Yeah, but we should frame it as "Hey, FYI some of your dudes is getting up to shit you should be aware of, and because you are as awesome of a dude as I think you are then SURELY this is something you will stomp out because you're cool like that" rather than "Your people have transgressed against our authority! Fall back in line or we will end you!"
This is good. Appeal to the pride of elves. The best way to take control of the situation is to make sure we have the initiative in the conversation. With this we would have caught them in the back foot diplomatically.
If they can't clean up, it'll hurt their reputation. And that's a big no-no for the elves.
...just as a general rule, I don't think it's a good idea to issue threats you aren't capable of carrying out. And the fact that we found some renegades consorting with demons isn't exactly enough to call for their extermination as a whole.
At any rate, once we've interrogated the prisoners, it'd almost certainly be a good idea to inform Ulthuan of everything we've found.
I think the aftermath of an interrogation would be a good time to send Zille'mi back to Ulthuan (specifically to Prince Thyriol in Saphery, with intent to relay to the Everqueen) and bring Atahuinqua back, at least for a while. They've spent nearly a century in Ulthuan now, they'll have a lot of specific information to report to us, and Zille'mi can probably do a pretty good job as an ambassador for at least a while.
Besides, we could surely use Atahuinqua's oracle dice on some of the upcoming projects we're likely to face.
Well... I still suspect that the pleasure-cults are Slaanesh-influenced, personally, and Morathi just manages to keep control because she's an absurdly talented magician. We know, canonically, that the highest-up dark elves are exceptions to the rule "no one can survive trafficking with daemons and working with dhar without getting turned into a Chaos-controlled monstrosity." But that's me.
It would be cool to develop something similar to the Khemtry war golems. Ushapti bowmen are surprisingly powerful ranged units, but we could build other things like magical robot dinosaurs.
I think the aftermath of an interrogation would be a good time to send Zille'mi back to Ulthuan (specifically to Prince Thyriol in Saphery, with intent to relay to the Everqueen) and bring Atahuinqua back, at least for a while. They've spent nearly a century in Ulthuan now, they'll have a lot of specific information to report to us, and Zille'mi can probably do a pretty good job as an ambassador for at least a while.
Besides, we could surely use Atahuinqua's oracle dice on some of the upcoming projects we're likely to face.
That would be a good idea, Zille'mi is probably better at conveying our message and picking up things and we get another 2 dice stewardship character to chew through our projects not to mention the reroll they have letting them try harder projects.
That would be a good idea, Zille'mi is probably better at conveying our message and picking up things and we get another 2 dice stewardship character to chew through our projects not to mention the reroll they have letting them try harder projects.
On the other hand, Atahuinqua's oracle abilities probably have value all their own, as an envoy. Atahuinqua was probably a very good choice, and only the fact that Zille'mi's turning out to be specifically diplomacy-specced (at least by lizardman standards) makes me think she might be a good substitute.
while i do like the idea of a swich for a while, Zille'me is really needed for all our human focussed actions as they are the one who has been their line of contact and they know how to deal with humans
so in all if we swich it should be temporary while we get Atahuinqua's reports and some stuff they would be helpfull with done
On the other hand, Atahuinqua's oracle abilities probably have value all their own, as an envoy. Atahuinqua was probably a very good choice, and only the fact that Zille'mi's turning out to be specifically diplomacy-specced (at least by lizardman standards) makes me think she might be a good substitute.
I dont think we had Zille'mi around when the option first came up and yeah Atahuinqua was probably the best pick but at this point he can pass on what he learned and Zille'mi can likely push that to another level given his diplomacy-spec.
while i do like the idea of a swich for a while, Zille'me is really needed for all our human focussed actions as they are the one who has been their line of contact and they know how to deal with humans
so in all if we swich it should be temporary while we get Atahuinqua's reports and some stuff they would be helpfull with done
I wasn't planning on a permanent switch; I was planning on something more circumstantial. We've learned enough, or are about to learn enough, that certain authorities on Ulthuan should be alerted to what's going on. And Atahuinqua almost certainly has a wealth of information that we cannot learn without debriefing them extensively.
But our ability to rotate ambassadors is pretty important, and Atahuinqua has been there for... um. I think actually well over a century now? Depends on Turn 4 circumstances.
She was definitely around, since she was our envoy on the first diplomatic mission to Ulthuan as I recall. The one that only briefly met with Thyriol of Saphery.
But I don't think Zille'mi was diplomacy-specced at the time.
