Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Nevill]

Like Jester said - we can make secret meeting with Nanshe and Alb.

I have my doubts about how well such a meeting would work out.

I mean, I can kind-of sorf-of see Albrecht coming to terms with the fact that we are using Nanshe against the Watcher, though it would be quite an achievement if he did not kick us out of the Kingdom after we are done, but to actually make them work together?

I think it might be better if Albrecht never learns that. He does not even know that Lyssa is a necromancer, and Timo didn't tell him because the King is unlikely to take it well. There simply is no reason for him to know.

And I am pretty sure dwarves hate ghols more than they hate undead and/or necromancers. I would not risk introducing them to each other, not in the foreseeable future.

They should be able to make secret pact about prevent fighting at lest for some time.

It would not require much to prevent Albrecht from fighting - he has his hands full with internal affairs and has no interest in waging offensive wars. He is not our problem. The problem is Nanshe who is driven by the idea to retake the ancestral lands, and the idea isn't even hers.

Reinhard, though... now that would be a problem. But we have not even met the man yet.

We need every ally that we can get in this damn world and it seems we have enough enemies in it. We should think about our future.

There is truth in what one of the Brothers Dietfried says. The one who seeks to ally with the opposing sides risks being destroyed by them both.

Another problem are our 'allies'. Morpheus and the Silver Lady may want to fuck us after they don't need us anymore. We must think about them too.

Maybe, but we have created conditions where Morpheus, and by extension, the Lady, will 'need' us forever. We have a lifelong contract where he grants us his protection in exchange for us entertaining him. Since he is a demon, he can't go back on his words willy-nilly, unless there is some major payoff.

If we cancel the contract, then I guess all bets are off, but that is something we have control over.

And the last but not last - future itself. What we will do after (we may not get alive from it, but hey! We must have hope!) Watcher and Albrecht traitor? More job from dwarfs? New way? Maybe making new shit around.

It is always good to plan for something more than today or even tomorrow.

After our affairs in the Kingdom are done, and the south is secured, I would like to wake Mel, ramp the military strength of the Kingdom up, restore our friends, and get back to our affairs in Cath Bruig. My dream is to secure an Empire for ourselves. Failing that, I want to make the Lost into a glue holding the Mythverse together. Serpent already has an Empire in the north, and we have gained ourselves a position in the Kingdom. If we place our people in Gower/Ermine/Western Empire, we would be able to unite the various states through our ties and respond to the threats of the Dark much more efficiently than we do now, when each of us are facing their challenges alone.

And then there is the 'to do' list I've made earlier. :D

 

[Karwelas]

I like that list! I think we have at least one of it already done. (Aka power of metal.)

 

[Nevill]

Not until we throw TWM into the Dreaming, sadly.

Which might be not as easy as it sounds. I am even prepared to use one of our foci to boost our willpower for the purposes of the ritual - I don't want to fuck anything up.

But we'll see what happens when we get there.

 

[Karwelas]

I think about TWM puppets. Maybe there is a way to free them (I sadly don't know if they are even under some spell). They may be usefull.

 

[Nevill]

No. I don't think there is.

They are braindead, their minds are eviscerated and the only thing they care for now is their master's approval. I think the effect is permanent, even though it might have been initially caused by a spell, just like the effects of our mind magic. We can break one's mind, but there is no easy way to repair it safe for rebuilding it from scratch. And that would mean capturing and brainwashing mages that are more powerful than us - a foolish task if I ever saw one.

We have seen the boy in the caves - there was no one around to maintain the 'spell' that made him think like he did, which suggests to me that there is no hope for them.

I don't really know, though. Fangshi, what do our ladies think on the matter? Do we even have an idea what was done to them?

Perhaps once TWM is in the Dreaming Morpheus will allow us to have a chat with him.

 

[Grimgravy]

I think we should use Nanshe hard and put her down hard when she's of no use. Too dangerous by far to be left as Ghol empress.

 

[archaen]

The other tactic we can try is to raise up a competing faction in the ghols and set them to oppose Nanshe. If Nanshe has her hands full trying to keep her new empire together and fighting off other ghols, she won't have time for campaigns against the dwarves. I think easiest way to do this would be to engineer a crushing defeat in battle to cause some of her support to dissolve. The opposing factions should nominate themselves as they vie for power in the vacuum of credibility left after a nasty defeat.

