Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Nevill]

Alternatively, if you want to go see the Seekers in the evening then you can do that as well. You would have to push back the ritual with Hallr to some point after midnight and your other teams would have to wait for your return but it is definitely possible should you desire.

Not sure if I understood you correctly. What is our current schedule for the day, evening and night, and what would change if we try and fit meeting the Seekers in the evening?

If you really are suspicious you could ask Albrecht to have a Pathfinder team investigate. OR you could pull Martin's team out of the Palace and try to have them infiltrate the Weasels' compound.

Again, what are the timeframes for both? What would be involved? If we are going with Martin, how would we deposit our spies and pick them up?

How would Pathfinders go about their investigation?

Do we know what kind of operations Weazels run in the city? Can we mess with them? The plan is to disrupt something that would provoke them into sending a response team with one of the captains in charge, and then ambushing the said team to get our hands on Wenzel's commanding officer. I do not want that to be linked to us, though.

Again, what would be involved in that operation, resourse-wise (money and time)?

Do Pathfinders have non-lethal weapons that would disrupt the enemy efficiency? Something that would be our equivalent of tear gas or a pepper spray grenade? I know they utilize flash grenades, but I am looking for something that might be used for storming the compound. Well, you can always set it on fire and let them come out, I suppose. :evil:

Do Sovereigns have mages or someone who dabbles in magic among them? Do they know any of the trustworthy mages in the Kingdom?

They will either work out of the palace or if they decide they need more space/time alone they will work out of one of the old Pathfinder safe houses that is no longer used.

That reminds me. Do you think we can introduce Letta to Astrid without going into details about their respective pasts? I think the two girls would hit it off right away, seeing how they have similar backgrounds (both were raised by single mothers) and occupations. And having an inventor on the team might increase the Sovereigns' efficiency by leaps and bounds. By the way, do they know about the Pathfinders?

The idea is to keep all of our resourses connected. The Arrows, the Greys, the Boys, the Sovereigns, Blackrock mercs, the Royal Guards and occasional Pathfinders - they would be far more productive if they cooperate between themselves, even though they have different assignments. There are natural synergies that are apparent, like having the Arrows train the Greys, and having Blackrock captains determine who among the Boys may eventually be integrated in their structure. I think the more of them have ties with each other (to a reasonable degree, not everyone has to know, say, the truth behind the Pathfinders), the better off we would be as a whole.

Also, how widespread is our cooperation with the Arrows? I know Lady Grey was interested in us primarily because we were involved with them, but then again, she is a bit stalker-ish. :D I assume none of our deals with them are common knowledge, except maybe for the siege of Blackrock?

If we ever acquire them, I would like everyone to be under an impression that they are working independently from us.

 

[Fangshi]

Not sure if I understood you correctly. What is our current schedule for the day, evening and night, and what would change if we try and fit meeting the Seekers in the evening?

You have a five (or so) hour block in the afternoon to do what you want. Any substantial shopping is likely to eat that up but you could try to just pop into the Brothers' shop to see if they have a few neccesities and that would not take up too much time (you would not have time to shop for weapons and armour though).

Following that you would normally return to the palace for dinner and to meet with your other teams. Today you will also meet Lady Grey and Ajiak in all likelihood. Given that Lady Grey is to be made your partner your meeting with her is likely to run longer than Aijak's.

That should take things to early evening at which point you will undertake the ritual to send Hallr over to Morpheus. The construction of the gate will likely take Derry a little time as it is your first time trying this but Taide and Lys will be there to help as needed. The ritual will also take time as certain security measures must be observed, the ladies do not believe it would be wise to open a stable and safe passage from the Dreaming to the physical world without some sort of safeguard in place to prevent things from coming through or escaping the chamber you will hold the ritual in. The last thing you need is to have goblins and elves infesting the palace, playing tricks, ruining supplies and eating the help.

When all of that is done with you will likely go to sleep and get some rest before you go to see Timo in the morning.

