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It Belongs to a Museum

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Side note, @Boney would it be possible to import salt water crocodiles or similar to populate the water around our island? I have this vision of basically making Petsobek by doing the thing that was done IRL at Crocodilopolis (this was an IRL place, look it up) where they adorned crocodiles with gold and worshipped them as offspring of the Sobek.

I want to do the thing that Age of Mythology did and put magical laser mirrors on their heads that we can use to laser our enemies.
 
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Eldon said:
Nah his advice isn't bad. It's just he tends to advise bad people on subjects that tend to get everyone else real mad and willing to assemble armies to stop.

The fact that he has so many students who have gone on to become infamous long after their death is a testament to his skills. After all most students of necromancy and other assorted arts die long before they leave such an impression.
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That's still bad advice, they all get lynched!
 
Boney said:
Princess Aelsabrim Fallenstar, Ward of the island of Ithisar'naynazythai Yn Daroth and therefore the civilian half of leadership over the archipelago, is dressed in the manner of a charioteer, shortened cloak and robes tightly belted over armour, with her grief just as rigid and firmly secured. The emblem of a blue and white hawk are displayed prominently everywhere you look, but one out-of-place symbol you spot is a five-spoked wheel worn as a brooch. You've met a few High Elves in your time in the port cities of northern Araby, but never their version of nobility nor someone in a position of power. One of the things you've learned over the years is the outward appearance of humility, and you bow deep and long to her. "It is my honour to be Badi Shakim of Ka-Sabar, a wandering scholar under the patronage of the Sheikh of Bel-Aliad. May the sun see you rise in excellence on this day." You took a cue from the sunbeams that commonly frame the hawk on display everywhere - from what you gather Tiranoc is on the western side of Ulthuan, so it seems likely they'd hold the sun in significance for seeing it set in the same way that Lahmia did for seeing it rise. "Our mutual friend Luther has recommended your goodwill as the surest coin to be found in these lands, and the beasts your late husband's servants are able to procure as the finest specimens available."
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He's an old hand at this kind of thing.

Boney said:
She inhales, steadies herself, and puts her tea down and looks you levelly in the eyes. "According to our maps, Bel-Aliad is a ruin. According to a sailor you spoke to who has spent a great deal of time in Araby, your accent is not from southern Araby, nor from any other place he has known. And according to one of our Mages, you are interwoven with magics so long-established she does not know whether it is still proper to call them magics. Who, and possibly what, are you?"

You put your own tea down with a steady click. "It is my preference to not tell lies," you say. "I have lived a lifetime in Ka-Sabar, and it was once my great honour to provide tutelage to a then-living claimant to Bel-Aliad. My interest in beasts and their remains is primarily academic, and to my very slight shame, secondarily for the spectacle they could represent. And if I bear unspoken hopes that there may be other mutually beneficial avenues available through working with one of your stature, then that is a sin that I fear I share with every customer you might have."

"That didn't answer my question." But despite that, she actually does seem slightly reassured.

You smile, and say...
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They've picked up that he's pretty impressive and he's being pretty honest.

[X] [ACQUIRE] Awakening Armoury - Ranged
[X] [LEVER] Prestige
 
[X] [ACQUIRE] The Dread Abyssal

As I recall part of the reason we wanted the island was for the option to make entire ships into exhibits, and the flagship of our current patron (or a sufficiently-Theseused version thereof) seems like possibly the most direct way to make good on our patron's request to make our museum a showcase for his power and influence. And showing we're making good on that is probably the best way to win the leeway to also pursue our own personal interests on the side.

[X] [LEVER] Power

I personally think this is the most interesting option in terms of what it gets us access to intrinsically, and in terms of narrative arcs I feel like it's more interesting/satisfying if she comes to us to be like "so... about those deeper secrets you're often hinting at... could those, perhaps, bring someone back?" than if we just open the relationship with "so, about that dead husband of yours!".

[X] [LEVER] Prestige

I'll approval vote this until/unless Power looks like it actually might overtake though, since it's much closer to the lead voting-wise and is closer to what I want even if it's not quite as good a fit as Power (IMO).
 
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Fayhem said:
I personally think this is the most interesting option in terms of what it gets us access to intrinsically, and in terms of narrative arcs I feel like it's more interesting/satisfying if she comes to us to be like "so... about those deeper secrets you're often hinting at... could those, perhaps, bring someone back?" than if we just open the relationship with "so, about that dead husband of yours!".
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As has been mentioned a few times now, if you want to teach her necromancy/death magic, then you should pick grief. Otherwise it's not as likely to happen.
 
