Go Forth and Conquer (Inactive)

Game Master Arythain

@Replies - That's nice to hear. And I'm sure Jhaelwyn will be okay with a few skill points wasted if the Mantids are gone : )

@Mantids - Still just knowing the range is good.

We can probably dispatch a large one by ourselves, but more then that might get dicey. Though with the soliders and a bit of planning it should be doable.

The queens sounds like a bother. But I'm sure with a bit of probing and so we might figure out some countermeasures. Or dirty tricks!

@Social Skills - I missed to address this earlier, but Jhaelwyn is blissfully unaware of that category. I was thinking of getting at least a few points but there were so many other shiny options ...

Hmm, those item creation rules make personal scrolls really viable. I like it. I'll be able to prepare for a wide variety of contingencies even on a budget.

Did everyone else know that Fly is on the shaman spell list? Apparently I can't read because somehow I'd missed that. As such I'm switching that spell slot over to Haste most likely. Unless we'd like to have something like Fireball available which I could also pick up instead.

Re: The invasion plan. I like starting with the Mantids and carving out some territory there. Reaching out and making inroads to the other communities also seems like a fine idea, but if we can clear them out of the area with the mines and get miners (Ogre or otherwise) that would be a good source of trade resources to build from. We could potentially try to recruit some smiths or artisans to work it ourselves to export/arm our forces in a relatively short amount of time. We'll also be wanting to be on the lookout for competent NPCs to recruit to our side (which you're looking to do.) I'd imagine that the hobgoblin merchant at the Lodge shipping the goods in would be happy to ship in goods for our settlement. Clearly we'll need to be careful about having too many spies for various factions infiltrate, but we should allow some that we know of in for the purposes of selective disinformation and our propaganda campaigns.

It's a solid place to start though!

Answers to a couple of questions:

@Steel Cabal & Sapphire Cabal: If we indeed are able to fish in both their lakes with some success, we could approach both (discretely) and establish us as a kind of fall-back provider to decrease their dependency of the respective other. This reduced dependency might be enough to elevate their concerns about our rise long enough, to eventually surpass both to the point where no one can make without us.

Problem with this is that the Sapphire Cabal is largely associated with gems and fine goods. Nothing we intend is going to help those groups, except maybe the very heart of where they were found (remember, coal! Fossil fuels!). Maybe if we do bring in the ogres, we could have them help the Sapphire Cabal and therefore gain a measure of respect there- I don't know. I like the idea, but jsut not certain how we can benefit the Sapphires.

Other thing worth thinking about is how hard the antivenom might be to reverse engineer or replicate. If we are going to disperse it early and eagerly to push inland, others might also want in on the cake.

We're not dispersing it to anyone. WE keep it, we use it for US and whomever wants to work with US, and we control the supply and distribution. There's no "Oh, here's the antivenom!" It's more "[b]Ok, this is our camp. Big mantid nest spotted over here, and if you can destroy it, please do. If you get hit- well, bring them back here and we'll help you," type thing. Very tightly controlled secret, very tightly controlled weapon.

There doesn't seem to be an issue 3 under objective 2. Something that simply got edited out or actually eaten by something?

There was a 3rd point, until I realized that it wasn't really a problem at all. I did mention it was 2am when I finished, right? I'm just losing it!

@Alignment - Surtur actually seems like a Good guy. So things are certainly leaning that way : )

Shhhh! Surtur's worked very hard to keep up his reputation as a tough- guy, a cold and unfeeling barbarian. Letting everyone know he's a good guy might ruin his rep!- even if it's secretly true haha

Drekisal would likely point out that actual extermination of the mantids might be bad for our plans--we should push them back enough to claim some land, but keeping them around could prove useful.

You're going to have to explain this one. I think I know what you're getting at, but Surtur certainly wouldn't see it that way, and I definetly want to make certain we're on the same page just in case I'm missing something.

but if we can clear them out of the area with the mines and get miners (Ogre or otherwise) that would be a good source of trade resources to build from.

Both you and Gork have mentioned similar ideas, and I think I like it. I was really wanting to help expand the River Basin Concern, and I do still think that's a good idea, but definetly getting our own sources of income (beyond mantids), would be really beneficial to our cause. I do worry that the central nest of the mantids seems to be where the coal and mines would be (well, that and Zaw's Rock, which is controlled by the giants- I'm not even planning on how to get us there).

