“What?” you say, shifting back into the Cibach he knows seamlessly. “You-”

“Yes. The serpent people have taken her again.” Arman admits grimly

“How did this happen?” you demand, the obvious place to start.

“Too quickly, too quickly.” Arman says. “I was just down the hall from her when I heard a short, sharp cry. I raced to her chamber to find papers on the floor; the desk upended – chaos. I hurried into the street but saw nothing! I knew you were her only hope, but when I asked at the inn, they said you hadn't been seen in some time.”

Well, yes, naturally, you had relocated to much nicer accomodations. You start walking out of the courthouse, forcing Amran to follow. Best to be out just in case they decide to change their minds. You motion for Arman to continue.

“I knew the serpents could not have taken you by force, as they took Cygnis; it had to be some human agency, even if it was disguised. When I asked a member of the City Watch, he confirmed you had been taken to the Courts. Fortunately, my order still carries considerable weight in this city. High priest Thuron and I found a sympathetic councilor to write up an order making you a ward of our temple, protecting your from arrest and bringing death upon anyone who harms you.”

“Quite... Nice, thank you, Arman.”

“Yes, for the moment you... and I, are safe now, from those lackeys, at least. But there is still the matter of Cygnis. I fear the serpents intend to complete the job they started last time. I don't know where they could have taken her, though. Their temple is empty now and cleared of it's blasphemous evil.”

Indeed... Even if they were capable of evacuating their temple in plain sight, they probably were not bold enough to return there, where they were caught the first time... Where to start? It might be worth checking back at the temple, though Arman obviously thinks you're racing a time-limit. Scinnari was supposed to be investigating the address you had found, and is probably done, considering the wait you had to sit around for in the courthouse.... What now?

We should meet up with Scinnari to see what she found out.

Might also want to look into the light house we found in the back of that book.

>>12479455

Without speaking, you signal Arman to halt for a moment. Focusing, you envision Scinnari's choker, and attempt to discern it's location.... The direction comes to you very strongly, followed by distance. She seems to be back 'home'.

>>12479634
Well lets go see what she found out. And while we are at it check up on our assassin.

And unrelated but it is very fucking slow tonight.

>>12479664
14:00 for me. A very dreary and lethargic afternoon, though.
###################

"First thing to do, then, is to go get a few friends." you tell Arman, charting a course through the city square's other occupants.

"Of course. But please, we must hurry, Cygnis is in trouble as we speak, I know it." Arman replies. How touching.

"Of course, I'm worried for her too, but I didn't take the cult on my own the first time, and I doubt I could do it this time." you reply. For the most part, true.


Scinnari does turn out to be home, along with Asha. Both downstairs, and they greet you as you arrive.

"Asha, Brother Arman, Brother Arman, Asha. Cygnis may have mentioned her, otherwise, she's a friend from Tashz, visiting." you reply, introducing the two as you catch Scinnari's eye. She nods, and you add, "Please, make yourself comfortable. I need to talk to Scinnari." Excusing yourself, you proceed upstairs with her, followed by Arman's cry of, "Please, we must hurry!"

"Of course!" you reply, putting worry in your own voice. Upstairs, you shut a door behind you, then nod at Scinnari again. "What did you find?"

"Well... I suppose it can wait. '100 Bierce Vintners, Wave Avenue' is the living and business estate of Kazmiri Verlaine, wizard and High Captain of Freeport. You aren't surprised." Scinnari observes, continuing, "He has numerous guards, as do the estates around his. Very wealthy section of a wealthy district. Crates were being shipped in, handed off to the guards, who delivered them. I'm afraid I couldn't get in; invisibility does not make for good door opening, but they seemed very straightforward and not at all covert in their operations, for whatever that is worth. Now... What did you find?"

>>12479890
Did we inform her of what we found at the inn and the temple the second time around? I can't remember. If not, inform her. Otherwise I'm not sure what there is to tell her. That and Cygnis is kidnapped and it would be in our best interests to rescue her since it will lead to nice loot and hampering the cult is always good.

>>12480063
"KV's men have been investigating old city plans, maps of the sewers in this vicinity as well. Further, details suggest that Kazmiri came out of nowhere, when the current Sealord took power, was a driving power behind the city's lighthouse project, and has become wonderfully wealthy off of buying up masonry and architectural suppliers for the lighthouse." you recite offhandedly.

"A quite indicting piece of information." she agrees.

"After leaving the records building, Kazmir's guards caused some trouble for me, and took me to cool my heels at the courthouse for a few hours. Turns out he thinks- or wants me to think he thinks-" you add an ironic corollary, "That I am a political threat, and quite possibly interested in trying to connect him to the cult. Oh, and apparently Eidomon was his right-hand man on the project." you add, remembering what you found among Reed's archives.

"Quite an interesting, but not necessarily unexpected development." Scinnari decides.

"And Arman down there showed up to rescue me from Kazmiri's thugs, telling me that Cygnis had been taken again." you finish, "Which is why we're here. I needed to know what you found out."

"Really?" Scinnari laughs, "Is that so?"

Not certain where she's going with this, you raise an eyebrow.

"They may all look alike, but I assure you, that isn't Arman, down there. I was wondering why you had decided to introduce him as such. Hmm... An appearance altering spell... or item, I should think." Scinnari decides, after a moments consideration. "I wonder if Cygnis knows she's missing right now?"

Interesting... Find out what this Arman thinks we should do then. Most likely he's here to lead us into a trap or our house is going to be under attack soon. Until we know why this fake Arman was sent to us, we shouldn't kill him unless we have to I think.

Bump. No one here?

>>12480391
Only one person it seems. Slow day today.

>>12480096
Might also be a good idea to have Scinnari describe what the person downstairs looks like. There's a chance it's someone we already know I suppose.

>>12480203
>>12480471
Unless we get a minimum of three people, I think we should call it failed, and resume tomorrow.
################

"Really. And what does he look like?", you ask.

"Fairly close to Arman, actually. Human. Red hair, no beard, no mustache. A bit... flat of face. You say he impersonated Arman to pull you out from the Courthouse? He could be... benevolent, or unrelated to your current investigations."

"You don't believe that." you scoff.

"Of course not. But it is a good... mental exercise, to keep possibilities open. What has he wanted, so far?"

"Very worried. Poor Cygnis, alas, what will ever become of her? Hurry, hurry, we must find her." you mock without effort. "I wonder whether he has plans should we run into the real Arman? Assuming Arman isn't mysteriously missing himself." you finish with irritation. "Perhaps I should just let you kill him."

"I... would of course be delighted to do so." Scinnari responds, "But unless you would like me to practice on him now, what do you think we should do? If we were to... test his interests, such as delaying our 'search' for Cygnis, or by threatening to check in on her place of residence or accommodations at the temple, we might learn some of what he wants... Or you could simply hand him to me... But that might alienate his employer, should he be independent, or Asha, should she hear about this. Which she most certainly would..." Scinnari contemplates aloud, fingernails tapping her lip.

>>12480624

I'm here, thats 1

I'm going between this and another ME2 playthrough. So I'm 1/2 here.

link to 13?

I'm here, but I missed 13 and wanna catch up

>>12480624
Definitely test his interests. Perhaps suggest we examine Cygnis' home in the hopes there are clues on who may have taken her or where?

And another person here so maybe we have at least 3.

