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Author Topic: (SG) The Redleaf Epic (Formerly Widow: A Duchess Scorned)  (Read 66266 times)

IronyOwl

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #210 on: April 17, 2016, 06:01:16 pm »

Oh, well. Let's see what to do on the following days:

-Send a messenger to Charlie telling her of the influx of troops, and that she is free to come and discuss future strategies with us.
-Arrange a proper welcome for the Ivy clan.

Also, I feel proud of our demon great-great-great-great-great grandparent.
Yes to these.


I'm in favor of just feeding them Dean, but have we gotten his opinion yet?

Dean would be the better option for every reason except what happens if they turn him all pro-Ivy. He'd form a much stronger bond than a convenience wife, we can be sure of his loyalty and competence, and he could use a place of employment and security anyway.

Meanwhile, Talcutta is probably correct that Chieftess Ivy is a terrible negotiator, but you don't get good long-term alliances by strongarming your trading partner. I'm willing to wager Dean's soul on this being a literal show of faith rather than a concession.

Plus we can have Yaugur hit them if they cross us, and in the long term a terrible negotiator is going to be dependent on and at a severe disadvantage to us.


Anything else we want to do in four days, or just scramble to get ourselves ready for orcs? We have a bunch of minor business to discuss, but I suppose it could wait until our army is properly settled.
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StrawBarrel

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #211 on: April 17, 2016, 10:13:37 pm »

Here are more things for the to-do list:

Ask Fugitap if he knows any hunters that can capture and tame a Orc-Eater Python.

Think of a every person we can contact intra-realm through a projection stage via demons and such. I think we forgot we could contact Farquad via projection stage so we should make sure we list all the people we can speak with.

Get Dean's opinion about becoming a divine caster of trance for Danzielipip.

Speak with Mason about his progress regarding Fortune. Maybe we can be crafty and figure out what's up with him as well or at least find clues.

See if our mother is still heading to Redleaf. If so be sure to warn her about Silver County being hostile.

Talk to Redding about how we can contact his father.

Contact Rizza. If we do not know how, then ask Uncle Truman if there is a way to contact Rizza. This is a kind of a long shot at seeing if she could somehow smuggle communications over to Gulf County. At the very least we can ask if see can provide us any support of vice versa.

Ask Zeph if his family could sneak around and deliver messages for us. If they can break into vaults, can and would they be able to be covert dipolmats?

Give Greg the Locket of Rothwell Childrens' Hair to him. This can improve our relations with him and show him we have no intentions of hurting his children.

See if Tempest and Tuft have anything concerns to report to us regarding their swarms.

Make sure Wednesday is not having a hard time finding food. Not really important, but I curious on how she's finding blood.

Check on Joy to see how she's holding up. I can't really seem to figure out what kind of person the future Duchess. She did good at the rally, but not so well at the treaty presentation. Also to we should help her with any problems she might have.
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Tomcost

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #212 on: April 18, 2016, 07:02:31 am »

Get Dean's opinion about becoming a divine caster of trance for Danzielipip.

It is more like becoming a demon under Trance.

Quote
See if our mother is still heading to Redleaf. If so be sure to warn her about Silver County being hostile.
She was not heading there, only some troops. And we warned them via Tiv.

Quote
Talk to Redding about how we can contact his father.
I think that we already did this. We can send him with an escort of guards, or he can go when one of his mercenary companies returns.

Quote
Contact Rizza. If we do not know how, then ask Uncle Truman if there is a way to contact Rizza. This is a kind of a long shot at seeing if she could somehow smuggle communications over to Gulf County. At the very least we can ask if see can provide us any support of vice versa.

Projection stage?

Quote
Ask Zeph if his family could sneak around and deliver messages for us. If they can break into vaults, can and would they be able to be covert dipolmats?
They already pointed us to Tyger, their messenger. And our wight will send him to us once it finds him.

