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Hey everyone, I'm really sorry to have dropped off the face of the Earth without any warning! My partner was suddenly put in the ER for the last week, (they're doing much better now) but I was so frazzled between that and finals that I wasn't remembering to eat or sleep, let alone check the forums. I'm back now though, and I'll try to get something up ASAP! Thank you everyone for your patience!
Ah! I'm sorry that you felt undervalued, I'll try and make sure that I'm involving everyone in the future. I did like your cleric build, but go with what will bring you the most joy to play! As I've said a few times now, I may be LE in the game, but definitely not in real life.
"Someone," Addanc rumbled, "Has attempted to poison me. I don't suppose either of you wish to confess to it?" He paused, waiting for emphasis. "No? I didn't think so. Nor do I think it likely that either of you would have attempted such an... unwieldy attempt at my life. But who did is the question?"
"We mustn't show fear. Strength is our ally here, and to arrive on time to an appointment one was expected to be dead for is a magnificent display. Still, perhaps word should be sent back for reinforcements?"
Addanc's mood, which was always lingered somewhere between fury and paranoia, was substantially more foul than usual. His brother was on his case about violating the rights of the people, the halflings were up in arms about wanting noble houses again, the old guard of nobles kept trying to marry him off, and to cap it all off, someone had slipped poison into his cup. From the taste it was Nymph's Lure, one of his personal favorites. Fortunate then, that he had worked to mithridatize himself against it. Still, these problems needed to be sorted, and he didn't have the capacity to do it himself. He sighed, and then called the advisors that he thought were least likely to carry out such an ill advised poison attempt to him.
Embarrassingly, I seem to have somehow completely missed dread vanguard! It kind of really sucks until higher levels, especially with a bardic inspiration cleric, but hey, I'll take it! Now all that's left is the question of being mounted! I suppose eventually having an infernal tyrannosaurus would be "cool" but I'm a sucker for the classic black knight on a dread horse type aesthetic
"Let us see if the more politic of them can be swayed by our machinations. If not... well outwardly it would seem that we have done all we can to treat with them as equals. The use of force in their subjugation would be justified. They cannot all be as willing to face pain as this one was."
Couple of questions for future levels, no rush, just some thoughts I'd like to get out there! 4th level grants Addanc spells. Personally, I was hoping to avoid having spells at all, and would love to swap them out for something the DM deems appropriate, if such an indulgence would be allowed. If not, I totally get it, and that's perfectly fine! At 5th level the anti-paladin boon is super strange compared to the paladin one. I know it's cool to consort with devils and such, but I'd really prefer the generic paladin mount, horses are cool to ride on, especially when you're in imposing fullplate. Leveling seems like a distant thought at the moment, but I'd like to throw those concepts out there!
Torture wasn't Addanc's style. He had people to do that for him. But as king, it was his responsibility to observe. It wasn't that he was squeamish about it per-se, he just had no talent for it, and found it personally... distasteful. Still, he held nothing against the fetchling for his skills, he played a valuable role in his court. Our differences give us strength, the king thought, As long as they recognize their subservience to the crown of course.
"Your concern is noted Finja, but I am fine. Check me for poisons if you must, but the wounds are superficial. Now. What to do with the live one..." The king muses over Maurice's words.
"If Alvero is able and willing to probe this man's mind while he rests, then we might have the best of both worlds. To simply kill him would be a waste. If that is not possible, Maurice, you may do as you will to gain as much knowledge from him as possible. In that case, his would be the body we buried." "Do you agree to this plan of action, my advisors?"
Having seen our group's potential, I'm not overly worried about rocket tag, as we don't quite yet have a ton of rockets. Addanc doesn't even have power attack yet, and will continue to fight with a shield even once he does. Our debuff game however, seems on point. We've got a force multiplier in Grym, a debuffer in Maurice, and a wizard. Also, @Alvero, do you have share memory? If not, I'd be happy to spend some of my leftover cash to buy you a scroll of it so you can transcribe it.
"I think we're past that point."
And how would I be able to function without my one of my high priests and spymaster? Very happy to have you back, and I'm sorry to hear about your phone.
"This is beginning to get sort of embarrassing for you..."
Addanc, somewhat non-plussed by the seeming lack of any reaction from the Nictari other than obstinate assault, draws Gorund, his masterwork light mace, aiming for the already damaged one so that Finja will have a place to stand and fire freely.
