Winning vote
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 23, 2020 at 6:01 AM, finished with 104 posts and 15 votes.

  • [X] Your first priority before actually engaging the devils should be to disarm the threat of the pyramid collapsing. That requires individual structural interactions, possibly magic, possibly mechanisms, which you can actually interfere with and that have to be placed at physical locations. If it's something as pedestrian as weakening the foundations at certain points, you can shore up all of that damage very fast with Titan's Tools. The information you plumbed from the Devils should allow you to know where to start on this.
    -[X] Once the risk of a very visible, very obvious disaster which 'unfortunately' claims the lives of many of the influential and powerful, such as the case used to be at any rate, is out of the way, you can focus on tackling the devils in their redoubt, drawing their reinforcements into a pitched fight in a less visible location where you don't have to concern yourselves with collateral as much.
 
Part MMMDCXX: Sight Secret and True
Sight Secret and True

Twenty Sixth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

You have spied by stealth and poisoned by it, you have stolen and you have bound your enemies in enchantments, but you have never imagined doing what amounts to engineering by stealth. The foundations of the pyramid, already worn away by time and the slowly shifting stone underfoot, have been set to crumble at the devils' command. It's certainly not meant for you and yours, or that it is even meant primarily as a defense. Judging with a statesman's eye, which is not so far removed from a showman's as some would like to say, you would say the agents of Asmodeus aim to destroy the pyramid to herald their ascension. Out with the old, in with the new...

It takes the better part of three hours and two alarms nearly triggered, but between Dany, yourself, and Benerro, who proves surprisingly adept in large scale enchantment, you are able to unravel the work of whatever archmage had set this place to crumble and then reinforce the foundations with titan tools.

"That should hold for another three thousand years, for whatever it's worth," you sigh, words echoing strangely in the narrow confines of the quick and dirty tunnel you had delved under cover of illusion.

"Less than nothing," Mereth replies softly. At Ser Richard's curious look she explains. "This pyramid, it's an eyesore better off cleared for something more useful when the time comes."

"There is some worth to history, my lady," Benerro counters politely. He had not been quite certain how to address a traitor devil at first, but seems to have settled for treating her as a landless member of the warrior aristocracy, otherworldly matters left aside.

"Not the history of failure." She shakes her head, a small cloud of dust swirling from her night-black hair unnoticed. Her lips twist in smile as sharp as the blade at her side. "Come, let us add to it."

Unlike the under-city the pyramid and the bedrock directly beneath it are a small enough area that you can afford to avoid tunnels and traps laid by the enemy and make your own. Secure in the knowledge that the pyramid and its visitors are safe from collapsing, you continue to dig until you come to about sixty feet of the oracular chamber, as close as you dare without alerting the fine hearing of infernal sentinels who might be keeping watch.

Though you had been tempted to make the final passage yourself a half-jest about 'saving some of the battle for the rest of us' from Garin and a worried look from Ser Richard convinces you to send Varys instead, unseen and unfelt, though rather than counting on her mind voice alone to recount what she sees you borrow her eyes also.

What you see on the other side of the wall is not the gathering of imps and acolytes you had expected, nor yet the diabolic garrison against attack you had hoped for. Instead you see a gathering of young girls, six in all, dressed in white robes that mark them as the most junior of Graces, stained with blood and other less recognizable foulness, looking with a combination of awe and terror at a twisted figure that stands in the center of the oracular form.

It is... humanlike in the sense of having two arms two legs and the general proportions of a woman dressed in the simple garb reminiscent of the Unsullied, though it wears no armor. Where there should be a face there is a ceremonial mask bearing the image of a wrathful goddess, and from behind this mask two great writhing tentacles, each half as thick as the body, coil to the floor. In the horror's hand is a spear of bronze, such as the most veteran soldiers of Old Ghis, the Triarii, once bore. This thing is something of the Lady of Spears, though whether divine herald or flesh-forged servant you could not say for all the dream of dragonkind do not recall its like.