We'll also be wanting to be on the lookout for competent NPCs to recruit to our side (which you're looking to do.)

Beyond Benji Kamimura and Dax Jerria? I'm always on the lookout for cool NPC's, and yes, I will be doing recruiting!

Mantids aren't capital-E Evil. They are basically just wild animals, even if they are an invasive and dangerous species. However, Benji may still be interested in joining in on killing them for the sake of safety, or the good of the region, because they're dangerous and they threaten innocent people.

I think Surtur would argue differently. We know that they are abnormal (they were "unearthed" just a few years ago, so, at best, they're invasive species; at worst, they're the thing that's responsible for much of the destruction of the Gelkrosh tribes (having taken up most of the land that was theirs originally), displacing people all across the region, disrupting trade routes, impacting the environment in ways that are not healthy- no, they're pretty capital E- evil. Especially if you define sin in the way that Surtur does- sin as change- or in the sense that it's the most benefit for the most beings, or in the sense that humans are more important that animals, then they are Evil. And I know Surtur would love to use that argument against any who will debate it with him.

Would you like me to respond to the rest of the plan with what kind of council you might have gotten, or would you prefer more time on the details with your team?

Yes, please, go ahead and respond with kiayuscan's council (because I'm lazt and don't want to retype that again in Surtur's words).

Can't wait to start interacting with ya'll!

That plan seems pretty solid to me, although I haven't delved too deeply into the factions section yet. I do think that controlling the secret of the antivenom will be somewhat more difficult than you, given that we have a bunch of cheap mercenaries who will be sleeping with us. I guess we can't trust them with it right away.

Anyway, I'm going with Favoured Enemy Human x2 and Abberation x1. I think humans are the most common enemy that Cuneo's fought, as he's travled all across the world and dealt with lots of different things, although only expressly humans for a few years. Presumably if he went on any short adventures during his marriage, which I think he did occasionally, they would've been against mantids. They also killed his wife, so maybe he wants to learn more about them. These things also seem like good mechanical choices.

If anyone has any advice for getting good ranged damage, let me know. I should be adding more detail to my crunch notes soon.

Drekisal would rather leave some mantids around for two reasons:

1) Having a threat we're expert at dealing with still around gives people a reason to *want* us around... especially if we leave them only in areas inconvenient to others.

2) We don't want to seem too strong too fast. Going for a total purge would draw a lot of attention. Being able to wipe out just a few nests would make us seem strong enough to work with, but hopefully not strong enough to cause concern.

Of course, this is assuming we *can* cause that much damage.

On the subject of the antivenom, will *we* be able to manufacture it? Does any of us have Craft (alchemy)?

@Craft (Alchemy) - Surtur and I have it at least.

@Antivenom - The more I think about it, the more I feel that we need to know how the Mantid venom works. And how our antivenom works too.

Is it a slow death that we can instead turn into three weeks hospital visit? Is it instantaneous heart stop and you need the injection NOW!!!!? Or maybe even the injection being preemptive?

displacing people all across the region, disrupting trade routes, impacting the environment in ways that are not healthy- no, they're pretty capital E- evil.

Heh, fair enough for Surtur's point of view, but I was speaking mechanically. They're not capital-E evil because as an uncontrolled animal their alignment is neutral. Things like Detect Evil won't pick them up, Smite Evil won't do extra damage, etc. However, as I said, that doesn't preclude you or anyone else from seeing them as 'an' evil, something that needs to be taken care of for the good of everyone.

I haven't done any looking at crunch yet, but I'll probably try and start taking a look soon. Won't be picking it apart point by point, just glancing over.

Ouch this is really dangerous.
Good thing it works ahead.
Starting with 9th level I could probably heal it with Merry's Mercy, but the preemptive application should work really well if we plan to raid a nest of them.

@Sartur: haha, you really got Gork there. He really didn't see that one coming ^^

Yeah that looks nasty. And there's even a small chance to simply die at the end, so just waiting it out won't work. (Though I guess it is actually less lethal then most poisons as the default end state is dead. But then again; high school and angry mantids!)

Kinda means we have to offer to at least administer it preemptively or else it won't be of much use.

Hmm. Maybe some scheme or something to limit access or enforce loyalty?

How do people feel about a mantid hunter guild or something? :-P

Let people prove themselves before we let them go against the mantids. Have them do small and mundane things that just happen to further our real agenda! And might give us the chance to spot disloyal behavior.

