Turn 4: Darkest HourYear 764, Month of:
Korroarfall
Rexxisreign
Bellia
Autumnjoy
Kia
Valor
Clammor
Alvin
AbbeyMortus
Autumnwrath
Glaciana
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Pyrite:The worst month of your life begins, mildly enough, with the utter failure of any attempt you make at studying the non-bellian beings you have collected at Newbellum Castle. The half-basilisks are more energetic now, and seem to delight in trying to lock eyes with you as you examine them. Their gaze gives you a severe headache, and you fear prolonged exposure may do much worse. Eventually you decide to put that particular project on hold until Dennis feeds them again, which he assures you should happen some time next month.
Your examination of the Orcs, although far less stressful, is little more productive. A close look confirms that they tend to be larger, with harder bones and more effecient muscles, than Bellians, but beyond that, you learn little that you hadn't already inferred about the Barbarians through your previous interactions with them. The Orcs can tell your little about their war cry, other than the fact that it was taught to each of them by their tribe or army's priest or elder, and was originally taught to Orckind by their gods.
Eventually, you feel the weight of time press against you, and set off to Kiatown to make your final preparations for the attack on the Orcish Army. It takes a few days of arranging, but eventually you manage to gather Lord Ryder Infelix, General Tobbin Nightcharm, Pirate Lord Meltip the Indecent, and Commander-in-Chief Gordon Lionspaw, an Ancient and Obese man with more medals and decorations than you suspect it possible for a Bellian to win in one lifetime. The former Barbarian God, and castle chef, Oinkiny, also attends, along with a good handful of retainers for every party present other than yourself.
The meeting starts off well enough. Between a god, a former god, a pirate lord, and a Nightcharm Dark Mage, the Commander-in-Chief is easily bullied into going along with your plan, the the discussion moves along to specifics about the operation. It is at this point, disaster strikes:
One of the pirates, who was suposidly attached to Meltip, leaps onto the negotiation table and yells out
"This is what happens when you stand up WILD RED on a contract!"He then reaches into his vest. You, along with nearly everybody else at the meeting, attempt to tackle the interruption, but it is already to late; All he had to do was pull a cord in his pocket.
A generous amount of explosives, concealed in the assassin's clothes, detonates with a mighty roar. You are thrown backwards, briefly stunned but otherwise unharmed. Oinkiny suffers a familiar fate, but is also moderately wounded. Everybody else in the room, your supporters and the archetypes of your present and future grand schemes, is killed almost instantly.
Natural 100 Ultimate Critical Fail!Commander-in-Chief Gordon Lionspaw has been slain!
Pirate Lord Meltip the Indecent has been slain!
Lord Ryder Infelix has been slain!
General Tobbin Nightcharm has been slain!
Each of these deaths likely carries major consequences for the mortals on the island...
The forces behind this travesty are not finished acting... See Tulwor's Turn and the NPC report...Distraught, you head down to the beach, and inform Tulwor, who is busy rallying the troops, of what just happened, and wander out into the jungle. You tell yourself that you just need time to process what just happened, regroup, and clear your mind.
After a few hours of wandering, you are finally able to direct your attention to botany. None of the terrestrial plants you encounter early on seem likely to be capable of causing nightmares, so, seeing as the dream shows the plant matter floating anyway, you decide to check out the river. Nothing you find at the water seems too suspect either, but when you bend over to examine a particularly pretty and interesting looking weed on the river's edge, something terrifying happens!
You feel something. Almost as if something extremely heavy, but not entirely present in reality, is sitting on top of you. Something in your eyes and brain register movement, but you do not see anything overtly move. Then a horrifying feeling washes over you! You feel something reach into your very essence and being, and begin to muck around!
Critical Fail! You have been engauged in combat by an unknown force or entity with an unknown goal that involves changing or transmuting you! Your combat options are attempt to flee, attempt to kill your attacker, or surrender to whatever fate it has in store for you!Auratus:Deciding to work slowly, you begin to craft the mirrors yet again. This time, you try to keep most of the power in your singular gold mirror, while allowing the rest only a small spark to draw from the golden 'hub'. Counter-intuitively, this proves even harder than what you had attempted on the beach with Lord Riptide, and by the time you have exausted your supply of divine energy, all you have is a handful of beautiful yet useless trinkets.
