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Myth: A New Age CYOA

Fangshi

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Messages
1,997
archaen said:
If Lyssa is looking after the kids with Berty does that mean we are leaving her behind when we go south?

That is the only way I can see it working immediately, so yes.

She will be in charge of the children (and she will likely have to do more of the actual work with them since Berty already has a lot to do) so she will have to go with them, Berty and the Boys to Blackrock.

Unless, that is, I misunderstood what the option was suggesting.

I suppose I could add another question to the update I am working on to determine if you wish to postpone the instructions you have given your staff until you are done in the south, but as things stand Berty and Lys will stay behind to work with the Boys while the rest of your people (in the city) are free to stay or go as needed.
 

Nevill

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Unless, that is, I misunderstood what the option was suggesting.
I am afraid so, since I am definitely taking them both with us. It is more of a long-term plan. Nobody is going to learn anything in a month or two anyway.

Berty and Lys will have to check the kids in what remains of today and maybe tomorrow and hire someone that would be able to teach them to read and write, which constitutes the basics of any serious education, and maybe hire someone to oversee their physical training.

Then when we will get back they will have to specialize them according to their preferences.

I suppose I could add another question to the update I am working on to determine if you wish to postpone the instructions you have given your staff until you are done in the south, but as things stand Berty and Lys will stay behind to work with the Boys while the rest of your people (in the city) are free to stay or go as needed.
Sure, I am for postponing anything that can not be accomplished immediately.

I assume that moving people to the Fort can be done in our absense, though.
 

archaen

Cipher
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Lyssa is our animals, our illusionist, and our storm mage. Plus she would start going insane as we are all still wearing the necklaces.
 

Fangshi

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Alright, I will add three or four questions to the update to handle the issue then.

If all you want them to do is learn to read and write Albrecht can lend you a few of his clerks (not great teachers but about the best you are going to be able to do in a day unless you want to simply hire the first people that apply for the job) which you will not have to pay at least. Some of the children already can write and read a little anyway.

I will also include a question where you can explicitly state who you plan to take with you from your available options and that should settle that.
 

Nevill

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
If all you want them to do is learn to read and write Albrecht can lend you a few of his clerks (not great teachers but about the best you are going to be able to do in a day unless you want to simply hire the first people that apply for the job)
What would happen if we were to choose Bii, where we hire the tutors for them? How would it work, considering that we were going to depart the city on the next day?

It is mostly about making an education program for them. Berty would have warfare in mind, while Lys would - probably - be more concerned with civilian specialities. The goal was to strike a balance between the two and settle on the course of action.

The actual hiring of the teachers should not necessarily happen in a single day, as our people could see to it without us.
 
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Fangshi

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Nevill said:
What would happen if we were to choose Bii, where we hire the tutors for them? How would it work, considering that we were going to depart the city on the next day?

I would have rolled twice to see who immediately answered the call for a tutor. You would then have had the choice to choose between them or postpone the issue till you came back.

Nevill said:
It is mostly about making an education program for them. Berty would have warfare in mind, while Lys would - probably - more concerned with civilian specialities. The goal was to strike a balance between the two and settle on the course of action.

The actual hiring of the teachers should not necessarily happen in a single day, as our people could see to it without us.

Sure, that can work, it will depend on who is left behind to manage it though.
 

Nevill

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Fangshi said:
Reginar is hard to read at the best of times but he pushed strongly in private to send the army south. He even offered to accompany the expedition.
Wait, so the only Lord that stayed in the city is the one who strongly suggested sending the army away? :?

Why did he stay if he wanted to leave that bad?
 

Fangshi

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Nevill said:
Wait, so the only Lord that stayed in the city is the one who strongly suggested sending the army away? :?

Why did he stay if he wanted to leave that bad?

Short answer is that he did not have a choice.

Originally the proposal was to have Berg and Reginar lead the army south with Reinhard but Timo did not feel that, that was a good idea and he went to his father with his concerns. He managed to convince Albrecht to lobby to send old Seinsheim instead and the King succeeded.

The update will be up soon or sometime tonight depending on how things line up.
 

Nevill

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Originally the proposal was to have Berg and Reginar lead the army south with Reinhard but Timo did not feel that, that was a good idea and he went to his father with his concerns. He managed to convince Albrecht to lobby to send old Seinsheim instead and the King succeeded.
Why did Timo do this, if he was 'fairly certain' that Reginar himself is not compromised?

Why not leave Berg in the city?

I do not want to criticize his decision, just to understand a rationale behind it.
To hire the various companies for thirty days:

The Hounds: 100 WPs
How much to contract the elephants and their handlers alone? They are a good weapon of mass trampling, and no one have used them extensively before. Might be a good surprise for our enemies.
 
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Fangshi

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Nevill said:
Why did Timo do this, if he was 'fairly certain' that Reginar himself is not compromised?

If Reginar wanted to leave the city it was likely because he was given the idea by someone that is compromised directly or indirectly.

Timo weighed the chance that the impulse came from a cultist and decided that it probably did so he worked to keep Reginar in the city and out of the South.

Nevill said:
Why not leave Berg in the city?

He considers Berg to be less of a threat to the army than Reginar would be. Reginar comes from a military background and is closer to the soldiers than Berg is. They are less likely to follow or listen to Berg than they would be to listen to Reginar if something happens to Reinhard. If the crown prince dies in the south then leadership of the army has to go to a Lord that can be trusted and right now that in Seinsheim (problem is that everyone hates Seinsheim and might not follow him if a more popular and skilled option is available).

Playing Timo's game is all about balancing risk.

Nevill said:
How much to contract the elephants and their handlers alone? They are a good weapon of mass trampling, and no one have used them extensively before. Might be a good surprise for our enemies.

Maybe about 40 WPs or so.



The update is done I am just trying to sort out the options properly as there is a lot to decide on before you 'lock' yourself into a path by removing yourself from the capital. As soon as the options are done I will post the update. The update is a bit interesting and gives you a few opportunists people have asked for so hopefully it works well, not too sure about it though to be honest.
 

Nevill

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If Reginar wanted to leave the city it was likely because he was given the idea by someone that is compromised directly or indirectly.

Timo weighed the chance that the impulse came from a cultist and decided that it probably did so he worked to keep Reginar in the city and out of the South.
Alright.

What Timo knows about the heirs of Houses Hesse and Reginar, two of the 'Three Charioteers'? Do they constitute a threat? Does he have an opinion on whether or not they are compromised? Do they have any weight in the Royal Army?

Nevill said:
If the crown prince dies in the south then leadership of the army has to go to a Lord that can be trusted and right now that in Seinsheim (problem is that everyone hates Seinsheim and might not follow him if a more popular and skilled option is available).
Well, how skilled is Seinsheim?

Actually, who are the best tacticians in the dwarven army? Whose advice would be worth listening to?
 

Fangshi

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Nevill said:
Alright.

What Timo knows about the heirs of Houses Hesse and Reginar, two of the 'Three Charioteers'? Do they constitute a threat? Does he have an opinion on whether or not they are compromised? Do they have any weight in the Royal Army?

Not as far as he can tell. They are just dumb kids in it for honour, glory and riches. They have some pull amongst the younger officer but not enough to impact strategy or anything.

Nevill said:
Well, how skilled is Seinsheim?

Actually, who are the best tacticians in the dwarven army? Whose advice would be worth listening to?

Seinsheim is skilled enough. He is not brilliant but the old dwarf has seen his fair share of battles and he should be able to manage as long as the generals back him.

Reinhard is the best tactician they have in the southern army by a fair margin. Timo will give you a list of names that you can check if needed, should Reinhard be dead when you get there. They are mostly as you would suspect, dwarves that have made war their business and practiced it over decades, if not centuries, there are no prodigies in the army that you have to worry about or anything. Honestly if you get there and Reinhard is dead Timo believes your best bet would be either to back Seinsheim or take over yourself. You have scored more impressive victories than three quarters of the Kingdom's officer corps and Berty is quite skilled if you can keep the conflicts small or indirect.


I think I have all the options down for the update now. If I missed on which could be quite likely then feel free to suggest it and I will add it to the list. I do not have any more time to plug away at it this morning.

The mechanics post will be up sometime today when I get a moment, there aren't any real surprises as far as rolls go in this one and all the new items appear clearly in the update. Some of your characters did get stat boosts this time though so those will be listed when I have a moment.

Then I will update the character sheets and organizational sheets and finally I will post the Nanshe Interlude as soon as the vote is closed for this one as I realized that the whole point of one of the questions would be removed if you knew the outcome before voting.
 

Fangshi

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Chapter 61: Lost and Found

Today will be different.

On the first day of your investigation you fought cultists and drunken mercenaries. On the second day you pit yourself against a crime lord, his toughs and the beasts of the void. You have risked your property, your allies, your family, and your body, mind and soul for the King. Yes, today will be different. Today you go shopping and there is no where better than the Brothers Dietfried for all of your needs.

At least that was true a few weeks ago.

"Are there really none left in the city?" you ask in disbelief.

"Well..." the normally jolly, little Dietfried refuses to meet your gaze as you needle him with questions.

You almost can not believe it.

"No energon cubes and no mandrake roots," the taller Brother confirms in his customary, cold tone, "Sold the last sack of cubes two days ago."

The rotund brother attempts to explain. He breaks out every word he can think of to express his shame, and dabs his sweat covered brow occasionally with a worn red handkerchief as he does so, "We are absolutely, positively, entirely and eternally embarrassed at our inability to- to..."

He looks to his somber brother who rolls his eyes and shrugs, "Every mage in the city has been in here this week and all of them are buying items in bulk. Something has them worried and it is not hard to guess what."

"What do you mean?" Thaïs quickly enquires.

The smaller brother wipes his brow again and gives you a pained look, "War. The south is in complete chaos and if that chaos spreads to Myrgard there are many mages that will want to flee with whatever they can salvage."

He brother smiles. The malice evident behind those lips worries a little part of you, "There are also many that will use the chance to settle old scores. They all crave just a small advantage when setting out to ruin their enemies-"

The smaller Dietfried cuts in, his eyes wide, "Or! Or to protect themselves from such vicious and unscrupulous characters!"

The thin brother nods, drawing a box of dust cover vials from behind the counter, he begins to sort them, "That too. We sell to all, no need to worry ourselves with motive as long as the coin is good."

For a moment it seems like the plump, little Dietfried may just agree but then his great round mouth pops open again, "You-"

You honestly don't care what the brothers get up to on their own time but you can't have them wasting any more of yours, you speak up, drawing them back to the topic at hand, "Alright, so you are completely out of energon cubes due to demand but why don't you have any mandrake roots?"

"Lack of demand," they answer together with a nod, "You are the only mages in the city that are interested in them now that the Imperial Embassy is gone and the supply we had on hand for the Heron Guards has been exhausted between that ritual you performed and an interested buyer in the north."

Great. Just great.

"Well do you have anything that we might use as substitutes?" you quick-witted partner asks.

The brothers exchange a knowing look, "Well-" the tall, thin one begins, "Perhaps we could show you the stock we reserve for our most loyal customers."

The small, round brother nods along, "Yes, I think we might do that," he grins widely, "I doubt they would say anything to the wrong parties-"

"Any parties," the older brother clarifies, smirking.

"Right," the now jolly brother agrees, "They would not say a word to anyone given their own secrets I should think."

If they do have supplies then maybe everything is not as bad as it seems.

You prod them to continue, "So you do have something then?"

"Follow me," the wide brother answers and disappears into the backroom as the thin Dietfried motions for you to pass through.

"Girls!" you call behind you, summoning your bodyguards from behind the racks of swords they have been eyeing, "Come along please."

With a yelp and a leap they are once more to your sides and the four of you make your way past the counter and into the backroom of the shop.

You slip past boxes full of trinkets and garbage, artefacts and oddities toward the far corner of the room.

"This way please!" the merry brother calls to you before plunging down a stairwell, torch in hand.

