Underneath the twisted blue moon

RookDeSuit · May 13, 2019

Pawn Lelouch said:
One veela isn't exactly a major blow to his forces since I doubt he'll be sending a hero unit like one of his sisters. And frankly, he's half veela, he understands exactly how bad an out of control allure can be, especially for a child. He's kind enough that he won't let a child suffer through that.

And sending a message discreetly isn't hard, and the same can be said for sending a single person over without being detected.

If you say so. I just think it might get a eye brow raised asking for something this specific. Actually, @LordPenguin how is Oliver's campaign doing? Any front about to collapse or should we expect more zombies from the south or is he just letting hordes of the living die on his defenses before being raised as new troops?

[X] Plan babysitter 53

LordPenguin · May 13, 2019

Oliver is doing Oliver things while solving problems the Oliver way. Did you know dragons could eat nuclear explosions? Yeah, he didn't either.

As for the rest, you have no idea yet, it's too far away.

Edit! (because double posts out of updates are a big no no!)

NotteBoy97 said:
Did she? I thought she just knocked us out and stole Aife and our stuff since Revear would have kicked her ass if she actually tried killing Dace

*We* know that for sure, but people outside don't, and information is half of the battle. Here, he was mentionning that her predecessor was a traitor, and was counting on the bias against dark magic to get them to think so too. Ad for why they are here? Because there was no chance Ava was letting her SL3 bestie get punished for being right (Ava is like Dace in the fact that she doesn't care what spell is used as long as human decency is observed), therefore he had to bring in influent outsiders, because ignoring them would cause immediate rebellion, and Ava knew it too.

NotteBoy97 said:
tmi

What's that mean?

NotteBoy97 said:
Please send him to die Ava, please

She'll try, but the problem with high intrigue characters is that they're hard to get rid of. Especially this one.

NotteBoy97 said:
Not sure what this is about besides vaguely blaming DQ 1 Volde

DQ1 Riddle imported slaves from Africa. When the barier went up, his safeguards activated and released a zombie virus.

NotteBoy97 said:
Also goddamit she has all the stuff I was looking forward to getting. Oh well

THe wonderful thing about agnatic cognatic is that the moment you prove Craidd to be Dace's son, he'll get them back because he's a guy and she's not.

SocsoD · May 14, 2019

EmperorKillerWhale said:
Shick. Shick. Shick.

The sound of a knife on wood repeated itself, quiet and repetitive, stretching out from the quiet room into the fading daylight. You sits in your chair with a block of wood and a knife in hand, the simple task keeping yourself occupied. When the wood has begun to take shape in the form of something with substance, a sigh escapes you as it gets tossed into the bin, scrapped.

An alert from your pager breaks you out from your funk. Checking the sender, it's from one of your older friends from college. An invitation to go drinking? It's the only thing he'd contact you for, so probably. You push it to the back of your mind, unwilling to move from exhaustion before the sound of knuckles rapping on the door is heard. Opening it, you comes face to face with your friend who has a shit-eating grin plastered over his face.

The bar it would be, then.

---

Clink.

The mug settles on the table as you put it down with a grumble. It's easy enough to see that you're just doing it for show at this point- being with your friend has done enough to ease you out of your mood as the two of you talk about nothing and everything. You're both still holding back on the drinks though, your friend due to how little he can hold, and your from how you starts throwing hands if you get too much alcohol in your system. The country music that plays in the questionable bar doesn't sound too bad, and another swig is taken.

Before the mug is put down once more however, the music cuts out with a squawk, and the radio switches to a panicked reporter relaying an emergency broadcast.

All contact with America has been lost, and the continent is currently unobservable under a thick black cloud. The reporter is clearly flustered with their own lack of information as well as the situation, and unable to hold back their own panic- quickly spreading to all of the other patrons in the bar, causing the fear to spread like a virulent disease. More than a few people start to stumble out, before crowds are formed and racing through the streets, without direction and purpose other than the instinctual reaction to flee from something, though they don't know where to.

Despite the drinks, you manage to hold onto your own wits and barstool, staying steady enough to keep from getting swept up by the panicking crowd and stay in place as the emergency alert from the radio repeated itself over and over like a bad record about the disappearance of America. A bad joke. That's what this had to be. But it wasn't, no matter how much you wished it was.

Beside him his friend was keeled over on the floor, guttural sobs coming from him as tears fell to the floor. The news had hit him hard- of course it would. His wife and children were on vacation overseas, in America.

An attempt to steady him and bring him back onto his feet is met with rage, tears streaming down his face as he decks your insensitive ass in the face, causing you to fall over and hit the ground hard. As the friend runs out of the bar, the bar owner comes up and checks up on the fallen man. When he touches your neck, the wince that appears on his face causes a pit to form in the bottom of your stomach. "Don't move, I think something's wrong here, I'll call the ambulance to pick you up," the old man reassures you. He makes the call, and as the minutes begin to stretch on, he talks about other topics to fill the air. It's less talking to you, but more to himself to calm himself down, going through topics about himself. His name is Roger, and he's a widower, slightly older than yourself he says, but from your eyes it's easy to see he's got at least two decades on yourself.

To keep you from lying on the bar floor, you manage to move to an extra room Roger had with the help of the bar owner, with a makeshift contraption keeping your neck from flying around and hurting itself any further. Roger went back into the main section of the bar, leaving you to your own devices and slowly boring yourself out of your mind when a massive impact of wood, glass, and metal breaking crashes through with the sound of car honks from the main entrance.

"Roger?!" You call out, only to receive no response in return. Trying to get up from the couch you laid on, the numb sensation your body was experiencing came back in full force, making you feel wobbly as only your neck felt fastened and secure thanks to the makeshift collar you had. Reaching out with fumbling hands, you managed to grab a nearby mop and use it as a crutch to get yourself back up, able to reach a wall and look outside the window.

It was like a painting from hell. People screamed as they ran about and became devoured by monsters. Their long limbs, dark body, glowing yellow eyes and giant mouth filled with needle-like teeth clarified them as beasts, though nothing like anything you'd ever seen before. As it stood, they were across the street from your position by the window, which was far too close for comfort in your opinion.

Having seen enough, you decided to hurry into the kitchen in the hopes of finding something to defend yourself with, a knife of some sorts perhaps. With your mop, a hobble-walk gets you into the kitchen, with a ham sandwich in the freezer, several bottles of mineral water, and horribly dulled knives. The knives wouldn't be any sharper than a fork, but having one on hand helped lower your unease all the same. Packing the other items into your pants and now armed, you remembered the trapdoor that had been behind the bar counter. If you could make it there, you could hide out the monsters, maybe wait for them to move on to a different place as you holed up.

You push the door open, and the resulting creak causes you to mentally swear. The door wasn't greased, and from the growls that resulted, it apparently hadn't gone unnoticed. Moving into the other room, an intense wave of nausea strikes you as you witness the body of Roger, lying in a pool of his own blood, impaled against the wall by a car with no driver at the seat. A faint breeze could likely make Roger's head fall off. A gulp, as you touch your own neck. Surprisingly, the car itself was mainly intact, despite the front windshield being shattered, with the keys still in the ignition. A little further off was the open door of the trapdoor. The growls grew closer, forcing a decision.

In the end, you dive for the trapdoor, tripping due to your reduced control of your own limbs. You fell down, arm grabbing the door and closing it as you tumbled in. Thankfully, due to empty cardboard boxes littering the ground your fall isn't as painful as it could've been. Fumbling in the dark, you find a light switch, revealing the small room you sat in. In fact, it was far, far smaller than you'd have expected, with a ventilation hole in front of you, yellow wallpaper, and a radio and a phone in front of you.

A short moment to breathe. The growling and scraping above your head becomes audible.

Calm. Reduce breaths. Remain silent.

Taking inventory of what you have, you drink some of the water, and notice the sandwich you swiped had an odd smell. You weren't sure, but it was likely it had gone bad.

The monsters are still there. You can hear them eating, and you try very hard to not think about what they're eating.

Eventually, the eating dies down, and you hear a violent noise against the trapdoor. The scratching intensified, as you picked up the phone and prayed. The phone was dead, likely disconnected. The door splintered, and a dark shape slithered into the room, towering over you. It was an odd thought at this point, but you hadn't realized how tall they were.

Another search of the room in your panic draws your gaze to a knife-like object on the table, likely better than what the kitchens held, causing you to lunge for it as the beast pounced. Your hand grabs the blade, but your lunge is cut short as your leg shocks you, numbed from you sitting on it. The beast comes down, and you raise your arms to protect yourself, allowing the bite that would've torn off your face to sink into your arms, before it yelps and jumps away.

You take a stance with the blade interposed between yourself and the beast no matter what, as the beast eyes the weapon warily. The pain in your arm throbbed, but you held tight to your only weapon.

Eventually, the beast slinks away, looking for easier prey. It leaves, and when it seems like it won't be coming back anytime soon, the adrenaline pumping through your veins starts to die down, and you finally look down at what you've been holding this entire time.

A silver letter opener.

Laughter slowly overtakes you, a small stream of chuckles as you feel your eyelids grow heavy.

Maybe you could get some rest now…

[Game Over]

Queeny Mary said:
Wow, I can't believe it was the friend who got us fucking killed. Drag us out to a bar and then break our neck? Some friend he was.

EmperorKillerWhale said:
Miserable Empathy failure on your part, and a horrendous fail on composure from him.

MMMARL said:
EmperorKillerWhale said:

A silver letter opener.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

There's something to the fact that it was a letter opener that drove away the monster lol

CrimsonMöbiusStrip said:
Silver, huh. WHY CAN'T WE FIND ANY SILVER GODDAMNIT

EmperorKillerWhale said:
Because then life would be too easy~

SocksOn said:
There's a lot to unpack here. So let's ignore everything and just cry about the loss of another good man to the waves of Hell.

Evangeline said:
Hey Whale, where exactly was this located?

EmperorKillerWhale said:
Northumberland, at the same time as your start. This was the front lines of death I was talking about.

Queen Mary said:
I'm glad we eventually settled on picking Oxford. Much less suicidal than that start.

Starting in Northumberland is a bad idea.

Kufufu · May 14, 2019

Potential Endings

Water is wet; gods are treacherous, Carwyn Cadwallader's life is suffering; all of these statements are fundamental truths. Your old life was frankly shit, shit that stank so severely you won't further entertain any thoughts of comparing the two because honestly, you are depressed enough without jumping down that rabbit (FUCK YOU ANDRASTE!) hole.

So. Somehow your mother was killed. Again. By a fucking god, because why the hell not right? Well, as unbearably traumatic as that is, you also have to deal with the giant fuck off undead army to the south, which according to the grapevine is now marching (Expediently Shambling?) on towards Northumberland, thankfully they seem to be avoiding Lancaster, along with the brand spanking new tower that appears to be determined to kill everything. As if the first Tower wasn't bad enough!
Not to mention that itty bitty, minuscule detail about how the Don Squirrel got pimped slapped into a boarding school, killing everyone inside it and making the ever uncertain future of wizardkind much bleaker all around.

You aren't panicking though, in fact to the outside observer you are disturbingly calm; an imbecilic servent even insinuated (full on said it actually) you had become despondent once she assumed you could no longer hear her, you'll punish her later for her insolence, right now you must plot. Plotting has always made you feel better... for now, your forces should be more than enough to hold your ground against the horde until you can create a spell or something to push them back south, maybe even into wales? Those bastards have had it good for too long, and its past time they had a burden to bear that wasn't self-inflicted!

By all, that's half decent (because nothing is good anymore) if it didn't take so much effort you would *scream!* Unfortunately, that would be bad for morale and more impotent, disturb your studies. Once you had finished planning (brooding really, you are self-aware enough to admit that much at least) you marched over to your ever useful ( Ha.) Cube of power(Noval ideas and unredeemable curses) to try to unravel its abilities through observation.

That was hours ago now. You have locked yourself in this room to do nothing but stare at a featureless cube as remained still and slightly luminescent. That luminescence was causing you a moderate amount of aching in your eyes, as it turns out, staring at a bright object in a dark room for hours on end is terrible for your ocular health, will the discoveries never cease? That infernal pulsing wast helping for the pain either, its been going on for...actually that just started didn't it?

Forcing your eyes to widen so that you may observe this phenomenon more clearly, you notice that, yes the light of the Cube has started to pulse rhythmically, almost like a heartbeat! Eager for the ~~distraction~~ valid form of research you fully engross yourself in observing the Cube, much to the displeasure of your still aching eyes. You continue to watch the Cube, the pulses are picking up in speed, and you quickly deduce its a count down of some sort.

The pulses are growing faster now; you stopped bothering to count them when they reached six pulses a second, you half notice the sudden surging of energy as the pulsing stops, and suddenly the Cubes light is blinding.
You feel a wave of pure magic push through you and the stone walls of the castle after that? you can no longer say, you were a bit preoccupied dealing with the mind-numbing pain of whatever it is that is happening to you.
Truly, to be you is to Suffer in every sense of the word.

The End?

Six hundred and twenty-three words for what essentially translates into, "well damn."

Pawn Lelouch · May 14, 2019

Finally finished writing this out, and thank you @SocsoD for helping beta read this omake. It's 2.25k exactly @LordPenguin.