If you try to fit the Seekers in you will be at least an hour or two late to dinner and everything will have to be bumped back a bit. It is doable but it will be a delay.

You have no idea if anything would change as a result.

Again, what are the timeframes for both? What would be involved? If we are going with Martin, how would we deposit our spies and pick them up?

The Pathfinders could begin investigating in a day or so, provided there are free agents in the city. You do not know if or when they would show results.

You could recall Martin and the animals and deploy them at the compound within a day. The only reason you can not do it sooner is that Lyssa is needed to converse with them and she is currently across town.

To bring in the Pathfinders you would simply have to notify Albrecht.

To use Martin and his team you would need to give them orders, tell them what to look for and then deposit them within range of the compound.

Well you could simply throw a cloak on and walk past the front door, the mice could slip in without too much difficulty as they are only animals. Few people are paranoid enough to think that rodents are spying on them. Or you could have the eagles fly over the compound and deposit Martin and his team on the roof if you could convince the mice to trust the eagles and the eagles to not eat the mice.

How would Pathfinders go about their investigation?

Discretely but as quickly as is feasible. You do not know exactly what they will do as that will be left to the discretion of the participating agents and you do not know any of them.

Do we know what kind of operations Weazels run in the city?

Extortion, security, simple sabatoge, that sort of thing. Nothing too complicated or overly difficult. Every now and then they attempt to take on more ambitious projects as well but you do not know what, if anything, they are currently working on.

Can we mess with them?

Sure, don't see why you couldn't.

Again, what would be involved in that operation, resources-wise (money and time)?

You would likely have to dedicate at least half a day to it, it depends on how subtle you want to be. The easiest way to get the attention of the Weasel captains would be to start hitting their business fronts and killing their people. That should draw at least one out fairly quickly.

The cost would depend on the exact sort of plan you want to execute.

Do Pathfinders have non-lethal weapons that would disrupt the enemy efficiency? Something that would be our equivalent of tear gas or a pepper spray grenade?

Yes, they are not as popular as some of the other variants but they do have less lethal weapons.

That reminds me. Do you think we can introduce Letta to Astrid without going into details about their respective pasts?

I don't see why you couldn't. Though they are complete strangers and without some sort of reason to interact it is unlikely either would demonstrate much interest in getting to know the other.

By the way, do they know about the Pathfinders?

Like most people in the Kingdom the Sovereigns do not know about the Pathfinders as an organization.

By the way, how widespread is our cooperation with the Arrows? I know Lady Grey was interested in us primarily because we were involven in them, but then again, she is a bit stalker-ish. :D I assume none of our deals with them are common knowledge, except maybe for the siege of Blackrock?

It is not terribly well known. People have seen you together, entering and leaving the city or assaulting/leaving the Oneiroi compound, and the soldiers that served as your escort certainly know that you hired the Arrows but the majority of the population has no idea that you are working together. At this point someone would either have to have a personal interest in you or the Arrows, or, they would have to be very well informed in general to know that you are a 'preferred client' of Ceannard's.

 

[Nevill]

Well, meeting our captains (and the latest addition to the ever-growing harem) is important. Shopping for armor will have to wait until tomorrow, I guess.

B.

The Pathfinders could begin investigating in a day or so, provided there are free agents in the city.

How many are they? Shouldn't Albrecht know this? I am asking because I wanted to borrow some of them for checking the Boys.

What happened to the contingent of 12 (or was it 20?) Pathfinder Officers sent to Blackrock? Did they return back to Myrgard, or did they stay at our fort with Argus?

You would likely have to dedicate at least half a day to it, it depends on how subtle you want to be. The easiest way to get the attention of the Weasel captains would be to start hitting their business fronts and killing their people. That should draw at least one out fairly quickly.

Half of our day? I think Berty would be more suited for a hit-and-run tactics and overall planning of the operation. We should learn to delegate responsibilities by now. What is he currently doing, by the way?

