Base:
Desseer lands once more before the seemingly abandoned building and enters. "Jav! I've got an update!"
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Desseer:
"I appreciate the info," Desseer replies gratefully as he turns back to the window. With a small amount of purple light and a minor breeze, Desseer vanishes from sight and flies off, back toward the base.
From Ink's point of view the best way to do that is to bring her to the Cinder HQ.
Desseer: Desseer gives a sly wink, "I would love to work with you as well, and I'm happy with our guilds' alliance. But, being the guild leader and all, it is my job responsibility to be paranoid. And you could very easily lead me astray. So, you'll have to forgive me if I keep an eye on you while we work together. And not the pleasurable kind, though my other eye has been known to...wander."
"Sly is an interesting travel companion. Though, I can't shake the feeling of him spying on me for Arthur. But, as we are allies, and I have a predilection for the clandestine, I suppose I can accept it for now." Desseer feigns pouty, "I just like having secrets." He gives Lillith a gentle finger boop on the nose, "You got it. I'll leave the Consortium to you for now. If there is anything I can do to help, just let me know." He then heads for the window before stopping abruptly and turning back around, "Hey, what do you know about Guild District Rukar? Do you know where he is?"
Desseer: Desseer smiles in return, "Sounds good. You know, while I wouldn't propose to poach you from Dom, I would like to express disappointment. I think we would work very well together." He stares for a second before continuing and getting up out of the chair, "What do you want to do about your Zerasha guise? Do you want her killed or something?"
Desseer: Desseer narrows his eyes at Lillith with an eyebrow raised. Through a smirk he replies, "Wouldn't that be opportune for you? Also, 'might have connections'?" He then gets thoughtful, "Without knowing their connections it'd be hard to replace them. It might be best to learn of their connections and then replace them later. I certainly can't tell you to do it, but it would be neat if you could infiltrate them. Are you willing?"
Dang, that's rough
Desseer: Desseer accepts the glass as he rolls his eyes and loudly groans in frustration, "Ugh! Why does it get more complicated!?" "Fine, fine,"" he says a moment later and decorously takes a sip of the wine, placating himself. "I feel like this Consortium is going to be more harmful than helpful. Am I right?" he asks Lillith. "I mean, if we're killing people anyway, we could just add to the list. "
Sounds like a decision for Ink.
I thought you were going to post something fro Jav explaining to Myriana things? Or did I miss that? I suppose I could post something, but the GM has been controlling Jav. Up to you.
Me? Is it my turn?
Desseer: Desseer arches an eyebrow, "Are the Consortium separate from the Craterlords?"
Desseer:
Instantaneously, Desseer's grand standing and threatening demeanor breaks into relaxed laughter. "Lillith?" he manages amid the laughter. "Son of a..." After his short laughing fit, Desseer takes a few breaths and lounges back in the chair. "Right you are, Arthur would be pretty unhappy with me if I even tried it," he acknowledges, and adds, "Not that I would." He heaves another big breath and continues, "Well, if you are willing, please tell me about the Cathedral and Consortium." Myriana/Home Base:
Desseer: Tiefling-Desseer spreads his hands, "In the flesh, so to speak. And thank you, you make me sound so enigmatic." He continues informatively, "More specifically though, I am the one taking charge of Cinder. It is now my city." Desseer's gaze bores into Zerasha. With a threatening voice, "I'm sure you have already gathered, but I haven't killed you right away. This means that I think you might be useful to me. Will you..be useful to me?"
I am here
I'd suggest getting confirmation from the GM, but yes-ish. Controlling trivial NPCs is more of what I'm saying.
