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I think it's possibble that the magic isn't being stored for any future event, but might be being actively used to make sure that the Vlag-Be-Gone spell sustains itself. For instance, perhaps rather than simply vanishing in one super-huge ritual, whatever happened here instead draws power from the waystone to keep Vlag vanished. And if this flow were somehow interrupted Vlag would return to existance.

And even if not, if this has been going to over 200 years by now, I doubt they're going to waste their accumulated bounty on our expedition. More likely they're saving it for something specific, or a much bigger opportunity than this. Only reason they would use it now would be if they realize we've figured things out and it becomes a use it or lose it situation.
 
Also, am I correct in my reading that the Waystone here is the thing being exploited for its magic? If so, can she give an explanation for what's happening that doesn't involve revealing a High King Secret?

Karag Dum's Waystone is sending magic here to where, presumably, Karak Vlag's Waystone once collected its own magic and sent it all towards Karaz-a-Karak. But Karak Vlag's Waystone is gone and Karag Dum's magic is being used or collected for something. Mathilde is trusted enough by Dwarves that 'really bad magic bullshit' is explanation enough.
 
She tuts. "Would rather not. Save as much strength for the Za-Goblet as possible. But if I must, I must. No goblet if Expedition is destroyed." She tilts her head and looks at you thoughtfully. "A question for you, since you have so many for me. You serve the Trickster, yha?"

Apparently not very well if she already knows that. "I do."

"A message, then. Tell Him that the Widow may be willing to forgive, and that He should send a representative to discuss."

You feel a sliver of wary attention to turn your way. "I take it He'll know how to go about that?"

"Yha. Friends in common, you could say."

"I'll pass it along." No need to tell her that He already heard.

Hohohohohoooo, Matty is the messenger in this case, it seems.


Also, HOLY FUCK THAT WHOLE MOUNTAIN IS AN ANTI-MEME.

I believe we should either beat it, or try to hold for a few minutes, Not sure which.
 
I think it's possibble that the magic isn't being stored for any future event, but might be being actively used to make sure that the Vlag-Be-Gone spell sustains itself. For instance, perhaps rather than simply vanishing in one super-huge ritual, whatever happened here instead draws power from the waystone to keep Vlag vanished. And if this flow were somehow interrupted Vlag would return to existance.
That'd be nice.

I doubt it, but still, if that was the case...


Belegar: "Mathilde, I sent you to discover the fate of a lost Hold..."

Mathilde: "Yes? That's what I did."

Belegar: "Yes. Twice."
 
[X] Run like hell
[X] Stand your ground

again, playing it cool only really works when you know something is going to happen before it happens, and you have time to turn things on the assholes.

if things are already in motion, then your just slowing yourself down.
 
If we blow horns and call Deathfang and his plus one here, now, and start poking at the source of its power then we put it on the backfoot. If it starts to use these energies for something than Mathilde can maybe dispel or disrupt. If it tries to do nothing, that gives her more time to poke at its power and call the other wizards in to poke at its power.
I don't understand what you want to poke at.

The source of the power is under vast amounts of stone and Mathilde has no way to get at it. We have no idea where the power is flowing or who is using it, so we can't strike at that, either. If the big bad whatever doesn't want a confrontation, it can simply wait until Mathilde has too leave. And if it does want a confrontation, then it is because it thinks that this time and place is favourable to it, which is bad news for us.

I am not sure what the best option is, but I don't think it's a good idea to call our troops to us when we have no idea what to do with them.

[X] Act normal
[X] Run like hell
 
Man, I am really wishing we had a Runelord along with us, to be able to consult on things with. Real shame the rolls didn't work out for that though.

Having Kragg or Thorek along, to be able to give a second opinion on WTF is going on, would be excellent.
 
Man, I am really wishing we had a Runelord along with us, to be able to consult on things with. Real shame the rolls didn't work out for that though.

Having Kragg or Thorek along, to be able to give a second opinion on WTF is going on, would be excellent.
while usually having a grampy old runelord is helpful.