Hitting their business fronts is what I had in mind, yes, but indiscriminate killing just to get their attention does not sit well with me. I know it will come to this sooner or later, but if we attack unprovoked it increases the risk of killing someone whom we would rather not to. I'd limit XTREME action to the actual combatants in their employ, i.e. their response team.

Something like robbing one of their more profitable (and preferably illegal) enterprizes while leaving clues as to what our next target would be so that they would send a welcoming committee there. Make it look like a work of some street gang with no idea whom they are dealing with. The ones that intend to lay down a trap rarely are careful enough to think that they may be the ones who are falling for another trap. Hell, we are no exception to the rule, either, with that Shade ambushing us on the mountain. I can see them trying to teach a lesson to street punks (and I think they feel the need to reassert themselves after we pulled our trick on them), so that plan might bear fruit.

If we send a message to Berty now, can such an attack be prepared and carried out tonight? Or what would be the most probable schedule for it?

 

[Fangshi]

How many are they? Shouldn't Albrecht know this? I am asking because I wanted to borrow some of them for checking the Boys.

He probably has a general idea of how many Pathfinder agents there are in the city and where they are but he does not micromanage. He has ways of calling for them and can usually assemble at least a few when needed.

What happened to the contingent of 12 (or was it 20?) Pathfinder Officers sent to Blackrock? Did they return back to Myrgard, or did they stay at our fort with Argus?

A few came back at the same time you did, a few stayed at the fort and a few disappeared as Pathfinders tend to do.

Half of our day? I think Berty would be more suited for a hit-and-run tactics and overall planning of the operation. We should learn to delegate responsibilities by now.

I am afraid I am not a mind reader. If you do not give me specifics I will make assumptions. In most cases that means I will base my response on the assumption that Derry will personally undertake the action, especially when I think the potential outcomes could be amusing.

If you want Berty to run this operation that is definitely possible and well within his capabilities.

What is he currently doing, by the way?

He planned to spend a good chunk of the day helping your recruitment team organize your new mercenaries. After that he said he had plans to see a man about a goose. He would not elaborate.

If we send a message to Berty now, can such an attack be prepared and carried tonight? Or what would be the most probable schedule for it?

If you inform Berty he needs to hit the Weasels tonight then he will hit the Weasels tonight. As long as you give him ten to twenty minutes notice (plus walking time) he should be able to manage something.

 

[Nevill]

I am afraid I am not a mind reader. If you do not give me specifics I will make assumptions. In most cases that means I will base my response on the assumption that Derry will personally undertake the action, especially when I think the potential outcomes could be amusing.

If you want Berty to run this operation that is definitely possible and well within his capabilities.

Sorry, I just wanted to ask 'do we have to be the ones to do this?' Our schedule is tight as it is.

If you inform Berty he needs to hit the Weasels tonight then he will hit the Weasels tonight. As long as you give him ten to twenty minutes notice (plus walking time) he should be able to manage something.

Well, I have no doubt Berty can go and do it for shits and giggles, but I also want the attack to succeed.

I want him to notify us what resourses, if any, he needs to pull it off.

Off the top of my head, we will need some of the disabling equipment to render a large group of fighters useless, means to incapacitate their leader (say, with 'Poison Oath' arrows), and a group of about 30 to 50 men to be able to hit them decisively.

We have the mercenaries, we have Sovereigns, if need be, and we have an element of surprise. All we need is to disable the mages and commanders first, as the Weazels are not known for their tactical abilities, nor for their martial prowess. I wonder if we can make use of the Pathfinders as well if we tell Albrecht about our suspicions.

By the way, did the lake inside Wenzel's mind actually feel similar to the one we found in the village mayor's? I pointed out the similarity in their descriptions, but never confirmed if our heroines think so, too.

We need to hit one or several Weazel's places to provoke a reaction, leak out the location of our next target, and ambush their punitive expedition en-route, taking the captain prisoner. Preferably with no civilan casualties and with no leads left to whomever ordered the attack.