It has taken a while to figure out the vibe that the GM is going for. I'm fairly sure that it is not a fault of the GM, but that I am so unaccustomed to taking the liberty in creating and controlling environments and npcs as a player. But, we all know that there many environments and npcs that are arbitrary. So, why not just utilize your own creativity to fill in the arbitrary gaps instead of putting that work upon the GM? That said, stories without conflict are boring. This doesn't mean that the obstacles before your character need to truly challenge them, force a resource expenditure. It doesn't have to be a major resource, something to remind that your character is putting effort in. I don't know if this is exactly what the GM has in mind, but I figured I'd share my thoughts at the moment. Separately, I figured, GM, that this conversation with Zerasha will likely be significant enough that it'd be best if you took charge of her.
Desseer/Beast Market: Desseer comes-to in the position he left his body in. He smirks as he slowly moves to stand up and says quietly to himself, "This should be fun."
The room of the Craterlord is, like herself, elegant. The walls are lined with dark wood and rich tapestries depicting scenes of conquest and treachery, speaking to her desire toward power. Despite the illumination that fills the room, a few shadows are still cast that give the air that secrets hide throughout. Zerasha is a striking figure, with sharp features and piercing eyes that seem to hold the weight of countless schemes. Her hair, dark and cascading, frames her face, with a single braid adorned with small silver animal charms. From one of the fine chairs in the corner of the room that has a shadow cast across it, a voice emerges, "Zerasha 'The Ash Vulture'." A tiefling with a devious smirk appears and continues. "I have heard you know things. I'm interested." He holds up one of his red index fingers, "First, before you begin, what do you know of the plight of the other craterlords?" After this question a toothy smile creeps onto his face.
Spoiler: Spells cast:
invisibilty detect thoughts 2ppp expended
Desseer/Beast Market:
Desseer looks around his new temporary room with satisfaction. It was not an extravagant room, but it was suitable. The room had a suitable bed and take next to a window. It was perfect.
Desseer grabbed both sides of the table to the side and the chair next to the windows facing the table. He sits in the chair and props his feet on the table, settling into a stable position to fall asleep. After getting situated, he looks out the window to the skyline. He spots a crow flying in the distance and focuses on it. He activates his animal mastery ability and immediately slumps into his prepped position. Desseer's consciousness was suddenly riding along with the crow's. He felt the wind rushing by his feathers and smelled the burning that had risen into the air. He could feel the muscles in his wings shift to catch a thermal. Desseer waited until he had become accustomed to tge crow's senses before exerting his will and taking over. With the crow's wings, he rose higher into the air to watch the other birds flying around. He watched where they flew to and where they flew from. He observed for many minutes before noticing one building almost all seemed to visit. Despite the chaos and excitement, many birds were bold enough to perch upon this one building. So he flew closer. As he made a circuit from a distance, he spotted multiple guards, both people and animals. Several of them were patrolling. Desseer felt satisfaction, his plan had worked. He decided to make a closer circuit to peer in through the windows. Sure enough, one open window revealed a clearly important person lounging inside, watching the birds outside with particular interest. Crow-Desseer flew in through the windows and perched on a dresser next to a wall. He then immediately took a talon and carved onto the Dresser. I found you.
Desseer/ Beast Market: Tiefling-Desseer strolls cheerily toward the Beast Market. Before passing into the district, he stops, thinks about a spell (hide from animals), and cats it upon himself. He then continues on, his smile possessing a devious hint.
