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>>44450240
Somehow despite being in effective control of Vitria you didn’t feel all that powerful right now. While Volante’s army was preoccupied in the north of the state with looting and pillaging, you had taken the opportunity to consolidate your power in the city and ready your forces to meet his. He was now on the cusp of mustering all his soldiers to resume marching, but first you had to deal with the Lady Hawkins. The room you were in was opulent, the mood less so.

“My daughter tells me that you would be the most suitable ruler of Vitria in these dark times. Should I assume that was part of your bargain?” she says. She was a tall woman, making her loom large even as she sat up in her bed. Once fully healed and dressed for political conflict she would no doubt appear both beautiful and dominating – traits that would hopefully aid you in the future. Right now they simply made things difficult.

“It’s less about being the ruler of Vitria, more about having power over it,” you say after some thought. Luckily she didn’t seem like the type to rush words herself, so you could get away with being a little slow at responding. “I am building something greater than a mere city-state and Vitria should be part of its foundation.”

>continued

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>>44450252
“Such bold ideas with so little backing them,” she says with a small smile, which you think indicates amusement. You find it hard to read her. “Still, I won’t dismiss the fact that Vitria would have fallen, and still might, should your military not be here.

“Despite that, I’d be a fool to consider working with you without knowing more. Lord Waise, do tell me what exactly you wish to build and what you role you see Vitria in?”

As such a wealthy city of merchants you could think of an easy answer to the latter, but the former… Not even Lyria herself had bought the idea you had done it to please her. Rather, you did this for…

>What do you see yourself building as an empire? This is a chance to help shape Saul’s character.

>>44450276
>"A monument showing exactly how far we can go. Even compared to the glories of the past."

>>44450276
Ambitions, to unite world under one rule.

I want to build something worthy of awe and respect in everyones eyes. Everyone in my life has seen me as someone worth sweeping aside. Now that we have the opportunity we'll show people were deserving of standing amongst the greatest beings that have ever lived.
This is a bit hard not knowing our past to give some context. Seeing his interactions with some more powerful beings has given me the the impression theyre belittling him. No pun intended but its hard to write that out without short jokes.

>>44450432
I totally switched between Sauls POV and ours here. Sorry.

>>44450276
>My life did not go well until I took matters into my own hands, so I will follow the logical conclusion to that idea. I've had enough of being governed, so now I shall do the governing.
>I wish to make a place where I may guide the lives of the people for the better, that they might unite under my will, and that the history books remember it instead of some squabbling citystates beside giants.
>I want to be an emperor, because the people need me to, and because I can.
I really don't know, to be honest, I wish you'd just pick and chose whatever you want from all write-ins and make somethig that fits your view of Saul and that you want to write about,

>>44450276
We want to build a country of 「salvation」and achieve true peace on this world.

also, a harem would be a nice bonus

>>44450276
I did this to prove conclusively to the world that manlets can do great things.

More seriously, I have been a part of much conflict during my life. I'm sick and tired of the state of constant warring that Gauron is stuck in. There is only one way to end it: unite it under one banner. While the road is long, and likely to be paved in the blood of countless thousands, in the end it will save far more lives. Gauron was once a far greater place than it is today, and I aim to fix that.

>>44450556
>also, a harem would be a nice bonus
Saul is not a harem type dude. We have a nice dragon waifu, and we'll be happy with that.

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OVERALL DRIVE
>1. You want to make something more than the squabbling city and nation states of the world. There can be something better than this constant warfare and everybody's lot will improve.
>2. Pure ambition and pride. You will be greater than all others and therefore will build an empire that will stand above all other powers.
>3. To prove that you, and humanity by extension, are capable of feats that match, and even surpass, those of the other great races.

>>44450432
>This is a bit hard not knowing our past to give some context
I'm never going to go too in-depth into his past, or at least not until Saul is very well developed. The response here will probably shape some of his reasons for doing things in his past.

>>44450462
>I wish you'd just pick and chose whatever you want from all write-ins and make somethig that fits your view of Saul and that you want to write about,
The idea is that my idea of Saul gets shaped by whatever sort of broader ambition you want to drive him. I never originally had Talon as the sort to care so much about his men, but the response to this question brought that about.

>have you heard the word of our lord and savior of humanity, Kushan?

>>44450612
>2. Pure ambition and pride. You will be greater than all others and therefore will build an empire that will stand above all other powers.

>>44450612
>1
I'd rather a messiah complex than a Napoleon complex, even if its fitting.

>>44450612
>2. Pure ambition and pride. You will be greater than all others and therefore will build an empire that will stand above all other powers.

>>44450612
>>1. You want to make something more than the squabbling city and nation states of the world. There can be something better than this constant warfare and everybody's lot will improve.

If you don't preface this with a joke about a Napoleon complex, I will be very upset.

>>44450612
2 and 3
We'll make this world great but everyone will remember it was because of me

>>44450612
3
We're better and we'll prove it.

>>44450612
>1. You want to make something more than the squabbling city and nation states of the world. There can be something better than this constant warfare and everybody's lot will improve.

>>44450612
>2. Pure ambition and pride. You will be greater than all others and therefore will build an empire that will stand above all other powers.
>3. To prove that you, and humanity by extension, are capable of feats that match, and even surpass, those of the other great races.

Also, to secure a future for his waifu and descendants.

>>44450675
1 is not a Napoleon complex, 2 and 3 are.

>>44450612
>>2. Pure ambition and pride. You will be greater than all others and therefore will build an empire that will stand above all other powers.

>>44450612
Unless our backstory had us interact with other races significantly.
>Primarily 1, with a hint of 2 and 3, 3 supporting 2, 2 giving a reason why Saul should be the one to build this empire.
I want to have t be like
1: 60%
2: 30%
3: 10%

>>44450612
>2. Pure ambition and pride. You will be greater than all others and therefore will build an empire that will stand above all other powers.
>3. To prove that you, and humanity by extension, are capable of feats that match, and even surpass, those of the other great races.


"Look at Kushan. None has forgotten his name and none shall forget mine or the people who worked with me."

>>44450612
>1. You want to make something more than the squabbling city and nation states of the world. There can be something better than this constant warfare and everybody's lot will improve.

>>44450743
I kind of feel like it should be like.

2 and 3 leads into 1.

He wants to prove himself in his young age and he wants to prove that they can still compare to the ages of dragons and demons and gods.

But you can't call this current hellhole anywhere near stable enough for this so we need to in the long term fix things now to prove this later. Which was the golden ages issue. It was powerful but too unstable.

>>44450729
I know, but I want a joke about a Napoleon complex, not an actual one.

>>44450612
1

The others seem just kind of stupid, to be honest.

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>>44450743
Well, Saul is obviously driven by ambition and pride to believe himself to be the one to build the empire. The question is whether that is his primary reason or not.

>>44450743
>Unless our backstory had us interact with other races significantly.
Aside from a few encounters with dwarves (and maybe an elf or two), relatively little. He would have met a fox when he was little due to his family too. I'm planning for questions on race to be dealt with over the longer term, particularly given there's a bit of involvement with dragons in particular there for Saul and Lyria.

>>44450612
>>1. You want to make something more than the squabbling city and nation states of the world. There can be something better than this constant warfare and everybody's lot will improve.

>>44450612
>1. You want to make something more than the squabbling city and nation states of the world. There can be something better than this constant warfare and everybody's lot will improve.

>>44450863
Hmm, okay, then how about we make 2 be the main reason, but his view of what a good emperor, which he obviously will be, is that he is a benevolent ruler who cares for the people? And a tiny hint of racial sympathy with 3, if there's place left.
So 2 which lead into 1.
Do the whole "I'll just stop skirting around this and be blunt. Mostly just because I wanted to. Because I think I'm good enough to, and I should, and because I can. etc."

2. It would be nice to see a more selfish MC

>>44450612
>1. You want to make something more than the squabbling city and nation states of the world. There can be something better than this constant warfare and everybody's lot will improve.

>>44450612
>1. You want to make something more than the squabbling city and nation states of the world. There can be something better than this constant warfare and everybody's lot will improve.

>>44450612
>2
fine to mix though

>>44451068
I don't think Saul seems selfish. He's rather low key about most things, and willing to partake in all the suffering that the normal troops go through without special privileges. He's the Alexander the Great sort, that would decline what little water was brought to him in the desert when his troops are dying of thirst around him.

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I was tempted to go with 2 despite 1 winning the vote partly due to the obvious samefagging, but my main reason was to have Saul to have a less Talon-like goal which isn’t great itself.

Also, this was a bitch to write.

>1. With a hint of 2

“What do I wish to build?” you say, thoughts running through your head as you consider what your real drive is. In the end, what you want to build will be the result of your reasons to seek to become great.

“Well, to be honest, if I can’t physically tower over everybody else than I’ll settle with doing so in every other way possible,” you say blandly, meeting Lady Hawkins’ gaze calmly.

She gives you a reproving look, clearly seeing through your joke. You’d thought your delivery rather good and had hoped to get at least some reaction.

Shrugging, you move on to the serious answer, “Because Gauron is a mess. I read a lot of history and see a lot of the same mistakes repeated. The repeated crackdowns on mages, maniacs on thrones causing endless disaster for everybody, persistent squabbling that often persists even during the most turbulent of times. One of the recurrent themes that ran through the upper echelons on my homeland was that there would come a disaster that couldn’t be defeated by a broken world.”

“I imagine the Guard thought the solution to that was to wipe out all the mages,” Hawkins says.

“Many did, others saw it more as a calling for the Guard to take a more active role in disputes,” you say. “Either way, it’s something I partially agree with. Gauron can be greater, it just needs to be led there. I can’t build a perfect world and I won’t try, but at least it can be something more.”

