>>35281783
>Get Sofia and Jal calmed down first
>Talk to the guards, maybe someone saw something
>Scrying spell (children)
>Scrying spell (mountain with skull)
>Scrying spell (writer of note)

>>35281783
>Scrying spell (children)
>Get Sofia and Jal calmed down first

>Talk to the guards, maybe someone saw something

>>35281783
>>Talk to the guards, maybe someone saw something
>>Scrying spell (children)
>>Scrying spell (mountain with skull)
>>Scrying spell (writer of note)
>>Get Sofia and Jal calmed down first

Your first priority is to get Sofia and Jal calmed down.

“You didn’t do anything wrong” you say to Jal “If anything, the fault is mine – I should have made sure they had bodyguards.”

Jal sniffs and screws up her eyes “Mebbe” she says disbelievingly.

“We’re going to get them back” you say to them both “Whoever it is left a note, that means they want something else, all we need to do is play along until the children are safe and then-”

“Then we kill them!” says Sofia harshly, still hugging you “We hang them up high to show everyone what happens when they hurt our kids.”

Jal nods enthusiastically.

You refrain from saying that you’d probably still take them alive if they surrendered.

Roll intelligence 1d20+15 for interviewing the guards and servants.

>>35281783

Sophia pls don't kill our children when you find them.

>Other
"KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!"
>replace "khan" with whatever that demon's name was

Rolled 11 + 15 (1d20 + 15)

>>35281984

Rolled 17 + 15 (1d20 + 15)

>>35281984

Rolled 9 + 15 (1d20 + 15)

>>35281984

Rolled 14 + 15 (1d20 + 15)

>>35281984

After spending some more time comforting Jal and Sofia you tell them to get all the troops ready and on high alert: You’ve no idea who or what took your children but you intend to have as much force available to find out.

The rest of your companions likewise spend time getting ready to go anywhere and fight anything at a moment’s notice; Isla heads to the children’s room to see if she can detect anything magical.

You spend the next hour and more talking to all of the guards and servants. No one saw any intruders, or anyone unusual.

Except...

“It were funny weren’t it” says one of the maids “I arsked that priest about our Nev wanting to be an acolyte a few days ago an’ when ‘e were ‘ere today ‘e din know nuffin’ abaht it”

“What do you mean?” you ask

“Well that priest” says the maid, “wot visited from the town today to give a sermon, the priest of Mazon. I arsked him a few days ago about our Nev wanting to be an acolyte an’ ‘e said ‘eed arsk his superior but today ‘e din’ know nuffin’ abaht it.”

“Which priest is that?” you ask her.

“Er Simonus I fink ‘ees called” says the maid “short brown hair, bit tubby, red face.”

“When did you see him?” you ask

“Only a few minutes before ‘Er Ladyship started yelling” says the maid “That’s all, I swears, can I go now?”

>Ask her more questions (what?)
>Scrying time
>Go to the church of Mazon in town
>Other

You recall the priests of Mazon coming to the stronghold regularly to bless the shrine here, but you don’t know them personally.

>>35282158
>Go to the church of Mazon in town
>Let Isla start scrying on the writer of the note

>>35282158

Ah, it must be our old enemy. Probably selling us out to someone, too.

Let's give him a piece of a royal audit.

>>35282158
Good idea. Seconding >>35282185

You leave Isla with the note and ask her to see what she can discover about the note-writer whilst you go to the Church of Mazon in town.

The acolyte at the gate recognises you and rushes to get the senior priest.

“Ah greetings, greetings Baroness” says a rather portly old priest as he comes waddling up to you to shake your hand “I am Priest Johns, I recall we met at the Churches dedication?” he looks at you hopefully.

You vaguely recall him being there when this church was finished “Ah, yes” you say “You gave a fine benediction.”

Priest Johns beams at your praise “And what can I do for you?” he asks

“I’m looking for Simonus” you say “He was up at the keep earlier today at our shrine of Mazon.”

Priest Johns looks doubtful “I’m afraid not” he says “Adept Simonus has been in the penitent cells since dawn. He came back to the church last night very drunk and so I assigned him a penance of a full day of prayer with no food and only water to drink, I shall let you see him if you like.”

“Please” you say.

Priest Johns leads you to the penitent cells where a young chubby-looking man is on his knees praying with a grimace on his face. Father Johns lets you both into the cell.

“Your penance isn’t over” says Priest Johns crossly “But the Baroness wanted to see you – she says you’ve been up at the stronghold, have you?”

The young man looks up with a haggard expression “No Father” he says “I have been here all day praying, as penance.”

“See?” says Priest Johns to you.

“But” interjects Simonus “I was not drunk, I only had two cups of wine, the merchant I was talking to must have slipped something into my drink.”

Father Johns rolls his eyes “Oh this again; ignore him Baroness, young men will always try to avoid punishment with wild tales.”

>Alright (leave)
>Ask Father Johns a question (what?)
>What merchant?
>Ask Simonus a question (what?)
>Other

>>35282378
>What merchant?
>Ask Simonus a question (Did you truly only have two cups of wine? Be honest with me.)
Do we get a roll on whether or not we believe him? We are damn good at detecting falsehoods

>>35282438
Good point

Roll 1d20+12 to see if you think Simonus is lying.

Rolled 18 + 12 (1d20 + 12)

>>35282378
>What merchant?
>>35282476

>>35282378

>Father Johns, Simonus may be telling the truth. It is no coincidence that man of his description was spotted in my keep.
>Tell me more about that merchant, Simonus...

Rolled 7 + 12 (1d20 + 12)

>>35282476

Rolled 16 + 12 (1d20 + 12)

>>35282476

Rolled 1 + 12 (1d20 + 12)

>>35282476

FUCK YEAH, PALADIN OF JOY QUEST!

>>35282378
Either he was at the keep or someone has been impersonating a priest of Mezan at the keep. How do the churches deal with people impersonating their priests?

>>35281783
One thing of note: How much trust does Velya have in her priests? From what I understand, Sireyi being a Saint is the biggest secret she has, and Velya decided to tell it to every single priest in the realm, without asking Sireyi about that beforehand. It was already established that priests are not incorruptible, so why isn't this a huge breach of trust between Velya and Sireyi?

>>35282561
Every time I see that I smile and nod agreeably to myself.

>>35282604

I'm not that guy, but so do I

hey, no pressure, OP.

>>35282581

She may just have a lot more trust (warranted or not) in her priesthood than her mortal agents do.

>>35282581
>so why isn't this a huge breach of trust between Velya and Sireyi?
Because Sireyi serves Velya. She is HER Saint afterall.

>>35282581

What do you mean, breach of trust? She clearly trusts Sireyi enough to command her entire clergy to obey her.
As for Sireyi's sainthood, that was hardly something Sireyi would be keeping secret after that demon lord learned it. We should operate on assumption that it's more or less common knowledge among our enemies, even if we don't go out of our way to spread that knowledge even more.

“Was it truly just two cups of wine?” you ask the kneeling acolyte “Be honest with me, this is important.”

He looks up at you in awe, and maybe a little fear “I swear on Mazons Holy Name it was only two cups” he croaks.

He seems to be telling the truth.

