Bride of Malekith (WHF Druchii Sorceress Quest)

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[] Plan Dark Beginnings
-[ ] Work on synthesising drugs, poisons and other alchemical concoctions worthy of the Temple of Khaine. (Ghyran, Difficulty 4)
-[ ] Familiarise yourself with current affairs and any recent development in the Convent. Provides a general summary of significant figures, their known skills and current projects. (Azyr, Difficulty 2)
-[ ] Attend religious services at the Temple of Khaine (Hysh, difficulty 1)
--[ ] And meaningfully participate in the rituals (raises difficulty to 3)
-[ ] Replenish and strengthen the wards around your personal chambers (Hysh, uncapped difficulty, hits set the difficulty of hostile intrusion)
-[ ] Map the current alliances, grudges and rivalries among the Convent of Har Ganeth (Ulgu, difficulty 3)

These are all important things we need to get done. Thystra isn't immune to the intrigues of the Convent and Har Ganeth just because she ignores them, especially when she's Lillian's favorite. Making the poisons will be easy thanks to the Yara bonus, the religious service should be made easier by Thystra's background and excellent Hysh.
 
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[] Plan Hubris is a coward's word
-[] Work on synthesising drugs, poisons and other alchemical concoctions worthy of the Temple of Khaine. (Ghyran, Difficulty 4)
-[] Replenish and strengthen the wards around your personal chambers (Hysh, uncapped difficulty, hits set the difficulty of hostile intrusion)
-[] Organize a religious service venerating Malekith (Hysh, difficulty ???, Piety gain?)
-[] Attend religious services at the Temple of Khaine (Hysh, difficulty 1)
--[] And meaningfully participate in the rituals (raises difficulty to 3)
-[] Experiment with causing mutations on slaves (Dhar, difficulty 2)
--[] Borrow the stock from a fellow Sorceress (1 Piety)

Alternatively...

[] Plan Buy Your Own Lab Rats
-[] Work on synthesising drugs, poisons and other alchemical concoctions worthy of the Temple of Khaine. (Ghyran, Difficulty 4)
-[] Replenish and strengthen the wards around your personal chambers (Hysh, uncapped difficulty, hits set the difficulty of hostile intrusion)
-[] Attend religious services at the Temple of Khaine (Hysh, difficulty 1)
--[] And meaningfully participate in the rituals (raises difficulty to 3)
-[] Experiment with causing mutations on slaves (Dhar, difficulty 2)
-[] Purchase a slave (Dhar, variable difficulty)
--[] Of common stock (difficulty 1)

My reasons:

The first action is self-explanatory, I think. It's difficult enough to be impressive, yet we're so well suited to it that the odds are squarely in our favor. Also, poisons are cool!

The wards: WoG is, the warning ones that have been spent won't put themselves back together without an action, and I really don't want our standards to fall below pre-quest Thystra's.

Participating in Khainite rituals: it only makes sense, given how important faith is for us, and that we live in a city so dedicated to Him. We should maintain good relationship with His faithful where possible. (I'm wavering between this and engaging in a discussion - that one is much more difficult, but could be so fun...)

Mutation experiments: who doesn't love mad magic science?

The difference between plans is in whether we try to earn and have to spend Piety, or just go buy some slaves. I think the former has some merit in putting us more in the public's eye and possibly emphasizing our strengths, but the latter is more sensible under KISS.

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01paradox01 said:
[] Dark Beginnings
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I'll approval vote for this, but you'll need to put the word Plan in the beginning for the algorithm to recognize everything below this line as part of the plan.
 
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flotter said:
Well that was ugly to read. And apparently the sorceress's at Ghrond are getting it worse, which is just chilling.
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It is worth remembering that Thystra has only ever been to Ghrond once in her life, and she didn't stay there for long. Everything she knows about the place and how it functions comes from the words of others who know more than her - principally Lilliana.

