Azira
Arcane
I wonder if the necklace goes inert, once the "host" dies.
Being merciful just strikes me as kind of stupid, even if it does bring some benefit. That benefit has to be weighed against the opportunity cost and the potential penalties, and I don't think we end up in a favorable balance there if we act with mercy.
I haven't followed this CYOA with an incredibly strong focus and I know very little to nothing about the source material, but I just don't see why it's so necessary for us in particular to abandon all of our potential prospects with her for the sake of inconveniencing the Watcher by trying to turn one of his ghols and her possible soldiers against him? I mean, yes, it'd be bad for us if the Watcher won against the current guys in charge right now, but now he's just building up an army. If we alert the Dwarven Kingdom can't it martial much more effective resources against them, particularly the ghols since they're so eager to fight anyway? And aren't they supposed to have some sort of alliance with the human empire, at least in the face of an all-threatening menace such as the Watcher? This is a bit too large scale for it to be our problem in particular, and I don't think that rising to the level of an irritation to one of the most powerful archmages in the setting no matter how many pieces he is in is too good when all we've done is maybe slow down some recruitment and require a minor civil war on their side to be fought at the most optimistic of outcomes.
Meanwhile, if we sell her to the Academy we keep her for the much more tangible (and less likely to piss off horrendously powerful ancient evils) reward of 400 WPs, or possibly the still substantial sum of around 250 if we're forced to scramble her mind before she kills herself. We have a pretty terrifying loan going on right now, having more money on hand to buy up or invest in better assets or otherwise pay off the interest is very important to ensure that we will later on be well enough entrenched to not really be hurting for money should we need to buy anything useful. Not to mention that the dwarves would be made happy by this turn of events, and who knows what neat things the Academy might learn from her (and share with us, perhaps)?
I think that Lyssa is risk enough without also going around helping out ghols and so on. Our mercenary company is very large; it only takes one person to blow us up by getting a whisper of this to anyone of significance in the dwarf kingdom, and we'll be risking all that we've invested in the Dorf kingdom for the sake of a ghol who robbed us and follows the Watcher to boot. It won't sound very good. If the ghols fight us as a result, so be it; we have a sizeable mercenary company and their bodies & meat are worth a very nice amount of money, so let them come.
We get rid of someone who has actively damaged our livelihood and make a ton of profit to boot, I'd prefer we keep that up rather than looking for a best friend in every servant of the dark. Trolling the Watcher is also I think not too fantastic an idea, maybe we could get back to that after hundreds of years of research or something.
I'm not trying to get her to stop her soldiers from getting away though, my vote calls for her to be staying around along with the mage power to keep her from killing herself while the dwarves get back the gold with violence.
archaen said:Fangshi, I want to ask Nanshe who ordered and planned the raid.
archaen said:Fangshi, I want to ask Nanshe who ordered and planned the raid.
The Watcher's 'creature'.
She has used that phrase a number of times already so you ask her to elaborate.
She does not know his name, as far as she knows no one does. She does not even know if he has a name. He looks human but he is not, or if he was it was long ago.
He runs the Watcher's spies and enforcers. He is not the most powerful mage the Watcher has at his disposal but he is still quite terrifying. The way he uses magic is bizarre and though she has been able to replicate some of his spells she had to adapt them to her casting method. His casting method is unique from what she has seen but she can't really describe it.
He is tall, thin, blonde. His eyes lit by a sort of cold flame, she struggles to properly describe it.
He is smart but only half as clever as he thinks he is. He has a tendency to underestimate those he sees as his inferiors.
He ordered the attack on Blackrock in the Watcher's name, seems he has taken a keen interest in the two of you for some reason.
archaen said:I would ask her if she ever participated in any operation with the Watcher's creature and if she did, what were his tactics?
archaen said:Does he keep a certain retinue with him, and if he does, what are their capabilities?
Let's see.Being merciful just strikes me as kind of stupid, even if it does bring some benefit. That benefit has to be weighed against the opportunity cost and the potential penalties, and I don't think we end up in a favorable balance there if we act with mercy.
I haven't followed this CYOA with an incredibly strong focus and I know very little to nothing about the source material, but I just don't see why it's so necessary for us in particular to abandon all of our potential prospects with her for the sake of inconveniencing the Watcher by trying to turn one of his ghols and her possible soldiers against him? I mean, yes, it'd be bad for us if the Watcher won against the current guys in charge right now, but now he's just building up an army.
No, the Dwarves can't martial the ghols. The ghols won't fight for the dwarves. They kinda hate each other, if you haven't noticed.If we alert the Dwarven Kingdom can't it martial much more effective resources against them, particularly the ghols since they're so eager to fight anyway? And aren't they supposed to have some sort of alliance with the human empire, at least in the face of an all-threatening menace such as the Watcher?
Sure. You might want to save your fire for the actual Friends Forever agenda, as we aren't friends with Nanshe, and we don't intend to be.The Friends Forever agenda is doomed to failure. I will laugh at the devastation it brings us, then offer a helping hand to return us to our true path.
No, the Dwarwes can't martial the ghols. The ghols won't fight for the dwarves. They kinda hate each other, if you haven't noticed.