 

[Jester]

Like Jester said - we can make secret meeting with Nanshe and Alb.

I have my doubts about how well such a meeting would work out.

Meeting? You nuts? They will kill each other any talks should be conducted by proxy.

I mean, I can kind-of sorf-of see Albrecht coming to terms with the fact that we are using Nanshe against the Watcher, though it would be quite an achievement if he did not kick us out of the Kingdom after we are done, but to actually make them work together?

I really doubt he will care that we used Ghols to take on his enemies, Al is to smart for some lawful stupid palladin crap. I expect he would mind if we would sound to fond of Ghols. They dont need to work with each other, they simply have to avoid fighting. No cooperation or aliance just unofficial border with non-aggression pact. People cross border do to them what you wish.

I think it might be better if Albrecht never learns that. He does not even know that Lyssa is a necromancer, and Timo didn't tell him because the King is unlikely to take it well. There simply is no reason for him to know. And I am pretty sure dwarves hate ghols more than they hate undead and/or necromancers. I would not risk introducing them to each other, not in the foreseeable future.

Well undead lords had pressed dwarves to point they had to run from capital avoiding extinction so i would say they have most hated title. With Ghols as close second.

They should be able to make secret pact about prevent fighting at lest for some time.

It would not require much to prevent Albrecht from fighting - he has his hands full with internal affairs and has no interest in waging offensive wars. He is not our problem. The problem is Nanshe who is driven by the idea to retake the ancestral lands, and the idea isn't even hers.

More or less true. If she is smart she will concentrate on establishing some solid national structure, if not i doubt their conquests will least.

Reinhard, though... now that would be a problem. But we have not even met the man yet.

Waiting till personal meting, we dont have to much reliable info.

We need every ally that we can get in this damn world and it seems we have enough enemies in it. We should think about our future.

There is truth in what one of the Brothers Dietfried says. The one who seeks to ally with the opposing sides risks being destroyed by them both.

In wars both sides make opponent bad guy, in in this conflict they even believe it. We interacted with them so we know either side can be oppressing one. If you take one side or other you are screwed. So i think we should take most profitable option. Still i think we and our forces could sit it out if we concentrate on defence of capital without taking reputation hit after we take care of undead and cultists.

Another problem are our 'allies'. Morpheus and the Silver Lady may want to fuck us after they don't need us anymore. We must think about them too.

Maybe, but we have created conditions where Morpheus, and by extension, the Lady, will 'need' us forever. We have a lifelong contract where he grants us his protection in exchange for us entertaining him. Since he is a demon, he can't go back on his words willy-nilly, unless there is some major payoff.
If we cancel the contract, then I guess all bets are off, but that is something we have control over.

I cant imagine what anyone can pay to Morpheus to cross us even without contract. Guy likes us, we are solid business partners, gave him some interesting collection pices and own us a quite big debt of honour. With contract it looks even more unlikely. Only thing i can imagine is debt of Faceless magnitude, but that was paid. We arent interested in his realm, so no power play. Neh i find it unlikely for them to cross us unless faced with huge plot development.

And the last but not last - future itself. What we will do after (we may not get alive from it, but hey! We must have hope!) Watcher and Albrecht traitor? More job from dwarfs? New way? Maybe making new shit around.

It is always good to plan for something more than today or even tomorrow.

After our affairs in the Kingdom are done, and the south is secured, I would like to wake Mel, ramp the military strength of the Kingdom up, restore our friends, and get back to our affairs in Cath Bruig. My dream is to secure an Empire for ourselves. Failing that, I want to make the Lost into a glue holding the Mythverse together. Serpent already has an Empire in the north, and we have gained ourselves a position in the Kingdom. If we place our people in Gower/Ermine/Western Empire, we would be able to unite the various states through our ties and respond to the threats of the Dark much more efficiently than we do now, when each of us are facing their challenges alone.

And then there is the 'to do' list I've made earlier. :D

Time to add some Jester attempt at good content. Most interesting for me bolded.

