Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Nevill]

“Get off me!” he shouts as he stumbles backward, “I, I am not doing this for either of you and I care not for your gratitude!”

Awww. We love you too, dad.

“Unnecessary,” the Great Mage answers, he gestures to you and Thaïs, “These are my agents, my-” he laughs, “My daughters, in all things treat them as you would my person. If you have any problems short of an army, any issues, any concerns, any tasks that require time, effort, and intuition, you can trust it all safely to them. I sent them to you in your hour of greatest need, all they have done is at my bidding and they will serve you faithfully so long as I wish it.”

He smiles warmly at the two of you, “Now be good girls while I take a nap, I will have new orders for you when I awake, no doubt.”

You are not sure, but you think that lazy old bastard just stole credit for everything you have done over the last three months, everything you will do in the future, and managed to saddle you with all of his work short of fighting archmages.

Sure, he can take all the glory. As long as he does what we need of him. And takes fighting archmages as well.

Lyssa conducts the introductions, “Derryth, Thaïs, may I introduce to you the greatest of King Finnbheara's hounds, Enrico, great of purpose, keen of mind, of ancient and noble lineage.”

Shameless pandering to Baltika detected.

“Don't expect me to thank you for doing your jobs,” he spits into the dirt, “I am sure Albrecht is paying you mercenaries plenty to fight for the Kingdom. So long as you do a good job, we,” he gestures at you with his thumb and then back to himself, “We won't have any problems. Fuck up, like all the other idiots in this damn country, and I will bury you, understand?”

Damn it, I like the old bastard already.

Reminds me of ourselves when we had CHA 2.

1. The Hounds and their elephants: They wish to transfer over to Seinsheim's command, they are likely a little worried about the murderous looks Lyssa gives them and the elephants have been getting a little short tempered the more they are around her. How do you wish to respond?
D - Freeform. You convince Reinhard to take control of them instead of giving them to Seinsheim. He is in command of the army, and it was the House of Albrecht who hired them, anyway.

Edit: Switched to E) You convince Reinhard to formally take control of them instead of giving them to Seinsheim. Then, after transfer is complete, ask the Prince to assign them back to our taskforce.

Always meant it that way, but I suppose the wording wasn't clear enough.

2. The Seekers: The Seekers have had more than enough of your leadership and it seems they wish to transfer to Seinsheim's service. How do you wish to handle the situation.
E - Freeform. You convince Reinhard to take control of them instead of giving them to Seinsheim. I think the prince would feel safer with them under his personal command, and if need arises, we can get 'assigned' as their commander again, should the prince so chooses.

That way they would get a longer leash and be free of our direct involvement, but not completely out of our control, either, and no, Seinsheim does not get them for free. He wants them, he talks to us and does not go over our heads, that is how it works.

Besides, the Prince might need their services for a freeform plan of mine.

“Of course not!” the Old Man interjects, “They are dogs, you only use force on men!”

Hey! Not once we have used force on them, always trying to use reason instead. We play this game fairly.

Not once have we overstepped our boundaries and demanded something that wasn't in the contract. Frankly, I myself am amazed at our patience with them.

3. Seinsheim: Setting the tone. You meeting with Seinsheim in his tent set the tone for your working relationship with him. How did you approach it?
C - Freeform. Heal his wound with one of the rings. Then tell him that we are a servant no one, not even the King. Everything we do we do because we want to do it, not because we follow someone's orders.

Funny, we are not much different in that regard.

He wants to establish a working relationship, he will have to bear this in mind.

Oh well, I hope his reward is good.

I have an idea about that. If Emrys can't be sent to us, why don't we get sent to Emrys? Will try to form a plan on Monday. For now, PoE calls.

4. Your choice: How do you wish to answer Berg's question?
Aiv - Freeform. You will excuse yourself from the meeting and will try to work with Reinhard instead on screening the dwarven army from cultist infiltrators with the help of Coin-Sith. You will try to gather as much information as you can before the meeting commences.

First things first, arrange for a separate, private, meeting with Reinhard. You will talk about something related to the warfare, but the real conversation will take place through notes, because the topics are not of the kind that should be mentioned aloud. You will tell him that more of the army was compromised than we were expecting to, and that it might be prudent to try and get them checked without attracting too much attention.

How do I propose to go about it. We will assign to Reinhard two fairy hounds - official reason being self-defence, or as a sign of the alliance between House of Albrecht and Finn's court, it does not much matter. They will just sit there and look pretty. The prince will summon the higher-ups of the army one by one under different pretexts - to give them orders or to receive reports - he is the commander, he'll think of something. One of the hounds will check for the influences of the Watcher, the other one will check for the Goddess. They will give signs to let us or Reinhard know if they find something about a particular individual.

Simultaneously Reinhard should organize an inspection of the whole army. To gather reports from low-ranking commanders, or to check their morale, or something that does not need to be executed by a high-ranking officer. These inspections should be lead either by us (so it has an element of Aii in it), or by the people that are already known to be loyal. Maybe people from our mercenary force - or the Legion - would do? If we are asked to make those reports it would make sense for us to assign our mercenaries to the task since they are the only ones under our command.

Each of the inspectors should be escorted by a Coin-Sith hound. As a sign of stature and great trust, or something. Just to explain their presence there.

With 15 hounds (or more, if Finn lets the others join) we might be able to cover the entire army. At the very least we would cover the officers.

Explain to Reinhard, though, that it is not a fool proof method, and that it only detects people affected through magical means. It won't protect you from an old-fashioned mundane treason.

Discuss the details of the hounds' payment with Lyssa, Berty and Cropper (Lys because she understands animals, Berty because he knows fairies well, and Cropper because he is their handler). It might depend on how the resolution for the 5th choice will go. If everything else fails, try to reason with them that the sooner the Watcher is defeated, the sooner Finn could get back home and the sooner we will be out of the desert where there is not much to eat and definitely no pistachio gelato for miles around.

