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You are called many things. Since your journey began, you have accrued nicknames and titles. To the dark-skinned and famine-shortened elves of Wevenore, you are King Theral of Bloodrise, the Copper Dragon King. Your true name is a private thing, spoken rarely and only when absolutely necessary, as is the tradition of the Master Race who created you. To your masters—the Dark Gods Beyond and Blow, and their sacred Serpent Priesthood, you hold an even grander title, and a more transcendent duty.

You are THE DRAGONBORN ANTIPALADIN!

>LEVEL UP
>+1 Religion for your approach to Death and the Dark Gods, and your missionary zeal
>+1 Elementalism, for your reliance on earth and moon magic, and your deployment and taming of the lightning elemental

[ Updated statblock, portrait, and inventory are off to the side. For those of your just joining us, this quest and its (not-mandatory-reading-at-all precursor are at https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=reptoidqm ]

Well, alright. Maybe not EVERYONE is on board with your assumption of the role of regional despot… Or as self-appointed Dark Prophet of a new paradigm in the True Faith. Certainly, your immediately superior—the Chaplain of the northernmost base where your subversive agents and assassins gather to manipulate and destroy surface-scum society—hasn’t given any explicit blessing. The Gods who you BOTH serve, though, have blessed you and your mission repeatedly.

You have sacrificed to the Serpent Ascendant and earned his blessings. You have uncovered hidden mysteries and knowledge for the Baleful Beholder. By their blessings, you grow stronger and wiser each passing day, more and more like a True Dragon of old!

You have made treaty and alliance—even conjugal, to your mixed feelings—with the Lady of the rookery, called Mother of Dragons, and with the priestess-princess of her pet race of silk-spinning glowworms. In doing so, you have convinced the capricious deity not to abandon your people or your cause.

You have treated with, and made an ally of, DEATH HIMSELF.

(Even if that meant incurring repeated debts to him)

You’ve lost friends and allies along the way, but made many more. You have discovered your capacity to love, and be loved, and found the strength which comes from that. Your worldview has widened and expanded, and by this virtue you have forged the beginnings of a Dark Alliance to set the foundations of the earth to trembling!

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You remind yourself of these many triumphs to drive you forwards against persistent lethargy. Your accomplishments give you the strength to lift your horned head high and to push out your chest in spite of your splitting headache.

You are very, very hungover.

“Easy,” whispers Hamaraska the Lancer, the centipede-rider whom you have recently made a confidant of after your bonding experience in the grave-caverns of the ancient Drow. “You’re wobbling.”

“I can’t believe someone your size is so bad at holding his mushroom-wine!” sniggers Azonia the Duelist, curvy-but-deadly dual-wielder of swords; she is prone to such jabs, though you THINK they are mostly meant in good humour.

“You should not mock a priest of the Dark Gods,” Jhamrius warns; his is an early convert to the True Faith, cautious and loyal.

“I’m not a priest,” you groan, too weary to explain the caste system and liturgical particulars of your Master Race—masterful at many things, but NOT at metabolizing alcohol—in any great detail right now.

“Still, we all saw you TALK to that one down there—to DEATH!” enthusiastic Sengar chimes in cheerily.

“I didn’t,” Azonia scoffs.

“You’re dear to them, obviously,” Jhamrius concurs.

“Best not to piss them off by mocking you, right?” Sengar muses. “Gods are cruel things.”

You shake your head, but don’t have it in you to debate the nature of the Dark Divines further. Even that simple gesture—shaking your head-rattles your addled brain to the point of a dizzy spell. You stumble slightly, threaten to fall over entirely…

But for quiet Hamaraska, who leans against you to brace you.

What do you do?
>Support yourself, without Hamaraska’s help—for prophetic propriety and kingly dignity
>Thank Hamaraska, and accept their assistance in making your way
>Place an arm around Hamaraska, and savour the slim, soft-spoken elf’s closeness [+affection, +appetite]
>Write-in

“Where are we going, anyway?” Sengar asks.
>To your lodging in the poor quarters of Wevenore, where your Novice Fleshweaver can administer medical aid and expert biological analysis of the Ghoul Supreme
>To House Yvonlace, where Queen Myrymma reigns (for now, at least) and where your allies among the elven elite can be found, to collude and counsel
>To the most busy and bustling area of Wevenore, where you can proclaim your victory and the glory of your gods before all movers and shakers, and demand audience with those who aspire to kingship of this place
>Write-in

>>5448284
>Support yourself, without Hamaraska’s help—for prophetic propriety and kingly dignity

>To your lodging in the poor quarters of Wevenore, where your Novice Fleshweaver can administer medical aid and expert biological analysis of the Ghoul Supreme

>>5448284
>Thank Hamaraska, and accept their assistance in making your way

>To House Yvonlace, where Queen Myrymma reigns (for now, at least) and where your allies among the elven elite can be found, to collude and counsel

We literally did this shit to make her convert. Let's seal the deal.

>>5448284
>Support yourself, without Hamaraska’s help—for prophetic propriety and kingly dignity
>To your lodging in the poor quarters of Wevenore, where your Novice Fleshweaver can administer medical aid and expert biological analysis of the Ghoul Supreme
And some meat crackers for this motherfucker of a hangover.
>>5448278
The new poster looks great, but second and fourth portrait remain my personal favorites.

>>5448303
Supporting

A king stands alone and above his flock

>>5448303
>>5448322
>>5448500
>>5448591
[Looks like we're leaning towards toughing it without aid, but we're tied on our destination. I'll check in later!]

>>5448284
>>Support yourself, without Hamaraska’s help—for prophetic propriety and kingly dignity
>>To your lodging in the poor quarters of Wevenore, where your Novice Fleshweaver can administer medical aid and expert biological analysis of the Ghoul Supreme

Aw yeah, another DAQ thread. Let's go!

>>5448284
>Place an arm around Hamaraska, and savour the slim, soft-spoken elf’s closeness [+affection, +appetite]
>To the most busy and bustling area of Wevenore, where you can proclaim your victory and the glory of your gods before all movers and shakers, and demand audience with those who aspire to kingship of this place
Would this be called… propheteering?

>>5448284
>Support yourself, without Hamaraska’s help—for prophetic propriety and kingly dignity
>To House Yvonlace, where Queen Myrymma reigns (for now, at least) and where your allies among the elven elite can be found, to collude and counsel

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>>5448801
>>5448749
>>5448741
>>5448591
>>5448500
>>5448322
>>5448303
[Locked and writing!]

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>>5448807
>he walks
spooky

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>>5448807
>>5448807
You push off from Hamaraska, determined to support yourself without aid. The androgynous dark elf watches you with some concern. You gulp, swallowing air and saliva and willing yourself not to vomit.

“We are going back to the lowborn quarter,” you assert. “I have business with my Fleshweaver.”

“But Queen Myrymma will—” Sengar begins, then cuts himself off, thinking better of it.

Jhamrius shrugs, and notes: “She will hear of this regardless. All of Wevenore will., if they haven't already.”

Indeed, it is difficult not to notice the many eyes—mostly pale, bleached by generations below-ground in darkness—which watch you as you pass. Hushed voices whisper in elventongue as they marvel at your procession. Some of your entourage fall away from you as you go—the soldier-class of the Drow are primarily lower-ranking noble warriors, but still too highly-born for the shanty-town outskirts where you have made your temporary residence. Only the truly faithful stick by you…

(Well, and Azonia, for whatever reason.)

In the lowliest area of the so-called “Oasis of Crystal and Silk’, you find the crude assemblage of piled, loosely-affixed stonework and dried fungal stalks which passes for a home for your first local converts. There, in the domicile of a young family, your truest allies await: the Novice Fleshweaver, junior Serpent Priestess and prodigy of her craft, daughter of the Chaplain who all but raised you; the Degenerate half-human known as Oluwadamilare, a brave and bold battle-brother and former Reptilian Infiltrator; Ivno, kobold acolyte from the Bloodrise, a scout and surveyor known for prudent caution; Karz the Throat-singer, your beardless dwarven slave and arcane ‘apprentice’.

You manage not to puke until you have made it inside, and dismissed most of the remaining elves form your immediate presence to avoid embarrassment.

“You immature ignoramus,” the Novice chastises you, sighing and shaking her head as she watches you empty your stomach. “You may have the BRAIN of an ape, but you didn’t inherit their liver, OBVIOUSLY.”

“Watch your tongue,” you snap at her, glowering over the mushroom-cap ‘pot’ which your concerned hosts hastily provided you. “We are in mixed company.”

You and the Novice both glance back at Hamaraska, who hovers near the door, despite your instructions.

“The elf doesn’t understand True Speech,” the Novice counters dismissively. “None of the others who do are near enough to hear me, and if they did, I could simply pass it off as an allusion to the human blood used as a component in the Dragonborn ritual. Your secret is safe, oh Paranoid One.”

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>>5448848
You groan and heave once more, but nod. The Novice Fleshweaver, alone of all your allies, knows the full truth of your origin: you are no creature of alchemist’s laboratory or Fleshweaver ritual-chamber, as with a true Dragonborn. Rather, you are a sort of competing project, the product of an unauthorized effort by your Degenerate mother to create a ‘Dragonborn’ of her own through fleshweaving, demonology, and forbidden cross-caste mating with your distantly dragon-descended father. Among your people, who have long served the Dark God of order and purity called Lawgiver and Persecutor of the Weak, such a genesis would bring great controversy and scandal to your mission.

“Well, at least you seem mostly unharmed apart from your self-inflicted poisoning,” the Novice notes, when your dry-heaving has stopped and her rather close examination of your other vitals has begun.

You two are left more or less alone for this, with the Novice unabashedly stripping away your armour to investigate your cuts, bruises, scrapes and punctures more closely. You two have known each other virtually all your lives—albeit not always on the friendliest of terms—and over the last year have gotten quite… Comfortable… Around one another’s bodies in a way that would generally be seen as UNCONVENTIONAL by your kind. Then again, the Novice Fleshweaver is no conventional female…

“Put the hemipenes away,” the Novice hisses quietly, her tail delivering a stinging slap to your inner thigh. “I am NOT ministering to THAT condition.”

You snort, but shift to hide this automatic response to the Serpent Priestess’ touch, ignoring the pangs of your <appetite> until the process is completed, your wounds sanitized and sealed by medicine and magic.

“I recommend rest,” the Novice sniffs, “if your overinflated ego can be brought to heel long enough for your WEAK flesh to heal properly.”

“You would not call me weak if you’d seen the carnage I wrought in the name of the True Faith,” you boast.

“You have pushed yourself too hard, Degenerateborn. What, are you overcompensating?”

“Are you worried?” you tease.

The Novice sniffs, and crosses her arms haughtily… But doesn’t reply.

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>>5448852
“I assume you want me to examine THAT?” she abruptly changes the topic, nodding towards the lolling tongue and empty eyes of the Ghoul Supreme’s decapitated head. “You said it was psionic? And… That our experiment, ‘Junior’, is of the same breed?”

She refers, of course, to the being which you mockingly named after your childhood bully and rival, ‘The Junior Novice’. This kobold-like, dogfaced, rat-tailed mammalian entity was purchased as a slave from a Silkscale merchant back home, and later used as grist for the Novice’s experiments with long-dead dragonblood. It made of him a mighty—if rather anxious—winged war-beast, and these early trials were instrumental in enabling your ever-mightier <Dragonshape> spell. Only recently did you encounter similar dogheaded entities among the ghouls of the Drow-realm, commanding smaller and lesser creatures.

“They’re at least related,” you confirm. “It would be good to know more of these dog-faced ghouls.”

“I have been preoccupied with the studies you ALREADY assigned me,” the Novice huffs. “Do you think I have no need for torpor? How many hands and heads do I have, when you look at me… Or is that a bad question to ask an alcohol-addled mammal-thing such as yourself?”

“I suppose I simply place great faith in you,” you say dryly. “Maybe I am accepting your OWN egotistical self-assessment too readily, NOVICE Fleshweaver?”

The Novice glares at you for a time. You meet her gaze, enervated in spite of your headache and churning guts. You must admit, if only to yourself, that you have missed this banter which has become ritual between you and the young Priestess.

“I will attend to your little projects, Oh Glorious Dragon King,” she sighs eventually. “Pick a primary focus, though. Even I cannot do everything at once.”

>Request her full attentions for yourself—to cure your hangover, speed your recovery, and ensure you are at full fighting force
>Have the Novice focus upon the Ghoul Supreme and Junior Novice; perhaps she can unlock further utility in that twisted chimera, and better understand the nature of the psychic dogman’s surprising might
>Check in on her study of the shoggoth-samples which survived your battle with the ancient horror; has she made any progress at understanding how to command and manipulate it
>Get a status report on the Drow children who were configured by divine magic before you left; have they changed further, reverted back? What is the full scope of their transfiguration?
>Write-in

>>5448853
>Request her full attentions for yourself—to cure your hangover, speed your recovery, and ensure you are at full fighting force

We need to get out there to the Queen/male up-comer court to flex our accomplishment.

>>5448853
>Request her full attentions for yourself—to cure your hangover, speed your recovery, and ensure you are at full fighting force
Everything else is on the second plane.

>>5448853
>Check in on her study of the shoggoth-samples which survived your battle with the ancient horror; has she made any progress at understanding how to command and manipulate it
shoggy chan

>>5448853
>Have the Novice focus upon the Ghoul Supreme and Junior Novice; perhaps she can unlock further utility in that twisted chimera, and better understand the nature of the psychic dogman’s surprising might

>>5448853
>Have the Novice focus upon the Ghoul Supreme and Junior Novice; perhaps she can unlock further utility in that twisted chimera, and better understand the nature of the psychic dogman’s surprising might

>>5448856
>>5448860
>>5448876
>>5448952
>>5448958
[It's a close one! I'll hold off on updating until tomorrow evening.]

Can't wait for our battle wounds to lead to a defeat and having to sacrifice another companion just so we can survive ^^

>>5449169
Novice herself said that we barley took an wounds, just some minor scrapes and bruises+ some exhaustion. We've fought through far worse before.

Were chilling unless that prince we insulted sends assassins after us or something.


>Have the Novice focus upon the Ghoul Supreme and Junior Novice; perhaps she can unlock further utility in that twisted chimera, and better understand the nature of the psychic dogman’s surprising might

>>5449210
Oh my bad then

>>5448853
>Check in on her study of the shoggoth-samples which survived your battle with the ancient horror; has she made any progress at understanding how to command and manipulate it

>>5448853
>>5449118
I'll change my vote >>5448860 to
>Check in on her study of the shoggoth-samples which survived your battle with the ancient horror; has she made any progress at understanding how to command and manipulate it

>>5448853
>Request her full attentions for yourself—to cure your hangover, speed your recovery, and ensure you are at full fighting force
Check out my wings!

Can the Orb of Dragonkind allow us to turn into a Dragon?

>>5448853
>Request her full attentions for yourself—to cure your hangover, speed your recovery, and ensure you are at full fighting force

This is the most pressing

>>5449567
It isn't. See >>5449210.

>>5449499
[...The wut? Do you mean your amulet?]

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>>5449567
>>5449279
>>5449270
>>5449257
>>5449210
>>5448958
>>5448952
>>5448876
>>5448856
“The sample will not keep indefinitely,” you note, and gesture to the Ghoul Supreme’s decapitated dome. “Focus upon that. Glean what you can. It may be useful for the advancement of our ‘Junior’.”

“Or your own advancement,” the Novice notes.

