Hmm, a Common Rakshasa is CR 10, while a base Alu Demon is only CR 5.

Azema has a level of Cloistered Cleric on top of her base chassis, plus some decent gear and her two Contingency spells (Renewal Pact & Stalwart Pact). The Contingency spells are going to help a lot, because I don't think she can manage this fight on her own without them. She isn't likely to get through the Rakshasa's DR and even hitting it reliably will be difficult, but so long as she can keep it from casting spells and whittle it down with her Vampiric Touch ability, she has a solid chance.
Grappling would force concentration checks, right?
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Nov 28, 2019 at 1:17 PM, finished with 83 posts and 13 votes.

  • [X] Royal aid to build a castle fit for a high lord upon Oldstones and the infrastructure around it to make it the centerpiece of large-scale settlement. House Frey will be a mighty power in the local area, and having a counter-weight to their influence will be useful to you in the future. Not so mismatched a pairing in vassalage as that held between House Tully and Houses Bracken and Blackwood who are both Great Houses in their own right, but more equal than Walder might be comfortable with. House Keath will be one among many Riverland Houses to gain a city charter for themselves, the area is too rich in farmland and criminally underdeveloped given how integral the rivers will be to trade.
 
We need to give her some kind of enchanted Valyrian Steel weapon afterwards. Hopefully she survives this, I'd hate to see her lose a level.
No, Azema's natural weapons are rather amazing (they come with lifesteal !). Gear to increase her damage or stats (amulet of mighty fists? One of the monk items that lets you beat DR?) would be good though.
 
I know some of ya'll might still have your hearts set on it, but I think we should completely abandon the Praetorian Project research before we actually put any time or resources into it.

I was just looking over Azel's notes and write-up for them and they simply are not worth the resource expenditure. Each CR 6 Praetorian is slated to cost 4,500 IM plus 40 pounds of Adamantine (the value of which I cannot currently recall) and that is far in excess of what they are actually worth. We can use either the Fungal or Flesh Forge to grow a CR 10 creature for 4,800 IM. A CR 6 creature, such as one of our Warden Bio-Constructs would only cost 1,200 IM, meaning we could get four of them for less than the cost of a single Praetorian.

I would much rather focus our research on improving the Forges, making Seekers available without requiring unborn children, gaining access to templates, etc.
Even if we still want something a bit like the Praetorians, simply because we would rather not have our armies too dominated with beings whose foremost loyal to the old gods, the Symbiote project is likely to be a cheaper alternative, once we have developed them, Symbiotes should only cost their standard CR cost, so using them to get legionaries to the point where they're effective in Planar wars should be a good deal cheaper, and the lower power Symbiotes will be something we can create out of corpses.

A symbiote also have the advantage, that it can be transferred if its wielder wishes to retire.
 
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Putting this here so I can bookmark it for future reference when I'm updating next month's crafting schedule and Azema's character sheet.

