A gradual defeat, she begins ranging through your hoard, as far as her fetters will let her travel. She collects what she can, gilt daggers or unstrung bows, but you've removed all /real/ weapons or tools that she might use from her area. Scinnari, rubbing your shoulders as she watches your scry, coos in delight as Cygnariassis comes across the first of the items that were, until quite recently, hers. She drops what she was carrying, kneeling before a small jeweled casket, taken from her hoard. With trembling hands she opens it... and discovers that only a small fraction of the gems that made up it's contents remain, the rest of which are scattered throughout your hoard. Valued possessions... much like their recent owner.

########################

“Cygnariassis....” you call, a cloaked figure walking up the passage towards your lair. “Cygnariassis. I do hope you I haven't kept you waiting /too/ long.”

“Cibach?” she answers, looking up. Hope tempered with fear, of you, of her situation, of all the /many/ things she does not understand.

“Among others.” you reply. Doubts flicker across her face, but she does not voice them. Optimistic to the end, it seems.

“I- am imprisoned. Can you free me?”

“Can't you revert, or break your chains? Milady dragon, I would have thought you far more capable than a mere elf in this regard.” you say. All perfectly, technically true, though you suspect you no longer need to be worrying about that.

“I cannot. These... My shackles are warded against magic- I can't seem to use any ability or spell of mine.”Cygnis hisses in irritation. As you finally step out into the vastness of your lair, she seems to remember her lack of clothing and reaches for the only cloth nearby, a flag lying in your hoard. Taken from the flagship of the Rhasverian fleet so long ago, if you recall correctly.You laugh quietly as she covers herself with the flag.

“Really, Cygnariassis? Nothing I haven't seen before, if you recall.”

“Regardless. Cibach, I once again find myself in need of your... aid.” she says evenly, evidently unwilling to admit explicitly to needing rescue. “Can you release me? If so, please waste no time in doing so. In any event, where are we, and how did we arrive here?”

“I certainly can, given the proper resources.” you say, pausing to inspect the chain and it's anchoring, in the obsidian of your dais. “And I would assume that the other was obvious. You were brought here.”

“By /who/?” Cygnariassis replies, frustrated with your enigmatic answers.

“Oh... By Lord Prestor, sorcerer-king of Mza.” you reply, shifting your form and attire to match. She draws back from the change, and you halt your advance. “Or perhaps not. Even if it was /me/, though, I would think myself justified. After all, you got over my death awful quickly, for the 'friend' I thought you were.” You punctuate that sentence by changing your form to that of Araman's.

“Cibach? What-” Cygnariassis begins warily, but stops shocked as your form changes. She seems to have just recovered from the shock when you polymorph into Araman. She takes another step back, and you pause, inviting her to speak.

“You... have kidnapped me, and stolen my hoard....” she begins slowly, anger rising in her voice. “You impersonate my- friends,” she says, stumbling ever so slightly over the word, “And hold me against my will. You evidently know what I am; who are you that holds the wrath of dragons in such disregard?”

“Cibach. Your old friend.” you reply in a wounded tone, changing your shape to match. “Thuron. K'Stallo too, even. And do you recall Captain Soderheim, with whom you attended the ball in Tashz with?” With each name, you polymorph your self again, a difficult but satisfying chain of efforts. Cygnariassis has a slightly fearful look on her, and reacts with denial.

“No... No. You can't be.” She says, desperate claim solidifying. “You- Those were separate people-”

“Can't be? I shouldn't see why not- Many things are possible for an adequately motivated individual.” you answer.

“A pity. If only she was... Even now, she prefers to desperately deny, in the face of all evidence, rather than accept it. But I told you she would.” Scinnari interjects, stepping out into your lair. Cygnariassis nearly jumps attention having been focused on you, and turns to face Scinnari. The golden dress, you must say, looks most exquisite on her, clinging to her form wonderfully, not to mention it's appearance of flowing and shifting like liquid gold. At least where the scales themselves are not visible. “Like her brother, perhaps. No... Her brother accepted the evidence in front of his eyes. Which was significantly less than what you are faced with, Cygnariassis.”

“What do you know of my brother?” Cygnariassis asks, attention locked upon Scinnari. Scinnari merely laughs and begins walking around her, forcing her to turn her back on one of you. She chooses you, attention staying with Scinnari. “You... devil, you met him for a few days, if that. You know nothing!”

“I know /many/ things about your brother- Excuse me, /half/ brother.” Scinnari replies tauntingly. “His greed... His pride... His arrogance. His bloody flesh, his gasps of agony, and the last shivers of his body as he died beneath me...”

“You... you lie.” Cygnariassis states in denial. Scinnari merely smiles.

“Do I?” Scinnari jeers, approaching your prisoner. “You had best /hope/ that I do- If my lord Azaladon is generous, he will allow me to do the same to you. To strip the flesh from your bones, inch by inch, to shred and rend your mortal form... Believe me, I would /leap/ at the chance.”

Oh fuck yeah dragon quest!

First time I've seen a thread in the making.

“You...” Cygnariassis begins, again desperate denial, but not certain what to refute. “No... No!” she says, then shouts, torn between desperation and a blazing fury. “Devil, I may not have returned his affection, but my brother was dear to me. If you have taken him from me, I will avenge myself- You cannot- /will/ not- hold me forever. And know that I will destroy you, /kill/ you, if I ever get the chance. I will pursue you to the hells, and /end/ you, for all time. I-” Cygnis halts, perhaps searching for more words. You are mildly impressed; she evidently has more fire in her than you thought. Scinnari, though, is utterly unphased.

“No?” Scinnari asks, pressing her nail into her lower lip as if contemplating. Suddenly she lashes out, infernal claws tearing Cygnariassis' face, leaving four bloody wounds on her cheek, and knocking her to the floor. For a moment her hand strays to the pommel at her belt, and she looks like she's about to follow it up. You prepare to intervene, but she seems to regain control of herself before it becomes necessary.

“No? How, then, do you expect to /get/ that chance? Who do you expect to free you? Your brother, as mentioned, is dead. Cibach, whether or not you believe my lord Azaladon, is either standing behind you, or thoroughly interrogated and dying a slow death. Who else then? The mewling masses of Freeport, those for who's good you worked? You hid yourself from them, they don't even know you. Even if they did, humanoids are /hardly/ the grateful type. They wouldn't risk two copper on your behalf if they /knew/, let alone life and limb.” Scinnari halts, suddenly aware of quite how... emphatic her blistering diatribe is getting. She pauses, licking Cygnariassis' blood from her claws, and continues.

“Well? Perhaps you have another hero you to come save you, a bold and dashing adventurer to rescue you from the evil-” You're certain the next word would have been 'dragon', but Scinnari cuts herself off before that. Unlikely that Cygnis doesn't already suspect, at this point, but kind of Scinnari nonetheless. Scinnari recovers quickly, in any event.

“A classic damsel in distress, you are. But if you're so distraught... Allow me to comfort you.” Scinnari offers, in a voice laden with cruelty. “Your brother is closer to hand than you might suspect.” With her unbloodied hand, Scinnari gestures to the dress she wears, it's golden color, and the weave of scales that compose it. “He and I have grown... close.” she says, displaying the dress's material with her free hand. “Surely you recognize him?”

Cygnariassis stares, expression shifting into abject horror as Scinnari twists and sashays, showing off the dress from all angles. Scinnari then approaches Cygnariassis, who shies away from her advance.

When does this become dragon rape?

“You... /Monster./” Cygnariassis finally hisses, backing away from Scinnari. Scinnari merely smiles, and reaches back to begin undoing the dress. “You... /beast./ You are more of a mindless destroyer than any demon ever was-”

Scinnari ignores her words, smiling maliciously. She finishes undoing the dress, and slips out of it, tossing it at Cygnariassis' retreating form. Cygnariassis, who has just reached the end of her chain, cannot avoid it- it falls on her outstretched leg, and an electric jolt seems to pass through her. The sympathetic enchantments you had placed on the dress, making themselves felt. Scinnari smiles all the more broadly at her obvious distress, and bares her teeth, materializing new attire for herself with her natural ability. Cygnariassis doesn't respond, breathing deeply, obviously trying to calm herself, steel herself to resist the magic.

“Yeeees?” Scinnari asks, drawing out the question, an obvious distraction.

“You... monster...” Cygnariassis replies weakly, desperately trying to maintain her focus. Scinnari's only response is laughter.

...this is some fucked-up shit. I'm not sure I want to support scaly rape on this board.

>>14331042
>>14331053

I'm going to have to ask you to go somewhere else for that. This is really pressing the bounds of what I'm willing to write at all, let alone on /tg/.

Revert and show our true self, also brag about being a red who tricked a gold.

Continue taunting and intimidating her, reveal to her the full scale of her folley to break down the last of her resistance; crush her spirit but keep it intact, so that we might reshape it to suit our purposes.

>>14331049
Thats probably enough of that. Call her off, already.

Ugh, so whats the actual goal here? Torture a former ally just because? Tell me there's an actual, non-mindless evil goal here.

Lets be more...tactful about this, for our part. Scinnari can deal with the outright cruelty; we should focus on subverting her anger. Ask her why she doesn't remove the dress away from herself- taunt and tease...

It would behoove us greatly if her wrath was more shifted towards something for Scinnari to deal with and whip down than us.

>>14331123

Another minion/slave/living trophy. Also possible consort if she can be brought around to our way of thinking.

>>14331142

So...mindless evil?

>>14331188
Hardly mindless. But pretty damn evil.

Not ally.

Pawn.

Besides that, She's a Gold, we're a Red, irrational hate is pretty much how that goes.

>>14331123
>>14331188

Don't be so short-sighted, brother. There is great possibility here.

She wants to kill us. She's going to have to play ball if she wants a chance to do so. And that means playing the long game...and a lot can happen over a long game.

Provide a couple of opportunities for her to try and fail, and eventually, as the centuries roll on, she'll begin to wonder if she can...why she can't...

It's all in the handling.

>>14331006
You know... I'm not sure, but I think Scinnari may have found this.. perhaps familiar? She seems to have some personal feeling in this matter...

>>14331188
Not exactly mindless. She wields a big stick in Freeport, her influence will help us expand our interests and give us a little comfort zone between us an our rivals in other cities. Her insight and knowledge might prove valuable, properly channeled.

>>14331257
Plus, we stole her hoard.

MONEYMONEYMONEYMONEYMONEYMONEYMONEY-

Yaaay, Dragon Quest! I think I'll take this opportunity to start posting up some character analysiseze I writted whilst waiting between sessions. I do hope they don't bore you terribly.

Scinnari – Ah, Scinnari; apple of our eye. Out of all the ladies we know, we know her the best- and what we know her to be is…something of a contradiction. She is ostentatiously dominant, as evinced with her handling of Asha and Varras, yet seems quite happy to be thought of as our possession. It seems most probable this contradiction comes from the same source as her jealousy of other women and paranoia regarding us replacing her- as well as her original reason for becoming a devil- an acute fear of rejection. Of betrayal. Simply put, she’s a hostile sort and enjoys punishing, particularly women, to vent off some of the things she feels for herself and to establish her superiority and strength- her place in the pecking order. However, if you manage to get around her defences and devilish temperment…you begin to realize that she wants someone to love her and cerish her- and if you at least convince her of this, then you get everything else about her. She’s happy to belong to someone who genuinely wants her.

