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[Caellath]

"I would rather not commit such acts, but as it stands, killing may be the only way to survive out there. I think we'll stand a better chance of survival together than seperated."

Rhedarios stares at the man in dismay.
"So if ordered you would gladly kill innocent civilians, including children, rips their guts out and put their heads on stakes in the name of your dark master?"

[Spinal_Taper]

"I would rather not commit such acts, but as it stands, killing may be the only way to survive out there. I think we'll stand a better chance of survival together than seperated."

Rhedarios stares at the man in dismay.
"So if ordered you would gladly kill innocent civilians, including children, rips their guts out and put their heads on stakes in the name of your dark master?"

"I would avoid those actions, by being the Master. If we all work together, we could stop those who would attemptn such acts."

[Unholy_Pariah]

"I would rather not commit such acts, but as it stands, killing may be the only way to survive out there. I think we'll stand a better chance of survival together than seperated."

Rhedarios stares at the man in dismay.
"So if ordered you would gladly kill innocent civilians, including children, rips their guts out and put their heads on stakes in the name of your dark master?"

"I would avoid those actions, by being the Master. If we all work together, we could stop those who would attempt such acts."

while Lamar idly listened to the discussion concerning the morality of serving one of the current dungeon lords between Gus and Rhedarios he was struck by an errant thought and decided to share it.

while i realize some dungeon lords are in fact mad or prone to barbaric acts of cruelty i fail to see what purpose the dispatching of civilians would serve, there are other ways to instill fear and submission in a populace if that is your desire.
Besides a healthy living workforce is far more efficient than the use of malnourished slaves or undead constructs.

[Caellath]

while i realize some dungeon lords are in fact mad or prone to barbaric acts of cruelty i fail to see what purpose the dispatching of civilians would serve, there are other ways to instill fear and submission in a populace if that is your desire.
Besides a healthy living workforce is far more efficient than the use of malnourished slaves or undead constructs.

Rhedarios puffed his cheeks slightly in annoyance.
"The overall idea of 'instilling fear and submission' is still not within my ideals. I shall be my Master, along with anyone who follows me as we try to dig our own hole, even if it turns out to be a terrible idea."

[HmH]

Eric watched the bickering humans with a scowl of disapproval. The urge to simply kill these knights-templar was rising, but he held it in check... for now. He could use their naivete in the future, after all.
Then the hyperactive human piped in, saying something that at least sounded agreeable. Eric decided it's his chance to express his point of view without upsetting the paragons of light and purity:
"The kid's got a point. Now, let's take a break before we're at each other's throats, should we? Waitress! Drinks for everyone at this table. I'm paying, if no one minds."
The generosity was necessary; naive people were predisposed to such things, and Eric would rather have these maniacs on his side when they have to choose between him and the bigger evil.

Waiting for the drinks, Eric kicked back in his chair and inspected his coins. Would they be a good material base for Earth Magic? Eric would need to refresh his Enchantment skills, and soon, if he wanted to rise in the hierarchy of power.

[Unholy_Pariah]

while i realize some dungeon lords are in fact mad or prone to barbaric acts of cruelty i fail to see what purpose the dispatching of civilians would serve, there are other ways to instill fear and submission in a populace if that is your desire.
Besides a healthy living workforce is far more efficient than the use of malnourished slaves or undead constructs.

Rhedarios puffed his cheeks slightly in annoyance.
"The overall idea of 'instilling fear and submission' is still not within my ideals. I shall be my Master, along with anyone who follows me as we try to dig our own hole, even if it turns out to be a terrible idea."

*ahem*...if...besides ill probably just engineer workers for the dungeon from the local wildlife anyway.
Further conversation is then interrupted by Eric purchasing a platter of drinks for the group, suspicious of his motives but ultimately thirsty Lamar graciously accepted the offered beverage and thanked the half orc for his generosity.

[Caellath]

Rhedarios not only would not accept any drinks, he also started to stare at the half-orc with his bright blue eyes. Staaare. The man sounds like an evil and arrogant person - shielding his flesh and bones behind others while thinking highly of himself - and there is no way he would follow that man anywhere. Even if he has to do things alone and fail miserably, then he would do it to prevent having to side with another evil. He still has hope in saving his homeland, and if he had wanted to side with an evil organization, then he would have sided with the Order.
"...Hphm."
He crosses his arms while ignoring any beverages and waits for all the scrolls to be drawn and read through. That was certainly taking a long time.

