Turn 5: Wrath of the Young Gods!Year 764, Month of:
Korroarfall
Rexxisreign
Bellia
Autumnjoy
Kia
Valor
Clammor
Alvin
Abbey
MortusAutumnwrath
Glaciana
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The Smiting at Selma's Gate:After concluding their meeting, Auratus, Pyrite, and Tulwor waste little time setting their plans into action. A half day passes while the Dragon assembles a simple dagger shaped soul-stealing device, and Ketemos makes a few simple and temporary changes to the Nexus gates to allow his fellow deities to pass through.
Arriving at the port town on an overcast afternoon, the gods quickly make their presence felt. Tulwor, the giant, alternates between swimming and wading to reach one of Wild Red's ships, before climbing aboard and proceeding to lay waste to its pirate population with Helmhammer.
Pyrite, meanwhile, busies himself hunting down the Pirate Lord's men on the docks, warping and twisting those he catches with divine energy until they are subjected to gory deaths, and any onlookers are subjected to a close up show of the halfbreed god's power. To further the effect, he occasionally takes a pause to eat one of his victims in full view of the public.
The Dragon Auratus, intent on punishing the pirate lord personally, launches an attack on Wild Red's flagship
Bride of the Robber Dragon. Flying above his mark, he alternates between swooping in to pick off sailors with his claws and pelting the deck with a combination of divine energy bolts and hacked up globs of molten gold.
Although vastly outnumbered, the Bellian gods quickly find themselves at an early advantage; Tulwor finds his efforts completely unhindered, as no weapon or warrior aboard the ship he is attacking proves capable of harming him, and the pirates seem unwilling to point their big guns at one of their own ships. Red's men prove willing, however, to open fire on the docks of Selma's gate in hopes of hitting Pyrite, but the son of the scorpion proves just resilient enough to shrug off grape shot, and too illusive a target to nail with a cannonball; Lots of damage is inflicted to the locals, their buildings, and even Red's own men, but Pyrite remains firmly in the fight.
Auratus' duel with the flagship, meanwhile, quickly devolves into a stalemate. Although Wild Red finds himself facing the same issues in hitting the Dragon as his men do in hitting Pyrite, Auratus decides to wait until either the ship has been sunk or the deck sufficiently depopulated before swooping in for the kill on the Pirate Lord; Although he is confident he could easily best the Barbarian in a fair fight, the dragon is far less sure that fight would be a fair one after factoring in Red's armor, crew, and whatever potential traps he might have on deck. As time passes, Auratus' confidence grows; It is becoming apparent that his strength and divine energy will be more than enough to outlast Red's hull and men.
Recognizing that their admiral is in trouble, a few of the other ships in the fleet approach the
Bride of the Robber Dragon and open fire on Auratus. In addition to cannonballs, the newcomers also show that they have a few casters aboard, as various elemental projectiles and annoying debuff spells begin to harass the son of Tonneth. After several minutes of this abuse, Auratus finds himself with little choice but to fall back, regroup, and wait out a few nasty hexes that managed to slip through his divine resistance. Wild Red, unwilling to risk going another round with the Dragon, turns his injured flagship around and limps towards the open sea. The vast majority of his fleet follows.
Panic begins to set in for the Bellians; Wild Red's escape now seems likely. It is at this point, however, that fate decides to play a cruel trick on Wild Red.
As the Barbarian's fleet approaches the mouth of the harbor, they encounter a truly massive armada heading in the opposite direction. The divine perception of the Bellian Gods allows them to see the flags on the incoming ships; Each flies a crowned head impaled on a trident, the standard of the Dread Pirates!
Digging deep to fight through the agony and weakness hexes afflicting him, Auratus sprints across the harbor skies, picks out
Trident Omega the flagship of the Dread Pirate Scion, lands aboard it, and starts barking orders.
It takes a few minutes for word to get around the armada, which seems to be composed of three Dread Pirate Fleets, each rivaling Wild Red's in size, but soon enough the sound of cannon fire erupts through the harbor as the Armada engages the fleet! A good number of Red's ships are shredded in the opening minutes of this new battle, and several more are captured, but many turn tail and flee to join up with the blockading fleet near Kiatown; The dread pirates, though numerous, have clearly been caught unprepared and poorly organized by the battle, and in-spite of the combined best efforts of Scion and Auratus, only an inadequate handful of ships are deployed to chase down the runners.
