Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Those silk sheets have seen some heavy use, if that cupboard Mathilde looked inside is anything to go by. Hold the course, the Karak Eight Peaks weavers will come through for us eventually!
From a certain perspective, only one pair of owners for what is likely hundreds of years is a light use. And as stated that pair has some build in features to prevent the more common kind of bodily filth.

Anyhow, successful heist mining operation and no causality, that had been a very good action used. And whatever we stick the more acceptable books in the VAU or trade them for library favors, this had been quite the boon.
 
Okay.

I'm pretty sure he's not that Nyklaus by the way.
Count Noctilus must have been old, so he would already be a vampire by now.
Trying to take a high position under an undead-specialised Witchhuntress takes more balls than most long-lived vampires have.
They survived that long by being careful, not crazy for the most part.

Though I guess Luthor is the exception proving the rule.
It is that Nuklaus.

Boney side step your question, 'he's not a count'

Also NOC is all balls.
 
I am not voting to give up a single book. We came here to beef up our library, and beef it up we shall.

I do not care on the bedsheets, and as for the ring… usually I'd say to the flames, but with a massive enchanting project as our day job…

we could use the buff.

Books for the Bookshelves. Tomes for the Tome God
I think you mean books for the Thief god. The goddes of Tomes is Verena, and you aren't voting to send them to her priests. :p
 
It is that Nuklaus.

Boney side step your question, 'he's not a count'

Also NOC is all balls.

I mean if Roswita somehow manages to hand over Silvania to a vampire after all the un-vamping work, she deserves her fate. I do not care if she is friendly with Mathilde now that amount of stupidity is just unsalvageable. She did not look terminally dumb the last time we saw her so I have hope that it's just a coincidence :V
 
For Vlad's notes on the ring, is it worth passing on our suspicions as to the original creator of the ring whilst claiming we burnt the notes?

"Ah," you say, slapping it out as casually as you can. "Yes. That happens from time to time. It's a Zhufokri thing." The Ironbreakers nod in understanding and disperse once more as you frown at the blackened mark on your bedroll. You vaguely recall a crowd of people dressed in outfits of eight different colours being given uniforms and sent off to war, as Prince Vladimir with Regimand's beard cautioned you against doing something so powerful and efficient. Bloody Sylvania.
Is this just a dhar-induced dream she had, or is it a reference I'm not getting?

And so it starts. I'm not even going to fight this one, I don't have the energy to push against the strongest vote motivator in forum games, fear of losing control of the characters. Seriously though I get it, no one wants to deal with 'main character is now insane' so we overcompensate and burn everything that might even remotely be a danger. Never mind that a bunch of drunken Tilean looters, stole the original read the original and... founded a monastic order.

Very insane that. :V
Meh, we have the belt to ward off dhar-induced thinking here. Mathilde's not going to go mad unless she starts practicing the practical applications of this stuff.

It's not just about the physical books, it's also about them being acknowledged as having authority over it - the Creeping Flesh is about a Morrite vs academia slapfight about whether human bodies should be sacrosanct, the Zandri scrolls are about whether those scrolls inside the Empire's borders are Priory or Templar jurisdiction, and the Morrites absolutely think the books of a formerly-Morrite Vampire are theirs to decide what to do with. Mathilde copying the books first undermines the gratitude she hopes to get from turning them over.
That makes sense. If we were to make friends with any of the more academically-inclined groups and then negotiate a library-copying agreement with them, would such agreements cover politically-charged possessions like these, or any others they might have? I could see that going either way, even before the possibility that it might lead to unwanted double-dipping on rewards.

Either way, whilst these books are extremely cool, they probably aren't as cool as all the other extremely useful but not politically sensitive books their libraries have on offer, so I'd be down to give them away and try to negotiate copying rights later.

I mean if Roswita somehow manages to hand over Silvania to a vampire after all the un-vamping work, she deserves her fate. I do not care if she is friendly with Mathilde now that amount of stupidity is just unsalvageable. She did not look terminally dumb the last time we saw her so I have hope that it's just a coincidence :V
I don't know this character, but is it possible they aren't a vampire yet?
 
I mean, it's not like we're even more doomed for having Vlad's notes and the Prophecies of Zandri right? In for a penny, in for a pound of flesh and all that :V

The Creeping Flesh could probably go to the Verenans to ope the door for transcribing some of their books.
I'm not sure how I feel about the Prophecies, when we can't read it, and they can be used to buy favor. I know I want to keep Vald's notes on enchantments, the dued was a literal genius.
...
@Boney Is it reasonable/sensible to have a copy of the Creeping Flesh for us made by the Verenans as part of negotiations if we give it to them? From my pov, all it will cost them is the effort of transcribing it.

They get the shiny original book, while we get a copy of the information inside.
Should have caught up with the thread :/
<.<
>.>
The what?
 
