Remove ads

Suffer Not the Witch (Warhammer 40k Psyker Quest)

Reader mode
Scribin said:
Basically I'm just kinda confused on why Ciro thinks this would change anything, and why we're suddenly okay with fealty.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Full disclosure I am currently smacking my head against a wall because I just realised that this part of my notes was written on the assumption that I had another six weeks worth of quest writing between the last time the loyalty question came up and now.

When in fact those six weeks had no actual updates in them because I just didn't write much of anything during that time for RL reasons.

IC it still works, from Ciro's perspective this is his first serious attempt at explicitly securing your loyalty/service based on how he's observed you acting and what he knows about Malfi, which might potentially have given him the wrong idea.

OoC I hate myself because I'm suddenly aware of how this kind of fucks up the narrative flow.

Oh well, the die is cast, onwards!
 
Because seriously, I feel we're going in for the loop of love Ciro then Ciro does something really bad for us, rinse and repeat cycle. If his admittance to casually betraying the Carrion Queen for the demon (to which helped us immensely in taking the bridge with her people despite their devolutionary handicaps) does not already signal something foul, I dunno what will.

I mean look at how casual he flexes his charisma, and now people are just dropping their pants for Ciro when the last vote had us noping (Begrudging Obediance) and planning for the eventual mutiny.

Talk about whiplash 180. :jackiechan:

[X] Refuse the Pact. Angel though he may be, beautiful and strong, Ciro remains unworthy of your sword.
- [X] You figure you might as well explain why.
"You offer me a deal, and in that dealing break another. I shed no tears for the betrayal and slaying of a daemon, yet it is still so. Besides, even if you killed it, it doesn't change a thing. That you make a deal with me does not change the fact that you made a deal with it. Further, your deal with it was a betrayal of these savage folk who have helped us in our time of need. Your capacity for betrayal is impressive, for an angel of Him."
 
Last edited:
[X] Swear Fealty. For a year and a day you will serve Ciro as his sworn sword, trading loyalty for a daemon's life and taking comfort in the familiarity of an old role and the shelter of an angel's wing.
-[X] "Tell me the story of how an angel fell and in doing so flew freer than before, I will tell you of myself as well for a blade must know the hand that wields it as the hand knows the blade."
 
[X] Refuse the Pact. Angel though he may be, beautiful and strong, Ciro remains unworthy of your sword.
 
Our problem is with fucking with the demonic. Stopping this one demonic pact doesn't stop future ones, in fact it leaves it open for ciro to form them and we can't do anything about it.
[X] Refuse the Pact. Angel though he may be, beautiful and strong, Ciro remains unworthy of your sword.
- [X] You figure you might as well explain why.
"You offer me a deal, and in that dealing break another. I shed no tears for the betrayal and slaying of a daemon, yet it is still so. Besides, even if you killed it, it doesn't change a thing. That you make a deal with me does not change the fact that you made a deal with it. Further, your deal with it was a betrayal of these savage folk who have helped us in our time of need. Your capacity for betrayal is impressive, for an angel of Him."
 
Maugan Ra said:
"It offered you a bargain," you say flatly, because you can already see where it is going, "Service for escape or the like, I imagine. What did you promise it, Ciro?"

"The Carrion Queen," Ciro says with a shrug, his broad shoulders rising and falling like a wave, "The daemon requires a new body, to replace its last one, burned as it is by the passage of centuries. So it says, at any rate. I had not yet decided if the bargain was worth keeping, and now it seems I have an alternative to consider."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Ok, wait, was this whole initial scenario based on one of the Black Crusade modules? Because this sounds like the one I went through a while back.

Scribin said:
Kinda weirded out that we're voting for fealty since I don't think a single person trusts this guy, but maybe I'm just stupid.

[X] Refuse the Pact. Angel though he may be, beautiful and strong, Ciro remains unworthy of your sword.
- [X] You figure you might as well explain why.
"You offer me a deal, and in that dealing break another. I shed no tears for the betrayal and slaying of a daemon, yet it is still so. Besides, even if you killed it, it doesn't change a thing. That you make a deal with me does not change the fact that you made a deal with it. Further, your deal with it was a betrayal of these savage folk who have helped us in our time of need. Your capacity for betrayal is impressive, for an angel of Him."

