So, uh, this stuff @everyone?
a) Send more people to Quohor, further scout it out.
----[] Doesn't need many people, just good people. And we have way more people free to go in Slavers' Bay 4th month than we had in 3rd month.
b) The Curse of Blightbarrow, A smol adventure that will need some mid-level people to ensure we have one less hotspot when we come to Westeros.
----[] It can raise too much stink if it is caught by the Lords of Westeros, may be a politically bad idea, for now, b/c we want to start by the 4th month's end, not the 4th month's start.
c) The Shadow over Targaryen Isles, a smol(?) adventure that has zero urgency but is at least geographically closer to the Westeros than the rest of them? :V
----[] Somewhere to send people, but we have next to no idea what's there beyond "hey, strong anti-divination stuff"
d) Have Hermetia some poor bastards visit the furthest-off Marid cities, like the ones we heard rumors of trading with Illithids. Grab crafters, lore, and anything of bling-y nature.
----[] Obvious risk is obvious, far-off cities are also likely to cost us whoever we send if the Squids get angery at the sheer amount of anti-squids Aquatic forces we've set around PoB lately :V
e) If Viserys has nothing to do, we could literally go and murder a dragon for loot. There's a Very Old Hex on Plane of Earth :V
----[] Quite retarded and out of nowhere for the overall narrative. But full of loot, something something, we can try to loot the dragon as a character?
f) Step up Raiding the Efreeti - more forces with Yurten and Siduri.
----[] We can send a lot more forces to halp Siduri and Urten than usual, although we may want to focus on doing some specific raids in that case, and see the case against "going into multi-month actions right before Westeros starts" above.
I am genuinely unsure on inclusion of any, here y'all.

We can straight up hyper-focus Slavers' Bay by throwing lots of assets there, keep Viserys and a few meatshield-ey Companions around to loot Ymeri's court, and have the boatloads of lower-levelled minions simply unassigned.

Or we can risk starting on a few more plotlines, but reducing overall number of potential hotspots 'round Westeros and Essos... and simply having our people be busy
That's important. They kinda need levels.

Here, the full list of available Adventure Actions to look through to boot.
 
Yay, Fighter Creature template at long last! :D How useful would it be on a Seeker?

[X] egoo
It would help, of course, but the Seeker is already such a combat monster that I would much prefer applying a different template for added functionality, assuming we could even do it. At CR 15 and already heavily modified, I doubt we could do that even as a special project.
Personally I would suggest to never use Fighter Creature and Commando Construct template on the same creature, because they both feature lots of Bonus-Feats and stacking those together would get pretty crazy, particularly on high-HD creatures.
 
Personally I would suggest to never use Fighter Creature and Commando Construct template on the same creature, because they both feature lots of Bonus-Feats and stacking those together would get pretty crazy, particularly on high-HD creatures.
Agreed, also sensible. Both mention they shape the body to being able to perform specific functions of the template.

So a Fighter creature is someone who has had their body shaped to memorize all the right movements and have the experience of long ages of life-or-death battles literally bred into their flesh and bones.

A Commando Construct template on a Biological Construct is making them an inhuman specialist who fights with mechanical precision and inhuman speed and strength. Totally different, some overlap, but mostly redundancies or even conflicts.
 
In case I sleep through whole day again, do pester DP into more reports y'all.
Adhoc vote count started by egoo on Nov 8, 2020 at 4:19 AM, finished with 47 posts and 9 votes.

  • [X] The Mysteries of East: With them now open to you, have the libraries of Vahar accessed, and scoured through for lore of illusion, divination, and other low-energy magics.
    ----[X] Rhaella (2d6 Progress); Naath Scholarum Branch (2d6 Progress); Tolos Scholarum Branch (2d6 Progress); The Seeker (CR 15), 1x Black Knight, 1x Greater Blood Clot Mold, 1x Erynies

...Or start on the ritual against CoS without any of the forces sent agaisnt Ymeri I guess; ships aside it didn't have too many important assets anyway.
Reports are just biding time until we know what comes outta Ymeri OOC anyway.

Pretty much everyone on the turnplan but the people on Operation Woodlouse, and the people at Ymeri's, are available.
...Also all non-PC assets in the bottom of this list.