Make the list of the forces screened and present it to Reinhard before the meeting. Just to let him know where everyone stands. Let him decide what to do with it.

If he needs exposing the traitors - or a few chosen traitors, as the case might be - the Seekers may know just the right rituals. They will serve as a front for the 'investigation' and can claim all the credit for the exposure of subversive elements, too. We don't need to reveal that our doges are behind it.

That might serve as a pretext for leaving the Seekers under his care.

And try to get some sleep while this is over just not to become mad (that's why we arrange for several inspection teams, to get things done without overextending ourselves). We can alternate with Thais if we are afraid to miss something crucial.

5. The doges are trying to entertain themselves at your expense. Are you going to do anything about it?
A - Yes. Commence operation 'Trick or Treat'.
B - No, you will just stand there and take it.

Operation: Trick or Treat.

Spoiler

It is obvious that the dogs can understand us, but Enrico finds it amusing for some reason to pretend that they don't. Alrighty, then.

Check with Cropper what is their most tasty treat out of the supplies we have available. An innocuous question of what kind of food they like or dislike, buried somewhere in the conversation.

Then, discuss a plan between yourself, Thais, Lyssa, Berty and whomever you could trust not to give you away. Pass notes to each other to avoid speaking aloud, I suspect that Cropper is on it (it might amuse him greatly), and the guy has some really sharp hearing. Besides, the hounds might be listening.

You will express the concern - within the earshot of the hounds, of course, - that the supplies of tasty treats are dwindling . They can't understand us anyway, right? So talk as if they aren't there.

Perhaps the dwarven chef is cheating you and is stealing stuff for himself, the glutton. That might be a problem since if those run out, we might be out of negotiating chips and might actually be forced to start promising pistachio gelato to get things done. You will propose that the supplies should be controlled and guarded better, and you will discuss the measures you will take to protect it, as well as candidates for guards and guard shifts. In other words, all the information necessary for someone sneaky to break in and steal the stuff.

Fairies steal. There is no way around it, they do. If they want it badly, they will try to take it. Even better if their mischief could be attributed to another and they can feign complete innocence of the deed. Besides, how would the dogs know about it if they 'non capisco'? Who would ever suspect them? I expect them to take the bait if we make the performance convincing enough.

Then we spring the trap and confront them. Berty should do it, he is best when it comes to this kind of stuff, and he knows enough about fairies to make it possible. Would be funny if Enrico himself, a hound of ancient and noble lineage, gets caught red-handed trying to steal sausages from the royal kitchen.

Then we make a proposal. We can forget we saw them and they can keep their haul (provided it isn't outrageous), but the hounds will have to drop the whole charade and work with us normally from now on.

On one hand, there is not much use denying understanding when you are caught in the act specifically prepared to expose you as such. Who are you fooling? On the other hand, tasty treats. Yum. Either they continue the joke that has grown stale and try to cling to their 'tricks' (which is boring and no longer funny), or everyone gets what they want - they can have their 'treats' and we won't have to deal with their bullshit anymore.

Let's try and establish ourselves as alphas here.

More freeform goodness to come!

 

[Grimgravy]

C
Nevill's E> A>Ciii
B
B

 

[Nevill]

The girls rolled about what I expected them to, they talked with Emrys for a while, did not learn anything of real consequence though they did learn something about his background and family if you care to ask. They do not seem to have left much of an impression on the Boy though, at least from what you can tell.

Biliku and Uttu wave at him, he waves back and smiles politely before instantly turning his attention back to you

So let me get this straight.

The boy, who is roughly 14, is accosted by two sisters about his age, a 9 and a 10 on the hotness scale. And instead of having a raging boner, he lodges his nose right back into his books?

Spoiler

Yeah, he's gay. A perfect match for his fabulous master.

Are you two… you know… like that?” She makes a rather vulgar gesture for a girl, grinning cheekily.

Goddamned nerds!

 

[Azira]

The boy, who is roughly 14, is accosted by two sisters about his age, a 9 and a 10 on hotness scale. And instead of having a raging boner, he lodges his nose right back into his books?

Maybe he just knows that feigning lack of interest is a surefire way to keep the women interested?

 

[Karwelas]

Damn you Nevill! DAMN YOU! You always stole the show... eh. I'm forced to do it.
*Mutters* Always steals fun, damn Nev...

1)2)3)4)5) Nevill choice of votes.



And about boy - Come on, he is only 14. He is also wiznerd. Probably shy. You except him to go into full romance with girls? (Soon in Dragon Age 4: We go to places)

Or maybe Mazzarin somewhat make him more... profesional with magic. He would rather don't like anything that would take attention of his pupil.

 

[Kz3r0]

1.C)
2.D)
3.B)
4.A)iii.

 

[Jester]

1. The Hounds and their elephants: They wish to transfer over to Seinsheim's command, they are likely a little worried about the murderous looks Lyssa gives them and the elephants have been getting a little short tempered the more they are around her. How do you wish to respond?
C) You kill the handlers and take direct control over the elephants. You will have to do it discretely but Lyssa might have a few ideas.

2. The Seekers: The Seekers have had more than enough of your leadership and it seems they wish to transfer to Seinsheim's service. How do you wish to handle the situation.
A) You let them go. If they are serving under Seinsheim they are no longer your problem.


3. Seinsheim: Setting the tone. You meeting with Seinsheim in his tent set the tone for your working relationship with him. How did you approach it?
C) like B but more magic headache for dwarf

4. Your choice: How do you wish to answer Berg's question?
B) You choose to take part in the meeting and help frame the strategy going forward. Reinhard and Berg are the most important commanders in camp with the exception of Seinsheim, the more time you spend with them the better.