The girls are chanting in the harsh guttural tongue of Old Ghis, a prayer of sight, of vision, of battle luck, they are trying to discover the enemy unlooked for that had struck at the Harbor Gate, and they might yet find their answer. The wards you and your companions bear are strong enough to resist all mortal magic but you are not certain they can do the same for the direct eye of a goddess, and unlike Asmodeus who must look in on a thousand ever-turning schemes each moment the Lady of Spears is the lesser Power in this alliance, she can be asked to bend all her attention to the task.

Unfortunately for the devils and their allies you are closer than they think.

How do you attack?

[] Write in

OOC: I've been meaning to use that pic for months now, though given its nature I am glad I did not put it up late at night.
 
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That is an ugly Avatar

We need to give it the Tiammat treatment. Sacrifice it to regrow our redeemed unsullied's missing family jewels.
 
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For a while now I've had issues with things just not fitting on the front page, so I've decided to bit the bullet, take a page from @Goldfish's book and just link the sheets on the front page. This will allow for a much more clean and generally coherent viewing experience I think and it will mean I can make edits without worrying if this time it goes over the character limit.
 
Sight Secret and True

Twenty Sixth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

You have spied by stealth and poisoned by it. You have stolen and you have bound your enemies in enchantments, but you have never imagined doing what amounts to engineering by stealth. The foundations of the pyramid, already worn away by time and the slowly shifting stone underfoot, have been set to crumble at the devils' command. It's certainly not meant for you and yours, or that it is even meant primarily as a defense. Judging with a statesman's eye, which is not so far removed from a showman's as some would like to say, you would say the agents of Asmodeous aim to destroy the pyramid to herald their ascension. Out with the old, in with the new...

It takes the better part of three hours and two alarms nearly triggered, but between Dany, yourself, and Benerro, who proves surprisingly adept in large scale enchantment, you are able to unravel the work of whatever archmage had set this place to crumble and then reinforce the foundations using titan tools.

"That should hold for another three thousand years for whatever it's worth," you sigh, words echoing strangely in the narrow confines of the quick and dirty tunnel you had delved under cover of illusion.

"Less than nothing," Mereth replies softly. At Ser Richard's curious look, she explains. "This pyramid, it's an eyesore better off cleared for something more useful when the time comes."

"There is a worth to history, my lady," Benerro counters politely. He had not been quite certain how to address a traitor devil at first, but seems to have settled for treating her as a landless member of the warrior aristocracy, otherworldly matters left aside.

"Not the history of failure." She shakes her head, a small cloud of dust swirling from her night-black hair unnoticed. Her lips twist in smile sharp as the blade at her side. "Come, let us add to it."

Unlike the under city, the pyramid and the bedrock directly beneath it are a small enough area that you can afford to avoid tunnels and traps laid by the enemy and make your own. Secure in the knowledge that pyramid and visitors are safe from collapsing, you continue to dig until you come to about sixty feet of the oracular chamber, as close as you dare without alerting the fine hearing of infernal sentinels who might be keeping watch.

Though you had been tempted to make the final passage yourself, a half-jest about 'saving some of the battle for the rest of us' from Garin and a worried look from Ser Richard convinces you to send Varys instead. She moves unseen and unfelt, though rather than counting on her mind voice alone to recount what she sees, you borrow her eyes also.

What you see on the other side of the wall is not the gathering of imps and acolytes you had expected, nor the diabolic garrison against attack you had hoped for. Instead, you see a gathering of young girls, six in all, the white robes that mark them as the most junior of Graces stained with blood and other less recognizable foulness looking with a combination of awe and terror at a twisted figure that stands in the center of the oracular form.

It is... human-like in the sense of having two arms two legs and the general proportions of a woman dressed in the simple garb reminiscent of the Unsullied, though it wears no armor. Where there should be a face, there is a ceremonial mask bearing the image of a wrathful godess and from behind this mask two great writhing tentacles, each half as thick as the body, coil to the floor. In the horror's hand is a spear of bronze, such as the most veteran soldiers of Old Ghis, the triarii once bore. This thing is something of the Lady of Spears, though whether divine herald or flesh-forged servant you could not say, for all the dreams of dragonkind do not recall its like.


