Part MMMCLXVI: Serpent's Feast
Serpent's Feast

Nineteenth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

You leave the Opaline Vault behind richer in glassteel, but also in far more ethereal and precious coin, information, the names and identities of three merchants loyal to the Opal Throne who trade in Dis. To your surprise one of them is a minor efreeti malik. That is one way to obfuscate the Opal Throne's influence you suppose, assuming they had actually found a trustworthy fire genie and you have partaken in far stranger partnerships than that to doubt the notion out of hand.

Unfortunately, not all your plans in the spheres of air and stone came to as fruitful an end. The Order of the Arcane Seal has shown no enthusiasm for cross-training in the middle of a war they are even now scrambling to meet the demands of according to Dany, and while the Shaitan Academy of War has proven more open to the idea of collaboration in the abstract, doing so in practice requires navigating so many bureaucratic hurdles you suspect they may have been placed there with a purpose. It makes sense you suppose that the Peerless Empire would not wish the school that trains its battle mages to become entangled with foreign powers too easily. Perhaps you might speak to the Sultana when you find the time.

***​

Twentieth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

Alas that time is a treasure even more precious than secrets, certainly scarcer. As you return to the Deep you do not seek the court at once for there is one greater power you have much to speak of for the sake of mutual profit. Yss the Timeless has changed much since you first found the belt bargain hunting in Braavos, but one thing that has not changed about the god to which so many traders now pray. He will always give an even-handed deal.

"Great One, the staff you have reforged for me has served in many a time when no lesser spell would have been enough, but as the power drained from it time and again I began to regret that I must call upon you each time to restore that power. This I say for both the worth of your time and for my own profit that the staff should feed itself rather than requiring a sacrifice each time," the words, formal though they be, are blunter than you would use before any other god, but Yss can doubtlessly appreciate the honesty and desire for a better bargain alike.

The great scaled head nods, a gesture you have never seen of the avatar before, perhaps a mark of growing affinity to this new age, or simply a concession to men who would sooner silently converse by gesture than the communing of thoughts.

"I ask therefore if you are willing to confer upon the staff the power to feed as the belt which was the first of your anchors to be found by me and mine."

"For the ssstaff be fed... creaturesss of hunger... it must devour," the voice of the God echoes in your mind.

You nod in turn, for this you had expected, any bargain is in some measure reflected in the coin by which it is paid. Before you make an offering there is another matter you would place before the gaze of the Great Serpent however. "By the arts of my lost ancestors and the intercession of the Old Gods whom you know..." And had that been an odd conversation to have with Galaneia before you parted ways aboard the Hunter's Moon... "I have seen made serpents of the sea to better battle the malignancy of the Deep Ones. It seemed meant to be that one of your true Children lead them for you are the Father of Serpents."

"What... bindingsss?" the Great Serpent hisses in your mind.

"The same oaths that bind the naga, no more," you reply plainly. The golden-scaled children of Yss have proven their worth time and against since their awakening into this age.

"Let it tasste creatures of the sssea then, if that is to be its domain," comes the reply unwavering as ever, for all the hungry anticipation you sense lurking behind it.

What sacrifice do you make to empower the staff so that it might feed?

[] Write in (CR 16 Minimum, the nature of the sacrifices will influence the feeding mechanism)

What sacrifice do you offer for the creation of the Divine Servitor?

[] Write in (CR 18 Minimum, at least one of them must have a swim speed)

OOC: Yes, CR 18 is expensive, but you guys are making a very powerful harbinger of Yss will upon the seas.
 
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Serpent's Feast

Nineteenth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

You leave the Opaline Vault behind, richer in glassteel, but also in far more ethereal and precious coin; information, the names and identities of three merchants loyal to the Opal Throne who trade in Dis. To your surprise, one of them is a minor Efreeti Malik. That is one way to obfuscate the Opal Throne's influence, you suppose, assuming they had actually found a trustworthy fire genie. You have partaken in far stranger partnerships than that to doubt the notion out of hand.

