So looking at the recent votes I understand that we need to prioritie acting like a commander, but can we please not forteg we have a bunch of dinosaur eggs that we have no idea how to care for and so may die if we don't get help from the Amber wizards this week .
So looking at the recent votes I understand that we need to prioritie acting like a commander, but can we please not forteg we have a bunch of dinosaur eggs that we have no idea how to care for and so may die if we don't get help from the Amber wizards this week .
If they are still alive from their trip from Lustria, which took place presumably on a boat, and still alive from their time in the market, all without the presumable care of Amber wizards, then they will probably still be alive after a week sequestered away in a carriage during the march.
In other words, if they are not dead yet, then another week without Amber wizards probably won't kill them.
If they are still alive from their trip from Lustria, which took place presumably on a boat, and still alive from their time in the market, all without the presumable care of Amber wizards, then they will probably still be alive after a week sequestered away in a carriage during the march.
In other words, if they are not dead yet, then another week without Amber wizards probably won't kill them.
Is not a matter of being in the care of Amber wizards, but of people who have a clue about what they are doing, we can expect the trader who brough then from Lustria to at least have a trained animal handler on staff who know how to keep eggs alive long term, we on the other hand have no idea whatsoever of what we are doing and will be the only one caring about the eggs if we don't ask for help, so there is a chance they may die due to our ignorant treatment.
Is not a matter of being in the care of Amber wizards, but of people who have a clue about what they are doing, we can expect the trader who brough then from Lustria to at least have a trained animal handler on staff who know how to keep eggs alive long term, we on the other hand have no idea whatsoever of what we are doing and will be the only one caring about the eggs if we don't ask for help, so there is a chance they may die due to our ignorant treatment.
We can not abandon helping with the teaching now because a mess up could hurt one of our Journeymanlings so lets finish that. We are having great success with the scouting so lets pick the one out of that group of options that best fits our skill set. The one that best fits us in my opinion is scouting the port.
We may by the commander of the wizard group but do not forget we are the best equipped scout with the army so we should not neglect that.
[X] Volunteer to ride ahead and scout this long-lost port.
[X] Have Ulthar handpick his best sharpshooters to be equipped with envenomed bolts.
[X] Continue to supervise the dispelling lessons.
[X] Work with them to see if your eggs can be encouraged to hatch.
[x] Help him find a place with the dwarf artillery crews so that he can supplement their abilities in combat.
[X] Introduce him to the dwarven smiths so he can try to convince them to teach him.
[X] Ask the smiths to teach him as a favour to you (-2 favours)
[X] Test their skills in battle.
[X] Continue to supervise the dispelling lessons.
[X] Introduce him to the dwarven smiths so he can try to convince them to teach him.
[X] Volunteer to ride ahead and scout this long-lost port.
[X] Have Ulthar handpick his best sharpshooters to be equipped with envenomed bolts.
[X] Continue to supervise the dispelling lessons.
[X] Work with them to see if your eggs can be encouraged to hatch.
[x] Help him find a place with the dwarf artillery crews so that he can supplement their abilities in combat.
[X] Introduce him to the dwarven smiths so he can try to convince them to teach him.
[X] Ask the smiths to teach him as a favour to you (-2 favours)
What exactly can ulgu contribute to egg hatching? It's an action sink. Between the Wolf training and the dispelling supervision we already have enough contact to know if the dinos are about to emerge.
What exactly can ulgu contribute to egg hatching? It's an action sink. Between the Wolf training and the dispelling supervision we already have enough contact to know if the dinos are about to emerge.
You can't tell whether there's life in them, and you have no idea whether it's on the way to hatching on its own or whether it will keep indefinitely or what.
We have these guys. They have these... talents. They're a bit weird, but sometimes they look at animals or something, and they can just kind of... tell, what the animal is going through, it's freaky. We could try asking them what's up with the eggs?
[X] Ulthar's Rangers and Petrescu's marksmen are continuing to range far to ensure that any greenskin that claps eyes on the Expedition don't live to tell the tale. Assist them further.