"I make good on my promises."
Addanc lifts the body of the Nictari warrior at his feet. "This warrior still lives. Would you not prefer to keep it this way?" He advances towards the remaining Nictari, using the fallen warrior as a supplement for his shield. "If you kneel now, and apologize for your actions, I will spare their lives and your own," he says, although he isn't yet entirely sure if he means it.
Addanc looks pityingly at the Nictari who's spear bounced off of his armor. No words are needed here. He reaches out a hand, and puts it on the charger's face, gently exerting downwards pressure as he does so.
"Kneel." His voice is gentle, warm, reassuring.
Note to self: When we inevitably become absurdly wealthy attach a ring gate to the back of my armor, and give the other gate to whoever's a healer.
"Time is of the essence. I value a quick solution for this problem so we can turn our attention to more worthy targets. However, subtlety and tact are of even greater concern, the other nations must not see us as the aggressors, lest they become agitated. Perhaps we should approach promising Nictari who share my ambitions. I expect that many of you have connections that you can leverage." "Perhaps we should send an envoy to Daercia as well, to ensure good relations between our two nations as we peruse this course of action. My brother Alister might be a good choice, he presents well."
"I favor Finja's plan of integration as a long term solution, but how will we force their leaders to yield to us without tipping our hand as an expansionist state? I would not have the other nations worry that we would attack them unprovoked."
The king's mind is racing as he goes through the court niceties, and ensures that the storm crow has someplace pleasant to rest that also allows for easy spying. Then he gathers together his most trusted (or at least most competent) advisors, and sends the rest of his court away. "The Crow brings grave tidings. Regardless of the possible truth of them, it seems likely that we can turn this to my advantage. An excuse to invade the Nictari that also positions us as the wronged party is an excellent start, but it is just the beginning. What are your thoughts on the matter?"
"Unity is what the crow promotes. For too long we have had bad blood between us and the Nictari, and if a great storm really does blow our way then we must have allies in the time to come." His eyes lazily look around the room at his advisors, deciding seemingly on a whim on... "Maurice!" He beckons his advisor over, stating in his loud authoritative voice as his advisor walks, "Organize a delegation to speak with the rebels of peace in our time!" As the advisor reaches him, he whispers. "And ensure that the delegation dies at Nictarian hands."
Alvero, do you have share memory? It's a second level wizard spell, if not I'll spend some of my leftover money to get it added to your spellbook.
Addanc shifts in his throne, deep in thought.
Addressing the scout from the Northern border,
I know we just started, but I'm really really happy with the characterization so far. I just hope I can measure up!
When Addanc appeared before others, he would wear his great full plate, sans the gauntlets, and with the helmet on a stand near him. His crown was a simple circlet of platinum, a far cry from the lavish gold crown encrusted with jewels that his father used to wear. Addanc's armor was a terrible thing to behold, and his mace always rested against the throne. Despite his menacing appearance, his voice was always warm and friendly, and his eyes had a kindly edge, something that his high councilors knew that he worked hard in front of a mirror to cultivate. "Indeed Tengu? A great storm is coming?"
I am exceedingly excited! I've been trying to brush up on my kingdom building rules!
So close... I can almost taste it!
Speaking as a front-liner, arms and armor comes to mind! And if you have both that and wonderous, you can take craft construct, which certainly could give us an advantage over the other nations if we had a constructor, after all they come in lots of sizes and shapes!
I have a strong desire for eventually achieving magical supremacy. I definitely agree that 8 should be our first target, as we can even offer a believable reason of needing to crush them, and fighting a war on multiple fronts is a terrible plan. Eventually though, 7 should be on our hit-list. A nation of archmages sounds particularly terrifying. 6 on the other hand, would siphon off our halfling population, and needs to be dealt with before we end up losing all of them. On the other hand, it should be pretty easy to get some spies in their midst, all we need are a couple of loyal halflings, and they should easily be able to access their lands.
Addanc is complete! NPC's online, I made some copies of the NPC card slide, so there's space for everyone. Very excited to get started.
