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Nevill

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Should I assume that, since Fvii is an option, Cropper is forbidden to share his art of shapeshifting with us otherwise?
 

Absinthe

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Nevill, I'm fine with not giving them ammo to kill us. I just figured Strengthen Will wouldn't really qualify because it's a 2 hour long ritual plus preparation. I just figure there's no fucking way they'll sneak that one by us. If he flips his shit and tries to attack us, I don't think he'll have the luxury of a 2 hour ritual.
 

Fangshi

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Nevill said:
What does Finnbheara know about the Beast? For that matter, what does he know about TWM?

Do they know all of the Watcher's generals?

Finn informs you that there were six generals serving the Watcher's ambition.

None use their real names. It is unclear if this is because they do not remember them, they do not have any, or they wish to hide their identities.

1. The Thin White Mage:

He is in charge of the Watcher's spies, agents and hunters. Spec Ops stuff, specialized soldiers used to enforce the Watcher's desires throughout the south.

He appears to be a man but is not, he is not fully dead, not quite undead either but he is definitely not alive in any traditional meaning of the word.

Finn's people have had no luck pinning him down or killing him. He rarely shows himself and seems to have a real knack for slipping free of traps.

Finn does not know where TWM is now though he worries that it is but a matter of time until he appears to aid the Beast in the siege of Stoneheim.

2. The High Priest

He was a ghôl and the leader of the Watcher's cult. Thankfully he is dead.

Finn tells you that Mazzarin killed the high priest in a magical duel when he single-handedly stormed the main temple complex of the Watcher in the north of the Kingdom.

Finn has heard reports that a new High Priest has been appointed though the numbers of the cult are much reduced for some reason.

3. The Beast

The leader of the Watcher's army in the south. The Beast is big, vicious and powerful. He stands over twelve feet tall, clad in thick, black plate and seems to have a way of communicating with his followers without speaking.

He is almost always accompanied by an entourage of forty mages dressed in heavy black robes. They do not speak, instead moving in complex patterns as if with a single will.

Every attempt made by Finn's people to assassinate the Beast has so far ended in failure. He is able to sustain a great deal of damage without any overt ill effect, he also seems to be able to consume others to repair his own body.

The Beast is slow to action and slow to anger, beyond that though Finn knows little about his personality.

4. The Countess

The female necromancer you encountered at the Palace.

She headed south with a strong escort weeks ago and has not been seen since. She is likely at the Watcher's main compound wherever that is.

5. The Weeper and 6. The Sliver of Hate

The Watcher's last two generals. Finn is not sure what they look like or what they can do. All he has to go by is the names.

Nevill said:
Did Morpheus learn anything about them from TWM before he was taken away?

Not all that much. He learnt that TWM has a tendency to become obsessed and that he is rather arrogant even if he can be quite clever.

He also learnt that TWM hates the other generals with a passion and habours a deep and abiding resentment toward the Watcher.

It seems that TWM is incapable of leaving the Watcher's service though, even if he does his best to assert his own freedom.

It also seems that TWM believes that a being known as the 'Sliver of Hate' is currently in the Empire, working on something important up around the Twelve Duns.

Supposedly the Sliver is not doing well, it is being opposed by two separate groups.

The first is led by some sort of barbarian king who has managed to raise a war host. Rumours say he is eight feet tall and capable of breaking or mending a man with a single touch. They say he wields a great sword in each hand and can fire light from his eyes. His wife is also a terror, a master of poison and the dark arts, unmatched in cunning and in beauty...

Of the second group less is known but they seem to be based out of Gower and have some serious power behind them.

Nevill said:
Does our alliance with Finnbheara cover only war efforts against the Watcher, or does it extend to anything that threatens House of Albrecht, including the spider cultists and ghols?

Finn is only interested in the Watcher so he will not be all that willing to lose people fighting any other force. He will be much more willing to fully commit against the undead but you could probably convince him to help you deal with other foes so long as you do not ask for too much.

Nevill said:
What exactly were the terms of their agreement with Mazzarin, ifwe may be allowed to ask? Are the fairies homefree after dealing with the Beast and TWM, or is there more to it?

It was a simple bargain but not one Finn is all that eager to recount.

Essentially Mazzarin has charged the King's host with containing the Watcher's forces. Finn's sole task is to prevent the Watcher from reaching the Empire, he is approaching that task by striking at the Watcher's most active generals. He has done as much damage as he can without exposing his people to significant danger.

Finn and his people are not free to leave until Mazzarin tells them they can go, simple as that. If Mazzarin decides to redefine the deal then he will and there is nothing much Finn can do about it.

Nevill said:
Fangshi, how much time have passed since our talk with Finn and our reunion with the army?

At the end of the update it is late morning, the day after your talk with Finn and Mazzarin's arrival. (It has probably been eleven hours).

Nevill said:
How much time have passed since our departure from the Palace? How many days it would take for the eagle to reach Albrecht?

Off the top of my head.

A few days to the oasis. A day and a bit to Nanshe, the same back. The confrontation with Finn's people was a few hours and by the end of this last update it is almost noon.

You have probably been gone by about five days or so.

It would take a day, maybe two, for the eagle to get there. Same to get back again with a message.

Karwelas said:
First - For love of God... how young are our dear bodyguards? And how old is this boy that Mazzarin take as pupil? (This is question for Fangshi mostly).

The girls are fourteen (Biliku) and twelve (Uttu).

Emrys is fourteen.

Karwelas said:
Second - Question to Finn - Do faeries know something about the curse like that Beri and our other friend fall into? Maybe something that could help Meyer (I hope I write it right?) wife? And about that shapeshifiting - what forms we could probably use?