Does make the adventurers a bit less disposable though...

Thoughts :-)?

Yep, like the backstory says, the poison is the primary reason the mantids have been tough to deal with. Even if you win a fight some of your people will be out of commission and requiring lots of care for days or weeks. For resource-strapped villages that's a lot of attrition.

@Venom: I don't know about a mantid- hunter guild, or anything- I'm thinking it'll just happen. We keep the antivenom to ourselves, for our purposes. If we see someone paralyzed, we'll help them. Enough generosity, and we'll start inspiring loyalty out out of them, and that'll be far more effective than anything else.

Remember, we don;t have to tell them about the preventative properties until later. We just take it early, and suddenly, we're the invincible gods who never succumb to poison, and that builds our prestige as psuedo- gods. Add in healing, and we're golden!

Suddenly, I'm getting a very cult- ish vibe here. How does Merry feel about mantids, Gork?

@Drekisal: To be quite honest, I'm pretty certain that the extermination process is going to take a long time (I've planned for it to last into Stage 3 of my plan), but even still, I think by that time we're definetly going to want to end them. At least, Surtur will, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

I'll answer the Merry question: Merry does not like them. They're a menace to the sort of people she cares most about, and are too lethal to really learn to live with the threat. She'd probably favor wiping them out entirely, if possible.

We'll have to remember to harvest venom for manufacturing more antivenom whenever we fight them.

@Gm Mercy

What would Kiayuscan think of this plan? Any suggestions there?

Secondly, do you want us to RP out Surtur's telling of the plan (or what he intends to tell them), or will that be done when we start? Just trying to get a feel for where we're starting at, and what we need to go over beforehand.

You can take anything I say in the gameplay thread about the plan as coming from the Dragon's people (primarily Kiayuscan, but also whomever else he might call in to give advice). I'll probably have to get to that post tomorrow, though! It'll be up by noon or so by the latest.

Crunchy-Fluff note:
For background skill, I had Gork learn the drum.
Yup, you now have an Ox-Riding-Ogre playing two large drums that are fixed to the side of his trusty steed Ham.

Someone have to beat the drum during a march to war after all, right? ;-)

We'll definitely find a way to use that if you end up leading troops to combat...

Lodge info up. Let me know of any additional details you'd like, etc.

That's a group of relatively unpleasant residents at the Lodge. I'd imagine that Kulwa is probably living mostly on the work of others at this point; we'll probably have to deal with him early. Perhaps there's a way that we can use a confrontation as a first show of force to give ourselves some breathing room and get a better take on the situation. The other forces and factions we're more likely to be able to work with or around I'd think. Both Obega and Iri will almost certainly be worth cultivating long term relationships with. With Iri we'll want to be sure the information about us that we want is getting sent back to whoever. With Obega, there's the Thud issue, as I don't think that Gork will take kindly to the behavior Thud's likely to demonstrate, but we can cross that bridge when we get there I suppose.

We'll want to be careful with the Lodge, certainly. There are probably more agents there that we're not aware of.

Drekisal is certainly right- there are more agents than we are aware of. I think, however, the people we need to pay the most attention to are the ones who are unnamed- the ones we will recruit to our cause quickly, and early. I don't see Kulwa Stonebreaker or Urim Gorespear quickly lending their aid to "greater, united Gelkrosh" cause. Instead, it'll start out small- the few adventures out there for a quick skirmish, we who can help- the mantids we destroy, as we gain a following- using our antidote so save lives when we can. In fact, as we work our way through the camp, we'll be seen as Gods, as we'll never get stung- right? Proof of our just cause.

That being said, let's talk about the people here. We HAVE to get on at least friendly terms with Obega Garca- not only is he the unofficial leader and mediator, but he's the lifeblood controlling the food supply. I don't think Thud will be a problem, but if he is, he can always be paid to take an extended "vacation".

I place Urim Gorespear and Iri in the same category- I think they'll either be a great addition to the cause (Dragon), or they'll not be. One small misstep, and we save their lives with the antidote, and they are ours. Otherwise, Urim at least will probably leave, and Iri might as well- and if that happens, it won't matter. The big thing will be if Iri starts trying to be friendly without saving his life- we'll have to watch him closely, regardless of when he crosses over, and I'm not certain I trust a counter-intelligence backfeed. At least, not until later.