The
Bride of the Robber Dragon, meanwhile, although damaged by Auratus' earlier assualt, manages to punch a hole in the attacking armada and make a break for it! Wild Red feels a rush of hope as his boat enters open waters, which builds as he spots another of his ships that had escaped the dread pirates approaching his position. Giving a few simple instructions to the highest ranking surviving officer he can find, the pirate lord retreats to his cabin to catch his breath. He fails to notice the fact that Tulwor is at the wheel of the approaching 'friendly' ship, and that said ship is on a collision course with his own. None of the men left on deck notice either, until Tulwor is so close that they can hear him shouting challenges to Wild Red, at which point it is far too late for evasive action.
CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRASH!The ship Tulwor appropriated and the
Bride of the Robber Dragon become entangled and begin to sink. The giant god hops over, amped for battle, and begins tearing up the deck of the Flagship, hoping to find and fight the pirate lord while there is still ground to stand on. Auratus, having recovered most of his strength and having seen the collision, is quick to fly over and join the search.
By the time they find their mark in the ruined remains of his cabin, the water is already up to his waist and rising quickly. Furthermore, a large bit of wood has managed to impale Wild Red in the leg during the collision, inflicting a wound that is both excruciatingly painful and likely lethal. As the honest battle Tulwor had wanted to slay the pirate in is now impossible, the giant, perhaps reluctantly, yields to the Dragon's wishes, and allows Auratus to kill Wild Red and harvest his soul with the dagger he had prepared.
The Dread Pirates are quick to move in and take the town; Over the next few hours they assist Pyrite, as well as Canvas' temple guard, in hunting down all of Red's men in Selma's Gate with ruthless efficiency. They also destroy or capture the ships left behind to fight Pyrite at the docks with little fanfare.
As night falls, a group of exhausted victors meet in the private box at the Selma's Gate theater to split up the loot which is piled high on the massive stage. Scion, the oldest of the dread pirate lords, opens the meeting by humbly requesting that his lot be allowed to take the captured ships, sailors, food, and supplies to recoup their losses in the fight, and adds that he has no objection to the gods present splitting the captured officers and loot as they see fit, as the dread pirate holds are already full of treasure following a successful sacking of Volcano.
A Meeting Has Assembled featuring the Dread Pirate Lords Scion, Deltrox, and Bane, the Bellian Deities Tulwor, Pyrite, and Auratus, and the Herald Canvas. The point of this meeting is to discuss the distribution of the following loot and captives from the battle:
-Makko Hogshead, Captive Pirate Captain: +4
-Tilda Thorn, Captive Pirate Captain, Adopted Daughter and Mistress to Wild Red: +4
-Jorgen Flaut, Captive Pirate Captain and Warrior: +8 [Actor]
-Holland Wik, Captive Pirate Captain and High Priest of the Robber Dragon: +5
-Mild Red, Captive Pirate Officer, First Cousin and Wife to Wild Red: +1
-Ogov Flave, Captive Pirate Officer and fleet tactician: +3
-Nell Hound, Captive Pirate Officer and Water Elementalist: +8 [Actor]
-Cephlidquid, Captive Pirate Officer and Shark-kin Sorceress: +12 [Actor]
-50000 Redsport Dubloons: +15
-350 Gallons of Kracken Ink: +20
-30 Pounds of Adamantine Wafers: +20
-250000 Assorted and Poorly Organized Coins and Gems: +30
-15 Dread Pine cones: +50
-Corpse of Wild Red: +1
-Red Dragon Armor: +10 [Unknown Artifact]
-Ruby Trumpet: +7 [Historical Artifact from the War Before Time; Powers Unknown]
-Golden Staff: +7 [Unknown Artifact]
-Dragon Bone Ship's Wheel: +7 [Unknown Artifact]
-Strange Shark-Tooth Whip: +7 [Unknown Artifact]
Auratus, Tulwor, and especially Pyrite have all gained worshipers in Selma's Gate.
Auratus has claimed Wild Red's soul!
Wild Red's Fleet is no more! Those of his ships that have survived the battle have joined up with the blockading fleet, increasing its strength.Pyrite:Following the loot distribution meeting, you jog down the coast at super-human speed, slip through several orcish siege camps, and vault the city walls to visit Kiatown in search of Linda's mother. You find the house of the Merchant Haze seemingly under siege by a handful of local troops, but they are wise enough to let their god pass unhindered.