Good enough, then.
All on sup/tg/, except one.
XIII: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/12433858/

If we've got people, I'm game.

Just got here, used to it starting a bit later. Catching up.

>>12480624
Okay. We still have that anti-dragon level poison that Scinnari found had knocked out Cygnis right? Quickly enough she couldn't even polymorph? I suggest using that to incapacitate "Arman" and secure him. Then have Asha go fetch an anti-teleportation device from the city magi while we secure him.

>>12480888
If it's a poison, that would probably prove highly lethal.

Of course, the vibe I got was 'chloroform', so it might work.

Perhaps we should just see where he tries to lead us? If they have Arman out of the way, perhaps we could convince Cygnis to help us rescue him? (And perhaps knife him, or delay just long enough to make sure he's dead?)

Dunno, just throwing things out there.

>>12480888
Errr, slight addendum: incapacitate him after probing questions and seeing what he says. Like suggesting going to Cygnis's house or back to the temple to research where they might have taken her.

>>12480937
Right, I used poison generically. It sounded like a knockout drug that worked almost instantly.

"Alright. We will need a place to start searching." you say, descending the stairs with Scinnari following you. "The best place seems to be the temple proper; Arman, can you show us her room?" you ask. Scinnari follows you down, casually standing in the doorway. Should he be thinking about leaving.

"I.. Do we have time for that? We need to find her! They could be... torturing her, or even killing her, as we speak!" he questions. Reluctant, eager to take you somewhere, but willing to indulge you on this. Perhaps they've taken both Cygnis AND Arman? They might think that sufficient to keep them safe. Or he thinks he can talk his way through whatever happens. Unlikely.

"We don't know where she is, do we?" you ask reasonably, "We should start at the source, perhaps we could find a clue in her office." you suggest. He looks sheepish.

"I- Of course, of course. I just- Anything could be happening to her right now, we don't know..." he finishes. "I... I suppose we can do that, but we simply must go and find her! If- If you don't, I'll go myself! I can't abandon her!"

>>12481088
"Well where do you suggest we go then? Unless you have any better ideas, we're going to have to find clues on who took her and where."

>>12481088
Ask him where he would suggest looking first. He must have some idea of a good place to start looking. Heh heh.

Then drug the bastard. Quickly so he doesn't suspect we are on to him. And I restate we need to send one of the ladies to get an anti-teleportation device while he is under.

>>12481088
Where exactly would he go? Where does he want us to go?

Considering he's panicking and not giving concrete information, my guess is that he's trying to waste our time while real shit is going down.

I'm all for KO-ing him, and taking him to a hidden place for Scinnari to interrogate without Asha finding out.

And once the information is extracted, Scinnari can eat his soul. A girl's gotta eat, you know.

"Scinnari? Could you do me a favor? Fetch me the bottle in the desk drawer. The small one you got me." you specify. Scinnari smiles and nods, departing up the stairs.

"So where should we start?" you ask 'Arman', "Unless you have an idea, our only course is to investigate her room. Or perhaps her home." you ask. That strikes a nerve.

"No! We must find her! I've heard of strange figures moving through the old city, where the cult's first hideout was... I think they're trying to move things using the sewers." he says. That matches up with what you got from Reed at the archives, roughly. Hmm.... He doesn't seem to want you to investigate, perhaps Cygnis or Arman, or even both aren't missing... That would make this a ratehr incompetent attempt, in your opinion. He gets up and starts moving towards the door, and you stand, preparing to stop him should he be interested in escaping.

"If you- If you won't go and rescue her, then I will!" he declares, sounding scared but resolved.

"I told you, I told you, I will! We just need an appraisal of what we're up against. Hmm.. Scinnari? Thank you, and yes, please." you say, noticing her appear over 'Arman's shoulder. He turns to look just in time for Scinnari to uncork the perfume bottle, and wave it under his nose. He starts to exclaim something, but relaxes, then collapses, asleep, or possibly dead. You hope not dead.

"Alright... Asha, could you go out and procure something to prevent teleportation? He doesn't seem capable of it, but we can't be too careful... Hmm." you say, thinking. Then you notice Asha's somewhat horrified face. "Ah, I'm sorry. I introduced him as 'Arman'? The fact is, he is not. He's pretending to be, though, and I'd like to figure out who and what he is, preferably before he can tip off his superiors... " Asha nods, and heads out.

Actions?

>>12481364
Tie him down to a table or something.

PAINT THE MAN, CUT THE LINES. PAINT THE MAN, CUT THE LINES.

>>12481364

Bind him, gag him and ask if Scinnari can do anything about his disguise.

>>12481364
Search him. See if he has anything on him that suggests his true nature. Otherwise secure him for now and await his awakening so he can be questioned. I'm tempted to go see if Cygnis is really kidnapped or not. Perhaps we can send Asha to do that although I forgot if we told Cygnis if she was staying with us or not.

>>12481364
Up into the bedroom with him, under the anti-scry. Strip him and tie him securely, searching his belongings. And see if we can dispel that illusion. Do we have anything for that? I don't think so. Well, we can have Scinnari teleport to a shop and back to pick it up quickly. Useful to have instant transport.

Also, it has been quite some time thanks to time lapses. Isn't that amulet finished and enchanted by now? We should slap it on him just in case he tries polymorphing. We don't need a hydra in our bedroom.

So what's this thread about, aside from being a dragon?

>>12481430
Actually on second thought, he probably couldn't polymorph anyway if we bound his hands and gagged him. Still, better safe than sorry if we have it. And if we don't it's probably safe anyway.

I'm just wondering if Asha will be okay with someone in the exact same situation she was in. On one hand, she kills for money. On the other, she may be sympathetic to his plight. We should tell her we are worried about the real Arman and ask her to visit the temple and check on his whereabouts and where he has been the past few days. That should keep her out of our hair.

>>12481436
That's pretty much what it's about. We're trying to build a hoard and an empire to toy with over the centuries currently. We could do something else if it suited our fancy. Dragons have lots of time, after all.

I am a little worried about our control over Asha. Stockholm Syndrome will only go so far, and if she gets used to running around for us, maybe she'll realize that she's free to do whatever she wants.

I have no idea how to control her.

>>12481614
Scinnari is also part of why she stays loyal to us. As long as she's under our protection, Scinnari won't do a thing to her and she's well aware of that. The second she leaves... All bets are off.

>>12481614
Really, she's working for us now. We're giving her housing and backing, plus I suggest we give her a stipend. And she can take jobs on the side. I imagine that's plenty for her.

>>12481436
Well, it started out as 'you are dragon out to see the world, and ideally gain all those things you ever wanted along the way', but we seem to be intent on seeing the world with an army at our backs, so we're building up powerbase here. Also, we've run into a cult that seems to exhibit an unhealthy interest in dragons.

##############
>>12481420
>>12481393

Hauling the body upstairs, to prevent scrying, you dump it on the floor, and search it. He has two small clay jars, with tin lids on them, an open, empty one, a faintly magical ring, and a map of the sewers, with both an entrance in the old city, and a location along the border of the warehouse district and the merchant district.

Additionally, you find a short sword, thoroughly unremarkable.

"Scinnari, can you do something about his looks?" you ask, taking the bindings that were used on Asha some time ago, and reapplying them.

"No, but I assure you, he isn't Arman. IT will likely fade away with time. I do not smell... power on him, I doubt he used an enduring spell."

