Nevill said:
Then it raises the question of why it felt similar to the one we found in Hesse's mind. Does the Lady know what is wrong with Hesse? We know that his champion is one of the cultists, but what about the Lord himself?
She does not. A great many demon lords/ladies and Gods/Goddesses use black as their colour of choice. It is all a bit cliche but she can't really complain. It could be worse, they could all be working in fuschia or something.
Nevill said:
Isn't the Dreaming supposed to be a trap for souls? A sweet lie, a cage without bars? Sort of how we were turned into wolves when we first entered it? So where does an extensive damage to one's mind come from?
Or would we end up the same way if the Faceless didn't intervene?
It is but generally those that are trapped in that way are the
property guests of the dream demons. They are kept safe and given their own perfect worlds to enjoy forever.
Mayer's wife was not captured by a dream demon. She was dumped into the Dreaming and to her credit she managed to avoid capture. However, the only way to survive among all those goblins and elves in the dark endless forests was to become more like them.
That is what the Lady means when she says that there was no magic involved there. No one 'broke' Helena's mind, she became feral to survive but what was useful in the Dreaming is less useful in the physical world where people are over all much more fragile.
Your minds instinctively protected themselves in much the same way, by going 'wild'. The difference is that you had Faceless to pull you out of it. Without Faceless you likely would have suffered the same fate as Helena unless you passed a few tough saves.
Nevill said:
Do these rituals require material components of some kind? We might want to check the shops that sell these kinds of items and their clients as yet another lead to pursue.
A fair amount of water, a number of fairly common minerals, a bit of gold, and energon dust like you would get from ground up cubes. A lot of ground up cubes.
Nevill said:
What about his speech patterns? Does he have a habit of hisssssing when he ssssspeaks?
She gives you a sympathetic glance, "Yes, have you had the great misfortune of meeting him?"
Nevill said:
All right. Who are the others?
More of less every demon to ever exist.
Nevill said:
And why do the Seekers oppose them at all?
They are opposed to all of the Dark Gods and their demons. It is a simple disagreement really, the Dark Gods wish to exist and the Seekers would rather they died. She does not see too much in the way of common ground there.
She cautions you against letting the Seekers discover that you are 'friends' with demons. They will not take that well.
Nevill said:
Do they serve someone undead?
No.
Nevill said:
Do they serve no one in particular, but a certain idea?
That would be one way of looking at it.
Nevill said:
Do they serve someone who is long dead, as in, 'completely dead'?
She grins, "Now you are approaching the truth of it."
Nevill said:
And what is there to smile about?
She finds their dedication to be amusing more than anything else.
Nevill said:
do they serve the Watcher, do they serve any of the Watcher's allies, do they serve any of the Fallen Lords, and are they a threat to us or to the kingdom if we don't poke our nose in their business?
No, no, no and possibly. It would depend on whether or not they see the Kingdom as a tool of the Dark Gods.
Nevill said:
Anyway, if we have gone that way already, is she the mysterious proprietor everyone talks about?
No, one of her daughters manages it. The Lady does not enter the physical realm herself.
Nevill said:
What does she know about Timo? Was he speaking the truth when he talked about Wenzel? I imagine he received his reports about the Weazels in the very same room.
She knows that he cares deeply for his family, the Kingdom and the people though he often has an odd way of showing it.
As far as she can tell, yes. At the very least she is sure that Timo believes Wenzel is ultimately responsible though it is possible that the Prince has been deceived.
Nevill said:
Actually, what Timo knows about her? Is she helping him, or does she merely observe him?
Timo knows next to nothing about her.
She might help every now and then but she does not want him to become suspicious of her and he is not very trusting to begin with. For the most part she simply observes him and works to make the Silver Flame a safe base from which he can operate.
Nevill said:
Why was Timo reluctant to talk about Mayer?
Timo is not much on gossiping. He hoards secrets and information but he rarely shares and even when he does he often holds something back. It is possible it saw no advantage in telling you about Mayer, but honestly, she can only speculate on his motives.
Nevill said:
How did he know what happened to Mayer, if not through her?
His agents or a demon perhaps. She must admit that she does not have an answer to that question.
Nevill said:
Wait, since people say that Timo is 'on the very intimate terms with the owner of the establishment', does it mean that he is her follower, agent or an admirer?
She says, 'People say a great many things that aren't true'. She does not elaborate.
Nevill said:
Is that the real reason why people consider Timo to be a cultist?
