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Choose your path to greatness, obscurity or death. A multiple choice LP

Smashing Axe

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
2,835
Divinity: Original Sin
Changing vote in light of what CappenVarra said. Suspect chest burster on merchant, be careful obviously when speaking with him. Maybe tell lord suspicions.

Yes
1
B
 

CappenVarra

phase-based phantasmist
Patron
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
2,912
Location
Ardamai
Yes
1
B

Lives are at stake and it would be a dick move not to warn the soldiers about what they're facing.

The suspect is drinking a lot, there could be something suspicious about it... What if an alien chestburster a giant centipede has been hatching is his body all this time, and it's about to get loose? I doubt the dead guy below expected such a fate (it seems to be a way for the invaders to cover up their tracks / eliminate the tools they used?), so I say keep a close eye on our suspect, maybe even ask him if anything strange happened to him that could lead to it - prove that the carpenter was just using him and that the best way to get back to him is to tell as much as he can - while he's still alive. Or perhaps he prefers to be burnt alive to kill the thing in him? *hint hint*
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
YES he is a Lord after all
2 if Tilash has extra men then send them to see if the tunnel is long.
C. The healer is better inspecting the cadaver and Lord Tilash better questioning the merchant.
 

Random Word

Arbiter
Joined
Mar 14, 2012
Messages
320
MCA Project: Eternity
He does know.


No, he doesn't. They're referring to the small black poisonous centipedes which were used to kill the merchant and the guard - they have no idea they can grow to be tens of meters long and burrow through the earth.
 

Bloodshifter

Educated
Joined
Jul 7, 2012
Messages
542
Location
Somewhere with dead bears
Yes
4-1 Ask the lord to pour molten metal down the hole that ought to piss off the wee beastie
E-1 we finished the case we should join back and help our own men instead of doing more useless crud
 

Vernydar

Learned
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
579
Location
Italy
Very well, vote closed.
Yes won almost unanimously
Second choice, 6 votes for 1), 7 for 2). So 2) is what you're going to suggest.
Third choice, A gets 8 votes. Second place is B with 3.

By the way, rest assured I keep track of everything you write, and of every proposal, even if it doesn't win.
For example, I'll keep in mind your suggestion to keep track of the merchant to see if something happens to him (Kyoss is certainly not familiar with alien chestbursters :P)
Same with the alternate options of not sending in the soldiers, and/or seal the hole through fire or molten metal :x

Off to write the update now.
 

Vernydar

Learned
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
579
Location
Italy
42 – A new morning

This is too much, you can't keep quiet about this any longer. You decide to tell Lord Tilash everything you know about the centipede and the foreign soldiers. You ask him if he can spare a moment, insisting it's very important. Then, after moving to a corner of the room, you explain him everything in a low voice. At first he seems incredulous, then his expression hardens. He starts asking some questions and for a moment you are worried he does not believe you. But then you realize he's just... unhappy about the fact you didn't tell him anything before.

You stress the fact that you didn't want to break Lord Medah's confidence and he seems to calm down. Then he moves back to the trapdoor and asks a few more questions to the soldiers. Finally, he drops down and motions for you to follow him.

As you enter the small treasury, you fight hard to keep control of your stomach. The stench is nauseating, and though there seem to be no centipedes here, the dismembered man still makes you shiver. The lord has also called the old healer, and so you all start to inspect the body. It seems to be the work of a rather large mouth, considering the scratches on the bones. You check carefully, but see no centipedes around. But you find three important clues.

First, the man has a broken glass container in what is left of his trousers. This is similar to what the old merchant had, so you suppose a poisonous centipede was in here, and it was probably the one who killed Herzil. Also, the man has the treasury's key in his pocket, and a bloodstained dagger in a small scabbard. It seems that this is indeed the assassin, everything fits in nicely. The old man also puts a name on him. It's one of the carpenters....

And finally, the man has some scrap of paper in his hand. At a closer inspection, considering the type of paper and the few words you can make out, it seems these were indeed part of the stolen documents. He probably had them in his tightly clenched fist, and someone or something ripped them out of his grip. A few broke, and this explains the scraps left here. So, the documents are gone, taken away through this subterranean passage. You search carefully but notice nothing else of significance

After some thinking, you suggest to Lord Tilash to send his men to explore the passage, see how long it is and where it ends. However he vehemently refuses.

"If what you told me is true, sending my men in is extremely dangerous! In such a narrow passage they could not even dodge. All the insect has to do is ram them over and they'll be dead, not even considering the poison! It is something I'd be willing to do only if it was vital, or if we were desperate. I can understand your enthusiasm Kyoss, but you need to learn cautiousness. I can't squander the lives of my men with no good reason. "

It seems you didn't make a very good impression with this, hopefully he will forget about this suggestion, or chalk it up to tiredness and the stressful day. You try to make amends by suggesting to have the opening sealed with metal, or maybe with an oil trap in case the centipede comes back. A guard should also be here all the time. He considers this, and nods saying these are better ideas...

