Hm, you do seem pretty... handy... to have around! I have to... hand... it to you!
I also have to say, I can count on the... fingers... of one... hand... how many crawling claw rogues I've seen in a game! I can't quite put my... finger... on how, but you do seem quite... familiar... to me, somehow.
Heh. I'd clap, but well...
As the monks say, 'what is the sound of one hand clapping'...?
Consider it done. If you would like the honours, of course, I would not dream of taking the kill away from you...
Gabriel, perhaps a little too eagerly, takes the opportunity to 'strangle' Vesta.
Just to be clear, he is only pinning / silencing the body, unless Vesta does not want to kill it herself, in which case he will just flat-out murder it ;-)
They came out here for a reason, and made it abundantly clear that Vesta's temporary body was not welcome; I think that they people who are meant to be here, are already here. It would probably be better if we just finished off her body, and then she opened for us from the inside.
Gabriel directs his children to swarm some of the outlying singletons / pairs, going for easy kills if possible, but the main goal is to provoke 'interest' (staying for only a round or two).
Once they have gained the attention of several members of the pack, they will head off in the forest, *away* from the manor house.
They are instructed to avoid engaging the 'big wolf' at all costs, fleeing immediately if he is roused.
I can arrange for a distraction to lead them on a merry chase; I have a swarm of children, which should be able to lead the rest of the pack away from what we are doing.
I would, however, appreciate the opportunity to replace them when we have finished here; nothing too drastic - a village-worth of children should suffice.
Essentially, Gabriel is offering to use his 'young crawling hand swarm' as a disposable distraction. The standard were-beasts will be able to do nothing to it, but I dare say there will be enough casters within the pack to eventually destroy it.
The problem, from Gabriel's perspective, is that he is really worried about the werewolves' ability to use Scent to track him; things could go south, very rapidly, if they noticed him. That is essentially why he does not want to do anything that could attract attention until it is time to make a move.
I am not keen on scouting in this situation. At least some of them have my scent; I can hide it whilst I stay with the rest of you, but if I wander off, and present an independent scent... it could be problematic.
We were told that the leader of the pack would be of an equivalent power-level to our own Master. My understanding was that the idea was to incapacitate enough of the pack-members, that we could wreak havoc on them, and weaken the pack prior to the 'meeting'. We have been warned numerous times that going after 'Faction Heads' could be a terminal plan.
One thing that we should keep in mind - scent. I dare say that a bunch of lycanthropes will notice something amiss if we do not smell the way we should...
I imagine that, normally, Gathroc does not smell like a vampire, so we should probably try to 'mask' that somehow.
Daemon, would you be a dear and help me with this? Whilst I am enjoying playing with a scratching post like this (one does not often have the opportunity to repeatedly 'kill' a creature), I know we should kill it, and I would like to keep a hand for my collection...
In response to Vesta, Gabriel waggles his fingers expressively.
Whatever we wish. It could prove useful... and not just as raw materials.
Interesting metaphysical question: If, say, a vampire's hand is cut off, and then it is subsequently 'killed', does the hand revert to mist / dust, or stay corporeal...?
With nothing better to do, Gabriel pointedly ignores the spawn, and tumbles to a flank with Gathroc (Moving to H16), before continuing to pummel the vampire...
"Sounds good. Gabe and Vesta can handle the scouting, if the two of you can concoct a way to slow them down, that doesn't give us a way, that could be helpful as well. It's not too important however."
The main purpose of the scouting mission was scouting - to determine numbers, approximate composition of the force, et cetera.
'Slowing them down' was never a primary goal - it was phrased, by Gathroc, as a *not too important* secondary goal.
I agree, the middle way-station seems like the best bet; past the Coven's strong point, yet not too close to the shapeshifters. Furthermore, I concur with Daemon that we could probably spy on them at the first point, but we would need to be subtle; we certainly do not want to tip our hand too early...
If I concentrate long enough, and hard enough. It is not an automatic link. However, I believe he does not want to be disturbed, at present... So I would rather not...
Daemon - you obviously know how Geb is laid out (as per official map) and I'll fill in some gaps around the side as the Claw explains.
Gesturing again at the map "My ascension to the Blood Lord council was recent by the standards of Geb, and was at the expense of others. The council itself is divided and has called for a formal per pugnam provocare for me to justify my position. Although the act is unlawful within our code, Geb is absent and the Harlot Queen does not risk intervening... so we must fight."
The rite referenced by the shadow claw is a challenge by combat. It is conducted in an area of plains that lies near Mechitar. A ruined citadel lies at the center of the area as the armies of the aspirants rally themselves nearby. When the sun dips below the horizon, the challenge begins. The goal is to be the only surviving party within the citadel when day breaks. Aspirants can use any and all means deemed necessary to achieve the objective.
"The confluentem will not take place for a month, so I must use that time to prepare... and hamstring those that would challenge me."
Our intent was to find out more about you, and your forces. Forewarned is forearmed, after all. However, we were under the impression that the purpose of the Confluentem was *specifically* to weaken the position of the Shadow Claw, alone. If that is not the case, perhaps a mutually beneficial arrangement could be entered into, in order to weaken the position of the other participants? That would serve both your's, and my Master's interests, whilst not compromising the position of either.
Just do not rely overmuch on magic to hide yourselves from prying eyes; I find it highly unlikely that a Demilich would not have wards up to dispel such effects... We have found a way to perform a surgical strike, but we should not become over-confident.
Gabriel moves over to the door, and goes over it carefully...
There appears to be a relatively simple alarm connected with the door. I could simply sever the connection, or muffle it long enough to allow us through the door. I would prefer the second option; it would not do to remove wards that someone might check on periodically...