[X] You've heard that greatswords and greataxes are near identical in the way they're used, and you happen to be surrounded by experts in the art of the axe. Learn how to use one.
[X] Forces have been sent ahead once more to bridge a second inconvenient tributary; join them and aid in standing guard against any that may try to stop you.
[*] Continue to supervise the dispelling lessons.
[*] Volunteer to ride ahead and scout this long-lost port.
[*] Work with them to see if your eggs can be encouraged to hatch.
What Esbern lacks in magical vocabulary, he makes up for in shared experience with Seija. You're able to correct a number of assumptions the two of them have made and give them the proper terminology for what they're talking about, but their grasp of the fundamentals is quite solid and they communicate it well. Another couple of days of spare moments snatched between meals, marching and sleep is sufficient to fill in the gaps in Seija's knowledge, and by the time you leave the two of them her Ghur is quite able to gnaw away at magical formations. Not the most riveting way to spend a couple of days, but you've a feeling that soon enough you'll need all the dispelling manpower - even if it is only journeymanpower - you can get your hands on.
In the breaks taken from dispelling lessons, the two Amber Mages turn their attention to the eggs you bought in Barak Varr.
"Bird or reptile?" Esbern asks thoughtfully.
"Reptile. Lustrian, allegedly."
Esbern frowns. "Ah. Reptiles are something of an acquired taste."
Seija shakes her head. "Life is life, beasts are beasts." She picks one of them up and concentrates intently. "Some eggs hatch or die. Some eggs wait until conditions are appropriate. We shall see."
She stands transfixed by the egg until you're wondering if something's wrong, but Esbern looks unworried. "Life in an egg, if it has not grown beyond fertilization, is barely life at all," he explains. "Concentration can be required." You accept that with a shrug, and summon Wolf with a whistle to entertain you while you wait.
[Seija's communing with the egg: 81]
Finally, after over an hour, she stirs, suddenly thrusting the egg into Esbern's waiting hands with a shiver - a shiver of cold, rather than of horror, thankfully. "Too cold," she says. "Alive, but waiting for heat." She rubs her arms as she shifts from foot to foot. "Carnivore," she confirms. "Not apex. Not especially intelligent, but sharp senses."
The rest of the process of discovery is agonizingly slow, as the egg's temperature is changed while Seija communes with it, seeking to discover a preferred range. In the end, though, you have all the information you need to begin the growth of the eggs, though Seija says they've still barely begun growing so it will take some weeks.
---
When you volunteered to ride ahead, Belegar was sceptical until you told him your ability to make the 400-mile round trip in two to three days. Then he's all for it, and gives you the approximate location of the port and the relative location of the entrance to the Underways. With a copy of the map in hand, you leave Wolf with Esbern and Seija and set off along the north bank of the Blood River.
The first leg of the trip is simple - a force has already blazed the trail to have a bridge ready by the time the bulk of the Expedition arrives, and Ulthar and Petrescu's scouts are sweeping the area regularly. It's not until you reach the under-construction bridge, carefully cross the rickety wooden bridge that was built for tools and workers to cross to build the proper bridge, and go beyond those standing guard that you're truly ranging into enemy territory. Most maps would claim that this is still part of the Border Princes, but between the Ironclaw Orcs of the Iron Rock and the Night Goblins of Thunder Mountain, there's no Border Prince foolish enough to lay claim to the area.
[Venturing into the unknown: 4]
[Rolling for enemy...]
[Who spots who? 39 vs 21]
The land has been steadily rising and growing more and more treacherous as you ascend into the foothills of the World's Edge Mountains, the scant soil and hardy shrubs starting to give way to rock and no vegetation at all. There's a whiff of sulphur in the air, and the source is obvious: Thunder Mountain dominates the horizon, forever spewing smoke into the air.
It's because you were so captivated by the sight of the restless volcano that you caught sight of the creature before it of you; making its way along the hills between you and Thunder Mountain with footing as steady as your own shadowsteed, it resembles a centaur, but far too big even for those terrible creatures. Instead of a combination of a man and a horse, this seems to have the top half of an ogre and the bottom half of a dragon.