As he walks through the district, all of the animals, regardless of what they are doing, do not seem to register his presence. The scene is an odd one of chaos with a pocket of serenity moving peacefully through it. Every so often, Desseer looks to the sky at birds that are flying above. He seems to watch them with interest. After about half an hour of walking and observing, he finds his way into a building that looks like a tavern inn. The inside is not pristine but it seems mostly unaffected by the chaos outside. The reason is quickly apparent within a second of entering. "If you are here to cause trouble, turn around and look elsewhere," a deep voice booms. The owner of the voice is a large and thick orc that easily stands nearly two heads above any other occupant in the place. He wears simple clothes and, aside from his stature, sports a fairly humble demeanor. Or, he would normally support that demeanor, if not for the current situation. The other patrons scattered around the rather empty establishment seem to be on guard at Desseer's entrance. The orc takes several seconds sizing Tiefling-Desseer up and the tension is palpable. "What do you want?" he says finally, a little less gruffly, easing the tension only slightly. Desseer scans the room with a congenial smile, his black hair and partial horns catching the lamp light slightly. He then slowly lifts his hands into the air in innocence. "I can understand your caution, but I do not mean to cause trouble. I am looking for a room to weather the storm. And I'm willing to pay. " The orc blinks a few times and then relaxes completely. "Of course," he says heartily. This reaction leaves the other occupants of the room clearly confused. Desseer gives the orc a concerned look and then looks to the others. "Relax guys," the orc says assuringly. "He's good with me. " This clearly does not reassure them and one of them speaks up, "Do you know him?" Desseer nods while looking at the orc. "Yeah, I think so," he says with unsurity. "It has been many years." Desseer nods again in confirmation. "Okay then," another challenges, "W-" The orc interrupts, "Relax Gon. He's fine." "No," the man replies quickly with concern. "He could have magicked you. " Desseer nods and hold up a hand to stop the orc's objection. He adds reasonably, "He's right. They don't know me and they are concerned about you." Desseer then turns to Gon and gestures for him to continue, "You were about to ask a question, right? Ask away." Gon nods in appreciation and continues, "Yes. None of us has said his name. What is his name?" Gon delivers the lead up and question proudly. Without skipping a beat Desseer responds, "Grour, of course." Desseer is staring at the man with a knowing smile. Gon looks shocked. Desseer adds warmly, "I appreciate you all looking out for Grour. Your caution is understandable. Thank you." He then walks toward the orc, "How about that room, friend?" Grour gives him a hearty laugh and leads him upstairs.
Spoiler: Spells used:
Charm Person Detect Thoughts
Home Base: Desseer points to the map carved on the wall in response to Ink's question.
After Ink leaves, Desseer looks around, "Well, I think that's it. Time to go have fun with a crazy bird lady." With that, he taps his chest and his appearance quickly shifts back to the horn stubbed tiefling with red skin, tail, black hair and black wings and starts walking to the Beast Market.
Home Base: "Right!..Your church..,hmmm..," Desseer says looking down in thought. He then begins mumbling, "Now would be a solid time to start that up. Buuut, there isn't really a place to gather them...The Temple District would be good. Buuut, the goodies are there and would see through Ink's shape...hmmm..." He stands, looking at the floor for several moments. Despite his energy and flurry, Desseer's clothes appear immaculate. They fit his form like a finely tailored suit with a focus on form fitting in carefully selected places to fully capture the appeal aspect of his incubus nature. With the pose he strikes, it is clear that Desseer's appearance amazingly synergizes the lust appeal via the incubus and intelligence typecast through the elven aspect. "I think I've got it," he says finally, looking up and breaking the veil of platinum hair that shrouded his face during his thought. "What if we use Mendas to draw people to Bratva? We use Mendas as a hero figure now, to draw people in. Mendas then turns people toward Bratva?"
Home Base: Desseer shrugs, "Not really. I have nothing against this person specifically. If you want to, have at it."
Home Base: Desseer gives an acknowledging nod to Jav and then adds seriously, "Your old party members have been rescued. You may tell them what you have experienced thus far. But, understand that they may not tell anyone else. If they do, I will find out and then both you and they will be punished. I am sure you remember what I said when you saw this form the first time." He pauses to let the memory be accessed and his tone then lightens slightly, "That said, they have the option to swear to me. As you know, I do not take such vows lightly. Should they decide to make such a vow, it is more than lifelong. Not a decision to be made quickly. You did so because you had essentially forfeit your life before meeting me and I jumped on such an opportunity, and took advantage," he says without any hint of regret or remorse, as if telling friends an interesting story. He then looks ponderous for a moment before continuing, "I don't think I've said it aloud to you, so I think it bears saying. You will never be treated as my equal, nor the equal of any of the other Great Ones. This is not, nor will it become, an empire of equality. The Great Ones are regarded above all others. Below the Great Ones, it will be our preferred servants. Below them it will be a meritocracy. So, striving for achievement is not without meaning. If you achieve well enough, it is possible to become a preferred servant, but it is not a guarantee. The useful will be used and rewarded. The useless will not be used and possibly discarded." Desseer nods, clearly satisfied with himself.