Lets do a hoard count.

However much loot we've got.
The house we have from Cygnis
1 devil
1 assassin
1 tribe of kobolds and their warehouse
Assorted magical texts

I can't wait to kill Kazrimi and loot all his stuff.

rolled 38 = 38

>>12481693
Can we get a sense on what the ring does? Can we sense anything from the clay jars or would we have to open the non-empty one to get an idea on what's inside?

>>12481693

Since good cop, bad cop worked out very well before, let's give that another try.

Have Scinarri splash some water to wake this douchebag up.

>>12481715
There was one in the previous thread, I believe.

Sword
Staff
Gold [500]
Silver [9653 is what I have in my notes, but I'm pretty sure we've spent some...]
Copper [18]
Polymorph-compatible anti-scrying amulet [wearing]
Anti-scrying amulet [with Jerrik]
Work-of-Art gold dragon pendant [not finished, not enchanted, paid for, being made]
anti-poison/detect magic ring
Cult knicknacks [a bunch of (at least six) gold goblets, silver candlesticks, and two golden candelabras]
Book of the Binder The Unspeakable One
Book of learner's magical theory
Platinum [20]
'A treatise on Base and pure metals', a book found in Devlin-AKA-Eidomon-AKA-snakeman priest's apartment. It has a two page sketch on the last page of architectural plans for a lighthouse, with rather complicated architectural equations, and arrows pointing to certain portions of it.
Some lead figurines of innocuous gods, and one of with the Binder/Unspeakable Ones' yellow sign.
Magic shortsword we gave to Jerrik.
Magic crossbow we gave to Jerrik.

>>12481763
Gong to go grab some food, ~20 min break. Glad to see people showing up.

>>12481763
Don't we have some item that lets us track Scinnari and is bound to her collar too? Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to locate object on it. It's warded against scrying unless the scryer has the linked item in his possession. (I think it was a ring?)

Also we spent 500 of that silver on the kobolds.

When Asha gets back we should meet her at the foyer and send her out to check on Arman and Cygnis. Tell her to inform Cygnis that we have found the cult to be active again and she should be on guard and stay put. Then have her guard Arman or if he is missing she needs to try and investigate where he went.

This should keep her busy while we interrogate the guy.

>>12481763
we should go see the kobolds. i'm pretty sure they will have extensive knowledge of the sewer they are part time smugglers

>>12481937
I agree. We can do that when Scinnari is going to need to inevitably torture him.

>>12481937
That's an interesting idea, but we should interrogate this dude first to make sure there's anything in the sewers at all.

My guess is that the cultists have an ambush set up for this guy to lead us into. If that's the case, we can flip it on them. We'll have the kobolds use their knowledge of the sewers to surround the cultists' ambush, and then we go there with Scinnari polymorphed to look like the spy.

When the cultists pop out, the kobolds gank them from behind while we attack from the front.

It can't fail!

>>12481961
should we bring the assassin. she did cast haste by herself and she could possibly haste a couple kobolds or us

>>12481961
Erinyes can't polymorph. Grow/hide claws, horns, and wings, sure, but polymorphing is a succubus thing.

>>12481985
Nuts. Can we dominate the spy? If not, we could just go ourselves and toss a "alright Arman, you stay there, we'll scout ahead" before we round the corner.

Bringing the assassin is a mixed idea. She'd be a great help, but fighting alongside the kobolds would tip her off to what we are.

>>12482017
Not really. She has to know we are something other than ordinary if we are running for a council position and have a demon bound to us. Kobold swarm would be weird but she wouldn't just immediately think DRAGON out of nowhere.

>>12481804

Yes.
Alright.

>>12481740
>>12481804
[1d100 to determine effects]

Asha is taking her time, so instead you tell Scinnari to go warn Cygnis. She's initially reluctant until you point out that you want her to also taunt Cygnis, if she can, being a devil, but, letter of your alledged command, conveying the message you wanted to Cygnis. She seems much happier with that, and departs.


When she returns, you invite her up, and drop a goblet of water on 'Arman'. The fact that it's one of the goblets you looted from the temple is somewhat satisfying, assuming he's another cultist. Likely.

"Hello there. Would you care to tell us your name?" you ask pleasantly.

"N- Arman, wha? What's going on? What are you doing? Cygnis..." he says blearily, effects of the drug obviously still clouding his mind.

Action?

rolled 24 = 24

>>12482058
don't fail me now dice gods!

>>12482104
looks like it's time to switch faiths.

rolled 29 = 29

>>12482058
"I'm afraid that I am in an unpleasant mood after being, arrested, threatened by a wizard, and menaced by thuggish officers. In other words, my patience is running thin. We can do this with torture or without, but it all depends on what you say in the next few seconds.

Who are you and who do you work for?"

Boy, I'll feel embarrassed if he's actually Arman and Scinnari is doing this to kill a priest.

I assume Cygnis confimed he's in disguise?

>>12482104
>>12482111
Well, I guess we aren't very good at this interrogation thing. Guess our devil has some funtime ahead of her.

We should intercept Asha and deliver the anti-teleportation stuff ourselves and send her on some busywork to avoid the unpleasantness upstairs. Then visit the kobolds.

>>12482128
If that happens then Scinnari knows she would be in deep shit with us. She's a devil but not stupid.

>>12482111
>>12482104
>24, 29
You fail to discern anything about their purposes. Beyond, of course, that the ring was obviously beneficial since he was wearing it.

"I have very little patience, and no tolerance for trouble. I have had a bad day, been attacked, accused, arrested, and assaulted. I am getting answers from you, and whether I have to turn you over to my brilliant-and-gifted, but unfortunately rather creative and sadistic lady, will all depend on whether I am satisfied with what you tell me. Ah," you say, hearing footsteps on the porch, "You've got a few moments to think on that question. I would advise you do so."

Opening the door, you greet Asha at the foot of the stairs, preventing her from climbing or looking in on the captive. You wouldn't want her to start thinking about whether you were really sorry about letting Scinnari have her way with her. That just wouldn't do.

"I'm sorry, Cibach, I couldn't find anything of the sort." Asha begins, and you nod.

"It's okay, I forgot to tell you why, in my hurry. I don't think he'll teleport anyway, but I do have something else for you. Can you find this smith in the eastern district, I commissioned something with him that should have been done days ago..." you begin, elaborating, and making sure to include a slight error or two to eat up her time. You correct one, but send her out the door confident it should take her at least an hour.

>>12482538
Returning upstairs, you enter the room with a beaming smile, and a "So, have we mad our decision, yet?"

"Yes, yes he did." Scinnari responds, pouting. "Then he went and changed his mind, as soon as I started."

"I'll answer your questions! I'll answer them!" 'Arman' responds from the floor.

"Who are you and who do you work for?"

"N-Nikko. I'm... following K'ral's orders!"

"K'ral?" you ask, still amiable.

"The... priestess. She ordered me to....lead you.. into a trap."

"Indeed, one in the sewers?" you ask. He nods.

[Anything else, or what next?]

>>12482555
Ask how they know we're involved in screwing them over. That's been bugging me for awhile. Also, where their new base of operations is at.

>>12482555
Where did you meet with her?
Any information about bases, or land she might own would be helpful.
Why are you working for her? Something other than money? It would seem he might be part of this cult. Perhaps he could shed some light on it's inner workings.

>>12482555
Also ask him to describe this K'Ral and who she is.