>continued

18 votes and only 13 posters~

Lots of samefagging going on.

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>>44451220
“And you see yourself as the only person to lead the world into this new age?”

You let a sardonic smile creep onto your previously passive face. “Why not me? In the end people take what they can, and I can take a lot more than most.”

The laugh that greets your reply was unexpected. Hawkins calms down after a few seconds, straightening her long black hair out after it made a mess around her due to her reaction.

“Such pure arrogance is refreshing. In the end, you’ll likely produce more squabbling and division than there was before, but at least you seem at least somewhat self-aware of yourself. That is a trait that should be more common among those that seek power,” she says. “Sadly, it is the sort of trait then tends to dissuade people from seeking power.

“For what it’s worth, I will assist you from my position within Vitria. Not because I believe you will soar to greatness but because you can take this power anyway, as you so succinctly said earlier. All that opposing you would gain is more disaster for my people. If you prove yourself against the vampires, perhaps I might be able to support you in faith, instead of pragmatism.”

Better than nothing you suppose.

“One final question. What will you do with my daughter? She is the heir to my house, and to Vitria’s power. Surely you don’t just see her as another mage?” she asks.

>1. You’ll let Sarah do what she wishes so long as it helps you, which appears to be magical study at home.
>2. She’s a talented mage and will be useful on the battlefield. If something more comes of it, then you’ll let it be.
>3. She’ll develop into her natural role as a noble and be of use then. Magic is just useful for now.
>4. Custom

>>44451267
>>1. You’ll let Sarah do what she wishes so long as it helps you, which appears to be magical study at home.

Let her do what she do, maybe she'll come up with nifty magical theory or something.

>>44451267
>2. She’s a talented mage and will be useful on the battlefield. If something more comes of it, then you’ll let it be.

>>44451267
>1. You’ll let Sarah do what she wishes so long as it helps you, which appears to be magical study at home.

Do we actually want battlefield Sarah this time?

>>44451267
>2. She’s a talented mage and will be useful on the battlefield. If something more comes of it, then you’ll let it be.

>>44451267
>1. You’ll let Sarah do what she wishes so long as it helps you, which appears to be magical study at home.

>>44451267
>4. Custom
Initially she will be a member of the harrowmount mage tower we are building, but after sufficient time has passed and Vitra is adiquately intergrated with the rest of my realm then:
>1.

>>44451267
>3. She’ll develop into her natural role as a noble and be of use then. Magic is just useful for now.

>>44451267
>Well, I don't care that much as long as it benefits me, so I suppose she can spend her time doing magical study or learning how ti be a noble or whatever mostly, though I might call on her if needed.
Didn't we want to get Sarah for administration since we don't have Undine?

>>44451267
>2. She’s a talented mage and will be useful on the battlefield. If something more comes of it, then you’ll let it be.

>>44451267
>1. You’ll let Sarah do what she wishes so long as it helps you, which appears to be magical study at home.

>>44451267
2 her great potential as a mage shouldnt be squandered.

>>44451267
Actually add >>44451343 to >>44451357 or have it overwrite it if not compatible.

>>44451357
no we have her mom for that

>>44451267
Switching >>44451344
to
>1


>>44451357
Good point

>>44451324
I picked research Sarah, because I do want a different path for her, but don't really want battlefield Sarah.

I said so already for the familiar vote, but with Saul, Lynn and in the future Lyria we already have a bunch of almost purely combat focused main cast members and given that cast size will be less ridiculous this time we should start branching out unless we have a very good reason not to.

That said, I also feel that actively encouraging a research position for her gives at least some precedent for Saul not really having all that anti-mage prejudice left from his Mage-Guard days.

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>>44451357
>Didn't we want to get Sarah for administration since we don't have Undine?
That's 3. Sarah will take time to move into admin as she hasn't been pushed into it by her mother because Vitria was more stable.

>>44451267
>1. You’ll let Sarah do what she wishes so long as it helps you, which appears to be magical study at home.

>>44451267
>2. She’s a talented mage and will be useful on the battlefield. If something more comes of it, then you’ll let it be.

>>44451420
I understand your not wanting to many battlefield characters in the cast. That being said we dont have any battlefield mage characters (outside of ourselves). I'd rather stick Mal in a tower and not let him leave until he understand how magic works on every conceivable level.

>>44451420
To be fair Asp said hero units will be more important this time around, so I don't think we have to worry about too many combatants.
That said.
>>44451267
>1 if it means our mage tower

>>44451436
I forgot, Asp, could we eventually get a skill that lets us use whichever is higher between our Strength and Speed against single opponents of _____ skill? Maybe only of their Speed is lower can ee use our Speed?

Also lads we probably shouldn't ignore Strength while we don't have the skill described above or an equivalent to let us use Speed if we want to.

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>1.

“She seems most interested in magical study and I could use more traditional mages. I was impressed she was a journeywoman as young as she is,” you say, slipping in some flattery in the hopes that it will soften the Lady Hawkins’ attitude towards you.

“Whilst she’s no doubt talented as a mage, her status as such is influenced by her position, so don’t look into it too much,” Hawkins says dryly. “Still, if you’re going to leave her to her own devices then that is fine by me – I had wondered if I had made a mistake by letting her follow her own passions rather than grooming her to be the family heir. I suppose I am fortunate to have a son, as young as he is.”

That was news to you and your face must have said as much, as Hawkins spoke again, a smile on her face, “Yes, he’s a rather well-kept secret for now but a family like mine cannot forsake having an heir and Sarah is happier puttering about an atelier than managing politics. Do take care of her, Lord Waise.”

You hadn’t intended on doing anything to her, so that was a relatively easy direction to follow. You give Hawkins a perfunctory bow and leave. You have a strategy meeting to attend – based on Lady Hawkins’ comments it would be smarter to deal with Volante before trying to consolidate your power over the nobles.

“The situation isn’t fantastic,” Cormann says to you and your assembled officers, including Jirou of the Pharosians you now had under you. “Taour has about fifteen thousand active soldiers, plus garrisons that certainly number in the thousands. About half the army is with Volante, though we can hope they left some of their elite forces back at the city itself.

>continued

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>>44451736
“Vitria has a fair military still left – perhaps six thousand in total. I wouldn’t trust them to be all that reliable, however. The best of them were the knights, who took a beating from Terce’s ploy.

“We’ve got about four thousand here, including all of our very best. It’s a gamble, but…” Cormann trails off, looking to you.

“No risk, no return,” you say, looking at the spread of figures across the map on the table. “We’re already at a disadvantage as is – we’ll need to hope that our best are better than Taour’s.”

Your force is:

>200 Black Dragon Knights under Ser Lynn
>200 Flying Mage-Knights under Captain Malaine
>500 Arcane Archers under Captain Moss
>200 Pharosian Mercenaries under Captain Jirou
>200 Noble Knights under Sir Merrl
>100 Battlemages under Archmagister Maloric
>2500 general soldiers

Vitria has:

>300 Noble Knights (mixture of veteran orders)
>150 Battlemages
>4500 general soldiers

Taour has

>100 Noble Knights
>400 Heavy Mage-Knights (inferior design)
>300 Flying Mage-Knights
>300 Battlemages
>5000+ general soldiers

Regional map is at >>44450276

Taouran forces are currently located at Trembin. Any ideas on how they'll meet them? I can narrow things down more if you'd like.

>You have little more than a week before Volante will be able to besiege Vitria itself

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Oh, and the blurb on Volante as provided by your elven source.

“Volante is equally skilled in shadow and blood. He has somehow fused with his armour. He thrives on direct battle but has no small number of tricks available. He can also rapidly regenerate his armour along with his flesh."

Lyria has advised you not to rely purely on Black Dragon's Rage when fighting him.

Would we be able to meet him at a river crossing? It seems there is a river north of the Argyle Estate/Vitria. Or would magic make defending any single crossing pointless?

>>44451788
So we have superior numbers in the heavier knights and slightly inferior numbers in FMK and mages, but we have AA. Perhaps we could destroy a smaller part of the Taourans first instead of fighting against all of them at the same time?

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>>44451872
It's pretty likely that if you posted your army north of Vitria then Volante will go for you first. Not only is there a lot of danger involved in assaulting Vitria with a massive army behind him but he's rather bloodthirsty.

Still, if you defend at a river crossing then he might still try to go around you. There are two major crossings on that river - one further east with a bridge and one to the west that is just a large ford. There are smaller crossings, too.

>>44451788
I don't know man, it looks like we have more regular and elite soldiers. Could you explain again how we are at a disadvantage?

Reminder that we DO NOT NEED TO BEAT VOLENTE!
It is enough if we get him to retreat by making the situation not be worth staying for him.
>>44451788
If Mal managed to start disrupting FMK midflight, would they fall to their death?
Are our mages other than Mal good enough at disruption like that?
Does Saah know combat magic? If so we should probably bring her.
>>44451897
Actually, counting the Vitrian forces, they only have 50 more battlemages than we do.

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>>44451954
Because the Vitrians are considerably inferior troops, as Cormann literally just said. The Taourans are all veterans, equal or better to your troops.

Also, Volante is there and potentially other vampires.

>>44451984
>If Mal managed to start disrupting FMK midflight, would they fall to their death?
You can't disrupt enchantments like that. That's why they're enchantments and not spells.

>Does Saah know combat magic? If so we should probably bring her.
There was just a vote on that and it was to have her not as a battlemage.

>>44451816
So if we can't fight him just blow him up lead him into a spot fight him for a while and have some FMKs drop some pitch/oil and Mal blaze him up like a splif before Sunday dinner

If he's bloodthirsty why dont we bait him into a bad fight? This could turn on us as he has more FMK but our defensive position using the river and superior elite numbers would work wonders on him.