Hard to say. Finn's mages would need to have a look at their minds to see if they could do anything for them. They are all traumatized/mad rather than cursed so the 'cure' would need to be tailored to the mind in question. What you really need is time, resources and enough skilled/smart mentalists and healers to 'fix' them.

As far as shapeshifting goes. They could show you how to turn into a horse, a wolf, a hare, a mouse even. They would likely start you off with something simple, a wolf perhaps as it has about the same mass as you do. Once you have changing shape down properly you can try to make yourself bigger (horse) or smaller (mouse). From there who knows, Finn's people rarely try for more than that.

There is a lot more to it than just size and shape but there is no point getting into that if you do not pursue that line of research.

Nevill said:
Should I assume that, since Fvii is an option, Cropper is forbidden to share his art of shapeshifting with us?

No, he is not forbidden to teach you... :smug:
 

Absinthe

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Shall we just cross off Fvii then since we're just going to ask Cropper for those secrets and he's coming along anyway? As for forms, wolf would be good. I believe we've been wolves before when we rescued Morpheus so we already have some familiarity with the form.

Could we get more information about the charms and rituals of his people?

Also, since the practice session in the dreaming has already occurred, can we see the progress Derryth has made on war cries and doing them with the conqueror's path active?
 
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Fangshi

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Absinthe said:
Could we get more information about the charms and rituals of his people?

Certainly. Charms make use of organic and inorganic materials prepared according to very specific recipes which bring about specific effects. The effects can vary greatly but are all quite easy to bring about (provided you have the necessary raw ingredients). Even people with no real spellcasting ability to speak of can make use of them so long as they do not deviate from the recipe as written.

So when it comes to ease of use the charms are easier than the other traditions of magic you know of but they are also far less flexible than even 'traditional'/'generic' human magic.

You need a new ritual/charm for everything you could hope to do and they take time to prepare. You will not be able to make them up as you go. If I had to compare them to the schools of 'regular' magic I would say they are most closely aligned with the School of Enchantment. They are useful for bringing indirect power to bear on a target.

To make your own recipes would require significant knowledge of herbs and the properties of a number of gems, metals, animal products and the like. You could then attempt to improvise though you might bring about undesired or undesirable side effects.
 

Absinthe

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Hm, flopping to 1Fi for now since we'll just ask Cropper to learn shapeshifting anyway, and Cropper rather likes us. Being able to cure disease sounds rather valuable and I can already think of some solid uses of a boosted healing skill.

Could we get any examples of charms? Basically, what's so good about them because right now they seem no better than our present improvisation abilities and we'd be rather dependent on ingredients to boot. Also, what's the progress on war cries?

So far for our plan I think we're agreed on trying to get the ghols and cultists to attack each other. The idea is to use illusions of dwarven spider cultist slavers carrying loot, ghols, and roast ghol to aggravate the ghols into an attack. The slavers run to the cultists and cry for help in the spider tongue and yell about ghol enemies.
 
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Fangshi

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Absinthe said:
Could we get any examples of charms? Basically, what's so good about them because right now they seem no better than our present improvisation abilities and we'd be rather dependent on ingredients to boot.

Just a different tool, that is all, same as the other options really. There is no effect you could learn from Finn's folk that you could not do with musical magic or your own casting method.

Charms' biggest advantage is, as mentioned above, that they tell you exactly what to do. You could pull out a recipe, hand it to Gareth and he would be able to make and cast it so long as he followed the instructions exactly. You would not be able to do that with musical magic or traditional magic. In essence, charms just skip the 'magical knowledge/training' prerequisites normally needed.

This may or may not be useful to you.

Absinthe said:
Also, what's the progress on war cries?

Well, you have the skill and the knowledge but you do not have the control yet. The first time you tried it in the Dreaming you affected everyone. All four of you went into a blind, murderous rage and Morpheus had restrain you until the effects wore off.

You still need to nail down how to selectively target groups/individuals with it. At the moment you could plug your ears and just scream but that is about it.
 

Nevill

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Absinthe said:
Nevill, I'm fine with not giving them ammo to kill us. I just figured Strengthen Will wouldn't really qualify because it's a 2 hour long ritual plus preparation. I just figure there's no fucking way they'll sneak that one by us. If he flips his shit and tries to attack us, I don't think he'll have the luxury of a 2 hour ritual.
There is a pretty easy way to sneak that one.

First, conduct the ritual with our permission to have their spells work at 50% more efficiency and put the enemy at a disadvantage.

Then 'flip his shit'. The spell is active for 12 hours, it is going to be useful long after the enemies are dispatched.

He is almost always accompanied by an entourage of forty mages dressed in heavy black robes. They do not speak, instead moving in complex patterns as if with a single will.
Living mages, or undead mages? Could Finn's people tell that at least?

Tell him about the Drowned Dead. Is it like that? But it was the Watcher's experiment, which implies they were only recently employed. Since when did the Beast has his entourage?

He is able to sustain a great deal of damage without any overt ill effect, he also seems to be able to consume others to repair his own body.
What kind of damage he has been able to sustain thus far? Must be useful to know to not attempt something futile.

Does the damage inconvenience him in any way? How fast does he regenerate? Can he consume anyone or just specially prepared victims/corpses?

Is the Beast a mage? What is known about his abilities? Is he anything alike the siege engine built by Gullveig in Blackrock?

She headed south with a strong escort weeks ago and has not been seen since. She is likely at the Watcher's main compound wherever that is.
Do I take it that Finn's people nevermanaged to capture one of the necromancers or the Watcher's officers that would know about the compound?

