Xor is just a bit friendlier than the average of his kind, not a lot.

Hmm, if 'only a bit friendlier than most' resulted with Xor... I wonder how other far more benevolent ones would act and speak.

...argh, probably none too pleasant. They say '—too much is as bad as too little'. And I guess the meeting with such a... being would resulted with us having to talk and converse and then captured for the rest of eternity just because we act nice.
 
Xor should really get his minions/assistants/band members/offspring! Let's planeshift into the Abyss and get Xor to bud.

...say, what will we ever find in the Plane of Vacuum?
 
Unlikely.
Yrten immediatly recognised a Beholder (though wrongly in Xor's case).

I guess common Beholders are not that rare?
I'm not saying they're unknown entirely, just very rare.

And Yrten isn't the best metric to judge by, either. He's an extradimensional pirate and member of an unusually long-lived race, so more likely to have been exposed to one in the past or have learned of them from somewhere.
 
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Inserted tally
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jan 8, 2020 at 9:18 AM, finished with 158 posts and 18 votes.

  • [X] Resolve to spend some more time with Balerion.
    [X] Meraxes being worshipped as actively as she is is a fine thing - except we know of the danger that grows alongside her.
    -[X] Talk to Zherys and Meraxes, try to ensure she doesn't "return to life" for a while longer so that we won't have to worry about the 15th getting proactive.
    [X] Visit Vialesk again
    -[X] Talk to Star Admiral Kharban of the Splendid Armada, get him more fleshforged creatures if he so desires (likely).
    --[X] Attempt to secure a military alliance against Deep Ones.
    -[X] Grab the crafting orders we made, make new ones.
    -[X] See if the Council of Vialesk has changed their mind about setting up Planar Terminus station - with all the trade we brought in with us.
    --[X] Imply that if they don't, they will greatly lose out on the trade, since we'll look into opening one in the Emirate of Mardja anyway.
    [X] Visit the Emirate of Mardja, inquire about setting up a Planar Terminus station there.
    [X] Look further for mercenary companies capable of effectively fighting Deep Ones.
    -[X] Asking around in Mardja seems a good start, what with us having made a defense pact.
    [X] We already got the crafters and Enchanters from Vialesk and Hampa, now would be the time to try and get more from:
    -[X] Dalaqua (focus: crafters/artisans, also any enchanters we can get).
    -[X] Zerbat (focus: artisans, also any enchanters we can get).
    -[X] Dawa (focus: crafters (fishnets), also any enchanters we can get).
    -[X] Kela (focus: crafters (massive amounts), also any enchanters we can get).
    [X] Look into the situation between the Emirate of Kela and the Wyrm Galzerai - learn the truth about their relationship insofar as we can, there is a possibility of us manning a rescue mission of sorts, in order to get Kela's resource support.
    [X] Look into the possibility of bringing more Marid Emirates into your war on Deep Ones:
    -[X] Dawa (fishnet-wielding units, said to have been excelling in the last war).
    -[X] Kela (huge amounts of crafters, so possibly war-machines of sorts..?).
    [X] Attempt to have a meeting with Althazi the Deathless - learning his price for use of his forces against Deep Ones, and looking for guarantees he won't establish a foothold on Plane of Balance once those are vanquished.
    [X] Visit the Gith Monastery again.
    -[X] Gather the ordered items.
    -[X] Offer more fleshforged creatures
    -[X] Gather the promised lore on Psionics (basics) and Aberrations (all they can share).
    -[X] Make new item-orders:
    --[X] 1 [1/day, Slotless, Unaugmented (7 ML)] item of Zealous Fury (6,854 IM).
    --[X] 2 [1/day, Slotless, Unaugmented] items of Hustle. ()
    --[X] 1 [1/day, Slotless, Augmented (15th ML)] item of Empty Mind (3,672 IM).
    --[X] 1 [Slotless, (15th ML)] Third Eye: Conceal (24,000 IM).
    --[X] X-amount of [(15th ML)] Third Eye: Conceal (effective Psionic Mindblank items - 12,000 IM per item).
    [X] AFTER TIAMAT'S FORCES ARE DEALT WITH:
    -[X] Hunt for some Winter-touched creatures Beyond the Wall.
    --[X] Variety is the answer here, grab animals, monsters, Fey - anything possible, really. (High-level Divination guarantees some good non-Mindblanked finds right off the bat)
    --[X] Have them handed over to Djinn for their research on cleansing Void-corruption.
    -[X] If there is time - look into setting up a counter-trap to those Efreeti hunting the Char-Serpent(s) in Oil-seas of Plane of Fire.
    [X] You have received reports of Inquisition on the creatures you once encountered beneath the King's Landing. While your Empire is fairly progressive towards the non-humans, same most assuredly can't be said of Westeros as it is now - sooner or later, something will happen, either they'll be discovered and rooted out, or some corruption may get to them, those forced to hide away from the rest of the world in fear.
    -[X] Visit the Rat-folk beneath the King's Landing, try to convince them to move cities - Sorcerer's Deep will freely offer them a safe haven if they agree to become your subjects.
    [X] Arrange a personal meeting(s) with the remaining 2 rulers of Lorath - attempt to persuade them into joining the Empire, claiming economic growth and stability as reasons, grease the wheels where necessary by bribes.
    -[X] Additionally, look into "the Shadowbinder" who started a school in Lorath - while the regulations used in it clearly make it seem like a preparation for joining The Empire, we are curious about sich a mage - since we had only limited contact with Shadow-mages so far.
    [X] Meet with the Candlekeep Courtier, hash out what he needs for him and his Fey to be more effective at the task we put him on - we are talking gear, we are talking consumables, we are talking potential House of Mirrors support.
    [X] Have the talk with Stannis - the Storm God can do much for the realm, and him personally. So far he seemed a goal-minded man, so we believe he'll see the merit in converting to the just and practical God of First Men.