Noting the weakening prayer, you begin set off for the mainland and decide to hunt down the merchant Haze. Asking around town, you find that he is doing business, and traveling among the various jungle farms outside of town. You set off, and spend a few good weeks trying to track down the object of your ire; You manage to get close several times, missing him by a matter of days, or even hours, but nobody knows where he is going next, and the poorly defined jungle paths and thick jungle canopy make it impossible to track a traveler from above as you usually might.
Eventually, you give up, and decide to wait outside of the Merchant's manor in Kiatown. You don't have to wait long, to be acknowledge at least, as fifteen minutes after you show up, a rather timid servant approaches you, and announces that the mistress of the house doesn't expect Haze to be back for another week or so, at the very soonest, but that she has invited you to come inside, so that you might settle whatever business you might have with her instead, or at the very least so that a god does not have to wait in the street.
---
After your visit to Haze's house, you chart a course to Selma's Gate, and attempt to visit your shrine. You find the city under your protection in a state of chaos. It would seem that Wild Red has had Meltip killed, and her fleet is in disarray. Some of her former captains fight with one another to try and establish a new fleet, some loot the town for their own personal gain, and some have defected to their lord's killer. To make matters worse, a Basilisk, whom some claim to be Meltip's widower, has taken to attacking the town and preying on its inhabitants. Some pirates claim that it is singling out Wild Red's men, while others assert that the dumb beast couldn't possibly be clever enough to understand the situation, much less seek revenge, and that it is merely killing for pleasure and survival.
You find your temple guards fighting busy hunting down the remnants of band of looters who they had just repelled from the shrine. Canvas herself is leading the hunt, and it is clear she has no time to talk. You consider tagging along for the search effort, but decide that with your divine powers depleted, you might end up getting hurt, or worse, appearing useless. After quickly confirming with the pirate herald that the situation is more or less under control, you depart from the town quickly, lest anybody asks you to help while you are not ready.
Ketemos:Materializing a small and almost circular piece of cut gem, you create the Shifter's eye, a device with the ability to grant a minor boon of blinking to a mortal touched by it. The minor and temporary nature of this blessing make it rather easy to produce; You finish in a matter of hours, and then set about on other business, first and foremost of which is finding that earth elementalist.
You travel to Selma's gate, assume your usual disguise, and ask around for Tonk. Eventually you are able to learn that he has been invited to meet with the Pirate Lord Wild Red on his flagship. You head down, and wait by the docks, and eventually the Barbarian elementalist strolls down the gangplank. He takes one look at you, before promptly gesturing for your approach.
"Ah... You would be that one diety of the brown-haired ones that Jak told me to look out for, no? Ketmoses was it? I hear you are looking for an Earth Elementalist."He gestures to a small but well maintained house just off the docks.
"Please, come with me to my home. It would be an honor to host a diety, even if he is not of my people." Tulwor:Deciding that without Chell, it will be easier to make your siege engines one sight without your forge, than it would be for you to make them at Newbellum castle and haul them across the sea to the beach, you travel to the camp of the 1st Kiatown Army, and get to work building. After about a week and a half of wandering to the jungle, felling trees, dragging them back, and carving them into seige engines and ammo, that you have vastly improved the odds of a Bellian victory in the upcoming battle.
You then set about spending time with the troops, building their spirits, and encouraging them to do their best in the upcoming battle. This proves effective, and moral in the camp rises. When word begins to spread that the former barbarian god of feasts will be cooking a meal shortly before the fight is to begin, moral in camp shoots through the roof.
Oinkiny and Pyrite arrive on the island, and head to Kiatown for a strategy meeting. To the best of your understanding, as soon as the meeting lets out Oinkiny is to prepare and serve his feast, the Pirate Lord Meltip is to bring her boats around, and then the battle is to begin within a matter of days. You decide to remain with the troops at camp, as you already know the plan, and figure them to be better company than a bunch of cowardly officers and pirates.