Probably not, very few people even know she exists and she has worked hard to ensure that the Silver Flame is not thought of as a nest of demons. There are a number of other reasons why someone might consider Timo a cultist. He has even told you some of them.
Nevill said:
How did she like our singing? Can we come by to perform again?
She thought it was beautiful, she even called in Morpheus and they danced to it. Should you wish to preform again you may do so anytime. She will send instructions to her daughter to add you both to the members list.
Nevill said:
How much of the Energon Whiskey you need to drink for it to have an effect? How many 'uses' a single bottle has? How dangerous it is for us assuming that we are able to drink a lot without losing control due to our, ah, excessive training?
8oz to power a normal spell. 16oz if you want to do something a bit more powerful. The bottles are 32oz.
It is not so much dangerous (to you directly) as it is highly addictive. The more you drink the drunker you get (physically and magically).
He has no idea how much you can handle but if you already know how to hold your liquor you can probably get more of it down then most mages.
Nevill said:
How addictive is the Enegon Whiskey? Is there a way to use it and not become an addict?
Very addictive.
Well, he notes that some people are more resistant to forming additions than others but beyond that not really. You still have to drink the stuff to use it unless you want to set up some sort of operation to separate the energon and the alcohol and then use the dust that way. It would take a lot of dust though to power a single spell unless you plan to eat it or snort it.
Nevill said:
From the talk of the customer in the north, the Brothers' reluctance to compromise, and the big letter 'M', I assume that the client they are talking about is Mazzarin? Why would he need the roots from the kingdom when there are thousands of them in Cath Bruig?
Dietfried has absolutely know way of knowing that and can neither confirm nor deny the identity of his other clients just as he would not tell others about your own shopping habits.
To do anything else would be incredibly unprofessional.
Nevill said:
Where do Brothers Dietfried get their roots? How long it would take to replenish their supply, and are they even interested in that?
They used to buy them from a source up north on the grey market. They would then sell them to the Heron Guards stationed at the embassy (there were normally one to ten there at any given time). They did it more as a courtesy than anything else as the Guards tended to have large purses and would pick up a number of other (more profitable) items when they came into the shop (It was a bit of what we would consider a 'loss leader'). Now that the embassy is gone they do not see much point in restocking the roots though you could try to convince them otherwise.
Nevill said:
What are the perks of the Lunar Blade? Why would anyone want a blade that is completely useless 50% of the time, and is a dagger at best for other 25%?
When it is at full power it can cut through a metre of solid stone with a single strike (If you are not careful it might get stuck after doing that though
) and without harming the blade (since the blade is merely energy). It is also an incredibly light and fast blade. In the hands of a master swordsman the lunar blade would be damn near unstoppable, ah, provided it was the right time of the month.
The rest of the time it is admittedly less useful but such is the way of magic. It is rare to find artefacts that are both powerful and easy to use and most of the ones that are, are sitting in Emperor Alric's royal treasury gathering dust. He is ready to admit that the Lunar Blade is not Balmung. It is not a sword that can flatten armies by itself.
Nevill said:
Are there any items on sale that allow to cast invisibility or otherwise manipulate one's vision (darkness, flash, blind, etc)?
Q) Well, they do have a few sacks of chameleon's eyes. Salted and pickled lizard eyes that have each been enchanted to allow the user precisely three minutes worth of 'enhanced camouflage'. Basically you eat on of the eyes and you will blened in with your background. If you are careful you should be barely visible to those around you. Stick to dark areas and they will never see you.
There is a bit of a side effect though. If you eat a lot of them you may begin to develop reptilian characteristics, scales and such. Now these should go away after twelve hours or so as long as you do not eat any more of the eyes, they are also a bit difficult on human bodies (they work far better with dwarves or mauls).
He will sell you a full sack of twenty for twenty five WPs.
R) They do not have anything that will blind people or flash them but they do have about six 'vomit disks'. Basically how they work is you light them on fire and throw them at the target. Anyone within three metres of where they land will be hit with an odor so foul that it will trigger acute vomiting, nausea an extraordinarily painful dry heaving. The effects usually only last about ten minutes but if you have a very keen sense of smell it can last as long as twenty.
They tend to take the fight out of anyone they are used on.
They will not work on targets that can not smell for obvious reasons and you will want to be careful to not drop them after you light them. They can just as easily neutralize your group as the enemy's that way. Also he would recommend caution if you use them against wind mages as they can blow the gases the disks release right back at you, provided they are quick enough.
He can sell you a disk for 8WPs each.
Nevill said:
Are there items that allow one to see in the dark?