Kingdom quests -
"Just 5 more minutes" (Buy Mel large alarm clock or something),
"I cast healing spells" (work on Bari, Nell and Mayers restoration (make plans on bodies restoration, fix ms Mayers mind)),
"Boot camp stories"/"Tale of very short partisans" (end training of lost army),
"Of man and Mice... and some Rats... and perhaps odd marmot or two... Second book." (interact and get some stories of rats and mouse commonwealth),
"Where all cheese go?" (rat infiltration gear development),
"Time to stop drinking, its getting surreal." (mouse flying gear made),
"Conquer the skies!"\"Operation steel tallon." (establish tower pilot academy\bet on result of Luftwaffe vs bird conflict),
"From corner into spotlight"\"You are a wizard Squick!" (establish mouse wizard school),
"Looking sharp dude" (lost standard personnel gear made),
"Trust me i am an engineer" (establish engineering),
"FOR GREAT SCIENCE" (invest in research)
[I think secret facilities in our fort might be nice place for basic research/engineering department],
"I LOVE MY JOB!" (work on our "grey" ruled corporation)
[when time comes hit south we need people who can control our facilities, especially if we wont have reliable way of communication. Hmm some kind of fax may be ideal solution]
"Royalist" (make sure Kingdom wont fall)

General quests -
"Pick up the phone dude"/"Hey! I was texting" (work on communication spells),
"THERE IS ONE RULE OF METAL! PLAY IT FUCKING LAUD!" (learn metal spells),
"My baby girl is all grown up" (get archmage title),
"Today weather forecast change is brought to you by..." (get 2nd part of stone),
"Im getting feedback" (establish a band and go on dreaming concert),
"You know blood wine. Its Klingon drink. I know a guy." (master art of distillery),
"I recall your past" (sort out your better part memories),
"Campfire stories" (contact all people who will be taking part in dream meeting),
"Eagle flight" (check on Guards),
"Get a room you two" (get ownership of fetch tower),
"Did you just punched Cathulu?" (resolve problem with other dimension being in Empire undercity),
"MEDIC!" (get some reliable root source/research alternative healing supplies),
"Full Collection" (cross patch with rest members of dark lords/avatara)
"First league" (find what happened to Mazzarin)
"Wanderer spirit" (find out what happened with Faceless)
"Teamwork" (get more talented people)

Personal quests -
"From heart to mind" (help Thais deal with Shiver memories)
"Drink to the fallen" (visit Tyrvard resting place)
"I would apreciate good book right about now" (meet Ithapi)
"Time for a lesson" (meet Amena your apprentice)
"Uncle Owen? Aunt Beru?" (learn your backstory)
"Track record"/"The short end of stick" (find Trakk)
"Its a long story" (find a way to make Lyssa accepted)
"New world order"/"Spring cleaning" (break circle or light and dark)

Empire quests -
"Lost anniversary" (meet up with your first party),
"Home sweet home" (get back to fetch tower),
"Any problems?" (find out what happened when you was away),
"Best-seller" (check on those magic books you have),
"Call me Richie." (establish your own bank)

Probably there are more. Those are all i was able to recall.

 

[Absinthe]

Our future plans concerning Nanshe are probably just going with the flow and maybe trying to get an unofficial truce between Dwarves and ghols going. An actual truce or peace treaty isn't likely to happen, given the history of racial tension, but the two sides can be persuaded to stage less raids, switch to more defensive fortifications, and rotate out the hotheads at the border to keep the hostilities down and start minding their own business instead.

 

[Fangshi]

Fangshi, what do our ladies think on the matter? Do we even have an idea what was done to them?

You have no idea what was done to them or whether it can be reversed. Also, no real idea how to go about creating a 'cure'/treatment without abducting them and putting them to some tests.

RE: Peace in the South

Well, if all else fails and the ladies are willing to admit that they can not prevent a war you could always turn to the one man that can solve any problem. Mazzarin does owe you a favour after all...

Just expect him to be supremely smug about it if you do ask for help.

In Other Words

You will have to be all like this ----->

And he will show up and be all like this -------->

The update is slowly working its way to completion in my more lucid moments but no estimate yet.

 

[Nevill]

Meeting? You nuts? They will kill each other any talks should be conducted by proxy.