Is it feasible to do without us personally overseeing every minor detail of the operation?

 

[Fangshi]

Sorry, I just wanted to ask 'do we have to be the ones to do this?' Our schedule is tight as it is.

No worries, just giving you fair warning.

Is it feasible to do without us personally overseeing every minor detail of the operation?

Sure.

If you want Berty to handle this he will need your permission to borrow ten men (they could be Pathfinders if you want or they could be the Boys, he does not much care). He will also need you to acquire for him: ten full length mirrors, twenty metres of rope, twenty pigs and enough raw ingredients to fill three drums with the dwarven cocktail solution.

He is capable of securing the rest of what he will need on his own and he can begin tonight if you wish (after dinner of course, he would not want to miss his evening meal).

By the way, did the lake inside Wenzel's mind actually feel similar to the one we found in the village mayor's? I pointed out the similarity in their descriptions, but never confirmed if our heroines think so, too.

Yes, in the sense that they were both lakes so they both felt like lakes, beyond that you did not push enough in either case to be sure of anything.

 

[Nevill]

Okay. Who is up to getting some Weazel captains? :D

2. You have a few avenues of investigating the Weazels further, even without breaking into their compound.
A) You go for it. (several options may be chosen)
i. You send a team of Pathfinders to investigate them. Albrecht can deal with whatever they discover himself.
ii. You send your mice to spy on their compound. They will likely only have a day at most before you leave the city, however.
iii. You send Berty and a team of his choosing to draw out one of their captains from the compound and capture them for interrogation.
B) You do not bother with the Weasels. You have enough enemies as it is, no need to antagonize them further.

 

[Grimgravy]

2B

 

[Nevill]

I'll vote for 2Aii, iii. We are still under obligations to Albrecht to find traitors among his family, and the situation with Wenzel is suspicious enough to warrant further inquiry. We did not learn anything useful by talking to him, so other measures are required.

I would love to raid the compound, but 500 men is an army to be reckoned with. Still, one of Wenzel's captains is currently away with 50 of his men, so at least they are not at full strength. If we can chip at his forces even further by getting another one, it might make things easier for us in the near future.

The rats provide a second source of information. If they or the captured captain will have the information we seek, we won't even have to go inside the compound. However, if they won't have it, we might need their intel to be able to break in.

 

[Kz3r0]

2A iii

 

[Fangshi]

2. You have a few avenues of investigating the Weazels further, even without breaking into their compound.

Added.

Current tally:

Spoiler

Kz3r0: 1.Aii, 2.Aiii
Jester: 1.B>C>Ai, 2.x
archaen: 1.B>Aii, 2.x
Grimgravy: 1.Ai>B, 2.B
Nevill: 1.B, 2.Aii,Aiii
Azira: 1.Ai, 2.Aiii
Baltika9: 1.B, 2.Aiii

1.
4 votes B
2 votes Ai
1 vote Aii

2.
4 votes Aiii
1 vote B
2 votes undeclared

Post Flop:
1.
5 votes B
1 vote Ai
1 vote Aii

2.
4 votes Aiii
1 vote B
2 votes undeclared

If there are no objections I will try to close the vote in twenty four hours as I should have some time to write out an update tomorrow evening.

 

[Azira]

1Ai
2Aiii

 

[Absinthe]

How close is Derryth to increasing her charisma by the way?

We've had a lot of social encounters involving Derryth by now.

Actually, let me expand that question: How are we doing on all the stats? I can see we aren't really using strength, but we've been in enough scrapes depending on dex and con so far. And we've been flexing int and wis quite a bit.

 

[Fangshi]

How close is Derryth to increasing her charisma by the way?

We've had a lot of social encounters involving Derryth by now.

Actually, let me expand that question: How are we doing on all the stats? I can see we aren't really using strength, but we've been in enough scrapes depending on dex and con so far. And we've been flexing int and wis quite a bit.