Scia said:
I confess I am a bit unsure about using piety already, because I would assume that there will also be options to spend it during a update and it would remove our stockpile @Maugan Ra would the piety tutor be only during teaching us during this cycle of actions, or until we finish our level up?

And a weird question, our character has noted that she misses her family, what does she think as effect of patronage and visits to them, would it endanger them more acording to her, or not?
In regards to Death Night, I assume that most way to protect our family by making the house more easily bypassed or defensive are considered heretical /more likely to incite the witches ? If they are not already present that is.

And is Death Night after this set of actions or do we have one more before it?
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If you spend piety to get a tutor/assistance here, then you'd need to spend it again to get it the next time you wanted to take an interest during a future period of downtime. Your fellow sorceresses are busy women, they can't just be hanging around forever.

Thystra believes that having a sorceress for a daughter benefits her family considerably, if only for the implied doom that will fall upon anyone who harms them. If she ascends to a significant enough status to be worth hurting them to get at her that might change, but she isn't there yet... and even if she is there are ways around it.

Fortifying one's place of residence and holing up during Death Night is permissible solely if you happen to be a child or the like. Everyone else is expected to be out on the streets, revelling in Khaine's honour. The dynamic is different in other cities, but this is Har Ganeth.

KreenWarrior said:
Edit: Given we have a dryad model, would it be worth it to try making evil dryads with Dhar?
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The thing is that existing dryads kind of already are the 'evil' dryads.

Scia said:
@Maugan Ra Considering that she set sail a year ago, before the last Death Night. Does she know that her family is still save because of some communication or scrying already? She has celestial magic after all and so I had assumed Knowledge there instead of just Hope.
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Yara knows for a fact that her family are alive and well.

Mithrill said:
Minor question, but since we mechanically care about lowborn/highborn divide, can we specify where it makes sence that we want to focus on a specific social stratum?
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If you think it would be relevant, then yes, you can specify.

Andres said:
abroad


were divine


are projects


Do sorceresses have a different uniform in this quest?
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Edits made, though I couldn't find the middle one.

Sorceresses can wear whatever they want, within the general confines of fashion and related catty comments from their peers. In this specific case it was a mix of "Lilliana won't be happy if I make her wait while I get dressed" and "She likes the implied availability and vulnerability and I want her to be pleased."
 
Maugan Ra said:
Edits made, though I couldn't find the middle one.
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I believe it's there:
Maugan Ra said:
You could have disobeyed, in theory. There was no magic behind the command, and you know her habits and the limits of her scrying well enough to slip out of sight, if you cared to. And yet you obeyed. On the far side of the world, surrounded by the ignorant and obedient, you obeyed Lilliana's dictates as if they divine. Such was the form of the tutelage she deigned to bestow upon you, the enlightenment she shared upon the nature of dhar. Control, absolute and undeniable, in defiance of sense and nature. Tyranny in its purest form.
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To be honest, this first vote seems very... undirected, I guess. There's no particular crisis that needs to be responded to, no driving mission that needs to be followed. I suppose I see the idea in letting the players set their own goals for Thystra, but without a particular problem to be solved nothing seems all that urgent.

Also, well... I dunno, I suppose you could say the quest is as advertised for "Druchii Sorceress Quest" but those scenes with Yara and Lilliana.... I can already feel myself checking out of caring all that much about Thystra. She's not doing much to charm me as a reader, even in the sense of being entertainingly awful where I'm interested in seeing what outrageous thing she does next. Thystra is just another sad case of abuser and abused, many such cases.
 
Briefvoice said:
To be honest, this first vote seems very... undirected, I guess. There's no particular crisis that needs to be responded to, no driving mission that needs to be followed. I suppose I see the idea in letting the players set their own goals for Thystra, but without a particular problem to be solved nothing seems all that urgent.

