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>>5339760
Admittedly, changing the world is a PRETTY big departure from your initial mission in this place, which was… Well, to put a stop to some rowdy kobolds who were drawing mammalian attention to the mountain with their increasingly-daring raids, and risked exposing a hidden cache of ancient artefacts from the last Age of Scales and Darkness. You DID that, yes, but now here you are, working with those kobolds (among others) to plan a daring raid of your very own! A part of you still worries about what the Chaplain (the Serpent Priest who practically raised you, and granted you this assignment) will say when he finds out. Then again, it’s not as if you’ve been unproductive in your ambitious deviations from your main objective, have you? Since leaving your home, you have…

>Beaten back a nest of savage carnivore-plants and slain a great devouring terror of the underdark
>Acquired an impressive cache of wealth and a small arsenal of magical items—including a legendary elven moon-sword!
>Made the acquaintance, and earned the allegiance, of a Drow leader (apparently a Princess, no less!)
>Uncovered a long-lost dragon nest and harvested the materials for alchemical research
>Befriended (and, uh, impregnated) a caterpillar-being to beget a great and terrible race of worm-wyrms
>Bested mammal adventurers, kobold heretics, barbarian bugbear burglars, and others
>Earned those same bugbears’ allegiance and aid
>Tamed some rather fierce fire-lizards (And whatever the Junior Novice is)
>Developed an ever-more-powerful array of spells and abilities, most impressively your amulet-augmented <Improved Dragonshape>
>Earned the attention—sometimes favourable, sometimes not—of virtually every major Dark God of your race’s faith


And anyway, there is no time to waste sending a missive back through the winding, dangerous tunnels of the underdark to request permission. Your uneasy and tenuous three-way alliance with the outcast “Drow” elf-clan and the barbarous “Bogbarri” hunters DEPENDS on tangible results, and soon… And that’s not even taking into account what you promised the kobolds themselves, to secure their lasting loyalty. Sometimes, you wonder if you have been too generous, too benevolent… But then you see the gleam in the eyes of your allies and subordinates when you speak with them about your plans for the raid, and for the future of these mountains. They look to you with an awesome admiration, which sets your dragon-soul ablaze with a warmth to stir even the coldest blood. At times like that, you reflect on the self-knowledge gifted to you by The Dark God of Secret Knowledge, he who is called Master of the Insightful Eye, The Baleful Beholder:

To be feared is good; respect is grand; but to be loved is your deepest desire.

And your people here LOVE the idea of these mountains becoming the heart of a new empire, and the start of a new and better life for all of your starved, harried races of the deep dark.

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>>5339763
You have determined that the best course of action with your admittedly-limited forces (yourself, twelve members of the Reptilian Master Race, a few dozen kobolds of varying combat capability, ten Bogbarri, four Drow, and your small collection of monstrous ‘pets’) is to stage a lightning-fast attack upon a single Dwarven company town. These fortified structures have been set up by the ‘corporations’, centuries-old commerce kingdoms, on land leased from the humans below the mountain proper. They rise up like artificial mountain-peaks, and tunnel deep into the mountain as the dwarves extract your ancestor’s wealth—YOURS, by right!—from the stone. They are incredibly defensible, but host relatively small contingents, and the dwarves’ famous greed and secrecy means that they communicate little with their rivals, and are loathe to request aid from other mammal-folk in the area lest they seek recompense in mineral wealth.

“Do not underestimate the dwarves, Superior One,” you were warned by the Thief.

The Thief is the foremost scout of your retinue, and well-trusted by you despite his ignoble history—the history which earned him his name and a gruesome brand burnt into his otherwise-fine Silkscale features. He well knows what he is talking about, too—your last effort to scout the dwarves involved sending him with a contingent of kobold. They did not all return, and he was badly-injured in the effort. He still wears the magical cloak you gifted him to help protect him from a recurrence.

You considered his council a you and your newly-acquired allies return to the kobolds’ mountain home in Bloodrise. You ruminate on it still, wondering if you are being too reckless—and, since you cannot very well back down now, what you can do to shore up your forces and mitigate the risks inherent to this undertaking. This is not your first battle, but this IS your first war. Though you suspect many forget it for your size and Presence, you have not even seen the dawn of your second decade yet.

“The kobolds are most experienced at these sorts of raids,” notes the Bastard, your chiefmost lieutenant and partner in draconic meditation.

You had left him to supervise those very same kobolds while you were away, recruiting bugbears and black-elves. By all indications, he did an excellent job of maintaining discipline while you were away.

“They could form the bulk of the invasion force, and lead the charge,” he says.

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>>5339766
You see the two kobolds in your retinue—loyal and docile Ivno, and fiery, technically-your-penal-slave Agno—stiffen at the suggestion. Agno in particular seems agitated, and starts to say something, only to catch an elbow from Ivno, who shakes his head and mutters to you:

“Sorry-sorry, apologies. No interruptions, Superior One.”

Agno hisses softly, but nods, and averts his eyes to the floor.

What do you do?
>Disregard Agno, and agree with the Bastard’s assessment—the kobolds should form the spearhead of your raiding party
>Dismiss this notion—kobolds may be native to this place, and have experience raiding mammals here, but they’ve never taken a dwarven fort yet
>Ask Agno to speak up, despite his lowly station and recent rebellion against you
>Seek the council of your more experienced and older mammalian allies… Though it may not inspire confidence or come across well to the Reptilians
>Discuss the matter with another—maybe the Novice Fleshweaver, in private?
>Write-in

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[Current statblock to your left. Level-up soon!]

[Archive at https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=reptoidqm]

>>5339770
>Dismiss this notion—kobolds may be native to this place, and have experience raiding mammals here, but they’ve never taken a dwarven fort yet

Bulk of the invasion force? sure
Leading the charge? they're too small, weak, and pathetic. might as well not have a charge at all

like really we might want to forgo the charge and stealth our way in unless we massively outnumber them

too bad the thief's recon mission went poorly

also captcha is back up, couldn't post for a bit there

>>5339770
>Disregard Agno, and agree with the Bastard’s assessment—the kobolds should form the spearhead of your raiding party

>>5339770
>Supplement the Kobolds with the Degenerates.
>Discuss the matter with another—maybe the Novice Fleshweaver, in private?
Could use our Earth Tremor and Earth Wall to great effect, maybe some sore distraction/Divide and Conquer scheme.

Otherwise I’m fine with the Bastard’s plan. The Drow are the least numerous, and the Bogs would be fine as infiltrators but shit as the spearhead, and a significant of our Reptilians are non-combatants. We should use the Degenerates to bolster the kobolds and show them that the Master Race fights among them, but we should reserve the full-blooded reptilians until we break into their fort proper, to avoid any escapees or leaks to the Grand Conspiracy.

>>5339842
>maybe some sort of distraction/Divide and Conquer scheme

>>5339770
>Ask Agno to speak up, despite his lowly station and recent rebellion against you

>>5339770
>Discuss the matter with another—maybe the Novice Fleshweaver, in private?

>>5339770
>Ask Agno to speak up, despite his lowly station and recent rebellion against you
Worst case scenario he gets guillotined by moonsword. Best case, we learn something valuable.

>>5339770
>Ask Agno to speak up, despite his lowly station and recent rebellion against you

Agno chads stay winning hehe

>>5339770
>Discuss the matter with another—maybe the Novice Fleshweaver, in private?
Might as well get a fresh perspective on this.

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>>5340184
>>5340131
>>5340060
>>5339883
>>5339844
>>5339842
>>5339827
>>5339821
>>5340391

Despite their experience, and the Bastard’s evident confidence in the little reptiles’ abilities, the Kobolds of Bloodrise have struck you as… Small, weak, even a little pathetic. They ARE an inferior slave race, after all, even if they’re technically Reptilian. You can think of ways to make such a plan work—maybe some earth-shaping with your terrain-affecting spells, to divide and conquer? Still, it seems a risk to make them so crucial to the early stages of the invasion…

All this to say: you have your own misgivings about sending the kobolds to form the spearhead for your invasion. You can’t help but wonder if Agno shares them, and so despite your fraught history and his lowly status, you let the defeated servant speak his piece.

“Kobolds see these new allies… But don’t yet know what you promised them, these mammals. Promised much wealth… Land, loot, meat, yes?”

He looks up some fire in his eyes, but he keeps his tone respectful as he points out: “More for them, less for kobolds. LESS-less, when you take best of magic things we find… Rightful-proper, as Dragon, but… Kobolds attacking in waves, high casualties. KILL-killed, in numbers. May be… Upset, when they learn it is for less-less.”

Ivno’s face twists up, and he squirms; you can see he wants his friend to silence himself. He fears you will execute the impetuous warrior in response to his frank, kobold’ centric concerns.

“This is the role of the kobold—of ALL footsoldiers, for the Grand Design of the Dark Gods!” the Bastard snarls, slamming his gifted barbarian’s maul upon the stone floor of the cavern for emphasis.

“What do you propose, then?” you ask, surprising everyone in attendance with your willingness to humour this defiant-hearted little creature—even Agno himself, by his wide eyes and stammering pause.

“Basilisk,” he replies. “Dragonwrought—sorry-sorry, Hako and Hapo… When they pretended to be Dragonwrought… They commanded basilisk in battle to take human town. Paralyzes with eyes! Petrifies with venom! Fast, strong, BIG.”

You consider this. It is true you have been at a loss for what to do with the captive, pit-trapped basilisk which these kobolds have managed to corral, and which now serves more as a communal garbage disposal than any sort of properly-useful asset. With your Fearsome Presence, especially useful with reptiles, you could perhaps bind it to your will…

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>>5340399
“It’s a stupid idea,” the Novice Fleshweaver hisses. “An unnecessary risk.”

You turn to her—your oldest friend, your childhood bully, your… Well, you aren’t sure what this Serpent Priestess is to you now, or vice versa, but you recently spend an entire night with your head rested in her lap after going a little too hard on the dark elven mushroom-wine. You’re a little surprised that this intellectual apostate would so rapidly dismiss the idea.

“We should kill it an integrate its blood into my—into OUR pet project, instead. It already properly fears you, Dragonborn.”

Ah, there it is. She means the ‘Junior Novice’, a strange little mammalian kobold-esque creature which you purchased on a whim, mocking named for the Novice Fleshweaver, and subsequently sued as a test-subject for the infusion of draconic blood and grafting of long-dead dragon-flesh. It—he, you suppose—has subsequently grown larger, bolder, and more dragon-y by the day. ‘Junior’ is still only the size of a Silkscale female, but in a sparring match—which you won, cowing him—he proved surprisingly strong AND susceptible to your influence. More importantly to the Novice, he is very much HER creation—her ‘pet’ project—and augmenting him would serve to bring further renown to her unorthodox beliefs and methods.

“How long would that take?” you ask her. “For the process to complete, for J—for the creature to be ready?”

She hesitates, lashing her tail irritably.

“I do not know,” she admits. “It may delay the assault somewhat. And tehre IS the chance of failure…”

“The demon of envy in the Dragonwrought pretender’s ring… It bound dragon, kobold, and basilisk blood together into one creature almost instantly, did it not?”

You all turn to the North-Merchant in shock at this borderline-sacrilegious suggestion. Use a demon—an enemy of your people, after a fashion, a corrupter of kobolds into would-be dragons—to transfigure

“I do not mean that we SHOULD do it,” the mercantile infiltrator says quickly, demurring and lowering his eyes. “Just that it was an option… Something to consider.”

It is at that.

What will you do?
>Attempt to re-tame the basilisk, at risk to yourself
>Kill the basilisk and attempt to use its flesh and blood to augment the Novice’s creation—though it may fail, and will delay your invasion
>Use the demon ring to bind the basilisk and Junior Novice together as one amalgamated entity
>Forget the basilisk altogether, you do not need its powers to triumph
>Punish Agno for even bringing this pointless segue up in the first place
>Write-in

>>5340400
>Attempt to re-tame the basilisk, at risk to yourself

It would be badass to have a basilisk under our control. Reptillian empathy is our best stat so might as well try and hopefully we can get that level up before the battle from this.

>>5340433
I still think we should eventually kill the basilisk and give its blood to the junior novice eventually. I want the junior novice to become a monstrous living weapon.

>>5340400
>Write-in
>>Use the demon ring, not to simply fuse the basilisk and the junior novice. But instead ask the bastard to join you in a new improved dragonwrought amalgam between yourself, the dragonblooded bastard, the junior novice, the basilisk and the fire lizards. And lead the charge on the dwarf town.

Hako and Hapo combining with the dead red dragon hatchling and some lizards. Gave them enough power to crush the human forces in the abandoned town, and kill their druid protector.

If we do the same thing whilst using superior materials for the combination, the dwarfs won't stand a chance.

