But first, let's have a look at your stats, shall we? You'll notice you do have some exp. You get one point per session, regardless. You also get additional points for IC excellence (good roleplaying), OOC enhancement (things like fanart or particularly impassioned waifu shitposting), a dramatic turn in the plot (if engineered by you), and any time one of your Problems rears its ugly head. In this case, finding out that your Hated Enemy is plotting an attempt on your life. That was a lucky stroke, and so you get the exp now rather than when it actually happens.

Jakob Absol, Swamp Lord

Exp: 3

BODY: 2
COORDINATION: 2
SENSE: 3
Eerie: +1
KNOWLEDGE: 4
Counterspell: +3
Sorcery: +4
Strategy: +2
Tactics: +2
COMMAND: 4
Haggle: +1
Inspire: +3
Intimidate: +1
CHARM: 2

ADVANTAGES:
Lucky 1 (one reroll per session on a roll where NO sets turn up)
Thick Headed 1 (one extra wound box in the head)
Status 3 (Lord of the Absol Swamp, FREE for plot reasons)
Followers 5 (10 Threat 4 Unworthy Opponents, the Last Loyal, FREE for picking Swamp)
Possession ? (Castle Briarfast, FREE for plot reasons)
Literacy ? (Vartynen, FREE for plot reasons)
Wealth 3
Spells (1)
Spells (1)
Spells (3)
Spells (3)

PROBLEMS:
Hated Enemy (+1 xp whenever the Hated Enemy harms or inconveniences you)

PASSIONS:
Mission: Solidify your hold on the Absol Swamp
Duty: Be a lord your people and ancestors would be proud of
Craving: Find a worthy and powerful wife

SPELLS:
Aqueous Divination (Sense): Weather Wisdom, Clearwater Oracle
Smoke Sculpting (Knowledge): Minor Smoke Form, Smoke Arrow
The Way of the Wood (Knowledge): Blossom Freshness
Wings of Words (Knowledge): Soar, Words of Lesser Attunement, Minor Lightning Stroke

>>4486377
>Hated Enemy
Hey, that my future potential wife your talking about there!

That is, if she doesn't kill me first...

And in just a minute I'll post the full details on every single one of your spells, a task that will surely be less onerous in the future since I probably won't have to do eight at once.

>>4486377
Oh boy, I'm sure looking forward hoarding all our exp until something cool comes along

AQUEOUS DIVINATION (Sense)
Name: Weather Wisdom
Intensity: 1
Casting Time: Five minutes
Duration: Instant
Attunement: No
Effect: The caster runs water over his elbow or knee and, looking at it, understands what the next day’s weather is likely to be. Note that this predicts the weather’s natural course only. If a sorcerer decides to call up a snowstorm or still the winds, Weather Wisdom isn’t going to forecast that.

Name: Clearwater Oracle
Intensity: 3
Casting Time: Six minutes
Duration: Height in minutes
Attunement: No
Effect: This spell requires a bowl of clean, clear water, into which the caster gazes while casting the spell. It targets one person and gives a vision of that person’s future. It is not possible to ask questions of the Clearwater Oracle or pursue specific information. It just shows what it shows. No one can receive a Clearwater Oracle more than once a week – or, rather, casting it successfully within that time only reveals the same vision. As for what it shows, that depends on the roll. If the roll is a success, the caster rolls again. The second roll has no Difficulty from Intensity, and the pool is equal to the Height of the casting roll or the character’s Sense+Sorcery pool, whichever is higher. All the sets and all the Waste Dice contribute to the vision, according to the following chart.

Roll Topic (if Set Height) Detail (if Waste)
1 Embarrassing social mishap Someone of unusual appearance
2 Bizarre Coincidence Atypical weather
3 Disaster Misfortune
4 Deceit Someone or something unseen
5 Obstacle to goals An old acquaintance or enemy
6 Family A relative
7 Travel or weather A vehicle
8 Opportunity A treasure
9 Conflict A weapon
10 Romance A tall, dark man or woman

>>4486410

Aw well, it mucked up the formatting on Clearwater Oracle, but I think you can get the gist of it. I'll fix it next thread.

SMOKE SCULPTING (Knowledge)
Name: Minor Smoke Form
Intensity: 1
Casting Time: Slow 2
Duration: Height in hours
Attunement: No
Effect: Th is spell creates a simple object made of smokemass. Th e object can’t be any larger than roughly a double handful of matter. If drawn out thin, it can’t be taller than the caster, or if made into a flat plate it can’t have more surface than the dimensions of the caster’s torso. Simple items like a six-foot length of rope, a bucket or a spear are easy. More complicated devices (such as a block and tackle, or a saddle) require the character to first succeed at a relevant Expert skill.

Name: Smoke Arrow
Intensity: 1
Casting Time: Combative
Duration: Instant
Attunement: No
Effect: The caster must take a lungful of smoke and breathe it out violently across her frantically weaving fingers to cast this spell. (This spell requires not only hands to cast, but lips and tongue as well, so the caster can’t speak while using it.) Th e missile created only exists for a moment, but it streaks from the caster to the target in that time, impacting with a needle sharp tip. It does Width in Killing damage. This spell can be parried or dodged, but it cannot be counterspelled.

THE WAY OF THE WOOD (Knowledge)
Name: Blossom Freshness
Intensity: 1
Casting Time: One minute
Duration: Instant
Attunement: No
Effect: This minor enchantment cleans and freshens one person, object or animal selected by the caster. It has to be a discrete item or creature, and it can’t be bigger than a horse. This is basically the equivalent of giving it a good cleaning with soap and water. To cast this spell, you have a flower of some description. The spell consumes the blossom. Blossom Freshness is possibly the most widely
known and most popular spell in the world.

WINGS OF WORDS (Knowledge)
Name: Soar
Intensity: 3
Casting Time: Slow 3
Duration: Width in Hours
Attunement: Yes
Effect: The caster can take to the air and fly at his base running speed. He can hover and stop at will.

Name: Words of Lesser Attunement
Intensity 3
Casting Time: Combative
Duration: Until next spell cast
Attunement: No
Effect: This is the temporary attunement spell for wingspeakers. It is three syllables that, when spoken, align one with sky magic until the next spell is cast.

Name: Minor Lightning Stroke
Intensity: 3
Casting Time: Combative
Duration: Instant
Attunement: Yes
Effect: Lightning blazes out of the caster's mouth and does Width+3 Shock to the indicated location on one target within eighty paces.

Too much information? Terms you don't understand? That's fine, it'll all make sense later. The big thing to know is that the point is to roll a dicepool and get sets of matching numbers. The number of matching numbers of the same type is called the Width, the value of the matching numbers is called the Height. So if you roll three fives, that's a Width of 3 and a Height of 5 on that set. With that said, let's get started!

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As bizarre as this is you're not going to follow a strange wolf off into the darkness of the rice paddies with just Cailm for backup. Absolutely not. Ahead, the village is a riot of sound and light, and with significantly less risk of death by canine mauling or worse, wet feet. Like most of the Absol Swamp's villages, its buildings are mostly timber with peaked, mossy roofs. Most of them are elevated on stilts, due to the terrain, and connected by bridges.

This is less about fear of flooding, and more about the fact that crocodiles aren't shy about waddling their way into someone's house, nosing about in search of an unattended chicken coop, pigpen, or child's bedroom. At the village's hub, with bridges sloping down to meet it, is a dry patch of ground with a raging bonfire lit, and even from here you can see the silhouettes of dancers and hear the beating of drums. Smoky torches of woven sweetgrass have been placed at key intersections and lit to ward off mosquitoes. Scarcely have you entered the village's perimeter than a curly-haired girl carrying a tray gives you each a kiss on the cheek and presses a big tankard of ale into your hand. You take an appraising sip, and are a little bit surprised. This is Ledo Ale, imported from the grasslands to the east. This isn't rice wine or mushroom beer. Someone got this in trade, most likely. For you, it's not a grand expenditure, but you're not a rice farmer.

You can't help but notice that most of the town's younger folk are dancing at the bonfire, while the elders are sitting in benches against the buildings, immersed in serious conversation. Everywhere you look, there is food, likely the last of the winter stores and the first of the spring game, and flowing drink. Cailm is already making his way towards the bonfire.

>Follow Cailm and go dance and talk to girls
>Split off from Cailm and join the serious conversation of the elders

>>4486389

Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a way to get more hated enemies. That's how these quests tend to go and why I preemptively picked it up.

>>4486432
>Split off from Cailm and join the serious conversation of the elders

>>4486436
Oh boy, time to find new aging unfulfilled raging dykes to make life long enemies of

>>4486443

Technically she was more than a lifelong enemy because she hated him since BEFORE he was born.

>>4486432
>Follow Cailm and go dance and talk to girls

Cailm invited us out so we can enjoy ourselves.

>>4486450
I suppose we could just find a self-righteous young man to mercilessly mock every time we encounter one another instead.

>>4486450
Well we did also go waaaay out of our way to antagonize her ontop of that

We've a vote for each option, I'll give it to the tiebreaker.

>>4486475
Welp hopefully the other find the new thread quickly then

Just so we can break this tie, I'll just go ahead and change my vote
>>4486452
to
>Split off from Cailm and join the serious conversation of the elders

>>4486432

>Split off from Cailm and join the serious conversation of the elders

It's a time for celebration after all. If we wanted to hear old people talk our ears off, we would've stayed at Castle Briarfast.

>>4486502

Did you accidentally pick the wrong one? Since your post indicates dancing.

>>4486500

Ah, you don't have to, I have a three-vote minimum except at very awkward hours.

>>4486502

Whoops, supposed to be

>Follow Cailm and go dance and talk to girls

>>4486432
>>Split off from Cailm and join the serious conversation of the elders


someone should create a pastebin for those stats

Changing the vote made it a tie again. Amazing.

>>4486520

Nope I was wrong, elders it is!

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You let Cailm go. You're not the best at talking to people individually. Smalltalk is a hard skill, growing up, when your father is possibly the most powerful sorcerer in the entire kingdom. Your oratory is quite impressive, your rhetoric strong and crisp, but you just can't turn the weather or the crops or the miller's daughter having an affair with the baker's son into a topic of conversation for long...and on a night like this you don't particularly feel like being shot down in favor of your best friend. Even if you weren't, it would be unkind to the girl in question, leading her on. These are, for the most part, good people and down by that bonfire the seeds are being laid for the year's upcoming marriages. Marriages you won't be taking part in. No, you can't get excited about these regular village girls with their dreams of a new comb and a new dress. You hunger for a woman who can speak with you as an equal, a woman with will and force. With a sigh, you let him go ahead, and head for the nearest congregation of elders, drinking your ale on the way. Middle-aged and older men and women, with a few ambitious youngsters are clustered around a particularly prominent table listening in as a man so portly, bald, and red that he resembles a wizened apple declaims on the problems the rest of the realm has clearly brought on its own head.

“...Now if you ask me, these rumors of a dragon in the mountains are just a Ryd trick. You could lose an army up there, up in the canyons. Besides, dragons are creatures of legend, of myth, what are the odds one would just SHOW up now? Pfah!” The apple-man slaps his knee. You recognize his black robes abruptly, he was one of the village headmen from the funeral. No wonder he's occupying such a prominent spot. “One dragon? Just popping out of nowhere like a daisy midst the mire? No mate, no forebears, just a fully grown dragon, easy as you please? No, no...if you ask me, the Ryds are hoping to cozen the surrounding provinces and His Majesty into sending troops. They'll sleep at Ryd inns, gamble in Ryd dens, buy Ryd provisions, and old Londo Ryd will wring his hands and say 'I can't give it away for free, think of the glory, noble dragonslayers' as the coins roll into his pocket. You, boy, you've got sharp eyes.” He heaves himself to his feet, checks your tankard, and refills it from a keg with a toothy smile, “What do you think of my little theory?”