It is pretty hard to kill each other in a dream. We have the tools to make it happen. I just really don't think we should.

I really doubt he will care that we used Ghols to take on his enemies, Al is to smart for some lawful stupid palladin crap.

Oh, no, he would have no problem with ghols and undead killing each other. What he would care about is the change in ghol politics that have united the previously scattered and bickering clans behind a single figure. This is a tangible threat to the kingdom, and since we have had a hand in orchestrating this outcome (and may have no intention to put an end to this), that would be pretty difficult for him to accept.

Well undead lords had pressed dwarves to point they had to run from capital avoiding extinction so i would say they have most hated title. With Ghols as close second.

Not just undead, the ghols have thrown their support behind Balor to drive the dwarves from their lands, and settled there themselves. They even went as far as to bring Crom Cruach to the former dwarven capital (and paid for it). I'd say they are very even on their shit list.

More or less true. If she is smart she will concentrate on establishing some solid national structure, if not i doubt their conquests will least.

Yeah, and I think it would serve as a good excuse to halt the hostilities at first - assuming we want to entangle ourselves in this mess and try to get both sides to survive.

In wars both sides make opponent bad guy, in in this conflict they even believe it. We interacted with them so we know either side can be oppressing one.

Well, the ghols have supported the Dark 3 times in the last 100 years. They did it before, too. As far as the world is concerned, they are in the wrong, so it makes them bad guys. By allying with the ones out to destroy the world, they have 'earned' everything the dwarves do to them, and more. No one mourns the undead, no one mourns the myrkridia. Those are monsters, and they are treated as such.

We have seen they do not necessarily need to be the bad guys given certain conditions and a proper leader, not that they aren't. Which makes our dilemma all the harder. It is a huge risk to try and get them out of this loop, and a risk for no certain benefit, to boot.

They have compromised themselves enough for a total genocide to seem like a viable solution. Nanshe is literally their last chance to make something else out of themselves.

If you take one side or other you are screwed.

Nah, taking Albrecht's side is what would be normally expected of us. It would be easier, too. Just get Nanshe killed, the dwarves will be able to manage the clans one by one.

I cant imagine what anyone can pay to Morpheus to cross us even without contract. Guy likes us, we are solid business partners, gave him some interesting collection pices and own us a quite big debt of honour. With contract it looks even more unlikely. Only thing i can imagine is debt of Faceless magnitude, but that was paid.

Yes, this is what I call a 'major' payoff. It is not impossible to imagine precisely because it has happened before. He got into one such debt once (for an appropriate profit, I would assume), he might do this again.

We should not overestimate our importance when we are talking the affairs of demons and gods. I bet more on his given word than on our 'good terms'.

An actual truce or peace treaty isn't likely to happen, given the history of racial tension, but the two sides can be persuaded to stage less raids, switch to more defensive fortifications, and rotate out the hotheads at the border to keep the hostilities down and start minding their own business instead.

The ghols are warmongers. They need someone to fight and prove themselves against, war is their business. We might want to offer them another enemy to keep them busy.

Well, if all else fails and the ladies are willing to admit that they can not prevent a war you could always turn to the one man that can solve any problem. Mazzarin does owe you a favour after all...

The only solution Mazzarin can come up with is an orbital bombardment. The man just does not know subtlety.

Not that it is not a good solution, of course.

 

[Karwelas]

By the way. Mouses and rats are these childrens in our Tower?

 

[Nevill]

No, there are two mage towers, one in a dungeon under Muirthemne (that's where the kids from Red and Silver orders are), and one in our fort Blackrock near Myrgard.

The mice are in our fort. They are these guys:

Spoiler

Blackrock Fort, Rodent Factions:
Inner Clans:
The Soft Paws: neutral (+10)
The Long Tails: neutral (+10)
The Blind Brothers: warm (+25)
The Three Families: neutral (+10)
The Observers: warm (+35)
The Clan of the Coin: neutral (+15)

Outer Clans:
The Ratguard: warm (+35)
The Clan of the Shell: neutral (+15)
The Clan of the Seed: neutral (+15)
The Ninety Nine Thieves: neutral (+15)
The Greys: neutral (+15)

 

[Karwelas]

But what are they doing inside od it. They are under our control? And another important questions - how many of dark Lords we already meet, who is Mazzarin (and Trakk) and what we will do with people that was in our first party? Sorry about so many questions.