>>5340483
This is a horrible idea

>>5340433
+1

>>5340485
>This is a horrible idea.

How so? We can just remove the ring to split ourselves, after the battle is over.

And while both the basilisk and the junior novice, have so so intelligence and need to be carefully handled in order to follow commands. We would be under no such limitations if we fused them into ourselves.

>>5340490
>Implying that we'd have the presence of mind to remove the ring
>Implying that we wouldn't be absolutely bugfuck crazy and slaughter our own forces
lol, lmao

>>5340433
+1
Not against helping with the experiment eventually but there's no reason to do it now. Why haven't we destroyed this damn ring yet?

>>5340400
>Attempt to re-tame the basilisk, at risk to yourself

>>5340493
>Why haven't we destroyed this damn ring yet?

Breaking the ring physically would release the demon, since the ring acts as it's prison.

And Hapo stole the books listing the demon's true name. Without them it's questionable whether we would be able to banish it since we have no demonologist with us.

>>5340493
>>Implying that we'd have the presence of mind to remove the ring.

I mean we do have our fearsome presence, it would be easier for us to resist the demon's influence than it was for Hako.

>>Implying that we wouldn't be absolutely bugfuck crazy and slaughter our own forces.

Both Hapo and hako were still sane after their dragonworght transformation, and worked alongside their forces. Since this demon ring was a part of the red dragon's horde, the demon inside of it is probably used to serving reptilians.

>>5340510
Shit take, its a demon, its sacrilege, no one is going to go for that, and itll make us a monstrosity, the sooner we lose this gross steven universe ring the better, stupid plan anon, get back in the corner you fucking dumpster baby

>>5340510
>Both Hapo and hako were still sane after their dragonworght transformation
Yeah, after they fused with a few corpses, and then they were also evil and tried to kill us? You want us to fuse with
>A wholeass adult man (why would the Bastard ever agree with this)
>A slavering scientific monstrosity
>A whole bunch of random lizards for some reason
This is the worst idea anybody has ever come up with in this quest. This is a worse idea than fucking the bug and I don't say that lightly.

>>5340400
>>Kill the basilisk and attempt to use its flesh and blood to augment the Novice’s creation—though it may fail, and will delay your invasion

Hard pass on anything demoniac.

>>5340400
>Attempt to re-tame the basilisk, at risk to yourself
>Slap Agno and tell him to show damn respect next time

>>5340567
+1

>>5340567
Support, pimpslap that bitch!

>>5340567
-1

>>5340567
Funny. But please no.

>>5340647
>>5340714
>>5340717
Just for the record, it wasn't for comedic effect. I believe we need to teach the little shit some manners, because while he makes good points, his behavior is hostile and detrimental to our cooperation.

>>5340721
-1

>>5340721
>Ask Agno for his concerns
>Slap him right after for giving those concerns

I don’t know. Bullying an already downtrodden subordinate feels pretty pathetic, he is literally our slave already.

>>5340727
Then what do you propose we do about his rebellious behavior? Don't think we've got family therapy here in the underdark.

>>5340735
Nothing. Having a subordinate that's willing to give the actual opinions of the Kobolds is pretty useful. Ivno sure isn't going to represent what the Kobolds want well. We already hold all the power in the relationship we can take a little bit of defiance, all slapping will do is make him less willing to talk about his concerns.

>>5340738
So slapping him would somehow make us look "pathetic", even though every reptilian alive agrees that kobolds are cannon fodder at the bottom of the social ladder, but babysitting little Agno and humoring each little tantrum just to have the privilege to hear his hot takes won't make us look pathetic and also undermine our position as a leader?
I thought you had a better idea on how to fix his behavior, but I guess we're back to slapping it out of him.

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Rolled 10, 11, 19, 3 = 43 (4d20)

>>5340647
>>5340636
>>5340567
>>5340551
>>5340502
>>5340493
>>5340485
>>5340483
>>5340433
You dismiss your council, save the Novice, whose chamber you retire to in order to consider your options.

“Why not use your chamber, Uninvited One?” she huffs, considerably less deferential when the two of you are alone.

“I value your council,” you respond.

She looks over her shoulder from where she labours over her alchemical field-kit, a pared-down and more-durable form of the elaborate laboratory of glass, stone, and crystal which serves her at home.

“Oh really?” she asks, dubiously. “So you’re going to follow my advice?”

“You know I am not going to delay the assault,” you sigh.

“Obviously, Meatheaded One.”

“And the basilisk IS a useful asset…”

She hisses, a Reptilian scoff, and turns away. Her tail slaps the ground in irritation.

“That was exactly the OPPOSITE of my council, Degenerateborn.”

You’ve noticed she uses that name for you—an allusion to the tainted, part-human heritage which only she, you, and the Chaplain and the Dark Gods Beyond and Below know you carry—less often in these last few days. It only crops up when she is especially angry… Or concerned.

“I will be safe,” you assure her, “and when time is less pressing, you may yet have your samples. What of the dead basilisk chick, which the so-called Dragonwrought was drawing power from?”

“Scant material,” she complains, “but it will have to do.”

You stand, mind made up, and go to face down the basilisk.

“If you get yourself petrified all because you wanted to show, I will not readily forgive you!” the Novice shouts after you.

Truly, a peculiar female.

The basilisk is in its pit, chained to a central post. At present, it is blindfolded—a difficult task that took the kobolds many attempts and led to several injuries. The Bastard felt it necessary to accomplish this even at such a cost, however, after the beastly thing’s mere gaze afflicted you and a whole host of Reptilians during your dominance-duel with Agno. Even in such condition, though, Ivno and the Bastard watch trepidatiously as you descend into the pit and approach the thing.

The basilisk has a beak, wattle, and comb like some great rooster, at a distance; upon closer inspection, the wattles are more like the hanging dewlaps of an iguana, the headrest more rigid and bony than a rooster’s. It has a barrel-like body and six stumpy legs, and a long, trailing tail, ridged with spikes as with its back. Excluding the tail—nearly as long as its body again—it is nearly the size of you… And you are no small creature, being nearly 300 pounds of muscle. You suspect from its build that it is heavier.

You take a deep breath, centre yourself, and reach out with your Fearsome Presence…

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>>5340772
>19
…And reach out to remove the blindfold. Even from all the way down here, you can feel the spike in anxiety in your watching subordinates, their readiness to leap to your aid—especially the Bastard, who (though older than you) has come to view you as a great benefactor and almost a mentor. The same Presence that evokes such loyalty in him, however, also protects you from the basilisk. As the eye-covering slips away, the basilisk dutifully lowers its head, averting its eyes.

Some call the basilisk ‘king of snakes’, but it is no match for the soul of a dragon—the king of all reptiles.

You re-mask the basilisk when you are confident you have control of it, for the sake of avoiding accidents, but you give the command: this dangerous entity now belongs to you, and will accompany your forces to serve as part of the assault on the dwarves. With this new trick up your sleeve, you return to planning the assault.

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>>5340775
Eventually, after a long day of meetings, discussions, and meditations, torpor takes you.

Choose one non-combat ability to level up:
>Leadership
>Seduction
>Intimidation

Choose one combat ability to level-up:
>Fisticuffs
>Swordsmanship
>Spellcraft

>>5340778
>Intimidation
>Swordsmanship
Are we bowless now?

>>5340778
>Seduction
>Spellcraft

>>5340779
[Nah, but you've barely used that skill since your last level-up. Same with firebreath and elementalism.]

>>5340782
Aw. What's spellcraft for, then?

>>5340787
[USUALLY more for learning or idnetifying spells than wielding them... But it's also your default skill for concentrating to use an item or maintain your Dragonshape when under extreme stress or pain.]

>>5340778
>Leadership
No diplomacy?
>Swordsmanship

>>5340803
[Damnit, I knew I forgor soemthing. Diplomacy is on the table, too! Sorry, was in a rush to finish before an appointment.]

>>5340780
>>5340779
[Diplomacy is also a non-combat option.]

>>5340805
I'm keeping intimidation. It's more useful for someone in our position with an appointed team of diplomats and experts. That and because we will surely encounter many monsters/brutes we will have to pacify.

>>5340778
>Seduction
>Fisticuffs
AND EVERYBODY WAS KUNG FU FIGHTING!

AND SOON WE’LL GET A SPELL OF LIGHTNING!

>>5340778
>Diplomacy
>Swordmanship

>>5340778
>Swordsmanship
>Diplomacy

Prepare for elf queen and chaplain talks

>>5340778
>Leadership
>Swordsmanship

>>5340778
>Diplomacy
>Swordsmanship

Been really enjoying this so far RQM, it's a blast. Thanks for running.

>>5340809
The elf specialist is incompetent I don’t trust reptoid diplomats at all after him.

>>5340908
>human spy

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>>5340778
>Seduction
>Fisticuffs

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[I was tallying the votes for a post, but it seems someone just tied things up a little! I'll leave this open a bit longer.]

>>5340906
Thanks for the kind words, anon.

>>5341110
Seduction is the coomer option we’ve used it about once. Diplomacy we use constantly.

>>5341110
I'll switch to
>Diplomacy
to tiebreak.

>>5340778
>Seduction
>Swordsmanship
Diplomacy is the boring cuck action, I want some spice in this quest!

>>5341117
>motherfucker already broke the tie
Damn, you stole my thunder!

>>5341110
Want me to switch my vote to Intimidation QM, to break the tie (again)?

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>>5341135
>tie breaks
>retied
>mfw

[Nah, don't sweat it. I'll roll for it if it isn't resolved by the time I'm done this Illuminaughtii video on the Satanic Temple.]

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5341166
How about I roll for it, and you can take the result as my vote.
1- Seduction
2- Diplomacy

>>5341176
Rip diplomacy.

>>5341176
Well, I guess that settles it then

>>5341110
>Diplomacy
Fuck no not seduction

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>>5341186
Almost

>>5341194
>>5341176
[Are you two just... Not invested in the martial choice, or happy with swordsmanship? Just verifying.]

>>5341197
I’m fine with swordsmanship already

>>5341197
Wait did my last minute vote not make it and seduction won?

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>>5341200
>>5341198
[Nah, I'll hold off another half hour. If nobody else votes/changes vote, though, I'm rolling for it. And I'm locking for non-backlinked 1post IDs on this vote]

>>5341197
I’m down for Swordsmanship, but even if I did decide to meme Fisticuffs, it wouldn’t have changed much beyond prolonging the suffering.

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Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5341209
>>5341202
>>5341200
>>5341198
>>5341194
>>5341176
>>5341131
>>5341117
>>5341103
>>5340906
>>5340880
>>5340857
>>5340855
>>5340838
>>5340780
>>5340779
[Vote locked, post incoming]

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>>5341230
You awake feeling refreshed, and cognizant of how much you have grown over your last few weeks. It’s tough to imagine it has only been about three months since you left. So much ahs happened. You’ve become a warrior, a diplomat… Almost a king, soon a father… Tomorrow, perhaps a general. And you’re still not even twenty years old! It’s daunting, but you feel worthy of it.

>+1 Swordsmanship
>+1 Diplomacy

The moment of truth is close at hand. A company-town is chosen—a fort close to the kobolds’ own home, and relatively equidistant from the other company towns, which all indications suggest are rival to this one and thus unlikely to notice anything amiss. You consult once more with your corps of advisors: the intelligentsia of your loyal retinue, the Thief and Bastard, the kobold leadership council… Even the Bugbear Boss and the Drow Ranger-Captain called Epharidan, just to head off any complaints of sidelining. Several perspectives emerge, crystallizing into a few main action plans, all taking into account your new ‘acquisition’ of a re-tamed basilisk.

The kobodls’ conventional wisdom is that it is best to harry the dwarves troops outside the fort with small groups of partisans, drawing out their defenders from their fortifications to kill as many as possibly in the craggy valleys and passes of the mountains—a long and arduous sort of guerilla war, but one that will put you on equal footing to the dwarves. This will leave the remaining defenders depleted, when you eventually make your way to the chosen

The Bugbear Boss scoffs at this, pointing out the extreme light-sensitivity of virtually all non-kobolds in your forces.

“And anyway,” the Boss states, “is already what we do when we hunt dwarves, and if it was good enough for destroying entire fort, we or kobolds would have done already.”

“Then what do you propose?” you ask him wearily, already wearying of his usual mammalian machismo.

“I have… Friend. Ally, who can help. Like you big lizard-thing.”

“You mean your great bat?” you ask, remembering your divination many weeks prior.

“Copper, how do you know about this?!” he demands.

“I have my ways,” you reply levelly. “Go on.”

The Bugbear Boss HAS indeed tamed a great bat, and he attests that this aerial advantage could prove key in a strike… IF you were to attack at night, and to use the bulk of your forces as bait, to draw out the dwarven defenders. Then HE could attack from above, while You ride your basilisk into battle from the front, staging a two-pronged attack with your strongest warriors on those who remain at the same time your forces outside are engaging most of the dwarves.

