- Joined
- Dec 29, 2011
- Messages
- 2,835
I agree with everything CappenVarra just said.
-
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Choose your path to greatness, obscurity or death. A multiple choice LP
- Thread starter Vernydar
- Start date
Bloodshifter
Educated
no that was what I was asking just needed to clarify the rules for it
TOME
Cuckmaster General
- Joined
- May 25, 2012
- Messages
- 1,820
I am in a bit of a quandary here. Normally I'd write an update in a couple of hours, but there's not much consensus on what to do.
Let me try to recap. You are at the crossroad south of Strok. You are bound east, to Nokos. The caravan is bound south and then west, towards Bitak. The proposals up to now are:
1 - Disperse some scouts into the woods, behind and in front of us, about five men to both sides. 2 votes. I'd like if possible a clarification if you want to stay here, wait for the reports and then move to nokos if the coast is clear, Baltika9 and Collage . Or something else?
2 - Go to Nokos but request 3 or 4 guards just in case. 1 vote by m4davis
3 - Leave one scout behind by ScubaV . I assume the caravan and your group should move towards their destinations normally while the scout stays here
4 - Leave immediately for Nokos by Monty. It's not clear to me if the scouts you're talking about should be on the caravan's side? Or you mean, have some scouts for Kyoss's group?
5 - Scouts towards the place the center of the storm hit the hardest. And go with them. CappenVarra, Smashing Axe, And TOME
Bloodshifter, which of these ideas for scouts do you support?
And Kz3r0, you voted for the wrong update
Waiting for your vote if you see this.
I can combine a few of them, but not all so I'd like clarifications. For example, I could combine 1, 2 and 5, or in alternative, 2,3 and 4. Also if other people vote, please make clear what you want to do. Thanks.
I hope I can make an update this evening, but it's a bit of an unclear vote right now.
Let me try to recap. You are at the crossroad south of Strok. You are bound east, to Nokos. The caravan is bound south and then west, towards Bitak. The proposals up to now are:
1 - Disperse some scouts into the woods, behind and in front of us, about five men to both sides. 2 votes. I'd like if possible a clarification if you want to stay here, wait for the reports and then move to nokos if the coast is clear, Baltika9 and Collage . Or something else?
2 - Go to Nokos but request 3 or 4 guards just in case. 1 vote by m4davis
3 - Leave one scout behind by ScubaV . I assume the caravan and your group should move towards their destinations normally while the scout stays here
4 - Leave immediately for Nokos by Monty. It's not clear to me if the scouts you're talking about should be on the caravan's side? Or you mean, have some scouts for Kyoss's group?
5 - Scouts towards the place the center of the storm hit the hardest. And go with them. CappenVarra, Smashing Axe, And TOME
Bloodshifter, which of these ideas for scouts do you support?
And Kz3r0, you voted for the wrong update
Waiting for your vote if you see this.I can combine a few of them, but not all so I'd like clarifications. For example, I could combine 1, 2 and 5, or in alternative, 2,3 and 4. Also if other people vote, please make clear what you want to do
. Thanks.I hope I can make an update this evening, but it's a bit of an unclear vote right now.
Clotstein
Augur
5_
*EDIT*
Silent Kyoss, please, leave it to my imagination.
*EDIT*
Silent Kyoss, please, leave it to my imagination.
Bloodshifter
Educated
1 and head towards Bitak with the caravan didn't mean to confuse
Kalin
Unwanted
4. Better stick with the mission and leave the scouting matters to Kalz.
As for adding actual dialogue for the protagonist, I much prefer the current system.
As for adding actual dialogue for the protagonist, I much prefer the current system.
Monty
Arcane
I don't think we can afford to delay, and our orders are to go with Kalz to Nokos not Bitak, so my vote is to do that.
As far as the scouts go, I was agreeing with the ideas put forward by others that it might be worth having a couple of scouts ahead / to the side of our main party so we run less risk of being ambushed (given the recent events on this road and the attacks on previous caravans) but this depends on available manpower (both our group and the caravan). I agree that the lightning is suspicious and probably related to our adversaries in some way, but I just don't think we can dash off into the forest on a different mission given what we've been asked to do by Lord Medah.