To this end, getting her to collar herself was quite the smartest thing we’ve done, as it required her to recognize we think of her in the way we do, and to remove that doubt in her own head. In her case, I wouldn’t say we’ve ‘tamed’ her or anything, of course not, but…we’ve made her happier and given her what she wants, and that naturally makes people more manageable.

>>14331257
But didn't we already have that when she considered us her closest, possibly only, real confidant and friend in the world? Thats what it had seemed like to me, at least. I was never one for having her as anything more than that, but this is a bit...offputting.

>>14331276

Actually, we could hold her hoard hostage, as it were. A dragon without its hoard is just a shiny lizard and depriving her of it is a MASSIVE blow to a dragon, so we could use that to further humiliate and 'persuade' her... maybe even offer her a few baubles for good behaviour. Carrot/stick and all that.

>>14331297

Quite how she views sex though I have yet to postulate. She was actually the first to mention chaining up Cygnis, and seems to take more than a fair amount of pleasure in sadistic practices…so it can be presumed she’s not adverse to experimenting with the opposite sex, so long as she’s the one in control of them. Regarding her and *us*, she seems to have taken her given station into the bedroom as well, though…she doesn’t seem particularly masochistic or anything, though. Indeed, I’d go as far to say she’s more the playful and coddling type- it’s not often a devil can just enjoy a bit of intimate company- probably why she likes to lean on your shoulder when looking over scrolls and discussing business.

Asha – She’s a carrot person, there’s no doubt about that. It remains somewhat unclear as to the manner of her servitude, but it’s fairly apparent that good-cop bad-cop worked wonders- she’s as enamoured with you as she is fearful of displeasing you. This worshipful attitude of hers might stem from you being a ‘saviour’ of sorts against Scinnari, but your reveal as a Dragon and the terror therafter seems to not gel with such a thought as smoothly…yet it’s undeniable that her feelings toward you are beyond mere fear. It is entirely possible, as you haven’t dispelled the idea of Scinnari’s collar controlling her yet, that she views you in a kind of awe regarding your power and control; that, coupled with your constant fair treatment of her certainly creates a strong bond of dependency- a bond that she might not be aware of, but is still tied by- she *has* to think of you first in all things she does.

>>14331303

Agree, in part. The problem was that we always stood the risk of that support being removed should she discover our true identity, and there was always a catch.

This way we've essentially closed the trap, so that she can't withdraw her influence... but we don't want her to hate us either. We want her to love us and willingly assist us in our efforts if possible. We've played enough mindgames that she might be open to suggestion should we push the right buttons.

I vote we do as >>14331140 suggests and try to construct this as Scinnari's design- we've done this to her to appease our demon waifu, not because it expressly *interests* us.

It gives Cygnis someone to focus her efforts of escape onto...someone to talk to, to compromise with...an 'ally' that she doesn't really have.

>>14331350

HAHAHAHA!!

She's never going to LOVE us don't be naive! She's no Asha!

What we *can* do is make her feel 'well, it could have been worse'. We can make her 'settle' and feel that, though she doesn't like it, this is best for her. And that's what we should aim for.

>>14331322


Basically as her quality of life is tied to you, pleasing you = her happiness. Wouldn’t have worked if you personally tried to keep her through fear, but eh, that’s what Scinnari was for. Sex-wise, it would probably be an exaggerated version of her already worshipful attitude, extremely servile in pleasing you whilst not thinking of her own wants- just whatever you ‘generously’ bestow on her. So a kind of mental distance regarding you needing to keep control, but also a might more relaxing and hands-off than in other scenarios and other ladies.

Varra – She’s a puzzle. Apparently Scinnari’s done enough with her, but it’s hard to know her motivations for serving beyond fear – and yet she’s helping train kids up and the like. We know she was violent and angry, but we don’t know where this anger has been turned to, or how it’s being kept there. Without too much info about the manner and basis of her slavery, or of her as a person, there’s not much that can be said regarding her. Something to be mindful of.

I think that maybe later on, a good way to remold Cygnis to our will, is to make her part of our "family'. This means we will have to display our love for Scinarri and Azyra to her. Show her our unconditional love for our family. Use her need for a family, due to the fact that her family unit disintegrated, to make her want to join us. Get Azyra to call her "Aunty Cygnis". And soon Stockholm Syndrome will take over.

>>14331371

But she already does.
If not that, then something very close. We have gone to a lot of effort to make ourselves the most prominent figure in her life, and she definitely holds affection for us. What better tool to string her along with, if not her willing devotion?

>>14331389

I think we can certainly use family against her, but lets be careful about it; Scinnari isn't going to like it if Azyra starts going to Cygnis with her troubles instead of her- she might get paranoid we're trying to replace her with a surrogate mother.

Still, the idea has merit. At least, I can see Cygnis taking a desireable interest in our daughter and family hoo-hahs.

>>14331389
>>14331350

This, so much this. We've already undermined her, now we let stockholm syndrom do the rest.

>>14331407

Yeah, she feel in love with Cibach- or close enough. Not *us*. Not the person who chained her to the throne and whose sexy devil-wife paraded the skin of her brother infront of her.

Get some perspective, will you?

>>14331434
And if dragons are not susceptible to it?

Has Dragon Quest yet to swindle a team of amateur adventurers into doing quests and missions to the point they're eventually going to be a powerful squad of heroes, at which point we reveal their destiny to be the Crimson Knights?

>>14331387

Cygnis - Oh Cygnis. Cygnis Cygnis Cygnis. To start, the main focus for her is that, despite being a dragon (or rather, especially because she’s a dragon) she feels…lacking. She doesn’t get on with her family. She couldn’t prevent being captured. She can’t find her brother. She’s scared of binding, but can’t find or think of anything to do about it behind the fear. She has very little self-confidence for what she is. And, perhaps because of this, and that she *is* a dragon and should be more, she certainly strikes me as the kind of person who blames themselves and actively wishes for two things; clear concepts to live by, yes-no scenarios, and a clear, decisive line on which to pick out of the two. Self-reflection depresses her, so, as with her ‘outward’ singing career, she prefers not to think about her own circumstances and mental health.

This creates a nice inroad into breaking her; this, and the very likely occurrence that through her self-blame, she feels she deserves some cosmic punishment, though I’m sure she denies this to herself. The trick here is to strip away that pride and haughtiness, and to convince her that her suspicions are correct, that she does deserve this, and that, really, she should be thanking us for doing it to her. It shouldn’t be too hard; bodies don’t respond the way we’d like them to, and pointing this out (as well as all the other humiliating things we’ll do) will just further lower her opinion of herself and work as convincing material of her inherent inferiority- that she doesn’t even deserve to be free, let alone a gold dragon.

>>14331457

Once suitably impressed with that, and during, of course, she can start to recognize the benefits of following orders and gaining confidence through praise – something not *too* unlike the carrot and the stick- except this time, the carrot will often *be* the stick, as that is what she feels she wants- or needs, and is what she’s working for. Denial of any affection is infinitely more painful to her than any kind of attention, and a clear course of action, even if it’s ‘fetch this from there’, is more preferable to her than powerless indecision- at least in following orders, she has the power to act them out.

Overall, so long as we establish her need for guidance that she evidently cannot give herself, and somehow impress upon her the necessity of it being *us* and her having it in the first place, we should be- heh- Golden.

Sex-wise...I could say, but my my, lets try and keep it PG, hmm?

For those who need it; a full list of what Cygnis is bound in:
Mind Blank
Prevent Shapeshifting
Prevent spellcasting.
Prevent Removal.
Mindfog (That's, like, the -10 to WP, right? Might make her slower. Sort of 'cloudy thoughts', though.)
....Suggestion, somewhere between 3x a day, and at will.
Permanent 10 str and dex modifiers.
Finally, Sympathy on the dress and the bindings.

All of it split twixt adamantium bands and bindings.

As for what to do with Cygnis *after* she’s been broken, hmm…the thought strikes me that she would make an excellent retainer for our daughter- a footdragon or such- but for the fact that Scinnari would feel threatened; like she was being shoved out of a motherly role if our daughter ended up going to Cygnis when hurt or so. That, obviously, cannot be tolerated.

The idea of ‘family’ and being a part of one is a strong lure for Cygnis though, and a great lure for securing her slavery is to make her a ‘part of the family’ in some close-held manner. As such, and befitting her ‘under’ status, how about we make her into a steed? Not necessarily as a dragon thanks to polymorph, but I think that the image of our sorceress wife riding a tamed golden dragon/other monstrous creature into battle, or just on an envoy or a show of power, is a striking one indeed. She’d need some modicum of training for the role, but…nothing I’m sure Scinnari wouldn’t enjoy putting time into. And we can still keep her for sex or chained to the throne when not practicing. Win-win.

>>14331456

No, not yet. Wasn't that decided to largely be a bad idea though? Having adventurers around us making us liable to being the focus of adventurers ourselves, and all,

>>14331437

We are Cibach. In her tattered mind we don't need to push hard for her to make the jump, just BS her with some 'necessities of maintaining a low(er) profile' and give our Devil a dressing down, pun intended. She is in a vulnerable and unknown situation, by now she probably doesn't have the mental fortitude to tollerate further mindfuckery and will latch on to a sympathetic persona. We don't need to pretend anything, just avoid being lolevil and continue our campaign against the Binder, maybe show her to our family as >>14331389 suggested, maybe show her our wonderful city and what we have accomplished with it. Right now, we're just finishing off the last of her resistances.

>>14331526

some fair points, but lets edit 'scinnari' with 'us' in those sentences, i dont see her getting over her loathing of scinnari totaly, even after a few centuries it may only be tolerance, but us personaly using her as a mount may work better.

>>14331550

I can totally understand that. But what about using some spare time to piece together "adventures" for this group (which we would likely piece together as well--finding prime candidates and such to fill all vital roles while maintaining psychological profiles on each of them) such as slaying a hobgoblin warlord within our territory, or a young white dragon raising a force of kobolds while rewarding them with magnficient wealth and equipment (which we would likely have meta-enchanted to eventually weaken them to powerful Suggestions or straight mind-control. The group's leader could even be one of our own. The bond they would eventually share, their teamwork and knowledge and experience from all their adventures would have them prepared and more than capable to become our blood-red stormtroopers. They would be capable of moving through the general populace without attracting much attention (except as famous adventurers).

>>14331557

I think you're severely underestimating just how 'tattered' her mind is. She's upset, yeah, bu she's hardly babbling and screaming bloody murder.

>>14331609

Yeah, that seems good- if we engender some certain amount of trust with Cygnis, it's feasible she could tolerate us in a manner where we could use her like that.

>>14331557
>Right now, we're just finishing off the last of her resistances.
What? No! We just caught her! It will take months of torture and heavy psychological manipulation before we can be even remotely confident that we've destroyed her sense of self-worth, except for what we give her. Don't get ahead of ourselves.

>>14331457
>that she doesn’t even deserve to be free, let alone a gold dragon.
Right, this! The more she hates herself, the more she'll derive all sense of worth from our acknowledgment, eventually. We need to talk to her constantly, interspersed with ignoring her completely for long stretches at a time to prove how little she matters, constantly attempting to impress upon her that she's weak, unable to do or succeed at anything, all that. It'll probably even be fun, just because most of that kind of ego-destruction can be done in the form of verbal abuse. Make sure that her only tiny sense of social fulfillment- or fulfillment at anything, really- comes from obeying our orders.