“Many kobolds will die,” worries Ivno.

“Bonus,” says the Boss. “More meat.”

Agno looks quietly furious at the Bugbear Boss, but holds his tongue.

File: 51U0RLLU7vS._SX460_BO1,20(...).jpg (35 KB, 462x500)

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>>5341283
The Thief prepared to lead a decapitating strike, entering the stronghold during the day, to eliminate the leadership and sabotage defences from within, so that your main force-led by you, astride the basilisk—can besiege the confounded and helpless dwarves at the setting of the sun. The Drow Ranger-Captain concurs, favouring this method; he also makes a point of noting how delaying to acquire more Drow allies first could help make it more viable, something you suspect is rooted in a desire to give his own race more prestige in this raid and a better bargaining position.

The Bastard still holds that the kobolds themselves would make an excellent forward force, softening up the dwarves in a direct assault.

“You could follow in a second wave,” he declares. “Our Master Race bringing up the rear, like the Thief’s plan, but without a chance of his being caught with a small force—as he was before—and giving us away. IF they do that, word could get out about our presence… And they could warn the other dwarves, or humans, and maybe even get reinforcements. Better to have them surrounded as quickly as possible. All this… Infiltration, and baiting, and this business with multiple fronts… It just means more chances for something to go wrong, and for a witness or survivor to escape and spread word. This way, if the dwarves repel our initial force… They only see kobolds. Nothing else.”

The Novice, for her part, throws up her hands in exasperation.

“If you’re set on doing this before we consult with the Chaplain, or even can perfect my creature, then I do not even know why you would ask me. I am not a strategist, Dragonborn. I would have suggested modifying our Amulets of Disguise, and sending Infiltrators disguised as dwarves… Though we’d need to capture a few of them to make that happen.”

Hm, that’s an idea, too, you suppose… Delaying the raid proper, but obtaining some dwarven captives to interrogate and ‘deconstruct’ for disguise-materials.

How will you begin your campaign?
>A series of daylight raids on the dwarves to thin their numbers
>A two-wave invasion: kobolds to strike, your other forces to cut off means of communication and escape, and a direct siege
>A three-pronged nighttime assault: one decoy force to draw the dwarves out, then bugbears to invade the fort from the sides and above while you charge the front defences
>A decapitating strike by your stealthiest forces during the day, and then a major unified offensive at sunset
>Focus on capturing some dwarves to interrogate and extract materials from—the main raid will come next, when you better understand your enemy
>Write-in

>>5341285
>Focus on capturing some dwarves to interrogate and extract materials from—the main raid will come next, when you better understand your enemy

>shitter coomers almost won
god, does progression have to be a choice now?

>>5341285
BREEDABLE
FERTILE
NOVICE
FLESHWEAVER
HIPS

>>5341307
But they will know shit's up when dwarves go missing

>>5341285
>A decapitating strike by your stealthiest forces during the day, and then a major unified offensive at sunset

Seems like it'll make the most people happy
And what are the chances of the thief getting spotted twice? He's got a better idea of their defenses now, plus the cloak

Surrounding them would be a good precaution, to catch any runners.

>>5341285
>A decapitating strike by your stealthiest forces during the day, and then a major unified offensive at sunset

>>5341285
>A decapitating strike by your stealthiest forces during the day, and then a major unified offensive at sunset

>>5341285
>A decapitating strike by your stealthiest forces during the day, and then a major unified offensive at sunset

The Thief better not fail us after all that talk about ambition and how he'll prove himself now.

>>5341285
>Focus on capturing some dwarves to interrogate and extract materials from—the main raid will come next, when you better understand your enemy
Infiltrating the Dwarfs via disguise would be fun, just imagine the chaos and confusion from the ‘backstab’!

>>5341285
>A decapitating strike by your stealthiest forces during the day, and then a major unified offensive at sunset
>Give the Novices’ jiggly bubble butt a firm smack. She knows we like it.

>>5341285
>Focus on capturing some dwarves to interrogate and extract materials from—the main raid will come next, when you better understand your enemy

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>>5341605
>>5341453
>>5341451
>>5341443
>>5341340
>>5341336
>>5341334
>>5341312
>>5341307
You survey your expectant allies, and nod to the Thief.

“You have my cloak,” you tell him. “If you encounter resistance, may it preserve you.”

The Thief bows his head low, and hurries to leave. With him, he brings the four Drow, the Bogbarri (save their grumbling Boss), and Paeris—your stealthiest member of the retinue, next to the Theif himself, or the currently-cocooned Glowie.

Glowie… Your thoughts briefly turn back to her. The strange caterpillar-woman, ‘princess’ of a hive-queen of an insectoid race, concocted as some fallback plan to replace your own Reptilian Master Race in case of your failure and extinction. Instead, she became a… Friend. Now, she is in the safe-keeping of a dark elven, also of some unknown ‘princess’ pedigree—Jazkarmel. Far from replacing your bloodline with her own, she is a its preservation: she is metamorphosing in reparation to lay eggs which YOU fertilized, mixed with the pure bloodline of the Red Dragon king by the fleshweaving magicks of the Novice.

You have the brief, perversely-amusing thought that, if you fail and die here, you will at least have heirs to avenge you.

You shake off the sudden foreboding, retreating to your chamber to meditate for a time, and to restore your mana in preparation for the campaign ahead. You steady your spirit and strengthen your resolve. Eventually—you can’t say how much later—the Bastard calls out to you:

“Dragonborn, Superior One! The sun will set in three hours.”

“Then it is time,” you respond. “Good.”

You find your forces gathered, waiting for you. The Novice, the Merchants, and the Translator are armed with ranged weapons—bows, crossbows, slings. Oluwadamilare, the Degenerate Archer, is with them; his own great bow—a new one, of elven make, you notice—puts theirs to shame, but so well might his skill with it. Many of the kobolds have been armed with spears, axes, and knives, but a few twirl swings in practiced motions, readying their arms to aid in the ranged assault—they form the bulk of your force by numbers, and fill in the midsection of your column. The Cartographer, by necessity, shall be accompanying you, your fire-lizards, the Bastard and the Pit-Guard and his Apprentice at the head of this marching army.

File: 9DrF4cTh.jpg (82 KB, 500x500)

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Rolled 9, 12, 1, 7, 20, 16, 20 = 85 (7d20)

>>5341718

“Where is the Bogbarri’s leader?” you ask, for you see no sign of the so-called ‘Boss’ of the savage spike-men.

“Vanished,” grunts the Bastard, disapprovingly.

“Went to retrieve his mount,” Paeris informs you. “I suspect so, anyway. I saw a glimmer of his glamour earlier, headed down into the depths.

“Or the cowardly ape abandoned us,” scoffs the North-Merchant.

“I would not be so sure,” murmurs the South. “That one is thirsty for blood. And there is a power within him…”

You sensed it, too. It’s why you tread with caution around the bugbears initially, when you knew them only as ‘barbed devils’ or ‘dark creepers’, when you had seen him only in visions. You doubt that the Bogbarri Boss has fled the field… But you do wonder what form his return will take. You realize you have only seen his barest capability, for brutish intimidation and grappling combat, but none of the magic you suspect he is capable of… Nor has he volunteered to tell you of his skillset. Bah, no time to pursue that now.

“Onward!” you roar. “To war! To victory! To a new Age of Dragons!"

And so your forces advance, bathed in the ominous glow of a Bloodrise sunset. It’s as if blood red curtains are being drawn up, siding up over the mountains and away, revealing the darkened stage where you players shall act your roles in the theatre of war.

You can only hope that the Thief and his forces have played their own part to the hilt.

6d20 for the Thief and his allies [DC 15/17/19]; 1d20 for the enemies' response thereafter [5/10/15/20, higher is worse for you]

>>5341722
>both thief and enemies got 20
well now

>>5341722
Goddamn hyperadvanced midget scum. How's it gonna be?
>1 and 20 cancel out, 16 versus their 20
>1 is ignored outright, 20 versus their 20

>>5341751
They don't cancel out

>>5341722
Goddamn whenever there's a 1d20 enemy roll they always roll a 20.

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>>5341722
It is a long march, and over the course of it, the red glow of the setting sun gives way to darkness, as might be expected… But then, to your surprise and initial confusion, the sky seems to open up anew and spill yet more heavenly blood upon the cliffs, a second sunset—or sunrise?—from the opposite direction. It is only when you wind the final path that the source is revealed to you, and your confusion turns to delight:

>20

The dwarven fortress is wrecked, alight with flames despite its sturdy construction.

The bulk of the tunnels below bore into the earth, and much of their defensive bulwark—a towering, imposing structure—is also stone, but there are some uses to which stone cannot be quickly and efficiently put. All of these were made with wood from the forests below, and ALL of them are ablaze. Dwarves—small, squat, hairy ape-folk, uniformly bearded and roughshod in appearance—run about frantically, trying to stomp out or smother flames. A few pour water upon the fires from buckets, but this only seems to spread it further, and the majority seem to be reverting to sand. By their utter disorganization, you can assume one of two things: their competence and organization was grossly overstated, or the mission of sabotage has been a huge success, and their command structure is in complete disarray.

“What are they shouting?” you ask the Translator, falling back to do so.

“Many things,” he says with clear pleasure, “all of them quite bad for them. They say that monsters have attacked the fortification from below—that they have killed their Chief Trader, that they have killed MANY. None of the dwarves now knows who is in charge, and their forces are apparently engaged below, trying to drive them back.”

You grin a terrible grin.

“Well then, shall we create a second front?”

You sit astride the basilisk—a creature that, though not enormous in size, is great enough in length to support you atop its barrel-like body with is six powerful limbs. Too late, the dwarves catch sight of your silhouettes, cast into shadows by the flame but still visible in the murk thanks to their race’s darkvision. You share that trait, though, and you see with wicked glee the effect that the terrible glare of your mount has upon them—they double over, recoiling in pain and confusion as the paralyzing eyes of the creature take their toll on all it surveys.

>>5341763
Few have seen you, and those few who have are momentarily helpless. What do you do?
>Command your forces forwards as one, killing or capturing every dwarf you can as you advance towards the main gates of the dwarf fortress
>Order your allies to encircle the camp and attack from range, keeping the dwarves off-balance and cutting off any attempts at escape
>Charge straight for the gate, to take the fortress and aid your allies already inside
>Activate your <Augmented Dragonshape> and dismount, advancing towards them and demanding surrender with all your Fearsome Presence
>Use your <Wall of Stone> to collapse the path behind you and to entrap the dwarves, then target the tower to bring it low with an <Earth Tremor>
>Write-in

>>5341748
>>5341751
>>5341756
[Crit fails only apply when there is no success; it doesn't cancel out a 20. The enemy 20, on the other hand... Also doesn't cancel anything out, but it may have complicated matters.]

>>5341764
>Order your allies to encircle the camp and attack from range, keeping the dwarves off-balance and cutting off any attempts at escape
>Use your <Wall of Stone> to collapse the path behind you and to entrap the dwarves, then target the tower to bring it low with an <Earth Tremor>

Making sure there's no survivors is the priority. Word of this cannot spread or the dwarves will be too entrenched. It's worth using mana here and attacking from range to absolutely guarantee it.

>>5341751
iirc 1 only counts when no other rolls pass the DC

so we got a crit, but they also crit
we can only hope our crit hurt theirs since we got it first

>Command your forces forwards as one, killing or capturing every dwarf you can as you advance towards the main gates of the dwarf fortress

>>5341775
+1
Lead the melee in through gate while range pick off survivor

The Novice better let us fuck the shit out of her after this. Jiggle that ass until her scales fall off from friction All this success should turn her on.

>>5341799
I think she needs to be in season
who knows when that will be

>>5341800
Jiggle Glowie until she ready than

>>5341803
Glowie is in a cocoon, and you may recall she felt that she and the Dragonborn would not be 'compatible' when she emerged

>>5341775
+1; no witnesses

>>5341804
This is why I wanted to fuck her one last time

>>5341764
>>Order your allies to encircle the camp and attack from range, keeping the dwarves off-balance and cutting off any attempts at escape

>>5341764
>>5341775 +1
>Join the shooting

>>5341775
Supporting

Nobody lives

>>5341764
>Command your forces forwards as one, killing or capturing every dwarf you can as you advance towards the main gates of the dwarf fortress
>Use your <Wall of Stone> to collapse the path behind you and to entrap the dwarves, then target the tower to bring it low with an <Earth Tremor>
We have to be quick about this, no time to dally.