    -[X] In case of success, also retrieve the Heart Tree from the Storm's End - putting an exact fleshforged copy, with permanenced (Diamond dust) Fire Resistance, on it.
    [X] Meet Galeneia, the daughter of Merling King.
    -[X] If she succeeded in getting the lore on forging the water-spirits, barter for it.
    [X] Look for a way to contact the "exiles" of Faceless Men under the false persona of Liu of Qarth - under the pretenses of relaying to them the research of the tablet you completed.
    [X] Visit the Dornish tourney in a guise - the lords shall be properly briefed on many a thing.
    [X] Loot the entirety of Mercury Lake in PoE.
    [X] Grow Heart Trees for provinces with active Inquisition Bases (provided enough sacrifices/items are available for that).
    -[X] Stepstones
    -[X] Tyrosh
    -[X] Lys
    -[X] Myr
    -[X] Braavos
    -[X] Pentos
    -[X] Mantarys
    -[X] Tolos
    -[X] Naath
    -[X] Eastern Basilisk Isles
    -[X] The Three Snakes
    -[X] Western Basilisk Isles
    [X] Grow "Plant Growth"-type Hearts Trees for the following greens (provided enough sacrifices/items are available for that):
    -[X] Golden Desert Tree seeds
    [X] Have someone talk to Laenor - the man clearly wanted time away from troubles, after all, he's been through much... but his knowledge may yet be of use for the coming generations. If he doesn't mind teaching in Scholarum..?
    [X] Have Dany use her Half-Celestial form's Hallow SLA with the Tongues spell attached to blanket the area where our normal SD MirrorVision broadcasts and performances originate from, ensuring that all the recipients understand everything said on the broadcast.
    [X] Restore the documents and the lore recovered from Ymeri's mansion in Volantis via the ash-to-book ritual.
    [X] Have the library of Storm's End copied.
    [X] Recover the lore of the Many-Faced-God written down by Faceless.
    [X] Have some Druid Creature Leshi/Treants busy themselves with increasing the population of the following magical plants acquired previously:
    -[X] Cassil seeds
    -[X] Flame Clove seeds
    -[X] Arkas Grass seeds
    [X] Have the 20 lbs of Void-touched Jade handed over to Djinn Cryomancers for their research in cleansing Void Corruption - with the full tale we know of it.
    -[X] Preferably, those shouldn't be consumed in the process - but we can live with it if the results would look really promising.
    [X] Have the Efreeti Wish-slaves, summoned alongside the Devils last month by their True Names, handed over to Shaitan/Djinn officials - perhaps making them into a propaganda move for all of Genie since the practice is as abhorrent to all of them.
    [X] Have school-temples of Zathir opened in Opaline Vault, Armun Kelisk, and Vialesk (and Mardja if possible).
    [X] Open a temple of Yss in Vialesk (and Mardja if possible).
    [X] With several educational institutions off-plane accepting the offer of student exchange, it would but make sense to keep an eye on it.
    -[X] Djinn Criomancers - will read lectures in SD for a month (12th month).
    -[X] Djinn Auxiliaries (Mystic Rangers) - lore needed for training acquired, we can train Mystic Rangers (starting, 12th month).
    -[X] Djinn Order of Stormweavers (Stormcasters) - agreed in principle, but need to free up a Master to visit beforehand - unknown when available.
    -[X] Shaitan War Academy (Warmages, Diviners, Officers, and Engineers) - tentative agreement, bureaucracy needs to be pushed through to start the exchange - either visit the Shaitan leader or send diplomatic envoy throughout several months.
    -[X] Shaitan Guild of Shapers (Magewrights) - accepted student exchange.
    [X] The lore of the Faceless Men is perilous indeed - presenting a danger to the very beings of those who may attempt to follow it without the sort of pact the Faceless have in place- but maybe, just maybe, there are those in your realm who will take such a path. You cannot in good conscience set aside the potential power this path may lead them to, and the potential usefulness of such assets.
    -[X] Talk to Ysandrix, some of our Fiends, maybe Vesill, potentially some of the most proficient humans (read: Inquisitor-level). Make the dangers clear and apparent, even we won't be able to blunt those.
    -[X] With Faceless seeking to bring Yss into the millennia-old pact, to better guard the Domains of [Death] from the Void, perhaps something on a smaller scale can be done to other gods of your realm? Inquire Zathir, Yss, the Ferryman, Old Gods, Weeping Lady, and the Goddess of Silver Moon if they'd be willing to grant knowledge and power to someone in such a way - and for what price.
    [X] Have Bloodraven!Varys get all of the Dragonbone outside of the Red Keep and into our possession and replaced with fleshforged fakes so that they can't be ritually used against the resurrected dragons.
    [X] On-screen show of efforts against poverty in The Empire.
    -[X] Efforts already available in SD - as a general policy kept in mind - are being spread everywhere we can:
    --[X] We provide the basics to the needy (food, housing).
    --[X] We have a job board for job seekers and employers looking to make job offers more visible.
    --[X] We provide various forms of education for children and criminals (reading and writing, a trade skill).
    --[X] We run massive businesses and government services that employ people.
    -[X] Further ways we can fight poverty:
    --[X] Get the Iron Bank to do microcredit (possibly backed by Divination?) or facilitate investor/entrepreneur links.
    --[X] Have a vote on how to stop rampant magitech from crashing huge swathes of our economy.
    [X] The Faceless Men that left Braavos - and the territory of your Empire - are unlikely to remain civil about practicing their rites with your Empire actively expanding its borders, and leaving them little place to do so. Eventually, they'll have to be dealt with, one way or another.
    -[X] Have Inquisition cross-reference cases of Assassinations/"peaceful deaths" that match the patterns of Faceless Men, and work even more closely with House of Mirrors, the Zomok Seer, and even the Divination-capable Companions on free time, if needs be, to find such events outside the Empire's borders.
 