>Well, what do you think of it?

>>4486546
>It's the kind of sneaky underhanded business tactics that those mountain dwellers would come up with to fleece hard earned coin from honest pockets

>>4486546

For the record, the village headman is not Australian political candidate Clive Palmer, his was simply the first face that popped into my head. Googling "fat bald old man" is never a good time.

Oh, by the way, everyone start rolling d10s. As usual, you can post as many times as you like, don't hold off to be polite or give other people a chance to roll. First come, first served.

>>4486546
"in my knowledge in dragons, atleast most of them, usually create a nest near or in a large pile of treasure, as far as i know Ryd isn't particularly rich in anything but poverty. you may have a point sir, so the new lord swell guy huh?"

that's a terrible Segue but i would like to subtlety move the topic.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>4486559

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>4486559
Like right now?

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>4486568
>>4486571
Aaayyy nice

>>4486559
More dice

>>4486564

The Mountains' best stat is actually Treasure. Swamp is Might. Forest is Influence. Island is Sovereignty. Tundra is Territory. Plains are an all-rounder.

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>4486559
Dice for Wong's crippling dice addiction

>>4486546

"To be fair, Ryd does have it's share of large game in the mountain valleys. However, given the way they mistake goats for people, they probably saw a large snake and think it was a dragon. All that thin air can't be great for their health"

Shit-talk the Ryds a little to break the ice, and then try to steer it a bit towards what they think of Albeda not being at the funeral. It's bound to be a bit of hot gossip going around the villages if people have some loose lips. Plus we may get some tip-offs about who might be in league with her if they mention anyone else who was not there that should've been.

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>4486591

Forgot the dice

a 2x9 and a standalone 10 already! Hot damn! You still have, as I type this, minimum five more dice because as I think about it you are both being a good lord and rallying your swampmen against the R*ds and using the opportunity to segue into solidifying power with that bit about Albeda.

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>4486559
I've already rolled a nat 1 and a nat 10
What else is there left to roll

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>4486598

Another die cast, another insult about Ryddish women being more of a man than half the Ryddish men.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>4486559
All the dice

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>4486559

One more onto the heap.

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>4486559
I think we've rolled everything but a 2 amd a 8

Rolled 5, 5, 10, 4, 3 = 27 (5d10)

>>4486606

Nice. We got a 2 previously, but now we got a real High set of 10s to pick.

>>4486606

2x10 on a roll where Height matters. You absolute lucky devils.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>4486610
Ah I missed the 2 somehow
>>4486559

Diiiiiice

>>4486613

Turns out, Jakob likes to talk, at least when it's shit-talking our neighbours.

>>4486619
>>4486613
Nothing like stirring National pride at the cost of our neighbours reputation amongst the peasants

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“Let me tell you what I think...” You begin, your voice low, but intense. You see surprise on the faces around you, they clearly just expected an aye or nay, but they lean in close as your tone draws them in, “I think it's the exact kind of sneaky, underhanded business tactics those mountain devils would come up with to fleece coin from honest pockets.”

“Too right!” The village headman chimes in, but you have the wheel now. This is your conversation.

“Just as you said.” You deftly include him in your oratory, let him know that he's a great headman, the best headman, he's a tributary of your river, “Now, lest I be unfair, Ryd does have its share of large game in the mountain valleys. However, given the way they mistake their goats for maidens, they likely saw an errant rock python and mistook it for a dragon. Hallucinations induced by the thin air, you understand." Your tone, your cadence, is perfect. It doesn't flow to you immediately, but like a rock rolling downhill once you start you find the flow of speech entirely natural, especially as your audience reacts. Smiles, laughter, and more than one firm pat on the back. "In my knowledge of dragons, at least most of them create their nests near or on a large pile of treasure. As far as I know, Lord Ryd has one of those, maybe he's the dragon, eh?" You guffaw, and the crowd laughs with you. “In which case, he'd best be wary if he cries crocodile tears and comes begging for our aid. Rent's due, and with interest for those thieves.” You sit back and take a long, WELL deserved pull on your ale, seeing that you said exactly what needs to be said, but you aren't done. While their ears are open and their minds receptive, you slip it in there, “Speaking of the landlord, is it true the sorceress Albeda wasn't at the funeral?” You shoot a glance at the headman, including him again.

[Continue]

>>4486624
>amongst the peasants
you mean the realm, i think them asking for a war party to the king means everyone has heard of it.

>>4486655
I mean, us, we are using historic tensions to rally the lads, all while shitting on the neighbors and making our peasants think less of said neighbors somehow

>>4486667
fair enough, although we are in for a world of shit if there is a dragon there and refugees go flooding in.

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He frowns, “Aye, boy, she wasn't. How'd you hear about that?” He looks at you, eyes slightly narrowed, “Funny, I know every swain and maid in this village, just like I knew their Ma's and Pa's. Yours though, I don't know.” He smiles suddenly, “Down from the castle, are you? Gods, boy, you should've said. I can't blame you for wanting to sneak off and live wild a bit.” He chuckles and wags a finger in a you-can't-get-past-me gesture.

“He and the pretty blonde boy, grandpapa. I saw them come across the bridge a bit after that fellow with the braided beard.” The curly haired girl who served you your first drink passes by with her tray, and plants a kiss on top of the old man's big, red, bald egg of a head, “That's from Widow Lacheby.”

“HO!” He laughs and smacks his knee, “Worth getting out the good ale, then! Told you, girl, no man can drink a cellar by himself.”

“Too right.” You agree, but you're a hard ship to steer, “I still can't believe she wasn't there.” You shake your head, disappointment etched into your features, “After all, she was m'lord's apprentice, and practically family.”

“Too right.” It's his turn to say it now, “After all old Arnveis did for her after the dancing fever took her parents. Raised her, taught her, mentored her, and she just leaves that poor lad to stand there alone watching his father vanish into the dark. Bloody ungrateful!” He takes a vindictive swig of his own ale.

“Can you blame her?” Sometimes when you've got a fish hooked, you'll be reeling and then feel something bigger latch onto your catch. This is one of those times. The man in question has been sitting silent so far, not laughing, not drinking. He's cadaverously thin, with bulging sort of eyes and a single long braid hanging from his chin down to his belt. His clothes are stained with moss, the hem of his cloak wet, “After being usurped like that?”

The assemblage stares at him. He blinks, smiles disarmingly, and spreads his hands wide, “The rule of the Absol Swamp is the rule of mages. She is a hawk before which the callow sparrow in Castle Briarfast cannot stand.”

[Continue]

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“Lord Jakob is Lord Arnveis' son, stranger.” The headman doesn't seem so drunk, suddenly, or so jovial. Being reminded of a common enemy does that. It makes people rally around the banner, makes them bristle at slights to their leaders.

“Albeda was a daughter of the spirit. Lord Arnveis himself called her an Absol. Is not the law of inheritance thus? She is the elder, and the stronger, and thus the rightful heir. We have no one's word but those invested in controlling Jakob the Hasty that his father even chose him...and as I hear it, by then Arnveis the Black was blind, his body and mind melting away.” The braided-beard man's voice is smooth as oil, but smoothness and a technical argument only go so far. Unsurprisingly, you see heads swivel towards you, awaiting your reply.

>[Your 2x10 obliterated his 2x5, and you won the contest. Annihilate this fool verbally. Or order him executed, he IS speaking treason. Up to you.]

>>4486677
>Annihilate verbally

Humiliation is the best defense. Nip this treason in the bud before it spreads.

>>4486677
>Even at his most feeble Arnveis the Black was of sounder body and mind than right near any man, woman or beast within his domain. By questioning his dying guidance you are suggesting your own superiority over Arnveis the Black and that's a very dangerous line of thinking...
The nerve of some people

>>4486693

Oh, I should have been more clear, kindly provide guidance as to what you wish to say to him.

Oh and just for fun give me some more d10s.

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>4486677
>>4486696
Sounds good to me.

>>4486704

>>4486699
Not gonna lie, shooting him in the junk with our Taser Lightning is pretty tempting

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>4486704
Ah yes, dice for fun

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>4486704
You and your fucking dice addiction mate...

>>4486677
I see the Ryd's don't just stay with a mountain up their ass, they'd like to fleece the swamp of their lord as well.

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You lean forwards towards the braided man, your expression deathly serious, “Even at his most feeble Arnveis the Black was of sounder body and mind than right near any man, woman or beast within his domain. By questioning his dying guidance you are suggesting your own superiority of judgment over Arnveis the Black.” You repeat his name for emphasis. “That is a very dangerous line of thinking...”

The braided-beard man blanches, as if expecting the cold hand of the dead lord to descend on his shoulder, but you're just a boy, one he thinks is a servant from the castle, “How would you know the state of his mind, eh potboy? They let you out of the scullery for that, did they now?” He replies in a nasty tone of voice, “Were you there?”

>[Yes, witnesses were required (maintain servant facade) Charm+Lie]
>[No, but everyone says it happened that way! (maintain servant facade better but give ground in the argument) No roll required]
>[Yes, yes I was. (cast Minor Smoke Shape, gather a handful of smoke from the nearby mosquito-torch, weave it into the shape of your funeral mask, put it on, and stare him down, discarding the facade entirely) Command+Intimidate]
>[Yes, yes I was. (Cast Words of Lesser Attunement + Minor Lightning Stroke and give this traitor a shock) Knowledge+Sorcery]

>>4486717
>[Yes, yes I was. (Cast Words of Lesser Attunement + Minor Lightning Stroke and give this traitor a shock) Knowledge+Sorcery]
UNLIMITED POWAH

>>4486721
>>4486722

Oi! Keep rolling dice!

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>4486725

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>4486717
>[Yes, yes I was. (cast Minor Smoke Shape, gather a handful of smoke from the nearby mosquito-torch, weave it into the shape of your funeral mask, put it on, and stare him down, discarding the facade entirely) Command+Intimidate]

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>4486725

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>4486717
Yup I'm gonna be greedy
>[Yes, yes I was. (cast Minor Smoke Shape, gather a handful of smoke from the nearby mosquito-torch, weave it into the shape of your funeral mask, put it on, and stare him down, discarding the facade entirely) Command+Intimidate]
>[Yes, yes I was. (Cast Words of Lesser Attunement + Minor Lightning Stroke and give this traitor a shock) Knowledge+Sorcery]

>>4486725
MORE DICE

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>4486717
>>[Yes, yes I was. (cast Minor Smoke Shape, gather a handful of smoke from the nearby mosquito-torch, weave it into the shape of your funeral mask, put it on, and stare him down, discarding the facade entirely
>>4486725

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>4486728
>>4486735
Pretty sure multi-casting isn't possible, atleast at our level.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>4486725
Additional DICE

>>4486738
we'd have to do it one after the other which should still produce the desired effect

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>4486717

>[Yes, yes I was. (cast Minor Smoke Shape, gather a handful of smoke from the nearby mosquito-torch, weave it into the shape of your funeral mask, put it on, and stare him down, discarding the facade entirely) Command+Intimidate]

"Hawks are fit for chasing down small vermin and livestock, not ruling Castle Briarfast. If she were truly an Absol in her heart, she would know this and obey her new falconer, rather than fly free to be picked off by a stray arrow."