>>5341764
>Use your <Wall of Stone> to collapse the path behind you and to entrap the dwarves, then target the tower to bring it low with an <Earth Tremor>

File: 6365551.jpg (37 KB, 310x475)

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Rolled 8, 8, 19, 11, 10, 2, 9, 14, 11 = 92 (9d20)

>>5342370
>>5342263
>>5342053
>>5342030
>>5341848
>>5341807
>>5341786
>>5341779
>>5341775
“Nobody escapes,” you announce your order, “and nobody lives. Quickly, we have no time to dally!”

Your thirty-off kobold warriors haphazardly scramble to encircle the camp, cutting off what escape routes they an. Your slingers begin to sling stones, your archer to loose arrows; Olu the Archer swiftly ends one of the dwarves your basilisk stunned, While a few haphazard shots by the others eventually catch and kill the rest. You witness this with grim satisfaction, as the dwarves realize they are no beset from both sides.

To their credit, your adversaries swiftly rally, beginning to form up in spite of a lack of leadership. A volley of stones, and thrown axes and knives, are hurled in your direction, forcing your forces to back up, and then their forces begin to charge for what they see as a weak point in your line—a place with fewer slingers than most, where the kobolds’ melee capabilities are all that stand between these dwarves and a strategic regouping beyond your immediate span of control.

“Not so fast,” you mutter, beginning to work your magic over the earth.

[3d20 spellcraft, 3d20 archery, 2d20 for allies' probability of success, 1d20 for enemies; your DCs are all lowered to 14 by the advantages accrued by your tactics, your enemies' raised to 16]

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Rolled 8, 20, 10 = 38 (3d20)

>>5342433
>19
You leap down from your basilisk, needing the feel of the earth—the direct connection, to properly work it. On impact, the ground seems to shake, and to ripple in a line towards the dwarves. They are sturdy folk, well-balanced and low to the ground, but it nearly sends even them tumbling. They’re certainly disoriented when the mountain pass behind the kobolds comes tumbling down, the cliff consuming it, and then rises up anew to form a solid barricade of broken, cracked stone.

>11
The delay is momentary. You have barely enough time to draw your bow before they have turned on you, are now screaming their war-cries and hurtling back from whence they came to cut you down. You loose an arrow, but it flies wide. You back up a step, but bump into your basilisk. Well, it seems you and the six-legged lizard will be engaging in melee—and too soon for you to draw a blade, at this rate. You brace yourself…

>14
But the assault never comes, for the kobolds have not sat idle. Rallied with a roar by the Bastard, they charge down after the dwarves of swifter feet, and set upon them from behind. Too late, this disorganized dwarves realize their error in judgement in forgetting about the weaker but more numerous foes behind them to focus on you, the leader. They are stabbed, slashed, clawed and bitten, and left dead to the last.

File: fe10-collapsing-castle.png (651 KB, 1024x568)

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Rolled 8, 1, 12 = 21 (3d20)

>>5342463
There are many more dwarves still within the fortress, though. As they realize there is no escape through you—nor any real chance of engaging your superior numbers and organization in a melee with you shifting the terrain and your forces carefully maintaining distance and chipping away at them from afar, the dwarves still in-the-field regoup inside their little castle-town, braving the flames rather than your wrath.

Ha. If they only knew what was coming.

You step forward with footfalls that literally shake the earth. Gradually, as you advance towards the fortifications, you gain speed. The dwarves seem you coming, and their crossbowmen fire. Quarrels of orichalcum-plated steel impact the rocky ground to either side of you, embedding deeply for their hardness, their sharpness, and the keen engineering of these arrogant tunnel-monkeys. You ignore them, maintain your concentration, and summon much of your mana down from your head, through your organs and down into your gut, and then channel into a single word of power and great stomp.

>20

The earth buckles, and breaks. You hear a great lamentation, cries of agony and despair, as the tower twists, shifts sideways, and comes tumbling down in a terrific implosion. Dwarves are crushed, scattered or buried; for its defensible location upon the cliff-face, much of the above-ground structure of this ‘company-town’ now tumbles down into the jutting spikes and inescapable chasms below, dashing its defenders upon the rocks.

From behind and above you, you hear a terrible screeching sound. You turn to see a silhouette ALMOST like a dragon in miniature—rising before the moon to blot it out with webbed, hairless wings. You recognize it a moment later: a great bat. You spare a wave of acknowledgement to the Bugbear Boss, whose mount—easily twice the size of you, with a wingspan four times your size—sweeps low over the battlefield. It snatches up one remaining dwarf in its jaws, hurling him down to the same fate as the dwarves within the fortress, and then divebombs after him—down to ensure the deaths (and collect the flesh) of any dwarves thus thrown down.

The remaining dwarves between you and the ruin of their impromptu keep are terrified, flailing in fearful incompetence. Your pets and minions descend upon them and end what remains of your resistance, and you advance with them, to take the lower levels of this fortress… Only to realize something terrible.

The fortress has not merely toppled, but collapsed in on itself, the rock shelf and rubble of the brickwork and burning wood tumbling DOWNWARD, into the shaft below.

Below… Where the Thief, Paeris, and their squad of assassins was doing battle with the bulk of the dwarven warriors, according to the Translator’s interpretation.

You scramble past your forces, rummaging through rock to find the entrance to the passages below...

[Athleticism roll]

File: Spoiler Image (12 KB, 668x143)

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Rolled 7, 8, 12, 3, 4, 14, 11, 2, 13, 13, 11, 15 = 113 (12d15)

>>5342476
Death rolls. Duplicate rolls go to the next survivor down the numbered list.

Result of crit fail on athleticism: you are not fast enough to save the Thief if his number comes up more than once, despite his cloak helping to survive the battle and the castle-collapse

>>5342481
Did anyone die?

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>>5342481
You feel a growing helplessness in you as you realize just how much earth you have moved with your <Tremor>--and how little ability you have to actually, DELIBERATELY move it away without causing further damage. You can reshape it into walls, but even with all your mana you could not use this skill to completely clear the path down to the dungeons-depths of this fort, and all your mighty muscle is nary enough to liberate your companions from this tomb of your own making.

Eventually, as the last of the dwarves are slain, your allies begin to come help you. Many can do little to speed the process—it takes three or four kobolds to equal your physical power, and the Pit-Guard’s Apprentice is still injured beyond being able to assist for long, while many of your other allies are necessarily less athletic than you. It is a long time—over an hour, you would estimate—before you truly open up the shaft into the ‘town’ below.

It is indeed a town, albeit a small one. What was above-ground was all defensive bulwark and waste-storage; below, you find storehouses of trade-goods, barrels of food and ale, treasures of the earth, sleeping quarters for the miners and guards…

And down below that, the mines—tunnels stretching down and out, into the mountain below. And in that place, where the tunnels meet the main column of the vertical column which seems to serve as community hub (or once did), you find the scene of the battle below—where dwarves, Drow, Bogbarri, and Reptilians made a final stand. Two dozen dwarves and a dozen of your own forces lay dead, hacked to pieces with one another’s weapons or crushed by falling debris form your own conquest above.

You survey the casualties.

Seven bugbears lay dead, with only two alive, greedily looting the corpses of their allies and enemies despite their own injuries. They laugh madly and grin at you with triumphant glee when you reach them, though you can see them tremble slightly with anxiety or the come-down from their intense adrenaline high.

Half the dark elves who accompanied you are dead, also… Including their Ranger-Captain, Epharidan, with whom you brokered peace. He lays atop a dead dwarf, his twin daggers still embedded in the stouter mammal’s chest, his knuckles still white with the ferocity of his death-grip… Despite the axe embedded in his skull in retaliation.

The remaining two Drow are injured, but stand dutiful vigil over their dead companion… And two others. Your heart falls a little as you see the prone, unmoving forms of two figures: the Thief, wearing the very cloak you gifted him; Paeris, the half-elven Degenerate bard.

You stride towards them, the Drow making way for you without the need for request, and you lean down to examine them. Paeris… Is dead. He is missing an arm in its entirety, and has gone pale white with loss of blood.

“When he could not string his bow, or pluck his harp, the trai—the half-elf, he yet sang.”

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>>5342536
You look up at the Drow who spoke and meet his eyes—pale eyes, hollow.

“He sang a dirge. It was… Sad, but defiant. He defied Death, to the end.”

But still… The lord of Endings took him, ended his tale. The Degenerate had been seemingly troubled for many days now but, preoccupied with diplomacy, with war-preparations, with the Novice, you had never gotten the chance to ask after him. Now, you never will.

As for the Thief… Well, some small mercy is found there. He is battered, bruised, lacerated in several places, but the Drow staunched the bleeding, and his Cloak of protection spared him lethal injury. He might yet die—unconsciousness for this long, blood-loss such as he has suffered, they are no small thing… But thanks to your gift, he lived.

“He guided us well,” speaks the other Drow now. “This… ‘Thief’. He is a worthy assassin in his own right. We slipped in a passage, up through the mines… Found their blasting-powder and their alcohol… Set their charges in their own home, and set their fortifications ablaze”

“We saw,” you nod.

“We targeted the leadership next, slew many of them before the defenders could move from the outside to the inside… But they outnumbered us, outfought us.”

The last words are spoken with dejection, bitterness… But, well, it is twenty-four or more dead dwarves, at least, to eleven of your own allies.

What do you do?
>Fetch the Novice immediately, to save the Thief if she can
>Grab what loot you can, before the damned bugbears get the best of it
>Lead your forces in seeking out and rounding up any survivors or support-staff within the fort
>Write-in

What do you say to the survivors of your assassination squad?
>Commend—they performed admirably, acquitting themselves well
>Condemn—they made several tactical errors that have cost you some of your best warriors
>Apologize—you should have done better, been here sooner
>Comfort—they have suffered for your cause, and you will not let it be in vain
>Say nothing—the results speak for themselves, and what is done is done

>>5342539
>>Fetch the Novice immediately, to save the Thief if she can

>>Commend—they performed admirably, acquitting themselves well

>>5342539
+1
There goes my favorite party members enemies had to crit and we had to crit fail at the worst times.

File: The drow alliance is doom(...).png (1.15 MB, 1024x1024)

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>>5342481
I nearly spit out my tall can of megasized monster energy drink, I genuinely could not find a reaction image that expressed how I felt so I made midjourney make a man in pure anguish and misery

>>5342593
Olu was the one having sexual relations with a Drow, not Paeris, for what that's worth

>>5342539
>Send a prayer to death asking that they may have peace in death
>Commend—they performed admirably, acquitting themselves well

>>5342539
>Fetch the Novice immediately, to save the Thief if she can
if failure
>Send a prayer to Death asking that they may have peace in death
whatever the case
>Commend—they performed admirably, acquitting themselves well

>>5342584
+1 what you goofball you forgot to link your post
>>5342539
>Fetch the Novice immediately, to save the thief if she can
Have her and any other capable people start assisting the other injured as well, we need to not waver in this new leadership role we can fill for the drow until Jaz gets back at least, also good to show the bogs to assist their comrades rather than revel in their downfall under us
>Commend- They performed admirably acquitting themselves well
Emphasize how well those we lost fought and how their sacrifice will help build the foundation to the empire of our peoples, dont seperate the races in your speech keeping them as "one community" unless emphasizing the specifics feats they achieved in the battle, everyone is going to feel a little raw about losing members of their own species so its good to remind them they arent alone anymore and we are one people of many races, placate Novice's overbearing reptilian supremacy saying its just a power play in private for snusnu

>>5342599
LESS ANGUISH THEN BUT STILL SAD PAERIS DIDNT GET HIS DROW REDEMPTION WITHOUT SACRIFICE

>>5342558
+1

>>5342539
>Fetch the Novice immediately, to save the Thief if she can
>Apologize—you should have done better, been here sooner

>>5342539
>Fetch the Novice immediately, to save the Thief if she can
>Send the fucking bugbears away if they tried looting reptilians or the drow
>Commend—they performed admirably, acquitting themselves well
then
>Apologize—you should have done better, been here sooner
After all is said and done
>Send a prayer to Death asking that they may have peace in death

>>5342584
We should've fucking remembered and approached this silently, holy fucking shit. Fuck.
>>5342593
Is a reptilian whose name you can't even fucking remember breeding the drow the only thing you care about now, anon? Why am I even surprised.

When we get back we should recruit more degenerates in their memory. They were good and loyal men that were more than their degenerate status.

File: MEDIIIIIC.png (267 KB, 318x510)

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Rolled 15, 2, 11, 14, 17, 3 = 62 (6d20)

>>5342558
>>5342602
>>5342618
>>5342629
>>5342736
>>5342889
>>5342915
You stand up, fixing your gaze upon each of the conscious survivors—the two Drow, the two Bogbarri. To your consternation, the bugbears are continuing in their looting—their former ‘friends’ and the dwarves. You suspect they’d have looted the Drow and Reptilians as well, had not the two remaining Drow Rangers been standing guard. You have half a mind to banish the spiky bastards back to the rock they crawled out from under… But then, with seven dead Bogbarri laying around you, having paid the ultimate price for this victory specifically FOR the right to loot and feast on the dead, you suppose condemnation may send the wrong message.