“Father Johns” you say “Simonus may be telling the truth. I believe it is no coincidence that man of his description was spotted in my keep.”

“Truly?” says Priest Johns “What sort of miscreant is impersonating one of our priests?”

“I need to find out” you say “Tell me more about that merchant, Simonus.”

At a nod from Priest Johns, Simonus tells his tale.

“I was assigned to the late shift at the Trade Hall” he says “Not many merchants trade that late, but a few wagon trains arrive late and want to register their goods for sale.”

“A merchant I didn’t recognise approached me” he said “He claimed to have found a vein of mithril deep in the mountains and wanted to approach the Baroness, er, you that is, to suggest a partnership in securing the location. As you know, although most mithril is made, it does occur naturally upon occasion, so I tried to find out as much as I could. He asked a lot of questions about you, and the keep” says Simonus “And we talked late, he must have slipped something into my drink when I was called away to deal with an arriving wagon train.”

“What did he look like?” you ask.

“Young for a merchant” says Simonus “and he had a pallor about him, I thought he was ill but he seemed vital and full of energy. Dark hair and eyes, he had a habit of wringing his hands when he spoke, and he had a long nose.”

A memory of yours stirs, that sounds like someone you knew once...

>Ask permission to probe Simonus’ memory (Probe Thoughts Spell)
>Ask other questions (what?)
>Leave
>Other

>>35282758
>Ask permission to probe Simonus’ memory (Probe Thoughts Spell)
Uh. Yes. Hell if he gives us the go ahead there is literally no reason not to.

>>35282581
>How do the churches deal with people impersonating their priests?

Harshly. Punishment varies depending upon what the person did whilst impersonating a priest.

>One thing of note: How much trust does Velya have in her priests?

Velya seems to trust her priests and priestess' a great deal.

>It was already established that priests are not incorruptible, so why isn't this a huge breach of trust between Velya and Sireyi?

That's an interesting question, you'd have to ask Velya to find out in character.

>>35282758
>Ask permission to probe Simonus’ memory (Probe Thoughts Spell)

I thought the plan was to keep it a secret because Sireyi's mother is only kept alive for as long as that demon lord thinks she has the divine spark. Both Velya and Sireyi agreed decided that Sireyi would wait until she was ready, go rescue her mother and then officially become the Saint of Velya.

>>35282672
From what I understood, Sireyi hoped that the communication between Demon Lords is bad enough that the one who knows about her sainthood will try to capture her himself, but will only tell the other demon lord later to gloat.

This wouldn't be the first time I misunderstood something, but if Sireyi and Velya don't want her sainthood to be kept a secret, why don't they publicly announce it?

Kind of tangential, but related to Sireyi not getting credit for things she did. Can someone remind me, why it's a secret that she freed a lost prime? I get that the fact that the horn has been stolen is kept a secret, though even the reason for that is flimsy at best now that it is back. But most of the story works perfectly well without talking about the horn.

>>35282758
Is the description enough to attempt a scrying?
>Ask permission to probe Simonus’ memory (Probe Thoughts Spell)

>>35282847
>why it's a secret that she freed a lost prime?
I don't remember it being one, would be pretty impossible to make a secret, given the thousands of people she brought from there.

“I’d like to see this person” you explain to Simonus “with your permission I’ll use magic to search your memories.”

Simonus looks up at Priest Johns hopefully.

“Yes, yes fine” grouses the older man “Assist the Baroness and your penance is ended – consider it a lesson in not trusting too much.”

“As you wish Baroness” says Simonus, with a relieved grin.

You place your hands upon Simonus’ head and summon your arcane powers....

You are sat opposite a young merchant, he is wearing expensive looking robes and clearly appears wealthy. He matches Simonus’ description: dark hair and eyes, long nose, and an unhealthy pallor.

It’s been years since you last saw Ibram Hessels: you recall how he ranted and screamed at you; they threw him out of the Church of Mazon for stealing after you discovered his crimes. He swore revenge on you, seems he was serious.

>That’s enough
>Probe further, what did he ask Simonus?
>Other

>>35282962
>Probe further, what did he ask Simonus?

>>35282962
>Probe further, what did he ask Simonus?
Wow, so we are finally dealing with that. Awesome!

>>35282962
>Probe further, what did he ask Simonus?
Not yet convinced it is actually that guy. Seems a bit odd how he would have been able to smuggle two, 7 or 8 year old children out of the castle.

>>35282962
How much time does the probing take? If it's just a couple minutes, go through the whole conversation. If it takes half an hour or more, only skim the surface.

Ex-priest of Mazon drugging and impersonating another priest of Mazon to commit treason. I'm sure the church will help us any way they can in this investigation.

You probe deeper into Simonus’ memories...

Much of the conversation is Simonus asking about the mithril vein, and Ibrom being vague about it; then the conversation turns to you.

“What can you tell me about the Baroness?” asks the merchant, he’s told you his name is Carro Cooper.

“Not much” you admit “Not much more than you can hear from the gossips on the street I’m afraid: She is a half-angel, she is loved by her people, the King himself has honoured her, and she works hard at keeping her realm in order. And she honours all of the four churches.”

“Yes” says *Carro* with a tight smile “I’m sure she’s very pious and follows all the rules, but I need to know what she cares about: the right gift to the right person can be an excellent way to start negotiations, don’t you agree?”

“Quite, quite” you say, you feel a little warm - this wine is very good, you take another mouthful “I’m not certain” you say “But many believe she is courting both the Baronet Sofia, and a young Effl, I mean, Elf, by the name Jallu, Jallaro, Jal.”

“Yes that’s exactly what I need” says the merchant “Are they close to her do you think?”

“Oh yesh” you say “She has children with both, a lovely leetle boyanna girl, I’ve seen them a few times, beootiful children” you slur. It’s getting hard to focus.

“Oh really?” says Carro, casually.

“Yesh” you nod in an exaggerated fashion “I’m got..gotta be there tomorrow for the shrine cleanshing, I could give themma gift iffa you want...?”

“Oh that won’t be necessary” says Carro with a grin, as the memory starts to blur “I’ll love to meet them myself.”

The memory blurs, and the next thing Simonus recalls is being woken up several hours later by the next Acolyte on shift, and being reprimanded by Father Johns.

It’s only taken you a few minutes, as you skimmed through the trade-related bits.

>Ask question (who? what?)
>Tell Father Johns what happened
>Leave
>Other

Father Johns would probably be horrified that his acolyte helped an enemy of yours and may punish Simonus further.

>>35283295
>Leave
Looks like we have some scyring to do. Send out Jianxi in disguise to find out more about this Carro, where did he stay while in the city, did anyone see him leaving the tavern and so forth.

>>35283317
>>Tell Father Johns what happened
Do make clear that Simonus spoke very highly of us and that the information he gave was public. Anyone in the realm who knows a bit of gossip could have given the same information. There is no fault in that.

That fool who thinks he can get away with kidnapping Sireyi's children though… That is someone who needs to be found and brought to court as quickly as possible.

>>35283317
>Tell Father Johns what happened
>Leave
Make it clear to Father Johns that he has done nothing wrong. He was drugged and then milked for information that, quite frankly, he could have gotten from just about anyone. In fact, because of this whole issue we now know who likely kidnapped the children.

