TreeQuest: Magitech (Riot Quest)

The Woo Clan shot first and holding out for more proof might be a bad idea. Considering how fast things expand.
I'd rather not tip our hand this early. Right now our subversion of the Talanburg cell is a problem, but not one the Clan can't fix once alerted to it--and we might not catch their agents again if we give them space to develop countermeasures.

I think we take the L for now, and get a start on the Serious Commitment plan from up-thread.

[ ] [Talanburg] Serious Commitment

This option would essentially be an internal Forest declaration of "We are going to commit Resources, Dice, and Focus Actions if necessary, to subvert the Woo Clan Spy Assets as subtly and as far reaching as possible, with a goal of the Woohoos not noticing, starting with the Talanburg Cells."

[X][Talanburg] Write-in: Focus our efforts on tracking and subverting our known out-of-town contacts. Any actions against the Talanburg cell's interference should be strictly deniable or beneath notice. Walk away if we have to.

[X][Action] Investigate Andrewsburg
[X][Focus] Investigate Andrewsburg
[X][Focus] Investigate Andrewsburg x2
[X[Focus] Write-in: Investigate the Talanburg cell's contacts
[X[Focus] Write-in: Investigate the Talanburg cell's contacts x2
[X][AutoFocus] Clan Infiltration
-[X]1 Focus to investigate and (quietly!) subvert Woo spy network cells where found.
-[X]Other focus to continue as in "Preparing for & keeping busy in Winter"

EDIT: AutoFocus is a placeholder plan, pending better plans for infiltration-centric Autofoci.

EDIT:
[X][Squirrel] Write-in: Investigate the Talanburg cell's contacts
[X][Corvids] Investigate Andrewsburg

EDIT:This one's good too.


[X][Talanburg] Write-in - Run interference with/take over the spynet to prevent it from impacting the negotiations, while gathering as much evidence as possible, for as long as we can make it appear to the spynets handlers that any failures are not noticed or are otherwise attributed to 'bad luck', but make no actual use of it in the treaty negotiations - make a point of dealing with the people of Talanburg fairly, with the intention of presenting all gathered information to relevant Talanburg folk when we believe that our control/interference of the network is at risk of being noticed.
 
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@Robinton Changed some votes, the most pertinent of which:

[][Action] SWORD MOBILIZATION- TRAINING FOR EVERY ABLED BODY! (Offense)

what a strange day to find people doing sword forms under a sharp looking tree?

Does severing magic also bump up offensive options or is that just death?
 
[][Action] Study Illusions (Magic Elements)

There's a lot of bonuses on this action, and it will immediately give a large boost to dealing with the Shadow Spinners problem. Still, I can't help but wonder if Veritas and to a lesser degree Lie could help with research by simply knowing how true a theory is. It might require higher levels to actually divine the truth from reality itself though.

EDIT: Changed due to new information on benefits of Veritas.
 
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[X][Action] Research Advanced Movement (Magic Elements) (Movement Research)
[X][Focus] Lethal Pollen (Magic Biology Research)
[X][Focus] Flesh, Not of My Flesh (Magic Biology Research) (Magic Elements)
[X][Focus] Bone, Not of My Bone (Magic Biology Research) (Magic Elements)
[X][Focus] Incorporate Plant <Blackberries and Raspberries>
 
[X][Action] Veritas
[X][Focus] Flesh, Not of My Flesh (Magic Biology Research) (Magic Elements)
[X][Focus] Veritas
[X][Focus] Void Forest (Magic) (Void) (Magic Research)
[X][Squirrel] Assist with Incorporated Growth
[X][Bears] Teach Death Magic
[X][Corvids] Contribute to Hevel
[X][Lesser Wraith] Assist with Void Forest
[X][Dire Bat] Assist with Monster Energy
[X][Herbalist] Assist with Upgrade Defender Ent
 
Let me try Understand it even thougth it may not be Accurated

Time wave? It seem to be Time related

Pontential to be a Hero?

Is this Talling Us Strawberery,blueberry and Pine Apple is Going to be Corrupted? Or telling us that we need to Integerated the Plant now?

So, it was the answers to four different questions.

I don't exactly remember all the questions, but I think it was approximately as follows:

1. What was that weird pulse we just detected? Answer: TIMEWAVE
2. Why did you ask us to help Sara? Answer: INNOC/POSSIBHERO
3. What is your favorite fruit? Answer: STRAWBERBLUEBER&PINEAPP
4. What's the next threat to us? Answer: CORRUPTION

I'm least sure about question 4. If anyone can find the original question exactly, that would be great.

