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>>40865945
Date: Very early morning on March 25th, 1961PC

You woke with a start to find yourself surrounded by shouted orders and booming confirmations. At first you thought you were on a battlefield, but the soft bed beneath you and the naked archmage cuddled up to you suggested otherwise. A sending flickered in front of your eyes as you began to rise from your bed, which caused you to freeze.

The door boomed several times as a plated gauntlet hammered on it from the other side. “Imperator Talon, there are intruders in the castle!” shouts Lieutenant Trask.

You had already seen the sending and were in the process of throwing on the bare minimum to be able to repel whatever nuisance had been foolish enough to assault you in your own Dominion. As your mind scanned through the fortress, you realised that there wasn’t such an easy way of identifying intruders – everything you were finding suggested there were only TYE mage-knights and knights in the building. The door banged again and you checked that Alyce had at least put on enough to be decent, even if she was noticeably groggy.

“This is easier when Merce is around,” she grumbles as she fastens her bra. “Your men seem very frenetic for a lockdown.”

“It’s not a lockdown,” you growl. “Lieutenant, you may enter.”

Alyce squeaks as she hears the order before mostly just grumbling and continuing the get dressed. Trask almost slams the door open as he and his immediate subordinate surge into the room, checking that you’re okay and that nobody else in here is harmed. Then he freezes as he catches the still largely undressed archmage. You take the opportunity to glance out the window, noting that the walls are lit up and bustling with activity, particularly the bastions. As are the noble wards, especially the Griffin guildhouse. A dozen griffin knights are charging across the courtyard to the keep, where a small mass of mage-knights keep guard.

>continued

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>>40865957
“Lieutenant, who sent the first sending?” you say, forcing calmness into your mind as you continue to try to find out what was going on. There were a quite a few dead people and fighting on a number of floors, and it looked more like one of your men had turned on you.

“Corporal Wilmholt,” Trask answers, resuming a more professional look once you address him. “Though there have been intruders encountered elsewhere, too.”

The face comes to mind immediately and you ball your hands into fists.

“He’s the primary guard in the nursery wing. He looks after-“ Trask continues, unaware that you know full well who he guards.

The growl you emit is guttural and foul by your standards, but you were damnably angry. Whoever it was that had staged this attack had made their first attack on Sai and her brothers and you were not going to let that stand. You…

>1. Immediately hone in on Sai and her brothers to protect them.
>2. Stay calm and try to use your Dominion to deal with the attackers, even if they were potentially traitors. There were countless knights in the nursery wing, along with Vad.
>3. Stay calm but abandon your Dominion attempts for now. Instead just use it to get you to the battles quickly and try to deal with it all.
>4. Custom

>>40866006
>1. Immediately hone in on Sai and her brothers to protect them.

>>40866006
>>1. Immediately hone in on Sai and her brothers to protect them.

>>40866006
>>2. Stay calm and try to use your Dominion to deal with the attackers, even if they were potentially traitors. There were countless knights in the nursery wing, along with Vad.

We can use the dominion to have a constant eye on Sai anyway. If someone makes a move then we can teleport her to us or us to her.

>>40866006
>>3. Stay calm but abandon your Dominion attempts for now. Instead just use it to get you to the battles quickly and try to deal with it all.

>>40866006
Can we teleport using the dominion?

>>40866006
1

Fucking Malataine, calling it now. Anger doesn't even begin to quantify.

>>40866006
>>2. Stay calm and try to use your Dominion to deal with the attackers, even if they were potentially traitors. There were countless knights in the nursery wing, along with Vad.

>>40866006
>2. Stay calm and try to use your Dominion to deal with the attackers, even if they were potentially traitors. There were countless knights in the nursery wing, along with Vad.

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>>40866088
What you can do is close enough.

>>40866170
Malataine probably doesn't give a shit about Sai. This is more likely pharos.

>>40866088
We can tie doors to anywhere in the place. Even if it turns out we can't directly teleport the moment someone gets even a moment close to sai Talon can walk into the room and magic won't work here.

>>40866006
>>2. Stay calm and try to use your Dominion to deal with the attackers, even if they were potentially traitors. There were countless knights in the nursery wing, along with Vad.

You don't fuck with the king bitches

God damn security detail get it together. How the hell could this fly under the radar to this point?

>>40866334
If it's a traitor then it is expected. Can't be a mindreader and all so all it takes is a little gold from someone.

>>40866398
>Can't be a mindreader
We haven't tried hard enough yet

>>40866398
That's a lot of gold. Like king of a small castle gold. And that sort of stuff leaves pretty significant paper trails.

>>40866334
Because we aren't hearing Talon's daily intel briefings. We've probably already heard about whichever group is pulling this to some degree, our information was simply incomplete and we underestimated them.

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>2.

You take a deep breath and close your eyes, focusing your will on your Dominion. A cursory thought as to the state of the nursery wing showed that it was full of knights with their weapons drawn – they didn’t seem to suspect each other, though. Things didn’t seem as positive in the rooms, though the young foxes were unharmed – at least physically. You pull away from the scene before your emotions surge to the fore again and instead think on how to deal with the intruders.

They were wearing your armour, your insignias and at least a few of them were men and women you knew by face and name. But they fought against your men – the problem being you didn’t know which side was which, except in a few cases where Gnome or others were there. What were you missing?

[DC12 Dominion Focus]

Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>40866539

>>40866486
Not really. Assuming it's pharos they could offer a whole lot of shit off the record.

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>40866539
killkillkill

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>40866539

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>40866539

>>40866206
Now I got the image of a pissed off hulking naked talon slowly dissipating and reappearing behind a very unfortunate soldier

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>40866539

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So what does the Ember god-knight guy look like, exactly?

The image I have for him is this, although he is much taller.

>>40866628
Norse Star Wars?

>>40866334
Look I'm not saying this is Karise and Neir's fault. But this is the second or third major FUBAR under them. Not to mention neither one has ever rolled particularly well for other spy things. But our spies and the activities they're attached to leave something to be desired. And they called Sarah the weak link.

>>40866678
Can't exactly prepare for everything anon. Espcially considering it took six to seven years to happen. So the're doing better then most real life spymasters.

>>40866678
Look, loyalty takes time to build. 20 years from now this shit will never happen, because the people assigned to our castle will mostly have grown up under our rule, and will have much more detailed backgrounds that we can check. We've massively expanded our military, and have an open immigration policy. This makes corrupting parts of it relatively easy.

>>40866738
I'm pretty sure everything happening right now falls under shit you should probably prepare for. I've no doubt minor instances of this has happened away from Talon's eyes, but this is pretty damn big and pretty fucking serious.

>>40866816
Even then betrayal will happen because it always happens. Unless Talon starts mind wiping people there will always be someone out their willing to risk their head for power or wealth.

Not only that but I doubt this setting has a modern day database where you can just look up people. If someone claims to be from some burned out villege there really isn't anyway to see if it's true or not.

>>40866860
That's probably why they noticed it happening in the first place really. If they didn't prepare it would have probably ended with Sai gone.

>>40866902
>The entirety of the garrison for the actual keep at Harrowmont are patterns and golems

No morale, no problem! A betrayal? Hah!

>>40866944
That would be excellent. The problem? We know Kushan tier mages can rip patterns out of their shells.

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>>40866678
They've been able to provide you with near-perfect intel for much of the quest. Not to mention this is, what, the second proper intrusion (and the only large one) into the keep in nine years? I think you're overestimating the ability of people to think they can stop everyhing, especially when there is a lot of magic in the world.

>Target met

It’s during one of the exchanges on first underground floor that you understand why your soldiers are able to easily tell apart the traitors from others. They’re relying on Karise’s foxes – they’re able to spot something different about most of the intruders, and then your men target the rest with them by association. Still, it’s not perfect and you see some of your knights taken down by blows from ‘comrades’.

That knowledge gives you the edge you need to identify most of the intruders, however. You’ve been confused so far because the magic you’re sensing from all of them is the same – typically that of their equipment. There is a slightly different haze over some of them, however. A very faint sensation of magic covering them that reminds you vaguely of two sources. Arisa and her nigh-undetectable illusion magic and Raphael and his shapeshifting.