The meeting seems to be a shortly one, as Pyrite returns not even an hour after he departed. Judging by the look on his face, you know it went poorly, but only when the son of the scorpion opens his mouth and explains what happened, does it truly hit you. It would seem that a rival pirate lord had sent a bomber to the meeting, and that all the ranking mortals involved in the plan had been cut down, and that Oinkiny has been hurt in the blast as well. Needless to say, moral promptly plummets.
Pyrite, clearly effected by what he had witnessed, wanders off into the jungle, and you spend the night with the troops trying to salvage whatever is left of their spirits. When dawn comes, you have made some progress; In fact, a loud minority of the troops support the idea of installing you or one of your champions as dictator of Kiatown, and moving against the Orcs at once, bureaucracy be damned. These big dreams, however, must be put on hold, as first light reveals danger and treachery: It would seem that the rival pirate lord did more than just blow up the mortal leaders; He also stole their plan.
It would seem as if Wild Red has used the cover of Darkness to sail down the coast, pick up some Orcs, and deposit them between your army and the walls of Kiatown. To make matters worse, some of the pirate boats have landed on the beach, and a small but hardened core of pirates, supported by heavy cannon fire from their ships, begins to push forward from the sea.
The 1st Kiatown Army has fallen under fire from three sides, by a combined Orcish/Pirate force, and Tulwor is present for the battle! The enemy seems to have 'Destroy the 1st Kiatown Army' as a goal. The 1st Kiatown army sees no retreat, and has chosen 'Destroy the enemy' as a goal. As their goal doesn't directly relate to Tulwor, he may escape without fail if he wishes, or he may enter combat with the goal of 'destroy the enemy' for free. Additionally, Helmhammer allows you to start combat with a miracle instead of an interaction, so if Tulwor wishes, he may spend his miracle to enter battle with any reasonable goal of his choice!Ketari:You head down to the Barker forest, and set to work creating an entirely new form of Barker. By subtracting fangs and claws, and adding larger voice boxes and sensory organs, you create a plant creature capable of serving as a solid watcher for the domain islands. The small patch of forest you reserve for creating these 'Howlers' seems capable of replenishing losses over time, and your original set of howling guards are deployed to each of the domain islands.
+New Improvement: Howler Patch!+New Improvement: HowlersYour efforts to create a cloak for yourself prove somewhat less fruitful. You can't quite get any of the Harpy Skulls to split just right, and as you work, frightened birds arrive to give you frightening reports; Not just about the dragon-god, (or dragon gods, as it turns out. There are more than two beings that match the description of dragon god of the Orcs, and the foolish birds are never good at differentiating when reporting on a group of beings), but about the murderous and treacherous plots of the pirate Wild Red, and the various other trouble that your fellow deities are facing. This slow influx of bad news is distracting, and as the month nears a close, it becomes clear that you are not going to be able to produce anything more than a cloak of leaves that radiates with ambient and useless power.
+New Resource (Half Completed Artifact Cloak)NPC Report:-Sarah's training goes well this month in the Crucible. She now has a Combat Power of 14, and has learned almost everything that the Crucible can teach her. She is in a state of grace with the will of Tulwor. This state of grace will either protect her once from dying or becoming injured in the Crucible, or grant Tulwor a +50% Success Rate Bonus on one action involving her. She is presently unaware of her daughter's death. [As she is presently stuck in the Crucible, I wont bother adding her to the NPC page until she gets out]
-House Infelix is without a head! 12 Year Old Timothy Infelix seems likely to take over, with Ryder's Widow Chelsea serving as regent, but the Herald Hialarth has expressed interest in seizing this opportunity to unite the holdings of House Infelix with House Wildefair...
-House Lionspaw is also without a head. None of the PCs have enough inroads with the family to have any idea how that is going to play out though.
-With their best framework manager out of the picture, House Nightcharm seems a lot less intimidating. The Nexus has begun to put the squeeze on the island's smallest noble house...
-With both the Commander-in-Chief and one of his most likely sucessors killed in one fell swoop, the military is in disarray...
-The prayer that Commander-in-Chief had up is clearly expired, on account of his death, and the death of the man he feared would succeed him.
-A new pirate fleet has arrived. They seem to have cast their lot with Wild Red, and have set up a naval blockade around Kiatown.