You inspection complete, you decide to go and check on then old merchant. You noticed before that he seemed to be sweating and drinking a lot. As soon as you enter, you notice there's something wrong. He's red faced, he's sweating profusely and seems unfocused. The soldier doesn't care much about this, but you find it strange. You call the old healer, and you both inspect the man. He is feverish, and the old healer asks that he undresses. And there you see it, a huge, red bulge in the man's belly.... You consult with the old man, but neither of you has an idea of what that could be. He goes to take his books, while you keep watch here. The lord also comes, and he doesn't seem happy at all about this development.

And then, a few minutes later, it happens. Suddenly the man starts to scream, and you run by his side, unsure about what to do. He convulses and screams, and you see the bulge.. move? Then suddenly it explodes outwards in a gory mess, and out if it comes a veritable rain of small centipedes. The soldier screams, and even you lose your cool and start to stomp them down hysterically.

Other soldiers rush in, and soon all the centipedes are dead. You are under shock, and everyone else doesn't really seem to be faring better. The lord immediately orders that this body and the body in the treasury be cremated. He also looks at you, and orders you to go and get some sleep. You are too shocked and tired to protest. You go back to your room and fall asleep immediately.

The next morning you wake up, still a bit shaken by the previous day, and mechanically have some breakfast. You report to the lord and ask how things are going, and if maybe you can do something. Luckily he does not seem angry about your suggestions yesterday, but you still think you could have handled that better.

He tells you that there's nothing new, even the patrol is still not back. He plans to keep investigating by searching the carpenter's guild and the merchant's guild. He will also question all the involved parties, merchants and carpenters, and search their homes too. Basically it's going to be a rather long affair.

He does point out that you also have another task, you should help Kalz with the caravan. But the choice is yours.

What do you want to do in the coming days? (unless something happens, obviously)
  1. Help Kalz with the caravan
  2. Help the lord with the investigation
  3. Other. If there's something else you consider more important, make a proposal and put a number on it
Also is there any other suggestion you want to make? This is an open choice, if you have a proposal for the lord write it, and put a letter on it so I can keep track of the votes.

By the way, good catch Cappenvarra. As you suspected, the merchant was a goner from the start :)
Good thing you managed to question him before he died, and by keeping an eye on him avoided the small centipedes to disperse in the building.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
1, it's what we originally came here to do. Besides, I've a feeling that this city will be destroyed rather soon.

On another topic, how many times have we come close to death so far?
 

Bloodshifter

Educated
Joined
Jul 7, 2012
Messages
542
Location
Somewhere with dead bears
1 we don't owe the lord past the murders and he isn't planning on rewarding us for our half ass job
A Suggest to the lord to question the carpenter's who helped start the fight with the merchants and to go over the shipping manifests of the caravan very carefully one may be linked to this case.
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
Is there a lot of messengers going between towns? Maybe we should inform our Lord Medah about what has happened.

In the mean time, if Kalz needs our help, let't help him.

So 1.
 

ScubaV

Prophet
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
1,022
I'm going with 2. I think Lord Medah would rather have more information on a possible foreign threat than what little good we could do to speed up the caravan preparations. That said, once Kalz and his men are ready to depart we should go with them, assuming the investigations are going to take longer.

All in all, except for the suggestion of sending soldiers in the tunnel I think Inspector Kyoss did a pretty badass job. We figured everything out except for the ultimate source of this scheming, which we really couldn't do without the head of the carpenter's guild. If we hadn't gotten involved and it was just up to that one soldier that blamed the secretary they would have gotten off scot-free.
 

Vernydar

Learned
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
579
Location
Italy
On another topic, how many times have we come close to death so far?

You have been close to injuries, or sticky situations, a few times. Close to death only once for now, but I won't say where :P

I will take this opportunity to remember you all that I will not kill you for something you cannot possibly know to be dangerous. You may end up injured, captive, or in all sort of situations, but not dead unless you deserve it.

A couple of examples.
If you open an unremarkable door in a place you think to be safe, I will generally not kill you. You may end up in a world of trouble, but not instantly dead. If you do open the door to the Summoning Room in the Temple of Evil instead, well, I hope you're prepared to confront whatever might be behind it....
If you pick a fight with a poorly dressed drunk in a tavern, I'll not just kill you even if he is a grandmaster of unarmed combat with anger issues. It would be stupidly punitive. But if you do charge alone at that company of soldiers, well...

Basically, generally I will not kill you unless you do something stupid, careless, or unless you misjudge the situation and pick some very wrong option. But you can still easily end up injured, maimed, captive, or anything else :p
 

Collage

Educated
Joined
Jul 13, 2012
Messages
59
If anything urgent needs to be done with the caravan we should help Kalz, but if not we should help in the investigation.
 

Kz3r0

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2008
Messages
27,026
2 Help the lord with the investigationI don't understand why people want to waste time with the caravan when seems that foreign agents are waging a secret campaign of biological warfare against the kingdom.
 

Random Word

Arbiter
Joined
Mar 14, 2012
Messages
320
MCA Project: Eternity
2 - Our only job related to the caravan was reading documents, and any that need reading can be brought to us. We can contribute far more to the investigation.
 

m4davis

Scholar
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
557
I think you people are forgetting that we are working for lord Medah no one else. Helping this investigation doesn't help us it makes us a target to assassins as well as making us abandon our duty. not to mention that we are supposed to prevent the commander from getting scammed and they can't afford to at least triple the amount of time it would take to get the materials for the walls by having us check everything from back here.
 

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