As one of these magic users manages a break away from the conflict, you learn another thing. Namely that they revere Raphael – who then promptly reduces said man’s face to a pulp. The conflict ends abruptly with his appearance as his wings of light fill the room and both sides immediately freeze as they sense the overwhelming magic fill the room. Hell, you freeze and you’re on the other side of the keep.

>continued

>>40866596
He wants to give them the shaft anon.

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>>40867078
“Traitorous Wardens and false followers, I will leave your end to another,” Raphael booms and you feel that you’re being spoken to indirectly.

Still, you now know what you’re dealing with. Wardens and Disciples of Theros – the former were spiritualists with the lesser powers of angels, which no doubt explained the strange magical haze and possibly why it was so easily missed earlier. It’s all but drowned out by the natural aura of the Source. But Theros… you’d been dealing with them and their harassment of the elves recently and for them to be capable of this…

You’d deal with the high likelihood of sleeper agents and some of your men serving a religion that didn’t seem to particularly like you later. For now, you…

>1. Kill almost all of the intruders. You feel you can identify enough of them to avoid any friendly fire and bring this to a close almost instantly.
>2. Disable the intruders. There’s no point in any more violence here, and you can make an example of those necessary.
>3. Custom

>>40867105
>>2. Disable the intruders. There’s no point in any more violence here, and you can make an example of those necessary.

They dun fucked up now.

>>40867001
>Kushan tier mages

>of which there was one

>Kushan

Even if there are mages that rival him in power now, they would likely be few and far between, and the entire rest of the army, NOT in the keep, are all just the regular standing army, so it'd hardly be defenseless. Plus take into account Talon and crew almost all live in the keep, so THAT would be a bitch to deal with.

>>40867105
>Kill almost all of the intruders. You feel you can identify enough of them to avoid any friendly fire and bring this to a close almost instantly.

>>40867105
>>1. Kill almost all of the intruders. You feel you can identify enough of them to avoid any friendly fire and bring this to a close almost instantly.

Lets keep a few alive. The vast majority aren't needed and most likely lack knowledge the higher ups would have.

>>40867105
>>1. Kill almost all of the intruders. You feel you can identify enough of them to avoid any friendly fire and bring this to a close almost instantly.

They dare to strike at our loved ones they should pay in blood makes their heads explode or some such

>>40867105
Almost means more than half right?

>>40867146
I think there was something like 4 mages that had level 4 magic. Kushan I'm pretty sure actually cheated though a divine method.

Though this makes me curious on if Alyce has level 4 or only level 3 with a level 4 specialty or the likes.

>>40867105
>1. Kill almost all of the intruders. You feel you can identify enough of them to avoid any friendly fire and bring this to a close almost instantly.
lets institute a zero tolerance policy for fuckin with the young uns

>>40867105

>1

I'm imagining Talon "summoning" avatars of his own will to handle the intruders. That seems like something he could do.

Alternatively, righteous hellfire.

>>40867158
We really should prepare a Genji plot with Sai anyway.

>>40867208
Honestly for me I would suggest just giving them all a heart attack. Or just teleporting them all away into a different space with no air. That way no one knows what happens to them and if someone asks Talon can increase his mystery just by saying "Things you don't want to know about."

>>40867218
A what now...?

>>40867285
>teleporting them miles into the air above the mountain

Sounds painful.

>>40867302
Homegrowning waifus.

>>40867285
I am a fan of my suggestion with the exploding heads and gore everywhere...

>>40867305
Thinking more about bending space to create a room. Then removing all the air in the room while sealing it.

After they die incinerate the bodies and never say what happened to them.

>>40867105
>the former were spiritualists with the lesser powers of angels

But how?

>>40867346
But that is boring.

And won't send a message.

This sort of thing is the stuff that either preceeds an attack by an enemy, or that causes a war.

Basically, we have cassius' belly or whatever the fuck it's called. (I'm having a brainfart right now, bear with me)

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>>40867218
Somehow I expected to come up sooner.

>>40867185
Alyce has the skill Evocation IV and the ability Channelling IV. Anything IV is very, very rare though the skill is rarer (as it requires an insane level of talent). Alyce and Kushan are the only mages to have Evocation IV (though there is another who will get it); Kushan and a currently alive mage have Transmutation IV; there will be a mage who has Ritals IV.

>>40867364
How what? How did they not get detected? Because their magic is difficult to detect and they were pretending to be other people (something that the Angelic Arts are good at).

>>40867394
It relies more on the imagination. Going full gore shows the power he has. But saying "Oh things happened. Things you don't want to know of." Now that spreads rumors of thousands of dark deeds which spreads your rep even further because less knows what happened.

Also Casus belli anon.

>>40867364
Angels created an order of spirtialists who basically rote learn certain angel spells in order to have mooks. Said order parted ways with the angels 500 years ago or so.

>>40867425
Nah I was asking how they got the angelic power?

Was it something Raph bestowed?

>>40867445
But what kind of reputation I would like to be known as the guy that can make you explode into a shower of meat with a mere thought.

>>40867425
>Somehow I expected to come up sooner.

It came to my mind the moment Sai got a human shape. I'm thinking your readers aren't that depraved aspirational. I think you are attracting normalfags or something.

>>40867445
That's what I was looking for! Thank you.

But the point is, if we just up and show people "Yeah, they fucked with us." It'll ease us into attacking them if we so desire. They break into our capital and start fighting us? Yeah, that's pretty much a declaration of war, and if we shove that in their face, they either have to man up and get ready for a fight, or they will have to back down and lose face.

I'm betting they will do the latter.

If it's hush hush, then they can just say "What? None of our men were there, these are baseless rumors." and it will mean nothing.

Political maneuvering, anon!

>>40867473
Oh okay

Now onto the obvious question
>TYE WARDENS FOOKIN WEHN?

>>40867481
see >>40867473

>>40867490
Mostly I'm thinking it would create a image of "Fuck with this guy and he sends you to be tortured for a thousand years under his tower." Kind of deal. Exploding people works but it gives a different image of instant death.

>>40867511
Problem there is if they try that we turn to Ralph and ask "Where the guys there." Ralph says yes. Then you turn back and ask them again. Not only that but we really don't need justification anyway.

>>40867539
Well at least we can agree they must die in a horrid manner.

>>40867583
Better to be loved then feared. Better to be feared then hated. Combining the two? Ideal.

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>>40867580
>Ralph
Why

>1.

It takes you a few minutes to identify all the Wardens, as well as those soldiers that are assisting them. The latter is hard to identify in some cases, so you simply try to avoid tagging anybody who might not be fighting you.

Then you teleport them all into a large mass of magma you’d created in the extra space of your Dominion. Problem solved. Maybe you’d bring the remains (whatever they might be) back out later if you needed a show of power.

“If you wish to join your traitorous comrades in a very painful death, please continue to oppose me,” you say, your voice reverberating through the entire keep. Every hallway and every room is filled with your threat.

The fighting died down awfully quickly after that, as those knights you missed and the few wardens you spared for information immediately gave up arms. You would kill those you missed as well but didn’t want to look to be too evil. Anger was one thing, but your men wouldn’t respect a butcher. Falwick was proof of that.

Unfortunately, there is still fighting going on elsewhere in the city, though the thousands of soldiers and foxes you have are making short work of it. You check up on…

>1. Sarah and Taira. They were in the noble district for the night, if well-guarded.
>2. Caitlyn. The Griffin guildhall seemed to have seen some trouble.
>3. Sai. Something went very wrong there, even if she is alive.
>4. Custom

>>40867580
Then we look like we are hiding behind an angel.

It's much better to make it very high profile, it emphasizes -our- power.

We don't need people saying "Talon, with Raphael", we want them saying "Talon".

And though we don't -need- a reason to attack people, if you can prove you are in the right, other people wont freak out as much over it and think Talon is just a psychotic warmonger.

Come on, man.

>>40867515
A few years once we get spiritual knights I suppose. Though that would be something a little different.

>>40867634
>>1. Sarah and Taira. They were in the noble district for the night, if well-guarded.