Quote
Give Greg the Locket of Rothwell Childrens' Hair to him. This can improve our relations with him and show him we have no intentions of hurting his children.
-1. We control the mayor just because of this. If we lose this, we lose contorl of the city.

StrawBarrel

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #213 on: April 18, 2016, 07:43:24 am »

Quote
Contact Rizza. If we do not know how, then ask Uncle Truman if there is a way to contact Rizza. This is a kind of a long shot at seeing if she could somehow smuggle communications over to Gulf County. At the very least we can ask if see can provide us any support of vice versa.

Projection stage?
Maybe?
Quote
Give Greg the Locket of Rothwell Childrens' Hair to him. This can improve our relations with him and show him we have no intentions of hurting his children.
-1. We control the mayor just because of this. If we lose this, we lose contorl of the city.
I don't the locket is the sole reason Gregory has been working with us. Even if it was, he would still be threatened by Charlie. I think we should shift the relation from threatening one to a positive one so we can have him be more willing to work with us rather than Charlie in case he has to choose between the two of us for some reason.
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Tomcost

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #214 on: April 18, 2016, 08:24:49 am »

Quote
Contact Rizza. If we do not know how, then ask Uncle Truman if there is a way to contact Rizza. This is a kind of a long shot at seeing if she could somehow smuggle communications over to Gulf County. At the very least we can ask if see can provide us any support of vice versa.

Projection stage?
Maybe?
Quote
Give Greg the Locket of Rothwell Childrens' Hair to him. This can improve our relations with him and show him we have no intentions of hurting his children.
-1. We control the mayor just because of this. If we lose this, we lose contorl of the city.
I don't the locket is the sole reason Gregory has been working with us. Even if it was, he would still be threatened by Charlie. I think we should shift the relation from threatening one to a positive one so we can have him be more willing to work with us rather than Charlie in case he has to choose between the two of us for some reason.

Charlie has his children. That won't work. He will choose Charlie, unless we can free those children fom her grasp. And right now I don't see a reason to have a better relationship with the corrupt mayor. Goodwill works with honest people.

Weirdsound

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #215 on: April 18, 2016, 09:25:50 am »

(@StrawBarrel: Demons can pass messages along to anybody with a projection stage (so long as they have been in contact with that person's projection stage before, or you have and can forward them the contact information), but you have to negotiate it first. Tiv's organization will pass messages to family for free, usually. There are demons who largely make their living passing messages around for a cost, and those that do usually have the skill set to find somebody you don't have the contact information for, again at a cost. Dean told you about two such demons a few turns ago.)

(I think I have enough to go on here for a turn. I'll dip into some of the earlier suggestions from before the dump and mini-turn as well.

...or shit can hit the fan and we don't even get to Thursday. That works too.)

2334th Year of Man, 4th Month, 31st and Final Day:

Saturday

During the conference call, you get a few messages passed back and forth with other members of the family. Farquad notes that if you agree to his terms, he would likely subject his three and a half year old daughter Windchime to the test of faith. The girl has already been accessed to have a talent for divine magic, so she wouldn't need to be subjected to Yukprong's interference first, and is young enough that Farquad has time to figure out how to undo whatever might be done to her before she can become a threat to herself and others. Your eldest also adds that some of his in-laws have expressed interest in aiding the cause, and that once you control either Port or Silver County he could round up a few hundred troops for you, perhaps more if it is clear at the time that he is in line to receive control of a County or even the Duchy.

Your mother isn't with the troops herself. She passes along that she sent your message that the Kinkaids are friend and the Marlowes foe by way of an airborne false angel, so it should reach them in time. The forces she sent are all riders, and should arrive in Silver County any day now, if they haven't already. She then gives a brief breakdown of the men deployed to your aid.