S) He has an old and rather outdated mining surveyor in one of the back rooms. It is an interesting device that ingeniously uses inaudible pulses to map dark passages. It is a bit heavy though so he recommends that you use the cart it comes with, he could sell it to you for thirty five WPs.
T) He also has five potions that will let you see perfectly in the dark. They do have a defect though, as long as they are active in your system you will not be able to hear or taste anything. He is not quite sure why they do that to be honest. He will sell them to you for 8 WPs each.
Nevill said:
Are there any items on sale that have effects operating on a 'X uses per day' basis, similar to Uttu's bowstring?
U) There is an old can of oil used to maintain sword blades. When filled with normal oils it enchants them with a random effect that is then applied to the sword it is used on. The effect seems to alter every twenty four hour. So far he has seen a frost effect, a flame effect, a corrosive effect (that ate much of the test blade it was applied to), an electrical effect, a 'lightening' effect that made the blade weigh less and move quicker, a 'strengthening' effect that made the blade heavier, slower, and hit harder, a 'talking' effect which made the blade repeat everything that was said near it on command, a 'party' effect that made the blade radiate blue, pink, orange and green lights but did nothing else, and an explosive effect that cause the sword to explode when it made contact with a target (the soldier he had testing that blade sadly lost his arm as a result).
For some reason Dietfried has had trouble finding a buyer. He will give it to you for 5 WPs.
V) He has a clock that is right twice a day! Actually... it might just be a broken clock, he can't remember. He will give it to you for 2 WPs
W) He has knife that can emit a high pitched tone once a day. The tone is so loud that it can drown out all other noises within a twenty metre radius. It will definitely leave your ears ringing. To activate it you merely have to press in a small button on the base of the hilt. The blade itself seems to be hollow with a pair of holes at the base. He would not recommend using it as an actual knife but it may be more durable than it looks. You can have it for 10 WPs.
X) He has a metre long and half metre wide tube that when fully charged will launch an elemental AOE spell. You select the element by interacting with a small compartment at its base. You open the compartment and place a 'sample' of the element you want inside. So for example if you want a fire spell you would open the compartment and cast create fire into it, or if you want an ice spell you open the compartment and cast a basic ice spell into it. It should also work with non magical fire, ice, earth, etc. It does take a fair bit of time to charge though, three full days, and it needs a source of energy to do so, so energon cubes or crystals. To charge it will require eight energon cubes or two crystals.
He has two of these devices and will sell each for forty WPs.
Nevill said:
- Are there enchanted shields for sale? List all options.
Y) He has a shield made from a single piece of treated wood. It is completely fire proof and will reflect any fire based spell that hits it back at whoever cast it. If it is hit with ice magic though it will freeze solid and will be rendered useless until it defrosts. (15 WPs)
Z) He has an unworked sheet of iron with a handle strapped to the back of it. It is incredibly durable but quite heavy. (18 WPs)
AA) He has a mid sized, reinforced hide shield that draws all projectiles to it and away from the person holding it. The shield itself is reasonably durable but it does not distinguish between 'safe' projectiles like arrows that it can reasonably stop and 'unsafe' projectiles like cocktails that will still get past it., (20 WPs)
AB) He has a brand new steel shield. It is enchanted to be quite light but other than that it is just a normal shield. (24 WPs)
AC) He has a large shield that can attract and pin metal weapons to its surface. It is controlled by a switch in the grip. He has been told that the weight on it is a bit 'odd' or unbalanced and that it might take practice to get used to fighting with it but the ability to disarm an opponent at will (as long as their weapon is metal) could be worth the hassle. (28 WPs)
AD) Finally he has a striped wooden shield covered by a thick cloth. When he pulls the cloth off you find it difficult to think clearly, you doubt you could cast while looking at it. He says that the shield is designed to confuse and distract those it is pointed at. Unfortunately the shield itself is not terribly large and it does not look that strong either. A few good strikes and it will probably break like any simple wooden shield would. (30 WPs)
Nevill said:
Are there any qualitative differences between a normal leather armor suit and the enchanted one? 30 WPs for a mere 3% of magical resistance sounds non-sensical. A fireball is just as surely will a wearer of enchanted suit as it would kill any other person. Why bother? Are there armors with different kind of enchantments that would be more useful for one's protection?
You are not likely to find any one item with more than 5% magical resistance to buy. Anything that grants more resistance is likely an artefact of great age or power.