And tell him that any information he volunteers without us needing to ask specifically would make this oh-so-much easier on him.

Maybe we should ask him where Arman is and how he got that note that we should be released?

>>12482578
"And how do you know that we have been hindering your operations?" you ask.

"You were credited as the mercenary the priest hired initially." Nikko replies, "I don't know, but I assume they wanted this in retribution."

"That's a good start. Do know that anything you volunteer will make it so much easier for you."

"I don't know that much! I'm just an errand runner. They sent me out to get you offed. I don't know anything else." he pleads.

>>12482695
Seconding this as common sense failed me.

>>12482706
Hmm. Did we blab to people we were helping Arman find Cygnis in the first place? I've forgotten.

I suppose inquire into if Arman and Cygnis have been kidnapped or not.

>>12482706
He clearly knows some of the people in the cult, if nothing else. Their capabilities, appearances, patterns of activity... some time with Scinnari might make him remember all kinds of interesting things, in fact.

I say we pump him for any information he might have, to include names, contacts, pass phrases, and then kill him. We then assume his guise, wear his clothing, and dress his corpse in some of our clothing and use some magic to disguise him as us. We then take his corpse to the ambush and see if we can turn the tables on them.

>>12482706
Well, check into the note, where Arman is, location of the cult's new HQ, patterns of operation, how many of them there are, and if the priestess is powerful. Also tell him we want to know all the people in power that he knows of. Also ask if he knew Eidioman.

Grill him on his gear.

Details about the trap, if he has them.

If we know what will be where, we can better inform our kobold minions.

>>12482695
>>12482729
>>12482720
>>12482823
>>12482833
"And is Cygnis actually missing?"

"No. But I think Arman is. K'sar said there would be no worry of the actual Arman causing problems."

"I see. And, assuming that's the case, then where would they be holding Arman?"

"The... temple. In the sewers, under the merchant district, I think." A new one. Interesting.

"Finally, where was this ambush?"

"On the map. I was supposed to lead you to it, run on ahead, and they would close in."

"Excellent. I'm glad you're willing to cooperate, though Scinnari certainly doesn't look it." you say, formulating a plan....

[What now?]

>>12482878
"And these?" you ask, holding the items you found on him.

"I... a ring of protection, K'sar gave it to me, and the pots are disguise gear. That's how I have the... ineffective appearance I have now." he attempts to joke, though stops when he realizes no one is laughing.

>>12482915
Well, that's him useless I suppose.
Any better info on the numbers of the ambush and anything he knows about the priestess would be nice. After that we really have no further use for him.

>>12482915
dispel the effects.

Let Scinnari eat his soul or something, then dump the body in the sewers when we go there.

Wait for Asha to come back, then we go rally the kobolds.

>>12482915
"Hm, that's all well and good.. it's really a shame you couldn't tell me anymore. But such is life eh? (chuckle agreeably for him) Anything else you might remember that would make me want you to be alive perhaps?"

You've done well and answered my questions admirably. Unfortunately, you've told me nothing worth your life. Or soul.

Scinnari, he is yours. Do keep the blood from staining anything, and make sure the body is dumped where it can not be connected to us. I have some errands to run. If Asha comes back please put the necklace up here, and don't let her see our prisoner.

I think we should get Cygnis to help us. After all, having fought off an assassin, warned her, and then helped her rescue her dear friend (even if it turns out it's sadly too late,) can only help our rep with her.

>>12482997
I agree. Let's not let Scinnari know about our kobold underlings. We are keeping our operations compartmentalized after all. I say tell Cygnis that the cult has abducted Arman and we know where they are. Tell her that last time we had a favor from a red and are unsure if we can take them alone this time.

That should get her raging and fighting for us. Any wound she takes instead of us is a wound to our benefit.

>>12483022
>>12482997
>>12482979
"Anything else that you think would be worth the trouble of keeping you alive?" you ask, still pleasant as always.

"I could guide you there?" Nikko offers.

"Sorry, so could your map. Scinnari, all yours. Try not to stain the carpet." you reply regretfully. Before Nikko can react she slips a gag on him, and smiles.

"Thank you, lord. Should I be back any time soon?"

"How about half an hour. I'm going to go and recruit Cygnis to our cause; any damage she takes instead of us serves our purposes in more ways than one. Don't get blood on the carpets." you add as you head out the door.

*********************
"...and that is why I was hoping to enlist your help." you say in conclusion. "Last time, as explained, a red dragon owed me significantly. This time... I'm not sure I can handle such a rescue as I am." you reply. Careful phrasing, no lie. Which she is undoubtedly checking for.

"II see. Of course I will help you as I can." Cygnis responds at length. You are happy to notice a slight quaver in her voice, Arman may have been right about her mental state. Scinnari dropping by to taunt and deliver bad news could not possibly have helped.

"You're sure you don't know when he was taken?" you ask, feigning worry. "The less time they have with him, the more likely he is to survive."

"I... I don't know. I saw him when we left the temple yesterday..." Cygnis recalls, pain in her voice.

>>12483205
Did he mention going anywhere else for the night or did he go straight home? I'm also tempted to say we should head towards the ambush and take out whoever is there.

>>12483205
Be supportive, tell her we will be there to back her up and the cult has already taken an enormous hit from before. But also be firm and tell her we need to move soon or all will be lost. Tell her that unless we move soon the cult will vanish and forever be out there, waiting in the shadows... waiting to strike when she is least prepared.

rolled 67 = 67

AH SHIT! IT'S DRAG QUEST!

I'm confused as to why if Kazmiri is working WITH the cult, that the cult would pull him away from us......Anyone else confused on that? Perhaps, someone is just USING Kazmiri's resources without him knowing it and genuinely saw us as a threat?

>>12483241
>>12483302
"Look, I know you still think you owe me," you say, pleased with your wording. She might not, but she should, and you get to subtly remind her. "I'm not calling that in. I swear I am not." Not obligating her to help.. because she will anyway. "But we've hurt the cult, that's why they care enough to try and retaliate. And this is a chance to hurt them again. I'll attempt this no matter what, but... I would appreciate your help, and I know you have an interest in this. If you wish to come..."

"I'll.. I'll come." Cygnis says. You aren't sure whether she's trying to hide pain or rage in her voice. Probably both.

"Thank you." you reply, taking her hand, "I know this hurts, but please, we can save him." Not exactly true, but unlikely to sound suspicious.

"I'll come. I'll help you." she says, harder this time. Anger now.

"Good. I'm glad."


[where to now?]

rolled 41 = 41

>>12483471
Tell her to meet us at the temple, so we can investigate Arman's quarters. We need to pay a visit to the kobolds. Distractions and what not are nice. I say we also give some more money to them so that they can get semi-decent gear for them, but that is later. Right now, we just need to fuck up this ambush and reverse it.

>>12483471
Well, if we're getting Cygnis in on the action, having the kobolds help us will be a dead giveaway. Also, we can't have the kobolds know about her as a dragon, because then they'll have an opposing dragon they could go to if they start to dislike us.

So our battle group is Cygnis, Scinnari, Asha, and ourselves. Whatever Cygnis is, a devil fighter/caster, an assassin, and another fighter/caster.

We need to go to a tavern, grab some dice and some papyrus, and start planning out our next moves.

