Dark Lord Accidental Lieutenant Quest
- Thread starter Academia Nut
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
torrmercury
Necromancer
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Out at sea
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Hey, torr. *Waves* Fancy seeing you here.
torrmercury
Necromancer
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Gee, I wonder why. It's almost as if we have similar tastes in quests!Hey, torr. *Waves* Fancy seeing you here.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I really want to get an update done tonight, but I had a crash project come in over the weekend and I'm still at work banging my head on things.
Tomorrow at the absolute latest.
Tomorrow at the absolute latest.
- Location
- Australia
[x] From within the swamp
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Tallying...
What's that, a tie you say?
This can work, this can work interestingly.
What's that, a tie you say?
This can work, this can work interestingly.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Midnight Crossfire
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It takes a moment because you realize that the light is coming from multiple directions. Out on the sea there are little yellow lights bobbing up and down - lanterns on boats no doubt - but from further inland, within the tangled confines of the swamp there are eerie, pale blue lights flickering among the trees.
Given the rather more unsettling nature of the swamp lights, you wrack your brain for what those might be. It takes you a moment before you realize that this must come from the Reef Witch, the infamous spirit that haunts the mangrove swamps and uneven shores. Mysterious and dangerous, all that is well known is that she has a major feud with the Merchant Princes for some reason and actively attacks their assets attempting to work within her territory, and that everyone else is mostly safe from her except on the night of the new moon, and even then her attacks are mostly out on the water rather than within the swamps or on shore.
It is not the new moon.
So that leaves the lights out on the water somehow attracting the Reef Witch's attention. Agents of the Merchant Princes? Maybe they found you? No... no wait, the Merchant Princes wouldn't launch an attack into the mangrove swamps at night, even taking dangerous spirits out of the situation that was a stupid idea. Only smugglers dared the unstable waters at night. But if the lights on the water are smugglers...
There are three general reasons to smuggle into Sarna. The first is taxes, but the Merchant Princes keep the taxes and fees on anything worth smuggling to just below what smugglers would charge for their troubles, canny fellows they are. The second is if the cargo isn't welcome in Sarna, which is a relative rarity although the big illegal trade there is in occult items, along with a number of other miscellaneous unpleasant things. The third is if the ship and/or crew carrying things from the wider world isn't welcome in Sarna. The second and third reasons did somewhat tend to go hand in hand with considerable frequency.
"We should slip away," Az whispers, and you nod. If anyone checks they'll see that the shack has been occupied recently, but smugglers are unlikely to look very hard. Crawling along the leaf covered sand, deeper into the swamp but away from the pale lights of the Reef Witch, you try to avoid drawing attention to yourself.
This is both rather easy in that it becomes obvious quite quickly that neither set of lights is particularly interested in looking for you, and also something of a problem as you're now apparently stuck in the middle of a fight. There is a remarkably loud, gurgling scream from within the swamp and then suddenly balls of blue fire are arcing out of the woods into the sea, to splash down amidst the lights coming ashore. Whoever is on the boats answers with gunfire.
Lots of gunfire.
Like, every man on the landing party must have several muskets lots. And the bullets seemed especially unpleasant, their passage through the air a series of hideous shrieks rather than the angry buzz you somehow expected. Limbs were taken off trees with alarming frequency, and between the crack of fire and the shriek of passage, there was also the subtler sound of bark raining throughout the swamp. How the hell-
Your mind stops as you remember the tidbit of knowledge, the one individual that both the Merchant Princes and the Reef Witch despise, who also has the means to produce such strange, rapid-fire volleys of fire.
"Captain Deadwood," you hiss in fear. Quite possibly the most feared pirate ever, the fact that his forces were here honestly put him at least at the same threat level as Az, if only because Deadwood had a crew and Az had pointy sticks. Getting caught in a feud between him and the Reef Witch was probably the worst possible outcome. Were you just cursed?
"Fearsome fellow I take it," Az asked as quietly as he could to get above the cacophony, having picked up on your exclamation.
"Cursed sailor, as good as unkillable, and he has all sorts of weird magic that he uses on his crew," you explain tersely, running down the list of generally known information, which admittedly isn't much because the odds of ever running into the infamous man and his ship were low simply because it was a damn big ocean.