Hmm, I can't really give a straight answer on that as I am purposely obscuring mechanical progression on the characters. Just think of them as happy surprises when they do happen.

I will say though that an increase would not be out of place for some characters on some stats/abilities in the short to mid term.

 

[Baltika9]

B Aiii

 

[Nevill]

That reminds me. Do you think we can introduce Letta to Astrid without going into details about their respective pasts?

I don't see why you couldn't. Though they are complete strangers and without some sort of reason to interact it is unlikely either would demonstrate much interest in getting to know the other.

Hmm.

Would Astrid mind if we assign her as the person heading this investigation? Sort of like the chief inspector, with the Sovereigns as field agents. It is highly likely that whatever information the Sovereigns will uncover will need to be delivered to the King and/or Pathfinders to act on it, one way or the other. Well, why not shorten the chain?

Of course, Letta wouldn't know that she is dealing with Pathfinders, but she does not need to.

Besides, while we can support Letta with anything the money can provide, Astrid as an inventor can also give her specialized equipment you simply can't buy anywhere, like she did with our remote-controlled sap-bomb.

I can kind of see this relationship working.

 

[Fangshi]

Would Astrid mind if we assign her as the person heading this investigation?

You might have to get the King to ask/order her to take the assignment, she would not refuse if you did. She spends most of her time watching Bari at the moment so she would likely object to anything that distracts from that.

She would certainly prefer to stay at the safe house and continue to tend to Bari though one could make the arguement that it would be good for her to have something else to focus on besides her comatose friend.

 

[Nevill]

Didn't Letta intend to use one of the safehouses as her headquarters? What is wrong with Astrid's?

I would not want to pressure her into it if she is against it, but really, watching an unconscious Bari is not the healthiest use of her time. Besides, the sooner the situation in the kingdom is resolved, the sooner we can get back to fixing him.

Actually, I also want to leave her notes on the healing ritual if we, ah, fail to return. At least that way she would have a guarantee of his eventual restoration and something to look forward to.

 

[Fangshi]

Didn't Letta intend to use one of the safehouses as her headquarters? What is wrong with Astrid's?

There is nothing wrong with it. It would distract Astrid though, though that might be good for her too, hard to say really.

Actually, I also want to leave her notes on the healing ritual if we, ah, fail to return. At least that way she would have a guarantee of his eventual restoration and something to look forward to.

Sure, if you want to write down the Greater Heal ritual and give a copy to Astrid you can do that. As long as you do not mind that spell potentially spreading that is.

 

[Nevill]

There is nothing wrong with it. It would distract Astrid though, though that might be good for her too, hard to say really.

Yeah, what I meant is that if she wants to stay at the safehouse with Bari, she can stay, but I feel she needs something else to do, too.

Having other people around to talk to would not be bad, either.

Sure, if you want to write down the Greater Heal ritual and give a copy to Astrid you can do that. As long as you do not mind that spell potentially spreading that is.

If we die, I could not care less what happens to the spell.

Besides, Astrid alone would not be able to find the resourses nor the mages that would be able to cast it outside of our circle in Muirthemne. Just give her the notes and tell her to seek out Gareth and Brigit if something happens to us.

 

[Fangshi]

I am going to close the vote now.

1.B wins, you will go to see the Seekers.

2.Aiii wins, tonight you will unleash Berty on the Weasels... those poor bastards...

The update should be out within twenty four hours, hopefully.



Edit:

The update is about half done but it is running long given the number of people you are meeting. Honestly I thought you would just go shopping for equipment (to address your serious lack of armour and supplies) and I could give you a short scene (serves me right for assuming, I guess ).

I will either cut some of the planned content (Berty's scenes for example since technically you are not actually there to see them) and post it soon or I will put in the time to flesh it all out more.

So it will either be up in the next hour or two, in a shorter form, or it will be up sometime tomorrow as I won't have much more time to work on it tonight.