@Duesal, I'm increasing the Enhancement bonus on her amulet to +2, which would be the equivalent of Valyrian Steel if she were using a weapon rather than her claws. It would be very expensive (2,000 IM) to push that to +3. With her Vampiric Touch power and new Delisquescent Gloves, however, beating DR isn't as important so long as she can hit her target at all.
Anklets of Translocation:
  • 2/Day Instantly teleport up to 10 feet to an unoccupied destination within line of sight and line of effect. The wearer can teleport with objects, up to their maximum load, but cannot bring other creatures.
Healing Belt:
  • Healing (3 Charges/Day): 1 Charge (Heal 2d8 points of damage), 2 Charges (Heal 3d8), or 3 Charges(Heal 4d8)
Earring of Arcane Acuity:
  • 3 Charges/Day: 1 Charge(Darkvision 60 ft., 1 hour), 2 Charges (See Invisibility, 10 minutes), 3 Charges (True Seeing, 1 minute)
Slayer's Amulet of Greater Resistance: +3 Resistance bonus to all Saving Throws
  • You benefit from a +1 Enhancement bonus to the Attack and Damage rolls for your claw attacks
Equipment: Earring of Arcane Acuity, Healing Belt, Masterwork Mithral Chain Shirt, Razor-Sharp Masterwork Adamantine Dagger, Ring of Animalistic Power (+1 STR, +1 DEX, +1 CON), Ring of Protection from Good (+1 WIS, +2 CHA +1 INT), Slayer's Amulet of Greater Resistance (+3 Resistance)
Anklets of Rapid Translocation:
  1. Benefit from a +30ft Enhancement bonus to ground movement speed.
  2. 2/Day Instantly teleport up to 10 feet to an unoccupied destination within line of sight and line of effect. The wearer can teleport with objects, up to their maximum load, but cannot bring other creatures.
Cloak of the Hedge Wizard (Abjuration):
Delisquescent Gloves:
  1. Your melee Touch attacks deal 1d6 points of Acid damage. If you wield a weapon or make an attack with an Unarmed Strike or Natural Weapon, that attack gains the Corrosive weapon special ability.
  2. Your hands are protected from the Acid ability of oozes, allowing you to use them to attack oozes with Unarmed Strike or Natural Attack without risk of harm from contact with the ooze. These Unarmed Strikes and Natural Attacks never cause an ooze to split.
Earring of Arcane Acuity:
  • 3 Charges/Day: 1 Charge(Darkvision 60 ft., 1 hour), 2 Charges (See Invisibility, 10 minutes), 3 Charges (True Seeing, 1 minute)
Glamered Reinforced Mithral Breastplate (+3): Armor Class: +9, Max Dexterity Bonus: +6, Armor Check Penalty: -1, Arcane Spell Failure: 25%, Speed: 30ft, Weight: 15 pounds
  • Upon command, the armor changes shape and appearance to assume the form of a normal set of clothing. The armor retains all its properties (including weight) when it is so disguised. Only a True Seeing spell or similar magic reveals the true nature of the armor when it is disguised.
Greater Ribbon of Disguise: Alter Self, Magic Aura, Undetectable Alignment (At Will)

Greatreach Soulfire Bracers of Quickstrike (+1):
  1. Immune to all death spells, magical death effects, and energy drain, and any negative energy effects
  2. 3/Day as a Swift Action, your arms stretch and elongate extending your Reach by 10 feet for one round.
  3. 1/Day you can make one extra attack with any weapon you are holding if you already made a full attack on this turn. This attack is made at your full base attack bonus, plus any modifiers appropriate to the situation. This effect is not cumulative with any other effect that grants you an extra attack when making a full attack, such as the Rapid Shot feat, a speed weapon, or the haste spell.
Handy Haversack: This backpack is of high quality but appears otherwise normal.
  1. It has two side pouches, each of which appears large enough to hold about a quart of material. In fact, each is like a Bag of Holding and can actually hold material of as much as 2 cubic feet in volume or 20 pounds in weight. The large central portion of the pack can contain up to 8 cubic feet or 80 pounds of material. Even when so filled, the backpack always weighs only 5 pounds.
  2. While such storage is useful enough, the pack has an even greater power. When the wearer reaches into it for a specific item, that item is always on top. Thus, no digging around and fumbling is ever necessary to find what a haversack contains. Retrieving any specific item from a haversack is a Move Action, but it does not provoke the Attacks of Opportunity that retrieving a stored item usually does.
Monk's Belt of Healing Vigor:
  1. Wearer gains the AC (Wisdom bonus + 1) and Unarmed damage of a 5th-level Monk.
  2. Healing (3 Charges/Day): 1 Charge (Heal 2d8 points of damage), 2 Charges (Heal 3d8), or 3 Charges(Heal 4d8)
Slayer's Amulet: +3 Resistance bonus to all Saving Throws
  1. You benefit from a +2 Enhancement bonus to the Attack and Damage rolls for your claw attacks
  2. 3 Charges/Day: 1 Charge (12 Temporary Hit Points), 2 Charges (18 Temporary Hit Points), 3 Charges (24 Temporary Hit Points), Duration: 10 minutes
Equipment: Anklets of Rapid Translocation, Cloak of the Hedge Wizard (Abjuration), Delisquescent Gloves, Earring of Arcane Acuity, Glamered Reinforced Segmented Mithral Breastplate (+3), Greater Ribbon of Disguise, Greatreach Soulfire Bracers of Quickstrike, Handy Haversack, Monk's Belt of Healing Vigor, Ring of Protection from Good (+3 WIS, +2 CHA, +1 INT), Ring of Sustenance (+3 STR, +3 DEX, +3 CON), Slayer's Amulet (+3 Resistance, +2 Enhancement), Valyrian Steel Dagger (+2)