Okay I kinda hate this dialogue but I can't do better in the next fifteen minutes so this is what I got. Basically I'm just kinda confused on why Ciro thinks this would change anything, and why we're suddenly okay with fealty.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I think it's because they believe Ciro will kill the daemon if we do so, valid in character calculation, but knowing what we know, Ciro's not the kind of person we can trust to keep their words, and he certainly seems to be dangerously ambitious. This daemon may not be one he'd service, but there are other masters among the warbands at Messia he could choose to leash us to.

Anyways, voting with you.

[X] Refuse the Pact. Angel though he may be, beautiful and strong, Ciro remains unworthy of your sword.
- [X] You figure you might as well explain why.
"You offer me a deal, and in that dealing break another. I shed no tears for the betrayal and slaying of a daemon, yet it is still so. Besides, even if you killed it, it doesn't change a thing. That you make a deal with me does not change the fact that you made a deal with it. Further, your deal with it was a betrayal of these savage folk who have helped us in our time of need. Your capacity for betrayal is impressive, for an angel of Him."
 
Holy shit people are voting for my write-in, this is a first.

So I just had this thought, but does Ciro give 'abusive boyfriend' kinda vibes to anyone else? Like, we shouldn't need to sell our body just so he'll not betray our allies at the literal first chance he gets. And he thinks for some reason that it's a reasonable proposition. Ideally he would kill the daemon and not betray the Carrion Queen at all with no deal necessary. Also, I have a bad feeling that Ciro is gonna ask for evermore concessions just to do our allies common decency (not so common in 40k but whatever) and not you know, betray them by making deals with daemons.
 
Scribin said:
Holy shit people are voting for my write-in, this is a first.

So I just had this thought, but does Ciro give 'abusive boyfriend' kinda vibes to anyone else? Like, we shouldn't need to sell our body just so he'll not betray our allies at the literal first chance he gets. And he thinks for some reason that it's a reasonable proposition. Ideally he would kill the daemon and not betray the Carrion Queen at all with no deal necessary. Also, I have a bad feeling that Ciro is gonna ask for evermore concessions just to do our allies common decency (not so common in 40k but whatever) and not you know, betray them by making deals with daemons.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
You're not the only one. Moonserpent kind of gave a similar interpretation earlier.
 
hapcelion said:
Ok, wait, was this whole initial scenario based on one of the Black Crusade modules? Because this sounds like the one I went through a while back.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It is, yes! Broken Chains is the intro/quickstart module for Black Crusade, which I have gleefully plundered - the ship, the Carrion, Interrogator Crane, Hephastus Bore and Nadia Black are all from the module. Technically so is Ciro, but the Ciro in the module is... significantly different to the Ciro in the quest.

Obviously I've changed and expanded on a bunch of stuff as well. The Carrion in the book are... significantly less respectable, and I added in all the stuff with Crane's characterisation and the offer he made etc etc.

I did something similar with Wolves and Witches, but alas in this case I can't steal Black Crusade adventures for future arcs because there are very few Black Crusade adventures and the ones that exist are all kinda shit.
 
Yeah, this is the absolutely weakest ground on which to demand fealty.

He created a bad situation where he
- 1) Seeks to betray and sacrifice an ally
- 2) Is dealing with a daemon

And now seeks to demand fealty in exchange for just returning to status quo.
If anything, this revelation should make us more opposed to him, and more likely reject his demands, than less.
 
[X] Swear Fealty. For a year and a day you will serve Ciro as his sworn sword, trading loyalty for a daemon's life and taking comfort in the familiarity of an old role and the shelter of an angel's wing.
-[X] "Tell me the story of how an angel fell and in doing so flew freer than before, I will tell you of myself as well for a blade must know the hand that wields it as the hand knows the blade."
 
[X] Swear Fealty. For a year and a day you will serve Ciro as his sworn sword, trading loyalty for a daemon's life and taking comfort in the familiarity of an old role and the shelter of an angel's wing.
 