Form a shadow arrow and fling it into the table for emphasis on this point.

>>4486728

It would take several sets. Moreover...alright, time to explain MULTIPLE ACTIONS. Let's say I want to both dodge and hit someone with my sword, how do I do that? Yes, by the way, unintuitive as it is, if you want to defend against attacks and not just rely on armor or hope your enemy misses, you have to actively make Dodge or Parry rolls. What you do is take the lower dicepool, and remove one die for each extra action you're trying to do, then roll and hope you get a set for each action. Now, there are common martial techniques (and I believe one for Counterspell) that lets you not lose dice for certain types of multiple actions, but as it is trying to use three spells in one turn is VERY hard.

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>4486725
Man, I missed rolling endless d10s

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>4486725

Adding some dice to the pool.

>>4486746

Right on, thanks for the heads-up. Good things to know for when we get stuck in later on.

>>4486738

I think it is, looking it up now

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>4486746
I see
Well than I'll changemy vote to just the smoke mask
I failed to remember Lightning requires the attunement spell to be cast before hand
>>4486725
Diiiiiice

>>4486746
Right, changing my vote to
>[Yes, yes I was. (Cast Words of Lesser Attunement + Minor Lightning Stroke and give this traitor a shock) Knowledge+Sorcery]
right in the penis and testicles

Rolled 1, 6, 3, 2, 7, 2 = 21 (6d10)

Rolled 5, 2, 7, 1, 3, 1 = 19 (6d10)

>>4486765

Pretty sure with that set of 2x2 versus our 2x7s, we made him look like a little bitch in front of most of the village.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>4486725
Lalalala dice

Keep rolling dice, this is going to be good.

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>4486765
>>4486766

jenny has some company in the dungeon tonight

>>4486767

He failed to Counterspell you hard.

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>4486770

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>4486770
Okay

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>4486773

git rekt scrub

>>4486774
>>4486776

Oh my god.

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>4486776
>>4486774
>>4486770

Well then

>>4486774
>>4486776
>>4486780

that poor man

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>4486770

Lets see if we get some more 10s for that Width

Maybe he'll stop you this time long enough for what he's trying to do.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>4486780
>>4486776
>>4486774
>>4486778
Hey Wong
Triple 10's now

Rolled 8, 3, 6, 7, 4, 4 = 32 (6d10)

>>4486784

Oops, forgot to roll

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>4486784

Hopefully whatever he was planning didn't involve having kids in the future is we went with the zap to the dick.

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>>4486782
Basically what's happening

>>4486786
pathetic

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>4486725

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>4486725
UNLIMITED DICE POWER

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Rolled 3 (1d10)

>Man, this pot-scrubber is talking mad shit about m'lady, better shut him up.
>Eh? He likes the little lordling? Who the fuck does he think he is?
>Oh cute, he's casting some spells. Time to show him who's boss.
>Oh shit oh fuck, what the fuck is this? Fuckfuckfuck

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>4486725

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>4486796
>>4486725
This guy,
Is gonna have one hell of a bad day

>>4486788

Well, the thing with attacks and attack spells is, height indicates location. 10 is a headshot.

>>4486803
pretty please OP :)

>>4486803
Welp. rip dumb foreigner I guess..

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>4486803
>Headshot
Oof
F's in the chat for this scrub then

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“Yes. Yes I was.” You casually run your fingers through the smoky plume rising up from one of the mosquito torces, and gather it in your palm. Doing sorcery is a bit like wiggling your ears, it's hard to explain how you manipulate your body's arcane energy flow to solidify it with each brush of your fingers, but you never forget how. You spin the grey strands between your fingers, press them out flat, and begin to weave them.

“You? A stripling boy? A fucking castle servant?” His voice grows higher-pitched, “Bullshit. Look a man in the eye when he's talking to you!” He swings his hand, not at you, but through the air, the force of his will like a slap aimed at stopping the mischief you're up to, whatever it is. Likely as a mage himself, which he must be, he takes offense at you casually playing with magic. Perhaps he assumes you think you're hot shit for knowing a minor spell you stole from some book in Arnveis' library. Or perhaps he's slowly, subconsciously realizing the truth.

“Famous last words.” You say, almost sadly, as you don the mask of smokemass. A roiling, flaming eye of grey and white. You speak three unpronouncable yet profound syllables as you stand up, and feel the sudden rush of wind in your ears, the crackle of lightning in your veins.

“WOLVES, TO ME!” Oh the fool. You can see his face grow pale as he realizes that his own fear of you has attenuated the air of command he would need to activate that spell. You were right. The wolf you saw was one he called. The spell in question is one you've heard of before, it summons wolves from afar, and though it takes but a second to call them, they still take time to arrive. He must have summoned them elsewhere, walked nearly to the village with them, bid them stay, and went inside, knowing he could call them again in a heartbeat...if he wasn't under so much pressure. His voice, which should have carried throughout the village and into the countryside, is more of a loud croak.

You shake your head, and YOUR voice fills the air like a thunderclap. Every head in the village turns as a bolt of vivid blue lightning from your mouth hits him square in the face. It knocks him out of his chair, it knocks him tumbling, limp as a ragdoll, off the raised stilt porch of the headman's house. He misses the bridge, and goes right into the mire with a wet splat.

>[Address your people]

>>4486816

I'm gonna explain this. So when I said it deals Shock damage, that's not an elemental thing. There are two major types of damage, Shock and Killing. Shock batters you, can inflict penalties, becomes Killing if a location's Wound Boxes are completely full of Shock damage, and if your head is full of Shock, you're unconscious. The normal number of Wound Boxes in the head is 4. You did 6. You brutally knocked him out in one blow.

>>4486822
so we wounded him as well?

>>4486822

You also fucked up his spell. Your Intimidation roll gave him a penalty to cast his spell in this circumstance as he realized that he was dealing with an actual Sorcerer and not just some rude teenager. This means you didn't have to fight wolves, and now, presumably, they'll go back to their wolf homes.

>>4486827

Yes, he's unconscious with some nasty burns. Of the four Wound Boxes in his head, two are full of Killing (from the 6 Shock wrapping around), two are full of Shock.

>>4486831
Is it possible for us to capture the wolves and tame them?

>>4486819
>"ayy"

>>4486819
Well shit
Time to bust out that new Nickname

>Someone drag that fool out of the mire, he deserves to rot in my prison not drown pathetically in the dark. And the rest of you... TONIGHT is an eve of celebration, A celebration of the final chapter of Arnveis the Black being the first chapter of his successor Jakob The Whispering Eye!
>Down whatever is left in your mug
Something like this I guess

>>4486822
Ah yes, no such thing as dealing TOO much stun damage

>>4486836

It would be exactly like capturing and taming any normal wolves. They're not magic wolves or special wolves, they're just wolves called by a practitioner of the Night Hunter school (and this spell requires Attunement) using the Call the Pack spell.

>>4486840
I didn't think they were magical or anything, I just didn't want a potential resource to go to waste, If we didn't have any domesticated dogs already.

>>4486838

It also explains why the "mere" Width+0 Killing Smoke Arrow does isn't actually bad. Especially considering it's Intensity 1 and requires no Attunement. Lightning Stroke (Minor Lightning Stroke's big brother) is Intensity 4 and also does Width Killing, but requires Attunement and ALSO does one point of damage to every other location indicated by the waste dice (dice that aren't in sets) of the roll in question. I like Smoke Arrow because it can't be counterspelled, it's not great against sword autists with good Dodge pools and the Monkey Dodge esoteric secrets (oh you thought only MAGES get schools of special abilities?) but it has plenty of utility and if you ever fight a sword autist you should cheat as hard as you can and not engage them in an honorable face-to-face duel.

>>4486851

Your castle probably does have a kennel and hounds. Dogs exist, they're a thing.

>>4486819

bartender! next round's on me!

>>4486819

Time for drinks all round. After all, we came here to party, did we not?

>>4486865
>>4486863
IT'S A CELEBRATION, SO CELEBRATE DAMN IT
Smash mug on floor

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You walk up to the edge of the porch, and as you do, you put your hand on the headman's shoulder. “Your loyalty.” You say quietly, approvingly “Has been seen, and it will not be forgotten.” You move past him, and point down at the pathetic figure of the lupomancer in the muck. Despite your plain clothes, the firelight flickers eerily off your pallid mask, casting it in the hues of the blaze, but muted and distorted.

“Someone drag that fool out of the mire, he deserves to rot in the dungeons of Briarfast, not drown here before he can speak. As for the rest of you.” You spread your arms wide, “When I came amongst you as a stranger, I found men and women proud and leal, people my father was proud to lead. People I am proud to lead. Tonight is an eve of celebration, a celebration of Arnveis the Black's final glorious chapter, and the first pages in the story of his successor, Jakob the Whispering Eye!”

There are muffled whispers. You cut a strange, intimidating figure, but everyone saw you just drop a traitor mage in one blow, and stylishly too. You delivered what can only be called an eldritch manhandling to him. Someone cheers, and it's like the bursting of a dam. You see the flash of Cailm's smile, and hear a “WOO!” As he hoists a tankard overhead, surrounded by village girls. Applause and praise hit you like a wave. For this village, at least, your rule has been proven.

“My first command is this! I banish your sobriety! Drink! Feast! Dance! Love! TO THE SWAMP!” You toast, and drain your tankard in one long pull, foam dripping down your chin. It's going to be a long, glorious night.

And with that, it's bedtime. I'm feeling pretty into it and want to get some worldbuilding in, so Saturday afternoon and evening I'll dump some text on you and there will be some votes. Mostly political stuff.

>>4486879
Thanks for running Wong!
Oye lore dump, see ya tomorrow my good man.
Being Hungover is tomorrows Jakob's problem, getting absolutely smashed is todays Jakob's problem

>>4486879

Right on, thanks for the session mate. Glad we smoked that fool like it was nothing. Actions speak louder than words, and these actions are gonna do a fair amount of talking. Looking forward to the lore dump.

>>4486879
Hey Wong, how much would we have to level up our smoke sculpting magic before we could make an entire boss outfit and not just the blazing eye mask? Bonus points if we can make smoke armor that can actually ya know, work as armor.
Considering army's tend have a lot of fires and torches with them maybe investing in being a Smoke-o-mancer wouldn't be a bad thing if we are going the soldier leading General boss of the Swamp route

>>4486905

Well, as of this session (since it automatically awards you 1 exp), you could buy the spell Smoke Armor for 4 exp. This gives you AR 3, equivalent to plate armor...but it also stacks with mundane armor and armor from esoteric techniques, so you could wear plate armor with Smoke Armor on top and just laugh off anything short of a ballista. You could also make this armor, in theory, using the Major Smoke Form spell, but the spell specifies if the creation has "moving parts" you need a relevant Expert: Smithing skill. That said, smoke magic is very useful on the battlefield. Make a big fire, use Shovel the Clouds to push the smoke against the enemy wall, cast Minor Smoke Structure, that smoke is now a giant staircase. I do love the idea of Jakob just walking through a wall of smoke and coming out in his full overlord outfit.

>>4486909
>I do love the idea of Jakob just walking through a wall of smoke and coming out in his full overlord outfit.