You look at her questioning, and she explains further:

“If what you say is correct, the so-called Ghoul Supreme wasn’t only a powerful telekinetic, but was capable of wielding that magic to essentially mimic others—geokinesis, near-necromancy, maybe more. Not only that, it was able to command lessers...”

“…Not unlike the Fearsome Presence of a dragon,” you acknowledge, though the comparison seems heretical.

“Just as with the draconic fleshweaving, what starts with our lab-rat can become a source of advancement for your own flawed nature,” the Novice cackles.

You’re not sure you like the phrasing, but her enthusiasm for the project has grown at least. You leave her to it, and take your recommended rest.

When you rouse, it is to discussion at the doorway.

“The Dragonborn sleeps,” you hear Oluwadamilare explaining in his practiced dark-elven. “He has fought hard, and must now rest.”

“Then let him sleep in comfortable quarters, with good food, and good music,” a friendly but unfamiliar voice replies.

One of the Queen’s other agents, representative of her House Yvonlace, come to collect you?

“The Dragonborn choice this place,” Olu asserts. “You may bring him this offer again when he is…”

The half-human archer trails off as you approach, and both eh and the elf at the doorway turn to you; the latter looks first at yoru mostly bare chest, and then up from there, as if startled at your sheer size.

The stranger is clad in unusually-fine silks for a Drow, even a highborn one, and these have been further accented with dyes and tastefully-incorporated swatches of surface-fabric adorned with complementary patterns. She appears feminine at a glance, with bright eyes which pair well with the attire. The cut is a clever one, too; you know next to nothing of frivolous fashion, let alone ELVEN eccentricities in the field, but it is clear to you that the cut is somewhat uncommon while still not being out-of-place among the local cultural milieu.

“I like your armour,” the elf-maid compliments you, before inquiring with some skepticism: “House Yvonlace made this?”

“I commissioned it from them,” you say. “They did good work. It has held up well in my campaign against the Ghoul Supreme.”

“So we heard!” the strange elf says, clapping her hands together and beaming. “But the aesthetic sense… Yes, I knew it must not be Yvonlace, but you! The Royal House of Tlintear understands the importance of such things. It’s not enough to gather wealth and wear it about with no thought. That is… Simplistic. Basic. Your taste is clearly advanced.”

>>5450088
This flattery all reeks of a diplomatic entreaty. Tlintear… This is the house of one of the Princes-Ascendant, the male Drow nobles who hope to be King soon, when the ‘season’ changes in the alien calendar of gendered leadership which the Drow adhere to and Queen Myrymma of Yvonlace must step down.

“You’re here on behalf of Prince Minothel, then.”

The elven female nods. Your recall the Elf Queen’s assessment of the Prince of House Tlintear: high-born, well-connected, fairly smart. Apparently an aesthete, too. Not the Queen’s favoured Prince, though—that was Lahlabar. However, neither Lahlabar’s prince nor the other preeminent princeling, Corandiirn of House Sambra, deigned to attend your Ghoul Hunt or send a prominent representative, while Minothel of Tlintear…

“You should take the Prince up on the offer,” Azonia chimes in, blatantly and unashamedly eavesdropping while chewing on a tough -looking piece of dried meat. “He has the best parties, when he really wants to impress someone.”

You glance at her, and ask her: “So he is your patron, then?”

“He sent me to tag along on the hunt, yeah,” she says. “I’ve been wanting to try at a hunt for a while… But I have to admit, I didn’t really think the ‘Ghoul Supreme’ was real, or that a ghoul would ever put up such a decent fight!”

Well, her individualistic streak seems to fit an artistic house… And Azonia’s unusually bright eyes and streak of dyed hair certainly fits in with the colourful palette they favour. On the other hand, proudly-martial Azonia seems an odd fit in other ways for a prince considered less militarily-powerful than his rivals.

Do you take up House Tlintear on their offer?
>Yes—you might as well get to know them better, and hear them out
>No, this could hurt relations with the Queen’s house or draw the umbrage of the other Princes-Ascending… Better to visit Yvonlace, the House which invited you hear
>You actually have plans to visit House Lahlabar—it’s time to get to know the Queen’s favoured candidate for Kingship
>The first Prince to offer you an invitation (and allegedly the more capable) is Corandiirn—you will visit him first
>Maybe you should ask an impartial native… You know Sengar and Jhamrius are loyal to Yvonlace, but what does Hamaraska think?
>Write-in

[Specify also if there is anyone in particular you want to bring or not bring with you; if you don't have any strong preferences, I'll substitute what I think makes sense for the choice you make, and for the way the Dragonborn has behaved.]

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>>5449662
Will these gathered in one place, like the altar of a Church of Chronology or something, give us enough Blutz Waves to transform into giant dragon mode?

>>5450097
[The Dragonborn's desire to retain a size suitable for interacting normallyand carnally with fellow medium-sized creatures led him to mix the Potion of Dimunition into the Amulet of the Dragon. This limits his growth rate and maximum size.]

>>5450089
>No, this could hurt relations with the Queen’s house or draw the umbrage of the other Princes-Ascending… Better to visit Yvonlace, the House which invited you hear
>Maybe you should ask an impartial native… You know Sengar and Jhamrius are loyal to Yvonlace, but what does Hamaraska think?

Convert her first!!! That's what we came here for..

>>5450089
>Maybe you should ask an impartial native… You know Sengar and Jhamrius are loyal to Yvonlace, but what does Hamaraska think?

>>5450089
>No, this could hurt relations with the Queen’s house or draw the umbrage of the other Princes-Ascending… Better to visit Yvonlace, the House which invited you here
Id rather we go turn in our quest and get some key figures worshipping the dark gods, we can go visit the other houses once business has been taken care of

>>5450089
>Tell them you'll consider
He did send someone one the hunt and now wants to get in contact. No harm to hear him out once other things have been taken care of. Also aesthetics.
Unrelated, but kinda sad to see Azonia brushed aside.

>>5450089
>Maybe you should ask an impartial native… You know Sengar and Jhamrius are loyal to Yvonlace, but what does Hamaraska think?
>Yes—you might as well get to know them better, and hear them out
I just want Hamaraska’s unbiased opinion on them before we visit. They did decide to help us out and flatter us after all.

>>5450180
>spoiler
We didn’t get a mini-sidequest with her. I’m sure she’ll receive some attention during our training montage together. Remember, we still need to learn how to duel wield both of our legendary swords.

>>5450089
>Yes—you might as well get to know them better, and hear them out
Bring Hamaraska and Azonia with.

>>5450089
>Yes—you might as well get to know them better, and hear them out

not sure why we have this phobia of ever talking to other drow

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>>5450248
>>spoiler
Ik what I said came out weird, but the fact that she was a custom character made for the purpose of not being important and that votes avoid interacting with her while I don't wanna vote for her since that pathetic troglodyte called her a personal cumdump and shittalked her background just feels fucking bad. Custom character creation yet again a net negative. Ignore me RQM, just kill her off or something and let those low iq coomers fuck Hamarasaka's bug or get lanced or whatever the fuck.

>>5450384
>calls others low iq coomers
>malding that we're not interacting with "big tiddy sword drow"

>>5450089
>>Yes—you might as well get to know them better, and hear them out

>>5450089
>No, this could hurt relations with the Queen’s house or draw the umbrage of the other Princes-Ascending… Better to visit Yvonlace, the House which invited you hear
>Maybe you should ask an impartial native… You know Sengar and Jhamrius are loyal to Yvonlace, but what does Hamaraska think?

Switching don’t like fashion guy

>>5450384
So what I’m getting is that you’re mad that the character you created isn’t getting all the attention. Fag.

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Just kill her, I don't want to listen to those fucking niggers forever.

Alright people, lessons from Reptilian Infiltrator Quest are simple. Ignore foxAnoning.
So, I want to train dual wielding with dual-wielding elf I picked. But I like the flow and feel MC is closest to the bug-drow. So let's not feed the troll, without killing our asset. Deal?

>>5450384
>>5450548
>>5450554
>>5450575
[Vote to kill her yourself, cowards!]
JK, but no, I'm not going to kill Azonia OR give her inflated importance beyond what I have planned and what people vote for. I honestly feel like I've given her ample 'screentime', and making her the highest-ranked Drow in your hunting party was also a deliberate choice. I'm sorry if she seems undercharacterized so far.

>>5450089
>Tell them you'll consider
>Talk to Azonia about them after

>>5450384
Jesus dude, Bug Lancer got more screentime because he jobbed and he had to bailed out his bug, then we had to focus on the mission. Just chill.

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>>5450851
>>5450545
>>5450534
>>5450359
>>5450302
>>5450248
>>5450180
>>5450175
>>5450162
[Locked... Sort of. Writing, anyway! Also doing laundry, may take a bit.]

>>5450908
“I must confer,” you announce.

The ambassador from House Tlintear seems nonplussed, but rallies quickly, saying: “Of course! You must consult with your people.”

That’s not QUITE what you have in mind, though.

“You, Lancer, to me.”

Hamaraska looks up from where they are sharpening the implement by which you have assigned them their title. They gesture to themselves, as if to verify that it is, indeed, Hamaraska the Centipede Lancer you mean.

“I have a name,” the Lancer says, neutrally.

“Of course,” Azonia huffs.

The swordswoman rolls her eyes at your choice to consult with your new confidant, and leans against the wall.

“You, too, Duelist,” you address Azonia.

“…Wait, what?”

You step off to the side, the Tlintear delegate watching you as you go with an ever-more-confounded expression. Hamaraska and Azonia seem confused as well, for that matter. You address the latter first.

“I understand you want me to visit your patron house to win me to their side,” you frankly address the Duelist’s motives. “What I do not understand is why YOU are a part of their house.”

Azonia narrows her eyes, seeming to take umbrage with this.

“What? You don’t think I have the makings of a noble elf?” she growls.

“I have no way of knowing,” you shrug. “Is Tlintear not a weak house, though, in terms of military matters? Meanwhile, you…”

You trail off, an Hamaraska interjects: “You spent half of our victory celebration trying to fight King Theral.”

You glance at Hamaraska, who shrugs.

“You seemed melancholy,” the Lancer explains. “I… Intercepted.”

“The dragon’s a warrior, bug-lover,” Azonia sneers. “A bit of sparring would have done him good!”

>>5450946
Azonia turns to you, placing her hands on her hips—on her blades’ hilts—and puffing out her considerable chest proudly in a display that admittedly draws your eyes downwards for a moment.

“THAT’S why I’m with Tlintear. I’ve done mercenary jobs for Yvonlace and others, and been to all their parties. Tlintear ahs the best balde-dancing.”

You recall the elegant and impressive display of finesse, grace, speed, and practiced precision which the Yvonlace blade-dancers put on before your welcome-feast with Queen Myrymma. When you describe your recollections, though, Azonia just laughs.

“Yeah, that’s how the traditionalist set do it. And Sambra… Sambra is all serious, grim-faced marching and slashing, stabbing and stomping. TLINTEAR knows what makes a GOOD blade-dance.”

“And that is…?” you press

Azonia’s amethyst eyes shine nearly as brightly as her vicious grin when she answers:

“Competition! Two dancers compete in a duel for points—in style AND lethality!”

You narrow your eyes. Azonia has shown admiration for your sword skills, has been standing up to you in increasingly direct and provocative ways… Attempted to challenge you to a sparring match while you two were drinking. Does she… Actually just want you to accept her prince’s offer for an excuse to challenge you to a duel?

“Lancer?” you ask Hamaraska. “What do you think of this house/ You are… Neutral, yes?”

“Without a patron,” Hamaraska agrees curtly. “Yes.”

You recall your longtime ally, The Bastard, casteless mercenary thug and assassin. The Centipede Lancer must play a comparable role, you gather, due to whatever defect caused the elf’s abandonment and ostracization. Despite the Lancer being miffed at this status, it is precisely why you value their input in this matter.

“Tlintear is… A good enough house to work for. I suspect that Prince Minothel would rule well enough, as king. Things would be stable.”

You sense a distinct lack of enthusiasm, however, and prod the Lancer for more.

“Those most comfortable with the current status quo are those with the most wealth and connections,” Hamaraska notes, non-judgemental in tone but clearly uncomfortable in body language. “They do not often seek to make dramatic movements. They sometimes stifle those that others make.”

Azonia laughs, and chimes in: “I should have known the fun-snuffer was a supporter of the Sambrans.”

Hamaraska shrugs non-committaly, and says: “They pay well enough. They do not meddle in how I do a job, or assign handlers. They choose allies wisely, enemies likewise… And move deliberately.”

You can see why this would appeal to the quiet, mostly mission-focused Lancer.

>>5450949

“I don’t really have any interest in who wins the throne, though,” Hamaraska admits. “It’s far above our world…”

“Maybe yours,” Azonia laughs again, and nods to you. “You’re talking to a lizard king!”

“Dragon King,” you correct.

“If you mean to ask if I think Prince Minothel will be a good host, or how his party will be…” Hamaraska trails off, then shrugs. “Probably a good host to someone like you, and probably loud and… Overly social… As parties go.”

You nod slowly, and ask both elves about the possibility of a diplomatic incident if you agree.

“Unlikely, though I would bet the Queen and other Princes will have questions for you… More questions, if you don’t make plans to meet each of them.”

This is Hamaraska’s response. Azonia’s is bolder.

“Who cares? The Queen’s on her way out, an Minothel’s the next king for sure. And even if he isn’t… You’re not a Drow. You get to make your own rules! I mean, what, you don’t think all this god-crap is already getting the elves in power antsy?”

Ah, yes, ‘god-crap’. The main objective behind your plumbing of the funerary caves and conquering of the ghouls was to create an opportunity for Queen Myrymma and her household to convert, formally and publicly, to the True Faith. You probably SHOULD see about getting her to make good on that… Though maybe this Minothel, or another princeling, might be more willing to accept the Dark Gods in exchange for your official backing, as the liberator of elven souls and sanctuary and a powerful ally offering surface-born abundance?

“Look, enough of this back and forth!” Azonia protests, drawing her blades. “Theral! You, me, right here and now. If I win, you come to a fun party. IF I lose, you… Do whatever.”

Hamaraska sighs quietly.

What do you do?
>Agree—go if you lose, don’t go if you win; it could be fun, and a good way to make up your mind
>Agree, but modify the terms of the challenge or bet (how?)
>Dismiss Azonia’s absurd challenge—you’re going to see the Queen
>Decline the duel—you’ve already decided to visit Prince Minothel of Tlintear, anyway

[If we get another tie, I'm rolling for it.]

>>5450952
>Dismiss Azonia’s absurd challenge—you’re going to see the Queen

Fuck that stupid bitch

>>5450952
>>Agree—go if you lose, don’t go if you win; it could be fun, and a good way to make up your mind

>>5450952
>Dismiss Azonia’s absurd challenge—you’re going to see the Queen

Why duel a worthless coomsock?

>>5450952
>Dismiss Azonia’s absurd challenge—you’re going to see the Queen
We just wanted her opinion on houses, this fucking sperg isnt selling me on Tlintear, "They dance good" okay that didnt answer shit and now she wants to fight so we go to a party? Just go turn in our quest and get the current queen to convert so we get some passive follower gain through Yvonlace while shes still in power, we can worry about allying other houses and drow diplomacy after we have an established foothold outside of being a band of strange travellers brought back by a scrupulous drow princess worshipping "evil" gods

>>5450952
>Agree—go if you lose, don’t go if you win; it could be fun, and a good way to make up your mind
I don’t mind settling this by a duel, and maybe she has pointers about duel wielding.