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There is absolutely stuff in there we should not poke our head in.

Liber Mortis is not the gift it is just for its great knowledge, but also because it is a completely mundane book. There are no curses on it, no Dhar to warp the reader.

We should be fine, and we should definitely study the ring, but we are going to have to be cautious.
 
For Vlad's notes on the ring, is it worth passing on our suspicions as to the original creator of the ring whilst claiming we burnt the notes?
I think the play would be never suggesting the notes existed to begin with.

I don't know this character, but is it possible they aren't a vampire yet?
He had his own castle, and enough magical mojo and knowledge to put together a ritual to transport his castle halfway across the world.

I don't think he was young, but I suppose it's not impossible.
 
...
@Boney Is it reasonable/sensible to have a copy of the Creeping Flesh for us made by the Verenans as part of negotiations if we give it to them? From my pov, all it will cost them is the effort of transcribing it.

They get the shiny original book, while we get a copy of the information inside.
Already asked, it's about recognising their authority on the subject, so no.
 
and it didn't take long until you found the section of wall that gave way to a pull on a wall sconce and a hefty shove.
Eyyy. Finally Mathilde's dream has come true. A legitimate secret passage! And it even fits what her novels mention it is used for!
though you vaguely recall something about a vow of poverty that might object to that sort of thing.
Ha!


As long as we take the Enchantment notes, I am fine with anything else happening. That is the only loot I am greatly invested in.

On the Ironbreakers, only the gold is really something they want for themselves, so that seems like a lock to me too.
 
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Something something vow of poverty. We don't really need the money, and Zhufbar is plenty rich as it is.
... We also had help by the council... Dwarfs can say they eradicated some grudges but the council could do much more with the money.
Dwarfs came for grudges, they got grudges. Let's make new friends by giving the Council money.
The Council can't give us Kickflip Zone revolvers with Kickflip runes, Zufbar can...
 
Inclined to take the forbidden stuff, but probably trade away the flesh book to the Verenans to get a foot in the door for a library deal, as they probably have the juiciest non-public book collection that we could reasonably make a deal with. While I already think a dwarf hold really fits well with their preserve knowledge vibe, this should be enough to open negotiations from a more even field, rather than a disadvantage ( as our library is currently less prestigious/filled out than theirs)
 
Money for the dwarves, armarium for the morrites or the council, flesh tome for our library, fire for W'Soran's scrolls and the ring notes.

Sorry, necromancy faction.

Also, cleansing flame for those sheets, too.
 
Thori waits for further elaboration
Yeah, to most people the whole conversation about what the casters would contribute is just impenetrable jargon.

"Ah," you say, slapping it out as casually as you can. "Yes. That happens from time to time. It's a Zhufokri thing."
I suppose there would be no gain in explaining that the place is saturated in Dhar and Mathilde is the only one lucky enough to have it burst into flame rather than slowly poison her.

The medium of Dwarven whiskey delivers a payload of Aqshy into your mouth and then the world transforms into brightness and heat as the oversized fireball expels itself from your face and tears through the air directly upwards and into the torso of the dangling, oversized bat, and your senses return to a world that is filled with the shrieking of an enormous bat and the stench of burning fur as it falls flailing to the stone.
Once again we see the critical drawback of launching fire from your face.
In this case it means we didn't get to see what the 91 did.

the back third of a crossbow quarrel protruding from the back of its head. You don't hesitate in stepping forward and taking its head off before it has a chance to recover
Didn't think they could shrug off lethal wounds quite that quickly.

a scar earned in battle with a Vampire at Castle Drakenhof would bring much-needed prestige to the least-known son of Manhorak, and legitimacy to Ionel as His representative.
…I'm in two minds about the fact that the favour economy means paying someone in exposure actually isn't inherently terrible.

Are the Grudges considered inherited by the rest of the bloodline after too much time elapses without the culprit being sighted, or do they forever linger in limbo, an indelible weight on the Dwarven psyche?
That would be a great thing to look into… if we had taken Belegar's PR Loremaster job.
The eternal allure of the road not taken.

though you vaguely recall something about a vow of poverty that might object to that sort of thing.
That doesn't seem to have stopped us before.

[ ] [MONEY] Zhufbar
[ ] [MONEY] Council of Manhorak
[ ] [MONEY] You
Either of the other two is fine. They need it more than we do.

[ ] [SHEETS] Yes
[ ] [SHEETS] No
Silk or not I have no desire for used bedsheets.

[ ] [ARMARIUM] Cult of Morr
[ ] [ARMARIUM] Council of Manhorak
[ ] [ARMARIUM] Order of Guardians
[ ] [ARMARIUM] You
I would prefer to spend it on getting an agreement with another library rather than keep it ourselves.

[ ] [SCROLLS] Priory of the Spear
[ ] [SCROLLS] Templars
[ ] [SCROLLS] You
I really don't want more forbidden lore we can't actually use. Sell it and be done.