Whatever we do, do NOT lighten up, weaken up, or "be reasonable" in any fashion. We are establishing a hard master/slave relationship between us and Cygnis, here and now. She doesn't get so much as a centimeter of slack from us.

Possible things to look into, around working out the ‘Binding’, or something as decent:

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Compel_(Epic_Spell_Seed)
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Enslave

Stuff we can develop now, if they aren’t already present for her in the enchantments (and some just for fun) Not all capable by natural Sorcery- but then, item enchantments… :
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Symbol_of_Persuasion
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Irresistible_Dance
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Greater_Command
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Hypnotism
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Inflict_Pain
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Attraction
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Binding
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Brain_Spider
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Death_Urge
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Charm_Monster
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Detect_Thoughts
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Demand
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Modify_Memory
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Mind_Fog
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Probe_Thoughts
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Nightmare_(Spell)
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Zone_of_Truth

>>14331718

I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with anon here. We could've gone at it differently if our opening gambit was less 'hard', but we've established 'how it is', and this seems to be a good way of going about how to handle it in general...and certainly the best available to us right now.

Yes no. Obey disobey. Acknowledgement punishment. Keep it up for a decade or so and report on findings.

“She is a devil. I'm afraid it's what they do.” you offer blandly as Scinnari walks past Cygnis towards you. “Though really, that may have been a bit... much.” you observe mildly. Scinnari frowns, almost pouting for a moment, but bows.

“Apologies, my lord. I got... carried away, in the spirit of the moment.” she says, sounding at least mostly contrite. “I will... make more of an effort to resist, in the future.”

“Accepted.” you answer, giving her a small kiss that she returns eagerly. You tear away from her, and turn back to Cygnis. You drop all pretenses and revert. “Cygnariassis.” you voice in draconic, “I am Azaladon, lord of Mza, conqueror of Angevis, foe of nations and slayer of dragons.”

“Avatar of the Binder.” Cygnariassis replies, adding one to your list of titles. Scinnari begins advancing, evidently taking umbrage to her remarks. You bar her way with your tail, halting her. She scowls, but does not argue.

“As you wish, my lord.” she says, turning to depart. “I'll be back.” Scinnari calls, licking the remaining blood from her claws, as she goes. Cygnis is about to reply, but you gesture for her to remain silent, or at least wait, until Scinnari disappears. When Scinnari finally passes out of earshot, you reply.

“A low blow, my dear lady. And not entirely accurate... 'Instrument' would be more accurate, from my own research and discourse with the various Bound I have encountered.... But yes. Arguably.” You pause briefly, as if to consider the matter, then ask, “Do you still fear me for it?”

“I'm afraid I've run a bit short on fear.” Cygnariassis replies bitterly. “With so many /other/ things so deserving of it...”

“True enough.” you agree, “I do regret that this was necessary-”

“For /what/?” Cygnariassis hisses back at you. “What on /earth/ could this be 'necessary' for?”

“Necessary,” you reply mildly, “Because despite everything, I could not trust you.”

“Trust me? /You/ trust /me/? Oh, that's.... fantastic.” Cygnariassis laughs scornfully. “After all, you the very /pillar/ of honesty. Why, in Bahamut's name, couldn't you trust me?”

“Because of Bahamut's name, among other things.” you reply, keeping calm and measured. “How would I know that you would take me for who I was? Reds hardly have a history of getting on with our metallic brethren, golds in particular. Second only, perhaps, to silvers. I feared you would turn on me- which you might. Do you recall when I first rescued you? Or perhaps when you first found out I was a creation of the Binder? You have certainly been fast to turn on me, when given the barest of reasons or even no reason.”

“You /cannot/ be trying to justify-” Cygnariassis begins contemptuously, but you continue regardless.

>>14331890


“Can I not?” you say, raising your voice to speak above her. “/I/ have never pinned you to the ground beneath my claws. As mentioned, you have done that to me /twice/. Not only that, but I have my holdings... and my family to think about. You did not attempt to defend me, when Freeport ran me out of town, either. You merely patted me on the back and showed me the door.” You pause, allowing that to sink in. “And now I have a family... One that I would fight the gods or hells themselves to preserve. An empire that exists by my will and machinations. In fact... my death, or the full outing of my nature as a dragon would probably cause more chaos than anything I could do.” you reason.

“Death is what you deserve.” Cygnariassis replies, unphased despite the enormous disparity in your respective sizes. Admittedly, the fact that she normally is near your size likely play a role in this. “Instead of pinning me to the ground and letting me up, you imprison me, chain me as a... a /possession/.” Cygnis spits. “And that isn't even considering how you... consort with that /monster/.”

Mouth agape silently and furiously f5ing WD.

And she really should be nicer to Scinary, I'd hate for her feelings to get hurt.

The suspense is HHHHHNNNNNGGGGG-

im just spitballing here, but perhaps we could construct a cursed item similar in effect to majoras mask.

hear me out here, the item in question does not bestow any outside influence like most mind affecting magic, but rather it inflames, and draws power from, an attribute or thought process, (in the case of majoras mask, those included doubt, vengence, and jealousy primarily)

it is both harder to resist, in that the person itself lets the influence in by harbouring the defined feeling. and much harder to dispell through external means, in that the person must both resist the influence and ultimately change themselves to be fully rid of the power.

eventualy whatever the person was origionaly is all but lost, consumed by whatever traits the item is affiliated with, and perpetuated by its power.

wether it can be useful for cygnis or somthing to fuck over a rival nation is up for questioning

>>14331949

Wat? This is...we can't take any of this back, you realize? She's barely been in chains for two hours, not even long enough to appreciate what we've done to her, but long enough to appreciate just how downright, ferociously unrepentantly EVIL it is, we've paraded her BROTHER'S SKIN infront of her in a DRESS, and now...

...now we're trying to JUSTIFY that?! Immediately after we've done it?! What...WHAT...there is NO FUCKING WAY she's going to EVER NOT HATE US EVER AGAIN. Worse, we've displayed weakness; we'v tried to reason the unreasonable.

We're done; we had our shot and we blew it. No way can we make Cygnis our slave now. Game over.

>>14331897
Well, that was a shitty way to handle this. Look- she's gone from totally losing it when Scinnari was playing hardball to a screaming fury at our "reasonable" attitude. We should NOT be treating her in any kind of respectful fashion. Discard the explanations and segue into gloating, pressing in the fact that it was her own incompetence which let us put this together, her foolishness and arrogance, her weakness which inspired the very concept in the first place. Don't stop, and don't let her get the satisfaction of a decent retort. If she tries, shut her up with the suggestion effect on her necklace. She doesn't get to talk unless we want her to talk. She is a possession, just as she says.

>>14332016
Yeah the time to explain our motivations was after her ego was broken enough that she'd accept even a not-particularly-reasonable explanation as true and use even the most tenuous logic to reinforce the concept that what is happening to her is her own fault, what she truly deserves. That will be a lot harder to make happen now.

Still, I don't think we've completely blown it. Just made it more of a bitch to pull off.

>>14332016
Were that to ever be the case, looks like we got a new cape and a lovely hat out of the whole ordeal then, and we and Scinary will look lovely together at the next major ball.

>>14332016
Any chance of getting the scale-dress part retconned? Or was that something decided on in the previous thread.

>>14332116
Don't be silly, we've been planning that from the start, it's going to be her uniform in time.

>>14332116

The evil deeds themselves weren't the bad part, it was how we decided to capitalize on them. You can't do what we did then say 'Hey, but you pinned us under your claws a couple of times, remember? That totally justifies enslaving you and turning your brother into a dress.'

That just doesn't make any sense and makes us look ridiculous. If we'd gone the route of 'Look, you're our slave because you deserve to be a slave and that's it.' then that would've been much better.

So what exactly are we trying to accomplish here? Breaking Cygnis?

>>14332256

I'd consider it a minor miracle now if we could do that.

I suggest, to try and salvage this, we try and turn the focus onto her, rather than us and our motives. Why couldn't she see this coming? What right does she have to NOT be our slave? Why does she deserve freedom? Ask her that. Pry at the sore points she has in her mind, and give her something to chew on whilst we leave her to her thoughts.

>>14332116
The scale dress was part of the plan because the plan was to BREAK HER. It was not to stand before her and whine about how she made us do it, she was too mean, we're a good person.

This conversation must end with Cygnis on the floor in tears and us walking away laughing, or we might as well go with >>14332065 and waste all our fucking meticulous planning.

So. Stop letting her express her anger- we have Suggestion spells on her, right? Capitalize.

Last thing she did was say that we're treating her as a possession, right? Start laughing. Loud and long, right through whatever she tries to say. When we stop and she attempts to talk, command her to be silent until we allow her to speak; with the magic she'll be silent for half a day, minimum, after that. Wiping the tears of mirth from our eyes, tell her that we know we couldn't possibly justify this, the truth is, that just gave us the idea. We're doing it for shits and giggles, and because she will indeed be a possession- a perfect ornament to add to our hoard. She'll sit, day in and day out, lying upon it beautifully for all to admire as ours, luxuriating in the feel of her brother's skin on hers. It was all only possible due to her own foolishness- SHE was the only who caused her brother's death by bringing him before us, SHE brought herself here by being so careless- what a worthless excuse for a gold! Honestly, not looking into someone any more than she did before trusting them so much? This is all she deserves.

Continue on in this vein until she looks about to pop. She might try and hit us or something; fend her off easily and mock her efforts. Then paint a picture of exactly how helpless she is, how thoroughly we've entrapped her and how delightful it will be to watch her squirm and try to escape. Hopefully she'll eventually break down and lose it somehow, at which point we exit stage left with an evil laugh.

Will it salvage things? I don't know. I hope so. It's the best I've got.

>>14331480
>>14331457
>>14331387
>>14331322
>>14331297

You should analyze Azaladon this way. He'd be a far more interesting subject. Besides, it'd be easier to get into his head too, seeing as though we're already in his head. or we are his head.

>>14332305

It's the best we can do for now. We just go PSYKE! WE KNOW WE CAN'T JUSTIFY IT AND WE WERE JUST PULLING YOUR LEG!! then nail into her.

Yeah this is the best we can manage, I think, right now.

>>14332314

you cant realy analyze azaladon from a single viewpoint, because as http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14151277/#14155387 pointed out, theres no one entity in azs mind.

>>14332420
There actually is. The one that gets written into WD's posts

>>14332314

There's little point in analyzing ourselves in such a way, but I might take a crack at it later.

>>14332441

but the ultimate function of psychology is understanding how ones thoughtprocess operates, obviously for an outside observer all you can do is review the entities actions, but that would only realy tell you what we already know, his marked schizophrenic tendencies.

>>14332465
Actually as his many-voiced mind, we've been fairly consistent in most matters. The only topic upon which we really cannot agree seems to be Cygnis.

It's like having several, very similar, very evil voices in your head chattering away with a million ingenious evil ideas on how to take over the world. Even if they disagree, one thing's for certain. At the end of the day, you'll be taking another step towards world domination.

>>14332465
I disagree, I think there is a certain amount of continuity in Azaladons actions. Also, he wouldn't come off schizophrenic, he'd come off as having multiple personality disorder. There's a big difference between the two.