>>5450949
>Agree—go if you lose, don’t go if you win; it could be fun, and a good way to make up your mind

>>5448278
Are dragons good or evil ?
https://strawpoll.com/polls/NoZrLKDQGn3

>>5450952
>Agree—go if you lose, don’t go if you win; it could be fun, and a good way to make up your mind
damn she's based
cutting through the indecision and choice paralysis of anons
too bad we're gonna win and go right back to waffling

>>5451235
[If this option wins, it assumes a victory means you'll go see the Queen instead.]

>>5451435
even more based than I thought
azonia might just graduate from personal cumdump at this rate

>>5450952
>Agree—go if you lose, don’t go if you win; it could be fun, and a good way to make up your mind

>5450952
>Decline the duel—you’ve already decided to visit Prince Minothel of Tlintear, anyway

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>>5451552
>>5451513
>>5451235
>>5451183
>>5451121
>>5451104
>>5451068
>>5451067
>>5451013
[Locked and writing!]

Rolled 14, 6, 4, 5, 15 = 44 (5d20)

>>5451776
You meet Azonia’s fierce gaze, neither fearful nor angry—just excited. It reminds you of a year ago, when you first set forth on this quest for glory. It reminds you of how you felt brawling with the Pit Guard, of your first true battle against the Devourer…

Before the struggles, the injuries, the lost friends and lovers.

“Alright,” you acquiesce. “You may be right, Duelist. It COULD be fun.”

Azonia’s grin returns, and she winks cheekily at Hamaraska, who shakes their head slightly but said nothing else.

“At least one of us knows how to have a good time,” Azonia cracks.

“Wait! Stop!” cries the other present representative of House Tlintear, seeing you and Azonia plot your paces between two impoverished elven shack-houses.

“It is okay,” you assure the panicked diplomat. “It is a friendly bout.”

“Don’t think that means I’ll go easy on you,” Azonia jeers, twirling her blades once and assuming a battle-stance.

You have seen Azonia fight. At a glance it is frantic, flailing. Fast, but imprecise. But that is at a GLANCE. You observed her more carefully than most, being a disciple of the sword yourself. She exerts no wasted energy, presents no openings, when she is wielding her dual swords like a shield—she deflects blows, rebounds projectiles, holds advancing enemies at bay. She only lunges or extends when she senses a weakness, an opening… Then, she punishes it brutally, with strength which her frame belies.

“You are good,” you admit, drawing your first blade—the elvencraft sword you requisitioned back at the northern forward base, well-made but otherwise unremarkable.

The choice draws many awed and irate expressions from the gather crowd, though; it is leaf-embossed, dark green and gold… A surface-elf weapon, made by the hated foes of the Drow.

“Spoils of war?” Azonia asks.

“Something like that,” you say.

She nods approvingly, and lightly taps her blades together.

“Mine too,” she admits. “Human. Every Drow knows our steel is shit.”

“You make up for it in skill,” you note.

“Flatterer.”

The two of you begin your slow circle, she with two blades and you—as you generally opt to face your foes—with one, gripped in two hands.

“I’m twice, maybe three times, your size.” You tilt your head. “You have seen what I can do. You are going to lose.”

“We’ll see,” your foe snaps.

“Why do you want this fight so badly?”

“Why did you face the Devourer and Shoggoth? Or the Ghoul Supreme?”

You say nothing. Is it glory, then? The conquest of a great and terrible monster? Racial pride, personal pride? Well, pride goes before a fall, they say…

[5d20. Normal DC = 13/15/17. +2 for Azonia's skill. -1 for Sword Mastery. +1 for injury. Exhaustion penalties negated because you got healed by Novice. Final DC: 15 to stalemate/17 to gain advantage/19 to crush]

>>5451783
You step forward; Azonia steps forward. You step back, then again; she steps forward, lunges towards you. You rattle with laughter—she is so easily baited! You have the reach and strength advantage. You are a Dark Prophet, a Hexblade, a Dragonborn Antipaladin and ‘Lizard King’! This elf is just a little pest, albeit a spirited once whom you could come to appreciate. The Dueslist is done for…

>15

You miss. She dodges at the last minute, ducking the swing and hopping sideways. She doesn’t overcommit—she taps your arm-guard, tagging you gently. You bring your sword up in a slashing arc; she hops back.

“Come on, come on!” she says, waving you closer. “Maintaining distance is a strangely weak choice for such a champion! You are going to disappoint our audience!”

The Duelist is right. Unavoidably, there are dark, sharp-eared faces peering over one another to catch a glimpse of this spectacle. You have created quite the reputation—following even—and now they have turned out to see their Antipaladin at—

“Grah!”

Stinging pain across your cheek breaks your reverie. Having distracted you, Aoznia the Duelist scores a hit. You reach up to wipe you face, and look down at a hand covered in blood.

“Shallow, easily healed,” the Duelist condescendingly reassures you. “I haven’t spoiled your good looks. Or bad looks? I’m not a lizard, so I can’t—WOAH!”

The Duelist got cocky, and distracted HERSELF. You charge her shoulder first, hurling her to the ground with a sudden charge. With a roar, you lift your sword high and bring it down—not to slay her, obviously, but to make it obvious that you could have…

If only she didn’t with a single flick of the wrist at the LAST second, smack your blade aside. The Duelist swing her legs to trip you—failed, but you stumble a little—and when you look back at her she has rolled out of harm’s wat and back to her feet.

“If this was a real fight,” you note, “you would be dead. I would have responded with fire, or earth-magic.”

“If this was a real fight,” the Duelist grunts, breathing heavily and sweating a little despite her calm demeanour, “that slash on your cheek would have been across your throat, dragon.”

It’s a stalemate. What do you do to increase your odds?
>Draw your dagger—dual-wield to beat a dual-wielder, and maybe learn a little something by testing her techniques
>Cheat a little—well, in spirit, for you never actually AGREED on ground rule—and use a spell [which one? Specify]
>Switch swords to the shoggoth-sword, and by magic word make it a greatsword for maximum power
>Draw the Sword of Endymion, for proper shock, awe, and confusion—for Azonia, for your audience, for the Princes-Ascending
>Banter a little, ask Azonia more about her motives—for being part of House Tlintear, for challenging you, for joining your hunt and following you…
>Distract her with some flattery and flirtation [seduction check]
>Write-in

>>5451799
>Switch swords to the shoggoth-sword, and by magic word make it a greatsword for maximum power
if she has 2 swords we need enough sword to outweigh both of them

>>5451799
>Switch swords to the shoggoth-sword, and by magic word make it a greatsword for maximum power

>>5451799
>Draw the Sword of Endymion, for proper shock, awe, and confusion—for Azonia, for your audience, for the Princes-Ascending

>>5451799
>Draw your dagger—dual-wield to beat a dual-wielder, and maybe learn a little something by testing her techniques
Need to LEARN!
>Distract her with some flattery and flirtation [seduction check]
See if we can actually make her job for a laugh.

>>5451799
>>Switch swords to the shoggoth-sword, and by magic word make it a greatsword for maximum power

>>5451799
>Draw your dagger—dual-wield to beat a dual-wielder, and maybe learn a little something by testing her techniques

>Cheat a little—well, in spirit, for you never actually AGREED on ground rule—and use a spell [which one? Specify]
>-Guidance

Uses guidance to aim our blows should be the most subtle means we have to break this deadlock.

>>5451799
>Switch swords to the shoggoth-sword, and by magic word make it a greatsword for maximum power

Stupid coom bait whore

>>5451799
>Draw your dagger—dual-wield to beat a dual-wielder, and maybe learn a little something by testing her techniques
>Banter a little, ask Azonia more about her motives—for being part of House Tlintear, for challenging you, for joining your hunt and following you…

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>>5452362
>>5452185
>>5452156
>>5451971
>>5451940
>>5451849
>>5451840
>>5451804
[Vote locked!]

Rolled 20, 3, 5, 10, 1 = 39 (5d20)

>>5452529
You sheathe your mundane sword, and decide to up the ante a little. If you can’t match the nimble Drow Duelist for speed, then you will best her with strength—and the shoggoth-sword will help you do it.

“Funny you should mention the Shoggoth…” you begin.

“Oh come on!” Azonia the Duelist protests. “That’s not fair!”

“Selecting the most suitable weapon for the job at hand isn’t fair in your culture?” you ask, feigning innocence.

You hum the tune taught to you by the Throat-Singer and, focusing you mana, will the horrific half-living implement to expend, expand, warp and grow, into a jagged and wicked weapon to dwarf your other blades; it is so large that you MUST wield it with two ahnds, even at your size.

“THAT’S what isn’t fair,” Azonia whines.

“It is just a very large sword, now. Can you not match an opponent like the Lancer, either, astride a great insect and wielding a polearm?”

Azonia grits her teeth in annoyance.

“Fine,” she says. “But I’m through going easy on you.”

“I thought yous aid you weren’t, anyway?” you ask.

She’s panting, sweating… It has taken everything the little Duelist has to match your own athleticism. She’s bluffing. This is where it ends. You begin to circle again, unwilling to advance and squander your reach advantage. Azonia does the same, knowing that to charge in is folly…

But eventually, a move must be made, and it is the Duelist who makes it.

DCs +1 for the extended fight due to stalemate; you're in worse condition than Azonia is, between your hangover and your remaining injuries.

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>>5452553
>1

What you DIDN’T expect was the Duelist to throw one of her blades. You raise your sword to deflect it, and succeed… But this puts you in a bad position to protect against her follow-up gambit. As you bat the hurled shortsword aside, Azonia charges forwards with a shriek of a war-cry, leaning forward to keep her profile low. She’s going to gut you!... or, well, at least land a blow that WOULD, if you were truly fighting to kill.

It would be enough to win the duel, anyway.

You can’t bring your blade into position fast enough to dodge. To kick forward would be folly—you’d be off-balance. She’d topple you and strike a different killing blow. If this is a game, then you are strategically boxed-in, without any counter-play which is both feasible and which will not set you up for another sort of defeat.

Well, that’s what you WOULD say, if you were an elf, a human, or a dwarf, or even a ghoul. Lucky for you, you’re not.

As such, you simply swing your spade-tipped tail around, to smack the Drow squarely in her surprised face.

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>>5452565
>20

Azonia is skilled, and strong, and ALTOGETEHR too fast for your liking as her opponent. You have to admit it: she may be the better combatant in terms of raw melee ability, between the two of you. You remind yourself, facing this tiny-but-deadly opponent, that size and strength to not mean everything. After all, did YOU not defeat the Devourer and Shoggoth, as the Duelist pointed out? Were THEY not larger than you? What Azonia lacks, though, is the experience of battling a wide variety of anatomies. The tail catches her completely off-guard, in a way that none of your own race would ever be so easily surprised. Unable to slow herself, her own force is added to the impact of your casual twisting motion, knocking her flat onto her back and bloodying her nose.

“You slimy son of a—EEP!”

You cut the Drow’s slanderous cursing short by slamming your shoggoth-sword down into the stone beside her head with enough force to crack the surface, sending a spray of dust and gravel into her face. She coughs, and squints her eyes against it. She is unable to hide the frightened flinch which accompanies this near-death experience.

“…I yield.”

A mix of cheers and groans—but mostly cheers—goes up. It seems the poor elves of Wevenore are, by and large, happy enough to see someone so flummox a prince’s pet soldier, even a strange foreign champion such as you. Your reputation among them grows.

It looks as if you’ll be visiting the Queen first.

Azonia avoids your eyes, and everyone else’s. She starts to help herself up, and to wipe the blood from her face… But she is clearly still disoriented, maybe even concussed.

What do you do?
>Help her up, and then depart—your business here is concluded
>Compliment Azonia’s efforts, and her skill with the blade—maybe she could give you lessons sometime?
>Mock Azonia, and leave her where she lies—let this be a lesson in humility
>Pressure Azonia to convert—publicly, vocally, before a crowd and a representative of her own house—to the True Faith
>Slay Azonia—she’s too cheeky by half, and she annoys you
>Write-in

Who will you bring to the meeting with Myrymma of Yvonlace?
>The Throat-singer
>Ivno the Kobold
>Olu the Archer
>Hamaraska the Lancer
>Someone else?
>Nobody—this will be a private meeting of leaders

>>5452566
>Help her up, and then depart—your business here is concluded

>Olu the Archer
>The Throat-singer

I want to get throat singer a teacher here

>>5452566
>Compliment Azonia’s efforts, and her skill with the blade—maybe she could give you lessons sometime?

>Olu

>>5452566
>Help her up, and then depart—your business here is concluded

>Olu the Archer
>The Throat-singer

Don’t get lessons from the whore I would kill her if it got support

>>5452566
>Help her up, and compliment her skill with the blade—maybe she could give you lessons sometime?
Someone wanted dual wielding, but I'm open to killing her.
>Olu the Archer
Tell him to stay behind the door so nobody will eavesdrop on us.

>>5452566
>Compliment Azonia’s efforts, and her skill with the blade—maybe she could give you lessons sometime?
>Pressure Azonia to convert—publicly, vocally, before a crowd and a representative of her own house—to the True Faith

>The Throat-singer
>Hamaraska the Lancer
I didn’t know anons here had a snuff fetish.

>>5452566
>Compliment Azonia’s efforts, and her skill with the blade—maybe she could give you lessons sometime?
>Convert her

>Olu and Lancer

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>>5452777
>I didn’t know anons here had a snuff fetish.
[Clearly not MUCH of one. 0 votes to off her, only two half-hearted non-votes!]
Frankly, I'm shocked at this level of animosity for a big-titty elf tomboy, but who can ever truly know the heart of Anonymous?

>>5453100
>>5452777
>>5452739
>>5452588
>>5452581
>>5452576
[Locked and writing!]

>>5453435
You offer your hand to the defeated Duelist. She sighs, saddened by the need of such assistance, but accepts.

“Thank you,” she grumbles.

It’s more acceptance, less suspicion, and altogether more gratitude than you would have expected from a thusly-beaten rival of your own race, who would surely be plotting venomously-vindictive vengeance against a foreign interloper who so showed them up. Mammalian softness, you suppose… Though you can’t say you mind the change. It is nice not to have to convince a conquered foe of your benevolence, for a change.

“Your skill is remarkable,” you generously proffer, buoyed by the Duelist’s own good grace. “If I were closer to your size, you could well have beaten me.

“Flattery again?” the Duelist chuckles, a bit bitterly. “I don’t need pity, dragon.”

“It’s true,” you assert. “I might even appreciate lessons. I’ve toyed with the idea of dual-wielding blades.”

It is, too—you aren’t widened, having taken a more defensive posture, but Azonia had no need to wear you down—any blow she landed might well have ended the fight.

“You form IS a little sloppy,” she teases.

You glower. It was enough to beat HER, after all. She just grins cheekily and shrugs. You let the jab pass—wounded pride, lashing out.

“Come and find me at Prince Minothel’s party?” the Duelist suggests.

You shake your head. A dela is a deal, and your decision is made: you set out for the Queen of Elves, at her stony citadel-complex near to the shores of the ink-black oasis in the centre of Wevenore. There, beneath the glow of the enchanted crystals atop their fungal lampposts strung with messenger-spiders’ threads, striding along the bleak banks of the subterranean lake, you truly feel as if you are in ‘The Oasis of Crystal and Silk’.

You bring Oluwadamilare, faithful archer, and Karz Throat-singer. The former could hardly be dissuaded, in all honesty—having made a lover of Princess Jazkarmel, one of the nieces (you think?) of the sitting queen, he is ever eager to see her. Karz Throat-singer, your dwarven bard-slave, is quiet… But not without visible interest. He tuts quietly at the primitive stonework, but marvels at the elven magic—magic that, after all, has more in common with his bardcraft than traditional dwarven forms of spellworking.