“You all performed excellently,” you instead say, loudly enough for all to hear—not that the Bogbarri can understand you. They throw you a strange glance, warily shielding their stolen aces and decorations from you as if you might take them.

“Good,” you say sighingly, in Dwarven—the only language they speak which you know any words in. They smile uncertainly, and nod.

“Stay,” you tell them. “Get help.”

To the elves, with whom you can more easily speak, you explain more fully: “I’m going to bring the Novice Fleshweaver. She is a capable healer. Do NOT move the Thief. He takes priority, but we will attend to you all.”

Without another word, you bound back up the way you came, to the surface once more. There, you find the Novice, attending to the minor minor injuries incurred by your kobold allies and other melee combatants in the fray.

“Come,” you command her, and so she does—without even any snippy comment. It must be in your expression, or your tone.
Despite the urgency with which she attends to your command, the Novice is no athlete, and the same thick rear which you have found yourself appreciating is no asset in trying to climb down the long shaft of the dwarven passage. Instead, you take her in your arms—something that DOEs elicit a surprised and affronted squeak—and <Jump> down to save time. At the bottom of the shaft, she sees the need for this hasty reassignment, and without the need for instruction she hurries to the side of the unconscious and brutalized Silkscale male. You resist the urge to pace, simply crossing your arms and willing you tail to dignified stillness rather than anxious lashing-about.

All you can do is wait

[3d20 for the healing effort and 3d20 for other events, elsewhere, which will be touched upon next]

>>5342928
[Paeris and Olu were Degenerates; Olu yet lives, and is actually doing pretty okay. The Thief is/was a Silkscale, just one who has been dishonoured and branded]

>>5342539
>Grab what loot you can, before the damned bugbears get the best of it
>Condemn—they made several tactical errors that have cost you some of your best warriors

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>>5342935
>15
To your great relief, the Novice is able to stabilize the Thief’s condition with her magic. Using a more mundane method—a small jar of aromatic herbs—she is even able to rouse him to a concussed semblance of consciousness.

“Where… Where am I?” he moans. “What happened to me?”

You fill him in on events as you understand them, and he nods, half-understanding.

“Our mission was a success, then?” he asks.

“At great cost,” you say, “but yes, very much yes.”

“Nothing valuable comes easily,” the Thief replies knowingly.

He speaks truly, for it is mere moments later when a cry for aid comes down the shaft. You ascend it again, leaving the Novice to attend to the other badly-injured assassins, and rush to the aid of your forces. You find the Pit-Guard, Apprentice, and a smattering of kobolds blocking a hallway. One of the kobolds clutches an arm, which has a small quarrel—as from a hand-crossbow—embedded in the bicep.

“We found quarters which are still inhabited,” explains the Pit-Guard. “They made to ambush us…”

>17

“But we heard their approach, and we retaliated!” proudly interrupts the Apprentice, holding a squirming dwarf aloft.

The mammals is grey-bearded, with one hand a crude prosthetic and one half f his body scarred—an old, injured minor. An elder. It explains why he was not in the battle.

“Are those who remain all like you, then, old one?” you ask him in the northern common-tongue.

His eyes widen, and you know that he understand your speech, but he remains stubbornly, defiantly silent.

“Females, and spawn,” Ivno answers in his stead, helpfully adding: “You can tell by the chest-glands, with the females. The spawn lack the face-fur.”

Mates, and offspring, and the elderly of their race—advisors, support-staff, families. You look down the hallway, to the reinforced door behind which they presumably cower, these so-called non-combatants… Some of the last living examples of these damnable, warm-blooded bastards who killed Infiltrator Paeris, and very nearly killed the thief. You stare at the door a moment, doing nothing… And then something moves you.

It is…
>Vengeful fury—you assume <Augmented Dragonshape> and burst down the door with a roar, to tear apart or immolate the lot of them
>Sorrowful grief—this battle has not been glorious, in the end, but wasteful and tragic, and you would rather negotiate their peaceful surrender as your personal prisoners than spill more blood unnecessarily
>Cold calculus—as is proper for a member of the Reptilian Master Race, you subdue your passions and instead plan a measured and organized entry, to intimidate and capture these dwarves for interrogation and barter with the Bogbarri
>Write-in

>>5342936
Sorry, just a minute too late! Not that it was shaping up to be a very close vote.

>>5342944
>Cold calculus—as is proper for a member of the Reptilian Master Race, you subdue your passions and instead plan a measured and organized entry, to intimidate and capture these dwarves for interrogation and barter with the Bogbarri

In control

>>5342944
>Piety— The Pit-guard is our loyal lieutenant he can gather the dwarves to be divided out as a prize at a later date for now. What is a more pressing matter is ensuring proper rites are preformed for our subordinate— no… friend, Paeris.

>>5342944
>Cold calculus—as is proper for a member of the Reptilian Master Race, you subdue your passions and instead plan a measured and organized entry, to intimidate and capture these dwarves for interrogation and barter with the Bogbarri

>an old, injured minor. An elder.
An excellent mental exercise, this description. Pottery too.

>>5342961
I'll support that after we solve all the problems here. It's not just these dwarves, we gotta divide loot and keep an eye on the insect grizzlies while at it.

>>5342944
>Cold calculus—as is proper for a member of the Reptilian Master Race, you subdue your passions and instead plan a measured and organized entry, to intimidate and capture these dwarves for interrogation and barter with the Bogbarri

>>5342944
>Vengeful fury—you assume <Augmented Dragonshape> and burst down the door with a roar, to tear apart or immolate the lot of them

>>5342961
+1

>>5342964
>>5342944
*miner
Dagnabbit

>>5342944
>Cold calculus—as is proper for a member of the Reptilian Master Race, you subdue your passions and instead plan a measured and organized entry, to intimidate and capture these dwarves for interrogation and barter with the Bogbarri

>>5343002
Don't worry, it's a perfect typo. I rate it 11/10 and I'm glad it's there.

>>5342944
>Cold calculus—as is proper for a member of the Reptilian Master Race, you subdue your passions and instead plan a measured and organized entry, to intimidate and capture these dwarves for interrogation and barter with the Bogbarri
Mourn later. Finish the job NOW

>>5342944
>Cold calculus—as is proper for a member of the Reptilian Master Race, you subdue your passions and instead plan a measured and organized entry, to intimidate and capture these dwarves for interrogation and barter with the Bogbarri

Slaves are needed

>>5342944
>Cold calculus—as is proper for a member of the Reptilian Master Race, you subdue your passions and instead plan a measured and organized entry, to intimidate and capture these dwarves for interrogation and barter with the Bogbarri

File: 41oR81fbjWL._SX324_BO1,20(...).jpg (29 KB, 326x499)

29 KB JPG

Rolled 15, 4, 13, 2, 4, 1, 20, 17, 20, 17, 19 = 132 (11d20)

>>5343119
>>5343029
>>5343014
>>5343000
>>5342998
>>5342981
>>5342964
>>5342961
>>5343135
You feel a chill fill you up from within—a sort of frostburn-of-the-soul that freezes your heart in place, purging or suppressing the emotions warring within you. Fury, mourning, even the religious impulse to negotiate with your divine patrons for things to be DIFFERENT… They all fall away before a cold calculus.

Your numbers are reduced.

But the dwarves who remain will be desperate, fearful.

A desperate and fearful creature, pitiful but cornered, can turn to any number of unpredictable gambits. They could mount a charge, set a trap, kill themselves to escape your ‘mercies’.

But you need them alive, to interrogate, and to better bargain with the Bogbarri.

You seize the dwarven elder, pulling him from the clutches of the Pit-Guard’s Apprentice.

“You,” you hiss, “tell your femalesss and sspawn that they will be ssspared if they ssssurrender and open the door.”

“…I will do no such thing, mons—”

The elder’s head is removed from his body before he can finish, his corpse cast aside before he can shout a warning.

“Stealthily now,” you whisper, reverting to the True Speech. “Kobolds first. Check for traps. Remove the door’s hinges. Pit-Guards, enter as soon as the door falls and the signal is given. The rest of us will follow.”

“Yes, Superior One,” rings out the chorus, and they set to work.

[2d20 trapfinding, 2d20 intimidation, 4d20 swordsmanship, 2d20 for allies vs. 1d20 for dwarves]

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>>5343140
>15
Ivno and the kobolds dutifully check the door over for any sort of traps. They find evidence of just such a mechanism near the top of the door—a spring, bar, and counterweight system. There is no way for them to easily deactivate it from your side, but that is no matter: you have your fire-lizards at the ready, and between their fire and your own, it is a simple thing to burn away that section of wood, and to superheat the metal and stone to slag. Sadly, this gives away your element of surprise, ruining the shock and awe of your appearance as the door topples down…

>19 for enemies…

But you are still trained warriors, well-prepared and with the blessings of the Dark Gods, facing dwarves specifically too small, old, or female for the front lines. It’s shocking that the females and elders—armed with hammers, clubs, and even what appear to be kitchen implements or engineering tools—are even able to mount a fight at all. And they do…

>20 for you, 20 for your allies

…But it is simply not enough. You personally fend off the mightiest remaining male—an old, one-eyed, mangy-looking old dwarf with white beard and an aged-but-unblemished antique axe which has an air of magic about it. He charges, bellowing something in the harsh and guttural tongue of his people, but you sidestep the blow, and swing your sword to remove the offending arm. You left him up with your other hand, slamming him down onto one of the simple cots, and while horrified and wailing dwarf-spawn scream in horror.

Your forces restrain and disarm each female, mutilating and killing when they must to end their struggles, until even they can only watch in horror with gritted teeth as this old and enfeebled defender’s blood soaks into the linen and cotton beneath him. Only then do you lift your blade to complete the execution, a show for your audience. Your foe looks at you with stone in his gaze and in his heart as you plunge your plan into him, through him, and into the sot beneath him, you release your grip on the elven moonblade’s pommel, and it stands of its own accord, pinning him in place like one of the Novice’s specimens. His eyes remain open, forevermore, but his soul goes out like a dying fire behind them. You stand up, surveying the remaining dwarves, and see that their will to resist has died with him.

“Gather them,” you command your forces. “Outside, up top, now.”

“Yes, Superior One!” rises the chorus again.

You take a deep breath as the kobolds and Steeltalons lead the broken dwarves away. Only when you are alone with the dead to you exhale, feeling the icy cold which seized your very spirit release its grasp. Only then do you utter a quiet prayer for the souls of your dead allies-especially Paeris, a good and loyal Reptilian to the end—to find peace.

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>>5343165
When you return to the surface, most of your forces are likewise there. The Novice has set up a sort of improvised field hospital, using alcohol form the dwarves’ stores to clean and disinfect wounds, and the foes’ bedding and their remaining, undestroyed medical supplies to wrap up what wounds her magic is insufficient to completely seal. In the end, apart from your assassination squad, almost all your forces remain alive and largely unharmed—less than a half-dozen kobolds died or were injured in the invasion and destruction of this company-town.

“They barely even made us work for it,” the pit-Guard scoffs.

“I certainly do not feel underworked,” The Novice replies.

Nor do you imagine the kobolds do, as they and the Merchants extract and account for the spoils: additional gems and precious metals to augment your horde, family trinkets stripped away from the clutching hands of ashen-faced females and the bodies of the forty-odd dead dwarves. This is in addition to the many useful tools and implements, dozens of mundane but masterfully-crafted weapons, and the magic axe.

The dim moonlight is blotted out as the Bugbear Boss returns from his midnight flight. His bad lands, and he hops down from it. You survey the massive winged mammal with some trepidation, for it is even larger than the basilisk, if not quite so large as the Devourer; you eye its wings with a certain envy—not for the first time, you wish you had such wings, and could have soared over the battle as this creature and its master did.

“No escapees,” the Boss says simply, throwing a dead dwarf down at your feet, and re-wrapping his curious chain around one arm. You not that the body looks… Frosty, and strangely desiccated. The bat-thing holds the leg of another such survivor in its teeth.

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>>5343168
“You took none alive?” you ask.

The leader of the Bogbarri looks at you with confusion.

“Why should I?” he asks. “Harder to transport live meat. Can just dry out, preserve.”

His eyes settle on his dead subordinates, laid out upon the ground in a row, alongside the elves and Paeris, and separate from the dwarven dead.

“See?” he says, quietly, in his croakingly-accented elven. “They do not take US alive.”

He leans down over one of the Bogbarri, and for a moment you recall a hazy, drunken memory of this brutal, man-eating creature weeping into his wine over the loss of a mate and several ‘cubs’. You think you see the shadow of that same expression now, albeit held in check by practice and sobriety. What was this bugbear to him?