Sadly, it is not an enchantment that is well understood and it takes a lot of time and effort to even get that much of a boost from it. Some people are interested in grabbing every little advantage they can get but most mages just prefer not to get hit with a spell to begin with and those that know healing/regenerative/physical magic often try to 'out heal' the damage they receive or simply weather it. It hurts a lot but as long as concentration is maintained it can work.
AE) He has three suits of mail that have been enchanted to be almost weightless. (40 WPs each)
AF) He has a suit of leather that has been enchanted to improve fine muscle control, coordination and overall dexterity. (50 WPs)
The real problem is that four fifths of the armour he has is designed for dwarves. It simply won't fit you so you are limited to his human stock and a good portion of that has been bought up by mercenaries and the like over the last two weeks.
Nevill said:
- Are there items that are better susceptible for enchantments, the ones that can hold a certain enchantment for longer than the spell usually lasts?
Nothing better than the jewelry you already have.
Nevill said:
- Are there items that have similar distracting properties to a confusing/сconsuming/distracting riddles or to Gareth's shield of fear, the ones that affect enemies who look at them?
Yes, see the last in the list of shields. Other than that though, not really.
Nevill said:
Are there sturdy 'special' arrows that allow for multiple uses provided the arrow is picked up? An indestructible 'Arrow of Detonation', or some kind of 'Unerring Arrow', or something cool like that?
Afraid not. The enchantments on the arrows are usually one time affairs simply because it does not make sense to pour a great deal of time and effort into something you are firing at the enemy and may never get back.
He does has one item though that might meet your need. It is sometime in his private collection, not even for sale really but Uttu is so adorable he will make an exception if you wish.
AG) The Ivory Arrow, a single arrow made entirely from a single piece of ivory (the head and shaft are one piece). The fletches are from no bird he knows of but they are as white as fresh snow. All along the shaft and head of the arrow black ruins are etched, they serve two purposes. The runes on the shaft serve as a permanent and very specific retrieve item spell. When the arrow hits home it will instantly return to its owner's hand, ready for further use. The runes in the tip can store five basic elemental spells and the arrow will use one spell every time it strikes a target. He will sell it to you for 50 WPs.
Nevill said:
- Are there items that affect one's mobility? Allowing one run up the walls. walk faster, or perhaps slow down one's enemies?
- He has four pairs of leather boots that allow their wearer to climb walls and walk on ceilings. (20 WPs a pair)
He does not have anything to actually speed you up or slow others down but he does have a vial of a very addictive magical solution that will speed up your ability to process information and increase your ability to notice details. It should allow you to cast fast as a result and your mental spells would be greatly improved. There is enough solution in the vial for two doses. It also might make you hallucinate a little. (30 WPs each)
Nevill said:
- Did he provide Nanshe with means of contacting him, or did he just contact her in her sleep? She should have been unable to do this unlesshe taught her how.
He taught her how to meditate and contact him when necessary. That is how she contacted him this time.
Nevill said:
- What are his relations with the Spider Goddess, really? By the looks of it he is still wary of her invading the Dreaming again, and now that she may have the spearhead allowing her to kill powerful entities, he should be. But at the same time:
Does that mean he still works with her from time to time, providing her with information (not about our activities, but in general)?
He grins and his wife sighs. She answers for him, "My sister is very beautiful and
some people do not know to quit while they are ahead."
Morpheus grins even wider.
Nevill said:
- What did he need Mayer for? He made him his agent, why? For amusement? For spying on the Goddess? Or is there some kind of other purpose to it?
He did it because it seemed like a fun idea. Also he liked the idea of reuniting husband and wife after so long, it is just a shame it did not turn out better.
Naturally once he had an agent of his very own he had to decide what to do with Mayer. He thought it would be great fun to have the Banker spy on the Cult and he had enough faith in Mayer to believe he could pull it off.
Nevill said:
What determines whether a man becomes an agent or a toy in his grand collection?
Largely how cautious the person in question is.
Nevill said:
- What is this construct in Mayer's mind that we've seen? The Lady told us it was his handiwork. What does it signify and why does it feel like it is made of black marble, the same marble the Goddess' temples are made of?
The construct is his way of helping to protect Mayer from the Cultists.
It is made of black marble because the Goddess tends to use the same on her followers. If the cultists were to go poking around in his head then it would be better for Mayer if they think he is an ally investigating them for the Goddess than an enemy investigating them for Morpheus. It is also unlikely that anyone else would be able to recognize the importance of the black spire so Mayer is fairly safe from government agents as well. They are likely to think it is merely some sort of custom mental defense system built for the banker (he has a fair amount of money after all). Additionally there are not too many mentalists in the employ of the government (in fact, the two of you are the only notable ones that he can think of) so it is not too likely that Mayer will have to worry about the government anyway. The Cult does employ illusionists and mentalists though so it is more important that Mayer can 'pass' as one when needed.