You follow as close as you can, down the stairwell and into the narrow tunnels below. Under the earth the Brothers' compound is massive, a network of tunnels and side chambers that likely run out of the city and into the hills beyond. You make a note of how they are structured. If you are walking into some sort of trap you will need to know your way back out again and even if you aren't such tunnels may come in handy in the future if you need to get in or out of the city.

As much as you try to fight it a substantial part of you feels that you are being lured to your death down here. Into the maws of hungry horrors or the hands of your hated enemies. The feeling builds as Dietfried finally stops at a heavy wooden door and begins to fish about for his keys. The heavy lock makes an audible click as the large iron key frees it from its frame and with a couple grunts your guide has it open wide. He flashes you a final grin and directs you inside.

You peer inside and part of you is a little disappointed. There are no horrors here, no necromancers or rebels either. The room is simply filled with crates of unmarked goods and one smiling little shopkeeper in the middle of it all.

He stretches out his arms and beams, "Dear customers! Behold our private collection!"

The girls are first into the room, weaving in amongst the crates, "Don't touch anything girls!" your better half shouts after them.

Sound advice for anyone really when dealing with enchanted items, you briefly glance down at your wrist, a reminder of your own lapse months ago.

Dietfried offers you both a tour and you gratefully accept, far better than poking through boxes at random. As you make your way to the supplies section you strike up a little conversation, "How is our mutual acquaintance doing?" you enquire.

He does not turn back as he answers, "Good as far as I know. She said to say thank you for the gifts, they should make her job easier. She also said that she will contact you directly through our other mutual friend when you are done," the little merchant laughs, "You know I am having trouble classifying you two. On the face of it I believed you to be Light mages but maybe you are Dark ones instead given your allies."

"Why can't we be neither?" Thaïs asks the question on your mind.

The shopkeeper stops and turns, taking you both in, "If you do not pick a side eventually you will be declared the enemy of both."

You don't necessarily buy that, "What about the Trow?"

Dietfried shrugs and laughs, "You don't look like Trow to me," he pushes on in silence until you reach a row of large brown crates, "Here we go!" he exclaims with marked enthusiasm.

Fastening his torch to the wall he cracks open on of the boxes and a pale green light illuminates his face. In moments you realize what you are looking at, pure, uncut energon crystals.

The merchant winks at you, "Highly illegal to sell but not technically illegal to own. We bring these crystals in and then carve them down by hand to sell them on. The recent troubles have simply exhausted our supply of cut energon cubes but the crystals we buy in bulk to save on costs. In a few weeks we will have cubes back in stock but I suspect that will not help you much. Now, if I turn my back for a moment and you take some crystals that is hardly my fault is it? And so long as you happen to drop some gold while doing so I see no reason to complain about the loss, understand?"

That certainly is one way to see things. Those crystals could be very useful though they would also be quite wasteful. Generally speaking the only mages that use full crystals are those that need to power Dreams or incredibly complex spells. Using crystals to power your spells would be like throwing away four energon cubes on every casting and their price is sure to be equal to their power. Still, it is not like you have a lot of options.

Dietfried must be able to sense your scepticism as he nods twice and splits open the next crate. It is filled with bottles, each of which gives off a slight green glow, "Energon dust suspended in alcohol. We have a few clients that love this stuff and it will increase your casting power as long as it is in your system."

You have heard of mages drinking energon dust before, usually in various grain alcohols, and it rarely ends well. The classic combination of an inflated sense of power and invulnerability combined with lower self control has levelled more than one magical institution. It is also not very healthy if used in large doses or for extended lengths of time. Naturally it is also quite addictive but it is cheaper than the crystals and you can probably hold it down given your experience.

"Derryth! Thaïs!" the girls shout in unison as they whip around the corner carrying a small box between them. As they race up to you they jostle for position, each attempting desperately to be the one to show you what they found.

You give them a critical look, "Girls, I thought we told you not to go riffling through the crates?"

Biliku nods remorsefully, "Yes, you did but-"

Uttu cuts her off; she is a storm of enthusiasm that can no longer be contained, "We found mandrake roots!"

Thaïs grins, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah! They look just like them, ah, I think, maybe," doubt clouds her face for a moment.

Biliku rallies her sister's flagging confidence, "They are definitely mandrake roots, see."

They shove the red and black box into your faces. The box is ornate, with heavy bronze and gold working on the lid and sides. In the middle is a large gold 'M' that gleams in the torch light.

Dietfried takes one good look at the box and shakes his head, "That is not for sale I am afraid. It is being held for another client and he has paid a premium to have it reserved for his use alone."

"But it is filled with mandrake roots!" Uttu objects, "Can't we just have a couple?"

The merchant slowly shakes his head, "No, no I can't..."

"We can pay well for it," you add, trying to get him to give even the barest centimetre of ground.

"Well, I-" he mutters, lost in thought.

Your partner gives him another tiny shove, "You could have the contents of that box replaced within weeks could you not?"

He runs the numbers in his head, "Two, maybe two and a half weeks..."

"Well then," you grin at him, "If we bought some of them now you could have them replaced easily before anyone catches on. Seems to me that there is easy money to be made here."

"I-" he squints at the box, "I don't know if that would be wise."

"We have the Kingdom's treasury behind us," you remind him, "Just name your price," you feel bad about invoking the King this way but those roots might come in handy, at the least you would like the option to purchase some."

Dietfried answers quietly, "It won't be cheap."

The price he quotes you is steep but at least it is an option.

You spend the rest of the morning and a good chunk of the afternoon with the Brothers. Upstairs in their shop, downstairs in their supply tunnels and all through the backrooms. You do not leave a single chamber untouched in your efforts to locate any and all items that may be of use to you in the south. You want as many options available as possible before you render a decision.

-----------------------------------

"And now as a break from the shopping... more shopping!" Caoilainn is getting cranky it seems.

"Jealous?" you whisper as you and your partner make the rounds through the third shop today, loading up your poor servants with anything that strikes your fancy.

"No," she insists, "I just don't like wasting my time."

"We are not wasting our time," Thaïs mutters under her breathe, before snatching a roll of silk from a seamstress' hand and turning to you, "Oh Derryth! The girls would look magnificent in this come the spring!"

You examine it closely, turning it over in your hands, "I am not so sure. Is it fine enough?"

"Oh yes, my ladies," the seamstress attempts to reassure you, "It comes from the finest worms in the west and..."

In truth, Caoilainn is hardly alone in her opinions. You do not care about any of this and neither does your better half. The girls also pay little attention overall. Uttu enjoys trying on the clothing and playing with the fabrics but she would have just as much fun, or perhaps even more, out at the training field loosing arrows. Biliku on the other hand finds the whole thing ridiculous and a complete waste of time though she dutifully goes through the motions all the same.

This entire afternoon, and all the smocks, gowns, kirtles, surcoats, hose, girdles, capes, hoods, and bonnets you have tried on are for the benefit of one person. All of the silks, furs, linens, cambrics, hides, and cloth of gold, silver and who-knows-what-else have meant nothing to you. They are props in a production meant to fool but one.

This one person is not the center of attention, in fact she is never directly acknowledged at all. She is no lady, no banker, no adventurer or soldier. She has never held high office and likely never will. She is not even wholly free as you are quickly learning.

She is your servant for the day, she is also a spy leaking information to enemies of the Crown. You are certain of this fact, as you have spent the last four hours with her. Casually you have picked through the outskirts of her mind and you have been able to grasp a great deal about her as she works on lacing you up and striping you down, squeezing you in and pushing you out.

It is exhausting work and it is made all the more so by the constantly shifting and often contradictory orders Thaïs has been feeding her all day. Your partner has focused on distracting your servant while you focused on snatching up whatever stray thoughts might bubble to the surface. It is not a quick method to get answers but it is one that has allowed you to recover enough information to make a decision.

Where to begin?

Perhaps with the information given to you would be the best place to start.

Her name is Thyra, you learnt that when she was introduced to you. She has been with the palace staff for three years, yet more information readily available, and in the time she has been at the palace she has not caused a single incident. It is a shame that she is a traitor as she otherwise seems to do a good job.

Now for what you have learnt from her thoughts.

Resentment.

The very first thing you picked up on was resentment. She resents House Albrecht, she resent you and your people, she resents the Kingdom, she seems to even resent life itself. She is carrying a lot of bitterness with her and it shapes the world of her mind.

Her mind is city, it is Myrgard, and in many ways it is the complete opposite to Albrecht's. Her city is cold, it is dark, it is in shadow where his is gleaming with light and warmth. The people of her city shuffle back and forth in chains of iron and moonlight, they moan, frigid greetings, to one another as they pass while in his they stride confidently through the world, bathed in the light. In her mind there is no singing and no unnecessary noise; in his, all is life and sound and movement. Thyra's mind is a city, that is true, but it is the corpse of a city and dwelling on it chills you.

You did your best to peal back that layer of resentment, to try and find the root of her hatred and that is how you struck upon her motive. In one of the great squares of her city there is a monument to fear. A perfect reproduction of Thyra dragged in chains to a debtor's prison. She owes someone a great deal and that is why she resents life in general and her own life in particular.

Whether or not that is enough to justify treason you did not worry about as you began your search for something that would prove to you that her crimes were real.

In the crowd of the square, staring up at the monument to Thyra's fear, you found your proof. A single tiny child, almost too small to notice, the sort that is easily overlooked by most but not by you. You have been that child and you know exactly how much knowledge those little people can hold. Out of instinct, or perhaps empathy, you watched the child slipping through the crowd, stealing what it could from the shades around it to survive and you felt a pang of guilt that you could not help the dwarven child. The realization hit you soon after that, that child was Thyra's guilt, covered in the ash of her crimes but inhabited by a certain natural innocence as any beast must be that kills only to live.

As you pondered on this you noticed a second form nearby, it looked vaguely like a human man but none of its features stuck in your mind. In a city of vague shapes and ill- defined shades this thing was almost non existent but from time to time the child would pass by the creature and deposit her earnings with him. You rotated in the air and dropped down to just outside of the creature's view, you edged forward millimetre by millimetre until you could see its face.

It was that moment that confirmed your suspicions for you. The creature had no face and had no 'feel' to it either. In the mind, where everything is bound to memory, experience, imagination and emotion this thing was barely existent.

It was a blank and you became convinced that, that blank had a name.

Rand.

After that all that was left to do was to pick your fabric and give your report to Albrecht.

Though you are still not entirely sure what you will say.

----------------------------------------------

You lie in bed. It has been a busy day and it promises to be a busy night as well. It will all start any minute now.

Part of you has been dreading this.

You check the bed, it is clean, firm, strong, just what you will need tonight on your trip to the Dreaming.

What if she does not like it?

You check your gift.

The Brothers had it dropped off discretely while you were out.

You hope she likes it.

What if she thinks it is too much?

You smooth out your dress and check your hair one more time. You fidget in you chair despite Lyssa's earlier assurances that you look 'perfect'. You wish you had your hat, you feel naked without it.

What if she does not understand where you are coming from?

So much doubt for what should be the easiest thing in the world, you take a deep breath.

It is the 'curse of the mage' as Henry used to put it. People that spend their entire lives interrogating reality and themselves can never be truly sure of anything. It is great for nuance, great for picking up on subtle clues left by your enemies, great for outsmarting rivals and delivering that final, fatal blow.

It is less useful when it comes to being happy.

So, at times like this you try to remember what Henry taught you, not like you have much else to go on.

You remember one humid summer evening and Henry's words of wisdom over a few dozen pints. He had told you then that sometimes you have to simply take things at face value. You have to believe in the best in people and sometimes you have to trust them even if it bites you in the ass more often than not. He said, "Kid, you can't be afraid to make an ass out of yourself for love. The worst thing that can happen if you take that risk is that you die and that is a moment, no more than that!"

He said it with such conviction and drunken bravado that you could not help but laugh. Then you asked him about the worst thing that can happen if you don't take that risk.

He raised a glass a shouted, "You live!"

A bit predictable maybe but the drunks at the bar liked it, the barmaid did too. Said Henry was a 'natural romantic' and offered to soothe his 'poet's heart' or some such crap.