Blackjack said:
You'd been having an enthusiastic nighttime walk through this part of Winchester, when you'd felt that telling feeling of magic in the air and decided to investigate it. By the time you'd arrived at your new destination, scant minutes after the feeling had manifested you were treated with an interesting sight.

A white dog and a strange and unknown thing were facing off in a ferocious battle, with corpses littering the clearing around them, their clothing signaling their allegiance to the church. You'd never seen anything like that thing before and so decided to fall back onto your standard response when some new creature would come up. Kill it. Simple and a high rate of success. After all, if it's fighting one of our creatures it has to be an enemy.

With that in mind you run towards them, pulling your sword out and planning to have a exciting battle as you charged into the fray. Or rather you would have if you hadn't somehow tripped and fallen meters away from your target, landing in a disgruntled heap. As you got up you saw that neither of them were faring much better, with the white dog trying to attack the thing except constantly misjudging it's range with both it's claws and it's lunges, leading to attacks that wouldn't have hit the thing even without it dodging away from the attacks.

Of course, any hopes of a good fight to be had were dashed when you saw the thing didn't give a better performance than the incompetent dog. It was throwing out death magic, powerful spells for sure, but it was missing it's targets by a mile, even when the dog was relatively immobile.

You got up, feeling disappointed and prepared to end things quickly when movement on the edge of the clearing caught your eye. As the shapes drew closer, your face shifted into a large grin as you got a better look.

A dainty woman with a brown ponytail, accompanied with a masked man wearing spandex and a white dog logo on the chest with a long coat started approaching. They were the members of that fucking league of nuisances, the bitch and the mutt. Hope flared in you once again at the chance for a wonderful fight as you grinned at the chance to remove that damned thorn in your side once in for all.

Still, you had to think things through quickly, the bitch was a vampire so she was going to try and get in close and drain your lifeforce while the mutt tended to stick to those guns. If you were going to take them out, you'd have to rush down the mutt to keep him from providing cover for the bitch, and when it was just you and the bitch you could dance around her touch and easily cut her down.
All of these thoughts took place over the course of a second and while you prepared to rush the two of them the brat decided to join the party, bursting out from the treeline and running until she reached your side.

"Father, are you all right?"

'I'm fine brat. You don't have to worry about me. I could have been able to beat the two of them myself, but I suppose this can let me see how much more training you need. Go and fight the mutt, I'll kill the bitch."

"Of course father," she intoned as she started walking over to the pair, unsheathing her knife along the the way.

Honestly, you were glad the brat decided to show up. While you were sure of being able to take on the two nuisances and win, you were far less sure of being able to do the same and deal with the thing that was locked in the most pitiful excuse of combat you'd ever seen with the balverine.

While it hadn't been fighting with anything one would call "skill", it was still throwing out death magic with abandon, which implied either high mana pools or a large amount of power, neither of which would be good to deal with in a three-way fight, with the dog having just been acting as a mere white dog, not instant fodder but likely useless for a truly serious fight and so would probably lose against the thing in a drawn out fight.

You might end up regretting this later, but you ended up deciding to send a message out to the others connected through ỳ̸̫̭͓̗͖̋͌̈̃̐̅͆͆̋͑̅̚o̶̧̳̖̲̺̾͛ͅu̷̧̥̘̖͚̾̋̋̒̿̽͗̄͊͘͘r̶̖͇̺̞̻̙̞̤͒̽̃̈́̋̑̈́͛̕ͅ ̶̥͛̈́̀ṃ̵̝̟̹̹̜̲̞̻̫̞̱̉̓̐̏́̉͊͒̍ä̵̡̳̩͍̮̰̱̻̹̇͐̒̉̓̃̊͝s̴̢͔̦̣̯̜̆̓ẗ̵̢̡͕̰͕̪̺͍̟̮͕̰͈͊̋̇̋͊̚͝ẻ̴̛̬̪̬͈̎̈́̔̓̋̽͛̏́r̷̨͕̲̫͇̟̰̭͔͓̝̺͕̈́̈́̋͋͌ͅ.̸̰̮̪͍͕̻̟̍̔̎̓͛͐͝͝ͅ ̷̮̇̉́͛͝ If nothing else they do need to know no matter what, that something like this exists, since you thought that all of the death factions had been accounted for and purged or turned when possible.

You sent the pulse out and expected nothing else to happen, having alerted them. Of course, you ended up being wrong about your pulse leading to nothing else occuring.

As was seemingly becoming far too common this battle, before the brat made it far enough to start engaging, another interruption occurred.

On your right, a small amount of fog started to emanate from the large trees as three people in deep, black cloaks that obscured their features walked into view, The Tribunal. It seems that someone had been looking in on you closely and had come running when you'd sent the alarm, sending them to judge the thing.

And you'd think that would be the end of things but no, of course it couldn't be. Today was just a day of everything getting crazier and crazier. Coming out from your left was the bug, your fucking stalker. This was just getting ridiculously chaotic and for the life of you, you couldn't figure out how a simple walk around the block led to this type of gathering of your enemies.

Everything seems to still for a second after all of the new arrivals made their entrances and glared at one another, as if locked in the largest, most convoluted Mexican standoff imaginable. The dog started to waver, looking like it was going to try and run before righting itself and standing its ground, despite being truly outmatched and heavily shaking. Then true chaos ensued in the area.

The bitch quicly moved in towards you while you charged to meet her in the center, and as the mutt readied his guns to fire on you the brat rushed in, pushing at him and preventing him from getting a clear shot off or being able to do anything other than dodging.

The bug, having been aiming towards you, diverted and changed targets to the brat to try and take pressure off of the mutt, before he started having his exposed position bombarded with bullets by the Tribunal and had to dive for cover.

Throughout all of this, the dog stayed in it's spot, seemingly petrified while the thing stayed back and started channeling death magic, quickly building up a purple orb of the magic.

The Tribunal slowly moved back from the main battleground and had two of their numbers guard and send shots into the constantly undulating knot of people while the last one started to chant and summon something unknown.

The lack of their suppressing fire on the bug led to him finally having a chance to reinforce the mutt, who had lost his coat and gained a long cut on his forearm since the brat had started her attack. With the bug forcing the brat back to avoid the shots, the mutt finally got a chance to go on the offensive, leading to her starting to start getting tired and inching closer and closer to making an ultimately fatal mistake.

While the Tribunal disengaged, the mutt also tried to do the same to much worse effect. It bounded off, only to trip over it's own paws and sprawl out near the edge of the clearing, not gone but at least away from the main fight.

Then everything seemed to change as you saw something from the corner of your eye.

You saw a purple light emanating from the alien, building up with alarming speed, and the alien seems to have a mocking smile on its face before it started panicking, and attempting to stop the spell, with the ball of magic it had been forming starting to sputter. The shape began randomly spiking, the spherical form deforming and destabilizing before returning into a sphere for a brief, heart-stopping moment. It unsuccessfully tries to stop the spell one last time, but the spell has already taken form. The sphere contracts into a pinprick of light before exploding outwards at a blistering pace.

The thing falls, seemingly consumed by it's own spell while the quick bloom of death magic continues onwards and rapidly starts striking the other fighters in the battle. You see it quickly hit the bug, the mutt, the white balverine, and the brat, with all of them immediately collapsing though only the bug and the mutt fall still. Still, it continues onwards and hits your part of the fight with the bitch by the time you blink. There was a split second window where you see the magic hitting the bitch and actually healing her before it's upon you.

You feel a flash of pain and then the nothingness overtakes you.

The magic boom continues unabated, killing almost all living creatures in its path. Within seconds the spell reaches it's limit and dissipates. It leaves behind the city of Winchester, which has been transformed into a land of the dead.

AN: So uh, that happened. These were some extremely insane rolls that led to this situation, as in multiple nat 1s and 100s considering this was meant to be a standard patrol type action. Fear not though, despite the ending of this chapter this isn't the ending of Jack Quest. I'll need to change up some of my notes and probably do a format change but I guarantee that I'll be writing more for you all.

Azumarill said:
So, we're dead right? Blacking out after death magic hits us and then the narration says that this was strong enough to wipe out a city.

Jack's Bae said:
No… There's got to be some way for us to survive or turn this back. We didn't get a game over after all.

GreenSpiral said:
Blackjack said:

Or rather you would have if you hadn't somehow tripped and fallen meters away from your target, landing in a disgruntled heap.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

I can't believe we tripped over our own two feet

Blackjack said:
GreenSpiral said:

I can't believe we tripped over our own two feet

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Trust me, this entire mess was a GIGANTIC SINGULARITY OF FAILURE from EVERYBODY

Wallace Sniffs Cake said:
Maybe not a game over, but a format change is kinda big, it means that some sort of major change happened, and probably a permanent one too.

The Littlest Sister said:
Yeah, that's important but I have bigger worries right now. Did Tonks make it out of the fight okay?

Blackjack said:
Unlike Jack, Tonks actually passed her check against the AOE death spell, so she's alive. A bit shaken up but she's heading over to her mother's place.

Not My Job said:
Honestly the town is gone so I think we succeeded beyond all of our wildest dreams. Winchester had the magical and nonmagical governments of the country there so that is great for crippling the country.

Kazm said:
Can't forget that Sirius Black and Reaver are dead, and we wiped out the church faction in the area. Considering what they were guarding that's a major win for us too.

GreenSpiral said:
What I want to know is what was that weird thing that was throwing magic around like it's going out of style. That's not exactly common to see, and we know most of the prominent Death magic users to boot.

Blackjack said:
Alright, since it doesn't matter anymore I'll let it spill. That thing was a Kreegan, which is a demon in this quest. The reason I'm telling you this? Hell is gone, the backlash went through the demon's connection and killed everything on the other side. Hell was meant to be a faction later on in the game but this incident has killed them all off.

Punished Crafter said:
What were it's rolls if it was able to kill all of Winchester, all of hell, and the majority of the really strong fighters in this confrontation?

Blackjack said:
The demon rolled a 100 on it's incantation speed roll and a 1 on it's control roll. For an idea of it's actual power you need to understand the initial encounter rolls for it. The demon was a 97 encounter roll for the balverine, and then followed up by a 78 when a 70 in this situation was meant to be an borderline apocalypse tier roll. So you had to say hi to Ophiuchus of the Poison Star. Then Jack was a nat 1 for the balverine, and then all of the rest spiraled out based on your personal rolls.

You assumed the Balverine was one of yours, but just because you can make White Balverines doesn't mean that they can only be made by you. Those church soldiers that were dead when you stumbled on that fight? They were her squad that had been killed by Ophiuchus earlier in the fight, though her organization wasn't part of the main church.

Kazm said:
Wait, so it was the Balverine that caused this entire fucking mess?

Blackjack said:
I hate it as much as you do.

LordPenguin · May 14, 2019

And now, for your MP induced Interlude...

"You know what?" The white-haired man had a revelation, who was holding to his raft for dear life as it rocked in the middle of the whirlpool, that was gradually revealing an underwater, ruined, city. "I always wanted my pet boss encounter."

"Shut up and hold on." His companion grunted, his voice tight from the strain of holding on the wooden contraption.

"No, seriously, imagine it!" The younger-looking man let go of the raft with one hand, the other, silvery one still firmly attached to the wood. He then began waving his fingers animatedly. "You, the always-dour, always boring guy, and then, suddenly!" His arm shot out, forcing his older counterpart to duck. "You become awesome! Besides, other you is a better conversationalist."

"Yeah, I'd like a better you too. One that would learn to shut up-"

"Too late, bored now." The white-haired man pushed him off the raft, hearing the ever so sweet infuriated shouting as he finally touched down on the seafloor. He rearranged his clothes, ensuring they weren't too wet, before turning around with a beaming expression on his face.

"MEEEEEEEERLIIIIIIIIIN!" The man was shouting with a fearsome expression on his face.

"Yes~?" was the gleeful answer of the other, who looked as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

"When I catch you will murder you-"

Merlin tuned him out, lifting the sleeve of his white robe so that his silver arm was fully exposed.

"Do your best Ish-chan~!"

"FUCK YOOUUUUUUUUUU!"

"How rude!" He pouted, before his hand fiddled with his pouch. "Good thing we can remedy that! "

"Master..." A pale young woman with long foam colored hair emerged from the waves wearing a black kimono with orange flames. "This..." She held out her hands, revealing a black sphere.

"Just on time Kiyo-chan! At least there's someone!" He shouted in Ishmael's direction." Reliable here. Good job!" He petted her hair, her lips twitching up slightly.

Merlin then walked away, smiling beatifically, (like an idiot, people jealous of his good looks would say!) and spoke out once more.

"Well, I suppose some amount of formality should be observed here. *Ahem*. Ah, well, who am I kidding! It's not as if I can make things any worse, right guys?" The air shivered, and he was splashed with saltwater in the face. He closed his eyes, spit it out and whined. " You guys have no trust in me~"

" 'If you finish this, you can get out quicker.' Is what Hime-Sama said." The young woman said with her usual empty expression. Merlin put his fist to his chin in contemplation.

"True that. Well then, if we can't go down..." He looked to his side, towards a giant obsidian door on the floor that was shivering, covered by chains."He'll have to go up! As is my privilege under the Ninth Crown, I call upon thee, Follower of the Fifth! Awaken from your slumber beneath history and walk under the light once more!"