Honestly might be better to just send Zille'mi while leaving Atahuinqua, the two of them could work together to double team the Elves for a while. Also better to not throw Zille'mi into the deep end of diplomancy without backup, of which Atahuinqua is the best supporter.
Yeah. Getting the elves pointed in the right direction to notice the problem is important enough to devote multiple heroes to and it makes sense to have a resident diplomat and someone to carry the message personally.
Oh yeah, @CuttleFish2.0, how many Lizardmen do we have now compared to when we started? Like, have we not grown much at all, we have twice as much, broadly like that?
You started with around 50k and now have somewhere a little over 60k. Peg it at ~20-30% growth in the nearly 4 centuries you've been controlling Zlatlan.
You started with around 50k and now have somewhere a little over 60k. Peg it at ~20-30% growth in the nearly 4 centuries you've been controlling Zlatlan.
Or about .04% annual growth. Or about 20 lizardmen per year.
Edited: Correct a simple miscalculation of mine-forgot that we had only grown about 20%, not doubled in 400 years. And this is all Net Growth of course.
Honestly might be better to just send Zille'mi while leaving Atahuinqua, the two of them could work together to double team the Elves for a while. Also better to not throw Zille'mi into the deep end of diplomancy without backup, of which Atahuinqua is the best supporter.
On the other hand... we have not debriefed Atahuinqua in literally over a hundred years. We know they're faithfully fulfilling our interests to the best of our ability, but we don't know what they've learned. Which is actually, uh, kind of important.
Yeah. Getting the elves pointed in the right direction to notice the problem is important enough to devote multiple heroes to and it makes sense to have a resident diplomat and someone to carry the message personally.
Perhaps we could send Zille'mi over one turn with the information, have a one-turn (ten year) transitional period, and bring Atahuinqua back for a debrief later?
[Atahuinqua themself may have sprouted a Diplomacy trait after a century among the elves]
You started with around 50k and now have somewhere a little over 60k. Peg it at ~20-30% growth in the nearly 4 centuries you've been controlling Zlatlan.
It should be noted that we took significant casualties in military operations over the years, which partially offsets the population growth. On the other hand, it also emphasizes the point that even with something like ten spawning pools in full operation, we just don't get that many lizardmen... and that no one pool turns out a huge population quickly.
You started with around 50k and now have somewhere a little over 60k. Peg it at ~20-30% growth in the nearly 4 centuries you've been controlling Zlatlan.
Interestingly enough Lizardmen populations should have different natural end points based on the fact that Skinks don't live forever. They also don't breed.
This means that Skink population should pretty much be set by the rate skinks spawn from the skink spawning pools. The level should not significantly go up over time. Once we reach a point that the skinks we have spawned start to die of old age we should hit an equilibrium point where increasing our population should be impossible without increasing the number of pools we have. Because of this Skinks are essentially expendable. Their deaths will not effect our longterm population.
Saurus on the other hand, don't die of old age. Their numbers should increase linearly based on how many spawn and how many are killed. Keeping our Saurus alive is how we increase our population and thus equipping them well is a big deal. We should endeavor to use Saurus decisively when we use them as to minimize casualties. They are a powerful tool best used to crush enemies quickly and not allow them to inflict much damage in return.
Kroxigors are much the same as Saurus. They don't die of old age.
And our hero units should live a long long long time. Even Skinks who rise to heroic power seem to not die of old age.
Interestingly enough Lizardmen populations should have different natural end points based on the fact that Skinks don't live forever. They also don't breed.
And our hero units should live a long long long time. Even Skinks who rise to heroic power seem to not die of old age.
Skinks don't have the biological immortality package the saurus do? This is the first I'm hearing of it. Citation requested?
This means that Skink population should pretty much be set by the rate skinks spawn from the skink spawning pools. The level should not significantly go up over time. Once we reach a point that the skinks we have spawned start to die of old age we should hit an equilibrium point where increasing our population should be impossible without increasing the number of pools we have. Because of this Skinks are essentially expendable. Their deaths will not effect our longterm population.
I don't have a definite age listed, but Tetto'eko was discribed as "Ancient for a skink" at ages as short as a century with remarks that his mind is still sharp, implying that there is a decline that's normal. That is notably not something Saurus or Slann deal with.
But then you have Tehenhauin who is something like 2400 by the time of main setting.
So... Mixed results? Skinks who reach significant personal power or gain the attention of a god live for longer, potentially forever?