 

[archaen]

I am going to laugh like mad when Emrys turns out to be Faceless.

 

[Nevill]

Nah. You'd think Mazzy would notice all the magical energy that goes into maintaining the disguise.

Besides, Faceless would never choose to follow Mazzy around openly. He even left us because he was afraid how we were compromised by the mage.

He is , but he is not Man Tiger Pig level .

 

[Nevill]

The girls rolled about what I expected them to, they talked with Emrys for a while, did not learn anything of real consequence though they did learn something about his background and family if you care to ask.

Well, don't keep us waiting.

Who is the Boy, er, I mean, Emrys, and how did he end up with Mazzy?

Why did the mage consider him to be worthy of apprenticeship?

Quite a busy update really and I still could not include every little detail (for example the girls talking to Emrys).

Hmmm... an abridged version, maybe?

What kind of person is he? I get the polite and dedicated part, but what else is there?

What did the girls managed to tell him? Did he hear anything about us from his master?

How do they train with Mazzarin? Does the mage give him lessons in magic personally (as opposed to, say, giving him books to read)? What's it like? Anything like what he did with us and our training in mental school?

 

[Karwelas]

Changing my vote for 4)

4) V. Your choice: How do you wish to answer Berg's question?

iv. You will excuse yourself from the meeting and will try to work with Reinhard instead on screening the dwarven army from cultist infiltrators with the help of Coin-Sith. You will try to gather as much information as you can before the meeting commences.

+ Aii - meet the leaders around before 1. Just in case, like Nevill said. I like that change.

+ Some changes. So it will be (iv,5). Or just v.

1. Derry will give orders to our command core and make sure they will be ready to do job on their own. (We have people for that, really. Can't do anything on our own. Even Mazzarin can't and this is why he need agents).
2. After that, we will go to Dreaming. (Yep, one of my reasons are that -5 reputation but that may be only that our dear Prince is waiting ( ). See what is happening around here, give Morpheus some stories (Mazz, battle, Finn. Sea of Glass ) and see what is around. Maybe ask that he have some informations about Emrys. That boy must be interesting. Mazzarin rather want someone special in place of our Necrodruid.
3. Wake up, maybe some sleep before that. Take reports and go to meeting. They was in siege a lot of time, they can wait a bit if we ask about it. See what more we can do. Maybe send mices to gather some reports about morale, thoughts of soldiers and what happend around without showing our interest.

 

[Nevill]

Derry will only give orders to our command core and make sure they will be ready to do job on their own. (We have people for that, really. Can't do anything on our own.

So long as we do some research before the meeting and see who is with who, I am fine with the changes.

I really think we need to know the general situation in the army before agreeing to any plans (otherwise what input can we provide, really?), and we need to know if the people supporting certain plans are compromised or not.

If Reinhard is really devious, he could create a whole batallion out of traitors, mixing the Watcher's agents with the ones of the Goddess in equal measure and thus preventing the mass defection to either, then sending it on a suicide mission to get at least some value out of the 'spoiled' troops.

And it goes without saying that the compromised officers should be stripped of any meaningful power to do harm. The last thing you want is to have a traitor oversee a crucial mission.

I'd still approach it in a way Aii does. Meet the leaders personally (those are important enough to check with our own eyes), and leave the grunts and the bulk of the dwarven force for our mercenaries.

That does not leave too much time for sleep, though.

Yep, one of my reasons are that -5 reputation but that may be only that our dear Prince is waiting

Our dear prince is probably worried about a prospect of us going to fairyland with Finn.

The Demon Lord and the Fairy King have a bit of a pimping competition, it seems.

Oh, that reminds me about another idea. Hold on, I'll write it up.

Take reports and go to meeting. They was in siege a lot of time, they can wait a bit if we ask about it.

They are willing to delay the meeting until Maz wakes up. That's the time we have.

 

[Karwelas]

Take reports and go to meeting. They was in siege a lot of time, they can wait a bit if we ask about it.

They are willing to delay the meeting until Maz wakes up. That's the time we have.

You know Mazzarin. He is showman. He probably will wake up, make us wait couple of hours/days(?) and then walk in like great hero becouse 'Wizard-' Uh I mean 'Great Mazzarin, First of Avatara is never late. You make up meeting too soon!'

But I'm fine with some research. I will edit the post a bit.

 

[Nevill]

Oh, that reminds me about another idea. Hold on, I'll write it up.

"Opportunists," she answers with a shrug.

None of those currently fighting in the south belong to her though if they manage to kill a few dwarves before they die she will make a toast to their valour.
[...]
It means that she does not have enough control over them to make them stop and she has other things to worry about.

Derryth thinks that if you give her a compelling reason to make them stop she might consider wiping them out and absorbing the remnants but for the moment they are fighting her other enemies. The longer that conflict drags out around Stoneheim the better for Nanshe and her proto-empire. At least that is what Derryth suspects.

6. Now that you have destroyed a large gholish force and Mazzarin have joined forces with the dwarven army, the ghols don't stand much of a chance in the conflict. You could contact Nanshe next time you are due to the musical training and convince her to try and subjugate the now weakened clans, recalling their forces from the south - if there are any left.
A - Yes, you will speak to her about it. She gets to expand her Empire at their expense, and we won't have to hunt their remnants across the Kingdom.
B - No, you will not involve yourself in this.

Of course, there is a matter of dwarven slaves these clans have. I want Nanshe to secure Lilly as a result, if only as a bargaining chip for further negotiations.

As for what's in it for her, well.
- New territories and new subjects for the Empire.
- If she does not recall the raiders, we will just wipe them out.
- The ghols might want to put a bit of a distance between them and Mazzarin considering their role in the previous wars.

How beneficial is this course of action largely depends on how dangerous you consider the growing ghol Empire to be and if you think Nanshe could keep it under her control.