He then turns to Ink, "Ink, would you be willing to take out the Market Ward's Craterlord? She is known as Lady Jorynne, the Guilded Fang. Also, while you are there, can you check on a rumor that there are slaves there? I am fine with people being our slaves. I am not particularly fond of the idea of those lower than us being slaves of each other. Honestly, they'll probably just do it wrong, so it is not worth letting it be a thing." To John, "Have at it John." The elf-incubus claps his clawed hands once happily, "Alright! Any other questions before I go play in the Beast Market? I'm really excited to get back to enjoying myself!"
I was waiting for Skärbrün, but will post tomorrow regardless.
Desseer shrugs, "If you want, Ink, you can do it instead of John. We can double up if any of you want. But, there's still plenty to do separately."
"Excellent!" Desseer says livening up more when collaboration is embraced immediately. He points at Kislum with a clawed finger, "Right you are." After that acknowledgement, he moves over to one of the larger walls of the room and then carves a map of Cinder on the wall, labeling each district with its starting letter. "We are here," he says after the carving and pokes a hole in the wall. "Enjoy Kislum, and thank you," he bids sincerely. "RARGHG, if you could start your stroll in the Slums or Acane Quarter? They have been without Craterlords the longest." Something clearly occurs to Desseer, "Oh, right! Separately, I need someone to go to the Arcane Quarter to rescue some enslaved healers. I heard word that they had some there and now, whoever has them are likely hoarding them to captitalize on the scarcity. Once rescued, it would be preferable that they are escorted to the Temple District to the Dragon's Glory goodies. I suggested that they set up relief there and I want it to seem like I'm good by my word, so that I can use that later. Also, it'll probably help keep them focused on staying in that district so that we don't have to worry about babysitters when we are working or playing. Obviously, whoever does this will have to interact with the goodies." Desseer rubs his chin a little in thought,"John, you do some solid precision work, would you be willing? Also you don't have a monstrous appearance, so it might make it a little easier. If/ when you do, could you name drop to the rescuees that you are with the adventuring group lead by Mendas? That is one of the reasons why we are here, after all." Desseer turns to Jav. He looks at her for a moment before saying seriously, but somewhat gently, "You are not without use. As you are lacking mobility, you are ideal for the necessary role of updating people as they go out and return while I'm not here. You have sworn yourself to me and I have saved your friends. Remember, I can be kind to those who serve me faithfully. A warning, do not presume to order my people around. I will not protect you if you act out of turn. Can you do this task?"
I'm picking up that it might be better for me to have Desseer be more decisive up front. So I will start doing that. That said, that does not mean that I am closed to input. This is merely for the sake of trying to prevent option paralysis.
Desseer shrugs, "Disguises aren't particularly necessary when dealing with those two. I wouldn't be opposed to someone keeping an eye on them, but it wouldn't be a particularly riveting job, nor is it necessary at the moment. At the top of the to-do list is killing the Craterlords of the Red Lantern District, Chandler Veridan, and Market Ward, Lady Jorynne. Right below is extracting information from the two spy Craterlords of the Guild District and Beast Market, without killing them. And then, below that is going to the other districts that have had their Craterlords killed and cleaning up any remaining baddies. I was originally planning on tackling the Craterlord of the Beast Market next, personally. But, that can certainly change."