Upgrade Belt w/Monk's Belt effect
Cost: 1,338 IM

Upgrade Anklets w/+30ft Enhancement bonus to speed
Cost: 370 IM

Upgrade Ring of Animalistic Power: Increase bonuses from +1 to +3, Add Ring of Sustenance effect
Cost: 2,650 IM

Upgrade Ring of PfG: Increase Wisdom from +1 to +3
Cost: 800 IM

Upgrade Slayer's Amulet: Increase Enhancement from +1 to +2, Add Amulet of Tears effect
Cost: 1,545 IM

Glamered Reinforced Segmented Mithral Breastplate (+3)
Cost: 1,170 IM

Soulfire Bracers:
Cost: 0, taken from stockpile
-Upgrade w/Greatreach & Quickstrike effects: 510 IM

Delisquescent Gloves:
Cost: 800 IM

Cloak of the Hedge Wizard (Abjuration)
Cost: 250 IM

Handy Haversack:
Cost: 0, taken from stockpile

Greater Ribbon of Disguise:
Cost: 0, taken from stockpile

Valyrian Steel Dagger (+2):
Cost: 0, taken from stockpile

TOTAL COST: 9,363 IM
 
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Winning vote
Adhoc vote count started by Goldfish on Nov 28, 2019 at 3:21 PM, finished with 92 posts and 13 votes.

  • [X] Royal aid to build a castle fit for a high lord upon Oldstones and the infrastructure around it to make it the centerpiece of large-scale settlement. House Frey will be a mighty power in the local area, and having a counter-weight to their influence will be useful to you in the future. Not so mismatched a pairing in vassalage as that held between House Tully and Houses Bracken and Blackwood who are both Great Houses in their own right, but more equal than Walder might be comfortable with. House Keath will be one among many Riverland Houses to gain a city charter for themselves, the area is too rich in farmland and criminally underdeveloped given how integral the rivers will be to trade.
 
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Part MMMCCI: New Roads and Ancient Hurdles
New Roads and Ancient Hurdles

Twenty Third Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

As you had suspected he would, Lord Ashwin pledges his sword and his House to your banners as soon as you enter his solar once more, the return of his son and the knowledge of Baratheon weakness enough to earn you the support. Yet there is more you would do for House Keath to aid in the stability of your realm. First you pledge to not only abolish Aenys' interdiction, but aid in the construction of a new keep upon the site of Oldstones fit for a Great House, and at its foot no mere village or even a market town like Harroway, Saltpans or Fairmarkert, but a true chartered city.

"House Frey promises to be mighty indeed once matters in the Riverlands are settled, and I would look kindly upon a counter-weight to their influence," you explain to the surprised lord. "Not so mismatched, nor of course so vicious, as what is between House Tully, House Bracken, and House Blackwood, but enough to give Lord Walder cause for thought, let us say. He is a man who does better with a more even distribution of power and wealth around him."

Lord Keath's expression, that had been almost wary at the vast generosity, clears into an unshadowed smile. He likely knows Lord Walder well enough to understand why you might be inclined to build up other Houses alongside the Freys. Truth be told, you are more concerned with developing cities in the Riverlands to take advantage of its place as the crossroads of the Seven Kingdoms and a breadbasket second only to the Reach. The rivers make fairer roads than the Kingsroad ever could, and for sheer ease of transport they would likely be greater than any road you could build even with sorcery. It is along these rivers that you hope to build not one city, but many.