7. You have not moved too far from Myrgard yet. Do you want to send a report to Albrecht and your team about the situation in the South and maybe get a report back?
A - Yes. Choose which topics you want to get the report on or what orders you want to convey to your forces.
i) You request the update on the situation in Myrgard (the cult, Thyra, Rand, the not-Rand autopsy results, your various forces and their progress with the assigned tasks, maybe even the Weazels).
ii) You request the update on the situation in Blackrock (the Boys, Hesse, Welf and their champions).
iii) You instruct Mayer to keep an eye on people who turned to our 'Fata Morgana' firm to place an order for a large quantity of Energon Cubes. (Those are used in the cloning rituals. Perhaps it might lead us to the cloning facilities or the cultist HQ.)
iv) You instruct your Blackrock mice to spy on Hesse, Welf and their forces in the fort. They should report to Myora. You will attach one of the items Lyssa made to converse with the rodents to the letter. (We are certain there are enemy agents among them, and the fort is riddled with mice, so it is a natural course of action. Should have thought of that one earlier, but oh well.)
v) You request a copy of the contract with the Hounds. (No, I don't need it, but this whole "you can't see a contract so you can't argue back" when we can get it in two days tops does not sit well with me)
vi) freeform
B - No, there is not much to report yet and you have no orders to give.

I think it might be useful to let Albrecht know ASAP that the Royal Guards may be untrustworthy, that we have now a semi-official alliance with the fairies, and that Mazzy has become the Governor of the Eastern Cath Bruig. The latter might be particularly interesting for Albrecht, as it lets him renew diplomatic relationships with Cath Bruig without losing face, and I suppose that he regrets his decision to alienate them by now.

Now that the Goddess' military forces suffered a crushing defeat, I expect her to become active in other, more subtle ways. That's why I want Hesse and especially his champion and his champion's wife - who we know for a fact are prominent cultists - under surveilance.

Plus, I am a control freak. I want to keep our hands on the pulse of all the major events in the Kingdom.

Edit: I will modify my 1st vote.
1D - Freeform. You convince Reinhard to formally take control of them instead of giving them to Seinsheim. Then, after transfer is complete, ask the Prince to assign them back to our taskforce.
Because #nope.

 

[Nevill]

Anyway. Now that we have a hook and a motive to do a bit of research on Thais' past (with a caravan full of exotic goods on the line), I thnk it would only be fair if we dig a bit into Derry's past as well and see if anything interesting comes up.

Speaking of which...

By the way, what happened to our parents?

They got into an argument with 'Imperial Soldiers', I am sure your imagination can fill in the rest...

Why would you put quote marks around 'Imperial Soldiers'? Were they raiders and bandits or somesuch? I have trouble imagining regular military killing farmers because of an argument. Does it influence Derryth's opinion of the Empire?

Are there any acquaintances of ours still around? You'd think that even as unfriendly as Derry was in the beginning of the CYOA, she would have to meet an awful lot of people during her travels with Henry.

If anything, we know of her two passions/crushes she had in her youth, a farmboy and a blond archive worker. Were there others? Do we know what happened to them?

Was she ever in a lasting relationship? It was mentioned that she tried to keep the contact with the farmer and cared enough to know that he enlisted and even was buried near Scales (which could only be a year or two back, so she expressed an interest in him ten years after their affair), but the way she mentioned it didn't sound like he was all that important to her.

Any crazy ex-es out there?

What about Henry's friends? We know of Ian and Mabd in Muirthemne, but do we know if there are more of them in other parts of the world?

How long did she know Henry, by the way?

 

[Fangshi]

Who is the Boy, er, I mean, Emrys, and how did he end up with Mazzy?

Who was he?

A peasant.

A hunter's son.

But more importantly, he was someone with an unquenchable desire to learn, and not enough sense to realize that some information is dangerous when living in a rural backwater where people still cast out or burn 'witches'.

He impressed Mazzarin, to hear the girls tell it, managed to kill a few novice necromancers and their undead servants. It involved explosions and Mazzarin does love explosions.

Mazzarin took the Boy as soon as he had assessed him, probably for the best as his people were not likely to accept a 'vile witch' in their village after that.

What kind of person is he? I get the polite and dedicated part, but what else is there?

When they spoke to him he asked more questions than they did, about your activities, about what they had seen of you, about magic in general and your magic in particular, about anything and everything he could think of really, the common theme being DT&L and the Circle of the Lost. He was very polite and more than willing to answer their questions as long as they did not directly ask about Mazzarin.

Emrys' final questions were about Biliku and Uttu and their experience with magic, when they told him they had none he became a bit more withdrawn (if you had to guess, he probably assumed they were your apprentices) and he excused himself shortly thereafter so that he could go catalog scorpions.

The girls report that he is nice but very, very weird.

What did the girls managed to tell him? Did he hear anything about us from his master?

They answered his questions but they left out things you had told them not to share.

They told him that they had fought you, that you beat them, spared them, and then saved their lives and the lives of their people. They did not tell him that this all occurred while under Muirthemne, they also did not tell him that they were Spider Cultists as D&T have been quite insistent that they never tell strangers about any of that.

They told him that you were brilliant and beautiful mages of incredible power and they recounted some of the spells they have seen you cast, not in technical terms of course, but with a lot of sound effects and excitement, he seemed to enjoy it and took a lot of notes.

They told him that you were the leader of a whole Circle and that seemed to impress him. They did not tell him about the tower.

They did not tell him about Nine.

They did regale him with the tales of how you broke two undead armies, at the border fort and at Blackrock.

He was told to stay away from your group. Mazzarin told him that talking to you would just be a distraction from his studies and that you, and yours, would bring nothing but misery to him.