>>35283368
Good plan.

Send Jianxi out to gather information on *Carro*?

Y/N

>>35283498
>Y

>>35283498
Y

>>35283498
Y

Y

>>35283317

Thank the priests for their assistance and leave. Tell them what happened perhaps, so they don't feel we've violated Simonus's memories for nothing.

“Well?” asks Father Johns “Was he helpful?”

“Yes” you say, and you explain what happened, Father Johns looks more and more outraged as the story unfolds.

“But” you say “Adept Simonus only told him what anyone on the street knows, and he spoke very highly of me. In addition he was drugged and manipulated – I do not believe he did anything wrong.”

“As you say Baroness” says Father Johns, sparing a glare for Simonus, “please accept my apologies, I will ensure that only full priests are sent to your keep now, and we’ll work with your guards to arrange a password of some kind.”

You thank the father and the adept for their time and leave to the sound of Father Johns berating Simonus for his poor judgement.

Returning to the stronghold you decide to see if Isla has found out anything about the writer of the note.

It’s currently late afternoon.

Before you speak to Isla you find Jianxi preparing some of your troops for infiltration work: light armour, climbing ropes and masks. You take her to one side and explain about the Merchant Carro.

“I’ll look into it” says Jianxi, heading into town.

You find Isla in her workshop in one of the keep towers in a ritual circle, she has a fine sheen of sweat covering her brow and is sat down, breathing heavily.

“Anything?” you say hopefully.

“Not really” Isla shakes her head “Whoever did this has powerful protections in place, all I got was...” She trails off

“Yes?” you prompt, anything could be useful

“I think” says Isla consideringly “I think whoever did this is using demonic magic, but isn’t a demon.”

“What makes you say that?” you ask, leaning against the door frame.

“Just a feeling” she shrugs “I’ve studied the demon lords so much, I think I’ve gotten a feel for demon magic, this” she says, her eyes losing focus “feels like...Iraxusite I think, Demon Lord of Corruption, Damnation and Despair. It feels powerful, but not skilful, like someone has been handed a lot of power for a specific purpose, but not been taught how to use it, or maybe not practised.”

Isla tries to force a smile and fails “Maybe I’m just imagining it.” She says.

>Tell me about Iraxusite
>Tell Isla to keep scrying for the note writer
>Tell Isla to scry for something else (what?)
>Tell Isla to rest, you may need her tonight
>Other

And in other actions..

>Try and find more information about the kidnapping (how?)
>Scry yourself (what target?)
>Wait for Jianxi to return
>Other

And roll 1d20+2 for Jianxi's intel-gathering.

>>35283723
>Tell me about Iraxusite
>Tell Isla to rest, you may need her tonight


>Scry yourself (mountain with skull)

Rolled 17 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>35283723
>Tell me about Iraxusite
>Tell Isla to rest, you may need her tonight

>Scry yourself (what target?)
>The children

Rolled 3 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>35283723

Rolled 2 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>35283723

>>35283723

>Tell me about this demon lord.
>And then take some rest, I may need your help

On related note, we should adopt some security measures so this kind of thing can't be carried out by a random guy off the streets.

Have we placed anti-teleportation wards around the keep? How much would it cost to set some up?

ok, roll me 2d20 for scrying, first is for the mountain, second is for the children

Rolled 15, 1 = 16 (2d20)

>>35283902

Rolled 13, 13 = 26 (2d20)

>>35283902

Rolled 3, 9 = 12 (2d20)

>>35283902

“I trust your feelings” you say to Isla “Tell me about Iraxusite”

Isla looks down and smiles, her cheeks colouring slightly “Well Iraxusite” she says in what Jianxi calls Isla’s *lecturing tone* “is a Demon Lord who specialises in making people choose their own damnation: he’s not a warrior or a sorcerer, but a tempter. His methods include hurting people until they submit out of fear or despair” she says “Iraxusite won’t offer you money or power, he’ll just hurt you and those you care about until you give in. People call upon him for revenge or to satisfy feelings of jealousy – the more petty and trivial the better. Iraxusite doesn’t care about grand designs or armies: he just wants everyone to be as mean, and petty and spiteful as he is. He has no goal other than dragging everything down to his level.”

“Thanks – you’re the best.” you say to Isla, kneeling down next to her and putting your hands on her shoulders looking her in the eyes “Now I know what I’m up against.”

Isla blushes “It’s nothing” she insists “I just read it out of a book-”

“And remembered it word for word” you say “and told me what tactics this monster is going to use. Now get some rest” you squeeze her shoulders slightly “We both have a long night ahead of us.”

“Ok” she says, heading to her room to lie down, as you head to your own sanctum to try and locate the mountain, and your children.

You bend your own scrying powers to the image of the mountain first of all.

It materialises easily in your mind: you can see a carved orc face in the side of a mountain, a cave in its open mouth. Widening your vision you can see it is far away, on the other side of the Tribal Lands: you can’t see any orc or beastmen camps nearby. You think you could probably teleport to this place without much difficulty.

You try to push your vision inside the cave but your vision goes blurry and then dissolves, ok...

You then cast your spell again and focus on your children. Immediately they swim into view.

You can see Milli and Vivi in a small wooden cage – just large enough for the two children to stand up in.

They don’t appear to have been harmed, but they do look scared: Mili is pulling at the bars as if trying to break them, and Vivi is searching the cage, running his hands over everything, as if looking for a way out.

They are in a small round cave with dim lighting come from somewhere, and no distinguishing features.

Something seems...odd.

Roll Willpower 1d20+16

Rolled 12 + 16 (1d20 + 16)

>>35284141

Rolled 1 + 16 (1d20 + 16)

>>35284141
Its the damn pillar again.

Rolled 7 + 16 (1d20 + 16)

>>35284141

>>35284175

We should be ready to have the elemental nodes used against us.

>>35284257
Speaking of which, if nothing goes terribly wrong with this I'd like to redouble our search efforts of the elemental nodes and the pillar I guess.

With a start, you realise this vision is false: you’re not seeing your children...except...you are.

You stretch your powers further, trying to unravel the complex web of magic.

Your children are...somewhere else, you’re not sure where.

What you’re seeing in this cave is an illusion of your children – probably one cast to show what the children are actually doing, to make it more realistic.

The cave itself...it’s not a small cave, it’s a large circular arena - like a gladiatorial arena.

Inside the ring are dozens of huge demonic-looking snakes – each perhaps 20ft long.

In the stands are two figures, but your vision blurs when you try to focus on them.

One appears to look straight at you, and your spell ends.

A servant informs you of Jianxi’s return to the keep just as you come out of your vision and you head down to meet her.

“What did you find out?” you ask

“Not much about Carro” she admits “But I found the inn he stayed at and well, you’ll want to see this.”

“See what?” you ask, as Jianxi heads back into town with you in tow.

“Some sort of ritual” she says “He hired a meeting room at the inn, asked not to be disturbed, and then killed something in there – a goat I think, and cast some sort of spell” she shudders “it felt...evil.”
“The innkeeper” she says “has locked the room until we get there – come on.” Jianxi continues into town.