[Spinal_Taper]

Gus took the drink, and thanked Eric. However, he continued the debate, tactical conversations matter.

while i realize some dungeon lords are in fact mad or prone to barbaric acts of cruelty i fail to see what purpose the dispatching of civilians would serve, there are other ways to instill fear and submission in a populace if that is your desire.
Besides a healthy living workforce is far more efficient than the use of malnourished slaves or undead constructs.

Rhedarios puffed his cheeks slightly in annoyance.
"The overall idea of 'instilling fear and submission' is still not within my ideals. I shall be my Master, along with anyone who follows me as we try to dig our own hole, even if it turns out to be a terrible idea."

"It's not the most admirable position, but sometimes the ends justify the means. I will go with you to establish a "hole in the ground", but I would rather have a more... illustrious estate. I think two separate strongholds in close proximity would prove a more efficient plan."

[Unholy_Pariah]

"It's not the most admirable position, but sometimes the ends justify the means. I will go with you to establish a "hole in the ground", but I would rather have a more... illustrious estate. I think two separate strongholds in close proximity would prove a more efficient plan."

I will follow as well although i am inclined to try and find something of a higher standard then a hole in the ground... perhaps we could find a hole in a mountain or cliff instead... dirt is so hard to work with

[Caellath]

"It's not the most admirable position, but sometimes the ends justify the means. I will go with you to establish a "hole in the ground", but I would rather have a more... illustrious estate. I think two separate strongholds in close proximity would prove a more efficient plan."

I will follow as well although i am inclined to try and find something of a higher standard then a hole in the ground... perhaps we could find a hole in a mountain or cliff instead... dirt is so hard to work with

Rhedarios blinks some times. Oh really?
"Erm...I was not being necessarily literal about digging a hole in the ground. I myself have no experience in excavations. But a cave or an easily defendable position would be interesting, specially if close to a source of water and materials we could hopefully trade for supplies with other settlements."

[Draignean]

   Clarence Illi pondered the scroll while the others talked. The place mentioned certainly sounded interesting, not exactly what he'd wanted, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Drinks arrived while Illi continued to tap a finger against the small scroll... This Sytheris might not be pleased about him setting up shop, but he might also be interested enough in the research that Clarence was doing to enter into an arrangement.
    Illi accepted the drink from the serving wench gratefully when it arrived, raising it to his lips and blowing ripples across its surface, slowly transmuting the cheap ale into pure water. His drinks had been poisoned once in an inn in southern Marabon, the poor thirsty serving boy who'd brought them had sneaked a sip and ended up sneezing out a couple feet of intestine. Clarence had taken to transmuting everything he'd ordered since then, easier to detect a poison that way. "Captain Renault," Clarence began, still blowing tiny whitecaps in his drink and completely oblivious to the conversations he was interrupting. "What do you know about the Rift, the Horn of Atradox, or the Dark Lord Sytheriss?"

Ask Captain Renault about the Rift, The Horn of Atradox, and Dark Lord Sytheriss.

[Spinal_Taper]

"It's not the most admirable position, but sometimes the ends justify the means. I will go with you to establish a "hole in the ground", but I would rather have a more... illustrious estate. I think two separate strongholds in close proximity would prove a more efficient plan."

I will follow as well although i am inclined to try and find something of a higher standard then a hole in the ground... perhaps we could find a hole in a mountain or cliff instead... dirt is so hard to work with

Rhedarios blinks some times. Oh really?
"Erm...I was not being necessarily literal about digging a hole in the ground. I myself have no experience in excavations. But a cave or an easily defendable position would be interesting, specially if close to a source of water and materials we could hopefully trade for supplies with other settlements."

Gus looked at Rhedarious."That sounds like a sound idea. We may also want to find an area with a plain or grassland nearby, I don't plan on starving to death." He turned to the Captain, and asked "Do you know of any place like that?

[Unholy_Pariah]

Turn to Clarence with an irritated scowl for interrupting his conversation then decide information on this "Rift" might be interesting before taking Rhedarios' ignored drink and listening to what Renault has to say.

[IronyOwl]

"Niiiiice! An honest-to-god Dark Lord out for blood, rape and plunder! Hey, captain, is there anything unpleasant I should know about this guy?"
Eric handed Sarvak's scroll over to the pirate and waited for an answer. If Sarvak had no known untoward tendencies - like killing his trusted lieutenants or getting excited with politics - then Eric would go into this Lord's service.

"Ehhh, Sarvak, Sarvak... seem ta recall he's in a scrap with just about e'ryone in the region, though I wouldn't know personally. Mostly deal with refugees tryin' ta get out an' the occasional goblin who's got himself a mind fer some shinies.