Night.
 
I've added a section to my Forge Mechanics page dealing with the production of Elemental Gems that we started in the 3rd months using the Gemcarver's Tools that @BronzeTongue found for us a while back. Production is relatively slow in this first month, but it will double beginning in the 4th month because we bought another four sets of Gemcarver's Tools with our latest commission order. If we keep adding four sets per month, one for each type of gem, the overall cost would increase by 82,600 IM each month, which isn't bad at all for what we're getting out of the investment, IMO.

90 Elemental Gems per month, per set of Gemcarver's Tools (so 360 per complete set of four) is pretty awesome. Large-sized Elementals aren't particularly impressive at the upper end of combat where Viserys, the Companions, and our more powerful allies and vassals operate nowadays, but being able to Summon one or more of them on demand will be an amazing tool and force multiplier for pretty much ever aspect of our forces, from the Inquisition to the Lawmen, the Legions, Praetorians, etc.

@egoo, can you put together a standard guard force for our Elemental Gemcarving Workshop? It'll be a small place, but producing strategically important resources.

Elemental Gemcarving Worshop:
  • Location: Sorcerer's Deep
  • Date Founded: 1st day of the 3rd month, 294 AC
  • Important Equipment:
    • 4 Gemcarver's Tools
      • Increasing to 8 in the 4th month, 294 AC
    • 4 Jeweler's Loupes (+10 Competence bonus to Crafting [Jewelry])
      • Increasing to 8 in the 4th month, 294 AC
  • Available Creations: Elemental Gems (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water)
Gemcarving Mechanics: Using sets of Gemcarver's Tools which function as Masterwork Tools (+2 Circumstance bonus to Crafting [Jewelry]), their Enchanted Jeweler's Loupes (+10 Competence bonus to Crafting [Jewelry]), the effect granted by a Statue of Crafter's Fortune (+5 Luck bonus to Crafting), and the Blessing of the Dawn Tree (+4 Enhancement bonus to Intelligence), teams of jewel crafters work in shifts to produce 90 Elemental Gems of each type (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water) per month per set of Gemcarver's Tools. Each set of Gemcarver's Tools has a dedicated staff of five jeweler's, allowing for uninterrupted production throughout the month.

Elemental Gems: When crushed, smashed, or broken as a Standard Action, a Large Elemental of a type matching the gem appears as if Summoned by a Summon Nature's Ally V spell at 11th caster level. The Elemental is under the control of whoever broke the gem for the next 11 rounds.
Production Costs:
  • Individual Elemental Gem: 225 IM
  • Monthly Elemental Gem Production Cost by Type: 20,250 IM (Limit of 90 per month)
  • Current Staffing Costs: 1,600 IM (20 jewel crafters, 80 IM per month each)
  • Total Monthly Elemental Gem Production Cost: 82,600 IM
 
The Water Elemental Creche came online during the 3rd month, following our successful creation of Aife, the new Herald of the Ferryman.
Water Elemental Creche:
Creche-Formed Water Elemental Costs:
Small: 225 IM (CR 1)
Medium: 450 IM (CR 3)
Large: 900 IM (CR 5)
Huge: 1,800 IM (CR 7)
Greater: 3,600 IM (CR 9)
Elder: 7,200 IM (CR 11)

Water Elemental Size StatisticsHeightWeightVortex DCVortex DamageVortex Height
Small4 ft.34 lb.131d410-20 ft.
Medium8 ft.280 lb.151d610-30 ft.
Large16 ft.2,250 lb.192d610-40 ft.
Huge32 ft.18,000 lb.252d810-50 ft.
Greater (Huge)36 ft.21,000 lb.282d810-60 ft.
Elder (Huge)40 ft.24,000 lb.312d810-60 ft
We need to vote on a retroactive order for Water Elementals we want to create this month. I'm going to put a preliminary one up here that we can modify before putting it to a final vote.

I don't see much use for the Small Elementals, so I'm leaving those off for now. The rest can fill all sorts of niches, from guardians of SD's aquatic district to members of our roving ocean patrols. Hell, they would even make really effective members of any Imperial city's fire brigades. Few things douse a building fire like a Huge Water Elemental splashing onto the scene to smother the flames.

