Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Karwelas]

Cubes.
Energon cubes,

What these cubes do?

 

[Nevill]

Batteries for our spells.

The more we have, the more we can cast without being exhausted.

A life or death battle like the one we had in the caves or in the spider temple uses from 8 to 12. Currently we have 18 between the 3 of us, that's hardly enough for 2-3 encounters.

We are running a con that costs us 50 WPs to presumably get 25 of them (since they can't normally be bought anymore), and here are 30 items just being offered 'for free'.

 

[Baltika9]

1F- sounds like the best thing we have.
2E- a good long-term investment.
3E
4C
5C
6D- but have Lyssa calm the bests down first. I don't want squished mice.

 

[Kz3r0]

1F
2F
3E
4
Derryth, Thais, Lyssa, Biliku, Uttu, Berty, Ceannard(keep 1 for backup)
5B
6C.

 

[Fangshi]

What these cubes do?

The cubes are like magical batteries for your spells. To explain further I need to go into how spellcasting works in the CYOA. I gave a fairly indepth explanation of this back when the CYOA started but you would have to go digging around the front of the CYOA to find it so I will just repost the most important aspects:

When a mage casts a spell it puts strain on their body and mind. This manifests as fatigue essentially. The more spells you cast and they more powerful they are the more exhausted you become. Eventually you reach a point where you have completely exhausted your body and mind and this is different for each mage.

When you reach this point you can still cast spells but it is a very bad idea to do so as you will begin to do serious (and perhaps permanent) physical and mental damage to yourself.

Now there are a few ways to get around draining yourself to cast a spell:

1. You can use energon, green crystals that seem to mimic the energies mages draw on to cast. Energon comes in a variety of forms, uncut crystals, cut crystals, cut cubes, and dust and it can do a great deal of interesting things.

2. You can 'precast' your spells into storage devices. This lets you expend some of your energy, then rest to recover it and use the stored spells for 'free' later. Your spell rings and the plates you took from 'not-Rand' are examples of this.

3. You can channel energy from other mages to fuel your spells. This still puts strain on you as you have to act as a conduit but it allows you to share that strain with any other mages working on the spell and if you do not supply any of your own power then your partner(s) will bear most of the strain for you.

Other things to keep in mind about spellcasting:

INT:

- Your INT determines how powerful your spells are. A character will an INT of 10 will be able to throw much more powerful versions of the same spells than an INT 6 character can.

- Your INT also determines how quickly you can improve your spells when you try. If you know a 'frostbolt' spell then a high INT will help you create a 'Greater frostbolt' spell quicker, provided you have all of the needed materials/knowledge.

- Your INT will also make you a quicker learner in general. If someone is teaching you a spell you will learn it faster with a high INT.

WIS:

- Your WIS determines how efficient your spells are. A character will a WIS of 10 will be able to cast many more spells before they tire than a WIS 6 character can.

- Your WIS also determines how likely you are to create new spells from what you know. If INT is the stat for spell progression then WIS is the stat for spell innovation, a high WIS will let you come up with new effects more easily by combining existing ones in novel combinations.

- Your WIS will also make you a better teacher in general. If you are teaching someone and you have a high WIS then you will be more successful in conveying information/knowledge.

STR/CON:

- They come into play should you decide to cast beyond your stress threshold. The stronger you are the less likely you are to pass out, this will let you cast for longer but it will also increase your chance of injuring yourself. The more hardy you are the less likely you are to suffer permanent physical harm from over-straining yourself though you are still likely to suffer a number of wounds.

DEX:

- This is used for most spells that require you to aim or act with precision. Some schools of magic also involve complex movements to cast spells and if you do not have sufficient DEX you will not be able to perform them properly.

CHA:

- Some schools/specialties have spells that benefit a great deal from a high CHA while a few require a low CHA to successfully perfom. Generally speaking though CHA is less useful for the actual practice of magic. What it is useful for is life in general. A high CHA makes it easier to find and convince teachers to educate you, it makes rivals less likely to try and murder you, it makes shopkeepers more likely to give you a discount on those spell reagents you really want and so on.

Skills:

- All of the skills in the magical section of the character sheet impact spellcasting to some degree.

- A variety of other skills can also impact spellcasting in specific ways so they are also worth keeping an eye on.

Teamwork:

- This is not something that most mages go in for but as D&T have demonstrated you can accomplish a lot through working closely with others. It may expose you to new risks to match the rewards however.

