daily to ensure that their containment protocols remain in place. Background checks also have to be run on the researchers that seek to work with each artefact. The last thing the Academy needs is to have an artefact stolen or containment breached and his team are the ones that stop that from happening.

He seems quite proud of his role at the Academy.

Nevill said:
Did his students work with other departments or academicians on a constant basis?

Not formally. He is fairly certain that a few had friends outside of his team but he did not really pry into their personal lives all that much, as long as their activities did not interfere with their work then he was happy to let them have social lives. You are only young once he adds with a wink.

He thinks for a moment and then adds that many of his apprentices took part in an informal study group for followers of the Goddess. He did not personally take part as he felt it would make them uncomfortable. He grins and says that no one likes to have the boss around all the time (and he is the son of a priest which might intimidate them as well). They meet twice a week in different locations, mostly the quarters of different cultists, and they talk about their faith from what he can tell. If you want more information he says to ask his apprentice, the boy never misses a meeting.

Nevill said:
*grumble grumble*. And I guess the ones Rand was peppered with after he was electrocuted can not be recovered?

He flailed about quite a bit as he was being cooked by magical lightning so most of the arrows are broken off inside of him. You might be able to recover two or three if you really want to but they are just as likely to be bent as not.

Nevill said:
How many is 'a bit'? The previous limit was 7 items with ~1 hour dedicated to it each day.

Depends on the specific spells and the exact amount of time you want to spend. To keep it at roughly an hour I would say you can get away with ten items (five arrows count as one item) though in some cases you might wind up spending an hour and a half or two hours enchanting instead of the one you spend now.

Nevill said:
Well, with no magical quiver to rely on, and with a bit of free time, why not? Pick them automatically. I figure a mix of a few 'special' arrows (distracting riddle for, ah, distraction, and poison oath for non-lethal takedowns) and a quiver or so of elementally enchanted ones would work best.

If there are no objections the ladies will begin enchanting arrows for Uttu to use. They will not begin until you actually get some arrows of course so either 'tomorrow' or the day after are likely.

Nevill said:
Not even with a Path of Intellect woven into her jewelry? :)

I was tempted to include the bonuses from magical items but then I would have to remember which spells were learnt through magical enhancement since you would lose them if you ever took the jewelry off. It just seemed like an extra layer to fiddle with so I decided it would be base attributes that govern dwarven enchantment. If you want to learn better spells from the dwarves you need to earn those stat points the 'honest' way. Think of it as a reflection of the dwarven commitment to hardwork and 'honesty'. :lol:

Nevill said:
Also, since when Thais became our better half? Not that I mind or even disagree, just want to know why are we considering ourselves to be 'worse'.

She became your better half when you voted to realize that she was your soulmate. :lol:

(It does not necessarily mean she is qualitatively better than you. For example that is not how Horace or Statius use it. All it means is that she is dear to you, dearer to you even than yourself. She is greater than half of your being so to speak, either in quality or in quantity, depending on your exact interpretation, and to lose her would pain you now and forever, that is what was implied at least. If I was writing the CYOA from Thaïs' perspective she would consider Derryth her 'better half'.)
 
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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
His department has the great responsibility of cataloging and maintaining all of the artefacts on sub-basement nine of the Academy. Each has to be checked twice daily to ensure that their containment protocols remain in place. Background checks also have to be run on the researchers that seek to work with each artefact.
Great, now they will have to redo all that.

He thinks for a moment and then adds that many of his apprentices took part in an informal study group for followers of the Goddess.
Discreetly ask Jan how many - if any - of Hallr's apprentices are still left alive after the massacre. What are their names? Check with the guards, if needed.

Then ask Hallr if any of those names were part of this 'study group'.

Think of it as a reflection of the dwarven commitment to hardwork and 'honesty'.
Dwarven 'honesty'. Uh-huh. :lol:

Albrecht, Argus, Great Lords, numerous cults devoted to the Goddess, the Watcher, and who-knows-what-else, and all of them do nothing but scheme, plot and lie.

Anyway, I guess that rules out using Hallr as our contact with the Goddess. We'll have to turn to Morpheus, then. It is good that we have a protective agreement in place.
 

Fangshi

Arcane
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
1,997
Nevill said:
Discreetly ask Jan how many - if any - of Hallr's apprentices are still left alive after the massacre. What are their names? Check with the guards, if needed.

Jan does not know and there is no discrete way to inquire of the guards if any are still alive.

You can and do ask Hallr how many people attended the study group on a regular basis. He says he is not terribly sure as he did not want to pry. Maybe fifteen or twenty, seven of which were on his team.
 

Absinthe

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Nevill, "better half" is an expression. It means "significant other," like in a marriage.
 