Then he shifted his position, crouching a pit, and put himself in a pitcher position as his arm began to retreat, the black sphere thrumming within the silver hand. He then threw it like a baseball as the gruff man was finally emerging from the whirlpool and hit him on the face. Then the ball exploded in fragments of light, that immediately entered him, turning his whole silhouette into a ghostly blue. Then, Merlin heard wet crunches and had to wince at the sound of flesh tearing. The girl didn't bat an eye.

When this stopped, another figure emerged. A fit young man with a healthy complexion, wearing antiquated armor walked out, hand rubbing the back of his hand and looking a bit embarrassed.

"Aw, geez, don't call me like that."

Merlin blinked. He hadn't expected that.

Wind blew around them as they stared at each other.

"'You should start to look for a way to get out.' Is what Hime-Sama said" Kiyo spoke out, earning herself another headpat. This time from the Persian man.

"We know Kiyo. We're just thinking on how to do it. Any idea, mage?"

"I can't use magic right now, buuut I may have an idea." He looked consideringly around him before his eyes lingered on the ruins.

One hour later, they were looking at a Pillar. But not any pillar. It was half propped up on another pillar, and on top of it, the remnants of their deceased raft were firmly attached to it. On its side, one could read the letters "S.S.Buster". At the bottom of the pillar, strange, intricate symbols were engraved.

"Look at our baby, I'm so proud of it!" Merlin faked a sob as if he were feeling emotional right now, while Kiyo sat in the middle spot of the three seats he could see. He took the front one, and the Persian man took the last one.

"Hello everyone, we wish you a good trip on the Arash airlines~" Merlin started out, ad the other was turned around, palms facing the symbols, and he was breathing heavily, muttering words in a long-dead language. Small sparks and embers appearing along the pillar.

"Lift up in Three... Two...O-"

A massive gout of flames came out of the man's palms, entering the pillar, then violently rushing out of the bottom of the pillar, causing the entire contraption to immediately fly up at high speed, interrupting the mage's bad impersonation of a stewardess.

They flew for minutes until Merlin got another black Sphere out of his pocket.

"Hey Arash! Wanna see something fun?"

"Yeah?" The Persian man grinned up to his ears, or it could be the wind pressure.

"Bet you can't throw that thing that way faster than our ship!"

"You're on!" The orb changed hands, then sailed through the air at unreal speeds, until it left a regular person's field of view. Then, suddenly, a gigantic ship erupted off the ground as they were flying down. Directly in their way.

Time almost stopped for a second as the busty, redheaded pirate lady's eyes widened upon seeing the three people riding a flying pillar, the three people looked at her, the girl impassive, the black-haired man apologetic, and the white-haired one grinning manically. Then, time resumed its course, and the pillar went through the ship's deck, the strength of the collision sending all of them and their rides to the ground.

Merlin, Arash and Kiyo gor up relatively easily and looked at the wreck in front of them.

"My poor pillar~" Merlin sobbed.

"Me ship!" A woman shouted in anger and indignation. The redhead came into view before she saw them, and her eyes zeroed in on Merlin. "Ye! Ye're th' one who did this t' me ship! Ye're goin' t' pay fer every piece o' gold I used fer it ye hear me?!" She grabbed his shoulders and began to shake him."Where did ye even learn t' drive that way?! Ye're a menace fer everythin' that's good 'n holy in this world ye washed out two-bit failure o' a mage! In me days that kind o' failure would ne'er be allowed t' even be close t' th' helm! "

Arash got closer to Kiyo as the pirate was shaking and scolding their mage.

"And this is why you will have to go and pass your driving license when you get older, Kiyo."

"..." Kiyo remained silent, as the pirate lady got frustrated, punched the wizard in the gut, causing him to fall on the ground, and proceeded to kick his fallen form.

"Hey! Do we get a name?" Arash called out to the woman, who grinned at them triumphantly, one foot on Merlin's back and a rosy flush on her cheeks before she lifted him off the ground and hefted him up on her shoulder.

"Elizabeth Tudor. Call me Bess or Betty. Drake'll do , too."

Name: Arash Kamangir. (secondaries : Ishmael, Odysseus)

Picture:

Stats:

Diplomacy 99 + 10 + 5 + 5 + 5 – 1 + 2 + 4 – 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 3 = 135
Stewardship 77 + 10 = 87
Martial 97 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 3 + 9 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 139
Intrigue 89 + 10 + 2 + 4 – 1 – 2 = 111
Learning 93 + 10 + 5 = 108
Mysticism 75 + 10 + 5 = 90 + 27 = 117
Willpower 95 + 10 = 105

Genetic traits:

Wunderkind: +10 all stats, +15 all skills
Atlas: +10 Martial, +5 Diplomacy, +40 armed combat. Doubled lifespan
Colossus: +5 Di, +5 Ma, +30 Presence, +20 Manipulation, Intimidation auto success.
Stentor: +5Di, +3Ma,+20 Presence, +10 Strategy
Elven Grace: +10 speed, +50 Movement, +3 Ma, +15 combat
[Bloodline] Child of Babylon : +5 My, +5 Le,+20 to all loot rolls, +20 Research.
Proto-Human: +20 to rolls when accomplishing feats accomplished by fellow humans.

Defining Sin/Virtue:
Envious: +2 in, - 1 Di + 5 Stealth
Humble : + 2 Di, – 5 Presence

Lifestyle trait:

Hero of Skill: Skill, stats and exp gains doubled. No skill caps.

Profession:

Follower of the Light: [Fifth Crown]: +9 Martial, +4 Learning, +4 Diplomacy. No stat caps.

Personality traits:

Adventurer: +1 Ma, -1 Di
Brave: +2 Ma, +10 Combat
Brawny: +2Ma,+1Di,+5 combat
Content: -1 In, +5 Empathy, +5 common sense.
Family person : +1 Di, +10 to rolls involving family.
Gregarious: +2 Di, + 10 Presence
Honest: +3 Di, -2 In

A future by the sword: Being defined by a weapon is nothing shameful, pushing every aspect of it to the extreme, even if death only awaits, nothing to regret. Keeping eyes on the horizon, towards the future? Something to strive for. As long as you keep kindness in your heart, you will never have to fear.
Adds 20% Martial to Mysticism.

Skills:

Diplomacy	135	Cap:
	Presence	260 + 15 + 30 + 20 = 325
	Leadership	160 + 15 = 175
	Empathy	185 + 15 = 200
Stewardship	87	Cap:
	Entrepreneurship	150 + 15 = 165
	Self sufficiency	210 + 15 = 225
	Accounting	170 + 15 = 185
Martial	139	Cap:
	Strategy	250 + 15 + 10 = 275
	Armed combat(weapon)	250 + 15 + 40 + 15 = 320
	Logistics	250 + 15 = 265
Intrigue	111	Cap:
	Manipulation	250 + 15 + 20 = 285
	Perception	110 + 15 = 125
	Stealth	100 + 15 = 115
Learning	108	Cap:
	Research	140 + 15 + 20 = 175
	Crafting (craft)	195 + 15 = 210
	Common sense	140 + 15 = 165
Mysticism	117	Cap:
	Magical Combat	270 + 15 = 285
	Utility magic	250 + 15 = 265
	Lore	130 + 15 = 145
Willpower	105	Cap:
	Environmental spells	245 + 15 = 260
	Offensive spells	15 + 15 = 30
	Defensive spells	210 + 15 = 225

Skill bonuses:

Presence (300) +60 social interactions
Leadership (150) +7 happiness in all cities +1 Leadership skill (3)
Empathy (150) 5 RP gain / interaction + 4 personal action (must be social)
Keystone: Diplomacy (150) : +1 rank Diplomacy (3)
Entrepreneurship (150): +1 Rank to Mining(3), +15 to industry rolls.
Sel sufficiency (200): Allows to build a holding for free. Obtain [Secrets of Skill]
Accounting (150 ): +1 Rank to Estates(3), +7,5% of your gold reserve /turn
Keystone: Stewardship (150) +1 Rank Nobility(3), +10% Gold gains
Strategy (250): + Ranks up to Tactic(5), Offense(3) and Defense skills(4).
Armed Combat (300) : +60 Damage. Gain the first strike and no retaliation abilities.
Logistics (250) : +1 Rank up to Pathfinding(5) and Seamanship skills(4)
Keystone: Martial (250): +300 Health. Gain the ability to act four times every 2 turns in a battle (the other turn will be thrice). (doesn't stack with higher levels)
Manipulation (250): +1 Rank to Charm skill(5). May target someone each turn and damage their SL with someone else by 8 RP.
Perception (100): +1 Rank to Scouting skill(2). Select 10 counties. You are now aware of the going ons of notable people in those particular areas.
Stealth (100): +1 Rank to Stealth skill(2). Stealth attacks now deal triple damage.
Keystone: Intrigue (100): +1 'bug'(2), +1 Rumor
Research (150) +30% exp gain
Crafting (200) Autopass for up to Major Artifacts, 20% to craft Relics, 10% to craft Legendary Artifacts, 5% to craft Mythical artifacts.
Common sense (150) +35 to skill cap limit, + 15 all rolls.
Keystone: Learning (200) +1 Limit break on all stats. +10 skill gain on Tier 2/5/8 successes.+1 stat gain on Tier 3/6 successes. Willpower unlocked
Magical combat (100) spell effectiveness tripled. ( May be toggled for any three spells per combat )
Utility Magic (100) :May use any spell of any kind without interference. Enemy magical resistance halved.
Lore (100) You may spend a personal action each turn to acquire information about any one written subject.
Keystone: Mysticism (100) +200 Mana, +20 Mana/day, Gain Grandmaster-ranked (and its requisites) elemental magic of your choice (Order Magic chosen). [Ascension] Mechanics unlocked : Human Path II: +1 Roll
Environmental spells (200) Willpower cost halved for Environmental spells.+100 Will + 20% spell damage.+10% Willpower exp gained with each casting.
Defensive spells(250) Willpower cost halved for Defensive spells.+100 Will + 20% of total willpower added to will regeneration.+10% Willpower exp gained with each casting.

Keystone: All (100) : [Secret of Human Potential] : Aging stopped. All caps negated. +100% Magic resistance.+1 Dice roll. Health doubled. Mana tripled. +4 Morale and Luck.

Level 26:Ranger: has Basic Archery ability and +10% Ranged attack

Personal ability:

The best archer: Gains the [Double Shot] ability, may attack and deals 8x damage to structures. No range penalty.
[Double shot] : attacks twice in a short time instead of once.

Personal stats:

Luck: 0 + 4 + 3 = 7
Morale: 0 + 4 + 3 = 7
Damage: 26 + 60 = 86
Hitpoints: 260 + 500 = 760 x 2 = 1520
Speed: 7 + 6 + 10 = 23
Movement: 23 + 3,5 +50 = 76,5
Mana: 210 x 3 = 630 (+21/day)
Will: 305 (+90/turn)

30% Melee Attack
50% Ranged Attack
50 % Melee Defense
50 % Ranged Defense
200% Magic Resistance

Town Stats :

+30% Growth
+394.200 G/T
146 +379 = 525 Wood and Stone per Turn
73 + 189 = 262 Crystal, Gems, Mercury, Sulfur per Turn

Army stats:

+3 Luck
+3 Morale
+6 Speed
+3,5 Movement
+40% Melee Attack
+40% Ranged Attack
+40% Melee defence
+40% Ranged defence

Hero Skills :