>>14332510

What if he's not a singular dragon, but many with with one body? Some psuedo-reincarnation of the strongest reds, the most cunning blacks, the fiercest blues. The culmination of the chromatic dragon's lean toward meticulous planning, unrelenting patience and immeasurable desire for more. He will never be satisfied, even when he has dethroned Bahamut and taken his place.

>>14332587
That's the sue-ist weaboo bullshit I've heard all day

>>14332607

nyoro~n

>>14332633
You forgot your pic

>>14332663

thanks, couldn't find it amongst by gig upon gig of furry porn

Let's summon our dearest wife and daughter back, to rub them in Cygnis's face. A loving evil family. Make no bones about how we consider a devil superior to Cygnis in all ways, including loyalty and... skills.

>>14332763
No way in hell should we bring our daughter anywhere near Cygnis until she is way, way closer to slave mentality. Or at least not this sane.

>>14331068

Just to state, I fully support this in third party drawfaggotry form if anyone ever wanted to undertake such an endeavor. I'd really hate to have that event take place in an official manner, it would be-smut this entire quest series. It's really odd a quest has gone on this long and there is *nothing* here in the adult drawfaggotry department, let alone any art at all from what I've seen.

(On a different note, anyone got a link to a scaly archive? Already scrapped /rs and I've only hit 200 megs)

>>14332955
Well, there's this portrait of Cibach by the dude who does Skirmish Quest and Zombie Quest.

>>14332955
A-are you asking for dragon porn? I don't think I've ever seen someone so nonchalantly ask for furry stuff.

>>14332955

I don't think this is the thread for scaly smut. There are implications (same as pretty much all D&D) but the line has not been crossed.

Good lord, I forgot how fantastic Dragon Quest is. I love you writer dude.

“As /possessions/.” Cygnariassis replies, as if it were a damning word. You happen to find it extremely appealing, though.

“Does that matter?” you ask, and then mentally trigger one of the more overt compulsion spells attached to her bands and collar. “I have your best interests at heart, and I care about you. More than can be said for anyone else, I do believe.”

“That's not true-” Cygnariassis begins defiantly, but you interrupt.

“Can it? Who would you go to, if you could escape? Your household in Freeport, none of whom could stand up to me as Cibach, let alone as myself? What about a concerted attack by the cult of the Binder, which certainly hasn't been eradicated? But you have more options. Perhaps you would flee to your family, whom you have no contact with? Tell me, would you even know how to find them?” You pause long enough to see the answer in her face- A gamble, but a calculated one. In this case, paying off. She seems torn between denial, denial that she knows for what it is, and surprise that you know this.

“Perhaps Bellianthas, your... adoptive uncle?” you ask. That gets a start from her; evidently you weren't supposed to know, even more than the rest. “Oh, I'm sure he'd listen politely- But what would he think of you? What should you think of yourself for that matter?” Again, a miniscule pause as you trigger another compulsion. “How on earth could I have done this? By Tiamat's talons and Bahumat's /noble/ brow, how could this have happened?” 'noble' is in heavy sarcasm, but she doesn't seem to notice, fixating on your question.

“How? Because I /trusted/ you! I- I /loved/ you!” Cygnariassis shouts. From her tone, she sounds half afraid of what she's saying, but angry enough that she will say it none the less. “Or Cibach. Whoever you are... he was.” she continues. You laugh, and it echoes loudly in your lair.

“Of course. Of /course/.” you laugh. “You allowed a total stranger- One who knowingly consorted with devils and /red/ /dragons/ of all things, to enter your life, to fly above all suspicion... In truth, the one person who's help was truly indispensable in this matter... Who is chiefly responsible for /me/ being able to put you /there/... Is yourself. You couldn't have made this easier for me if you /wanted/ to end up like this.” You don't trigger anything for this one, depending on your subtler but more persistent spells to do the work.

“I... No. No!” Cygnariassis replies, though you detect the desired hint of doubt hidden behind her eyes. “I- Would /never/ have wanted to end up... an- an /item/ in a hoard-” At this you start laughing, and it soon drowns out anything she can possibly say. After a time, as the echoes finally die away, she opens her mouth to speak again, but you do not allow it.

“Be silent.” you order, backing up your order with a small spell- something that would not have had a chance of affecting a dragon normally, but in her debilitated and susceptible state, is more than enough. She is rendered voiceless, and you finish chuckling. “An item? An Item?! Oh, by Taimat's teeth-” you almost start laughing again, but settle for chuckling instead. “/Still/ you believe me. Still. After looking the evidence in the face, you close your eyes and tell yourself it doesn't exist, that you're mistaken.” You shake your head sadly, mentally calling Scinnari back.

“An item you are, regardless of what you desire. The perfect accompaniment to my hoard- A captive gold dragon, bound and beautiful, a prized ornament to my rather expansive collection. Naturally, the fact that your hoard would become mine, as /you/ certainly wouldn't need occurred, as did the ones I mentioned when attempting- When I nearly /did/ persuade you. But no, the primary reason is simply that I desired it.”

“And that is all the reason there needs to be.” Scinnari confirms, walking up beside you and leaning against your flank. “I should hope you don't think otherwise...?”

“You may speak.” you say, temporarily lifting your enchantment from her. Many expressions shift over her face, and she does not speak immediately. Anger, confusion, and pain, primarily.

“I- Fine.” she says, an ugly tone entering her voice. “What do you intend to do with me?”

“Didn't you listen, Cygnariassis, my dear?” you ask. “I just told you- You are the crowning decoration of my hoard. A Gold to sit with my gold- An adornment, a sign of status. I don't need to do /anything/ with you. Lie there, for all to admire. Enjoy the feeling of your brother's skin, think back upon how you killed him, how you brought this all about-”

“I did /no-/” Cygnis begins, but you cut her off with your spell.

“You did, whether you admitted it to yourself at the time or not!” you thunder, and dragon or not, she cowers before you. “He had over a century on me, if you recall. Twice my age. I could never have taken him if you had not misinformed him for me, neglecting to tell him what I am, what Scinnari was-” She is still mute, and quailing under your tirade, but you do catch her trying to respond.

“You didn't know? You 'didn't know'? Tiamat's teeth, you didn't! It was all there for you to notice, every single- You knew, /knew/ a red dragon was involved from the moment I released you in that temple- And what did you do? You told yourself it was alright. That you shouldn't worry. That nothing was a wrong.” You pause, as if even you were searching for suitably extreme words, before continuing.

And now that we've given her the stick...

"But you needn't fear any longer. I take /very/ good care of my possessions. Here, you are safe from the cult. Here, you are cared for. Not because of your status or wealth, but because of what you are.

You may not see it now, but I think you shall find yourself far happier here than you ever did in Freeport."

And then a little more stick because we're sadistic.

"For the time being, you will wear the gown. Let it serve as a reminder of the foolishness that led you here."

>>14333282
Too early. She's doubting, but not overwhelmed by it enough to be susceptible. And also she'll wear her dress forever, and grow to love it because we've enchanted it that way.

Don't get me wrong, I do favor the carrot at some point- but not right now. We need to use the stick MUCH more heavily first; only say anything comforting when she's sobbing and couldn't possibly reply anyway.

>>14333197
WD, you are fucking great at this. Just keep pushing how much of a fuck-up she is, how she brought this on herself, how she's incompetent and undeserving and worthless. Going on like this for a long time, crushing every objection she brings up, should push her closer and closer to despair and cracking. When she does we can say something gentle about how safe we'll keep her and how loved and prized she'll be... forever. As the crowning trophy of our collection. Just like she must have wanted, deep inside.

Then have Scinnari take your arm and walk off.

I'm really starting to despise our Red. Great job Writer Dude, it has been a while since any character has provoked emotion in me. Keep up the stellar work!

>>14333282

These're good, but we should save 'em for another conversation further down the line. Right now we just want her reeling.

>>14331526

I like this steed idea; it gives Cygnis an opportunity to stretch her legs, not have to think about things beyond 'go, stop, left, right' and not actually have to do anything evil or so, thus not really objectionable.

Obviously it's not something we could do now, but for something semi-recreational she could do in the future I think it's plausible.

We should nuzzle Scinnari and proclaim our love, point out all the myriad ways she is superior to Cygnis. Loyal, dutiful, able to accept realty and the evils it at times requires... and competent. Gem of our heart, Scinnari -- a devil -- has done more to earn our love and trust than a gold dragon. Rather than simply take such love as her just due she worked and proved worthy, unlike the arrogant and entitled Cygnariassis. How, I wonder, does that make you feel?

>>14333628
This is a great line of logic... for after we have Cygnis broken down into a more pliable emotional state. At that point, it might make her more inclined to serve us. Right now it would just remind her that we fuck devils and piss her off more.

>>14333628

All good things in time, young padawan, we've many such opportunities to do such things...now, however, may not be the time.

>>14333640

Agreed. We have to make her want to please us in the first place before we can make her feel guilty about not being able to serve us as ably as Scinarri.

>>14333648
I agree, continue with the emotional beatdown and prove just how worthless she is to herself.

>>14333628
I like. It both reassures Scinnari and emotionally beats on Cygnis. Win-win. Slip in something about preferring to take an Erinyes to mate over her, hammering on how cygnis herself is so useless that she should be grateful for a chance to be an item under our care.

>>14333717

Yes yes, but be sure that we'll safe the 'gratefulness' for when she starts accepting gratefulness, and not before- otherwise it'll just sour her mood even more.

“You are the most /worthless/ excuse for a gold that I have ever seen. Even your twisted /brother/ was at least semi-competent. Had he actually known, he might- /might/ even have been able to defeat me, to kill me, or even simply escape. But no, you denied him all knowledge of that... Did you /desire/ his death?” Your strongest enchantment, not a compulsion, but simply one that makes everything sound utterly /reasonable/ is active, and you are intent on making use of it. “You could not have gone about it better- Most settle for simply refuting an unwelcome suitor, let him know that he is not wanted. But either you /desired/ his death, or you couldn't even do /that/ right, could you? ” you pause, shaking your head. “I am ashamed that you are a /dragon/, even a Gold.”

“I'm not sure she can do /anything/ right, my lord. She's certainly got a poor record, at best.” Scinnari agrees from your side. “Useless, in all regards.”

“She probably is, but who knows.” you agree. “Look at you. Denying and justifying -and you take yourself seriously, mind- but there you sit, telling yourself that that you didn't desire any of this.” Cygnariassis has tears in her eyes at this point, but enough fight left in her to attempt a silent retort. You just smile. You don't even have to know what she just tried to say.

“If that's the case... what are you doing with the dress?” Cygnariassis looks down in horror, as if only just realizing the her left hand was absently feeling and stroking the material of the dress. She reacts with panicked fear, snatching her hand away from the dress. Despite her utter horror and rapid breathing, apparently on the verge of sobbing in panic, she doesn't seem like she can bring herself to fully pull away from the dress, to remove it from her skin.

“My lord, if you will forgive the impertinence... I think now would be the time.” Scinnari observes gleefully. You can't resist a smile yourself.

“Forgive I can... Especially since I believe you are correct.” With a few passes in the air, you activate the single common enchantment you had placed on all of the adamantine bands she wears, and her collar. Cygnariassis spasms and gives what might be charitably called a whimper. No coherent reaction is forthcoming, though. “There, Cygnariassis. You are, as you said, an item, a possession, and the pride of my lair... When Scinnari or Azyrah are not present, at least.”