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>>5453474
“You not need me?” Ivno asked when you informed him he would not be joining you this time, looking both relieved and crestfallen at once, somehow; a talent of kobolds.

“I don’t suspect House Yvonlace would dare beatray me now,” you said brusquely. “However, I need a loyal warrior with a cautious inclination here… To supervise and protect the Novice and our assets.”

“Y-yes, King Theral!” he says, bowing his head low.

You hesitated, then. You have let the elves call you this… But are you really ready to accept this even among your own servants? Names aren’t traditional among the Master Race, who prefer titles. Then again, it means ‘Copper’ in dark elventongue… Maybe it’s appropriate. But then… Is the title o ‘king’ truly yours? Or is the title, and the name, just a diplomatic posture to wield against mammals—a tool?

In the end, you…
>Accepted this name and title as yours in truth
>Told the kobold that just ‘Theral’ will do
>Asserted that you are the Dragonborn Antipaladin; the rest is stagecraft
>Write-in

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>>5453477
“King Theral arrives!”

You are thus announced among elves, whatever your true feelings about the matter. You turn your mind from nomenclature to matters of state and spirit—the conversion of the Queen of Elves. Your second visit ahs less fanfare than your initial one, though you are still offered food and drink; you accept the former, and politely decline the latter in favour of water, still nursing a lingering regret in your skull and stomach from the night prior. After the dinner, Olu and Jazkarmel join you—and Karz, also, though he speaks no elven. The Queen awaits you in the same fountain-garden courtyard where you met her previous; the same butterfly or moth creatures flits about as before, and you wave them away.

“I have slain your ‘Ghoul Supreme’,” you note.

“Yes,” acknowledges Queen Myrymma, “And we thank you…”

You tilt your head at her ambivalent tone.

“Is something wrong?” you ask.

“You made quite the show of your… Piety, Theral.”

“The Dark Gods guided me, strengthened me, and made my victory possible,” you state plainly. “One does not invoke their wrath by denying them their due.”

“Ah, the capriciousness of gods… Who you now wish me to pledge allegiance to?”

You nods. Olu nudges Jazkarmel with his elbow, a wide smile upon his lips. The Princess… Seems less enthused, looking worriedly to her monarch.

“The implications for my house’s political futures are not ideal,” she admits.

Your muscles tighten a little.

“I went on this quest to prove the worthiness of myself and my faith,” you say levelly. “There was an UNDERSTANDING that this would prove the merit of the Dark Gods.”

“Yes,” Queen Myrymma admits, “but what do you truly GAIN from such a thing? I will gladly convert…”

She doesn’t SOUND glad of it, you note.

“…But then, when I step down, the King who follows will surely renounce such… Religiosity.”

You snort, and cross your arms… But consider her words.

What do you propose?
>Bid Queen Myrymma to convert quietly, and slowly spread the faith to her house and her allies—a classic Reptilian subversion campaign
>Call upon Myrymma to arrange a meeting with that prince whom she preferred—the dragonfly-breeder, of House Lahlabar, that you might impress upon HIM to convert as well, and discuss how best to win him the crown
>Frankly, the whole damned elven system of ‘seasonal’ rule befuddles you with its backwardness and periodic instability—Myrymma will convert, and then you will arrange for a civil war and coup to keep her in power
>You’ve had enough of elven politicking, and have been away from Bloodrise too long; announce that you will be offering sanctuary to any who announce their conversion to the Dark Gods, and offer all these converts a place in the Bloodrise
>Write-in

>>5453480
>Call upon Myrymma to arrange a meeting with that prince whom she preferred—the dragonfly-breeder, of House Lahlabar, that you might impress upon HIM to convert as well, and discuss how best to win him the crown

>>5453480
>Call upon Myrymma to arrange a meeting with that prince whom she preferred—the dragonfly-breeder, of House Lahlabar, that you might impress upon HIM to convert as well, and discuss how best to win him the crown
Im interested if maybe him and Hamaraska might get along, idk though drow culture might have bug breeder racism

>>5453480
>Told the kobold that just ‘Theral’ will do- he is one of your inner circle, an advisor and a loyal, hard-won friend, of sorts; but your Kingship is real

>Call upon Myrymma to arrange a meeting with that prince whom she preferred—the dragonfly-breeder, of House Lahlabar, that you might impress upon HIM to convert as well, and discuss how best to win him the crown

>>5453501
>>5453548
Forgot a vote, friends:
>>5453477

>>5453560
Ah my b
>>5453477
>Told the kobold that just ‘Theral’ will do- he is one of your inner circle, an advisor and a loyal, hard-won friend, of sorts; but your Kingship is real
Anon above worded it good, I was gonna make a comment about Ivno being a lesser race so he should address us as such but itd be out of character to act like this when weve been showing the "Bloodrise Kingdom" is far more inclusive than the reptilian supremacy

>Accepted this name and title as yours in truth
That will please serpent god

>Call upon Myrymma to arrange a meeting with that prince whom she preferred—the dragonfly-breeder, of House Lahlabar, that you might impress upon HIM to convert as well, and discuss how best to win him the crown

>>5453477
>Asserted that you are the Dragonborn Antipaladin; the rest is stagecraft
>>5453480
>Bid Queen Myrymma to convert quietly, and slowly spread the faith to her house and her allies—a classic Reptilian subversion campaign
>Visit House Tlintear and Sombra, they seemed more supportive of your campaign in the name of Dark Gods
Why do we even insist on trying to keep this heretic in the loop, again? We shouldn't care about their politics and pick the most favorable outcome to our religious campaign.

>>5453841
Because heretic is current Queen, aunt of the drow with the strongest bond with us.
She is at the head of one of the biggest family, so subversion need is ingrained in our culture.
However, there might be a need to create an embassady and send other castes to do the work.

>>5453477
I’m fine with all three desu, though referring to ourselves by our original title most of the time would be alright.

>>5453480
>Bid Queen Myrymma to convert quietly, and slowly spread the faith to her house and her allies—a classic Reptilian subversion campaign
>Call upon Myrymma to arrange a meeting with that prince whom she preferred—the dragonfly-breeder, of House Lahlabar, that you might impress upon HIM to convert as well, and discuss how best to win him the crown
>Later visit House Tlintear and Sombra, they seemed more supportive of your campaign in the name of Dark Gods
Ideally we should be spreading the Pantheon as far as we can in this society.

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>>5454027
>>5453841
>>5453825
>>5453771
>>5453556
>>5453548
>>5453501
[Locked, writing!]

>>5454076

“Then we will have to ensure that the king who follows is himself a convert,” you decide. “I think it is time that you introduced me to the Prince of House Lahlabar.”

The Queen of Elves and Princess Jazkarmel exchange a glance. It lasts only a moment, and then the Queen nods, and bows her head – the first time this dignified elder stateswoman has shown you such deference. You feel a thrill of victory, of dominion.

“I will follow your faith,” she submits. “I will pay tribute to your… Dark Gods… And even proclaim so publicly, if indeed you can convert Prince Solinsyr, and secure his rise.”

You sense it is more of a political calculation than a conversion born of spiritual reawakening, but so be it—the Dark Gods do not offer favours freely, nor to they demand devotion without ulterior motive. Altruism, generosity, loyalty for its own sake? This is the ethos of Gods of Light, a false kindness born of weakness, to be held in contempt… Traditionally-speaking, at least. You have your own, more complicated, thoughts on that to sift through later.

Right now, you occupy yourself gathering what intel you can on House Lahlabar. Jazkarmel proves most useful for this.

“It is traditional for a house which produces queens to ally closely with a house that produces kings,” Jazkarmel explains. “Yvonlace was tied like this to Tlintear, once, but the two… Parted company. Since then, Queen Myrymma has moved us closer to Lhalabar, as the season for a king approached.”

“Why did your house break ties with Tlintear?” you ask.

Jazkarmel shrugs expansively, as if she does not know… But after a moment, she sighs.

“The new Prince, Minothel, found a better partner for his house. A more prominent house. A more… Agreeable elfmaid to be his Queen-Consort.”

“More prominent than that of the Queen of Elves?” you ask.

Jazkarmel goes on to explain that her house, Yvonlace, has produced relatively few queens in the history of the Drow. Queen-Consorts, yes, married to ruling kings… But not queens in their own right. The first instance was considered a short and disappointing reign, with many struggles. The present instance…

“Many of the other houses believe Queen Myrymma is too cautious, too traditional, and too isolationist. We who protect the outskirts and borders of our territory have seen the fat, rich dwarves, and traitors, and even your kind now… We sometimes bring back spoils. Even simple steel tools are like treasures in Wevenore, but our numbers are few. The Queen fears reprisals if we grow too bold. Other houses resent how poor we are, and would raid or expand.”

You tilt your head.

“Given the alliance you and I struck… I gather you feel similarly?”

>>5454135
Jazkarmel smirks, eyes twinkling, and she gently raps at your chest with the back of her knuckles in a playful blow.

“I KNOW you are not trying o get me to commit treason against my own house matron, Theral.”

You shrug off the question casually. Theral… King Theral, to those who owe you such respect… The name is sitting more naturally with you, even the title. You could get used to this pseudonym.

Jazkarmel’s followers, Sengar and Jhamrius, also offer their own insights into the philosphies and capabilities of Lahlabar.

“Lahlabar’s never produced a king,” Sengar notes. “They’re eligible, they just… Produce King-Consorts, mostly. They have a reputation for being quiet, polite, agreeable.”

“Wise counsel is the currency of Lahlabar,” Jhamrius tells you. “Their King-Consorts have been major players in… Shake-ups.”

“’Shake-ups’ means… What?” you ask. “Elftongue is not my first language.”

“Coups,” Jhamrius admits. “Changes in leadership. Changes in structure. Lahlabar might not have ever ruled on their own, but they’re an old line—from before we were driven down into the darkness. They have been playing politics since the first kingdom of elves, they say. They are never far from major events. Only in the last few seasons did they go quiet and move away from the centre of things.”

And what of this Prince, Solinsyr?

“He seems… Distant,” Jazkarmel notes. “Kind of boring. Quiet. But he’s always watching, thinking. When he speaks or commits to an action, it’s usually a big move. But he doesn’t move FAST. He was the last Prince-Ascending to jump into the campaign to become king, even with Queen Myrymma egging him on.”

“His dragonflies are beautiful,” Sengar gushes. “I’m not a bug-breeder or anything… But You have to admire those things. They way they flit and fly… And they can tackle a drake or bat like a mage’s mana-bolt, and leave just as little trace! Even snatch fish from the oasis mid-leap, without even leaving a ripple or making a sound!”

“He trades the eggs of the best dragonflies to other houses to buy favours, and maintain relationships,” Jhamrius elaborates. “Apart from that, his house has a reputation these days for being… Removed. High-minded, above squabbles. They lend material aid, but rarely elves. They’re seen as aloof.”

>>5454136
“What does their Prince value?” you try to ascertain.

“He never makes a move without a proper plan,” Jazkarmel suggests. “Bring him a well thought-out proposal, and make sure there are no flaws that he can pick at, or he won’t go for it.”

“Who knows?” Sengar says. “Royal elves are in their own world… Apart from Jazkarmel, I don’t know any that are approachable. I don’t understand any of them. Maybe some rare pet or magic item? Something pretty, or artsy?”

Jhamrius considers carefully, eventually suggesting: “They play a long game, I think. They don’t care about day-to-day politics. Maybe something big-picture?”

You consider all this as you, your Throat-singer, and your Archer follow Jazkarmel, Jhamrius, Sengar, and a small collection of Yvonlace-allied diplomats and scouts through the ‘streets’ of Wevenore—wide boulevards between clusters of walled-off houses. Here, away from the more disorganized-and-open city planning of the poorer places, it seems each noble-house and its servants almost forms its own little villa or village—a complex of semi-independent households, communicating with others but only directly interacting when trade or defences require it. The exception seems to be rapport-building delegations like the one you have been inserted into—groups of elves, bearing gifts and led by professional, noble-born diplomats, arriving at an arranged time to attend feasts and present proposals.

House Lahlabar is one such cluster, smaller than most but better defended and defensively situated. The complex is seated upon a rocky outcropping above a trailing tributary-lake branching off from Wevenore’s main oasis. Here, the mysterious tides of the underground lake move more slowly, protected from the more dramatic waves of the lake proper; so, too, is the high bluff where the main domicile of Prince Solinsyr defensively situated, with one way in and out by land, but a small flotilla of rowboats moored in the little bay.

You are expected, of course. It took several days for the Queen to arrange this meeting, while you were making your own preparations. They grayish Lahlabar Drow—chalky and light of skin, at least for their subrace, and with pale and palcid eyes—welcome you respectfully, with few words.

“Princess Jazkarmel.”

“King Theral of Bloodrise.”

“Welcome.”

“Come in.”

“Your gifts are most generous.”

>>5454137
Your elves companions brought food, drink, small tokens of gold and jewels, steel pots and pans—some from the very dwarves they helped you usurp in Bloodrise, by the look of it. For your part, you brought another offering…

>The captured shoggoth-fragment, frozen with your ring, which the Novice and Throat-singer have carefully kept dormant
>The Sword of Endymion—to be presented in private, as a ‘signing bonus’ for conversion and a means to legitimize the Prince’s ascent beyond his rivals’ reproach
>The Junior Novice—a rare breed of creature indeed, now further augmented by the Novice Fleshweaver’s researches into the Ghoul Supreme
>The demon of envy which you stole from the false Dragonwrought who once ruled bloodrise—a powerful and useful creature, albeit dangerous
>A pledge of your own allegiance, and an offer to serve as champion to him in the leadership trials ahead
>Something else?

>>5454139
>>The captured shoggoth-fragment, frozen with your ring, which the Novice and Throat-singer have carefully kept dormant.

The Sword Endymion is too much, it a priceless artifact. This prince hasn't even given any commitment and refused to send any soldiers to our Dogbold psychic hunt.

The junior novice is needed for Novice long term dragon studies. And the demon of envy is a hostile to us and is presumably what taught Hapo's his necromancy.

Thus a shoggoth fragment is the safest option to give away. espically we told the novice to mothball that line of research and focus on studding the dogbold psychic head.

>>5454139
>Some of the considerable riches of the Ghoul Supreme
Not in favor of giving him the shoggoth-fragment, especially since we can still research it to get a relationship bonus with the Shog-sword. Plus, didn’t the Ghoul Supreme sit on a treasure hoard? Why wouldn’t we take the lot of it?

>>5454139
>The captured shoggoth-fragment, frozen with your ring, which the Novice and Throat-singer have carefully kept dormant
We need to bust that fucking demon also

>>5454139
Actually, fuck it. I'll support
>Some of the considerable riches of the Ghoul Supreme

>>5454139
>The demon of envy which you stole from the false Dragonwrought who once ruled bloodrise—a powerful and useful creature, albeit dangerous

I think the Lahlabar are more suitable for this sort of creature than us. From what they've been described as they are cautious and calculating, the perfect type to make use of something like this. It'd turn what's just a dead, dangerous weight for us right now, into a beneficial gift. Destroying the demon ring would also come with it's own complications so it'd really be easier to give it to someone else.

>>5454139
>The demon of envy which you stole from the false Dragonwrought who once ruled bloodrise—a powerful and useful creature, albeit dangerous

We researching everything else I want more Shoggoth shit. If this not gonna win, then.

>The Lightning Elemental.