Last thing you saw of Henry that night was him disappearing up the stairs with the barmaid and her best friend.

First thing you saw of him the next morning he was banging on your door and asking you to hide him under your bed. Seems the barmaid had a husband and her friend had stolen Henry's spellbook and fled into the night... so much for the 'best in people'...

Henry always did have a lot of advice and it never did seem to bother him that one half of it was at odds with the rest...

You're startled out of your thoughts by a hesitant knock at the door.

"Well," you mutter, "Time to make an ass out of myself."

You are just glad that Caoilainn, in an act of mercy, agreed to meditate during your date, the last thing you need is her 'help'.

---------------------------------------

Thaïs is absolutely radiant and gracefully sweeps into your room her arms behind her back. Gently you close the door behind her and stop short as you catch the back of her. In her hangs, dangling loosely is a parcel, a gift perhaps?

She really shouldn't have and as you begin to say so you raise your eyes and notice her gaze fixed on your gift on the table.

She turns to face you the beginnings of the exact same sentence on her lips.

You both beam.

She holds the gift out to you, "You first, I insist."

You take the gift and lead her to the table, sitting together you begin to unwind the protective wrapping on it.

As the packaging comes loose you are left holding a book, she really does know the way to your heart.

It seems to be some sort of tome, she grins nervously as you open it and begin to flick through the pages. You immediately stop at the first section, you read the title out loud to her, "On the Dreams of Men and Monsters: One Mage's Experiences in the Dreaming by Henry Jones," you look up at her in disbelief, a bewildered smile plastered to your face, "When did he? How did he?" you laugh, even after all those years the old man was holding out on so very much.

You gaze at the book, running you fingers along the pages, as the wonder flows away you manage an intelligent question, "How did you find this?"

She smirks and taps her head, "Our memories. A few weeks ago I was hit by a vivid still image of Henry's office in Madrigal before the, ah, the dwarven incident..."

You nod solemnly, now that is a story that you will both take to the grave...

She coughs, "Anyway, on his right hand bookshelf, three books in, fourth shelf there was a volume with his name on it but it was not one I could remember us reading so I did a little digging at the Dietfrieds' to be sure. Sure enough the book existed, it was never a popular work and many thought it was completely false, the result of excessive drinking or some other such nonsense. However, the Brothers had a copy, this copy, and though it was in poor shape they swore by its authority and claimed it had a great many insights to share into how the Dreaming was, or I suppose is, structured. They offered to have it rebound for no charge so I took them up on the offer."

You are a bit taken aback to be honest, all you have to remember Henry by is his book but now you have an entire new story to delve into, you can barely coke out a thank you as the weight of the text and what it represents hits home, "I- Thank you, Thaïs I really can't-"

She helps you turn the pages, "That is not all. The Brothers were kind enough to scrape together a number of spells they have found useful in the Dreaming and they have appended them to the back of the text, and then there is-"

She stops suddenly and leans back a little.

"What's the matter?" you ask, leaning forward.

"Derryth," she begins, keeping a measured and even tone, "At the very end of the text are the spells I learnt as a courtesan and all of the practical information I could think of on how to make yourself more, well, likeable. They are the spells and techniques I tried to use on you when we first met though I hope they will yield better results this time. I thought that we could go over it together, well, if you want to that is."

A book, written by two of the people you hold most dear and supplemented with spells, you could not think of a better gift and you tell her so.

You kiss her and she smiles, relieved, as you nudge her gift toward her.

No time to worry now, hopefully your instincts were right.

Carefully she removes the brown paper wrapping, delicately she opens the wooden transport box and she gasps as she takes it out.

She gently lays it on the table.

It is a black box of the same obsidian as the one you received from Nanshe but that is where the similarity ends. Along each side are carved scenes of incredible complexity, set apart from the black stone by inlays of gold, silver and bronze. The lid is attached by a strong hinge on one end and is divided into four beautiful but complex scenes. Finally at the center of the lid rests the ugliest piece of bronze you have ever set your eyes on, the partial gold plating catches the failing light from the setting sun through your window.

Thaïs stares at that lid, then she looks at you, her eyes sparkle, "You kept it? All this time you kept it? That Wyrd awful belt buckle from that boor?"

You shrug, "I am not sure why I held on to it."

She raises an eyebrow, "It had nothing to do with the fact that it is solid bronze and gold?"

You grin, "Well, maybe that played a part. It sat in my pack for months before I remembered it and I thought what better way use for it than this."

"I love it," she grins.

"There's more," you reply and direct her attention to the scenes on the box.

She scrutinizes each, every now and then she narrows her eyes as something half remembered comes to the surface. Then she rotates the box and something catches her eye. A small scene, a woman in silver with golden hair sits at a table of bronze. Next to her sit three men, each wearing a mask in gold, silver and bronze.

"Nine's mind," she smirks at you and points at it, "Are all of these scenes from your life?"

"Half right," you reply, "Each is a puzzle I have had to solve or a trap I have had to disarm. You once asked me how I answered Faceless' puzzle so quickly, well this is how. Each one of those challenges has helped to form me, no, us as we are. If you want we can practice them together."

She smiles warmly, "I would like that I think. So what happens if I..." she presses in the silver face and the box begins to hum as it springs to life and spells fire.

From the top of the box a wooden cylinder is ejected through the mouth of the belt buckle. Your partner gasps, "What's this? Some sort of tube?"

You nod, "Yes, the Brothers were kind enough to help me design it. It is based on Brigit's puzzle box with a few ideas from some of the traps I have encountered. Each time a puzzle is correctly solved it ejects a tube, open it," you prompt her.

She pops the top off the cylinder and slides out a roll of paper, "This is... the Warrior's Mask?"

Again you nod, "Yes, this one I added myself but the Brother's helped to supply spell scrolls for all of the other puzzles. They said that money was no obstacle."

"You too," she mutters, "Did you talk to..."

"Morpheus?" you finish her thought.

She smiles, "Yes, he must have paid for both our gifts. I wonder what he is up to?"

"Maybe he just wants us to be happy?" you suggest, half joking.

"Yes, the demon prince has our best interests at heart I am sure," she answers with a smirk, latching on to your joke.

You are glad that she likes her gift but you have one final thing to show her. A little something that the tall Brother helped you integrate.

You turn the box over ad insert a small key into its base. Slowly you begin to wind it and the mechanical noises of the box quickly give way to the sound of a single voice, maddeningly beautiful and haunting in it clarity.

Surprised, Thaïs turns to you. She closes her eyes and lets the music take her, "Mother's song, that, that is mother's song... I had forgotten..."

You nod, "One of our earliest memories, it came to me last month and it has not left me since. It is amazing what the mind remembers but hides from itsel-"

From the way she tackles you in mid sentence you surmise she likes your gift quite a bit.

When she allows you air once more she whispers her thanks and tell you that she will keep this music box, this puzzle box, till the end of her days.

-----------------------------------

"Table for two please," you inform the lizard-fish at the door.

It growls out a response, "Reservation?"

"Derryth," you answer.

He shakes his head, "No Derryth."

"Try Derryth and Thaïs," your friend is quick to add as he runs down the list.

He nods slowly, "Right, there it is, have a good evening."

She whispers to you as you glide past the beast, "Morpheus did say that these goblins are very simple beasts. Too much or too little information and they are lost."

You weave your way past ratbears, salmonhawks and catroachs as you make your way to the private rooms of the restaurant. When you asked Morpheus to set up a unique date for the two of you this was not quite what you had in mind but the Prince really did go all out. From what you can tell this is one of the finest establishments in the entire Dreaming so that has to count for something right?

You find your table near the stage, the only unoccupied table in the entire building. A team of crustacean-wolf hybrids are doing their best to set up the entertainment for the evening, they seem to spend much of their time trying to murder each other.

A fat little beast with the feet of a duck and the head of a snake waddles up to your table, "Menussss" he hisses as he hops up and places two sheets of paper on your hands.

You order something that sounds vaguely edible and Thaïs has the same. Your only hope is that it is not moving when it hits your plate. You are just about to fall into easy conversation when the stage lights come up and the performance begins.

An owl-like being that coos like a dove explains that the piece is about the ancient and moving human concept of soul mates. It is sweet that Morpheus took the time to arrange this but in all honesty it is a story you have both heard numerous times before and you know that it is false. It was concocted some time in the Wind Age amongst the people of Scales and it has no roots beyond that. However, you do not want to be rude, especially when surrounded by demons, so you listen politely.

He begins with the classical tale, humans were first formed with two heads, four arms, four legs and a single soul. These original humans were so powerful that even the Dark Gods feared them. Their laughter was as thunder pouring off the mountains. Their joy surpassed even the greatest temptations of the Gods. Their rage could 'cleave' immortals 'in twain'. Their strength could shatter the world. They were formed full, complete and perfect...

And so on, and so on. The orator goes on about the perfection of these early humans for a good four minutes longer than he should. Eventually he mentions that the Dark Gods were jealous of these perfect mortals and so through foul magic and deception they shattered humanity, splitting each soul in two.

Now normally in the story the bard or narrator would tell some sort of tale or 'prophesy' handed down from the 'earliest ages of the world'. In it humanity would restore itself to its original condition and vanquish the Gods once and for all.

Instead the demon simply can not bring himself to talk about the end of the tale. Instead he hones in on the destruction of the original humans by the Gods and with great vigour he enthuses on the subject for a full five minutes before a pair of the crustacean-wolves pull him off stage. They crash together through a number of empty tables, reducing about a fifth of the establishment to rubble within minutes and leaving a number of patrons standing around without a place to sit.

The two of you do your best no to laugh at the poor things, clapping dutifully as they roll away into the darkness.

In their recently vacated place on the stage Morpheus appears in a puff of orange and purple smoke with pale horrors similar to those you saw below Blackrock.

He gives you a single nod and flashes a grin as the music begins. It strokes your ear, vibrating through your soul with the first chords from his musicians.

Morpheus wastes no time before launching into the song his voice a wave that threatens to wash you away.

Throw me a penny

And I'll make you a dream

You look to Thaïs and she grins back at you. You extend your hand across the table and she takes it.

You find that life's not always what it seems

Then think of a rainbow

And I'll make it come real

Roll me, I'm a never ending wheel

You hop to your feet together and begin to dance. It is not the ordered dancing of the high born nor is it the spirited whirling of a peasant festival. It is something else entirely, the music tells you what to do and you do it, simple as that, it just feels right.

The magic bound into every single note, every single word compels you to act and you do it gladly.

I'll give you a star

So you'll know

Just where you are

Don't you know that I might be

Your wishing well, your wishing well

As you bob and jump and grind and shake the space around the stage begins to fill. Demons of all shapes and sizes crowd in, wings, tails, tentacles and more brush past you on the dance floor.

Look in the water, tell me what do you see

Reflections of the love you give to me

Love isn't money, it's not something you buy

So let me fill myself with tears you cry, why?

Once you see someone fall but Morpheus points from the edge of the stage and another demon helps it to its feet...

Time is a never ending journey

Love is a never ending smile

Give me a sign to build a dream on, dream on...

The Demon Prince is in complete control of everyone in the building and they love him for it, you love him for it...

Yeah, throw me a penny

And I'll make you a dream

You find that life's not always what it seems

Love isn't money

It's not something you buy

Let me fill myself with tears you cry

Dancing with Thaïs in the club at the edge of the City of Peaceful Rest you are happier now than you can ever remember being. Some small part of you even considers staying forever...

I'll give you a star

So you'll know just where you are

Someday, some way you'll feel the things I say

Dream for a while of the things that make you smile


Don't you know, don't you know

Oh you know that I'm your wishing well

Your wishing well...

Your world dissolves around you as the song end and you squeeze your partner's hand all the tighter for it. You both pant slightly, grinning from ear to ear. That was fun but thankfully now it is over-

The band begins to play again, from the first note you are spellbound.

The whole crowd is rocking gently together. Tendrils and talons held, 'hand and hand' as every third or fourth demon casts a small bolt of fire up in the air. Some sort of salute or tribute to the band perhaps?