[] Water Elemental Creation (3rd month, 294 AC)
-[] x320 Small: 225 IM each (CR 1) = 72,000 IM
-[] x160 Medium: 450 IM each (CR 3) = 72,000 IM
-[] x80 Large: 900 IM each (CR 5) = 72,000 IM
-[] x40 Huge: 1,800 IM each (CR 7) = 72,000 IM
-[] x20 Greater: 3,600 IM each (CR 9) = 72,000 IM
-[] x10 Elder: 7,200 IM each (CR 11) = 72,000 IM
-[] Total: 432,000 IM
 
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The Water Elemental Creche came online during the 3rd month, following our successful creation of Aife, the new Herald of the Ferryman.
Water Elemental Creche:
Creche-Formed Water Elemental Costs:
Small: 225 IM (CR 1)
Medium: 450 IM (CR 3)
Large: 900 IM (CR 5)
Huge: 1,800 IM (CR 7)
Greater: 3,600 IM (CR 9)
Elder: 7,200 IM (CR 11)

Water Elemental Size StatisticsHeightWeightVortex DCVortex DamageVortex Height
Small4 ft.34 lb.131d410-20 ft.
Medium8 ft.280 lb.151d610-30 ft.
Large16 ft.2,250 lb.192d610-40 ft.
Huge32 ft.18,000 lb.252d810-50 ft.
Greater (Huge)36 ft.21,000 lb.282d810-60 ft.
Elder (Huge)40 ft.24,000 lb.312d810-60 ft
We need to vote on a retroactive order for Water Elementals we want to create this month. I'm going to put a preliminary one up here that we can modify before putting it to a final vote.

I don't see much use for the Small Elementals, so I'm leaving those off for now. The rest can fill all sorts of niches, from guardians of SD's aquatic district to members of our roving ocean patrols. Hell, they would even make really effective members of any Imperial city's fire brigades. Few things douse a building fire like a Huge Water Elemental splashing onto the scene to smother the flames.

[] Water Elemental Creation (3rd month, 294 AC)
-[] x160 Medium: 450 IM each (CR 3) = 72,000 IM
-[] x80 Large: 900 IM each (CR 5) = 72,000 IM
-[] x40 Huge: 1,800 IM each (CR 7) = 72,000 IM
-[] x20 Greater: 3,600 IM each (CR 9) = 72,000 IM
-[] x10 Elder: 7,200 IM each (CR 11) = 72,000 IM
-[] Total: 360,000 IM
Small Elementals would still be good scouts and patrols for our aquatic installations and general waterways.
 
Small Elementals would still be good scouts and patrols for our aquatic installations and general waterways.
I agree with @Artemis1992 on this one. Small and Medium Elementals are too stupid for complex tasks. At INT 4, combined with the simple mindset shared by all Elementals, they aren't good for much more than acting as muscle or cannon fodder. CR 1 cannon fodder at 225 IM each doesn't seem all that useful to me. We can still add some if ya'll want, but I'm not sure where they would be helpful.

BTW, @Azel, I've found some nice psionic gear to order from the Githzerai for Qyburn. The rings are pretty straight forward, but I need some input from you for the Mind Stones and Ioun Stone. Each one is basically the equivalent of a psionic Page of Spell Knowledge and needs to have the selected power built into it. I've got a three 1st level Mind Stones, two 2nd level, and one 3rd level plugged into the order for now. The Ioun Stone can be any level of power Qyburn can manifest.

-[] x1 Ring of Psionics (II) (14th Manifester Level) - 8,000 IM + 70% markup = 13,600 IM
-[] x1 Ring of Power Preservation (15th Manifester Level) - 7,200 IM + 70% markup = 12,240 IM
-[] x3 Mind Stone (I) (5th Manifester Level): 400 IM + 25% markup = 500 IM each (Total: 1,500 IM)
-[] x2 Mind Stone (II) (5th Manifester Level): 1,600 IM + 25% markup = 2,000 IM each (Total: 4,000 IM)
-[] x1 Mind Stone (III) (6th Manifester Level): 3,600 IM + 40% markup = 5,040 IM
-[] x1 Green & White Ioun Stone (12th Manifester Level): 2,400 IM + 70% markup = 4,080 IM
 
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Propably too stupid.
INT 4 does not make for good scouts I think?