“You are most kind, lord.” Scinnari says, giving you a small bow and a kiss on your scaled forearm. “Though evidently she cannot even totally succeed as a decoration. Perhaps now would be time to leave her? She's obviously a wreck, and fit for nothing.” Scinnari says. She seems to consider for a moment, then steps forward, approaching Cygnariassis' stricken form. Ignoring what mute protests and pathetic attempts at evasion the brain-locked Cygnariassis can muster, Scinnari wipes the remaining wet blood from Cygnariassis' face, again sucking it from her claws. “You are pathetic. You exist solely because my lord allows it- A matter he is /far/ to gracious in.”. Turning back to you, she nods. “Now, perhaps, we can attend to something important?”

>>14333821

My god. This is one of the few quests I've participated in where I've been horrified at the evil we've committed.

Keep up the good work, Writer-dude.

>>14333821

Oh, and take that fucking flag away. It's the dress or nothing for her.

>>14333879
Put it just out of her reach. You know, five feet farther than her chain will let her go. (And anchored so she can't hook it or something.)

>>14333821
Transform back into our Cibach form and lovingly escort our devil out, making kissy-face and/or goo-goo eyes with her the entire time and not even looking back.

Then let's take both her and Azyra up for a night flight and some family time together. Afterward scry on Cygnis again and see what state she is in.

>>14333879
Hell no. We don't need to take the flag away. When she discards it in favor of the dress of her own volition, simply because the dress feels so much better, it'll have a desirable effect on her emotional development.

>>14333821
Smile and go with Scinnari. Leave Cygnis like she's worthless, to sob and wrap herself in the chains and dress that bring her ecstasy.

Then, elsewhere, have a delighted and exceptionally evil laugh with Scinnari. This is great. Having Cygnis wholly under your power and watching her despair and horror... this will keep us amused for weeks, if not months!

On that cheerful note, do important things like spending time with our daughter, fucking Scinnari, and managing our affairs of state for a while before returning to our newest and most delightful hobby.

>>14333903
Good idea, I want to play with our daughter some more, get in some bonding time.

>>14333927
>do important things like spending time with our daughter, fucking Scinnari
I approve of this statement.

Important-time is family time! Lets go do something fun with our daughter and wife!

“YES...” a voice thunders in your mind. Only through the greatest of self control and fast reaction do you turn the jump it elicits from you you into a nod.

“I think that would be best.” you agree, turning and walking from the room. The voice does not depart, but it does fade to a less apocalyptic scale.

“I am... /Content/ to let you wait for the moment, Azaladon.” the voice states, “With each passing year my return grows easier, and you grow more capable.”

“That is how age /works/ for dragons.” you reply at the voice. The Binder, or at least, the voice you identified as the Binder in Freeport. Sadly capable of piercing the many veils, wards, and other protective enchantments surrounding your lair.

“Yes.... it is. Such /noble/ creatures.” The Binder replies. Her voice seems to be fading, growing lesser and greater at random. It hasn't yet regained it's thunderous peak, but it occasionally dips into almost inaudibility. Whatever this mode of communication, it seems tenuous. “I do reward those who serve me, though, and I do not ask a titanic amount from you.”

“You have always been vague in what you ask, oh 'mistress'.” you reply sarcastically, still communicating in your mind.

“Really... Perhaps I have. Very well. Travel north. Find Soulless. I wish you to... use him. If you are doing my will, he will obey you.” Her voice grows hurried in your mind, “My prison's strength waxes and wanes. I will not contact you again this... decade, at least. You may pursue the task for which you were created fo...” her words dip into almost-audible gibberish, totally unintelligible in your mind. They return, though. “...not desire your death. I trust your sense of self preservation adequate. You have time... But know that I will enforce my wishes, eventually. The only way you can profit- or even break even in this matter, is to cooperate with me. The other options involv.....” another gap in audibility. It returns a final time.

“...eaker next time, and perhaps I will choose another if you are insufficiently accommodating. If you are, though, I can grant great rewards. It is possible for you to Bind Cygnis yourself, and I /can/ show you the way... If it is in my interests to do so. We shall speak again.”

The voice is not loud, when it finally departs, but seems to echo in your mind, through your thoughts, for several seconds. You do your best not to show it, and switch your attention to what Scinnari was discussing.

“...tion. I think she'll make an excellent swordswoman, given time. I am... somewhat concerned that her wings do not appear to be functional, though.”

“Nonsense.” you cut in. “She has already demonstrated she can use them, among other things, to glide, or gain extra height from a jump. I suspect she simply isn't strong enough; she'll be able to use them when the muscle grows in.”

“I hope so, my lord, but...” Scinnari says, worry evident in her voice. “Never mind, my lord. I'm sure you are correct. Shall we go find her?”

“Of course.” you agree, and pause for a moment, locating from her amulets. You are lead to the quarters of your lizardfolk followers. They are abnormally crowded, and you find some sort of commotion in progress. Azyrah is easily located, being warded off by s pair of lizardmen, despite her protests. They seem relieved upon your approach. Azyrah, when she notices you, seems outraged.

“Father! I want to see them!”

“Them?” Scinnari asks for you. One of the lizardmen answer.

“Captives, queen. They were found wandering through the lower tunnels. We were told you were busy, so we were holding them here.”

“And they won't let me see them!” Azyrah says, “Tell them to let me see them!”

“Two humans and a halfling, king.” the lizardman says. “They say they were pursuing tales of gold in the caves around the base of the mountain, and got lost. We... were unwilling to allow Azaladon's daughter to risk herself.”

.>>14334309
Praise the lizardmen, they did well. Scoop up Azyra, saying that she must be careful. No talking to captives without mommy or daddy around until she's older. Give her a kiss on the forehead and carry her on our hip as the whole family goes to see the captives.

>>14334309

Let's all have a look at the captives then, and give them a chance to beg forgiveness.

>>14334309
Those lizardmen are to be commended for keeping our daughter out of danger. No way in hell does she go near potential adventurers before she's got enough training to kick their asses herself.

However, if she wants to see the captives, then see them she shall. Why don't we have Scinnari handle this while we cloak ourselves and Azyra with invisibility and observe? She can observe her mother's style and skill. Just make sure that she knows that she is not to say anything at all, or next time we won't take her with us to observe the interrogation. She can use telepathic communication with us or her mother if she wishes to say something.

Interrogating captives: Awesome family bonding.

>>14334408
>>14334435

Yes the lizardmen have acted responsibly. Let's give them a little reward later.

>>14334435
This

>>14334309
As others have said, the lizardmen deserve commendation for keeping their head and making the right choice.

As for interrogation, a chance for our daughter to see her mother in action. But no talking, telepathic communication only.

i think we should bring her with us but let her know that we can be sometimes harsh with intruders.

btw what watcher probably looked like before losing her body.

>>14334567
What a filthy slut.

>>14334435

Aye, seems reasonable and accommodating.

This Binder talk troubles me though. Not sure what to do about it for the mean, but...hmm. Bears some thought.

>>14334592

We have a couple of years to make up our minds about how we'll work to keep the Binder imprisoned.

>>14334633
If she can't contact us for a few decades, we can go up and check out Soulless on our own, see whether we want to cooperate. Doesn't seem like the type to take no for an answer, though.

>>14334651

She's canny enough that she's probably lying about her inability to communicate. We're one of her least trustworthy pieces right now, Soulless would be her watchdog if we got into contact with him.

So, let's work without him, and work on ways to keep her stupid ass imprisoned. We don't want to bend a knee to her.

i think fighting the binder is a losing battle since she has our kill switch. even if we imprison her indefinitely we would cease to exist. we may barter to be viewed as an equal after all if she ascends then we could start a new pantheon.

also considering she probably aided us in the fight against devils by probably channeling some sort of spell through us i don't want to find out what other things she can do to us.

>>14334705

Switches can be re-routed out of circuits though.

On to find the old man on the mountain who can dig around in our circuits and help cut her switch off, then?

>>14334797

Yes.

btw discussion going on in irc chat about giving watcher a body involves either crafting by scratch a body out of stone /clay and then turning it into flesh. (might require exotic methods), we could also find a brass dragon and get rid of it's soul, or find a brass dragon egg to have watcher inhabit.

hope i did not leave anything out.

Actually this may be a good idea, surely SOMEONE is versed in something similar to the control she exercises over us. And we've certainly got the resources to seek them out, and potentially even pay them off without too many tears. I say we devote the full resources of our kingdom/empire to this for the next few years, so that when and if we do ever face down the binder she can't just kill switch us and laugh in our lifeless face. Spies, diplomatic channels, making contacts our self, scrying, EVERYTHING. Afterall, our life is among our most valued and valuable resources we have available.

>>14334851
The watcher is rather loyal to the binder, isn't she? Are you IRC lot sure that's the best idea? What with her knowing an awful lot about us and our lair, and being a minion of our sworn enemy and all..

What i am worried about is that her threat is more of a warning and that if we don't release her she will come into this world by possessing our body.

>>14334877
That's why we give her the body of a tiny little hatchling, then eat it.

>>14334883
Pretty sure if she could do that she wouldn't have bothered with all this cajoling and shit, and would have just /done/ it.

“But they aren't even adventurers! They said so themselves!” Azyra protests.

“My dear, they could be lying.” Scinnari points out, sounding understanding but slightly worried.

“No them, the lizardmen!” Azyra prortests, “They don't think they're adventurers!”

“Still, I believe you acted commendably.” you say, speaking to the lizardmen. “Let's see... Zeskanzis and Savask? I shall remember it. Thank you.” They accept the implicit dismissal, and disappear into the crowd. Azyra scowls up at you, and does not assist you as you pick her up.

“Azyra, adventurers are remarkably dangerous individuals. Partially because they don't happen to be terribly reasonable most of the time.”

“But they're surrounded! It's not like they could do anything even if they were!” Azyra complains.

“True, but adventurers might not view it that way. They could think they've infiltrated the fortress, and take you hostage. Or any number of utterly foolish ideas. I don't think you should visit any adventurers on your own -even if they just /might/ be adventurers,- until you can handle them on your own.” You explain.

“My own? I'll get to deal with adventurers on my own?” This prospect, for some reason, fills Azyra with excitement.

“I would think so. Your mother thinks you have the makings of a talented swordsman.” you tell her conspiratorially. “That will certainly help. But tell you what: Do you want to watch?”

“I can see them?” Azyra asks, suddenly hearing victory.

“Your mother can deal with them, and you and I can watch. I'll make us invisible, but you can't make any noise.”

“I can do that!” Azyra eagerly agrees.

“Very well. Scinnari, we'll... watch from the side.” you say, pausing briefly to veil yourself from sight. Azyra climbs up to sit on your shoulders, tail and wings tapping against your back, and you follow Scinnari towards the guarded prisoners. “Remember, telepathic communication only.” you remind Azyra through her amulet.

“What do we have here?” Scinnari demands. Lady Katya Prestor cuts through the crowd of lizardfolk, who part respectfully. The 'adventurers', or even 'not-adventurers' are a rather sorry lot: A pair of humans in grubby clothes, and a halfling in not quite as grubby clothing. He looks absolutely terrified, though, as several of the lizardmen seem to be eying him hungrily. “Identify yourselves, and explain why you are here.

