What if I wish for an outrageous super-curse?
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I would like to be horribly cursed.
"Familiarizing ourselves with the Dwarves seems wise. Are we to go as ourselves, or should we establish other personnas as Dominique has done? "When it comes to respawn points and the like, it brings up an interesting truth. We are not limited by our earthly bodies here. I wear a talisman that allows me to go without food or sleep, but that shouldn't have any affect on our controlling minds. I have not slept more than a few hours a day since arriving, and I would wager Ginza has not slept an instant. If we were still logged in, and it was just some error that kept us trapped here, our real brains would still need rest. I've used nutrient packs occasionally when we were setting up for long raids, but it has been weeks. Unless some authority found us and moved us, neural-rig ans all to some life support unit, we should all have starved to death by now." "Whatever has happened doesn't make much sense, but it seems we must be in the game for real. Either an accident occurred, from which medical authorities have not been able to log us out; I've gone psychotic, and you are all just a delusion; the system created copies of our minds and imported them into the game and we only think we're ourselves, or our minds have actually been separated from our bodies, and we really are here, ghosts in the machine, while our bodies lie mindless or dead." "I think the first is unlikely. We are all in different places, all over the world. Chances are at least one of us would have been missed and died by now, and even medical care would still not explain our lack of need for sleep. If it is psychosis, none of this matters, as none of it is real. If it is either of the last two, what we are here is what we really are, and there is no outside world anymore, though in the last case it might be possible to find a way back, so long as our bodies survive. Regardless, surviving here seems to be the paramount consideration. If we are really here, we live by the rules of this place. Therefore, if there are respawn points, we may be able to respawn. If resurection is possible here, then we should be resurectable. In those cases, we are digital beings now, though seemingly self-aware programs. I suppose we should treat this as though it were the real world, and consider all consequences of our actu9ns accordingly."
Canadian here; thanksgiving was a month ago. Turkey and stuffing is traditional in my household. I do the cooking.
"I am concerned about how much is happening on the discression of individual members our our company. It was my understanding that we had agreed to restrict our activities to information gathering and establishing relations with local cultures for the time being. Some of these situations, the involvement with the Dwarves for instance, seem to be on the verge of involving us in wars and ongoing conflicts. I am not saying the result is not one the group might have chosen, but I do think that such degrees of involvement, and things that will end up reflecting back on the guild, should be brought back to the guild council for debate before commitments are made." "For instance, I am vague on who the enemy of the Dwarves are, and as to whether the claims they have to these former lands are valid. Not suggesting of course that we need to make our decision based on legal grounds, but rather in what best benefits the guild. In many cases, helping any single power to eliminate their enemy may not be in our best interest. A power without a surviving foe might be tempted to focus their power on eliminating emerging powers, such as us, once their established enemies are gone. The wiser policy is often to balance the interests of enemies against each other, without ever allowing a decisive Victor, so they never have the time to decide we represent the greater threat. I doubt they have Sun Tzu in this world, but the principles are still just as insightful." In fact, it occurs to me that if we intend to manipulate trends and outcomes across this landscape, it might be useful to start establishing a second guild, ostensibly in opposition to our own. Therefore, if Götterdämmerung were to aid the Dwarves in reclaiming their lost territories, our second group, Implausible Deniability or one of the other proposed names from back in the day, could aid their enemies, making sure their leaders and royals escape, and can reestablish themselves in order to rearm and continue the conflict."
Not asking you to retcon anything, just noting that it is outside my experience; particularly since it is happening off screen. If it was another player, we'd be able to follow along with what they are doing, but in this case we only get the after report. I imagine the intent is to add flavour and flesh out the world, but it feels more like a we have a loose Cannon we have no way to influence.
I am still here. I must say that while I don't think Dominique had done anything egrediuous, what he has done is activated I a way that ivms very different from any whay I've ever seen someone using a DMPC before. Don't get me wrong, I love a good DMPC, ans I often run one when I'm the guy in the hottest, but in pretty much all instances, the DMPC is there for support, to bounce ideas off of, and to help you implement your ideas. I've never before been in a campaigne where the DMPc is just off doing his thing like a rifle doing a solo mission, but even more that that, as it appears to be ha0pwning off screenm fact having most of it occur off screen. It comes agmcross as odd to me. I thought Dminique was a guildmaster, as in the guy that almost bever leaves the guild, as he is handling the administrative and day to day concerns of the place. To have him wheeling in dealing in countries the rest uses havent even visited yet seems way outside his duties, to me at least
"Dominique, I wish you had come to this group before getting so involved in partisan politics. It is possible we might have come to the same conclusion, but then we might not, and I thought we had agreed to engage only in peaceful relations until we had a clear picture of the political landscape. Decisions regarding conflicts were to follow after our intelligence gathering period."