***​

Oaths sworn and pledges of support given, there are but two more Houses in the Riverlands with whom you might parley. Alas that it is the ones that have given so many headaches to your ancestors and indeed to the lords of this kingdom in ages past. You would not be surprised that if one were to ask a Mudd King or even Harren the Black which part of their domain was the most tumultuous, they would point to the weirwood tree and the rampant horse on gold. Granted, King Harren had also benefited from the feud to claim the Riverlands, but you are not here to stir up old battles to make your conquest easier, but instead hopefully put them to rest.

"Given that the trouble with young Lord Hoster and Lady Catelyn started at Raventree Hall, it might be best to start there," your mother suggests. "They keep to the Old Gods, too, so Lord Tytos is likely to take a visit better from the start." After only a moment's hesitation, she adds. "You could even ask... Lord Brynden to send a sign. Passing strange to ask the true favored of any gods to take part in that sort of theater, but he would certainly be willing."

"I think so, too. He might even have some fun doing it," Dany interjects with a smile, taking your mother's words for the compliment you are not sure they were.

"Might it not be better to do the reverse because the Blackwoods are more likely to be better disposed?" Rina asks. "As prickly as Lord Tytos and Lord Jonos are about each other, they might take being visited second poorly, making it better to spend that bit of goodwill where there is a surfeit of it. The Brackens might even be worried that favoring the Old Gods over the New, you would be inclined to settle the dispute in House Blackwood's favor."

"A fair point," you nod thoughtfully.

"Maybe you should at that," Ser Richard interjects. "Cut the knot once and for all, it's only being of even strength that let them feud for so long."

"Perhaps it is pride speaking, but I would rather be known as the king to begin healing the rift, not the one who merely chose a side," you answer after a moment's thought. "If nothing else, the religious dimensions of the feud would make any definitive solution of that nature echo far beyond the Riverlands."

"There's another reason it might be best to travel to Stone Hedge, Your Grace," Rina says, a touch hesitantly this time. "We have Hoster's side of the story, or near enough from Ansa, but nothing from Catelyn. I think that might be worth knowing before making any judgement in the matter? I admit I may not be entirely objective about this..."

"I do not ask you to restrain your counsel, chasing some chimeric state of perfectly level judgement," you wave away the objection with a smile before your gaze falls once more to the map of the Riverlands laid out before you so that you might decide where next to fly.

Where do you go next?

[] Visit House Blackwood of Raventree
-[] Write in

[] Visit House Bracken of Stone Hedge
-[] Write in


OOC: The account of the unfortunate lovers as was recounted to Viserys can be found here.
 
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Divide and conquer maybe? Investigate both beforehand before making choice?

Maybe meet the young lovers and get their opinion on things and if they truly do want to marry to help end feud?
 
New Roads and Ancient Hurdles

Twenty Third Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

As you had suspected he would, Lord Ashwin pledges his sword and his House to your banners as soon as you enter his solar once more, the return of his son and the knowledge of Baratheon weakness enough to earn you the support. Yet there is more you would do for House Keath to aid in the stability of your realm. First you pledge to not only abolish Aenys' interdiction, but aid in the construction of a new keep upon the site of Oldstones fit for a Great House, and at its foot no mere village or even a market town like Harroway, Saltpans or Fairmarkert, but a true chartered city.

"House Frey promises to be mighty indeed once matters in the Riverlands are settled, and I would look kindly upon a counter-weight to their influence," you explain to the surprised lord. "Not so mismatched, nor of course so vicious, as what is between House Tully, House Bracken, and House Blackwood, but enough to give Lord Walder cause for thought, let us say. He is a man who does better with a more even distribution of power and wealth around him."

Lord Keath's expression, that had been almost wary at the vast generosity, clears into an unshadowed smile. He likely knows Lord Walder well enough to understand why you might be inclined to build up other Houses alongside the Freys. Truth be told, you are more concerned with developing cities in the Riverlands to take advantage of its place as the crossroads of the Seven Kingdoms and a breadbasket second only to the Reach. The rivers make fairer roads than the Kingsroad ever could, and for sheer ease of transport they would likely be greater than any road you could build even with sorcery. It is along these rivers that you hope to build not one city, but many.

