I mean, we sort of did try to induce a schism in the faith of the Seven-Who-Are-One before it turned out to be unnecessary. Wasn't the ultimate goal back then to subvert the Seven and eventually reshape the faith into the interpretation that embraced magic?
Right now Lolth has a dangerously weak connection to the Prime Material Plane. In theory, we could have the remnants of her once-followers found a "Church of the Underdark" that preaches unity and brotherhood among its followers while simultaneously casting Lolth as a betraying and corrupting entity. If we could turn the worship of Lolth into heresy in her own religion.
I mean, we sort of did try to induce a schism in the faith of the Seven-Who-Are-One before it turned out to be unnecessary. Wasn't the ultimate goal back then to subvert the Seven and eventually reshape the faith into the interpretation that embraced magic?
Right now Lolth has a dangerously weak connection to the Prime Material Plane. In theory, we could have the remnants of her once-followers found a "Church of the Underdark" that preaches unity and brotherhood among its followers while simultaneously casting Lolth as a betraying and corrupting entity. If we could turn the worship of Lolth into heresy in her own religion.
Definitely something to keep in mind for later. At the moment we have 2.5 Drow, with the 0.5 being the sentient staff, so there's not a whole lot we could accomplish via subverting the religion.
Definitely something to keep in mind for later. At the moment we have 2.5 Drow, with the 0.5 being the sentient staff, so there's not a whole lot we could accomplish via subverting the religion.
Definitely something to keep in mind for later. At the moment we have 2.5 Drow, with the 0.5 being the sentient staff, so there's not a whole lot we could accomplish via subverting the religion.
@DragonParadox, on a side note is there any news on the Genie Wars? It was a close stalemate the last we checked in. Will Yrten and Siduri be showing up with an intelligence report for us soon? Granted, with focus shifting towards Tiamat and the Deep Ones we won't go off anywhere, but it's still nice to keep track of everything.
@DragonParadox, on a side note is there any news on the Genie Wars? It was a close stalemate the last we checked in. Will Yrten and Siduri be showing up with an intelligence report for us soon? Granted, with focus shifting towards Tiamat and the Deep Ones we won't go off anywhere, but it's still nice to keep track of everything.
Just caught up after a busy day yesterday, and I saw the almost drama regarding super soldiers. Mention was made of a symbiote option, but I could not find it in the threadmarks. If someone could please provide a link to it I would be quite grateful.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Nov 29, 2019 at 1:30 PM, finished with 72 posts and 16 votes.
[X] "I--a whore? Really?" You really shouldn't be surprised. You really shouldn't be surprised. "Does a grudge give every person on this blasted continent the right to stomp on the innocent and blameless? I suppose I should be blaming my own family history for enabling this nonsense nearly three centuries before I do the Blackwoods..." Much less the Brackens, who as she just pointed out are no less guilty. Well, your own grumbling exasperation won't fix this mess. -[X] "Assuming we had both heirs reconcile, even against the wishes of their fathers, Lady Barabra would have to trust that succession would be upheld by the Crown with her father's passing even against other claimants attempting to usurp her. We would have to get Ser Brynden to trust that the Crown will enforce and formalize de jure land rights on the Crown's authority, both things which would be easier to do while already King and already having made steps towards that end." -[X] Turn to Lady Catelyn finally: "If you can get me a meeting with Lady Barbara, and assuming Hoster Blackwood can convince his brother to listen still, this all would still hinge on neither Lord Blackwood or Lord Bracken inflaming the conflict and striking out in blood before aught else..." You have an idea though. -[X] "Your father, is he an ambitious man? And Lord Hoster, he is not particularly hung up on the idea of your hypothetical cadet branch bearing the name "Blackwood", aye?" Oh it would rankle at Lord Tytos Blackwood, but less so if they took up another name, ennobled in Essos where those trade ties would enrich both their lines through trade relations shared between Lady Barbara and Ser Brynden when they take up their seats. "Granting you lands in the East aren't much of an obstacle in this instance, and assuming he could trust the Crown would uphold Lady Barbara's succession, much of his concerns would then rest upon the claims he's making on Blackwood lands." So we cut that knot. Lord Blackwood and Lord Bracken will agree to your proposal of formalized land rights along current boundaries, giving up all claims to lands on opposing sides of the Red Fork. Lord Hoster and Lady Catelyn are granted rich lands in the east and gather no spite from either House upon bearing their rival's name. You insure Lady Barbara's inheritance. -[X] "This all presumes that Lord Blackwood doesn't need certain other assurances. I should hope not considering the brinksmanship here favors neither House with war on the horizon." You aren't sour. Honest.
Tuin raised his eyes from his notes warily, such that he imagined that were there another living soul to see him so facing off against an 'empty' chamber they might think him mad. Or were they of a sufficiently cautious disposition, start seeking out ghosts, spirits, and other unseen things. Yet the thing upon which the mage's gaze fell was none of these, but a plain black staff. To look upon it, the instrument might seem polished stone, to heft it one might think it wood. In truth it was both and neither, carved from a single great piece of jet, wood slowly becoming stone, forever caught between the worlds, just as its maker had been.