Slowly at first the music sweeps you up and carries you along.

You and Thaïs lean in together and cast create fire, raising your hands into the air. A nearby vulture-pig nods and salutes you.

Your hips begin to sway in unison as with another grin Morpheus begins to sing:

From the first time we touched with our eyes

Only magic could take away my heart

I am always afraid for my heart

So lay beside me now and tell me lies, sweet lies

As long as it's not about love

This is going to be a long night but you would be lying if you said you did not love every second of it...

----------------------------------------

Morpheus towels himself off, he was racing all over the stage on some of those numbers so you would not be surprised if he is a little tired.

He catches the two of you enter and grins, "So, how did you like the show?"

Both of you simply smile at him, exhausted from dancing for what must have been three or four hours.

"So I take it you liked it then?" a feminine voice call from the side room, "Could you please close the door, I would not want us to be interrupted."

As you do so an elegant figure saunters into the room. She is quite possibly the most attractive and yet strangely repulsive being you have ever met. She is white from head to toe, covered in what looks to be armour but is likely a hard natural plating. She has a startling array of eyes and bears a striking resemblance to Nephila. Immediately you realize that there is only one person this could be, Morpheus' first wife, Nephila's aunt and mother-in-law and the Spider Goddess' only living sister.

She smiles at you, which you find slightly unsettling, "My dear husband tells me that you ladies swore a blood pact with dear Nephila, is that correct? How is the poor girl anyway? She came here seeking so many answers and I am afraid all we gave her were questions and frustration."

You match the Princess' polite tone, "Last time we saw her she was doing fine. We freed her from her prison and let her go her own way with a recommendation."

"My, my," the Spider Princess beams, "Do you make it a habit of saving demons in distress then? Why just the other day my husband was telling me of what a wonderful group of mages you all are and how you saved him from those boorish Oneiroi."

Morpheus shifts on his throne, you suspect that he did not expect his wife to tell you what he has been saying to her.

"My lady, you do us too great a kindness," you better half answers, "I am sure your husband would have managed to free himself even without our aid."

She shoots a sidelong glance at her husband, it must easy to do with so many eyes, "Oh certainly he would have managed eventually or one of us would have come along and freed him but it is much more impressive that a handful of mortals should choose to do so even if you did have, ah, help."

You bow your heads in thanks to the Lady's kindness.

The Spider Princess eyes her husband once more, "Perhaps dear you would like to take a nap while I discuss matters with your charming mortal friends. I should very much like to make them my friends as well if all I hear about them is true."

He nods slowly, considering the notion, "Certainly my dear but remember what we talked about. These two and all members of their organization are under my direct protection. We can not compel them and we can not detain them," he grins at you both, "No matter how much we might like to."

As he passes you on the way out of the chamber he stops once, "Ladies, our mutual friend has informed me that you have a parcel waiting for you two days southeast of the city. She says it is a very large and time sensitive parcel and that even now thieves come to claim it. If you wish to collect it you had better do so soon."

You stop him, a single determined hand on his muscular arm, "Are we sure she was acting on her own initiative and not the request of another."

He shrugs, "I have no way of knowing if she was forced to contact me or did so of her own free will I am afraid. She did not appear to be in distress beyond what would be natural given her situation though."

Well, that is probably the best you can hope for.

You both bid the Prince good night and once more express your thanks over the entertainment he arranged for you before turning back to the Spider Princess.

You suspect that you have a lot to discuss.

---------------------------------------

You feel good this morning. Your quiet talk with Thaïs, your evening in the Dreaming, Morpheus' concert and what came after when you woke up have all contributed to a state of confident excitement in you today.

You feel relaxed, you feel energetic, you feel damn well optimistic. You feel like you could save the Kingdom single handed and you want to share that feeling with the world, starting with Ceannard. Which is why you dragged yourselves out of bed at the first rays of dawn and marched down to the Arrows' compound.

It is not that Otto wanted to let you in, you just left him no choice.

"Ceannard!" you bang on the bedroom door, "Ceannard we know you are in there!"

"Go away!" he shouts back, "I am sick!"

"Like hell you are!" Thaïs shouts back.

You give her a surprised glance and she shrugs and beams at you. You shake it off, she must be feeling awfully energetic this morning as well.

"Ceannard, we just want to talk," you begin.

"No!" he shout comes from the other side.

"It's about business," Thaïs dangles another crumb in front of him.

"Ah, what kind of business?" he answers hesitantly.

"The kind that might pay very well!" you answer together.

You can hear him unbolting the door, "Alright, but just you two and I don't want to hear any jokes!"

Jokes?

The door opens a crack and then slightly more. Just enough to let you both slide through with only a little discomfort.

As soon as you are in the mercenary slams the door behind you.

"What the hell Ceannard! What is wrong wi-" you stop in mid sentence as you get a look at his neck.

There, on the left side of his neck are perhaps the largest and deepest hued love bites you have ever seen. Half of his neck is consumed by a continuous purple welt.

The grin creeps up your face.

Thaïs snickers.

You try to hold it back, you really do, but you just can't.

You both burst out laughing.

The mercenary is devastated, "Will you two kindly shut up."

It takes you three minutes more than is decent to do so.

"Oh, Ceannard," Thaïs begins, wiping her eyes.

You almost can't believe it, "Ceannard, you didn't, did you?"

He coughs, "I, ah, I don't want to talk about it."

Suddenly the term bug bite seems all too appropriate.

"She was a demon, Ceannard," you shake your head.

"I said, I do not want to talk about it," he insists.

You raise you hands in surrender, "Alright, alright. It is really none of our business anyway. We came here because we want to hire the Arrows again."

"What for?" is his immediate response.

A good question, what do you want him for?


1. Arrows Contracts:

A) You hire him to escort you to meet Nanshe. Afterwards he will return to the city. (obviously you need to vote to go see Nanshe for this option to count, if you do not then this option will be discarded). (200WPs)

B) You hire the Arrows for a month to go with you into the South. At the end of the month if you still need them you can renew otherwise they will leave. (450 WPs)

C) You hire the Arrows to train the Greys in Myrgard (This option requires the Greys to remain behind when you leave.). (100 WPs)

D) You hire the Arrows to train the Greys at Blackrock (This option requires the Greys to remain behind when you leave.). (120 WPs)

E) You want to absorb the Arrows, their assets and personnel since you use them constantly anyway (All E votes will count together the winner will be the most popular option should E win):

(Included are all of the options from the first listing of the Arrows, if you want to try something else then feel free to make use of the freeform option):

i. You offer to buy out the Arrows and let Ceannard retire (He does not seem to want to retire.). (4000 WPs, payable yearly in installments of 500WPs, you will have to take out a loan with the Goldsmiths to cover the first payment, it will be at 25% compound monthly interest, feel free to list the amount you want the loan to be for. The most popular option will be chosen if this option wins.).

ii. You offer to buy out the Arrows and keep Ceannard and his officers on as, well, officers. (3000 WPs, payable yearly in installments of 500WPs, you will have to take out a loan with the Goldsmiths to cover the first payment, it will be at 25% compound monthly interest, feel free to list the amount you want the loan to be for. The most popular option will be chosen if this option wins.)

iii. You offer to buy the Arrows and keep Ceannard on as a partner (his officers will also stay on as officers naturally). (2000 WPs, payable in installments of 200 WPs four times a year (quarterly). You will have to take out a loan to cover the expense, it will be at 25% compound monthly interest feel free to list the amount you want the loan to be for. The most popular option will be chosen if this option wins.).

iv. Ceannard has never been secretive about how much he likes the two of you. If you want to take him into your bed as well as your organization he is likely to reduce his price. Who knows, maybe love will grow there as well. Of course Áine is unlikely to appreciate it. (It will still cost 1000 WPs, payable in installments of 200 WPs four times a year (quarterly). You will have to take out a loan to cover the expense, it will be at 25% compound monthly interest feel free to list the amount you want the loan to be for. The most popular option will be chosen if this option wins.).

v. Ceannard has never been secretive about how much he likes the two of you. If you want to take him into your bed as well as your organization he is likely to reduce his price. You could also try to talk Lyssa into participating and reduce his price even further... Who knows, maybe love will grow there as well? Áine is unlikely to appreciate it though and Lyssa may or may not be offended by the idea. (It will probably cost 800 WPs, payable in 100 WPs instalments, quarterly. You can take out a loan at 25% compound monthly interest if you so desire but you do not have to).

vi. You offer to buy the Arrows and keep Ceannard on as a partner (his officers will also stay on as officers naturally). You will make such a deal in private. In public, you will have Albrecht hire the mercenaries as his personal forces (not unlike the Seekers) and have him pay the first 200 WPs out of the treasury. You should then be able to use the Arrows for the good of the state without too many questions raised, though any deals that only benefit you should be handled discreetly.

vii. Offer Ceannard a foursome with Derryth, Thais and Nephila. That should reduce the price rather substantially if you don't mind the implications and it is not likely to me a one time affair. (It will cost 500 WPs, payable in 100 WPs instalments, quarterly. You can take out a loan at 25% compound monthly interest if you so desire but you do not have to).

viii. This is just the full orgy option, included for the sake of completeness... You will bed Ceannard, Nephila, Lyssa and Lady Grey. If you somehow actually pull this off then Ceannard will just give you the Arrows, no questions asked. Of course this is also could also spectacularly backfire and destroy much of your operation... There is a substantial element of luck as well given all the ways this could go wrong.

ix. freeform: Try some other arrangement to incorporate the Arrows.

F) freeform: since you will likely want to do something much more complex. Propose it and I will tabulate a cost for you.


2. Equipment: You went shopping at the Brothers Dietfried and this is what you found:

Supplies:

A) 'M' labelled mandrake roots: 40 WPs each

B) Energon Crystals: 30 WPs each

C) Energon Whiskey: 12 WPs a bottle

Regular Items:

D) Leather armour: 5 WPs each suit

E) Large wooden shield: 4 WPs each

F) Arrows: 1WP per 2 quivers

G) Bolts: 1 WP per 2 magazines

H) Light Composite Bow: 10 WPs each

I) Light Crossbow: 12 WPs each

Magical Items:

J) Magic resistant leather armour (grants minor magic resistance to wearer, allowing them to weather the effects of magical spells slightly better.): 30 WPs each

K) Magic resistant mail (grants minor magic resistance to wearer, allowing them to weather the effects of magical spells slightly better.): 35 WPs each

L) Magic resistant coat of plate (grants minor magic resistance to wearer, allowing them to weather the effects of magical spells slightly better.): 40 WPs each

M) Lunar Blade (It is said that this blade waxes and wanes in power with the phases of the moon. In truth it simply operates on a thirty day cycle. The sword begins without a blade and as the thirty days progress (on day fifteen) before dissolving back to nothing on day thirty and beginning again): 30 WPs

N) Pain spikes (When placed next to the skin they will burrow their way into the user. This proves to be incredibly painful as one might expect. If only one is used or multiple spikes are used on the same target then nothing more will occur. However if the spikes are used on multiple individuals it will serve to fasten their 'souls' together. So long as the spikes remain in their flesh pain (both physical and mental) will be spread out between all users. This serves to dull the physical and mental pain any one member of the group will suffer however this comes with a sizable trade-off. Should one user die while still chained to the others then all users will feel the pain of that death. In many cases this is sufficient to kill the other members of the group. Should two or more members die at the same time the remaining members have next to know chance of surviving the backlash.): The set of six spikes is worth 45 WPs

O) Fire resistant leather armour (grants minor resistance to magical and mundane fire, they will not burn you as badly as others.): 20 WPs each

P) Entangled Dice: A pair of dice, one black with white pips and the other white with black pips. When you roll one of them the other will shift so that they read 'opposing numbers'. So if you roll the white die and it comes up 'six' then the black die will shift to reveal a 'one', that sort of thing. The opposite numbers are 1/6, 2/5 and 3/4. The Brothers have not really found a use for them so far. They will sell them to you for: 14 WPs.