>Go look at the ritual site with Jianxi
>Take Isla with you
>Don’t look at it yet
>Other

It’s now just after sunset – you’ve about 4 hours until midnight.

>>35284382
>Go look at the ritual site with Jianxi
>Take Isla with you

>>35284382
>Go look at the ritual site with Jianxi
>Take Isla with you

>>35284382
>Go look at the ritual site with Jianxi

>>35284382

>Go look at the ritual site
>Take Isla with you
>Take maybe Poppy or Philly or another priest to cleanse the site once we're done investigating

You fetch Isla as she’s trying to get some sleep and Poppy as well – this place may need cleansing after you’ve looked at it.

Isla follows along sleepily as you, Poppy and Jianxi range ahead.

When you reach the Inn, the Bloomin’ Rose, the Innkeeper is tere to greet you “We din’t know he was a demon-worshipper” he wails “Who knows what curse he has bought to my inn?”

Poppy stays behind to placate the balding man as you Isla and Jianxi head to the meeting room.

Inside the room is a circular conference table with a ritual circle carved into it; inside the circle is a dead goat, its blood dripping from the table edge to the floor.

As you enter you feel evil magics coalesce and surround you and...do nothing.

The three of you search the place thoroughly, and then discuss your findings.

“As you said” you say to Jianxi “He locked the room, cast his ritual, and then left, as if he didn’t care that he’d be discovered”.

“Yeah” agrees Jianxi “paid for the room for the whole night, so no one would check – they only let me in ‘cause I insisted.”

“This spell” says Isla “Was a divination spell, specifically to find you Sireyi. But it was a poor job.”

“Oh?” you say, motioning for Isla to continue.

“Yeah” she says, pointing at the circle “This is calling upon the power of Iraxusite and offering a sacrifice – but goats aren’t common sacrifices to Him – you’d want an animal that can feel loyalty that can be betrayed, like a dog, or a horse.”

You worry at how much Isla knows about demonic magic.

“Further” she says “Some of these symbols for Iraxusites purviews are badly carved – a flawed spell like this could have killed the caster if the Demon Lord or his subordinates wanted, instead they fulfilled his request and accepted the sacrifice.”

A picture is beginning to form: Ibram Hessels finds a way into your keep and casts a spell to make sure where you are. Judging by the goats body it was killed early this morning: whilst you were on board the ship near the Drowned Lands.

Having found out you were not around, Ibram infiltrates the keep and takes the children.

No, that’s not completely right: he drugged Simonus the night before – maybe he was going to spy on the keep first, but changed his mind once he discovered you were so far away.

And the note said *tonight* so he must have expected you to come back.

This plan seems to have relied upon luck as much as planning.

You’ve just over 3 hours until midnight.

>Make plan with allies (options in next post)
>Do something else (what?)

>>35285076
First priority is finding out where our kids actually are.
>Pray to Velya, maybe she knows something

>>35285076
>>35285104
Might as well try.

Fair request.

Pray to Velya?

Y/N

>>35285250
Y

>>35285250
Y

You return to your keep and pray to Velya. You hear her voice in your mind as soon as you begin.

“My Saint” she says “I am so sorry about what has happened.”

“Thank you My Lady” you say “Any help at all you can provide would be appreciated.”

“I’ve not looked too closely” says Velya “Even a gods magic may be detected, but I do know that your children are within what was once Kal-Duraks Peak – which now bears the face of his slayer, the orc warlord Torrek.”

“What else can you tell me?” you ask.

“I’ve not examined the place in detail” responds Velya “But I can, if you want me to.”

>Yes, I need to know what I’m up against
>No, I’ll handle it from here.
>Ask question (what?)

I don’t recommend option 1.

>>35285434
>No, I'll handle it from here

>>35285434
>No, I’ll handle it from here.

>>35285434
>No, I’ll handle it from here.

>>35285434

>No, I'll handle it from here
>Are you familiar with the demon lord whatshisname, my Lady

>Thank her for the boon of audience and head out. Time for violence draws near.

“Are you familiar with Iraxusite, My Lady?” you ask

She sighs “Oh yes, the Demon Lord of Despair and I have crossed paths many times, though I don’t understand why he’s targeting you.”

“What could he want with me?” you ask.

“I don’t know” she admits.

You thank Velya for her help and return to your allies.

You think you’ve found out as much as you’re going to for now. You left Poppy behind at the inn to ensure that there are no lingering demon magics in this place.

You gather your allies and explain what’s happened, and what you’ve discovered, and what you plan to do.

“I think it’s clear what we need to do” say Ophilian “We go in hard and fast to overwhelm this idiot, beat the location of the kids out of him, save them and then hand him over to the Church of Mazon.”

“No!” insists Sofia “We don’t do anything until the children are safe.”

“Sofia’s right” agrees Matthias “No offence Sireyi” he says “But you need to play willing victim for this guy until the children are ok – draw things out as long as you can and as soon as the children are safe we’ll come and get you.”

“I still think I should go with” says Jianxi “I can follow at a distance to back you up.”

Isla shakes her head “No, this demon-cultist has access to powerful magic – he’d see through your invisibility.”

“Right” says Jal “But I dun use fizz ta sneak, lemmie folla ya Lo- er, Sireyi.”

Poppy isn’t back yet, and you’ve put Ebonsong to bed: although she really wants to help get her little brother and sister back too, you don’t really want her involved in this.

“Let me scout ahead” says Ophinus “I will locate the children and be by your side again in haste.”

Everyone starts talking at once, offering their own suggestions.

“What’s the plan?” asks Philly, after the arguing settles down.

>I’m going alone, at midnight
>I’m going alone, before midnight
>Someone(s) is following me stealthily (who?)
>Someone(s) is following me openly (who?)
>I’ll have help nearby but not with me (who?)
>Someone is going to scout ahead before midnight (who?)
>Other (describe plan)

Following means they are close, *nearby* means far enough away they can’t (probably) be seen, but close enough to help if needed.

>>35285843
>I’ll have help nearby but not with me (Isla, Jianxi, Matthias)
Essentially have them watch at a distance. If we need backup or Carro tries to escape or some demons or something try and back up Carro we have someone who can intercept.

>>35285843
>Demihydria scouts ahead using her natural magic to try to find the children, ask the bugs in the cavern if need be.
>I’ll have help nearby but not with me >Isla,Jianxi,Matthias, Shahulzar(his demonic nature might fool them so he should be seperate from the rest of the group)

>>35285843
>>35286012
I agree with this. Use Commune Nature and speak to animals to find out everything we can. We know they aren't where we think they are, so the question is where they are.

>>35286012
Agreed.

>>35285843
Don't forget to set up Telepathic communication beforehand, if Sireyi figures out where the children are so the rescue group can come to get them.

How much backup can we call in? Soldiers, angles, priests? Leave nothing unexplored.

>>35286126
You can call in a lot of support if you want - the problem is getting everyone to the location about 300 miles away in a few hours.

In theory you could have hundreds of troops nearby including mages and priests, but your spellcasters would have used all of their power transporting everyone.

>>35286012
Ok, so this is the plan

Do you arrive before midnight, or at midnight?