One hundred and fifty riders are lowborn conscripts from Bonedust controlled land; The conscripts are under the command of Marcela Bonedust, a young hotshot Dread Knight who married into the family. Two hundred and fifty riders are residents of Redleaf Duchy, a mix of nobles and lowborn, pulled from the front lines upon hearing of the death of their Duke; These local Knights have fallen under the command of Noir Strongcurrent, Redding's son from his first marriage. Lastly, your mother tapped into the ancestral vault and sent twenty five wights mounted on simple zombie horses made with scrap souls; The Wights are lead by Sir Evander Skorn, a truly ancient ancestor who predates the age of man.

The make up of this group worries you a bit; Many of the local riders hail from lands presently loyal to the Prince, and their commander Noir is young and may lack the experience necessary to prevent defection. To further complicate things, you know Victor Marlowe, the twin's younger brother, is a mounted knight on the front lines, and your mother is not sure if he is with Noir or not.

2334th Year of Man, 5th Month, 1st Day:

Sunday

You spend the day shoring up the home front and socializing with the household.

Dean is not terribly thrilled with the idea of subjecting himself to the test of faith. Ascending and taking a vow of fealty to a stronger demon is one thing, opening one's soul for two demons to do as they please in there is another issue entirely. Your youngest son then has the gall to suggest using Fortune, suggesting that giving another god a stake in the girl might throw a wrench into whatever Tetha is planning. In turn, you point out that getting Fortune mixed up in divine affairs could very easily be exactly what Tetha wants. Dean then counters by stating that teaching Fortune to use divine magic might give her better insight and control regarding the powers she already has.

By the end of the discussion it is pretty clear that subjecting himself to the test of faith is the last thing Dean wants to do, but although you are sure it would be a fight to do so, you are confident that you can get him to at least reluctantly agree to subject himself to the test if you decide to go that route.

You have a quick discussion with Mason. You note the scholar is nervous, but he waves off your concern by stating that he is not used to orcs, and being around so many makes him uncomfortable, but he is sure he will get used to it eventually. He reports no new developments with Fortune, and laments that if anything did happen, his insight would be a bit more limitted than usual as he left some key tomes back in Cleanriver Castle when he fled with your family and Glen Horton following Sylvester's death. He suggests a fresh pair of eyes might help, and implies that in a town with this many mercenaries, it may be possible to find somebody who actually practices the divine magic of the deep pantheon to give your daughter a looking over.

Unable to draw information reguarding his covert activities from the scholar, you next visit with the man who pointed Mason's leaking out to you: Redding. Redding gives you an update of the ferry situation; The assassinations and the take over that followed them have been a complete success, and the boats should be back to running at normal capacity by the end of the week. He then gives you even more good news - the mercenary group he was waiting for is back in town, so he intends to leave and visit his father soon. In regards to that, Redding has two requests for you: First he would like permission to negotiate freely on your behalf, as he suspects his father might try to impose terms or conditions on his oath of fealty. He also notes his eldest son Greent, who was with the mercenaries, is in town, and that Redding would like him to move into Groghall watch over Joy on his behalf while he is gone. You are not terribly comfortable with this; Greent was closer to Chasity and the Marlowe twins growing up than he was to Joy.

Your pregnant daughter is tracked to the barracks, where you find her talking military strategy and her father's legacy with some of the older orcs from Caiman Swarm who knew Sylvester. Joy informs you that she is more or less fine, and is using divine magic to nullify some of pregnancy's nastier side effects as she was taught to do at the cloister. She hopes that you will keep Snakeyes around, as she would like another member of the Steel Sisterhood to attend to her when she gives birth. Lastly, she intends to learn how to read orcish script, as there are some documents on military strategy and divine magic in the collection your purchased from Chieftian Foot. Joy would prefer to take lessons from you, but is otherwise going to draft one of the Groghall soldiers to teach her.