You need a lot of STYLE to be a swamp lord

>>4486876
Get drunk and grab a lass. Atleast one night of fun shan't hurt us much...

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Might I suggest we pick up a censer flail, not necessarily to use as a weapon, but as a smoke source.
I know Wong floated the idea of using a pipe as a source of smoke las thread.
But my counter argument is, we'd look stylish as hell making a ring of smoke spinning one of these and walking through the smoke ring to make smoke armor.
I am all for buying thay spell when we a chance.

>>4487026

This is actually a very solid idea. Whether it's an actual chain censer on a handle or one dangling from the hooked end of a staff, your hands aren't holding weapons so they might as well hold a smoke source.

>>4487171
We could just have a few censers hanging off our belt too
Maybe invest in some kind of instant ignition spell form lighting the incense or swamp weed in the censers
Or just go full Black beard and have smoldering plugs in weaved into our hair/future beard

>>4486909
Smoke Armor actually seems like a good investment, especially since we're dealing with an assassination attempt in the near future.

>>4488002

A counterpoint is that you could buy Possesion 4: Plate Armor with the same exp. Would you probably want both? Yes, yes you would. However, plotwise it's easier to learn spells than it is to find something you didn't have previously.

>>4487989

There is an instant ignition spell and I hate it. See, it belongs to the Flame Dancing school. Flame Dancing is very powerful, generally a really cool and flavorful pyromancy-type set of spells...except for one huge, glaring weakness. Every single spell there effectively has the same issue Attunement spells have, only it's not fixable, you have to get a success on a Performance: Dance roll to combine with the successful Coordination+Sorcery (another reason it sucks for Jakob, it uses Coordination) to use any of those spells. It's unnecessarily complicated, and it makes it hard to dip into.

>>4488023
>Mandatory Dance check
I did say being a swamp lord required STYLE!
But uh given Jakob's coordination, not sure that one is gonna work for us then
Might have to stick to keeping a flint and steel on us at all times

>>4488023
Not sure how equipment works in this system, but narrative wise I assume it's easier to conjure up some armor during an emergency than it is to suit up. Plus I imagine Jakob wouldn't want to wear a bunch of heavy metal plates in the middle of a swamp.

As rational as this is, Smoke Armor actually has a fairly significant cast time of several minutes, and Jakob's Body and Coordination scores are un-athletic enough that swimming his way out of quicksand isn't his preferred solution compared to having his bodyguards pull him out, or casting the faster version of Soar which you don't currently know.

>>4488180
Well I wasn't assuming it would be an instant cast spell
How long does it last for, or is that determined by height /width of our roll?

>>4488208

It takes eight minutes to cast, with a duration of Width in hours.

>>4488251
So basically anywhere between 1 and our max dice pool (Assuming amazing rolls) in hours
Well that's not too bad as long as we don't get caught with our pants down
Not worth casting in combat though, assuming this system works like most and a turn in combat is 5-12 seconds

>>4488258
I can definitely live with an 8cast time for non-encumbering magic Platemail
As long as we don't totally fuck casting the spell at least

>>4488258

Two and your max dice pool since you need at least two matching dice to make a set. No, Smoke Armor is something you cast in advance, which is why I think plate armor is also a good idea because you can just wear it day-to-day. "Both" is really the way to go, in my opinion, but there are a lot of good things to spend experience on, and one in particular worth saving up for (although I'd get your armor situation sorted first so you're not so vulnerable to assassins, personally) is a Master Dice. Master Dice let you flat-out pick the result of one dice from your roll, AFTER you roll. This means in normal circumstances you will always get a set. It's a godsend for big, high-Intensity spells like Smoke Armor and Minor Smoke Structure.

>>4488264

The encumbering tends to screw over things you're already bad at and would normally circumvent by casting a spell that lets you fly or walk on water, in my opinion. It's weird because when I've run this system in the past, the Invincible Sword Princess type characters would usually NOT go for plate, instead opting for medium armor since they did have the dicepools to climb and swim and sneak and stuff like that. Then they would immediately charge straight at the Path of the Razor Heart Esoteric Techniques and get the one that lets them snip limbs off.

>>4488270
So I'm assuming Smoke Armor is a Knowledge+Sorcery roll
So that would give us at least 8 dice to get a pair or greater
And yeaha Master Die would be immensely helpful overall
I think spending some exp expanding our repertoire of spells would be more beneficial in our immediate future yeah.
I'm really digging Smoke Armor for obvious reasons
But I will withhold until we know what our list of options are when we finally get to blow our exp load

>>4488264
>>4488277

That said Smoke Armor is absolutely one of my favorite spells in the game for the fact that it just negates a two-width set with a sword or a mace. Smoke Sculpting in general is possibly my favorite school because it never requires Attunement and rewards creativity and preparation. Minor Smoke Structure (and Major Smoke Structure, which is the same spell but with Width in years as its duration) is possibly the most powerful spell in the game in the hands of someone creative.

>>4488285
>Major Smoke Structure, which is the same spell but with Width in years as its duration
>Duration in years
Damn
So uh, giant smoke stair case, bridges and temporary fortifications for invading the mountains and getting over chasms and raging rivers
That last the entire duration of an invasion

By the way, big wall of text incoming.

>>4488289

It has an entire fucking page devoted to all the stuff you can do with it, from sheets of smoke-glass on the ground to trip up a cavalry charge, to forests filled with monofilament razor wire, to fucking ballistas, siege towers, and 800-foot ladders. It's absurd.

>>4488289
BEING A MASSIVE FUCKING DICK AND BLOTTING OUT THE SUN FOR A REGION AND CAUSING THEIR CROPS TO FAIL
.... For years

>>4488292
So Smoke-o-mancer is just the beige a dick and Troll mage class

>>4488296
>Beige
Damn it phone
Being *

>>4488296

I would say yes but Opetkan Mirror Magic (or just Mirror Magic in this setting) exists.

>>4488340
So what, is that the reflecting everything class?

>>4488355

It involves a lot of copying things. Mundane items, masses of soldiers, your enemies. You can also, for example, trap a person's reflection in a mirror and interrogate it to learn their secrets.

>>4488367
Well
Capturing and torturing people's reflections sounds like all kinds of fun

>>4488373

Yes, that's why Albeda likes it. As you'll find out when I finish this massive wall of text. Mostly worldbuilding, but there's a vote at the end.

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You awaken in agony. Your mouth is nearly numb, and feels as if your tongue is made of cotton. You have a pounding, throbbing headache seated lopsidedly in your skull, and your mouth is so dry that you almost feel like your cheeks would tear if you moved. You don't remember a thing from the night before, just vague still images of tankards being refilled over and over, dancing around the bonfire, your back being bruised by an endless succession of pats. Gods, you hope you didn't do anything stupid and that Cailm actually did his job. You don't want your future heir to someday be in the same situation you're in, except that their rival has an actual claim on your seat by dint of being your bastard, after all. Outside, the sky is the pale green of oncoming dawn.

You're in your room. You need to properly move into the master bedroom on the uppermost floor of the tower, but for tonight, this is fine, you know exactly where to grope around in the thankfully mostly-complete darkness for your pitcher of water, getting almost as much onto your face as down your throat. You're still in your clothes from last night, rumpled and smelling faintly of beer. Just that smell makes your gorge rise, and you fight it down with effort, slumping back onto the bed on your side.

“My lord Jakob.” Bless Harvin. Bless the man, he doesn't make your skull rattle with a knock, simply speaking loudly enough from the other side of the door to be overheard, “May I enter?”

“Yeeeh.” You awkwardly pour more water onto your face, managing to swallow at least some of it, “Am I dead?”

“No, my lord. Just dehydrated and suffering from a hangover.” Thankfully, his deep, nasally voice is as soft as mole's fur, and doesn't make your headache worse. The door swings open with a creak that makes you wince, and the steward's broad silhouette looms through the door.

[Continue]

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Harvin looks like a monster. He was twisted in the womb, they say, his spine made hunched, one arm significantly longer and stronger than the other. His short, thick neck juts forward, more than up, surmounted by the overdeveloped shoulders that top a body almost as wide as it is tall. His lower jaw is too narrow, and too long, fitting poorly with the upper and giving him an underbite like a molossus dog. Worse, someone broke that ugly face once. Someone took a spiked club and swung it right across his features, nearly blinding one of his eyes, tearing open the skin on the side of his head so badly that the flesh has deep ripples in it to this day from his bulbous forehead to his pendulous jowls. His nose is twisted from a break that never healed properly. Yet, for all of that, nature and fate could not twist what was inside him. No soul was ever more kind, more meticulously thoughtful of others, more personally troubled by their suffering. Animals adore him. He was the sole servant your mother brought with her when she married your father, and his original role was to care for the castle's hounds and horses, but through a good head for mathematics and his propensity for careful note-keeping, he was chosen to replace the previous steward, who retired when you were a toddler.

Harvin is family. It's no surprise when he lays down fresh, clean clothes for you, significantly nicer ones than you had on for sneaking out into the village, and even less that he has an earthware mug of something that smells both herbal and foul in his other hand. “A beautiful morning, my lord. Waking up now will let you adjust to the sunrise.” He helps you with your tunic, patting your back as you groan in agony, giving you privacy to slowly, painfully change into the new day's outfit. You grope around for the mug he brought you, recoiling from the smell, but you know if he handed it to you it will help.

“Slowly, my lord. Chew the thick bits. It will ease your stomach and the pain in your head both.” He advises. It's gross, but you do it. It tastes like herb-infused mud, with a mustard aftertaste, but you can feel your headache already starting to fade, and your legs remembering that they are solid and capable of supporting your weight.

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“That man, the one who knew the Night Hunter's Art...” A formal name for lupomancy, wolf-speaking. You sit up as you speak, gazing out your window. The wan light of pre-dawn reveals a swamp covered in morning fog. There is something surreal and beautiful about it, that thick, creamy layer of mist that hangs over everything, as if your domain was suddenly far above the clouds. The rational knowledge that this is by far one of the most dangerous possible weather conditions in the Absol swamps. One reason why polearms are a common weapon here, along with things like staff-length cudgels, comes from the fact that seemingly solid, green ground with a thick coating of plant matter might just be floating moss and peat that reeds and grasses have sprouted on over time. Solid to the glance, but one errant step, and you're up to your neck or worse in water or mud. Poking one's way along carefully is with something long is a sensible precaution.

“In a cell. He'll bear those scars for the rest of his life, I'll wager.” Harvin actually sounds sad, bless him.

“He's lucky to be alive.” You grunt, remembering the tall, dark woman in your vision. Albeda isn't alone in whatever she's doing. “He had wolves waiting outside the village that he tried to call, he was prepared for violence. He was trying to summon them when I struck him down.”

“Such a pity.” Harvin sighs. The man is an utter pacifist, despite everything. Some souls are too kind for conflict. “He sought violence, he found it.” He clears his throat with an ugly gurgle, “My lord, you will be hungry. I have taken the liberty of awakening Glydda, and asked her to prepare breakfast for you. Do forgive her if she still addresses you as Young Master, she knows you are Lord Absol now, but she is set in her ways and means no harm by it. She just...needs time.”

Glydda was cooking for the Absol nobility back when your father was a boy. This can't have been easy on her, either.