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Anyway, as I clearly left things too open.

>1. Take the fight to Volante and his troops while he's still mustering. You'll have considerably less support from Vitria while doing this (perhaps half their troops) but may be able to catch the Taourans off-guard.
>2. Mount a defense at a river crossing. This will leave you a major advantage in terms of the battle but will limit your ability to restrict Volante's movement due to the limited size of the battlefield.
>3. Fight Volante in an open field, trying to set-up traps to deal with the vampire general personally. You'll gain minimal advantage in the battlefield as a whole, however.

>>44452022
You say that but 4500 are just regular soldiers, those are just cannon fodder anyway. Even without the vitrian elite soldiers our elites still outnumber the enemies.

>>44452090
>>1. Take the fight to Volante and his troops while he's still mustering. You'll have considerably less support from Vitria while doing this (perhaps half their troops) but may be able to catch the Taourans off-guard.
I'm a big fan of keeping up the ops tempo. It's all about tempo. Plus, we have room to retreat and regroup if we need to.

>>44452090
2

How effective would arcane archers be against FMKs?

>>44452090
>1. Take the fight to Volante and his troops while he's still mustering. You'll have considerably less support from Vitria while doing this (perhaps half their troops) but may be able to catch the Taourans off-guard.

>>44452022
I didn't think deciding that she should rocus on magical study would mean she can't use her already present knowledge to defend her homeland.
What with MC being sort of pragmatic.

Alright so it sounds like playing defensively is probably best for us, maybe with bits of high destruction guerrilla attacks while they're on their way here. Sendings are no longer blocked, right?
We could try stationing like 1/3 of our forces at each of the river crossings, mostly elites, for an ambush, then have the one that ambushed them rejoin with the forces back in Vitria, and have the other one stay behind and later come in and attack the enemy forces from behind once their siege has begun.
We could intentionally leave an escape route for them to make them more likely to retreat instead of fighting to the death.

Is it possible to move the Vitrian population up to the Commercia for the most part, have the rest travel towards our place or camp some ways from the city?

>>44452090
Sorry, was in the middle of writing, do tell if my idea is viable/possible.

>>44452090
>1
If we mount a defense our army would effectively be broken if Volante breaks through. The army would be split and much of our forces would be routed.
3 is just suicidal.
>>44452159
If their ammo types include Magical Armor Piercing and they're a crackshot, then they would be pretty effective. Is there a way to make Arrow turn into explosive flak?

>>44452232
With 1 our army could be split before fighting begins. Their FMK and nightwalkers would give them amazing scouting options and we almost lose straight out if we lose the surprise advantage.

>>44452210
Splitting your forces like that is going to get them killed. They are out of range of mutual support, meaning they can be concentrated on and destroyed piecemeal by the high concentrations of the enemy.

Further, our retreating men would get run down and slaughtered, as they have more FMKs than us. And our FMKs can't be everywhere.

In short, no. It's a bad idea.

>>44452271
We wouldn't have all of our forces, but we'd have the majority of them, while catching them off guard might mean they can not bring all their forces to bare at once.

Furthermore, if the engagement goes against us, we can fall back with minimal losses and regroup with the rest of our army.

>>44452279
The point of the guerrilla attacks and ambush would be tl decimate their elites, for example, their flying mage knights.

>>44452340
You've split up your forces too far, in the face of an enemy with superior mobility. They'll be able to take down each group piecemeal. You might take down a few elites, but the numbers advantage against you is to great. You would take too high losses.

Trust me on this one, I know what I'm talking about.

We would be better served luring their force into attacking ours in a defensive location and trapping the heck out of the battlefield beforehand.

>>44452325
So hard march to fight his forces, the actual fight. If things go bad we just walk away and Volante with his superior FMK will just let us leave with few losses? Sounds about right.

>>44452090
>2. Mount a defense at a river crossing. This will leave you a major advantage in terms of the battle but will limit your ability to restrict Volante's movement due to the limited size of the battlefield.

>>44451946
We should destroy that bridge, force him into the ford and have him waste some troops on traps and shit planted there, if we could somehow poison the regular soldier's water/food...

>>44452458
The goal is to hit them before they're formed up completely. And yes, we could retreat in good order. The FMKs would be unable to mount the pursuit by themselves in the face of our firepower, but only if we keep our force concentrated/

>>44452399
So how muh can we split our forces until it's too much?
Keep in mind we have 8,856 soldiers to their 6,100, and our AA+mages+fmk outnumber their mages+fmk, and this isn't a prolonged battle scenario.

>>44452090
>>1. Take the fight to Volante and his troops while he's still mustering. You'll have considerably less support from Vitria while doing this (perhaps half their troops) but may be able to catch the Taourans off-guard.

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>>44452210
Vitria has no walls and isn't a great place to defend. It's also pretty big (it has like 200k population) and the populace wouldn't like a general war reaching the city.

Also, the other anon's right about splitting your forces that much. If you're going to devote so many troops to an ambush then they're not going to move much faster than Volante's army and will be in a lot of danger.

>>44452113
Right now enough regular soldiers will obliterate your elites and the numerical advantage of elites isn't that great for you (especially because you don't know much about the quality of the Taouran elites). Once you actually get a decent spymaster you'll probably learn more and I'll try to make it clearer.

>I'm going with 1 because there's very few votes and it seems to have the best arguments, given nobody has spoken at all about dealing with Volante while thinking the Vitrian troops aren't shit (which is my fault)

>>44452570
Except grouping 8000 soldiers to be covered by 500 is going to slow them down. And they will be slow after marching for days to fight an enemy that has good scouting capabilities. We would have to be extremely lucky for them to not notice us coming.

>>44452629
See, we keep being told we can't deal with Volante, making the best action a spoiling attack. He can't launch an attack if we whittle down his force to half the size of our own, and that's only two thousand casualties.

>>44452658
>Except grouping 8000 soldiers to be covered by 500 is going to slow them down.
That's not what's happening. They're marching as a unit, which means that in addition to our FMKs, they have to deal with our battlemages and AAs if they want to chase us. While they'd be able to keep a harrying us for a while, they would unable to accomplish anything real.
They'll probably notice us coming, but whether or not they'll have their forces concentrated in time to deal with it is another matter.

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>>44452692
Yes, that's more or less why I chose 1. It leaves you with later defensive options if it goes poorly and potentially allows you to avoid having to defeat or drive off Volante because you're not in a pitched defensive battle.

So we could STILL repurpose my plan by splitting our forces during our retreat, having 30 to 50% of our forces there split off and go west, then come and attack Volante from the southwest while our main forces engage from the east.
Make retreating northwest an attractive option for them.
Just gotta decide what types of solfiers a backattack would benefit from most.

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>1. Take the fight to Volante and his troops while he's still mustering. You'll have considerably less support from Vitria while doing this (perhaps half their troops) but may be able to catch the Taourans off-guard.

Given Cormann’s professional opinion of the Vitrian soldiers, which is that they’re next to useless except for the knights, you’re disinclined to place yourself in a position where they’ll matter all that much. For whatever numerical advantage you’d have with them by your side, the fact remains that Vitria already lost to Volante when they held that themselves in a defensive battle.

No, you’d take advantage of the current disarray of the Taouran army. Given most of a week to assault them while they were mustering, that gave you plenty of time to strike and weaken them before you were forced into a defensive battle with your ability to defeat Volante potentially being the key.

The trick was in getting the Vitrians to join you. The grandmasters of the two strongest knightly orders in Vitria were easy to convince – they wanted blood and you were the best placed to deliver it to them. You’d had to discount Tabeth and Argyle simply because they had struggled for two weeks now to muster a consolidated force – you could have mustered them yourself for a defensive battle but an assault like this was sensitive.

That left you with most of Parras’ force, perhaps 1500 troops. Your force would be nearly equal in number to the Taourans when you attacked, but they would be in disarray. If your knights could do enough damage to the enemy forces, and keep their knights from tying yours up and doing damage themselves, then you could potentially do enough damage to force Volante to retreat. If worst came to worst, you could retreat and mount a defense.

>continued

>>44452881
Let me just say this- In the military, there's such a thing known as mutual support. One soldier by himself is hardly worth anything. The entire unit together is more than the sum of their parts, and that differences increases in size the more men are put together. Thus, by advocating splitting our forces, you are throwing away the advantage that comes from having superior force concentration and giving that advantage to the enemy.

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>>44453016
Days of marching put you close to the enemy position in the valley below Trembin. Volante had sped up his mustering, splitting his forces in the process of doing so. They were still close enough together to respond to an attack on any one, but with your force encamped nearby they were frozen. If they tried to group up, you could sweep in and hit them while they weren’t entrenched. If they stayed like this, you would be able to pick your target and force Volante to be reactive. Leave it too long and they’d be organised enough to counterattack you as the remaining thousand or so troops march from the west to join the main force.

You look to your side to see that Ser Lynn has approach you. “The Vitrians don’t seem to like this strategy, General. They seem to think charging Volante is a bit suicidal.

“Are we going to deal with Volante here?” Lynn asks you after a brief pause. You think over the strategy you will apply for the vampiric general everybody has warned you was too strong for you to handle.

>1. No, you’ll strike the camp where you believe he’s not and try to keep him busy only long enough to do damage before retreating.
>2. If you have the opportunity and need to. A pitched assault against his camps would let you do a lot of damage, but would also require you to fight Volante for longer, offering more opportunity (and risk).
>3. Yes. If you set up an intentional weakness if your current position then he’ll almost certainly sortie out from his encampment and assault you, letting you set a trap at the cost of being able to launch a spoiling attack on his split force.
>4. Custom

>>44453073
>>1. No, you’ll strike the camp where you believe he’s not and try to keep him busy only long enough to do damage before retreating.