>>40867634
>3. Sai. Something went very wrong there, even if she is alive.
Oh god, think of the children.

>>40867634
>>1. Sarah and Taira. They were in the noble district for the night, if well-guarded.

>>40867634
>1. Sarah and Taira. They were in the noble district for the night, if well-guarded.
>3. Sai. Something went very wrong there, even if she is alive.

>>40867634
>>1. Sarah and Taira. They were in the noble district for the night, if well-guarded.

Mother's bearing Talon's child. Pretty important, though I feel terrible for not seeing Sai first.

>>40867634
>1. Sarah and Taira. They were in the noble district for the night, if well-guarded.

>>40867634
>Why

For you.

>>40867642
Honestly I would be more scared of a guy just vanishing someone without a trace then one that blows them up. That and killing them all leads to the same.

"Who them? Don't know them. What evidence do you have that that chunk of gore is a warden?" Which then still leaves just Raphael to confirm that it was angel based tricks or claim it without proof.

>>40867634
>>1. Sarah and Taira. They were in the noble district for the night, if well-guarded.

Lets check to make sure the kids are fine.

>>40867634
Actually can't we just teleport Sai to us then take her with us to Sarah and Taira?

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>>40867756
That would be a bad idea given Sai's emotional state.

>>40867634
>>3. Sai. Something went very wrong there, even if she is alive.

>>40867725
You are entirely missing the point.

It isn't about fear.

It's entirely about showing that we have the RIGHT to attack.

Plus, a fall from roughly a mile up even onto hard rock would not likely leave just a pile of gore.

I'm not going to argue this with you, you aren't getting the point.

>>40867766
I was thinking that but I wanted to confirm Talon thought that her state was that off first.

On the bright side daddy is there with her so It should be Okay for her.

Did Talon see how Daine and the other did though?

>>40867805
>It's entirely about showing that we have the RIGHT to attack.

Have we ever cared about that anyway though? The archmage was right there. Fenix won't give a shit. Nor would the lords. So it's kind of a pointless thing to think about given the politics so far.

It'd be useful but not something to think about personally. I'd rather build the rep as a god king more. I''ll just toss this under different priorities then.

>>40867766
Sai ;_;

Just a reminder that we've abandoned Undine.

It's been so long that I've forgotten her name.

How sad.

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Writing 1. Poor Sai. There'll be something later with her but not as emotional.

>>40867814
Daine and Naite are fine. A little shocked but they didn't get the brunt of it like Sai.

>>40867898
Trust me, other nations that don't have our good will not to get fucked by us will not take kindly to it. It's seriously basic shit.

If you attack a nation unbidden, chances are someone who doesn't like you will jump in on their side.

This is exactly how WWI and WWII started.

>>40867634
>Then you teleport them all into a large mass of magma you’d created in the extra space of your Dominion. Problem solved. Maybe you’d bring the remains (whatever they might be) back out later if you needed a show of power.

I wonder where this falls on a scale of 1 to 10. Would 20 be about where, so god damn angry you create a pocket dimension of magma to kill your enemies in be about right?

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>>40867947
I've never had my whole body ensconced in magma before so I don't know how bad it would be, but I imagine that they didn't enjoy their last moments of life very much.

>>40867925
There's been some SoL with her but I really do need to refocus a bit on her. There are still some interesting parts about her.

>>40867946
About the only nations I can think of who would notice is Malatine. Archmage and fenix alone is already half the world almost. Maybe Falwick could claim he is trying to pacify a crazy leader? But that would just be hilarious given it's fucking Falwick. It's also an open secret we plan on destroying the guard without cause as well. I honestly can't see much happening here unless we went full retard and started insulting our allies or something.
>>40867947
It's pretty pissed. about a 9 or so. 20 would be recreating the plot of hellraiser though building another dimension.

>>40868054
I do miss seeing Undine she is our champion after all and now she seems to have been benched...Please put her in coach!

>>40868054

> I don't know how bad it would be

Having been around Magma. Pretty bad depending on where they landed. If he just teleported them into the magma itself not too bad. If he teleported him above it and they dropped into it then fucking painful as all hell.

>>40868054
>There are still some interesting parts about her.

Like her former master.
Her stuff with Gnome.
HOW SHE FUCKING DIED. I have no idea how we managed to ignore that for so long.

>>40868107
I think personally that is because there really isn't much to develop with Undine. Maybe the entire I killed your master bit? Other then that her and Talons relationship is pretty well set in stone at this point.

>>40868080
You are only thinking about this side of the pond. Your eyes are fixed on this continent.

Watch out for random shits from across the seas, man.

That's like disregarding the US in the world wars.

>>40868080
>It's pretty pissed. about a 9 or so.

God damn I would not like to see Talon at a 10.

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>>40868080
>destroying the guard without cause as well
The Guard being the Guard is cause enough for most people, actually. They've interfered with so many other nations politically that nobody would have batted an eye if Alyce had declared war on them instead of the RSK.

>>40868140
>If he just teleported them into the magma itself not too bad.
Why? Because they would die too quickly? I'm assuming you're referring to the fact that they would slowly ooze into it if they fell feet first and die very painfully and slowly?

>HOW SHE FUCKING DIED. I have no idea how we managed to ignore that for so long.
She died in combat in some of the crackdowns against mages after the rebellions. There's not much more to tell.

>>40868201
Is it possible to fully resurrect her?
I'm sure this has been asked before.

>>40868178
Pharos is more Chinese on that front from what I've seen. They are just now extending their sight to us. So any real expansion with them would be kind of like the USA attacking a euopean nation.

Everyone would jump into this. Even the lords probably because no one wants Pharos taking land on our side.

>>40868190
A ten to me personally is just flat out cruelty. Like executing your family then keeping you locked with their preserved heads in the basement for 40 years tied up to a wall.

>>40867425
>Alyce has the skill Evocation IV and the ability Channelling IV. Anything IV is very, very rare though the skill is rarer (as it requires an insane level of talent). Alyce and Kushan are the only mages to have Evocation IV (though there is another who will get it); Kushan and a currently alive mage have Transmutation IV; there will be a mage who has Ritals IV.
Has anyone ever had Sorcery (Instinctive) IV?

>>40868201
>She died in combat in some of the crackdowns against mages after the rebellions. There's not much more to tell.

Wait that's it? Why was it a secret for so long then?

>>40868201
> Because they would die too quickly?

If someone is instantly buried head to toe in Magma the nerves would die too fast to really feel it and once it got into your orifices it's pretty much instant death.

Being dropped into it though would take longer because magma is a liquid solid pretty much. So density wise it would take a while to sink into it.

I've been looking at the map and can somebody remind me what the details are about asfael? did some dude secede with the crown princess?

Gnome gets Sunder. Holy shit

>>40868327

I saw that too. Probably explains why she was able to handle that demon, whose name escapes me presently, the first time she encountered him with Taren.

Gnome powerful as fuck.

>>40868265
By lords do you mean those god-knight posers?

Because one of them is indisposed causing a fuckton of problems.

And Pharos is a big place, they probably have as much combined manpower as quite a few nations over here, if not matching the entire continent.

Good luck dealing with that swimming over if you are already busy fighting.

>>40868327
Looks like a weaker sunder though. Honestly I was more holy shitting when I read Salamanders Planar Tap power.

Though I laugh that if Talon got Sunder he would become a Gnome+Saareg combo.

>>40868317
Princess of the RSK considered too weak to control it. Decided to ally with Falwick instead of using her dad and getting other more controllable allies. Declared part of the RSK to be hers but still claims to be part of the RSK.

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>>40868305
She just didn't like talking about it. Especially because it wasn't some heroic death, but just dying because your master got caught with her pants down.

>>40868327
It's nice (and the only reason she could match GK Garynth), but her real strengths are her ridiculous stat levels. Undine and Sala get far more powerful abilities at Level 5 (Sala's Plane Tap can destroy an entire army in a minute) but aren't as strong in a one-on-one fight.

>>40868358
That's exactly right. Gnome was able to slow Belrauth's regeneration with her raw power and Flow abilities.