>>12483471
Well, I personally don't think it would be a good idea to let our kobolds see another dragon so we should leave them be. Even if they like chromatics rather than metallics it can't be a good idea. So, I say we fetch Scinnari and Asha then the four of us head down into the sewers where the trap was planned.

>>12483502
Failed to specify, we are at the temple. (That's where we and Scinnari contacted her.)

rolled 54 = 54

>>12483546
>>12483518
I was more thinking that we could let the kobolds handle the ambush while we hit them at home since we technically know where they are, I think. On the map correct? However, I'll concede to your points in that we could probably go without them. It still stands that we need them to be our espionage network in the sewers later on.

>>12483518
>grab some dice and papyrus and start planning our next moves
>grab some dice and paper and start planning our next moves
>D&D
Ah-ha-ha-ha.

>>12483578
If the ambush is equipped to handle a badass mercenary guy that they know was able to throw fireballs and slaughter many of their compatriots, I would not want to bet on how well our rabble of kobolds will do against it. Keep them out of this one for now.

Ask Cygnis if she has any gear or other allies which might prove useful in throwing ourselves against this cult. Then, on to the temple.

>>12483655
"Do you need time to arm yourself?" you ask, a sense of urgency, but taking time to be polite.

"No... I am not much of a.. fighter. I may be able to heal you, though, should you need it. Or Arman..." Cygnis confides.

"Alright. In that case..."

[I'm a little unclear on where you actually intend for us to go. Specify, please?]

rolled 88 = 88

>>12483738

Welpz I'm the only one for the kobolds. I just figured that they technically now had the advantage where the ambushers had it and we could have them switch it around since they ARE sneaky lil bastards. Soooo I think we are heading to our place to pick up Asha and Scin.

>>12483738
We have two potential target locations, right? One is the ambush, and the other is the cult temple in the sewers under the merchant district. We should move against the temple.


If I've somehow missed that we don't actually know where the temple is, and the ambush is all we have to go on... well, I guess we're hitting the ambush, then. Preferably from an unexpected angle.


By the way, motion to maneuver Cygnis into eating Kazmiri. It could solve a fair number of our problems.

>>12483738
Right now, our only idea has been to walk into the ambush and overpower it.

I think that it was stupid to involve Cygnis, because that means we can't use our kobolds to ambush the ambushers.

Without them, I'm not sure what to do.

It is a sewer system. Could we redirect the cities' water to drown them? That would make it much easier, and we could go in and scope out any survivors to interrogate.

>>12483738
Main temple. Hit them while the ambushers are gone and the defenses are weakened, then set up a counter-ambush for when they come back.

Right. We should inform her of what our good old resident mage has been up to, even in the sense of how he's trying to boot us out of the city.

>>12483738
Temple after we pick up our other two companions. No kobolds.

>>12483809
I disagree. If he is there at the temple I want Cygnis to hulk out and fight him to the death. If she knows a powerful high-level wizard is on their side she might not come.

>>12483810
One potentially relevant point: As far as I am aware, Cygnis does not know that the assassin we prevented from succeeding is now working for us- we've concealed Asha's identity. If Asha goes into combat using the exact same fighting style, though... well, gold dragons are pretty sharp and she might connect the dots. Not to mention that if we're planning to deploy Asha to assassinate people later, we'll want her description to be disconnected from that of whatever mysterious assassin is glimpsed in the future. It might therefore be wise to have Asha use something other than her typical superfast stabbity style of warfare.

On the other hand, if that's all she's got, that's all she's got.

>>12483821
I think it's worth the risk. If she really does back out because they have a wizard there, that shows how afraid of this cult she is and how much more she'll owe us when we take care of it on our own. That and I'm still not 100% on if Kazmiri is involved with the cult or not... It seems highly likely but there's still a chance he's being used by them.

rolled 95 = 95

>>12483875
I actually agree on this whole thing. If they are working together, apparently their command structure is really crappy on communication. That or they DID do that to just disorient us into falling for the ambush. "That" being the court house escort and demanding us to leave.

>>12483852
We've told her and sold her on the story that Asha wants to reform and not be an assassin anymore.

>>12483875
All his records were in old lizard, mang.

>>12483929
Were they? I completely missed that then. There's still the slight possibility he's just working with them/being used by them and isn't apart of the cult but that definitely lends some weight to your view.

But as mentioned, it just doesn't make sense with the way they've been acting. If he was apart of the cult, why go through the whole mini-court thing and then have one of their agents lead us into an ambush? There are more efficient ways of getting us killed.

>>12483940
It could be a cell-type thing, with the various parts not interacting much to preserve secrecy.

Gathering Scinnari and Cygnis, you suddenly realize that Asha is busy, and you would not want to reveal what with to Cygnis, so she must be off the table this time. Just hope Cygnis doesn't bring it up, you decide.

An enterance to the sewers is easy enough to find in the Old City, close to where you intend to go, according to Nikko's map.

For the sake of appearances, you conjure a light, so as not to belay your superb darkvision. Almost immediately, following the map, you find a small pendant with an image of ball-lightning; the symbol of Alset. Cygnis takes this harder than you thought.

"That- That's his. He was here." she says, kneeling down to pick it up.

"They probably left it here deliberately. Hoping to lure us in. Luckily we know where we're going..." Checking the map, you proceed, leading, with Scinnari then Cygnis behind, as Cygnis refuses to let the devil follow.

"I should hope you didn't think that they'd take me twice." Cygnis replies. Probably trying to distract herself.

"Of course not. That was what made me suspicious." you reassure her. "Did Eidomon know?"

"He... he found out." Cygnis' voice is high, and quavering. Very painful memories. "And I think he told his superiors."

"Well. I fear they may think they are prepared. I doubt they are prepared for all of us, though." you reply, again attempting to be a comfort to her.

>>12484026
The dank, putrid smelling sewers are not a pleasant place to be, and you wonder if it is worse for the snakemen, who, you recall, taste with their tongues. You can hardly imagine it being worse, though, so probably not. As you walk, you stumble upon more trinkets that Cygnis identifies as Arman's. Again, they seem to be vague; things Cygnis knows, but you could have just as easily believed belonged to Cygnis, instead of Arman.


Your travels are eventually stopped short by a large iron grate covering the whole sewer tunnel. The bars aren't huge, but are heavy enough and closely cross-set, preventing simply squeezing through.

"We may have to find a way around." Scinnari comments neutrally.

"That... may take too much time." Cygnis replies, at first irate, then controlling herself.

"There may be no other option. We may already be too late." Scinnari replies. Glancing back, you are not surprised to see her smiling in happy sadism.

[dice 2d100]

rolled 54, 17 = 71

>>12484033
Heading to the temple, yes?

rolled 55, 27 = 82

>>12484033
Hoping for not /tg/ dice.

>>12484073
>>12484076
God dammit.

rolled 77, 5 = 82

>>12484033
Shouldn't she have been back from buying the thing by now? Oh well, no sense in worrying over it.

rolled 20 = 20

>>12484033
LET'S DO THIS!

>>12484073
>>12484076
>>12484094
I should make a "/tg/ dice, /tg/ dice everywhere" macro for this quest.

Hmm. Came too late to suggest not bringing Cygnis then eh? I hope whatever the cult was doing to Cygnis in the past was completely interrupted. It would be bad if they had some success with her at their old temple and she turned against us now.