>>44453073
>>1. No, you’ll strike the camp where you believe he’s not and try to keep him busy only long enough to do damage before retreating

>>44453073
>1. No, you’ll strike the camp where you believe he’s not and try to keep him busy only long enough to do damage before retreating.

>>44453073
>1. No, you’ll strike the camp where you believe he’s not and try to keep him busy only long enough to do damage before retreating.

>>44451500>>44453073
>1. No, you’ll strike the camp where you believe he’s not and try to keep him busy only long enough to do damage before retreating.

>>44453073
>1. No, you’ll strike the camp where you believe he’s not and try to keep him busy only long enough to do damage before retreating.

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Alright, so I need to quickly duck off and grab some lunch. That means the next post will be a bit delayed.

I will say that I'm not going to start the battle today and will end the thread early. I've fucked up just about everything I intended for today due to not preparing properly (and disregarding some of the notes I had prepared because I started late) so I don't want to leap into the battle and fuck that up too. I'll put in some proper preparation for it so it hopefully goes a heck of a lot better than this mess of a thread.

So once I return there'll be some pre-battle stuff involving talking to Alenier about vampires plus a chance to speak to some of the other characters.

>>44453265
Eat well.

I don't think the thread's been a disaster so far. Maybe not the greatest, but certainly not shit.

So do you guys want to fully advertise the dragon thing? If we put it on our banners it would draw a lot of attention from most factions. What about a phoenix? It could symbolize it well enough without the issues a dragon faces. Also do you guys have any name suggestions for the empire?

>>44453521
Dragon and Phoenix? Are we really gonna go full weeb?

Okay gents, how do we defeat Volante?

>>44453534
Uh, both of those are western creatures.

>>44453545
I thought the plan was touch-and-go, and avoid him as much as possible.

>>44453534
No, I meant phoenix on banners instead of dragons.
>>44453579
We draw him into a fight thinking its a 1v1 then all our hero units jump out and beat him with sticks.

>>44453521
Pheonix is certainly an option. Rising from the ashes of the old world to create a new one.

Upon an azure field a pheonix, gules.

>>44453597
The current plan predicates on our ability to keep him distracted for long enough for our troops to crush his.

>>44453521
>>44453534
>>44453599
>>44453605
Can we be creative and not have some sort of animal are creature for a change?

>>44453719
Nah

>>44453719
>Can we be creative and not have some sort of animal are creature for a change?
Most heraldry is based on animals. If you have something you'd rather choose, name it.

>>44453719
>are
OR, fuck this phone

>>44453719
Depends what you have in mind. Usually animals bring a certain mindset to bare when place on a flag or banner. Dragons being power and phoenix being rebirth. If you have something else in mind feel free to bring it up.

>>44453745
I mean look at every quest ever, it always boils down to the same shit, dragons, wolves, lions with the occasional bear tossed in. I know there's only three people on /tg/ at any given moment but come on.

>>44453521
Unless we want to seriously gimp Lyria (and probably annoy her as well) I kind of doubt we can disguise the whole "giant dragon is fighting for us" thing.
Add that the use of drasgon magic is apparently possible to be reckognized and there's also a good chance that people will notice and leak that we personally have some dragon connection going.
And then there's the whole Lynn situation and how she can be much stronger by using her hybrid form openly, which also requires her to get past her serious issues with her heritage first.

Quite frankly, we're very likely going to be wearing the dragon thing on our sleaves anyways, so we might as well make the dragons on our side already more comfortable and make our nation a more attractive option for dragons looking to join up instead.

Now, I'm not saying we should scream out our attention drawing secrets while we're still a piddly nation-state, but our heraldry alone won't do that, but still sets things up for a more open and accepting attitude towards dragon stuff later on.

>>44453822
Then suggest something else and tell us why it would be better. We aren't saying you're wrong, were asking what your alternative is.

>>44453745
>>44453769
I can't say for sure right now, I feel like I need to see Saul's backstory before I can figure out what he would choose IC.

>>44453822
Are you accusing of /tg/ of being creatively bankrupt?

Obviously, we are

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>>44453462
Compared to how I wanted it to go, it has been pretty terrible.

>1.

“Given that everybody keeps telling me that fighting him would be suicide, I don’t plan on it,” you say dryly, watching the Taourans as they begin lighting torches as dusk descends. “We’ll hit the camp we don’t believe he’s at, then keep him busy long enough to do the damage necessary to prevent him from launching a full assault on Vitria.”

“What if he attacks us first, tonight?” Lynn asks.

“Then we sortie and hit one of his three armies, making him regret doing that. We can’t attack tonight because he certainly has nightwalkers, but he can’t attack because his armies are too spread out to sacrifice their defensive positions.”

“If I were him, I’d still attack tonight. Better to be on the offense than the defense,” Lynn says, striking his palm with a fist. “He knows we’ll attack him before his troops are ready, anyway.”

“Maybe, but he’s also likely gambling on us being worse than he is. The Vitrians might be, but the Black Dragons aren’t. Whatever his move is, we’ll best him,” you say. “Be prepared to march tonight if necessary.”

“We will be,” Lynn says. “For what it’s worth, with your power and strength I can’t see a mere vampire opposing you. We’re stronger than they are.”

>continued

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>>44453963
With those odd parting comments, Lynn wanders back to the encampment to speak to her officers. Somehow the hierarchy had naturally evolved without you taking any action – you’d expected the Black Dragon officers to operate as the senior officers between you and the rest of the army. Instead, Ser Lynn had somehow become your de facto second-in-command – so long as Gnome didn’t take exception to anything he said. Somehow the two of them didn’t quite get along, and it mostly came from Lynn.

No matter, you think. Lynn knew what he was doing and so did Gnome. You could let the two have some squabbling without too much trouble, but might need to step in if it became worse. For now, you…

>1. Contact Alenier about vampires via sending. Things will probably be easier if you communicate with her only through those magical messages.
>2. Contact Alenier in person, using a sending device. She’d given you her communication details – though you’d never spoken directly to her.
>3. Contact Lyria instead, to see her opinion on Volante.
>4. Custom

>>44453837
I'm not saying we should hide her forever. I'm just saying we should keep our heads down about the dragon thing until we become a larger power. All that shit and openly putting a dragon on our banner might put to much attention on us. Especially from the likes of Syl or dragon hunters.

>>44453983
>2. Contact Alenier in person, using a sending device. She’d given you her communication details – though you’d never spoken directly to her.

>>44453983
>>2. Contact Alenier in person, using a sending device. She’d given you her communication details – though you’d never spoken directly to her.

>>44453983
>2. Contact Alenier in person, using a sending device. She’d given you her communication details – though you’d never spoken directly to her.

>>44453983
Guess I'll go with one

>>44453983
>3.
>>44453963
I guess one of the things is because of the lack of discussion activity and some mistakes on your end. That and the fact that some people are still stubbornly hung up on the "Talon playthrough" until they see something worth investing in the "Saul playthrough" of AEQ.

>>44454001
Not really?
Banners are banners.
People have all sorts of stuff on them and, since we have no existing heraldry to draw on and our elite units (and defacto second-in-command) are called the Black Dragons, it's more likely to be seen as us emphasizing our mercenary pas if it is given any thought at all.
Something to consider when making such a decision, but to be honest "Our legitimacy comes from being awesome shitkickers and we aren't too much concerned over ideology" isn't all that bad a claim to make if you intend to stay neutral from the larger ideological super wars surrounding us.

>>44453983
>2. Contact Alenier in person, using a sending device. She’d given you her communication details – though you’d never spoken directly to her.

>>44454112
>That and the fact that some people are still stubbornly hung up on the "Talon playthrough" until they see something worth investing in the "Saul playthrough" of AEQ.
Probably doesn't help that some people want to run as far away from any similarities from talon as possible, even if some people found those similarities enjoyable.

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>>44454112
>some mistakes on your end
I think it's mostly this, for this thread. I had planned on some more Vitria stuff before the open-ended 'what is your empire about' question, plus I wanted to do some more framing of Volante. Might have avoided the whole 'we have more soldiers therefore we're better' miscommunication issue. Basically, I rushed things I shouldn't have without anything to keep regular players involved.

>>44454235
It also doesn't help that some others insist on making Saul as similar to Talon as possible even if it goes against his established character.

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>2.

It took a little while to organise the discussion with Alenier, mostly because you need her to be at her own sending device to receive the call. Or maybe it was a public device? You didn’t really know how elven civilisation worked – she’d been communicating with you through an intermediary due to the nature of sendings, but the device didn’t need a mage to operate.

When you connect with her via the sending device, you realise there’s two people in the room with her. Maybe you should have brought Gnome.

“This is Saul, I take it?” says a relatively youthful female voice. “I am Alenier. It is good to speak with you at last.”

“Yes, I’m Saul Waise. Thank you for agreeing to this,” you say, deciding to be formal for a first discussion with an elf you’ve never met before and have imposed on a few times for information.

“You don’t need to be so formal, Saul,” Alenier says, then her voice drops in tone and it takes you a second to hear her again. “-chi, introduce yourself.”

“Very well,” says another voice, somewhat older but still obviously female. “I am the real source of all the information on vampires that our darling Alenier has no doubt taken full credit for.”

“Not that you really care,” Alenier says, appearing to speak to the other woman. Then she lets out a huff. “Well, I’m assuming this is also about vampires? Or a more social call?”

“Vampires, I’m afraid,” you say. “I’m camped not that far from an army led by Volante and wanted to touch base on him.”

>continued

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>>44454347
The device goes silent for some time. Long enough that you check that it’s still connected and that they can hear you.