When you arrive inside, and state your intention to meet with the mistress of the house, you are quickly led downstairs into what you instantly recognize as a trapping chamber; A room built by mega arachnids too injured to hunt, designed to aid in self defense and the capture of the flesh they crave. It is designed to confound the senses of a visitor, but said design is one that you are familiar with. Detecting your host is a simple matter of directing your eyes to see in the dark, and looking up in the right direction.
She is a spider, about twice the size of a horse, and you can tell she is in bad shape. She is missing three legs, five eyes, and most of the spiny hair that you can tell used to cover her body. Her head and abdomen are disfigured and covered in ancient scars; Judging by the location of some of the injuries, it is probable that she has suffered some brain damage as well.
After several seconds, she hisses softly. Her means of speaking are vastly different from your father's, but luckily your ability to translate renders this irrelevant.
"You look strong. And to be of similiar blood. Are you the one the dragon spoke of?"Auratus:Seeing as you dealt with the captured pirates at the meeting earlier, and the ones who escaped are now safely party of another large fleet, you return to Newbellum Castle, place Linda in the hidden hall, and retire to your chambers to plan your next move.
Neither of your posted second interactions seem relevant, so you may come up with another one for this month!A few days later, you are called to deal with an incident at the hidden hall... (See below)
Ketemos:Work on the hidden hall goes by faster, and has better results, than you could have hoped. Within a matter of days you have enchanted a room to send stored information of your choice into the mind of the occupant at a rate approximately equal to the content of four thick tomes per day.
Shortly after you finish, you are approached by Auratus to allow Linda to be the hall's first student; He is training her to be a proper priest, which requires her to study draconic history and law. Finding no reason to disagree, you lead the young halfbreed into the hall, and set it up so that her mind is flooded with the relevant information. You then return to your room to work on your latest invention; The Clowns Eye.
+Minor Artifact, Clowns EyeBy making the effects of the artifact relatively minor, and also providing an easy way for them to be dispelled, you are able to render its production more or less trivial in terms of difficulty. Still, you find the process to be time consuming; It takes you a few days searching the tomes in your room to find just the right method of applying divine energy to the eye, and another few hours of careful craftsmanship. Eventually, however, the artifact is created exactly as you envisioned.
Happy with your work, you head down to the Hidden Hall to fetch Linda, only to find catastrophic disaster. Linda sits in the center of the hall laughing, surrounded by burnt and torn books. Furthermore, you detect that all the magic you had worked so hard on weaving has been dispelled.
Horrified, you fetch Auratus, and the two of you manage to drag an explanation out of the mortal. It would seem that her studies of Draconic history have caused her to adopt a strong prejudice against Bellian Kind, and that some of the books she 'read' contained magical rites and spells used by dragon priests of old, some of which were still part of an active framework and thus potent. Her new worldview lead her to the conclusion that a Bellian God and/or his followers had no right to knowledge of the magnitude contained within the hall, and her new powers gave her the means to do something about it!
Critical Fail on Modifying the Hidden Hall!-Linda the Dragon Priestess has arisen!
-The Hidden Hall has been ruined! Luckily the structural integrity of the rooms themselves has not been damaged, so Labyrinth Domain has not been defiled.You spend the rest of the month trying to salvage what you can of the books in the hall, and cleaning up the mess Linda had left.
Your attempt to visit Kiatown has failed...Tulwor:You climb up to the lookout, and ingoring Corusu's threats and insults, focus your mind's eye on the area surrounding Kiatown. The Orcs, and their siege engines, soon come into view. Digging deep into your iron will and divine soul, you channel some of your life force into fierce lightning, which you call down onto the Orcish force from above! In a matter of seconds all the siege engines are destroyed, and notable causalities are inflicted among their men.
The Orcish Siege Force has lost their Seige Engines, and has suffered some losses as well!Deciding that you are not yet finished, you swim out to sea in search of a storm. After a long week and a half of searching, you find a decent sized one, and begin bashing it with Helmhammer! The storm fights back, tearing at your flesh with wind and hail and lightning, but after a few days struggle, it gives in and allows you to direct it back towards the Isle of Plenty!