Further conversation was cut short by a creature of the Reef Witch rushing out of the swamp. The thing was a bear sized conglomeration of several men, boars, and at least one crocodile and shark crudely stitched together with mangrove roots and sharp coral into a roughly crab like shape. What mad principles went into the badly designed looking thing you have no idea, for it conforms to none of the occult logic you know of, but one arm seems almost like a giant flute with mouths for holes, and filled with blue swamp fire, and the other is like a serrated sword made out of bone, tusks, and shark teeth, so despite its bizarre composition it is certainly both horrifying and dangerous. Az stabbing out both of its eyes just as it is recognizing that you are there also seems to just piss it off.
Everything is exploding around you as give up all pretenses of stealth and just start running. Despite the sea now being consumed with flame, some of the boats have reached the shore - such as it is next to the swamps - and the men are pushing ashore. Amidst the lanterns and the sparking of gunpowder, you catch glimpses of the sailors, and the ghostly lights flickering around them and their strange muskets. You're not sure how exactly it all works, but it's said that Deadwood somehow knows how to bind the souls of the dead to his service. The stories aren't exactly clear on whether or not his crew is alive or not, but whatever contact they've had with the dread captain doesn't seem to have been particularly healthy for them, from what little you can see.
Something abruptly grabs you and shoves you to the side and ground, and it takes you a moment to realize that Az has hauled you out of the way of being shot to pieces by a sailor aiming at the headless monstrosity rampaging around almost drunkenly. You note that Az has what appears to be a crocodile head and is swinging it around as an impromptu club before he hurls it at a man, bashing him in the head and knocking him to the ground. Hauling you back to your feet once the opportunity presents itself, he asks in an almost bored tone, "So, just checking here, but any preferences on who we should talk to?"
"Neither!" You scream out.
"Oh come on now, I'm in need of supporters, and both of these groups seem both powerful and morally flexible. I would prefer to devote my efforts to dealing with one group, either diplomatically or militarily," Az explains while he uses the sword arm of another abomination to saw it in half, despite its obvious attempts to prevent him from doing such a thing.
Focus on...
[] Captain Deadwood
[] Reef Witch
[] Both
[] Just run!
Method...
[] Violence
[] Diplomacy
-[] Honestly
-[] Backstab
Given the rather more unsettling nature of the swamp lights, you wrack your brain for what those might be. It takes you a moment before you realize that this must come from the Reef Witch, the infamous spirit that haunts the mangrove swamps and uneven shores. Mysterious and dangerous, all that is well known is that she has a major feud with the Merchant Princes for some reason and actively attacks their assets attempting to work within her territory, and that everyone else is mostly safe from her except on the night of the new moon, and even then her attacks are mostly out on the water rather than within the swamps or on shore.
It is not the new moon.
So that leaves the lights out on the water somehow attracting the Reef Witch's attention. Agents of the Merchant Princes? Maybe they found you? No... no wait, the Merchant Princes wouldn't launch an attack into the mangrove swamps at night, even taking dangerous spirits out of the situation that was a stupid idea. Only smugglers dared the unstable waters at night. But if the lights on the water are smugglers...
There are three general reasons to smuggle into Sarna. The first is taxes, but the Merchant Princes keep the taxes and fees on anything worth smuggling to just below what smugglers would charge for their troubles, canny fellows they are. The second is if the cargo isn't welcome in Sarna, which is a relative rarity although the big illegal trade there is in occult items, along with a number of other miscellaneous unpleasant things. The third is if the ship and/or crew carrying things from the wider world isn't welcome in Sarna. The second and third reasons did somewhat tend to go hand in hand with considerable frequency.
"We should slip away," Az whispers, and you nod. If anyone checks they'll see that the shack has been occupied recently, but smugglers are unlikely to look very hard. Crawling along the leaf covered sand, deeper into the swamp but away from the pale lights of the Reef Witch, you try to avoid drawing attention to yourself.
This is both rather easy in that it becomes obvious quite quickly that neither set of lights is particularly interested in looking for you, and also something of a problem as you're now apparently stuck in the middle of a fight. There is a remarkably loud, gurgling scream from within the swamp and then suddenly balls of blue fire are arcing out of the woods into the sea, to splash down amidst the lights coming ashore. Whoever is on the boats answers with gunfire.
Lots of gunfire.
Like, every man on the landing party must have several muskets lots. And the bullets seemed especially unpleasant, their passage through the air a series of hideous shrieks rather than the angry buzz you somehow expected. Limbs were taken off trees with alarming frequency, and between the crack of fire and the shriek of passage, there was also the subtler sound of bark raining throughout the swamp. How the hell-
Your mind stops as you remember the tidbit of knowledge, the one individual that both the Merchant Princes and the Reef Witch despise, who also has the means to produce such strange, rapid-fire volleys of fire.
