Agreed.
That said, I'm happy to play with any of y'all again, this was a delight while it lasted!
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I've just been having a devil of a time trying to keep up with the ever-shifting plans and locations. Lots and lots of details--I was asked to provide some roguey rolls, did so, and was never told what they were for, so I assumed they were to disable the alarm, maybe? But then we ended up killing the giant who would have sounded it anyway, and... I dunno. It's just been impenetrable for me lately.
Thyste rolls out her shoulders and grins. "Finally, the sort of thing I'm good at!" she chirps, twisting the ring on her finger and halving in height. "See you all later~!"
Oop, sorry for disappearing! Had a convention in Toronto to attend and it's been a whirlwind from here to there.
"Does anyone else feel like we had just about put a puzzle together and then someone came by and added a bunch of pieces, or"
"Ooooh, I like this plan. If those are mortars or something like it, they should be easy enough to disable."
Thyste grins. "Must be why I like your voice more than most people's," she says, fox ears wiggling. "Sounds like a plan to me, though."
"Whole lot of ways to sabotage something without unbolting it from the wall," Thyste grins. "...As long as it's not just a big gong up there."
"Sneaking into a giant tower and removing an alarm device sounds decidedly like a Thyste thing," says Thyste.
"We'll want to stick around to make sure that camp does fall apart after," Thyste reminds, "otherwise our nice stone shelter is just a buffet for hungry giants." "Should be simple enough, I figure."
Thyste sighs and shakes her head, letting Lidia wander off--but not without shooting a surprisingly withering glare at Ulretha. "If our goal is to take down the camp within the next couple of days, all the slaves will need is enough food to get them through that time and somewhere to hide. Then they can go back in and take whatever provisions aren't destroyed for their journeys back to wherever they come from. They weren't born slaves and I would reckon they'll be happy to return to their lives--even if that means rebuilding them or starting anew." "It's optimistic," she admits, "but probably the best we can do. It doesn't sound like they're treating them much better than they could manage on their own."
"Hell, if we're waiting until tomorrow to break 'em out, I can start stealing provisions today. It won't be enough to feed 'em all, but it'll be a start."
Thyste beams with pride. "Look at you, all tactical. You're weighing and considering the factors and picking your battles and everything. I know that sounds patronizing, but I'm legitimately impressed. I'm proud of you, Lids." "Let's do it! We'll hit their incoming first, then hit the camp tomorrow once they've had some time to panic and blame each other some more. That poison ought to be fanning the flames away from preparing for an assault and more toward suspecting each other."
"...Which means they won't give them up without a fight, no matter how bad conditions are," Thyste points out, "but they're not going to be inclined to harm them if they can help it. That plays to our advantage, I think."
"Absolutely," says Thyste, "but if we want them to take it, we have to be ready to sell it to them. It won't be as easy as leaving the gate open and yelling 'run,' so... well, like you said--we'll need to make preparations. That way it's not just a chance, but a decent chance." "Half of that's gonna be timing it right."
Thyste stares into the fire. "The slaves complicate things." "We don't know who they were before they were enslaved; were they bred into it? Were they rugged folk? How long have they been bound? Even if we assume they'll naturally pick their best interests, will that be us, who are trying to free them, or the giants, who will surely prevail anyway and may be grateful for an advance warning?" Her face scrunches up. "Not everyone's ready to risk everything on a chance that, as far as they know, could be thinner than a balding pixie's comb-over."
"Starting to think I should have gotten some more of these," Thyste grins; her tail wags more energetically than it has for a good while. "We'll see how the situation looks in a couple days." She glances at Lidia. "Maybe we can find a sweet spot. If anyone starts starving, I think the slaves will be moved to... fill the deficit. So we'll stir s#$~ up and strike before that happens."
Thyste nods. "Wait 'til they've had this fight, though; if everything goes bad at once, they may start suspecting it's more than incompetence and petty grudges."
Thyste grins and pulls out a waterskin. "Before we messed with the beer, I saved some for us. Anyone want to see how foul giant booze is?" she asks. "We've got time to kill while they figure out whose fault it is."
"Oooh, subtle," chuckles Thyste. "Well, subtle by giant standards, anyway."
"Should be easy enough to tell this guy there's a fire and they need his help," reasons Thyste. "Hell, you can even go along with him to aid so we don't look suspicious and I'll take care of the dosing while you're gone."
I'm regaining it, myself!
Thyste gives Ben a thumbs-up. Then, remembering that she's invisible, gently presses her thumb against Ben's arm so that he can feel it.
Wait, am I invisible and flying at the moment, or just stuffed in Ben's sleeve? Golly there's a lot to keep track of in this plan whoops
Gotcha, gotcha; I can work with that! ...[loading wheel] .......gimme a minute, I gotta think of something witty
Ben's asking Thyste to make a distraction/convince giants to move. Are there giants here that need moving? I didn't see anything about other people in our way, unless that's the frost giant on the throne (and his cohorts)?