COMBAT - Primary Skill Increases hero's Melee and Ranged Defence. Master: Melee and Ranged Defence = 40.	Melee - Combat Secondary Skill Increases hero's Melee Attack and divides the natural defence of enemy creatures. Never reduces enemy hero's defence. Never reduces creature defence below 10. Advanced: Melee Attack = 20. Natural defence of enemy creatures divided by 2.	Archery - Combat Secondary Skill Increases hero's Ranged Attack and divides the natural defence of enemy creatures Never reduces enemy hero's defence. Never reduces creature defence below 10. Grandmaster: Ranged Attack = 30. Natural defence of enemy creatures divided by 2. No damage penalties for long range, obstacles and castle walls. Hero has Ranged First Strike and Two Ranged Attacks abilities. Requires Expert Combat.	Magic Resistance - Combat Secondary Skill Hero has a chance to resist hostile spells. Grandmaster: 100%. Requires Expert Combat.
SCOUTING - Primary Skill Increases scouting radius, exposes stealthy enemies and shows extra information on the adventure map. Grandmaster: +5 scouting radius, shows enemy town and army screens and reveals enemies with Grandmaster Stealth. Requires Expert Pathfinding.	Pathfinding - Scouting Secondary Skill Reduces terrain movement penalties and increases movement for hero and his/her army. Grandmaster(III): no terrain movement penalties, 125% extra movement.	Seamanship - Scouting Secondary Skill Gives hero extra movement at sea, and acts as Tactics, Offense and Defence skills in sea battles. Master: +150% movement at sea. Master Tactics, Offense and Defence in sea battles. Requires Advanced Scouting.	Stealth - Scouting Secondary Skill Makes hero (but not other creatures/heroes) invisible to creatures and heroes on adventure map. Grandmaster: invisible to all level creatures and heroes with Master Scouting skill. Adjacent heroes with Master Scouting skill can see the hero. Requires Grandmaster Scouting.
TACTICS - Primary Skill Increases speed and movement of all friendly creatures. Grandmaster (I): +6 speed, +3,5 movement. Requires Expert Offense and Expert Defence.	Offense - Tactics Secondary Skill Increases Melee and Ranged Attack of all friendly creatures. Master: +40% to Melee and Ranged Attack. Requires Advanced Tactics.	Defence - Tactics Secondary Skill Increases Melee and Ranged Defence of all friendly creatures. Master: +40% to Melee and Ranged Defence. Requires Advanced Tactics.	Leadership - Tactics Secondary Skill Increases morale and luck of all friendly creatures. Expert: +3 morale, +3 luck.
NOBILITY - Primary Skill Increases all creature growth in the town that recognises the hero as its governor. Expert: +30%. Requires Basic Estates and Basic Mining.	Estates - Nobility Secondary Skill Hero produces gold each day. Expert: 300 gold + 10% per hero level.	Mining - Nobility Secondary Skill Hero produces resources. Expert: 2 wood, 2 ore and 4 other resources over a 5 day period +10% per hero level. The 4 other resources cycle 1 each through gems, mercury, sulfur and crystals - in that order.	Diplomacy - Nobility Secondary Skill Hero can convince a percentage of greatly outnumbered hostile creatures to join him/her for a price. Cost of surrendering is reduced. Diplomacy doesn't work on creatures of opposite alignment. Expert: 50% of creatures, but no more than 360 experience points +10% per hero level. Surrendering cost = 60%.
ORDER MAGIC - Primary Skill Gives hero the ability to cast Order Magic spells. Grandmaster: hero can cast level 5 Order Magic spells. Requires Grandmaster Enchantment and Grandmaster Wizardry.	Enchantment - Order Magic Secondary Skill Gives the hero extra spell points and increases spell point recovery. Grandmaster: +50 spell points, +10 spell points recovered per day.	Wizardry - Order Magic Secondary Skill Increases the effectiveness of Order Magic spells. Grandmaster: +100%.	Charm - Order Magic Secondary Skill Hero can convert a percentage of greatly outnumbered hostile creatures to his side. Surrendering cost is reduced. Grandmaster: 35% of creatures, but no more than 300 experience points +10% per hero level. Surrendering cost = 65%. Requires Expert Order Magic.

Spells known

	Precision - 2 mana Combat - Blessing Precision increases the target's Ranged Attack by 25%, and also gives target no penalty for range, walls or obstacles.

Infernal Wrath – Level 1 – 200 Willpower
Combat – Damage
Deals 50 Damage to every enemy in the area
This formidable, dark spell calls forth vortices of energy from the nether realms. A portal opens beneath each victim, draining their life into the underworld. Higher levels increase the damage inflicted.

Name: Elizabeth the First (Atalanta/Samantha Starley)

Picture:

Stats:

Diplomacy 33 + 10 + 5 + 5 + 10 + 5 – 1 + 2 + 2 – 1 = 70
Stewardship 40 + 10 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 57
Martial 38 + 10 + 3 + 5 + 3 + 9 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 75
Intrigue 97 + 10 + 5 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 119
Learning 90 + 10 + 1 + 2 = 103
Mysticism 93 + 10 + 2 = 105
Willpower 98 + 10 + 2 = 110

Genetic traits:

Wunderkind: +10 all stats, +15 all skills
Stentor: +5Di, +3Ma,+20 Presence, +10 Strategy
Blessed: +50% fertility, +5 Di, +40 Presence, +20 Manipulation
Egerie: +10 Di, +5 In, +40 Presence, +20 social rolls
Colossus: +5 Di, +5 Ma, +30 Presence, +20 Manipulation, Intimidation auto success.
Elven Grace: +10 speed, +50 Movement, +3 Ma, +15 combat
Proto-Human: +20 to rolls when accomplishing feats accomplished by fellow humans.

Defining Sin/Virtue:

Lustful : +1 In, +5 Manipulation, +10% fertility
Chaste: +1 Le, + 10% Fertility, + 5 to all rolls with spouse.
Lovestruck: Lust/Chastity:Unlikely to seek out companionship from anyone but the target of their affections. -50% RP increase with other people of the target's preferred gender.

Lifestyle trait:

Hunter : +2 Ma, +1 In, +5 stealth

Profession:

Follower of the light: Eighth crown: +9 Martial, +4 Intrigue, +4 Stewardship. No caps on stats.

Personality traits:

Adventurer: +1 Ma, -1 Di
Ambitious: +2 all, -5 empathy
Brave: +2 Ma, +10 Combat
Gregarious: +2 Di, + 10 Presence
Stubborn: +1 St, -1 Di

Skills:

Diplomacy	70	Cap:
	Presence	150 + 15 + 20 + 40 + 40 + 30 + 10 = 305
	Leadership	150 + 15 = 165
	Empathy	100 + 15 – 5 = 110
Stewardship	57	Cap:
	Entrepreneurship	100 + 15 = 115
	Self sufficiency	120 + 15 = 135
	Accounting	150 + 15 = 165
Martial	75	Cap:
	Strategy	150 + 15 + 10 = 175
	Armed combat(weapon)	110 + 15 + 15 + 10 = 150
	Logistics	135 + 15 = 150
Intrigue	119	Cap:
	Manipulation	95 + 15 + 20 + 20 + 5 = 155
	Perception	210 + 15 = 225
	Stealth	80 + 15 + 5 = 100
Learning	103	Cap:
	Research	125 + 15 = 140
	Crafting (craft)	105 + 15 = 120
	Common sense	130 + 15 = 145
Mysticism	105	Cap:
	Magical Combat	115 + 15 = 130
	Utility magic	145 + 15 = 160
	Lore	200 + 15 = 215
Willpower	110	Cap:
	Environmental spells	45 + 15 = 60
	Offensive spells	50 + 15 = 65
	Defensive spells	15 + 15 = 30

Skill bonuses:
Presence (300) +60 social interactions
Leadership (150) +7 happiness in all cities +1 Leadership skill(3)
Empathy (100) 3 RP gain / interaction + 2 personal action (must be social)
Keystone: Diplomacy (80) : +1 rank Diplomacy or gain Basic Nobility
Entrepreneurship (100): +1 Rank to Mining(2), +10 to industry rolls.
Self sufficiency (100): Allows to build a holding with a 50% cost reduction. Obtain [Ecological studies]
Accounting (150 ): +1 Rank to Estates(3), +7,5% of your gold reserve /turn
Keystone: Stewardship (100) +1 Rank Nobility(2), +10% Gold gains
Strategy (150): + Ranks up to Tactic(3), Offense(1) and Defense skills(2).
Armed Combat (150) : +30 Damage. Gain the first strike and no retaliation abilities.
Logistics (150) : +1 Rank up to Pathfinding(3) and Seamanship(2) skills
Keystone: Martial (150): +300 Health. Gain the ability to act thrice every 2 turns in a battle (the other turn will be twice). (doesn't stack with higher levels)
Manipulation (150): +1 Rank to Charm skill. May target someone each turn and damage their SL with someone else by 4 RP.
Perception (200): +1 Rank to Scouting skill(4). Select 20 counties. You are now aware of the going ons of notable people in those particular areas.
Stealth (100): +1 Rank to Stealth skill(2). Stealth attacks now deal triple damage.
Keystone: Intrigue (100): +1 'bug'(2), +1 Rumor
Research (100) +20% exp gain
Crafting (100) Autopass for up to Treasures. 20 % to craft Minor Artifacts, 10% to craft Major Artifacts, 5% to craft Relics, 1% to craft Legendary Artifacts
Common sense (100) +25 to skill cap limit, + 10 all rolls.
Keystone: Learning (100) +1 Limit break on all stats. Unlocks willpower if it isn't already. +1 stat gain on Tier 3/6 successes (+5 skill gain on Tier 2/5/8 successes.)
Magical combat (100) spell effectiveness tripled. ( May be toggled for any three spells per combat )
Utility Magic (100) :May use any spell of any kind without interference. Enemy magical resistance halved.
Lore (100) You may spend a personal action each turn to acquire information about any one written subject.
Keystone: Mysticism (100) +200 Mana, +20 Mana/day, Gain Grandmaster-ranked (and its requisites) elemental magic of your choice. [Ascension] Mechanics unlocked.
Human Path II : +1 Dice

Keystone: All (100) : [Secret of Human Potential] : Aging stopped. All caps negated. +100% Magic resistance.+1 Dice roll. Health doubled. Mana tripled. +4 Morale and Luck.

Level 1 Captain. Obtains the Golden Hind: A ship that can sail through water and air alike. Doesn't count towards Invincible Armada counter.

Personal ability:

The invincible Armada: Each ship in her possession gives Elizabeth one extra attack.

Personal stats:

Luck: 4 + 3 = 7
Morale: 4 + 3 = 7
Damage: 10 + 30 = 40
Hitpoints: 100 + 300 = 400 x 2 = 800
Speed: 7 + 3 + 10 = 20
Movement: 23 + 2 + 50 = 75
Mana: 260 x 3 = 780 (+31/day)
Will: 110 (+11/turn)

20% Melee Attack
20% Ranged Attack
50 % Melee Defense
50 % Ranged Defense
100% Magic Resistance

Town Stats :
+20% Growth
+120.450 G/T
+146 Wood and Stone / turn
+36 Crystal,Gems,Mercury and Sulfur/turn.

Army stats:

+3 Luck
+3 Morale
+3 Speed
+2 Movement
+10% Melee Attack
+10% Ranged Attack
+20% Melee defence
+20% Ranged defence

Hero Skills :

SCOUTING - Primary Skill Increases scouting radius, exposes stealthy enemies and shows extra information on the adventure map. Grandmaster: +5 scouting radius, shows enemy town and army screens and reveals enemies with Grandmaster Stealth. Requires Expert Pathfinding.	Pathfinding - Scouting Secondary Skill Reduces terrain movement penalties and increases movement for hero and his/her army. Expert: no terrain movement penalties.	eamanship - Scouting Secondary Skill Gives hero extra movement at sea, and acts as Tactics, Offense and Defence skills in sea battles. Expert: +100% movement at sea. Expert Tactics, Offense and Defence in sea battles.	Stealth - Scouting Secondary Skill Makes hero (but not other creatures/heroes) invisible to creatures and heroes on adventure map. Advanced: invisible to 2nd level creatures and heroes with Basic Scouting skill. Adjacent 2nd level creatures and heroes with Basic Scouting skill can see the hero. Requires Advanced Scouting.
TACTICS - Primary Skill Increases speed and movement of all friendly creatures. Expert: +3 speed, +2 movement. Requires Basic Offense and Basic Defence.	ffense - Tactics Secondary Skill Increases Melee and Ranged Attack of all friendly creatures. Basic: +10% to Melee and Ranged Attack.	Defence - Tactics Secondary Skill Increases Melee and Ranged Defence of all friendly creatures. Advanced: +20% to Melee and Ranged Defence.	Leadership - Tactics Secondary Skill Increases morale and luck of all friendly creatures. Expert: +3 morale, +3 luck.
NOBILITY - Primary Skill Increases all creature growth in the town that recognises the hero as its governor. Advanced: +20%.	Estates - Nobility Secondary Skill Hero produces gold each day. Expert: 300 gold + 10% per hero level.	Mining - Nobility Secondary Skill Hero produces resources. Advanced: 2 wood, 2 ore and 2 other resources over a 5 day period +10% per hero level. The 2 other resources cycle 1 each through gems, mercury, sulfur and crystals - in that order.	Diplomacy - Nobility Secondary Skill Hero can convince a percentage of greatly outnumbered hostile creatures to join him/her for a price. Cost of surrendering is reduced. Diplomacy doesn't work on creatures of opposite alignment. Basic: 30% of creatures, but no more than 120 experience points +10% per hero level. Surrendering cost = 80%.
COMBAT - Primary Skill Increases hero's Melee and Ranged Defence. Advanced: Melee and Ranged Defence = 20.
CHAOS MAGIC - Primary Skill Gives hero the ability to cast Chaos Magic spells. Grandmaster: hero can cast level 5 Chaos Magic spells. Requires Grandmaster Conjuration and Grandmaster Pyromancy.	Conjuration - Chaos Magic Secondary Skill Gives the hero extra spell points and increases spell point recovery. Grandmaster: +50 spell points, +10 spell points recovered per day.	Pyromancy - Chaos Magic Secondary Skill Increases the effectiveness of Chaos Magic spells. Grandmaster: +100%.

Spells known :

	Fire Aura - 2 mana Combat - Blessing Power: 11 + 1 dmg/level + Pyromancy + Sorcery Fire Aura causes the friendly target to do minor fire damage in addition to its normal melee combat damage. Great in battle! Just don't walk too close to the drapes.

Turncoat 1 – 80 Will
Combat – Curse
Duration: 5 turns.
This insidious spell manipulates the enemy's mind whilst the caster is close enough (melee range), gradually turning the target into an unwitting ally. Higher levels allow control of the victim's mind for longer. (Can only be mastered by evil Heroes)

Soc and Pawn both had characters that they could awaken around them sooo...

Say it with me now : B U S T E D

It kinda is scary when you think even like that hard mode is still likely to murder them thrice over... At least you guys got to a general ideas of high end skills!

Also, I'm bad at Math. Feel free to point out any mistake to me. Or ask question. Memelin is nonsensoleum on legs, after all.

RookDeSuit · May 14, 2019

Nice, I do like Arash, both the man and the memes, so this is nice.