Don't know much more than that, though, haven't bothered with all the latest talk of the taverns up there, y'see."

I think ill send Mr pirate guy out to buy a sack of shoes for us.
If possible id like some of those leather boots with the iron plating on top and a matching pair of gloves

bonus points if he insults our intelligence as he leaves

((Did you actually want to tell him to do this?

In any case, you've barely got enough money for food and last-minute expenditures, you probably can't afford clothing. I mean, you might be able to buy something, though probably still not something nice, if you spent literally everything, but then you'd be in danger of having literally nothing to eat, not being able to buy tolls or passage, and so on.))

"The kid's got a point. Now, let's take a break before we're at each other's throats, should we? Waitress! Drinks for everyone at this table. I'm paying, if no one minds."
The generosity was necessary; naive people were predisposed to such things, and Eric would rather have these maniacs on his side when they have to choose between him and the bigger evil.

Waiting for the drinks, Eric kicked back in his chair and inspected his coins. Would they be a good material base for Earth Magic? Eric would need to refresh his Enchantment skills, and soon, if he wanted to rise in the hierarchy of power.

You spend a few of your meager coins on a round of drinks for everyone. It pains you to think of such a thing as an expensive purchase, but with things being what they are, well...

The pirate captain is especially quick with his, downing it in one go. You guess he's got experience with that sort of thing.

"Ahhhh, now that's the way to not get shanked," he adds as he puts the mug down.


As for the coins, they're metal, meaning earth magic can't really affect them very well. They're also not likely to be with you for long at this rate.

"Captain Renault," Clarence began, still blowing tiny whitecaps in his drink and completely oblivious to the conversations he was interrupting. "What do you know about the Rift, the Horn of Atradox, or the Dark Lord Sytheriss?"

Ask Captain Renault about the Rift, The Horn of Atradox, and Dark Lord Sytheriss.

"Ah, not much. Some magical whatchacallit on some jungle island, looked into by some agents or another. Dunno what happened to em, but I've not heard of anything recently, so either they're bein' real quiet, one way or another if ye catch my drift, or off they've gone."

You detect no poison in your drink as you slowly convert it to water.

Gus looked at Rhedarious."That sounds like a sound idea. We may also want to find an area with a plain or grassland nearby, I don't plan on starving to death." He turned to the Captain, and asked "Do you know of any place like that?

"If I'do it'll be in the bag there. Mind ye, I've plenty o' open spaces in mind, but none of em'll meet yer needs fer keepin your heads from all comers. Not that the ones in there's exactly safe, but if it were a pleasant spot thar'd be someone already on it, aye?"

Gus calmly goes through the sack, looking for a secluded, easily defendable location or a Dark Lord who has a relatively small establishment.

[5][6] You uncover a truly interesting scroll.

Commander-

I have found the spire. It is a sheer pinnacle of rock which no humans could hope to climb and no humans could hope to reach in the first place. It will not satisfy our needs.

I will continue scouting the area until further orders, but be advised that this deep into the jungle will be very difficult to persuade the humans to follow.

            -D

Rhedarios searches again for the same thing, this time without the animal bit, but only if allowed by the others, since he does not want to get all the scrolls.

[1][4][4] You fish out another scroll.

Entry 382

We have made shelter in a series of caves. This place is bitterly cold, and I have seen no traces of life that did not immediately attempt to trample and eat us. Carlac says he saw emeralds in one of the ice walls, but I'm not sure how that's possible.

Then again, I'm not sure how this place is possible either, but here we are. There's a stream running in the back, despite most of the cavern being ice in the first place. How bizarre.

Jarlson has been sent out to find food, but I doubt he'll find anything he can kill. I doubt even more he'll find anything he won't have to. I think I might have a plan, though...



Dungeon Lords

Spoiler: Sarvak, Lord of Destruction (click to show/hide)

Fallas you filthy whore, you think this will stop me? I already
control Galren and Soroth, Methrel lies in ashes and Siprel is pleading for
mercy as we speak. A few butchered goblins will not save you, your
people, or your soul. Ready yourself, for my hordes are still limitless
and your kingdom is still mine.

                                   -Sarvak, Lord of Destruction

Spoiler: Lord Helsess The Clean (click to show/hide)

I wish to devote this particular manuscript to the study of Lord Helsess, a truly resplendent Dungeon Lord as far as these things go. Unlike most of his vile, simpering kin, Lord Helsess maintains the strictest codes of honor and decency. I managed to catch up with him just as he was finished defiling a maiden during one of his conquests.