[X] Refuse the Pact. Angel though he may be, beautiful and strong, Ciro remains unworthy of your sword.
- [X] You figure you might as well explain why.
"You offer me a deal, and in that dealing break another. I shed no tears for the betrayal and slaying of a daemon, yet it is still so. Besides, even if you killed it, it doesn't change a thing. That you make a deal with me does not change the fact that you made a deal with it. Further, your deal with it was a betrayal of these savage folk who have helped us in our time of need. Your capacity for betrayal is impressive, for an angel of Him."
 
[X] Refuse the Pact. Angel though he may be, beautiful and strong, Ciro remains unworthy of your sword.
- [X] You figure you might as well explain why.
"You offer me a deal, and in that dealing break another. I shed no tears for the betrayal and slaying of a daemon, yet it is still so. Besides, even if you killed it, it doesn't change a thing. That you make a deal with me does not change the fact that you made a deal with it. Further, your deal with it was a betrayal of these savage folk who have helped us in our time of need. Your capacity for betrayal is impressive, for an angel of Him."

@Maugan Ra Will the write-in going to get counted with the people who voted refuse with no elaboration?
 
[X] Refuse the Pact. Angel though he may be, beautiful and strong, Ciro remains unworthy of your sword.
- [X] You figure you might as well explain why.
"You offer me a deal, and in that dealing break another. I shed no tears for the betrayal and slaying of a daemon, yet it is still so. Besides, even if you killed it, it doesn't change a thing. That you make a deal with me does not change the fact that you made a deal with it. Further, your deal with it was a betrayal of these savage folk who have helped us in our time of need. Your capacity for betrayal is impressive, for an angel of Him."

I mean, I like this reasoning. I just don't think this is a very smart thing to say to Ciro's face, but eh.
 
Honestly, the popularity of Swearing Fealty baffles me?

A bit ago there was a plan to figure out an option to ditch Ciro, and now he reveals that not only did he deal with demons, he planned to betray our allies to them, and that he happily utilizes our distaste for such action to coerce us, and somehow that makes people like him?

Like, I can not follow the logic behind this chain of actions.
 
10ebbor10 said:
Honestly, the popularity of Swearing Fealty baffles me?

A bit ago there was a plan to figure out an option to ditch Ciro, and now he reveals that not only did he deal with demons, he planned to betray our allies to them, and that he happily utilizes our distaste for such action to coerce us, and somehow that makes people like him?

Like, I can not follow the logic behind this chain of actions.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Well, there's certainly the in character angle to explore our descent into Chaos. Though, I'd at least prefer to buck that trend.
 
10ebbor10 said:
Honestly, the popularity of Swearing Fealty baffles me?

A bit ago there was a plan to figure out an option to ditch Ciro, and now he reveals that not only did he deal with demons, he planned to betray our allies to them, and that he happily utilizes our distaste for such action to coerce us, and somehow that makes people like him?

Like, I can not follow the logic behind this chain of actions.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Same for me comrade, I thought everyone was pretty onboard with not trusting the daemon pactmaker when we weren't sure of his dealings. And now that he's confessed suddenly a bunch of people are a-okay with sleeping with the literal betrayer.
 
10ebbor10 said:
Honestly, the popularity of Swearing Fealty baffles me?

A bit ago there was a plan to figure out an option to ditch Ciro, and now he reveals that not only did he deal with demons, he planned to betray our allies to them, and that he happily utilizes our distaste for such action to coerce us, and somehow that makes people like him?

Like, I can not follow the logic behind this chain of actions.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I mean, I voted against it. But I was partly tempted because our other crewmates came across in a pretty disappointing way in the last update, between Nadia's "Nevermind my title, I guess I'll just be some pirate warlord's flunky so I'd better make a daemon weapon to prove I'm useful" and Sidhe's "Yeah, this sucks, might fuck around and join the Dark Eldar, I dunno". At least Ciro seems to know what he's doing and offers some sort of vague hope for the future.
 
10ebbor10 said:
Honestly, the popularity of Swearing Fealty baffles me?

A bit ago there was a plan to figure out an option to ditch Ciro, and now he reveals that not only did he deal with demons, he planned to betray our allies to them, and that he happily utilizes our distaste for such action to coerce us, and somehow that makes people like him?

