Zero Credibility said:
I'm primarily asking about the library here. The last time we were chased out of there by some... thing. Aren't we likely to run into it again if we are spending a month there?
It is possible. The thing that attacked was a result of the creatures going to get help. Derryth doubts it is still there (and will take precautions to make sure) so as long as you do not let a patrol get away you should be fine. Derryth will not risk people just for a little money/power in most cases.
Nevill said:
Then the battle with the Blues that happened when we blew up Abharsair. What were the outcomes where? Which ones were easier/harder? Wasn't it better just to sit tight and wait for the assault? Did I make things worse by planning to trap the army inside the gates? How many of the creatures Miosguinn had? He had 2 days to build up the army.
Well if you had not blown up Abharsair then the Blues would have had their whole command staff alive and a lot more soldiers to throw around. But Miosguinn was a much better commander than Abharsair. Miosguinn actually set up a strategy with multiple fronts while Abharsair would have tried to brute force the problem. As to which was easier well that is not knowable. It would depend on the choices you made.
Depends, when you say "wait for the assault" you mean Miosguinn's assault right? If you had done that he would have been even more cautious than he was. As it stood he though he had it won so he let his army push too far ahead and he called in Isolde's strike team without thinking. You
did surprise him, you just had to sacrifice your allies to do it.
He sent the book on by spider along with noted on the Gate spell. It took his allies a couple days to figure everything out and a couple days to get the materials. After that they just pumped out monsters until they had a horde. Miosguinns force numbered in the low thirties to low forties supplemented by every spider he could find. He literally drew every resource he had available into the fight.
What about the retreat options? How would they have played out? What rolls would we need to make? What about Blue diplomacy and trying to trick Mios with Thais?
If you had just left right away you could have escaped just fine. It really was not your fight until you mortared the leaders. The dwarves would never have left and Serpent would refuse to abandon the wounded and Christine. You could have forced the issue but you probably would have had to kill people. Once Miosguinn was in charge your odds of cleanly escaping were gone and he would have hunted you.
To get anything out of the diplomacy option you would have had to come along personally. I would have been you, Thaïs, Tyrvard and maybe one other. He would have offered to let you meet his goddess similar to update 19 only less hostile. If you refused there would have been a fight and you probably would have lost but it was possible to kill him that way and escape with no casualties though it would take careful planing and luck.
What would have happened if we had gone through the door? What was the black egg?
If you had trusted the eldritch abomination? You would have opened a direct connection to her by touching the black egg. The next few updates would have been in your own mind and it would have been Spider Goddess Diplomacy so yeah... though you would have a single ally that could turn the tables against the Goddess as well so not all hope would have been lost.
If you lost or accepted the Goddess' deal, well you would have wound up like Miosguinn. You would have been given the option to forcibly convert your allies or kill them and you would have either joined Miosguinn or replaced him.
Baltika9 said:
Thankless fucking job. Promote him to a an officer right away, give him some competent helpers and put him in charge of our own personal Royal Guard. Also, honeymoon with Brigit when Serpent and Christine (henstly, where did this name come from? Seems out of place, like Tenebrae from EPIC).
Time for the man to be rewarded for his efforts.
Well if you want you can have him train up Biliku and Uttu in proper military strategy. Ithapi could also work if you took the time to properly educate him. He is quite bright but no one has ever given him the time or attention neccesary to see him shine.
As for Christine's name. All of the female names for the Damned have a connect to Spiders:
Christine is a reference to a character from
The Black Spider originally she was going to be a villain but I prefer to give even the villains some good qualities and once your mutual bad luck stuck her with Serpent I revised her role somewhat. Even the characters realize it is an odd name for the setting.
Neith is the name of an Egyptian goddess associated with women, weaving and marriage and by a round about way spiders.
Uttu is a Sumerian goddess with a similar portfolio
Biliku is a goddess of the Andaman Islands if I remember right and again is associated with spiders.
Smashing Axe said:
Could you define the difference between having Thais as a partner and having her as part of the group please?
Sure, it will determine just how much of a stake she has in things. If you keep her as part of the group she remains your employee and will work to the best of her ability but will expect to be paid on a regular basis. If you make her a partner then she will see herself as more of your equal. She will want a larger part of the resources but she will also be much more invested in your long term success since your success will be her success.
Essentially it comes down to how much are you willing to share and what do you hope to gain from having her around. She would prefer C but will accept B, she does not really want to leave but will if you do not want her around.