>>40868365
>Good luck dealing with that swimming over if you are already busy fighting.
The logistics of a cross continental invasion are a massive bitch.
>By lords do you mean those god-knight posers?
To be fair, the non-insane ones are almost certainly working on significant military reforms. They don't really have much of a choice since their traditional methods won't work particularly well.

>>40868365
>Because one of them is indisposed causing a fuckton of problems.

There is still two others anon. I"m pretty sure literally no one would want Pharos over here. Raphael would jump into this as the others.

Although if they went all out then things could get crazy given their numbers. If I remeber right they are mostly about esoteric tricks and having tricked out people due to having such a large population.

They lack mage-knights though. On the other hand I do want to see what their geomancers are made of.

>>40868358
She probably could have just punched it to death. Dear lord look at those stats. She almost has Saareg tier stats here.

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>1.

As much as you care about Sai, you’re also worried about your own children, unborn though they might be. The courtyard is filled with knights, torches and magical lights gleaming in the night as they keep watch for any trouble. You’re joined almost immediately by Esraveel and Undine as you walk towards the noble district, flanked by a dozen Daerfir. Alyce had said she wanted to check up on Merce and would see how everybody else was doing.

“How bad did it get elsewhere?” you ask your two Champions as they fall into line next to you, walking very quickly to keep up with your long strides.

“They attempted arson against the mystic fox bastion as well as a strike against some of the administration buildings,” Esra reports.

“One of the Griffin Masters tried to assassinate Lynn,” Undine says. “Fortunately, she mostly just puts on an act when drinking with her Masters and he got a fittingly nasty surprise.”

“What about the rest of the noble district?” you say, as you close in on the door to Sarah’s manor house, noting the knights on either side.

“They’ve noticeably avoided targeting you,” Undine says, reading your behaviour. “They did try to go after Noah but Ren turned them into a mess. There were no other targets.”

You confirm that yourself when you see Sarah and Taira sitting around a table with Tarfinn and Rayza, who have been guarding them when they elect to stay outside the keep. Everything looks fine, though Sarah looks a little worried when she sees your grim face. You…

>1. Stay on business and move on to checking on others, such as Sai and the fox bastion.
>2. Greet them happily, making sure they’re okay.
>3. Dismiss the others and spend some private time expressing your relief to Sarah and Taira.
>4. Custom

>>40868365
They are 3000 kilometres away. Even if they had more power than us, it would be near impossible to bring it to our doorstep.

>>40868456
An invasion like that isn't so hard when everything is ruled by a single major body, and I'm sure the majority of them over there would absolutely love a chance to get over here, and with magic, and only god knows how many boats they have, sending over supplies and an army wouldn't be that complicated for them.

Especially the first wave they would have nothing to worry about, they could come over whenever and we wouldn't notice.

Even if I do downplay the difficulty, we should always be aware of -all- of our threats. To discount even a small knife is to invite a slit throat.

>>40868456
>The logistics of a cross continental invasion are a massive bitch.

Pretty much why the USA constantly tries to keep it's transport capacity up in the god tier.

>To be fair, the non-insane ones are almost certainly working on significant military reforms. They don't really have much of a choice since their traditional methods won't work particularly well.

Not really much to reform though. Maybe use more humans to keep form being overwhelmed. God-knights are pretty god tier.

>>40868507
>>2. Greet them happily, making sure they’re okay.

>>40868507
>>3. Dismiss the others and spend some private time expressing your relief to Sarah and Taira.

>>40868507
>They did try to go after Noah but Ren turned them into a mess

Note to self. Send some wine to Ren.

>>40868507
>>1. Stay on business and move on to checking on others, such as Sai and the fox bastion.

>>40868507
>>3. Dismiss the others and spend some private time expressing your relief to Sarah and Taira.

Dad of the god damned century.

>>40868507
>>1. Stay on business and move on to checking on others, such as Sai and the fox bastion.

>>40868296
>Transmutation IV

I"m honestly guessing this is the Mage PC. Since we know he is Kushan tier and doesn't use Evocation.

>>40868527
>Not really much to reform though. Maybe use more humans to keep form being overwhelmed. God-knights are pretty god tier.
They've traditionally used MAA and Archers for rear area security, which won't work anymore against someone like Arial. He'll blow their supply lines to hell repeatedly until they start detaching enough god-knights to stop him, significantly weakening their main army.

>>40868507
>3. Dismiss the others and spend some private time expressing your relief to Sarah and Taira.

>>40868626
Speaking of Arail there. Has anyone notice he has a command capacity of 5000. But his legion is 10000 thus cutting off one of his skills?

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>>40868446

Someday we'll have the four of them maxed. Oh good god.

>our enemies' faces when

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>>40868680
The General sheets are out of date (I don't plan on using them as they are), so don't worry about that. Basically, they haven't survived the upscale that's happened with the legion.

>>40868724
I'm hoping to have the full set of Sylph sheets up alongside Sylvian and Rayza sometime soon-ish.

>>40868680

That is a lot of older stuff, and I doubt it has been updated to reflect the current model of the Legions.

>>40868507
>1. Stay on business and move on to checking on others, such as Sai and the fox bastion.
SAI ;_;

>>40868724
Honestly for me I"m more interested in seeing Felix maxed or the likes.

On the other hand having maxed out Salamander is just cruel. We might as well start singing fire starter when that happens.

Though I have to admit I love the balence between them. Gnome has the highest stats and has her own methods of messing with magic. Salamander has high attack power and can go infinite mode. Undine doesn't have much but she is versatile and is a utter monster near water.

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Okay, time to check up on Sai. Writing 1. This might take a bit longer than the previous posts then I'll be having lunch. I unfortunately don't really have any discussion topic for today (unless people want to talk about garrisons and what they should have in terms of numbers/equipment).

>>40868836
Lets talk about what it would take to have to get nightly auroras over the sky in harrowmont

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>>40868835
>Undine doesn't have much but she is versatile and is a utter monster near water.
And, you know, away from it with Water Control IV. She can summon an Olympic swimming pool's worth of water in about 5 seconds for only 1/12th of her total mana reserve.

But yes, they're all very different in terms of their specialties. Sylph is going to have a few more support powers as such.

>Honestly for me I"m more interested in seeing Felix maxed or the likes.
Felix and Aladria technically don't 'max out' as they have near infinite potential. Though Aladria increases at a faster rate, especially with Talon feeding her (she got a bump to her Magic, for instance).

Speaking of the military I noticed that Arail's ratio of Spellblades are out of whack.

Instead of one for every 100 mage knights his number is closer to something like one to every 200-300. We will want him to use his Logistics and jump into battle to end them quickly due to this because there is more risks unless he piles them all into the heavy mage knights.

>>40868902
> She can summon an Olympic swimming pool's worth of water in about 5 seconds for only 1/12th of her total mana reserve.

That's useful but if I"m in the middle of a battle in a forest or something I would rather have Salamander. Having all four would just be overkill.

>>40868902
>Felix and Aladria technically don't 'max out' as they have near infinite potential.

Question if they eat an infernal using their consumption power does the infernal die for good? Also what is the difference between level 1 and two Consumption?

>>40868982

Well open field is where Sala and Slyph excel so of course.

If you were defending a location though, even one less ridiculous then Harrowmont, Gnome and Undine are your girls for defense. Fuck trying to assault Harrowmont with maxed Undine on the other side.

>>40868869
this is a cool idea, maybe it could be a project to build the prestige of the tower of harrowmont or the imperial acadamy

I'm really surprised they didn't target the vampires at all. Fledgling Daywalkers in the Academy, Nightwalkers scattered throughout, Felix and Aladria would have made high profile targets too.

Seems odd given it's the Wardens.

>Nightwalkers/Daywalkers = Grey Wardens
>TYE Wardens = Sentinels

Yay or nay

>>40869037
Depends really.

Salamander could do a godly defense though destroying the other army.

Undine though yes is the girl for defense. Gnome is good at it but personally I think she does really godly on one on one combat as well. Those stats man.

>>40869082
>Grey wardens

I will find you anon. References to that shitty game must be expunged.

That and TYE wardens would be spiritual knights anyway I"m fairly certain and if we get wardens on our side we can just call them wardens.