Q) There is an old can of oil used to maintain sword blades. When filled with normal oils it enchants them with a random effect that is then applied to the sword it is used on. The effect seems to alter every twenty four hour. So far he has seen a frost effect, a flame effect, a corrosive effect (that ate much of the test blade it was applied to), an electrical effect, a 'lightening' effect that made the blade weigh less and move quicker, a 'strengthening' effect that made the blade heavier, slower, and hit harder, a 'talking' effect which made the blade repeat everything that was said near it on command, a 'party' effect that made the blade radiate blue, pink, orange and green lights but did nothing else, and an explosive effect that cause the sword to explode when it made contact with a target (the soldier he had testing that blade sadly lost his arm as a result).

For some reason Dietfried has had trouble finding a buyer. He will give it to you for 5 WPs.

R) They have about six 'vomit disks'. Basically how they work is you light them on fire and throw them at the target. Anyone within three metres of where they land will be hit with an odor so foul that it will trigger acute vomiting, nausea an extraordinarily painful dry heaving. The effects usually only last about ten minutes but if you have a very keen sense of smell it can last as long as twenty.

They will not work on targets that can not smell for obvious reasons and you will want to be careful to not drop them after you light them. They can just as easily neutralize your group as the enemy's that way. Also he would recommend caution if you use them against wind mages as they can blow the gases the disks release right back at you, provided they are quick enough.

He can sell you a disk for 5WPs each.

S) He has a shield made from a single piece of treated wood. It is completely fire proof and will reflect any fire based spell that hits it back at whoever cast it. If it is hit with ice magic though it will freeze solid and will be rendered useless until it defrosts. (10 WPs)

T) freeform: if you want something that is not on the list or a particular enchantment you do not see then ask I will let you know if it is available.

Additional Items are listed in this post. If you want me to add anything to the formal list here just let me know.


3. Mercenaries: If you feel you could use a bit more muscle when you head south you could hire on additional mercenaries for one month contracts. Their rates are as follows (you can vote for as many as you wish but if you go over your funds you will need to take a loan at 25% monthly compound interest):

A) The Doves: 150WPs

B) The Bastards: 40WPs

C) The Cocks: 125WPs

D)The Knights: 300 WPs

E) The Hounds: 100 WPs

F) Just the Hounds' elephants: 40 WPs

G) freeform


4. Your expedition south: Aside from the Seekers who do you plan to bring with you to the south? (There are so many options here that I will just let people come up with their own teams. You have the Boys, the Greys, any mercenaries you might hire, any escort you might request, and any named characters you have in the city to choose from, go wild).


5. Nanshe and TWM: Morpheus claims that Nanshe has contacted him and requested that you come to pick up the Thin White Mage. He can not prove that she is acting freely and that it is not a trap but she seemed fine from what he could tell.

A) You go to meet Nanshe (If you vote for this option then please list who you want to take to the meeting. It is on your way south so if you choose to take people south with you but do not want them at the meeting then you will have to split your forces in the field.)

As a reminder you can select any of your named personnel that are in the city as well as the Seekers, whatever escort you request from the King and any mercenaries you wish, either from your standing forces in the city, Boys and Greys essentially, or from the mercenary pool should they be hired.

B) You do not go to visit Nanshe, it is either a trap or simply not worth your time.


6. The Spy: The maid you found was definitely a spy. She seems to be motivated to sell information due to substantial debts she owes. None of that will matter to the Pathfinders though, she is aiding the Cultists and will be killed for her actions. What do you want to do?

A) Give Albrecht your report and wash your hands of the affair.

B) Offer to take her with you and interrogate her yourself.

C) Offer to remove her and put her in the Dreaming.

D) Offer to remove her and kill her.

E) Offer to remove her, give her some money (be sure to include how much) and tell her to flee the Kingdom

F) You will inform Timo and Albrecht of her ties to the Cultists. You will then have the Pathfinders/Timo's agents follow her and attempt to map out as much of the Cult as possible. Should this prove successful she may then be used as a double agent to feed the cult information. Hopefully she will lead your allies back to Rand or his doubles which they may detain or destroy as they are able. Like this essentially:

Tell Timo and Albrecht about maid ties, get Pathfinders on the task of stealthy observing maid. Slowly tracing whole spy network if they manage to trace contacts undetected.

(Make action together if possible. Pathfinders are probably best agents for such task. Tracking the organization and possible apprehension of not-Rands or Rand. If we will trace them undetected Timo might use her debt later to persuade her to sow disinformation, or try to force them to move unprepared getting further insight.)

G) Tell Timo and Albrecht about the maid, provide the maid with enough false information to bait Rand, get Pathfinders on the task of ambushing him.

H) freeform


7. Your Sleeping Inventor: You are leaving the capital and Mel is still asleep. What do you want to do with her.

A)You will take her with you. It will be dangerous bringing her into an army camp in the middle of a warzone but it will give you the best chance to wake her up quickly when the moon is right.

B) You will leave her at the palace. Admitedly the security there is not great but few people know she is there, she will just have to sleep for a month or two more while you handle affairs to the south.

C) You have her moved to Blackrock. It will be risky transporting her through the countryside to the fort but once she gets there she should be fairly secure unless Hesse or Welf try something.

D) freeform


8. Your Northern Team: Once you know who is coming with you, you will need to organize those that are remaining behind. (Who will look after transportation and training for the Boys and Greys for example.) Since this question depends so much on all of the other questions I am going to leave this open as a freeform question. How do you want them to run things in your absence? You tell me.


9. Escort: Albrecht will of course give you an escort drawn from his own Royal Guard. You have met all of the key commanders at this point so the question becomes who do you want to come with you.

A) The chariots (20 war chariots with two dwarf teams)

B) The light infantry (40 light infantry: 30 grenadiers and 10 infantry)

C) The heavy infantry (40 heavy infantry: 30 warriors and 10 grenadiers)

D) freeform - if you want something else or you want more than one of the above options then feel free to suggest it. Just remember that every asset you take is one few Albrecht has to deploy elsewhere.


10. Operation 'Fata Morgana'.
You will have Mayer open a store accepting pre-orders for the Energon Cubes for a price of 0.5 WPs each, and spread rumors about it in mage circles
(well, the Royal Academy, mostly). You will have Albrecht buy the cubes from anyone willing to sell them for 2 WPs each. You will then see how many would give in to their greed and decide to make a profit over a deficit product, unwittingly supplying you with their cubes in the process. Of course, you will refund the pre-orders so that no regular customers would come to harm.

A) You go for it (specify the amount of funds you are willing to spend on buying the cubes).

B) You refuse to resort to such measures to refill your supplies.


11. Interrogating the Captain: You might wish to interrogate the Weasel captain Berty caught yesterday. It will delay your departure but it might be a worthwhile use of your time. Do you take the time?

A) Yes (all A options are counted together):

i. A quick session. You will not be gentle and you will rips as much information from her mind as you can, as quickly as you can. Her mind will likely be ruined in the process (time: 1 hour)

ii. A longer session. You will try to be careful with her mind. You will begin with low intensity attacks and feints to draw out as much information as you can without doing permanent damage. It will still hurt her a fair bit though and it will take longer to successfully check for the information you desire. (time: 3 hours)

iii. An in depth and expertly conducted session. You will take the time to do this properly. You will wear down her mind over the course of hours before you carefully extract only the information you desire. This will be tiring for both of you and for the prisoner and it will take substantially more time to get the desired effect but it will not harm her in any meaningful way and it will also help you strengthen your own mentalist techniques. (time: 7 hours)

iv. freeform

B) No, you do not spend the time. You want to leave as soon as possible (time: none)


12. Custom Magic Armour: Since you spent much of yesterday being measured anyway you could choose to send those measurements on to the palace and have the King commission custom armour for your use. Feel free to specify the type or armour, any enchantments you would like to have on it and how many suits you want. You can have armour made for any of the named characters you currently have in the city as Derry, Taide and the girls have all been measured and the rest can be measured before you leave. Please keep in mind that the more powerful the armour the more time it will take to finish. Also the more suits you have made the fewer dwarves will be available to work on other projects for the Kingdom. Finally, even the simplest of armour will not be ready before you leave so you will not have access to the armour unless it is shipped to you or you return to the city.


13. Tutors: You can hire tutors for the children to teach them the basic while you are gone. You will hire:

A) None - You will borrow a few of Albrecht's clerks and have them teach the children the basics. They are not the best educators but they are free (If you go with this option then the 14 WPs you have already set aside for this will be returned to you).

B) A few basic tutors - you will hire a few tutors to teach the kids the basics (writing, counting, reading, gymnastics, etc) (14 WPs monthly for six tutors)

C) You will hire more advanced teachers alongside basic tutors - the tutors will focus on teaching the basics while the more specialized teachers will pick out any students that show exceptional skill for more advanced training. Unfortunately you will not be on hand to filter applicates you will be trusting this to whoever you leave in charge. (20 WPs monthly for six tutors and four specialist instructors, you will need to spend an additional 6WPs for the first month to cover this on top of the fourteen WPs you have already set aside).


Freeform Questions 14+ : Since you will be leaving the city after this update and may not be abld to make it back for a while this will likely be your last chance in this chapter to influence the development of your broader organization. If you want to do anything in the city or send letters and instructions to Brigit/Gareth, Amena/Ithapi or your people at Blackrock now is the time to do it as after this you will only have messengers and Lyssa's eagles and you will likely be on the move more often than not.

Also if you have any questions for Ceannard, Morpheus, the Brothers Dietfried or (especially) the Spider Princess feel free to ask. You spent enough time with each of them in this update to ask as many questions as you want.
 
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Fangshi

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1,997
Party/Organization Changes:

Party Changes:

Derryth:

Gained Item:

- Compendium of the Dreaming

Gained Trait:

- A Mother's Song: There was something beautiful and relaxing about the way Thaïs' mother would sing and you are certain that Thaïs inherited that skill from her. You have been practicing discretely, using your earliest memories of the woman to try and mimic that effect and you have made concrete progress. Provides a bonus to checks made when performing or Singing.

Stat Gains:

You finally ticked over in some of your stats due to the training you have undergone (enchantment practice) and the many, may social situations you have been involved in.

+1 INT
+1 CHA

Thaïs:

- Musical Puzzle Box
- Scroll of The Warrior's Mask

Gained Trait:

- 'The Dwarven Incident': You will never speak of the 'Dwarven Incident'. It is part of your past and that is were it will remain for the rest of your days. However, you would be lying if you said you learnt nothing from it. Provides a bonus to spotting traps, disarming traps, and, ah, juggling mice and other small rodents...

Stat Gains:

Thaïs' old life was much easier physically than her new one, but all of the physical and mental strain has not broken her and she has even improved in a few areas.

+1 STR
+1 CON


Biliku and Uttu:

Berty's training is starting to show results. The girls have gained a solid grasp of basic military tactics now though they still lack a deep understanding of tactics and the experience using such techniques in battle.

Both gained Tactics over the last week or so.

Uttu also gained +1 STR and Biliku gained +1 WIS.


You have also commissioned a number of outfits for the girls and yourselves as cover for your interrogation of the spy. Most are quite nice but you will be out of the city by the time they are completed. If you survive your trip you can collect them should you wish to.


Organizational Changes:

Spent WPs:

- lost 800 WPs to pay down the Goldsmiths' loan.
- lost 14 WPs, set aside to hire tutors.
- lost 10 WPs, to transport the Boys to Blackrock and establish them there.

Loan paid down:

- Your loan to the Goldsmiths has been reduced to 200 WPs

That should be it from what I can remember.

Rolls:

As previously mentioned there were not that many rolls this time and nothing terribly dramatic. No one was trying to kill you in this update so naturally it was less tense.

You had a number of social checks (CHA and the like) while dealing with the Brothers and you did fairly well there all things considered.

The prices you were offered for items is also linked to rolls and you did slightly over average. Believe it or not but the prices for the crystals and the roots could be higher.

The girls had a few perception chests to see if they would stumble upon the box of roots or something else entirely. They rolled well so they found the roots.