I don't have a definite age listed, but Tetto'eko was discribed as "Ancient for a skink" at ages as short as a century with remarks that his mind is still sharp, implying that there is a decline that's normal. That is notably not something Saurus or Slann deal with.
But then you have Tehenhauin who is something like 2400 by the time of main setting.
So... Mixed results? Skinks who reach significant personal power or gain the attention of a god live for longer, potentially forever?
To be fair, I think Teninhuan explicitly reincarnates when killed, so there's no evidence there one way or the other.
But in any case, my honest impression is that skinks have the same biological immortality package as the kroxigor and saurus. It would make more sense that way, frankly, because skinks often do highly skilled things that you get a lot better at with experience, whereas kroxigor are usually doing pretty coarse manual labor. Having your best artisans, administrators, and magicians die of old age when no one else in your society does seems kind of wasteful
On the other hand, in our setting we've already met Ten-zlati, Lord Kroak's favorite skink priest, who's still around in the game era several millennia from now. To be sure, with the amount of magic sloshing around Lord Kroak's favorite skink priest and possession subject, that skink in particular being immortal when others are not would hardly be out of the question... but it does undermine the idea.
Interestingly enough Lizardmen populations should have different natural end points based on the fact that Skinks don't live forever. They also don't breed.
This means that Skink population should pretty much be set by the rate skinks spawn from the skink spawning pools. The level should not significantly go up over time. Once we reach a point that the skinks we have spawned start to die of old age we should hit an equilibrium point where increasing our population should be impossible without increasing the number of pools we have. Because of this Skinks are essentially expendable. Their deaths will not effect our longterm population.
Saurus on the other hand, don't die of old age. Their numbers should increase linearly based on how many spawn and how many are killed. Keeping our Saurus alive is how we increase our population and thus equipping them well is a big deal. We should endeavor to use Saurus decisively when we use them as to minimize casualties. They are a powerful tool best used to crush enemies quickly and not allow them to inflict much damage in return.
Kroxigors are much the same as Saurus. They don't die of old age.
And our hero units should live a long long long time. Even Skinks who rise to heroic power seem to not die of old age.
As the sun set over the horizon, casting Zlatlan's temples in the warm gilt of long rays of golden dusk and lighting its mosaics covered plazas in a glittering spray of color, Rheameninthys stood looking out over the roiling sea of the jungle beyond. The faint smell of the sea wafted in on the soft breeze that blew in from the Bay of Stars. Birds chirped overhead. And the fresh green branches shook their sprightly leaves in a gentle rustle that called in the evening like a lullaby.
Wik'keer'mal brushed one of his great fingers across the waxy surfaces, experimentally crushing the tip of one leaf just to smell it. There was a sharp, acidic odor like lightning and rain on the horizon.
He waited for his companion to gather her thoughts. She'd seen much in the afternoon and none of it pleasant.
And she'd also heard much more that was even less comforting, he imagined. Daemons and possession, corruption and madness, the sickening pleasures of the enemy - it's predations upon her people - laid bare before her. Sometimes he was surprised that more of the elves did not succumb to psychic malaise, they were such delicate things.
But always they surprised him with their resilience. Their resolve. Truly the Old Ones had wrought well.
Letting go of the leaf, Wik'keer'mal turned instead to the buzz of his hives; they would need to be harvested soon - their honey stores removed to keep the hives healthy - but they were in excellent condition for the time being. Busy. No pests. Or diseases. One of them even seemed ready to swarm.
He had not yet decided if the resultant hive would be released or if he would continue to care for it.
Time would tell. Just as it did with Rheameninthys.
Finally, Rhea turned towards him, wearing a tight expression, all pinched mouth and steely eyes, "What you described… such– "
She swallowed heavily, and looked away. Her face grew even more pinched, Wik'keer'mal' could sense the conflict raging within her in the subtle shifts of Ulgu and Azyr and Chamon that swirled about, but then a moment later her eyes jaw set and her back straightened. Rheameninthys turned back towards him.
"Whispers have been growing of dark cults festering in the Kingdoms. Her Serenity speaks of it in her letters; of the movements of the Enemy, the swelling tide she senses in the hearts of too many of even her people. That one such as this Pirate should fall to Slaanesh is of no great surprise, but those who fell in his net…"
"They were ridden by something dark, held under geas and compulsion. And now hold knowledge vital to our ends," he said. "But we shall endeavor not to injure them."
Rheameninthys nodded.
"It is concerning that this pirate– this, Tullarian. Chose your people as his target. I am more a warrior than a general or strategist, but I fear it speaks ill of what is between mine and yours."