>>12484076
>>12484073
>58, 27

"These bars are cut." Scinnari states, moving forward. Handing you the bow she's been carrying, she moves forward, and lifts a sizeable section of the bars out of the gate. Mentally, you readjust your appraisal of her vision, and her strength. As she drops it too the floor, you hear distant echoes and what sounds like the scraping of snake-scales on stone...

"No time like the present." you mutter, and clamber through the hole in the grate. After a few minutes, you come to what seemed to be marked on his map, a dead end.


[We are at #2. #3 and #1 were also listed on the map. #1, we think, is where the previous temple was. Dice 1d100 please.]

rolled 27 = 27

>>12484271
...

rolled 78 = 78

>>12484271
Okay. Hopefully now that we've gotten the bad rolls out of the way for tonight there will be no more /tg/ dice.

What could possibly go wrong?

>>12484271
Hopefully this is the HQ not the ambush.

>>12484294

Considering the ominous silence, probably a whole lot.

>>12484294
[Sorry, got distracted. Weak willed fool, and all that.]

The secret door, which a dead end like this obviously means, is not hidden very well. A cursory check reveals how to open it, and, once you warn Cygnis and Scinnari, you do so. Inside, instead of opponents, however, it is dark and dusty, and smells heavily of limestone. A large dark room exists, and you can see dark heaps around the room.

"I don't like this." Scinnari says. "This doesn't seem likely. I think we're under the warehouse district now.. It's close, but I would think their new temple would be closer to where they are offloading their shipments."

"Why didn't you bring this up earlier?" Cygnis asks, not sharp, but with the sound that it will be that way, if Scinnari doesn't have a good answer.

"Because there is always the permissibility that I could be wrong. And I did. Just not to you."

"I'm sorry, but Scinnari is correct, here. She did mention that she thought it was in the Merchant district... but we haven't actually investigated here." you whisper back.

"Do we proceed?" Cygnis asks. Ah, right, she thinks you're an adventurer, that means you should know what to do here...

>>12484508
Proceed I suppose. Going back would mean potentially running into snake peoples and alerting the rest of the cult. Let's maintain our stealth while we can. Maybe we can approach the cult from above ground from this location if we are lucky.

>>12484508
If this isn't the temple then why is it marked? Perhaps a second trap? No... perhaps this is actually the main spot for those snake things. Do we see anyone inside?

>>12484609
Perhaps he LIED? Fanatics, man. Hmm... Go back and investigate #2 completely. If there's secret door around there, I think we should find it. Take 100, or something.

>>12484653
The guy broke way too easily to be a fanatic. A fanatic wouldn't of broken unless we tortured him for a nice long while so unless he was that good of an actor, I don't think he lied. Watch I'm wrong.

>>12484653
To be fair, we killed a good 30 fanatics before and the cult can't be THAT big. So they are probably down to the dregs and new recruits.

>>12484508
Go on inside I suppose. I'm not liking this feeling, though. Something is up.

"Wait until I call." you whisper, stepping inside. It's a few foot drop, and you wonder where you are. Advancing on one of the piles, you find it's a heap of rock; mostly limestone, by the smell. Big heap, too, it's as tall as you are, and it looks like there are several similar piles around the room.

You start as you hear something... a noise you almost miss, and then a new sound. You aren't sure what the first was, but the second... sounds like steam. Glancing around you try to figure out the source.

[dice1d100]

rolled 98 = 98

>>12484763
Serpents. It's snakethings. I knew something was up.

Back into the tunnel, quietly.

rolled 27 = 27

>>12484763
This will be super high.

rolled 91 = 91

>>12484763
Hmmm....

>>12484807
Pfft, with a roll like that we'll butcher them.

>>12484807
The room starts to shake. Literally, shake. You're caught by surprise, and a head-sized rock rolling down the side of the pile next to you sends you down. Catching yourself, you vision focuses on the bottom corner of the room.

Hinges.

Around you, the shaking increases, and you think you can feel the room rising. You can hear Scinnari and Cygnis shouting, though not what they are saying, as rocks fall onto the metal floor.


[another d100, >>12484817 ]

Easily managingto get to your feet, you look around. First of all, the wall near you is rotating downward, revealing... a warehouse. A workshop, a factory. Something like that. Light pouring in shows you a vast hopper, piled high with rocks and small boulders, and you see the secret door passing below the floor as the 'room' rises.The lid parts too, and you see a small, almost-bald man with whisps of hair behind a control panel. A sign on the wall of the control panel room says 'Crocker's Brick and Mortar Factory'.

Glancing down to your right, you see the now-open side of the container slope away, into a large set of limestone grinders. "This is totally ridiculous." you growl, dodging rock as you try and ascend the tilting hopper, to get away from the drop. "Totally ridiculous. Scinnari! I could use a little help here!" you shout, hoping she'll hear you.

[Orders to give her, and dice 2d100]

>>12484922
[inb4 "BUT NINETIES!". I'm feeling guilty over not giving the ultra-rare nineties their due; reduce it to 1d100, and we'll use the leftover awesome instead of another roll. By way of apology, dragon picture I snagged from a thread last week.]

rolled 18, 68 = 86

>>12484922
Man wat.

Tell her to fly over to the control panel and deal with the dude.

rolled 39 = 39

Soooo basically three rolls? I guess we should get the hell out of there so we don't get ground up to little puny elf bits eh? Also, we now know where Kaz is probably getting his supply to his lighthouse.

rolled 39 = 39

>>12484976
What exactly is going on here? I'm missing something: did a wall open up or something? The floor is obviously tilting but what the hell?

>>12484986
Ooooh, I didn't think of that. But yeah, let's get out of here, we don't need these shenanigans.

>>12484977
Better yet, let's take a running jump over to the control panel ourselves. We totally deserve it for a 98.

>>12484977
>>12485025
Figuring at this rate, you're only going to fall eventually, you run, and jump, managing to close your fingers around the bars of frame in front of the control panel. The man scowls, and moves to pull your hands free; you aren't going to have any of that.

"Scinnari!? Now would really be a good time, if you could help." you shout over your shoulder, pulling yourself up, and just in time; below you, the hopper gives a tremendous jolt, shaking rocks free, and continues to elevate the back, increasing the slope.

"--an't see! I----" is all you manage to snatch of Scinnari's voice over the din.

"Nevermind." you mutter to yourself, climbing over and around the cage. Getting up on top, you lean down, grab the corner, then swing downwards, into the control room, feet leading. A heavy "OOMph" from the man, and you knock him out onto the floor. He starts to get up, but you literally jump down on top of him, slamming him into the ground again. Grabbing his arms, you pull them up behind his back, and drag him away from the damanable noise. After a few minutes, the cycle seems to stop, and the hopper settles back down. A few tries with the control panel yourself manage to figure out how to open the 'lid', and you toss your captive down into it, and follow him.

Dragging him through the secret door, you greet Scinnari with a growled, "You were right.".

>>12485136
It is now time to have this man show us where the temple is if he desires to live. (not really) If not, he eats three feet of steel. We're remarkably even tempered for a red, but this is just a bit much.

"And we have a captive, I see. Do you know where the new temple is?" Scinnari asks.

"Wha..? No, No I..."

"He's lying." Cygnis says.

"The temple. Where is it?" Scinnari casually asks, grabbing one of his hands.

"I don't know. Hone-est." he says, a little unsteadily. In his defense, you're somewhat impressed that he's still conscious.