I'd keep those with INT below 6 to "smash on command" or simple watchposts.
I think they'd make for a decent addition to harbor inspections and most aquatic inquisition operations. That ability to stop or slow down ships is pretty effective even when they only have a few HD, so small elementals would be a good way to mess with smugglers and anyone who's trying to get around by boat.
 
@Goldfish, @Artemis1992, I forgot that small elementals are dumb. Request withdrawn.

@Goldfish, I'll get back to you on those items.
I went ahead and added 360 of them to my preliminary proposal for now. They're dumb and not suited for combat, but like @BronzeTongue pointed out, if nothing else they would be useful for harbor control. They could also be used to keep the harbor and nearby waters clean of debris and waste, an important function considering the growing aquatic district.
 
Canon Omake: Familiar
Familiar

Skyfire-Which-Surges-Forth-That-Chases-Tomorrow was a being that presented an eternal conundrum to Usuth. Bottomless ambition which called like to like, natural paranoia honed to a razor-fine edge, transmuted to a useful tool instead of a malaise upon the mind... and beneath all of that subtlety, the first nascent sparks which glowed of true power overwhelming.

She would be perfect... if she had any sense of poetry to her!

"Get down from there!"

Usuth scoffed, "Not until you admit how utterly wrong you are," he brandished the ivory comb he'd snatched from her hands between two claws, carefully balancing himself upon their tail up on the highest shelf of her chambers. The contract they had worked out, you see, had included many fine details and clauses which were worked out with a very well-paid solicitor from King's Street.

One of which Master Dos had enshrined in everlasting gold sheets of transmuted legalese was that only he would be permitted to comb her hair, unless he specifically ceded the privilege in private, was stuck in convalescence from a failed hunt, or else opted not to report his preferences for more than six hours. Next to that, however, was that she acknowledge the sheer artistry behind his brillaint naming sense, which she had failed to do for the third time this morning, leading to their current stand-off.

"Usuth," Lightning-Wrought-Poise-In-Earthly-Form spoke with silky affection, where before she had hissed through bared teeth, "If you don't behave, we won't have time to see Gendry today."

The wyrmling cocked his head, then reluctantly scampered down from the high ground. Better to say, rather, that he conceded the high ground, and took the victory implicitly, since he was still getting his way in the end. Truly a master of negotiation...

"Very well, but only because the boy is utterly lost without my esteemed guidance on all matters of import," the dragon kin to shadows bragged, failing to scramble quickly enough ahead of his human partner to avoid the loss of the comb. "That wasn't part of the deal!" He was so very excited to meet the boy again, now there was a true artist worthy of his attention... unlike certain parties who were not to be named in present company.

"No," Ceria of the Storm Tyrant simpered, like the vexing ruffian that she was, all the grace of a warhammer in a pottery shop, and no class! "But I was promised, by you no less, that we would be out of the city by noon, and we'll be lucky to keep to that schedule if I rush. So no more games! Now, if you would go fetch my supplies, like a good familiar would..." She paused meaningfully, "And maybe you'll get this back," she taunted, dangling the implement just out of reach, like he was some mere feline as to be herded about!

"Yesss," he hissed balefully, doing as he was told. But only because that aligned with his own aims, you see.

***​

"So what's a... familiar?" Gendry wondered aloud, in-between bites of the frozen confection sold at a stand in Armun Kelisk. He didn't get out of the city that often, considering it really bothered the nice people who were set to watching him, and since they tried not to get in the way it was even harder to arrange a trip to another world, or so he was told by his cousin at any rate. So he didn't get to go to the Skyholds with... Ceria, but he did get to take a trip to see the animals in the King's Menagerie.

Still, that didn't mean she couldn't take them to Mosshold and just... appear in the Genie city, then come back again. It seemed to Gendry an awfully silly use of her magic, but she had told him 'it's my magic, I'll do whatever I bloody well want with it', but rather than spoken with scorn it was with an immense fondness, like she was taking some great joy in spending time with him even though he was just a... a bastard, something forgotten and left in the gutter by same high lords she seemed to openly scorn.