How do they train with Mazzarin? Does the mage give him lessons in magic personally (as opposed to, say, giving him books to read)? What's it like? Anything like what he did with us and our training in mental school?

Trade secrets, the girls don't know because Emrys would not tell them.

So it will be (iv,5). Or just v.

Added.

6. Now that you have destroyed a large gholish force and Mazzarin have joined forces with the dwarven army, the ghols don't stand much of a chance in the conflict. You could contact Nanshe next time you are due to the musical training and convince her to try and subjugate the now weakened clans, recalling their forces from the south - if there are any left.
A - Yes, you will speak to her about it. She gets to expand her Empire at their expense, and we won't have to hunt their remnants across the Kingdom.
B - No, you will not involve yourself in this.

Added.

7. You have not moved too far from Myrgard yet. Do you want to send a report to Albrecht and your team about the situation in the South and maybe get a report back?
A - Yes. Choose which topics you want to get the report on or what orders you want to convey to your forces.
i) You request the update on the situation in Myrgard (the cult, Thyra, Rand, the not-Rand autopsy results, your various forces and their progress with the assigned tasks, maybe even the Weazels).
ii) You request the update on the situation in Blackrock (the Boys, Hesse, Welf and their champions).
iii) You instruct Mayer to keep an eye on people who turned to our 'Fata Morgana' firm to place an order for a large quantity of Energon Cubes. (Those are used in the cloning rituals. Perhaps it might lead us to the cloning facilities or the cultist HQ.)
iv) You instruct your Blackrock mice to spy on Hesse, Welf and their forces in the fort. They should report to Myora. You will attach one of the items Lyssa made to converse with the rodents to the letter. (We are certain there are enemy agents among them, and the fort is riddled with mice, so it is a natural course of action. Should have thought of that one earlier, but oh well.)
v) You request a copy of the contract with the Hounds. (No, I don't need it, but this whole "you can't see a contract so you can't argue back" does not sit well with me)
vi) freeform
B - No, there is not much to report yet and you have no orders to give.

Added.

1D - Freeform. You convince Reinhard to formally take control of them instead of giving them to Seinsheim. Then, after transfer is complete, ask the Prince to assign them back to our taskforce.

Added.

Why would you put quote marks around 'Imperial Soldiers'? Were they raiders and bandits or somesuch? I have trouble imagining regular military killing farmers because of an argument. Does it influence Derryth's opinion of the Empire?

Derryth is not sure if they were actual soldiers or not. Soldiers are certainly capable of doing some horrible things given that this is medieval setting and there are no real rules to prevent the bad ones from doing whatever they want. They have power with little real oversight so it often comes down to the caliber of the specific man you are dealing with, some men can handle power and do good, some men abuse it mercilessly and most just go with the flow.

It certainly could have been raiders or deserters or any number of other things but since Derryth was so young she has no way to know who or what they were. If you want to examine her memories of the incident in the Dreaming then you and the ladies might be able to pick up on any details young Derryth saw but did not fully understand at the time.

See does remember that one of the 'soldiers' had a big, red scar on his left hand, but that is about it really.

It did influence her opinion of the Empire and the army for a long time and for the worse. When she was a criminal on the streets her attitude did not improve at all either. However she had opportunities to meet a great many people while traveling with Henry and it quickly became clear to her that you can not really judge an entire group by one of its members. That is part of the reason why she is willing to entertain the idea that there can be 'good' necromancers (Lyssa) and 'good' ghôls (Nanshe), she tends to go on a case by case basis most of the time though she could have become a lot less tolerant if other choices were taken.

Are there any acquaintances of ours still around? You'd think that even as unfriendly as Derry was in the beginning of the CYOA, she would have to meet an awful lot of people during her travels with Henry.

If anything, we know of her two passions/crushes she had in her youth, a farmboy and a blond archive worker. Were there others? Do we know what happened to them?

Was she ever in a lasting relationship? It was mentioned that she tried to keep the contact with the farmer and cared enough to know that he enlisted and even was buried near Scales (which could only be a year or two back, so she expressed an interest in him ten years after their affair), but the way she mentioned it didn't sound like he was all that important to her.

Derry met the farmboy in her late teens while researching in a country archive (essentially a few hundred tax records and birth certificates in a room over the local town hall/brewery.

She spent a couple of very enjoyable nights with him and tried to keep in touch but it was difficult and they slowly drifted apart. He wanted her to settle down and marry and that was not going to happen for obvious reasons (desire for power, dread of dying without 'accomplishing anything', etc). Then the war came and he enlisted as brave young men tend to, and that was that, more grist for the mill of war.

He was important enough to her for her to check on him but it was just a fling, a passing fancy of youth, she was not holding a torch out for him or anything. She liked him a lot but did not love him, the same could be said for most of those she has been intimate with.

The encounter with the librarian was in White Falls, seven years ago. She was still working at that archive the last that Derry heard.

She had a better chance of surviving the war than most of Derry's friends in the Province since the Free Cities were hit last but Derry does not know if she survived or not.

Derry does know that the archive where she worked was destroyed.

There were five others that have not been mentioned:

1. A streetrat/thief, a stringy young man, bit of a rake, gambler, drinker, that sort. She fell in with him for about three months, he was not a kind sort but he was kind to her, died hanging from the end of a noose.

2. A blacksmith's apprentice, big, strong, dumb, but very sweet. She met him when she was traveling with Henry through the villages of the west coast. Spent a week with him, it was wonderful but it was clear that he could never be an adventurer and she would never settle for being a peasant's wife. They parted amicably and as far as she knows he is still alive and living in that village. He married the miller's daughter and they have four kids. Not bad considering he is barely thirty.