As far as the scouts go, I was agreeing with the ideas put forward by others that it might be worth having a couple of scouts ahead / to the side of our main party so we run less risk of being ambushed (given the recent events on this road and the attacks on previous caravans) but this depends on available manpower (both our group and the caravan). I agree that the lightning is suspicious and probably related to our adversaries in some way, but I just don't think we can dash off into the forest on a different mission given what we've been asked to do by Lord Medah.
Random Word
Arbiter
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2012
- Messages
- 320
5 Investigate the storm, then head to Nokos
Very well, I'm closing the vote. Thanks to the clarifications and the new votes, we now have a majority. We have 6 votes for option 5, and 3 votes for option 1. Since they are rather similar, I will opt for a mix of the two. So you will suggest that about ten people should scout around to check things... and that a few move towards the place where the storm was most intense, and Kyoss will try to be with those.
And then... read and find out, I'm off to write the update now
Thanks again to all who voted.
Also, "silent Kyoss" is for now the preferred option by a rather vast majority. I'm actually happy about this, considering it's the way I've run things till now
And then... read and find out, I'm off to write the update now
Thanks again to all who voted.
Also, "silent Kyoss" is for now the preferred option by a rather vast majority. I'm actually happy about this, considering it's the way I've run things till now
No worries. It is the choice that won, more or less
Almost done with the update... just a few more minutes..There will be quite a few choices to take at the end of this update. My suggestion is: think very carefully about them
45 – An acrid smell
As the caravan tries to create a semblance of order in the camp, you seek out Kalz. You find him talking to some soldiers, and ask if you can have a word with him. He agrees, and soon you move to a quiet corner.
You tell him that what happened just now is really strange. This storm was very violent and quite similar to what happened at Strok a few days ago. It may be a long stretch, but while the caravan is preparing to move out, you would like to have some scouting done in the surrounding zone. You are particularly interested in the place where the thunderstorm hit the hardest, it's not far away. You estimate about a hour's march at most. Oh, and you would like to go with the scouts, and see that place....
Kalz is a bit surprised at your request, but in the last month he has learned to listen to your suggestions. They are, after all, often rather sound. As such he agrees, but only if you promise him you'll be careful. There will be ten scouts, looking around in all directions and with orders to come back in about two hours. Three of them will go towards the place where the center of the thunderstorm struck, and you will go with them. He underlines once again that he wants you to take no risks. You are to come back if you find anything threatening. You can pick whomever you want.
You choose two soldiers from the caravan's escort, plus the man from Kalz's command that is teaching you the sword. You reason that at least you know he's very good with it, and that can only help should you meet trouble. You take a horse with you, and set a brisk pace westward. The men seem a bit nervous but they have been ordered to follow your indications and so they do not protest.
You try to make sure that your small party advances as silently as possible, while keeping to the densest patches of forest, just in case something is out there. For about half an hour the travel is rather uneventful, then suddenly an acrid stench hits your nostrils. You are perplexed but see one of the soldiers making a worried face, and you ask him what he thinks.
"I smelled something like this on a battlefield, ten years ago. This is the stench of burnt flesh that has been hit by the rain." You ask him why such a smell would be here, but he just shrugs confused. You wonder for a second whether or not you should go forward.... but you still have not seen anything, and so you decide to march on.
You walk for another five minutes. The stench is getting stronger and stronger, the horse seems more and more nervous, and you're starting to wonder if you should really go on. Then suddenly you find yourself in a rather large, irregular clearing, and you just stand there, paralyzed by surprise.
The clearing seems rather new. There are a lot of uprooted trees, torn branches, and blotches of mud splattered all over. A few trees are still burning low, others are smoking.
They lay there, amongst the downed trees. Men, more than ten of them, lie down on the ground, like puppets whose strings have been cut. And with them, an equal number of horses. The stench of burnt flesh is overwhelming, and you see that the closest ones are charred almost beyond recognition. It seems clear to you that they were all hit by the lightnings. Maybe repeatedly so.
And there, in the middle of the clearing, lies a giant, black centipede. Even from here you can see the disheveled ground around it, the terrible signs of its death throes. The centipede is still smoking in multiple places. It looks like it was hit multiple times by lightning.