"Lying." Cygnis repeats. Scinnari takes this as instructions to break a finger, which she does with a happy smile. The man screams, and Cygnis shouts.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"You want to find Arman, don't you?" Scinnari replies contemptuously. "Or have you decided you love this worthless sack of flesh more?"

"No! I-" Cygnis begins heatedly.

"Then you do it. You're the one who can tell if he's lying. Go ahead, get us some answers." Scinnari replies, holding out the mans' wrist, totally ignoring his impotent thrashing.

[intervene?]

So this place is unrelated to the cult, or it is?

Yeah, we'll play good cop again.

Stop Scinnari, but don't chew her out for it.

Tell the man that all we want is the location of the temple, and if he cooperates then we won't let our friend hurt him anymore.

But if he won't then we can't stop her from doing whatever she wants.

>>12485193
Motion for them both to settle down and speak to the prisoner.

"Listen, I've had a long day. I've been arrested, threatened, assaulted, lied to, and almost crushed to death. I am really very short on patience. In case you didn't notice, our priestess friend here can tell when you are lying and the other lady has no problem with pain. If you tell us where the temple is you will spare us all a lot of bickering and problems.

If you do not, I will kill you. You tried to kill me, and as an adventurer it seems the thing to do in return. There may or may not be torture involved. Choose."

>>12485229

Second. Also, afterward, say "good job sweetie," or something to that effect. Don't forget a comment about her enjoyment of playing such a role.

rolled 47 = 47

>>12485193
Grab hold of the wrist ourselves and ask the two ladies to step outside for a moment.

I say we use our dragon fear on him. If that doesn't work. We could finagle with the hopper thing till it turned on and threaten to throw him in.

>>12485289
We really don't want to use dragon-anything around Cygnis. She could smell and tell it was a red dragon from the aftereffects of our breath weapon.

rolled 32 = 32

>>12485296
I would assume we could control it just like we could in the Inn. Very small personal use of it, face to face kind of use. I doubt she could sense that.

We can only keep up so much of a charade without denying who we are. We're a red, and we're a bit pissed right now I'm sure. I don't see us siding with Cygnis on this one, the guy is screwed. We can do damage control after we calm down.

>>12485229
"Scinnari, please. Keep the sadism in check a little longer. If that's what's necessary, I don't mind doing it, but it seems polite to at least offer him the option to correct his answer." you reply, taking his wrist from her hand. "Cygnis, please correct me on this. Are you a member of the cult?"

"No!" he bleats.

"Lying." Cygnis intones.

"Of course he is. If he wasn't his answer would have been something like 'what cult?'." Scinnari mocks.

"Put a lid on it." you order Scinnari. You are on Cygnis' side as long as she is around... to a given degree. "Is the temple entrance in the sewers?"

"No!"

"Too vague... he's only sort of lying. Is there AN entrance to the temple in the sewers?" Cygnis asks.

"No!"

"Lying."

"Right.... " you say, pulling out the map. Pointing at location #2, you ask, "Is that the entrance to the new temple?"

"N--- Maybe!" he corrects himself. Trying to be clever. In response, you grab one of his fingers in your fist, and rotate. Not enough to break it, but enough to tell him in no uncertain terms, it's on the table. "... yes." he whispers, a pained look on his face.

"Not lying." Cygnis confirms. Well, maybe not, it depends on how accurate her detection is.

"Well, then, by all means, let's go. Scinnari, Cygnis, please follow." you say, starting off into the tunnels. A few backtracks, and you find a section of open tunnel. Some more 'gentle' interrogation, and he shows you the catch, and the stone wall parts and slides back. A corridor descends /very/ steeply, into the darkness. You think you can see light, perhaps that of a torch, flickering at the bottom.

"And what shall we do with him?" Scinnari asks. "We aren't taking him with us, are we?"

>>12485304
Are you really willing to risk it for such a small benefit?

>>12485322
"Of course not, he tried to kill me!"

Skewer him.

In theory we should try to find out what else is in their HQ rather than just offing him right away. But I suggest we say we should kill him but ask Cygnis' opinion before justifying why this guy has to die. Just so we don't look as cold.

>>12485322
We can't really do that. We can probably beat him unconscious, but that generally causes brain damage or a severe concussion at the least.

Alternatively if we don't give a fuck we can just cut his throat. He is a cultist.

>>12485322
I don't think Cygnis will have a problem killing cultists after what they did to her. Torture is completely different of course.

>>12485377
>>12485388
Good point. Kill him.

Ask Cygnis.

Make sure to mention that he's cult, and wonder aloud if they really deserve mercy after what they did to her.

Come to the dark side! We have cookies and helltarts.

>>12485245
>>12485347
"No." you state, drawing your sword and running him through. For good measure, you twist, stab him a second time, and then kick him back into the sewer. Cygnis, for her part, looks like she wants to say something, but doesn't.

"No other option. I suppose I could have been a bit cleaner, but it's just a human, and I do hold a grudge, I'm afraid." you confide, using the fact that you 'are' an elf to appeal to her arrogance. It fails. To salvage it, you add, "Anyway, you of all people should know just how... bad this cult is. I should probably have offered it to you, I'm sorry." you reply, apologizing. While she looks like she thinks you're apologizing for the wrong thing, she seems mollified. Ignoring the thrashing in the filthy water, you turn to deal with the passage.

[using up the last of that awesome 98/91 combo]
The 'corridor' downward is extremely steep, a forty five degree angle, at least, you think. The bottom is neither smooth nor level; you momentarily wish for some rope. Failing that, you settle for advising, "Wait until I descend, I might be able to catch you, should you slip, and I don't want to be knocked down by you.".

It's difficult, but with a hand on either side of the narrow corridor, you manage to slowly ease your way down, a touch-and-go ordeal at some points, but fairly easy. The worst of it is some scraped palms and having fallen on your ass at one point.

[continuing, still typing]

>>12485462
Grabbing the torch flickering on the wall, you wave it, signalling the ladies. Scinnari comes next, a few 'poofs' of air, as she teleports downward, not stopping long enough to start falling. Cygnis is more limited, and climbs down as you did. Towards the bottom, she slips, but you manage to catch her and right her, offering a gentlemanly bow after setting her on her feet. She actually smiles, a first in the time you've seen her today.

Ahead of you, the corridor stretches straight, then a sharp turn to the right. Figuring there's nothing for it, you advance around the corner, to be greeted by another.

Continuing in the same direction, but just forty feet to the right, you come upon a final corner. Turning it, you see a much wider, ten foot wide hallway, over a hundred feet long, maybe more than a hundred and fifty, before it turns, curving out of sight in the distance. About halfway there, you see a door on the left. While there are torches here, you see no people.

>>12485529
So do we sense any magic? If not well... Look around for secret doors. The cult has them everywhere apparently.

If there are none we should just head for the main door I guess.

>>12485529
Well this is totally not ominous.

Let's do our thing and tell Cygnis that we might need some heavy dragon support if there are a bunch of them.

Advancing cautiously, you approach the doorway, and notice another on the right, thirty feet past it. The first one, though, opens into a large oval room, unoccupied.

The first thought you think is 'storage room', and it seems pretty apt; the walls are lined with shelves, planks of wood resting on iron spikes nailed into the rock. A glancing around, you see the shelves and boxes are full of the cult's classic paraphenelia; ceremonial-looking knives, inks and dyes of questionable origins, various animal parts in jars, that just a little too sickly sweet incense, the like. Probably fungible, but a bit bulky to carry around with you. Hmm....