I also randomized the selection of items a bit since there was a degree of luck in what you would be presented with...

When you left the Brothers you proceeded to your shopping spree/interrogation of your servant. Here you had a number of rolls to make based on your INT, WIS and your magical skills and abilities. At the same time Taide had CHA based rolls to distract, bully and generally fluster your servant.

You both rolled quite well and the spy had no magical defenses to protect her so it was really just a matter of time until you got to the truth.

As a side note the example given here is typical of how 'mind reading' usually goes. You will get images, some still, some moving, embedded within a larger mental landscape which will usually take on familiar themes (most people's minds will be cities, forts, villages, farms and the like it is only the mad, the ancient or the inhuman that will have very surreal mental landscapes).

This landscape will also be populated by beings of various shapes, sizes, etc. These represent concepts and emotions and the ways in which they interact provide the raw information that the mentalist has to turn into 'facts'. It is an inexact process as you can not really interrogate or interact with these beings unless you go all the was and conduct a proper infiltration ritual. A few of these creatures can still spot you however, the powerful ones, the vengeful ones, the ones you don't really want to be captured by, they will all try to attack you and push you from the target's mind.

If they do detect you there is a high chance that the subjects conscious mind will also recognize your presence and then you will likely have to deal with those consequences.

So those are the key points when it comes to indirect 'mind reading'. It is imprecise, it relies on interpreting emotion, it often expresses itself in symbolic fashion and it takes a bit of intuition to be good at it.

Needless to say it is a bit to 'fiddly' for most mages and simply smashing your target's mind tends to be a more popular approach.

Following that you had D&T's date where there were few rolls of consequence. It simply gave them a moment to relax a little before they had breakdowns. :lol:

It also provided me with an excuse to get you back into the Dreaming and have the Spider Goddess' sister show up for a chat.

There were a couple rolls involved in that brief conversation but I am not quite ready to go into details yet.

And the next morning there was a simple persuasion roll to get Ceannard to open the door.

I was tempted to have a perception roll as well to see if the ladies would spot Nephila's bites on his neck but decided against it. You would have to be blind to miss them, that girl mauled him. :lol:

If you feel I missed covering something, or you have additional questions then feel free to ask as always.
 
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Nevill

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I think I have a scheme of how to hire Ceannard with the resourses we have. I'll take some time to flesh out the details.

I wonder if we can use the maid to catch Rand. It would be a waste to kill her like that.

Mel should probably remain at the Palace until better days. No need to have Mel's-workshop-take-two in the middle of the battlefield.

What kind of transportation options can Albrecht offer us? If we would like to take the infantry with us, will there be enough carriages to fit them all in plus the Seekers?

Edit.

Okay, so I think everyone agrees that Ceannard proved exceptionally useful. To me, he proved useful enough that I want him with us. So I am in favor of hiring him without antagonizing Lady Grey, and I think there are natural synergies to be had here if we manage to tie those two together.

So the problem would be, where to find 200 WPs for our loan if we already are up to our necks in debts?

Well, the answer is simple. Albrecht is currently sitting on a pile of gold he took from the Eberhardts and their followers. He can't give it to us directly or indirectly, though, as the lords would eat him alive, but he was shown to be able to hire mercenary companies such as the Seekers to support his war efforts.

So what I want him to do is to hire the Black Arrows for 200 WPs to serve the Crown for a month, but in reality it would count as our first payment to the Arrows (they should not care where the money came from). It would not be far from the truth, and given our goals here, an external observer would not be able to distinguish Ceannard working for us and Ceannard working for the crown as long as we use him for the benefit of the kingdom and not in our private interests (or if we do, we should be highly discreet about it).

In other words, we strike our deal with the Arrows without public knowledge (as I want Arrows operating separately from us), and have Albrecht hire Ceannard for 200 WPs. When the next quarter comes, we will make another payment from our own pockets - or come up with another scheme if need be - and take it from there. Or, if we get wiped out and thus will have no use of their services anymore, at least Ceannard will get paid.

1) E. You want to absorb the Arrows, their assets and personnel since you use them constantly anyway (All E votes will count together the winner will be the most popular option should E win):
vi. You offer to buy the Arrows and keep Ceannard on as a partner (his officers will also stay on as officers naturally). You will make such a deal in private. In public, you will have Albrecht hire the mercenaries as his personal forces (not unlike the Seekers) and have him pay the first 200 WPs out of the treasury. You should then be able to use the Arrows for the good of the state without too many questions raised, though any deals that only benefit you should be handled discreetly.
 
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Nevill

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
All right. I think I have something to add on our Energon Cube situation, too.

Two weeks ago the Energon Cubes cost 1 WPs for two. Three days ago there were cubes on sale for 2 WPs apiece. Today there are none.

To me, it tells that there are currently over 9000 mages running around the city like mad searching for the cubes that were sold out. They are in an extremely high demand, and I have an idea how this fact may be of use to us.

Quote of the day said:
"Rats? You've got to be kidding me."
"No, really. BIG rats!"
--Butch and the Vault Dweller
So I have a following proposal for Mayer. Have him open a one-day company 'Fata Morgana', allegedly from the Western Empire, or where he thinks it would be more plausible to place their head office, and make one of his fake personas its owner. Naturally, the company will deal in the Energon Cubes.

Where is the biggest concentration of mages in the city? Why, in the Academy, of course.

Have Albrecht's agents start a rumor that there is a big shipment of the Energon cubes from the Western Empire heading this way, as they have heard about the war brewing and decided to make a bit of money selling those. They have opened an office in the city, and are even offering pre-orders in anticipation of the first caravan to arrive in three or so days. But as luck would have it, those gullible fools have not yet grasped the full extent of the situation in the capital, and are still offering their cubes for a price that was relevant two weeks ago, when the caravan set out from Madrigal, that is, for 0.5 WPs apiece.

I bet the rumor will spread like a wildfire in a single day.

Meanwhile in the office of 'Fata Morgana' have the clerks confirm that, yes, a shipment is expected to arrive soon; that the price is indeed 1 WPs for two cubes; that they are pleasantly surprised with the demand and that the number of the cubes available for sale is dwindling by the minute - and that's before the caravan even arrived; that they adhere to the high standardts of the Western companies and respect their customers by offering a money-back guarantee, so their investments are safe with them. A pleasure doing business with you!

Simultaneously, have Albrecht's agents start another rumor, that the King requires Energon Cubes to be used for the good of the Crown and the Kingdom, that he needs them right now, and that he is willing to pay the latest (by the time they were last available) market price for them, that is, 2 WPs per each. The offer is limited to a single day (or two, if we find a way to get the cubes to us after we leave the city), because then the need for them would pass.

As I suspect that there are a fair number of profiteers among the ones who bought the Energon Cubes cheaply thinking they would be able to sell them once their prices will hit 10 WPs and higher, this scheme of ours will directly endanger their investments. I would expect them to try and recoup their losses by selling their cubes to Albrecht (who else would buy them when they are available through 'Fata Morgana' at a laughable price?) and pre-ordering four times more cubes with the same money, hoping to diminish the supply and make four times more profit after the cubes run out.

Naturally, after we get what we want, the offices of 'Fata Morgana' will close, and they will offer their deepest regrest to their respectable customers for being unable to meet their demands due to their stocks being sold out to the higher bidder, or to the discovering a defect in the crystals that made the cubes highly unstable and dangerous to the user, or to their caravan being eaten whole by energon-whiskey addicted rats, or whatever excuse they can come up with. Naturally, they will not scam their customers and will return their money with many apologies, hoping that this incident will not harm the reputation of their company. Come again!

It would not harm anyone, I believe, except for those who want to make money over the Kingdom's troubles. Serves them right. Greed is bad, kids.

I can't think of a single law that this little scheme of ours would break. What does Mayer think? Will it fly? If we alone have bought over 100 cubes in a month, chances are, there are a lot of cubes currently in the city. Some of them might find their way back to us.

So, without further ado...

10. Operation 'Fata Morgana'.
You will have Mayer open a store accepting pre-orders for the Energon Cubes for a price of 0.5 WPs each, and spread rumors about it in mage circles
(well, the Royal Academy, mostly). You will have Albrecht buy the cubes from anyone willing to sell them for 2 WPs each. You will then see how many would give in to their greed and decide to make a profit over a deficit product, unwittingly supplying you with their cubes in the process. Of course, you will refund the pre-orders so that no regular customers would come to harm.
A) You go for it
(specify the amount of funds you are willing to spend on buying the cubes).
B) You refuse to resort to such measures to refill your supplies.


Naturally, 10 A (50 WPs). :smug:

I reserve the right to modify the plan according to Mayer's or voters' suggestions, as necessary.
 
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Jester

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1,493
To 6 i see 2 extra solutions:
A) Tell Timo that she got ties with Rand and ask Pathfinders/King to shadow her, so he can capture or start tracing Rands contacts.
B) Offer her paying up the debt for becoming double agent. Trying to feed them alerted info.

will go with
6) F - Tell Timo and Albrecht about maid ties, get Pathfinders on the task of stealthy observing maid. Slowly tracing whole spy network if they manage to trace contacts undetected.

(Make action together if possible. Pathfinders are probably best agents for such task. Tracking the organization and possible apprehension of not-Rands or Rand. If we will trace them undetected Timo might use her debt later to persuade her to sow disinformation, or try to force them to move unprepared getting further insight.)
 

Jester

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10. Operation 'Fata Morgana'.
Maybe we should set a limited amount on Kings request and dont let people pre order or make that look like it involves lots of bureaucracy instead?
It will make profiters think that they either do it before all other or they will lose much money on this gig. When supposed caravan will hit town price of EC theoretically will go back to 0,5 WP costing them 0,5-1,5 WP depend on time they purchased them. Making it harder to pre order will make less likely that mages will be affected by scheme. I doubt they will force themselves to fill those annoying forms to sell something they can use. :lol: Merchants especially those small fries wanting to jump on occasion of easy money should fall for this.
 

Kz3r0

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Messages
27,012
Before a proper voting I will expect for the DISCUSS!!!! to resolve itself.

Fangshi here my questions for the spideress in waiting:
  • Who or what was the Wyrd of Shadow and flame.
  • How the spearhead can be used to kill anything.
  • Will she help us to get rid of her sister, in exchange we will offer her to claim the spider throne for herself.
  • What about Mayer's wife, is she a spider creature, if yes was her doing, what she will request for fix definetively Mayer's wife.


I wiould also like to interrogate via all out mental spell Wenzel's captain before we leave, this would be part of the 10+ questions I guess.

Lastly, and I feel ashamed of myself for writing this, and I know I will regret it:
1Evi
Offer Ceannard a foursome with Derryth, Thais and Nephila.
 

Nevill

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1Evi
Offer Ceannard a foursome with Derryth, Thais and Nephila.
1Evii. And Lady Grey. We need to keep her happy to keep the money flowing. And Lyssa. Because we don't want to leave her out of all the fun.

Seriously, though, guys.

Maybe we should set a limited amount on Kings request and dont let people pre order or make that look like it involves lots of bureaucracy instead?
The amount on King's request is limited by our money (so if we want to spend 50 WPs, it would be 25 cubes).

Jester said:
It will make profiters think that they either do it before all other or they will lose much money on this gig.
That is the point of the scheme, yes.

Thing is, people who bought Energon Cubes to use them are unlikely to sell them just because they are offered cheaper in another store at a later date. If they really need them, they will hold on to them. And if they don't need them all that much, we would like to have them instead, thank you.

Jester said:
Making it harder to pre order will make less likely that mages will be affected by scheme.
I don't think it was merchants who bought the Energon Cubes. Mages are our target (they are the ones searching for the cubes and giving fertile soil for our rumors to spread), and that is why preordering exists. The greedy ones would feel compelled to sell their reserves to Albrecht as they would be afraid that no one else would need them at that price, and they would feel like they might be able to restock with ease. That means we have to create an illusion of being able to supply the crazy demand that is out there.
 