As you turn to leave, Joy pulls you aside to an empty row of beds, and speaks quietly to you in private. She informs you that Dean told her about the test of faith, and demands to be the one subjected to it. As somebody already well versed in divine magic, she argues she is the best fit. She then states she needs to be as powerful as possible to reclaim her Duchy and avenge her father. You try to argue that the process is risky and that Orcish Magic is illegal and unbecoming of a Duchess, but Joy is having none of it. You are sure she will be quite cross with you if she doesn't get her way. You are also sure that Dean, wanting to get out of subjecting himself to the test, told Joy about it expecting her to react as she did.

At night you check in with Wednesday, to see how she has been eating. As the ghoul inhabits a tiny kobold body, she dose not need to feed often, and doesn't even need to take a lethal amount of blood when she does. She has fed only once since arriving at Groghall, three days ago on a Typhoon Swarm Orc she caught napping at his post. She does mention she is bored and unfulfilled, and wonders if you are withholding the privilege of serving you from her because she did something to offend you.

2334th Year of Man, 5th Month, 2nd Day:

Monday

You decide to put aside your responsibilities as mother, head of household, and Duchess for the day, and attempt to enjoy yourself for the first time since Sylvester's Death. You send word to Syzzik that you will be joining him for dinner, and Dublin Kinkaid that you would like him to meet you in the basement of Groghall to muck about with some demons as soon as he can get over. While you wait for Dublin, you compose a letter to his mother, telling Charlie of the situation with Clan Ivy, although you are rather confident she has already heard about it from Gregory.

Dublin meets you in the basement, and after some brief and slightly awkward flirting, you get to work. Dublin has the power to force the demons from the necklace, and to draw favorable contracts from them by threatening their existence. You in turn can use summoning magic to bind demons to whatever contracts they agree to so long as they remain on the same realm as you.

Your suitor brings out the demons one at a time, threatens them into compliance, and waits for you to come to terms with or order the death of each before bringing out the next.

The Sorrow's Daughter is forced from hiding first, as she is more or less harmless so long as neither you nor Dublin are kind to her out of pity before getting her on a contract. Noting her precarious position, the demon offers you a contract of unconditional and indefinite servitude. She notes that she would prefer to be treated as her master's offspring while not working, and would like to be given a mortal name as Iztilatilpoqpoqlofug doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. The Demon also mentions that her mother, a sorrow fiend with a similarly unpronounceable name, runs a small ring of inter-realm smugglers and may offer a reward for her safe return. The Demon before you does not know her mother's hex sign, so getting in touch may be a bit of a chore.

The Star Beast is stronger and more prideful than the Sorrow's Daughter and would rather face death than offer unconditional and indefinite servitude as she did. He notes that he was created by the Deep God Urchurn, who you know to be a deity of Law, Treasure, Light, and Fire. Urchurn sent this particular demon, who insists you call him Starling, to the mortal realm to sniff out stockpiles of demonic goods left behind by wandering demons, smugglers, and dark mages. The contract he offers places Starling at your disposal during the week, and allows the Star Beast to pursue the work he was sent to do during the weekend, so long as it doesn't conflict with your interests. The contract offered lasts until he finds a stash of significant value within your reach, at which point you will split the treasure 50-50 with Urchurn and allow the demon his freedom.

The Tentacle Demon is a bit larger than expected, closer in mass and volume to a hippopotamus than a horse. This particular specimen is covered in pink barbs, which you suspect can inject various nasty toxins into its victims. The creature is half crazed and starving, and you get the impression that it has been sealed away for far longer than the other two. It agrees to serve you for the rest of your mortal life on two conditions: that it first be allowed to go to Silver or Cleanriver County to feast upon the locals until it's appetite is sated, and that you agree to never seal it away again. You note it must have some mind reading capabilities if it knows enough about the political situation to name the two closest hostile counties.

Neither the Star Beast nor the Tentacle Demon seem willing to budge from their offer, and they both would stick out like a sore thumb in your presence. Should you choose to have any of the demons killed, their corpses would likely fetch a good price from mortal merchants, and might even be worth a few souls to a demon looking to buy them.