"Look at all that. Familiar?" you ask Cygnis. "Did he really deserve to live?"

"No... No." Cygnis responds, voice hardening. That's it. Agreement. "Quickly, we should continue." she adds.

[continue, or stop to search?]

>>12485458
Ack. Wish we'd done that, I like it, in retrospect.

Does it look like there might be secret passages? Walls that are left bare, tracks on the floor? Otherwise advance I guess. We can loot this place after we clear it and Cygnis takes Arman back to be healed/out of this place because it'll likely bring her bad memories.

>>12485588
Not yet. Proceed on, keeping out an eye for magic or secret doors.

Worried we'll arrive JUST IN TIME. Don't want to, if that's the case, I want to hold off sixty seconds until Arman can die in her hands, oblivious of her presence, solidifying her hatred of the cult. Something gruesome, too, preferably.

But I don't know how to do it with style, and without suspicion.

>>12485636
If we see to him while she is involved with fighting them then we can kill him ourselves if he is still alive. We could even use her dagger for that added emotional distress when she finishes and comes find us mourning over the body.

>>12485605
>>12485622
Observing the floor, you decide that, based on your admittedly limited knowledge, very little has happened here, beyond unloading the items on the shelves. Anyway, the walls ALL AROUND the ellipsoid room are covered with shelves... Not likely to be too much room for passages.

"Alright. Let's check the next one." you say, leading them back out into the hallway. You notice that Cygnis seems to no longer care whether Scinnari is in front of her or not. Progress, you suppose...

The next room is fairly close; a little larger, it has shelves too, except all of them are covered in books and tomes, a library. Against the far wall is a desk, whose top is uncluttered.

Grabbing a volume from the nearest shelf, you open it and skim the first page, written in a weird form of draconian, as the cult seems to favor. Nothing worthwhile, but enough to leave you with a vague sense of unease. Catching your mistake, you seamlessly cover it up by handing the book to Cygnis, asking, "Is this draconic, or something? I'm getting nothing from it."

"I... a dialect, of some sort. I do not like it. Given the choice, I would suggest burning the place..." Cygnis replies, obviously even more unsettled by what she read than you were.

Moving to search the desk, you call Cygnis over, asking her to search the desk. Due to your 'illiterateness', you have to depend on her work lest you blow your cover.

[dice 1d100

rolled 50 = 50

>>12485751
Dicean.

rolled 99 = 99

>>12485751

rolled 100 = 100

No more /tg/ dice please, board.

rolled 36 = 36

>>12485751

>>12485769
>>12485776
Holy. Shit.

>>12485769
>>12485776
Jesus motherfucking christ, we better find the best goddamned magical book in the city.

>>12485776
First 100 of the quest, isn't it?

>>12485822
Knowing us, probably our last as well.

>>12485764
>>12485769
"This... is most unsettling." Cygnis speaks at length, after picking up a small brown leather book.

"What is it?" you ask, curious. The cover is labeled "The True and Secrette Historie of the Brotherhoode of Free-Port". You idly wonder who decided everything needed extra 'e's.

"It... seems a fairly lengthy summation of the research Arman and I were doing... About the history of the cult..." she says. An unspoken 'but'.

"But it isn't?"

"This... "The cult survived.... ...it's craftiest, most powerful priests disguised themselves as humans and established a church aboveground: the temple to the God of Knowledge.". I think someone intends to frame the temple of Alset!" she whispers in horror.

"Always consider the possibility that it's true." Scinnari drawls from where she's sitting on the side of the desk. Cygnis actually looks like she's going to attack Scinnari, so you intervene.

"Scinnari, cut it out. Seriously. Cygnis. It may be; if they want to throw people off the trail, they'll want to make them think they've come to the end of it. That would require them to Arman, though, and us, as well as the priests at the temple." Shit. That wasn't exactly encouraging. "I can't know about Arman, but he's tough, a survivor, perhaps. I doubt he'll let himself die. Me, I /know/ I won't let myself die, and certainly not you or Scinnari. And Thuron seems a fairly capable man for a priest, I'm sure he won't let the temple be framed.

"That said, we should probably continue."

"Alright." Cygnis replies, gripping you wrist. "I'm taking the book."

>>12485857
Let her.

>>12485857
If you have to transform then that book is going to have problems. If you truly wish to keep it on you then so be it, but it might be wiser to let me hold it for the time being.

>>12485891
Alright, dice 1d100 if we're continuing.

rolled 95 = 95

>>12485918
I'm pretty tired myself. Rolling anyway just in case.

rolled 31 = 31

>>12485927
God damn, rolls are actually starting to look up. We are going to be so fucked next fight when the dice decide to be karmic.

>>12485927
High is good, right?

>>12485940
Yeah high is good.

>>12485935
>>12485927
High is good. And almost done, would be, if I hadn't been getting distracted. Perhaps we should pause right here?
#########

Signalling a halt, you gesture to the next section of corridor. "Seeing what I am seeing?" you ask quietly. The ten foot section ahead is glowing faintly from a spell. What, you aren't sure.

"I.. don't think so." Scinnari responds, faintly troubled.

"I believe so." Cygnis replies, "An alarm spell, I think. One moment while I dispell it. She focuses and makes a sign in the air, invoking something, but what you aren't certain. Without a sign, the blue light slowly dims and goes out.

"That probably means that we're coming to the temple proper. Let me scout ahead." you say, holding your hand out to Scinnari. She hands you the emerald, and you activate it, becoming invisible. Gliding forward, you round the bend, and step out into the temple of the Binder. Or the Unspeakable One. Something like that.

It's huge, a hundred feet square, it seems, and forty feet tall, at least. The walls seem to be made out of some solid smooth stone, and almost seem to bend in on themselves.


In the center of the room, about forty people seem to be gathered, and you see a raised dais with the same black basalt altar from the previous temple, along with the sinister gong. A brazier stands next to the altar, and you see Arman chained to it, and probably unconscious, at a guess. As you watch, the figure on the dais speaks louder, coming to the climax of his sermon, you assume. Moving forward, he pulls something out of the brazier and holds it aloft: A metal brand, glowing cherry red, in the shape of the cult's yellow sigul.

[Actions, and I think we should stop here for the night.]

>>12486031
Time to hurry back to Cygnis and get her into fighting spirits. But that can be done later. Bedtime.

Good run Writer-dude! Enjoyable as always.

rolled 4, 3 = 7

Another awesome thread from Writer Dude :D

I want to keep going though =[

>>12486092
Thank you. I'll be checking posts here for a basis for the OP on the next thread.

Good night, all. Thanks for coming. Email available, should any of you wish to volunteer devious ideas.

Night. (Or rather, morning.)

In any case we're archived. Don't forget to vote.

>>12486161
Any idea when the next one will be? Tomorrow at normal time like usual?

And Scinnari can telepathically speak within 100 feet, so maybe we should get her to go invisible and tell Arman to run away from the cultists when the shit hits the fan. Then have us bust in to crash the party, and as they come at us have Cygnis suddenly be like "o hai" with dragonbreath.

Tonight, probably, but I may decide I simply don't have enough sleep. If that's the case, Wednesday or Sunday.

I'll try to do it tonight, though.