"Do not worry yourself, dear one," pushing his palanquin closer, Wik'keer'mal reached out a hand and laid it upon her slight shoulder, "I shall not allow any such thing to come to pass. The world will break before any servants of the Old Ones turn against each other."
She nodded and gave him a thin smile before glancing away and fixing her eyes on the dimming circle of the sun setting over the horizon.
"I beg you, Lord Wik'keer'mal, let me lend my aid to you in this. There are my people and I feel some spark of-"
"Of course, dear Rhea."
He smiled. In fact he hoped she might be moved to give him her help. Though he well understood the sorts of injuries done to these elves and the psychology of their kind, familiar touchstones - like say the personal representative of a pillar of their society - could be enormous boons.
See Misc. for available character dice. Limit of two characters per action unless otherwise stated.
To assigned a character to an action format it like this:
[-] Action: # Dice, Character
When assigning more than one character to an action, all characters except the character 'in charge' provide only ½ their stated dice/success effects (rounded down to a minimum of one) in the following order, from left to right; Skink Priest -> Saurus Oldblood -> Skink Chief -> Scar-Veteran -> Skink.
In cases where characters of equal rank are assigned to an individual action, the character with more directly applicable benefits will take precedence. All other benefits still apply.
Development! Amidst the plots and enclosures and patios of the Floating Gardens a number of brilliantly colored flowers have emerged; their hues as varied as the colors of the rainbow. Sunbright yellows, deep crimsons, sky-blues, mottled black on yellows, and more.
Martial: Huatza-Botl has taken able charge of your forces. With the false moon looming and its malign energy pouring down on the world the world is more dangerous than it has ever been since the end of the Great Catastrophe.
Expedition to [Write-in]: The other Temple-Cities stand all but empty, only garrisons even smaller than your own safeguarding them. But that does not mean they hold nothing of value nor that you should abandon them. Though your explorations via the Geomantic Web have revealed some of their state it is still necessary to send expeditions to ascertain the details of their condition.
Choose from:
- Golden Tower of the Gods
- Teotiqua
- Temple-Avenue of Gold
- Temple of Skulls
- Write-In.
Note: Will lock in dice used for a variable amount of time depending on rolls and Temple-City chosen.
DC: ??? Successes Needed: ???. Limit: Variable. Reward: Knowledge of other Temple-Cities, resources.
Urban Surveying: Send work parties to one of the other temple-cities of the continent to determine the extent of work needed to restore to basic functionality.
Choose from:
- Golden Tower of the Gods. Successes Needed: 16.
- Teotiqua. Successes Needed: 16.
- Temple-Avenue of Gold. Successes Needed: 16.
- Temple of Skulls. Successes Needed: 20.
- Cuexotl. Successes Needed: 8.
- Nahuantl. Successes Needed: 8.
- Tlaqua. Successes Needed: 12.
Character Limit: 1
Note: Locks in any characters or dice assigned until action completes.
DC: 15. Successes Needed: Variable. Limit: 4. Reward: Information on the exact state fo a given city, and the work required to restore it.
More Spelunking: With the upper levels of the caverns explored, a number of entrances into lower portions have been identified. Beginning exploring the lower depths to see what threats and potential they hold.
DC: 10. Successes Needed: 7. Limit: 10. Reward: Detailed information on the middle third of the dry cavern system.
Waaagh Remnants: In the aftermath of your battles the shattered remnants of the Waaagh(s) have scattered across your territory. Not in any truly meaningful numbers, but enough that some patrols might fall victim to them and they might prove an issue - though assuredly not a serious one - at some point in the future. Take proactive measures to ensure that does not happen.
Stewardship: Zlatlan is restored to its most basic levels. Work remains to be done in order to restore it to the glory of its founding, nevermind the heights it reached before the Great Catastrophe. But for the first time in centuries the crest of that hill is visible.
Roads, Roads, Roads: Long ago roads crisscrossed the continent, connecting the various temple-cities with one another. Enemy action, desperate fighting, and most of all time have shattered that network into nothing but scattered remnants which no longer serve. Now at last you can begin restoring these roads, at least within your own territory - up to the borders of the Southern Red River and Yuatek River respectively.
Character Limit: 3
DC: 10. Successes Needed: 17. Limit: 3. Reward: Greater responsiveness to things within your territory, reduced DC's on some actions, further actions opened up.