No, the alliance with the human empire is done with, thanks to our feud with the Brannons. They have closed the embassy right after the representative of the Empire was killed by the Watcher's forces. Alric will see it as a fitting punishment that the kingdom who purged its citizens for being the followers of the Dark falsely fell to the actual Dark. And Albrecht can't run for help to Alric after he started wearing royal colors to insult him. No real hope there, either.
And about the chances of the dwarves by themselves, here is a little tidbit of what the Watcher could do with an army:
Let's be realistic, the mages are the decisive force in every war. It is no coincidence that all the leaders and generals were mages - it was, after all, the Nine Avatara versus the Fallen. All the Fallen so far fell (excuse the bad pun) to the magical tricks. Shiver to the Deceiver, the unholy abomination that was Ravanna to Rabican's mind duel, The Watcher to the enchanted arrow, and Balor to the Eblis Stone. They weren't defeated in a straight battle.
I can't see them being any more agressive. Anyway, all it would achieve is turn the remaining tribes to Watcher for protection, effectively having the opposite effect.I was thinking more along the lines of having the dwarves take a yet more aggressive role in killing off the ghols directly instead of attempting to start a minor civil war between the ghols. There's obviously no love lost between the groups.
Yes, the kings and mages can be petty. Haven't you noticed?Kipeci said:If the Watcher is that absurdly strong and cost such a huge effort to be put down in the first place I'm not sure why Alric would just let it topple a kingdom and gain that as a power base beyond its growing army just because their king is annoying. There's teaching the lesser rulers a lesson and then there's insane stupidity in allowing that cancer to spread and fester.
Well, I haven't laid out the whole plan (I feel like it is a bit early for that), but one of the conditions I want to pose to her is that she lets everyone else who is unhappy with the current state of affairs know how to deal with the necklaces. It is not hard to send her ghols to different tribes, and it takes the heat off her, since it provides the Watcher with a lot of different targets. From there, I expect the news to spread like wildfire. Essentially, we will ensure that the clans won't unite behind the archmage, and we know this to be one of his goals. We will be setting back his plan with the necklaces. And I say that breathing time is often underestimated. Mazzarin have already lamented how far ahead the Watcher is:Kipeci said:So, to recap... what exactly are we expecting one ghol leader who would need to wear very much lead around her neck at all times just to weaken the big glowing signal indicating where she is to any of the fellow servants of the Watcher exactly where she is to do against this?
You also think you sense an undercurrent of hope, like that of a man that believes he has finally found the answer to the question that he seeks, "You must be Derryth. You were not supposed to meet me like this. I had hoped that I would have made more progress by now... so little time..."
No, I am not sure the dwarves will fall apart, but I think they do not have enough resourses for the war they are facing. Not right now. We will need everything for this. Mazzarin. Albrecht. Heron Guards who can see further than their nose. Everyone. The war that is brewing will not end tomorrow by having Albrecht marshal his forces to the Keep. As it stands, they will get slaughtered.Kipeci said:Because unless you are sure that the dwarves will fall apart to the Watcher unless we take to the particular choice of sending her to her home and hoping she begins a suicidal conflict against one of the most powerful mages ever for FREEDOM, every option seems to be better to me if we just have more money.
Even more shocking and psychologically damaging if performed by naked warrior.'Enter of Thunder Colossus!': (Lightning/Air/Metal). The end result is a flying, bronze, electrified warrior that comes crashing down upon the enemy. It can be physically and psychologically devastating if timed right.
Discarding this opportunity in favor of extra jewgolds seems too short-sighted for me. The situation we are in is bigger than that.
With Nanshe we have a unique opportunity because of her goals and character. Her necklace, on the other hand, is nothing special. We won't be lacking in necklace bearers coming for our heads. Every higher-up in the Watcher's army has one.Selling Nanshe to the academy though, presents an opportunity to research/experiment on the necklace, possibly finding a way to disable/scramble them, which would help the war effort as well.
A I-VII, X-XIII, XV, XVI, XVII. How would our charioteers fare in ground combat?
I voted X and unvoted XIV, so the melee dwarven mercs are not going.In light of that, I am amending my vote to bringing Nanshe with us. Swapping AXVII to AIX.
Nevill said:I voted X and unvoted XIV, so the melee dwarven mercs are not going.
Smashing Axe said:Oh god, we're bringing the ghol... and the dwarves?
Why? Uggggh.
Reminds me of this:The enemy numbers about forty, all ghôls in close formation. They are making poor time due to the weight of your stolen wealth. Crows in the hundreds swarm around them through you have not directly come into contact with any of them yet.
We probably have to consider the white mage is here.She has only seen him actively participate in one mission. His agent failed to acquire an artefact he desired from a Circle operating out of a village a day north of Stoneheim (about a dozen mages in total). The thin mage gathered up his retinue and attacked the village. He invited her to come along as an observer as they had been in the middle of a lesson when the news arrived.
First he set up a screen of crows to ensure no one would sneak up on him without warning. Then he had one of his slaves conjure up a thick mist one morning and went in spells blazing.