 

[Nevill]

But what are they doing inside od it. They are under our control?

What do rodents normally do in any old fort? They are living there, were living before we came, and will likely continue to do so after we leave unless we breed some kind of fireball-slinging cats.

They are not under our control per se, but we have an understanding with them, and we have employed their services before for warfare (they helped us take out Gullveig and thus lift the siege off Blackrock), exploration (they were the ones who found our lost friends in the tunnel complex under the mountain, as well as a secret prison with Nephila) and intelligence (they helped us discover a spying maid). Since they were quite helpful, we have in turn become protective of them, and have plans to develop our partnership with them further, particularly with the mages and the noble warrior clan of Ratguard (incidentally, those are the only named mice Lyssa has with her).

How many of dark Lords we already meet

Three, to our knowledge:
- The Faceless Man*.
- Shiver/Culwyeh (in Nine's mind)
- The Voiceless One/Ravanna (in Nine's mind)

You could also say that we have 'met' the Watcher, though we have never actually seen him in person, as it would be suicide.

As for the rest of them:
- Soulblighter/Damas is dead following the events of the 2nd war.
- The Deceiver/Myrdred is presumed dead after being killed by 'fake Shiver', though I highly doubt that's really the case. For what it's worth, her fake is dead too, hopefully for real this time.
- The Lurker/Bhail, also called 'the twice born daughter of flood and famine', and the Bonesplitter were mentioned, but nothing is known about them.

I don't know if Balor/Connacht counts as a Falled Lord or not, but he is also dead.

who is Mazzarin (and Trakk) and what we will do with people that was in our first party?

Mazzarin is the (former?) Hero of the Light, and the greatest mage of all time. Presumed to be killed by the Watcher a few thousands of years ago. You can read more about famous people in the setting here:
Preparations 1 (Great Figures and Artefacts)

Trakk is a dwarf that served in the military and later became a mercenary. We have sought refuge with him after our fiasco in the Melete's workshop. The Eberhardts got almost his whole family killed to get to us, forcing him to betray us. He ended up in exile, and he has sworn to take revenge on us for involving him in this mess. Nasty bit of business, that.

What we will do with our Circle largely depends on what all these people would want to do after we meet up with them. The reunion was scheduled in a year after we have parted ways. So far, only three months have passed.


*That reminds me.

Fangshi, was the Faceless man already Faceless by the time he met with the demons? Do they know if he has a name other than the one he got as a Fallen Lord?

 

[Karwelas]

So Maz was that faggot who treat Lyssa like shit? And by the way... I was suprised about that our rats are... more or less... just rats.

 

[Nevill]

So Maz was that faggot who treat Lyssa like shit?

Yeah, as far as the ladies are concerned, that describes him nicely.

I was suprised about that our rats are... more or less... just rats.

Well, the apprentice mice can understand human speech and cast. That counts for something.

They are closer to sentient species than most other animals, our eagles included. Essentially, this:

So in the case of the Blackrock rodents, they are more difficult to control and the smarter and more sophisticated they become the harder they will be to control. [...] If the mice continue on their path then at some unknown point in the future they may well jump over the 'line' between the 'basic' animal species of Myth and the 'advanced' and 'sentient' species of the setting. If that happens then you would be better off treating them like you would a dwarf or maul rather than a pet.

 

[Karwelas]

Nice. So we want to create preety much rats spys/warriors/mages. By the way (once more... I hope don't ask too many questions). What happend to Bari, Nell and Mayers?
What is that Dreaming? (Something with Dreams, I think. Proud Karwelas Holmes.)
And more shit - "Campfire stories" (contact all people who will be taking part in dream meeting), - about those tasks... what they even mean? :D

 

[Jester]

Meeting? You nuts? They will kill each other any talks should be conducted by proxy.

It is pretty hard to kill each other in a dream. We have the tools to make it happen. I just really don't think we should.

Getting Albrecht into dreaming would make us answer some unpleasant questions about demons, blood pacts etc. Never thought to use dreaming because of that.