Unfortunately, not all your plans in the spheres of Air and Stone came to as fruitful an end. The Order of the Arcane Seal has shown no enthusiasm for cross-training in the middle of a war. They are even now scrambling to meet the demands of the conflict, according to Dany, and while the Shaitan Academy of War has proven more open to the idea of collaboration in the abstract, doing so in practice requires navigating so many bureaucratic hurdles you suspect they may have been placed there with just such a purpose. It makes sense, you suppose, that the Peerless Empire would not wish the school that trains its battle mages to become entangled with foreign powers too easily. Perhaps you might speak to the Sultana when you find the time.

***​

Twentieth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

Alas, that time is a treasure even more precious than secrets, and certainly scarcer. As you return to the Deep, you do not seek the court at once, for there is one greater power you have much to speak of for the sake of mutual profit. Yss the Timeless has changed much since you first found the belt bargain hunting in Braavos, but one thing has not changed about the god to which so many traders now pray. He will always give an even-handed deal.

"Great One, the staff you have reforged for me has served in many a time when no lesser spell would have been enough, but as the power drained from it time and again, I began to regret that I must call upon you each time to restore that power. This I say, for both the worth of your time and for my own profit, that the staff should feed itself rather than requiring sacrifice each time," the words, formal though they may be, are blunter than you would use before any other god, but Yss can doubtless appreciate the honesty and desire for a better bargain alike.

The great scaled head nods, a gesture you have never seen of the avatar before, perhaps a mark of growing affinity to this new age, or simply a concession to men who would sooner silently converse by gesture than the communing of thoughts.

"I ask therefore if you are willing to confer upon the staff the power to feed as the belt, which was the first of your anchors to be found my me and mine."

"That the staff be fed... creatures of hunger... it must devour," the voice of the God echoes in your mind.

You nod in turn, for this you had expected. Any bargain is in some measure reflected in the coin by which it is paid. Before you make an offering, however, there is another matter you would place before the gaze of the Great Serpent. "By the arts of my lost ancestors and the intercession of the Old Gods, whom you know..." And had not that been an odd conversation to have with Galaneia before you parted ways aboard the Hunter's Moon... "I have seen grown serpents of the Sea to better battle the malignancy of the Deep Ones. It seemed to me to that one of your true Children lead them, for you are the Father of Sepents."

"What... bindings?" the Great Serpent hisses in your mind.

"The same oaths that bind the naga, no more," you reply plainly. The golden-scaled children of Yss have proven their worth time and again since their awakening into this age.

"Let it taste creatures of the sea then, if that is to be its domain," comes the reply, unwavering as ever, for all the hungry anticipation you sense lurking behind it.

What sacrifice do you make to empower the staff so that it might feed?

[] Write in (CR 16 Minimum the nature of the sacrifices will influence the feeding mechanism)

What sacrifice do you offer for the creation of the Divine Servitor?

[] Write in (CR 18 Minimum at least one of them must have a swim speed)

OOC: Yes CR 18 is expensive, but you guys are making a very powerful harbinger of Yss will upon the seas.
Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
 
[] Write in (CR 16 Minimum the nature of the sacrifices will influence the feeding mechanism)
Several options here.

Cornugon (Asmodeus) -- CR 16
Ghole 16/Ectoplasmatist 4 -- CR 16

And the Pridespawn Sorcerers, though they're better off being used to make a new Flesh Smith.
[] Write in (CR 18 Minimum at least one of them must have a swim speed)
Aren't we planning on summoning that one devil to feed Yss for this? There currently isn't anything in the Larder that fits this.

Hell, even with that devil being summoned, it doesn't have a swim speed.
 
Several options here.

Cornugon (Asmodeus) -- CR 16
Ghole 16/Ectoplasmatist 4 -- CR 16

And the Pridespawn Sorcerers, though they're better off being used to make a new Flesh Smith.

Aren't we planning on summoning that one devil to feed Yss for this? There currently isn't anything in the Larder that fits this.

Hell, even with that devil being summoned, it doesn't have a swim speed.

You guys do not actually have to make the sacrifice in one piece Two CR 16s for instance make CR 18. Two CR 14s make a 16 and so on
 
You guys do not actually have to make the sacrifice in one piece Two CR 16s for instance make CR 18. Two CR 14s make a 16 and so on
The issue is that having a swim speed is a bit of a hard sell for the current Larder. A lot of the ones that happen to qualify are sacrifices I'm very reluctant to spend here given their value for psionics research. I'll keep looking for a solution.
 