I think we are far too deep in Mathys wheelhouse for them to help.

also, @BoneyM, is this the usual 24+ vote time, or is it shorter?

do I go to sleep? (or, well, try.)
 
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Alright, so the way I see it the first and last options are the better choices. 'Run like hell' seems like the worst of both worlds. Acting normal would give us time to plan but frankly besides our dragon and elf pal nobody nearby will be able to make a better-educated guess and help is too far to seek. Also, I reckon that when it comes time to deal with the issue we will have to make our way back here, which would almost certainly tip off whoever is inside and give them time to prepare. So despite my overwhelming tendency towards caution, I'm going to advocate:

[X] Stand your ground

We know the other guy can potentially hit hard, so we need to try to hit them first.
 
- Snorri has a horn, you have Illusion to make the same sound except louder. Asarnil can be here within a couple of minutes, and the Knights soon after that. Stand your ground and see if you can disrupt anything that might happen.
@BoneyM, could you shed some light on this? Is Mathilde's belief "I think that the Bad Shit might try to do stuff while we're here on site, so let's get backup here right now" or is it "There is Bad Shit and I want backup while I poke at it"? The "see if you can disrupt anything that might happen" bit seems to be being read in two separate ways by people in the thread: some people are reading it proactively ("try to take action against the accumulated badness") and some reactively ("I think it'll start acting up real soon and maybe together we can stop it").
 
This is either going to end really well, or really badly. Either way, It's going to be fun, and Mathy will get a whole lot more fame and favor for figuring out what happened to the extra Karak.

[X] Stand your ground
 
@BoneyM, could you shed some light on this? Is Mathilde's belief "I think that the Bad Shit might try to do stuff while we're here on site, so let's get backup here right now" or is it "There is Bad Shit and I want backup while I poke at it"? The "see if you can disrupt anything that might happen" bit seems to be being read in two separate ways by people in the thread: some people are reading it proactively ("try to take action against the accumulated badness") and some reactively ("I think it'll start acting up real soon and maybe together we can stop it").

Reactively. 'Poke it and see what happens' isn't on the list of options, but you can write it in if you like.
 
[ ] Stand your ground
- Snorri has a horn, you have Illusion to make the same sound except louder. Asarnil can be here within a couple of minutes, and the Knights soon after that. Stand your ground and see if you can disrupt anything that might happen.
I am favoring this. In about all cases it is better to stop the enemy's plan from coming to completion. Also thinking we might manage another mugging if we are lucky.

[X] Stand your ground
 
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[X] Act normal

Whatever's going on here, it seems unlikely this is the first investigation that's come here. If they think it failed, there's a good chance they leave us be, and we can come back with a better suited force much later to disrupt whatever chaos mess this place has become.
 
[X] Act normal
- There might be unfriendly eyes on you. Pretend you didn't see anything and return to the Expedition as normal, and decide what to do from there.
 
Someone's doing something with a buttload of magic. The 'someone' is Chaos because nobody else could be juggling that much magic. The 'something' is therefore bad, and the Ancient Widow gave them an excellent reason to think there might be an excellent opportunity to do badness to something important this season.
/Laughs in High Elf (while desperately holding the Great Vortex open)
/Laughs even harder in Slann (while juggling continents)

Still probably Chaos, but more for location than capability.

I'm against the quiet option. Whatever this is, it is putting a fair amount of effort into being subtle. Going along with that seems unwise. Between poking it and rushing back… I'm for leaving. We don't know that this is a threat to the expedition and even if it is being further away from Vlag when it triggers is a good idea. Additionally poking a warp portal seems like a great way to commit suicide.

I've had it in mind for a while but it wasn't compatible with some of the Karag Dum scenarios. I did the role for which one is the case when I started writing the Karak Vlag portion of the update.
So it was a Schrodinger's Mountain.

Also it should be noted that Mathilde now knows something of the condition of Karag Dum. At minimum it is intact enough to still be sending power down the Waystone connection.

[X] Run like hell
 
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