3. The assistant professor, this one started off with Derryth trying to gain access to the rare books archive in Scales (sadly it was burnt to the ground with much of the city during Soulblighter's War). Derry tried talking her way in, that did not work (obviously), then she tried to bribe her way in (again, did not work), finally, she tried to befriend the librarian, this old, miserable bastard and that did not work either.

Frustrated she was going to try and break in but one of the assistant professors had been watching her attempts and waved her over. The professor was young, maybe five years older than Derry, long red hair, deep blue eyes, she told Derry that she could get her into the rare book archive but that there was a price. Derry would have to have dinner with her.

One thing led to another and the two of them became an item for about three weeks.

It ended badly. The professor wanted Derry to stop working for Henry, she wanted Derry to give up magic, she said no good would ever come of it and that the two of them could be happy together living in Scales off the professor's salary (she was due for a raise and a full position that summer). Derryth resisted, the professor put her foot down, "Either you love me or you love magic! You can't have both!"

Derry thought it would be a difficult choice, but at the end of it all it wasn't. When given the choice of pursuing magic, raiding dungeons, risking life, limb and sanity for adventure and true power OR settling down to a happy and quiet home life with a person she honestly loved, it was not even close.

She made the choice she had to and answered magic. The professor threw her out into the street that very evening.

She found Henry in a bar down the street and the two of them wandered out of town the next morning.

Derry had always meant to contact the professor again, see what she was doing, maybe have a drink and a laugh about old times.

It wasn't to be, the professor was in Scales when Shiver razed the city, as far as Derry can tell she was one of hundreds that took refugee in the academy there. It fell and all inside were burnt alive. It was a bit of a surreal moment for Derry, if she had chosen happiness, had chosen to stay she probably would have died that night, same as everyone else.

4. The barkeep, she has known a great many bartenders and they are about her favourite sort of person since they would never hassle her as long as she had coin. Well, there was this one barkeep in Tyr, tall, thin, with this ridiculous black mustache in the fir'Bolg style, he was in his early forties, every time Derry would come in he would spare her a smile. Over the years they became quite good friends and he would often send her and Henry a free bottle.

Henry was out on a job when she wandered into his tavern one evening. It was a slow, cool autumn evening, hardly anyone else in the bar. He broke out 'something to keep the cold out', dwarven spirits, and the two of them polished off the whole bottle while making small talk. She told him about some of her adventures and he related a few of the funnier episodes he had witnessed in his time as a barkeep.

They open a second bottle, then a third, and things just sort of went from there. She woke up in his bed, a bit surprised but hardly complaining (except for the second worst hangover she had ever had in her life).

She took to seeing him for a while after that but when Henry was done they moved on. She promised to look him up the next time she was in Tyr, that was two years ago.

As far as she knows, he did not survive the war.

5. The priestess, this one almost does not count but she was traveling with Henry maybe six years ago and they came across a small village in the southwest of the Province. The villagers were in the middle of some sort of fertility festival to bless the coming spring and all that.

Seems they worshiped some sort of sex god, one that would sow the crops for them if they paid him due tribute.

There were all these young men and women dancing around in the dew, bare chested with garlands hung round their necks and the like. Henry suggested that Derry join them but all Derry wanted was a warm bed and a good drink.

She got the drink, sure enough, and then a few more.

Later she got the bed, the bed of one of the priestesses to be exact, hazel eyes, hazel hair, full figured too. Derry could not really complain and Henry was kind enough to stay the week, likely because three of the farmer's daughters had taken a real liking to him, but nevermind that, so Derry returned to the priestess every night. She was always lively, full of energy, but she struck Derryth as a bit 'air headed', she did not seem to worry about very much.

At the end of the week, the festival ended, the villagers returned to normal, as if awaking from a dream, and the priestess disappeared.

The last time Derry saw her she asked for the priestess' name.

The priestess said that her name was Robin, "least for the moment," then she winked and disappeared out the door into the morning.

Derry rushed to the door and looked outside but could not spot Robin anywhere, she disappeared into thin air.

Any crazy ex-es out there?

If only...

Derry's outlook and attitude do a fairly good job of avoiding the crazies or the high maintenance types for the most part. She is not really the sort of person that goes in for social drama and all that, at least not most of the time.

What about Henry's friends? We know of Ian and Mabd in Muirthemne, but do we know if there are more of them in other parts of the world?

There might be some, Henry knew quite a few people, but the war scattered the population of the Province and it has only been a year and a half. Derry is not sure about everyone who may have lived or died.

If you want I can give you a list of contacts that Henry and Derry had before the war, but don't be surprised if 4/5ths turn out to be dead.

How long did she know Henry, by the way?

Derry's parents were killed when she was quite young, nine or ten roughly, she fled to the cities and made her living on the streets all Oliver Twist style. She first met Henry shortly after coming to Madrigal, she tried to pick his pocket and he caught her. He used her for a few jobs, tailing people, a few break and enters, that sort of thing, as she grew up he became something of a father figure to her and eventually he offered to take her on as an apprentice. Naturally she jumped at the opportunity and never looked back.

So she has known him for most of her life (about eighteen to twenty years or so), he really was the most important person in her entire life and his death was devastating for her but at least she found new friends and things have gone fairly well for her so far.

 

[Nevill]

Did Henry have any connections in the Magical Institute of Madrigal?

 

[Fangshi]

Yes, he had a few personal connections as one would expect of a former Fellow.

He went through the academy system from what Derryth can tell but he did not often talk about his training and he did have a marked degree of contempt for the academy system. He may not have taught Derryth a whole lot of magic in their time together but he did legitimately care for her like a daughter which is much more than she would have received in an academy.

 

[Karwelas]

1.He was told to stay away from your group. Mazzarin told him that talking to you would just be a distraction from his studies and that you, and yours, would bring nothing but misery to him.

2.If you want I can give you a list of contacts that Henry and Derry had before the war, but don't be surprised if 4/5ths turn out to be dead.