Kulwa seems likely to be a problem, and that's fine. Once we recruit enough people to our cause, then we can confront him. I don't want to use a show of force first- I think we'll want to come across as good guys, and a show of force too early will jepoardize that.

I think Buri En Ghan will be very interesting- I think we can recruit him fairly quickly. One small misstep, or offering to let him loot the towns we take form the mantids, and he's ours.

Just a quick thing I've been thinking about, in regards to the antidote. i don't think we'll want to let on that we have it early, and I want to stress that we'll have to pick the right moment, but once we do- and if we do it correctly, to gain a valuable ally or whatever- then we have an open door policy regarding it. We'll save everyone and anyone who shows up on our doorstep needing the antivenom. We won't tell them about the preventative effects; we'll let that come out on it's own- but we save everyone. The reason is this- it'll fit our proposed story of the righteous cause, but it'll also endear us to whomever we save using it. From what we gather, it's very much a dog- eat- dog world in the Lodge- if we come out, showing everyone what it's like to be a unified Gelkrosh, then we win. Plus, no one is going to screw with the healer- that's just not allowed. What do you think?

It'll certainly be very draining on our resources, and people will probably want to steal the medicine from us, so again, whenever we use it the first time will have to be the perfect candidate (hopefully with a few other NPC's we can use to guard the camp). There's also the problem of the formula; but if we maintain that it's a complicated process, and maintain the open door policy of treating anyone who comes, then we should be able to dissuade anyone from asking too many questions about the make- at least until they've earned our trust.

What do we think?

So if Surtur needs a cover story for where he's coming from, I might suggest that we take what's actually happening and use as much of it as possible. He's left the traditional tribal lands as the efforts his people were making to reclaim them weren't working. Instead he's been wandering the past couple years assembling a team specifically designed to take out the threat. After assembling the team here from all over the region (mostly not in the dragon's lands, but it might be suspicious if none of us came from there,) he's just finished hiring the mercenaries that will come with and is making his first move.

@Surtur, I think that Kulwa is likely to confront us fairly early after we get there. He won't be out fighting the Mantids and reading between the lines he's likely to want a share of our take to leave us in relative peace. I could be wrong, but I think we'll need to do something about dealing with him (even if it's paying him the protection money,) almost from the start.

That- actually works better than the cover story I had cooked up in my head. I like it. Is everyone else ok with that cover story?

I do think Kulwa is likely to confront us early, as well- either him, or Urim Gorespear- but I think we won't need to use force to send them away. And by force, I mean I don't think we'll have to fight them; a quick refusal followed by Gork being Gork should be enough to dissuade them. They'll send someone else back, with more people- but by that time, I'm hoping we can either be gone after the mantids or assembled enough of a force that they won't pick fight. I can be wrong- but that's the plan.

Yeah, I think that we'll interact with Urim Gorespear at some point, but I don't think he'll actually give us much trouble. He's here to hunt and being the best around is probably enough to satisfy him for the most part. As long as we show respect for his strength at the start he'll probably be fine. I don't expect him to seek us out as we're not going to be interesting to him until we start making waves with either our hunting success or unusual things in camp.

Kulwa on the other hand isn't here to hunt, but he's found reason enough to stay even after he's done heading out after the Mantids, and he's got the sort of lackeys that someone in a protection racket would have. Gork being Gork might be enough to defer a fight till later, and it's certainly worth a try, but if he's looking to maintain any sort of reputation of strength at the camp then backing down from such a show might not be how he'd react. I could also be wrong, I'd be happy to, but if we're making a show of force we need to be ready to back it up in case it's met with an attack.

In that case, let's establish two seperate plans- one if we don't have to fight, and one if we do. Then we'll ask Yidi Tir and see which plan we want to go with.

Huh, I really look ahead to meet Thud - going to have convert him - or kill him if he is too stubborn to see Merrys path.
Can't have an Ogre running around torturing and eating people (no matter of slaves or not) when I am trying to find a way for a non-evil Ogre tribe some day.

Actually that's an interesting point: Slavery. Who does it, to which extend and how does Merry look at it? I figure I know the latter part already since Good and slavery are simply not working together (at least in my eyes)...

That elf sounds like trouble to me.

Don't know about the Ork. What he will do if a couple of new strong-guys come in?
I fear that either Surtur or Gork will eventually find themself called on to a duel with the Ork to settle the question of who-has-the-biggest the Ork way.

