Our Intel says six to twelve turtle ships. Just narrowing that down and seeing the exact formation is worth it, as I have some ideas in mind already, depending on how things are aligned.
@DragonParadox, Although it's not time for it yet, I've been putting together my plan for the raid. Fair warning, it's gonna be big.
Right now, I've got 50-ish participants involved, between the Companions, Erinyes, allies, mercs, Dragons, etc.
Is that going to be a problem? I figure there is enough going on with the fleet that there could be multiple individual battles happening simultaneously.
I certainly hope not. There is going to be so much buffing layered across our people that they should be extremely difficult to kill, including multiple Energy Immunity spells, Spell Resistance 32, and everything else I can think of.
For real though, DP, you can go back to the way you ran some fights at the start of the quest - very short chapters, but quckly thrown our way - so that you have as little decision to do for our characters as possible?
Just this once?
Or, even, having us run through each fight at a time?
Two young women alike enough to be sisters though not quite that and one young girl worked in the deep halls where once the Fleshsmiths of Valyria once held sway, in halls of flesh now turned over to another sort of life, to pale weirwood roots that gave way to fungal filaments where walked the Leshy folk, born and bred of the same life, the same magic. Yet even they who cared nothing for the perceptions of men, who found beauty in the strangest places and who could look upon a mound of corpses and see new life, were troubled by what had been set in the depths of the Forge.
Not alive but not quite unliving, the corpse of the Archduke Mammon lay submerged in a briny tank not quite of this world, filled with arcane salts, fed after a manner with a rich slurry crafted by repurposed mechanisms that expanded and contracted like the innards of some titanic beast.
"Wards up, final test," Mercy called, her hands moving deftly upon polished weirwood levers grown from the damp walls and polished silver plates that did not lose their shine even in the humid air.
Vee, a child of the Braavosi marshlands, did not mind the dankness, and she cared little more for the strange miasmas rising from the corpse of the Archduke whose few remaining scales glittered in the water like lost coins in the bogs of Minauros. It was just her job, no more and no less, if he wanted another sort of burial he shouldn't have come weapon in hand and a feud in his heart. True it had been a trap, but he'd known it was one. 'The best sort of enemy's an idjit,' her uncle used to say, and the girl had not found the advice lacking so far.
"Fascinating..." the soft voice of the once-maester Qyburn echoed among the roots, the first word he had spoken since he had been checked over with foresight and allowed into the depths to watch their works. "Could such a mechanism perhaps be used to channel other primal energies?"
"Not the one you are thinking of," Naria said, distracted by her own last-minute checks, though still sounding proud as a Dothraki at a horse fair. It had been her idea to bring the old man here as part of his first tour of the Forge. "You cannot channel the energies of death through living flesh." She cut herself off, turning back to her sister. "Live, going live on the Law thread."
"Looks good," Vee said as she shaded her eyes against the harsh while light that suddenly illuminated the south side of the chamber, lightning singing across metal-clad filaments.
"Now the other," Mercy called a moment later. "Evil thread is live..." Even through the sudden sound of the dark filament coming to life with a sound like distant wailing, she could still be clearly be heard saying: "How this could be evil when it's not hurting anyone I still have no idea."
"I would not trouble myself excessively with the matter, my lady. I too have struggled with narrow-minded notions of morality with regards to my work," Qyburn sighed softly, as though briefly caught up in a memory.
Mammon Machine Complete
Mammon Machine
This fusion of arcane engineering and flesh-crafting was wrought in the deepest bowels of the Fungus Forge of Lys to sustain the unliving flesh of an Archduke of Hell and harness its fell nature. At the core stands a large, spherical tank, containing the remains of an Aspect of Mammon and a fungal substrate that nourishes it and keeps it alive. This tank is warded by a Wall of Good, a Wall of Chaos, and Magic Circles against Evil and Law, thus fully encasing the body and the fluids it produces. There are three opening in this warding scheme. The first is on the top, where a special made nutrient solution is pumped into the vessel, the other two are on opposing sides of the vessel and used to separate purified energies produced by this device. One pipe is warded by Wall of Chaos and Magic Circle against Law, thus allowing only a pure essence of Evil to move through it, while the other is warded by Wall of Good and Magic Circle against Evil to produce a purified essence of Law.
To further enhance security, the machine is located on a dedicated, permanent demiplane that has a minor alignment with Positive Energy to ensure the vitality of the flesh within. By feeding the machine with arcane reagents worth 200 IM, it can produce 1 HD worth of essence of Evil or Law.
Resurrecting Mammon's Flesh
5,000 IM.
Main Vessel
Wall of Good - 2,500 IM
Wall of Chaos - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Evil - 1,500 IM
Magic Circle against Law - 1,500 IM
Law Pipe
Wall of Good - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Evil - 1,500 IM
Evil Pipe
Wall of Chaos - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Law - 1,500 IM
Demiplane
Base - 4,500 IM
Minor Positive Alignment - 4,500 IM
Total: 30,000 IM
"That was not quite what I meant, good maester," Mercy replied. "Misconceptions can be remedies, ignorance educated, but when the world itself conspires to count wicked what is little more than another sort of power that frustrated me to no end. My mother could weave 'good' and 'evil' into the same soul and it would be as whole and vibrant as any mortal born. Nuri already has the powers of life and death both running through her..."