NotteBoy97 · May 15, 2019

LordPenguin said:
Research (150) +30% exp gain
Crafting (200) Autopass for up to Major Artifacts, 20% to craft Relics, 10% to craft Legendary Artifacts, 5% to craft Mythical artifacts.
Common sense (150) +35 to skill cap limit, + 15 all rolls.
Keystone: Learning (200) +1 Limit break on all stats. +10 skill gain on Tier 2/5/8 successes.+1 stat gain on Tier 3/6 successes. Willpower unlocked

I think something is wrong here

Will react in the discord

Lysbeth · May 15, 2019

How many Elizabeth exist ?

Kufufu · May 15, 2019

Lysbeth said:
How many Elizabeth exist ?

Far to many. Then again this is (was?) England so it's to be expected.

LordPenguin · May 16, 2019

Level 2: The Many-Faced Garden: Terra (1)

[X] Plan babysitter 53
-[X] [POV] Urie
-[X] [Council] Urie Blake: Mysticism
-[X] [Council] Sharon: Mysticism
-[X][Caretaker] Veela babysitter when they arrive but until then Ava
-[X] Contact Oliver and see if you can get a Veela babysitter for Craidd
-[X] Equip heroes with whatever artifacts that will help and have them supervise troops and construction of forts down south.
-[X] See who is attacking the tower.

First hour

What a pain... Urie thought sleepily, as he trailed behind Sharon. Today was a twin tails day, so she'd be extra annoying today too... Especially since they were called back to Gala-something to be named council members. Maybe? He wasn't paying attention.
He sighed.

'The night falls with a silent sigh, cold and alone are we,
The salvation for which we sacrifice ourselves
Flares once then dies, smothered by the all-encompassing dark.'

Why did he have to survive that day? Everything was such a chore when the world hates you... A nearby owl hooted mockingly at him, disdain shining in its beady little eye.
[Sloth activated]
He could have tried diplomacy but was too much of a bother.

He lifted his middle finger at it in provocation and was promptly swarmed by a flurry of those feathered menaces.

'Ah... How tiring.' Their pecking actually stung. 'Oh the pain, the pain, let blood spill instead of tears.' He thought lazily, trying to fight sleep.

He fell to the ground, the birds having finally taken their pound of flesh, when he heard Sharon refuse the position.

"Alright, we'll do it." Sharon nodded confidently.
'...What? '

His eyes opened and he struggled to get up. he must have heard it wrong...

"I'm sure responsibility will force him to shape up!" The twin-tailed devil continued, the redhead... Eve or something... looked relieved.

"Hey, weren't we here to say no?" He felt the need to ask, the cold dread of realization beginning to crawl along his spine. Sharon huffed and waved her hand.

"You would have run away if I didn't spring it on you at the last minute."

...She was right. How dare she?!

Urie actually felt indignation and it showed, causing Sharon to smirk smugly. Eva Cleared her throat and showed them a mirror hanging on the wall. This one had a bronze border ornated with dragon scales, and she spoke out one name. A very familiar one.

"Oliver Lapierre."

As the man came into view, Urie raised an eyebrow as Sharon let out a surprised shout. Long blond hair, tanned skin, scars here and there. He ditched the cowboy hat in favor of a golden banc shimmering on his forehead, and the way his mouth was set was a far cry from the manic, danger-seeking man Urie knew him as. Which probably made sense, resp-

'Huh. So that was her angle.' His lip twitched.

Silly Sharon, she'd need a lot more than that to get him to move.

"Have you thought about our discussions?" Avie asked, all business, as Oliver's eyes flickered to them for a time, before going back to her.

"Yes. I'll have someone sent here-"
"My lord! The little lady has been abducted!" Someone shouted on the man's side of the screen. Oliver's eyes narrowed, pure danger burning in his irises.
"My apologies. It seems an emergency requires my attention. Sarah will arrive in an hour in Gwallawg Manor's garden."
"Huh. Boss' brat got abducted?" Urie commented lazily, attracting Oliver's attention.
"So you remember too."

Urie sighed. This was going to be too much work.

"Yeah. Got stuck in an isolated half-plane or something in the last mission. Figured if you were around, she'd be with you."

There was silence within the room. Then Sharon exploded.

"You knew what happened and didn't tell me anything?!"

It was Urie's turn to smirk.

"Yes."

Sharon screamed in frustration as communications with Oliver ended and Avie looked like she had several questions to ask. Then, the doors opened, revealing a flustered maid, followed by a rather relaxed Dace.

Silence reigned in the room.

'What have you wrought? A miasma of memories as affections writhe forgotten under the weight of time?'

The Welshman looked around, raised an eyebrow, and focused on the redhead.

"It seems I suffer from a bit of amnesia. I, therefore, will not be assuming my previous duties." She tried to protest, but he did not let her. " Of course, this doesn't mean I will neglect my duties to the son I do not remember fathering. I will be in the library if you wish to look for me. I will be going now." He nodded to the redhead, before walking out, clearly finished with the conversation.

Dace Gwallawg is back from his coma, though a bit amnesiac. Also somehow, it seems his magic has been crippled. What did Ava decide to have him do? (Care and advisor option can be taken at the same time if you have someone to take care of Craidd when he is doing his job as an advisor)
[] Take care of his child. Third time is the charm... Right?
[] Learning advisor. He's the one who knows best how to navigate his library, and he was apprenticed to several famous people...
[] Intrigue advisor. This is his strong point when he has the time, means, and anonymity to actually do something.
[] Willpower advisor. He was the only one save Sally to even have a remote idea of what was going on here.

As he headed out, after passing by the armory, he saw Evelyn talk with the person who was apparently sent by Oliver. Blond hair and blue eyes, but the air around her was indicative of her mixed blood. Most likely, this was one of the man's numerous sisters. as for why she was there...

[Sloth activated]

That was none of his business. Besides, she looked like she was strict. In other words, another troublesome person to be around. Good thing he was leaving the place.
Still, he heard the decision that was made about her. Something about qualifications...

What to so about Sarah Lapierre? Oliver sent her here to act as a liaison and trust her to act in his interest if he is out of contact. (both options can be taken if you have another person to look after Craidd when she is doing her job as an advisor)

[] Diplomacy advisor. Her CV indicates she is used to being involved in diplomatic situations.
[] Martial advisor. Her main profession, and the reason she was sent here, is bodyguard. A very proficient one at that, as she has worked for people like the French Minister of Magic.
[] Nanny. She's a Half-veela. Therefore immune to whatever charm ability Craidd had. Veelas are also infamously hard to influence.

After collecting a few items from the treasury, Urie and Sharon apparated towards the forts. Or at least they should have.

Second Hour.

22 + 65 (Utility magic) = 87.

Instead, they arrived in front of Yr Wyddfa, their old base. Maybe it was a force of habit, maybe not. Still, the mountain looked unperturbed, though, to Urie's senses, the barrier was still thrumming as it usually did.

Hm?

Urie's usual sleepy look focused. How strange. How come people didn't re-invest that place? Furthermore, why-

1 + 40 (perception) = 41 Critical failure!

Urie's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of someone walking behind them. They turned around and saw someone. He had fair hair, a pale skin, and a gentle-looking face. He then looked into his eyes, and the deep-seated cold malevolence he could see there left Urie breathless. The man smiled, his form illuminated by the beams of moonlight peeking through the foliage.

"What a wonderful night to be taking a stroll, don't you think so, Mister Blake?"

The man's voice echoed in the silent woods.

Alright. Now Urie was worried. He looked at the man, his completely relaxed demeanor despite the fact that he supposedly alone during the night against someone he knew was dangerous suggested they weren't even a threat to them...

He remembered why the situation was unnerving him now. That complete disregard of Urie's ability to present danger. He's mat another person like that. The Overlord.

Composure roll (DC 60) : 19 + 35 = 64 Failure
Common sense roll: 33 + 35 = 68 Failure
Common sense roll: 43 + 30 = failure

Memories of fires, screams and charred flesh after his stupid, stupid decision came back to the front and he felt himself tremble.

"Nothing to say?" The man asks, ignoring the state or terror both druids were currently in, and he looked in the direction of the mountain. "I will just speak my piece then." He smiled mildly at them, his voice barely above a whisper. "Do you know how many times this farce took place? Too many times. This here," he showed the mountain with his arm." Is just the latest chapter of it. How many times have you been dancing like string-less puppets I wonder?"

15 + 40 (perception) versus 84 +65 (manipulation) = failure.

Urie tried to tune the man's words out, but the way he spoke had a way to worm itself within his brain, and his attack reflex, drilled into him by Madeye and Oliver, suddenly left him. The man's smile widened upon seeing that apparent surrender.

"My, you can learn. How droll. Do not worry, I am not here to hurt you. After all, you were the ones who interrupted my stroll in those lovely woods, were you not? I just have a few questions. First one, how is my beloved nephew doing? Life must be hard for him, after suddenly losing his father."

"...Nephew?" Urie asked cautiously, trying to ignore the fear clawing at his back. The man's eyes narrowed a bit, but his smile stayed firmly fixed on his face.

"Why, my nephew Craidd, of course. I believe he is the leader of his land?"

Urie's mouth immediately closed, and he refused to say anything more, the other man not reacting at all.

"No news about the war in Ireland, I gather?"

Urie didn't answer.

"Disappointing, but expected. After all, information is not what you have been focusing on." There was a slight amount of derision in his voice. "Very well then, I will not hold you back any longer, after all, you have important things to do." He turned around and began walking away, Urie and Sharon beginning to relax. Urie began thinking about what he should do about this...

Common sense : 33 + 35 (common sense) =68 Failure
Amplitude: 90

This was not the Overlord situation. The man was alone and had his back turned to them. Furthermore, he had a lot of dangerous information about them. He couldn't be allowed to walk away free.

"Sharon." He muttered, getting the woman to nod hesitantly as they prepared to fight.

Highest tactic rank : Unknown man. Unknown man gets a free turn.
Unknown man attacks Urie! (92/14) Morale activated! Unknown man attacks twice! (97) Guildmaster activated! Urie is now stunned! Urie takes 33 damage.
Urie's Hitpoints: 127/160 (-33)(stunned)
Sharon's Hitpoints: 130/130
Unknown man's hitpoints: 150/150

Urie aimed his wand at the man, preparing a stunner, only to be met with a fist to the face that sent him to the ground, out cold.

Sharon attacks the unknown man (28/81) No morale or luck activation
The unknown man takes 13 damage.
The Unknown man attacks Sharon (97/54) Morale activated! Unknown man attacks twice! (94) Guildmaster activated! Sharon is now stunned! Sharon takes 33 damage.
Urie's Hitpoints: 127/160(stunned)
Sharon's Hitpoints: 97/130(-33)(stunned)
Unknown man's hitpoints: 137/150(-13)

The Unknown man decided to end the fight.

When Urie came to, both Sharon and he were tied up, gagged, and all of their inventory was spread out in front of them. Their wands, their items... Including the treasures they brought with them to help them in case an undead attacked. The pendant of life, Charm of Mana, Bow of elven cherrywood and crown of the supreme magi.
The man was sitting on a nearby stump, looking unruffled. He gave them his eternal benign smile.
"I must admit, I did not expect you two to be so mannerless. However, perhaps I should. Now, whatever should I do with you..." He mused.

Enemy manipulation roll : 100 + 65 (manipulation) = 165.

His smile took a nastier edge as he walked unhurriedly towards where Urie was tied up, and crouched, one arm over his knees so that he would be at eye-level with the druid. Then, he lifted his other hand and his index touched Urie right between his eyebrows.

"You cannot win this. You have tried once, and everybody around you died." Suddenly, a blade was at Sharon's neck. "Shall she die for you this time around?"

Urie tried. he really tried to think of a solution to get Sharon out of this, but he couldn't. If it were him who died, he would welcome it, but he knew the man knew it too.

"Indeed I do. After all, she's the only reason you didn't simply off yourself, is she not?"

That she was, despite the fact that she was-

"An utterly annoying girl. And I suppose this is where you start waxing poetry about her."

... Did he-

"I do not need to read your mind to know how you're thinking. Whether or not you are here in front of me. Whether or not she is in front of me. I will know, Mister Blake. I know everything there is about you, from the time you fell asleep in the girl's locker at the academy, to the fact you forgot to eat breakfast this morning."

'The man stopped smiling, as his eyes blazed like stars.
Around, all around, the dark premonitions gather.
The herald of catastrophe laughs with the wind.'

"I am tired of this charade, Mister Blake. As an educator, it is my belief that living is learning. Be it yourself or others. If you are not learning, then, clearly, there must be something wrong with your environment, do you not think so?"

...Just kill him already.

" I will not, Mister Blake. Letting you live is a worse punishment."

The smile was back again as the wind picked up and the branches began singing. Urie felt as if the air around them was trying to smother him.

"There is always something worse than death awaiting us all, yet again, this is why you chose to take the coward's way out, did you not?"

....

The man got up and walked back, his eyes never leaving the druid's. Then, after he walked into the shade of a tree, he suddenly melted in the shadows, to disappear from view. When Urie gathered the crying Sharon in his arms, he noticed a note left on the necklace.

'Next time, I will not be so merciful.'

Urie took a deep breath.
[Sloth activated]
And happily let the haze of indifference take over once more. Still, even despite it, the encounter did leave a mark...