>>40868932

I think that's because a portion of his were allotted to Rayza, given they're a bit further out of his skill set. Not unlike Phill not having any Foxes instead those being split among Lynn and Fuurin.

I had a good laugh when I realized of our "hero" Generals, only two are just normal dudes.

We need a Combat Magister General though for real.

Though thinking on it again. I really want to make say 200-300 daywalkers part of a secondary imperial guard now.

That way you have a detachment of about 500.

200 Elite elves, 5 dragon knights, and about 295 daywalkers. Watch everyone's shit get pushed in. Just the magic range in that alone.

>>40869122
Phillas, Parras, Arail, Talon.

Though that last one is cheating since he is human but has soul alteration.

>>40869122
Pretty sure she has the same number as normal. She has more mages though. Mostly because she does good as a spellblade herself but also adds strength to mages. Making backline support absurdly useful.

It's more because the ratio of knights is lower because he has more FMK and Archers.

>>40869196

Parras isn't part of our big six line up, I think he fell into normal General role.

And Talon definitely doesn't count.

>>40869082

I don't really think that's necessary. Wardens that side with us will likely just be normal Wardens, and specifically built ones are Spiritual Knights.

And if we're going to name the Daywalker Noble Knights anything it should be Blackguards. Because I mean really it makes sense.

>>40869254
>Blackguards

Would rather not have a name meaning "Those evil fuckers." as an official name in our empire.

Personally I'm a fan of just calling them the sentinels. Due to being immortal and able to guard the empire from danger forever.

>>40869309
It also thinking on it ties well with the possible adding them as a detachment to Talon idea I was talking about before.

>>40869236
Talon is 100 percent human though. Just a human with Astral power.

Do people still veiw us as a mage king?

I'm kind of curious what the power set and character sheet for the Daywalker Knights is going to be. That's really something difficult to homogenize. And who the hell are the sires?

>>40869402
I'd guess it's very likely. Until the population at large learns he has astral and thinks of him as the fourth lord the stuff he does is logically sorcery to them.

>>40869480
Alternatively they might think of him as a ludicrously powerful Templar. Which is technically true depending on how you define "Templar"

>>40869480

The whole having Gnome as a familiar, the premier familiar for powerful mages, probably helps maintain that as well.

>>40869472
If I remember right daywalker research was a eugenics project in another name. So it was mostly about finding sires and personality traits to get something kind of Guaranteed to be useful.

Maybe we got Felix on it? Aladria seems too picky.

I do suspect though that even then a lot of the daywalkers will have differing powers so it will still be 295 powers just combat capable instead of possibility not as if it was random.

Which reminds me I"m amused Felix is trying to learn Aladria's shadow tricks.

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>>40868932
>>40869122
Arail has the same number of spellblades as anybody else. I'm not sure what the problem is - they're spread as thinly in his unit as in others.

>>40869228
Rayza got Phill's allotment (100, because he is a double legion).

>1.

You surge forward and give Sarah a hug, happy to see things are alright. With that said, you still need to keep your mind on-track. As relieved as you are to see that they haven’t targeted your closest loved ones, only those relatively close to you, it’s still worrying how they’ve chosen their targets.

“Do any of you have any idea why the Wardens of all people are choosing their targets like this?” you ask the group after the short greeting.

Rayza frowns. “Wait, this attack is by Wardens?”

“And the Disciples of Theros. Raphael identified them,” you say.

“That’s… troubling. I would have expected something against the dragons and vampires then,” she says, concentrating as she sends off a few sendings. “Nothing like that, though. They’re only going after the foxes, your knights and some administrative works. Targets of opportunity?”

“Most likely,” Sarah says, looking grim. “The attack on Lynn sounded like a sleeper agent. I remember Neir brought this up when Theros started causing trouble – that we don’t have any reliable way of dealing with the religious issues. Disciples are very used to hiding their religious beliefs. If they couldn’t get somebody close or it was too hopeless, maybe they didn’t attack?”

Well, something to worry about later. For now, you want to check up on Sai and the other foxes. Karise finally shows herself on the way back to the keep, with just yourself and Undine. You left Esra behind just in case.

Your spymaster looks furious. “We’ve been betrayed, Talon.”

“As I’ve seen,” you say, disappointed that this is the reason Karise finally turns up.

>continued

>>40869502
Most people probably won't know of a templar and they don't get that strong. Talon only is so strong due to soul alternation.

Which reminds me Angels astral power is drawn from heaven. Where the hell is Talon's soul tied too?

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>>40869552
“Not just the knights – the Garrotte clan,” she spits, shocking you. “That sly bastard Kishin struck a deal with Demesdain of all people. I don’t know how he convinced the other foxes in the clan to go along with it, but he let the Wardens in by using his knowledge of our network.”

Your blood runs cold. It wasn’t Marin who had been the problem this time, but the six-tailed fox who had tried to pull his support for her when she’d gotten yourself and Liorne to hold her up instead. “How much of the clan?”

“Around half, including a lot of the elders. They’ve taken control of most of the villages, though Liorne and some of the others managed to escape,” she says. “No word on Marin, but I’d be surprised if she got caught by this sort of thing. She’s slippery.”

“What about the foxes here?” you say, beginning to realise why the foxes may have been the target.

“Small damage overall. I know that Vad’s taking care of his kids but not how bad it is there. The Pride Clan is fine but Ren’s been told there were attacks on his town,” Karise reports. “I’ve told him that he needs to meet with you, but he won’t wait long before he’ll act on his own. Take care of what you need to then go to the war room.”

>continued

>>40869537
we should get aladria on it exactly cause shes too picky

also i dont trust felix enough to give him some sort of authority greater than he already has over the daywalkers

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>>40869581
And with that, you’re just with Undine in the nursery wing. The halls are filled with grim-faced knights with drawn blades who nod rather than salute as you pass. You see some of them moving dead bodies and realise that this is where things got bloody the fastest. Things seem too silent, otherwise. You’ve missed the worst of it, judging from your glimpse here earlier. You step into Sai’s room and find her cuddled up with her father, who has practically shrouded her with his tails. Slightly dry blood coats the floor but the bodies have been removed it seems. You detach yourself from your emotions before you spot the blood on the bed itself, and the fact that all the sheets and blankets have been removed.

You…

>1. Leave Sai to her father. She’s physically alright.
>2. Wait until Vad notices you and let him decide what’s best.
>3. Make it clear that you’re here and try to help.
>4. Custom

>>40869568
>Where the hell is Talon's soul tied too?
Somewhere else in the astral plane, just like the Lords.

>>40869601
>3. Make it clear that you’re here and try to help.

>>40869552
> I'm not sure what the problem is

There isn't as many guards when you break it down. Unless you use FMKs. In all the other Legions we can mix about 100 mage knights per spell blade and tag team things. Arails legions aren't as efficient there.

Not a problem since we can mix them with all the HMK but that does leave less guards which is something to keep in mind in a protracted battle.

>>40869601
>>2. Wait until Vad notices you and let him decide what’s best.

>>40869601
>>1. Leave Sai to her father. She’s physically alright.

>>40869601
>>2. Wait until Vad notices you and let him decide what’s best.

>>40869601
>>2. Wait until Vad notices you and let him decide what’s best.

>>40869601
>2. Wait until Vad notices you and let him decide what’s best.

It's his child. I think we should respect his opinion here.

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Oh, and because I only just realised the implications - no, this isn't implying rape or anything. Somebody just got killed while standing over her bed.

>>40869601
>>2. Wait until Vad notices you and let him decide what’s best.

I don't like this. Not one bit.

Attacking the fluffy tails is too far.

>>40869601
>Somewhere else in the astral plane

For a second there I was getting worried Talon might get a connection to the leftovers of pandemonium.

>>40869601
>3. Make it clear that you’re here and try to help.
Should have gone to her first.

>>40869715
>Rape.

The rage if someone actually tried to rape the Sai would be wonderful to see. I never actually saw the connection here though till you brought it up. I'd assume a warden would kill her with what time he had.

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>>40869715
>YOU MOTHERFU-

Oh, well that isn't so ba-

Wait, they were going to kill -

>YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!!!