Refounding the Temple of Itzl: Temples to the Old One Itzl do not belong within the high walls of any temple-city, for he holds domain over cold-blooded beasts. Over the ferocity and justice of the Old Ones first judgement upon the world, which saw its potential and its flaws and sought to wrench it - bloody and screaming - from its birthing bed into the light of their Plan. Alas that the Great Temple of Itzl fell to ruin at the hands of the enemy in the Great Catastrophe, but now is the hour of it's restoration and glory come again.
Carnosaur Dens: No beast amongst the menagerie of the Lizardmen matches the carnosaur. Only the greatest scar-veterans and oldbloods ever dare ride them into battle and though over the centuries since the Great Catastrophe they have not much served in combat, the years have not left them untouched. Undoubtedly they will be hard-used in the fights to come as well, restore their old dens and allow them to roam much as they used to in the wilds of the continent.
Hunting Grounds: In the past much of the temple-cities packs of Cold Ones and their rarer cousins, the Horned Ones, were left relatively free to roam - called to service by enchanted drums and gongs. But given the investment you have made in the humans it would seem imprudent to rely on such methods. Luckily there are a series of valleys known to you of old in which you might be able to re-establish some semblance of their old conditions. Properly marked out and warded of course.
DC: 0. Successes Needed: 7. Limit: 10. Reward: Improve conditions for Cold Ones and Horned Ones.
Gates of the Underworld: Now that the upper layers of the cavern system beneath Zlatlan have been explored it is time to take action to secure them against intrusion. Unfortunately much of the system extends beneath and beyond the footprint of the city as it stands, though beyond the walls it narrows to a few chokepoints.
Character Limit: 3
DC: 0. Successes Needed: 2. Limit: 6. Reward: Underground Secured, may open up further actions.
Copper Mines: Begin to exploit the vast reserve of copper beneath Zlatlan.
Pool Work: With the aquifer below Zlatlan explored it is finally time to finish the work begun so long ago to restore the spawning pools of the temple-city. Of course, with the discovery below their depths work is not quite as simple as it might have been - access to both the geode and the ecology within the waters is not something you are willing to relinquish - it is still well within your capabilities.
Experimental Pool Work: Given the scale of the world involved in repairing the final two original spawning pools of the city, it is possible to expand the existing site with an additional pair of pools. Doing so would not be without risks, Zlatlan was not originally designed to operate with more than its current allotment of pools, but the rewards would be great and would likely aid in your understanding of the pools themselves.
Note: Requires 4 Slann Dice. Chance of damage to the city. MUST be completed with or before Pool Work
DC: ???. Successes Needed: 7. Limit: 9. Reward: Two additional spawning pools. Increased population growth. Successes towards On the Placement and Construction of Spawning Pools?
Silk Farms: With benefits beyond their venom in the offer, there are notions of establishing a system for harvesting the prodigious silk production of the lo'chulq. A myriad of uses present themselves, but first the material must actually be gathered. This threatens to be not entirely straightforward.
Leadwood Groves: Existing reserves are capable of fulfilling current needs. More extensive use will require establishment of purpose built, and maintained, groves in isolated mountain valleys to the south and east. While not requiring constant observation as much of your traditional agriculture does, the grove in question will still be a commitment of time and resources.
Fleet Expansion: With the prototype cruiser afloat, your fleet has taken a large leap in capability. But with only one of its kind you are vulnerable to its loss. Though it will be many years before your population climbs high enough to crew the craft in any consistent manner they will be available.
Sealed Workshops and High-Energy Forges: Making space for the necessary facilities and infrastructure requires expansion of the Forge Districts. A series of heavy duty workshops and large warehouses, sealed against the environment and ambient temperatures to ensure precise control of all conditions within.
DC: 35. Successes Needed: 4. Limit: 6. Reward: Production of Solar Engines and Revification Engines.
Resetting Traps: Whenever the walls were breached, as they were more than once, the daemons did not find a vulnerable interior which they could despoil to their heart's content. Instead they ran headlong into walls of fire and lightening, pits lined with obsinite spikes, avenues buttressed by walls that shot barbed darts. Every step they took extracted a bloody price. But eventually the pits filled, the ammunition ran dry, and the fire and lightening failed to come. Restore those defenses.
DC: 20. Successes Needed: 10. Limit: 6. Reward: Increased defense if your walls are breached again.
Diplomacy: You know of no one else in these lands who would not either obey you without question or flee from you in terror. Though you have some ability to treat with those beyond your shores it is chancy at best.