-
Corusu's Wing completed its mission, but on its way back to Kiatown spotted the pirate blockade. It promptly changed course, heading in the direction of Volcano, seat of House Skullcrest, where it will likely seek aid.
-Next month is the first month in which Auratus can reasonably expect the Dread Pirates to return from
-With Meltip dead, her fleet has more or less dissolved into a pack of pirate ships that do as they please. If this wasn't bad enough for Selma's Gate, Meltip's Basilisk is also on the loose and rather murdery...
-Pennywise the Golden has taken her fleet and left Selma's Gate in a hurry.
-The birds report that a dragon god of the orcs has handed off a captive to his brother at the Grand Arena.
-The birds report that a dragon god of the orcs has approached his brothers, and tried to talk them into calling off the siege of the Bellians, citing a prophetic dream about genocidal floating bits of plant matter.
-The birds report that a dragon god of the orcs has chided another for the later's rough handling of a fellow dragon.
-The birds report that a dragon god of the orcs has rested to recover from moderate injury.
-The birds report that a dragon god of the orcs has been in communication with the Pirate Lord Wild Red, and has raised a second host to be transported by ship and used to flank the 1st Kiatown Army
-The birds report that a dragon god of the orcs played host to several powerful aquatic beings, and has courted their aid in present military matters with mixed success.
-The birds report that a dragon god of the orcs is using a captured Bellian to learn and teach the art of ship-building to the Orcish people
-The birds report that a dragon god of the orcs flew towards Newbellum castle with the intent of meeting Auratus, but that he lost his nerve and turned back halfway.
Newbellum Castle:Jade Throne:
No lord. No temporary lord.
Miracle Bank:
4.5 Neutral Miracles (+1/2 Per Month)
0 Miracles from Ketari (+0 Per Month)
1 Miracles from Auratus (+0 Per Month)
0 Miracles from Tulwor (+0 Per Month)
1 Miracles from Ketemos (+0 Per Month)
0 Miracles from Pyrite (+0 Per Month)
Moon Chamber:
Upgrade (Cost)
+1 Combat Power (1 Prayer Energy, +2 Prayer Energy at Combat Power 30 and every 10 Combat Power thereafter)
Random Boon (3 Prayer Energy)
Targeted Boon [Grants you bonuses in a desired area] (5 Prayer Energy)
+1 Miracle or Interaction a Month (8 Prayer Energy, +8 Prayer Energy each time you take this upgrade)
Defenses:
-Sandy Domain lowers the success rate of hostile miracles aimed at Newbellum Castle, or any resident or welcome guest inside of said stronghold, by 75%
-Rocky Domain grants all inhabitants of Newbellum Castle a x3 Modifier to their combat power rolls while defending the castle in battle.
-Frozen Domain prevents the Young Gods, and anybody fighting alongside them, from suffering an utter defeat, as long as the battle takes place in Newbellum Castle or on the Domain Islands.
-Labyrinth Domain prevents creatures intent on destroying any feature or improvement made to Newbellum Castle or the Domain Islands in battle from winning a Complete Victory to do so.
-Sunken Domain allows each young god may call a single actor who is willing or bound to instantly appear at their side in a battle to defend Newbellum Castle or the Domain Islands.
-Howlers grant a +4 bonus to all defensive combat that takes place at Newbellum castle or on the Domain Islands. They also provide some passive detection, and should prevent ambitious mortals from sneaking up and planting their flag on the domains undetected.
The Crucible: Each month, Any sentient being in the Crucible to train has a 5% chance of being killed, a 10% chance of suffering serious injury, and a 85% Chance of Gaining 1d6 Combat Strength. Non-Actors who gain strength from the Crucible become Heroes. In addition, the Crucible can store monsters; A person in the Crucible to train may fight a stored monster each month, and if he or she prevails, that person gains an additional 1d6 Combat Strength that month, and cannot be killed or injured by the Crucible that month. Any Actor in the Castle may put somebody from open storage or a storage they control into the Crucible to train as a free action. Nobody may be freely removed from the Crucible until they have fought a stored monster at Tulwor's request, but any Actor, including an actor inside the Crucible, may use a miracle or interaction to interfere with the process and break somebody out.