Fayhem said:
I personally think this is the most interesting option in terms of what it gets us access to intrinsically, and in terms of narrative arcs I feel like it's more interesting/satisfying if she comes to us to be like "so... about those deeper secrets you're often hinting at... could those, perhaps, bring someone back?" than if we just open the relationship with "so, about that dead husband of yours!".
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By Word of Boney, that's not going to happen though? If we don't take Grief as the lever now, she'll eventually get over the loss of her husband, and his soul will have moved on so trying anything later just flat-out isn't going to work in any case.

Like, it's fine if you're just not interested in the Grief storyline, but it very much explicitly isn't something we can pick up later.
 
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theretrodragon said:
As has been mentioned a few times now, if you want to teach her necromancy/death magic, then you should pick grief. Otherwise it's not as likely to happen.
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If their love isn't strong enough to survive her gaining more power/prestige independent of him, then it's not strong enough, period. Or that's my perspective on that matter, anyway. Which is to say my interest is more in the narrative juice of a love so strong it transcends death even without a devil helpful tutor on her shoulder actively pushing her at that idea than it is in just finding any excuse to get her to learn Necromancy, so I'm fine with taking the hit to the likelihood of Necromanting about it in general if it makes the specific scenario of Necromancing I'm actually interested in more likely.

And from an RP perspective, I think it's not out of character for our Tutor to prefer students who are more... intrinsically motivated, let's say, than ones he has to actively coax into learning his darker secrets (obv we're still defining his character, so to be clear that's not me trying to lay down some kind of exclusively correct read on our boy so much as it is me saying "I think this is a plausible extrapolation of the characterization we've seen/set so far that matches my desires for how we'll see him grow").
 
Fayhem said:
If their love isn't strong enough to survive her gaining more power/prestige independent of him, then it's not strong enough, period. Or that's my perspective on that matter, anyway. Which is to say my interest is more in the narrative juice of a love so strong it transcends death even without a devil helpful tutor on her shoulder actively pushing her at that idea than it is in just finding any excuse to get her to learn Necromancy, so I'm fine with taking the hit to the likelihood of Necromanting about it in general if it makes the specific scenario of Necromancing I'm actually interested in more likely.
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It's not a matter of 'their love isn't strong enough', it's a matter of 'his soul is plain gone now, so there's nothing to bring back aside from a puppeted corpse, and she's not into that'.

Like, the first of Grief isn't her immediately using necromancy to rezz her hubby, it's Unca Liche making a mastaba to keep his soul and mind preserved for the day she is ready to resurrect him.
 
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Fayhem said:
If their love isn't strong enough to survive her gaining more power/prestige independent of him, then it's not strong enough, period.
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It's not about love, though, it's about grief, and about the availability of the soul. Right now her grief is raw and untempered, but eventually it'll harden and become an everyday part of her being. Additionally, the longer it is left, the more likely it is that the soul of her husband will travel to whatever afterlife awaits him.

If we want to build a relationship with her over her grief, it has to be now. Strike when the iron is hot. We won't get a second chance at this.

Technically, we won't get a second chance at any of the options—it'll be harder to cultivate her as a purely business partner after we have plunged the depths of her soul together.
 
Fayhem said:
If their love isn't strong enough to survive her gaining more power/prestige independent of him, then it's not strong enough, period. Or that's my perspective on that matter, anyway. Which is to say my interest is more in the narrative juice of a love so strong it transcends death even without a devil helpful tutor on her shoulder actively pushing her at that idea than it is in just finding any excuse to get her to learn Necromancy, so I'm fine with taking the hit to the likelihood of Necromanting about it in general if it makes the specific scenario of Necromancing I'm actually interested in more likely.

And from an RP perspective, I think it's not out of character for our Tutor to prefer students who are more... intrinsically motivated, let's say, than ones he has to actively coax into learning his darker secrets (obv we're still defining his character, so to be clear that's not me trying to lay down some kind of exclusively correct read on our boy so much as it is me saying "I think this is a plausible extrapolation of the characterization we've seen/set so far that matches my desires for how we'll see him grow").
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It's not about her gaining power or prestige, it's about her accepting his death and moving on in an emotionally healthy manner. You're scenario is neat but it isn't going to happen, beyond the social stigma of Dhar, Elves don't really do necromancy like humans do, she's not going to seek us out unless we raise the possibility to her in the first place (which is what grief is).

Also at that point her husbands soul has most likely already moved on, and while I'm fully down for breaking into the elven afterlife and stealing him back, I don't think that'd go too well.
 
Sir_Travelsalot said:
By Word of Boney, that's not going to happen though? If we don't take Grief as the lever now, she'll eventually get over the loss of her husband, and his soul will have moved on so trying anything later just flat-out isn't going to work in any case.