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Castle Briarfast, like most castles worthy of the name, has an entire town within its walls. It has a full-fledged garrison of soldiers, the requisite armada of servants who keep the place shipshape, and outside of that the various residents of the castle town. Soldiers and servants have families, after all, and keeping them inside the walls makes them a great deal less likely to betray you to save their kin during a siege. Where you have such a great mass of humanity, you have still others who come to tend to their needs. Bowyers and fletchers. Masons and carpenters. Smiths and leatherworkers. Stableboys and farriers. Brewers and bakers. Tavern-keepers and seamstresses. Whores and minstrels and all the rest. The reason why you snuck out to go to the next village over was to avoid being recognized, not because the hospitality of Briarfast is somehow lacking. There would be no possible way for you to know the names of every single person who polishes your boots, repairs the castle stairs, and makes your cheese, but there are some you are on a first-name basis with. Harvin is one, Glydda is another. So was Glead, the family's Master-at-Arms, but he went to war with your father and died the same way. His godlike skill with the billhook and berserker fury didn't avail him against whatever wretched curse the Cheillans unleashed on Vartyne's troops. Besides Glead, your father had an entire squad of mages that served him as lieutenants and advisors. You, you have yourself, and Cailm, and Harvin, and Glydda. It isn't enough. You will need to, sooner or later, fill some of those positions.

You stand up, dust yourself off, and polish off the rest of the hangover cure before washing the taste out of your mouth with the last of the water in the pitcher, before pulling your boots on, picking up the latest book you've been studying off your reading stand, and making your way down the spiral stairs, tailed by Harvin. This time of day is a little bit magical in its own right, when the world is just starting to wake up, when the silence is just starting to break. You hear the first rooster, and silently bless it for holding off until your headache was gone.

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Briefly, you're tempted to look inside Albeda's room, but something makes you hold off. You know she's trying to kill you, after all, and you know a thing or two about her magic. First, she's stronger than you. You can pull off impressive feats, but she can make them look easy. Second, she delights in doing things in ways that are subtle, ways that cannot be avoided, ways that are clever, and most importantly, ways where she does not have to suffer retaliation if she fails. Sending a monster to kill you while you practice, for example, is exactly the kind of thing she would do. So is using a catspaw to do it. Or setting a trap.

Once, she conjured copies of you using a mirror, and set them to do mischief throughout the castle to get you into trouble. Her justification was that it was teaching you a lesson for getting a little big-headed over mastering a few Wings of Words spells. She very nearly got away with it, too, had your father not come home early and discovered the trick. It was the only time you ever saw him raise his hand to her, and she refused to so much as acknowledge your existence for a month after that. You had nightmares about her locking you in the cellar and replacing you with a mirror copy after that. Probably because the first words after that month were up you had from her were “I should have locked you in the cellar, first. Then nobody would have known.” As an adult, you know that she said this purposely to hurt and frighten you, the copies were stupid and could do little besides pull down tapestries, urinate on people from windows, and flip the maidservants' skirts.

Before you know it, you're in the main hall of the castle. Instinctively, you start for your usual seat. At the High Table, by custom, the Lord and Lady sit in the center, their high-backed chairs more ornate than those around them. Their children sit to either side, boys to the left, girls to the right, age determining proximity to their parents. This is one of the few points of proper noble manners you know, the Absol Swamp may not be as isolated as the Ryd Mountains but it's still not exactly the royal capital and you're far from a socialite. It's just as you're about to sit down that you notice where a sleepy-eyed maid is placing your plate. At your father's chair. Your chair, now. You do your best to recover, quickly moving to take that seat. The Lord's chair is carved from silvery-white wood, Cailm would know what tree it comes from, but you don't. The arms are carved into the shapes of crocodiles, the back densely patterned with images of fish, lizards, and frogs. The Lady's chair, set to its right, has arms carved to resemble the heads of herons, its back patterned with images of birds and flying insects. Your mother used to joke, sometimes, that your father picked her because she matched. It never failed to get a rise out of him, the man was madly in love with his ethereal, lightning-spitting wife.

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She would have been proud to see you use her own magic in your first true Mage Duel.

Eggs, soft and fluffy. Bacon, thick, crispy, greasy, and salty. Rye bread, from some part of the swamp dry enough for it. You know you ate well, last night, but your stomach feels empty and you gobble up your food with almost indecent haste.

“Slowly, my lord. For the sake of your digestion.” Harvin smiles, the corners of his mouth rising unevenly as he joins you. You eat from the same platter, shifting the food onto your own plates. You notice as you eat a bundle of papers sitting on the Lady's chair, and raise your eyebrows at him over a mouthful of food.

“Letters, my lord.” Harvin takes a sip of water to clear his mouth. Its deformity causes trickles of liquid to drip down on either side, and he hurriedly wipes them away with a kerchief. He has to take small, precise bites and chew them carefully, and by habit he puts his hand over his mouth while he does, conscious as always of how others view his appearance, “It has been some time since His Majesty has been seen in public, and that forces our neighbors to rely on us, and each other, more. All such business was put aside when your father was...” Pain floods his ugly face, and he shakes his head suddenly, “You are Lord Absol now, and so it is your responsibility, whether now or later.”

You glance from the pile of letters, sealed with the insignias of the various provincial Lords and Ladies, back to your book and the arcane secrets it contains.

“Oh, and last night, a party of scouts from the northern villages rode in to report that a delegation from the Ryd Mountains are on their way here to Briarfast in person. I am so sorry, my lord, it almost slipped my mind.” He bows his head in contrition. “They should be here within the week. Furthermore, I have taken the liberty of calling for the best fighters in the province to assemble, so that you can choose for yourself your new Master-at-Arms.”

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“A delegation? Not a letter?” You crunch down another slice of bacon.

“No, my lord. From the size of the caravan, the banners, and the number of armed men, they believe...Lord Londo Ryd himself is with them.” Harvin explains.

You feel your stomach lurch. Londo Ryd. Of all the people, why him? Of all the lords in the provinces, your father described Londo as the only one who didn't flinch when the shadow of the archmage fell over him. As someone who would delight in trying to get the better of him. The oldest of the current crop of ruling provincial nobles, and the most dangerous. You have heard, alternately, that either he shits gold, or everything he touches turns into the stuff. You have heard he can charm birds out of the trees and convince them to drop their eggs onto his frying pan. You have heard that he is the reincarnation of Cassian Ryd, the trickster who cozened the mountains out of the clutches of your ancestors and bought it with their own gold. You have heard that he can sell snow to the barbarians of the frozen north. His timing could not possibly worse, what with Albeda in rebellion. You check the letters. One bears the scarlet mammoth seal of Galdynfyrgenbach. The next, the yellow conch of Gwelm. The one after that, the black horse of Ledo. The last, the blue phoenix of the Schwaltzwood. You rightly feel that none of these look as good as your arcane eye sigil, but they're doing their best. Most importantly, the silver fox seal of Ryd isn't present on any of the letters.

This is what you know of the various provinces and lords.

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The Absol Swamp: A county nestled in the marshy wetlands amongst the reeds and rivulets south of the Ryd Mountains and fed by the snowmelt from those peaks as well as the numerous rivers that wind inland from the west coast. This county is absolutely infested with sorcerers, which is both a bane and a boon. On the upside, it has a lot of battlemages and the fierce swamplanders are a terror on the battlefield. On the downside, not all of those mages are loyal to non-mage authorities, and some of them dabble in the darkest of magic. Also, there isn't a lot of growing land in the swamps. The Absol family supposedly at one time had a tenuous claim on the Ryd Mountains before anyone knew there was gold there and a surprising amount of decent land among the crags, and didn't realize their mistake in not taking advantage of this until long after Cassian Ryd became obscenely wealthy as the first Count Ryd. In their defense, getting to the Ryd Mountains involves going through the worst part of the swamps or taking the long way around, and is a pain to do no matter how you look at it. YOU are the current Lord Absol, although Albeda Absol is apparently contesting this.
Stats: Might 3, Treasure 2, Influence 2, Territory 1, Sovereignty 2
Flag: A fearsome eye with a black pupil, red Iris, and yellow sclera. This bizarre sigil holds great occult significance to the sorcerers of the swamp, and its use as the motif of the Absol family serves as their bona fides to reign over the individually powerful mages

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Galdynfyrgenbach: Cold and inhospitable, this county occupies deep fjords, pine forests, and the frozen ice fields of the north. As one might expect, it encompasses a vast swathe of territory, however this has difficulties of its own. The people here once fought the crown, and are fiercely independent, many of the villages not even deigning to recognize the authority of anyone above their village headman. Galdynfyrgenbach is a one-word name because calling it 'the shitty cold lands of Galdynfyrgenbach' would be rude, and it's not just the taiga, or the relatively livable grasslands that aren't considered part of the Ledo Plains, or the rocky coasts north of the Ryd Mountains. Everything north of the Ryd is considered Galdynfyrgenbach. It's vast, with many strong points for defense, but relatively wild and empty. A King long past conquered these lands with the aid of a powerful but unpredictable general, Galdynfyrgenbach, and promptly handed the province over to him to avoid having the wild man making a mess in the Capitol and to keep him too busy to think of rebelling against the throne. It worked admirably. The province itself is a fine prize, but difficult to rule by nature, and what noble would admit he cannot manage his own people and risk losing his title? The current ruler, Lady Hannah, is around your age. She has ruled since childhood, when a native revolt cost her parents their lives and scarred her face. They say the female line of her family carries the blood of a native war goddess, and that she is a giant possessed of terrible strength and wields a magic sword whose touch is death.
Stats: Might 2, Treasure 2, Influence 2, Territory 3, Sovereignty 1
Flag: A scarlet mammoth on a white field, its trunk raised to deliver a challenging trumpet.

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Gwelm Island: A beautiful county consisting of a sunny, warm island with plenty of food, gorgeous beaches, palm trees, rum, and a lot of festivals. The people there love their leaders and have a strong degree of personal loyalty due to their sunny outlook on life and beautiful home, however there aren't a lot of natural resources and consequently not much money to be made. There are plenty of fish and delicious sea life of all kinds, so very few people go hungry, and as a result sayings like 'when you don't have shoes, play barefoot in the sand' that reflect a state of feeling blessed even if one can't afford nice things are common. Gwelm cuisine is excellent, even if some snobs turn their noses up at the relatively inexpensive cooking methods and spices. Reavers from the sea are a perpetual nuisance, especially as they've begun to organize. Moreover, since Gwelm Island is off the west coast of Vartyne, there are fears that if the Xapotchli ever invade from across the sea they will reach Gwelm Island first. Lady Petrine Gwelm recently celebrated her thirtieth year of life. Perpetually unmarried for various reasons (most particularly a disinterest in marrying down and a fierce unwillingness to put the county in the hands of anyone unwilling to defend it), she reputedly throws incredible parties and is mutually adored by her people.
Stats: Might 2, Treasure 1, Influence 2, Territory 2, Sovereignty 3
Flag: A golden conch on a pale blue field