"Captain Deadwood," you hiss in fear. Quite possibly the most feared pirate ever, the fact that his forces were here honestly put him at least at the same threat level as Az, if only because Deadwood had a crew and Az had pointy sticks. Getting caught in a feud between him and the Reef Witch was probably the worst possible outcome. Were you just cursed?
"Fearsome fellow I take it," Az asked as quietly as he could to get above the cacophony, having picked up on your exclamation.
"Cursed sailor, as good as unkillable, and he has all sorts of weird magic that he uses on his crew," you explain tersely, running down the list of generally known information, which admittedly isn't much because the odds of ever running into the infamous man and his ship were low simply because it was a damn big ocean.
Further conversation was cut short by a creature of the Reef Witch rushing out of the swamp. The thing was a bear sized conglomeration of several men, boars, and at least one crocodile and shark crudely stitched together with mangrove roots and sharp coral into a roughly crab like shape. What mad principles went into the badly designed looking thing you have no idea, for it conforms to none of the occult logic you know of, but one arm seems almost like a giant flute with mouths for holes, and filled with blue swamp fire, and the other is like a serrated sword made out of bone, tusks, and shark teeth, so despite its bizarre composition it is certainly both horrifying and dangerous. Az stabbing out both of its eyes just as it is recognizing that you are there also seems to just piss it off.
Everything is exploding around you as give up all pretenses of stealth and just start running. Despite the sea now being consumed with flame, some of the boats have reached the shore - such as it is next to the swamps - and the men are pushing ashore. Amidst the lanterns and the sparking of gunpowder, you catch glimpses of the sailors, and the ghostly lights flickering around them and their strange muskets. You're not sure how exactly it all works, but it's said that Deadwood somehow knows how to bind the souls of the dead to his service. The stories aren't exactly clear on whether or not his crew is alive or not, but whatever contact they've had with the dread captain doesn't seem to have been particularly healthy for them, from what little you can see.
Something abruptly grabs you and shoves you to the side and ground, and it takes you a moment to realize that Az has hauled you out of the way of being shot to pieces by a sailor aiming at the headless monstrosity rampaging around almost drunkenly. You note that Az has what appears to be a crocodile head and is swinging it around as an impromptu club before he hurls it at a man, bashing him in the head and knocking him to the ground. Hauling you back to your feet once the opportunity presents itself, he asks in an almost bored tone, "So, just checking here, but any preferences on who we should talk to?"
"Neither!" You scream out.
"Oh come on now, I'm in need of supporters, and both of these groups seem both powerful and morally flexible. I would prefer to devote my efforts to dealing with one group, either diplomatically or militarily," Az explains while he uses the sword arm of another abomination to saw it in half, despite its obvious attempts to prevent him from doing such a thing.
Focus on...
[] Captain Deadwood
[] Reef Witch
[] Both
[] Just run!
Method...
[] Violence
[] Diplomacy
-[] Honestly
-[] Backstab
- Location
- Leeds
Got not a clue here, running seems like the smart thing to do, but it might be we're underestimating Az.
Out of interest based on what we know about history, will Az have seen a musket before?
Out of interest based on what we know about history, will Az have seen a musket before?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
No, but he seems utterly unfazed by their presence or use. It's possible he has divine knowledge about them, or is just really good at rolling with unexpected things. Hard to tell.
- Location
- Earth
[X]Captain Deadwood
[X]Violence
If the Reef Witch has no problem with us, than I think we should not be a problem to her; she might be quite happy to see us aid her and become of assistance in the future, if just by not hindering our efforts close to the swamp.
Captain Deadwood, however... well, I do not really like what is going on there. That one might be too strong an ally at this point (if we even manage) and could be troublesome later on because... you know, he is a pirate.
Taking into account Az's personality, he would probably refuse to just run away... and trying to defeat or recruit both sides is just bound to fail.
[X]Violence
If the Reef Witch has no problem with us, than I think we should not be a problem to her; she might be quite happy to see us aid her and become of assistance in the future, if just by not hindering our efforts close to the swamp.
Captain Deadwood, however... well, I do not really like what is going on there. That one might be too strong an ally at this point (if we even manage) and could be troublesome later on because... you know, he is a pirate.