@Gork-being-Gork: This usually involves three stages, unless the opponent decides to take a shortcut to step 3 by his actions.
1. Talk nice to them.
2. Talk strong to them and warn them.
3. Beat the crap out of them.

Perhaps Drekisal is a pessimist, but he would expect at least some suspicion and envy from our being able to overcome the mantid's poison, not awe, at least from the major players. But then again, Drekisal is probably a paranoid as well as a pessimist. :D

I think that cover story works best for our very odd group. Drekisal himself is probably our worst offender for sticking out--he'll have to work hard to make certain no one suspects him of being connected to The Dragon. I was thinking he could claim he was kicked out of his tribe for having a less-than-reverential attitude towards dragons.

I like the cover story. It explains away most of our issues and we have one person that is quite knowledgeable about the rest of the world that can make up the details.

@Drekisal the mini Dragon - We could just hope that all the major players think "would the dragon really be obvious enough to send such an obvious spy?". Or something :P

But it won't hurt to seed one or two rumors just in case!

@Elf - Mm. Clearly something's going on with him.

Also slightly worried that elves aren't liked, that could mix poorly with Jhaelwyn's social skills and mean trouble. We'll see.

If the story is that Surtur has recruited Jhaelwyn as his expert on the Mantids, and we make it clear that he's the one that's both in charge of our group and responsible for what happens we'll probably be fine. Jhaelwyn on her own would be something, but "Surtur's elf hunter" is likely to be more accepted given how much trouble he's taken to pull in experts from all over.

Incidentally, my thoughts were that Gork and I in the cover story are working with Surtur because he's agreed to make the region safe for our respective peoples in addition to his own as the Mantids get cleared out. Jhaelwyn is probably on board because of her fixation with taking down the Mantid (she wouldn't need anything else.) I'm less certain what Drekisal and Cuneo have been promised to bring them along. Being exiled might work for Drekisal, but why come with us instead of doing something safer than hunting down a region disrupting threat? Cueno might be there to avenge his wife, maybe something else.

Well, given what he has to wear for his covetous curse, Drekisal is obviously doing well for himself. :D So that could be enough explanation for his presence by itself.

So the lure of treasure? That's certainly been a motivation for others in the past. It's the motivation of most of those we're about to interact with in the Lodge I'd bet. Seems plausible enough to me.

Hmm. We could just say Surtur picked up enough coin on his adventure to pay us for a few weeks/months of service?

Unless of course that means we have people looking to get a share of that ...

I think that only Drekisal's presence needs to be explained, and the promise of treasure from hunting the Mantids should be enough to keep him with us for any outsider who inquires. I assume that Jhaelwyn (like most of the rest of us,) doesn't care much about money for it's own sake.

For Histrok's sake, the motivation really is the belief that this mission is the best chance Histrok has to personally help people return to the region. Whether it's the Dragon pushing organizing it, or just Surtur organizing on his own, Histrok would be here regardless of personal gain. As long as one believes (and the Spirits tell one,) that Surtur is working for a land where peaceful people (Hobgoblins and others,) can thrive that's enough.

On an unrelated note, Histrok is going to want to try to craft a magic item for Sutrur when he has a chance to. To increase the chances of our success we need a strong leader, so Histrok is looking for something to increase Surtur's physical strength if possible, but more importantly the strength of his personality.

We can talk about it in the game thread if we want, but something that would be appropriate for a leader of Surtur's people would be a great place to start as the Enchantment Target (some sort of Vestments, a scepter, some other symbol of leadership?) Whether Histrok crafts it oneself, Surtur already has, crafts it, wins it in a contest or can find it, or we get it through some other means I'm open to figuring out.

We'll also need an Enchantment Core which I assume that I'll use guidance from Spirits to figure out, since from the description I'm not sure what is intended. Same goes for potential secondary materials. I believe that I have access to the spells that would go into the enchantment (Eagle's Splendor at the minimum, we can talk about what else might make sense.)

This would also probably take party resources, and in the long run I would plan to create items (fetishes from Histrok's point of view,) to help everyone in their specific roles. I'm more than happy to work with the party and individuals to figure out what would make the most sense. I'll need to work out with details with both GM Mercy and Surtur for this first one though. Whether that happens here in the discussion thread or elsewhere I'm not sure.