>Before
>At midnight

>>35286258
>Before

>>35286258
>Before

>>35286204
What's demon magic weak against? Could we use the priests to cut off the enemy magic or just brute force a teleport to get the kids back?

>>35286388
Once we know where the kids are, we probably can find a way to get them out.

>>35286388
Also before midnight.

>>35286388
>What's demon magic weak against?

Divine and Angelic Magic

Could we use the priests to cut off the enemy magic or just brute force a teleport to get the kids back?

In theory, yes.

Keep existing plan as above, or switch to trying to blind-teleport the children out?

>Stick to plan
>Teleport-retrieve
>Other

What still worries me the most is how he got the kids out of the castle.

>>35286429
Way too risky, we can do that once we can see them.
>Stick to plan

>>35286429
>Stick to plan

>>35286429
Stick to plan. Should we try to cut off evil magic?

You take Demihydria, Isla, Jianxi, Matthias and Shahulzar with you.

There are some loud protests from everyone whom you didn’t pick – especially Jal and Sofia – but everyone finally agrees to your plan.

You teleport some distance away from the peak and have Demihydria talk to some of the local animals and insects. The answer is a long time incoming.

“Ok” Demihydria says “So this is like, kinda complicated, and the rats and spiders took forever to explain this to me, but here’s what I think it is.”

“There’s the arena like you said, and it’s got these horrible big snakes in there, and there’s one human guy and one really creepy...thing...standing in the stands, I guess. The arena is like, all wrecked though, bits of it are fallen in.”

“Now the rats” she says “say the arena looks fine, but the spiders can see a bit all fallen in with a cage with two *big lunkers* inside – I think that’s the kids. Plus” she adds “There’s like, some big rocks hanging from nothing above the cage, it sounds like a spell to keep the rocks suspended, killing the guy, or giving him a reason to end that spell would be bad.”

>Approach cave now
>Wait until midnight to approach
>Do something else (what?)

It’s 1 hour until midnight

Roll 1d20+15 (intelligence)

>>35286531
>Should we try to cut off evil magic?

It is an option, yes

Cut off magic?

Y/N

Rolled 8 + 15 (1d20 + 15)

>>35286603
>Wait until midnight to approach

>N
It's kind of a hilariously bad idea to do right now.

Rolled 11 + 15 (1d20 + 15)

>>35286603
>Approach cave now
N

Rolled 17 + 15 (1d20 + 15)

>>35286603
>Approach cave now
>Establish Telepathic communication

So, to get the kids out safely the important question is, can people act the same turn they are teleported somewhere ?

You see a winged shape fly overhead, and then it’s gone.

You wait several minutes, but nothing happens, huh, must just be an owl or something.

You cast your spell and link all of your companions together telepathically, and then you approach the cave mouth, earlier than you were told to.

Before you is an ancient carving of a huge orcish skull with long horns sweeping upwards. The skull is perhaps 30ft high and appears blurred around the edges as wind and rain have worn away some of the fine detail of this monument to some long-ago orc hero or deity. A dark cave is inside its gaping jaws.

At the mouth of the cave you see a hooded figure holding a long staff. It appears about your height and is wearing a long cloak that makes it impossible to make out the figures race, gender or age, though it appears humanoid.

“You disobeyed” it says in a hollow, echoing voice and pulls back a sleeve to reveal a human-looking hand holding a glass globe “do not do so again, or your children die. Now follow” It turns to go into the dark cave.

>Follow
>Stay here
>I know that’s you Carro
>I know that’s you Ibram
>Arcane Sight
>Say something else (what?)
>Other (what?)

>>35286815
Generally, yes

>>35286913
>Follow

>>35286913
Follow

>>35286913
>Follow
>Pay close attention to anything you might that hinders magic use of any kind.

If we are lucky we can put a resilient Sphere over the cage, have Isla teleport everyone in, then Demi can Wood Shape the cage and we can get the kids out.

>>35286913
>Follow

>>35286913
>I know that's you Carro

>>35287049
I see no reason to tip our hand here.

>>35287059

Tipping our hand would be calling him Ibram

File: Spoiler Image (47 KB, 592x360)

47 KB JPG

You follow the hooded figure inside, he doesn’t talk as he leads you deep into the tunnel, eventually arriving at the arena.

The arena appears much as it did in your vision: a large circular area filled with dozens of large demonic snakes. In the stands is a humanoid-looking demon in armour with a helm covering most of its face.

The arena looks undamaged to your sight: you cannot spot any illusion.

You recognise the type of demon: it is one of the Eyeless, these demons are the diplomats and emissaries of various demon lords (pic related). You’re not sure what one is doing here.

The hooded figure points down at the arena “Go, fight” it says “and die painfully.”

“Er, what?” you ask

“You go down to the arena” it explains again in that hollow, echoing voice “and you fight the snakes, if you die, your children go free, if you kill all the snakes, your children die.”

The Eyeless just shakes its head but says nothing.

>Go down to the arena
>Don’t go down
>Look for illusion (no magic)
>Cast Arcane Sight (obvious)
>Cast Arcane Sight (subtly, requires a roll to conceal)
>Talk to hooded figure (say what?)
>Talk to Eyeless (say what?)
>Other

>>35287240
>Look for the place Demi described while slowly walking towards the arena

>>35287240
>Look for illusion (no magic) Try and locate the area where the children are being held.

>>35287240
>Cast Arcane Sight (subtly, requires a roll to conceal)

>>35287356
Seconding

>>35287356
I don't want to risk our children on a poor roll. Especially not something Seireyi has no experience doing.

>>35287240
Would casting Arcane Sight subtly be a Willpower (because casting) or Agility (because sneaky) roll?

>>35287467
Willpower

Essentially you'd be casting with no verbal or physical cues - using pure concentration.

Difficult, but not impossible.

>>35287467
Thats a good question. If its a willpower I'd second casting arcane sight subtly

Subtle Arcane Sight it is

Roll Willpower 1d20+11

No Halo bonus

Rolled 16 + 11 (1d20 + 11)

>>35287644

Rolled 2 + 11 (1d20 + 11)

>>35287644

Rolled 11 + 11 (1d20 + 11)

>>35287644

Rolled 2 + 11 (1d20 + 11)

>>35287644

>>35287240
>My feet are cold
>I hate snakes
>This guy sucks
>I wish I was in hell doing anything else

You walk slowly towards the arena as you focus your magical abilities and without giving away what you’re doing you activate your Arcane Sight.

A plethora of magical aura’s and spells greet your sight.

The Arena is dimensionally locked to prevent teleportation and has a contingent forcewall over the top of it: it will likely activate once you step into the arena.

On one side of the arena, perhaps 30ft away from you is an illusion projecting an image on an undamaged arena: beneath that is a spell holding several tons of rock up in the air. You can just make out a wooden cage under the spell with two tiny figures in it. Large rocks hover just above their heads.

Linked to the spell holding up the rocks is two threads of magic: one leads to the hooded figures hand – probably the glass sphere, and the other to his heart - perhaps to activate upon his death.

The hooded figure has a spell protecting him from mind-control and another granting his voice the errie hollow quality: a simple trick. Finally he has a Stoneskin spell active on him.