Even the ghols knew about the location of the Great Temple. Is that compound different in that only 'chosen ones' know its location?

Rumours say he is eight feet tall and capable of breaking or mending a man with a single touch [...] and can fire light from his eyes.
So, basically, he is exactly like us, just one feet taller than we were before Blackrock. :lol:

His wife is also a terror, a master of poison and the dark arts, unmatched in cunning and in beauty...
Can't be Christine-can't-be-christinecan'tbechristine... :argh:

Finn is only interested in the Watcher so he will not be all that willing to lose people fighting any other force.
Is that due to his agreement with Mazzarin, or is there personal resentment involved. If so, why? Does it have to do with the Watcher's specialty?

Essentially Mazzarin has charged the King's host with containing the Watcher's forces.
What do you mean, 'containing'? What do they contain them from? How effective was it, considering Stoneheim may be about to fall?

I understand 'we did what we could' part, but were his forces adequate for the task that was given?

The girls are fourteen (Biliku) and twelve (Uttu).
Biliku's birthday is about two weeks from now, though (on December 5th).

No, he is not forbidden to teach you... :smug:
Alright. Since we are dealing with the fairies here... Ask Finn what is the catch of trying to learn from Cropper without the King's blessing? Will he teach us a half of the incantation that only allows us to shapeshift one way and forget the restoration spell? :lol:

There must be something, because the offer to teach shapeshifting is considered a gift of great value.
 
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Fangshi

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Nevill said:
Living mages, or undead mages? Could Finn's people tell that at least?

They do not know.

The robbed figures did not seem like shades and shades are the only undead mages that Finn is aware of the Watcher possessing so he just assumed they were living mages.

One thing he can say for sure is that they were very dedicated, many would cast right up until their bdies began to dissolve and at least a few of them would continue to try and defend their general even when suffering from serious (sometimes mortal) wounds.

Nevill said:
Tell him about the Drowned Dead. Is it like that? But it was the Watcher's experiment, which implies they were only recently employed. Since when did the Beast has his entourage?

Finn does not know for sure. He only arrived in the Kingdom after Mazzarin summoned him maybe a month ago. The first time his people fought the Beast directly was maybe two weeks ago or so.

The Beast had his entourage during that battle and they beat back Finn's assassins. A few more attempts were made but it was deemed to risky to continue attacking so the King adopted a less direct approach.

Nevill said:
What kind of damage he has been able to sustain thus far? Must be useful to know to not attempt something futile.

It has lost limbs and lost its head. Both times it managed to consume some of its supporters and regenerated the lost tissue. Lossing its head actually slowed it down for about fifteen minutes until it grew a new one.

It suffered severe burns without any real reaction.

They attempted to smother it but again, that did not do anything so Finn thinks it does not need to breathe.

Finn is not sure just what it would take to put the thing down for good but he is fairly certain that it will have to be separated from its followers to do any lasting damage to it. As long as they are nearby it will simply consume them to protect itself.

Nevill said:
Does the damage inconvenience him in any way? How fast does he regenerate? Can he consume anyone or just specially prepared victims/corpses?

To a degree. Finn cut its arm off and that hampered its combat effectivness for a few minutes until it snatched up a pair of followers and devoured them. Took about three minutes for its arm to reform once it had the new flesh to work with.

It can't consume Finn's people. It tried and had to spit the hunter it captured back out.

Other than that though he has seen it consume captive dwarves, its own followers and numerous thralls/lesser undead (it does not seem to get much from consuming thralls though which suggests that different types of 'food' have greater or lesser effects).

Nevill said:
Is the Beast a mage? What is known about his abilities? Is he anything alike the siege engine build by Gullveig in Blackrock?

Yes, it can cast.

Elemental spells, at least that is what Finn thinks it was casting. It's magic was thick, pitch black and tar-like. Very corrosive.

It also must have some skill with mental magic since it does not speak to its followers yet they act according to its will.

Neither Finn nor the ladies know whether it is like the thing Gullveig tried to create. Finn has not seen Gullveig's creature and the ladies have not seen the Beast.

Nevill said:
Do I take it that Finn's people never managed to capture one of the necromancers or the Watcher's officers that would know about the compound?

They were not trying to capture necromancers alive. Killing the necromancers first dramatically reduces the danger of attacking the Watcher's people so that is what they have been doing when they encounter them. In essence they start with the highest ranked 'officer'/mage in the party and then work their way down to the actual undead.

Finn has no desire to lose any more of his people then he has to, to meet the letter of his contract with Mazzarin.

Nevill said:
Even the ghols knew about the location of the Great Temple. Is that compound different in that only 'chosen ones' know its location?

Finn thinks so. The Great Temple in the north was a symbol of the Watcher's power and a stronghold from which he could ensure the loyalty of the ghôls. As a result a great many lower officers/necromancers/ghôl chiefs knew where it was.

The Watcher's main compound in the south is a private facility, the Great Necromancer's last hidden sanctum. So its exact location is likely only known by his most trusted/powerful commanders.

Nevill said:
Is that due to his agreement with Mazzarin, or is there personal resentment involved. If so, why? Does it have to do with the Watcher's specialty?

D&T think it is bit of both.

He says that what the Watcher does is unforgivable and that is no doubt a motivating factor for the King, but Derry has noticed that he also has no real reason to fight anyone else unless he is forced to.