Part MMMCCLXXVII: Of Iron Courage
Of Iron Courage

Second Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC

News from Pyke makes for news at once grim and heartening. Lady Joana Volmark had proven the courage of the Ironborn more than any hundred reavers by managing to not only keep herself calm and not stir any suspicion in the presence of Deep One infiltrators, but to sneak her way out of her keep with her infant son. The last of the House's loyal armsmen died providing a distraction that offered her the chance to flee and a pair of young fishermen had been the ones to sail her to safety hidden among their nets. But without a doubt the hero of the Retaking of Volmark was Ser Harras Harlaw, who had under the cover of alchemical concoction and Lantern Bearer blood signs taken the lower chambers of the keep by storm at the cost of twelve of his knights and almost his own life to a shelled monstrosity. In the end Nightfall proved the stronger and partly through the power of the healing belt that you had gifted his uncle with and partly through potions and tinctures bought in Oldtown he managed to press on into the ritual chamber where the Eaters of Minds were enacting some sort of ritual.

"If the bastards weren't distracted with whatever devilry they were working we'd probably be dead right now," the young knight's voice sounds distant, and not just with the whisper of the sands. You can recognize the tone of a man who had grown accepting of his own death if not quite willing to embrace it. "Wisdom Henrik tossed a dispelling mixture among the children they had bound in a pattern. I... I can't describe it. There aren't words."