Desseer shakes his head as if clearing something from his mind. "Look regardless of the world prior to this one, we are here," he starts earnestly. "So," he continues with more perk, "there are nine districts in total here. All of them are run by a Craterlord. Of those nine Craterlords, two are definitely dead and two most are likely on their way to being dead. Two more are known to gather spyish information so I'm less preferential to kill first and ask questions later. The information they have is likely to be useful. So, if anyone is interested in extracting information from either of these two, speak up. As for the remaining three, one of them is one that I would prefer to put into leadership after we finish here. The two that are left are the Red Light District and the Market District. I don't really want absolute destruction in either of these districts. Though, there are quite possibly slaves in both of these places. In order for this event to be viewed more positively by the populous, we are better off not destroying and/or killing wantonly. There should be plenty of people to be killed that are harming this city. I would ask that we focus on them. That said, if you just want to stroll around and kill, there should be plenty of the criminal underbelly trying to organize themselves at this point and they will not be missed," Desseer ends with a shrug. "Oh," he adds, "there is something that you all need to know. There are other players in this world. They seem to be affiliated with another guild called Dragon's Glory. Worse, most of these folks are and act good aligned. There are two such gentlemen in the Temple District. One of them seems to have constant True Sight up, so illusions and polymorphs are not going to work as disguises. Dragon's Glory, and those affiliated with them, are in a simple alliance with us, and I'm not interested in breaking this alliance. I don't think that it would be good for us to do so. So, if you can't play good and nice, avoid these folks." "Okay, any questions or comments?"
I posted that last one to invite some others to post before I could get a full post in.
"It has been going well, thank you," Desseer responds in a muted tone. He looks over to Skärbrün and manages a smile. With a little joy in his voice, "Hey Skärbrün. How are you?"
"Well done Ink," Desseer says cheerily and then looks off into the distance for a moment, "You know, I think I am happy. I'm having fun and I feel like there is a part of me that is finally getting to be seen. It feels like, for the first time, I get to be me. And it feels great!" He beams again for a couple seconds before heading inside. "Three you say?" he asks as he enters the house. "I saw RARGHG, who are the-" Desseer pauses as he spots Kislum. He stares for a moment, the cheery disposition and energy seems to drain out of him. He says unenthusiastically, "Hey Kislum..." The door thunks closed.
"Oh, do I?" he responds, pausing for a moment to reflect. "Huh..I suppose I am." He then starts beaming, "I mean, the city is in chaos, the Craterlords are either warring or holing up- Ha! Mostly the latter!- and 4 of the nine Craterlords will be dead shortly. Of the thirty six leveled spell slots, this has taken less than ten. Glorious!"
I want Desseer to cause chaos! Mind control and free the people's of Cinder from Tyranny. To that end release the Kraken!!! Does this qualify as accomplishing said request?
I support people playing good characters :D
An elf with some fiendish traits appears in the sky near the safe house and glides to the ground, walking with a pleasant stroll upon landing. His platinum hair cascades down a little past his shoulders, accentuating an ostentatious dark red outfit with white trim and black accents. His black fiendish wings were certainly factored into the whole aesthetic. "Is that RARGH I see?!" he says loudly with delight. "Why, I'd recognize that awkwardly large exoskeleton anywhere! Is that an unreasonably large scythe, or are you just happy to see me?! Come here you beautiful she-bug! When did you get here?!"
Kislum, it is a comment derived from the in-game character's perspective, not the raw mechanics alone. I'm going to try to post Desseer's arrival to the safe house a little later today.
Thorin, Hrothgarn, and Deseer: Desseer gives one arm pump, "Great! I was really wracking my brain on which of my people to send over there. Good luck, and may...the uhh..forge..fires..be ever..burning?" With that Desseer shrugs, points in the direction of the Temple District, and then flies off toward the safe house.
That will probably be okay...Honestly, I'd be curious to watch that go down...Dang, he really had anti me equipment. That's going to require some planning to have a defense against...Good chance he could quickly take me out if he could put his hands on me...Both of them really...And True Sight? Unfair...I need to think of some smithing references before I see him again...I don't think they liked me very much...