Though personally, he thought she was playing up some of that attitude, since he'd seen people curse and insult blue-blooded nobles behind their back, always quieter than the City Watch or the wrong beggar could hear them, but often enough behind a rallying cry for action before it was painfully put down by 'their betters', as he used to always think of them. Well, to be honest he hadn't thought about them for a while now, the world had gone awfully strange so very quickly for Gendry.

At any rate, Ceria would enthusiastically talk about the parts of her work that she was allowed to, mostly what it was like being a mage, and all the parties she was invited to and mostly turned down. She probably liked her boss, too, given she didn't gripe and complain about him like he found most people who liked to natter on for a bit tended to.

"A familiar," the black-scaled dragon loftily began, indigo eyes half-lidded as he interrupted Ceria, "Is an extension of a mage's own self, a reflection of their inner majesty, their thoughts and feelings, forming an emotional connection, a mirror into their deepest preconceptions so that one might be charged to reflect upon them critically and dispose with certain delusions." He snapped another dried fruit dropped from Gendry's hand, the boy keeping a bunch of them in a belt pouch these days, knowing they were the little dragon's favorite.

"They're useful for scaring off rats," Ceria replied dryly.

Gendry perked up. "So like a ca--"

"No. Not at all like a cat," Usuth hissed in displeasure, licking his clawed hand.

Ceria motioned toward them as if to say 'you see?'

Gendry nodded thoughtfully. There was a lot he still had to learn, about family and about familiars.

OOC: Another update from @Crake taking a look at a very different Gendry learning about a very different family.
 
The dragon-cat comparison never stops being funny. This does make me wonder if two casters can't take each other as familiars though. Even if they can't, I'm curious what the bonus for a human one would be for a dragon with caster levels.
 
LOL, I think you nailed it with that one, @Crake. 😹

I wonder what the Wyrmling version of a Cat Tree would look like? This is the one my grandmother's cat has.
Sturdier materials, I would imagine, and maybe some rings to fly through? One of the "apartments" would probably need to be upsized, too, to hold the Wyrmlings hoard.
 
LOL, I think you nailed it with that one, @Crake. 😹

I wonder what the Wyrmling version of a Cat Tree would look like? This is the one my grandmother's cat has.
Sturdier materials, I would imagine, and maybe some rings to fly through? One of the "apartments" would probably need to be upsized, too, to hold the Wyrmlings hoard.
She has a Myrkdreki, so one of the caves should be entirely closed except for a few air holes for him to slip through in Gaseous Form.
 
I'm sensing the impending development of a small but lucrative industry geared toward outfitting Familiars, including fashionable clothing and accessories, modifying homes to make them more Familiar friendly, and a range of Familiar "residences", sized and furnished as needed, and easily assembled with nothing more than a Mage Hand or Prestidigitation cantrip.

The Scholarium already has thousands of mages, many hundred of whom can gain Familiars by default, and all of them can use the ritual to acquire one.

Someone will be the first to fill this niche, and I want to read about it. 🤓
 
It has been my headcanon for years that Azema at some point tought people how to give a proper wing-massage, someone made a Massage Parlor with that knowledge and now Ysandrix spends most of her hoard on weekly sessions there.
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Nov 8, 2020 at 10:46 AM, finished with 64 posts and 10 votes.

  • [X] The Mysteries of East: With them now open to you, have the libraries of Vahar accessed, and scoured through for lore of illusion, divination, and other low-energy magics.
    ----[X] Rhaella (2d6 Progress); Naath Scholarum Branch (2d6 Progress); Tolos Scholarum Branch (2d6 Progress); The Seeker (CR 15), 1x Black Knight, 1x Greater Blood Clot Mold, 1x Erynies
 
Interlude CMXLI: Mages' Misstep
Mages' Misstep

Thirteenth Day of the Third Month 294 AC

A relived sigh echoed through the camber, muffled by silk curtains and protections more arcane. It would not do to seem weak or wary before their hosts, but Rhaella had never before appreciated how dificult it would be to lead a company of mages in a foreign land. To practice sorcery one required both a strong will and an innate curiosity to reach for the secrets of the arcane.