“I'm Dag, that's Morn, and 'e's Esthan.” one of the humans says, evidently happy to be dealing with anyone other than hungry lizardmen. “We, ah, we'd heard there was gold, or adamantine, or mithril or something in the mountain. We, uh, got lost, uh, ma'am. We couldn't find our way out of the caves, and suddenly there're those crazy carvings on the wall, and lizards everywhere!”

“Really.” Scinnari states, sound highly skeptical. She turns to one of the guards, and asks in draconic, “Is that true?”

“Yes, queen.” the guard says, bowing before her. He does not rise.

“And do you have their equipment?”

“Retrieve it. I wish to... inspect it.”

“Of course, queen.” the lizardman says, bowing deeper, then rising. A moment later he and another lizardman are back with a pair of picks, half a dozen lengths of rope, a trio of hammers of various sizes, and a small back. At Scinnari's gesture, the pack is up ended, spilling several pitons, torches, a vial of lamp oil, which cracks and begins leaking, and several chunks of rock. A few dark and porous ones, igneous, you would think, and small pile of shining nuggets and fragments. Fool's gold, you realize after a moment.

“And were you aware that intruding upon the realm of Lord Prestor is punishable by death?” Scinnari asks. The three prisoners pale.

“I- We don't even know where we are! We haven't seen the sun in hours!” one of them whines. The other gives him an elbow in the ribs.

“We didn't know where we were, ma'am. Just got here, some bloke in the tavern told us any miner could make a fortune up here. Started out near the bottom of the jungle, worked our way into a cave, then couldn't find our way out.” he explains apologetically. “We're new arrivals here, ma'am, we just got off the boat yesterday.”

“Ignorance is no excuse for disobeying the law.” Scinnari says unconcernedly. Mentally, she contacts you. “I'm inclined to have the lot of them killed. Do you have any objections?”

Fuck yeah, it's dragon quest.
No, I have nothing of value to add.

Who told them this? we should have a nice chat with said person possibly a spy.

I wish we knew the ritual for turning people into spawn from dragon lance would be a useful way to dispose of our adventurers.

>>14334956
"Keep it clean and quick, no need to teach Azyra bad habits early in life. A misjudged adventurer given a slow death could prove dangerous to her in time."

After she is done we ask Azyra why we killed them. If she gives any other answer than "They were trying to steal from us, and that's not something that is allowed." then we smile and gently correct her. If she does then we give her a treat, maybe take her into town polymorphed after our night-flight with her and Scinnari.

>>14334956
Well, first, we need to have them identify the idiot tavernkeeper foolish enough to point prospectors and possible-adventurers towards OUR mountain.

To be honest, killing them sounds like a waste of the executioner's time. I'll leave this decision up to others; I might be getting too soft.

We need to pump them for information about the guy who gave them the tip.

>>14334986
>>14334994
Combine these. Find out the person's name then execute them while explaining why we did it to Azyra. This will be a good lesson to her; never let anyone steal from you or your family.

Ask Azyra her opinion. Specifically, ask her how they should die. Let's see what her creative little mind can come up with.

>>14334956
I am inclined to track down whomever told them that coming into our mountain was a good idea. There should be no mining in here that isn't directly controlled by us or the dwarves- both of whom know where to go and not to go. Humans are not to go prospecting up here, and if rumors are spreading that it's a good profession... it won't be long before we've got miners burrowing through the ground like rats!

Extract this information from them, as well as finding out where they got those supplies. Someone just sold them a bunch of mining equipment, after all. We will need to see that kind of rumor eliminated; I believe that we laid down fairly specific laws on what part of the island are and are not open for exploitation not so long ago.

Then they can die.

>>14335019
No, you don't let a child get her mitts on a headsman's axe. We should kill them sure, but do so and sit Azyra down and explain why we did it. They were trespassing in our territory where they shouldn't be and trying to steal things from us. That's bad. We get to take things from other people but they don't get to take from us.

>>14334956
I feel who ever gave them information is highly suspect, press them for details. But by no means should they leave this place alive.
I don't know if we want our little one seeing her mom execute people though.

Lets not kill them. Put them to work as reasonable punishment for stealing from us, perhaps as miners.

Killing everyone for even the slightest slight is going to give us a nasty reputation, which we don't necessarily want.

>>14335057
It's... not like our darling girl will fail to see such things in the future.

That said, she might be a little young at the moment... perhaps just tell her that we killed them and explain why, not do it in front of her?

>>14335019
I can think of three reasons to kill them.
1) They were trying to steal from us by mining our minerals.
2) They have seen more of our lair than people not sworn to our service are allowed to see.
3) They are potentially agents or patsies of whomever sent them here, symptoms of a larger problem that must be crushed.

The only case in which I wouldn't kill them is if we were enslaving them or pressuring them into servitude with "I would normally kill you, but I'll let you get away with this IF..." and making them our spies or what have you forever. Free minions are always nice. Still, point 1 is a strong principle and point 2 concerns me; they could potentially lead other more dangerous characters into our tunnels.

>>14335110
The "You have twenty seconds to convince me not to have you executed" bit is a classic, always entertaining, whether we decide to kill them or not. And if one of them freely offers to give us anything we want, including lifelong servitude... hell, I'd take it. Would let us get more out of this than some corpses, and it's clear that we consider enslavement a valid punishment for theft.

>>14335105

No-one's going to find out that it's us...

>>14335110
We should not let them be spies, they have seen our carvings. If they tell anyone who could put two and two together, they will know that "the realm of Lord Prestor" is ruled by a dragon. Possibly even a red one, if the carvings are that specific and one of them can make a faithfull reproduction. And they know about our lizardman army, too.

Step 1: Find out who told them that shit.
Step 2: 3 adventurers, 1 Ccinnari, 1 Azaldon and 1 Azyra? Family picnic, a meal for each of us. =)
Step 3: For the love of christ don't bring the Spinel Sage back to life. The less we see of that piece of shite the better.
Step 4: Take Azyra on a flight with us and Scinnari
Step 5: Sexyfuntimes with Scinnari.

I think it might be time to go hunting artefacts or such - you know, stuff that increases stats - particularily intelligence and charisma. You need plenty of INT and CHA to run a nation, and to be a sorceror. If we can find some stuff that boosts it, life will be good.

>>14335214
Everyone knows about our lizardman army. We are actively attempting to incorporate the lizardman population into the urbanized portion of our city, and everyone knows they are loyal to us. Mza is one of the only places on the planet where lizardmen are a common sight on the streets. There are also no small number of them in our navy. If they say "Lord Prestor has a huge army of lizardmen!" the reply would be something like "Yeah, no shit."

The rest of your point stands.

Appearing to be merciful can be far more useful than actually being so, or always being cruel.

If it costs us nothing to spare them (and it costs us nothing if they are truly just idiot miners) then there's little reason for us to not do so. Killing three fools doesn't make us look any more like a badass than we already are, and if we inform them the difference between fool's gold and real gold, they might tell others, and spare us the trouble of having to enact this moronic scenario out in the future.

>>14335298
Imo less risk just to kill them.

>>14335298

It costs us tons! They've seen the way into our lower levels! They've seen the murals depicting them worshiping a dragon! It would be downright reckless to have them cause all of this cuffuffle and just let them leave with a wave goodbye!

>>14335264
There's "he has an army of lizardmen," and then there's "he has vast secret tunnels filled with lizardmen and carvings of them worshipping a dragon."

>>14335325
Killing them would send the following message:

a) the tunnels are dangerous (this is already known)

b) Maybe there REALLY IS something worth looking for down there.

c) Anyone who goes there will need serious firepower because going there is certain death for the unprepared.


or maybe we could just send the message that it's private property, and there's nothing there worth risking your life over, so would you please keep out kthx.

“Not terribly.” you reply.

“Who directed you this way?” Scinnari demands, pulling a thin, slightly curved knife from her belt. She examines the blade and tip, pointedly ignoring them. The edge away from her, notice the ring of scaled muscle and claw behind them, and edge back towards her.

“I... Uh, man down at the docks, ma'am. Sold us the rope cheap, too.” the miner answers, obviously intimidated. “We... We didn't want to cause any trouble or nothing...”

“You have succeeded in causing some, despite your most noble intentions.” Scinnari says in a deadpan voice. Her sarcasm is lost on them. “This man. Do you know his name?”

“Called 'imself Tolth, ma'am. Never saw him before, haven't seen 'im since.” the spokesman answers. Scinnari does not reply, tossing the knife up and catching it by the blade. She continues to do this as she stares down the the would-be miners, and he cowers, eventually trying to fill the silence. “Was down at the docks, near a tavern...” He pauses as he realizes how utterly useless that bit of information is. “I think he was an elf or a half-elf..?” he offers instead.

Scinnari is not impressed. “You have sixty seconds to give me a reason not to have you executed.” Scinnari says with utter disintrest. She pauses, looking down at the halfling. “Or eaten.” The miners gape at her for a moment, the spokesman looking utterly dumbfounded.

These are nameless mooks, they don't deserve a speech or special considerations. Just kill them, let Scinari have her fun with them if she chooses so, but I doubt they are even worth that. No letting a bunch of nobodies run loose. That would invite the entire CONTINENT over for a block party in our basements. Find out who sent them here. Kill these idiots, milk the ones who sent them here for whatever they know, and kill them too, but much more slowly. And so on until we reach the top of the list. Why was this even being discussed?

The other two, however, do not. The other human emits a shout, and attempts to tackle Scinnari. She sidesteps handily, tripping him and guiding his falling body onto her blade, slitting his throat. Blood sprays, which she also sidesteps, only to be attacked by the halfling, who has produced a halfling-sized stilleto from somewhere. He stabs at her knee, missing the actual knee but burying his blade deep in her calf. Scinnari snarls, drops the human, and brings her dagger around to and a lizardman cuts him down before Scinnari can reach him. The sound of his skull cracking reaches you clearly. From your shoulder, Azyra cheers, apparently caught up in the excitement.

It's over in less than five seconds, and the remaining human goggles at the bloodshed.

“Scinnari, are you alright?” you ask. She doesn't respond immediately, and you voice an order for a healing potion. One of the lizardmen immediately provide.

“I'm fine. Just flesh.” Scinnari replies with some venom in her thoughts. Evidently insulted to have been wounded at all. She accepts the potion, but does not consume it immediately. Instead she rounds on the final member. Questions are unnecessary.
“No, no, he can wait. Azyra comes first.” Scinnari replies. "I can deal with them after she's gone to sleep." she adds, pausing to ordering the lizardmen to thoroughly investigate the bodies, possessions, and store the prisoner somewhere safe. “What do you wish, my lord?”

>>14335343
>a) the tunnels are dangerous (this is already known)
No shit.
>b) Maybe there REALLY IS something worth looking for down there.
You say the King of a Nation have some valuable loot? No shit.
>c) Anyone who goes there will need serious firepower because going there is certain death for the unprepared.
You say that when you break into the house of a powerful sorceror, you need some firepower? No shit.

Let's be honest. We have a dungeon. People will want to loot the dungeon. We let these guys go, they spread rumors. Rumors go to Taverns, wherein 4 random misfits are given quests by an old man. However, if we kill them, no rumors, and the PCs will be too busy slaughtering boars to notice the subtle plot hooks.

WAIT

CHECK OUR HOARD NOW!

WE HAVE A GOLD DRAGON THAT MAY NOT BE ACCOUNTED FOR, THIS IS TOO SIMPLE TO BE ANYTHING OTHER THAN A DISTRACTION.