[Knowledge roll: Knowledge, Req 70, 61+20=81]
Someone with no knowledge of the creature is likely to stumble over its name by sheer accident, but you've read accounts of the Great War Against Chaos. Though most of your attention was reserved for the legalization of magic and the founding of the Colleges, you did read of the terrible chaos creatures that poured into the Empire as part of the horde of Asavar Kul. This is a Dragon Ogre - a member of an ancient race that, according to legend, gave themselves over to Chaos to avoid extinction, and now can die only in battle. They renew themselves atop mountain peaks during the most terrible of storms, and in doing so can live and grow indefinitely.
The habits of these creatures when they aren't despoiling the realms of man are little known. Does this creature live a solitary life, is he currently hunting for food? Given the massive axe he wields, it seems that if he's hunting, it's for goblin or orc rather than goat. Is he migrating from one mountain to another, seeking a higher peak to await the rejuvenating storms it relies upon? Or is it worse than that: is he a scout for a larger force of his horrible kin?
The creature moves swiftly, his taloned feet digging into sheer surfaces and propelling him up slopes that would give a goat pause. It won't be long until he's out of sight, and considering his speed and how jagged the terrain is, you don't like your chances of finding him again once lost. You must choose quickly how you'll react to this unexpected interloper.
[ ] If he's a scout, he cannot be allowed to live and alert some unknown number of his kin to the Expedition. Attack.
[ ] You don't know enough to make a decision one way or the other. Follow the creature and see if its actions shed light on its purpose.
[ ] Turn back and alert the Expedition to the creature, and the possibility of more.
[ ] Ignore the creature and press on. You've a port to scout.
[ ] Other (write in)
- His current course leads away from the path of the expedition, but there's no guarantee he'll stick to it.
Finally, after over an hour, she stirs, suddenly thrusting the egg into Esbern's waiting hands with a shiver - a shiver of cold, rather than of horror, thankfully. "Too cold," she says. "Alive, but waiting for heat." She rubs her arms as she shifts from foot to foot. "Carnivore," she confirms. "Not apex. Not especially intelligent, but sharp senses."
From her shiver, it looks like our egg is a cold one.
... Get it?
[X] If he's a scout, he cannot be allowed to live and alert some unknown number of his kin to the Expedition. Attack.
A dragon-ogre cannot be allowed to live! Let us smash him with our mighty greatsword!
Yeah fighting this thing is pretty suicidal, lets avoid doing that.
[X] You don't know enough to make a decision one way or the other. Follow the creature and see if its actions shed light on its purpose.
This logic isn't solid; we aren't anywhere near the Expedition, and he thus likely hasn't seen us or them. Killing scouts is the sort of thing that inspires recon in force, and we won't be back for days, so if we're concerned about concealing the Expedition from a theoretical dragon ogre clan then we shouldn't be attacking.
Aside from that, can we take a dragon ogre? We're pretty lacking in attack spells and I think dragon ogres are sword-resistant. I don't think we brought any of that nasty poison for personal use, either. We can likely confuse it, or make it run away, but those don't accomplish the goal of killing the thing. Why risk an engagement we don't even benefit from?
[ ] You don't know enough to make a decision one way or the other. Follow the creature and see if its actions shed light on its purpose.
While potentially useful, it could take a very long time until it does something interesting and it may never do so. Worse, it might spot itself being stalked and force an attack on its own terms, or lead us into an ambush.
[ ] Turn back and alert the Expedition to the creature, and the possibility of more.
Only a good choice if we're expecting the Expedition to run into them imminently, which we are not; Mathilde is super fast. It's very unlikely that the Expedition will get to this area before we return from the port in a couple days so we can just alert them then.
[ ] Ignore the creature and press on. You've a port to scout.
Leaves the dragon ogre to do its own thing... at least until we get back, at which point we can give the Expedition a full report and follow up on dragon ogres next turn if they are evaluated as a serious concern.
The choice here seems clear.
[x] Ignore the creature and press on. You've a port to scout.