>>40869601
>3. Make it clear that you’re here and try to help.
Yay, first time after reading through the archives I'm catching a live thread!

>>40869601
>>2. Wait until Vad notices you and let him decide what’s best.

>>40869601
>3

>>40869715
I won't lie, my initial thought was someone tried to go Gregor Clegane on her.

But I really didn't think you'd go that far. It's enough someone even tried to get anons into a frenzy of fury.

>>40869907
It's a disgusting fox anon. Going Gregor is fully within their right.

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2 wins. I'm having lunch right now so I'll start writing in about 10 minutes.

>>40869945
Anon...

>>40869744
If Talon actually was drawing his power from Pandemonium, Raphael would have killed you shortly after first touching the shard (he did admit to have been watching you since then, after all).

>>40869988
>If Talon actually was drawing his power from Pandemonium, Raphael would have killed you

Now that is interesting. I'm going to guess that drawing from there would alter him somehow enough to make Raphael think of him as a danger to the order of the world.

>>40869596
>also i dont trust felix enough to give him some sort of authority greater than he already has over the daywalkers

Felix is easy enough to control. Just be powerful. Might=right in his mind. That and being a sire doesn't give control or anything and he already changed his two bros. So we know he knows how. I'm pretty sure he actually still doesn't know how he thralls people. Which is kind of amusing.

>>40869988
Hey Aspirational after spending the past week or so reading through the archives I wanted to say some things.

You really run an amazing quest. I'm glad I finally decided to start archive diving because it was more than worth it. You have created an amazingly detailed and interesting world filled to bursting with lore that leaves me wanting to know more and more.

Your writing is generally incredibly good, I've noticed it only seems to be poorer when your mood is poor, and even then its generally above the average of the majority of other quests.

Anyway, thanks for all of the work you put into making this quest as awesome as it is and don't be so hard on yourself. You are easily one of the best QMs on /tg/ and I think you don't give yourself nearly enough credit.

Oh and your FTBs are pretty fucking great.

>>40868836
>(unless people want to talk about garrisons and what they should have in terms of numbers/equipment).
Cities: 5k (3k MMK, 2k AA)
Country: 2k, (1.2k MMK 800 AA)
Darlesia and Fortun: 7k (3.5k MMK, 3k AA, 500 HMK)
Harrowmount: 1 legion (less foxes, battlemages, and spellblades).

>>40870111
He is pretty good yes. Honestly he was an inspiration to me to get off my ass and start codifying my worlds lore.

>>40870110

I don't know if he ever will. Unless it's something painfully ironic like the rest of his curse. If it was his leadership I think he would have figured that out already. But I don't know what else it could be.

>>40870174
I"m pretty sure he could if he wanted to but he doesn't want to try since he doesn't care.

> Unless it's something painfully ironic like the rest of his curse.

You know really thinking on it Talon could probably alter his mind on that. Really all he needs to do is bring up "Right equals might correct? Why does it matter if you are stealing their power to win? Just the fact you can do so proves you have higher might in itself."

Unless he is too wrapped up for that to work.

>>40870111

Oh speaking of archives.

Found where I messed up my population calculations, from thread XLVIII:

>"Current pop of Harrowmont is 16k with garrison. The hill plan can support about 43k without accounting for additional garrison space. My terrace plan supports about 48k (maybe more if the outer wall is in the proper place?)."

So before the most recent renovations we had a population of 48,000 in Harrowmont. With the addition of the new bastions and stadium districts, that brings us up to ~63,400. Might be a bit more depending upon other stuff Aspirational adds, but that's where Harrowmont sits as far as I am aware.

>>40870267
Oh, you have awesome designs btw.

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>2.

It’s painful to stand there and wait, but this isn’t the time to act rashly. Sai is hurt and her father is taking care of her – you’ll wait and see what he thinks is best for his daughter. For more than a minute you wait with Undine while Vad strokes his daughters back and whispers in her ear while she shudders against him. It’s clear that Undine finds this hard as well, her maternal instincts wanting to push her forward but she waits just like you. The fact that Nate isn’t here as she’s been patrolling the north to watch for Mage Guard movements just makes this even worse.

Eventually, Vad looks up slightly and sees you. He gives you a strained smile and a nod, before pulling Sai away from himself for a moment and whispering something in her ear. She looks confused and sad for a moment, her ears flattening against the head and tails slipping below her father’s and onto the floor. Then she spins with wide, wet eyes and practically leaps across the room at you.

You find yourself able only to comfort her in the same way Vad had done, as he slips out of the room with an exhausted look. It pains you that you can’t stay long, as Sai cuddles against your chest wordlessly. Undine speaks with Vad outside for the next little while as you do your best to make this adorable little fox feel safe.

Finally, you tell her that you’ll see her in the morning and leave her with Undine as you speak with Vad on the way to the war room.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with her?” you ask.

“I’ll head back right after this, but it’s as hard on me as it is on her,” he says, looking miserable. “She didn’t get hurt but she hasn’t experienced death. Part of me wishes she wasn’t so damned sharp so I could distract her more easily, but she knows all too well what actually happened.”

>continued

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>>40870800
“What did happen?” you ask, afraid of the answer.

“She woke up because Derek, that’s Corporal Wilmholt’s first name, said something in her room,” he explains. “She’s sensitive to his voice because he only bothers her at night if it’s important. Anyway, she woke up and saw a shadow with a sword over her and panicked. Killed him with her magic. Things got worse, Derek got attacked by another one of the bastards and she tried to help him.”

“He sent out the sending then died, didn’t he?” you ask.

“Yes.”

You grimace at that, knowing that Sai had been growing close to the knights that helped take care of her. This was not what you had expected, even if it was the precise reason you had guards. How did one get inside her room so easily?

“The first one she killed. He was one of her guards, wasn’t he?” you ask

“Yes.”

Before you can react, you begin to hear Ren’s cursing and shouting. You hurry into the war room, worried that something’s happening. Inside you find Ren, Noah, Karise, Alyce and Gnome all in the room. The fox chief is pacing back and forth and arguing with Karise.

“I don’t care about the numbers. If they think they can undermine a clan and the entire alliance for so long and then betray us like this, then they are all going to die for it!” Ren shouts at Karise, then he spots you. “Tell me you realise this is what I must do, Talon? I brought these foxes here, and I won’t see those that betray that trust and my people live for it.”

“You can’t just kill them all, Ren,” Karise says. “Talon, say something. Please.”

Karise gives you an imploring look, begging you to help her save at least some of her former clan members. You…

>1. Agree with Ren. No mercy.
>2. Agree with Karise. Slaughtering them all isn’t the answer – the response should be more targeted.
>3. Try to talk more with them to work out what the decision should be, in spite of Ren’s growing impatience.
>4. Custom

>>40870835
>>1. Agree with Ren. No mercy.

>>40870835
>>3. Try to talk more with them to work out what the decision should be, in spite of Ren’s growing impatience.

>>40870835
>3. Try to talk more with them to work out what the decision should be, in spite of Ren’s growing impatience.

I'm leaning toward Karise though. More than likely it is the elders who need to be taken out, the rest likely just did as they were told. They may be a recoverable asset.

>>40870835
>1. Agree with Ren. No mercy.
There's no excuse for not doing this, this is treason. The children should be spared but maybe exiled. Karise is reacting emotionally and not politically. Ren is too but he's right

>>40870835
>>1. Agree with Ren. No mercy.
Traitors deserve not but death

>>40870835
>>1. Agree with Ren. No mercy.

>>40870835
>1. Agree with Ren. No mercy.
What happens if we cut off their tails? Does something worse than death happen?

>>40870835
>1

>>40870835
>>1. Agree with Ren. No mercy.
There can be no mercy for traitors. They are the worst kind of creatures.

>>40870835
>>3. Try to talk more with them to work out what the decision should be, in spite of Ren’s growing impatience.
Can't punish all for a few. That's how we got into this mess.

>>40870835
Personally I kind of think a fusion of both works best here.

Slaughter all those we can but take any that surrenders and get what we can out of them.

>>40870835
>1. Agree with Ren. No mercy.
Yes glad I made it in time

>>40870835
>4. Not killing. But what about ripping their tails off?