He has made mention of his deal with Mazzarin, that he has been charged with containing the Watcher's armies in the south of the Kingdom. He is not to allow the Beast's forces futher north than they already are and to that end he has been raiding the Beast's army and working against TWM's minions. He has not been instructed to meddle in the dwarven civil war and he cares little about the fate of the Kingdom itself from what Derry can tell.

Nevill said:
What do you mean, 'containing'? What do they contain them from? How effective was it, considering Stoneheim may be about to fall?

Mazzarin was clear. If the Watcher's armies reach the border of the Cath Buig then Finn is as good as dead. Finn is to contain the Watcher's forces, he is to prevent them from going further north should they try.

Beyond that he has been given complete control on how to achieve that end.

Mazzarin told Finn that he did not want to 'micromanage' the King's actions. As long as Finn completes his task that is good enough for the Archmage.

Nevill said:
I understand 'we did what we could' part, but were his forces adequate for the task that was given?

Maybe?

Mazzarin seems to think that Finn can handle the Beast with what he has to hand, of course Mazzarin often tends to forget that others can not level entire cities with their minds. That in turn colour his perception of things.

Finn does not seem to be in any real rush to force a decisive battle, it could be that he is looking for an opening, or perhaps he does not think his host can do it alone, maybe, just maybe, he was willing to let the Spider Cult or the Royal Army try first and then hit the Beast after the battle, before it can recover and raise the dead to cover its losses...

Nevill said:
Alright. Since we are dealing with the fairies here... Ask Finn what is the catch of trying to learn from Cropper without the King's blessing?

Finn shrugs, he really can not say.

He tells you that Cropper is a 'free spirit' and will largely do whatever he wants baring explicit orders from Finn himself.

If you want to strike a separate bargain with Cropper for magical knowledge, that is really none of Finn's business and he wishes you, 'the best of luck with that.' :smug:
 

Nevill

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Questions for Finn.

Can he tell us more about his people? As far as we know, he is one of the fairy kings. Where are the others?

Is the King of the Fairies sworn to Mazzarin's service as well? If so, why was Finn drafted alone? Is it because his forces are sufficient for the task, or did he pick a short end of the stick? Or is he not alone and there are other fairy forces around from some other sidhe (is there a plural for that word, by the way)?

He speaks of going home after he is done here. Where would that home be? Do the fairies live in the desert and in the mountain range surrounding the Great Devoid, or did they come here for the hunt?

What can he tell us of the different fairies he employs? He arrived with the force of 77 riders. Who are they, by the way? Are those all of his forces, or is it just a team he picked to check on Cropper's party? Is he capable of mustering a greater force? What exact numbers are we looking here?

Who are Laignach Faelad and does he usually bring them with him to the fights? Are they something we should be worried about?

Who are Faoladhs and what can they do? A service of a pair of them is valued as much as the services of Laignach Faelad, which to me suggests some kind of supernatural abilities.

What are Cú Sídh? Can we or Lyssa inspect them up close with Finn's permission? What does he mean we 'can not treat them like any normal hounds'? In what way do you treat a normal hound that you can't treat Cú Sídh? Do they have any other abilities - apart from sensing the intentions of others - that we should know about? Do they understand Bruig or Dwarven, or any other languages except for fey one? How many of them are in the pack Finn wants to gift us?

Basically, I want to know if any of those can be a cause of concern.

Anyone else Finvarra numbers in his army? I just want to know what kind of help from the alliance we are looking at, because I hate wasting people on a task they are not best at. If they are best at pursuing the enemy remnants, that is how we would cooperate; if they are best at breaking through enemy lines, that can also be integrated in our plans; if they are guerilla fighters that are good at hit-and-runs that would be useful to know, too.

There were rumors of fairy birds accompanying the hunts. What are they? Can they be asked to let our eagles pass freely?

Do we have a way of knowing that he is in a day's walk from us? Would Cropper know? How long does it take for him to get back to us? Just so we could time the summonings correctly.

Who are the Merrows? We thought all the fairies have left... didn't they? How many fairies still live on the continent?

Ask them ifany of his fairies might be interested in settling closer to the human/dwarven cities. I've heard the Blackrock has some beautiful hills. ;)

When he said that he can't speak for all his people, what did he mean? Are there some who would object or refuse to recognize the alliance?
 
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Fangshi

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Nevill said:
Questions for Finn.

I will answer those tomorrow, it is getting a bit late here.

If anyone has any other questions for Finn, Mazzarin, Berty, or anyone else then feel free to post them and I will answer them when I can.
 

Absinthe

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There is a pretty easy way to sneak that one.

First, conduct the ritual with our permission to have their spells work at 50% more efficiency and put the enemy at a disadvantage.

Then 'flip his shit'. The spell is active for 12 hours, it is going to be useful long after the enemies are dispatched.
I know, but in that case we also would have the Strengthen Will ritual active. I suppose our mental spells will be less effective in these circumstances, but by the looks of it, mentalism is already fail against him. That's why I figure this is the kind of gift that would make them happy campers without much risk of it being turned against us. Eh, they do have a large crew if they want to do a mass insurrection. I suspect if he wants to recover from the humiliation though he'd sooner fight us alone. Hm.

Aside from that, we have another method to obtain the Seekers' loyalty, and that's to challenge the Old Man for leadership of the Seekers. In that case, we would certainly want to do the Strengthen Will ritual ourselves and get the spell plates ready but we would be expending a lot of resources into that fight and 1v1 the Old Man is stronger than us, so this idea is kinda suicidal, really.

Fangshi, can we learn those strange walking magics? Also, lets start negotiating with Cropper for shapeshifting.
 
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Nevill

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Absinthe said:
Aside from that, we have another method to obtain the Seekers' loyalty, and that's to challenge the Old Man for leadership of the Seekers.
Yes.