Well done with the consistency on successfully getting them in and them solidly fitting.
Sincerely, thank you. I appreciate it.
Thorin, Hrothgarn and Desseer: "I'm glad you asked!" Desseer says cheerily, sounding a little like a game show host. "I have the perfect spot for you two. The Temple District! I haven't been there yet, so I don't know what's going on there. But, in theory, that would be the ideal place for people to gather, be safe, and get healing if needed, right? Now, I don't know if Craterlord Black is a goodie or a baddie, so I guess you get to find out. I should be able to keep an eye on your progress and start sending people your way once you’ve got things set up. As an added bonus, you won't have to deal with me. Plus, I don't do very well with holy folks. Maybe it is in my blood," he says with a smile and wink. He then gives the pair finger guns and asks, "How does that sound?"
Thorin, Hrothgarn and Desseer: Desseer tilts his head and squints slightly as Hrothgarn replies. After Hrothgarn finishes, Desseer's gaze shifts past the jotun to the ground. His gaze stays there for a silent second before darting to Thorin. At the same time that his gaze darts, his eyes and gaze light up with realization.
"He's making a bunch of smithing analogies and metaphors!" Desseer exclaims, pointing to Hrothgarn. "You two have got a serious Hephaestus/Bà Kim thing going. A solid 'forge fathers' vibe. That's fun," he says with an approving smile and nod. After a moment or two of appreciation, he says jovially, "Anywho... the plan is to utilize the chaos to save the good people and highlight the not-so-good people...for killing. See, normally, when you eliminate a corrupt leader, the most effective crony takes their place. But, in a chaotic situation like this, the effective cronies don't have a stable structure to utilize. So, they will likely be scrambling to gain control. This scrambling will likely be obvious. So, crony pops up... they die. Also..," he continues with a hand gesture, "the good people should be obvious as well. They are either going to be actively protecting people, or hiding and protecting people. Eh!?" he goads. "See!? Something something forges fire something something pliable metal something something shape!" Desseer ends with his chest puffed out, clearly proud of himself.
Thorin, Hrothgarn and Desseer: Tiefling-Desseer flaps casually in place. "Look, he says to the two atop the triceratops, "Yeah, I lied. I would do it again in the same situation. I just found out that you come from Dragon's Glory. I also just found out that you are likely players. And," getting sarcastic, "would you look at that, I told you the truth when I got that new information. How you would do things, does not obligate me to do things that way. Not all of us created characters with ACs in the 30s."
"Now that I have addressed your high horse....triceratops..thing," he again gestures to the chaos, "I've helped cause this because this entire town was taken over by bandits and corrupt nobles and merchants. And, not that short a time ago, so they've got roots. In order to get the people out from their thumb, I egged this on. Sure, I could have tried to approach this with a scalpel strategy, but that would have taken so long to accomplish I would have lost interest part way through. Now, in the chaos, I'll take care of most of the nine Craterlords, that control the nine districts of this place. Because I've been here gathering information. I didn't just waltz in atop a high horse with little to no information and start judging..."
Thorin, Hrothgarn, and Desseer: Desseer sizes both men up as he identifies the magical effects on them. "Oh my! You must be players with that loadout...and True Sight? Ugh! This disguise is a bust...which would explain why you think I'm an NPC copy. Dang! Well played. Mind-shielding and mind-buttressing too? That complicates things for me." Desseer shrugs, "Sorry for lying. You know my name and what I look like and you're not in my guild. So, who are you?"
I would assume that his post as John is in response to you all arriving at the safe house.
I see, yes. I will not do that. I'm not overly fond of such tactics in general, but playing a character that would interact with the world and others in a way that takes advantage of things on such a mechanical level could bring me there at some point. In the future, if I think that my tactics would negatively affect another player to any significant degree, I'll check with said player. I view this as cooperative story telling with an emphasis on cooperative.
Would you prefer to handle Desseer's lies a different way? I'm certainly open to thoughts.
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