[]Trauma: Urie has tried twice, and twice, he was squished like the bug he was. -10 damage against bosses. Will now do anything possible to avoid confronting non-aggressive people, ignoring rolls.
[]Trauma: The unknown man is the crystallization of all Urie's fears come true. -20 to all of Urie's rolls against the unknown man. Will now do anything possible to avoid confronting non-aggressive people, ignoring rolls.

Third Hour.

Still, they had to move. And this time, Sharon was the one to side apparate them, just in time for them to join with the scouts and witness what was going on with the tower thanks to the enchanted magnifying glass in front of them...

There was a cloud of darkness that came out of the armors of the blackened knights. For those were the real deal, not the undead parodies they sometimes spied at the borders. They were lead with a tall, armored figure, accompanied by a pale woman with brown hair.

"Unsightly, is it not?" To their right, a woman in a blue kimono and with yellow eyes appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. "Uninvited guests are most unpleasant~" She suddenly got up from the edge of the tower, landing onto the sea, and bouncing at surreal speeds towards the necropolis, gracefully avoiding the undead as she touched land. There, Urie couldn't hear what she was saying, but he saw her get rectangular papers out of her sleeve. She raised her hand and swiftly brought it down, the paper between her fingers being consumed and summoning a pillar of fire falling from the heavens. Then, the woman jumped, avoiding a bolt of lighting, coming from a hooded, white-haired mage.

'Heaven's fury collided with the ground's rebellious energy...'

She landed in front of the tower's door, inclined her torso, put a fist on her hip, another under her chin, and said something like 'Miko' before running within the tower. Urie could see a sea of white hands trying to grab at her before she disappeared...

'Pale fingers of the sweet, pale lady of respite that eluded him even now...'

Urie sighed, looking away, and accidentally walked on a cat's tail. The cat had friends. They all jumped on him and caused him to fall from the tower. Sadly, he landed on a pile of hay and was alive, at the mercy of the enraged felines.

'All hope must sicken and die.'

"Urie, you're not back to reciting poetry in your mind, are you?" Sharon called out from the tower's top.

Just kill him alreadyyyyy~

Well, someone ran afoul of the local punch wizard...Who's actually not a trained fighter. At least the guy was nice enough not to steal stuff like the pendant of life, yay?
So, Camelot his hitting the tower! Black smoke knight, white-haired mage and pale brown girl seem to be commanders, and kimono girl seems to be opposed to them and jumped into the tower. And the sea of stone hands. THis isn't gonna end well, is it?
Also. Poetry. I'd say kill me now, but that would be letting Them win.

RookDeSuit · May 16, 2019

Some terrible rolls. Urie beat. Also, foreign babysitter might be pointless here, and it sounds like someone knows the fourth wall.

NotteBoy97 · May 17, 2019

[X] Intrigue advisor. This is his strong point when he has the time, means, and anonymity to actually do something.

[X] Nanny. She's a Half-veela. Therefore immune to whatever charm ability Craidd had. Veelas are also infamously hard to influence.

I don't trust Dace to raise a kid and I really want to start fixing holes in the leaky ship that is our intrigue so putting him on that full time.

For Sarah I asked for a nanny and that's what I'm going to use her for especially since I think using her for a martial is just asking for her to get killed in battle pissing off Oliver for not taking care of his sister.

Not voting on traumas since I don't really care either way due to not liking the event that caused said trauma nor really understanding the mechanical effects of the traumas.

Doctor Elsewhere · May 17, 2019

Dace:
[X] Take care of his child. Third time is the charm... Right?
[X] Intrigue advisor. This is his strong point when he has the time, means, and anonymity to actually do something.

Sarah:
[X] Martial advisor. Her main profession, and the reason she was sent here, is bodyguard. A very proficient one at that, as she has worked for people like the French Minister of Magic.
[X] Nanny. She's a Half-veela. Therefore immune to whatever charm ability Craidd had. Veelas are also infamously hard to influence.

Urie:
[X]Trauma: The unknown man is the crystallization of all Urie's fears come true. -20 to all of Urie's rolls against the unknown man. Will now do anything possible to avoid confronting non-aggressive people, ignoring rolls.

With Dace back he can focus on making sure nothing bad gets in unnoticed, and the factions don't do something stupid.

Dace also needs to take care of Craidd, at least so Sarah can take up a council role while being Craidd's nanny.

Speaking of, Sarah is a professional bodyguard, so hopefully she can help set up something for all of our important people, we can't have what happened to Urie here happen to someone else.

Finally, Urie's trauma either results in him getting a -20 for one person, or -10 for all "bosses". So long as he isn't ambushed by Johan again, we can just make sure that Urie isn't assigned to where Johan is to avoid the debuff.

Pawn Lelouch · May 17, 2019

[X] Intrigue advisor. This is his strong point when he has the time, means, and anonymity to actually do something.

So three things. Dace is not someone I trust to be a parent, I explained down below why I'm somewhat against Oliver's pick being our martial advisor, and I want Dace being able to 100% focus on being intrigue. Intrigue is our most important group to work with outside of martial for this event. We can't have him focused on anything else until this event is done since that would leave holes in his intrigue due to lack of time that others can slip through.

[X] Nanny. She's a Half-veela. Therefore immune to whatever charm ability Craidd had. Veelas are also infamously hard to influence.

We need her here to be a nanny. So let's have her do her job. I just don't want her to be the martial advisor for two reasons. One, she works for her half brother Oliver fundamentally, not us so if he tells her to leave we can't stop her for so many reasons. So putting her in a position where she can be called away is a real issue and could leave us without an advisor at the worst possible time.

Plus I don't trust Dace to be a good caretaker/dad, considering that even with extenuating circumstances he messed up with two kids extremely badly. So let's just keep her as the full-time nanny while we try to replace William with someone less treacherous.

[X]Trauma: The unknown man is the crystallization of all Urie's fears come true. -20 to all of Urie's rolls against the unknown man. Will now do anything possible to avoid confronting non-aggressive people, ignoring rolls.

This is the better trauma for Urie,-20 vs one person is better than -10 vs all bosses.

QueenPally · May 20, 2019

[X] Intrigue advisor. This is his strong point when he has the time, means, and anonymity to actually do something.
[X] Nanny. She's a Half-veela. Therefore immune to whatever charm ability Craidd had. Veelas are also infamously hard to influence.
[X]Trauma: The unknown man is the crystallization of all Urie's fears come true. -20 to all of Urie's rolls against the unknown man. Will now do anything possible to avoid confronting non-aggressive people, ignoring rolls.

LordPenguin · May 26, 2019

Level 2: The Many-Faced Garden: Terra (2)

Terra, Hour 3. (10.00 PM GMT)

Right, he had to check what was going on here... Urie sighed, rubbing the itching scratch marks on his hand while Sharon was applying disinfectant to the ones on his face.

Self-motivation: DC 50 (80-30): rolled : 49

[Sloth activated]

Seriously though, it was too much of a pain to deal with. He closed his eyes and leaned back, tuning out the noise, until he was drenched with icy water. He opened an eye and irritatedly looked at Sharon, who hat her wand out, and a raised eyebrow.

"Urie~" She started with a sweet yet dangerous tone that promised untold pain and/or annoyance if she was ignored. "Why don't you go ahead and check what's going on in there?"
'It's an order', went unsaid.

Sharon's ~~Bullying~~ Encouragement: 80 + 30 (leadership) = 110 T3 success
Urie's retort: 59 + 45 = 104 T2 success.

Apparently, "I don't want to" wasn't a viable reason to refuse, Urie mourned while sitting on a chair, eyes on the tower, chin resting on his crossed arms, ignoring his now burning ear. Why did that woman have to pinch him so hard, seriously!
Sighing once more, he decided to give it a half-hearted try. His eyes narrowed slightly as his usually unused brain began to activate.

97 + 30 (strategy) = 127 Tier 8 success (12)
91 + 35 (research) = 126 Tier 3 success
51 + 65 (utility magic) = 116 Pass
63 + 65 (lore) = 128 Pass

Going there himself was out for multiple reasons. First, that land was an unknown that needed to be checked to at least eliminate possible dangerous variables. Then, there was the matter of the army. They bore all the hallmarks of entities corrupted by the 'void' he kept hearing about, meaning direct contact was out. He looked around him and saw one of the furry beasts from hell and looked at it, calculatingly.

Falling back on his training, he lifted his hand, fingers extended towards the animal, and he began asserting his will. The animal tried to resist, but in the end, Urie prevailed, the now docile animal padding towards him, then nimbly jumping on his lap and purring.

Hm. This was troublesome, he thought, petting the animal, and decided its name would be Mittens. He'd have to get another one and give this one to Sharon, that would keep her off his back for a while. He finally saw the one who attacked him, mangy beast that it was, with its chipped ears and oozing sores. That one would do nicely.

Taking control of it was a lot harder, but in the end, his control over Nature just gave him that tiny extra edge over the beast. He then used his wand, using levitation and homing spells simultaneously, causing the cat to sail through the air, over the sea, and towards the designated area.

65 + 65 (utility magic) = 130 : T2 success
43 + 70 (utility magic) = 113 : Pass
49 + 60 (cat's stealth) = 109 : Pass
88 + 40 (research) = 128 : T3 success

Being able to manipulate magic from this far would be tricky, but at least, since he didn't seem to do anything at a first glance, people wouldn't accuse him of working, of all things. The animal touched down, and he felt assailed by a headache. Something was interfering with his control, but he managed to wrestle control back, using the animal's own senses to scout the area.

Right. First thing first, what was wrong with the grounds here. He'd seen the effects of Death soaking the land once before, and this was many times worse. However, it did share similarities, from what he could see and feel. The magic restriction was still in effect, which could be dangerous, but more than that, it had a draining effect. It was hard to gauge, but the mana loss approximated 50% each time a spell was cast. Furthermore, the draining effect was constant, though the beast he was using to scout was unaffected. Strange, that.

The beast padded through the deserted battlefield, noting several fleshy formations growing off the ground, their coloring being the same dark purple as pretty much everything except the bones on the ground and the murky, yellowish dark green of the sky. Approaching one of them, who looked like a liquid-filled bowling ball on top of a finger-thin stem, he thought about it for a moment.

75 + 40 (common sense) = 115 : T2 success.

Then had the cat look around for something appropriate. There, a stick. Manipulating items is hard without opposing thumbs, but with a bit of time and effort, he managed to pierce the sac, to reveal something odd. Horrifying might be too mild to say.

Surrounded by a transparent liquid looking a lot like egg-yolk, something resembling a monstrous fetus came into view. Its appearance was skeletal as if it were only bones covered by the slightest bit of skin. It had no lips, sharp, jagged fangs directly visible, and pointed ears. While it may be premature, the creature was twitching, and Urie decided to have his spy trot away before the newborn decided the cat would be a good blood source, mulling on that discovery.

Defiled lands abilities discovered :
Spells over level 1 cannot be cast
50% of the mana cost is drained somewhere
-2 mana each battle turn for living units. (Urie's note: does not affect regular animals?)
Plants are growing vampires?

Finally, he arrived at the tower, its entrance looking appropriately ominous, with stalagmites of rotting flesh hanging at the top. Funnily enough, one particularly big one caused the middle of the corridor to sag slightly, making the ensemble look like a diseased throat. Spooky.

88 - 38 (interference) + 70 (utility magic) = 120 Pass

The moment the cat entered, Urie felt slightly nauseous, his vision swimming, but he managed to hold on. The cat's eyes allowed him to see around well enough, though, he was slightly worried by what he saw.

Broken bodies littered the floor, both human and not, and he touched one of the white stone fragments with one paw, rolling it around. A stone finger. Concerning for many reasons. First, this place is supposedly made of flesh, first and foremost, therefore stone decorations have no reason for existing, which only meant one thing. Those were creatures that were either made that way or became like this after their death. However, considering the fact that the place where the finger was severed looked like broken stone, that means those were likely stone creatures from the very beginning.

Neither the undead nor the void were reported to have those in their roster which left two possibilities: Evolved forms, or variants. Both were concerning, but the latter was the worse one. After all, variant species were more powerful than the original line.

The vampire 'birthing pods' came to his mind. Nothing about this place fits with the archives he found in the Rampart he was sent to, and while he didn't really pay that much attention to them, he had read Sally's report and had a fairly good grasp of the general line-up from of undead forces.

63 + 65 (lore) = 128 : Tier 4 success

Stone parts... Were possible, in one type of unit. A variant from an evolved zombie form. However, zombies were a highly varied breed, as their strength depended on what was the living 'base' of their form. Truth be told, it was more of a general term to describe undead that had a physical form and flesh on their bones.

Banshees huh.

Strange. They are support units, and shouldn't be used to be the first line of defense under any circumstance due to how fragile they are. That meant something was off about this entire situation or said variant is an offensive unit that they had in great enough numbers that they could afford to sacrifice them early on. In other words, they have even stronger units up ahead.

Powerful units that have links with zombies and can be of use in those dark and narrow corridors...

Death Knights.

Shit.

Now he really needed to investigate this whole mess.

He explored the rest of the floor, the smell irritating his feline nose, but found nothing of interest here, save that any dead organic matter was getting absorbed in the building, which meant that trying to damage the tower would be futile. So he climbed up, and up again. He had to run up for ten floors, before being met with a rather peculiar scenery.