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The Ledo Plains: A seemingly idyllic county of grasslands and rolling hills, with no exceptional strengths or weaknesses, this county would have been considered very boring if it weren't for the fact that it sits on the eastern borders of the kingdom. Raids from barbarians riding shaggy horses, wielding short bows and feathered lances, are all too common and the king does little to help. It's bordered to the west by the Absol Swamp, to the north by Galdynfyrgenbach and just a tiny bit of the foothills of the Ryd Mountains in its most northwest parts. The Ledo Plains (called the Plains of Ledo in some parts of the country) are one of the oldest provinces in Vartyne, with many abandoned hill forts and the ruins of older civilizations. How big the county actually is is a fair question, like Galdynfyrgenbach its borders more or less end where the Count stops caring about them in some directions, and where its people stop caring to build. Naturally, with so much grazing land and open space, Ledo is known for its horses. Despite being from a pedigreed noble line (arguably one of the most pedigreed), the current Count is known for being a humble, even pedestrian man. There is an urban legend that a wealthy girl from a more patrician province was sent to be introduced to Count Balam Ledo with the unspoken intent of an arranged marriage. After waiting for far too long for her proper reception, she sought him out herself in a huff only to find the Count happily mucking out the stables. According to the rumor, the embarrassed noble admitted he had lost track of time and promised that he would be right with her once he went out to the vegetable garden to pick some carrots for that night's dinner. Naturally, she want home in a fury.
Stats: Might 2, Treasure 2, Influence 2, Territory 2, Sovereignty 2
Flag: A galloping black horse on a green field

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The Ryd Mountains: An isolated county set in the high mountains and flinty hills. Although its mines produce a great deal of treasure, the difficulty in reaching it means that it receives little attention or favor from the crown and the other counties see its people as rustics. This bounty of gold has not gone entirely unnoticed, however, as a dragon has allegedly been spotted on the borders. The truth is, though, that while the Ryd is known for metals (gold, silver, and iron all flow thickly through its stones), it also produces an abundance of valuable timber and furs, while its fast-flowing rivers and streams are full of fish. The issue is getting these things to market, and always has been. The Ryd Mountain Range stretches in a ragged crescent across the western half of what was the northern border of Vartyne before said border moved further north with the conquest of Galdynfyrgenbach. Most of it is inhospitable, much of it is impassible, and only certain parts which are often inconveniently located make for good sites to build and live. If its population wasn't so scattered, it would be supremely defensible. However, due to this terrain, it touches many of the other border provinces. The Absol Swamp is due south of its rocky arc, snuggled against the west coast. The Schwaltzwood is also due south of the mountain range, albeit further so. Galdynfyrgenbach is due north of the mountains for their full span, although it is only accessible through certain passes which are sometimes impassible in bad weather. The very easternmost foothills of the Ryd tickle the borders of the Ledo Plains, and the currents of the western sea bring ships leaving the Ryd county's rare few usable harbors naturally close to Gwelm Island. The mountains are ruled by Lord Londo Ryd, the oldest of the provincial nobles, a silver-tongued devil. His daughter is supposedly quite beautiful.
Stats: Might 2, Treasure 3, Influence 1, Territory 2, Sovereignty 2
Flag: A silver fox on a dark blue field.

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The Schwaltzwood: A shady inland county consisting of dense forests and clandestine vales. This county is renowned for a few things, several great authors and artists come from this region of tranquil vistas and dappled sunlight, the last queen was born here (as were several of her predecessors), and some of those clandestine vales have villages that supposedly exist only to train stealthy killers. The Schwaltzwood was the first of the northern provinces to join with the Kingdom of Vartyne, and spread the faith of the sun god Mihto to them. However with a relatively refined and artistic culture, and with many of their most promising fighters trained to fight in asymmetrical warfare instead of picking up a pike and standing in a line like normal people, the levies are small and underequipped. At least, that's the official reason. The truth is, the crown has been visibly demanding more levies from Schwaltzwood than it has from the other provinces, and despite beginning the Cheillan War in a very strong position relative to their neighbors, they can scarcely defend their own land these days. The rumors have circulated that the previous Lord, the King's brother-in-law Rupert, was well liked by the Crown and that this is a deliberate act by the royal family to weaken Ralf Schwaltz despite the fact that there is no actual proof that Rupert's death was anything but an accident. Without sufficient rangers to patrol the outlying villages, there are rumors of a strange and eldritch religion taking root. After all, people dream strange dreams in the Schwaltzwood, and something about that endless green and the low green sky of the canopy can do things to people's brains. Lord Ralf Schwaltz is by all accounts a rake and a charmer, a few years older than you. He dresses well, hunts magnificently, and has killed at least one man in a duel.
Stats: Might 1, Treasure 2, Influence 3, Territory 2, Sovereignty 2
Flag: A blue phoenix on a field of red.

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With all of that said, you have a few things to vote on. After all, you have the bitter work of interrogating a traitor after this, best to get the gentle stuff done while your mind is clear. First, will you...

>[Open a letter]
>[Read your book]

If you select the book, there will be a second vote on which book you're reading this morning.
>[The Book of Fume] (I transcribe every Smoke Sculpting spell for you to read over)
>[The Book of Currents] (I transcribe every Aqueous Divination spell for you to read over)
>[The Book of Thunder] (I transcribe every Wings of Words spell for you to read over)
>[The Book of Vanity] (I transcribe every Mirror Magic spell for you to read over)
>[The Shattered Shackle] (I transcribe Arnveis the Black's personal set of Esoteric Techniques for the Counterspell skill for you to read over)

If you select the letter, there will be a second vote. Responding promptly to a letter, good or bad, may exacerbate its effects.
>[Galdynfyrgenbach]
>[Gwelm]
>[Ledo]
>[Schwaltz]

>>4488535
Well you sure weren't lying about this being a wall
>[Read your book]
Responding to Official letters is the job for someone who didn't drink themselves stupid last night

>>4488535
>[Open a letter]

a question, does jakob like paperwork?

>>4488535
Welp, I will say this before we get into it. Ledo is based lord.

Now, I will say I'm conflicted here. Reading up on magics is a good for personal growth, not to mention that I'd love to learn more about magic. That being said, being a good lord takes sacrifice, and I'm interested in what some of these letters hold. So I'll leave the main voting to you lads.

If we choose book, I'd vote for >[The Shattered Shackle], as I was our fathers, and it'll be a nice connecting threat to him now that he's... gone.

If we choose letter, then I'd suggest one of the Ladies, >[Galdynfyrgenbach] or >[Gwelm]. Not only would this scratch our... itch, but may lead to better outcomes for all involved. Even though Ledo is based lord, we have more pressing problems and we can always come back to him. Schwaltz, on the other hand, I don't know what to make of, so I'd wait until we get a better read on that situation before we touch it with a ten foot pole (my mind keeps coming back to a analogy of the Swamp... never step on something that you aren't sure is hard ground, otherwise you may be drowning in the murky depths below...).

>>4488730
I will also state that the dragon must be real, why else is that old fox coming down here himself just after we get anointed lord? This offers us a wonderful opportunity... to fuck around with him. Oh, Ryd, it'll be wonderful subtly fucking with you while you wonder if I'm bullshitting or being completely serious... Being a young and unknown quantity in situations sure has it's perks...

>>4488630
oh i forgot what to choose, lets see

>[Galdynfyrgenbach]

kinda want to know on what's their stance on the dragon too

>>4488535
>open letter from Gwelm

new goal: marry island queen and chill on the white beaches

>>4488736
we do have the best might in all of the realm, granted most of that probably can't or won't leave our territory.

>>4488535

>[Open a letter]

Gonna lay out the second votes for whichever one wins out, to help sort the vote.

>[The Book of Fume] (I transcribe every Smoke Sculpting spell for you to read over)
>[Galdynfyrgenbach]

I was tempted for more divination, but starting more Smoke magic should help us in the immediate future, as well as any armed conflict as well. The others look interesting, especially the Counterspelling one, but for now, we could use some more arrows in the quiver since our skill with the billhook is a bit lacking.

As for letters, I'm most interested in the Tundra lady's correspondence. Mainly because we'll be dealing with the R*ds soon enough, and as the other main neighbours of them, the Lady Hannah Galdyngfyrgenbach might have insights on the goings-on there that Londo Ryd might not be willing to talk to us about. Ledo is indeed based, Gwelm sounds like a blast, and Schwaltz is a potential rival, but stronk lady of the north is probably most politically prudent to deal with, epecially since it'll take a while for our reply to get sent with all those fucking mountains in the way, and R*ds owning the passes.

>>4488535
>[Open a letter]
>[Galdynfyrgenbach]

Considering that the Ryd Mountains is sandwiched between the both of us. Being on good relations with Galdynfyrgenbach might give us quite a bit of leverage on Ryd.

>>4488752
I don't believe that Lady Hannah is a giant who's stronk, as rumors tend to exaggerate our... ruling styles, and the way we conducted ourselves.

Schwaltz could be a potential rival... or an worthy ally, given his apparent need of them. However, the business with his... predecessor, has me a bit worried as to his intentions (given our current circumstances), and that getting on the King's bad side at the moment wouldn't make our position as lord stronger.

I did notice something about the old fox, but I'll not state it now, as i wish to see if he's as cunning as the rumors say.

>>4488730
I would also be amiss to state that it would be useful to interrogate someone if that man was trapped in a mirror...

>>4488793

Rumors are rumors, usually false but sometimes can lead the way to truth. I doubt she's a giantess with a magic blade to cut down mammoths, but hard lands filled with those who dislike people that are not kith and kin tend to lead to hard rulers. Schwaltz might just be under a weird whimsy of fate after all. Unlikely, but we'll see.

As for Lord Londo, it is curious that he's showing up to Castle Briarfast with the pomp we'd expect, but not being seen himself. Maybe the old devil got caught up with Father in the aftermath of the Cheillan war?

We should also probably do a Weather Wisdom spell, and see what the weather is supposed to be tomorrow. If it's slated for mild cloud cover, but stormclouds are starting to roll in, we'll know the attack is that evening with the hailstorm.

>>4488820
If the Ryd's were that honor bound we'd be calling those rocks Absol Mountains.

Damn, that does have a nice ring to it...

>>4488277

Speaking of armour and sword autists Wong, how much does maille cost? Chain is relatively easy to put on in a hurry, and easier to conceal under our outer robes for worries about assassins. Plus, it's fairly easy to maintain, basically only needing to be covered it in oil and rolling it around for a little while to knock the rust off, a godsend in our damp domain. At least until we potentially gain the hand of Ryd's daughter and her valuable tracts of land.

>>4488819
I must say, I'm a bit more partial to the Book of Vanity about now.

Just think about the amount of bullshit we could pull on Lord Ryd, not to mention the immediate use in the interrogation.

I was also wondering if we could send something directly to Albeda. Not a letter, just a trinket or a flower...Something personal to both of us to provoke nostalgia. It won't stop the assassination attempt, but it will make her feel guilty as sin for doing it. It's all about the mind games. Layers and layers of mind games... Maskirovka, comrades...

>>4488543
Well since it looks like open a letter is winning
I'll go Galdynfyrgenbach

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>>4488867

Wealth 3. The way Wealth works is that if it costs less than your Wealth score, you can buy it without affecting your bottom line, your Wealth remains as is. If it costs the same as your Wealth score (which is 3), you can buy it, but doing so lowers your Wealth rating by 1. You could buy Chainmail, but it would lower your Wealth from 3 to 2. Plate Armor costs 4, so you would need 5 Wealth to just buy a set. Now, this is important, as far as I can tell full Chainmail is Heavy armor, so Plate is just a straight improvement. This means as far as buying armor goes, you have a few options. You currently have 5 exp, and I get the sense people want to spend it. You could:

>0 exp: Save your exp. 6 exp will let you turn one of your Sorcery dice into a Master Dice, significantly increasing your likelihood of casting powerful spells (although currently you don't have a ton of spells with high Intensity and the ones you want to buy are generally cast out of combat)
>1 exp: Increase your Wealth from 3 to 4, use that to buy Chainmail
>2 exp: Increase your Wealth from 3 to 5, use this to buy Plate Armor
>2 exp: Buy the Possession Advantage, get Chainmail that has a measure of plot armor (meaning it's unlikely to get damaged and is there when you need it)
>3 exp: Buy the Possession Advantage, get Plate Armor that has a measure of plot armor (meaning it's unlikely to get damaged and is there when you need it), also means you don't have to wait to have Plate Armor made, always a plus
>4 exp: Buy the Smoke Armor spell by itself with the Spells Advantage
>5 exp: The Spells Advantage is a better bargain for buying two spells with, buy Smoke Armor AND a second Intensity 5 spell for just 1 exp more!