"I understand," you assure the knight. "What happened then?"

"Most of the children collapsed, eyes rolling back in their heads, coughing blood, but a few of them just started screaming and screaming... inside our heads too. I think it was worse for the squids. They were sort of swaying, almost like they were drunk. Gave us a chance to spread out and come at them from all sides so they couldn't catch us all with their magic. Didn't lose a single man then, though without healing magic I would have lost five, maybe six depending..."

"Depending on what?" you pause a moment. "My apologies for stirring up dark memories, but it it helpful to know, the powers their foul mages showed might be a clue to what they were doing."

"On whether Ser Rickard killed himself to get away from the pain or not," Ser Harras replied tonelessly. "I don't know much about their magic, just..." the pause is longer, heavier this time. "Just what I can see."

Ah, that explains a great deal, you realize. Not a conversation you should be having by brazier. Instead you ask: "The young Lord Volmark wasn't there in the chamber, right? How do you know he was affected?"

"He had a fit at the same time this was going on, not as bad as some, no blood, but..."

"I understand," you repeat softly. Lady Volmark is likely besides herself with worry and had no answers in sight. You make a note to send someone with some skill at laying those fears to rest, not just unraveling the grim mystery.

"Once the last Mind Eater died the shapechangers ordered a sally to make it into the sea, standing orders maybe," the young Harlaw knight continues. "But they weren't really any kind of commanders so they died to the armsmen we'd debarked in secret and hidden among the townsmen. It was a messy fight since we couldn't form up properly beforehand for fear of alerting the enemy. Still, better than fighting shark-men."

What do you do?

[] Send someone to Pyke
-[] Write in

[] Go yourself along with some companions
-[] Write in

[] Write in


OOC: I know this is not really a full account, but I could not justify Ser Harras IC giving an account of how he found his alchemist friend or persuaded the Lantern Bearers to come along. That will come later, possibly from their own PoVs.
 
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[X] Go yourself along with some companions
-[X] Bring Richard, Vee if she is available, and a Mind Dragon. Although they are not truly psionic in nature, their Telepathic powers are quite advanced and could prove helpful in determining whether or not they minds of the children have been altered.
--[X] Invite Jeyne Weaver along as well. She is one of our only sources of lore pertaining to the mental powers of the Deep Ones. Have the Mind Dragon use it's Mind Blank SLA to protect her mind while we are on the Iron Isles.
 
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Well, this counts as a Minor Action, and not even a "free action" everyone has beyond their main task in the month...

So, Vee's Research, Sir Richard's helping in scouting out GC, and everyone's participation in the attack should be safe...

[X] Goldfish
 
Even if they have to take a progress bump to other actions, it's hard to argue it wouldn't be worth it to focus on the main course.
 
Even if they have to take a progress bump to other actions, it's hard to argue it wouldn't be worth it to focus on the main course.
Yep. There are only a few Research Actions I wouldn't mind delaying if it means investigating a Deep One plot more thoroughly. With her connection to the OG and Yss, Vee is a great addition to the trip out to the Iron Isles, plus she's a powerful healer and Summoner, should serious combat occur.
 
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Keep in mind you guys do have one psionic character and Jeyne has yet to start her action for this month.
Jeyne is still too green, IMO, and liable to be reduced to a greasy red smear if she gets caught in one of our fights. And while she is psionic, as a Kineticist her powers focus much more strongly on the physical rather than the mental.
 
Jeyne is still too green, IMO, and liable to be reduced to a greasy red smear if she gets caught in one of our fights. And while she is psionic, as a Kineticist her powers focus much more strongly on the physical rather than the mental.

That's fair but she is the only one you have with knwolege psionics or psicraft. There are checks regarding Deep One rituals that are flatly impossible to make without that (though others can be substituted for their arcane equivalents at a massive increase in dificulty).
 
Bring one of the therapist archons? And perhaps out own psychic. And... hm.

@DragonParadox the gith envoy still here? I feel like they would be familiar with this situation.
 
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That's fair but she is the only one you have with knwolege psionics or psicraft. There are checks regarding Deep One rituals that are flatly impossible to make without that (though others can be substituted for their arcane equivalents at a massive increase in dificulty).
Good point. I've added her to the plan, along with the Mind Dragon using it's Mind Blank SLA on her while on the mission.
 
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