The girls are chanting in the harsh guttural tongue of Old Ghis, a prayer of sight, of vision, of battle luck. They are trying to discover the enemy unlooked for that had struck at the Harbor Gate, and they might yet find their answer. The wards you and your companions bear are strong enough to resist all mortal magic, but you are not certain they can do the same for the direct eye of a goddess, and unlike Asmodeous who must look in on a thousand ever-turning schemes each moment, the Lady of Spears is the lesser Power in this alliance. She can be asked to bend all her attention to the task.

Unfortunately for the devils and their allies, you are closer than they think.

How do you attack?

[] Write in

OOC: I've been meaning to use that pic for months now, though given its nature I am glad I did not put it up late at night. Not yet edited.
Here's an edited version of the chapter, @DragonParadox.

Holy crap, that is a freaky picture. Damn... :o
 
For a while now I've had issues with things just not fitting on the front page, so I've decided to bit the bullet, take a page from @Goldfish's book and just link the sheets on the front page. This will allow for a much more clean and generally coherent viewing experience I think and it will mean I can make edits without worrying if this time it goes over the character limit.
You can just pull from my Character Sheet page if you want to. I still have to make individual pages and links for most of the people who have overflowed onto the second page, but it's otherwise pretty comprehensive.
 
@DragonParadox, I could use my Threadmark powers to organize the Informational threadmarks, if you want. With proper nesting and stuff to make it easier to browse.

Sure that sounds great. What we really need is a way to list the following:

One big Vassal list, with their actual landed titles
One big Oathsworn list for people like Amrelath who are not landed but are still major assets and bound to Viserys personally
One big Agents List for well agents, everything from Asha adn Theon to the Windwards to Danar and Alysa. Thos who are sworn inquisitors can simply be marked inquisitor ad so forth.
 
@DragonParadox, the Oracular Chamber doesn't seem to be warded from extraplanar travel, since Varys was able to slip into it using Ethereal Jaunt. Can you confirm?
 
How young is young in this case DP?

I mean... Viserys has been squeamish about killing children in the past. Especially girls. Hell really... I said they wouldnt pull any punch is and I meant it.
 
They are white graces, so younger the puberty, the eldest looks about twelve, the youngest seven or eight.
Well it's nice to be right this still kind of sucks.

I wonder if this is just the way their religion does stuff or of this was meant to mess with Viserys.

Regardless. I've been up all time and its sleep time.

[X] Goldfish
 
The wards you and your companions bear are strong enough to resist all mortal magic but you are not certain they can do the same for the direct eye of a goddess, and unlike Asmodeus who must look in on a thousand ever-turning schemes each moment the Lady of Spears is the lesser Power in this alliance, she can be asked to bend all her attention to the task.
I wonder how this measures up against multiple kinds of Mind Blank on a single person. 🤔
 
Sweet Glasya, the informational threadmarks are a trainwreck. That will need a lot of rewrites to become comprehensible again.

I banged everything vaguely in shape for now, grouping things that belong together, but it's still a complete mess.
 
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Can Varys amber trap this thing? Could we give her spell to do that?

Like, can she use ethereal state to get right under the thing, touch it, and boom we have a trapped avatar?
 
I think this covers all of the bases. It's got multiple capture methods, saves the children, and kills the creature if we can't nab it. It's also prevents us from being swarmed by teleporting Devils, allowing us to linger in the pyramid for a while if need be.