***​

Oaths sworn and pledges of support given, there are but two more Houses in the Riverlands with whom you might parley. Alas that it is the ones that have given so many headaches to your ancestors and indeed to the lords of this kingdom in ages past. You would not be surprised that if one were to ask a Mudd King or even Harren the Black which part of their domain was the most tumultuous, they would point to the weirwood tree and the rampant horse on gold. Granted, King Harren had also benefited from the feud to claim the Riverlands, but you are not here to stir up old battles to make your conquest easier, but instead hopefully put them to rest.

"Given that the trouble with young Lord Hoster and Lady Catelyn started at Raventree Hall, it might be best to start there," your mother suggests. "They keep to the Old Gods, too, so Lord Tytos is likely to take a visit better from the start." After only a moment's hesitation, she adds. "You could even ask... Lord Brynden to send a sign. Passing strange to ask the true favored of any gods to take part in that sort of theater, but he would certainly be willing."

"I think so, too. He might even have some fun doing it," Dany interjects with a smile, taking your mother's words for the compliment you are not sure they were.

"Might it not be better to do the reverse because the Blackwoods are more likely to be better disposed?" Rina asks. "As prickly as Lord Tytos and Lord Jonos are about each other, they might take being visited second poorly, making it better to spend that bit of goodwill where there is a surfeit of it. The Brackens might even be worried that favoring the Old Gods over the New, you would be inclined to settle the dispute in House Blackwood's favor."

"A fair point," you nod thoughtfully.

"Maybe you should at that," Ser Richard interjects. "Cut the knot once and for all, it's only being of even strength that let them feud for so long."

"Perhaps it is pride speaking, but I would rather be known as the king to begin healing the rift, not the one who merely chose a side," you answer after a moment's thought. "If nothing else, the religious dimensions of the feud would make any definitive solution of that nature echo far beyond the Riverlands."

"There's another reason it might be best to travel to Stone Hedge, Your Grace," Rina says, a touch hesitantly this time. "We have Hoster's side of the story, or near enough from Ansa, but nothing from Catelyn. I think that might be worth knowing before making any judgement in the matter? I admit I may not be entirely objective about this..."

"I do not ask you to restrain your counsel, chasing some chimeric state of perfectly level judgement," you wave away the objection with a smile before your gaze falls once more to the map of the Riverlands laid out before you so that you might decide where next to fly.

Where do you go next?

[] Visit House Blackwood of Raventree
-[] Write in

[] Visit House Bracken of Stone Hedge
-[] Write in


OOC: The account of the unfortunate lovers as was recounted to Viserys can be found here.
Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
 
Divide and conquer maybe? Investigate both beforehand before making choice?

Maybe meet the young lovers and get their opinion on things and if they truly do want to marry to help end feud?
Yeah, @Crake, I think we should thoroughly investigate both houses and both dumbass teenagers, before arranging to meet with either Lord.

[X] Crake
 
[X] Start with Stone Hedge and the Brackens, perhaps trying to fit in a private meeting with Lady Catelyn (not words you thought you'd be thinking, albeit it is a different context) before meeting her father. The fact of the matter is you have made some gains with making your view of the Faith seem favorable, and religion is a prickly point with Lord Bracken if by nothing other than the sheer dint of his House's relationship with House Blackwood, and you have multiple ties and methods to get a favorable meeting at first blush with Lord Blackwood, through the auspices of Uncle Brynden and through your obvious championing of his Gods, to simple if distant blood ties.
-[X] Furthermore the Brackens form the base of the knot in this case even if it seems possible a Blackwood might either untangle it or set the whole thing alight. You feel reasonably confident you can get them to set aside open conflict when you present all the other various threats facing the Riverlands and the Seven Kingdoms at large, and you have a reputation as a fair dealer and honorer of oaths. There's not really a whole lot more you can do to make a better impression, but a whole lot to make a worse one.
 
@DragonParadox Just to be clear, we are going to meet Catelyn 2.0 first, and then consider what to do next, but I think you know that since you'll be revealing all the salacious details to us beforehand and there will be granularity involved in a response to that.
 
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