Also, well... I dunno, I suppose you could say the quest is as advertised for "Druchii Sorceress Quest" but those scenes with Yara and Lilliana.... I can already feel myself checking out of caring all that much about Thystra. She's not doing much to charm me as a reader, even in the sense of being entertainingly awful where I'm interested in seeing what outrageous thing she does next. Thystra is just another sad case of abuser and abused, many such cases.
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I do actually have a defined plotline in mind with a pretty clear direction, one that should become very obvious within, oh, two updates? Maybe three. Believe me I am very aware of the risks you mention.

Anyway, VOTE IS NOW OPEN.
 
Briefvoice said:
To be honest, this first vote seems very... undirected, I guess. There's no particular crisis that needs to be responded to, no driving mission that needs to be followed.
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One possible reason is that Thystra's situation and goals are still to some extent being built - much has been established about her character and situation from the couple votes held so far, but there's still space for direction and drive depending on how she ends up spending her time.

Another is that the crises are either happening in the background and won't make themselves known until she goes to the effort of finding out or they bite her in the behind, or are happening on timespans more characteristic to elves than humans. What is her relationship with Lilliana, if not a slow slide that needs to be arrested before it reaches a point of no return, and it will reach that point in their lifetime? What is her position in the cutthroat household if not a constant effort that can lose her everything if not carefully upheld?

There's no In Her Face crises right now, but thinking that there's no crises at all will inevitably spell her doom.

Edit: whoops, ninja'd!
 
[X] Plan Dark Beginnings
-[X] Work on synthesising drugs, poisons and other alchemical concoctions worthy of the Temple of Khaine. (Ghyran, Difficulty 4)
-[X] Familiarise yourself with current affairs and any recent development in the Convent. Provides a general summary of significant figures, their known skills and current projects. (Azyr, Difficulty 2)
-[X] Attend religious services at the Temple of Khaine (Hysh, difficulty 1)
--[X] And meaningfully participate in the rituals (raises difficulty to 3)
-[X] Replenish and strengthen the wards around your personal chambers (Hysh, uncapped difficulty, hits set the difficulty of hostile intrusion)
-[X] Map the current alliances, grudges and rivalries among the Convent of Har Ganeth (Ulgu, difficulty 3)
 
[x] Plan Patient Hunter
-[x] Pursue Greater Mastery, increasing your rating in a specific Wind by 1. This action may be taken more than once, and hits can be assembled across multiple turns. (Any Wind, difficulty [new level x new level])
--[x] Specify Wind to rise - Ulgu.
--[x] Seek a tutor (-1 piety for two bonus dice, -2 piety to secure lessons from a master and double the pool) - Two Bonus Dice
-[x] Go hunting in the wilderness surrounding Har Ganeth (Ghur, difficulty unknown, may result in contacts among the nobility, escaped slaves, slave catchers or shades. May also result in getting jumped by something big and hungry.)
-[x] Take a contract with the city guard as a healer and medical alchemist. Passable money, potential contacts in the armed forces of Har Ganeth. (Ghyran, difficulty 2)
-[x] Research what is known about the faith and spellcraft of the women of Bretonnia (Hysh, difficulty 3)
-[x] Map the current alliances, grudges and rivalries among the Convent of Har Ganeth (Ulgu, difficulty 3)
 
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Reworked the plan a little - it ends up spending one Piety (or at least I assume it's one, based on available information), establishes a... reasonable baseline of security (wards and general overview), engages in two somewhat challenging endeavors within our specialties (concoctions and religious service) and strikes out into the unknown with experiments (which rounds up the trio of our favored Winds being used, and that pleases me).

[X] Plan Hubris is a coward's word
-[X] Work on synthesising drugs, poisons and other alchemical concoctions worthy of the Temple of Khaine. (Ghyran, Difficulty 4)
-[X] Replenish and strengthen the wards around your personal chambers (Hysh, uncapped difficulty, hits set the difficulty of hostile intrusion)
-[X] Familiarise yourself with current affairs and any recent development in the Convent. Provides a general summary of significant figures, their known skills and current projects. (Azyr, Difficulty 2)
-[X] Attend religious services at the Temple of Khaine (Hysh, difficulty 1)
--[X] And meaningfully participate in the rituals (raises difficulty to 3)
-[X] Experiment with directed and deliberately induced mutations, establishing a baseline of experimental results and theory for later work. (Dhar, difficulty 2)
--[X] Borrow the stock from a fellow Sorceress (1 Piety)