Fangshi

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The current leading options are:

1. A,D,E You will take the the plates the spellbooks and the gold. You will let Jan keep the rest and you will not loot the statue.

2. C You will go looking for Letta

3. C You will give Jan the spinner and let him try to oversee cloak production

4. A You will give your petrified equipment to Jan and let him see if he can find a way to fix it.

I will close the voting in twenty hours or so and try to have the update out within sixteen hours of that.

Current Tally:

asxetos:
1.A,D,E
2.E>F
3.A
4.B

archaen:
1.A,D,E,F,G
2.C>E
3.A
4.A

Nevill:
1.A,D,E
2.C
3.C
4.A

Kz3r0:
1.A,D,E
2.F
3.B
4.x

Absinthe:
1.A,D,F,G
2.C
3.A
4.A

Grimgravy:
1.A,D,E
2.E
3.C
4.x

Jester:
1.A,D
2.C
3.C
4.x

Baltika9:
1.A,D
2.C>E>F
3.D>C
4.A

Azira:
1.A,D,E
2.F>C
3.C
4.A

Cassidy:
1.E,F,G
2.F
3.B
4.B

1.
A) 9/10 votes
B)
C)
D) 9/10 votes
E) 7/10 votes
F) 3/10 votes
G) 3/10 votes

2.
A)
B)
C) 5 votes
D)
E) 2 votes
F) 3 votes

3.
A) 3 votes
B) 2 votes
C) 4 votes
D) 1 vote

4. 3 undeclared
A) 5 votes
B) 2 votes

Post Flop:

1.
A) 9/10 votes
B)
C)
D) 9/10 votes
E) 7/10 votes
F) 3/10 votes
G) 3/10 votes

2.
A)
B)
C) 6 votes
D)
E) 1 vote
F) 3 votes

3.
A) 3 votes
B) 2 votes
C) 5 votes
D)

4. 3 undeclared
A) 5 votes
B) 2 vote
 

Absinthe

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Messages
4,062
Derryth is too stupid. She can not grasp the runes.
Hm, couldn't Thais teach it to Derryth though? They both have a Quick Learner skill and a very deep understanding of each other's minds.

Actually, shouldn't the Quick Learner skill itself reduce the difficulty of learning the runes?
 
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Fangshi

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Messages
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Thaïs can try, the problem is that Derryth has trouble finding the patterns in the enchantment. If she was just a bit smarter it would come easily but as it is every time Thaïs points out a pattern and Derryth tries to reach for it, the pattern unravels on her.

It is possible for Thaïs to eventually succeed at teaching the spell to Derryth (when they roll well enough to progress) but what would happen mechanically is that she would gain +1 INT as she 'gets' the patterns, then she would learn the spells after. At any rate it would take some dedicated one on one teaching and they do not have time for that in the near future if you still plan to head south in two days.
 

Absinthe

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Messages
4,062
Could Thais at least try during the time already allocated for doing the enchantments? It might not be as good as a dedicated effort, but we might as well.
 

Fangshi

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Messages
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Sure, that is more or less what they are already doing. Thaïs and Lyssa are casting the spells and Derryth is helping them (and rolling to see if she can figure it out). Thaïs can provide a little more instruction without slowing things down substantially but it will still be a difficult roll to make since it requires increasing a stat.
 

Nevill

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Messages
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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
So... what do you guys think we should do with Hallr?

We kinda have an implicit agreement in place not to turn him in for royal executioners, yet I want a list of those party attendants he refuses to provide. Could be nothing, could be another lead, as I do not think Rand would have been there if they were innocuous.

He is just an old deluded fool, but I can not say his delusions were harmless, either. He harbored a lot of genuinely traitorous cultists under his wing due to his misguided teachings, and I don't know if he can be rehabilitated, as he shows signs that he would be unable to cope with the truth.

My approach to this situation would be to render him unconscious again with an assault spell or two so that he would not have to see his apprentice or Janine dead on the way up (unless we woke him up on the surface level - didn't keep track of that), put him in the Pathfinder's storehouse for a day, contact Morpheus to tell him to meet a new guest, and dump the professor in the Dreaming. After all, the life he leads now is hardly more grounded than the one the Dreaming can offer him, and probably a less happy one as well, now that people he cares about are dead. It would be a mercy, really.

In return, I would want Morpheus to get me the list of the cultists to investigate. Names, addresses, occupations - everything that Hallr knows. The Dreaming can provide him with the environment suitable for such a reveal without us prying it from him.

I would also request to know if there are any projects he or his team worked on that could be of use to me, and any spells he might have learned. Basically, everything that we can get by scrambling his mind if we wanted to, but without resorting to such drastic measures.

Would anyone else be up for this plan?