[X] Damn, you're ugly!
-[X] Using Ancestral Awakening, Viserys will learn the Delayed Spell Metamagic. He will use True Casting and Wild Arcana to cast a Delayed Teleport Trap (DC 32 Will save negates, 34th caster level vs SR) encompassing the pyramid, with a timer set for long enough to give everyone a chance to get ready and in position. The spell's activation will be the signal everyone uses to commence the attack. The Teleport Trap will be password protected to allow our group to depart unimpeded, and the trap's destination will be the plaza in front of the pyramid's main entrance.
--[X] Viserys uses Wild Arcana to cast Etherealness to allow everyone to become Ethereal and enter the room simultaneously in optimal positions. Dany and Benerro activate their Beads of Karma.
---[X] Viserys casts Assay Spell Resistance, then targets the creature with a Blood Wished Maximized Searing Cleansing Conflagration spell (154 damage per round vs Evil Outsiders, DC 28 Fortitude save for half damage).
---[X] Dany casts Assay Spell Resistance, then targets the creature and girls with a Reached Chained Sacramental Seal spell using Inspired Spell. She uses her Battlemagic Perception buff to Counterspell as a Free Action, if necessary.
---[X] Teana casts Assay Spell Resistance, then targets the creature with an Amber Sarcophagus spell. She leaves one of her Shadow Traces in the tunnel and positions one outside of the pyramid to keep an eye on events once we begin the attack. If deemed necessary to draw attention to the pyramid, the watching Shadow Trace will use an explosive bomb on the pyramid's exterior in a location that won't injure any nearby bystanders.
---[X] Garin targets the creature with all seven bolts from a Darkbolt spell, forcing it to make seven separate saves to avoid being Dazed. Before the group phases into the room, he will set his Trusted Bloodhound spell to serve as a watchdog, assisting the Seeker in guarding the chamber's entrance.
---[X] Richard moves to engage the creature, fighting primarily to prevent it from casting or escaping the Cleansing Conflagration, while Mereth peppers it with arrows.
---[X] Benerro casts Assay Spell Resistance and targets the creature with a Dimensional Lock spell. He uses his Battlemagic Perception buff to Counterspell as a Free Action, if necessary.
---[X] The Seeker moves to cover the entrance to the chamber, aided by two of Teana's Shadow Traces, each carrying a pair of Fungal Stun Vials.
---[X] Varys activates her equipment and stays back in reserve with an Amber Sarcophagus charm to use against the creature if our other capture attempts are unsuccessful.
 
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Information Threadmark Overhaul
Proposal for a new structure of the Informational threadmarks:

- The Imperium - contains top-level information like the constitution, maps, which organs the state has and who is in charge of what.

-- Rules - The rules for strategic play.

-- The Companions - Character sheets for all companions.

-- Imperial Administration - contains the fiscal overview of the Imperium
--- subpages for specific things that are relevant to the economy

-- Imperial Armed Forces
--- Imperial Legion - contains current legions and their tasks and all major Legion bases
---- Organization - infos on how the Legion works and is equipped
---- Notable Characters - sheets for Gerold and any other notable leaders of the Legion
--- Imperial Navy - contains current fleets and their tasks
---- Notable Characters - sheets for Asha and other navy leaders
--- Imperial Airforce - current air assets, their tasks and their bases
---- Notable Characters - Moonsong and any others who warrant a sheet
--- Other Forces - infopost about all other deployments, such as anti-squid forces (Take note that we should really see about integrating these forces into a command structure.)
---- subpages as necessary

-- Imperial Nobility - general ranks and what they mean and a map of the Imperial subdivisions, list of all vassal lords and their fiefs
--- Notable Vassals - sheets for Amrelath, Yrael, Zherys and other lords

-- Scholarium - overview about how it works and current number of mages
--- Notable Scholarium members - charactersheets

-- Research - overview
--- subpages for specific research projects, such as godcrafting, power armor and so on

-- Imperial Inquistion - overview
--- Inquisitors and their retinues - Charactersheets
--- subpages for ongoing operations

-- Imperial Forges - overview over the fleshforges, the creation forge and so on
--- Flesh Forges - details on the fleshforges and what they create
--- Creation Forge - Warforged infos
--- Undead Forge - undead infos
--- Constructs - construct infos

-- Diplomatic Relations - overview over the diplomatic situation of the Imperium
--- subpages for specific topics

-- Other notable people - charactersheets for everyone left

- Background Information - overview
-- subpages for the specific topics, such as religious background info or info-dumps about serpentfolk an the like

- Indizes - overview about all indizes
-- Character Index - Infopost containing links to all charactersheets in one place
-- other indizes as necessary



Thoughts?
 
I think this covers all of the bases. It's got multiple capture methods, saves the children, and kills the creature if we can't nab it. It's also prevents us from being swarmed by teleporting Devils, allowing us to linger in the pyramid for a while if need be.