The Eyeless has two spells upon him: one is a contingent planeshift – a getaway spell though you’ve no clue as to the trigger, the other some sort of demonic spell you are unfamiliar with that links the Eyeless to the hooded figure somehow.

You’re just about to enter the arena, do you continue this charade and enter to fight.
Or do you try and talk to the hooded figure (or the Eyeless).
Or do you try and do something to protect your children.
Or maybe something else.

>Enter Arena
>Talk to hooded figure (say what?)
>Talk to Eyeless (say what?)
>Resilient Sphere around children
>Power (what?)
>Spell (what?)
>Other

Note that although you can see the illusion is an illusion, seeing through it is another matter: you can roughly locate the cage and the children, but it appears blurry, you might not be able to cast your spell quickly enough to protect them before the hooded figure releases the rocks as you’d need to position your sphere carefully to properly protect them.

>>35287939
>Resilient Sphere around children

>>35287957
>Talk to hooded figure (So what do you hope to gain by this?)
Best I can come up with.
I'm thinking we talk with him a bit, then try and go for the Resilient sphere.

>>35287957
>Resilient sphere around the children and let the rescue team come in. Run over there yourself. Have Shahulzer transform if he can to shield the kids with his body.

>>35287957
>as you’d need to position your sphere carefully to properly protect them.
Why ? We don't need to put it above the children as much as beneath the rock.

>>35287957
>to protect them before the hooded figure releases the rocks as you’d need to position your sphere carefully to properly protect them.
Before we check in the votes, could we shape a wall of force more liberally ?

>>35288098
Less than a foot between the rocks at the childrens heads - and you can't see either clearly.

>>35288165
How liberally?

>>35287957
We're allowed to cast openly in the arena without him trying to harm our children, correct?

Would we be able to see the location our children are from within the estimated area contained by the Force Wall?

I'm thinking we could enter the arena, cast True Seeing (thereby allowing us to bypass the illusion), cast Resilient Sphere on our children and then Disintegrate the Force Wall, assuming that Disintegrate still destroys Force Wall automatically.

What would happen next is fairly predictable.

>>35288200
>We're allowed to cast openly in the arena without him trying to harm our children, correct?

You don't know.

>>35288195
Like in the arena, so its completly beneath the rocks.

>>35288220
It's possible, yes

>>35288200
I'd be willing to try that. But we need to ask the hooded guy about magic use in the arena.

>>35288200
I would think they put a Anti-Magic field there.

>>35287957
>>35288044
>Change Resilient Sphere to a dome of Wall of Force around the position beneath the rocks.

>>35288245
me

>>35288253
If they did, we'd have noticed with Arcane Sight.

>>35288245
They will say no, they want us to die, not put up a fight.

Ok, with no clear consensus I'm going to do final destination in 5 minutes.

Currently popular options are:
Enter arena then use spell combo as per >>35288200
Resilient Sphere to protect children
Wall of Force to protect children

First option includes asking hooded figure if you can cast spells, first.

Second and third option will likely be reduced to a single option since mechanically they are the same and the DC is the same.

Other options will be added if requested.

Please don't vote until asked to.

>>35288344
If that was the case, why bother with the arena and the snakes? They could just demand we kill ourselves.

It's obvious that he wants to see us suffer and struggle before we die, as a form of petty revenge for something he did to himself.

He's also kind of an idiot, from what I can tell, and the Eyeless likely couldn't care less if he died or not, so it doesn't tell him all the horrible flaws.

We might also be able to cast subtly again, since Ibram isn't smart enough to cast Arcane Sight.

>>35288371
I don't see how Wall of Force dome requires a DC ? It doesn't need to be aimed much except beneath the rocks, did we have a DC for Walls of Force before now ?

>>35288413
Because it still needs to be placed precisely or it risks the spell failing entirely.

>>35288413
Because you need to place it under the rocks, and over the childrens heads.

With only a foot of space, in a place you can't see clearly.

Trying to create a Wall of Force inside a solid object (rock, childs head) causes the spell to fail.

And you'll be casting quickly (or subtle) to avoid him dropping the rocks first.

Ok, Final Destination vote.

Please post the number and only the number, nothing else.

Please do NOT quote this post.

1 - Enter the arena and spell combo;
2 - Wall of Force to protect children

We have anti magic. Should we try that?
It could buy us time but will tip our hand.

>>35288529
>Enter the arena and spell combo;
I don't see the logic in the DC, but it looks like we need to do it this way.

1

>>35288344
We can cast subtly, so even if they say no, that doesn't mean that plan wouldn't work.

It would just be slightly riskier, though still less risky than the Wall of Force/Resilient Sphere plan, which has a higher DC.

>>35288559
It would also drop the rocks on our kids head, or result in him doing such a thing.

2

1

Option 1 it is, writing, please stop voting

1

2

>>35288529
2

And roll 1d20+16 Willpower and pick one of:

>subtle
>fast

To cast your Resilient Sphere before the hooded figure either notices or reacts (as appropriate).

Rolled 7 + 16 (1d20 + 16)

>>35288774
subtle

Rolled 12 + 16 (1d20 + 16)

>>35288774
>subtle

Rolled 17 + 16 (1d20 + 16)

>>35288774
subtle

It seems the best way option you have now is to pretend to go along with his plan.

You walk down into the arena and the wall of force appears over your head.

The demon-snakes head towards you as you focus your powers and cast your spell: suddenly you can clearly see through the illusion – Milli and Vivi appear unharmed, but from the way they’re sat looking miserable in the cage, they probably can’t see you.

-We’re just outside the entrance- sends Jianxi –let us know when you want us to come in-

-Not yet- you reply -just give me a few minutes-

You easily dodge the lunges from the demon-snakes, even with the horizontal wall of force keeping you in the arena, you have enough room to fly around.

“No, no!” protests the hooded figure, “don’t dodge, die!”

You continue to dodge, but allow the snakes bites to get closer, keeping his attention focused on you as you shape your arcane energies slowly and carefully until...there! A dome of magical force appears over Mili and Vivi’s cage.

You swoop out of the way of one more snake bite and cast another spell, you don’t bother to be subtle about this one: your disintegrate spell tears through the wall of force trapping you and you rise up like an avenging angel.

-Move in- you send to your allies

-Be there in a few minutes- responds Shahulzer, quickly echoed by the rest of your companions.

“You idiot!” shrieks the hooded figure, raising the glass sphere high and throwing it at the ground “Now your children die!”

You spare a glance to see huge rocks fall and bounce off the sphere of magic protecting your children. Vivi and Mili just look at the boulders surrounding them curiously.

You dive down and grab the hooded figure, his hood falls back and his face is revealed: It’s Ibram, looking pale and unhealthy as he did in Simonus’ memories.

The Eyeless takes a few steps away, giving the two of you room.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” you yell at Ibram “Threatening children? I know you’re a thief Ibram, but that’s low.”

“You ruined everything!” he yells at you “I was kicked out of church, everyone turned away from me because of you!”

“You did this to yourself” you say sadly “You chose your own path Ibram: kidnapping children, consorting with demons, what were you thinking?”

“Yes, demons” sneers Ibram “Mightier powers even than you!”

His gaze shifts to the Eyeless “Qux, for my third boon: kill her children!”