Current Tally:

Spoiler

asxetos:
1F
2Ci
3D
4 Core Group (CG)
5B
6x

Kz3r0:
1F
2F
3E
4 Everyone
5B
6C

Karwelas:
1F
2D
3E
4 Everyone
5C
6C

Grimgravy:
1B
2Civ
3C
4 CG + Ceannard
5A
6D

archaen:
1F
2Cii
3E>F
4 CG
5C
6C

Nevill:
1F
2F
3E
4 Everyone
5C
6C

Azira:
1F
2Ciii
3E
4 CG + Berty
5C
6x

Jester:
1F
2E
3E
4 CG + Berty
5C
6C

Baltika9:
1F
2E
3E
4 CG + Ceannard
5C
6D

1. The Plan: F - Operation Bait & Switch
8 votes F
1 vote B

2. The Price: Tied between E and F
2 votes E
2 votes F
1 vote Ci
1 vote Cii
1 vote Ciii
1 vote Civ
1 vote D

3. The Weasels: E - You will alert Timo about your intentions to wipe the Weasels out...
7 votes E
1 vote C
1 vote D

4. The Steel Capes: EVERYONE! Derry, Taide, Lys, the girls, Berty and Ceannard (1 kept in reserve)
The Core Group 9/9
Berty 7/9
Ceannard 5/9

5. The Gliding Scarf: C - Give half of material to the mice and keep the rest for creating more in the future.
6 votes C
2 votes B
1 vote A

6. Elephant Charms: C - Bribe the Hounds to let Lyssa collect hair in peace (1WP)
5 votes C
2 votes D
2 votes undeclared

 

[Nevill]

There is a lot of overlap between 4th options. I wonder if we should not count them like we normally do with these choises involving multiple characters - if a person has more than a half ot the votes, they get chosen.

So far we have:
asxetos, archaen: Derryth, Thais, Lyssa, Girls - the core group.

Nevill, Azira, Jester, Karwelas: the core group + Berty

Baltika9, Grimgravy: the core group + Ceannard

Kz3r0: the core group + Berty + Ceannard

In other words:
The core group: 9/9
Berty: 5/9
Ceannard: 3/9

Unless there is a reason we don't want to give Ceannard a cloak, I think 'everyone' would cover it. Why keep a reserve of protective items, especially with a battle ahead of us? The armor exists to be worn.

I'll add my vote to Kz3r0's to include Ceannard and take him to 4/9.

 

[Fangshi]

Sure, works for me if you would prefer.

Anyone object?

 

[Baltika9]

I'll go for that.

 

[Karwelas]

Add my vote to Cean too. He should get the coat.

 

[Absinthe]

1F
2F Distributed evenly. We need energon cubes and it would be a good punishment for the dwarves.
3E
4Everyone (1 backup)
6C

I have a new request. Before we leave, given our vast information networks between Timo, Mayer, and Pathfinders, I want them to start a whispering campaign that there were dark arts involved in Eberhardt's return. We want to point out that Eberhardt was publicly executed and the only force that can bring back the dead is necromancy, so either Eberhardt is an undead (some master necromancer or perhaps even The Watcher's Dream of Undeath? It's not possible to return otherwise) or it is some kind of powerful doppleganger/simulacrum/homunculus/etc (dark god involvement? they are highly proficient in deceits and doling out powers). We don't need to nudge the rumors in any specific direction. I just want to propagate plausible theories about how Eberhardt could appear to return from the grave when everyone knows he was publicly executed which would most likely make him an agent of some dark power and have some speculation also on what nefarious purposes it might serve for such forces to become involved. The goal here is to get people rightly wary of this "Eberhardt returned" and ruin his reputation. At the risk of being obvious, try not to have these rumors appear to just originate in Myrgard. I want them to do the whispering campaign properly.

 

[Karwelas]

I wanted to change my vote about Price - F . Energon Cubes will be good way to get more power on battlefield. (And we can get professor title just other time. Maybe after we deal with shit in Dwarf Kingdom. Albrecht will sure do that for us without even using his hand. Just words. )

 

[Nevill]

As for the Eberhardts and the rumors, if the Arrows live, we may be able to send instructions back with them should we find it a good idea.

Wouldn't want to decide on it now.

 

[Jester]

I wanted to change my vote about Price - F . Energon Cubes will be good way to get more power on battlefield. (And we can get professor title just other time. Maybe after we deal with shit in Dwarf Kingdom. Albrecht will sure do that for us without even using his hand. Just words. )

We got whip and The Hat. We just need a professor title to become his successor and our master already was Sean Connery. Spell singing Indy ftw.