The place was illuminated by an orb of light held up by the silver-haired man. His group had drastically dwindled to barely fifty people in total, though they all looked strong. All around them, angel statues were immobile, stuck in various attacking forms. And on the far end of the room, there was an empty throne on which a skeleton sat. It was immobile though, and the really interesting thing was behind it. Chalk white skin, fiery red hair, barefoot and clad in a simple green dress, the unnatural shade of skin and utter lack of breathing were the only hints she wasn't human. She looked at the group, and her lips twisted in a too wide, savage grin.

"Why, hello there." Lily Evans spoke, her deep and raspy voice sending chills down Urie's spine.

Speaking of spine, someone was moving him. Careful of not breaking the link, he looked around to see that Sharon was carrying him around, bridal style, and a soft look in her eyes, before she remembered where they were.

"Shut up. We look ridiculous like that..." Sharon pouted, looking embarrassed at their situation, Mittens on her right shoulder. He personally didn't see anything wrong with that, gender roles were too bothersome to even start considering. If someone's good at something, let them do it instead of forcing the job on those who don't want to do it. Besides, what man wouldn't want a woman strong enough to carry him around if needed? He nodded to himself, in awe of his own judgment. All of this energy saving would do him wonders.

Still, it looked like she'd need some reassurance. Urie sighed and kissed her on the cheek, causing her to go red and immediately drop him with a squeak. He snorted, silly girl, it's not as if they hadn't gone any farther before.

He looked indifferently as Sharon was scolding him about public displays of affections and pinching his cheeks to keep his attention on her, her skin warming him up.

He sighed, throwing the Grey at the back of his mind.

His lip twitched up.

Maybe trying a little harder would be fine, right?

Looking around for date spots would be a pain, though.

+1 ??? (13/14)

He closed his eyes, sharing his senses with the cat once more to witness the confrontation that was about to take place.

In which Urie is flirting with Too Much Information territory and adopts a cat.
Also, he's actually pretty strong as a wizard, when he can be bothered to do something, huh. Well, he *is* a wunderkind, Sloth is just a terrible trait to have on an NPC.
More importantly, the writer thanks the bulli for making sure the lazy guy was focused on his job and not doing emo poetry this time.

Alrighty, then~ feel free to the next 1 to 7 hours~ and choose your character pov. Votes by plans, and ending in 48 hours.

NotteBoy97 · May 27, 2019

[X] Plan Marvel Ultimate Alliance
-[X] [POV] Ava
-[X] Try and find other non-Void people who are planning on attacking the Tower in order to hopefully share information and coordinate an allied attack. Take 2 hours
-[X] Start the process of having your golems march to the Tower to have them hopefully reach your allies in time for the assault.
-[X] Search the Archives for whatever you can find about the Tower of Babel and anything that might help you and your allies defeat it
-[X] Send someone to investigate the place Johan and Urie fought since that area is too important to ignore

Let's try and get some allies to hopefully assault the tower with. Of course, to do any sort of attack we need to send our slow ass golems so after getting that started we'll do some research and investigation

AlphaDelta · May 27, 2019

[X] Plan Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Seconding.

Pawn Lelouch · May 27, 2019

[X] Plan Funhouse
-[X] [POV] Merlin
-[X] Try and find other non-Void people who are planning on attacking the Tower in order to hopefully share information and coordinate an allied attack. Take 2 hours
-[X] Start the process of having your golems march to the Tower to have them hopefully reach your allies in time for the assault.
-[X] Search the Archives for whatever you can find about the Tower of Babel and anything that might help you and your allies defeat it
-[X] Send someone to investigate the place Johan and Urie fought since that area is too important to ignore

Probably not the most tactically sound but I am morbidly curious as to his inner thoughts.

Doctor Elsewhere · May 27, 2019

[X] Plan Marvel Ultimate Alliance

LordPenguin · May 29, 2019

Level 2: The Many-Faced Garden: Terra (3)

[X] Plan Marvel Ultimate Alliance
-[X] [POV] Ava
-[X] Try and find other non-Void people who are planning on attacking the Tower in order to hopefully share information and coordinate an allied attack. Take 2 hours
-[X] Start the process of having your golems march to the Tower to have them hopefully reach your allies in time for the assault.
-[X] Search the Archives for whatever you can find about the Tower of Babel and anything that might help you and your allies defeat it
-[X] Send someone to investigate the place Johan and Urie fought since that area is too important to ignore

Hour 4

After sending orders for the patrols and troops, Ava looked enviously at the houses without light she could see through her window, then sighed. This would likely be a sleepless night, and not even used to have fun, she mourned within her mind, before getting to work.
She was far from good at military matters, but even she could see that there was a giant tower of Death in the backyard, and they weren't ready, or even able to deal with it. Dace had swung by to tell her he'd be requisitioning some of their reagents but otherwise didn't really tell her what he was up to after he dumped healing potions down the throats of injured agents and dragged them to the agency. Concerning, yet again, the man was not known for his social graces.

Looking at the mirror on her desk, she was drafting some proposals for Mr. Lapierre while thinking about the next step, when Urie's face came into view.

"'Lo boss." He looked even more tired and defeated than he usually did, with red scratch marks on his face. " Just to let you know, there have been a few people poking around the tower, gave a few of those mirrors to them, they'll contact you in about an hour." His face then disappeared, replaced by Ava's own, slightly tired appearance.

Wait, were those bags under her eyes?

They were!

After sending instructions to move the mirrors in a half circle around the desk, Ava immediately ran out of the room, into her own brown and blue bedroom to get her 'battle armor', or, more accurately, her designer red dress and her heavy duty make up. She couldn't afford to look anything less than stunning, especially if her beauty could help stack the odds in her favor.

Hour 5.

Messages and mirrors were sent, office and Ava properly decorated, the meeting was scheduled to begin soon, when Dace appeared, slapped a file on her desk, and jogged out of the room. Ava looked at it curiously, before the file escaped her stupefied hands.

What in the world...?

Augustus Bulstrode

Consort : Belladona Bulstrode (née Travers)
Heir: Milicent Bulstrode

Stats:

Diplomacy 7 + 3 + 1 – 1 + 2 + 1 – 1 = 10
Stewardship 10 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 9 = 29
Martial 9 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 4 = 28
Intrigue 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 12
Learning 7 + 3 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 17
Mysticism 1 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 8
Willpower 3 + 3 + 2 = 8

Genetic Traits:
[Will be passed down]Lords of the Swamp : +2 St, +2 Ma, +1 Nobility, +15 Combat
Bright: +3 all stats
Strong : +2 Ma, + 1 Di, + 10 Combat
Wizard: +2 My, may use magic

Lifestyle :

Architect : +2 St, +1 Le, -10% Construction costs.

Profession :

Architect : +9 St, +4 Le, +2 In.

Sin/Virtue :
Greedy: -1 Di, +10% Money gains
Chaste: +1 Le, + 10% Fertility, + 5 to all rolls with spouse.

Character traits :
Ambitious: +2 all, -5 empathy
Brawny: +1 health (hidden), +2Ma,+1Di,+5 combat
Stubborn: +1 St, -1 Di
Zealous : +4 Ma -5 rolls with opposite factions.

Character Skills:

Diplomacy	12	Cap: 30
	Presence	30
	Leadership	30
	Empathy	30 – 5 = 25
Stewardship	29	Cap: 70 (72,5)
	Entrepreneurship	70
	Self sufficiency	70
	Accounting	50
Martial	28	Cap: 70
	Strategy	70
	Armed combat(weapon)	65 + 15 + 10
	Logistics	70
Intrigue	12	Cap: 30
	Manipulation	20
	Perception	30
	Stealth	20
Learning	18	Cap: 45
	Research	45
	Crafting (craft)	5
	Common sense	40
Mysticism	8	Cap: 20
	Magical Combat	20
	Utility magic	20
	Lore	5
Willpower	8	Cap: 20
	Environmental spells	0
	Offensive spells	0
	Defensive spells	0

Skill bonuses:

Level 2 Lord

Personal ability:

Swamp lord : Allows Fortress units to ignore negative terrain effects.

Personal stats:

Luck: 0
Morale: 0
Damage: 12
Hitpoints: 120
Speed: 7 + 1 = 8
Movement: 23 + 1 = 24
Mana: 10 (+1/day)
Will:

10% Melee Attack
10% Ranged Attack
25 % Melee Defense
25 % Ranged Defense
30% Magic Resistance

Town Stats :

+10% growth
+43.800 G/T

Army stats:

+0 Luck
+0 Morale
+1 Speed
+1 Movement
+0% Melee Attack
+0% Ranged Attack
+0% Melee defence
+0% Ranged defence

Hero Skills :

NOBILITY - Primary Skill Increases all creature growth in the town that recognises the hero as its governor. Basic: +10%.	Estates - Nobility Secondary Skill Hero produces gold each day. Basic: 100 gold + 10% per hero level.
COMBAT - Primary Skill Increases hero's Melee and Ranged Defence. Basic: Melee and Ranged Defence = 15.		Magic Resistance - Combat Secondary Skill Hero has a chance to resist hostile spells. Basic: 30%.
TACTICS - Primary Skill Increases speed and movement of all friendly creatures. Basic: +1 speed, +1 movement.

Milicent Bulstrode, Heiress of Augustus Bulstrode.

Age : 4 (turn 4)

Stats:
Diplomacy : 2 + 10 + 3 + 1 + 1 = 17
Stewardship : 0 + 2 + 10 = 12
Martial : 6 + 2 + 10 + 1 = 19
Intrigue : 2 + 10 = 12
Learning : 0 + 10 = 10
Mysticism : 1 + 10 + 2 = 13
Willpower: 4 + 10 = 14

Genetic Traits:
[Will be passed down]Lords of the Swamp : +2 St, +2 Ma, +1 Rank Nobility skill, +1 Rank Combat skill
Wunderkind: +10 all stats, +15 all skills
Beautiful: +3 Di, +20 Presence
Witch: +2 My, may use magic

Character traits:
Rowdy: +1 Ma
Playful : +1 Di
Affectionnate: +1 Di

Diplomacy
Belladonna Bulstrode

Stewardship
Alfonzo Greengrass

Martial
Rafaela Nott

Intrigue
Cassius Nott
Marius Nott

Learning
Anthony Travers

Mysticism
Wilhelmina Black

Bull's Hooves: Strathearn

Yearly gains/expenses

+942,500 G/T (major settlement)
+24 Stone
+12 Gems
+12 Sulphur
+2 Elemental stones
+2 Liquid fire

Happiness : 6 : People are starting to relax.
4 ( Medium town) – 4 (Is this the end?) + 1 (luxury) +1 ( buildings) + 4 (Charity)

Situation :

Safety : 3 : Could make do with some more guards : +15 enemy infiltration DC
Health : 1 : Basic healthcare is put in place : +5% Disease resistance.
Econ : 3 : The industry is self sufficient.
Education : 0 : No schooling set up.
Research : 1 : + 5 to research score when researching techs.

Food reserves : 2 (1 set for sale) : May support a population of 100,000 people

Population : 10,000 people
Maximum population: 50,000

Industry slots (0/4 Slots taken):

-Bulstrode's Fortresses: ++ econ ++ safety – 10% building cost.
The Bulstrode family's building company. While they may not be as polyvalent as the Carrows, they conpensate by being more thorough on the security aspect.

-Improved farms: + econ, +++ food, + happiness + 30.000 G/T
Farms that grow both regular and magical crops, while engineered to not impoverish the ground.

-

-

Miscellaneous slots (0/3 slots taken)

- Hanging Gardens (in construction)(Secret Project)

-

-

Infrastructure:

-Basic hospital: + health

-Basic guard station: + safety

Military slots (0/3 taken)

-

-

-

-

Notable places:
Improved Stone Quarry. 24 Stone per turn. 2 Flawless Marble per turn. Building material : + econ
Improved Gem Mine. 12 Gems per turn. 2 Elemental stones per turn. Luxury : + happiness
Improved Sulfur Mine. 12 Sulfur per turn. 2Liquid Fire per turn : Reagent : + research

Products set for exportation :

4 Sulfur = 10 Wood
1 liquid fire = Native gold

Political stance:
Isolationist : is not inclined to make a move either way
Objectives :
Complete the Hanging Gardens Secret project
Educate his heiress
Continue building up his hold
Build up an army
Diplomacy:
Has an alliance with the Macmillan family.
Member of the reigning duarchy of Scotland with Wilfrid MacMillan.

Due to Nat100, + 20 to all actions against Bulstrode for 1 years (not including this one).

That... Ava immediately decided not to ask how in the world he got that amount of information on a man a country away and focused on what it gave her. Bulstrode and Travers were indeed allies, and knowing that the Nott fell back there was also very good. As for his agenda... It was unhelpful, though understandable, and a bit surprising a man as reclusive and unambitious as him managed to rise that high in Scotland.

More concerning were the reports about the Goblins invading Derby, of all places, and being attacked by humanoid creatures resembling demons that got out of portals. The goblins seem to be determined to fight to the last, which is good, but that also means that, should they fail, the closest 'territory' was Wales...

The mirrors flickered, revealing various faces, from the square and somber face of Augustus Bulstrode to the delicate features of an unknown man of Asian descent.