The Eyeless shrugs, says “as you wish” and your children disappear from their cage and reappear high in the air, above the arena. They drop down almost immediately.

If the fall doesn’t kill them, the giant snakes will.

With your speed you could catch them before they hit the ground, but you’d give Ibram (and the Eyeless) a chance to escape.

>Catch children
>Do something else (what?)

Taking multiple actions at once, such as casting a spell and flying to catch your children, means one action (or both) may fail.

Likewise, holding onto Ibram and taking him with you might result in not catching your children due to only having 2 hands – though dropping him into the arena is certainly an option.

Your allies are only moments away.

>>35289180
>Catch children
Its not even a question.

>>35289180
Can we cast (R) spells without risking not being able to catch our children?

>>35289215
Nope - though the DC will be lower for an (R) spell than a regular one.

>>35289180
>Catch children
It was his third favor, usually you only get three. Our allies have the cave entrance covered, and even if not, we can easily track him down with scyring. If we can't it only means his masters have taken their due, which is more than punishment enough.

>>35289246
Would dropping Ibram into the arena result in us possibly falling?

>>35289276
Teleportation is a thing, and it's possible to block our scrying, as he did earlier in this thread.

>>35289180
>Catch children
Can we throw Ibram into the air as we move toward our children? We might be able to move fast enough to catch them and then catch Ibram.
Also, how do you do falling damage? How high up would it take before he died/was only severely injured?

>>35289180
>>Catch children
Not going to risk it

>>35289180
I'm fine with throwing him to the snakes but if it risks slowing us down it's not going to happen.
Otherwise yes, he is snake food.

>>35289296
>Would dropping Ibram into the arena result in us possibly falling?

Only if you dropped him from high enough to *definitely* kill him.

Endangering him to rescue your kids is ok, executing him, less so

>>35289307
>Can we throw Ibram into the air as we move toward our children?

Yes

>Also, how do you do falling damage?

The further you fall, the more damage you take: 50ft+ will kill most normal humans.

The arena walls are about 20ft high - so dropping Ibram immediately has only a low chance of killing him, carrying him up and dropping him increases the chance.

>>35289180
>>35289206
Then I add throwing him to the snakes.

>>35289180
Drop him into the arena then save children

>>35289391
Alright. I'd like to drop him from like ~40ft then.

Far enough he should be injured without outright killing him. If he has any boons left he may use them to try and heal. At the very least the long he falls the more time we have to grab the children.

>>35289426
We are currently apparently only 20ft up, so carrying him up would mean time wasted not flying for our children.

>>35289391
Immediately start moving to catch our children, drop him along the way.

In other words, totally disregard his safety because our children are in danger.

>>35289426
That would involve climbing (wasting a second or two) and going out of our way to increase the danger to his life.

A 20ft fall already has a chance to kill him, going to 40ft beforehand could be seen as a malicious action done in the hope that he'll die.

>>35289426
Twenty is plenty to break a leg or an ankle

Ok, drop Ibram + catch children seems to be the choice

Ibrams drop height?
20ft minimum (unless you waste time flying down with him)

Children are at 70ft height or so (max drop height)

Currently 20ft (immediate drop) appears to be most popular but I'll give it a few minutes.

>>35289444
>>35289459
As far as the wasting is concerned. I'm pretty sure that the children are "high in the air" so we'll have to climb to meet the children anyway. No time wasted. Its just a matter of when we let go.

>>35289497
As I thought. Reupping for dropping at 40 ft.

>>35289497
Lets make it immediate drop, flying up would look like we are trying to kill him, since 20ft has already a chance of doing that. And there are still the snakes.

>>35289498
The longer we fly with him, the longer we give him time to do something stupid, he can still try to hinder us.

>>35289498
Deliberately holding him in spite of the fact that carrying people slows us down could still be seen as an intentional malicious action intended to increase the already-present likelihood of his death.

>>35289497
20ft.

>>35289497
Twenty is just fine with me. The children are always the first priority

File: Free Shrugs.jpg (100 KB, 610x845)

100 KB JPG

>>35289539
>>35289546
I think you guys are over thinking it some but whatever.

You drag Ibram with you and waste no time dropping him as soon as you are over the arena, rising up to grab both of your children before they have fallen more than a few feet.

“Mama Reyi!” exclaims Mili excitedly, throwing her arms around your neck as Vivi looks down curiously.

You hear a short scream and a wet snap that indicates Ibram might have a broken leg – his screams certainly indicate he has; then his cries cease.

Moments later your allies rush into the arena just as the large snakes find a way out of the gladiatorial pit: a swift but one-sided battle occurs and the snakes are swiftly put down.

You glance down at the arena, but Ibram is nowhere to be seen, did one of the snakes swallow him?

You descend, Mili and Vivi in your arms as your allies have the Eyeless surrounded, it has its hands raised in a gesture of submission and merely says “I have message for the Chosen of hVelya.”

>Kill the Eyeless
>Let it go
>What message
>Ask question (what?)
>Other

>>35289658
>What message
>First we want to know what happened to Ibram. He must have seen it.

>>35289658
>What message
>Where is Ibram?

>>35289683
>Eyeless
>He must have seen it

“What message?” you ask

“My Master, Lord of Despair, wishes you tell the Lady of Joy that he has no vendetta against one Sireyi Velyanya – he was merely repaying a favour.” Says the Eyeless, bowing to you.

“You teleported my children into the air.” You point out. The children in question turn away from the Eyeless and both hug you. Looking at its face you feel a twinge of feat but you suppress it easily: you’ve felt far worse before.

“When I could have consumed them with fire” it responds “I knew you were fast enough to catch them, I fulfilled his request to the letter by dropping them from a sufficient height, even though I suspected it would fail.”

“Who was the Lord of Despair repaying a favour to?” you ask, not entirely satisfied with the Eyeless’ response.

The Eyeless shrugs “I do not know.”

“Where is Ibram?” you ask

“Oh, not far” says the Eyeless “With his third boon discharged, his powers will soon fade.”

And before you can decide what to do with it, the Eyeless disappears.

“Well?” growls Matthias, in his man-wolf from “What now?”

>We search for Ibram
>Scry for Ibram
>We’re going home, Ibram can wait
>Other

>>35289658
>What message
>Where is Ibram?

>>35289911
>Hunt Ibram down

>>35289911
>Scry for Ibram

>>35289911
>We search for Ibram
>Isla scrys

>>35289911

>We search for Ibram
>Scry for Ibram

ok, roll 1d20+16 to scry

Rolled 2 + 16 (1d20 + 16)

>>35290075

Rolled 15 + 16 (1d20 + 16)

>>35290075
Should we vote to overcharge?

Rolled 16 + 16 (1d20 + 16)

>>35290075

>>35290115
you don't need to for this.

Whilst some of your companions guard you, you settle down to cast your scrying spell, with two children in your arms who do not want to let go of you at this time.

The rest of your companions sweep the area for Ibram.

With your children clinging to you, you empty your mind and reach out, searching for your one-time classmate...