Nevill said:
- Tell him about our encounter with the village mayor. Does he know what can affect a man's mind like that?
Either a great deal of discipline, a mind completely untroubled by thoughts, or a mind that has been purged by powerful magic.
Nevill said:
- If we decide to buy out the Arrows, how is it going to work? Are we free to use them as our own company, or are there restrictions until the sum is paid in full? What about existing contracts the Arrows have, will we inherit them as well?
Depends on how you buy them out. If you keep Ceannard on as a partner he will want a say in things. If you make him an officer he will follow your orders as long as you keep up the payments. If you can't make the payments then the Arrows will return to Ceannard's control though he might allow you to delay the odd payment slightly if he is happy with how you are running things.
No specific restrictions as long as you pay.
Yes, you would inherit their contracts and you would be expected to uphold them or to negotiate a way out of them that would not ruin the Arrows' reputation. If you just drop them then Ceannard will not be happy. You do not know what sorts of contracts he currently has out but you have been monopolizing his time and resources for months now so it is entirely possible that he has next to nothing currently on the books.
Nevill said:
- What if we do not want to make our agreement public? Can we leave them to operate independently as they used to when we are not 'contracting' them for a job? What happens to the money they earn during such freelance work? On one hand, we did not buy them out fully yet. On another, their company belongs to us at least partially, since we are making our payments. Will this money be pooled with our resourses, split 50/50 with Ceannard, or what?
If you do not officially take over he will continue to run things as long as he is around. He will also continue to run the company much as he has unless you give him instructions otherwise.
The money will stay with the Arrows. If you want to collect some of it you will need to establish some way of indirectly filtering it to you. Mayer should be able to work something out.
Well, the money will be yours so you can split it how you want but if you don't want people finding out that you own the Arrows you will have to be discrete about it.
Nevill said:
- What prompted him to change the rates at which the payments need to be made? It was only recently when he was ready to split the cost over 5 years, and now he requires us to make the payments in 2000 / 200 * 3 = 30 months, half as long. What gives? It is not like the current situation has any bearings on the costs, since if we die in the next 3 months, it is not going to matter, and if we don't, we have all the time in the world.
The smart ass answer would be that he now has a family to think about and Ceannard is no 'deadbeat dad'.
Honestly, he has been thinking about what it means to work with you and he is not sure he will make it five years. He wants to be able to spend all that money if needed.
Nevill said:
- Can we do a background check on the maid? How did she end up in the debtors' prison, how did she end up being a maid, who does she owe to, and how much?
Sure, you do a bit of digging and this is what you find. She has never been to a debtor' prison and she took the job as a maid because it is one of the things she can do well. The debts she seems to owe are actually owed by her mother who is in debtors' prison. Her mother is not in good health though and she can not work enough to pay down the debts. If her mother dies then all that debt falls to her and she will be carted off to prison.
She is both free and trapped at the same time.
Her mother owes about 500WPs worth of gold to her former employer. The chief finanical officer of a large mining company based out of Stoneheim, his name is Birgir.
It was claimed that her mother stole from Birgir and his wife. The original sum was 10 WPs but the interest rate is quite high and it compounds monthly...
Nevill said:
- Can we see what kind of spells Thais and Derryth prepared for each other?
And ruin the surprises?
Yeah, sure.
I will add them to the list in the resource section when I have time to type them out but since you are not likely to have time to learn them until you are done in the south I see no point to rush.
When I do get them typed out I will also post them in a regular post so you do not need to constantly search the spell list for additions.
All told you are looking at roughly a dozen new spells from their gifts.
Nevill said:
- Do the Seekers know enchantment spells? If so, which ones? I can't stand seeing 20 mages twiddling their thumbs. I want them to enchant the weapons for our mercenaries, enhancing combat strength for at least a part of our forces.
No, they are not like the enchanters you could hire from the Academy. They are battle mages and none of them know enchantments.
Nevill said:
- Did we get to enchanting Uttu's arrows?
Yes you have time. I just forgot to do it.
I will add a handful of enchantments to them when I get around to updating the character/organization sheets.
Ideally I would like to close the voting in seventy two hours at the most, provided the DISCUSS is completed by then.
As soon as I do I will post the Interlude.