3.She first met Henry shortly after coming to Madrigal, she tried to pick his pocket and he caught her. He used her for a few jobs, tailing people, a few break and enters, that sort of thing, as she grew up he became something of a father figure to her and eventually he offered to take her on as an apprentice. Naturally she jumped at the opportunity and never looked back.

1. It seems that Mazz will never forget what we have done to him.

2. Yes, please. It may be usefull in future.

3. Garret style. What a PC we have. Female Indiana Garret wizard.

And votes. Last part.

6. Now that you have destroyed a large gholish force and Mazzarin have joined forces with the dwarven army, the ghols don't stand much of a chance in the conflict. You could contact Nanshe next time you are due to the musical training and convince her to try and subjugate the now weakened clans, recalling their forces from the south - if there are any left.
A - Yes, you will speak to her about it. She gets to expand her Empire at their expense, and we won't have to hunt their remnants across the Kingdom.

7. You have not moved too far from Myrgard yet. Do you want to send a report to Albrecht and your team about the situation in the South and maybe get a report back?
A - Yes. Choose which topics you want to get the report on or what orders you want to convey to your forces.
i) You request the update on the situation in Myrgard (the cult, Thyra, Rand, the not-Rand autopsy results, your various forces and their progress with the assigned tasks, maybe even the Weazels).
ii) You request the update on the situation in Blackrock (the Boys, Hesse, Welf and their champions).
iii) You instruct Mayer to keep an eye on people who turned to our 'Fata Morgana' firm to place an order for a large quantity of Energon Cubes. (Those are used in the cloning rituals. Perhaps it might lead us to the cloning facilities or the cultist HQ.)
iv) You instruct your Blackrock mice to spy on Hesse, Welf and their forces in the fort. They should report to Myora. You will attach one of the items Lyssa made to converse with the rodents to the letter. (We are certain there are enemy agents among them, and the fort is riddled with mice, so it is a natural course of action. Should have thought of that one earlier, but oh well.)

 

[Nevill]

Professer Jones, formerly of the twelve of Scales, formerly of the Magical Institute of Madrigal.

He went through the academy system from what Derryth can tell but he did not often talk about his training and he did have a marked degree of contempt for the academy system.

He didn't think much of it despite being a professor himself and holding several titles? Why is that?

 

[Fangshi]

2. Yes, please. It may be usefull in future.

Sure, I will see what I can do.

He didn't think much of it despite being a professor himself and holding several titles? Why is that?

Derryth does not know, Henry would always say it was 'an old wound', something he was unwilling to drag up again.

 

[Fangshi]

He didn't think much of it despite being a professor himself and holding several titles? Why is that?

To elaborate a little on my answer:

Most mages at the colleges are not taught to work together, trust or even help each other. It is a real snake pit, survival of the fittest sort of thing and most instructors do not really care what the kids/students get up to in their free time. If someone dies they just consider it a learning experience for the survivors, magic is dangerous and all that.

Derry thinks that those facts relate to why Henry disliked the academy system though she does not know the details.


In that regard the apprenticeship is superior to the traditional education system. The trade-off though is that there is no set curriculum/spell set if you become an apprentice instead of an university student. You learn more quickly under the academy system (out of necessity, to avoid death or expulsion) but you are also learning the same basics as everyone else, you are more predictable, more 'standardized'.

The ladies (all of them, not just D&T) went through an apprenticeship system and it shows. Each one of them is far more unique in their spell selection and thinking than an academy mage would be. The ladies have a broader selection of spells to work from provided they get along and cooperate with one another. They also have bigger gaps in their understanding of magic due to the piecemeal way in which they have learned it and that does act as a limiting factor to a degree.

 

[Nevill]

They also have bigger gaps in their understanding of magic due to the piecemeal way in which they have learned it and that does act as a limiting factor to a degree.

So, theoretically, we could apply to an academy to receive a 'proper' education and close those gaps, getting the best of both worlds?

 

[Fangshi]

So, theoretically, we could apply to an academy to receive a 'proper' education and close those gaps, getting the best of both worlds?

You are much too old to go to an academy now. The girls are about the right age though if you wanted to send them off. In a few years (3-5) your orphans would be as well, so that is an option.

Now, they don't really limit based on age, mind you, it is just that most of the students tend to be between 10 and 20. Someone could, in theory, join an academy at any age but the kids would be particularly cruel to them because of the age difference and if the person in question was not strong enough to defend themselves they might be killed by a particularly malicious little monster.

From the perspective of most people in the setting it would be equivalent to sending your children off for an apprenticeship or sending them to be a page at the local lord's court. They could well die, that is a definite possibility, but if they live they will gain the skills to have a better life. For your average peasant or merchant family (and even for the poorer lords) that is a tempting consideration.

As for the ladies themselves, though, it would probably be a waste of time.

Let me try to explain how it all works.

For the most part the academies are about teaching those who have little to no experience with magic. When a child arrives at the academy they are usually put into isolation and only allowed to socialize with their instructors and other new students (this is done as much for their own protection as it is for the academy's benefit). These new students are then taught the set magical theories of the academy (there are a number of theories practiced by different academies and they all gear one's magical ability toward specific schools or traditions of magic). The students are expected to follow those theories rigidly, at least while at the academy.

Once the specific magical theories of the academy are learned the students are passed onto proper institutions, these are either directly attached to the novice training facilities in the case of large or secretive Circles (like the Warlocks) or they are separate but affiliated to the 'primary school' and young mages are shipped off from the novice facilities to a proper Circle elsewhere.

Once enrolled in a proper Circle they will learn the spell set of that Circle and its 'culture'. Each Circle is unique in the way it operates and almost all of them are also incredibly secretive so little is known about the rest of the process.