When you are finished, Dublin notes that he found the experience thrilling, and that if you feel the same way your next date with him should be a bit more dangerous; He wants you to take him fishing. In dark magic terminology, fishing is the extremely reckless stunt of spiritually prodding around other realms with a summoning circle, picking something you think you can handle based on feel or instinct, and dragging it into the mortal realm before knowing exactly what it is. Needless to say, it is one of the many things your dark magic instructors told you to never, ever, do.

---

Joy gets a kick out of donning a disguise to visit Syzzik, and upon entering Syzzik's apartment a bigger kick out of his decour. It is clear the cartel is far from the man's only source of income; He lives more opulently than you and Sylvester ever did. The walls of his home are decorated with fine art, what appears to be several artifact weapons, and various impressive hunting trophies. The living space is about twice as large as the common area at Groghall, but you doubt Syzzik has nearly as many bedrooms. A three-piece band set up near the table plays exotic wind instruments made from brass, which your host informs you are called trombones.

You and your daughter sit down with Syzzik and his, and a goblin you recognize from the Knifehouse brings out a large waterfowl, slaughters, it, and begins to prepare it nearby. Your host mentions that one of his regular goblin customers told him that you frequented the Knifehouse, so he thought he would serve you food you like and try Goblin cuisine for the first time himself. Mable is impressed with the show of the bird being butchered, but Joy, who you had never exposed to Goblin style meals, is a bit grossed out. Syzzik seems to have strategically set the table to keep his back turned to the whole bloody affair. As a distraction, Joy turns her attention to the younger girl, who proceeds to fawn over her idol with more flattery than her father pays you.

The talk is mainly craft while the food is being made. Syzzik asks your advice on potion brewing; As a personal project he is trying to learn how to brew potions of haste, which you suspect might be a bit above his skill level, but give him some advice to point him in the right direction. Joy and Mable talk magic, with the former quickly getting depressed that her Drowish blood prevents her from divine casting, and the latter cheering her up by calling on Weneth to make sparks and streaks of light dance across the room. The bird is served seasoned with bitter and tangy spices from goblin lands and next to a side dish of mashed local fruit.

After eating, Mable invites Joy to the basement of the building to show off her gun collection to your daughter, and with the children gone talk turns to cartel business in general, and eventually poking fun at Peat in particular. Syzzik goes to great lengths to explain how terrible the Orc's bookkeeping is, and you promptly share the story of Mackie's daughter and the bottle of mead. The merchant takes his flattery up a few levels at this point, and by now you are almost positive it is only the fear curse stopping him from making a move. The closest he gets is mentioning that he rents the basement of the building as well, and is considering setting up the space for you to teach brewing to some of the spare orcs from Mogpan as you requested. He invites you to check the space out with him, but you know the girls are down there, so nothing particularly romantic is likely to happen.

2334th Year of Man, 5th Month, 3rd Day:

Tuesday

You are roused early when the city guard warns you that a group of around one hundred riders flying the banners of Southjungle County and House Horton enter town. You barely have time to get dressed and order an early breakfast prepared before Glen and his men enter Groghall.

The once youthful Count Horton looks to have put on another fifteen years since he reunited you with your family and assigned you an escort to Groghall. He announces that he defeated an incursion of several hundred traitors onto his land. He had the survivors crucified alongside the main road, but the two highborn traitors who lead the incursion have invoked their right to appeal to the Duchess, so he has brought them here so that you may uphold their death sentences. He then adds that afterwards he would like a private meeting regarding his status as general.

After you serve breakfast to Glen and his officers, you ask him to bring the traitors out. He does so reluctantly, and once they arrive you promptly spot the reason for his reluctance - he knows these are people you would never consider executing.

The first 'Traitor' is Count Virgil Gulf, a close friend of Sylvester and yourself, and ruler of Gulf County - or, as he explains, former ruler. "The Crown sent Clarence Rothwell with a host of twelve thousand to remove me. I barely managed to escape with my personal guard, but they have my wife Maeris! They have Lanette!"