Finally, Alenier speaks up, “So, you’re part of an army? About to attack Volante? I had thought you were a mage hunting vampires…”

Well, you couldn’t fault her for that idea – you hadn’t communicated much to her beyond that some vampires were causing you trouble and you were going to stop them. Then again, you’d worried if an elf would provide information to somebody building their own little empire.

>1. Admit your position, explaining what you’re up to and why you’re fighting Taour and the vampires.
>2. Obfuscate a bit, making it clear you’re fighting the vampires with a (technically) mercenary army but not making it clear that you’re empire-building.
>3. Try to brush the situation aside and just talk about Volante.
>4. Custom

>>44454340
Speaking personally, A repeat Talon wasn't my first choice, I would have actually preferred to be the Aefir character, though Talon was my second choice. That said, I did enjoy our relationship with Sarah a lot last time, and would enjoy seeing her in a similar capacity this time to some degree.

>>44454365
>>1. Admit your position, explaining what you’re up to and why you’re fighting Taour and the vampires.

>>44454365
>> 2. Obfuscate a bit, making it clear you’re fighting the vampires with a (technically) mercenary army but not making it clear that you’re empire-building.

>>44454365
>>2. Obfuscate a bit, making it clear you’re fighting the vampires with a (technically) mercenary army but not making it clear that you’re empire-building.

>>44454365
>2. Obfuscate a bit, making it clear you’re fighting the vampires with a (technically) mercenary army but not making it clear that you’re empire-building.
Saul seems to be the type to be sheepish when it comes to sensitive things like this. He wants help, but he doesn't want anyone to catch wind of his plans and beat him down prematurely.

>>44454415
The way I see it, trying to be like Talon or have similar relationships between characters like he did will just leave a bad taste in everyone's mouths.

Saul simply isn't Talon, and none of the character interaction will be the same, and because of that, no matter how similar you -may- be able to make it, you'll still pine about how Talon was better in x way.

Best to just let it go and explore new frontiers, I say, or else it'll drag down enjoyment for you and everyone else.

Still your choice in how you vote, though.

>>44454365
>1. Admit your position, explaining what you’re up to and why you’re fighting Taour and the vampires.

>>44454365
>1. Admit your position, explaining what you’re up to and why you’re fighting Taour and the vampires.
Just make it clear we will be fighting vampires for the foreseeable future.

>>44454112
You do realize that you are the first person besides OP to mention Talon in this thread? Knock it off.

>>44454365
>1. Admit your position, explaining what you’re up to and why you’re fighting Taour and the vampires.

Saul seems a bit blunt, not quite "come at me bro" tier but "this is what I'm doing, you can't stop me, I don't have the patience to charm and diplomacy things in a subtle way so I won't even try"

>>44454365
>2. Obfuscate a bit, making it clear you’re fighting the vampires with a (technically) mercenary army but not making it clear that you’re empire-building.

>>44454480
>Best to just let it go and explore new frontiers, I say, or else it'll drag down enjoyment for you and everyone else.
Eh, I still hold out hope to some degree. Besides there were some aspects I disliked about the quest, so I don't intend to turn him into a clone anyway. Sarah's awesome though.

>>44454365
>1. Admit your position, explaining what you’re up to and why you’re fighting Taour and the vampires.

>>44454496
Not him, but the last couple threads were pretty brutal with the unsubtle "well I don't care about AEQR boy I sure hope aspirational runs some oneshots that pick up with Talon again"

there have been some pretty blatant attempts to build Saul into a womanizing larger than life Talon 2.0 despite back story not making any sense as well

That said, you're right, there's been little said about him today.
I'm personally happy about the infusion of new players revitalizing this quest regardless of who we chose as our mc

>>44454365
2
Tssuchi!

>>44454480
This.

>>44454626
>"well I don't care about AEQR boy I sure hope aspirational runs some oneshots that pick up with Talon again"
That wasn't what I said at least, can't speak for the others. That said, I still want a small harem.

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Rolled 2 (1d2)

Tie-breaker roll between 1 and 2.

>>44454628
Tssuchi!

She was hanging around with the elves prior to Talon contacting her in AEQ, and Hand went to some of the 'mage illuminati' meetings that Alenier went to, meaning Gnome would know her.

>>44454702
>mage illuminati

Mage Guard did nothing wrong

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>44454702
Tsucchi!

rolling for Saul's obsession for stroking fluffy ears instead of tails

So is Saul going to take on an apprentice who is 6'5" or something?

>>44454852
Fluffy a shit, scales only for Saul

>>44454854
More like 4'5''

He'll have an elite bodyguard composed only of soldiers under 5'. A reverse Napoleon

>>44454852
>not satisfaction gained from running his hands along scales

Pet lizards a best

get fucked, mammalfag

>Saul has a pet superiguana

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>>44454852
>Saul's face in trying to resist the temptation.

>>44454626
>I'm personally happy about the infusion of new players revitalizing this quest regardless of who we chose as our mc
I had personally kinda hoped that we would chose the Aefir, because the nonhuman thing was a much more interesting divide than the royalty/mages thing, especially since most of the mages are nobility anyway. And having being the heir to the race that dominated the continent before Kushan, their greatest student, ruined everything would provide an interesting perspective

>>44454865
Scales a shit, only BLACKWATER for Saul

>>44454925
go away blackwater don't you have a Soul jar waifu to fug?

>>44454702
Does Lyria have a STR of 10 in dragon form? Do stats have different values for things of different size or type? Would Saul having STR 10 be the same as someone like Saareg having STR 10? How about something large, like a dragon or giant?

>>44454924

Holy shit, we could have been like an elven terrorist or something, slowly gaining territories.

>>44454998
Basically yes, although this particular subspecies of elves basically used humans as fodder to supplement their small numbers. To be fair, they invested a lot of effort in making the human knights they trained as powerful as possible. We would have probably dusted off the old playbook and adapted it to include modern mages, magictech and other nonhuman races. Then reminded everyone why Aefir ruled the continent for 1000 years. The rest of our race may have lost our magic, but we were still here.

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>2.

Being completely honest at this stage might backfire, so you decide to be truthful without telling Alenier everything. You still needed information on Volante and the elf was surprisingly helpful, but bringing politics into this could rapidly torpedo things.

“That’s more or less what I am, but with the daywalkers entrenched as they are in Taour and their military it’s rather difficult to get at them without an army of my own,” you say. “I was able to dispatch Dalrec and Terce in more personal combat, but things with Volante are more complicated given he’s a general.”

There’s another of those awkward pauses and you wonder what you’ve said this time. You putter about your tent for a little while, preparing some tea and a ham sandwich while the two of them mutter low enough you can’t hear them over the sending device.

“Could I just check what you said,” the vampire expert says. “You say you’ve killed Dalrec and Terce?”

“Yes,” you say.

“How?” The incredulity in her tone was clear even through the distortion of the sending device.

Deciding to leave out the gory details, you say, “Well, Dalrec’s regeneration had to run out at some point after cutting him open so many times. Terce… had an unfortunate appointment with a descending ceiling, courtesy of Gnome.”

“That neatly avoids the problem of her voice, but Dalrec… Well, perhaps I was too negative to Alenier if that’s true,” the expert muses. “My sources in Taour had indicated that something had gone wrong with Dalrec’s efforts near the RSK border, so that matches up relatively well.”

“So, how does he kill Volante?” Alenier asks her friend excitedly.

It wasn’t so much about killing Volante, you wanted to say but held off. Alenier seemed to think well of you for fighting the vampires, which might explain why she had helped you all along. You wondered how she knew this vampire expert, however.

>continued

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>>44455119
“Volante’s not as hardy as Dalrec but he’s considerably more dangerous. He’s relatively young at only a century but his talent is on par with masters of orders of considerable repute – he’s very well suited at exploiting the weaknesses of opponents. Cutting him open repeatedly like you did with Dalrec would be quite the feat given his abilities. I don’t know his precise powers in regards to shadow magic, but my understanding is that he has some form of ranged attack that is difficult to detect.

“As you’re not a knight, I would hope you don’t possess their moronic pride and agree to a challenge with him. Many knights and generals fall to him that way.”

You clear your throat to interrupt her. “I’m here to kill him, if possible. Pride isn’t exactly important when it comes to slaying monsters, as Terce learnt.”

“It’s good to meet a hunter that understands that you don’t need to wave your dick around to prove your talent,” she says rather bluntly, causing you to cough up your tea. “Too blunt?”

“Yes,” you and Alenier both say.

“Mmm, well, hopefully you have some additional talent to help you with him. Beware the knights he has with him – Volante has a number of thralls and the nightwalkers of Taour worship him. I’d heard rumours that Taour had learnt to create magical plate that protected the vampires in the daylight.”

“Those are true,” you say. “I ran into some in Vitria.”

The device goes silent at that, though you suspect it’s more because the expert has little to say.

Alenier takes the opportunity to pipe up, “If you do finish your work in Taour, I’d be happy to receive you in Terrnaine Forest. An experienced spellblade such as yourself would be very welcome here.”

You doubted you’d be venturing to the other side of the continent any time soon with things so busy here, so simply reply with an empty nicety.

>Do you have any further questions for Alenier or her vampire expert?

>>44455140
Fuck, invite her on up here when we pull this off.

>>44454924
On the other hand, I think that out of all the possible PCs, Saul is the least compelling. Not saying he's boring so much as he's a blank slate whose personality is hard to pin down ATM (which makes him a good pc in a player driven quest imo)

Comparatively Myran, Kerram and Gil all seem to have backgrounds and plot hooks that are much easier to imagine/set up, so I think they'll make for absolutely fantastic npc rivals/antagonists.