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Jester

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1)C
2) B1 (ps is C stuff spell mouses wanted or simmilar? If so we might buy 1-2 bottles to send to our fort.)
D4? (Emm we got to replace B, U, T and D armours? Taking into consideration we had spend practically half day taking measuring for ordinary clothes can we send those measurements to Academy to make them start making fully enchanted l. armours?)
P - Anything linked on long distances? Sny stuff like if one stone will start glowing the one paired will do so to. Even those basic signals might be useful for signalization.
3) nothing
4) (must think on this but average dwarven mercenaries mostly)
5) A) charioters
6) F
7) A
8) (not now later will change)
9) A - (A or C is best from my perspective)

10 +) Hire few basic tutors to teach kids basic knowledge like writing, counting, reading, have some gymnastic etc. (I doubt we will be able to determine their talents before we will go south. Those general basics will make good fundamentals for personalized training after we solve south)
Boys training under half of legion guys and Skite to shape up. I doubt that all of them worked jobs making them perfect for soldier transition and i am sure that they came from different workplaces so probably they are just bunch of small groups. Few weeks of running, jumping and facing problems should let Skite grasp overall characters of people in Boys and determine who is coping better mentally, has leadership qualities or have above average results in exercises. Main objective is to teach Boys how to work with each other, trust their team-mates and plant seed of kinship in whole unit. Mostly team based exercises with some member rotation to force them to get to know more people, preferably not team A vs team B stuff rather fulfilling objectives. Although Derryth should ask Berthy about his opinion. We dont want to screw his plans.
 

Nevill

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On the maid and Rand.

An important thing to note is that she contacted Rand two days ago, meaning that he is likely to still operate in the city.

I can see two approaches here. Talk to the maid, get the information from her, what exactly did she tell the cultists, how does she contact them, etc. Then prepare an ambush according to that information and send her to lure Rand in.

And the second approach, where we don't tell her anything, bait her with a piece of information she knows Rand would pay for, and use her unwittingly. The downside is that we have less data to work with, the upside is that since the girl does not suspect anything, Rand would not be able to easily determine that he is being had, either.

So I propose to mention something about a spearhead or a child, or make up some plans about our destination around the maid (since she is so insignificant that being discreet does not even occur to us), and thus make sure she will want to contact Rand. From what we've gleamed from her mind, he receives this information directly from her, and not through his agents. Makes sense, I suppose, given his unique abilities.

Meanwhile, contact Timo and Albrecht, and explain the situation to them. Ask them to put their best agents to the task, maybe even Pathfinders with Tarnkappes if they have anyone like that on hand. I don't care what they use, grenades, mortars, airstrikes, but we need that fucker dead and buried. We should describe Isolde's and not-Rand's abilities to them so that they would know what they are dealing with. We also need to negate Rand's mobility somehow, as he is probably very fast. See if the Royal Academy finished our sap bomb research, perhaps spreading some glue-like material over a wide area will be able to slow him down. Lend them Berty for the evening to offer his insight, see if he can come up with something.

Don't try to capture Rand or talk to him, just kill him off with extreme prejudice.

I suppose that would be...

6) H - Tell Timo and Albrecht about the maid, provide the maid with enough false information to bait Rand, get Pathfinders on the task of ambushing him.

Maybe slowly digging out the cultist network is worth it, but I don't want to play spies with him. I want him gone.

Should we succeed or fail in the ambush, don't kill off the maid. I'd like to talk to her when (if) we get back.

Edit: after a bit of a thought, switch me back to Jester's F. Between Mayer's, Timo's and Albrecht's agents, Ceannard and the Pathfinders we have a perfect spying network going. We may catch some bigger fishes than just Rand that way.
 
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Nevill

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I want to leave insctuctions to our men. If anyone disagrees with something on the list, feel free to mention it and I will correct it or put it to a vote.

8. You will leave the following instructions to your men.

The Boys:

Jester said:
10 +) Hire few basic tutors to teach kids basic knowledge like writing, counting, reading, have some gymnastic etc. (I doubt we will be able to determine their talents before we will go south. Those general basics will make good fundamentals for personalized training after we solve south)
Boys training under half of legion guys and Skite to shape up. I doubt that all of them worked jobs making them perfect for soldier transition and i am sure that they came from different workplaces so probably they are just bunch of small groups. Few weeks of running, jumping and facing problems should let Skite grasp overall characters of people in Boys and determine who is coping better mentally, has leadership qualities or have above average results in exercises. Main objective is to teach Boys how to work with each other, trust their team-mates and plant seed of kinship in whole unit. Mostly team based exercises with some member rotation to force them to get to know more people, preferably not team A vs team B stuff rather fulfilling objectives. Although Derryth should ask Berty about his opinion. We dont want to screw his plans.
:bro:

Though I want to take the Legionaries to the south with us.

I want about 250 Albrecht guards and about 250 Hesse guards along with some of our experienced mercenaries to be in charge or moving them to Blackrock. After the guards reach the city, I want Hesse's guards to stay (we decided to recall them for good, right?) and the rest will escort the Boys (as long as there is enough room to fit them all). A group of about 700 people under a competent commander is in no serious risk, and the fort is not that far in the first place.

The Black Arrows:

If we decide to buy them out (which seems likely), I want them to escort us to Nanshe for 2 days, then return to the Myrgard and act as a Special Ops team for the King (in addition to the Pathfinders, but in the official capacity) and as trainers for the Greys. I want them to follow up on our cultist leads and have Ceannard use his connections in the underworld to try and hunt down Eberhardt terrorist cells or even Eberhardt himself. Also, there are clearly cloning facilities located in the city that allowed the rebels to 'resurrect' their leader. I want them found and destroyed.

Ceannard is a professional, and highly resourseful. If he thought he could find Melete after we hid her, he should be able to find where the cultists operate from. Officially working for the King will allow him to make use of many resourses of the Crown, multiplying his usefulness.

If he needs additional manpower, he should be free to make use of the Greys provided that it would be his officers leading them.

The Grey Arrows:

Just sit tight in Myrgard and get lessons from the veteran Blacks. Maybe go on a mop-up mission or two with them for the real combat experience.

Lady Grey:

Have a talk with her. Explain to her that if she wants to be with Ceannard, she will need to be patient and appear professional. He is the type to chase after women, not get chased by them. He is also probably the type that is afraid of being committed to a single person, so her advances would only serve to scare him off. Establish a business relationship with him, first, something that might be easier for him to understand, then a friendship, and then you can build from there.

She had the right idea when she decided to become the mercenary captaim, but she needs to work harder for it. She needs to become better at it for Ceannard to notice her. The notion that she might not know something might offend her, but hey, it is objective truth that her efforts did not pay off so far and that something needs to be changed.

She might start her self-improvement by becoming better with the bow (she is not very good at it by her own admission, but who have ever heard about an archer captain who is bad with a bow?) and learning the basics of tactics from the Black officers. If she will be able to work alongside the Blacks effectively, and make them want to have her watch their backs, it would make achieving her goal that much easier.

tl:dr - train to become a proper captain.

Astrid:

Appoint her as a chief inspector for the 'Unforgotten, Unforgiven' case with the Sovereigns as field agents. She needs to distract herself for a time being, and I want her and Letta to become closer. They are family, though they do not know it yet.

Leave her the details of the Greater Heal Ritual and tell her to seek aid in Muirthemne if we don't come back. That way we ensure that our obligations to our allies will be fulfilled and that the knowledge of the ritual will reach the rest of our Circle, should we die.

Letta and the Sovereigns:

Report their findings to Astrid. After they are done, help maintain order in the city if they are still willing to work with us.

Mayer:

He should handle our finances, as usual. Make payments to Letta and her crew, see to it that tutors for the kids get paid, etc. Explain to him that we plan to prepare the kids to become key figures in the Kingdom eventually so that he doesn't skimp on them. I know he was not a fan of the idea. Let him see what can be done about optimizing our Blackrock expenses now that the Boys - who have lots of people that qualify as a maintenance staff - will be stationed there.

No cutting payments to the families of the deceased, no assasination contracts or some crap like that, though.

He is going to be the one to help choose the teachers. Once the budget is established and set in stone, he should endeavor to make the best use out of the money given to him, regardless of whether or not he fully approves of where it is going.

Coordinate his agent network with Timo's and Ceannard's to get to the Eberhardts and the Watcher's agents. Two of the most powerful information brokers working together should leave no rock unturned in the city.

Timo:

Pursue our cultist leads:
- The investigation in the Royal Academy
- The direct link to Rand, through our spying maid, Thyra
- The list of cultists attending meetings where Rand was present, from Hallr
- The information on the cult's activities, from Mayer

Cooperate with Mayer to assure maximum efficiency. We know that about 30% of nobility are involved with the cultiss. Check the money flow. Find out those who are supporting the rebel movement and destroy them. Find out those who were in it for 'pleasure cults' and recruit them and their resourses to our cause - they would be likely to agree to it as the alternative is to be punished by death.

Investigate Hesse's household now that the Lord and his champion are away. If it is true that he is hiding state criminals, we may have a perfect pretext to dispose of him.

Be on alert about the Watcher and spare no measures to protect the spearhead.

Do we want to leave instructions for anyone else? Our Blackrock folks? Something we might want from the King, maybe? Or Jan and the Royal Academy?
 
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Fangshi

Arcane
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
1,997
Nevill said:
In other words, we strike our deal with the Arrows without public knowledge (as I want Arrows operating separately from us), and have Albrecht hire Ceannard for 200 WPs. When the next quarter comes, we will make another payment from our own pockets - or come up with another scheme if need be - and take it from there. Or, if we get wiped out and thus will have no use of their services anymore, at least Ceannard will get paid.

Do you plan to repay Albrecht for the first payment some day or is this just another price he will have to absorb to protect his Kingdom. It does not matter much one way or the other but I will need to know if I should list the 200 WPs under your loans or not. There would be no interest since it would not technically be a loan so you don't need to concern yourself with that.

The advantage to actually intending to repay the sum is that it would be seen by the King as an 'honourable' act. Dwarves pay their 'debts' and respect those who do the same.

The advantage of not paying it is that you keep the 200WPs.

You could also pay him the 200WPs plus a sum for 'accumulated interest', he would not expect that and it would be a very great honour to pay him.

Nevill said:
1) E. You want to absorb the Arrows, their assets and personnel since you use them constantly anyway (All E votes will count together the winner will be the most popular option should E win):
vi. You offer to buy the Arrows and keep Ceannard on as a partner (his officers will also stay on as officers naturally). You will make such a deal in private. In public, you will have Albrecht hire the mercenaries as his personal forces (not unlike the Seekers) and have him pay the first 200 WPs out of the treasury. You should then be able to use the Arrows for the good of the state without too many questions raised, though any deals that only benefit you should be handled discreetly.

Added

Nevill said:
I can't think of a single law that this little scheme of ours would break. What does Mayer think? Will it fly? If we alone have bought over 100 cubes in a month, chances are, there are a lot of cubes currently in the city. Some of them might find their way back to us.

He thinks it might work though it will take time (at least four or five days to do properly). Your people in the city will either have to hold on to the cubes until your return or they will need to ship them south to you. You will need a way of safely getting them from the city to you if you want them while you are in the south.

Nevill said:
10. Operation 'Fata Morgana'.
You will have Mayer open a store accepting pre-orders for the Energon Cubes for a price of 0.5 WPs each, and spread rumors about it in mage circles
(well, the Royal Academy, mostly). You will have Albrecht buy the cubes from anyone willing to sell them for 2 WPs each. You will then see how many would give in to their greed and decide to make a profit over a deficit product, unwittingly supplying you with their cubes in the process. Of course, you will refund the pre-orders so that no regular customers would come to harm.
A) You go for it
(specify the amount of funds you are willing to spend on buying the cubes).
B) You refuse to resort to such measures to refill your supplies.


Naturally, 10 A (50 WPs). :smug:

Added

Jester said:
To 6 i see 2 extra solutions:
A) Tell Timo that she got ties with Rand and ask Pathfinders/King to shadow her, so he can capture or start tracing Rands contacts.
B) Offer her paying up the debt for becoming double agent. Trying to feed them alerted info.