Trainees [1/3]
-Sarah, Bellian Soldier (Currently Hero with a Combat Power of 14. In a state of cosmic grace with Tulwor's will and goals)
Stored Monsters [0/5]
Nexus: A room that supports a system of gates fueled by the worship of Ketemos. Once a year, Ketemos may make a free interaction at a location with a Nexus Gate. NPCs who worship Ketemos, and either live by his values or have his permission, may occasionally visit Newbellum Castle. This system can be expanded outward to work with the worship of other gods, or inward to create a framework for priestly translocation magic for loyal Ketemos supporters.
Ketemos' Free Nexus Interaction:
-Ready for Use
-Gate to Selma's gate established
Loose Storage:
Resources
-Half Completed Artifact Cloak (+5)
-20000 Masterwork Spears (+8)
-7000 Masterwork Pikes (+4)
-3 Tonnes of Cut Ruby (+15)
-Stunning Pearl Necklace (+5)
-Corpse of June, Bellian Child (+1)
-Assorted Primates (+10)
-1 Adult Harpy Warriors (+3)
-9 Harpy Chicks (+5)
-Unrest the injured Alpha Orcess (+3)
-22 Orcish POWs (+16)
-Oliver the Unstoppable (+10)
-Shilo, the Retired Whore (+2)
-Twin Daughters of Shilo (+2)
Lesser Artifacts
-Dress of the Rose Dragon (+6% to interactions dealing with high society. Bonus halved for non-females)
Greater Artifacts
-Corusu's Wing (Once fully crewed, serves as a Combat Power 8 Host with a significant bonus to capturing weak monsters, or provides the same power and bonus to an existing naval host)
-Mysterious Egg of Power (Who knows what, if anything, is inside)
-Neurotoxic Pachyderm (Combat Power 11 Actor with a bonus to any combat in which it is trying to kill foes with a complex nervous system. Loyal to Ketari)
-Chimeric Key [x1] (As a free action, a god may bind this artifact to his or her flesh, and gain the False Chimera boon)
Prayer Glass:
Pyrite has a personal prayer glass that grants +5% Success Rate on Miracles to pick up prayers specifically intended for Pyrite. Will be automatically linked to any temples built in Pyrite's honor.
Prayers in the Main Prayer Glass:
-I will be blunt. The Orcs are lead by Dragons. House Skullcrest kills dragons. Ergo, House Skullcrest needs to be supported. I get the distinct feeling that you lot do not prefer the Nexus cause, but now is clearly not the time for such politics. Give me the power I need to do so, and I will see the end of these Orcs, and the foul beasts that lead them... From: Dovin Skullcrest, 34th in Line for the Throne of Volcano.
-This is just plain crazy! There is a ship on the docks packed full of enough explosive material to level the freakin city! The boat is called The Reckoning, and the captain has blackmailed or bribed all of the dock inspected to keep them from running to the authorities. I don't even know who commissioned the shipment, and can't afford to risk my family by ratting them out to my fellow mortals, but for the sake of peaceloving Bellians, hopefully the divine can handle this matter discretely. From: Huck, son of Chuck, Customs Officer, Kiatown Docks
-For eons my people have been under the protection of the Goddess Multia, and she has shielded us from the worst of the persecution and hate born towards us. Since learning that Multia has no power here, many of us are nervous that people will treat us with the utmost contempt and violence as they did in the dark days. Please send me a sign that some god is still watching over us! From: Samwise Wildefair, Speaker for the Husbands of Husbands and Wives of Wives Pyrite has shown interest in this one...
-Gods above! For the last week I have been having the same dream, and it becomes deeper and more vivid every night. I see gnarled hunks of wood, dozens of times bigger than the largest Galleon, floating on the open sea, and then I see the bodies of myself and everybody I know and love mutilated and dangling from vines suspended from the walls of Kiatown! If this is a prophecy of sorts, interpret it for me! Otherwise, rid me of these nightmares! From: Darla, Daughter of Thatch, Humble Worker at the Kiatown Docks
-I call upon the gods for vengeance! Bring me the head of that monster, Wild Red, who killed my father, and I will see that appropriate tribute is paid in turn. From: Elken, Newly Minted Lord of House Lionspaw
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Topic: Isle of the Young Gods: Game Thread (Read 52602 times)