One of the soldiers falls to his knees
"It is the will of Adsal! Surely our god must have decided to put an end to such a foul creature! Praise Adsal!"
Personally, you are not sure what to think. But you reason that Kalz will want to see this, and so you send one of the soldiers back to call him. After all it would be impossible to order the soldiers to keep silent, so you don't even try. In the meanwhile, you slowly, carefully make your way around the clearing, looking around without entering the trashed area. You are especially careful in case there's some centipedes around. But you cannot contain your curiosity.
Kalz arrives in just thirty minutes along with five other soldiers. You guess they must have pushed their horses very hard. He looks at the giant centipede and then pales. It is one thing to be told of a giant centipede, and another to see one in the flesh. The soldiers are mostly shocked, some are even praying, but he barks orders until they all snap out of it. Quickly he comes over to your place, in order to consult with you. You think your suggestions will be most likely accepted this time, after all you're the "expert" here.
In these last thirty minutes you tried to discover as much as you could, but without entering the clearing there were not really many clues to be found. You did find out a couple of things though. You confirmed that these men are definitely the same as those foreign soldiers you saw back at Qoor. They are rather pale, heavily armed and armored and they wear those unfamiliar clothes. Also, one of them has those strange tattoos on his face, the same of the man that seemed to... communicate with the centipede.
And you also found a few other smaller centipedes, half hidden by the foliage and the fallen trees. While smaller than the huge, dead monster, they are still longer than a human arm. But they are all dead, burned by lightning.
Now is the time for important choices Kyoss, what are you going to suggest? Keep in mind that you will surely have to report this to Jacob as well.
About this clearing:
A) The caravan should go on towards Bitak. An ambush is more unlikely now, better take this chance
B) The caravan should stay here and support you while you investigate
C) The caravan should go back to Strok, going forward is too dangerous
D) Other, make a proposal, put a letter on it.
Who should you send a letter to?
W) Send a letter to Jacob only, nobody else but him and Lord Medah should know about this
X) Send a letter to Jacob, and another to Lord Tilash. He should know as well
Y) Do not send a letter, such information should not be written down where others can read it. You'll tell him personally later on
Z) Other. Make a proposal if you have one
Where will you go after this?
a) It was your god, Adsal, who struck down these enemies. Praise his name!
b) Surely some supernatural beast or creature must have preyed upon these people!
c) You remember the fairy tales you were told as a child! Surely wizards and witches exist, and one of them did this!
d) None of the above, it was just an almost incredible coincidence.
e) You have no idea, and feel very unsettled because of this!
f) Other, write down what you think it was, put a letter on it.
45 – An acrid smell
As the caravan tries to create a semblance of order in the camp, you seek out Kalz. You find him talking to some soldiers, and ask if you can have a word with him. He agrees, and soon you move to a quiet corner.
You tell him that what happened just now is really strange. This storm was very violent and quite similar to what happened at Strok a few days ago. It may be a long stretch, but while the caravan is preparing to move out, you would like to have some scouting done in the surrounding zone. You are particularly interested in the place where the thunderstorm hit the hardest, it's not far away. You estimate about a hour's march at most. Oh, and you would like to go with the scouts, and see that place....
Kalz is a bit surprised at your request, but in the last month he has learned to listen to your suggestions. They are, after all, often rather sound. As such he agrees, but only if you promise him you'll be careful. There will be ten scouts, looking around in all directions and with orders to come back in about two hours. Three of them will go towards the place where the center of the thunderstorm struck, and you will go with them. He underlines once again that he wants you to take no risks. You are to come back if you find anything threatening. You can pick whomever you want.
You choose two soldiers from the caravan's escort, plus the man from Kalz's command that is teaching you the sword. You reason that at least you know he's very good with it, and that can only help should you meet trouble. You take a horse with you, and set a brisk pace westward. The men seem a bit nervous but they have been ordered to follow your indications and so they do not protest.
You try to make sure that your small party advances as silently as possible, while keeping to the densest patches of forest, just in case something is out there. For about half an hour the travel is rather uneventful, then suddenly an acrid stench hits your nostrils. You are perplexed but see one of the soldiers making a worried face, and you ask him what he thinks.