The Bugbear Boss stands, and wheels around on the dwarves. He loosens his chain and lets it clatter to the stone, and drags it and he hunches forward and advances towards them, spitting curses in his unknown savage dialect. He begins to twirl the chain, and you can see he means to begin a slaughter. For all his bravado, he is not so cold as you and your race—his blood and passions run hot. He means to slaughter the lot of them, most brutally, in retaliation for his race’s heavy losses.

You can see the dwarves recognize this, too. The females move to shield the children, mothers turning the back and wrapping their arms around their young in a final, instinctive act of love—or merely mercy, to shield them from seeing their death’s approach.

What do you do?
>Allow this massacre, though insist he leave one or two adults alive for questioning
>Command the Bugbear Boss to halt—the dwarves already dead are more than enough to make up his share of the ‘dwarf meat’ that you negotiated, but these survivors are yours to question and enslave as you see fit
>Facilitate this execution, but in a more… HUMANE manner, for something about the sight before you turns your stomach in spite of your cold heart
>Write-in

>>5343170
>Command the Bugbear Boss to halt—the dwarves already dead are more than enough to make up his share of the ‘dwarf meat’ that you negotiated, but these survivors are yours to question and enslave as you see fit
We need information and slaves. He can sate his vengeance on the next town, and there WILL be a next town Bogbarri.

>>5343170
>Command the Bugbear Boss to halt—the dwarves already dead are more than enough to make up his share of the ‘dwarf meat’ that you negotiated, but these survivors are yours to question and enslave as you see fit

>>5343170
>Command the Bugbear Boss to halt—the dwarves already dead are more than enough to make up his share of the ‘dwarf meat’ that you negotiated, but these survivors are yours to question and enslave as you see fit

>>5343170
>Command the Bugbear Boss to halt—the dwarves already dead are more than enough to make up his share of the ‘dwarf meat’ that you negotiated, but these survivors are yours to question and enslave as you see fit

>>5343177
+1 maybe add if they come of no use to us then he can have em, I imagine that may hold him off easier

>>5343170
>Facilitate this execution, but in a more… HUMANE manner, for something about the sight before you turns your stomach in spite of your cold heart
>>5343177
we can get less short and ugly slaves

>>5343170
>Command the Bugbear Boss to halt—the dwarves already dead are more than enough to make up his share of the ‘dwarf meat’ that you negotiated, but these survivors are yours to question and enslave as you see fit
>Make it clear that we’re not challenging him. We are only making sure the agreement is upheld.

>>5343170
>Command the Bugbear Boss to halt—the dwarves already dead are more than enough to make up his share of the ‘dwarf meat’ that you negotiated, but these survivors are yours to question and enslave as you see fit

He's gotten enough meat to feed his tribe of bogbarri for a year which is what he was promised. He'll have to put aside his revenge to uphold our deal.

>>5343170
>Allow this massacre, though insist he leave one or two adults alive for questioning.

We do not need dwarf slaves right now, we probably don't even have a place to permanently house them. Nor do we want to bring them back to our base or home.

However the novice wants some living material for dwarven amulets of disguise.

>>5343170
>>Command the Bugbear Boss to halt—the dwarves already dead are more than enough to make up his share of the ‘dwarf meat’ that you negotiated, but these survivors are yours to question and enslave as you see fit

We already questioned why he didn't bring back any alive, letting him kill our prisoners is bad for morale at best and inciting insubordination at worst.

File: Screenshot 2022-07-17 085643.png (296 KB, 299x433)

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Rolled 9, 10, 10, 18, 14 = 61 (5d20)

>>5343275
>>5343220
>>5343212
>>5343208
>>5343207
>>5343202
>>5343188
>>5343182
>>5343177
>>5343287

“Stop!”

The leader of the Bogbarri does as you command… But clearly not without reservation.

“Why?” he demands. “And why should I obey you? We have deal, but I am not one of your lizards, Copper.”

“I know that,” you say, holding back a sigh of irritation. “But we need information, and we’re entitled to ‘meat’ of our own… Or slaves, since the meat here is so abundant.”

You gesture to the rows upon rows of dead dwarves—burnt dwarves, skewered dwarves, and many, MANY crushed dwarves. Virtually all of the adult males of the settlement lay dead.

“Take however many you want,” you reassure him. “That should be enough to feed your tribe, for quite some time.”

“Maybe,” he spits, “now that we have fewer mouths. But there is another hunger, Copper, beyond the stomach. The heart hungers, also.”

You release your sigh, but not in annoyance. Rather, it is one of empathy, understanding, shared grief. You nod.

“I understand,” you tell him. “We have suffered a loss, also. But Bogbarri… There will be other villages, other ‘company-towns’. You will HAVE your revenge on their race. We both will. But we need these ones alive. The agreement must be upheld.”

[Diplomacy + Bonus d20 for Leadership]

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>>5343308
>18

He is silent for a time… But then he whirls his chain a few times and coils it around his wrist and forearm once more, and shrugs. He barks something unintelligible at the two surviving Bogbarri assassins, who in turn hop to their feet and move to collect the dwarves they can carry.

“You bring the rest,” he says, pointing at you sternly. “Drag down to somewhere low, dark. We retrieve, when I can get more hunters to collect.”

He surveys the dead bugbears one last time, and ruminates.

“Deaths will make it hard to convince… But all this meat, and some of gold and dwarf-axes… Yes, will find Bogbarri who will follow.”

Without another word to you, he lopes to his bat-beast, slings himself atop it, and returns once more to the moon and stars above, and then vanishes down into some crack in the deep earth. His minions as stubbornly bound to the earth as any of you, trace a more traditional path down the mountainside… Once you use the last of your available mana to open the way for them again.

Only then, exhausted mystically, emotionally, and physically, do you turn to the dwarves. They speak the northern common-tongue as you do, but it’s clear none of them understood your conversation with the barbed creature whose wrath you spared them—it was in the derived elven dialect of the Drow. They cower, not understanding what happened or why they yet live. They fear the worst.

Perhaps they are right to do so.

What information do you wish to extract from them via interrogation? [choose two]
>A better understanding of the local dwarven political situation
>The locations of their rival company towns
>The uses for orichalcum
>The magic axe's capabilities
>The skillsets of the survivors, so you might better know what use to put them towards
>Some of their language and culture, so you may better know your enemy

Who will you try to extract this information from? [choose one]
>Their eldest living male
>Their comeliest female
>The most fearful of the older adolescents

>>5343311
>>The locations of their rival company towns
>>The uses for orichalcum
>>Their eldest living male

Let's be practical, we need do prove we have gained something valuable (orichalcum mine) to the Chaplain, and provide some direction (more targets) to point our new "allies" in so they don't fall to infighting.

>The uses for orichalcum

>The skillsets of the survivors, so you might better know what use to put them towards
ask ^ first so they know we're not planning on killing them

>Their eldest living male

>>5343311
>A better understanding of the local dwarven political situation
>The skillsets of the survivors, so you might better know what use to put them towards
>Their comeliest female

>>5343311
>Their eldest living male
>The locations of their rival company towns
>>The uses for orichalcum

>>5343311
>The uses for orichalcum
>The locations of their rival company towns
>Their eldest living male

>>5343311
>The uses for orichalcum
>Some of their language and culture, so you may better know your enemy

>Their comeliest female
Helga

>>5343311
>The uses for orichalcum
>The skillsets of the survivors, so you might better know what use to put them towards
>Their comeliest female
You’d think Hornyanon would comment on this, considering the thicc shortstack dwarf meme and his obsession with fat asses.

>>5343311
>The uses for orichalcum
>The locations of their rival company towns

>The most fearful of the older adolescents

>>5343311
>The uses for orichalcum
>The locations of their rival company towns
>Their comeliest female

>>5343403
>Helga
Now that’s a favorite that brings be back. I do hope Warchest is doing well for herself, she deserves a high class job for her hardworking attitude and mind for business.

>>5343311
>The uses for orichalcum
>The locations of their rival company towns
>Their comeliest female
After the interrogation we should start proselytizing and converting our slaves to all the Dark Gods. I’m positive the younglings will be the most susceptible to our efforts.

>>5343311
>The uses for orichalcum
>The locations of their rival company towns
>Their comeliest female

>>5343311
>The locations of their rival company towns
>The uses for orichalcum
>Their eldest living male

>>5343456
Warchest was just her stage name, as a pun about boobs. Fun facts!

>>5343341
Supporting

They will be slaves after all

>>5343311
>>5343464
+1

>>5343311
>The locations of their rival company towns
>The uses for orichalcum
>Their eldest living male

File: flat,1000x1000,075,f.jpg (74 KB, 750x1000)

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Rolled 1 (1d2)

File: Screenshot 2022-07-18 074038.png (35 KB, 126x125)

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>>5343663
>>5343536
>>5343534
>>5343474
>>5343471
>>5343464
>>5343456
>>5343432
>>5343414
>>5343403
>>5343402
>>5343375
>>5343355
>>5343341

You know very little of dwarven society, nor do any of those with whom you travel, The North-Merchant and Translator the most well-versed, and you summon both of them to your side. You summon the Cartographer, also.

“I wish the interrogate the most useful and knowledgeable of the survivors,” you begin. “Who would that be, in your estimation?”

They consult amongst one another—well, primarily the first two do so. The Cartographer looks at your questioningly.

“I plan to learn the nature of their orichalcum extraction, and what it is they make with it,” you explain. “But we also need a better understanding of where the other sites of extraction are… The other ‘company-towns’. I will need the Translator here to ensure I understand all of it, should the subject’s common-tongue be weak, the North-Merchant to confirm what he tells me makes sense, and you to record the information so we can use it.”

“Very wise, Dragonborn,” the Cartographer agrees.

>>5343730
>rolled it, tie-breaks for: eldest male

The other two Reptilians present concur that the eldest surviving male would be the best to interrogate. Dwarves respect the wisdom of their elders and, while trusting the wisdom of any mammal is folly, it implies they are the wisest. And as for a male… Well, that is obvious. Males are superior in every right-minded society—it is the way of things.

(You suppose you are lucky neither Jazkarmel nor the Novice is here to overhear this conversation, but you nod along.)

A lame and limping creature with a grey-fringed brown beard is brought before you: the Eldest Dwarf. He has a name, too, but you see no cause to learn it.

“Dwarf,” you greet him, instead. “Kneel.”

“I can’t,” he says through gritted teeth. “My knee—”

The Pit-Guard’s Apprentice, who brought him to you, smashes the flat of his blade into the back of the knees with question, and the old dwarf falls forward into an involuntary bow before you. He squints his eyes, as if holding back tears, but does not cry out. He glares up at you.

What do you do?
>Instruct the Apprentice to lay off—you will offer the Eldest Dwarf and his people the opportunity for cooperation and further mercy before resorting to more violence
>Rough the old man up a little—the method of torturous interrogation used upon the adventurers you previously captured and who even now are enslaved in the kobolds’ mines
>Play against one another—good conqueror/bad conqueror—to encourage the old dwarf to trust you as a source of mercy and respite
>Write-in

>>5343755
>Instruct the Apprentice to lay off—you will offer the Eldest Dwarf and his people the opportunity for cooperation and further mercy before resorting to more violence

He is doomed, but the women and children are not. His cooperation here could be the mean a world of difference on how they’re treated.

>>5343755
>Instruct the Apprentice to lay off—you will offer the Eldest Dwarf and his people the opportunity for cooperation and further mercy before resorting to more violence

>>5343755
>>Instruct the Apprentice to lay off—you will offer the Eldest Dwarf and his people the opportunity for cooperation and further mercy before resorting to more violence

>>5343755
>Instruct the Apprentice to lay off—you will offer the Eldest Dwarf and his people the opportunity for cooperation and further mercy before resorting to more violence
Too much mercy is gonna bite us in the ass. These aren't people who will forgive genociding their loved ones. They aren't stupid enough to be obedient slaves and not plot a retaliation.

>>5343774
+1

>>5343755
>Rough the old man up a little—the method of torturous interrogation used upon the adventurers you previously captured and who even now are enslaved in the kobolds’ mines

>>5343755
>Play against one another—good conqueror/bad conqueror—to encourage the old dwarf to trust you as a source of mercy and respite
I like the idea of pulling a good cop/bad cop on the old man.

>>5343755
>Instruct the Apprentice to lay off—you will offer the Eldest Dwarf and his people the opportunity for cooperation and further mercy before resorting to more violence

>>5343755

>Play against one another—good conqueror/bad conqueror—to encourage the old dwarf to trust you as a source of mercy and respite.

We need to keep the dwarfs off balance, make em believe that we're not unified on how to treat them, in order to psych them into sucking up to us.