Trade: Write-In. Trade is becoming fairly regular, though it took a dip previously as you had little to actually trade with. If for any reason you want some material or good in particular you can see if any of the ships that dock during the decade have it or even request it.
Unless taken, assume you're trading for similar things to what you've already traded for.
Returning Stolen Goods: Warmbloods place particular importance on the concept of 'ownership,' operating complex social frameworks to define and maintain such material ties. A great deal of what you recovered belonged to elven merchants, determine what belonged to whom and return it.
Character Limit: 1
DC: ???. Successes Needed: 2. Limit: 2. Reward: Good will with elven merchants?
Closer Ties: Having given the Vohlu land of their own and ensured they were not simply absorbed by another tribe, perhaps it is time to begin defining your relationship to these humans more explicitly. Their population has begun to recover under your care, already. Unfortunately you do not have the leisure of centuries and the full weight of an empire behind you, so you will need the human's own cooperation in order to fulfill your goals.
- Write-In: Your goals.
Note: This will open up a large number of actions that will chain together and themselves open up further actions as you go on. Expect to invest multiple characters and dice over a number of turns. You will not be entirely in control of how this goes.
Further Afield: Having contact those human tribes closest to Zlatlan, perhaps it is time to seek out tribes in more distant locations. Your efforts from the previous decade haven't yet fully shown their value, in time word of your peaceful inclination mind spread by simple word of mouth, but who knows how time and distance may transform the telling of your intent.
DC: 35. Successes Needed: 2. Limit: 8. Reward: Yet more human contacts.
Can You Hear Me Now?: With your first cruiser it is now possible to send diplomatic missions to the far corners of the world and be confident of their return. Indicate a destination and a purpose (destinations include, but are not limited to; Ulthuan, Lustria, etc.):
Intrigue: You know of a few in these lands you might need to spy on. Though you have pitifully few Chameleon Skinks with which to do it. Those you do have are veterans of an extremely long running guerrilla war against the daemons during the Great Catastrophe.
Elven Interrogation: Of the eighty-one prisoners taken during the action at sea, only thirty-seven survived to be remanded into the custody of the cells of Zlatan. Most died of infection, injury, and disease though other more… exotic causes took more than a few. Few have been either willing or able to speak coherently, but there are methods for extracting information from even the reluctant.
A Quieter Search: Chameleon skinks by nature do not tend to settle in temple-cities. Send them out to do what your Saurus cannot, range far and see the state of the world beyond here.
Note: Must specify a general direction or destination. Locks in die and takes variable time to complete.
DC: 20. Successes Needed: 1. Limit: 1. Reward: Information on distant places. Small chance of loot. Warnings of particular long-term threats in a given direction.
Following Trails: Whatever had been trapped within the Carapace of Winds by the servants of the enemy, it fled to the northeast, disappearing from the far-reaching mystical sight of slann quickly. Memre-Xoq well remembers it. Using a combination of complex scrying rituals and other magics it should be possible to learn its location, so long as it has not travelled too far. In any case the attempt should at least provide valuable information on tis nature.
Note: Requires 2 Slann Dice
DC: 10. Successes Needed: 4. Limit: 6. Reward: Information on the entity and potentially a location.
Seeking Salamanders: During the Great Catastrophe some sections of your stable of warbeasts were devastated, leaving you unfortunately lacking in the time since. Though perhaps it was a stroke of good luck as some of those that you lost are notoriously dangerous to keep confined. Salamanders can be remarkably jumpy creatures, and their first reaction is to set things alight. Still, it might be time to locate some.
DC: 30. Successes Needed: 2. Limit: 6. Reward: Locate a source of Salamanders.
Troll Action: A few hundred trolls came north with the Waaaghs. Most died in the fighting trying to breach the walls of your bunkers. Some did not. Evidence has been found of their activity within your territory; hunt them down and ensure that they cannot become a future problem.
Character Limit: 1
DC: 60. Successes Needed: 2~. Limit: 2. Reward: Prevent a native population of trolls from establishing itself.
Razordon Recon: During the Great Catastrophe some sections of your stable of warbeasts were devastated, leaving you unfortunately lacking in the time since. Though perhaps it was a stroke of good luck in its own way, that many fewer mouths to feed. Razordons for all their relatively small size compared to many of your other beasts have voracious appetites, it takes quite a bit of energy to produce the sheer volume of spines they do. They are useful though.
DC: 30. Successes Needed: 2. Limit: 6. Reward: Locate a source of Razordons.