I really doubt he will care that we used Ghols to take on his enemies, Al is to smart for some lawful stupid palladin crap.

Oh, no, he would have no problem with ghols and undead killing each other. What he would care about is the change in ghol politics that have united the previously scattered and bickering clans behind a single figure. This is a tangible threat to the kingdom, and since we have had a hand in orchestrating this outcome (and may have no intention to put an end to this), that would be pretty difficult for him to accept.

Well for them to score any meaningful threat they had to become something more than scattered clans. We didnt expect them to actually achieve that, rather form of slave rebelion. All we wanted to do is to release the watcher control on those Ghol slaves to deny him mobility forces and take care of Ghol mages. Everything what followed was Nanshe proving to be extra competent, although we somehow did achieve those objectives.

More or less true. If she is smart she will concentrate on establishing some solid national structure, if not i doubt their conquests will least.

Yeah, and I think it would serve as a good excuse to halt the hostilities at first - assuming we want to entangle ourselves in this mess and try to get both sides to survive

Or make sure our business isn't hold back by hostilities. Suddenly trade caravans sound much more dangerous line of work.

In wars both sides make opponent bad guy, in in this conflict they even believe it. We interacted with them so we know either side can be oppressing one.

Well, the ghols have supported the Dark 3 times in the last 100 years. They did it before, too. As far as the world is concerned, they are in the wrong, so it makes them bad guys. By allying with the ones out to destroy the world, they have 'earned' everything the dwarves do to them, and more. No one mourns the undead, no one mourns the myrkridia. Those are monsters, and they are treated as such. We have seen they do not necessarily need to be the bad guys given certain conditions and a proper leader, not that they aren't. Which makes our dilemma all the harder. It is a huge risk to try and get them out of this loop, and a risk for no certain benefit, to boot.

Well they did lost their homeland, so i can get why they started working for Dark. Bad idea that was. Now they are more of less screwed. Actually i like this kind of problems would love to see such choices implemented in games (actual valuable learning material and no judgement outside of than player and 3rd person factions. Now that would be great game). Would like to give them second chance, because i really doubt that anyone else will do so.

They have compromised themselves enough for a total genocide to seem like a viable solution. Nanshe is literally their last chance to make something else out of themselves.

Getting close to Godzilla threshold.

Nah, taking Albrecht's side is what would be normally expected of us. It would be easier, too. Just get Nanshe killed, the dwarves will be able to manage the clans one by one.

Was thinking more of moral approach. Pragmatically Albrecht side is best option.

Yes, this is what I call a 'major' payoff. It is not impossible to imagine precisely because it has happened before. He got into one such debt once (for an appropriate profit, I would assume), he might do this again.

Well debt was started by fight to take control of god realm. I unlikely that such magnitude will be often.
Fangshi can we ask Morpheus if he have more of such debt?

We should not overestimate our importance when we are talking the affairs of demons and gods. I bet more on his given word than on our 'good terms'.

He gave us his word, because he is on good terms with us from my point of view. I dont want to overestimate our importance, but i would assume that after meting Faceless Marpheus should have big dose of respect for mages. Especially that Faceless was the one who end up killing Swimmer. Taking our progress we have chance to get to archmage level of power and that could influence Morpheus decision.

Well, if all else fails and the ladies are willing to admit that they can not prevent a war you could always turn to the one man that can solve any problem. Mazzarin does owe you a favour after all...

The only solution Mazzarin can come up with is an orbital bombardment. The man just does not know subtlety.

Not that it is not a good solution, of course.

Its best solution there is. If one dont (need to) care for collateral damage.

So Maz was that faggot who treat Lyssa like shit?

Yeah, as far as the ladies are concerned, that describes him nicely.

It should be guy, who become powerful enough to be a faggot to everybody with no consequences. I am sort of impressed he didnt droop that new persona even after becoming half corpse. The few humbling lesson from Derryth were healthy for him. I think he would be quite cool guy, if he quit this whole im so much better than you act.

So in the case of the Blackrock rodents, they are more difficult to control and the smarter and more sophisticated they become the harder they will be to control. [...] If the mice continue on their path then at some unknown point in the future they may well jump over the 'line' between the 'basic' animal species of Myth and the 'advanced' and 'sentient' species of the setting. If that happens then you would be better off treating them like you would a dwarf or maul rather than a pet.