"I smelled something like this on a battlefield, ten years ago. This is the stench of burnt flesh that has been hit by the rain." You ask him why such a smell would be here, but he just shrugs confused. You wonder for a second whether or not you should go forward.... but you still have not seen anything, and so you decide to march on.
You walk for another five minutes. The stench is getting stronger and stronger, the horse seems more and more nervous, and you're starting to wonder if you should really go on. Then suddenly you find yourself in a rather large, irregular clearing, and you just stand there, paralyzed by surprise.
The clearing seems rather new. There are a lot of uprooted trees, torn branches, and blotches of mud splattered all over. A few trees are still burning low, others are smoking.
They lay there, amongst the downed trees. Men, more than ten of them, lie down on the ground, like puppets whose strings have been cut. And with them, an equal number of horses. The stench of burnt flesh is overwhelming, and you see that the closest ones are charred almost beyond recognition. It seems clear to you that they were all hit by the lightnings. Maybe repeatedly so.
And there, in the middle of the clearing, lies a giant, black centipede. Even from here you can see the disheveled ground around it, the terrible signs of its death throes. The centipede is still smoking in multiple places. It looks like it was hit multiple times by lightning.
One of the soldiers falls to his knees
"It is the will of Adsal! Surely our god must have decided to put an end to such a foul creature! Praise Adsal!"
Personally, you are not sure what to think. But you reason that Kalz will want to see this, and so you send one of the soldiers back to call him. After all it would be impossible to order the soldiers to keep silent, so you don't even try. In the meanwhile, you slowly, carefully make your way around the clearing, looking around without entering the trashed area. You are especially careful in case there's some centipedes around. But you cannot contain your curiosity.
Kalz arrives in just thirty minutes along with five other soldiers. You guess they must have pushed their horses very hard. He looks at the giant centipede and then pales. It is one thing to be told of a giant centipede, and another to see one in the flesh. The soldiers are mostly shocked, some are even praying, but he barks orders until they all snap out of it. Quickly he comes over to your place, in order to consult with you. You think your suggestions will be most likely accepted this time, after all you're the "expert" here.
In these last thirty minutes you tried to discover as much as you could, but without entering the clearing there were not really many clues to be found. You did find out a couple of things though. You confirmed that these men are definitely the same as those foreign soldiers you saw back at Qoor. They are rather pale, heavily armed and armored and they wear those unfamiliar clothes. Also, one of them has those strange tattoos on his face, the same of the man that seemed to... communicate with the centipede.
And you also found a few other smaller centipedes, half hidden by the foliage and the fallen trees. While smaller than the huge, dead monster, they are still longer than a human arm. But they are all dead, burned by lightning.
Now is the time for important choices Kyoss, what are you going to suggest? Keep in mind that you will surely have to report this to Jacob as well.
About this clearing:
- You should investigate it, it's a rare opportunity. It will take mostly a day or two.
- You should not investigate it, it's too dangerous
- You should not investigate it. Just write Jacob that someone should be sent here to investigate
- Other. Make a proposal, put a number on it
A) The caravan should go on towards Bitak. An ambush is more unlikely now, better take this chance
B) The caravan should stay here and support you while you investigate
C) The caravan should go back to Strok, going forward is too dangerous
D) Other, make a proposal, put a letter on it.
Who should you send a letter to?
W) Send a letter to Jacob only, nobody else but him and Lord Medah should know about this
X) Send a letter to Jacob, and another to Lord Tilash. He should know as well
Y) Do not send a letter, such information should not be written down where others can read it. You'll tell him personally later on
Z) Other. Make a proposal if you have one
Where will you go after this?
- Travel towards Nokos as planned
- Go back to Strok
- Change course towards Bitak
- Other. Make a proposal if you have one
a) It was your god, Adsal, who struck down these enemies. Praise his name!
b) Surely some supernatural beast or creature must have preyed upon these people!
c) You remember the fairy tales you were told as a child! Surely wizards and witches exist, and one of them did this!
d) None of the above, it was just an almost incredible coincidence.
e) You have no idea, and feel very unsettled because of this!
f) Other, write down what you think it was, put a letter on it.