Turtle Taming: During the return to Zlatlan from Ulthuan a school of dragon turtles approached your pair of frigates, they were then seen heading up the coast of the by a bit. Presumably to nest and lay eggs. Such creatures generally return to the same sites frequently to lay their young, and though it would take not a little bit of effort, gaining the powerful beasts for your fleets could be a significant boon. Not only can they produce steaming geysers of boiling war, their shells are enormously tough, and they can submerge themselves for hours at a time.
DC: 20. Successes Needed: 6. Limit: 4. Reward: Gain Dragon Turtles as Aquatic War Beasts
Spying on Humans: With a fairly extensive understanding of their language, efforts to gather more information on their patterns, internal dynamics, culture, and the potential threat they pose will be much easier to gather. Send chameleon skinks to spy on the humans.
DC: 0. Successes Needed: 1. Limit: 1. Reward: More detailed information on the activity and disposition of local humans.
Learning: Your mind is sluggish and your body lethargic. Frequently you fall into periods of stupor and rest from which you awake not energize but surrounded by a fog through which you must fight to come into full alertness. This is not how you were meant to be. You know much still and yet other knowledge alludes you, like a vine just out of reach. The other Slann of Zlatlan are similarly afflicted.
Each turn, for every increment of ten years some slann will be awake and some asleep. Like actions in other categories those in Learning must be completed by spending dice, but only Slann can contribute.
You have
0 Slann of the Third Spawning Dice (Floor at 30)
3 Slann of the Fourth Spawning Dice (Floor at 20)
8 Slann of the Fifth Spawning Dice (Floor at 10)
Statuary at Rest: Each of the four main avenues leading into the temple-city's core is lined by several large lizard-sphinx statues; watchful guardians filled with the potent energy of the geomantic web, in dire need they can awaken to devastated invaders. They did just so a number of times during the Great Catastrophe. Since then though they have fallen into… it is perhaps best described as stupor, a state at first assumed to be because of the diminished state of Zlatlan's Geomantic Web, but not that it is partially restored that explanation no longer suffices. Study them and ascertain an answer.
Affinity: 3rd.
DC: 50. Successes Needed: 4. Reward: Knowledge
Arcane Insight Collation: Though skink priests are born with an innate understanding and ability to wield their Wind, that does not mean they do not develop more advanced understandings over time. Usually these marginal improvements are only rarely shared beyond close-knit spawnings. Attempting to collate and regularize these individual insights could replicate some of the success you observed amongst the elves.
DC: 45. Successes Needed: 7. Reward: Marginal improvement to priest casting. Further options opened up.
Affinity: 4th.
Peer to Peer: Few are capable of matching skink priests in arcane duels. Or were. In the wake of the Great Catastrophe the number seems to proliferate and meeting that threat requires adopting some practices from the elves. The first time you witnessed a pair of your students throwing spells at one another it quite alarmed you, but the practice has merit.
DC: 30. Successes Needed: 5. Reward: Skinks more practiced in arcane duels, improved survivability.
Affinity 4th.
Personal Warding: Due to their innate inadequacies as casters, elves had need to develop more personal techniques for combatting daemons. Adopt some of what you observed for your priests.
DC: 25. Successes Needed: 6. Reward: Techniques, spells, and training enhancing your priest ability to protect themselves against daemons.
Affinity 5th.
Plant Investigations - Ash-Growing Tree: With their range greatly expanded your flying patrols can now reach the very edges of the devastation left by the volcanic eruption more two decades ago. A strange new tree was noted growing in the rocky terrain. Little else seems to grow in their vicinity and they are not noted in the records of the city.
Affinity: 5th.
DC: 50. Successes Needed: 2. Reward: Knowledge of applications and cultivation.
Plant Investigations - A Proliferation of Petals: Riotous collections of flowers have appeared within the Floating Gardens, in all the colors and forms that nature provides. Investigate them to see if any may bear further cultivation.
Affinity 5th.
DC: 20. Successes Needed: 2. Reward: Uses for some of the flowers.
Study [Artifact]: Such devices as are made by the mortal races of the world are of course easily understood by the mighty Slann, but not so with many of the greatest works of the Old Ones. With the Arcane Inference Engines of the Temple of Tepok awakened from their long dormancy it is once again possible to peer into the depths of those objects of power left behind by the Old Ones or derived from their teachings. Choose one to Study:
- Carapace of Winds. DC: 35. Affinity: 2nd.
DC: Variable. Successes Needed: 2. Reward: Learn the properties of an unknown artifact, gain ability to enhance or reproduce.