Tl;dr I do agree it's a bit of a shame we couldn't elf it up, but I suspect we'll still see those characters sooner or later anyways

>>44455140
Do we know anything about his military acumen besides his abilities in single combat? That might be more relevant for the next few battles.

If we can force Volante to retreat, that's a victory.

>>44455140
Is there any habit that makes him stand out from the crowd? Everyone's got to have some sort of vice that tells their weakness no matter how well hidden they are. When he goes out to sortie, does he go alone or does he bring a contingent of nightwalker elites along with him? Basically I'm asking for details of his daily war routine.

>>44455140
They say his armor and flesh regenerates. How do we stop that regeneration factor?

>>44455224
He's a century old general who's probably fighting the entire time, so presumably he's racked up quite a bit of experience even if he isn't a genius tactician

>>44455201
>he's a blank slate whose personality is hard to pin down ATM (which makes him a good pc in a player driven quest imo)
I agree. Which is why I find some of the complaints about certain desired aspects of his personality not being consistent with the backstory kinda weird.

>>44455309
Whoops, meant to quote >>44455203 not >>44455224

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>>44454965
Stats are supposed to be equivalent across all beings. Most likely this means that physical stats can go above 10 for massive monstrous creatures, simply because the alternative is to make it scale to an absurd degree (e.g. Volante is pretty damned strong at 6, but having, say, Lairos at 10 means the difference would be of a couple of orders of magnitude but the mechanics wouldn't represent that). The issue is mostly in that the old system let stats go up to 14 due to empowerment stacking with base stats so I'd probably have monstrous creatures with loads of magic able to go really high or else have some form of additional bonus because they're fuck-off huge.

Mind you, folks like Saareg and late-AEQ Talon could literally have the strength of dragons and the like. They were using ridiculous amounts of magic. It's mostly when you're the size of a city block or two and have the magical strength to lift a small island.

>>44455253

>They say his armor and flesh regenerates. How do we stop that regeneration factor?

“You don’t really,” the expert says. “As he’s combining his shadow and blood magicks most of the typical ways to prevent regeneration are not effective – it’s part of why even the Wardens of the Mage Guard have found him troublesome. Perhaps a true angel could end him, but they’re simply not around anymore and the Wardens’ pale imitation of their Arts does not suffice to stop his regeneration.

“Luckily, his regeneration also takes longer to activate for much the same reason. If you keep the pressure on him so that he’s using some of his magic then he shouldn’t be able to regenerate wounds at the same time. No vampire’s techniques are perfect.”

>>44455253
With Talon we just needed to score several solid hits in a row, but we were super lucky. It was one of the high points of the old AEQ. But we did what we were advised not to do and went to fight him one on one

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>>44455203
>>44455224
>Do we know anything about his military acumen besides his abilities in single combat?
>Is there any habit that makes him stand out from the crowd?

“He’s a talented general. Some of his earlier stories having him hiding his true nature for some time and filling in for officers and the like, before he fused with his armour and became the obviously unnatural monster he is now. Still, his greatest mistakes tend to be regarding his own power – his vampiric abilities have enabled to be a serious threat to all but the most powerful mages and knights. If he doesn’t see that in you, then you have a good chance of him making a gambit that involves taking you and your officers out first instead of a more typical strategy.

“Whether that’s a good thing or not comes down to whether or not you can keep his sword from separating your head from your shoulders. Otherwise, he’ll often remain with his knights and take part in charges. I understand they were mounted during their conflict with Darlesia so you might want to keep an eye out for any mounts you might have mistaken for pack animals.”

You make a mental note to have Lieutenant Illon double-check the horses in the enemy camp. The Darlesians had a bad habit of dismissing all animals as pack animals, given the general rarity of magically bred horses in these city-states.

>>44455311
Well, there are some things we do know about him, such as how he is relatively inexperienced in a lot of things, a bit meek and awkward when dealing with other people but is an absolute beast in combat. These seem to consistent traits that come from his characterization so I use those as basis for my choices.

>>44455429
>Otherwise, he’ll often remain with his knights and take part in charges. I understand they were mounted during their conflict with Darlesia so you might want to keep an eye out for any mounts you might have mistaken for pack animals.”

Magical caltrops maybe?

>>44455311
He's a combat maniac who's channeled his ambitions towards becoming worthy of his dragon waifu and has forgone all other interpersonal/romantic relationships for this goal though.

Could just be my interpretation but it feels more like a borderline obsession (screwed up childhood in the MG, premature encounter and unhealthy attachment to a centuries old dragon who views him as a pet and has been grooming him since his teens) he seems dysfunctional and not at all the sort to be able to charm his way into the pants of millions of ladies. He feels like the creepy guy outsider that nobody knows, and not the popular jock that Talon was

>>44455486
You know, that interpretation makes me like him a lot less. We gotta get him a few waifu's.

>>44455344
Yeah, I remember feeling frustrated that anons wanted to be all honoraburu and take him down one on one but apparently the dice approved of the vote and things worked out awesomely.

>>44455541
It was badass. I put on some two steps from hell and devoured that section, the anticipation between posts was crazy

>>44455524
Disagree

>singing and culture lessons with Blackwater when?

Does Saul know where the forks and spoons go?

>>44455486
I'm not sure I would say all of that. We seem to be perfectly capable of normal conversation, just that we're a little distant. We still joke around with the guys and all, but we don't have many close companions. We're definitely a very driven individual, and not above using whatever means possible to accomplish our goal.

Aspirational, what did you think when Blackwater became a meme?

>>44455429
It seem he's heavy on the Calvary charges and the flanking maneuvers for him to get the most blood out of any given battle.

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>moving right along

“Thank you for all your help,” you say, preparing to end the communication.

“Do contact me again for the next vampire,” Alenier says cheerfully.

“I’d say I hope to meet you in person, but I suspect you’ll either die or succeed in dealing with all the daywalkers, leaving me with a new topic to research for the next few decades,” says the vampire expert, her tone flat enough that you don’t know which she expects.

With that done with, you contact Illon and have him double-check for cavalry mounts in the enemy camp. Then you…

>1. Find Ser Lynn and see whether he’s ready for potentially dealing with Volante.
>2. Contact Sarah via sending device to see how things are doing in Vitria.
>3. Talk with Gnome about her expectations for the battle tomorrow.
>4. Custom

>>44455591
Yeah, the Volante fight was amazing. I'm also really happy with how the writing for that came out. One of the better fights I've written.

>>44455629
Yes. He would have learnt it as a child.

>>44455682
>>2. Contact Sarah via sending device to see how things are doing in Vitria.

>>44455524
I dunno, I'm sorta curious to see him to take on a more arrogant, dragon influenced "might makes right" mentality.

Rather than trying to reroll and diplomance everything and romance every female npc, it'd be nice to just go brute force after diplomacy failed.

Might just be sorta projecting aspects of Caim because of the dragon waifu though
ruthless antihero is too edgy and would never happen on tg anyways

>>44455682
>>1. Find Ser Lynn and see whether he’s ready for potentially dealing with Volante.

>>44455682
>1. Find Ser Lynn and see whether he’s ready for potentially dealing with Volante.
Cause we gotta double team him. With the power of two dragons, we might be able to get this.

>>44455682
>3. Talk with Gnome about her expectations for the battle tomorrow.

>>44455682
>3. Talk with Gnome about her expectations for the battle tomorrow

>>44455682
>1. Find Ser Lynn and see whether he’s ready for potentially dealing with Volante.

>>44455653
>Blackwater is Monsoon

And just like Monsoon, you can't actually hit the bastard.

>>44455682
>1. Find Ser Lynn and see whether he’s ready for potentially dealing with Volante.
We should double team volante dragon style

>>44455697
Oh, I don't want to romance every female NPC. I've got a list of 3 that I personally want (in order Sarah, Aliner, Tsucchhi) add the dragon and maybe gnome because others like her.
As for diplomance everything, I think diplomacy is fine, as long as we make enemies along with our allies.

>>44455633
Yeah to be fair I think his characterization hasn't really solidified yet at all because we're still figuring him out

The...being treated like a shota + somewhat odd Finn-esque obliviousness was kinda weird in the early threads but we seem to be moving away from that characterization, and more towards pragmatic, experienced mercenary though

>>44455682
>2. Contact Sarah via sending device to see how things are doing in Vitria.
Always liked her.

>>44455682
>1. Find Ser Lynn and see whether he’s ready for potentially dealing with Volante.

>>44455697
I agree with this general statement. I would like to remain rather isolated from RSK and Mage League politics. Let them come to us and if they have an offer weighted in our favor we'll play ball. If they dont then leave them to their own war.

>>44455682
>1. Find Ser Lynn and see whether he’s ready for potentially dealing with Volante.
>3. Talk with Gnome about her expectations for the battle tomorrow.

>>44455682
>>1. Find Ser Lynn and see whether he’s ready for potentially dealing with Volante.

>>44455769
I think we can assimilate the Mage guard and the RSK and expand into their mutual enemy of the Magi League.

Alice is also less likely to receive player sympathy due to her Draconic spawn. I think Thant o e shot worked out real well Aspir

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>>44455789
>The...being treated like a shota + somewhat odd Finn-esque obliviousness
That was never really a thing, except that both Lyria and Gnome treat Saul a little more like a child than they (probably) should. I can't think of anything Saul did that fits that bill except maybe the poorly written 'tour' update and his suspicion of Gnome. Mostly it's been players acting like that.

Heck, even the first few updates mostly had Saul rather efficiently dispatching the RSK soldiers, with a bit of humour because he got covered in blood. Otherwise he just jumped into planning and action.

>>44455769
>previously it was 'only need 3'
>now it's 3+2, bringing the total to 5
The numbers grow.

