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

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Arbiter
Joined
Mar 14, 2012
Messages
320
MCA Project: Eternity
We can easily ask if we're needed for caravan preparations, and if not aid the investiation.
 

ScubaV

Prophet
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
1,022
Our objectives are twofold:

1) Be the literate person. That means making sure Kalz doesn't get scammed by documents (I'm sure he's savvy enough when it comes to verbal matters) and providing regular written reports.
2) Act as Lord Medah's eyes and ears in the area and report on unusual activity.

At this point the contract arrangements for the caravan are in place, I doubt Kalz needs us to read stuff for him. If I'm wrong, then I'd switch to 1. Thus objective #2 takes precedence. This whole centipede assassination thing is very unusual, and finding out who was involved beyond the merchant and the carpenters' guild head and why would be of great interest to Lord Medah. I'm sure Lord Tilash can update Lord Medah on anything he finds out, but discussing the matter with a first-hand witness (Kyoss) would be even more valuable. Plus, the more of a role we play in discovering more information the better we look.
 

m4davis

Scholar
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
557
Except if I remember correctly this is but the first in a multiple town trip our role is no were near done
 

oscar

Arcane
Joined
Aug 30, 2008
Messages
8,058
Location
NZ
1, we're a clerk and its time to drop the Sherlock Holmes stuff.
 

CappenVarra

phase-based phantasmist
Patron
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
2,912
Location
Ardamai
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.

This.

Also, send word to Kalz that things are much more serious here than we thought, explain the situation to him and get word back to Medah as soon as possible (via messenger). I.e. keep our superiors in the loop.

Then, ask Kalz how the caravan work is progressing, and whether he thinks we're more useful to Medah helping with current caravan preparations or investigating foreign agents who are waging a secret campaign of biological warfare against the kingdom :)

And yes, enemy agents are trying to sabotage the caravan - and we have to prevent that. The caravan must be organized, and we're not abandoning that (we're going on with the caravan when it's ready). However, while making sure that the already settled paperwork is in order does handle some risk, a plague of insta-death insects is also a pretty big risk, no?
 

CappenVarra

phase-based phantasmist
Patron
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
2,912
Location
Ardamai
Ok, more coffee kicking in :)

Assuming we have a full day to decide what to do, we should first go chat with Kalz and make sure the info is flowing upwards (as explained before). We should also ask him to keep an eye out for further suspicious activities - if some crafty supplier delivers 5% less goods than agreed, that's not nice - but it pales in comparison to what will happen if the caravan gets an additional shipment of insta-death centipedes. The enemy is trying to mess it up, and they don't have to necessarily be gone. Is anybody with or around the caravan suffering from similar symptoms as our recently deceased merchant traitor?

Then, we should ask his permission to continue with the investigation. We'll be leaving soon, but before we do we should really find out what those documents that got stolen were. If we can do that, we might be able to forsee and handle future problems / sabotages in other caravan stops. So, we should take that scrap of document with us, and get as much info about it from other merchants as possible. Assuming the lord investigator agrees etc. :)
 

Smashing Axe

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
2,835
Divinity: Original Sin
Ok, more coffee kicking in :)

Assuming we have a full day to decide what to do, we should first go chat with Kalz and make sure the info is flowing upwards (as explained before). We should also ask him to keep an eye out for further suspicious activities - if some crafty supplier delivers 5% less goods than agreed, that's not nice - but it pales in comparison to what will happen if the caravan gets an additional shipment of insta-death centipedes. The enemy is trying to mess it up, and they don't have to necessarily be gone. Is anybody with or around the caravan suffering from similar symptoms as our recently deceased merchant traitor?

Then, we should ask his permission to continue with the investigation. We'll be leaving soon, but before we do we should really find out what those documents that got stolen were. If we can do that, we might be able to forsee and handle future problems / sabotages in other caravan stops. So, we should take that scrap of document with us, and get as much info about it from other merchants as possible. Assuming the lord investigator agrees etc. :)
:bro:
 

Vernydar

Learned
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
579
Location
Italy
A couple of quick answers.
- The work with the caravan, as far as you can see, would not involve reading or anything else you are critical for. The merchandise is already gathered in the plaza. The problem lies in talking over with the people, smoothing things up, making repairs.
- Working with lord Tilash actually means partially interacting with the same people. Some of the ones that need to be questioned were going to leave WITH the caravan.

Basically, there is some overlapping between the two. It's more a matter of what you want to focus on. Whether you want to focus on getting the caravan prepared and save some time, or on finding out the truth and other possible accomplices. (and of course this changes which skills get some "experience points", but I suggest you choose based on what you think is more important....)
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
You know what I just remembered? The broken, slaughtered caravan we saw way back in the forest when we left the home village. Then, the ruined village itself. You know, I think the same might happen to this one. we need to take precautions, maybe even change it's route.
 

Vernydar

Learned
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
579
Location
Italy
You know what I just remembered? The broken, slaughtered caravan we saw way back in the forest when we left the home village. Then, the ruined village itself. You know, I think the same might happen to this one. we need to take precautions, maybe even change it's route.

Unfortunately, if you look at the map, there is ONE road from Strok to Bitak. And for a caravan to cut through a dense forest, well..

Anyway, early update cause I'm busy later tonight.
After an initial rally for 1) the tide turned. Option 2) wins 9 to 5. Also, taking note of all your suggestions.

Vote closed, writing up the update now
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
You know what I just remembered? The broken, slaughtered caravan we saw way back in the forest when we left the home village. Then, the ruined village itself. You know, I think the same might happen to this one. we need to take precautions, maybe even change it's route.

Unfortunately, if you look at the map, there is ONE road from Strok to Bitak. And fora caravan to cut through a dense forest, well..