In some cases, a young mage can also enroll in the few 'open academies' that dot the Empire. They academies are not directly affiliated with any particular Circle and mostly justify their existence by teaching the sons and daughters of the nobility. Individuals that have no desire to or are unable to join an official Circle. The quality of instruction in these institutions varies significantly and tends to be of poorer quality than those run directly by Circles or those directly affiliated with Circles.

Academy types and their Instructors:

Those academies run directly by Circles tend to have the best instructors since a Circle has to be quite powerful to maintain its own, private training academies. Most of these powerful Circles have large memberships and require powerful oaths to join. As a part of these oaths the successful mages often have to spend at least a few years teaching new initiates. They are often compensated for their efforts significantly and teaching positions can be quite coveted in the larger Circles. The Warlocks operate this way for example.

The Circle-affiliated academies tend to benefit from their connections, allowing them to hire and retain instructors from affiliated Circles. The standards tend to be lower as these academies tend to be poorer and smaller, unable to offer as many benefits for instructors as the large Circle run one do. They do, however, often have broader curriculum and instructors are often given a freer hand for good or for ill.

On the lowest end of the spectrum are the unaligned academies as mentioned above. They generally can only get unaligned instructors and few unaligned mages of note want to tie themselves to a teaching position (if they did they would have joined a Circle for more pay and benefits), they enjoy their freedom which in turn leads to a high turnover of instructors and an unstable curriculum.

There are, of course, Circles that do not make use of the academy system at all. The Seekers for example do not hire this way, neither do the Children, and while the Heron Guard are technically a Circle they have a completely different way of hiring new talent (through their tournaments).

Finally, you have the apprenticeship system for all those that can not or do not want to submit to the Circle dominated academy system. Anyone can get an apprenticeship if they can find a teacher and there is absolutely no standardization at all with this method. Most who take this route do not amount to anything, they are used as slaves, milked for everything they have and then discarded with maybe a few minor cantrips to show for their troubles, but the few that do succeed on this part have, by far, the widest and weirdest spell lists of all mages.

Some examples:

Derry has had a handful of teachers and one true apprenticeship to Henry. She learned a little from Henry with regards to magic and a lot of useful 'life skills' she would definitely have not picked up in an academy. However there was only so much Henry would have taught her and it is doubtful he would have let her surpass him, he may have cared for her but he was still a mage at the end of the day. Her magical skills did not really begin to take off until she began learning under many different masters. First Miosguinn, who was a little helpful, then Nine, Mazzarin and even Faceless. The archmages know so much about magic that even short lessons with them are far better than months (maybe years) learning under less capable teachers. They live and breathe magic and though they rarely care about how much their student is learning they are infinite wells from which to draw.

Incidentally, a mediocre mage would not have been able to learn much of anything from Mazzarin. He simply moves too quickly and dumps too much information on people, assuming the student can keep up on their own. Derry, Taide and Emrys all respond very well to this as they are quite gifted and Lyssa has the stats to manage even if she lacked the will while she was with Mazzarin. In contrast, Caoilainn would never be able to keep up.

Taide took a very similar path only she had a variety of teachers through her career before meeting Derryth. The same basic principles apply though.

Biddy learnt most of what she knows from her mother and from a few passing mages her father hired for jobs. Again, the same principles.

Lys seems to have followed a similar path, her magic seems to be mainly self taught or taught to her by specific masters though she has not exactly been forthcoming with details so far for some reason.

Christie learnt everything from her mother and when you first met she was more powerful as a result (despite being half a decade younger than you), this would be an example of a master-apprentice system where the master had every intention of teaching the student all that she knew and it can be a very rewarding relationship.

Mel seems to be completely self taught from what Taide has told you. She is an exception and a genius in a particular field of magic, though it is likely she has learnt things from the Royal Academy fellows over time.

Amena had Eris and the tower library, now she has Derry, a fairly cut and dry example of an apprenticeship.

Serpent learned everything he knows from DTB&C.

So your entire Circle is comprised of 'unorthodox' mages without any academy training, for better or worse.

If any of them had attended the academies they would have more focused spell lists (between two and six spells based on their skill level) but these spells would be stronger and they would get more bonuses to casting them and to improving them. They would also suffer large penalties to learning spells that go against the theory their magic is based on and depending on the school they learnt from they would also suffer from other penalties and benefit from other bonuses.

Derry and Taide know spells from nine+ (!) schools of magic (two elemental sub schools each). They also know spells from at least three traditions of magic.

Lyssa knows spells from seven schools (again, two elemental sub schools) and she knows spells from four (!) magical traditions.

On top of that, the ladies also know a few self taught/improvised spells that would not be allowed in an academy setting (never-mind Lyssa's necromancy that would be banned everywhere).

That would never happen in an academy, ever. Your teachers or other students would probably arrange to have your thrown out for breaking the rules, or, failing that, they would have you killed.

From the perspective of your average mage, any mage that does not belong to your Circle is an enemy and most of the mages that do belong to your Circle are still enemies (they are just more polite about it). Even unaligned mages share this sentiment though they tend to be more laid back in general, either because they are largely uninterested in the race for power or because they are powerful enough not to feel too threatened by most people.

That is why the academies only take new mages for the most part. It allows them to mold their malleable young minds into nice little tools (or at least that is what Henry used to claim all the time). A powerful mage (and you are powerful enough to best some of the instructors, some of the time) is not a good tool so they would not benefit much from helping you get even stronger than you are now.

So, having said all that, it is unlikely that you would be allowed to attend an academy unless you were able to pretend that you are not already a threat to the instructors.You could try to hide your abilities though if you really wanted in.

 

[Nevill]

Hmm, probably not, then.

When talking about unaffiliated or loosely affiliated instructors, you said that they get 'a freer hand for good or for ill'. What exactly is implied by 'ill'?