>>5454572
>The Lightning Elemental.
>>5454319
>Some of the considerable riches of the Ghoul Supreme
[Both neat ideas I hadn't given much thought, but very viable suggestions in their own way! Leaving this vote open, since we have three tied votes.]

>>5454139
>Some of the considerable riches of the Ghoul Supreme

>>5454572
>Giving away a Lightning Elemental that the Drow can’t control

>>5454139
>Some of the considerable riches of the Ghoul Supreme

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>>5454870
>>5454749
>>5454679
>>5454572
>>5454405
>>5454324
>>5454319
>>5454173
[Locked and writing!]

Rolled 7, 9, 13, 2 = 31 (4d20)

>>5454892
You wait until dinner is served to present your gift. The Lahlabar feast is eyeless cave-fish, primarily, fresh-caught and flavourful but subterranean standards. It is a far cry from what you have experienced surface-side, consuming kobold-caught venison and goat, but you reappreciate it after days of preserved rations, insects , half-digestible mushrooms, and ghoul-flesh.

“Your food is well-appreciated,” you compliment. “I bring my own gift I turn.”

Prince Solinsyr watches you impassively from the other side of the table, expression betraying no surprise, delight, or disappointment—nothing. You long for a tail to watch, a neck-frill-SOEMTHING which can betray his emotion! Mammals’ facial expression normally substitute, now that you are more familiar… Btu not this one. His gray, smooth, green-eyed countenance is like stone set with pale jade, unmoving. It has been a struggle to interpret his brief utterances all this time; his quiet, scarcely-more-expressive representatives have spoken for him.

Still, you have made your declaration. Now, you must make your move. You clap your hands. This is your moment of truth—when your Yvonlace hosts send servant after servant into the hall, carrying the reclaimed grave-goods of thousand years’ worth of elven nobles into this hall. One by one, they enter and lay their bounty—YOUR bounty—at the feet of this Prince of Elves.

“The Ghoul Supreme horded all this,” you note. “it is mine by right of conquest.. But to my mind, it is more rightfully yours. I offer it to the King of Wevenore, long may he reign!”

>>5454901
The Drow who have accompanied you—and your Archer and Throat-singer, too—applaud. Prince Solinsyr, however… His face creases, for the first time since you met the quiet elfman.

“All the other houses who donated these grave-goods across the eons… If they see me wear or trade in these necklaces, bracelets, arms and armours… Do you not think they will recognize them?”

“…Pardon?”

“They will want them returned, from whence they came,” Solinsyr sighs. “They will not let me, or you, claim credit for them.”

>13
Would have failed outright, but I lowered the DC for a clever write-in

Your tail lashes the ground involuntarily, before you can stop it. You suppress a snarl and plume of smoke, gulping the acrid expulsion back into your firelung. This is not what you expected.

“I retrieved them. They would have been lost, without my intervention.”

“But the rival houses will not frame it that way. If I keep these things, they will say, ‘look how Solinsyr take ours generous donations for his own!’”

“Then you could generously return them to the funeral-caves?” you suggest.

“Then they will say ‘thank you for placing OUR donations back where WE left them,’” Prince Solinsyr explains calmly. “Next, they will ask ‘what have YOU offered?’”

You aren’t sure how to respond. Solinsyr seems to understand your misgivings, and so continues:

“I am not ungrateful, King Theral. I just do not see how this will win me the kingship. This is what Queen Myrymma said you were here to discuss.”

“The endorsement of one who retrieved these treasures is not enough?” you ask, hopefully.

“No.”

It is a response as it is direct.

“I have made major gains, recuperated my house’s flagging reputation,” Solsinsyr states, “but the race is between Minothel and Corandiirn. I am a spoiler, at best. This offering is… Generous, and appreciated… But it will not make me a king.”

You consider the prince’s words. Was this entire excursion a waste, then? Why does Myrymma even favour this princeling, then?

The rest of the meal takes place in awkward silence.

What will you do?
>Leave, then, to make your offer to a house with a better chance of success [which one?]
>Suggest that Solinsyr leverage his position as spoiler and returner-of-wealth to help prop up and manipulate one of the other princes
>Attend a private meeting with Solinsyr, to learn what the Prince’s reasons are for even striving for leadership, and how his policies differ from the other candidates
>Pitch populism as a solution—a peasant uprising, rallied by yours truly, bolstered by the Dark Gods!
>Offer military aid to a Lahalabar coup, if he will seize power by force
>More clever write-ins

>>5454917
>Suggest that Solinsyr leverage his position as spoiler and returner-of-wealth to help prop up and manipulate one of the other princes

Here's my "clever write in" attempt
>This is a way to legitimate your claim.
>Dark gods granted me the victory. And they pointed me toward you, their favorites among the candidates.
>After all, Your family already have the Rookery's mother embrace as your successful mating of dragonfly proves.
>The Beholder sees you as a key piece of the board
>And the ascending serpent see your potential to raise as a dragon
>Even death approves you, as proves the fact your family lead the restitution rites for your ancesters.

>>5454917
>Is the framing of the rival houses THAT powerful to blatantly ignore the truth behind the Ghoul Supreme's spoils. Is your influence so weak that you cannot make the gain of immense wealth and artifacts a positive? You have received an exceedingly generous gift, do not think of how it may be discounted, but how to best utilize it for your house.
>From what I understand Queen Myrymma's rule will be extended at least for a season thanks to my support. Are you saying there is nothing that could be done that in that time to strengthen your claim to the throne? Your house is an ancient one, there is a prestige in that, one that deserves the seat of king.
>Tell me how I can make you king, not of the barriers to it. I promise you it is within my power. Just tell me how.


I honestly think this guy is being too cautious, he has only told us why he CAN'T be king. He hasn't told us why he CAN. He needs the mentality of the dragon right now to seize the throne, they've done it for other people why is it so far out of the realm of possibility for them to do it themselves? Just tell him to stop being a pussy and tell us what we can do.

>>5454917
>Attend a private meeting with Solinsyr, to learn what the Prince’s reasons are for even striving for leadership, and how his policies differ from the other candidates

>>5454917
>Is the framing of the rival houses THAT powerful to blatantly ignore the truth behind the Ghoul Supreme's spoils. Is your influence so weak that you cannot make the gain of immense wealth and artifacts a positive? You have received an exceedingly generous gift, do not think of how it may be discounted, but how to best utilize it for your house.
>From what I understand Queen Myrymma's rule will be extended at least for a season thanks to my support. Are you saying there is nothing that could be done that in that time to strengthen your claim to the throne? Your house is an ancient one, there is a prestige in that, one that deserves the seat of king.
What a pussy. No wonder this house hasn't been playing the politics with how far up their collective ass their heads are.
On a side note, if he's this cold and calculated, shouldn't we be looking for a different candidate? Like someone more easy to influence?

>>5455326
The simps who are obsessed with house yvolnce, utterly refuse to consider other candidate.

We outright insulted House Sambra(for literally no reason), and declined meeting with House Tlintear.

The Myrymma’ simps, refuse to even entertain or hear out the other house which aren't tied to her cause.

>>5454917
>Is the framing of the rival houses THAT powerful to blatantly ignore the truth behind the Ghoul Supreme's spoils. Is your influence so weak that you cannot make the gain of immense wealth and artifacts a positive? You have received an exceedingly generous gift, do not think of how it may be discounted, but how to best utilize it for your house.
>From what I understand Queen Myrymma's rule will be extended at least for a season thanks to my support. Are you saying there is nothing that could be done that in that time to strengthen your claim to the throne? Your house is an ancient one, there is a prestige in that, one that deserves the seat of king.
>Tell me how I can make you king, not of the barriers to it. I promise you it is within my power. Just tell me how.

>>5455381
Why not go against what the simps say? This is looking more and more like we're going to just get played by Myrymma and her narcissistic friends, especially if we keep boasting about winning them the elections. What kinda approach even is this.
Also don't think we ever said that we'll NEVER see Minothel. Matter of fact, if these elves are on a losing position and so thirsty to get back in power, there's nothing weird about reconsidering and seeing the Prince given their state... and what Myrymma thinks of dark gods, if we need public reasons.
These damn names are confusing as hell.

The way I see it is that houses in advantageous positions would never convert. They have more to lose than to gain from doing it. We need someone desperate to really put them in our pocket.

>>5455509
And you know it without speaking to them once and you're willing to bet everything on our ability to beat those houses who are in advantageous position instead of joining them?

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>>5455489
I hope this helps a little

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>>5455537
Seduction? More like cucking cause it's Olu who got Yvonlace pussy but we're doing all the fucking work.
It does, thx. Is this all the houses? Do you keep tabs like these on all quest info?

>>5455546
>More like cucking
[Theral never made a move, so Jaz assumed you were uninterested. Olu is a pretty cool dude and helped slay a big monster, plus he's a quick language study and has more in common with mammals and can hold his liquor better, so when you sent him there for a month or two, they got on well. You could have made a move to win her back or angled for a threesome, really but never did.]

>Yvonlace pussy
[Jaz DID find you a sexy hairstylist who was willing to bang you, though. You turned her down.]

>Is this all the houses?
[All the ones I bothered to name, because they have princes aiming for kingship (or a sitting queen)]

>Do you keep tabs like these on all quest info?
[Nope, made this one up on the spot.]

>>5454954
>>5454992
>>5455206
>>5455326
>>5455468
[Seems the general thrust is people want to give Solinsyr a tough-love pep-talk and ask him what he brings to the table. I'll start writing!]

>>5455556
>>5454954
>>5454992
>>5455206
>>5455326
>>5455468
You sigh. Caution and prudence are fine traits, but this elf has an overabundance of them. Fortune favours the bold and resourceful—especially those bold enough to seize and take advantage of resources. Here you are, dumping ancestral treasure practically in his lap, and this Solinsyr can only lament the ways it could be used against him? No wonder this house hasn't been keeping up with current politics with such a tendency to defensive overthinking in lieu of action!

Luckily, you are here to fix all that.

“Enough!” you snap, slamming a fist on the table for emphasis.

All eyes are instantly on you, in many cases wider. Jazkarmel practically chokes on her mushroom-wine, though whether it is a gasp or a snort of laughter which she stifles, you cannot be sure. Olu and the Throat-singer watch with interest though (to your knowledge, at least) the latte has only a weak command of the local tongue at best.

The prince tents his fingers and arches an elegant elven eyebrow, waiting for you to continue.

“You need to stop letting your rivals frame the narrative,” you all-but-command. “Is your influence TRULY so weak that you cannot make the gain of immense wealth and artifacts a positive? There is NOTHING that could be done that in that time to strengthen your claim to the throne?”

“I did not say THAT,” Pricne Solinsyr notes.

You wait, but the prince says nothing further. Perhaps he awaits a more robust counter-point to his earlier concerns? Bah, must you do EVERYTHING around here?

“You have received an exceedingly generous gift. Do not think of how it may be discounted, but how to best utilize it to emphasize the strength of your house. For instance, your house is an ancient one, yes? There is a prestige in that, one that deserves the seat of king. One could say that THIS is what the Dark Gods—they who granted me the victory over the Ghoul Supreme—saw in you. They pointed me toward you, their favorites among the candidates.”

“Yes, I had heard you were… Religious.”

You resist the urge to hiss at the way he says the last word. Such condescension from someone so passive, who you generously came here to help!

“Why would the Gods of Evil be a boon to me?” he asks.

“Ask Yvonlace’s Queen and Princess, not me,” you say. “They have seen for themselves the power of the True Faith.”

The prince now looks to Jazkarmel with the same inquisitorial expression. She sets down her wine, and with a small sigh of resignation, nods.

“King Theral is right,” she admits. “I have seen for myself how his gods empower him. My scouts have followed the counsel of this lizardman and his gods, and it has brought us considerable victories—land, wealth, and more.”

She leans forwards, and adds quietly: “Theral even counts Death as an ally. It could mean protection for our souls, against demons and the traitor-gods, no matter where we go!”

>>5455578
“Pretty promises from fickle entities,” Solinsyr blandly replies. “They promise us everything and anything, until we displease them, or they simply lose interest.”

Now, the Prince turns to you.

“Gods are capricious. I don’t trust them… But I trust Queen Myrymma, and she seems to trust you enough to follow these evil gods. What I don’t understand is why they—and you—have so much interest in me and my house… Or even in my race. What is your PURPSOE in all this?”

“The Dark Gods help those who help themselves” you recite, translating the familiar aphorism from your native language. “I seek to forge a new empire… A dark alliance… In the Bloodrise. To do that, we need numbers, resources… Allies.”

“Hence why you need the DROW,” Solinsyr notes. “But then, wouldn’t ANY King do? Why help Myrymma, or me? Do you see us in our current condition and think us handy tools to use for your own ends?”

You hesitate for a moment. He’s… Not THAT far off-the-mark, honestly. There’s more to it, of course: your pre-existing relationship with Yvonlace’s rulers made their favoured candidate an easy ‘in’. But… It’s true that a house in a weaker position has less to lose from conversion, and more to gain from your support. You’re not about to say that aloud, though.

“Well, ARE you?” you say instead. "Myrymma tells me I should want you to be king. With the help of the Dark Gods, it IS within my power, if you only tell me what must be done."

You meet the elf's stony expression with steely focus to match.

"So tell me... As a tool or, better yet, an ALLY... What is it that makes you worthy? And what must be done, to remove the barriers before you?"

Solinsyr sets down his fish and wipes his hands upon a silken napkin provided by a servant. He stands, and beckons to you to follow him. Ambitions and strategies best discussed in private, then?

You glance back to the others—to Olu and Karz, and the elves of Yvonlace. Your Archer looks at you questioningly, wondering if he should accompany you.

Should he?

>No, you do not fear this prince—your companions can continue their meal
>Yes, you do not trust this cagey elf—bring Olu the Archer
>Actually, why not the best of both world? Bring Karz, who can render aid and bear witness, but who does not understand much elven
>This is a matter of elven politics—Jazkarmel of Yvonlace would honestly be more useful, and you trust her well enough at this point
>You keep no secrets from these friends—you would rather speak here, among your allies
>Write-in

>>5455585
>No, you do not fear this prince—your companions can continue their meal

>>5455585
>This is a matter of elven politics—Jazkarmel of Yvonlace would honestly be more useful, and you trust her well enough at this point
We need an insider to make sense of all this elven nonsense. Clearly dysfunctional politics is the reason why the elves keep failing so hard. Maybe they do need a populous revolution.

>>5455556
Theral never had enough time to make a move, and by the time we finished with our mission, Olu already took his shot first.
>spoiler
Tbh, we could probably still arrange it, given Olu’s a total bro.

>>5455585
>This is a matter of elven politics—Jazkarmel of Yvonlace would honestly be more useful, and you trust her well enough at this point
It’s funny how anons keep cucking themselves by choice. The Dragonborn is turning into a Drow simp at this rate.

>>5455585
>This is a matter of elven politics—Jazkarmel of Yvonlace would honestly be more useful, and you trust her well enough at this point

>>5455585
>Actually, why not the best of both world? Bring Karz, who can render aid and bear witness, but who does not understand much elven

>>5455647
we had the time, I remember turning down multiple flirt vote options. we had glowie actively pursuing us back then.

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>>5455836
>glowie
Who still loves and misses her king

>>5455836
>>5455745
>>5455667
>>5455632
>>5455594
[Jazkarmel it is! Posting.]

>>5455866
>>5455866
You shake your head slightly at the Archer’s unspoken inquiry. No, to sort through this elven nonsense, you need a no-nonsense elf.

“Jazkarmel,” you call out to your oldest friend and ally among the Drow. “Would you attend with us?”