Then blow his head up and claim the leadership. Problem? :troll:
 

Nevill

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To Berty I have only a few questions once Finn clears off.

Who are you, Mr. Berty?

No, seriously, who is he? It looks like he has connections from all walks of life, including the supernatural side. It would be interesting to ask him about his past some day.

Where does he know Finn from and what connects them? Is there something about Finn that fairies do not tell us but we should know regardless?

What does he want? What does he hope to achieve following us? Glory, adventure, excitement, fun? Or is there more to it?

Why didn't he tell us about Tuath Dé when we first sighted them? He must have recognized them, no? I am not blaming him (in fact, I am quite grateful for his intervention), just wondering about his motives. We almost came to blows because we didn't know whom we were dealing with. Or did he think we would try to talk it over? Or did he not care what happened?

Mazzarin I don't want to bother unless we break the ice and a plan to get him to stay actually works.

By the way, bros.
He believes that to neutralize the stones one would have to sever their connection to the Watcher or completely destroy whatever is left of the Watcher's mind/soul/etc.

No easy task to be sure and it is something he has been working on when he has a spare moment for such things.
Mazzy says he does not know how to off the Watcher completely.

I figure we don't plan to face gods or immortals in melee anytime soon, so.

How many of you would be up to telling him about the Spearhead of Death... and that the Spider Goddess has the key to its activation? :troll:

Tell him to say 'hi' and 'lay off the Kingdom, bitch' to her for us.
 
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Azira

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It's probably wise to let Mazzy in on what we know. At some point or the other.

Now?

Well, I'm game. Do you think he'll be annoyed that we don't actually have said spearhead in our possession at the moment?
 

Absinthe

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I considered blowing up the Old Man, but I don't think it'll earn the Seekers' loyalty. If anything, that would probably prove that we cannot be trusted. But it would get rid of the biggest troublemaker. Don't see the point in doing that before we need to, though.

I figure we don't plan to face gods or immortals in melee anytime soon, so.
Actually I was thinking of building up some melee ability considering how powerful our Warrior's Mask is. My idea would be to train up our physical stats quickly with some kind of bootcamp training and use minor healing magics to give a slight boost to our physical stat growth and allow us to perform the kind of stupidly intense training regimen that is normally self-destructive by improving our recovery time. This is also part of the reason why I like Fi.
 
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Nevill

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Now?

Well, I'm game. Do you think he'll be annoyed that we don't actually have said spearhead in our possession at the moment?
Not now. I suspect the moment he learns about it he will storm off for Albrecht's Palace (we should have a report to Albrecht ready by then and send it with the kid. Mazzarin express delivery service! :lol: Maybe even with a pair of doges, too, to help the King protect himself from traitors. Man, I want those doges!)

After he disposes of the immediate threats, that's when we should 'remember it'.

Of course, if the plan fails and he turns to leave, it might be a good idea to tell him anyway in hopes it will at least ease the pressure from the spider cultists.

Do you think he'll be annoyed that we don't actually have said spearhead in our possession at the moment?
No. Why would we? For the moment it is just a normal spearhead. We don't have the key and we have our research team working on it.

It is two weeks from Muirthemne to Myrgard, and Mazzy covered it in 3 hours. It is five days to Albrecht's Palace. A hour for Mazzy, all told. Hardly a great obstacle.

Absinthe said:
This is also part of the reason why I like Fi.
I don't get it.
Fi. Healing Magic in the tradition of Miach. Herbs, incantations and direct 'touch' based healing.
Miach's method is closer to what you already known and you can produce many of the same effects with your own magic. This would simply be a different way to go about it.
Isn't that what we already have? Why do we need it, again?

Anyway, I am in favor of letting the others fight because the Warrior's Mask - for the moment, at least - requires us to concentrate on maintaining the spell and to cast nothing else. Our power still lies mostly in our versatility as a mage.
 
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Baltika9

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After he disposes of the immediate threats, that's when we should 'remember it'.

Of course, if the plan fails and he turns to leave, it might be a good idea to tell him anyway in hopes it will at least ease the pressure from the spider cultists.
I will agree to that just to see how Mazzarin would get the key from the Spider Goddess. :lol:
 
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Absinthe

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Isn't that what we already have? Why do we need it, again?
Because they are really good at healing magics which are rare as fuck. Right now just about all of our healing magic comes from Nine. We also still need to heal Bari and Neel (along with possibly Nanshe's priest) among others, so we could use all the help we can get to make the process less ruinous from a financial and magical perspective. I'm rather certain that Miach's method can regrow lost limbs considering that Fangshi is hewing closely to Celtic myth here. This option would also expand our knowledge of healing herbs and give us the ability to cure illnesses.

Anyway, I am in favor of letting the others fight because the Warrior's Mask - for the moment, at least - requires us to concentrate on maintaining the spell and to cast nothing else. Our power still lies mostly in our versatility as a mage.
I assume that we should be able to fight while the Warrior's Mask is active as well. Perhaps Fangshi can clarify. And frankly our combat versatility isn't very good. We just outsmart enemies to obtain victory. In a straight fight we're mostly spamming lightning and fire, and our enemies are only going to get more prepared for our tricks and mental assaults. Apparently a lead-lined helmet alone can screw over our mental attacks.

To top it off, if we ever run out of magic, we're pretty mediocre, and energon cubes are getting rather hard to come by.
 
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Azira

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I second the motion to learn better healing magic. I think it's just too awesome to pass up. Imagine how we could keep our army going better with this. Seeing as herbs seem to be part of the Sidhe healing magics, I imagine we'll be lessening the drain on our own magic reserves.