Like, it's fine if you're just not interested in the Grief storyline, but it very much explicitly isn't something we can pick up later.
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I hadn't actually seen that post as most of the time I just check the posts that crop up in my notifications and that one hasn't, but now that I've checked it I can inform you that you're reading it wrong:
Boney said:
No. The best time to offer her necromancy was when she held her husband's corpse in her arms. The second best time is now. Waiting will give her grief time to fade, her heart time to heal, and her husband's spirit time to move on into whatever afterlife awaits him. Trying to take advantage of all of that will be harder and will have lesser results than doing so right now.
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"Will be harder and will have lesser results" is pretty explicitly not the same thing as "won't work and will be impossible." Boney was refuting the idea that trying later will be better/easier than trying now, not the idea that it happening later will be possible at all.
Boney said:
An Elven Necromancer Princess and her Wraith Husband First Mate is a banger concept for a pirate crew
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However, now that I have read all the Boneyposts in this thread since the update, I will acknowledge that this is a fantastic point. I'm not going to change my vote, but I'll be significantly happier about Grief winning if it does.
 
[X] [ACQUIRE] The Dread Abyssal
[X] [ACQUIRE] Awakening Armoury - Ranged

The most direct massaging of Luthor's ego and a surprising connection to to our nehekeran background.

[X] [LEVER] Power
[X] [LEVER] Grief

I like these two equally well, though one is a bit more personal than the other. Uncle Pahtsekhen can't help himself.
 
Nerdasaurus Rex said:
Uncle Lion Butt: "I taught that girl everything she knows"

Nefereta: "I just think 'what would Uncle do?' and then do the opposite."
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To be fair, it does take some modicum of talent to be so consistently wrong that a vampire progenitor can use you as a reliable measuring yard of what not to do.

It also take an amazing level of certain willful self blindness. But.... gesture toward Impudent Tutor.
 
Boney said:
No. The best time to offer her necromancy was when she held her husband's corpse in her arms. The second best time is now. Waiting will give her grief time to fade, her heart time to heal, and her husband's spirit time to move on into whatever afterlife awaits him. Trying to take advantage of all of that will be harder and will have lesser results than doing so right now.
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Yes, but consider: if he stays dead, we can then make his tomb an exhibit.

While the hilarity of spreading of dark knowledge with abandon is what I wanted for our character, I think we're now at or reaching the point where we are deciding what we want the focus of the quest to be about, and I'd like to lay a solid foundation of "curating a museum," just as despite DL's evolution there is still a solid core of "sneakily go around, be nosey, and poke at problems." As such, despite the temptation, I can't really—

Boney said:
Picture more of a lateral transfer. An Elven Necromancer Princess and her Wraith Husband First Mate is a banger concept for a pirate crew to alter her contribution to the Acquisitions side of things, and alternately she'd slot straightforwardly into the Research side as an expert of Elven culture and politics with her husband as an expert on animals.
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—not at least approval vote Grief.

Nerdasaurus Rex said:
We've been in Lustria for FIVE MINUTES and we're already brewing a new elven heresy.
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See, everyone's been talking about "elven heresy." I don't think that's that right phrasing, y'know? I see it more as creating a fourth variety of elf.
 
ichypa said:
Yes, but consider: if he stays dead, we can then make his tomb an exhibit.

While the hilarity of spreading of dark knowledge with abandon is what I wanted for our character, I think we're now at or reaching the point where we are deciding what we want the focus of the quest to be about, and I'd like to lay a solid foundation of "curating a museum," just as despite DL's evolution there is still a solid core of "sneakily go around, be nosey, and poke at problems." As such, despite the temptation, I can't really—


—not at least approval vote Grief.


See, everyone's been talking about "elven heresy." I don't think that's that right phrasing, y'know? I see it more as creating a fourth variety of elf.
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Elf's only get a new variety when a Heresy happens
 
Fayhem said:
"Will be harder and will have lesser results" is pretty explicitly not the same thing as "won't work and will be impossible." Boney was refuting the idea that trying later will be better/easier than trying now, not the idea that it happening later will be possible at all.
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The problem isn't with teaching her necromancy at a later date. It'd be harder and not guaranteed, but we could absolutely do it, maybe even without reviving her husband by giving her the tools to not lose anyone like that again.

But she isn't going to take the initiative for that. This is the most receptive she'll ever be to the idea. The wound will scab, she'll have time to mourn and move on with her life. It'll become a scar instead of a hole in her chest.

She already knows about necromancy, remember? She deals with the Vampire Coast. Being passively aware that we're a necromancer/death mage won't tempt her unless we let her know we're special, that we can do more than just raise his corpse, but that we can bring back his soul as well.
Edit: Or, well, safeguard his soul and teach her to do it. Technically.
 
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