[X] Damn, you're ugly!
-[X] Using Ancestral Awakening, Viserys will learn the Delayed Spell Metamagic. He will use True Casting and Wild Arcana to cast a Delayed Teleport Trap (DC 32 Will save negates, 34th caster level vs SR) encompassing the pyramid, with a timer set for long enough to give everyone a chance to get ready and in position. The spell's activation will be the signal everyone uses to commence the attack. The Teleport Trap will be password protected to allow our group to depart unimpeded, and the trap's destination will be the plaza in front of the pyramid's main entrance.
--[X] Viserys uses Wild Arcana to cast Etherealness to allow everyone to become Ethereal and enter the room simultaneously in optimal positions. Dany and Benerro activate their Beads of Karma.
---[X] Viserys casts Assay Spell Resistance, then targets the creature with a Blood Wished Maximized Searing Cleansing Conflagration spell (154 damage per round vs Evil Outsiders, DC 28 Fortitude save for half damage).
---[X] Dany casts Assay Spell Resistance, then targets the creature and girls with a Reached Chained Sacramental Seal spell using Inspired Spell. She uses her Battlemagic Perception buff to Counterspell as a Free Action, if necessary.
---[X] Teana casts Assay Spell Resistance, then targets the creature with an Amber Sarcophagus spell. She leaves one of her Shadow Traces in the tunnel and positions one outside of the pyramid to keep an eye on events once we begin the attack. If deemed necessary to draw attention to the pyramid, the watching Shadow Trace will use an explosive bomb on the pyramid's exterior in a location that won't injure any nearby bystanders.
---[X] Garin targets the creature with all seven bolts from a Darkbolt spell, forcing it to make seven separate saves to avoid being Dazed. Before the group phases into the room, he will set his Trusted Bloodhound to serve as a watchdog, assisting the Seeker in guarding the chamber's entrance.
---[X] Richard moves to engage the creature, fighting primarily to prevent it from casting or escaping the Cleansing Conflagration, while Mereth peppers it with arrows.
---[X] Benerro readies an action to Counterspell anything the creature might try to cast and uses his Battlemagic Perception buff to Counterspell as a Free Action, if necessary.
---[X] The Seeker moves to cover the entrance to the chamber, aided by two of Teana's Shadow Traces, each carrying a pair of Fungal Stun Vials.
---[X] Varys stays back in reserve with an Amber Sarcophagus charm to use against the creature if our other capture attempts are unsuccessful.

We need to use Power Word Petrify if we want an inescapable capture
 
This is the first of the new model sheets (landed characters). I'm posting it here both for you guys to see and comment on and so I can have a solid copy of everything before I start replacing things on the front page. On that note I was not able to find a more up to date sheet for Aemon, does anyone remember if any exists?

Vassals of the Realm

Aemon Naremos

Title: Vaeroseia of Aemon's Rest (Liege Lord Balon Swann Count of Draconys)

Born to the privilege of the Old Blood Aemon sought an altogether different sort of power and heritage. Though he could not touch the Dream nor recall the lore of Dragonkind by will and instinct that only drove him all the more on his search for arcane secrets for the ways of blood and binding, many a fiend who sought to corrupt the fledgling Mysterium found themselves shackled to Aemon's tools instead and the servants of Ymeri specifically hold for him a particular malice. Since gaining land in Draconys he has not only administered nd protected them well but has been instrumental to many delicate arcane studies.

Link to Sheet

Dregaire of the Wilds

Title: Baron of Coldwaters (Liege Lord Balon Swann Count of Draconys)

Born of magic in the depths of the Feywild, raised to service at the whim of the Fey Lord of the Crimson Court Ser Dregaire has chosen to abandon his former masters for the promise of glory and recognition on the marches of the Empire. He has yet to prove himself against the horrors that slip past the borders of Valyria, but he is eager to try

Link to Sheet

Hermetia Aerebalys:

Title: Governor of Lys

One of the richest women in Sorcerer's Deep and partner to King Viserys and his friend Garin Drekelis in Silver Serpent Enterprises Hermetia sees magic as a way to fulfill her long-held dream of traveling to strange and wondrous realms, though her knowledge of the perils that stalk such places have kept her relatively close to home for now, homing her talents at trickery and enchantment upon the hapless Lysene aristocracy.