"I have received news of what was happening with the Kreegans. I will send some elven druidesses and dragons to assist you in protecting your territory. I won't be able to send more, the undead horde has managed to break quarantine and are trying to cross the Mediterranean sea." Oliver started, clad in armor as if he was headed towards combat, which he likely was.

Bulstrode grunted, visibly ill at ease, but then,

"Travers repaired the floo. Should be fine as long as you've got powder. Will owl you some if you don't have any. Nott also said they'd work with Travers on making the transfers secure."

"We're flying up here and are landing in Wiltshire to keep the undead in check there" Aife was visibly flying on something, her body moving up and down rhythmically, and Ava could see flashes of white feathers here and there." Be careful, some of them will be coming from the North Sea and Northumberland. The attack on the tower probably caused them to gather all of their troops."

The Asian man smiled, somewhat condescendingly, at Ava as he listened to the other's propositions.

"Hello everyone~" another face appeared in every mirror, in miniature at the bottom right corner. It was Sally, though it seemed that she encountered massive changes in a few hours. Her usually loose hair was tied up in a side ponytail held by a blue ribbon, she wore square glasses missing a rim on top and wore a suit jacket that allowed people to see a fair amount of her cleavage. "I heard from someone that something interesting was happening here~!" She said boisterously, giving people an exaggerated wave. Was it Ava or was the top part of her hair twitching slightly? "So this lowly, yet hypercompetent secretary decided to lend you a hand for old times' sake~"

"That will not be necessary." A smooth voice answered, and another image appeared next to Sally's, the one was that of the man who supposedly ambushed and defeated Urie and Sharon. Sally pouted. Pouted.

"Bu-ut~ She's my friend in need you know? I promise I won't try to use the Killing Stone, so please may I do it Goshujin-sama~?"

The man smiled in a benign manner, then uttered a simple word that had the woman blanch.

"Daji."

The Asian man's interest rose drastically and he straightened up.

"Th-That's not my name~" Sally whined

"The current situation is indeed problematic, so I will allow you that much freedom. However, do try to remember what your job is, we can't have you running wild considering your... Proclivities. Especially after your latest stunt" The man continued, ignoring her protests.

Sally's cheer had completely disappeared now.

"I'm sorry~ I'll be good now..."

"See that you do." The blond man nodded, before disappearing from the mirror's surface, leaving the rest in silence, both because their communications were compromised, and, on Ava's part, because it seemed that something was going on with Sally, and she couldn't help. Sally coughed, and her manner became more sophisticated.

"Let us ignore what just happened, shall we? I have been investigating this tower and it has a grand total of a hundred floors~ The Camelot crew has been hard at work, but last time I saw them, they were struggling against the stone angels on the twenty-second floor. By now, they should be on the thirtieth, if they haven't been wiped out~ Damaging the tower is useless, it regenerates using corpses. Hm~What else~" She looked up on the side, a finger tapping her chin in concentration. "You already know about the limitation on abilities, your pet druid probably already informed you about the birthing pods, and I know I gave you the spread of creatures to expect... Hm. Did you know about the birthing chamber in the Halls of Fate?"

Ava stared in silence while the rest looked as confused as she was.

"Basically! Diomedes was killed, and his soul is being gathered in there as the intended wielder fo the god-slaying spear Longinus~! But you should worry about people like the Stone Angel, Mithra's son, the Scapegoat or even Aimée~" Sally leaned forwards, hand on the side of her mouth and looking around, speaking in a low voice as if she was telling them a secret. "She's completely crazy, told me that she 'Always wanted to be a boss in a dungeon crawler'." She leaned back, waving. " And that's all for Secretary Sally's section~! Next time I'll try to have a jingle~" And only the original people involved in the conversation were visible, the woman had disappeared.

"This is worrying." Aife said after a moment of silence. "I'll try to see if I can bring in more than valkyries while I set up this outpost."

"It seems I may be able to aid you with your quandary." the Asian man smiled placidly. "However, I am afraid that I am a foreigner, without any means to help myself here in this foreign land. I would request a place for my.. Family, I believe it is called? To stay in for the duration of this mission. Furthermore, this is a very dangerous mission for me, and I would like to receive an appropriate reward for my efforts. " He lifted his hands to prevent any protests. " Of course, the spear is too dangerous for the likes of myself to ask for, however, I believe taking one item of my choosing among your treasuries would be adequate compensation for the risks I will face."

Bulstrode immediately refused to let him stay at his home but was willing to open his treasury to the man. Oliver categorically refused to have him stay at his home, citing political and security concerns due to the veelas staying at his home, but was also willing to let him choose an artifact stored in his vaults, while Aife just snorted, saying she had a treasury empty of artifacts, he could still take something from it, but he wouldn't be staying at her home either, because she disliked the idea of having strangers near her daughters, especially after the abduction attempts.

perception : Ava : 99 + 60 (empathy) versus 79 + 75 (manipulation) = Ava wins

Ava took some time to ponder on the question. They did need every help they could, but clearly, that man was hiding something. Besides, she didn't like the way he was looking at her. It wasn't the usual slightly dazed and lustful look men took around her, but rather a predatory one, that she received from the more dangerous kind of people. Still, as the man had no place to stay in, she had to arrange something, if she wanted him here...

Does Ava allow [Warrior of Sunstone and Jade : Tang Yan Wuying], to help? ( will require arranging a place to stay and/or opening the treasury to them. (the latter can be refused if another form of compensation is found))
[] Yes
[] No

Accommodations?
[] In Gwallawgysol Dinas
[] Build him a manor, Write-in manor location (-100.000G, -10 Wood, -10 Gems, -10 Crystal, -5 Elemental stones)

Does Ava open the treasury to them?
[] Yes
[] No
-[] Compensation? (write-in proposals)

Hour 8

After the negotiations, Ava finally switched off her mirrors and let her head lie on the desk. Once this was done, she'd need vacations and cute guys. Preferably the enthusiastic puppy-type. Just as she was thinking about it, people entered her office and she just glared at Dace, who looked fresh as a rose.

"You took a nap, didn't you?" She growled in frustration as the man didn't deign to answer her.

Library diving : 54 + 70 (Dace's research) + 10 Gwallawg library = 134 : Pass

"There is very little known information about this tower. However, it has shown to appear before global scale catastrophes happened." The man began, ignoring her. " Babel was famous indeed, but it also happened before the sinking of Atlantis, and there were a few aborted tries during the times of Camelot and the lives of the Founders. however, it seems that it requires numerous deaths to manifest, and that number has been increasing. Furthermore, if what that 'Sally' said is correct, this means that trying to 'starve' that tower is a good solution, if a time-consuming one."

"And it so happens time is not a luxury we have." Ava griped, earning herself an amused huff.

"Quite so. However, it is also an undead creation, and as such, should be subject to its rules." Dace put a small flask filled with a transparent liquid that was glowing slightly. " This is 'Holy Water'. No relation with the church, I am afraid, but it should be able to damage anything undead-related. If drunk, it will partially protect people from the effects of Death magic."
He then took one step back, frowning.

"There wasn't much information about Babel. In fact, I have seen several books that were damage each time they were about to lead to that topic. Some of those haven't been touched since my mother's time, in other words, the information has been controlled tightly. I had more luck on the topic of the undead, however, it isn't applicable as, if my hunch is correct, the tower itself is the necromancer, therefore unless it disappears, the undead armies will not be defeated."

"Fat load of good that 'hunch ' of yours will do, Gwallawg." The only man to ever make it on Ava's blacklist save criminals entered her office, followed by an uncomfortable looking Sharon.

"As if your 'facts' were any better. Still jealous because a librarian did better than you?" Dace sneered at the man, causing him to sneer back at him. " I base my hunches on concrete, historical elements, not guesswork, and I dare say it has brought more results than you did."

"Oh?" the military man smiled nastily. "Look at the world outside. All of this history you're so proud of using is fake, even you can't pretend to be the original."

Dace gave him a look, silently lifted his hand and, with two fingers, pinched the eyepatch on William's face, pulled it away slightly, revealing an intact eye behind it, the elastic band straining against the force, and hissed.

"Lo and behold, neither can you." He then let it go, the eyepatch making a popping noise as it slapped itself against the other man's eyelid, turned around, nodded towards a thoroughly entertained Ava and walked out of the room, huffing.

Sharon hesitantly lifted her hand as if to ask a question and began speaking up.

"Uh, so, not that it totally isn't uncomfortable or something but, um, you remember the castle at Yr Wyddfa that we had? Oh wait no, you don't remember because it never happened here..." The woman was rambling now." Uhm, basically, we have a castle now? Also, I think it got pillaged or something because there's less than I remember?"

That was most unhelpful, Ava thought until she saw the list and her mouth fell open...

10 Holy water added to treasury.

Name: Holy Water
Slot: Inventory
Description: When a hero drinks it, it casts Death Ward and Bless on the recipient. When thrown at an enemy, it acts as the Holy Word spell.

	Bless - 2 mana Combat - Blessing Bless causes the target inflict maximum damage. I foolishly left the hospital wagons, donning armor and joining the battle. There I supported the troops as well as healed them.

	Death Ward - 3 mana Combat - Blessing The target of a Death Ward is 50% resistant to Death spells, and their Melee and Ranged Defense is increased by 50 % against Death-aligned opponents. Our greatest and darkest enemy, the necromancers, needs our strongest defense.

	Holy Word - 2 mana Combat - Direct Life Damage to Death Units Damage: 49 + 4 dmg/level + Spirituality Holy Word does damage to a single Death target based on the level of the caster. The power of Life concentrated in a single word - it's as good as a sword against those with evil souls.

Dace Gwallawg and William Collins are hostile towards each other

+98 187 Galleons
+5 Mercury
+6 Crystal
+4 Gems
+26 Stone
Dragon Rearing book: allows to build Green Dragon nests (tier 7 rank 1 Nature units)
3x Unicorn horns
War Unicorn horn

Dragon wing Tabard
Class: Minor artifact
Slot: Back
Description:+20 Mana, +2 Mana/battle turn
Part of the [Power of the dragon father] set

Yr Wyddfa and its dwellings will be available post-event.

The golems are still on their way towards Wiltshire, that has been designated as the rendez-vous point. So far, they haven't encountered enemies yet.

[] Write-in next actions (1 hour per action)
[] Write-in pov
[] Give items to heroes? Write-in.

Huh. I looked around the thread, and you had another Intrigue Nat100 with Ish, funny that (rip Ish). Safest one of the bunch too, nobody would have wanted a Nat100 on intriguing against Merlin.
Sally says hi, Sally says bye, Johan is being a ninja.
So, uh. Yeah. DQ1 Base found. Somebody looted it though.
It also looks like Dace and WIlliam are gonna have problems with each other. Who'd have thought?
More info on Babel, by way of there not being info on it. ( and now you know why a certain person even bothered to infiltrate the place)
For the pov : you may choose people that are not yours, or who hold specific items. Some may detect you spyinf on them, though.

Votes by plan, 48 hours!

NotteBoy97 · May 29, 2019

[X] Plan Get on with it!
-[X] No to allowing Tang Yan Wuying
-[X] POV: Tang Yan Wuying
-[X] Make some defenses and have Militia prepare for an attack from Derby in case the goblins fall
-[X] Take a break

Okay, let's get on with it with a short two hours to see what the next phase of Babel is about.

First, off I refuse to let the chinaman be on our lands or having access to the treasury since I don't trust him, I don't know him, and we have a super valuable potentially destroy the world sword in our treasury that he could claim. Also he's a Xianxia character which makes him an entitled and arrogant asshole which is another reason to not like him.

Sadly due to him being an asshole, he's likely to hold a petty and unreasonable grudge against us so I want to get his POV to figure out what form that grudge will take and when we can expect it. Also he will probably provide a lot of interesting information due to him being so different from us so we might get a glimpse of his own situation. Though be warned this guy's POV is definitely going to inspire rage and murderous thoughts so it's not for the faint of heart.

Now for actions first I have our guys prepare for the possibility that the goblins will lose since even with Ollie's guys having some defenses prepared can't hurt.

Finally we have Ava take a break since she seems to be at her limit here and could use some sleep.

[O] Plan Get on with it! Armageddon version
-[X] No to allowing Tang Yan Wuying
-[X] POV: Wielder of Armageddon's Blade
-[X] Make some defenses and have Militia prepare for an attack from Derby in case the goblins fall
-[X] Take a break

Alternative plan for those who don't want to suffer through Wuying's POV

Pawn Lelouch · May 29, 2019

[X] Plan Fox Secrets
-[X] No to allowing Tang Yan Wuying
-[X] POV: Sally
-[X] Make some defenses and have Militia prepare for an attack from Derby in case the goblins fall
-[X] Take a break

SocsoD · May 29, 2019

[X] Plan Fox Secrets
-[X] No to allowing Tang Yan Wuying
-[X] POV: Sally
-[X] Make some defenses and have Militia prepare for an attack from Derby in case the goblins fall
-[X] Take a break

Sally does great work when she's onscreen and just gave out a lot of free stuff. More actionable intel is always better. Using up a POV to focus on one character's potential grudge towards the quest vs. gaining more information broadly about the current situation and someone deeply involved and clearly with a way to get more info about crucial pieces.

Underneath the twisted blue moon

Humanity's Oldest NEET

Adequate at best

The King of Games

Réfléchie

Adequate at best

The King of Games

The King of Games

The King of Games

Humanity's Oldest NEET