Fangshi, when is our first session with Morpheus scheduled, and when it would be appropriate to contact Nanshe to check what is happening with our ambush plan? Did she give us a timetable?

When are the Black Arrows returning?

Do we know if only Nephila can spy on people in the Fort by connecting to the black rocks, or if anyone can do that provided they are taught, how? Can we plant a spy in our own fort, now that Hesse and Welf are there? If there is a way to do so, I am ready to dispatch an eagle with cheese and a letter for Nephila and the Arrows.

How much time it would take to get to Stoneheim from Myrgard on a carriage? How far away would the dwarven army be if they didn't encounter any resistance? They had left about 4 to 5 days ago, if I am not mistaken, but they should be much slower than we are if we take a ride - and I think the King would be able to find 10 or so carriages to fit our force.
 
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Grimgravy

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
The dreaming may be convenient for us, but I wouldn't call it a mercy for Hallr. We'd essentially be denying him any chance at his heaven. Whether it's real or not doesn't matter. He's been decent with us. I'm loathe to be less than decent with him.
 

Nevill

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Which is why I am asking what do you guys propose we do with him.

His heaven, as he understands it, would be going to his Goddess' place for his service.
Fangshi said:
It is just who he is. The Goddess is a part of him, a part of his past and his culture and if he serves her well in this life perhaps he will even be rewarded for it though he will readily admit that he does not expect any sort of physical or material reward for his faith.
Fangshi said:
Nevill said:
What if the Goddess is not a symbol?
Well, if she were real then he would be both relieved and concerned. Relieved for himself since he would be assured a place in a physical heaven, and concerned for many of the people he has known in his life for they would be condemned to the dark waters of hell.
Yet we know he does not really believe that, and knowing what the Goddess really is - and what she really stands for - would drive him mad.
Fangshi said:
You are not sure if he actually could handle the truth about the deity he worships. You worry slightly that it might break him so you back off for now.

At this point, the only 'happy' resolution for him is continuing to ignore the truth, which is what the Dreaming is made for. The Dreaming can literally give him his heaven, or as close to that as actually possible, without revealing the irreconcilable differences between his beliefs and reality.

He spent his whole life on a lie and a lot of people - some of whom he cared for - died or will die because of it. None of this is on us. I propose to never let him know that.

What else would be decent towards him while also furthering our own goals? Considering that we don't even have to treat him with any kind of concern, since it were his actions that brought upon the situation that nearly killed Thais and the girls. He has things to answer for, we are just being generous because no one got hurt in the end.

He is the one who preached to the people. He is the one who brought them to the cult and ultimately made them take arms against us and the crown. That he did not intend it because he didn't know what he was doing does not mean he is blameless.

I guess this can be a subject of our vote in the next update.
 
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Fangshi

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Nevill said:
Fangshi, when is our first session with Morpheus scheduled, and when it would be appropriate to contact Nanshe to check what is happening with our ambush plan? Did she give us a timetable?

It has been a day since you left the fort. Morpheus scheduled your first meeting for a week from the Lost or Hidden? update so another six days or so.

Nanshe did not give you a timeline but again it has only been a day. Only a few hours past between Lost or Hidden and the start of The Second Coming. Detective D brought you to the next morning and the last three updates have all taken place over the course of a few hours (it is currently Nov 12). You are going to have to give her some time to get things in place, you will likely hear from her in a couple days if TWM does not win and kill her.

Nevill said:
When are the Black Arrows returning?

Likely in a day or two.

Nevill said:
Do we know if only Nephila can spy on people in the Fort by connecting to the black rocks, or if anyone can do that provided they are taught, how?

Others could, in theory, be taught to but you would need a way to produce the threads that she can produce naturally. You would also need some way to render the vibrations of the strings into meaningful information which would require some sort of machine to translate them or at the very least some sort of codebook to figure out manually what they need.

It is not impossible but it is beyond what most humans could manage easily. If you wanted a spy it would have been better to keep her imprisoned.

Nevill said:
Can we plant a spy in our own fort, now that Hesse and Welf are there?

You can but see above for the limitations they will need to overcome.

Nevill said:
If there is a way to do so, I am ready to dispatch an eagle with cheese and a letter for Nephila and the Arrows.

Lyssa already dispatched one of her eagles with the cheese shipment. Nothing stopping you from sending another though.

Nevill said:
How much time it would take to get to Stoneheim from Myrgard on a carriage?

Given the likely condition of the roads, two to four days. In peace time a good chariot/carriage could get you there in two to three days. To walk that distance would take about a week (maybe five days if you made good progress and traveled light). The army will likely take ten to twelve days to march down there given the slower elements they are bringing with them and their desire not to get cut off from Myrgard.