I was kinda wondering about this too. I thought we'd agreed to peaceful exploration and developing relations with the neighbours before deciding where and what we might want to do that might cause wars or conquests. Dominique seems to be starting all sorts or wars the rest of us are not really party to, and hadn't really agreed to.
"Indeed. We found a nest of white dragons, and in addition to getting ourselves some impressive skulls for the walls, we were able to aquire a large quantity of cash in local currencies, as well as a friendly D'jinn, willing to continue a future association, and use his powers on our behalf."
Amadea make an appearance at the party, keeping a mostly quiet presence. She comes in her natural form, snake tail, and six armed. She has a quiet drink, letting the energy of the party flow around her.
Amadea moves from the group after teleporting them back to the keep. She settles back into her apartment, and after washing off the layers of blood and gore, she puts on a dressing gown and moves into her study to start identifying the treasure she collected.
Dominique:
"I thought you'd found some subordinates to help you with your workouts? All of this is a bit new to me, and the physiology of naga-kin aside, I think I'm going to take some time before considering that kind of recreation. No offense." "Dominique here found a dragon's den, and stirred up a bit more than he could handle. He took down one of them in the end, while I bagged the other three." She holds up of the severed heads, still hanging from the chain acquired in the castle. "They're going to look marvelous once we get them mounted." "The hoard will be useful as well; plenty of local currency we can use to start dealing with the natives."
Great news you're alive! I think there was only one death in Canada from Fiona. Elevated surf hit their house and washed the whole structure out to sea. Happened to a dozen houses or so, but most had heeded the evacuation and were therefore empty.
Hurricane Fiona. Spent a week and a half without power. Some places on the island still don't have electricity. My yard is a mess of fallen trees and I don't have a chainsaw. Fortunately the house is ok.
Hey guys, I'm in Atlantic Canada, and we got hit pretty hard by hurricane Fiona. We've been without power since Friday. I'm at a warming shelter now charging some devices, but still have no power at home. No idea how often I'll be able to get internet, so it is probably best to bot me until further notice.
"Curiouser and curiouser. The number of wishes is negotiable now?" She searches her memory for any thoughts about his situation. Is it at all consistent with the way D'jinn work, and if it wasn't one of them, what might it be?
Amadea looks around the chamber, looking for signs of anything else that seems off, almost certain now that the creature is not what he claims to be.
"Well, that's curious. You don't see him?" With a little doubt cast over his existence, she will try again to disbelieve illusion.
"Behind the ice; I am seeing a D'jinn, and he is trying to convince me to pull that lever and open the ice. Something about it seems... off, however. He offered two wishes, not three, and for release, not capture. You truly don't see or hear anything?"
"Dominique, does anything seem wrong with this situation? It feels like there is something off, but I can't quite put my finger on it." "Should we free him?
"In the world I came from, D'jinn granted wishes to those that captured them, as opposed to those that free them. Is it different here?" Amadea waves Dominque over, wishing to get a second set of eyes on what appears to be something inconsistent in the creature's appearance.
"Two? I thought three was customary." Amadea gives the creature a good inspection, to make sure it is what it says it is, and to see how it might be set free.
Amadea carefully approaches the ice wall, looking around for ambush points, just in case the figure is meant to be a distraction. "You had better not be a Nibelungen," She whispers to herself. A few thoughts tumbled through her mind as she aoproached the wall. While capable of many things, bringing down an ice wall could prove a challenge for Amadea. She could dispell it, were it to prove a mystical barrier, but melting it might be beyond her. Perhaps she could locate a flaming weapon, or teleport back to the keep to find one. Once reaching the wall, she addresses the creature, raising her voice to carry through the ice.