Anyway, any of this stuff will likely be more long-term. Any development Saul has towards women will likely be less sudden than the Talon stuff due to his nature and the lack of people like Taira or Salamander.

>>44455898
more likely

>>44455697
You're free to make your own interpretations of course, but I think the current Saul we're shaping doesn't have that much of an ego. For one our dragon is way too lethargic to be much of an influence, and two Saul himself seems do fine disarming people with his apparent innocence. And casual violence, of course.

>>44455833
It's sorta interesting in retrospect if you look at the old threads. From a meta perspectove, we basically dug ourselves into a hole, plot-wise, by either befriending/intimidating/manipulating everyone into allying (or at least being in a NAP) with us. The only people we really fought with and didn't try to diplomance were morally irredeemable or completely alien/abominable in nature (vampires, fae, illegal fae/enchant research, demons) to the point that we ran out of opponents on our pay grade since shadowbeasts, angels and lords were beyond us.

We were generally much less accommodating/more paranoid every time we got a male diplomat too haha. (Offset by us basically being schizophrenic when if came to dealing with female npcs and diplomats near the end but I digress.)

>>44455914
>The numbers grow.
Different person. I don't actually like either gnome or our dragon all that much, but I'm willing to let them be in to avoid the sort of shouting match it could otherwise become. I loved how Talon and Alice interacted in the first quest, but I don't think her and the new protagonist will gel nearly as well. Talon was what Alice needed, Saul really isn't.

>>44455962
Malantine was also an enemy. And I was expecting Falwick to kill off the old guy and reunite the RSK against us for about half the threads. Never did figure out why that didn't happen.

>>44455914
Or we could, and this is insane as all fuckballs, only have one waifu.

>>44455961
Nah I kinda agree with you but I've been having some difficulty reconciling how laconic we are with "want to build the greatest empire Gauron has ever seen" though this thread is helping with that

>>44456062
I wana be dracosexual

>>44456062
I approve. We ain't Talon, we just got our dragon waifu and that's all we need.

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>>44456062
>only have one waifu

>>44456062
-gasp- HERESY!

>>44456062
Too much arguing about who the one true love is. I also kind dislike the designated love interest.

>>44456062
Strange enough it just might work

>>44456062
I agree with this namefag

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>>44456062
That's basically the default option, yes. Lyria and Saul are effectively already in a relationship. I wouldn't mind if it stayed that way but it also won't come up for a while. Saul's too busy killing vampires to think about tits.

>>44456103
Saul's probably more a case of arrogance in an introverted way. Less of an outright ego like Talon's, more a case of simply doing shit because he reckons he can do it and nobody can stop him.

>>44456112
That still leaves several waifus.

>>44456155
>That still leaves several waifus.
not if we kill the rest

>>44456155
>That still leaves several waifus.

But Lynn's for Broing, not for Waifuing

>>44456043
Honestly, if he ever decides to go back to the quest he should have that happen. Falwick offs the king, allies with Malantine, huge two way war between Magi League, Ternaine and us vs RSK, Mage Guard and Malantine, with RSK rebels doing crazy stuff and the Lords watching and waiting...
>>44456062
people always say that, we always end up with more than one.

All this waifu talk is boring.

Talk about war.
About potentially building elites.
About building up Harrowmont.

I want a new Engineering Corps, maybe we can expand it to our military, have a pro team of wall sappers or on the fly super siege machines.

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>1.

Night had descended while you were busy with Alenier. Your men were split between those having their meals and those ensuring everything was ready in case Volante moved his troops, trying to take advantage of the cover of night. The knights are able to direct you up a nearby hill to where Lynn is resting with his meal.

A light wind rustles the grass and you pause at the top of the hill to take in the night air. The nights had warmed up a little suddenly, making the march considerably more bearable. Below you lay the valley containing two armies, with the torches marking Volante’s camps far more spread out than any general would be comfortable with. From experience and rough estimation of the terrain you’d say it would take a few hours of marching for each army to meet the other, not including the time it takes to disband camp and assemble. If you included the time it took for you to reach one of the camps that meant you’d have a good hour or so to engage and disengage before the battle devolved into an all-out brawl between yours and Volante’s forces.

Turning your mind away from the greater strategy, you look around the hill for Ser Lynn. He’s a short walk further downhill, with a wooden plate and a tankard of ale next to him. The fact that he’s eating means he almost certainly has his visor up. You…

>1. Try to sneak a look at Lynn’s face, avoiding detection by him.
>2. Let Lynn know you’re here before approaching him to talk.
>3. Wait for Lynn to finish his meal before approaching him, avoiding seeing under his helmet (or interrupting his meal if he shuts it).
>4. Custom

>>44456187
There's still 3 other female dragons, just using those introduced in AEQ.

>>44456205
Can this Engineering Corp do tunnels? Otherwise, not interested.

>>44456147
Yeah, waifu wars ahoy, better to stick to a few more options so at least most people can be satisfied. Or even better, just don't focus on waifung that much.

>>44456062
Lyria can still be Saul's legal wife. The rest can be the mistress.

>>44456205
I like this guy

>>44456216
>>1. Try to sneak a look at Lynn’s face, avoiding detection by him.

>>44456216
>>1. Try to sneak a look at Lynn’s face, avoiding detection by him.

Stealth Mode on; getting my dice warmed up

>>44456216
>4. Custom
That was some sick dragon magic the other day bro

But nah really
>3

>>44456216
>>3. Wait for Lynn to finish his meal before approaching him, avoiding seeing under his helmet (or interrupting his meal if he shuts it).
>>44456216

>>44456216
>3. Wait for Lynn to finish his meal before approaching him, avoiding seeing under his helmet (or interrupting his meal if he shuts it).
Why would you interrupt the mans introspective eating time?

>>44456216
>1. Try to sneak a look at Lynn’s face, avoiding detection by him.

>>44456216
>2. Let Lynn know you’re here before approaching him to talk.
>4. Ask to see Lynn's face

>>44456195
thats just shipping, the one with the final call is the QM. people should get more into the mind of the character then whining about their personal fetish.

At this point hes in a "relationship" with Lyra, but its "Complicated" also she can pop into his head whenever, if the votes lead to a roll in the hay with anyone she should totally pop in mid scene and crack jokes. shes 400 and not as sheltered as Gnome, Im sure shes got jokes.

>>44456205
I want to make a Archer equivalent of a long-range sniper with a .50 cal. Arcane Archers fit the template, but it always feels like they're just the equivalent of a soldier with a Designated Marksman Rifle.

Don't see why we would want so many waifus when we aren't even getting smut scenes in this quest.

More waifus means each waifu is watered down correspondingly. I don't know how many waifus is too much, but waifu bloat is shit desu senpai

>>44456216
>1. Try to sneak a look at Lynn’s face, avoiding detection by him.
Sneaky Saul for some Tactical stealth shenanigans and some hilarious options.

>>44456216
>>2. Let Lynn know you’re here before approaching him to talk.
We know he likes his privacy, no need to stomp on it.

>>44456346
I don't want waifu's for the smut specifically. I also don't really like Lyra and regret voting for her, so I'd like other options. Since throwing a hissy fit and trying to have Saul break up with her would be OOC, harem it is.

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>>44456425
Wait what?

>>44456216
>3.
Don't be rude to Lynn

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>1.

When it comes down to it, Lynn’s visor is pretty small, covering the face below the eyes. There’s a good chance he’s wearing a face covering underneath it, so there might not be much to see. Then again, as he rarely lifts it maybe he has some dark secret hidden beneath it.

Curiosity gets the better of you and you begin to circle around the hill to a vantage point where you might be able to make out Lynn’s face.

[DC80 Sneaking]

>>44456425
More than one waifu will ruin your laifu

Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>44456484
peekaboo!

Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>44456484
Don't worry, Nat 100 incoming

>>44456461
Basically, I don't like the designated love interest, but I don't want to be OOC or a dick to other players, so a compromise is in order.

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>44456484
Eata duck

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>>44456425
whats not to like about Cranky fire-breathing long distance girlfriend? Would you have preferred spoopy lethargic ghost girlfriend or Cakaaaaaaw caw! Gryphon girlfriend? Sounds to me like you're just being a negative Nancy.

>>44456205
SIEGE. ARCHERS. WHEN?

For real they would be a great way to decimate NHMK

>>44456492
Does this mean no waifu no laifu?

>>44456514
Except if you're in the minority in which case, deal I guess.

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>>44456508
>>44456523
>>44456425

>>44456525
Eh, she just rubs me wrong. Her relationship actually reminds me of Talon's with Lynn.
>>44456547
Eh, we'll see. A lot of the support for monogamy never really materializes come voting.

>>44456507
Well, I suppose we found out...

>>44456578
Maaaaaaan don't spoil that shit! we are just now getting to the reveal

>>44456461
Is the idea that someone would want to have a romantic relationship, even a fictional rpg one, for more than sex really that surprising?

>>44456578
There's difference between one waifu, two waifus (laifu ruined), and 5 broads fighting for space and making mess of your quest.

And if you say yes to one, what's stopping you from saying yes to another? /tg/ has no sense of restraint and harems become cancer.

>>44456602
>inb4 it really is a man

Fuck, that would slay me.

Though I doubt there are Lynnfags to watch get BTFO.

>>44456690
No I just didn't understand his post it confused me

>>44456704
I would laugh my ass off. It'll just be us manlets taking on the world.

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>Target met

Your armour was enchanted to make as little noise as possible, so it was mostly about not tripping or hitting anything. The less time you spent moving in Lynn’s eyesight was also beneficial as you had no doubt he’d spot you.

In the end you manage to creep around and down the hill. Lying prone in the grass some distance away you use your enhanced vision to get your first look at Lynn’s face.