Jazkarmel looks up from her food, mouth still full. She covers her lips as she gulps the fish-morsel down, but by the uncomfortable look on her face, she may have eaten too quickly. She glances at Olu the Archer, then back to you and Prince Solinsyr, who seems just as surprised by this request of yours. Neither elven noble objects, though.

You follow Solinsyr from the muted meal to a sort of stony, half-carved rampart which oversees the Lahlabar bay. Here, the light of Wevenore’s magic lights shine across the water, like low-hanging stars in a moonless night; Lahlabar’s fortress sues scant lighting, which only afford a better view. Despite this, and despite having grown up in far darker and more cramped confines than this, you can’t help but find the expansive underground oasis and its false stars a poor substitute for the limitless horizons and sprawling, varied vistas of a surface night. Having only dwelt in Bloodrise for a matter fo months, you are surprised to find yourself so homesick for it.

To take your mind off of the ennui, you slow down to allow jazkamrel to catch up to you.

“I must ask,” you begin, “are your people’s politics always so…”

Jazkarmel laughs her crystalline laugh at your fumbled fall into silence, as you struggle to think of a polite synonym in True Speech or dark elventongue for ‘dysfunctional’.

“A season of rule lasts many, many decades,” she answers. “You simply see us at a… Transitional stage.”

You nod, not altogether convinced.

“What do you know of the Prince’s policies?” you ask. “Why DOES your queen favour this elf above others?”

You had thought it was because he was easier to control, but the solemn fatalist has been too stubborn and taciturn for THIS to be the case.

Jazkarmel’s smile rapidly scrunches up into a frown at that.

“Well, that might be because…”

“Because I agreed to take Jazkarmel of Yvonlace as a Queen-Consort if I assume the throne, and thus raise and maintain the profile of both our houses.”

Your eyes snap to the Prince at this, then flit back to Jazkarmel, who has that same look of indigestion on her face again.

“Wait,” you say, “what?"

>>5455885

Solinsyr is staring down in a small, artificial pond, surrounded by an ankle-high wall. Inside it, strange and swift-moving silvery fish flit about.

“Technically, any princess of the house would do,” he says. “However, while Yvonlace produces a fair few talented MALE mages, Jazkarmel is the only female of appropriate age who is so skilled. Being a mage myself, our children would be at quite an advantage as magic-users go.”

Your mind drifts to Oluwadamilare, back at the dinner. You shake it off. There are more important matters to discuss.

“So you are a mage,” you repeat. “This is why the Queen favours you, then?”

“Not just any mage,” Solinsyr replies. “My family is descended from the royal priests who served the line of our kings since we once sat among our traitorous surface-kin in the High Eleven Council a millennium ago. We are skilled masters of light magic, illusion… And more.”

He sighs.

“Or we were.”

He waves his hand, and the pool before him shines brightly, before the water settles down to a dimmer glow. You per into it, and see that he has enchanted an array of crystals among the rocks at the pool’s bottom. This, in turn, gives greater clarity to the ;fish’—in fact, great salmon-sized insect nymphs.

“I breed these dragonflies, as you have probably heard,” the prince explains.

He reaches into a pocket of his black robes to extract a remnant of his dinner, and throws it in. The nymphs all sense the disturbance of the surface and practically leap at the chunk of cave-fish, some cresting out of the water; even in their juvenile form, their bodies are effervescent and iridescent, shiny like an oil slick.

“I breed them for colour,” Solinsyr continues his strange segue. “For size, strength, health and vitality. I gift the eggs to those who I wish to impress… But they do not know how to breed them as I do. They do not have the knack, the dedication. Their colours become muddled or muted, just like the basal, wild cave-dragonflies from which I derived my breed. Maintaining a unique trait requires concerted effort, and careful planning.”

You tilt your head.

“You are saying that your house lost its special magical aptitudes because you did not practice… Selective breeding?”

Solinsyr nods. You scratch your chin, thinking on this with mixed emotions. It sounds as if the same eugenic sentiment which contributed to some of your Master Race’s modern problems are, ironically, a societal force which this prince laments the loss of among the elves of House Lahlabar. It is an interesting insight… But not exactly why you followed him here.

>>5455888
“You think that breeding back a powerful dynasty of magic-users will help your house… And Yvonlace… Retain prominence among the Drow,” you infer. “However, that won’t help you become King here and now.”

“No,” Solinsyr acknowledges, dimming the illusory light and turning his full attention back to you. “To do that, I will need to either discredit my more-respected rivals… Or win people to my way of thinking.”

“And what way is that?” you ask.

“Settle in,” Jazkarmel sighs, leaning against the wall and running her fingers through her hair. “He can go on for DAYS about this.”

Solinsyr looked a little miffed, his calm expression shifting to visible irritation for the first time since you arrived. He returns to his neutral state not long after, though, and shrugs.

“I shall keep it short,” he acquiesces. “Each of the four preeminent houses at this time has its own attitude towards the place of Wevenore and the Drow Kingdom in this world. Minothel of Tlintear would keep things as they are, save for raiding or trading with the surface a bit more frequently; he desires their luxuries, to pacify the population, but he does not want much else to change, which only makes sense. As you have seen, though, this is not without its… Problems.”

Political disorganization and rampant poverty chiefmost among them, you silently note.

“Corandiirn and the Sambrans have seized upon these problems. He would tear down our traditional structures and instead unite the Drow against the surface-foes most aggressively. He wishes to expand, to preserve our race and culture by aggressively pushing out and up to the surface to seize resources.”

“And to maintain his own power through courting the poor and the military,” Jazkarmel interjects. “The grasping little rat would never give that kind of authority up once he had it.”

Solinsyr doesn’t agree with this speculation, nor does he challenge it. Instead, he continues:

“Jazkarmel’s house—the Queen’s house—is of the more traditional school—protect Wevenore, keep outsiders away, maintain our secrecy, stage only small raids.”

It’s a policy you know well—it is actually quite similar to that of the Master Race, give or take some careful subversion. You suppose your aggressive friendliness and repeated utility forced them to adjust course… or perhaps Jazkarmel does not see entirely eye-to-eye with her house’s matron? She DOES seem an unconventional sort of princess, down to not even using the title often when interacting with her warriors or with your people.

“You still haven’t told me YOUR policy,” you press Solinsyr.

>>5455891
The prince nods, and at last he does: “I don’t wish to wallow in our current state, simply redecorating a fallen kingdom with stolen tapestries. I also don’t want total war on all the races of the surface—it is SUICIDE. You have seen their numbers, their wealth. You know what I speak of.”

You refrain from saying anything but… yes, you understand the sentiment.

“I wish to… NORMALIZE us, as a people. To come out of the shadows.”

This gives you a sickening start.

“PEACE with the surface-dwellers?!”

“Would that be so bad?”

You don’t even dignify that with a response. Eventually, sensing your automatic disgust, Solinsyr sighs and shakes his head.

“No, not peace. Not exactly. It’s not as if I want… TRAITORS… In our oasis, or am so naïve as to think we could walk among the other elves again. Nor do I want to! But… We cannot fight them all, and we cannot live forever as a people apart from the world. Why do we hide like this? Deny ourselves the basic amenities which could improve our lives? I have never been to the surface, but every time we get a scrap of their wealth I see innovation and change… But how do WE change? Minothel would satisfy himself to have MORE of those scraps. Corandiirn would annihilate that innovation in a tide of blood, without even learning from it.”

“Yvonlace would just shut our eyes and cover our ears,” Jazkarmel admits. “If The Queen had been in charge of my troops more directly, we never would have helped you take territory in Bloodrise, Dragonborn… We’d have tried to kill you, and sealed off the entrance to Wevenore if we failed to hide away from you lizardmen.

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>>5455892

“I merely wish to be one more nation—proud, strong, independent, but most importantly MODERN—among the others in this world. And if the others loathe us and seek to destroy us… Well, that is what we must cultivate magic to guard against.”

For the first time, speaking on this subject, you hear passion in the prince’s grey face, true excitement in his pale green eyes.

What do you think of his dream?
>Yes… To be a true nation, a proper empire… Not some shadowy, hidden culture of conspiracy and compromise dwelling in private paucity… That is what YOU want, too
>It’s a fool’s errand—The New Age of Darkness must not be rushed, and shadows mean safety until such time as the stars are right
>‘Normalization’ still sounds too much like ‘peace’ for your liking; all surface scum must be enslaved or destroyed, for the Dark Gods and to avenge your ancestors!
>You have a few notes... [write-in]

How do you propose to help win support for House Lahlabar, given what you now know?
>Rally the rabble, continuing to proselytize the poor while tying Solinsyr’s house to the missionary message which you were already spreading (and threatening House Sambra’s base)
>The element of caste and eugenic elitism has inbuilt appeal to the nobility, you would wager… Maybe it’s time to begin a charm offensive aimed at lesser noble houses, offering surface bounties and spreading the word of the seized Bloodrise territory?
>It seems to you that the easiest way to strength Solinsyr’s claim is the find or manufacture dirt on his rivals, and to bring them low—perhaps even approach them and challenge them directly?
>House Lahlabar is a bust—a disappointment—and you think you’re done here
>Write-in

Sorry for the long one; just wanted to communicate the general political situation and give you anons a full enough understanding to make these pretty key decisions

>>5455894
>It’s a fool’s errand—The New Age of Darkness must not be rushed, and shadows mean safety until such time as the stars are right

For him it’s cool but we stay hidden

>Rally the rabble, continuing to proselytize the poor while tying Solinsyr’s house to the missionary message which you were already spreading (and threatening House Sambra’s base)

Make some bullshit about his ancient house is tied to them

>>5455894
>>Yes… To be a true nation, a proper empire… Not some shadowy, hidden culture of conspiracy and compromise dwelling in private paucity… That is what YOU want, too

>Rally the rabble, continuing to proselytize the poor while tying Solinsyr’s house to the missionary message which you were already spreading (and threatening House Sambra’s base)

>>5455894
>It’s a fool’s errand—The New Age of Darkness must not be rushed, and shadows mean safety until such time as the stars are right
>‘Normalization’ still sounds too much like ‘peace’; all surface scum must be enslaved or destroyed, for the Dark Gods and to avenge your ancestors!
All for strengthening the elves but this goes against the reptilian mission.
>It seems to you that the easiest way to strength Solinsyr’s claim is the find or manufacture dirt on his rivals, and to bring them low—perhaps even approach them and challenge them directly?
>>5455556
>essay on cucking and hair stylists
Woah there, I was joking. Forgot about that whore, ignoring her was very based.
>>5455866
Gross.

>>5455894
Im a little retarded so im gonna wait for a few other anons to hop in before I make choices, someone who can word things better will word things better and I can edit upon, I will say not a huge fan of Olu getting cucked by this mouthy femboy our emo black friends mormon aunt wants her to fuck, I hope we can visit the other houses first before we make a decision on who we back

>>5455894
>I’ll need to think on it further

>Rally the rabble, continuing to proselytize the poor while tying Solinsyr’s house to the missionary message which you were already spreading (and threatening House Sambra’s base)
>The element of caste and eugenic elitism has inbuilt appeal to the nobility, you would wager… Maybe it’s time to begin a charm offensive aimed at lesser noble houses, offering surface bounties and spreading the word of the seized Bloodrise territory?
Charm everyone. Spread the Faith to the far reaches of the Drow!

>>5455894
>It’s a fool’s errand—The New Age of Darkness must not be rushed, and shadows mean safety until such time as the stars are right
>‘Normalization’ still sounds too much like ‘peace’ for your liking; all surface scum must be enslaved or destroyed, for the Dark Gods and to avenge your ancestors!

But maybe keep these thoughts to ourself for now…

The Drow will be a vassal state in our mighty Empire in the end anyway

>Rally the rabble, continuing to proselytize the poor while tying Solinsyr’s house to the missionary message which you were already spreading (and threatening House Sambra’s base)
>The element of caste and eugenic elitism has inbuilt appeal to the nobility, you would wager… Maybe it’s time to begin a charm offensive aimed at lesser noble houses, offering surface bounties and spreading the word of the seized Bloodrise territory?

Faith for the proles - power and riches for the minor nobility

>>5455894
>It’s… interesting. Maybe they can be the face of Bloodrise while the Reptilians rule from the shadows.
>Rally the rabble, continuing to proselytize the poor while tying Solinsyr’s house to the missionary message which you were already spreading (and threatening House Sambra’s base)
>The element of caste and eugenic elitism has inbuilt appeal to the nobility, you would wager… Maybe it’s time to begin a charm offensive aimed at lesser noble houses, offering surface bounties and spreading the word of the seized Bloodrise territory?

>>5456000
>I will say not a huge fan of Olu getting cucked by this mouthy femboy our emo black friends mormon aunt wants her to fuck, I hope we can visit the other houses first before we make a decision on who we back
Agreed

>>5455894
>Yes… To be a true nation, a proper empire… Not some shadowy, hidden culture of conspiracy and compromise dwelling in private paucity… That is what YOU want, too

based elfbro

>The element of caste and eugenic elitism has inbuilt appeal to the nobility, you would wager… Maybe it’s time to begin a charm offensive aimed at lesser noble houses, offering surface bounties and spreading the word of the seized Bloodrise territory?

>>5455894
>It’s a fool’s errand—The New Age of Darkness must not be rushed, and shadows mean safety until such time as the stars are right

>The element of caste and eugenic elitism has inbuilt appeal to the nobility, you would wager… Maybe it’s time to begin a charm offensive aimed at lesser noble houses, offering surface bounties and spreading the word of the seized Bloodrise territory?

This is perfect. We need more soldiers and the lesser houses can provide those.

>>5455894
>>It’s a fool’s errand—The New Age of Darkness must not be rushed, and shadows mean safety until such time as the stars are right

>House Lahlabar is a bust—a disappointment—and you think you’re done here
Or
>The element of caste and eugenic elitism has inbuilt appeal to the nobility, you would wager… Maybe it’s time to begin a charm offensive aimed at lesser noble houses, offering surface bounties and spreading the word of the seized Bloodrise territory?

>>5456109
Support

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>>5455992
>essay
[My much appreciated player, it was five sentences. You've seen how wordy I am. This is no essay to me.]

>>5456847
>>5456627
>>5456453
>>5456368
>>5456109
>>5456043
>>5456035
>>5455992
>>5455965
>>5455945

[Writing! The vote is locked.]

>>5456950
“You Drow can do what you want,” you shrug. “Its certainly… Interesting. But I will not be joining you in this foolishness.”

The Lahlbar Prince’s nostrils flare, his eyebrows raise. Perhaps you were too frank. You admit it: the persistent thought of this elf marrying your companion’s favoured mate is an irksome one, and his general demeanour… Well, perhaps you let your personal biases get the best of you.

“My elven is still imperfect,” you half-apologize. “I meant no offense. You have my support, of course. Only… My race will not join you in the light, to become obvious targets of the surface-dwellers and their gods. For aeons, my race has dwelt in darkness. This was not cowardice—this was commanded, and wisely so. You said yourself that we cannot wage open war on those above and hope to win… But nor can we expose ourselves and expect anything but open war.”

Prince Solinsyr sighs quietly, and turns back to his pond, staring into it with a dark expression.

“Maybe,” he acknowledge quietly.

Jazkarmel comes to your rescue, resting a hand on your arm and gently guiding you back a step while she strides forwards.

“We aren’t here to discuss distant dreams, are we?” she asks with a small smile. “Dragonborn… Ah, sorry, Theral… You say you can make Solinsyr king! All the rest comes later, right?”