In any case, Answer 1 is straightforward, but raises additional questions. We keep detecting the Timewave on a very regular, not exactly 24-hour cycle.

Answer 2 suggests that Sara was an innocent in danger, which is a good reason to help her in itself, and also that she's got some possible heroic tendencies or future.

Answer 3 means that of the three elves on the Last Star, one likes strawberries, one likes blueberries, and one likes pineapple best.

Answer 4 means we should be careful about corruption of some kind. Possibly one of the trees has gone dirty on us, and is taking bribes to sell us out to our enemies. Far be it from me to throw around wild accusations, although one tree HAS been researching magic to let it lie effectively. Remember, everyone, constant vigilance. If you see something, telepathically say something.
 
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Well, Veritas would be good against any corruption that requires deception.

It occurs to me that Earth and Water (especially rain) would be a good vector of infection for contagious corruption against a forest. Air would be a good vector against most targets, but I'd like to imagine we don't have to fight against air itself.

I wouldn't be surprised if the corruption is some variant of monster energy. Actually, perhaps the corruption is using our friendly monsters against us. After all, corruption is mentioned in the option to research it:
-But now that you can detect it reliably, why not go further and research it, too! You believe that you can (at least mostly?) cut (most?) friendly Monsters off from the corruption of their powers, and possibly even weaken still-hostile Monsters at range.
It could also be that significant amounts of nearby entities will be corrupted into monsters to kill us, or that our connected creatures could be corrupted.
 
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Y'know, that anti-telepathy defense of the Woo Clan's seems... extremely abuseable to me, and I don't doubt they're abusing it in exactly the way I'm thinking.

Y'see, memory manipulation of that level could lead to someone "remembering" something that never actually happened. In other words, they're mind-controlling innocents into becoming their patsies by implanting false memories. (Not to say that at least some of their spies aren't legit traitors, but their spy-net is too pervasive for it to be just that.)

Anyway, vote pending.
 
Oh, as an aside, the whole idea of the Void being a place hidden elsewher eis interesting and quite potentially useful to us. Imagine we create a Tree which has a hole that leads to a void dimension that we use for resource storage and secret stuff. Lots of potential there.
Yeah, imagine if you had a tree who was just flickering in and out of existence. That would be crazy.

[X][Action] Empty Veil (Void)
 
Y'see, memory manipulation of that level could lead to someone "remembering" something that never actually happened. In other words, they're mind-controlling innocents into becoming their patsies by implanting false memories. (Not to say that at least some of their spies aren't legit traitors, but their spy-net is too pervasive for it to be just that.)
...in that case, I don't feel too bad about turning them into our own unwitting moles.

(I wouldn't have felt bad in any case--we could be doing a lot worse than indetectably skimming through the brain of a traitor--but it's nice to have the justification of 'they've already escalated this far'.)
 
[X][Talanburg] Stall for perfect proof
[ ][Talanburg] Write-in
-[ ] Find a way to immunize some sleeper agents to Memory magic, so that they cannot be reactivated.
[X][Action] Raise the Shield
[X][Focus] Void Forest (Magic) (Void) (Magic Research)
[X][Focus] Lethal Pollen (Magic Biology Research)
[X][Focus] Veritas (Magic Elements)
[X][Focus] Design Magic Weapons and Armor (Magic Research)
[X][AutoFocus] Any
[X][Deer] Focus on growing the Relay Trees
[X][Bees] Focus on growing the Relay Trees
[X][Corvids] Contribute to a project (Between Silence and Music)
[X][Dire Bat] Search for native Dire Bat populations
[X][Lesser Wraith] Mortal, Finite, Temporary
[X][Steve Robertson] Teach Swordsmanship to the Squirrels (et al) (cost: 1 Unusual Lumber and 3 Resources per Turn) (he's not going to be stingy, but he's not going to give something valuable for free… just for cheap) (this will almost certainly give the Forest an upgrade quest - I'm looking at you, Sword Tree)

Can't think of anything for the Squirrels, so I guess I just don't care enough about what they're up to.

I can say that Corvids would be really good at Sound magic, though; after all, they're vocal mimics. Some of them can even manage words!

Not too attached to the Dire Bat action, to be honest; I'm currently just voting for it to give it something to do.

...I've never done a Priority vote before. Is that just putting numbers instead of the X, or what?

edit: Still not sure how to do Priority votes, but should at least have something instead of just staying silent, right?
 