It'd be fantastic for morale as well, if we can heal serious damage/missing limbs. People would be more willing to risk all for us.
 

Nevill

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Eh. I don't know. All of the opportunities sound awesome. It is just a question of priorities for me. I want to prevent damage from backstabbing and aid people who are away from us and don't have access to our magic and abilities.

Just imagine if some of the Pathfinders fell to the Watcher as well.

If we had just one Cú Sídh at Blackrock, we could make a list of compromised targets, gather them up, and send them on a scouting mission from which we would ensure they will never return.

As it stands now, we can't trust the very army we are trying to save.

All it takes is one act of treason even for the best defended fortress to fall.
 

Absinthe

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Neither Finn nor the ladies know whether it is like the thing Gullveig tried to create. Finn has not seen Gullveig's creature and the ladies have not seen the Beast.
Did we even see the thing? Could Lyssa just make an illusion of it for Finn's benefit?

Also, can the Cú Sídh detect the Watcher's minions?

Oh, and did they curse all the watcher's generals yet?

And why did Derryth and Thais think Mazzarin was bluffing anyway? Mazzarin is rather famous for being true to his word.
 
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Fangshi

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Nevill said:
Can he tell us more about his people? As far as we know, he is one of the fairy kings. Where are the others?

Sure, he can tell you some of what he knows.

Yes, there were other kings and queens, leaders of his folk. At their height they numbered ten and each ruled over a court. They fought the fir'Bolg and before them they fought the old horrors of the world, in each war his people were victorious.

But then the race of men came from the east and with great blows and mighty deeds they bested the Tuatha Dé. The kings and queens moved underground after that and for a time they were able to coexist with the growing Province of men.

Human civilization continued to spread though, at a pace that was frankly shocking, and many of his people began to get nervous.

Some thought they should ride forth again and challenge the men of Province while others thought it would be wiser to trust to magic to hide them.

In the end neither course was followed. There is an old tale in the myths of his people, a tale about an land of warmth, light and trees. Fruit trees.

It is called Emain Ablach and his people resolved to find it. They left centuries ago, all except him and his court. They sailed out into the endless sea and disappeared.

Finn could not go with them, he had sworn an oath to Mazzarin by that point.

Nevill said:
Is the King of the Fairies sworn to Mazzarin's service as well? If so, why was Finn drafted alone? Is it because his forces are sufficient for the task, or did he pick a short end of the stick? Or is he not alone and there are other fairy forces around from some other sidhe (is there a plural for that word, by the way)?

No, Dagda has not sworn service to Mazzarin.

He is alone with his people.

Nevill said:
He speaks of going home after he is done here. Where would that home be? Do the fairies live in the desert and in the mountain range surrounding the Great Devoid, or did they come here for the hunt?

In the Province for the time being, he does not want to be more specific than that. He likes his current home but human settlement has begun to encroach on it over the last three hundred years.

They came to the Kingdom on Mazzarin's orders. Mazzarin deemed them the most suitable force he could muster for the task.

Nevill said:
What can he tell us of the different fairies he employs? He arrived with the force of 77 riders. Who are they, by the way? Are those all of his forces, or is it just a team he picked to check on Cropper's party? Is he capable of mustering a greater force? What exact numbers are we looking here?

Loosely speaking, those he commands can be divided into four categories along two axis. The first separates the great (or noble) fairies from the lesser (or common) fairies. The second division separates the social (or trooping) fairies from the solitary fairies.

The great fairies tend to look like mortals and can pass for being mortal without too much difficulty. They all have innate magical powers and most are skilled in at least a few arts (which could be anything from dancing to singing to medicine or engineering or, and this is most relevant at the moment, war).

The lesser fairies tend to prefer to imitate animals rather than people. Even when in a more 'human' form they often retain animal features. They are also often smaller than the great fairies though that is largely a matter of personal taste since almost all of Finn's people have at least a rudimentary knowledge of shapeshifting.

The trooping fairies are what you see before you. They are the social fairies that stay at court, attend the balls and hunts, and just in general enjoy the company of their fellows.

The solitary fairies prefer to live and work alone. They still owe fealty to their king but they do everything they can to avoid spending time at court. Finn has little problem with this inclination as this allows him to use them as spies and messengers when the need arises.

The seventy seven riders are his best warriors. Those that are skilled in magical and physical combat.

They are not all of the forces he has available but they are the largest part of them and they are the most reliable and restrained part of them as well. The seventy seven can be counted on to act with discretion and finesse, not something that can be said for all that owe Finn fealty.

If he pulled together all of his forces he could probably manage one hundred and fifty soldiers on short notice. Some of them would be a bit strange though, not very subtle or anything. He does not wish to tell you how many people are in his care though so you do not know what percentage of the overall population these 150 soldiers would be.

Nevill said:
Who are Laignach Faelad and does he usually bring them with him to the fights? Are they something we should be worried about?

The Laignach Faelad are mortal shapeshifters and warriors without peer, they are descendant from a race that is a close cousin to man and in most major ways they appear, act and think as humans do.

Each of them is easily worth twenty normal men. They are brutal, they are merciless, they are vicious, but they are also very effective.

They serve him in exchange for power and safety from their enemies but they owe loyalties to another.

He does not meddle in their affairs and they have sworn not to bring trouble to his door. So far the bargain has worked.

They have a certain love for human flesh though, particularly the flesh of the young. It is a bit distasteful but to each their own and the devouring of live humans seems to give them strength and a superhuman constitution.