Treating them as pets is ok, as long as they dont mind it. Being a pet don't sound that bad, if master is cool. Course the Emperor of Mousekind might have other opinion.

I was suprised about that our rats are... more or less... just rats.

Pray that Emperor of Mousekind wont hear of this heresy.

But what are they doing inside od it. They are under our control?

What do rodents normally do in any old fort? They are living there, were living before we came, and will likely continue to do so after we leave unless we breed some kind of fireball-slinging cats.

My money on monstrous wererabits.

 

[Nevill]

What happend to Bari, Nell and Mayers?

Bari, Neel and Stigr are the three brave souls who saved us from an ambush by one of the TWM's Shades at Blackrock. They were forced to stay behind and went deep inside the mountain through the tunnels to avoid the pursuers. There, they have encountered rhyming beasts, and were horribly mutilated as they were slowly eaten alive, bit by bit. We have managed to break them out of there, and are keeping them sedated until we can finally find enough time and resourses to heal them.

Mayer is our partner. He is fine. His wife, though...

Spoiler

"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..."

TL: DR - he got screwed by Morpheus in one of their deals and now his wife is crazy. Read the fine print when dealing with demons!

No known cure exists for Helena, though we have made some guesses at how to restore her.

What is that Dreaming? (Something with Dreams, I think. Proud Karwelas Holmes.)

The Dreaming is a plane of existence that exists because people dream. Not much else is known about it. We have learned a number of ways to enter it, both physically and mentally, and we have struck an 'alliance' with the Demon Prince Morpheus who rules a part of it.

It has nothing in common with Wyrd's Dreams that are the most powerful spells in the setting.

"Campfire stories" (contact all people who will be taking part in dream meeting)

We have an agreement with Morpheus that he will grant us his protection in the Dreaming in exchange for an endless supply of stories form the mortal world to entertain him. The 'campfire stories' are a side effect of this agreement, as we will use these session to know each other better, something that we never find enough time to do. We need to properly integrate our memories with Thais, and learn more about Lyssa before we can vouch for her in front of our Circle. The Dreaming offers us a perfect platform to share our experiences.

 

[Karwelas]

"Im getting feedback" (establish a band and go on dreaming concert) - I mean to copy it too, but instead I double "campfire stories."

 

[Jester]

Nice. So we want to create preety much rats spys/warriors/mages. By the way (once more... I hope don't ask too many questions). What happend to Bari, Nell and Mayers?
What is that Dreaming? (Something with Dreams, I think. Proud Karwelas Holmes.)
And more shit - "Campfire stories" (contact all people who will be taking part in dream meeting), "Campfire stories" (contact all people who will be taking part in dream meeting), - about those tasks... what they even mean? :D

Ok Bari and Nell -
Shade tried ambush us in the battle of Blackrock chapters with chain explosion dream. Nell, Bari and hero charioter (died after chariot charge letting him redirect next hops to enemy forces saving our forces from heavy casualties) were people who break the chain, but Bari, Nell and one of other charioters end up splitting from our main forces. They only escape route were tunnels under Blackrock. In attempt to lose pursuit they end up is remote part of caves. There were captured (alongside with one of TWM controlled mages perusing them) by eldritch horrors hiding there. Singing demons started to remove parts of their bodies (Bari was more unlucky ending as head with torso). We rescued them with help of Morpheus, power of metal and singing retreat.

Mayers -
Mayer lost some fingers in attempt of getting control of some assets for us, but its his wife who is problem. When Mayers were adventurers they crossed patch with a demon, who managed to trap miss Mayers mind in dreaming for several years (different time flow in those places in our world it was shorter spawn) making her feral in order to survive there. She was unable to recover after that.

Dreaming -
Is sort of plane of existence based on dreams, similar to Swimmer realm. Ruled by 3 brothers one of with is Morpheus (dealing with human dreams, other dreams are of beasts and not living things... and i dont have idea how that things part is possible). We managed to learn about this after we tried to deal with The Oneiroi, mages focused on sleep related spells (they were people who traped Mel in not ending sleep spell). We found out that they were using Dreaming plane as sort of staging ground. Some very nasty information followed. We released captured by Oneiroi demon called Morpheus. Rest is history.

