he requested this character months ago, curious if it was even viable as a character. After much hemming and hawwing, I decided to give it a try, but could not figure a reasonable way for it to enter Omega and still go on missions, unless it was introduced on mission. By the time I had firmly concluded that I wold introduce him on this mission, Dar was already selected for the other.
This is the only time the two characters will be active at the same time, to avoid any metagaming between them - not that I expect syv to do such. This is no less than the fourth character I have included with reservations, and two of the others are on this mission, so yay! I'm just asking for trouble with this gang. And yeah, I kinda chuckled to myself when Egan proposed his second character, because of the nature of the dagger. If anyone is concerned about death mechanics for a magic weapon, well, aside from the method syv and I discussed, I have ideas, so this character is not without risks of it's own.
I hope this is okay with everyone. If not, I can hand wave Dar out and introduce AkumaKasai's character into one or the other mission.
Approach the woman slowly, hands up, dagger away and ask:
'Scuse me but I'm looking for a band of mercenaries? I have much need to talk to them, perhaps even on terms of employment.
A burnt, armed and armored elf walks into a barn where a woman, alone, is tending her business, with men off in the distance, and tries to look nonthreatening. At least your charisma is 0. Well, she looks up at the sound of your voice, screams, and kicks over her milk bucket jumping up and running around the cow to pick up a pitchfork. "Stay back! Stay back!"
That could have gone worse.
"Statement: This one was locked up in a magisters library for years. Compiling language catalogs."
Check my language catalogs with robot computing. Cross reference with the words the goblin just said to me. If no data is found, compile goblin language program from the snippets I've heard so far. MAGITEK SCIENCE HO!
nice use of backstory there. You manage to piece together a few snippets - just the basics at this point. You caught the words "metal man" and "slaughterers" in there. You remember a few goblin greetings, and decide to try one out, and they respond in kind. This seems to reduce the tension a touch, at any rate. "What want with us?" The big one says.
Again, with feeling!
That is, try reading ol' grisgris' emotions again.
there is definitely a strong sense of controlled fear coming from him at this point. it lessens a touch when Clunkers speaks goblin at them, but he is still quite wary. THe fear is not new - it is someting this goblin has lived with for a while at least, only heightened in your presence.
Keep watch on the camp for a few hours, watch who comes and goes, and what they're up to.
you see two troll thugs, two human fighter types, three ranger types, an elf with a slim sword, and one human officer. There is at least one other you don't see, and maybe more. the camp looks laid out for about three times as many, with at least enough activity for five more being present normally. You see a horsedrawn cart come up the trail to deliver food and some supplies, and a mechanical wagon walks over to it to be loaded, the n walks the load into the fort and delivers supplies to various stations. the horesdrawn is occupied by two men, who leave with the cart.
Cho Ja
Try to sneak within earshot without being detected.
You get close enough to hear the next interchanges between Clunkers, Terrance, and the goblins, though you didn't hear the previous one. No one calls out or runs away in surprise, so, far as you know, you were successful.
Hom:
Make a turtle noise (a toothless, soft huh or something) and waddle forward, poking my head out of the brush to look at them.
they react in mild surprise and amusement - the orc letting out a chuffing cough of a laugh, the elf smirking wryly, and the kobold rolls it's eyes and mutters, shaking it's staff a little.
Solam Kobemtosed
Shamble out, following Hom. Act as if I were mindless. Notably by shambling randomly and muttering "Brains".
And then, a zombie appears, and the amusement drains right out of their faces. Weapons come up, and you are ordered to drop yours. The kobold begins chanting.
<Of course. I promise you the entirety of my power if you let me in, Mordred. But I expect your power to be shared in return>
Yes. I will share all I have, you have my word. Let's do this.
Scratch the previous action. Let the mysterious entity in.
You let the entity in, and it does the following
Nice Knife
I'm going to assume I have a good rapport with my current wielder (Who I've named Blastel). If I don't, just buff Mordred's magic a bit without doing anything else, but try not to make it apparent to my wielder. If I do have a decent rapport, tell him the below:
<Blastel, leave it alive. The presence of such a confident and well armed individual implies there's something important to learn. Just let me work on him. But be ready if he rebels>
If Blastel obeys, speak the below into Mordred's mind:
<My, you're a fine specimen, aren't you? A bit foolhardy, but I can work with that--you'll make a vastly better host than that simpering fool. They're going to kill you, you know, but I can save you. All you need to do is Let Me In>
If Mordred doesn't let me in, buff his magic. If he does let me in, do the stuff in the below spoiler:
Mordred winces, and drops his sword. He slumps over, and falls to his side, while several emotions play across his face in quick succession--surprise, anger, fear, and then nothing. He rests, unmoving, for several seconds before smiling and standing up with a laugh. "Hahaha, such a feeble, foolish mind. I assumed your confidence to mean something, but no, you're just an idiot who came alon... Oh. That's quite interesting." Mordred, or the being in control of Mordred, inspects his arms, flexing and strething them while his eyes scrutinize the muscles. He grins. "This idiot brought his wife and daughter, too, thinking a small dagger would be sufficient protection. I don't know about you two, but Blastel and I haven't had any in quite a long time, and it seems there's two young, beautiful women, all alone and without any defense from bad men like us." Mordred's face contorts into a horrified expression for half a second, but then the confident grin is reestablished with a laugh.
"I have complete control over this fool. Let's be off, before it bleeds out."
After this exchange, the voice reenters Mordred's mind <Which of those friends of yours is most powerful? Direct me to him, and then we can kill these idiots>
Finally, if everything actually managed to go well, head off in the direction Mordred tells me to. While walking, focus on clotting Mordred's wounds, and buffing his magic (if he prefers I buff only lighting, or only telekinesis, obey his preference.).
Blastel lets you do your thing, and you drop Mordred's body to the ground dramatically, then stand and begin speaking. Blastel looks at you, nodding, but the other two are very suspicious. "What is this fool babbling about? Control? We have control here. Wait, how do you know Blastel? What kind of double cross is this?"
"I have a spell!" Blastel yells. "I ... I made him stop. it's all good. no double cross. would I do that?" he stammers in rapid succession. This does not appease the two of them, and the swordsman steps back from Mordred and puts his blade to Blastel's neck. "What are you playing at!" He says through clenched teeth. The bowman nocks another arrow and keeps it aimed steadily at Mordred.
As for Mordred, the gut wound is shallow and the knife is keeping it from bleeding out, but he still has the other wound as well, and now his sword is on the ground.
Author
Topic: Omega legion: Bluff Harder! (Read 51464 times)