Amadea waits for Dominique to return before braving the entrance to the treasure cavern. Before getting too far into the chamber, she slows to a stop to survey the room. She pushes up with her tail to give herself a better view of the room, going from her usual 6 foot or so to nearly 9 feet off the ground. She casts Detect Magic and See Invisible, expecting to see numerous magical items, but more interested at the moment in looking for Traps and anything out of the ordinary.
Seeing the man behind the ice wall, Amadea still does not cross into the chamber. She makes an active effort to discern that the man is real, and not an illusory bait to some sort of trap.
"No sign of recent use on most; the far left looks like the most recently used. That is probably the best place to start." She starts down the tunnel, signaling Dominique to come along with her.
Amadea summarizes what she sees, and then gestures to Dominique that they should continue down the tunnel.
Amadea moves cautiously towards the cabins, trying to keep an eye out for potential ambush; from the rocks, the cabins, or from the rocks.
She starts looking for sign if who might live here, serving the dragons; kobold, dragonborn, or frost giants might all be common choices, if the dragons could recruit them.
Amadea casts fly, and begins following after Dominique. She shifts to her human form, lest anyone mistake her for a full demon flying overhead.
"I don't recall seeing that before. Fair enough. Could come in handy, if it can store items that large. I am more than ready. Shall we go?"
"Where did the rest of them go?"
"It will take at least a few trips. Or I can find a bag of holding back at the Keep, that may speed things up. I'll take the heads and the loot this trip, look around for a bit, and see if I can't find one. Be back in half an hour or so. I've heard dragon meat is supposed to be amazing, so I think I'd like to keep as much it as possible. Relay through Ekaterina of you need me back sooner." Once back at the Keep, Amadea summons a few servants to take the heads to the cold room, until.we can get them to a proper taxidermist. After that, she searches for a bag of holding within the keeps stores for a bit before teleporting back to Dominique.
"I'm not sure why I'm Healing so fast. I do regenerate while Raging, but not this quick. Usually, I'd use a Wand to heal up afterwards, if I needed it." "I can take the heads back. Any idea where their lair was? It would be a shame if their hoards were just lost." Speaking of which, Amadea will collect the severed heads from the four dragons, and do a detect magic on their corpses to see if any had any magic items on them. After tying them together with chains from a chandolier, she tosses them over a shoulder and returns to the crafting room. She collects all the magic items she saw initially, and conducts a search to find any she might of missed.
Am I missing it? I see Dominique's actions, and a tab that shows the dragon stats, but I don't see any actions for the dragons?
Am I missing it? I see Dominique's actions, and a tab that shows the dragon stats, but I don't see any actions for the dragons?
Dominique: Round 3
Round 4
Dominique: "I'd say kill them all if you can. Their skulls will look amazing all lined up. Maybe staggered a bit to give us a little two level effect." She'll cast Shadow Trap on the Dragon between Dominique and herself (will save 25), and then turn and move to the one that tore through the door at the furthest end from her companion. "I'll try to cast a hold on the one in the middle. Lets kill the buggers on each end and then meet back in the middle."
If folk are confused about the dragons, basically there are two separate and unrelated things going on at once. Town: In the aftermath of the explosion, it has been discovered that the baker was using some some sort of enchantments or illusion, which caused Alexandria to unleash her powers. Ekaterina is heading up an effort to uncover who or what the baker is, and why she is manipulating Alex. Meanwhile: Dominique sent a report via the telepathic link that he had pissed off a nest of dragons, and was potentially going to be overrun. Amadea volunteered to try and meet up with him, as when he tried to take cover from the dragons in an abandoned castle, he stirred up the Undead that dwelt therein. She managed to find him and teleport to his location. Only Amadea and Dominique are present with the dragons.
Spoiler: Surprise Round: Amadea sees the dragon at the end of hall, and smiles at the silly, overconfident beast. It has not yet figured out that they are the hunter ones here. She focuses on a spot near the a beast behind the one in front, picturing herself there. In the next moments, she stands at the beasts flank, her blades greedy and ready.
Round 1
As the severed limbs, wings, and head of the dragon rain down around her and begin to settle on the ground, Amadea turns to the next creature in line, and while covered in blood and viscera, gives it a smile and a polite nod.
Dominique: "How wide is the corridor? Adult White Dragons can't generally shape shift, so if they are restricted to coming down one at a time, that strongly favors us."