"Truly?" pale eyes glinted as he peered at her carefully. "I would very much wish to meet this 'Nuri' and speak more closely with the one who wrought her." Qyburn gave a surprisingly carefree laugh. "Ah... I do so feel like I have been scrambling on my hands and knees in the dark all my life and only now I have risen to stand in the light."
OOC: I wanted to include the Kyton, but I don't quite have enough of a grasp of her yet, she was Azel's character from the beginning.
Mammon Machine
This fusion of arcane engineering and flesh-crafting was wrought in the deepest bowels of the Fungus Forge of Lys to sustain the unliving flesh of an Archduke of Hell and harness its fell nature. At the core stands a large, spherical tank, containing the remains of an Aspect of Mammon and a fungal substrate that nourishes it and keeps it alive. This tank is warded by a Wall of Good, a Wall of Chaos and Magic Circles against Evil and Law, thus fully encasing the body and the fluids it produces. There are three opening in this warding scheme. The first is on the top, where a special made nutrient solution is pumped into the vessel, the other two are on opposing sides of the vessel and used to separate purified energies produced by this device. One pipe is warded by Wall of Chaos and Magic Circle against Law, thus allowing only a pure essence of Evil to move through it, while the other is warded by Wall of Good and Magic Circle against Evil to produce a purified essence of Law.
To further enhance security, the machine located on a dedicated, permanent Demiplane that has a minor alignment with Positive Energy to ensure the vitality of the flesh within. By feeding the machine with arcane reagents worth 200 IM, it can produce 1 HD worth of essence of Evil or Law.
Resurrecting Mammon's Flesh
5,000 IM.
Main Vessel
Wall of Good - 2,500 IM
Wall of Chaos - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Evil - 1,500 IM
Magic Circle against Law - 1,500 IM
Law Pipe
Wall of Good - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Evil - 1,500 IM
Evil Pipe
Wall of Chaos - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Law - 1,500 IM
Demi-Plane
Base - 4,500 IM
Minor Positive Alignment - 4,500 IM
For real though, DP, you can go back to the way you ran some fights at the start of the quest - very short chapters, but quckly thrown our way - so that you have as little decision to do for our characters as possible?
Just this once?
Or, even, having us run through each fight at a time?
@DragonParadox, I don't suppose we can use up some Quasits along with some essence of Law from the Mammon Machine and have Tyene make her own personal batch of Magebane Poison for the future?
Mammon Machine
This fusion of arcane engineering and flesh-crafting was wrought in the deepest bowels of the Fungus Forge of Lys to sustain the unliving flesh of an Archduke of Hell and harness its fell nature. At the core stands a large, spherical tank, containing the remains of an Aspect of Mammon and a fungal substrate that nourishes it and keeps it alive. This tank is warded by a Wall of Good, a Wall of Chaos and Magic Circles against Evil and Law, thus fully encasing the body and the fluids it produces. There are three opening in this warding scheme. The first is on the top, where a special made nutrient solution is pumped into the vessel, the other two are on opposing sides of the vessel and used to separate purified energies produced by this device. One pipe is warded by Wall of Chaos and Magic Circle against Law, thus allowing only a pure essence of Evil to move through it, while the other is warded by Wall of Good and Magic Circle against Evil to produce a purified essence of Law.
To further enhance security, the machine located on a dedicated, permanent Demiplane that has a minor alignment with Positive Energy to ensure the vitality of the flesh within. By feeding the machine with arcane reagents worth 200 IM, it can produce 1 HD worth of essence of Evil or Law.
Resurrecting Mammon's Flesh
5,000 IM.
Main Vessel
Wall of Good - 2,500 IM
Wall of Chaos - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Evil - 1,500 IM
Magic Circle against Law - 1,500 IM
Law Pipe
Wall of Good - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Evil - 1,500 IM
Evil Pipe
Wall of Chaos - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Law - 1,500 IM
Demi-Plane
Base - 4,500 IM
Minor Positive Alignment - 4,500 IM
This is amazing and I'm glad we finally got it.
Now... We need a consistent source for Chaos, and we can make that absolutely marvelousMagebane Poison in droves.
@DragonParadox, I don't suppose we can use up some Quasits along with some essence of Law from the Mammon Machine and have Tyene make her own personal batch of Magebane Poison for the future?
You could abstract some of the fights happening in the background, or spend an update on each of them, or just cherry pick them. Lots of options, so just use whatever flows best, IMO.
I'll do my best to put the plan together so that it's easily referenced however you decide to run it.
This is amazing and I'm glad we finally got it.
Now... We need a consistent source for Chaos, and we can make that absolutely marvelousMagebane Poison in droves.
Two young women alike enough to be sisters though not quite that and one young girl worked in the deep halls where once the Fleshsmiths of Valyria once held sway, in halls of flesh now turned over to another sort of life, to pale Weirwood roots that gave way to fungal filaments where walked the Leshy folk, born and bred of the same life, the same magic. Yet even they who cared nothing for the perceptions of men, who found beauty in the strangest places and who could look upon a mound of corpses and see new life, were troubled by what had been set in the depths of the Forge.