“I... I don't know- They- they're crazy!” he emits at last, obviously panicked and scared out of his mind. “I always thought they were funny! Met me on the ship, did! I thought they were- Well, I...”

“Spies.” Scinnari communicates to you. “Picked him up as cover. He was probably the only one who wasn't in on it... Meaning that torturing him for information would likely be useless.” She communicates with disgust. It's very clear though that she doesn't consider that a reason to avoid it.

“Yours whenever you desire.” you promise. “I will even assist, if you desire it. Do you wish to do it now, though?” Your daughter's name is unspoken, but prominent. Scinnari seems to hesitate, but at length responds.

“No, no, he can wait. We have time... We should spend it with Azyra.” Scinnari replies, ordering the lizardmen to thoroughly investigate the bodies, possessions, and store the prisoner somewhere safe. “What do you wish, my lord?”

>>14335384
I say we let Azyra kill the last one. It will be a family bonding experience - Mom, Dad, and Child, all murdering a redshirt together. <3

>>14335384
>From your shoulder, Azyra cheers, apparently caught up in the excitement.

*Sigh*

What did we say about making noises, girl?

>>14335395

>>14335395
Oh SHI-

Yeah, let's just poke our head in there and make sure she hasn't been cut loose, shall we? I'd hate for her uncle or who knows who else to have tracked her down so quickly, but if they have, then they shall not be leaving this place.

>>14335413
That seems to be something even Scinnari want's to avoid.

>>14335384
>From your shoulder, Azyra cheers, apparently caught up in the excitement.
*sigh*
"Self-control, daughter. It is something difficult to acquire, but oh so valuable."

Let's just go out for a nice evening flight. We'll deal with the patsy later.

>>14335413
No point to that, Scinnari will deal with him.

>>14335401
Let's go flying, as a family. Before we do, however, make sure Scinnari is alright... she's acting a bit odd.

>>14335401
Remove yourselves from this situation, Scinnari gets healed, and have lunch or something while you discuss this episode with Azyra. Explain exactly what happened, why we made the decisions that we did, and what we and Scinnari think the truth of the matter is. Explain the points we've discussed about why the men had to die, and how we were proven right by what happened- they were indeed more dangerous than they appeared and probably agents of someone else attempting to get information on us. Point out to her that this demonstrates the peril involved in this sort of thing- Scinnari is highly capable and was still knifed by an unexpectedly skilled and suddenly desperate man; a true adventurer or more capable spy could have been far more deadly.

It's important that we turn this into a learning experience for our daughter rather than just an exciting episode. Ensure that she takes away something valuable from this. After that, Scinnari can either give her torture lessons- emphasize that there are two distinct reasons for the torture; one to try and find out anything he knows even though he probably won't know anything, and two because it will make Scinnari feel good- or take her flying instead.

Yes, yes, let's all go out for a once around the park. It'll be great fun and all But first WE NEED to look and make sure A) Cygnis is still here B) that was all of them.

>>14335449 here. >>14335420 should also be implemented. It's important that Azyra learn to keep her head and self-discipline even- perhaps especially- in stressful or exciting situations. Perhaps a slightly gentler rebuke than that, but make it clear that she erred.

>>14335449
We should also point out to her, VERY pointedly, that if they were able to stab mommy they could have killed her. Use it as a lesson as to why you /never/ underestimate your foes.

>>14335395

No, no, surely not...

Our wish right now, however, would be to have the lizardmen eat the halfing, and for us to spend an amicable rest of the day with our family.

Then...oh, I guess we'll check up on Cygnis and fit her into that dress she likes so much, and look up this Tolth fellow.

...Hmm. Actually, depending on when he would be expecting his people back, it might be prudent to do that first, or such.

Scinnari is tougher than that, what the hell happened there? Were they stronger then they looked, or was she distracted by something? This is important, pursue it. Also check on Cygnis/the rest of our hoard, and have the lizardmen on heightened alert.

>>14335449
>>14335464

These two. And also empthize with her enjoyment of it.

>>14335483
>>14335440
Agreed with these. Let's have Azyra run to her room and get some warm flying clothes on while we hug Scinnari and ask her what's up. See seems distracted this thread, we should pay her some attention.

>>14335505
>>14335483
I think she might be letting Cygnis effect her more than she is letting on... maybe even to herself.

We should see about this immediately with hugs and soft question, and give her extra attention in general for a while.

>>14335533
Good point. Also something said in the IRC was that she just got freed to us like a week ago or something and these are big chaotic changes in the life of a devil used to order.

I think we need to pay some special attention to her for the next few months. Remember from the first threads when she gets like this she makes mistakes, we don't want that. Keep her happy, loving, and content.

Well, changes have come for Scinnari a bit thick and fast lately; from many people to please to one, then this Cygnis business...she's used to back-stabbing and conniving, and has been used to it for thousands of years- a week or so outside of her natural habitat isn't enough to grow out of it...and only having one master to own up to is a lot like her previous pre-fall condition, which is no doubt preying on her mind.

I think that right now, she's probably feeling intensely vulnerable and out of her comfort zone. Is there anything we can do for her that isn't just verbal assurances? The paladin order, perhaps?

>>14335594
>Is there anything we can do for her that isn't just verbal assurances?
Perhaps we can give her some valuable things from our hoard. For example, maybe we have a slave for her to play with?

>>14335610
Uh, she IS a part of the hoard. That doesn't make any sense. That'd be like giving your cellphone to your TV.

>>14335616
Point taken. But I've never had to deal with a TV that is out of its emotional comfort zone.

A moment of paranoia sets in. You feel no guilt in spreading it to your consort.

“I think the /first/ thing to attend to would be to double check on our primary guest.” you state, turning for the door.

“Of course.” Scinnari agrees, finally drinking the healing potion the lizardfolk gave her. “Yes... You head to scy, I'll head for the lair.”

A few minutes of panic quickly dissipate- Cygnis remains where you left her, no longer sobbing, but seems to still be on the verge of tears. The dress is in her hand, and she's absently fiddling with the material, kneading it in her fingers while looking very disconsolate. You suppress a smile and proceed with your scrying check. Nothing else seems to be within your lair, at least, nothing that isn't supposed to be, and you inform Scinnari that everything is alright. As she returns, you take the time to explain to Azyra how you were worried about people intruding into your lair, possibly to steal things from you. She nods seriously as you inform her that this is /very/ wrong.

“Thank you, I'm glad that it was a false worry.” you say as Scinnari rejoins you.

“I too. Azyra, how did you like 'seeing' the adventurers?” Scinnari replies. Azyra is still on your shoulders, and answers enthusiastically.

“It was exciting! They attacked and you killed them, mother! The-”

“Yes, I did. One of them.” Scinnari answers. “Did it occur to you what you might have done if attacked?”

“I... No...” Azyra replies, grinding to a halt.

“Perhaps you should have some ideas in that regard.” you suggest kindly, “After all, your mother is highly skilled and was well protected, but still managed to get injured. If it had been you there, they might very well have killed you.”

“Mom- Mother? You got hurt? Are you alright?” Azyra asks. In answer, Scinnari puts her foot on the chair near you, and scrapes off the crusted blood from her healed wound.

“I'm fine, Azyra.” Scinnari replies, “But do your best to learn from this- /Never/ underestimate your opposition.”

“Indeed. Additionally, when hidden, do not make noise- it is an excellent way to give yourself away, something that may prove lethal, if you're depending on your concealment for protection.” you agree. “And you did promise to be quiet.”

“Oh... I'm sorry. I... I forgot.” Azyra replies, uncertainly. “I'm sorry.”

“Do not do it again, that is all.” you say, accepting her apology. “It's generally safest to learn from other people's mistakes- it saves you from having to learn from your own.” you add. Azyra still seems to feel guilty, but nods. “Now... If you promise to keep that in mind, I think I might have time to take you flying again.”

This gets you an immediate change in moods from Azyra, and she nods eagerly.

>>14335616
>>14335610
We could always make her directly superior to Cygnis, but I fear that nothing short of death will satisfy our devil at this point.

I think, instead, the long course of tender loving moments and honesty combined with helping her fulfill her dreams (cult, knights) would be the best path. Just because she's a devil doesn't somehow mean she is unable to eventually get rid of these shackles. It will take time and effort, but we've been making progress since day one.

>>14335663
Azaladon the Red, making the world a better place, one mind-rebuilding at a time.

>dependent. ghlyth
Well, yes, that's what we're aiming for Captcha, but... I'm not sure we'll be practising it on ghlyths... I'm not even sure what that /is/...

>>14335661
>>14335645
D'awww, evil family bonding time!

Flying montage then let's have a looooong, in-depth talk with Scinnari after our little gem is asleep.

Hm, Both we and Scinary are held by vast entities who seek to control our lives. Certainly if we can carve our way from the binder, getting Scinary some more freedom shouldn't be out of the question. Though we really ought to work on saving our own skin first. Start hunting out someone who can help distance us from her influence a touch more effectively at the next opportunity.

>>14335661
Hooray!
Send a lackey to beat up Tolth for information. It's probably beneath us to deal with it ourselves, and this is what we have a network of counter-spies FOR.
Go flying with daughter.
Keep the Patsy intruder imprisoned until we figure out wtf Tolth is on about. Can at least cross-reference Tolth's alibi.
Talk to Scinnari about her feelings.
Leave Cygnis alone for a bit - we'll let her stew in her upset for a while.

Obviously Scinnari needs an extra dose of hot sexings, possibly in front of Cygnis, but that can wait until after we take Azyra around. Perhaps take her swimming, or something. Who knows what she'll like.

Speaking of which, does she have any friends? I mean, she's only like, a few weeks old, but she ought to have some, and I don't think we have many people her age (temporal or physiological) around the place. Maybe introduce her to Asha's brood, hope they get on well?

>>14335698
>I'm not even sure what that /is/...
Half Githzerai, Half Murloc. Comes from DOUBLE LIMBO.

>>14335717
>YOU ARE A DRAGON! WHAT DO
40 threads later
>WE NEED A PLAYDATE FOR OUR DAUGHTER!

I love you /tg/, I really do.

>>14335663

She already *is* directly superior to Cygnis. Though perhaps some greater form of symbology is required to that end.

Regarding prior steed suggestions, it might be prudent that, when the time comes where she's malleable enough, Scinnari 'takes the reigns', as it were, regarding easing her into that role. Certainly she'd have the motivation to do the job and do it well...and we don't quite have the time to do it ourselves, what with ruling a kingdom and all.

>>14335663
The shackles go away when/if we Bind her. We have her here for 3 key reasons:

Decoration and entertainment. You can't deny how delicious it is to have a gold chained to the horde.

To keep her out of our hair when/if we move on freeport.

She's perfect as an experimental subject, since nobody will miss her. We don't have to go find a dragon to practice binding on if we decide to go that route.

>>14335726
Nah, Cygnis is our toy. Only we play with her.

But Scinnari is our most prized gem, and we really need to have a long, serious, COMPLETELY honest talk with her alone and relaxed. Ideally while sitting together/cuddling or something to reinforce the intimacy symbolism.

Something is up and I for one would like to nip this one in the bud rather than just let it slide. Remember what happened the last time we ignored Scinnari acting strange? Yeah.

