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World map.

>>26173863
I suggest we continue towards Vigoth.

>>26173936

Oh, yes. Where last we left off we had arrived at Untos and I wasn't sure whether we'd decided to go through the city or around it.

>>26173979
Around it.

>>26173979
Around.

is there an archive of previous threads somewhere

the thread doesnt have a number but ive seen this enough times to know this isnt the first thread

>>26174049

Here:

>http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Trickster%20Daemon%20Quest

It's not as big as it looks. About fifteen threads in the thread size shrunk dramatically as players got scared off from active participation because things got hard. Votes suggest we either have a ton of lurkers or one or two really dedicated samefaggers.

>>26174107
thanks

i wonder why the quest is named a different thing in the archive

ill try to read through the archive and join when im done

>>26174005
>>26174026

You and Isrameth cut around the city, resuming your travel on the road towards Vigoth. Before long you can see the telltale signs of warfare. The burnt-out shells of mountainside villages sacked by raiding parties from some army or another, perhaps the ones nominally dedicated to their defense. Crowds of refugees stream towards the capital; they give you a wide berth, whispering fearfully amongst themselves.

As you draw near, you can see the battle raging. The siege of the walls of Vigoth, a small city that commands the northern entrance to the mountains, has all but been abandoned. The armies of Gigan are spread out across one side of the valley, and far in the distance you can see the smoke of the campfires lit by the armies of Golgoth on the other side. Unsurprisingly, their camp appears to be much larger from this distance; it's doubtful a closer examination will paint a more hopeful picture.

>wat do?

>>26174136

The original protagonist was Anomaly, a trickster daemon. She got her head cut off, something which is not fatal but takes a long, long time to recover from. While she's doing that, we're instead playing as Tallorn, a fire daemon.

>>26174154
Let's approach the Gigan encampment and make our presence known. Ask for the commander's audience and get him to fill us in on the situation after we introduce ourselves and what we've done.

>>26174136
Yeah sorry, I created the Trickster Daemon Compendium with TM's help but haven't updated it recently. The slipping away on its current relevancy is starting to show, so I'll dedicate some time to catching it up to the current timeline for new players like you.

Got some things that need to be clarified regarding that though, so it may take a week.

>>26174154
So Vigoth remains unconquered? Can we see how many are left? It would be hard but perhaps they could be swayed to make piece with Gigan.

>>26174458

Vigoth is indeed unconquered, but it's defenses are patched up with dismantled buildings and the wall is defended by a skeleton crew. They're on the brink of defeat, and whoever wins the fight out in the field will probably have their surrender inside of a month. Unless the snows start to fall before then, in which case the defenders have until spring, if they don't starve first.

>>26174350

You head towards the Gigan encampment. A pair of guards at the entrance lower their spears towards you as you approach. "H-halt," one stammers out, "by order of Duke Golant of Gigan, none shall pass without p-proper authorization."

>wat do?

>>26174561

Damn, did I really make an it's/its typo? Oh, well.

>>26174561
"I am a god, mortals. I saved your city of Menteraki from annihilation by a force of Golgothan whelps ten thousand strong. I do not have the time nor patience to wait around while you squabble. Bring me to your commander, now."

>>26174625

The two guards look at one another, confused and frightened, when a man of more noble bearing approaches. By which I mean he appears to have grown up with a steady diet that kept him far away from starvation. "Let them in," he says, "gods or demons, they can't make things much worse than they are."

"But Sir Tavin," one of the guards protests, "our orders come from the Duke himself!"

"I'm sure I'll have an easy time convincing him you were insubordinate if I slit your throats now," Sir Tavin says, "and I would, if you turned away what claim to be not only gods, but friendly ones."

A glare from you is enough to cow the guards, and Sir Tavin escorts you to the Duke's tent, stepping in to announce you.

"What is this?" Duke Golant asks as you enter. He seems about forty years old, with a small black beard and a fair amount of youthful vigor left in him for his age. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"A god, according to him, Your Grace," Sir Tavin says, "says they saved Menteraki from ten thousand Golgothans."

"Then why grace us mortals with your presence?" the Duke asks, skeptical.

>wat do?

>>26174966
"To lend what favor I can to your position while I am in the area, Duke Golant. I am Tallorn of the Fiery Peaks, ruler of the great mountains alongside my fellow god Goralin the Wise. My allies and myself have been long departed from this land in a desperate struggle to preserve it, and only recently have we the opportunity to return. The children of the mountains shall have my support, and that of my allies as we can provide it."

"I must ask your forgiveness for my haste, but I cannot linger more than two days. When I arrived with my allies, we expended a great amount of our strength to preserve Menteraki against the Golgothans. I have come further afield with my faithful ally, Isrameth, to lend what power I can to your position here. But first, I require what information you have on the situation this far inland."

>>26175041
Just one note. Absolutely do not ask for forgiveness. That is not befitting of one claiming to be a god. Just change it to something like "However due to certain matters beyond your concern, I cannot linger for more than two days."