Alas, both those qualities translated into an interest in the history, culture, faith and customs of their hosts that was not necessarily matched by tact. It did not help that most of the mages assigned to Vahar were young scholars looking to make some grand discovery, whether in the form of their mastery work or something to surpass it. Of course, the best lore was the secret sort which lead one to today's troubles. She could do this, though Rhaella was not sure who she was trying to convince.

"Send them in," she called to the black armored knight standing by the door to the small council room the Shan had given over to be guests quarters. Of all the lessons of her youth, a regal of bearing and showing nothing of her feelings upon her face served her in good stead as the two shame-faced young men walked into the room, carefully not looking at the now unmooving figure wrought in steel and dead flesh. Both were from Tolos, though they did not have the look of the dragon lords, raised from among the commons by nothing but their magic and all the more ambitious for it.

"Explain to me again how you managed to offend the Keeper of the Records, the High Priest of Sharnash and the Palace Key Bearer?" the former queen asked, her voice deceptively low, though none would call the tone soft.

"We were only asking for a complete copy of the Book of Nine Veils, the Shan said we could copy all arcane knowledge, not specifically of the library..."

"And it did not occur to either of you that asking a priest for that tome, with the implication that his fellows have been using illusion magic to enhance the Procession of the Gods and other holy days, would be insulting? For that matter did it not occur to either of you to ask someone better versed in diplomacy to approach the matter, or better yet not to approach it at all because no amount of insight into glamors and figments is worth a public scandal?"

"We did not think our inquiries would reach the high priest's ear," the other mage admitted. "We believed we had built something of a rapport..."

"A friendship worth its weight in silver no doubt," Rhaella sniffed. "Upon being countered with the accusation of blasphemy you panicked and invoked the name of the Key Bearer, who thus dragging him into a conflict he had no business in." Taking a deeper breath than she strictly needed to Rhaella continued. "Suruk Yar was commanded to see us protected and treated as honored guests, he was not commanded to cater to our every whim and excuse every trespass."

The silence stretched out painfully before one of the pair dared to ask: "What of the Keeper of Records, Your Grace?"

"He is offended at the implication that a tome in his keeping would have been redacted by the priests," Rhaella replied curtly. "His position is hereditary, so you just insulted his ancestors and from a certain perspective his gods."

How does Rhaella deal with the diplomatic incident in Vahar?

[] Offer material concessions (spread wealth around to sooth parties in question, Cost 10,000 IM; may give the impression of weakness)

[] Assure the court that those responsible will be punished for their trespass
-[] Write in how

[] Quietly send the mages responsible away and finish up the month's work (May appear intransigent)

[] Write in


OOC: Not the best rolls this time around, but probably not the worst place to get those rolls.
 
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I've been looking into making some of our warriors more tanky, and I think I have a few winners. Most of these would have to be 1/day items, but for Richard I think it'd be worth getting him some slotless constant versions.

On his sheet Richard only has DR 5/- without buffing, so Diamondsteel would be a good addition. It's a level 3 spell that lasts for 1 round/CL, and provides DR adamantine equal to half the AC of the armor it's targeted at. Getting that consistently would be a significant boost for him.

Sacred Haven is a level 4 spell that lasts 1 minute/CL and provides a +2 sacred bonus to AC in addition to preventing the loss of the targets Dex bonus to AC while flat footed. Richard doesn't have a Sacred bonus yet, so this would bring him to 47 for base AC.

Insignia of Warding is a level 3 spell that lasts 1 minute/CL and provides a +1 divine bonus to AC and fort saves. If that's different than a sacred one then it's a least worth a though. Every bit of AC helps after all.

As to how we'd make the items we don't have casters for, I'd like to bring up Figurines of the Dwarven Forge again. I don't think we've ordered any yet, but their principle benefit is that they allow you to use scrolls to qualify as knowing a spell for the purposes of the craft magic arms and armor. That makes it a little harder to work into an existing load out, but we can make it work if we need to.
 
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