Campfire -
Emm there is idea to use dreaming to share/relive life stories of lost members. Sort of bonding activity. And ability of meting in dreams is sort of helpful.

 

[Jester]

"Im getting feedback" (establish a band and go on dreaming concert)

Emm kind of a combined joke, based on our pursuit of heavy metal power, song powers overall and some of user comments. There are some posts close to end of Blackrock battle chapter really worth reading, lets say.
And actually Thais and Derryth had performance in dreaming, crowd loved it.

 

[Nevill]

Getting Albrecht into dreaming would make us answer some unpleasant questions about demons, blood pacts etc. Never thought to use dreaming because of that.

This is actually a good question for Fangshi. There is an implication that if we are going to see people in the Dreaming, those people will know we are working with demons. But I don't quite understand why.

If we learn Morpheus' Nightmare, we would be able to do the very same thing without the Demon Prince. Would anyone suspect us in underhanded practices if we did? Most mages would not be able to recognize a spell that rare, and as for non-mages, there is absolutely no difference between this spell and any other, it is all magical bullshit to them. At most people would know there are very curious entries in our spellbooks, but that's mages for you.

So what is it that gives away our association? Is it Morpheus' presence? But he has enough sense or tact to appear in his human form before others if they have a problem with his nature. Why would anyone assume anything about him or us if he does not reveal himself?

 

[Fangshi]

Fangshi, was the Faceless man already Faceless by the time he met with the demons? Do they know if he has a name other than the one he got as a Fallen Lord?

Well, when they first met him he was a broad faced dwarf that looked to be about two hundred years old. When he next came to the Lady to cash in his favour he appeared to be a soft jawed human in his mid forties. If his dwarf face was not his original face then he was already Faceless by the time that they met him but then can not say for sure as his mental defenses by that point were already sufficient to keep the younger demons out. If the Wyrm managed to catch a glimpse of Faceless' mind (possible given how ancient he is in comparison to the other conspirators) then he did not see fit to share that information at all.

Fangshi can we ask Morpheus if he have more of such debt?

He says he does not have any other general favours owing at the moment, well, except for yours should you manage to successfully give him TWM.

This is actually a good question for Fangshi. There is an implication that if we are going to see people in the Dreaming, those people will know we are working with demons. But I don't quite understand why.

Largely because you need Morpheus to pull them out of their dreams and into the meadow. They are likely to understand that something odd is going on there. Demons would be the safe bet since just about everything that is extra-planar in nature can be summed up with 'demons did it'.

If we learn Morpheus' Nightmare, we would be able to do the very same thing without the Demon Prince. Would anyone suspect us in underhanded practices if we did? Most mages would not be able to recognize a spell that rare, and as for non-mages, there is absolutely no difference between this spell and any other, it is all magical bullshit to them. At most people would know there are very curious entries in our spellbooks, but that's mages for you.

Well if you pull someone out of their dreams on your own then there is nothing to directly link you to demons. Though it would raise the question of where you got the spells from to perform such a feat. Most mages would assume you recieved the spell from some sort of ancient tome or directly from a demon (they might even be able to guess who if they know enough about the Dreaming). Most mages are not really going to care that much, they are the group most likely to understand the advantages and even the necessity of working with the Dark Gods from time to time. Non-mages would not know how you pulled them out of their own dreams, they would simply know that you did/can, and they are as likely to mistake you for demons as they are to realize that you are just using a demon's spell.

So what is it that gives away our association? Is it Morpheus' presence? But he has enough sense or tact to appear in his human form before others if they have a problem with his nature. Why would anyone assume anything about him or us if he does not reveal himself?

Well Morpheus would be a dead giveaway if he remained in his demon form (I would not put it past him to do just that to have a little fun at someone's expense). But he should be smart enough to know you would appreciate a little discretion when dealing with certain individuals. As long as he remains in his human form you should be fine though it will raise a number of questions as well. How do you have this degree of mastery over dreams? Who is Morpheus? That sort of thing. Naturally you can lie so that should not be a huge problem unless you are worried about that backfiring on you.