Kalin
Unwanted
1. You should investigate it, it's a rare opportunity. It will take mostly a day or two.
A) The caravan should go on towards Bitak. There's even less chances of an ambush now, better take this chance
W) Send a letter to Jacob only, nobody else but him and Lord Medah should know about this
1. Travel towards Nokos as planned
c) You remember the fairy tales you were told as a child! Surely wizards and witches exist, and one of them did this!
A) The caravan should go on towards Bitak. There's even less chances of an ambush now, better take this chance
W) Send a letter to Jacob only, nobody else but him and Lord Medah should know about this
1. Travel towards Nokos as planned
c) You remember the fairy tales you were told as a child! Surely wizards and witches exist, and one of them did this!
Clotstein
Augur
1.
A) It keeps the mission going forward while we investigate here. [admitedly, a lot of risk in these choices]
W) I would normally warn Tilash about it since he's on the loop about the whole Qoor affair, but the recent "cultist" activity in Strok makes me wary of doing so.
1. Same reason as in A)
e)
A) It keeps the mission going forward while we investigate here. [admitedly, a lot of risk in these choices]
W) I would normally warn Tilash about it since he's on the loop about the whole Qoor affair, but the recent "cultist" activity in Strok makes me wary of doing so.
1. Same reason as in A)
e)
Monty
Arcane
Agree with this.
The plot thickens! Supernatural agency is not possessed only by the enemy, but there seems to be another player on the chessboard, actively countering enemy movements. Lovely [rubs hands in glee].
About this clearing:
3. You should not investigate it. Just write Jacob that someone should be sent here to investigate
While learning more about the enemy would be useful, I'd say taking advantage of the opportunity to organize the caravan unopposed takes precedence. I doubt the dead soldiers have much on them that would clear their identity, and the dead centipede is just a giant bug. I can see how some benefit could be gained by investigating in detail, so having somebody else do it sounds all right. If they can get here fast enough, we don't even have to have the area guarded...
And what of the caravan?
A) The caravan should go on towards Bitak. There's even less chances of an ambush now, better take this chance
While there might be more opposition down the road (ehem), this is likely the most of a break the caravan will ever get - so better take it.
Who should you send a letter to?
W) Send a letter to Jacob only, nobody else but him and Lord Medah should know about this
Let's not blab widely about things we don't know much or understand yet. It's an important development that deserves to be passed along, but we'll refrain from making public announcements until we learn more. Giving the report in person would be nice, but takes too much time, and keeping our report brief will make it less risky to be a significant intel leak in case of compromised communication channels.
Where will you go after this?
1. Travel towards Nokos as planned
Similar to the caravan choice, take the opportunity to do our work with reduced opposition. Make hay while the sun shines etc.
And finally, Kyoss, what do YOU believe happened here? How is it possible that such a thunderstorm hit an expedition of these people, killing with such precision?
c) You remember the fairy tales you were told as a child! Surely wizards and witches exist, and one of them did this!
Gods are boring, and surely have better things to do than perform tactical bombardment of caravan ambushers. While what we know about the enemy suggests an unnatural (or should I say counter-natural) elements that could easily invoke divine retribution, I don't think a force as smart as our bad guys would act as they did in a world where divine retribution is a likely prospect.
Since the thunderstorms happened (saved our ass?) twice, there is a (presumably benevolent, at least in the "enemy of my enemy" sense) intelligence at work, making supernatural beasts less likely (but not impossible; if the beasts in question are quite common around here and the enemy force was stupid enough to trespass in their land unprepared for the consequences, which just doesn't sound right). You also should have called this option Djinn Exist
Belief in coincidence and unsettled fear of the supernatural are for naive peasants
.
Ergo, a wizard did it! :D Whose goals seem to at least somewhat align with ours, so contact would be nice - and such a person would know a lot about the enemy, and could possibly teach us a lot... However, since he/she/it hasn't made any attempts at communication, we are better off continuing with our previous plan (which has been helped by their actions) and working towards communication later.
Whoever is behind this seems to know what they're doing, so let's leave them to it and assume they'll afford us some breaks in our duty. We should definitely try to meet them if we can, but that'll come after we show that we can take the hint... Apprenticeship ahoy!