“Right,” you and Solinsyr agree at once.

You lay out your plan. As you see it, this must be two-pronged: faith for the underclass, power and riches for the noble-born. You were never destined for the role of Reptilian Infiltrator, but you know something of the theory of their craft, and you now apply it to the dark elves: you will continue to grow your following among the lower classes, spreading your message (and the transformative gifts of the Mother Goddess), while simultaneously attempting to win the nobles with a steady stream of generous gifts and the promise of more to some.

“This will draw the ire of Sambra AND Tlintear,” the prince notes.

“As if they don’t already dislike your running?” Jazkarmel asks.

“They were focused on each other,” Solinsyr laments. “Now, they’ll focus on me.”

“Good,” you state. “Thus is the fate of the victor, the KING: all eyes on him, always.”

The Prince accepts your suggestions. You exit his private dragonfly-breeding chamber, all three of you, and discuss the specifics as you stride the scenic walkway once more. However, the prince turns a corner into a different chamber than that where your companions await your return.

“I must retire,” he says. “You have given me much to think about… Much to plan. I will meet with you tomorrow, King Theral?”

>>5456969

You shrug, and nod, and exchange courtesies. You will be staying here tonight, of course—to traverse all of Wevenore again after such a long day would be doable, but tiring, and if you’re just returning tomorrow then it seems unnecessary. You and any entourage you would share it with have been given a small but comfortable guest-chamber, well-decorated in a fashion spartan for elves but luxurious for the altogether-less-coddled Master Race. Jazkarmel and her Yvonlace elves, likewise, have a space to call their own.

Even as your two groups part, you can see Jazkarmel and your Archer exchange meaningful glances—Olu’s cheerfully naïve, lustful and maybe even full of something like love, but the princess’ subtly more troubled.

Her gaze flits to yours, fearful. Whatever se and your loyal follower have… It is a spell you could sunder with a word.

Should you?

>Tell Oluwadamilare that his elf is promised to the prince of this place
>Confront Jazkarmel about this betrothal, and ascertain her true feelings and intentions
>Make the breaking of this marital arrangement a condition of your aid
>Stay silent—couplings to secure power and build alliance are the natural way of YOUR race, after all, when any sort of committed mate-pairing occurs AT ALL
>Blackmail Jazkarmel into doing something for you, to keep your silence [sexual favours? spycraft against her house? something else?]
>Write-in

>>5456972
>Confront Jazkarmel about this betrothal, and ascertain her true feelings and intentions

don't be hurting our boi

>>5456972
>>Tell Oluwadamilare that his elf is promised to the prince of this place
>>Confront Jazkarmel about this betrothal, and ascertain her true feelings and intentions
Why don't we all talk about this openly like adults.

>>5456972
>Tell Oluwadamilare that his elf is promised to the prince of this place

>>5456972
>Tell Oluwadamilare that his elf is promised to the prince of this place
>Confront Jazkarmel about this betrothal, and ascertain her true feelings and intentions
>>5456986
>19-20yo talking to an elf that's been around for many decades like "an adult"
top kek

>>5457131
[In fairness, your bardic mage-apprentice is technically 40-45 years old.]

>>5456972
>>Confront Jazkarmel about this betrothal, and ascertain her true feelings and intentions

>>5457133
Yes and

>>5456972
>Confront Jazkarmel about this betrothal, and ascertain her true feelings and intentions
>Stay silent
Depending on her intentions, this is a golden opportunity to gain the loyalty of one of Drow’s inner circle. We should get more information before deciding on our plan.

>>5456976
I think the more likely scenario is the Prince getting cucked by Olu desu.

>>5457196
How is the prince getting cucked by Olu if we eventually have leave the place and Jazkarmel with him?

>>5456976
Supporting this

Don’t hurt our loyal boi

>>5456972
>Confront Jazkarmel about this betrothal, and ascertain her true feelings and intentions
>Make the breaking of this marital arrangement a condition of your aid

>>5457996
>>5457784
>>5457196
>>5457136
>>5457131
>>5457120
>>5456986
>>5456976
Try as you might to ignore it, the thought of Jazkarmel breaking the heart of your loyal battle-brother troubles you. You consider bringing it up with Olu directly, to warn the Archer of what woe may wait ahead… But you shy away from this after some thought. Your understanding is incomplete, and there is only one way to easily rectify this knowledge-gap: a direct confrontation with the elfmaid at the heart of this.

Jazkarmel looks surprised when she opens the door to her chamber and sees you standing there. She, as with many mammals, seems to keep a separate suite of sleeping attire—though, in her case, it seems little more than a well-worn, loosely-fitted fur cloak to half-hide an otherwise naked darkness. You ignore a pang of <appetite> to meet her eyes, which quickly turn from confusion to guilt when you explain the purpose for your late visitation:

“I wish to speak with you about the Archer.”

Jazkarmel dismisses her servants and stations her guards—Jhamrius and Sengar, naturally—outside the door, and ideally out of easy eavesdropping range. Only then does she invite you into her chamber.

“You mean you wish to speak about the terms of alliance between my house and this one, right?”

You nod. Jazkarmel sighs, and slumps forwards.

“Does Oluwadamilare know?” she asks, quietly.

“Not if YOU have not told him,” you answer, a touch accusatorily.

“I… Haven’t told him,” she admits.

“That is deceptive,” you state plainly.

Jazkarmel presses her thumbs to her forehead, leaning against them as she rubs her temples.

“It… Isn’t like that, Theral.”

“Explain to me what it is like, then,” you command. “What are you intentions with my Archer?”

Jazkarmel laughs, and though it is as pretty a sound as ever, it is tinged with anxiety this time.

“You sound like his father,” she teases. “You know he’s older than you, right? And I’m at least twice HIS age?”

You shrug.

“Yes, and…?”

She senses you are in no mood for playful banter, and her expression and tone return to due seriousness once more.

“My ‘intentions’ with Olu were just… A good time.” Jazkarmel smirks a little. “And it was! But… Admittedly, we got a little closer than just sex. He’s handsome, and tall, and strong… But he’s also clever, and brave, and JUST the right amount of crazy to keep things interesting.”

She sighs wistfully.

“Do you love him?”

Jazkarmel looks up with some surprise.

“I… Thought you lizardmen didn’t really go in for that?” she asks.

“You are evading my question, elf.”

“I… Don’t know,” she admits. “Maybe.”

“Do you love Prince Solinsyr?” you press.

Jazkarmel laughs uproariously at that, before covering her mouth to muffle the explosive outburst.

“Haha, ha… No, no, I don’t think so, Theral. No.”

>>5458172
You tilt your head, awaiting further elaboration, and Jazkarmel rolls her eyes.

“Come on,” she says. “I know a little about your castes and clans from Olu. We’re not so different, in this way: marriage or ‘mating rights’ aren’t about LOVE. Maybe for peasants with nothing to gain or lose, but when you’re part of an important family… A noble house… It’s about politics.”

She’s not WRONG, of course. Marriage is an alien concept to your race, though the concept of exclusive breeding rights to a socially or genetically-desirable female is not—and, mammalian sentimentality aside, the two concepts have a lot in common. In fact… Well, it’s the ultimate destiny of the Novice Fleshweaver as well, isn’t it? When the time comes, and her heat it upon her, it’s not as if her Chaplain father would ever permit an unauthorized breeding with an experimental hybrid like yourself. She’ll be bred to worthy bloodlines of Serpent Priests to secure familial bonds amongst the spiritual elite. Maybe that niggling knowledge is part of why you feel such empathy for Olu’s plight?

“I honestly thought I would never have to marry Solinsyr,” Jazkarmel admits, breaking the silence which has settled while you quietly consider her words. “It’s contingent on him actually becoming king, and over the last ten years that has seemed like a pretty long shot. But now…”

She looks at your square on.

“With you here, helping him… I’ve seen you work miracles, Theral. Win wars I never thought we’d stand a chance at winning. Slay LEGENDS. If you’re helping him…”

She looks away again.

“I mean, it’s not like Queen Myrymma would ever have tolerated me and Olu being…”

She slumps forward.

“I guess everyone has to grow up sometime,” she laments. “Mother always said I was immature and irresponsible, just thinking I could fight and fuck forever, and never get old and settle down. But… Okay. I’ll tell Olu tomorrow. Then… We’ll win Solinsyr his crown, and I’ll… Do my duty.”

She looks up at you for validation, almost appearing desperate.

“That’s the smart thing to do, right?”

What do you say? As you have come to understand your own heart, you are increasingly committed to a path of 'love' (as you understand the concept)... But can you really put it before practicalities like political power?

>Agree that she should prioritize politics and familial loyalty
>Tell her she should trust in love, and follow her heart
>Declare that you will intervene with her behalf—with the Prince AND the Queen—to ensure the happiness of your friends
>Call out her duplicity and immaturity—she isn’t GOOD ENOUGH for Olu!
>Let them sort it out—it’s none of your concern, in the end
>Write-in

>>5458174
>Tell her she should trust in love, and follow her heart
>Declare that you will intervene with her behalf—with the Prince AND the Queen—to ensure the happiness of your friends
Yeah this shit ain't right. Reptilians are already dead inside and obedient, but these are mammals with feelings that don't align with this cancer (as much as I'd like to support the powerful mage bloodline). Maybe it's time for this Prince Saltysyr to learn how to get bitches the natural way.

>>5458278
Supportin'

>>5458280
We can also argue that Jazkamel is not a good mate for his magical talent to shine like dragonfly's vivid color

>>5458281
Well I don't think they just made that up, they must have their reasons to think her genetics are good for magic.

>>5458174
>Tell her she should trust in love, and follow her heart
>Declare that you will intervene with her behalf—with the Prince AND the Queen—to ensure the happiness of your friends
The sacrifices we make to our bro Olu. I guess this’ll convince them to arrange that threesome though.

>>5458174
>Tell her she should trust in love, and follow her heart

I'm sure the prince can find another high power mage waifu

>>5458385
what threesome
jazkarmel doesn't have 4 holes

>>5458955
Ah, but you're forgetting we have a novice fleshweaver in our employment.

>>5458972
Do you even know what a threesome is

>>5458955
>>5458972
[While the likelihood of group sex is lesser than it would have been before the two developed feelings and before Theral was scarred by banging an eldritch horror goddess, I will note that Degenerates who would blow their human civer as an Infiltrator the moment they drop their pants are culled at birth. Olu is, outwardly, just a normal human dude with some easily-hidden scaly patches and golden eyes.]

>>5459023
>Olu is, outwardly, just a normal human dude with some easily-hidden scaly patches and golden eyes.
Oh, right. This still leaves us behind (her) if we want the most optimized experience, however. Shitposting aside, I hope this coombrained idea never comes to life.
>Theral
Nooo, fuck that gay-ass soulless drow pseudonym, it's Dragonborn or whatever Ismena would've wanted :c

>>5458278
Eh, I’ll support it.

>>5459020
I don't think you understand what I meant when I said we have a novice Flesh Weaver

The implication is that Jaz can be given 4 holes in case the emphasis on fleshweaver above still wasn't enough

Doesn't look like we'll need to go down that route anyway

>>5458174
>Call out her duplicity and immaturity—she isn’t GOOD ENOUGH for Olu!
lol
>Tell her she should trust in love, and follow her heart
It’s ultimately your life, but a piece of advice from an 18 year old? We live in a dangerous world, and you should take care to cherish the things you have now before they’re gone.

>>5459160
Do you main Slaanesh on table top anon?

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>>5459050
We held a vote, and growing comfortable with the pseudonym won.
Besides, 'Ismena' wasn't even her real name, and yet here we are.
>>5458278
>>5458280
>>5458385
>>5458914
>>5459075
>>5459213
[Locked and writing!]

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>>5459242
“Do you really want the advice of someone less than half your age?” you ask Jazkarmel, echoing her earlier ribbing.

She laughs again, but there isn’t much humour in it. She’s genuinely unsure how to proceed—unsure enough to accept advice from a near-juvenile. You suppose your accelerated growth in stature as a result of the Novice’s amulet and the Dark Gods’ favour has gone a long way towards making you seem more ‘properly adult’ in her eyes. A member of the Master Race is typically physically mature (if not necessarily mentally or sexually) by their twelfth year, so if Jazkarmel is truly immature for her kind… Well, you suppose you MAY well have surpassed her in the year you have known each other!

“My opinion… Is that you should follow your heart.”

You note no small surprise on the elf’s part at your unconventional answer. Still, you do not change course.

“My people… They are shaped by countless millennia of conditioning to be as they are. It is in their nature. Not so for you and your kind, Princess. Love… It is a powerful force. You should not throw it aside easily.”

Jazkarmel looks at you strangely, and chews her lip nervously.

“But my house… Our missions, for BOTH our people… They hinge on this.”

You shrug.

“Maybe, maybe not. I will speak with the Prince of Lahlabar… The Queen as well, if it comes to it. They would be fools to reject my assistance simply because they must find another elf-mage to mate with the new King of Elves.”

Jazkarmel shakes her head.

“I wouldn’t have thought a lizard… A dragon… Would care this much about a little fling between a half-human and a Drow.”

“You are… Not unimportant.” You say, stumbling just short of calling them ‘friends’ out loud. “We live in a dangerous world, and you should take care to cherish the things you have now before they’re gone.”

Jazkarmel nods at your wise words, and smiles more brightly than she ahs since Solinsyr called upon you two to speak with him in his dragonfly-chamber.

“Love might not be in the nature of other lizards, Theral… But it is in yours.”

To your startlement, the Princess takes your hand in hers and impulsively kisses you upon yoru cheek. You flinch and hiss at the unexpected touch… But it doesn’t feel bad.

“Thank you,” she whispers into your ear, and stands to leave.

“Wait, this is YOUR chamber,” you say, still disoriented. “Where are you going?”

The Yvonlace Princess looks at you with a mischievous gleam in her ruby eyes, and simply says: “To see Olu.”

...Ah.

Rolled 8, 17, 15, 5, 12, 7, 1, 4, 16, 5 = 90 (10d20)

>>5459258
The next few days are spent on more serious matters—or are they?—such as planning and enacting your two-pronged strategy to install Solinsyr as the new King of Elves. If he notices the closeness of his promised mate to your Degenerate companion, he does not care or comment; you suspect that he is too focused upon his campaign to pay them much heed. Once you have formulated your approach, the two part ways anyway: Oluwadamialre the Archer is, as ever, your stalwart armed accompaniment as you travel Wevenore preaching your dark gospel to the elven peasantry; Jazkarmel, meanwhile, accompanies the Prince in petitioning the lesser noble houses.

[4d20 Religion, 4d20 Diplomacy, 2d20 mystery dice]

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>>5459260
Your strategy for the common-folk is simple: you brandish your shoggoth-sword, lift high the head of the ghoul supreme, and recount again and again—with Karz’s musical accompaniment and Olu’s infiltration-born knack for mammalian manipulation. You mime the battles, recite the stories like psalms, and leave every crowd of hollow, dark elven faced filled with hope and joy as you promise that such strength and glory awaits any who will follow the Dark Gods… And, of course, stand with House Yvonlace and their preferred candidate, Prince Solinsyr of Lahlabar.

>17

You end every such theatrical presentation with a group prayer. Increasingly, the elves bow their heads and join you in thanking the Mother of Dragons from protecting their children, and to the Serpent Ascendant for offering them a path to redemption through personal aspiration. You end the tour flocked by supplicants, who bring what pitiful alms their poor households can spare to leave before the resanctified funerary caves of their ancestors… And to offer their gratitude to the Gods of Death for safeguarding their souls.