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One Tree, thinking way ahead, decided to skip past researching Truth and jump straight to a Truth/Lie Negacion. The idea is definitely sound, and the Tree came up with a bunch of ways to potentially implement it, so the project should be a simple matter of steady research now. Incidentally, little Newt Yuadore was a surprising help in studying Truth - he was at the stage where he had no verbal filter and would be painfully honest about what he thought. Ranging from "It's too cold" to "You look fat" to "Why is Mommy dying, Daddy?" (Thankfully, the answer to the last one was, "she isn't - if only barely.") With some compliments thrown in there - no sincere appreciation quite matches that of someone who doesn't understand flattery or politeness.
Huh. So I'm assuming that why discussion post and the like basically gave me a bunch of boosts for getting started on Lie Magic and most likely lowered the threshold for the Truth/Lie Negacion?

[X][Action] What A Tangled Web We Weave (Magic Elements)
 
One Tree figured out how to greatly boost the Laser Beams' tendency to start Fires, by imbuing them with Fire Magic.
Yeeesssssss....
[X][Action] Continue with incorporating Fire Magic into our Laser Beams, but this time collaborate with anyone studying Monster Energy in order to make our Laser Flare™ more effective against Monsters and things of Malice.
-[X] Destructive testing on hostile fuckers that couldn't be subjugated/assimilated/talked down coming our way during the Malice Storm. This tree is in the mood for some purifying pew pews.

@The Froggy Ninja, want me to start developing Sun Magic, or would you like me to continue with the Laser Beam + Fire Magic thing, but this time collaborating with anyone who is studying Monster Energy? The idea here is to make my Laser Flare™ attack even more effective against Monsters like Vampires or other beings with Malice in them.

After all, there IS a Malice Storm on the horizon, and I am in need of test subjects.

[X][Focus] Void Forest (Magic) (Void) (Magic Research)
[X][Focus] Lethal Pollen (Magic Biology Research)
[X][Focus] Veritas (Magic Elements)
[X][AutoFocus] Any

[X][Squirrel] Assist with Incorporated Growth
[X][Bears] Teach Death Magic
[X][Deer] Focus on growing the Relay Trees
[X][Bees] Focus on growing the Relay Trees
[X][Corvids] Contribute to a project (Between Silence and Music)

[X][Dire Bat] Assist with Monster Energy
[X][Lesser Wraith] Assist with Void Forest

[X][Herbalist] Assist with Upgrade Defender Ent

[X][Steve Robertson] Teach Swordsmanship to the Squirrels (et al) (cost: 1 Unusual Lumber and 3 Resources per Turn) (he's not going to be stingy, but he's not going to give something valuable for free… just for cheap) (this will almost certainly give the Forest an upgrade quest - I'm looking at you, Sword Tree)

[X][Talanburg] Write-in: Focus our efforts on tracking and subverting our known out-of-town contacts. Any actions against the Talanburg cell's interference should be strictly deniable or beneath notice. Walk away if we have to.

[X][AutoFocus] Clan Infiltration
-[X] 1 Focus to investigate and (quietly!) subvert Woo spy network cells where found.
-[X] Other focus to continue as in "Preparing for & keeping busy in Winter"
 
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I noticed the Sunflower and Clovers options added to the incorporated plants list. Here's a few things I found a while back, but never got the chance to post until now.

Ironwood Plants (eg) - a wide, informal category used to describe plants with superlative bark and heartwood strength. Don't worry, they're flexible too. Probably improve our physical defenses.
Flowering Plants (eg) - an even wider category describing plants that blossom. The combination of color, scent, and texture would be great for improving our diplomatic efforts.
Explosive Plants (eg) - a category describing plants that spread seeds aggressively, like coconuts and pinecones. Benefits primarily center on better means of pollen dispersal.
Rapidly Expanding Vines (eg) - a group I call 'kudzu and friends' for obvious reasons. They help with rapidly growing and spreading the forest.

Underground Orchid - unlikely as they are to be available to us, the orchid's underground structure is symbiotic with ants. Cultivating them may help with incorporating the sapient ants; or improve the function of our current ant friends instead.
Strangler Fig - another specific choice, these vines grow around trees like a second bark layer. Could serve as a kind of ablative armor for our trees in case of emergency.
Lithops - a kind of foreign plant notable for camouflaging itself as a stone. Should help improve our defensive terrain by hiding traps better, or our thorns in the same way trapping training might have.
 
Little Tree Dreams of Sunshine
@Robinton, here's a short omake about my Tree.

Little Tree Dreams of Sunshine:
Once, there was a little tree, who dreamed of becoming the sun. Or a sun.