Added

Jester said:
(Make action together if possible. Pathfinders are probably best agents for such task. Tracking the organization and possible apprehension of not-Rands or Rand. If we will trace them undetected Timo might use her debt later to persuade her to sow disinformation, or try to force them to move unprepared getting further insight.)

Definitely a possibility. I will have the ladies pass the idea on to Timo should a relevant option win.

Kz3r0 said:
Who or what was the Wyrm of Shadow and flame

She nods to herself, "You know about him then? I assume you found the piece I had commissioned then? The Wyrm was the brother of the Swimmer but where the Swimmer was wise and patient the Wyrm was reckless, daring and bold. The two brothers came into their Kingdoms at about the same time but the Wyrm was always jealous of his brother, he always wanted more. It was surprisingly easy for my sister to convince him to help murder his kin," she drops her gaze, "At first we found him to be too savage, a kin slayer! None of trusted him... none of us wanted to be like him... but- but I guess my sister learnt all she needed from him about the place of power and family."

Kz3r0 said:
How the spearhead can be used to kill anything.

She gives you a sympathetic glance with her closest set of eyes, "The spells that are woven into the spearhead need to be awoken once more. They it will be able to slay gods and archmages. However, only the original owner of the spear knows how they work and he does not share secrets freely. If you wish I can have Morpheus try to find him though that may prove difficult," she frowns and casts her gaze around the room, "There is another option though. In the timeless ages leading up to the battle we sisters remained close, we practiced and studied together. So too did the Princes and the Wanderer spent much time with them, particularly Phantasos. If you are willing to risk it I can take you to Morpheus' brother but we must do it in secret. You have extracted an oath from my husband to protect you from harm. He will not allow you to see Phantasos under any conditions for to do so would be to risk breaking that oath. He can not protect you from his brother, I can not protect you from Phantasos either. He is powerful and he is mad but he knows far more than any of us."

Kz3r0 said:
Will she help us to get rid of her sister, in exchange we will offer her to claim the spider throne for herself.

She smile radiantly, "Yes, but on one condition. I will not see my sister killed. She has much to answer for but she is family and even if that means nothing to her it still means something to me. If you want my help to remove her from power then we must do it is such a way as to spare her life. I am willing to admit though that I am at a loss as to how to achieve such a goal."

Kz3r0 said:
What about Mayer's wife, is she a spider creature, if yes was her doing, what she will request for fix definetively Mayer's wife.

She grins, "Your concern for those your allies hold dear is commendable. I will answer your question but you must not tell my husband what I tell you or how you learnt it. I would also be careful about raising the question with Mayer as he is quite unreasonably proud at times. Mayer was an adventurer as was his wife and the two of them achieved a lot in the time they had together but on their last adventure they stumbled upon a cult worshiping a minor demon, similar to that which the Oneiroi worshiped before you put an end to them. The two set out to stop the cult, for fame, or riches, or justice, who knows? We certainly did not care to ask and it matters little, they won and Mayer achieved all he desired but his wife's mind was lost to the Dreaming. She remained comatose and he did everything in his power to find her mind and return it. In his studies he came across a tome on the Dreaming and the deals that my kind can make with mortals. Though he is not a mage himself he managed, at great financial and personal expense to directly contact my husband and I. We told him that we could find his wife's mind and return it to her body but in exchange he would serve our needs."

She coughs twice, clearly a little uncomfortable about the subject, "He agreed without hesitation and we helped him locate the mind of his wife so that it could be returned to her body. She had been comatose for nine months but in the Dreaming that was decades. He mind had grown wild, savage and unpredictable. She had become deranged and dangerous. We knew this but Mayer did not think to ask and we- we chose not to tell him. She killed four servants when she awoke, before Mayer could restrain her. After that he sealed her up and cut himself off from the world but he kept to his side of the bargain. From that day to this he has been my husband's agent in the Kingdom, he keeps track of the Spider Cult's movements and dutifully reports them to Morpheus every night. He has been a good servant but the last few years have been hard on him..."

Kz3r0 said:
I would also like to interrogate via all out mental spell Wenzel's captain before we leave, this would be part of the 10+ questions I guess.

Sure, it will delay your departure though.

11. Interrogating the Captain: You might wish to interrogate the Weasel captain Berty caught yesterday. It will delay your departure but it might be a worthwhile use of your time. Do you take the time?

A) Yes (all A options are counted together):

i. A quick session. You will not be gentle and you will rips as much information from her mind as you can, as quickly as you can. Her mind will likely be ruined in the process (time: 1 hour)

ii. A longer session. You will try to be careful with her mind. You will begin with low intensity attacks and feints to draw out as much information as you can without doing permanent damage. It will still hurt her a fair bit though and it will take longer to successfully check for the information you desire. (time: 3 hours)

iii. An in depth and expertly conducted session. You will take the time to do this properly. You will wear down her mind over the course of hours before you carefully extract only the information you desire. This will be tiring for both of you and for the prisoner and it will take substantially more time to get the desired effect but it will not harm her in any meaningful way and it will also help you strengthen your own mentalist techniques. (time: 7 hours)

iv. freeform

B) No, you do not spend the time. You want to leave as soon as possible (time: none)

Kz3r0 said:
Lastly, and I feel ashamed of myself for writing this, and I know I will regret it:
1Evi
Offer Ceannard a foursome with Derryth, Thais and Nephila.

Well, you won't be the only one. :lol:

Added.

Nevill said:
1Evii. And Lady Grey. We need to keep her happy to keep the money flowing. And Lyssa. Because we don't want to leave her out of all the fun.

Well you know what they say, the group that lays together, stays together (largely because the divorce would be a nightmare)... I am sure it will all work out splendidly.

Also, added. :lol:

Jester said:
(ps is C stuff spell mouses wanted or simmilar? If so we might buy 1-2 bottles to send to our fort.)

Yeah the energon whiskey is the same sort of stuff that was used to create the spell casting mice.

Jester said:
Emm we got to replace B, U, T and D armours? Taking into consideration we had spend practically half day taking measuring for ordinary clothes can we send those measurements to Academy to make them start making fully enchanted l. armours?

Sure. If you want you can send all of your measurements to the palace to have the Academy begin work on special armour for you all.

That would be another question and I will handle it a bit differently.

12. Custom Magic Armour: Since you spent much of yesterday being measured anyway you could choose to send those measurements on to the palace and have the King commission custom armour for your use. Feel free to specify the type or armour, any enchantments you would like to have on it and how many suits you want. You can have armour made for any of the named characters you currently have in the city as Derry, Taide and the girls have all been measured and the rest can be measured before you leave. Please keep in mind that the more powerful the armour the more time it will take to finish. Also the more suits you have made the fewer dwarves will be available to work on other projects for the Kingdom. Finally, even the simplest of armour will not be ready before you leave so you will not have access to the armour unless it is shipped to you or you return to the city.

This is a completely freeform option since I haven't a clue what you want in particular and the Academy has more or less unlimited resources. :lol: (Time will be the big factor here, if you want it done some time this decade you will need to keep enchantments reasonable).

Also for those that are curious some of your cloaks are done and the Academy has been able to produce a few of those sticky bombs you had Astrid tinkering with. You will get those next update when you leave the city and say farewell to Albrecht.

Jester said:
P - Anything linked on long distances? Sny stuff like if one stone will start glowing the one paired will do so to. Even those basic signals might be useful for signalization.

There are a pair of dice, one black with white pips and the other white with black pips. When you roll one of them the other will shift so that they read 'opposing numbers'. So if you roll the white die and it comes up 'six' then the black die will shift to reveal a 'one', that sort of thing.

The opposite numbers are 1/6, 2/5 and 3/4. The Brothers have not really found a use for them so far. They will sell them to you for 20 WPs.

Jester said:
10 +) Hire few basic tutors to teach kids basic knowledge like writing, counting, reading, have some gymnastic etc. (I doubt we will be able to determine their talents before we will go south. Those general basics will make good fundamentals for personalized training after we solve south)
Boys training under half of legion guys and Skite to shape up. I doubt that all of them worked jobs making them perfect for soldier transition and i am sure that they came from different workplaces so probably they are just bunch of small groups. Few weeks of running, jumping and facing problems should let Skite grasp overall characters of people in Boys and determine who is coping better mentally, has leadership qualities or have above average results in exercises. Main objective is to teach Boys how to work with each other, trust their team-mates and plant seed of kinship in whole unit. Mostly team based exercises with some member rotation to force them to get to know more people, preferably not team A vs team B stuff rather fulfilling objectives. Although Derryth should ask Berthy about his opinion. We dont want to screw his plans.

Sure. I will add a question on tutors (I knew I forgot something). :salute:

13. Tutors: You can hire tutors for the children to teach them the basic while you are gone. You will hire:

A) None - You will borrow a few of Albrecht's clerks and have them teach the children the basics. They are not the best educators but they are free.

B) A few basic tutors - you will hire a few tutors to teach the kids the basics (writing, counting, reading, gymnastics, etc) (14 WPs monthly for six tutors)

C) You will hire more advanced teachers alongside basic tutors - the tutors will focus on teaching the basics while the more specialized teachers will pick out any students that show exceptional skill for more advanced training. Unfortunately you will not be on hand to filter applicates you will be trusting this to whoever you leave in charge. (20 WPs monthly for six tutors and four specialist instructors).

Edit: I adjusted the costs on the tutors so that they make a bit more sense. The fourteen WPs you have set aside for them will count toward your first monthly payment in B and C. In A, since it will cost you nothing, your fourteen WPs will be returned.

The rest I will put under a general orders question which can be number 14.

14. General Orders: Once you have decided who is going, who is staying and who will be in charge of what you will need to decide if you want to leave any standing orders for you staff. This is a pure freeform option, put forth packages and they will be added to the list.

As with the other pure freeform options just get my attention (by yelling at me or something ;)) when you are ready to add a package to the list. If I miss your entry the first time then just remind me until I add it as I have a lot to juggle for this update and I might miss details.

Nevill said:
6) G - Tell Timo and Albrecht about the maid, provide the maid with enough false information to bait Rand, get Pathfinders on the task of ambushing him.

Added.

Nevill said:
Orders for your soldiers

Alright, I have added this as question 14. I think I will hold off on adding the package in case you want to negotiate a little first. Just let me know when you are ready to add it to the options.



Okay, I think that is everything for now. If I missed something just let me know.
 
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Jester

Arbiter
Joined
Mar 24, 2013
Messages
1,493
Hmm that memory problem. If we can insert fake memory, i assume we can modify spell to erase memories instead. It will need research from T & D. Actually that captain we can interrogate is fairy good lab rat, after we end up with info extraction. That somehow adds value to longer interrogation, but i think research will need more time after we came back. If we use the mind reading book to determine changes in subject memories success rate should increase exponentially. After spell is mastered its matter of erasing time frame after her capture.

Healing mind spells we dont have, so that avenue might be locked. Unless we go to Empire to guards. Still its time consuming and uncertain.

Some usage of dreaming might be other way? Can Morpheus Nightmare somehow "clone" mind of person strongly imprinted in dreaming? She spend there decades. If we could clone mind at beginning of capture we could try to alert patient mind to match the basis. Or mby some kind of usage of Mayer memories? Dunno will think later.

The die must be rolled randomly or does just spinning it slowly/putting it down is enough to make (enchantment?) spell work? If we can do so we can code 1-6 orders or strategies to die. The part of synchronization them is most crucial to developing magical fax/email.

Btw can we just buy specific box put Ecubes in it and retrieve item it with content, or is it still problem? Would specification that we want this chest with set amount of EC in it retrieved, making it more memorable (we could even tell people to set it in certain pattern). Leaving one eagle in town so they can send massage when they get our amount, mby teachers, King, Mayer and whoever got something important to say add reports to it might be worth considering.

Ps Actually we might try to do "set" spell based on "sort' to learn how to set specific patterns.
 

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