When the drow spell-weaver heard from the dragon lord that he had discovered a priestess of Lolth laid out in a ruined temple beneath the sky, the only reason he had not been shocked by that was that there were so many... many other things to be shocked by. So he had settled instead upon abiding surprise, like an itch at the back of his mind. No priestess he knew or had ever heard of would trust her bones to the World Above or indeed would leave her bones assembled for any necromancer to raise into service. True, they were guarded by Lolth's favored children, but none who knew the Queen of Spiders as well as her priestesses must would trust her not to find the mage's violation of the dead more entertaining then blasphemous.
So then, he wondered, what was this priestess doing laid out beneath a broken dome, blind eyes turned to the heavens above, by whose measure had the entire edifice had been raised? The answer had come from the most unlikely of sources, the Law Keeper Malarys Vanor, who had by the sacrifice of his dragon and a final work of sorcery carried upon the very tides of Doom, sealed himself from the world until he could be found and awoken. Might not another have tried to cheat death for a far longer span until the stars were right, the bones prepared for a rising, the spirit held in a stronger vessel? Tuin feared the priestesses of Lolth as he feared foxglove and deathcap, but he was an assassin as well as a mage. He had used both.
Without showing the merest hesitation, the last spell-weaver of Venthar crossed the room in five graceful steps and gripped the staff. In a firm clear voice, he spoke a blasphemous near-prayer:
May Darkness be my keeper
My fangs envenomed steel
I do not fear the Weaver
And to Her never shall I kneel
Long, long ago, or by Tuin's reckoning a few moonturns past, this had been the mocking chant of rebellion, first whispered in hidden cabals, then finally trumpeted from the walls of the Autarch's palace. No priestess of Lolth, be she ever so patient in the weaving of her webs, would allow such a thing to be spoken without giving a sign.
A sign there was indeed, but not what he had expected to feel. Rather than a battle of wills, a fanatic's fury pitted against apostasy, he felt curiosity... almost fascination. Another might have let down his guard in surprise, but an assassin's wariness is not so easily lulled into complacency, not before the works of his own folk, whom he knew so well.
Knives of ice and darkness stabbed into his brain, whips to flay his will and leave his innermost self unveiled. Knives cannot cut mist, nor whips flay it. Tuin was a thousand thoughts divided, and yet he was whole. Thus he beheld his foe, not a priestess, not a soul entire, but something that may have once been that. He saw hate and jealousy of Lolth, who had abandoned her people, and he stoked it. He saw the desire to be for one's own desire and he gathered it up.
How much we could be together... It had been a long time, even by the measure of his memories, since he had tried seduction, but for all his caution the mage knew one truth that bound together the merchant lords of Venthar even more than their rebellion from the Spider Queen. He who does not wager cannot win.
As swift as it had come the attack waned to nothing. A pledge was made, among the strongest that could be forged among the drow, for each held something the other could not take without losing a portion of the worth. Tuin had not lied. Together they would be great.
Staff of the Fatespinner
Appearance: This seems but a a plain black staff. To look upon it, the instrument might seem polished stone, yet to heft it one might think it wood. In truth it was both and neither, carved from a single great piece of jet, wood slowly becoming stone, forever caught between the worlds, just as its maker had been.
Recharge Conditions:
Each day at midnight, when the bearer prepares spells or regains spell slots, he can also imbue this staff with a portion of his power so long as one or more of the spells cast by the staff is on his spell list and he is capable of casting at least one of the spells. Imbuing a staff with this power restores one charge to the staff, but the caster must forgo one prepared spell or spell slot of a level equal to the highest-level spell cast by the staff.
Wielder has not bested the staff in a contest of wills
Wielder serves Lolth in any quality
Caster Level: 12
OOC: I could of course have just had Lya identify this, in which case it would have just ended up on the sacrifice list most likely, so I gave Tuin some rolls to figure it out in his own spare time. He did and then he had a philosophical discussion with the tattered remains of the spirit of a priestess of Lolth. The result of said conversation was a resounding 'fuck Lolth'.
I can really get behind the 'fuck Lolth' movement. It seems like a cause with growth potential.
Very neat interlude, DP. I'm glad Tuin got the staff rather than it just ending up on the sacrifice pile. I hope to see the staff's interactions with Tuin in future interludes.
Just to make sure we are going to steal those hills before we leave right?
It's not so much a pride thing as a "now you don't have reason to fight and if you start up again I'll just steal what your fighting over right in front of your gods be damned faces" thing.
I'd really prefer if we get the point across that we're the kind of king that will put them in the time out corner and take their toys if they keep acting like children.
Just to make sure we are going to steal those hills before we leave right?
It's not so much a pride thing as a "now you don't have reason to fight and if you start up again I'll just steal what your fighting over right in front of your gods be damned faces" thing.
I'd really prefer if we get the point across that we're the kind of king that will put them in the time out corner and take their toys if they keep acting like children.
Hey, @Goldfish - how soon can we try and kill the dragon in Red Dragon Orb?