To it, there was no difference between "becoming the sun", "becoming a sun", or "possessing the power of the sun"; it was mere semantics, after all.

That dream started when it first learned of the existence of the Fire Within all living things.

It looked at the Laser Beam array the Forest has developed, and the burgeoning Fire Magic they possessed, and thought that it wasn't enough.

Even after [months, years, Turns], the little tree, now an Elder among its kind, still considered its own skill in Fire-related matters lacking compared to Light; the Forest at least has the Laser Beam and Light/Dark Negacion as a [Super Move] against those that threaten the Forest, yet no Fire-related [Super Move]. The Magic Tree had hoped that it could do something with the Fire Within, a research tree it had inadvertently pioneered when curiosity drove it to understand what a fellow Tree discovered while trying to communicate with other life-forms.

Its attempt to incorporate the Ice/Fire Negacion with the Fire Within produced niche, but less than stellar results.

That was when the Magic Tree decided to do some heavy introspection on what kind of Sun it wished to be, as its actions for the past [many Turns] hadn't advance its ambition at all, even if some could argue a Tree with a support role was invaluable.

Yet... the Tree relished wielding its magic and testing out novel ideas against enemies of the Forest; the sort it wouldn't mind to [return to Nature]. So instead it looked at the Laser Beam [Super Move] the Forest had developed early on, and decided to do something with it.

When it figured out how to greatly boost the Laser Beam's tendency to start fires, it marveled at its progress, and Understood what it wished to be as a Sun.

A wielder of purifying radiance that burned away the [Filth Mud Corruption Malice] which dared to threaten its fellow Trees. Anything else is a secondary, and while it had relished the brief role of a live-giving sustainer of life during the aftermath of the Invasion of the Newton Village, it wanted to be the kind of magic wielding tree that wrought death upon its foes.

So the Magic Tree buckled up it roots, shook its branches, and proceeded to start its research on how to target Monster Energy with its burning light.
 
Things are going well, but there is a storm brewing. Bad time to be messing about trying to perfect-success the spy ring. Also a bad time for two of our members to be out without support.

[X][Action] Maintain Connection with adventuring Trees.
[X][Focus] Grow Relay Trees
[X][Focus] Grow Relay Trees x2
[X][Focus] Grow Relay Trees x3
[X][Focus] Grow Relay Trees x4
[X][Squirrel] Lead the squirrel watch over your Forest
[X][Steve Robertson] Teach Swordsmanship to the Squirrels (et al) (cost: 1 Unusual Lumber and 3 Resources per Turn) (he's not going to be stingy, but he's not going to give something valuable for free… just for cheap) (this will almost certainly give the Forest an upgrade quest - I'm looking at you, Sword Tree)
[X][Talanburg] Full disclosure
 
[X][Action] Incorporate Plant Sporing Mushrooms
[X][Focus] Grow Relay Trees
[X][Focus] Veritas (Magic Elements)
[X][Lesser Wraith] Assist with Void Forest
[X][Dire Bat] Assist with Monster Energy
[X][Herbalist] Assist with Upgrade Defender Ent
[X][Steve Robertson] Teach Swordsmanship to the Squirrels (et al) (cost: 1 Unusual Lumber and 3 Resources per Turn) (he's not going to be stingy, but he's not going to give something valuable for free… just for cheap) (this will almost certainly give the Forest an upgrade quest - I'm looking at you, Sword Tree)
[X][Talanburg] Full disclosure
[X][Squirrel] Explore your Forest

[X][Moles] Widen the Cave Entrance (8 dice)
Im interested in seeing what is in the cave, the option has been around for a while now
 
@The Froggy Ninja, want me to start developing Sun Magic, or would you like me to continue with the Laser Beam + Fire Magic thing, but this time collaborating with anyone who is studying Monster Energy? The idea here is to make my Laser Flare™ attack even more effective against Monsters like Vampires or other beings with Malice in them.

After all, there IS a Malice Storm on the horizon, and I am in need of test subjects.
I personally would like to get Sun ASAP but you're significantly more likely to make notable progress on Laser Flare before the Malice Storm and Beast Tide arrive.
 
So I understand that every tree is partly for themselves when it comes to personal actions, and that's cool, but I do think it might benefit us if multiple trees work together in a row on Magic Elements so we can unlock each faster together than if we did it apart.

I would also like to suggest that when we finally unlock the ability to do the Principles of Magic action as many of us who work on magic things all pool our capabilities for a massive focused cramming session on that.

Anyway, one of the things I plan on doing is figuring out which elements are close to being completed in order to see where my attention should go, cause I want the missing 4.
 
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