"Might be a problem if they drink the beer," Thyste points out.
"If you go into cloud shape I'll just need to find a good place to hide, but I can't imagine it'd be that hard," Thyste points out, twisting the ring on her finger and halving in size. "Plenty of weird crags and whatnot to slip into."
"So the obvious temptation is for me to hide somewhere on your person and speak for you," she considers, "but you're gonna have to move your mouth when I talk." "Well, yeah, but a funny one," grins the foxling. "But no, you're right, keeping me up Ben's sleeve or in his shadow so I can pop open any doors is a solid plan."
"I've never been all that good at lying," lies Thyste.
"So the obvious temptation is for me to hide somewhere on your person and speak for you," she considers, "but you're gonna have to move your mouth when I talk." "...And maybe tell people you're trans or something, I can only kinda do the voice."
Thyste shrugs. "As long as you think you can lie your way in, I don't think I have any objections. Was trying to think of how I was gonna carry this thing at sneaking size, anyway."
"S$#~, Grandma, you know more about this than me, and I've been in and out of rich people's houses my whole life. Hell yeah you can sit over here and help!"
Thyste scritches her chin a bit. "Hadn't considered clerics. Had considered subtlety, though--the poisons I've got in mind make people... fighty. Makes their heads foggy. Basically stuff that would happen when people drink too much anyway, but more. Giants getting drunk and fighting each other seems..." She ponders a bit. "Is it speciesist to say they seem prone to that kind of thing? ...Either way."
"Right, so, here's the tricky part about that," offers Thyste. "Giants are big. And hardy, too. If you want to kill one with poison, you need a lot. If you want to kill a bunch with poison, you need a ton. And if you want it to be undetectable..." She strokes her chin a bit, contemplative. "Giants aren't the most perceptive or discerning, when it comes to food. And we're talking beer, here, and I doubt giants are going for low-proof for their booze, even if the beer is usually the gentlest thing you can drink. Not to mention the altitude--as Lidia can attest, being up this high screws with your blood. As I can attest, drinking anything potent this high up is rough on the body." "I doubt the giants are clever enough to know that. If we up the potency, it'll also be harder for them to detect anything we slip into it--but ideally something that doesn't taste too left-field, or they'll probably suspect the batch has gone too far off to be drinkable before they've drank a bunch of it." "Relatedly, we'll want something with a long onset time, so..." "I've got it."
Thyste awakens from a dead sleep; she's been snoozing even more often than usual since they started climbing the mountain, and flicks some of yesterday's rations off of her pointed teeth in irritation. "Somebody say 'poison'?" she mumbles, clutching her head. "That's one of my skills. How bad a day do we want them to have?"
Sorry y'all for the lack of posts of late! Truth be told I'm burned the hell out on this campaign and trying to take some deep breaths and re-stoke my interest because I do love these characters.
Added Drakesbane to my inventory!
Thyste opens her mouth to speak, then watches as the pack falls upon it. "...And here I was hoping they'd save a piece for me," she sighs. "Gnolls are so inconsiderate." Despite her words, she's definitely gone a little white.
Yeah, like, I'm a PC and I don't even really participate in fights anymore. (Admittedly, part of that's my own doing; I didn't build Thyste for damage output.) Blix is great for our lack of healers, whereas Ferin's addition would mostly be to give Thyste an outlet for her intentional misinterpretation of where to put the space in the word "Giantslayer." Which I'm happy to play with (especially as it interacts with Thyste's confusing, growing loyalty to Lidia), but only if the GM doesn't mind going hard on the roleplay ;P Thyste doesn't strike me as the type to be against polyamory, after all.
Honestly, I don't know that I have much use for loot at this point; I'm fine with opting out and increasing everyone else's share.
Thyste can't help but grin. "You haven't spent much time around gnolls and halflings, then," she says, "but I'd be happy for the company." "...If Lidia doesn't mind, of course."
"Vengeance is a dish that's only ever composed of leftovers that you needed to get out of your kitchen because they were stinking up the place otherwise," Thyste says, nodding sagely.
Thyste stares up (way, way up) at the giant and makes a sort of strangled squeaking noise; she clears her throat and tries again. "Well... I suppose one does need to try a new style now and then," she says. She tries to wink, but forgets how to close her eye. Instead, she just kind of flexes her cheek and eyebrow toward each other. "Lidia help me I haven't seduced anyone in months"
"I think you should be perfectly happy with the size your god gave you," Thyste suggests. She's set herself up on a scrap of a barrel, grooming kit laid over her knee as she plucks between her conical teeth, tweezes at some orange hairs between her eyebrows, and considers her hair. "Frizzy. I'm not one for noble-style vanity, but I'm starting to feel like something that came up out of the mud." She frowns, considering. "Wish it had only been mud."
"ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow"
"Oh! Right. Yeah. Let's try that first." Thyste moves to try that first. |