Artifact Enhancement: Certain enchanted objects in your possession may be further enhanced by your slann, changing their function or giving them new capabilities and benefits. This is no easy feat though and is dangerous, mistakes can lead to setbacks and even, rarely, the destruction of an artifact. Choose one:
- Fivefold Hive of Jade. DC: 60. Successes Needed: 4. Requires Personal Dice. Affinity: 3rd.
- Disc of Yuxa. DC 50. Successes Needed: 3. Enhancement (Choose One): Supreme Lordship of the Heavens/Alignment of the Sacred Choir. Affinity: 2nd.
DC: Variable. Successes Needed: Variable. Reward: Enhanced artifact or other object.
Repair an Artifact: Though you have yet to construct the facilities which would allow you to build such wonders anew you have sufficient knowledge to repair damaged Solar Engines, Revification Crystals, and even Engines of the Gods. Choose one:
Build an Artifact: Many are the enchanted trinkets, devices, weapons, and armors of the Lizardmen. Artisan-priests toiling away in their workshops produce most, but the most powerful of all - barring those artifacts of the Old Ones - are wrought by the hands of the mighty slann working in their meditation chambers. Choose one:
DC: Variable. Successes Needed: Variable. Reward: Artifact(s) in question.
Contemplate the Stars: The movements of the heavens have always held sway over the fortunes of events on the ground; whether by influencing the flow of the Winds of Magic, through fortuitous alignments for the designs of the enemy, or simply as heralds for cosmological events. Reading them may provide you with some insight in events soon to come to pass.
Affinity: 2nd.
DC: 60. Successed Needed: 6. Reward: Minor Prophecy or Warning.
Unraveling Secrets from Sunken Crystals: Crystalline formations are especially receptive to the Winds, their physical structures allowing them to draw in and entrap the energies in question. Those discovered at the bottom of the aquifer are not wholly unique but their proximity makes them ideal for study.
Affinity 3rd.
DC: 55. Successes Needed: 5. Reward: Utility of the crystals in question.
On the Placement and Construction of Spawning Pools: Though the memories fade and dance out of coherence, there are still some among the slann who remember the first foundings of the temple-cities. How, working from precise plans, the slann laid down the first semblance of the true order of the world in stone and magic and so bound the world to their whims. Study these plans for some clues regarding the functioning of the spawning pools.
Review the Sequence: Your initial explorations of the Sacred Plaques has revealed a great deal about them. And about the difficulty you will face in deciphering their meaning in toto. Plaques seem to shift and transform over the years, though whether this is simply hidden aspects coming to the fore or actual changes is as of yet unclear. Still it is vital to your goals that you press on. Without knowing the Great Plan there is precious little to be done but guess and that is unacceptable.
DC: 90. Successes Needed: ??? Reward: Greater understanding of the Plan.
Affinity: 1st.
Pre-Divine Metaphysics: In most aspects your understanding of the metaphysical laws that govern the sea of Magic which lies beyond the bounds of the material world surpass those of all others save the Old Ones. Only that which warmbloods call gods eludes your understanding. And even so they are not proof against your interference, merely blank spots upon the canvas of your knowledge. Without direct access to a fully formed divine corpus it will be difficult to study, but some inroads may be made broadly on the subject by studying those extant spirits which exist in all corners of the world.
DC: 85. Successes Needed: Uncertain. Reward: More complete knowledge of the divine. Further Options.
Affinity: 3rd.
Personal
You have two (2) Personal Dice
Meditate: Contemplate the Sun. Turn your mind east. Consider the endless horizon stretching on and on into eternity. Place yourself then at the zenith and draw all the world inward.
DC: 0. Successes Needed: 1. Limit: 1. Reward: Slight increase to Alertness for next turn.
Lend your Insight: Spend some time considering a matter.
DC: 0. Successes Needed: 1. Limit: 2. Reward: Add 1 dice to any action.
Teachers Learn Too: You remember fondly your students amongst the itza'xa'khanx and dro'ka'khanx, how they took your lessons and slowly pierced back the veil of the world to glimpse in their own ways the power at their fingertips. Overcoming limitations you first thought insurmountable in the case of the delvers.
DC: 70. Successes Needed: 1. Limit: 2. Reward: Opens further research options.
Personal Project: Write-in some sort of magical ritual, or project you wish to undertake in your free time. Subject to QM approval.
DC: Variable. Successes Needed: Variable. Limit: Variable. Reward: My interpretation of your write-in.