Approval voting because I think it's a good, reasonable plan:
[X] Plan Dark Beginnings

Edit: had a free moment to consolidate a few bugbears into a single alternative plan

[X] Plan Playing to Strengths
-[X] Pursue Greater Mastery (twice)
--[X] Ulgu
--[X] Seek a tutor (1 Piety for 2 bonus dice)
-[X] Work on synthesising drugs, poisons and other alchemical concoctions worthy of the Temple of Khaine. (Ghyran, Difficulty 4)
-[X] Replenish and strengthen the wards around your personal chambers (Hysh, uncapped difficulty, hits set the difficulty of hostile intrusion)
-[X] Familiarise yourself with current affairs and any recent development in the Convent. Provides a general summary of significant figures, their known skills and current projects. (Azyr, Difficulty 2)

- no Khainite rituals
- taking more advantage of having a tutor without going too far
- taking a job we're qualified for, rather than one we're overqualified for
- not taking actions unlikely to succeed at all
- not leaving ourselves blind to current affairs, or our chambers underdefended
 
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Maugan Ra said:
Sorceresses can wear whatever they want, within the general confines of fashion and related catty comments from their peers. In this specific case it was a mix of "Lilliana won't be happy if I make her wait while I get dressed" and "She likes the implied availability and vulnerability and I want her to be pleased."
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My question was more about how nudeness was making her colder than "normal", given what normal attire for sorceresses is presented as in canon artwork and models. Didn't figure there'd be any real difference.
 
Andres said:
My question was more about how nudeness was making her colder than "normal", given what normal attire for sorceresses is presented as in canon artwork and models. Didn't figure there'd be any real difference.
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You'd be surprised what difference a little coverage can make.
 
[x] Plan Patient Hunter
-[x] Pursue Greater Mastery, increasing your rating in a specific Wind by 1. This action may be taken more than once, and hits can be assembled across multiple turns. (Any Wind, difficulty [new level x new level])
--[x] Specify Wind to rise - Ulgu.
--[x] Seek a tutor (-1 piety for two bonus dice, -2 piety to secure lessons from a master and double the pool) - Master
-[x] Go hunting in the wilderness surrounding Har Ganeth (Ghur, difficulty unknown, may result in contacts among the nobility, escaped slaves, slave catchers or shades. May also result in getting jumped by something big and hungry.)
-[x] Take a contract with the city guard as a healer and medical alchemist. Passable money, potential contacts in the armed forces of Har Ganeth. (Ghyran, difficulty 2)
-[x] Research what is known about the faith and spellcraft of the women of Bretonnia (Hysh, difficulty 3)
-[x] Map the current alliances, grudges and rivalries among the Convent of Har Ganeth (Ulgu, difficulty 3)
 
KreenWarrior said:
-[x] Pursue Greater Mastery, increasing your rating in a specific Wind by 1. This action may be taken more than once, and hits can be assembled across multiple turns. (Any Wind, difficulty [new level x new level])
--[x] Specify Wind to rise - Ulgu.
--[x] Seek a tutor (-1 piety for two bonus dice, -2 piety to secure lessons from a master and double the pool) - Master
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Given that our Ulgu is at 3, the second point of Piety is spent for a +1 dice on a single roll, which feels... deeply inefficient imo. Gaining Piety is a whole commitment, even the chance for which is not consistently available.

Contrast to the (joking, but good as an example) Ghyran yolo where we'd get twenty five dice for two Piety on the high end.

Mechanics aside, seeking out a true master when we ourselves are at the lower bound of passable is kinda like hiring a university professor for tutoring us in a high school level subject. Sure, maybe they have the patience, but do we want to expose one of our (relative) weaknesses to a master of intrigue so openly?
 
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