Like, I can not follow the logic behind this chain of actions.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Have you considered the fact that Ciro spent this update shirtless and exerting himself while professing how much he cares about you?

(In all seriousness I have a few ideas, the most obvious of which is that Ciro got a chance to actually make a pitch on-screen rather than having it simply be inferred, but half the reason I run quests is so I can be surprised by vote results)
 
Scribin said:
Same for me comrade, I thought everyone was pretty onboard with not trusting the daemon pactmaker when we weren't sure of his dealings. And now that he's confessed suddenly a bunch of people are a-okay with sleeping with the literal betrayer.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
And incidentally, Ciro is making it very obvious that he plans to betray us as well.

Maugan Ra said:
A year and a day… how did he know to ask for such a thing? Malfi is no stranger to treachery, but there is a means and a meaning to such things, a proper etiquette to be observed. No man trusts another who would betray his master less than a year after entering his service, and no traitor so willing can count on living to enjoy his spoils. To even begin sounding out a potential convert before the term is up is considered gauche, and yet...
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
So, Ciro knows that if he gets fealty, he gets 1 year of treason free service and thereafter whether Vincenzo betrays him or not depends on opportunity and such. Demanding only a year and a day means that he doesn't trust Vincenzo not to betray him, that he thinks that what he will force us to do will lead to a situation where we are willing to backstab him literally the first moment it is socially acceptable, so any fealty beyond the year is worthless.

This is not a relation between equals. It's a puppetmaster and a disposable pawn.

Maugan Ra said:
(In all seriousness I have a few ideas, the most obvious of which is that Ciro got a chance to actually make a pitch on-screen rather than having it simply be inferred, but half the reason I run quests is so I can be surprised by vote results)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Sure, but his pitch is "I betray my allies. Swear loyalty to me and I will make you part of my treason. Btw, I will throw you away as soon as your usefullness expires."
 
Last edited:
Silent Optics said:
I mean, I voted against it. But I was partly tempted because our other crewmates came across in a pretty disappointing way in the last update, between Nadia's "Nevermind my title, I guess I'll just be some pirate warlord's flunky so I'd better make a daemon weapon to prove I'm useful" and Sidhe's "Yeah, this sucks, might fuck around and join the Dark Eldar, I dunno". At least Ciro seems to know what he's doing and offers some sort of vague hope for the future.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I mean, I see your point. But for Nadia at least I don't think she sees other options, she chose the pragmatic option that should ensure her survival until she can dip at the very least. Besides, sin against sin Ciro and her are pretty similar. That Ciro has charisma and drive doesn't exactly make him the better option when it seems he's just not even trying to win us over. I mean it's a pretty shit deal for us, it gives us nothing of actual value, and demands our body for a year and a day.

Side note, I hope the year on our home planet is 1000 Terran days since that would mean he's asking for 'forever and a day'

For the eldar I don't think she's trying at all, she doesn't seem to care what our opinions are, and so isn't trying to be nice charismatic or even driven in any meaningful way. She doesn't seem like the leader type anyways, I have a feeling we'd be partners if any deal came between us. As we don't really respect her, and she doesn't really respect us. Which is fine for partners but not great for leader and subordinate.
 
Silent Optics said:
I mean, I voted against it. But I was partly tempted because our other crewmates came across in a pretty disappointing way in the last update, between Nadia's "Nevermind my title, I guess I'll just be some pirate warlord's flunky so I'd better make a daemon weapon to prove I'm useful" and Sidhe's "Yeah, this sucks, might fuck around and join the Dark Eldar, I dunno". At least Ciro seems to know what he's doing and offers some sort of vague hope for the future.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
The thing Ciro offers is service to more traitors, which is conceivably worse. Ciro has ambition and is using his charisma to schmooze people into getting it his way or subtly threatening them to do so. With the other characters, they're not taking charge and manipulating/forcing us to do things, which automatically makes Ciro the larger threat. That he knowingly makes pacts with daemons, is willing to sacrifice people despite trying to give off airs as some righteous savior, and wants to bring us to a realm of madness multiplies the threat a thousand fold.
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top