>>4489005
>>5 exp: The Spells Advantage is a better bargain for buying two spells with, buy Smoke Armor AND a second Intensity 5 spell for just 1 exp more!
Well that sounds like a hard to pass up bargain

>>4489005

>0 exp: Save your exp. 6 exp will let you turn one of your Sorcery dice into a Master Dice, significantly increasing your likelihood of casting powerful spells (although currently you don't have a ton of spells with high Intensity and the ones you want to buy are generally cast out of combat)

Personally, I want to save up for a Master Dice. A lot of our spells are low intensity right now, but we can use one to either get higher set, or more sets. We got a bit lucky with the lupomancer, but we can't rely on it always being there for us.

I won't say no to people wanting to go with buying persistent armour though. I just think we've got other stuff to worry about first.

>>4489005

>5 exp: The Spells Advantage is a better bargain for buying two spells with, buy Smoke Armor AND a second Intensity 5 spell for just 1 exp more!

>>4489034

He actually had both decent Fight and Run skills. It was entirely possible for him to shank Jakob or hardcore parkour away.

>>4489057
>Narrowly avoided getting knifed or escaped by rolling a set of 3x10s on Minor lightning, knocking him the fuck out.

All the more reason I think to get Master dice, so that we can pick high sets for just such an occasion.

By the by, how does Counterspelling work? Does it have to match/exceed Height, Width, or both to null out a spell? We should probably know this before we step into another mage duel with cousin dearest.

>>4489062

The counterpoint is that you were surrounded by a sympathetic audience. Granted, as Unworthy Opponents, they were pretty weak Threat 1 rabble.

I'm both glad and not glad that you asked about counterspelling, because the answer is complicated. Width determines speed, Wider sets always resolve first. When Width is tied, Height determines which resolves first. Now, Dodging, Parrying, and Counterspelling sets produce something called Gobble Dice. Gobble Dice can each remove dice from successful sets on a 1-1 basis, but the Dodge/Parry/Counterspell set must be at least as wide and at least as high as the set it's trying to ruin.

For example, you have two duelists, Gerald and Francisco. Francisco performs a multiple action attack and gets 2x3 and 3x5. If Gerald rolled a 2x6 to Dodge he could ruin the 2x3 set but not the 3x5. Similarly, if Gerald got a 5x4, he could ruin the 2x3 but not the 3x5. Sounds kind of unfair to the person trying to wreck the enemy attack, right? Well, here's the counterpoint. Let's say Gerald gets a 3x6. This produces three Gobble Dice of Height 6. He applies one to the 2x3, which removes a x3 from the set and ruins it, as it's no longer a set it's no longer a success. He can then use the remaining 2 Gobble Dice to the 3x5, and ruins that too, effectively stopping two attacks with one Dodge.

>>4489005
>5 exp: The Spells Advantage is a better bargain for buying two spells with, buy Smoke Armor AND a second Intensity 5 spell for just 1 exp more!

>>4489070

Hmm, alright. Making sure that I'm tracking this right for the following explanation.

If we got 3x2 for the Lightning, and he got 2x4, he wouldn't be able to nerf it fast enough. If we got 2x7 fand he got 3x4 though, he would try, but it wouldn't be strong enough to overpower it.

In the same mien, a 3x10 is real hard to counteract if you don't have a Master die to force a set in your favour (plus a bit of luck), both because it's Wide enough to stay a set with one of them being Gobbled, and High enough that you're unlikely to get a set that can affect it without throwing a lot of dice at the pool.

Sounds a bit complicated, but fun to work around. At least it's makes a large set of low numbers useful if you can just get more of them than they can deal with.

>>4489083

Whoops, meant 4x2 in the first scenario. 3x2 is just enough that a 2 set will wreck it pretty hard.

>>4489083

Yes. Reign is a good system which suffers from having done a couple of things to try and be less like traditional fantasy STRICTLY in the lore of its canon setting, which rubbed /tg/ in the wrong way and made the system unpopular there.

Also, no, 2x4 would not be able to gobble a 3x2, because the Wider set resolves first. It's like you go to counterspell, and do it correctly, but the spell has already been cast so it doesn't matter.

>>4489086

Alright, thanks for explaining it. Never used Reign, so it's still relatively unfamiliar mechanics. Seems pretty intuitive though, once you get the hang of it.

So, in the means of Counterspelling/other reactive skills, you generally want a Wide enough roll that lets you get in first, and just enough Height to be able to do something about it. I can see why it's worth saving up exp for Expert or Master dice As well as why they're the first to go with shit hits the fan.

>>4489101

Ironically, there is a way to preserve them. Earlier I said "5 in a stat or skill is the maximum". I was remembering incorrectly. The most you can have is 6 (or 5+MD in a skill). However, you cannot roll pools of larger than 10 dice. Anything above that offsets penalties. So for example if you had Knowledge 6, Sorcery 5+MD, you would still be rolling 9+MD (ten dice, effectively, you just get to choose the result of one of them), even if you were performing a multiple action or taking penalties.

>>4489070

Thinking on it now, in order for him to have fucked up our tazer applied directly to the forehead, he would have needed a 3x10 or better to have done anything about it. Even if he got a 2x10, he wouldn't have been fast enough, and anything smaller wouldn't have been strong enough to affect it at all. Should probably keep that in mind for when we go to deal with the Chimera in the future.

I can see why Smoke Arrow is a pretty decent choice too. It'll always knock off 2 boxes if it strikes, and even if you roll Wide but low, if they can't keep up on width, or roll even lower, that's a lot of damage that they can't soak with Shock or distributing over multiple locations.

>>4489130

It also cannot be Counterspelled. Smoke Arrow doesn't work by casting a spell on the enemy, it works by casting a spell on the smoke, a very quick and localized transformation, then firing it at the enemy. Good against mages, but since it can be dodged or parried, a warrior stands a better chance of avoiding it. Another advantage of Smoke Arrow is that it's only Intensity 1. Any set will trigger it.

I don't even understand half of all that stuff. I'll just keep voting for choices that sound cool or reasonable and roll when op tells me to roll if that's cool?

>>4488535
We should divine what Albeda is doing, and what I assume to be a southern fire dancer mage as well. That is, if picturing the face and body of somebody is enough to cast the spell.

>>4489163
Lad, I'm in the exact same boat as you. I'll let the lads smarter and more experienced than me handle all the magic mechanics.

>>4489171

We can't use Clearwater Oracle for the next week. It's on cooldown, and will only show the same vision we got yesterday before going down to the village. We can use Weather Wisdom and watch out for bright sunny days, since our vision shown a clear sunny day that suddenly became a hailstorm. Either way, if we're on the roof when it starts hailing, we'll have a couple minutes before the Chimera climbs the castle walls.

>>4489171

You need a name or at least a common title.

>>4489180

I'm actually going to reread it and see if that's true. It says nobody can receive one, the question is whether that's from a standpoint of "you" being the subject of the spell, or the caster of the spell.

>>4489249

Provisionally I think the key word here is "receive", visions are a thing the caster receives, so yes, one per week. Also because otherwise, it would get silly.

>>4489284
I like silly...

Why does everyone want to ruin my fun... geez...

If you wouldn't mind clarifying, does smoke magic require smoke from a fire, or could a skilled mage bust out Gate of Babylon during a really foggy day?

>>4489444
i think smoke is part of pyromancy as it requires something to be burnt to be created.

>>4489479
I figured it wouldn't work like that, but it didn't hurt to ask.

>>4489556
it would be funny if we use the smoke from drugs to make enemies high

>>4489005
>>0 exp: Save your exp. 6 exp will let you turn one of your Sorcery dice into a Master Dice, significantly increasing your likelihood of casting powerful spells (although currently you don't have a ton of spells with high Intensity and the ones you want to buy are generally cast out of combat)

>>4489604
Methardry?

>>4489604

The funny thing about that is that in theory it's possible with Shovel the Clouds, a spell you don't know that moves unenchanted smoke around, to burn a whole pile of hallucinogenic plants and shove the smoke onto the enemy front line, but you would need a way to avoid breathing it in yourself. Smokemass itself is too solid to inhale.

>>4488535

For the record, this vote is still ongoing until I say it isn't.

>>4488535

>[The Shattered Shackle] (I transcribe Arnveis the Black's personal set of Esoteric Techniques for the Counterspell skill for you to read over)

>>4490201
>Smokemass itself is too solid to inhale.
So we could use it to suffocate a large group of people?

>>4488535
Voting for letter, and the queen in the north >[Galdynfyrgenbach]

>>4489005
>3 exp: Buy the Possession Advantage, get Plate Armor that has a measure of plot armor (meaning it's unlikely to get damaged and is there when you need it), also means you don't have to wait to have Plate Armor made, always a plus

We need to get our armor situation figured out ASAP, and plate armor as a possession seems like the best way to get a consistent bump to our armor. Definitely down for Smoke Armor, but I'd rather get some standard armor first and maybe save up for a Master Dice first.

>>4488535
>[Open a letter]
>[Galdynfyrgenbach]
>>4488752
Anon has good points on why we should pay attention to their correspondence, now that the accursed R*ds are coming.

Just caught up, I'm really digging the quest. Haven't dealt with the crunch of an actual tabletop system in a while but it's fun, especially without the stress of having to adapt to it at the table.
>[Open a letter]
>[Galdynfyrgenbach]

>2 exp: Increase your Wealth from 3 to 5, use this to buy Plate Armor

>>4490203
What's the experience cost for a skill or stat increase? We should consider buffing some of them...

Get our dance moves going so we can set the floor on fire!
Literally.

Lads, I got a devious idea. After we dispense with our duties as lord, we should head out and greet the Ryd's expedition. Only... we pull a role reversal with Cailm. Not only does Cailm look the part already, but it would a valuable opportunity to take stock of Lord Londo and the others in the Ryd's entourage without them trying to woo us. Plus, it'll be funny as fuck to see the Ryds try and transverse the swamp..

As an added bonus, we could have Cailm even state he's a servant (who coincidentally has expensive clothes and a wonderful way with words), and have Londo suspicious of him being the Lord of the Swamp. A bit of misdirection, if you will. Jakob would just claim to be Harvin's role as head servant, trying to prepare food and lodgings for the numerous guests.

What do you lads think?

To be honest, the real reason I mention this idea is because I can only imagine Lord Ryd's face as he see's the lowly servant step up and sit on the Lord's throne, and then the realization that he's been treating Cailm as a lord in front of the actual lord himself would be hilarious and satisfying.

Pull one over on the old fox, for our father's sake.

>>4491003
devilish

>>4491003
that would work if it wasn't the lord himself visiting, i highly doubt he doesn't know us and what we look like.

besides i have a feeling he's visiting us for if shits goes down at his land, we can provide him shelter. although that's mainly my theory.