Anyway, early update cause I'm busy later tonight.
After an initial rally for 1) the tide turned. Option 2) wins 9 to 5. Also, taking note of your suggestions. Vote closed, writing up the update now
Aw...AW SHIT!
 

Vernydar

Learned
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
579
Location
Italy
Note: no excerpt and no training in these days of investigation because you're working 24/7 on this case.

43 – An investigation, a reunion, and a decision

After much debating, and considering what type of work is required to help reassemble the caravan, you decide you would be more useful trying to help with the investigation. Personally you're convinced that those... enemies want to sabotage the caravan somehow. You do however give some suggestions to Kalz and to Lord Tilash.

You suggest to send a message to Lord Medah, but you discover that it has already been done. Lord Tilash also agrees to your suggestion to inspect very carefully the caravan, and to check very well everyone who will leave with it. You certainly do not want someone to try to smuggle some of the centipedes to Bitak. Also, Lord Tilash informs you that a contingent of troops will arrive shortly and that he will assign them to escort the caravan. He's also requesting more reinforcements from the King and from Bitak, but they will not arrive in time for the departure.

You final suggestion is to try to learn more about the stolen documents. Surely something important must be written there considering that they seem to be one of the main reasons for the murder. Lord Tilash will send a request to the Royal Courier Service, in order to discover who sent them, and then try to inquire more in depth about them. But this could take quite a while, you're not going to see the results before you leave with Kalz and the caravan.

And so, in the next few days, you help the investigation by talking with merchants and carpenters, searching houses and buildings and in general trying to discover more information. You do manage to help Lord Tilash obtain two other important clues.

First, a few of the carpenters confess and tell what they know. You discover that a few of them did know of this plan, at least partly. They did not know about the assassination or the centipedes, but they did know that the carpenter's guild head wanted to sabotage the caravan. He gave them a few reasons for this, but they mainly have to do with earning more money and gaining more influence. You guess he simply used them.

And then you find a few small centipedes in glass containers in that man's house. The old healer takes two, one to keep and study, the other to send to the capital with Lord Tilash's recommendation in hope that someone knows more about them at the court. You also discover that there glass containers were indeed scheduled to be loaded onto the caravan headed for Bitak, had the caravan managed to depart.

These few days pass slowly as you work intensely, but there are two noteworthy events.

The day after the assassination, the soldiers return. They report that they found the carpenter's body, dismembered and half-eaten in the forest. There was a huge hole in the ground nearby, and also signs of quite a few mounted men. This corroborates your tale of what happened at Qoor, and so Lord Tilash is convinced that you were not exaggerating earlier. Still, it also means that your main witness is now dead, and that a centipede and some of those soldiers at least are close to Strok, hiding into the forest. And this is very bad news. The soldiers did a rather superficial scouting of the area, and then came back leaving the body there. You really can't blame them for being scared of what they saw...

Also, a few days later there's a terrible thunderstorm, lasting a few hours. It is a terrifying event that shakes the entire village, slowing down the caravan by at least a day, and scaring more than one man. Tens of lightnings strike the area, mainly not far to the south of the village from what you can see. Luckily the few farms of Strok were not hit too bad.

Eventually the week comes to an end. During dinner Kalz informs you that the caravan should be ready the day after tomorrow, and so you go to bed planning what to do the last day of your stay here. But in the morning, things change again.

A lone rider arrives shortly after dawn, and is ushered in the room where you're having breakfast. It's Irene, and from her appearance she must have traveled rather fast. She brings a letter to Lord Tilash, and you notice that he doesn't even ask her who she is. You guess he must know her already. The lord does not disclose to you what's written in that letter...

She greets you and Kalz, and says that she's here for a bit for the investigation. As such she asks you to tell her in detail what happened. You oblige and tell her all the facts you discovered, but....

Do you want to tell her some theories, or not? This is an open choice, if you have theories you want to tell her, please write them. Can't give you options here, I don't know what you guys think :)

Also, how do you plan to pass the last day in Strok, considering you leave with the caravan tomorrow?
A) Check the caravan one last time, make sure everything is in order
B) If she lets you, stay with Irene, help her if possible, and if not watch and learn
C) Pass your time with Lord Tilash, try to sum up everything that was discovered. You might also make a good impression, who knows
D) Take the day off. Relax in the tavern, you need it
E) Other. Make a proposal, put a letter on it.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
A.
As for theories: this city is already lost, unless Medah's army is hiding somewhere nearby. I think that this is them just softening up the town, gathering and saving any useful intel they can find before razing it. Excluding mind control, the Centipede Overlords have promised the head carpenter the kingdom plus a harem, used him and then killed him.
 

Clotstein

Augur
Joined
Jul 17, 2012
Messages
128
Location
At the back of your skull.
B_

It is our duty to young Kyoss to aid him in his quest for a "Oh! Kyoss, you're so smart! Please make my anus bleed!" moment with Irene.
oh, and solve the riddle of who is using centipedes to chest burst the whole fucking kingdom and stuff.


Theories:
this city is already lost, unless Medah's army is hiding somewhere nearby. I think that this is them just softening up the town, gathering and saving any useful intel they can find before razing it. Excluding mind control, the Centipede Overlords have promised the head carpenter the kingdom plus a harem, used him and then killed him.
 

Bloodshifter

Educated
Joined
Jul 7, 2012
Messages
542
Location
Somewhere with dead bears
B if she refuses A

Theories: Centipedes will overrun the town soon if Tilash can't find the nest or the "overlords" which are most likely to the south where the lighting struck I suggest he and his people evacuate at least bringing enough food to last until they can reach the next town if nothing comes of it then they can simply move back.

It's Qoor all over again.
 

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