"I understand it, Lord Helsess" I spoke to the noble Lord, "That you completely eschew all things foul and nefarious in your schemings."

"Indeed!" he replied, magnificent in his gleaming armor, "For no undead nor other magical abominations dare grace my army's banners. When the captives have been properly flayed, they are artfully impaled on spikes as warning and decoration, not transformed into shambling crimes against all decency."

"How wonderful!" I exclaimed, noting the pride with which he spoke. "Can you say why more Dungeon Lords, indeed why more lords in general, do not follow your shining example?"

"Nay," he cried, with the practiced sorrow of one all too familiar with a reasonless evil. "'Tis simply that such creatures are useful, to cowards and knaves, beggars and thieves, weaklings and savages. Why they do not cast off the chains of their decay and embrace righteousness, I sadly do not know."

His eyes at this point took on the most heroic of sadnesses, and I could not help but feel moved by his valor and virtue. Truly, here was a Lord worthy of the title!


In the next installment of Hieramus Harackus' breathtaking interviews, he examines the peculiar culinary habits of the Queen of Spikes.

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Dungeon Locations

Spoiler: Jungle Juts (click to show/hide)

21st Granite- Arrived at site. Scattered villages all around, rumors of Goldenboats being around here somewhere. No sign of them yet though. Mostly goatmen, some others.

Surveys look good- several heavily jungled mountains, sufficient mineral wealth within them. Natives might be a problem, mainly as thieves. Premium on gemstones, might make good trading partners if they had anything in return. Some exotic meats.

Threats of wildlife, local rumors of worse things. Requires further investigation to confirm, but not to settle.

Spoiler: The Barren Fields (click to show/hide)

Report on the Barren Fields, by Apprentice Mythrar

The Barren Fields are a somewhat rocky wasteland of no apparent value, but hold many secrets.

The Barren Fields contain dried riverbeds. This means there used to be rivers here, but now there aren't.

The Barren Fields contain very fertile soil beneath the surface. According to my research, this means they used to have a lot of plant life in them, but now they don't.

The Barren Fields contain lots of minerals. This means they would make a good place for a mine.

The Barren Fields contain disturbing animals that are very dangerous and strange. They are not like animals here.

In conclusion, The Barren Fields are a dangerous but interesting place.

Spoiler: The Rift (click to show/hide)

Dark Lord Sytheriss,

I have completed my survey of the Horn of the Atradox, as per your orders. It appears in most ways to be similar to the rest of the Rift, in that it is bright yet there is void all about, plants of truly fascinating properties abound, as do animals that feed primarily by destroying these properties, and water courses out of nowhere before flowing back into the void. I have been unable to determine any particular properties regarding the Horn, beyond being made of stone as was assumed.

                                -Sril

Spoiler: Mysterious Spire (click to show/hide)

Commander-

I have found the spire. It is a sheer pinnacle of rock which no humans could hope to climb and no humans could hope to reach in the first place. It will not satisfy our needs.

I will continue scouting the area until further orders, but be advised that this deep into the jungle will be very difficult to persuade the humans to attack.

            -D

Spoiler: Ice Caves (click to show/hide)

Entry 382

We have made shelter in a series of caves. This place is bitterly cold, and I have seen no traces of life that did not immediately attempt to trample and eat us. Carlac says he saw emeralds in one of the ice walls, but I'm not sure how that's possible.

Then again, I'm not sure how this place is possible either, but here we are. There's a stream running in the back, despite most of the cavern being ice in the first place. How bizarre.

Jarlson has been sent out to find food, but I doubt he'll find anything he can kill. I doubt even more he'll find anything he won't have to. I think I might have a plan, though...

-?

How about a bonus to threats and reasoning with people ((I.E. If they treat you so well then why would they abandon you?)), then disadvantage in magic. Also, for shoes could I get dress shoes?

Hm, +Social, -Magic. That could certainly work.

And you can have former dress shoes, but all your current stuff has been through hell. If you want something that's nice in the present you'll need to acquire it somehow.

[Draignean]

"Well that settles it!" Clarence exclaimed, slapping his gnarled hand on the table with all the force of a falling moth. "I'm heading out to this island. I've always wanted to take a vacation from the city air, and I can think of no better a time than the present. Anyone of you is free to come with me, just don't expect excitement, pillage, or rape. I'm too old for those shenanigans and I feel they're rather rude, well, except for excitement, that one can be had without being rude." Clarence drained his mug as he finished, quenching the dry thirst that the trail had put in his throat. "Now, Captain Renault, what must be done to sail for this island?"

Make arrangements with the good Captain Renault to set sail for Rift Island!