About this clearing:
3. You should not investigate it. Just write Jacob that someone should be sent here to investigate
While learning more about the enemy would be useful, I'd say taking advantage of the opportunity to organize the caravan unopposed takes precedence. I doubt the dead soldiers have much on them that would clear their identity, and the dead centipede is just a giant bug. I can see how some benefit could be gained by investigating in detail, so having somebody else do it sounds all right. If they can get here fast enough, we don't even have to have the area guarded...
And what of the caravan?
A) The caravan should go on towards Bitak. There's even less chances of an ambush now, better take this chance
While there might be more opposition down the road (ehem), this is likely the most of a break the caravan will ever get - so better take it.
Who should you send a letter to?
W) Send a letter to Jacob only, nobody else but him and Lord Medah should know about this
Let's not blab widely about things we don't know much or understand yet. It's an important development that deserves to be passed along, but we'll refrain from making public announcements until we learn more. Giving the report in person would be nice, but takes too much time, and keeping our report brief will make it less risky to be a significant intel leak in case of compromised communication channels.
Where will you go after this?
1. Travel towards Nokos as planned
Similar to the caravan choice, take the opportunity to do our work with reduced opposition. Make hay while the sun shines etc.
And finally, Kyoss, what do YOU believe happened here? How is it possible that such a thunderstorm hit an expedition of these people, killing with such precision?
c) You remember the fairy tales you were told as a child! Surely wizards and witches exist, and one of them did this!
Gods are boring, and surely have better things to do than perform tactical bombardment of caravan ambushers. While what we know about the enemy suggests an unnatural (or should I say counter-natural) elements that could easily invoke divine retribution, I don't think a force as smart as our bad guys would act as they did in a world where divine retribution is a likely prospect.
Since the thunderstorms happened (saved our ass?) twice, there is a (presumably benevolent, at least in the "enemy of my enemy" sense) intelligence at work, making supernatural beasts less likely (but not impossible; if the beasts in question are quite common around here and the enemy force was stupid enough to trespass in their land unprepared for the consequences, which just doesn't sound right). You also should have called this option Djinn Exist
Belief in coincidence and unsettled fear of the supernatural are for naive peasants
.Ergo, a wizard did it! :D Whose goals seem to at least somewhat align with ours, so contact would be nice - and such a person would know a lot about the enemy, and could possibly teach us a lot... However, since he/she/it hasn't made any attempts at communication, we are better off continuing with our previous plan (which has been helped by their actions) and working towards communication later.
Whoever is behind this seems to know what they're doing, so let's leave them to it and assume they'll afford us some breaks in our duty. We should definitely try to meet them if we can, but that'll come after we show that we can take the hint... Apprenticeship ahoy!
Kashmir Slippers
Magister
3AW1E
TOME
Cuckmaster General
- Joined
- May 25, 2012
- Messages
- 1,820
1. We should investigate right away, some of the evidence might be destroyed by the time Jacob's investigator gets here.
A) Enemies we feared are dead.
W) Jacob first, he can decide if Tilash needs to be told.
1. We have a mission to complete.
C) I believe wizard are more likely to exist than gods.
A) Enemies we feared are dead.
W) Jacob first, he can decide if Tilash needs to be told.
1. We have a mission to complete.
C) I believe wizard are more likely to exist than gods.
Kz3r0
Arcane
- Joined
- May 28, 2008
- Messages
- 27,026
1. You should investigate it, it's a rare opportunity. It will take mostly a day or two.
A) The caravan should go on towards Bitak. There's even less chances of an ambush now, better take this chance
Y) Do not send a letter, such information should not be written down where others can read it. You'll tell him personally later on
1. Travel towards Nokos as planned
c) You remember the fairy tales you were told as a child! Surely wizards and witches exist, and one of them did this!
A) The caravan should go on towards Bitak. There's even less chances of an ambush now, better take this chance
Y) Do not send a letter, such information should not be written down where others can read it. You'll tell him personally later on
1. Travel towards Nokos as planned
c) You remember the fairy tales you were told as a child! Surely wizards and witches exist, and one of them did this!
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