Taking into account Az's personality, he would probably refuse to just run away... and trying to defeat or recruit both sides is just bound to fail.
- Location
- Leeds
That is a difficult one. I suppose there might be a third option that he believes they're some kind of magical tool, don't really know enough about the settings magic to say.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
@Academia Nut
Does the Violence method mean that we'd be fighting the one we focus on to either kill or drive them away, or that we'd be aiming to impress them with our badassitude?
Does the Violence method mean that we'd be fighting the one we focus on to either kill or drive them away, or that we'd be aiming to impress them with our badassitude?
[X] Reef Witch
[X] Diplomacy
-[X] Honestly
I'm like 90% sure she isn't called the Reef Witch because she's got awesome reefer but just in case she is...
[X] Diplomacy
-[X] Honestly
I'm like 90% sure she isn't called the Reef Witch because she's got awesome reefer but just in case she is...
Last edited:
Is it just me or does it seem like Captain Deadwood and his crew came here specifically to fight the Reef Witch? It seems unlikely that two such powerful entities would randomly enter into conflict with each other. Does our protagonist know if Captain Deadwood ever acts as a mercenary and if the Merchant Princes would be able to hire him to deal with the Reef Witch?
[X] Both
[X] Violence
[X] Both
[X] Violence
[X] Reef Witch
[X] Diplomacy
-[X] Honestly
The reef witch almost certainly would like someone that can go into the city and cause problems instead of just killing any Prince agents and assets that enter her reach. Convincing her that we are legit is probably more difficult, but she seems to need someone that can act more than Deadwood does. Also, she has cooler abominations.
[X] Diplomacy
-[X] Honestly
The reef witch almost certainly would like someone that can go into the city and cause problems instead of just killing any Prince agents and assets that enter her reach. Convincing her that we are legit is probably more difficult, but she seems to need someone that can act more than Deadwood does. Also, she has cooler abominations.
PsyFarrow
Verified Necrodancer
- Location
- Space
My thought process.
Davy Jones Pros/Cons
+ Quantity has a quality of its own
+ Solid use of Guns, bravo
+ Mobility
- Is widely disliked, draws attention
- Zombie pirates are unhygienic
Lady Shrek Pros/Cons
+ Quality over quantity
+ Holy shit magically burning Frankenstein bears
+ Magical Shiny maybe?
- Her forces have no ranged attack methods from what we can see.
- Doesn't leave her reef
- Zombie animals are unhygienic
Either way might net us Necromancy if we play our cards right, but I'd rather go with the guy who can help us out in more than one location. Also, guns are more reliable than a magic system we know nothing about.
[X] Captain Deadwood
[X] Diplomacy
-[X] Honestly
Backstabbing your allies without purpose is Stupid Evil, and this isn't the right genre for punching people into being our friends.
Davy Jones Pros/Cons
+ Quantity has a quality of its own
+ Solid use of Guns, bravo
+ Mobility
- Is widely disliked, draws attention
- Zombie pirates are unhygienic
Lady Shrek Pros/Cons
+ Quality over quantity
+ Holy shit magically burning Frankenstein bears
+ Magical Shiny maybe?
- Her forces have no ranged attack methods from what we can see.
- Doesn't leave her reef
- Zombie animals are unhygienic
Either way might net us Necromancy if we play our cards right, but I'd rather go with the guy who can help us out in more than one location. Also, guns are more reliable than a magic system we know nothing about.
[X] Captain Deadwood
[X] Diplomacy
-[X] Honestly
Backstabbing your allies without purpose is Stupid Evil, and this isn't the right genre for punching people into being our friends.
Last edited:
Having a crew and mobility definitely means he needs less help and would find us less useful overall though.
I do think the fact that she can't leave and thus would benefit more from having allies should be on this pro list. Sometimes helping out the faction that needs you more can be far more worthwhile than the one that sees you as just another ally.
PsyFarrow
Verified Necrodancer
- Location
- Space
Those are valid points, but we're not just looking at who's easier to grab. This is Az asking us for our opinion on which of these forces is more useful and how we'd go about acquiring them in his place. Getting these questions right earns his respect and attention, two things that will likely become very valuable moving forward.
Objectively, Deadwood is a much more flexible asset of equal power to the Witch. From a diplomatic standpoint, I think a pirate is more likely to have the ambition/greed to support a powerful person attempting to usurp the local government than a reclusive hermit.
A reclusive hermit at war with the government, but fair point.