>>5344127
+1

>>5343755
>Play against one another—good conqueror/bad conqueror—to encourage the old dwarf to trust you as a source of mercy and respite

File: 81264.jpg (46 KB, 285x475)

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Rolled 19, 11, 14, 5 = 49 (4d20)

>>5344242
>>5344148
>>5344127
>>5344010
>>5343953
>>5343860
>>5343788
>>5343774
>>5343768
>>5343763
>>5343760
“Apprentice Pit-Guard,” you address the Steeltalon sharply, “show care. This elder is vital to our plans… For our people, and for his.”

The Apprentice looks almost affronted for a moment, but bows his head and steps back.

“Apologiesss,” you address the Eldest Dwarf in the trade-tongue you two share. “Ssit, or sstand, asss you ssee fit.”

He glowers at you darkly, and asks: “Do you think feigning basic courtesy will make me forget what you did to my brothers, my brother’s sons? Do you think me a FOOL, lizardman?”

“Dragon, actually,” you reply coolly, “and no, dwarf. I do not think you a fool. I think you wise enough to underssstand that, while those ssons and nephewsss are dead and gone, your sisssters, daughtersss and sspawn yet ssurvive. If you do not appreciate my courtesssy, perhaps they yet might. Even if it isss feigned, it isss better than naked cruelty, yess?”

DC 17; dwarves are honourable, stubborn, and hold grudges... And you DID do a bit of genocide recently.

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>>5344326
The Eldest Dwarf is not exactly FRIENDLY after this, but his hard-edged demeanour cracks a little. You see understanding dawn on him that, if he were to stick to his principles and die a defiant death, it would mean torture, mutilation, and terror filling the final moments of every female and child now in his protection. He is short—rhetorically as physically—and perfunctory, and you sense shame in him…

>19

But he tells you what you want to know.

There are a dozen more company-towns scattered throughout the Bloodrise, belonging to one of four corporate sovereignties. Each of them is dedicated primarily to the mining of orichalcum, with the gems or other metals varying beneath each fort and of secondary importance.

“The land holding itself is most important of all,” he tells you gruffly. “We… Hoped to expand, to make a place for our families, where we could live, grow, trade…”

He stares at you, hate in his eyes.

“And then we attacked,” you acknowledge. “Yesss… It musst sseem a terrible thing. But thiss wass our land, firsst.”

“You aren’t dragons!” he shouts, losing himself in a fit of trembling rage for a moment. “The dragons are all dead, lizard! You have no right to—"

“We are their heirsss,” you answer calmly. “Tell me, why do you covet thisss orichalcum sso greatly? I underssatnd that it sstores and channels magic readily, but… What usesss did you mean to put it toward? Sssimply the creation of weaponsss?”

The Eldest Dwarf calms himself somewhat, though his voice ye quakes with repressed rage for a time.

“Orichalcum is not merely useful for making weapons,” he answers. “It can be used as a sort of… Reservoir. A sink, into which magic can be poured, stored, and then drawn upon as needed. A structure with orichalcum struts, and filled with magic, is practically a living thing. It can be enchanted with a single defensive spell, and armorued with magical protection as easily as a dwarf can cast a spell of protection upon himself. A mechanism made with orichalcum gears and plating can be enchanted as if its entire body was a single weapon. And more than that… It can be cooled, heated… Electrified. The great dwarven technologist Ondael Blazingbeard realized what this meant: lighting, heating, cooling, all with such simple spellcraft an elven whelp could run a castle on his farts.”

You stare blankly for a while, not really understanding.

“Lizard, are you slow?” he asks, impetuously. “I’m talking about—”

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>>5344351
“A self-contained realm, a kingdom of perpetual light, perfectly-optimized temperature, where food can be grown and maintained in a perfect, artificial climate,” the North-Merchant blurts out, in your native tongue. “A self-sufficient kingdom, with no need to trade!”

“That isn’t possible,” the Translator scoffs. “The amount of magic needed, the amount of orichalcum…”

“An abundance of orichalcum would greatly reduce the amount of magic required to maintain such spells, properly applied,” the North-merchant notes. “I mean… Assuming the dwarf speaks truly. I admit I am… No mage.”

But you are. The Novice Fleshweaver is, also… And, despite yoru natural talent for elementalism, her own theoretical understanding greatly exceeds your own. You suddenly regret her absence attending to the wounded. She would know if these dwarven fantasies are realistic or merely mammalian illogic.

“So-called Dragon, have I not answered your question?” the Eldest Dwarf interrupts your contemplation.

“How much orichalcum is there, in the Bloodrisssse?”

He sighs, and shrugs.

“More than is normal,” he answers, “but we don’t know. We think the… History here, the deaths of dragons and their ilk… Bled magic into this place, enriched the iron and copper. Just not sure how rich.”

As far as you’re concerned, then, it really IS your race’s wealth, by right. The question is… What to do about the dwarves who are stealing it. Most of them will have to wait before you can deal with them, but there is still the matter of the one standing before you… And his fellow corporate citizens, the females and children of the raided fort.

What will you do with the Eldest Dwarf?
>He has served his purpose, and his hatred for you runs deep; grant him the mercy of a swift death
>Torture him, and publicly sacrifice him to the Dark Gods, as an example to the others
>Send him back to the prison, lest you require his counsel again

What of the females and their spawn?
>Put them to work as chattel slaves—a female dwarf is still stout, strong, and hardy, and they will be useful in re-opening the kobolds’ mines and reexacavating your people’s ruins
>Sell them to the Bogbarri and Drow—let them be THEIR problem, not yours
>Offer an ultimatum—convert and submit, and gain a form of second-class status in your empire, to die
>Use them as hostages, to negotiate a meeting with the other dwarves of Bloodrise

And lastly, what will become of this place—their fort?
>Reopen it, and populate it with kobolds and/or dwarven slaves—let them harvest the wealth here for your new Dark Empire
>Desecrate it, invoking the wrath of the Dark Gods to render it forever a place of foreboding and suffering, and a warning to all invaders
>Offer it, conditionally, to the Drow—a reward for their aid, and to better build your alliance

[Write-ins permitted for all of the above]

>>5344353
>Send him back to the prison, lest you require his counsel again
>Offer an ultimatum—convert and submit, and gain a form of second-class status in your empire, to die
>Offer it, conditionally, to the Drow—a reward for their aid, and to better build your alliance

Mmmm imagine a bunch of thicc little dwarf women having orgies with the fat ass silkscales in the breeding pit. Let them convert. Also we promise drow territory

>>5344353
>He has served his purpose, and his hatred for you runs deep; grant him the mercy of a swift death

This might be cruel but this should probably be policy with the elders and leaders of the dwarves. They are too dangerous as organizers to be left alive.

>Offer an ultimatum—convert and submit, and gain a form of second-class status in your empire, to die

I don't know if they will convert but I don't think it's really feasible to keep all the women and children as slaves. It would be feasible for what's leftover of this company town, but not if we want to take all 12 of them. Dwarves are too stubborn and naturally hardy and hold grudges for too long to be a very large slave population. Especially when their captives are mostly kobolds. I think assimilation is best here. It'll be a trial run for this group to see if it's feasible on a larger scale. They're not too dangerous being mostly women and children.

>Offer it, conditionally, to the Drow—a reward for their aid, and to better build your alliance
>>State that the mineral rights are strictly ours, however.

Unless we want to go running back to the chaplain right after this we're going to need a much larger contribution from the Drow to continue taking these company towns. I don't think the Bogbarri are very numerous and the Kobold's are mostly cannon fodder on the battlefield. As long as we get the majority of the Orichalum the Drow can expand their territory to at least just this company town.

>>5344353
>>He has served his purpose, and his hatred for you runs deep; grant him the mercy of a swift death
>Offer an ultimatum—convert and submit, and gain a form of second-class status in your empire, to die
>Offer it, conditionally, to the Drow—a reward for their aid, and to better build your alliance
>>State that the mineral rights are strictly ours, however.

>>5344378
Full mineral rights might actually be too much and difficult to enforce since they'll be the ones inhabiting the land but I'm sure we can work out something such as a deal where they mine the mineral and we buy them at a reduced price.

>>5344353
>He has served his purpose, and his hatred for you runs deep; grant him the mercy of a swift death
>Offer an ultimatum—convert and submit, and gain a form of second-class status in your empire, to die
>Offer it, conditionally, to the Drow—a reward for their aid, and to better build your alliance

>>5344353
>He has served his purpose, and his hatred for you runs deep; grant him the mercy of a swift death

>Offer an ultimatum—convert and submit, and gain a form of second-class status in your empire, to die

>Offer it, conditionally, to the Drow—a reward for their aid, and to better build your alliance

>>5344368
I’ll add mineral hoarding to vote orichalum sound too tasty
>>State that the mineral rights are strictly ours, however

>>5344353
>>Send him back to the prison, lest you require his counsel again
>Offer an ultimatum—convert and submit, and gain a form of second-class status in your empire, or die
>Reopen it, and populate it with kobolds and/or dwarven slaves—let them harvest the wealth here for your new Dark Empire

We promised Kobold land first after all.

>>5344353
>He has served his purpose, and his hatred for you runs deep; grant him the mercy of a swift death
>Sell them to the Bogbarri and Drow—let them be THEIR problem, not yours
>Reopen it, and populate it with kobolds—let them harvest the wealth here for your new Dark Empire

>>5344353
>Torture him, and publicly sacrifice him to the Dark Gods, as an example to the others
>Offer an ultimatum—convert and submit, and gain a form of second-class status in your empire, or die- via cattle slavery in the mines and ruins
>Reopen it, and populate it with kobolds and/or dwarven slaves—let them harvest the wealth here for your new Dark Empire
If we can also share it with the Drow, that would be nice. There should be enough room for us both, at least until the next town is conquered.
>Get the Novice’s opinion on the orichalcum and it’s uses

>>5344353
changing vote from >>5344439 to
>He has served his purpose, and his hatred for you runs deep; grant him the mercy of a swift death
>Offer an ultimatum—convert and submit, and gain a form of second-class status in your empire, to die
>Reopen it, and populate it with kobolds—let them harvest the wealth here for your new Dark Empire
I forgot the promise to kobolds

>>5344678
I don't think we actually promised the dwarves any land, though. I think all we promised them was a small share of the loot from the raids, and maybe a guarantee that there ancestral home of bloodrise when they stay now would remain there's.

>>5344680
I don't think we promised the kobolds any land I mean. I think the only land we promised to any of our allies was the Drow

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Rolled 3, 19, 13, 16, 1, 20 = 72 (6d20)

>>5344678
>>5344604
>>5344536
>>5344507
>>5344502
>>5344443
>>5344400
>>5344381
>>5344378
>>5344368
“You have anssswered all fo my quesstionsss.”

“Good,” the Eldest Dwarf grunts. “Then I will be returning to—”

He stops short, gasping, and then coughing. Blood splatters the stone as the Apprentice Pit-Guard’s blade pierces him from behind. You rise, drawing your own blade, and looking down at the old mammal with ambivalence.

“You ssserved your purpossse,”you explain, “but your grudges run deep. You are too dangerousss to leave alive.”

Your sword slashes, and his head tumbles from his shoulders. You clean the blade, and instruct your retinue to dispose of the body while you attend to other matters—namely, the remaining dwarves.

You arrive in the former living-quarters of the dwarves, guarded by the Bastard and many a kobold to discourage escape. As you enter the remove, you have the remaining elders removed—three females and another male. They are of the same stripe as the dwarf you just slew: too old, stubborn, bitter, and knowledgeable to be left alive. They would serve as a reminder of the deep past—of the old ways, of freedom from you. Though the younger dwarves wail and clutch at them as you remove these elders, it cannot be helped. For what you have planned, you need a clean slate.

“Ssilenccce!”

Your roar the word and, though you lack the Fearsome Presence to affect such mammals, you achieve much the same effect as you otherwise might.

“You elderss are doomed,” you say simply, “but you… And your children… Are not. Not NECSCESSSSARILY, anyway.”

You stride into their midst, unguarded, enduring the scheming and vengeful glares of the dwarf-women. They are a short sort of woman, mostly-unwashed, with frizzy and rough hair most often styled into braids and joined by such braids or by beads into a curious beard-mimicking hairstyle to keep the hair manageable; despite this, their sexual dimorphism is unmistakable, far moreso than with the elves, with distinct and pronounced curvature of form under their heavy tunics. One area where males and females seem quite alike in this race, though, is in physical strength; you can see muscles beneath their subcutaneous layer of fat, flexing with a desire to tear you limb from limb.

“Let me tell you of my godsss, the Dark Godesss,” you begin, fixing you gaze upon each of them in turn. “In particular… The Mother of Dragonsss. Protector of Eggsss. Goddesss of Motherhood.”

The dwarf-women look suspicious, confused.