[ ] [FLESH] Cult of Verena
[ ] [FLESH] University of Altdorf
[ ] [FLESH] Cult of Morr
[ ] [FLESH] Council of Manhorak
[ ] [FLESH] You
Again, I would rather spend it on getting another library agreement than expand our library by a single, questionably forbidden, book.

[ ] [RING] Burn
[ ] [RING] Take
…what are the odds we could actually use the knowledge it contains? What are the odds we are actually going to do more enchanting?
 
Cleared out a Vampire, got a whole bunch of relevant B O O K, and suffered no casualties. I'm chalking this expedition up as an unmitigated win.

As for the loot, here are my thoughts:

[ ] [MONEY] Council of Manhorak

They could use it more than Zhufbar.

[ ] [SHEETS] No

Ew.

[ ] [ARMARIUM] You

Whole bunch of Esoteric books on Vampires, Undead, and Morr. Plus, people know that we set this whole thing up to get books for our library, it'll be less suspicious if they see us leave with something "officially".

[ ] [SCROLLS] You

More forbidden lore!

[ ] [FLESH] Cult of Verena

Getting a better book-sharing arrangement with the Cult of Verena will help LK8P more than having a single additional nice centrepiece item, I think.

[ ] [RING] Take

Obviously.
 
For Vlad's notes on the ring, is it worth passing on our suspicions as to the original creator of the ring whilst claiming we burnt the notes?

There's no way to launder that sort of information without Mathilde coming under a ridiculous amount of scrutiny for the foreseeable future.

Is this just a dhar-induced dream she had, or is it a reference I'm not getting?

One of Mathilde's objections to the use of Dhar is it takes eight beautiful and differing Winds and crushes them all into something ugly and monotone and undifferentiated. Mathilde's dream is pointing out that the same objection could be made about the military, where all these people with their own lives and hopes and dreams are rendered interchangeable and sent off to die. It might mean part of her actually believes that, or it might just be that she thinks that's the sort of argument that a Vampire would make.

That makes sense. If we were to make friends with any of the more academically-inclined groups and then negotiate a library-copying agreement with them, would such agreements cover politically-charged possessions like these, or any others they might have? I could see that going either way, even before the possibility that it might lead to unwanted double-dipping on rewards.

They can get you the shelf-fillers that provide numeric bonuses, but not the sort of notable and prestigious tomes that get named separately.

Didn't think they could shrug off lethal wounds quite that quickly.

When you're fighting a Vampire, conventional wisdom says that the only lethal wound is decapitation. It might have been killed by the bolt, or paralyzed, or even just stunned.
 
You find one cabinet curiously closed where every other hangs ajar and open it, and after considering the even more esoteric form of bedroom accoutrement stored within, you do as the preceding ransacker must have done and close it once more.
I bet the contents of that cabinet would be considered quite valuable to the right collector. I suppose whoever gets the money will have an interesting time selling the contents of that cabinet.

Anyway my thoughts

[ ] [MONEY] Zhufbar
[ ] [MONEY] Council of Manhorak
[ ] [MONEY] You

Zhufbar needs the money the least but is most able to make use of it, they also did a hell of a lot of work here so I'm tempted to reward them for that. Mathilde could certainly find some way to spend the money but there's no real need. Honestly I'm strongly considering Council of Manhorak here though. A major cash infusion would probably be pretty valuable for them along with the prestige. Putting more money into beating up the horrors in Sylvania seems like money well used.

Ultimately I think Zhufbar is the way to go here though. Looking through the earlier chapters it looks like our only payment was the promise of whatever we could kill or grab in the castle. While the trophies are certainly nice I think a nice cash reward is both well earned and a good way of encouraging others to join our future endeavors. If I'm wrong and they're being paid another way though this is less enticing to me.

[ ] [SHEETS] Yes
[ ] [SHEETS] No

May as well take them. If they're unsalvageable we can sell or otherwise get rid of them later.

[ ] [ARMARIUM] Cult of Morr
[ ] [ARMARIUM] Council of Manhorak
[ ] [ARMARIUM] Order of Guardians
[ ] [ARMARIUM] You

In this case while they'd make a nice boon to our library I'm strongly tempted to give them to the Council of Manhorak. Ionel's swamp water magic was pretty valuable here and if they're not otherwise getting paid I think they should get something nice for the help.

On further thought Ionel will be getting some mad prestige out of this and we did offer him some healing which he turned down for the chance to get a cool scar so I'm thinking the prestige is enough. I certainly wouldn't say no to making a generous donation later though and just keeping the books. That way the Council of Manhorak can get some physical reward and Mathilde can keep all the books to boost the library's prestige.

As for everything else we may as well just take it all. Grabbing books was our primary purpose after all.
 
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