>>40870835
>3. Try to talk more with them to work out what the decision should be, in spite of Ren’s growing impatience.

>>40870800
>3. Try to talk more with them to work out what the decision should be, in spite of Ren’s growing impatience.

They deserve death, that much is clear. But goddamn don't just slaughter them yet, we need information, round up the ringleaders first, find out how it went down and if the foxes/knights are legitimately bonkers, when have they been planning this, who started the whole ordeal....intelligence is the most important asset. Feel free to purge and smite until we manage to apprehend the brains behind this setup, but we really need info.

>>40870981
We leave those that didn't betray us alive, maybe also those with two or less tails but none else

>>40870835
>>3. Try to talk more with them to work out what the decision should be, in spite of Ren’s growing impatience.
We can still find out who else to kill for doing this.

Jesus christ I did not expect this reaction at all. Talon does tend to be a bit more measured when it comes to things like this, usually.

>>40870835
>1
Time to earn the 'dictator' part of 'benevolent dictator'

>>40870835
>3. Try to talk more with them to work out what the decision should be, in spite of Ren’s growing impatience.

>3. Try to talk more with them to work out what the decision should be, in spite of Ren’s growing impatience.
We can always decide to murder them all if thats the best course of action.

>>40870835
>2. Agree with Karise. Slaughtering them all isn’t the answer – the response should be more targeted.

>>40871051
they attacked our people in our castle and attempted to kill one of our best friends children.

>>40871064
>>40870835
Shit, didn't link them.

>>40870835
1. Agree with Ren. No mercy

they need to die for this

>>40871051
Kind of? Talon tends to go either full power ahead or moderate.

I've always read Talon as someone though who full on disrespect like this merely gets death after he gets a hold of everything you know.

>>40871060
>>40871064
>>40871040
>>40871012
>>40871006
>>40870981
>>40870913
>>40870882
Treason should be met with death period they must all hang

>>40871141
Personally I kind of feel like taking surrenders is something we should add in. If they don't though then hang them all.

The big issue is how far will this set back the foxes? They already reproduce slowly.

>>40871141
We can always decide to do that. I'd rather we do what is most effective rather than what feels the best.

Also, did you miss this halfway up a thread?
>You would kill those you missed as well but didn’t want to look to be too evil. Anger was one thing, but your men wouldn’t respect a butcher. Falwick was proof of that.

>>40871141
Yes, wasting resources is always fun huh.

>>40871141
and killing a significant portion of the total fox population.

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CONTENTIOUS VOTE
It's been a while since I've done one of these.

OPTION ONE
Kill all the traitorous Garrotte foxes against Karise's wishes, except for the children. No mercy for treason.

OPTION TWO
Hold back and try to talk this out more, with an aim of not simply killing everybody involved. You'll need to contain Ren, however.

Rules for voting are to make a post with a link to my post declaring the vote and the number you are voting for. No other text, no greentexting the number. All informal votes will be discarded. Voting window will be five minutes after the first vote.

>>40871182
Did you miss the part where we were still killing them?

>>40871216
1

>>40871216
2

>>40871216
1

>>40871182
>You would kill those you missed as well but didn’t want to look to be too evil.

This case is more of a purge and those guys surrendered. Which is a different case then someone trying to kill your best friends daughter and your future waifu.

>>40871216
2

>>40871216
1

>>40871216
1

>>40871216
1

>>40871216
2

>>40871216
1

>>40871216
2

>>40871216
2

>>40871216
1

>>40871216
1

>>40871210
A portion that attempted to kill those close to us they are traitors they all deserve to die those that surrender can rot in prison.

>>40871216
1

>>40871216
2

>>40871216
2

>>40871216
2

>>40871328
Stamping down on them is a pretty good idea. I would try to get the surrendered back on our side though. On the other hand I kind of agree with Ren that we need to be brutal on this because if there is one thing Talon would hate it's a traitor.

Well this is just fucking lovely. Can't wait for the horrible consequences of this decision.

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>all of these new IPs
At least it's clear how pointless these votes are. I don't think I'll use them anymore.

Still, 1 won both votes. At least most of the rest of the thread will just be planning.

I voted for both due indecision.

I actually can kind of see what Talon would agree with Ren. The sheer depth of this treachery extending into his own castle. That's some seriously deep shit. Talon already purged his side of this, to leave the Foxes behind it unscathed would almost seem hypocritical.

>>40871447
We'll deal with the consequences when they come, but we can't forgive the traitors.

>>40871447
>KillKillKill
Resentment from those who knew them and the rest of the population

>Spare them
Leaving us open for another betrayal by the same people and make us look weak.

>>40871447
Biggest I can see is upsetting Karise so far. Other then that we should be fine.

>>40871434
>Talon would hate it's a traitor

Come to think of it we even have proof of this with Arisa. She wasn't even on his side and he was pretty pissed.

>>40871501
The only real option is to make an example out of them they must swing to send a message. Some may hate us for now but more will understand they were traitors who attacked their own kin.

I still feel horrible for Sai. That shit is just fucked up.

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>1.

“No, Ren’s right,” you say, your voice soft. “This is a monumental betrayal of trust. There can be no forgiveness.”

Karise stares at you in horror as Ren nods resolutely. The rest of the room maintain stony faces, aware that this isn’t something for them to become involved in. They’d struck at you directly, going for those you’d cared about and it had only been possible due to traitors. You would this in one fell swoop.

“You can’t be serious,” Karise breathes out. “Those are my kin. Our kin, Ren! Can’t you both think for a second?”

“We have thought,” Ren says. “Just as they did. Just as you did when you left them.”

“I left because there was no alternative and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Karise says shrilly. “Those foxes didn’t do this because they wanted to, they did it because that’s what their clan required them to. You can’t expect absolute obedience and then punish them for doing what you wanted.”

“They turned on their chief,” Ren says.

“You don’t know that,” Karise says.

“You said it yourself. They overthrew Marin,” you say. “It’s decided, Karise. Ren, I know you will have your own forces to deal with this but this is an empire matter, not an alliance matter. I’m happy for you to join them, however.”

“Gladly,” Ren says.

Staring with a hopeless look at the two of you as you tell Ren how this problem will be dealt with, Karise simply waits until he’s left. The others leave shortly afterwards, leaving you alone with her as she looks at you with hollow eyes.

>continued

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>>40871891
“I trusted you,” Karise whispers.

“Karise-“ you start to say, hoping to convince her.

“I trusted you with my people’s lives!” she screams.

“I’ve protected your clan and helped you establish yourself,” you say.

“Then why are you killing them,” she says. “These are my friends and kin, even if my clan is now different. I know them and you are destroying them. I trusted you to help my kin, not kill them.”

“I trusted them to help me, not kill them,” you repeat. “I have plenty of dead knights and soldiers, and one very traumatised young fox I promised to protect. I will not let that stand.”

“And I won’t serve a butcher and neither will my clan,” Karise says, tears trickling down her cheeks. “I swore fealty to you, under pain of death. I won’t stand on that oath now but I will give you my head if you want it. Know however, that no future clan head will support this behaviour.”

The room goes silent as you watch as a close friendship collapses in an instant. Your duty is first and foremost to your empire, rather than to any one.

>What do you do in response?

Honestly, if you didn't see this coming you didn't read the last several posts.

>>40871927
Ugh. I fucking knew it. Stupid fucking course of action.

>>40871927
idiots.

>>40871927
And now we can either do the smart thing and not murder everyone, which makes us waffle and look like a schizophrenic or we absolutely fuck this entire important relationship.

>I propose we reconsider. Take Karise's advice into how we deal with this and don't murder everyone wholesale.

>>40871241
>>40871253
>>40871261
>>40871262
>>40871267
>>40871273
>>40871309
>>40871319
>>40871349
8 ones.

>>40871364
>>40871352
>>40871294
>>40871279
>>40871269
>>40871258
>>40871246
7 2's.

If only you were a few seconds earlier. >>40871416

>>40872058

Yeah that's absolutely not going to work in this situation. Karise is clearly past that working.

>>40872058
I'm pretty sure it's too late for that.