“I know little of your culture,” you admit. “I ssee that we have one thing in common, though—ssomething the Divine Mother would approve of: the males came to fight uss on the ssurfacce, in the minesss… But you, you protected the home, the children. The Mother of Dragonsss iss the Goddesss of Home Defencce. She would ressspect what you have achieve here, thisss day, in guarding your home, and your children.”

>>5344378
Supporting

Rather than ‘covert or die’ it should be ‘covert or be doomed to slavery in the darkest mines till they die’

Outright killing them is a waste as I doubt many will covert.

Those who DO covert thought should be made overseers of those who don’t. Love a compliant section of a race oppressing their own…

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>>5344764
“…Why are you telling us all this?” demands one dwarf maiden with platinum-blonde hair, nearly white, and amethyst eyes

She shifts from foot to foot and placing her hands on her hips as if to project some sort of authority of her own. Under the circumstances, it does little but draw your attention to the difference in height; she is half your height at best, though more heavily-constructed than a kobold of the same height.

“Becausse I offer an ultimatum,” you explain. “Join uss the Dark Godesss’ worship, and teach your sspawn the sssame, and you will be given dignity, privilegess… In the new Age of Darknesss, your children will have a place.”

“And if we refuse?” she demands.

“You will be killed,” you answer succinctly. “We will take your children from you. We will raisse them in our wayss, regardlessss. Those who do not take to them will be killed, as you were, or worked to death as sslavesss.”

>6d20 rolled for Diplomacy, Intimidation, & Religion

This outspoken dwarf-woman his the impudence to meet your eyes, in spite of your might, in spite of her position. There is rebellion in these mammals… A fierceness of spirit.

>19—success

…But slowly, she nods, and lowers herself to one knee, bowing her head.

>20—CRITICAL success

One by one, the other mothers, daughters, sisters, and their young sons do likewise, those too young to understand instructed and guided by their parents.

“Good,” you say. “Now, join me… In a prayer….”

The Mother Goddess was an obvious choice, under the circumstances, but do you emphasize any other Dark Gods in their teaching?
>The Serpent Ascendant, to encourage these dwarves to keep their admirable fighting spirit—they will be harder to manage, but if you can channel this might they may become a source of great workers and warriors
>The Baleful Beholder, so that their magical and scientific achievements may continue to bear fruit for your Master Race
>The Persecutor of the Weak, who is ideal for enforcing a sense of hierarchy and dependency in a lesser population

[We also have a 50/50 split vote on whether to give the dwarf-fort to the kobolds (under your direct dominion) or the Drow (with mineral rights considerations). Still accepting votes on that!]

>>5344770
>>The Serpent Ascendant, to encourage these dwarves to keep their admirable fighting spirit—they will be harder to manage, but if you can channel this might they may become a source of great workers and warriors
I am biased as I love dwarves, so I'm ok with them being the upper crust of the primate subsociety.
I can get behind the Baleful Beholder though.

>>5344768
[I guess this would have broke the tie on how to use the fort, too! Drow it is.]

>>5344770
>The Baleful Beholder, so that their magical and scientific achievements may continue to bear fruit for your Master Race

We need an elemental magic teacher. I want to learn more moon magic to match our cool sword.

>>5344770
>The Persecutor of the Weak, who is ideal for enforcing a sense of hierarchy and dependency in a lesser population

They are a slave race and will forever be a slave race - better get used to it now

>>5344787
Happy with that.

Make sure it’s confined to only this fort

>>5344770
I see you ReptoidQM

>>5344770
We could use an artisan class in our domains, people to bolster kobold ingenuity and make worthy arms and armor

>>5344770
>The Baleful Beholder, so that their magical and scientific achievements may continue to bear fruit for your Master Race

It's all about magical and scientific advancement, you know

magic nukes when

>>5344770
>The Baleful Beholder, so that their magical and scientific achievements may continue to bear fruit for your Master Race

>>5344770
>>picrel
Damn, I forgot that RQM is a dwarf apprentice.
>The Baleful Beholder, so that their magical and scientific achievements may continue to bear fruit for your Master Race
>>5344836
I agree but I'm also kinda worried they'll get rebellious.

>>5344770
>The Persecutor of the Weak, who is ideal for enforcing a sense of hierarchy and dependency in a lesser population
They can be the upper crust of the mammals, but Reptilian Supremacy is absolute.

>>5344770
>The Serpent Ascendant, to encourage these dwarves to keep their admirable fighting spirit—they will be harder to manage, but if you can channel this might they may become a source of great workers and warriors

>>5344936
>dwarves
>mammalian upper crust
kek
They will be our slaves either way. We don't need a Dark God to keep them in check and after that 20 for obedience it just seems like a waste.

>>5344795
It was a solid quest.

>>5344770
>The Persecutor of the Weak, who is ideal for enforcing a sense of hierarchy and dependency in a lesser population
I mainly just want to work out our funk with the Prosecutor into a positive relationship, but I wouldn’t mind emphasizing the Serpent or the Beholder together as ideals that the dwarves should strive for. I think an energetic worker/warrior spirit and and a focus on intellectual achievements would mesh well with one another.

>>5344770
>The Baleful Beholder, so that their magical and scientific achievements may continue to bear fruit for your Master Race

The persecutor is a cuck we’ll jiggle the ass of many mammal women and make degenerate babies to cuck him

>>5344770
>The Persecutor of the Weak, who is ideal for enforcing a sense of hierarchy and dependency in a lesser population

>>5344770
I’d prefer a mix between the three, just to promote religious factionalism to main our control over them, but if I’m forced to choose only one God…
>The Baleful Beholder, so that their magical and scientific achievements may continue to bear fruit for your Master Race
Because the Serpent already got the Drow, the Beholder already helped us out, we can probably come to a peaceful accord with the Prosecutor, and I’m always a sucker for a magi-tech build in a civilization, just to see what they come up with.

Would prefer to do a mix, cause I do think dwarf factionalism is key to preventing a coordinated rebellion.

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>>5344784
>>5344792
>>5344793
>>5344836
>>5344878
>>5344892
>>5344936
>>5344985
>>5345087
>>5345219
>>5345284
>>5345319
Though a Reptilian upper crust will of course take precedence in your new Dragon Kingdom—you doubt the Chaplain would allow anything else, even fi you were so inclined—but you can see the value in this new dwarven project. These dwarves… If they could be made the understand the value of the Dark Gods, and yet their own initiative maintained, could serve as a sort of ‘mammalian intelligentsia’.

“Pointless,” the Novice later scoffed, when you voiced this theory to her. “Their minds are underevolved, simple, emotional. They are rebels-in-waiting. Simply torture them to extract their theories, and then let our own Serpent Priests advance it.”

“Is that you speaking,” you asked her then, “or your father?”

She’d stared at you then, but you simply asked her pointedly: “Will eh assign a single female of your caste to this task, or will eh assign only males, because of their more logical, developed minds?”

That shut her up, replacing her look of incensed outrage with a more thoughtful expression.

So it was that, in your first organized prayer with the dwarves, you introduced them not to the Persecutor of the Weak, but the Master of the Insightful Eye.

“Lead uss to the darkessst depthss, and exposse the ssecretsss hidden there,” you had prayed with them. “Let uss feel the flame, harnessss the heat, which casstss no light.”

The dwarf-women resent you for the deaths of their mates, their fathers. Their children regard you in holy terror. This you know. But given time… Given the chance to influence these people… Their theories of magical-scientific confluence could truly usher in a new age. You truly believe it in your soul!


That is a matter for the future, however. You must live in the here and now… A time of strife and scarcity, in spite of all your victories. In keeping the dwarves alive, you must also feed them. Their own raided provisions are scarcely enough to last them without hunting and foraging, without trading ore to the humans of the valleys below Bloodrise. With their staff ‘reduced’ by your attack, their trade cut-off, their citizens yet too untrustworthy to let into the woods unsupervised, you risk their starvation… or their own. Luckily, you have an idea—a way for one problem to solve another.

>>5345390
“The Drow were promised territory,” you tell your council. “We will provide it to them. The magic items, the mineral wealth… These are to be ours, in large part, with a share to the kobolds. The meat, and what gold and gems they made off with, can go to the Bogbarri. But this dwarven company-town… It is now the purview of the Drow.”

“Superior One, with all due respect, do you truly believe an enclave of mammals in our own ancestral lands is wise? An adjoining underdark empire, semi-subject to us… This can be easily caged and controlled. But if they start to intermingle openly with our populace, to occupy outposts all throughout our range here… What will the Priesthood say?”

“I will handle that,” you say, feigning confidence. “They will understand.”

It is, after all, only a single outpost… And it makes providing for the dwarves, and managing their labour, as much a Drow problem as a Reptilian one. And splitting authority and territory among your mammalian (and kobold) pawns, encouraging different divine allegiances... Such factionalism will help preclude a coordinated rebellion, or so you theorize. Divide and conquer, right?

A hundred further questions buffet you from all sides—kobold concerns of being sidelined, Reptilian concerns of future mammalian rebellion and proposals for population control, questions about how orichalcum will be managed and sued once mined… It all begins to overwhelm you. You abruptly end the meeting, excusing yourself.

You spend your evening…
>Alone, in prayerful meditation, seeking divine guidance
>With the Novice, head once more in her lap—it was the best rest you’ve had in some time, after all
>With a thick dwarven concubine—your personal spoils from the raid
>Drinking to the memory of the fallen Infiltrator Paeris, and reflecting on the toll of war
>Write-in

>>5345392
>Alone, in prayerful meditation, seeking divine guidance

we really should pick a patron already

>>5345392
>Drinking to the memory of the fallen Infiltrator Paeris, and reflecting on the toll of war

>>5345392
>Alone, in prayerful meditation, seeking divine guidance

>>5345392
>With a thick dwarven concubine—your personal spoils from the raid
>Drinking to the memory of the fallen Infiltrator Paeris, and reflecting on the toll of war

Drink with a dwarf between our legs

>>5345392
>Alone, in prayerful meditation, seeking divine guidance

>>5345392
>With the Novice, head once more in her lap—it was the best rest you’ve had in some time, after all

>>5345392
>Alone, in prayerful meditation, seeking divine guidance

>>5345392
>Alone, in prayerful meditation, seeking divine guidance

>>5345392
>>Alone, in prayerful meditation, seeking divine guidance

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>>5345400
>>5345402
>>5345404
>>5345422
>>5345444
>>5345446
>>5345461
>>5345479
>>5345486

You set aside your companions, your ambitions, even your <appetite>, to commit to solitude and to meditations. As you have on several previous occasions before torpor, you light a candle, and speak the words:

“Oh Lords and Ladies of Eternity and Infinity, oh Lords of the Endless Black, oh Ladies of the Deep Flame. It is I, your prince! It is I, your servant! Your first among sons and daughters beseeches you, and I offer up this great tribute, in hopes you will hear me, and guide me, and make me a part of your Grand Design.”

For a time there is a deep quietude. Then, the candle flares, and sputters, and belches for a faintly-bluish smoke I plausible buffets that cascade out and spiral up into a latticework of tendrils and tenacles. The remaining fire of the candle’s wick becomes a single unblinking, all-seeing eye.

“You bring me a tribute of dwerrow—of dwarven-folk.”

It is the whispering voice of the Master of eh Insightful Eye, God of Secret Knowledge, also called The Baleful Beholder. It is a voice from within and without, appropriate for a gaze that so pierces and transfixes you, and tentacles of smoke which so invade your every sense.

“You gave me a great boon,” you reply, recalling the self-knowledge which the Dark God of Dark Truth granted you—the realization that you desire admiration, respect, and the recognition and love of a community above all else. Maybe THIS is why you spared the dwarf-spawn and their mothers. “I return the favour.”

“Your own mother could never bring herself to harm a child,” the Beholder muses. “Instead, she shaped them—yourself include—into something she could be proud of. You really are quite like her.”

Your mother… A creature unknown to you, a half-human Degenerate. It is not the first time the Dark Gods have brought her up in your interactions.

“You seek guidance, and you do not come empty-handed,” the God of Wisdom acknowledges. “I shall grant it. What do you seek?”

You hesitate. A part of you has been considering, ever since this particular Dark God gave you the gift of understanding, becoming a champion to him. On your last occasion, however, he laughed, and rejected you—he felt you were already a part of his plan, without such formalities or commitments. Will he accept you now? Is this deity truly the one to which you would pledge your everlasting self—your dragon-soul? You cannot help but reflect that you do not actually know what Grand Design he works towards…

What do you ask? Choose one:
>Ask what the Grand Design of the Baleful Beholder entails
>Ask what one could do, to become the Antipaladin of the God of Knowledge
>Ask about your mother, the children she spared, and the man who killed her
>Ask about the magic of the dwarves, and how to make it your own
>Ask where Paeris’ soul now resides
>Ask something else [write-in]