 

[Fangshi]

I have a new request. Before we leave, given our vast information networks between Timo, Mayer, and Pathfinders, I want them to start a whispering campaign that there were dark arts involved in Eberhardt's return.

Certainly doable. I could even have them do it without a vote if no one objects (not sure if Nevill is objecting or not), otherwise I will add it as a question if/when the Arrows return to the city or you have a moment to send back an eagle.


Alright, the vote is closed.

The winning options are:

1. The Plan: F - Operation Bait & Switch
2. The Price: F - Thirty Energon Cubes distributed evenly.
3. The Weasels: E - You will alert Timo about your intentions to wipe the Weasels out...
4. The Steel Capes: EVERYONE! Derry, Taide, Lys, the girls, Berty and Ceannard (1 kept in reserve)
5. The Gliding Scarf: C - Give half of material to the mice and keep the rest for creating more in the future.
6. Elephant Charms: C - Bribe the Hounds to let Lyssa collect hair in peace (1WP)

The update should be out within twenty four hours or so.

 

[Nevill]

not sure if Nevill is objecting or not

I'd like to talk it out.

Sure, the idea is fine and it would preempt his second miraculous resurrection if people take our word for it, but we can just as easily corner ourselves here if we aren't careful.

Do it with a vote for when the Arrows return, they are the ones tasked with finding the cloning facilities. If those are exposed, we will have direct proof.

 

[Absinthe]

Sure, the idea is fine and it would preempt his second miraculous resurrection if people take our word for it, but we can just as easily corner ourselves here if we aren't careful.

Do you not know what whispering campaign means? We're not putting our own names on this, so I'm not sure what you mean by "taking our word for it" or "cornering ourselves."

 

[archaen]

I would think that rumor would already be going without our input. We would need to fabricate some sordid details about blood sacrifices of dwarven children and him promising the entire Dwarven kingdom to the Watcher for his ascension so that it becomes the predominant rumor. This is just an example of details we could make up to help the rumors spread. We can also have albrechts official sources trying to down play the rumors and insisting that he is dead to give them more credence as nothing is as official as a public denial.

 

[Absinthe]

We want believable and plausible rumors. The rumor you suggest is rather unbelievable. All we have to do is help spread plausible theories about how Eberhardt returned is not as he seems and likely a puppet of darker powers (as mentioned above) so that the dominant narrative becomes dark mutterings about who this "eberhardt" really is and how he can hardly be trusted. That shouldn't be too hard since everyone knows Eberhardt was publicly executed and coming back from the dead is not a good thing in this setting, plus we have three of the finest intelligence networks in the kingdom at our disposal.

 

[Nevill]

I believe that Albrecht already tried launching rumors about that, seeing how the Eberhardts were accused of being necros in the first place, and it is not working. People plain don't care for these rumors, and think he was (and is being) accused wrongly.

Before you start a whispering campaign, you need to deal with whatever made Eberhardt a hero in the first place. We can't be taking people's hero from them without giving them something else to believe in, that's not how it works. Worst that can happen is that people will go into 'they will tell anything nowadays to make him look bad' mode, and stop thinking critically.

Also, I agree with archaen, people who talk about his resurrection already do not believe the official propaganda, so we might as well divide them by starting a rumor that would go against it (and still be bad for the Eberhardts), rather than provide an explanation that would coincide with it.

We're not putting our own names on this, so I'm not sure what you mean by "taking our word for it" or "cornering ourselves."

It means that a badly executed campaign does us more harm than good.

 

[Absinthe]

This is getting retarded. Lets keep it simple.

A) Now that Eberhardt has magically returned from the dead, it is worth noting that the only magic that can do that is necromancy. This means we already have evidence that something is wrong, unlike before. Besides, the two instances reinforce each other. Someone being found guilty of dark magic (nah, can't have been) later returning from the dead? Hmm. Makes you see it in a different light, doesn't it?
B) Whispering campaigns work by taking away the focus from heroics, casting doubt on the heroics (awfully convenient he came back next to a master necromancer and merely "drove him off" instead of killing him), and putting it on negative shit. Hell, for alternate heroes we have Derryth and Thais (but we shouldn't play that up - too obvious).
C) I don't see how archaen's idea would constitute a rumor that goes against the official propaganda, and I think overly specific details make for dubious rumors.

The way I was trying to set it up is so that you have necromancy rumors as the more "obvious" explanation for how he would've come back and then you have fallback theories for what else it could have been if it wasn't necromancy, in which case we conclude that would mean that this isn't the real Eberhardt, in which case we have to ask ourselves what it could be and start speculating on the various possibilities (mostly dark gods because they're the experts at this). All of these theories are more plausible than LAWD IT'S A MIRACLE THE DEAD GOD WYRD CAST SOME MAGIC TO BRING BACK LORD EBERHARDT.