It’s rather unremarkable, to be honest. The torchlight was coming from above him so you couldn’t even really see his eyes beneath the open visor. He also had a skintight wrap around his chin and jaw which you suspected would normally be over the mouth during battle – with an enchantment in his helmet to alter his voice it meant a little bit of muffling wouldn’t be a problem.

In the end, all you could really make out at this distance was that he had a rather weak jawline and his face was as small as the rest of him. No scars or anything particularly interesting. Having a relatively effeminate face was probably what kept the helmet on – combined with his size it would make it very hard to take him seriously.

Calling your stealth mission a boring failure, you rise to your feet and call out to Lynn. He squawks and falls backwards as he looks around.

“Oh, General Waise,” says a female voice from the direction of Ser Lynn.

You freeze at the voice, giving Lynn the time to snap his visor back up. Still, that secret was busted the second he spoke. You could forgive the facial structure but combined with the voice… Ser Lynn is definitely Lady Lynn. You…

>1. Continue on as if nothing happened. It doesn’t mean much in the end.
>2. Confirm with Lynn what you’re pretty much certain of, giving him/her a chance to come out with it.
>3. Move straight onto the dragon topic. If you’re in the business of unpicking his secrets, might as well go with the one you already know about.
>4. Custom

>>44456732
>1

>>44456732
>>1. Continue on as if nothing happened. It doesn’t mean much in the end.

So Saul is the only true manlet in this army. A sad day.

>>44456732
>4 Oh, you're female? Eh, whatever, you can still fight.

>>44456732
>1. Continue on as if nothing happened. It doesn’t mean much in the end.

>>44456732
>>3. Move straight onto the dragon topic. If you’re in the business of unpicking his secrets, might as well go with the one you already know about.

So he's a she, big whoop, wadna fite aboudit?

Felt the same way the first time.

>>44456691
>/tg/ has no sense of restraint and harems become cancer.
Gotta disagree there. Varies dramatically, and there are certainly poorly done single romance quests. That one guard quest comes to mind.

>>44456732
>3. Move straight onto the dragon topic. If you’re in the business of unpicking his secrets, might as well go with the one you already know about.

>>44456732
>1. Continue on as if nothing happened. It doesn’t mean much in the end.

>>44456732
Combine 3 and 1.

>>44456732
>2. Confirm with Lynn what you’re pretty much certain of, giving him/her a chance to come out with it.

>>44456794
Name me a quest with a harem that's not infected with character bloat.

>>44456732
>>1. Continue on as if nothing happened. It doesn’t mean much in the end.

>>44456834
Background Character Quest. Didn't feel there was a lot of bloating in there.

>>44456834
KoH's Gundam quest. Crosgrov's bleach quest (though being a bleach quest I'm sure it would have had character bloat eventually). A few of the harem DBZ quests.

>>44456732
>3. Move straight onto the dragon topic. If you’re in the business of unpicking his secrets, might as well go with the one you already know about.
should really let her know we know that we think she is a dragon

>>44456732
>1

We know dragon power is useful, gender don't matter when you can steamroll a field of knights.

>>44456732
>1. Continue on as if nothing happened. It doesn’t mean much in the end.

>>44456918
I think you meant to vote for three

>>44456732
>giving Lynn the time to snap his visor back up
what type of helmet is Lynn wearing? I can't picture it from the way you described it.

>>44456901
>DBZ quests

pls

I haven't read and/or weren't interested in those quests, but the quests I follow or have followed suffered from a common problem where people literally lose track of who the people in the harem were because there were too many and plot and harem antics were competing for time.

Agree to disagree, but I don't see it especially considering the past history of the quest.

>>44456944
No, gender doesn't mean much in the end, and Lynn wants to keep it hidden. No need to let slip we know and cause undue stress. we got bidness to discuss.

>>44457011
three is to talk about the dragon stuff not gender

>>44456732
>1. Continue on as if nothing happened. It doesn’t mean much in the end.

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>>44456974
It's basically the Elite Knight Helm from Dark Souls but she also wears a balaclava under it. It probably should have been 'snap his visor back down'.

>1.

Shrugging mentally, you approach Lynn and take a seat on the grass next to him. Her.

That was going to take a bit of getting used to. In fact, until Lynn cared to reveal it to others you might just keep thinking of her as a him. That way you don’t have to parse every sentence you speak about him to make sure you don’t unexpectedly reveal his secret. You don’t know who else knows, but the fact that you didn’t know either means you have somehow missed something extremely obvious or that it is a secret.

“I wanted to check with you about tomorrow,” you say. “Everything I’ve heard about Volante from my sources indicate he’s exceptionally dangerous.”

Lynn seems to take a while to recover his senses. He responds after a while, the artificial lilting tone from his helmet back, “All battles are dangerous and an exceptionally dangerous foe is just a challenge.”

You click your tongue. “Let me rephrase that. Fighting Volante sounds like the sort of situation that could end up with your head on the other side of the battlefield to your body due to one misstep.”

“You sound like a Darlesian,” Lynn says, this time with his true voice as he snaps his visor up and resume eating.

>continued

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>>44457100
“I’m not saying we’re going to lose, merely that he’s far more dangerous than most foes. I know you’re an absolutely excellent knight and have a lot of power in you but he’s going to be more dangerous than both the daywalkers we fought at Harrowmont.”

Lynn nods, mouth full as he chews on the charred spuds that fill much of his plate. Turning your head to look out over the enemy encampments, you wait for him to finish. You now wish you’d brought a drink of your own out here.

“I’ll be serious when I fight him. If he’s worrying you with his strength then I can’t do anything less,” he says. “I’m glad to see you’re aware of my power, though. I was uncertain at first if you’d noticed.”

You’re… not sure what he’s getting at. Though there is still the dragon topic, which is what you’d meant by power. You…

>1. Mention to Lynn you’re aware he’s a dragon.
>2. Don’t be explicit but do point out that if Lynn doesn’t want people to find out what his power is he needs to hide it better.
>3. Don’t broach the topic at all.
>4. Custom

And yeah, I'm still undecided over whether to use 'he' or 'she' for Lynn. The main thing is that I'm trying to avoid using 'she' at an inappropriate time in dialogue, but if people would prefer me to refer to Lynn using her real gender then let me know.

>>44456996
okay, how about dragon quest? One of the greatest /tg/ quests of all time, spawned dozens of imitators, and one continuation in the same universe.

>>44457128
>1. Mention to Lynn you’re aware he’s a dragon.

>>44457128
>>1. Mention to Lynn you’re aware he’s a dragon.

>And yeah, I'm still undecided over whether to use 'he' or 'she' for Lynn.

He should be a he.

>>44457128
>1. Mention to Lynn you’re aware he’s a dragon.

>>44457128
>>1. Mention to Lynn you’re aware he’s a dragon.

>>44457128
>1. Mention to Lynn you’re aware he’s a dragon.

>>44457128
>2. Don’t be explicit but do point out that if Lynn doesn’t want people to find out what his power is he needs to hide it better.

>And yeah, I'm still undecided over whether to use 'he' or 'she' for Lynn. The main thing is that I'm trying to avoid using 'she' at an inappropriate time in dialogue, but if people would prefer me to refer to Lynn using her real gender then let me know.
Stick with 'he' if you're worried about confusion, just have Saul remind himself that she's actually a woman from time to time.

>>44457128
>1
need to make sure all our assets are accounted for. we might have a few pointers too.

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>1.

“Well, yes, I did notice you were a dragon,” you say, openly voicing your knowledge of Lynn’s race. “A little different from what is apparently usual, but definitely a dragon.”

Gnome had voiced to you something about Lynn’s power being odd for a dragon. With what little experience and knowledge you had of dragons you couldn’t definitively say whether it was odd – a sample size of one was rather laughable. You hadn’t seen enough to guess age, however.

“Oh, well, that’s just a parentage thing,” Lynn says, rubbing the back of his neck before swigging some ale.

“Parentage aside, you should be more careful with your power. It’s not always so noticeable but you shouldn’t be flinging around so much power outside of battle,” you say, thinking back on the threats to dragons you’d read about. “Not everybody who notices will be as understanding as I am and there’s plenty of people who will actively attack you, mages and hunters alike.”

“You certainly don’t seem to worry about that,” Lynn mutters, a tad petulantly and reminding you very much of her femininity. Then she winces and apologises, “I suppose I don’t quite have your power to get away with that. Do you have any ideas for keeping it more secret whilst using it?”

>continued

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>>44457418
This certainly wasn’t your area of expertise. Staring out into space you ran back through the various conversations with Lyria regarding how she moved through society. She’s said something about colour being important – blue, white and black were more talented at magic and so might be able to hide their presence.

“Are you blue, white or black?” you ask Lynn.

“Eh? Um, black,” he says.

“Well, I’ve heard from a much older dragon that there’s often ways to hide your magic so that it looks like evocation. I can’t really help with that myself but if there’s a mage who already knows…” you trail off, hoping for him to pick it up.

“I can speak to Maloric about that. He’s helped me with learning a lot about my powers,” Lynn says, then gives you a smile. “Thank you, Saul. Even with Maloric it’s hard to openly discuss this sort of thing. He doesn’t understand like we do.”

>Anything you want to say or talk to Lynn about?

I’ll probably end the thread after this.

>>44457436
Do you still prefer us referring you as a boy in front of your men?

>>44457436
Aspir, does she think we are a dragon?

"Why do you keep your gender hidden?"

>>44457436
Is Lynn our token black friend?

Also, does she know Saul only has a dragon familiar?

In character, we could ask her about her impressions/opinions on how things are going with the army. Whether she has any particular goals in the near future we should be aware of.