Link to Sheet

Oberyn Sandviper

Titles: Count of Golden Fields, Prince of Dorne

As a child in King's Landing you heard men call the Red Viper many things, few of them complementary: a wastrel and womanizer and dishonorable to boot even among the Dornish. The man you met was certainly rash, and you could well imagine him casting aside the precepts of chivalry without a second thought, but he was also a man ridden hard by his demons, who would go to any lengths to avenge his dead kin, the princess Elia and her children, your poor niece and nephew. Though they may no longer be dead through your efforts, with the unfortunate exception of your infant nephew, vengeance still burns in Oberyn's heart at what the Lannisters and their dogs have done.

Link to Sheet

Relath the Roiling Tempest:

Title: Governor of Tolos

It is the firm belief of every dragon, whatever the color of their scales, that they are the most sublime of all that lives and unto them is owed all that is good in the world. Where other dragons might simply use their great strength and powerful magics to take from the world what they wish, Brine Dragons, those born of the salt-laden shore where the Great Ocean laps against the Eternal Delve, instead desire dominion over the lesser creatures of the sea that they may bring order to the swirling depths.

This desire was Relath's undoing, leading to his capture by the Deep Ones and use as a beast of war. Yet fortune is a fickle thing and will often turn upon its tail in an instant. So it was for Relath who upon being freed of his bindings found himself looking upon an entirely different world, one in which his great strength could easily carve out his own place in the sun.

The magisters of Tolos may call him tyrant for the manner of his conquest, but few can rightly claim the city has suffered under his rule. The laws he has wrought might be strange, but they are not capricious. More than once his great strength and knowledge of sorcery have saved the city from sinister forces, a fact which Relath has made certain to spread far and wide among his people.

Link to Sheet

Wyla Drekelis:

Title: Thaemos of Naath Wyla Drekelys

Few are those who walked back from the starless dark of undeath, fewer still those who do not close their minds to the memories of that fel time but draw from it strength. Such a one is Wyla Drekelis, whose sorcery and will was forged in the cold flame of living death. Feared is 'Lady Death' upon the southern shores, but more among pirates and slavers than her own folk. The Naathi honor her for bringing safety to the shores of the isle for the fist time since the Doom of Valyria, even as the elders mourn the death of peace in the hearts of their people.

To Sothoryos she turns her eyes now to rule over the lands where she has wandered through nameless ruins and sought artifacts of old to bring new realms under the law and end the reigns of the jungle tyrants just as she had the depredations of the Ghiscari pirates. Though she has worked great evil when she hunted the night, Wyla hopes the good will long outlive it.

Link to Sheet

Yrael Elaenos

Title: Governor of Mantarys

A paragon of hallowed law Yrael servers for a many as a beacon of light in a darkened world, having rebuilt the demon-haunted city of Mantarys into juster and more prosperous realm than most of its people could have imagined short years ago. Yet Yrael is not without his doubts and uncertainties. His is the blade meant to punish the wicked yet he knows in his heart that should he only do that then all around him would be only blood-soaked emptiness. And so unready though he felt in the task he took up the mantle of rule, to give counsel and offer forgiveness where he could. To his unspoken surprise he found himself equal to the task.

Link to Sheet

Zherys Naethyreon

Title: Archon of Volantis

One would be hard-pressed to mistake the once High Speaker now archon of Volantis for anything but a mage. Though the hair which frames his saturnine features is black rather than the sliver common among the Free Cities, this a man who has embraced the magic and heritage of Doomed Valyria even onto reshaping of his own flesh. A fragile but perfectly-formed dragon wing emerges from his left shoulder. Oftentimes this strange appendage will show agitation while his features remain composed, though one can never be sure how much of it is unintentional and how much is tactics.

Yet Zherys Naethyreon is also a man struggling with the bitter knowledge of the Freehold's failings, the corruption of the Fallen God twisting it to wreck and ruin. More than the fate of Heaven and the Sundering of the Spheres, more than the knowledge of the myriad of foes that would consume the world that pains him. He is no stranger to pain nor to loss this sorcerer who had borne witness to the days where magic was but embers to be called with patient ritual and and precious sacrifice. The same will drives him still.

Link to Sheet
 
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