>>4491060
I didn't know we had an Uncle!

Where's my money, you mountain stealing son of a bitch?

>>4491003
If the guys coming to visit don't know what we look like, lets do it.

Letter and specifically Galdynfyrgenbach have won handily.

>>4490994

2 for the first rank of a skill, then it costs exp equal to the next rank. So for example, leveling a skill from 2 to 4 would cost 7 (3+4). Leveling a skill from 0 to 2 would cost 4 (2+2). Stats always cost 10 exp. So for example, leveling Coordination from 2 to 4 would cost 20 exp (10+10)

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>>4486819
I'm way behind on this thread but.... pic related.

>>4489284
Maybe this is a blessing in disguise... does Jakob have a journal? He should transcribe his vision and make some sketches for future reference...

I think it would be cool If he had a personal journal to right down his thoughts and sketch some drawings or portraits, but that's just me. This is mainly so we have an external reference for the creature...

We should also look into the culture and magic the fire dancer is from, and try to find out whatever the hell they summoned to assassinate us with.

>>4490994
Might as well make a list of skills we don't have that might be useful. If any of you lads have other ideas on our skill tree, I'm all ears.

Skills that may help with immediate survival- Endurance, Run, Dodge, Healing, Stealth?, Vigor?

Potentially useful skills to have- Lore, Empathy, Scrutinize, Fascinate, Preform Dance

>>4491552
> Preform Dance
Well that could definitely come in handy as it is requirement for that Ignition spell and that entire spell school Wong was mentioning earlier

>>4492090
>>4491552

The issue with that has to do with how multiple actions work. You use the smallest dice pool involved, -1 dice for every action past the first. So for spells that don't require Attunement, you would be using the smaller of your Coordination+Perform (Dance) and Coordination+Sorcery pool, -1, and have to successfully get two sets to cast any spell of the Flame Dancing school. Your Coordination skill is currently 2, so assuming you spent 11 exp to bump Dance up to 4 so your pools are the same size, you would be rolling 5 dice and hoping 4 of them had a dance partner, so to speak. For spells that require Attunement, you would have to do all of the above to cast the Temporary Attunement spell, then do it over again to cast the spell in question. Now you could go "fuck it, we love these spells, our new build is a dance pyromancer, we'll use the Permanent Attunement spell and just use Flame Dancing from now on", but there's a problem with that.

Remember how, earlier, I said Permanent Attunement has physical effects? Well...Flame Dancing's causes you to become sterile. Which is the reason why nobles don't learn it.

>>4492254
That's one hell of a drawback.

>>4492254
Rip our swimmers

Speaking of Attunement
I'm going to make an assumption based on our mom making a joke about Daddy dearest picking her to match the queens chair and her being proud of us for smiting a fool with lightning that she was attuned to the wind element and had bug wings and hollow bones

>>4492263

It's weird, because all of the corebook schools are like "yeah you'd better be fucking attuned, boy" and then the First Year supplement includes a much wider scale from schools you have to be attuned to even touch, to schools you will never need to be attuned to that do cool niche Batman type things like Smoke Sculpting, Ussient Fire Mimickry, Opetkan Mirror Magic, etc.

>>4492267

I'm glad someone picked up on that. Yeah, mom was an Attuned Wings of Words Sorceress. We'll get more into that later.

>>4492292
>Ussient Fire Mimickry
So what, Fire magic where we need to play a game of charades to cast it?

>>4492325

No it's much, much weirder. Essentially, you utilize the carving of wood and scarring of flesh to imitate the effects of fire. Jakob doesn't know much about it, aside from it being another school Albeda likes (which will come up ingame probably next time I run it), aside from this. The spear his ancestor used to kill the frog-drake was made using Fire Mimicry.

>>4492467
Could it ingnite kindling?

>>4492559

No, in fact, none of its spells actually create flame. They simply imitate its effects, whether literally or metaphysically.

>>4492565
So it could potentially create smoke?

The more I think on it, when we create our Mage Council, we should have one from every school, one from every culture, one from every land...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rg6CiPI6h2g
Magic- The Gathering Edition

>>4492565
Hey Wong, when are you planning on running again?

>>4493484

Oh right, yeah, Friday at around 9PM EST.

>>4493867
*airhorns*

>>4492590
Interesting... interesting indeed. This requires further research...

>>4492590

At least one spell explicitly as a byproduct does create little puffs of smoke. The downside is that Fire Mimicry requires skill in wood carving and scarification. You make, say, a little figurine of a squirrel, cast your spell, and it provides heat equivalent to a hearth without setting shit on fire, for example.

>>4494713
So the staff idea could potentially work then?

Just for reference, I'm imagining us being Gandalf throwing a smoke wall at a demon, shouting "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!", only instead of a regular magical staff, we have the literal eye of Sauron on it belching smoke from it's iris.

>>4494855

Not...quite. The literal censer idea is a lot more workable. The only one I can think of that makes smoke has a lot of other effects that make it impractical for the purpose, as you don't want your hand in the area where the smoke is to shape it.

>>4496043
I'm still all for getting a censer for smoke magic
Whether it is on a flail, hanging from a staff or our belt

So that vote went a lot more...decisive than I expected. You picked the letter from Galdynfyrgenbach, and I'll get us going.

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You open the letter from the giantess of the north. It's a bit battered, with signs of having been haphazardly folded at some point and it's clear at least a few attempts have been made to stuff it into the envelope unsuccessfully before getting it right. At the top of the letter are what you're pretty sure are the usual formalities, written in a neat, tidy hand and addressed to your father. News travels slowly, and there is a good chance this letter arrived during his illness. However, the main block of the letter is written in large, crude letters made up mostly of aggressive straight lines, taking up most of the page despite how short it is.

'Lord Arnveis, I heard you were strong. I heard that many fear you. The rebels are at my door, and I don't know what to do. They kidnap children, occupy our border fortresses, and hurt those who are still loyal. If you are strong, if you are not craven, send aid to my people, wield your magic once again to defend this kingdom. If you abandon us, I shall fight to my last breath, and spend it cursing you.'

-Lady Hannah Galdynfyrgenbach, Rightful Overlord of the Province of Galdynfyrgenbach'

The punctuation appears to have been added in afterwards, as it's in a notably smaller, tidier hand, probably the same as the one that wrote all the formal address at the top. The tidier text continues on the second page of the letter.

[Continue]

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'My lord, my name is Urdle, and for fifty years I have served as steward to the House of Galdynfyrgenbach. My lady's words may be brash and hard, but she speaks only out of love for her people. War has depleted our soldiers, and the tribes that hunt the seal, the elk, and the whale have risen against us and seized some of our border fortresses, from which their raiders lay siege to the nearby towns. I realize that our house is not the only one in disorder, and it shames me to ask for help, but not so much so as it shames Lady Hannah. It is no easy thing for her to lower her head and ask for help, yet she does so because there is no other way to preserve our home. Although the current situation is dire, and the weather works against our soldiers when facing the native tribes, there is one bright spot. I am not entirely ignorant of the diviner's art, and have conducted my own readings. My visions show me that, as Spring becomes Summer, the rebel factions that are currently unified will grow complacent. They will believe themselves victorious, and approximately three months from now if my understanding of the vision's background details is accurate, the rebel leaders will quarrel and turn to infighting. It is then that we will strike, hopefully with unexpected arcane assistance from you. The idea of asking for financial aid from the Ryds has also crossed Lady Hannah's table from her other advisors, but I for one have counseled against it. Lord Londo is a known womanizer, and I have the virtue of my charge to consider. Moreover, I am aware of the emnity between your houses, and have cause to believe that Lady Hannah would respect you more, as a man of strength.
Further still, I suspect a sinister arcane hand behind this uprising, and can think of none better to grab it and drag its owner into the light.

-With Regards, Urdle, Steward of the Diamond Tower'

Mechanically, this means that, three months from now, you have the following options.
>Go yourself (no effect on the stats of your domain, but you will be in Galdynfyrgenbach for a month instead of at home, meaning you will be unable to participate directly in Company-level rolls in the swamp)
>Send battlemages (-1 Might for the month they are deployed)
>Send diviners (-1 Influence for the month they are deployed)
>Send nobody

This vote is PURELY for future planning.

>>4496084
>go yourself

>>4496084
Is this a vote where we can ONLY choose one of the options? Or is it assumed that if we, the lord, depart on this mission a battalion of Batrlemages would accompany us? Or only our body guard contingent of the Last Loyal?

>>4496084

From a mechanical standpoint, we're the mightiest of our fellow lords so losing 1 might for a month will just temporarily put us on equal footing with the rest. However, I am interested in finding the supposed ringleader of the uprising.

>>4496094

This deserves a bit of explanation. Just like you, personally, can, Companies (like the Absol Swamp) can as well. Unlike you, they work on a month-to-month basis, and make rolls by combining two stats. So for example, to attack another province is Might+Treasure, while defending is Might+Territory. Your Company's stats are effectively pools you draw from, as each roll involving a stat lowers that stat by 1 for the rest of the month. So for example, if you attacked the Ryd mountains and did nothing else all month but attack as many times as you could, your first roll would be 5d, then 3d, then you'd be done because with 0 Wealth and 1 Might remaining you don't have enough dice to form a set.

>But Wong, I know math, that's dumb! Even with 5d getting any set at all can be kind of hard!

Yes, and that's where the roleplaying comes in. Actions you take personally and triumphs you have on the PC-scale add bonuses to rolls you make on the Company level. You've done two significant things without even realizing it already. Don't worry, I'll explain this all again when it's time to actually make those rolls.

>>4496105
I'm not sure you meant to respond me there Wong, But that is interesting and good to know all the same.

>>4496110

I had a brainfart and forgot to actually answer your question. YOU going does not penalize the swamp's stats, but it does mean whatever you want the swamp to do WON'T get the bonus from you being there, doing things. In short, yes, you're taking the Last Loyal in your personal retinue and some mages along, but there's no penalty because having you off adding to Lady Hannah's rolls instead of the swamp's is a bigger debuff.

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“My lord.” A respectful voice at your elbow announces itself, and you turn to see one of the Last Loyal. He's wearing full plate armor and a brightly polished high helm with a visor in the shape of a steel facemask. Your personal retinue are always in their full armor when on duty, but the less experienced guards generally dress down a bit for the day-to-day. He's got a billhook, in addition to a crossbow and a quiver of bolts. His black surcoat is adorned with your family's sigil. Maintaining a true knightly tradition is a little difficult in the Absol Swamp, where riding land isn't common and so much status goes to sorcery by default, but in spite of that the swamp has a reputation for particularly fierce and disciplined warriors, and of these the Last Loyal are the best. Barring certain cadres of troops in royal service, there are no finer soldiers in all of Vartyne than the ten assigned to guard you. He leans close, to address you quietly, “The prisoner you took last night has awakened. Forgive my presumption, but we deemed it wise to inform you immediately.” He straightens up, and returns to respectful attention, awaiting your command.

>[Go interrogate the prisoner]
>[Read another letter]

>>4496129
>[Go interrogate the prisoner]
Time to see if we are any good at torture or if we need to invest in a torture master
We also need to find ourselves a Spy master
>>4496084
>Go yourself, accompanied by a battalion of Battlemages
Gotta go prove our skill at leading men in battle as well as our own magical prowess