You lead it to the gates of Kiatown, and more importantly the blockading pirate force. Sadly, however, this does not have quite the effect you intended. It turns out pirates are actually pretty good at dealing with storms; They see it coming, take shelter in a small cove, and close their sails. By the time the storm has passed, you note little damage to the fleet.
The storm wrangling endeavor, however, was not a complete waste of time and effort. A brief window presents itself between the weather system's departure and the blockade returning to its position at the mouth of Kiatown Harbor, and several Bellian ships take advantage of the opening to leave. Assuming they intend to fetch help, backup from the closest City State should arrive in three months at the earliest.
Several Ships from Kiatown have managed to Run the Blockade!Ketari:Getting through Corusu's storm as a flock of birds is tough. Tracking down Sarrani the wonder rat in such a form is somewhat easier. Convincing said rat that said flock of birds is actually the goddess responsible for its intelligence is just plain hard, takes much longer than you would have thought. After several hours of work, however, you manage to convince the creature to allow you to modify it.
The actual process is a bit tough to perform without hands, but you allow your anger to guide you in the creative process, and after a hard night's work Sarrani is transformed into a massive winged humanoid make of plant matter, with a terrifying jaw and amazing strength. It howls an oath of loyalty to you, before launching into the pre-dawn sky to test out its new wings!
Super Barker Sarrani has been born!NPC Report:-A good portion of the blockading fleet has departed, following the coast eastward. It is clear they don't want to lose everything fighting the gods or the Armada, but they have left enough boats behind to maintain the blockade... Judging by their departure route it is likely the remainder of the fleet is still in the area, perhaps taking advantage of Orcish Hospitality.
-Oinkiny attempted to go to Kiatown to provide food, but was unable to get past the Orcish Siege Force and Corusu's storm unaided.
-The Merchant Haze, the man in large part responsible for keeping Kiatown Supplied with food, has not been heard from since the Orcs made it across the beach pass.
-The food situation is getting quite dire in Kiatown.
-Rumors from Kiatown indicate that there has been some sort of military coup, and a new faction lead by a dictator controls much of the city.
-Mortus has arrived and called a meeting. See Below. Feel free to start individual RPs with him as well.
Mortus:The Ferryman arrives near the end of the month, and wastes little time in assembling everybody in the throne room. In his hands are two emerald scrolls, decrees or orders from Rexxis himself on a miraculous parchment that only he can produce.
With a cold look on his vulture face, and none of his usual good humor, he unfurls one of them and solemnly reads.
"It has been brought to my attention that Chell, a Child who bears the blood of the Bellian Divine, has been taken hostage by a Dragon claiming to be a Barbarian Deity. This cannot stand. The Young Gods of the Isle of Plenty therefore are tasked with retrieving her and ending the life of her kidnapper. The Young God deemed most responsible for saving Chell and killing her assailant will be rewarded with the right to name a Bellian of their choosing Monarch of Kiatown, and a new high house will be established in honor of the Monarch's patron should the chosen monarch not already be of high birth. Help from a more established god will be provided, as per described in the second decree you have been sent. So Decrees Rexxis, King of Gods"Without a word, Mortus conjures a table in the middle of the room, and unfurls the second scroll upon it before beckoning you all close. He dosn't bother reading this one, but allows you all time to do so yourself. There is a large blank space labeled 'name here' at the top of the document. The rest reads as follows.
The Young Gods of Newbellum Castle have been tasked by myself to rescue a kidnapped child and slay the dragon responsible for her abduction. By popular vote, they have drafted you out of the entire pantheon, save for Mortus who is needed on other business, to aid them in their quest. You are hereby ordered to either travel to The Isle of Plenty with a Host to aid the new pantheon as they see fit, or offer each of the Young Gods a boon of your choosing that they may use in pursuit of this end - Your choice. Furthermore, you are responsible for deciding which of the Young Gods was most responsible for accomplishing this task once it is accomplished, so that I may reward him or her. You have until one month after receiving this decree to provide the aid as instructed.
-So Decrees Rexxis, King of Gods"Well lads and lassie, it looks like we have a choice to make." Mortus says darkly while producing an emerald pen,
"Ya have the whole pantheon save me ta choose from. Whoes help, and judgement, do ya want?"Newbellum Castle:Jade Throne:
No lord. Ketari is Temporary Lord
Miracle Bank:
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 [0/3]
-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
-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 52502 times)