>>26175116
I couldn't think of a better way to word it, but I didn't want to stall on posting something. That'll work, thanks.

>>26175041
>>26175116

"We have four thousand soldiers here in the valley," Duke Golant says, "my spies in the Golgothan camp warned me of their impending betrayal and we were prepared for them. Our knights were able to hit the Golgothan flank and drive them south to the entrance of the valley, and we inflicted some significant losses on them, but they still have eight thousand soldiers remaining. There are four thousand more in the lowlands consolidating the territory and, like as not, slaughtering the Kestian forces in the area. Last I heard, there were fewer than two thousand Kestians left after the battle of Ommos, and Golgoth troops were better rested, had better morale, and are better soldiers on land to begin with, not to mention they control all of the fortresses. It's bleak where they are. We can't expect any help from the north.

"We have four thousand Gigan soldiers here against Golgoth's eight thousand. There are also perhaps a thousand Ommos soldiers left in Vigoth. I have requested to their commander Count Lyren that we join forces, but he refuses. He knows the alliance would not last longer than it took to repel the Golgothans, and he would rather drag all of Margell down with the memory of his pretender king than accept the true king as his liege."

>>26175325
"What of their...spiritual support? Have your knights noticed any strange occurrences during their raid or an abundance of the Golgothan Blood Guards?"

>>26175325
Our primary concern in this battle should be finding out if there are any enemy daemons. Ask him:
"This vile people often have their armies accompanied by foul demons. If so, it is essential that I know about them. Have you or your men witnessed anything out of the ordinary from your enemy?"

What's the current date in the quest, anyway?

>>26175325

"Your kings and successions do not concern me. At least, not while a greater enemy looms; when there is less threat of impending victory I may see to it personally you unite under a single banner, if only so Golgoth cannot take advantage of your quarrels again.

That aside, you are outnumbered but in a more defensible position. There are two things I need to know before I may set about aiding you; as I am on your side Golgoth will have aid of their own. Any information, even rumours and hearsay, may help me glean some knowledge of what foul spirits they will bring to arms against us. Secondly, where do you keep your dead?"

>>26175490
less theat of their impending victory*

>>26175447

Currently it is October 22nd. The leaves die. Winter fast approaches. Which is good, so long as you still hold Menteraki. Golgoth isn't pushing any troops through that pass once the snows fall.

>>26175409

"We have seen nothing out of the ordinary until your arrival," the Duke says, "in fact, we have had remarkably good fortune so far. If only it would hold." Despite the Duke's cautious optimism, you know that a force this big must have some daemonic support. Most likely they've decided not to show their hand until it seems they're needed, and Golgoth currently has the numbers and the skill to win the battle on their own merits.

>>26175490
Oh no no no no, we do not want to get involved in the clusterfuck that is Margellian politics. If you make a promise like that now, they're going to remember it and interpret it the way they wanted to hear it. Fail to follow through with it, and they'll be mad as fuck.

>>26175546
I said "may get involved", which is no kind of promise at all.

>>26175519
My question about their dead still stands.

>>26175579
>interpret it the way they wanted to hear it.

Doesn't matter if we don't intend it as a promise if they take it for one.

>>26175490

"The dead litter the battlefield still," the Duke says, "we have had no time to recover them. Those that were near enough our camp to be safely recovered have been piled up at the outskirts for future burial if they are common, and the nobles sent back to their families to be interred."

>>26175519
That's too bad. I predicted they would be keeping their daemons as a hidden ace, but I was sort of hoping that the spies this guy apparently has would have stumbled over something we could use to get an idea of what to expect.
How is everything positioned, how is the terrain of the battlefield? Turning this numbers disadvantage around will be difficult, but if we can strike where it really hurts, that might help.

>>26175579
It's enough of a promise. If you tell a man you MAY cure his wife of that lethal disease, he's still going to be mad as fuck when you don't. Better to stay completely out of it.

>>26175592
I would've thought the whole sentence in context would've made it clear it was musing out loud rather than committing to something. I clearly said we're not interested in their argument and that the only reason we'd get involved was to make it harder for Golgoth to invade again. If you're against that dialogue, then sure, we won't say it, but I'd say it's pretty clear where our intent lies.

>>26175621
I was going to suggest we set Isrameth to go out and stand up some zombies, even if we can't get many it's still something. These guys seem like they'd take serious offence to that though.

Hey, first time reading this quest. Haven't read much about the Quest so far aside from the two optional things, and they're VERY well done in terms of what I'd expect from demonic politics and warfare!

>>26175621
So here's my idea.

We take Isrameth and try to draw the enemy Daemons out. We can wait till nightfall for maximum darkness after scouting out the Golgothan camp from a vantage point. Then at night we fireball the thickest clumps of their supply tents, weakening their siege ability and morale while also undermining their ability to stay strong through the winter.

That chaos should draw out their Daemons to confront us and we can gauge their power.

>>26175905
What about our energy though? Are we still wounded?

>>26175983

You feel fine. It actually occurs to me that your recovery was probably faster than it should've been, but whatever, sometimes wounds heal fast and I already posted the sheet updated back to fine.