... can we be a little nicer to Cygnis in the future? She never actually did anything to us- for a while she was our greatest ally. I know it's nice rubbing victory in a gold's face but there's a point where it gets redundant.

>>14335645
It just kind of hit me how evil this whole thing is. I mean, we just completely broke a girl who thought she loved us and the only comfort she has is her dead brothers skin (who we killed), and which we are now making her wear.
Goddamn.

>>14335741
Yo, dawg, we heard you liked gold...

Personally, I think we ought to declare sabbatical, and spend a few months doing the absolute minimum we need to keep our empire idling away, while we spend time with Azyra and (occasionally,) Cygnis.

Speaking of which, don't we need to arrange to have her fed, and stuff? How are we supposed to manage that? I'm not too fond of the idea of having a restroom inside our lair.

>>14335755
Well, at least we didn't reveal that everything she's spent the past decade working towards is a lie. ... wait nope never mind. Oh well, at least we're not making her blame herself for ... wait nope.
Hm. At least we're keeping her safe from the Binder, putting her in our hoard with the Watche- wait, fuck it.

Well, at least we got her a nice dress. *nods*

>>14335754
wtfamireading.jpg

If it makes you feel any better, we become nicer to her when she gives in to our control a little more. It becomes a learned response. The more she gives in, the better she feels. The more she struggles, the worse she feels.

>>14335755
I know. There's a sick little part of me that's just having an evilgasm and loving it.

>>14335765
That's... a good idea, actually. Spend time breaking down Cygnis and spending time with our daughter, also reassuring our devil and making her feel she's loved.

We haven't had a sabbatical in a long time, we need one. Scinnari needs one too, I think, to adjust to her new lifestyle. This has likely been the second biggest change in her life so far, we should support her through it. She's earned it, after all. Without her all this shit would have been way hard.

>>14335755
the way I see it is we really do love her, but we are afraid of rejection in our own way and since we can't trust her as our real self we have to break her

We do love her, we just have a twisted way of showing it

>>14335775
At this point it feels like we're just pounding home how her helping us was the worst decision she ever made, which I think is not particularly helpful

>>14335822
It kind of is, but it will eventually have a productive purpose. Discussed in chat in more detail.

>>14335807
Eh, I don't think we LOVE Cygnis, at least not the same way we do Scinnari and Azyra. I do think we care for her, though, and genuinely want to protect her.

I think it's just that Azaladon feels to be truly protected you have to become his, submitting fully. It makes sense in a... hoarding, dragon way.

>>14335807
I disagree.
We looted something rare and valuable since it was rare and valuable and nobody else had taken it yet.
That thing we looted just happened to be a sentient creature.

>>14335807
GTFO Kaleb

>>14335822

No, we're pounding home how STUPID she was for giving us this chance, and that she can't trust her own judgement in anything because she's an idiot and would just fuck up some more.

We're just knocking her confidence for six, right now. And we need to, if we actually want to do anything with her.

>>14335807
That makes a lot of sense. If he saw Cygnis as just a tool, a means to an end, he probably would have left her alone- she's of less use chained in his horde then she is at the command of her own network of allies and informers- with some back up plan to take her out if she ever got too big for her boots.

>>14335845
We're like, the best Ork ever. Better, even.

... Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?

>>14335908
No, it's so much more simple than that.

Cygnis had five things to potentially offer us. Her body, mind, soul, heart, and hoard.

We saw her, and we wanted her.

We now have two of the five: Body and Hoard. Soon, we will have her mind.

The question remains as to whether or not we actually want her soul or her heart - or even if her heart is still attainable.

Still, we are a Dragon. We are greed incarnate. True, our greed is a cut above. It's honed, and sharpened. But it is still greed that motivates us above all else.

We did not possess her. We wanted to. We now do. She is OURS. That's all that really matters.

>>14335945
"HWEE KAPTOORED EET FOHR KAY-OHSS?" I think Scinnari would be a bit miffed, being a Lawfully aligned being and all.

>>14335949
Her soul would be easy, her heart is the challenge. It might not even be possible, but that doesn't stop us from getting the ol' dragon try.

>>14335945
Dat we'z sould paint 'er red, and stick some cannons on 'er?

>>14335966
Agreed! Her soul would be an easier take if we knew the Binding ritual.

Her heart is merely a matter of turning her around so much, she doesn't even know what she wants. That she thinks she DOES want to be a part of our hoard, that we DO care for her more than anyone else.
This will form the foundation for love.

It does't hurt if these things also happen to be at least partially true...

>>14335955
Wat? No!

>>14335969
Yes! And then put some spikes on her, and a platform covered with lizardmen on her back. Speaking of which, we need to breed some small, fast, smart lizardmen. SKINKS, HO!

>war, abouggl
Well, I know what I'm voting our next servant be called.

>>14335994
>Her heart is merely a matter of turning her around so much, she doesn't even know what she wants. That she thinks she DOES want to be a part of our hoard, that we DO care for her more than anyone else.
This will form the foundation for love.


Oh... I guess that works too... *Puts away scalpel*

Also,
>that we DO care for her more than /almost/ anyone else.
FTFY, in the interests of not being horribly maimed.

Besides, we got her to love us once, we can do it again!

>>14336042
Really? Oh, that's harsh. I figured we'd just get her all willing and pop our (her?) draconic cherry. I mean, sure, Scinnari's nice, but presumably there's a difference.

>>14336059
Well uh, technically speaking we've already laid her down by the fire once before.

>>14335994
If we'z usin' da sqiggoths we'z gotta make surez dat it won't stomp all our boyz first.

>>14336067
Yeah, but that's no different than doing Scinnari. A humanoid is a humanoid.

Obviously, this may be a bit... exotic for actually covering in thread. But it seems like a reasonable character goal.

>>14336077
Does it?

Does it REALLY?

>>14336067
But not while dragons. Somewhat of a distinction.

>>14336024
Small fast lizardmen... How about we finnaly go get those kobolds we left in freeport?

>>14336090
Yes, let's get our minions back! I don't care about silly reasons why we may not NEED them, I miss them and they are ours! Hell, any further excursions into Freeport could be done as Cygnis at this point (maybe). Somehow or another we should be looting her businesses and whatnot anyhow.

"Look, Scinnari, it's clear that something is bothering you. That knife wouldn't have come within an inch of you otherwise.

I understand that there's been quite a bit of change lately, and I know that such things can be difficult to accept in such a short period.

Know then, that I am here for you in such times of need. That it is no shame for you to rely upon me. I do believe that is the traditional role for a husband, is it not?

As for Cygnis, well...I think you will enjoy the journey through her own little we will take her on. And by the time she's out the other end, she'll be so turned around she'll think she's enjoyed it."

>>14336120
>looting her business
*Has a mental image of a shop on wheels rolling down the street with a bunch of lizardmen up top firing off it*
GLORIOUS!

>>14336124
Not bad, we need to be more in depth than that, though. She might not even know what's bothering her.

Basically, lay down with her in our arms in and have a long, practical talk about her feelings on:
0. Truth, restate the whole deal and confirm it
1. Us
2. Family
3. Recent changes to her hierarchy
4. Her past... and future
5. Cygnis
6. Make sure she knows that she can talk to us about anything, can not say this enough. She still holds back and it's causing problems.

Those are the main topics, I think.

>>14336159
You forgot
-1. <3 <3 <3

>>14336159
Also, those groups she wants taken out: the paladin order and the cult.

Hell, at some point (probably shouldn't mention it yet) we may get the chance to fuck up the church of her former god.

Manipulation/Heart to Heart with Cygnis. We value her more than anyone else ever has, she's safe with us... deep down, isn't this what she really wanted?

Scinnari needs plenty of our time,both personal and professional. She's jealous, and needs reasuring. She's also our right hand though, and we need to spend time with her making sure the empire is running smoothly.

Azyrah needs attention, training, and encouragement. She needs most of all to learn caution and foresight.

If we're going to make ourselves armor, I think it's time to go fetch the kobolds. They are fair smiths and can be trusted with such a delicate and important task. They can also work on weapons and armor for the lizardmen.

>>14336170
I can get behind that.

Yeah, so far as Scin goes, we need to let her take comfort in our apparent omniscience once more- we know she's troubled by all this hierarchy change and we're gonna make it up to her.

And, naturally, she should take care of herself, and can ask us whatever. It might be a good idea to bring up her own personal goals as something to be pursued, regarding the whole paladin order; she should go do some research about it- IF that's what she truly wants to do, and to bring her family in with her.

>>14336177
I assumed that would be covered under past and future.

no one has posted this yet so i will. their has been some discussion in irc chat of possibly taking over free port. Getting intel and possible causing so much trouble our take over would be applauded.

if i left anything out please add

Your afternoon flight is excellent. The air is warm, the sun brilliant, and weather perfect as Mza is known for. You even show Azyra the lava flows on the north side of your lair, which she seems quite impressed with, if not terribly fond of. As she says, “it smells”. The rest she enjoys, particularly dives and skimming across the jungle canopy.

The remaining miner is not terribly forthcoming, mostly because he doesn't know anything. You are most displeased that you cannot pursue their mysterious director, nor do they seem to know the source, but the ship he claims to have taken did come from the United Cities, you confirm. Nothing solid, but an adequate guess... Sadly, there's little you can do other than store your suspicions away and invest a few more resources in the United Cities arm of your intelligence network.

[I think I could still supply the desired heart-to-heart, but it would probably be more quality work if I wait for the next thread and call it a night now.]

>>14335661
Put Azyra to bed - or let her explore. Let's first go quickly interrogate this gentleman and put him back on the streets - with all his memories of the past few days erased. Then we follow him and see what happens to him - does someone try to kill him? Abduct him? Can we find this Tolth?

>>14336210

Hmm...go for quality over quantity. If you wanna call it there, then we call it.

>>14336210
Go then, I suppose! Off with you!

Best be both really good and comprehensive though, we've been waiting for this this for a long time. ;_;

Alright. It's a night. You know how to contact me, but you hardly need to, I'll check this thread before I start the new one. Things I want from you:

>Thinks you want to be covered in the next OP
>Directions you want those things to be proceeding in
>Questions. IF you ask them, I can answer, and they can stop existing.
>You ought to be back here Sunday, or (possibly) Saturday. Back to normal schedule, barring emergencies.

Plus, you know, anything else I forgot. I'm friendly; I don't bite.

Lots of attention to our sorcery. Magic, magic, magic. Train, bargain, whatever. Maybe we can even hit Scinarri up for some instruction in infernal sorcery.

Maybe a bit of Cygnis sodomy as well as putting out a blatant public reward for information on the binder.. as requested by the Sultan of Tashz.

picture dump for future threads

Totally start teaching Azyra swordplay. If Scinnari (A warrior-devil, and ex-angel of a warrior-god), thinks she's got a talent, we probably ought to start her early.

BTW, are we going to announce that we, you know, have a daughter? We've been keeping her cooped up, IIRC, and that means everybody... hell, Scinnari hasn't been making much of an appearance, since she was obviously pregnant. They probably think there was a horrible magical-radiation induced abortion or stillbirth, or something. (They're kind of right, eggs are kinda still.)

crap got flood filtered will just e-mail them to WD

Reassure Scin
Get Cygnis in that dress- obviously have a second, firm follow-up conversation with her during
Start SERIOUSLY looking into ways to fuck with The Binder and the hold she has on us. That's not cool and it's gonna screw us over, no doubt.