Amadea looks around the lab and casts detect magic, to see if there is anything present she might make use of. "I have no way to inflict Fire damage either, except for burning hands, which I know mostly on the off chance we face a swarm. I can inflict a lot more damage with my blades anyways. Battle imminent, she casts Iron Skin on herself and Dominique, and Shield and Greater Magic Weapon on herself. Next she places a casting of Burning Hands in her spell storing shield. That said, she draws four swords in four hands, summons her eldritch sonic blade in a fifth, and holds her shield in the last. When ready, she nods at Dom, and moves towards the door.
Dominique: Amadea assumes without even looking that Dominique will be at full health, knowing his regenerative abilities.
"How are doing for Chi? Do you need any gear, or are you still ok for supplies? Do you need Mage Armour? I can cast Shield and Iron Skin before we go into combat, but the duration is shorter, so that should be last minute. Wish I knew Resist Energy, or that I could have brought Ginza, but my teleportation only works on myself."
"Hmm, let's see; White Dragons can't usually see the Invisible, so Invisibility and Fly gives us some strong ambush potential. I bet with the proper set up we can kill or at least severely injure a dragon each. Of course, the instant we attack, the surprise will be lost, and we'll have to either take on the rest directly, or withdraw after the first clash, and set up another ambush. What do you think? Dragons are far from suicidal, so if we injure or kill enough of them, the rest should flee."
Dominique:
Amadea looks around, a little stunned.
"I actually made it to you? I though at best I'd make it a dozen miles from you and I'd have to jump around a bit to find the castle or spot the dragons circling. Speaking of which, what exactly are we dealing with? You said White Dragons? Juveniles or adults? How many? Amy minions? You said you destroyed all the Undead? Are you sure of that?" As she rambles off her questions, Amadea gets herself ready for combat, pulling her scabbarded Swords and baldric from her haversack and strapping them on. She double checks her Mage Armour to make sure it is still active, and starts thinking about other buffs she might need.
Concentrating on Ekaterina, Amadea sends a message back to her, "Miracle of miracles, but I actually found Dominique. Now it's time to pull his nuts out of the fire; or freezer, as the case may be. Call if you need me back, and I'll come if I can."
@GM what does Domuyaku see as his eyes pierce the illusion? E
Hypothetical Action: "I will go to help Dominique. It sounds as though he may have bitten off more than he can chew. If I cannot find his location, I'll return to the keep and see if I can scry it out, and try again. Take care with Alexandria; something odd is going on here."
Amadea was washing up from from moving ruble, scrubbing her hands and face to at least remove the dust and soot. When the psychic chatter starts up regarding Alexandria, she starts making her way over towards the bakery. The woman was sounding odd indeed, and one way or another appeared to be behind the explosion. It would not particularly help our relations here for it to become known we brought this risk into the village. When Dominique started relaying his particular hornets nest, she responded to him as well, "Dominique, do you require assistance? If you give me you direction and bearing, or location relative to a nearby landmark, I may be able to teleport to you, or at least close enough to see the dragons and home in on you."
I'm camping at present, with only intermittent internet access. Bot me qhen necessary.
Amadea doesn't have any powers that might help her locate victims. She does however have the strength of 3 to 4 grown men. Like Domayaku, she moves in to grab and dig at the rubble, moving pieces almost as large as what the two men can lift together.
She pauses briefly to smile at bewildered looking townswoman, while standing in her sooty and torn new dress, holding aloft a timber beam that must weigh near a thousand pounds. She winks before tossing it casually aside.
I could move this rubble even faster in a Rage, but I don't think doing this recklessly would be a good idea. Don't want to collapse anything that hasn't already fallen over... Speaking with her mind she says, "I have a Wand of Cure Light Wounds. I can also do about 6 castings of inferal healing. Luckily I have a near inexhaustible supply of demon blood close at hand!" Edit: The distance you can throw an object is based on its weight and your Strength. You can throw your heavy load 5 feet, which is also the base range for throwing. For every 5 points of Strength you have over the minimum required to lift an object as a heavy load, double the base range.
"Sounds prudent. The rest of us will be nearby if needed. We don't know that she is involved, so I'd suggest starting with a soft query, as opposed to an accusation. If it was not her, she may even have sensed where and when it originated."
"A beam of fire? Have you had issue before with rogue magi? You sound unaccustomed to such things, but there are several spells that could present in such a fashion." |