Where are the slides that I should be looking at? I'm sorry, I seem to have missed them! -- In any case, I have finished, with the exception of still needing to find an extra trait for myself. I took a drawback for flavor, now I need to figure out what will actually help me! I have personally played with and abused both sacred geometry and blood money, and had quite a bit of fun with my table in the process. Personally it would not bother me either way, as long as it was made clear which way we were going. Blood money I find to be much more egregious than sacred geometry (as well as herbalism bond druids spamming spirit share, but that's a completely different issue) If we ever get to a decently high level such that fabricate and magic jar become options, blood money becomes incredibly appealing, especially to evil characters. I personally won't be making any use of it, but I'm not really a caster. As long as it's open to everyone, I don't really have a problem with it, so I guess this is just a really long winded abstention. -- Alternate Death: If we were going to do that, I'm personally fond of wounds and vigor as an alternate system. I prefer the threat of death to be a constant background thought, but if the majority want a more forgiving variant, I have no real complaints. Potential suggestion: allow attackers to state that they don't want to kill the target, and chose to do less damage if the blow would kill? It sort of takes the teeth away from non-lethal damage, but it's a compromise. I'm flexible either way, with a slight preference towards rocket tag, but I'm not playing a squishy!
Arguably, Zailor is the best fit for your current building, having trickery as a domain, and Sovereignty as an influence.
Can't go wrong with the national religion of Hapi, although I'm not entirely sure if trickery falls within his purview, and it looks like only Jarrett offers nobility as a part of his profile, and is a CG deity.
Well, there weren't a lot of non-barbarian martials :) Besides, next level even Addanc ends up with some light spell casting ability unless I find a good way to get rid of it. Even worse than always being around sneaky spell casters is having sneaky spell casters being around you and not knowing it. --- Cleric gets medium armor and shields, so they hopefully will be able to stand up front, although maybe with a polearm or something behind Addanc? We'll see how it goes. Oxnard said there would be a lot of kingdom building and RP.
My only possible concern is a lack of a strong front line, but Addanc himself has no issue with wading into combat. Hopefully it won't be a problem though!
Addanc's father was a superstitious barbarian king (in all senses of the word) and Addanc while swearing to be nothing like his father has a pretty decent helping of paranoia, including distrust of wizardry. That being said, Addanc love's appearances of legitimacy, and would absolutely support you looking like a "classically" trained mage, as I understand it it's kind of like getting a doctorate from an Ivy league? Clout-wise, the elite dwarven soldiers train to be highly resistant to magic, so magicians have an important role in training even martials in the army, so it's probably a respectable role, although seen as less honorable than being a front line warrior
Think we should keep this thread open for interactions between kingdoms?
I have resisted my temptation to grab as many clerics as possible to deny the other kingdoms access to their services. I call upon Edelsmirge and MordredofFairy to join my court. I am very interested to see how these builds would work! The Vault could use more people like you!
Having some form of magical supremacy is important to Addanc; be it powerful mages or magic resistant warriors, both are excellent things to have. And having a good relation with your spymaster is a good way to avoid state secrets being "accidentally" leaked to enemies of the state!
I may just be a sucker for a good moustache, but 8 really speaks to me on a personal level.
Howdy folks! Do we want to get some additional RP, relationships, etc.? Really excited to be here, but I'll strive to channel that excitement to the insecurity, fear, and ennui of Addanc.
Alrighty, looks like I'm up! Addanc the Ruthless would be best served by Alvero Elceren, and Maurice Thurbach. Help me help you make The Vault the most powerful nation in the Fair Lands!
Total respect to Robert here, he's doing Hapi's work :) Also full respect to anyone who doesn't want to have an evil ruler, the name of the game is to have some fun! Very excited for the upcoming deadline, although I have a few papers I need to finish up tonight and may not be as active as I normally would like! Still, I'll check in a few times tonight, don't want to slow anything down.
Oh yeah, another important note about the Dhampirs in The Vault. Addanc hates the undead. A lot. He understands Dhampirs to be victims of undeath in their own right, but in order to be accepted into society they would have to renounce their necrotic taint, and undergo a (non-magical) purification ritual.So, you're basically saying that despite the race option, it really isn't an option? That! Exactly, thank you Oxnard!
Oh yeah, another important note about the Dhampirs in The Vault. Addanc hates the undead. A lot. He understands Dhampirs to be victims of undeath in their own right, but in order to be accepted into society they would have to renounce their necrotic taint, and undergo a (non-magical) purification ritual.
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