Ren is on the warpath, now.

Anons have made their bed, now they have to lie in it.

Or is the phrase lay? I always get them confused.

>>40872058
We were already sparing the children with the vote. So anyone around 4 tails and up are killed.

>>40872058
This makes us look weak we must stand with our decision and accept the consequences if she wants to leave so be it. That said I do not think killing her is the best option release her from her oath and banish her from the empire perhaps.

>>40872096
>>40872105

Then please. Put forth an alternative. I'd rather we never have gone down this retarded ass route, but we need a response and all the 1 faggots haven't said shit.

>>40871927
>My duty is first and foremost to your empire, rather than to any one.
I know what I voted for.

Fucking hell.

Alright, offer to give her a head start, collect those in secret that had no connections, etc. She'll have to know she's going against Ren but that wouldn't be the first time. Say we'll put Ren off on bloody vengeance as long as we can, but she has to understand it won't last forever.

Alternatively, throw Sai in her face. Her people were all the willing to give weapons to those that would butch her people.

>>40871927
Any chance you'll let us go back Aspirational?

>>40871927
"Do you have an alternative? Tensions between humans and nonhumans will skyrocket after this incident. If it looks like I making excuses then far worse than 1000 deaths will happen."

This is wonderful. Wonderful All this despair. All this foxy despair. I'm in heaven right now.

I didnt vote for the killing or at all in fact. Its sad that samefaging did this but we have to deal with it now.

The only thing i can think of is letting her resign and releasing her of her oath. I hate this god damn.

>>40871927
>if you want to save them, you will have to redeem them. I cannot let something like this go without amendments.
Let her try to save them, at least.

>>40872164
>>40871927
I'll support this. Might be the only way to salvage something out of this.

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Well, look at the silver lining, guys.

At least now there is less of a cast to keep track of.

>>40872164
>>40871927
I'll support this. The ones not responsible at least deserve a chance to get out.

>>40871927
I'll support asking her this
>>40872170
>>40872195

They don't all need to die. Maybe we can come to some sort of compromise.

>>40872060
Fun fact. It would be a perfect tie if I had remembered which of the 1s was mine.

they had to know that talon wouldn't take this laying down so why?

>>40872164
>>40872195
>>40871927
These two seen to be best for this shitfest

>>40871927
Honestly I would suggest starting to cool his head off then have him try to dial down things with Ren. We can't guarantee it but it's better then shattering her faith forever.

She is useful to the empire as well.

>>40871927
>>40872164
Going with this. Send a messenger instead of doing it personally?

>>40871927
FR point please

>>40872282
>more mindfuckery

Yes, that is your answer to everything, eh?

>>40872255
I think the key thing personally is to give her a chance to do something instead of allowing her to be powerless.

Talon will default here to Ren but I think personally he would also feel he owes it to her to give her a chance here. Give him something to work with so he doesn't feel like he has to do this for the empires stability.

>>40872282
Do We even have one? I am always up for fucking with people minds after all.

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>>40872118
Yeah, it's about 900 foxes all told. There's about 1400 adult foxes in the Garrotte clan and most went with Kishin's move. It'll leave fewer than 100 5-tails and about 400 4-tails. The clan effectively ceases to exist by itself.

>>40872164
This would at best save some foxes and might make Karise less bitter but you can't really salvage things with her right now.

>>40872170
It's a little too late for that.

>>40872282
That's not what they're used for and I'm not doing a Fate Point here like with Sylvian (because everybody complained about that too and this isn't nearly as interesting).

>>40872244
Kishin probably isn't staying in one spot.

>>40871927
I will support >>40872164 and >>40872195
And also add
>The current Garrote clan is officially an enemy of the Empire. Unless someone takes over the clan and reform it, the Empire will act as needed.
Instead of making her own clan, she should do a coup already and fix the damn thing.

>>40872298
FR points aren't always mindfuckery anon that and that was a fate point last time.

IT could also just be instinctively grasping her psychology or the likes. Though first we would need a god damn roll to do anything.

>>40872324
Fucking lovely. A bunch of hot blooded idiots win over a moderate approach and everything goes to shit.

I really hate this shit.

>>40872324
>This would at best save some foxes and might make Karise less bitter but you can't really salvage things with her right now.

That's the best we can do then. It'll take a lot of time to rebuild what was lost this day.

I actually kind of like it, not everything should always go perfectly.

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>>40872318
>>40872324
Also, Karise isn't willing like Sylvian. You'd basically kill her trying to do so and it would be absurdly out of character to have Talon try anyway.

>>40872366
There's no roll here. The decision was clearly going to turn Karise against you given what she'd said earlier.

>>40872339
She already made her own clan (I haven't named it, but probably will after this).

>>40872417
>inb4 "anons are too stupid to read obvious tells, and should be babied"

>>40872398
I think theres a difference between things not going perfectly and this clusterfuck.

>>40872324
>There's about 1400 adult foxes in the Garrotte clan and most went with Kishin's move.
Okay, that's not what you said though. You said a roughly even split. Oh well

>>40872383
We haven't actually killed anyone yet. So calm your tits.

Now, just send in a Legion to arrest the traitors and have them put to trial. We execute a whole heap of them, mostly the leaderships so perhaps a hundread of them? Rest are allowed to rejoin but are put under strict surveillance?

>>40872452
Already voted not to do that.

>>40872452
Yes a clan of spies under surveillance this will surely work

>>40872452
I'd be perfectly fine with that. Hell I wanted to do that. A lot.

Excepted for idiots literally voted for the
>MURDER EVERYONE
option instead of doing precisely what you are suggesting.

>>40872417
Allow her to leave her position but she and her clan may not leave the empire, maybe we can give them some lands near our elves if she really wants to leave the capital

>>40872417
Aspir

Can you tell us if this situation is in anyway recoverable or are we just boned at this point?

>>40872545
>The decision was clearly going to turn Karise against you given what she'd said earlier.

What do you think Anon?

>>40872493
Well people don't seem to want to go through with the full measure anymore so what do you suppose we do instead?

>>40872576
I have to ask anon... I have to ask even if I have no hope.

just have her take anyone who didn't want this plus the younger foxes and get away from this mess

>>40872629
I suggest you know, doing what we said we would.

>>40872629
I am still for executing the whole lot of them they committed treason and must be punished for it. We should release her from her oath and banish her and those loyal to her.

>>40872629
If people didn't want to go through with the full measure they would have voted for option 3 instead. Which honestly why didn't they.

>>40872677
Anon no, that's too far.

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>>40872545
You can mitigate the fallout. Or you can make it worse and try to gain benefits in a different way (e.g. have Karise kill herself, try to take control of the clan the hard way).

Anyway, are there any alternative mitigation plans other than >>40872164? The only other one that has been floated is basically just to let her stand down.

Essentially, the Garrotte clan loses slightly more than half its foxes and is dissolved into the other clans (not all of them will go, mind you - some will leave the empire). Karise's clan ceases to offer intelligence benefits and instead merely offers up the limited soldiers expected of them (about 100) - this knocks out around 75% of your intelligence network, though some of this will be restored over time as Neir rebuilds her network without the foxes.

The mitigation plan makes it possible to rebuild the relationship but you'll lose a significant part of the deterrence benefits of crushing the Garrotte clan. Less foxes will die/leave the empire as well. Karise's clan won't offer soldiers, however, and you can't ask her to stand down as chief at the same time.

If you choose to banish her, you'll lose the clan. No ifs, ands or buts. Killing her can keep the clan, but she's gone permanently and relations are damaged.

Any other proposals?

>>40872746
Ask her for an alternative.

>>40872746
Yeah, can Talon just kill himself so we can get off this wild ride?

If no, can we just start killing each other instead?

Hearing people complain about poor decision making is giving me a headache.

>>40869715
Why would it even

>>40872746
Thanks for responding Aspir.

I honestly don't really know what else to do frankly.

I'll agree with asking Karise for an alternative. Just to see what she says.

>>40872746
Could we possibly offer her a timeframe for her to gather evidence on exactly who was responsible? If she can prove that it was only a certain group we will give a lesser punishment on the rest.