He brings them when he thinks he will need them. They are not subtle or graceful but if you need a club to beat someone with then you would be hard pressed to find a larger one short of a tribe of mauls or a century of Trow.

You should not have anything to worry about unless you make enemies of them.

Nevill said:
Who are Faoladhs and what can they do? A service of a pair of them is valued as much as the services of Laignach Faelad, which to me suggests some kind of supernatural abilities.

They are also mortals in the King's service but unlike the Laignach Faelad they are not a military unit. They act as guardians, shepards, spies and when the need arises assassins.

They are shapeshifting mages, skilled with blade, club and magic and capable of changing their shape into that of a wolf.

Finn uses them to track, monitor and sometimes neutralize 'difficult' targets but they are also a specialized tool. They can die just as easily as a regular person if their spells fail them, they have no regenerative powers, their ability to cast is limited while in the form of the wolf and they do not have the superhuman strength or constitution of the Laignach Faelad.

If the Laignach Faelad are a battle axe then the Faoladhs are a dagger. Different instruments for different jobs.

Nevill said:
What are Cú Sídh? Can we or Lyssa inspect them up close with Finn's permission? What does he mean we 'can not treat them like any normal hounds'? In what way do you treat a normal hound that you can't treat Cú Sídh? Do they have any other abilities - apart from sensing the intentions of others - that we should know about? Do they understand Bruig or Dwarven, or any other languages except for fey one? How many of them are in the pack Finn wants to gift us?

The Cú Sídh are Finn's personal hounds. He raised them himself from pups.

If she wants to, he cautions her to be polite and bring a bit of meat for them if she wants to get a warm greeting though.

They are more intelligent than your average person so they can take a bit of convincing sometimes to get them to do something they do not want to do.

You would need to reason with the Cú Sídh, negotiate, convince them that it is int their best interests to help you. They are completely loyal to Finn but he raised them, you won't have that advantage and they can be quite headstrong.

They can bend light around themselves, this gives them the appearance of 'blinking' in and out of reality. They are also stronger, faster and more hardy than normal hounds.

No, they do not know Bruig or Dwarven. They speak Fey and that is it.

About fifteen per pack. Some of those will be pups though and if he is giving you the pack he will not be able to separate out the young. The parents would not stand for it.

Nevill said:
Basically, I want to know if any of those can be a cause of concern.

Only if you upset them or otherwise make an enemy of them.

Essentially they would be like any of the other groups under your command, like the Seekers for example. ;)

Nevill said:
Anyone else Finvarra numbers in his army? I just want to know what kind of help from the alliance we are looking at, because I hate wasting people on a task they are not best at. If they are best at pursuing the enemy remnants, that is how we would cooperate; if they are best at breaking through enemy lines, that can also be integrated in our plans; if they are guerilla fighters that are good at hit-and-runs that would be useful to know, too.

Not really. He has the Seventy Seven Riders, he has about five hunting parties like Cropper's, he has Laignach Faelad (about twenty of them), he has his Faoladh agents, he has his hounds and that is pretty much it.

Well, there are a few other options.

The last time Finn was out this way he met a family of giants living about six days ride into the mountains to the east, they were no friends of the Dark though they were quite temperamental.

Giants live a long time, the family may still be out there somewhere if someone could locate them. Getting them to help though might be tricky...

Also, since Finn is the King of the Dead he could call on the Slaugh as well. The reason he has not is that he is fighting necromancers and necomancers use the souls of the dead to reanimate their corpses. If the necromancers managed to catch the Slaugh then could easily quadruple their numbers in a matter of hours by binding them as lesser undead, they might even be able to turn some of the more powerful souls into proper Mahir.

Nevill said:
There were rumors of fairy birds accompanying the hunts. What are they? Can they be asked to let our eagles pass freely?

Some of his riders periodically turn into birds and scout the area to ensure the ground forces are not surprised. So the fairy birds are just the riders in another form.

Sure, he will let your eagles fly unmolested.

Nevill said:
Do we have a way of knowing that he is in a day's walk from us? Would Cropper know? How long does it take for him to get back to us? Just so we could time the summonings correctly.

Not a precise way, no. He will try to use his animals and riders to keep in touch.

No, Cropper would not be able to tell unless he could communicate somehow. Horns would work, that is how they have been doing things so far. Cropper (or one of the other hunt masters) sounds the horns and Finn's people will answer depending on the message conveyed.

Summoning time could be anywhere from ten minutes to an hour depending on what is going on, on Finn's end. IT would depend on whether or not they are fighting someone, how close they are to you, and whether or not they were ready to go the second they heard your call.

They are also faster at night then they are during the day (in general they are much more effective during the night than during the day).

Nevill said:
Who are the Merrows? We thought all the fairies have left... didn't they? How many fairies still live on the continent?

The Merrows are the nymphs of the sea. They live off the coast of the Province, in the south west, in and around the Strait of Leix.

They do not live on the continent but rather off of it. In their palaces below the waves.

Yes, most of the Tuatha Dé left the continent long ago but that does not mean the other native inhabitants of the continent have left. Finn's court remains as do the courts of the Merrows (who have little to fear from human settlement) and all sorts of solitary fairies also chose to remain behind.

They are very difficult to find unless you know what to look for that is.

Nevill said:
Ask them if any of his fairies might be interested in settling closer to the human/dwarven cities. I've heard the Blackrock has some beautiful hills. ;)

He has yet to meet a mortal that he believes could be trusted to protect and help his people, and even if he did meet such a person they would eventually die and he has no way to know if their replacements/successors could be trusted.