Nevill said:
How far away would the dwarven army be if they didn't encounter any resistance? They had left about 4 to 5 days ago, if I am not mistaken, but they should be much slower than we are if we take a ride - and I think the King would be able to find 10 or so carriages to fit our force.

By the time you leave they will be more than half way to Stoneheim if they do not encounter any resistance. If they do then they will make less progress. It is likely that they will meet at least some resistance.

The King can provide you with the means to catch them fairly quickly as long as the group you are transporting is not too large.


Also the vote is closed. The winning options are the same as those listen above. You will go see Letta; you will take the plates, books and gold; and you will give Jan the spinner and your petrified equipment. The update will be up within fifteen hours, hopefully.
 
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Nevill

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
So, does the timeline look like this?

Nov 8 - Hesse and Welf are dispatched to the Fort Blackrock. The army is dispatched to the South.
Nov 9 - we blow up Gullveig, kill the rest of the Watcher's forces, and fight the singing beasts. Then we sleep for the whole day.
Nov 10 Evening - 12 hours remain until arrival of the reinforcements. We catch Nanshe sleeping and plan the demise of TWM.
Nov 11 Morning - we scout out Nephila
Nov 11 Afternoon - we arrive in Myrgard
Nov 11 Evening - we visit Brothers Dietfried and Mayer ("A wonderful way to end a day.")
(...)
Nov 11 (?) Evening - we visit the Palace
Nov 11 (?) Midnight - we visit Albrecht at the storehouse
Nov 12 Morning - we go to the Academy

I was under the impression that a day have passed between our arrival in Myrgard and our Palace visit, specifically because it said 'Albrecht can wait' and mentioned ending the day, but I guess it makes sense for it all to happen in a single day as well.

So what would our plans for the future look like supposing they all go smoothly?

Nov 12 Evening - visit Letta
Nov 13 - visit the Dietfrieds again (?) and check Timo out
Nov 14 Morning - visit Wenzel
Nov 14 Evening - move out of the city. Contact Nanshe about her mission.
Nov 15 (?) - swing by the east to take care of TWM, then move south.
Nov 19-20 (?) - meet up with the army.

Is that about correct?
 
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Fangshi

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Messages
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Nevill said:
I was under the impression that a day have passed between our arrival in Myrgard and our Palace visit, specifically because it said 'Albrecht can wait' and mentioned ending the day, but I guess it makes sense for it all to happen in a single day as well.

Derryth had intended to make Albrecht wait until the morning of the twelfth but then you met with Mayer and he explained that the Kingdom is essentially dissolving and anything more than a day south of Myrgard is a warzone. Derryth deemed it prudent to go see the King immediately after that.

Fangshi said:
You will need to see the king and soon, tonight even.

Nevill said:
So what would our plans for the future look like supposing they all go smoothly?

Something like this probably:

Nov 12 Evening - visit Letta
Nov 13 Morning - meet with Wenzel
Nov 13 Evening - Subject to votes
Nov 14 Morning - visit Timo or something else depends on when he is free to meet you
Nov 14 Evening - visit Timo or something else depends on when he is free to meet you
Nov 15 Morning - move out of the city
Nov 15 (?) - maybe swing by the east to take care of TWM if Nanshe tells you she is successful, then move south.
Nov 19-20 (?) - meet up with the army if there still is an army
 

Nevill

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Can we rearm ourselves from Albrecht's stock this evening provided that we spend the night at the Palace? Not entirely fond of meeting the crime lord in our current state.

There was a precedent for sending for supplies in "To the Victors", too.
 
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Fangshi

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Messages
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Yeah, in To the Victors you sent out for supplies. If you want you can give Jan a list of supplies you want and he will pass it off to one of the clerks at the palace. You will not be able to pick up any unique magical items but procuring arrows, bolts and the like should not be too difficult. I will add a few options on to the next update to handle it.
 

Fangshi

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Messages
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Probably for the best, if they did get access to the 'Dex they might wind up seeing this:

lijcnssa36s1p3zupqag.png


Roll 1d100 SAN damage.
 

Nevill

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Messages
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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
It is a pity none of the characters in the party will ever have a chance to read the Total Codex.
Where is the last known location of the book, anyway?

Fangshi, can you describe the relative power of our elemental spells? How powerful is the regular fire/energy bolt? How powerful is the Greater one? Would simultaneous casting of two lesser bolts (say, via a ring) produce an effect similar to the Greater ones, or is it on a whole new level?

Do Greater spells qualify as area of effect spells? We've seen them affecting several targets at once. If not, does their mix qualify? How big is the affected area?

When is our first loan payment due? It should be soon. I would like to make a proposal to Mayer before we pay up, though.
 
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