>>26175905

Is this the plan we're going with? The Golgothans are camped in a valley so there's plenty of good vantage points lying around. You'll have to take out a patrol or two first, but hey, free corpses for Isrameth.

>>26176045
Since I suggested that particular plan, yeah. Totally okay with Isrameth popping up zombies from the patrols too. Don't expend enough fireballs that it would take us out of combat form though, hopefully doing enough damage to their supplies with the vast radius of flaming destruction with what we have.

Also, whats the low-down on Golgothan organization? How do they communicate with each other and organize within their camps and on the battlefield? Horns, flags, banners, runners? This shit will be important to know for disrupting chain of command in the future.

>>26175905
I can support this. Even though the Gigans being outnumbered is a concern, finding out what kind of daemons we're up against is priority one. It does blow the opportunity to keep our own presence hidden, but we're in a hurry so that's just too bad.

>>26176122
>>26175905

You and Isrameth slip across to the entrance of the valley. The Golgothan army spills out into the lowlands beyond, but most of their forces are concentrated at the valley's entrance. After hacking through a few patrols, you set yourself up in the foothills with a clear view of the camp below. Isrameth has the corpses stacked up and ready to zombify. The enemies are splayed out below, complete with oh so vulnerable supply depots.

>wat do?

>>26176315
How much time can we reasonably spare before they start investigating the dead patrols? It'd be nice to get a few zombies up if we can.

>>26176315
How about the classical blood guard shrines? Can we tell any apart in the darkness?

>>26176533

You can make out two, but there could be more out in the distance. Though it's lit by campfires and torches along the perimeter, you can't make out the rearguard very well at all through the dark and the distance.

It also looks like there's some new breed of Blood Guard here. No cloaks, just the black armor and cattle skull masks. Their armor is heavier and they carry warhammers rather than scimitars. They seem completely mundane, but it's possible they have some tricks up their sleeve. If they did, though, you'd think the Duke's spies would have noticed.

>>26176595
Looks like some variant of the Knights we faced back during the Sect battle. Might be something else though, still worth noting since those bastards were tough.

Okay, we how many supply depots are in range of fireball, and how many total?

>>26176595
>Their armor is heavier and they carry warhammers rather than scimitars.

Well, that means they'll have a harder time commiting ritual suicides. That's good as far as I'm concerned.

>>26176468

Should be two or three hours at least. Patrols take a while to report back and that'll give you a couple of zombies at least. If nothing else, that'll let the local daemon(s) know that there's enemy daemons in the area, and they might show their faces looking for you.

>>26176696
Well, personally I think we should wait about three or four hours to get a small group of zombies that can help out. Anyone else want to get right to the bombardment though?

>>26176804
How many zombies can we get in that time? A bit of meat to throw at any counterattack to cover ourselves would be handy.

>>26176830
About one an hour. Making undead is pretty damn slow.

>>26176804
I guess we're going with this then.

>>26176804
>>26176830

Looks like we're waiting a few hours to get zombies up.

But what do you plan on targeting once the fireworks start? The Blood Guard shrines? The supply depots? Command tents? The areas where concentrations of tents is densest?

>>26177138
Command tents and supply depots. Cut the head off the snake and destroy their supplies. It'll leave a severe blow on their army if those two things are crippled.

>>26177171
Pretty much. We're not likely to kill enough soldiers to make a difference, but hitting supplies and commanders could make a huge difference.

>>26177171
>>26177285

Your fireballs shoot out to consume vulnerable supply depots and command tents. Autumn isn't quite summer, but things are dry enough to get fires going proper. The Golgothans mobilize in your direction, climbing up the hill towards you. No sign of any enemy daemons yet.

>wat do?

>>26177380
move to another position. Send one or two zombies in the other direction, preferably somewhere visible to the soldiers. Hopefully the misdirection will keep them off us while we find another vantage point where we can shoot for more targets.

>>26177502
No. We can't afford to spare any more fireballs in case their Daemons come out to play. Change positions, but be on the lookout for enemies and tell Isrameth to keep his sharp ears open for the sounds of approach.

>>26177502
>>26177563

Which way are we going here? Do we need to roll?

>>26177672
We'll go with >>26177563

>>26177563
I agree. We need to conserve ourselves. Just because they haven't taken the bait yet doesn't mean they aren't waiting to smash us once we tire ourselves out on nothing at all.

>>26177737
>>26177734

You send a few zombies out in the wrong direction to lead the search parties off, and then head off in the opposite way. "Something's coming," Isrameth says, "from below." You can hear it a moment later, a rumbling in the earth.

A moment later it bursts through the ground, chunks of earth spraying out as an enormous mole surfaces. Enemy daemon? Dire animal? Some chimera that hasn't shown its extra heads yet?

---

Find out tomorrow. I'm out for today. Fire Daemon Quest will return at 14:00-ish tomorrow. Subscribe to @MCJohnnyQuest and I'll tweet when the new quest is up.

>see you then