As a result, settling closer to humans/dwarves does not strike him as a good idea though that may change some day if conditions change.

Nevill said:
When he said that he can't speak for all his people, what did he mean? Are there some who would object or refuse to recognize the alliance?

He can not speak for them all because he has little formal authority over many of them (the solitary fairies) and no authority over others (the Merrows). On top of that his people are notoriously fickle and prone to acting on impulse.

Short of personally accompanying you everywhere you go there just is not a lot he can do to ensure his people will honour any formal alliance he might make.

He can give you a 'proof' of your agreement but out in the field that may not always count for much.

Absinthe said:
Fangshi, can we learn those strange walking magics?

When you are powerful enough to maintain them, yes.

Only a handful of people can move that way though. The Deceiver could move 'through odd angles; faster than any man, and if unobserved, much faster than that,' and both Mazzarin and Facelss seem to be able to do it as well.

They are the only people you are aware of that have/had that knowledge and you suspect it would take a lot of power to use and maintain as a result.

Nevill said:
Who are you, Mr. Berty?

'A fellow traveler on the road of life,' he roots around in his pack, 'Actually, scratch that! A thirsty, fellow traveler on the road of life. Now where did I put my whiskey?'

Nevill said:
No, seriously, who is he? It looks like he has connections from all walks of life, including the supernatural side. It would be interesting to ask him about his past some day.

He says that, that is a very long story and now is probably not the best time for it.

Nevill said:
Where does he know Finn from and what connects them? Is there something about Finn that fairies do not tell us but we should know regardless?

Finn is family. On his mother's side. He does not elaborate.

'Other than the fact that he probably, really, wants to bed you both?' Berty grins and shrugs, 'No, not really. He is far from the worst of the fey you could encounter, just- Ah, just remember he is what he is and be mindful of the small details.'

Nevill said:
What does he want? What does he hope to achieve following us? Glory, adventure, excitement, fun? Or is there more to it?

You are paying him to teach the girls, that is why he follows you. All the fun and excitement are merely a bonus.

He hopes to educate the girls and turn them into capable, no, brilliant commanders some day! Women that will leave a mark on history and ensure his own immortality long after he has wandered off.

Nevill said:
Why didn't he tell us about Tuath Dé when we first sighted them? He must have recognized them, no? I am not blaming him (in fact, I am quite grateful for his intervention), just wondering about his motives. We almost came to blows because we didn't know whom we were dealing with. Or did he think we would try to talk it over? Or did he not care what happened?

He had hoped that he could avoid revealing his connection to his mother's family. It is not really something he likes to talk about. He also thought Finn would be less aggressive than he was.

He misjudged the King and he is sorry for that but it all worked out in the end right? ;)

Also... A part of him, and he stresses it is a small part, kind of wanted to see if the Seekers could take on Finn's host. His curiosity may have gotten the best of him there and he blames his mother's influence. A more curious woman you would never meet he assure you!

Absinthe said:
I assume that we should be able to fight while the Warrior's Mask is active as well. Perhaps Fangshi can clarify.

Yes, you can. That is how Culwyeh used it, she would armour up and then go in, axes swinging and cackling like a madwoman...

Nanshe also has a similar spell and she tried to use it while in combat as well.

The one risk is that the Mask will fail if you loose your concentration. When you get hit you will have to roll concentration checks to keep the spell up and stay focused. If you fail the spell will as well.

Absinthe said:
Did we even see the thing? Could Lyssa just make an illusion of it for Finn's benefit?

No, it was blown up just as it began to rise so the ladies did not get a good look at it. All they really know is that it was big, screaming and made a real mess of things when it was blown up.

Absinthe said:
Also, can the Cú Sídh detect the Watcher's minions?

Yes, as long as they get the right scent they will be able to sniff out the Watcher's agents.

The way it will work exactly is that they will lock onto the 'magical signature' left by the Watcher when he converts someone. (That lake of horrors in the wounded scouts mind is an example of that signature rendered into sensory information D&T could process). Anyone that matches that signature they will be able to sniff out without too much trouble.

Now the Watcher could try and alter the way he goes about creating followers in an attempt to remove that signal, provided he figures out what is going on in time, but the process would leave some mark no matter how he does it.

So you would just need to identify the new signature and inform the hounds.

The same process applies to most agents of gods or archmages. They will all test positive if they have been directly compromised by the specific being you are testing for.

The one type of agent that won't be caught this way is the agent motivated by purely mundane means.

So, for example, your hounds will sniff out every spy the Watcher sends. So long as he uses magic to mark/bind/control his followers, that is, but if Wenzel paid a guard 2000WPs to murder his father then that guard would get past your screen since there is no magic involved there just good old fashioned greed.
 
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Baltika9

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Fangshi, can their magic be used to construct bodies? Would we be able to use it to give a new one to Nine, for instance? I do agree with Absinthe in that we should look into getting some physical training. And since Nine/Culwyeh is an AXE WIZARD, well, I think we have an ideal trainer for that boot camp. Hopefully, we will survive. :lol:
 

Fangshi

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Baltika9 said:
Fangshi, can their magic be used to construct bodies? Would we be able to use it to give a new one to Nine, for instance?

In theory, yes. Miach's method was able to regenerate a missing arm, though he was an extremely gifted physician, so if you get good enough at it you should be able to regenerate Nine's body, if you wish.

His father's method could also build a new body (though it would likely be out of metal).

Finally, the Greater Heal ritual would also work to regenerate Nine's body. You would need a lot of blood to do it but it would be no different than what you did for Trakk's family, just on a larger scale.
 
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