Aye. I just meant that money can be used as an universal excuse : )

@Personality enchantment - A crown is a bit much isn't it? (At least for now!)

Some sort of badge of honour perhaps? Not sure if ragtag group of adventures do medals, but maybe someone will be grateful enough for being saved to offer us something. We'll see : )

@Crafting in general - Jhaelwyn has some skills (weapons & traps) that might come in handy. Not sure if we want to invest time and resources into making some sort of magical trap though. Could be fun ... Weapons on the other hand are always nice to have.

She also gets the Harvest Parts feat from her archetype. Not sure how we'll handle it, but it feels like a good way to at least get some secondary materials at least! I hope no-one minds reused goods :P

Plus Crafter's Fortune so that's nice.

Perhaps Drekisal is a pessimist, but he would expect at least some suspicion and envy from our being able to overcome the mantid's poison, not awe, at least from the major players. But then again, Drekisal is probably a paranoid as well as a pessimist. :D

I'm definetly expecting the major players to not see it as anything other than what it is; luck and a ploy. But, then again, at least at first, I'm not worrying about the major players. Because they are so powerful and known, theyre going to be the last ones to fall in anyways, regardless.

I do worry about Kulwa. If worst comes to worst, we can pick a fight with him- and Surtur can do it Surtur's favorite way- but I think we should at the very least make it very clear that we don't want the fight, and are being forced into it. I really, really want these people to think of us as the good guys- that's really important, since they are going to be the backbone of everything we do later.

On an unrelated note, Histrok is going to want to try to craft a magic item for Sutrur when he has a chance to. To increase the chances of our success we need a strong leader, so Histrok is looking for something to increase Surtur's physical strength if possible, but more importantly the strength of his personality.

I'm really happy with this, but I'm also completely at a loss. Since Surtur's people are pretty much gone (well, the area I marked for their land isn't where most of the surviving tribes are now, so I'm assuming that means they are gone), he's wanting to help his people, but he's also trying to make all of Gelkrosh "his" people. Plus, the Athari (his clan) have a well- established canon in my mind, and there aren't any symbols of power there. Contests of strength of the body and mind, yes, but no physical symbols. I don't know. We'll work with it later.

Hmm, maybe we'll try to salvage something from the first Mantid queen we slay and make a necklace or armband out of that or something. As long as it's clear where it came from it and displayed somewhat prominently it should act a symbol of authority to those in the region. Jhaelwyn can help with harvesting the appropriate part I'd imagine.

Sorry for not posting yesterday. I definitely would have been able to if I'd had internet connection where I'm living. I'm going to be flying on the 13th, but should be able to post because airports have wifi. After that I'm staying in various places for a little while, but there should be internet in all of them. I expect I'll be able to post pretty regularly, but I might be going up into the mountains for a couple of days, I'll let you know if I can't post when that happens. I fly back here on the 28th, and then I'll move into my new residence for the year, at which point I should be able to post super consistently multiple times a day.

I should be able to finish detailing my crunch sometime within the next couple of days, possibly tonight.

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How much are we supposed to know about the people at the lodge? Are we going to claim that we're ignorant and pretend to figure things out as we go? We could try to say that Surtur did his research beforehand, but maybe not let on quite how much we know? How about that we know about Obega and Thud, and maybe heard about the Orc and Kulwa, but not too much and nothing about the others? And how are we going to establish contact with Yidi Tir?

@Cuneo, no worries for the posts, and thanks for the heads up for the schedule!

I had imagined we'd make it look like we were learning the situation at the lodge as we encounter it to a large extent. We'd want to do that to confirm our intelligence anyhow. The camp probably isn't that big, so if we have a local errand that we'd like to source out early we might be directed to Yidi Tir by someone else.

Yes, thanks for the notice, Cuneo! Every is always fine to let us know when they can't post. We'll find ways to deal.

Also, to everyone else, I'll be catching up tomorrow. I don't often have time to post on weekends, but at least at the beginning I'll be doing my best to check in.

Histrok's basically got it correct- we aren't going to know, at least not openly, anything. That being said, if we're going to send word ahead of time of our first phase, then I imagine Yidi Tir will know we are coming, and we can make an approach. I truly don't think anyone is going to bother, nor care, but best to be safe.

Obega Garca is the most powerful person in the lodge, and he might not take too kindly to a bunch of newcomers arriving and changing the way of things, esspecially if his ogre dissapears or gets killed. Still, lowering the number of mantids in the area and freeing up the existing towns has got to be something that would increase traffic through the area, which is good for buisness.