 

[Nevill]

Hm... It was mentioned earlier that we never tried breaking and reassembling minds before:

As long as you do a good job of putting him back together they might never know, you are not really sure what will happen as you have never tried to rebuild a mind after wrecking it.

But I remember this scene in Berandal:

You take turns pushing him from one extreme to another, fear, lust, jealous, happiness, hatred, grief... after ten minutes of constant assault his mind is clay in your hands. He is simply too worn out to resist any longer.

Slowly you begin to build him back up.

The way you want him to be.

Does this particular episode not count? If so, why?

 

[Fangshi]

Does this particular episode not count? If so, why?

What you did in Berandal certainly was a form of torture but you were more restrained with the guard than you would be with Wenzel. The guard you wore down without actually breaking, that allowed you to influence him enough to get him to do what you want. It was certainly exhausting for your target but all he needed was a good, long rest and he would eventually recover.

It is unlikely that such a method would work on Wenzel given his defenses and the fact that you want to extract a fair amount of actual information from him. You would either have to bypass his defenses (with, let's say, an infiltration spell) or you would have to smash everything and forcibly extract the information you require. If you shatter his mind in that way you would then have to piece him back together (his mind would not be able to repair itself, at least not in the short to mid term) which you have not done before to the best of my recollection.

So in essence it would be two different procedures and though I did use similar language for both they would be fairly different in requirements and effects.


The update is almost done, I just need to sort through the options and finish the last three or four scenes. I hope it will be up before the end of the weekend but just a note of warning, it is another long one (hopefully it will not hit thirty pages...).

 

[Nevill]

I've been thinking about our relationship with Morpheus and the Dreaming lately.

So far, there have been two kinds of people I would want to send to the Dreaming. The ones we want killed or otherwise disappeared from our lives, and the ones we would like to retrieve one day.

The first category includes necromancers, renegades, traitors, cultists like Rand or Oneiroi mages, and the like. Those that are too dangerous or bothersome to keep in Pathfinder prisons.

The second category includes people who are sent there for therapy, education, disciplinary action or just for survival (say, if we find ourselves unable to heal a mortally wounded party member, we might just send them to the Dreaming to save them). We might want to get these people back eventually, and that means that we would need to trade.

Which brings me to the following point. Can we open an 'account' with Morpheus? We have already seen how much different people are worth to him, why not make it canon? That way, we would be able to afford and maintain an 'exchange fund'.

Throw in two of the surviving Oneiroi mages without claiming a favor, and you can move people like Hallr and Wenzel (and maybe even some of our characters) in and out of the Dreaming at your leisure.

We might even go a step further and ask Morphy for a price-list on his favors. For example, we already know that TWM is worth roughly 2000 IPs, and that is the cost of teaching us musical magic or the Nightmare that allows a degree of control over the Dreaming. That way we would be able to change 'a person for a favor' scheme that we've been using so far into a barter system with IPs as money equivalent.

 

[Fangshi]

Which brings me to the following point. Can we open an 'account' with Morpheus? We have already seen how much different people are worth to him, why not make it canon? That way, we would be able to afford and maintain an 'exchange fund'.

I think that can probably be arranged. There might be a little 'market volatility' though and prices will change over time...

I will add that information to the Organizational overview in IPs, but first the update. I should have it finished this evening when my schedule clears up (fourteen hours or so at the most).

Edit:

Still editing and writing the update so I really doubt it will be done tonight, I will see what I can do and it will be close but if it is not up in the next hour and a half it will have to get pushed back again until I have time to finish the last scene and add the options.

(Yeah it is going to be one of those updates like 'The Second Coming' only likely with more options to play around with. Another one that it might be best to read in segments.)




Also, since this one has been so horribly delayed I think I am just going to go ahead and post the Nanshe v. TWM Interlude on the weekend as well, as we should be at the right point for it by then. With any luck this will be a three update week.