Strange: you can see him clearly outside the cave, and it seems like there’s someone else with him, but you can’t make them out. You can see everything that happens to Ibram. But this other figure is a mystery to you.
----------------------------
You are Sireyi, but not Valyenya. When SHE entered the cave you watched events unfold at a distance, using your magic.

Now, perched high on a rocky outcrop you see the hooded figure, Ibram, was it? Yes Ibram.

He appears outside the cave, a dimensional doorway closing up behind him. He looks injured and is limping, moving very slowly.

He’s ranting to himself “Oh of course, little miss angel has an army at her beck and call, little miss angel can’t possibly face me on her own. Yes, of course she can’t. I admit, yes I can admit my mistakes, I was a little overconfident, even the best can fall to superior numbers. Ow, dammit, my leg! I’ll get away, lie low and come back when she least expects it. Maybe I’ll try taking the elf next time – yes, yes that could work.”

You could ignore him; after all, he means nothing to you.
You could recruit him; He has reason to hate HER.
You could kill or punish him: only you are allowed to hurt HER.
You could kill him for threatening your kids.

Your kids? yours? That’s a confusing concept. You know that logically they’re not yours, they’re HERS.

But...you remember bouncing Milli on your knee, you remember picking Vivi up after he fell down and scraped his elbow, you remember both children’s cry of delight when you took them flying.

>Ignore
>Recruit
>Punish
>Kill (only I can hurt her)
>Kill (my children, MINE)
>Other

>>35290196
>Kill (my children, MINE)

>>35290196
>Kill (my children, MINE)

>>35290196
>>Kill (my children, MINE)

>>35290196
>>Kill (my children, MINE)

>>35290196
Kill(My children )

I guess our evil twin wants to kill and replace us.

>>35290446
We just have to teach her the joy of sharing~

>>35290446
Nah, the kids just have 3 'natural' mothers and an adopted mother.

You swoop down on silent wings and grab him, lifting him high into the air with you.

“Hey!” he protests “Let go, who are you? Unhand me! Don’t you know who I am?”

“I know who you are” you respond “but do you know me?”

He twists and writhes in your grip as you fly higher and higher “Sireyi?” he says disbelievingly “No, you’re not her, you can’t be!”

“Not yet” you say, the two of you now hundreds of feet in the air “But one day, one day I will be.”

“What do you want with me?” he asks, fear colouring his voice.

You don’t answer, you just keep flying higher, ignoring his frantic pleas until you are over a mile in the air.

Finally you turn him around in your grasp, until he’s face to face and ask him “Why did you try to kill Mili and Vivi?”

“Who?” he says

“My children” you say “Why did you try to kill my children?”

He looks down at ground, far below “I didn’t know they were yours” he says “please don’t drop me, I just wanted justice for what she did to me. Please let me go.”

His answer doesn’t make any sense: The concept of *justice* you find in Sireyi’s memories appears to have nothing to do with hurting those who weren’t even born when a crime? Yes that’s the word, when a crime was committed.

Also, Sireyi’s memories clearly show that what she did, wasn’t a crime.

This is confusing, this person is confusing. You let him go.

He screams all the way down as you try to puzzle out what he said. Justice? With no crime?

You could go looking for those Sireyi has judged: the cultist, or the necromancer, or perhaps you could seek out those strong enough to aid you against her: such as the beastman warlord.

>The cultist
>The necromancer
>The warlord
>None of these, just watch her

And I’m ending the thread there, next thread in 10 hours – I’ll post a 1 hour warning on twitter.

Thank you for playing and I apologise for failing to explain some of the choices clearly enough.

You’ve been great players and I hope to see you next thread.

Feel free to post questions or criticism in the thread – I’ll read the archives.

And finally, unless anyone has any objections: next task will be looking for the elemental nodes before doing the other planned tasks (politics, visiting family etc).

Please do vote on previous post, it will have an impact even though the thread is ending here.

>>35290602
>None of these, just watch her
Soon we shall bring her over to the light side. It shall be glorious.


>>35290620
Thanks for running Pally. Have a good night. The thread was great

>>35290602
>None of these, just watch her

File: vhailor.jpg (22 KB, 281x441)

22 KB JPG

>>35290602

>None of these, just watch her

We must watch her and her failings so that we may become her, but better (subjectively speaking).

>>35290602
>>None of these, just watch her
Stalker mode engaged, ruining all our chances of diplomancing by dispensing justice swiftly and deadly.

I'd like to request that any players who haven't left express any opinions they have on what powers we should get at the next level-up, just to make sure that I've got my read on player desire correct.

>>35290709
Whats the current plan ?
I still think we could use some dragon transformation in case we end up in a magic supressing field again.

>>35290709

Root of all Life

>>35290748
(G) [Fellowship +4] -12 XP
(M) |Remove (E) from Teleport| -3 XP
(M) [Remove (E) from Break Enchantment] -3 XP
(M) L5: Gate, Meteor Swarm, Polar Ray, Protection from Spells, Major Planar Binding, Teleportation Circle -3 XP
(M) L4: Chain Lightning, Prismatic Spray, Missile Storm, Phase Door, Planar Binding, Antimagic Field -2 XP

(G) Isla's XP debt -15 XP (8 remains)

(P) |Blessed Health 3| -12 XP
(P) |Sculpted Life| -6 XP
(P) |Root of All Life + Expansion| -9 XP

(P) [Sanctuary 3] -12 XP
(P) Healing 3 -12 XP
(P) Ranged Heal -6 XP

(A) [Angelic Regeneration] -3 XP
(A) Angelic Charm +2 -4 XP
(A) Angelic Toughness +2 -6 XP
(A) Angelic Might +2 -6 XP
(A) Angelic Speed +2 -6 XP

(P) [Doctrine of Velya 2] -6 XP
(P) Doctrine of Velya 3 -12 XP
(P) Iron Doctrine -6 XP

(A) [Call Down the Thunder to Me] -4 XP
(S) [Lightning Immunity] -8 XP

(S) Intense Lightning: Lightning Storm -8 XP
(S) Massive Lightning Storm -8 XP

(M) Silent Spell +2 -4 XP
(M) Still Spell +2 -4 XP

(D) |Aspect of the Dragon 3| -15 XP
(D/A) Seraphic Dragon -12 XP
(M) Create Other Magic Item -10 XP

(A) Angel's Sight 2 -5 XP
(A) Angel's Sight 3 -7 XP
(A) See the Unseen -5 XP
(A) See the Flow -5 XP

This isn't complete, spell-purchasing especially, and it's more a guideline to what I'm probably going to be trying to get next level-up rather than a strict plan.

(A) means Angelic, (S) means Storm, (D) means Draconic, (P) means Paladin, (G) means General and (M) means Magic.

Brackets mean it's something I'm purchasing under my own impetus and I'm unwilling to budge on it, likely for a good reason.

Pillars mean it's being purchased due to player desire (or the perception thereof), rather than (necessarily) my own.

Neither means it's something I think we should have but which I'd be less reluctant to drop than something in brackets.

Skills aren't included, since I tend to use those for leftover XP rather than planning them in advance.

Order doesn't matter at all, don't read into it.

>>35290982
Looks good to me.

>>35290982

Add Root of All Life in there somewhere.

>>35291100

Nevermind me, I just found it on the list. I'm too tired and missing things.