This brings up another point. If we do free towns and settlements, there are going to be people who want to lay claim to whatever the erstwhile townsfolk left behing. Further, if we establish mining towns we're going to have to make sure we can protect them from bandits. Of course, if the towns are populated by or contain good numbers of ogres, that's less of an issue. It's also important to note that if we successfully kill a nest and it has a lot of loot, we're going to need to keep that secret unless we think most of the lodge would be too scared to try to mess with us.

I moved this over to the discussion thread, as it seemed to fit better here, in my mind.

I don't know so much that Obega Garca is the most powerful person/faction in the Lodge, versus the most impartial. He does provide an essential service, something that everyone needs; which is why everyone agrees not to mess with him, in exchange for his impartiality on matters. He's going to be there to keep anyone from messing with the status quo- but if we provide enough of a wind of change, then he isn't going to side against us, on the chance we do win- so to speak.

You do bring in a good second point, however, something that I had been meaning to say but wasn't quite certain how to do so- as a response for helping us, we should open up an equal share of the loot- and that includes the land. So any profits from looting or trails, or whatever, will be equally divided. Now, eventually, I hope to sell most of this to the River Basin Concern (for a considerable discount in exchange for their help), but if/when that happens, everyone who helps us gets an equal share of the profits. Since I doubt we'll be taking on a whole nest early enough that we won't be able to protect our gains, I'm not going to worry about it for now- though if push comes to shove, Buri En Ghan is going to be the man to go to.

What do you think?

Also, I know the intro felt forced, but I did want to get us to the main goodies as quickly as possible. Plus, we've been discussing in the Discussion tab, and we'll have a few days of travel, it looks like, so our characters would have a chance to get to know one another then.

The intro was fine I think. It was a bit of a sudden transition from one style to another, but I can see Surtur doing that sort of thing, so it fits. Part of our growth as a party will be adjusting to each other.

You do bring in a good second point, however, something that I had been meaning to say but wasn't quite certain how to do so- as a response for helping us, we should open up an equal share of the loot- and that includes the land. So any profits from looting or trails, or whatever, will be equally divided. Now, eventually, I hope to sell most of this to the River Basin Concern (for a considerable discount in exchange for their help), but if/when that happens, everyone who helps us gets an equal share of the profits. Since I doubt we'll be taking on a whole nest early enough that we won't be able to protect our gains, I'm not going to worry about it for now- though if push comes to shove, Buri En Ghan is going to be the man to go to.

What do you think?

I think that this is a fine and noble ideal, but I'm not sure how well it would go over here. We're dealing, especially in the lodge, but with the region as a whole in general, with people who expect that the strong will get a proportionally larger share; trying to break that expectation might not go smoothly. I expect that we'll try to get help from Urim Gorespear along the way, as well as very different sorts of help from Ydid Tir. I don't think that either of them would expect to get an equal share when it comes time to divide things up, and I'd guess that Urim would be offended if we tried it.

I think that making sure everyone is getting a reward for their help is a great idea, but I'll suggest, especially at the start when things are relatively small, we try to tailor them to the people. Land and a steady job in a settlement might be perfect for some, silver for others, a place of leadership in any armed forces might work for still others.

Hmm, looks like I tricked myself. I'm actually flying out on the 14th, not the 13th.

Going to try to work on crunch, probably has to happen now or after I leave. Will try to get it done soon.

Don't worry, Surtur, Drekisal would have found something about you he didn't like just about no matter what you did. :D

@Intro - I like it. It was a clever idea and it didn't eat up five months of IRL time. :-)

@Trip - have a nice one, whenever you fly :-P

@GM Mercy, OK, thanks for that clarification! Histrok, as I said, will be keeping an eye out for creation cores and potentially useful secondary materials that could supplement the party's powers. Strength, both physical and personality for Surtur, things that would help Gork spread Merry's word (especially as the worship of Merry sounds like something that Histrok would be fine with in the region,) items of deception and disguise for Drekisal, tracking/hunting/slaying powers for Jhaelwyn, and, er I'm not quite sure what a good fit for Cuneo is yet (sorry Cuneo.) I'm not expecting to find things right away, or perhaps at all, but as and if we find potential power cores, those are the uses I would be looking for for them.