This society may be far from a democracy, but the elite would have to be fools to ignore the rising tide of support for you, and thus for Solinsyr’s kingship.

Alas, it doesn’t seem that the Prince-Ascendant and his Yvonlace ‘fiancé’ have had the same fortunes. Over the next week, you met with them several times, and correspond regularly through their servants, and the reports are always the same: unfruitful. Your strategy was a good one, you thought, and you still believe it to be so: you three conspired to distribute the spoils of the ghoulish horde to the minor noble-houses. These would be treated as gifts from House Lahlabar, that they might recommit them to the funeral caves for the social clout or horde them as they like… But always know their providence.

>1

Instead, they are flatly rejected, time and time again—turned away, occasionally with sharp accusations of betraying their race and culture to ‘evil gods’ and ‘monsters’.

“it’s Minothel, from Tlintear,” Solinsyr snarls one day, uncharacteristically furious. “I smell his stench.”

“More of a fragrant perfume, really,” Jazkarmel jokes, provoking a snort from Olu across the table.

“A sweet and sickly scent,” Solinsyr agrees, “like putrefaction. Like poisoned wine. He’s heard you’re backing me, and shoring up his base of support.”

It makes sense. You see few representatives of Tlinetar in the slums, but Sambrans—black or white-clad, solemn-faced, purposeful in movement—routinely watch from a distance as you pick off Corandiirn of Sambar’s own supporters. You wonder when or if THAT house will make its move…

>15

…But you do not wonder for long.

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>>5459285
One day, you are awoken from light torpor by the painful tingle and adrenaline rush of your <Danger Sense>. You spring from where you half-lay in shallowest slumber and draw your assassin’s dagger, casting dark-adapted eyes about to find the culprit.

Only to hear the Novice scream in fury and fear from the next room.

“No!”

You are at her side in moments.

It is not fast enough.

Your Fleshweaver clutches a seeping gash in her robes with one hand, mutters incantations and traces sigils in the air with the other. The wound is already sealing shut, and after a moment’s panic you realize it is shallow.

Not so for the dead elf—one of your hosts, the adult female of the house—who lays facedown on the ground, life pouring out of her opened throat, while her scale-speckled, goddess-touched offspring stare in terror , held in their father’s arms.

“Who did this?!” you roar. “Where is the slinking coward?!”

One of the tiny elf-spawn points to the offending party. She did not escape, though by her position near to the hovel’s sad excuse for a window, she likely tried. Unfortunately for the elf-maid, clad in finely-embroidered black silks, the Junior Novice was also present.

>6

She is rather savaged—hand on one side of the room, mangled but still clutching a knife, while the rest of her whimpers and twitches before your dogfaced, dragonspliced slave, who whines with excitement and anxiety through a maw caked in blood.

His eyes are glowing. By the looks of things, it is psychic pressure which now holds the killer in place.

“Who sent you?” you demand, taking up station beside the Juniro Novice.

The assassin croaks, shudders, and fails to answer.

“S-Sambra,” the adult male of the household says. “That’s a knife from House Sambra.”

The home-invader is bleeding out, barely stable and rapidly deteriorating. The deadly agent of Prince Corandiirn of Sambra—the Assassin Prince—has paid for her offence with her life, or will soon.

But the one who sent her… How shall HE pay?

>This means war—take your forces and march on House Sambra, to raze that den of murderers to the ground
>It is time to take Corandiirn up on his earlier invitation to visit him—and to ‘discuss’ recompense for this insult
>Join your allies—especially the Queen—to demand formal elven justcie for this crime
>Forget it—this is to be expected, and this sad attempt only shows how desperate your candidates rivals are becoming
>Send your own counter-assassins, for TWO can play at this game
>Write-in

>>5459286
>It is time to take Corandiirn up on his earlier invitation to visit him—and to ‘discuss’ recompense for this insult
honestly I'm surprised it took this long

>>5459286
>Use magic to create a deadly series of earthquakes at House Sambra under the cover of night.
>Deny any involvement and claim it was a natural disaster.

>>5459427
+1
>It is time to take Corandiirn up on his earlier invitation to visit him—and to ‘discuss’ recompense for this insult
>Join your allies—especially the Queen—to demand formal elven justcie for this crime
We should make a other plays at revenge just so the earthquake claims seem legit.

>>5459286
>Join your allies—especially the Queen—to demand formal elven justcie for this crime
Drag this shit public and
>Use magic to create a deadly series of earthquakes at House Sambra under the cover of night.
>Deny any involvement and claim it was a natural disaster.
>>5459242
Votes don't control my mind and we knew her as Ismena from the start, just like we knew Dragonborn as Dragonborn. I just hate that name until further notice.

>>5459504
>Votes don't control my mind
[Fair, but they DO control Theral's, which is why he's started to think of himself as 'Theral'.]

>>5459286
>It is time to take Corandiirn up on his earlier invitation to visit him—and to ‘discuss’ recompense for this insult

Let's not be hasty. Could easily be a false flag.

>>5459861
Shit tier name

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>>5459943
>picrel

>>5459902
>>5459504
>>5459501
>>5459427
>>5459312
[I'm going to finish watching Black Adam, and then post. Looks like we're leaning towards filing a report and then (secretly) collapsing an estate.]

>>5459951
>>5459902
>>5459504
>>5459501
>>5459427
>>5459312
Sambra… SAMBRA. Of course this was an inevitable collision course—Corandiirn, this unseen prince of House Sambra, relies upon the support to the soldiery and the poorest Drow to make his claim to the throne. In preaching the True Faith and the ascent of Solinsyr, you have threatened his power. In a way, you’re surprised it took him so long to strike.

Still, an irksome uncertainty troubles you, like an itch in the back of your mind. You take up this ‘Sambran dagger’ and turn it over and over in your hands, then look past it to the one who once wielded it.

“Was it Prince Corandiirn who sent you?” you demand in elventongue.

“N-mn-“

“No?” you press. “Yes? ANSWER, elf!”

What emerges is a death-rattle, and the killer is no more.

You check the condition of your companions—most especially the Novice. She pushes you away with a flustered hiss.

“You are too close,” she snaps. “Touching too much. Get your claws out of my robes, Dege—Dragonborn.”

“Theral will do,” you sniff. “And I am just making sure you are okay.”

“Sure,” she teases, her hiss turning to a rattle. “You have spent too long among mammals, ‘Theral’. You were holding me rather tight. Sentimental fool.”

She sighs, and glances towards the Junior Novice.

“I am alright,” she says.

Junior shakes off whatever psychic trance he was gripped by, wiping blood from his maw with the back of one paw and approaching you with bowed head—as if in supplication. You pat the strange hybrid slave-thing. Meanwhile, both you and your Novice Fleshweaver turn your attentions to the wailing elf-spawn and their hollow-eyed father, still staring at his dead mate. You feel… Something… Looking at their display of grief.

“My test subjects all survived, too, thank the Dark Gods Below and Beyond.”

The Novice’s tone is cheerful. Whatever you feel, looking at the corpse of one host and the shattered family, it isn’t something the Serpent Priestess is troubled by.

Oluwadamilare is there, of course, and Ivno. Both are quick to secure the area, checking for other assassins and keeping the other elves who come to investigate at bay.

“What will we do now?” Olu the Archer eventually asks.

“I think,” you say, “that House Sambra’s second invitation has managed to be rather more persuasive than the first. Let us take them up on it.”

>>5460033
You leave the Junior Novice with his namesake, to protect the Fleshweaver and your temporary base of operations. Together with the others of your party-proper—Karz Throat-singer, Olu the Archer, Ivno of Bloodrise—you march upon House Sambra. The lightning elemental, which seems quite dormant much of the time since its taming, takes it upon itself to trail after you on THIS particular journey… As if it senses your killing intent.

Ivno, in his prudence, has made a rudimentary map of the city, most-especially highlighting the complexes of each notable noble-house, and routes in and out of Wevenore. Clever little kobold… You knew you kept him around for something.

You also bring Hamaraska and their centipede—cultural interpreters, of a sort.

“This was a sloppy attempt,” the dark-eyed Lancer comments. “Why target your mage? Why not you, directly? And why only one assassin?”

You consider the elf’s words. A false flag attack is a possibility… Though by who, then? Maybe your arrival will shed some light.

It isn’t much longer before you arrive at the complex that Ivno has identified as that of House Sambra. It is well-fortified, walled off from prying eyes. If it has glimmering crystal-lamps or beautiful treasures such as the grotto of Yvonlace or the dragonfly-pool of Lahlabar, they are hidden. Only watchtowers and the squinting eyes of stationed archers allude to any inhabitants within the private residence of this would-be king.

“Stop right there!”

The command comes from one of a pair of stationed, black-clad elves—a pair of females—each wielding a crudely-constructed polearm made from some surfacer-made steel axehead attached to a pole of silk-bound wood. They would be effective enough, you suppose, to frighten or maim an intrusive peasant. The daggers on their hips are probably more practical in an actual fight.

They are no match for you and yours.

“Step aside,” you order them. “I am King Theral of Bloodrise, and I am here to accept your master’s invitation.”

“Indeed?”

You look past the guards to the source of this new voice: a long-faced, especially long-eared elf with bluish-black skin and pale gray eyes, wearing a loosely-fitted grey robe over the usual leather-and-chitin armour typical of a Drow scout. Upon his brow is the only sign of his station: a rather fine work of silvery-metal, fashioned into a sort of pendant-dangling tiara or diadem.

>>5460034
“Prince Corandiirn, I presume?”

“Yes,” he acknowledges. “You know, it is quite unnecessary to announce yourself. There are no other ten-foot-fall lizardmen in my city. Everyone knows who you are… And what you have been up to.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes,” Prince Corandiir says. “Leading my people astray… Undermining me for your puppet-governor… Weakening us for takeover.”

You say nothing.

“Then you don’t deny it,” Corandiirn notes.

“You insult me from behind your guards,” you note. “You spy on me, too. What happened to the gracious nobleman who asked me to pay him a visit?”

“You work with my enemies to defeat me,” Prince Corandiirn sneers. “You are not visitor. You’re an invader, and an enemy.”

“So the invitation is rescinded, then,” you surmise.

“Yes.”

What do you do?
>Ask if that’s also why he sent an assassin to kill you and your followers—make him admit it, or else explain it!
>Present him with the dagger of the assassin, and demand apology and recompense in the name of the Queen—your friend and ally
>Challenge this martial princeling to a duel before his followers, to settle matters
>Cool off a little and offer to reconsider your alliance with Lahlabar... Maybe... If he will allow you inside and explain why you ought to favour him instead
>Turn and leave… And collapse the complex once you are out-of-sight with an <Earth Tremor>
>Write-in

>>5460036
>Cool off a little and offer to reconsider your alliance with Lahlabar... Maybe... If he will allow you inside and explain why you ought to favour him instead

fuck, I mixed up names
didn't mean to come here

>>5460036
>Cool off a little and offer to reconsider your alliance with Lahlabar... Maybe... If he will allow you inside and explain why you ought to favour him instead

>>5460052
[Wait, where did you mean to go??]

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>>5460052
imagine mixing up the names after some retard (me) got us a drow household cheat sheet

>>5460063
was that the pdf?
i don't open strange pdfs
it shoulda been a jpg

>>5460057
I wanted to go to [PLACE] to talk to [PERSON]
now that I look back the wording doesn't line up and I shoulda known something was up, my B

>>5460036
>Cool off a little and offer to reconsider your alliance with Lahlabar... Maybe... If he will allow you inside and explain why you ought to favour him instead
Bring up the assassination attempt and the dagger at the appropriate (you fucked up) moment.

>>5460052
lol

>>5460036
>Ask if that’s also why he sent an assassin to kill you and your followers—make him admit it, or else explain it!

>>5460070
It was sent by RQM. Paranoid much?

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>>5460413
Yeah, just trust the reptoids! Don't be a bigot, anon!

>>5460036
>Challenge this martial princeling to a duel before his followers, to settle matters

I like Lahlabar, despite a stupid name that sound like a fantasy karaoke rip-off, the La-La-Bar

>>5460036
>Challenge this martial princeling to a duel before his followers, to settle matters
Hold my beer.

>>5460036
>Ask if that’s also why he sent an assassin to kill you and your followers—make him admit it, or else explain it!

>Cool off a little and offer to reconsider your alliance with Lahlabar... Maybe... If he will allow you inside and explain why you ought to favour him instead

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>>5461472
>>5461183
>>5460596
>>5460458
>>5460200
>>5460129
>>5460053
>>5460052
[Writing!]

>>5461493
You huff, frustrated at how this is going. In truth, you’d come here expecting a bold clash—maybe bloodshed. Even now, a part of you yearns to slit this impetuous assassin-elf’s throat and to bring his shoddy ‘fortress’ to the same ruin which ahs befallen many a Blackmantle dwarf in your burgeoning Bloodrise kingdom…

But the better, more logical and coldblooded aspect of your nature cools and tempers your hot mammalian temper, reminding you that politics must NEVER be so personal. Or, at least, only after when the blood has been thoroughly squeezed from your victims by dark diplomacy.

“I do not NEED to be your enemy,” you note. “Yvonlace is my original benefactor, of course… But my alliance with Lahlabar is less set-in-stone. It is YOUR actions that made us enemies.”

The Sambram Prince’s brow furrows. He says nothing, but you sense… What? Concern? Regret? Confusion?

“Perhaps there are matters best discussed in private?” you suggest.

The Archer and Lancer are both surprised. The latter seems pleasantly so; the latter, more worriedly. Neither speaks out against you.

The Prince draws a deep breath through narrow nostrils, then exhales and nods.

“But you leave your forces outside. No enemy marches an army into my gate.”

“That is outrageous,” you snap. “You want me to enter the den of a feared clan of Drow assassins ALONE?”

“By your reputation, you’ll be fine,” he says, smirking darkly despite his level tone. “But fine. Bring one vassal, and one vassal only.”

You gnash your teeth, lash your tail, but bring yourself under control. You need to think this through. It is POSSIBLE that Corandiirn was NOT the one who sent the killer… And even if he did, well, he could still be useful. If you deem him useless, this could be an ideal chance to assassinate the assassins, avenging the attack against your followers and eliminating one major threat to the ascent of Lahlabar’s prince.

Still… He IS a cheeky little monkey. It’s difficult not to take umbrage, even with your growing tolerance and understanding for mammals. You may not be AS committed to the sole primacy of pure-blooded Reptilians as you once were, but you still have your pride as a member of the Master Race—no, as a DRAGON!

What will you do?
>Bring Oluwadamialre the Archer, your stalwart friend, and best warrior
>Bring Ivno, cautious and watchful little servant that he is
>Bring Hamaraska, for they know dark elven culture, and House Sambra better than most
>Bring Karz, whose magic can bolster your own
>Bring the lightning elemental, to annihilate all these elves the moment they step out of line
>Reject the invitation, and announce this rejection with a <Moonblast> and an <Earth Tremor>
>Reject the invitation, and promptly leave this place to discuss retribution with the Queen of Elves and Prince of Lahlabar
>Write-in

Sorry for a short post, but I thought this was a decision worth voting on

>>5461537
>Bring Oluwadamialre the Archer, your stalwart friend, and best warrior

>>5461537
>Bring Ivno, cautious and watchful little servant that he is

>>5461537
>Bring Hamaraska, for they know dark elven culture, and House Sambra better than most
Political thighs important.

>>5461537
>Bring Hamaraska, for they know dark elven culture, and House Sambra better than most
Bring our elf whisperer. We can calmly explain why their politics are ridiculous.