In this case you would have a ton of theories spreading and the least plausible narrative is the official Eberhardt narrative.

 

[Nevill]

A) Now that Eberhardt has magically returned from the dead, it is worth noting that the only magic that can do that is necromancy.

They also say you can steal a dwarf's mind/soul/what-have-you just by sneezing at him/her. They say that you are agents/wives of the human Emperor come to save the Kingdom or ruin it or prepare it for annexation by the Empire. They say that you have the power to heal a person's every wound (of body or mind) and they say that you can raise the dead and return them to true life.

Then I guess we are foul negrodancers who should be hanged, because exactly the same is being told about us.

Not to mention there are several ways to return people from the dead that are not necromantic. The Summoner and the Myrkridia (they are not undead), the Soulblighter and Shiver (an artefact was used), Miosguinn and Isolde.

We are entering ancient myth territory here, and have to tread carefully, that is what I meant. We are dealing not with rational things that can be explained away with logic, but with beliefs. How 'plausible' is an explanation has little bearings on faith.

Besides, the two instances reinforce each other. Someone being found guilty of dark magic (nah, can't have been) later returning from the dead? Hmm. Makes you see it in a different light, doesn't it?

People already know that and they still chose to believe him. No, it did not make them see anything in a different light.

You might ask yourself why is it not working before proposing to double your efforts.

There is no point to cast doubt on the E-t heroics if we do not give people another hero to put their faith in.

 

[Nevill]

Anyway. I won't stop anyone from doing this because I doubt it can hurt us since this is how things already are. I just don't think it will help us all that much, and that for it to do anything useful we'll have to get a bit more creative.

I would like to raise another issue with you bros.

The Brannons, like the Eberhardts, believed a republic would be harder to tempt to the Dark than a monarchy is. The Brannons are upset with the 'Heroes of the Kingdom' because you killed a lot of their friends and allies in the south. They know for a fact that the Eberhardts were not conspiring with the Dark and so, quite naturally, they suspect that you are collaborating with the Dark to undermine the dwarves and bring about the collapse of the Kingdom. This concerns them as the last invasion to strike the Cath Bruig came in the form of a simultaneous assault from the east and the southeast and the opening stages of that assault took the form of an invasion of the Kingdom.

Would anyone be interested in contacting Alric directly, bypassing the Brannons (say, via the Heron Guards who are loyal to the Emperor alone), and trying to explain our side of the story to him? I mean, the Brannons seem to suspect that the Kingdom fell to the Dark, and Albrecht is mad at them for trying to depose him, a fact that I doubt the Emperor is aware of as Albrecht and Alric were allies for more than 60 years. I think if we can downplay the whole conflict as a misunderstanding, we may try and restore diplomatic relationships between the Empire and the Kingdom. If it is not Albrecht who wins the conflict in the south, then be it the Watcher, the Goddess, or the ghols, the Empire is going to be at a disadvantage, having no buffer zone between it and its enemies in the southeast.

I think Albrecht and Brannons are beyond the point where they could cooperate any time soon, but we and Alric still might, as someones who have more or less unbiased and rational views on the situation.

I know he has other problems to deal with (Mazzarin?), but even a token help in an hour of need would go a long way towards re-establishing the relationships.

And there is a matter of the stone spearhead. Since we can't use it ourselves yet (and I do not intend to go against archmages or Dark Gods in flesh for a long, long time), I can think of no other man but Alric who might be trusted with it to end the Watcher. We can't give it to Mazzarin, right?

Something like that would definitely attract Alric's attention and raise the importance of the Kingdom's survival enough for him to intervene.

I mean, why fight alone when we don't have to?

If there is interest, I guess I may have a few ideas of how it might be done.

 

[Fangshi]

So much for twenty four hours...

I have managed to get the rolls and roughly half of the update done though. It should be up in the next day or so and I will probably post the interlude twelve hours after that. Should be doable... I think...

 

[Azira]

And then, Christmas happens.

 

[Fangshi]

The update is done. It just needs options and a few more passes then I will post it.

The mechanics post will likely come soon after.

The interlude might still be out within fifteen hours or so since I do not have that much to do to finish it but if it is not then it will likely be three days or so before it is out. Essentially it will all come down to whether or not I can get it done before I have to step out for all the Christmas Eve/Day festivities. If I can then great, if not it won't go up till I sober up enough to finish it.