Not alive but not quite unliving, the corpse of the Archduke Mammon lay submerged in a briny tank not quite of this world, filled with arcane salts, fed after a manner with a rich slurry crafted by repurposed mechanisms that expanded and contracted like the innards of some titanic beast.
"Wards up, final test," Mercy called, her hands moving deftly upon polished Weirwood levers, grown from the damp walls and polished silver plates that did not lose their shine even in the humid air.
Vee, a child of the Braavosi marshlands, did not mind the dankness, and she cared little more for the strange miasmas rising from the corpse of the Archduke whose few remaining scales glittered in the water like lost coins in the bogs of Minauros. It was just her job, no more and no less, if he wanted another sort of burial he shouldn't have come weapon in hand and a feud in his heart. True it had been a trap, but he'd known it was one. 'The best sort of enemy's an idjit,' her uncle used to say, and the girl had not found the advice lacking so far.
"Fascinating..." the soft voice of the once-Maester Qyburn echoed among the roots, the first word he had spoken since he had been checked over with foresight and allowed into the depths to watch their works. "Could such a mechanism perhaps be used to channel other primal energies?"
"Not the one you are thinking of," Naria said, distracted by her own last-minute checks, though still sounding proud as a Dothraki at a horse fair. It had been her idea to bring the old man here as part of his first tour of the Forge. "You cannot channel the energies of death through living flesh." She cut herself off, turning back to her sister. "Live, going live on the Law thread."
"Looks good," Vee said as she shaded her eyes against the harsh while light that suddenly illuminated the south side of the chamber, lightning singing across metal-clad filaments.
"Now the other," Mercy called a moment later. "Evil thread is live..." Even through the sudden sound of the dark filament coming to life with a sound like distant wailing, she could still be clearly be heard saying: "How this could be evil when it's not hurting anyone I still have no idea."
"I would not trouble myself excessively with the matter, my lady. I too have struggled with narrow-minded notions of morality with regards to my work," Qyburn sighed softly, as though briefly caught up in a memory.
Mammon Machine Complete
Mammon Machine
This fusion of arcane engineering and flesh-crafting was wrought in the deepest bowels of the Fungus Forge of Lys to sustain the unliving flesh of an Archduke of Hell and harness its fell nature. At the core stands a large, spherical tank, containing the remains of an Aspect of Mammon and a fungal substrate that nourishes it and keeps it alive. This tank is warded by a Wall of Good, a Wall of Chaos and Magic Circles against Evil and Law, thus fully encasing the body and the fluids it produces. There are three opening in this warding scheme. The first is on the top, where a special made nutrient solution is pumped into the vessel, the other two are on opposing sides of the vessel and used to separate purified energies produced by this device. One pipe is warded by Wall of Chaos and Magic Circle against Law, thus allowing only a pure essence of Evil to move through it, while the other is warded by Wall of Good and Magic Circle against Evil to produce a purified essence of Law.
To further enhance security, the machine located on a dedicated, permanent Demiplane that has a minor alignment with Positive Energy to ensure the vitality of the flesh within. By feeding the machine with arcane reagents worth 200 IM, it can produce 1 HD worth of essence of Evil or Law.
Resurrecting Mammon's Flesh
5,000 IM.
Main Vessel
Wall of Good - 2,500 IM
Wall of Chaos - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Evil - 1,500 IM
Magic Circle against Law - 1,500 IM
Law Pipe
Wall of Good - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Evil - 1,500 IM
Evil Pipe
Wall of Chaos - 2,500 IM
Magic Circle against Law - 1,500 IM
Demi-Plane
Base - 4,500 IM
Minor Positive Alignment - 4,500 IM
Total: 30,000 IM
"That was not quite what I meant, good maester," Mercy replied. "Misconceptions can be remedies, ignorance educated, but when the world itself conspires to count wicked what is little more than another sort of power that frustrated me to no end. My mother could weave 'good' and 'evil' into the same soul and it would be as whole and vibrant as any mortal born. Nuri already has the powers of life and death both running through her..."
"Truly?" pale eyes glinted as he peered at her carefully. "I would very much wish to meet this 'Nuri' and speak more closely the one who wrought her." Qyburn gave a surprisingly carefree laugh. "Ah... I do so feel like I have been scrambling on my hands and knees in the dark all my life and only now I have risen to stand in the light."
OOC: I wanted to include the Kyton, but I don't quite have enough of a grasp of her yet, she was Azel's character from the beginning.
Qyburn has got to be deliriously happy. He has royal patronage and he has mad science peers.
Imagine him, our Kyton, Saenena, Lya, Wyla, Vee, and the Arcanums all sitting around having lunch and chatting about what their next project should be.
A Balor is probably enough, this was just an aspect of Mammon after all, it's not his own corpse only an Avatar, a Balor should be enough to substitute.
You might be able to make one but it would be harder and even once it's done it would be considerably less efficient simply because the source is not as strong.