It is a gamble whether Yss will succeed in consuming it at once with the orb or not, yes - but by now, I recon we would stand a good chance of insta-killing it either way, if we prepare the grounds accordingly (Spellbane Timestop, Spellbane, Mage's Disjunction, etc; through anti-teleport wards set up a Symbol of Death/Weakness carved on the floor...).
Yss can crush the CR 22 Dragon instantly with his CR30 snekiness ofc, but (in case of failure to consume other the orb a,d the dragon, again),we'd get the profit if we kill the thing by ourselves- and Yss only breaking the orb to let it out.
Just to make sure we are going to steal those hills before we leave right?
It's not so much a pride thing as a "now you don't have reason to fight and if you start up again I'll just steal what your fighting over right in front of your gods be damned faces" thing.
I'd really prefer if we get the point across that we're the kind of king that will put them in the time out corner and take their toys if they keep acting like children.
On pretty much every account, but especially picking a fight with an Ancient Red (or greater).
Keeping in mind DP only said he couldn't imagine anyone making it out of anything but the youngest necessary age category, I really don't want to discover the depths of hubris our ancestors engaged in.
Hey, @Goldfish - how soon can we try and kill the dragon in Red Dragon Orb?
It is a gamble whether Yss will succeed in consuming it at once with the orb or not, yes - but by now, I recon we would stand a good chance of insta-killing it either way, if we prepare the grounds accordingly (Spellbane Timestop, Spellbane, Mage's Disjunction, etc; through anti-teleport wards set up a Symbol of Death/Weakness carved on the floor...).
Yss can crush the CR 22 Dragon instantly with his CR30 snekiness ofc, but (in case of failure to consume other the orb a,d the dragon, again),we'd get the profit if we kill the thing by ourselves- and Yss only breaking the orb to let it out.
With enough preparation we could probably all but guarantee our success against it, but there would still be a little bit of uncertainty there. If it came down to the choice between benefiting from it but potentially unleashing a CR 26 Great Wyrm Red Dragon into the world, or just letting Yss eat it and the Orb, I would leave it to Yss.
Also there's still a chance we can get the Blackwoods and Brackens to set aside their feud for another generation, and in that kind of timeframe it won't matter if it kicks back up again fifty years down the road. It will be irrelevant then, but detrimental now. Between having it out now and kicking the can down the road, I'd remain satisfied with the latter.
Just to make sure we are going to steal those hills before we leave right?
It's not so much a pride thing as a "now you don't have reason to fight and if you start up again I'll just steal what your fighting over right in front of your gods be damned faces" thing.
I'd really prefer if we get the point across that we're the kind of king that will put them in the time out corner and take their toys if they keep acting like children.
I think they become more valuable not less if we take the hills, carving off the hills would leave level ground, which would make for good farm land, so unless there's valuable resources in those hills, removing them just increases the areas value.
Just to make sure we are going to steal those hills before we leave right?
It's not so much a pride thing as a "now you don't have reason to fight and if you start up again I'll just steal what your fighting over right in front of your gods be damned faces" thing.
I'd really prefer if we get the point across that we're the kind of king that will put them in the time out corner and take their toys if they keep acting like children.
Moving non-contiguous piles of dirt and stone is a whole hell of a lot more difficult than moving a single structure. It's really not something I think we could actually accomplish.
A much more feasible possibility would be to take a really long look at the hills to commit their appearance to memory, then go find somewhere to recreate them using magic. Once we get all the details so close as to be indistinguishable, then we go back to the originals and smooth them down overnight into a nice flat bit of ground.
Also there's still a chance we can get the Blackwoods and Brackens to set aside their feud for another generation, and in that kind of timeframe it won't matter if it kicks back up again fifty years down the road. It will be irrelevant then, but detrimental now. Between having it out now and kicking the can down the road, I'd remain satisfied with the latter.
Considering how radical a paradigm shift being brought into the Imperium will be for Westeros, if they continue the feud it will only be because their next of kin are morons who deserve whatever comes of their mutual self-sabotage. Delaying the feud should be as good as abolishing it.
Moving non-contiguous piles of dirt and stone is a whole hell of a lot more difficult than moving a single structure. It's really not something I think we could actually accomplish.
A much more feasible possibility would be to take a really long look at the hills to commit their appearance to memory, then go find somewhere to recreate them using magic. Once we get all the details so close as to be indistinguishable, then we go back to the originals and smooth them down overnight into a nice flat bit of ground.
It's really not that hard. We could transmute the hills into a single structure via Titan's Tools or something and then haul it away. We've done literally the exact same thing by looting Lyceos of all its dragonstone before. At this stage in our career there truly is a spell for everything.
Moving non-contiguous piles of dirt and stone is a whole hell of a lot more difficult than moving a single structure. It's really not something I think we could actually accomplish.
A much more feasible possibility would be to take a really long look at the hills to commit their appearance to memory, then go find somewhere to recreate them using magic. Once we get all the details so close as to be indistinguishable, then we go back to the originals and smooth them down overnight into a nice flat bit of ground.
As long as the hills are gone I don't particularly care how it happens.
I just want them to see their precious feud for what it is, petty, inconsequential in this ever growing and terrifying new world, and embarrassingly pointless.