Aren't we planning on summoning that one devil to feed Yss for this? There currently isn't anything in the Larder that fits this.

Hell, even with that devil being summoned, it doesn't have a swim speed.
That Devil isn't guaranteed to be a succesfull summon though, only having 6/9 chances to be called up.

So we can't exactly count on that :/
Cornugon (Asmodeus) -- CR 16
Ghole 16/Ectoplasmatist 4 -- CR 16
Apparently we seem to want to mulch Gholes for Ectoplasmist-creatures or soemthing..? I remember someone @'ng me yesterday night about that...
Cornugon will do, it's not like we care for Asmodeus' guys.
By now he's supposed to have een throughly questioned too.
 
That Devil isn't guaranteed to be a succesfull summon though, only having 6/9 chances to be called up.

So we can't exactly count on that :/
It'd still be convenient if we could try beforehand.
Apparently we seem to want to mulch Gholes for Ectoplasmist-creatures or soemthing..? I remember someone @'ng me yesterday night about that...
Cornugon will do, it's not like we care for Asmodeus' guys.
By now he's supposed to have een throughly questioned too.
Do we? Okay. Cornugon it is, then. And possibly one of the Pridespawn to fill in the gap.
 
Mind you, you don't have to make these sacrifices right away. You can also come back later after finding a suitable meal for Yss.
 
Please note that we can increase a creature's CR by 3 or 4 points by killing it, raising it with Create Greater Undead (or similar), and then sacrificing the result to Yss. Even better, a lot of undead are good at feeding on stuff, which could be convenient to upgrade the Rod...
 
Mhm, we wanted to make em into lore-repositor(y/ies)/Researcher(s)/Fleshracfter(s)..?
I don't mind if Yss jsut sucks out knowledge beforehand and keeps it until we make one such servitor tho.
Mind you, you don't have to make these sacrifices right away. You can also come back later after finding a suitable meal for Yss.
Only, the stupid snek is always asleep.
Unless having Trade Domain somehow changed his habits..?
 
The issue is that having a swim speed is a bit of a hard sell for the current Larder. A lot of the ones that happen to qualify are sacrifices I'm very reluctant to spend here given their value for psionics research. I'll keep looking for a solution.

Keep in mind you guys could technically pay everything in imps, it would just take an absurdly large number of them. There is no reason to limit yourselves to really high CR.
 
The nature of feeding is influenced so a Pridespawn Sorcerer I think is the right way to go.

It's too bad we don't have an exotic devourer of some kind on hand e.g. A creature with an astral bite attack.
 
Please note that we can increase a creature's CR by 3 or 4 points by killing it, raising it with Create Greater Undead (or similar), and then sacrificing the result to Yss. Even better, a lot of undead are good at feeding on stuff, which could be convenient to upgrade the Rod...
I'm afraid I have to veto this, as it's a rather exploity way to game the system.
Other than bragging rights.
Squeezing over a thousand imps through an adamantine funnel into Yss belly would also get you bragging rights. And unlock an achievement.
 
Mind you, you don't have to make these sacrifices right away. You can also come back later after finding a suitable meal for Yss.

I think this is best @thread.

Pridespawn Sorcerer, a master of flesh and transformation.

Succubus and Incubus, primal feeders.

Harvester Devil, a nature of contract bound collection.

Something with Astral feeding.

Something with Shadow feeding.

Something with Ectoplasmic feeding.

And yes, something Undead.
 
Mind you, you don't have to make these sacrifices right away. You can also come back later after finding a suitable meal for Yss.
Yeah... I looked over the Larder and the only one with a swim speed worth a damn was the Brainstealer Dragon. Needless to say she's better spent on research than being used here.
Mhm, we wanted to make em into lore-repositor(y/ies)/Researcher(s)/Fleshracfter(s)..?
I think we should just wait until the Deep Ones provide us with a better range of sacrifices.
Keep in mind you guys could technically pay everything in imps, it would just take an absurdly large number of them. There is no reason to limit yourselves to really high CR.
HD isn't the issue, nor is CR. The issue is that we have one sacrifice with a swim speed, and it isn't one we want to spend here. So we're probably going to need to wait until the Deep Ones attack.

Unless we're allowed to hunt some hapless whale and toss it into the pile?
 
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