Glen smacks Virgil across the face with his gauntleted hand, drawing blood, and admonishing his fellow count for swearing fealty to the snake of a prince.

The second prisoner is Lindwurm Strongcurrent, second son of Count Ernie and mayor of Port Lionfish, who explains he had been sent by his father to escort the clearly distressed Virgil to your side, and negotiate terms of Port County's loyalty to Sylvester's descendants.

"Quiet, WORM!" Glen barks, "have you no honor? An oath of fealty shouldn't be bargined for like a common mule! My Duchess shouldn't even accept the loyalty of swine who would dare denounce our late beloved duke! I can't wait to have your whole rotten family on pi-"

Count Horton is abruptly cut off by a spine of sharp rock erupting from the ground, breaking through the floor, and flying towards him at high speeds - barely missing his neck. You turn to see Redding in his casting stance, looking rather distressed over the condition of his brother and pissed about the talk of his family. "I've heard about enough out of you old friend. One more word about my family, and you've screwed your last Duke, understood?"

"Oh my sweet Redding, you should just relax. I can't just forgive those who would denounce Sylvester; that would be akin to dancing on his grave. You are safe. I wouldn't harm Sylvester's kin by marriage... Unprovoked." A smile spreads across Glen's face as soon as the immediate shock of the attack passes. He hadn't come hoping to pick a fight with Redding, had he? The hands of soldiers in the room begin to migrate towards their weapons.

You take stock of the situation and find it quite dire. Thirty of Glen's knights are in the room, but, aside from Tuft and Tempest, only twenty of Groghall's soldiers, including the doomed pair of Greywing and Dunlap, are present. There are plenty of non-combatants to get hurt, sort of including yourself; Troublemaker is strapped and ready to draw beneath your dress, and if the battle lasts long enough for bodies to pile up, necromancy could come into play, but beyond that your options in a fight are limited.

Fortune is at the table, and would be in deep trouble if hostilities broke out. Virgil and Lindwurm are both bound on the floor, and likely to be trampled in a fight. Dean, Caddor, and Joy are not dressed for battle, and although your son and his goblin friend may be smart enough to stay out of harms way, you have no doubt Joy will want to get into the thick of things.

Your undead, and any demons you may have contracted, are hiding from the polite company in the basement just below you; The sound of combat may or may not draw them out. A large fight will eventually draw the rest of Typhoon and Caiman swarms to the main room, but you do not know if the rest of Glen's forces are in earshot; If they are, Clan Gruel's warriors will be outnumbered regardless.

Feel free to respond to the other events of the turn, and not just the major shitstorm at the end! Next turn will only wrap up events from this turn though... Kinda hard to plan ahead when you don't know who is going to survive the next five minutes.

I might do an infodump if next turn is particularly short. Since I see it coming, I'll take requests for the topic to be dumped on.
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TheBiggerFish

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #216 on: April 18, 2016, 10:17:58 am »

Major shitstorm damage control:

"Glen.  That is enough.  Please control your temper.  And you as well, Redding.

There shall be no further violence here today.  That is an order.

Uncontrolled vengeance is not in our best interest.  Nor, as much as we miss our husband, is it grounds for harm to be pragmatic in war.  We must not make hasty judgements.

For now, we would order that the appellants be confined while we make our decision.  They are not to be deprived of necessities, such as food and water at regular intervals."
« Last Edit: April 18, 2016, 10:20:52 am by TheBiggerFish »
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Tomcost

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #217 on: April 18, 2016, 11:40:05 am »

Holy shitstorm.

With Joy:
Explain to Joy that she is to become Duchess, not a demon slave to Trance, which is what clan Ivy's ultimately wants. If she wants to become a caster of orcish magic, we can call chieftain Foot. Explain to her that if she takes that path, eventually she won't be able to fight for our cause.

With the demons:
-Accept the Sorrow's Daughter. She is to be named Lily, and pose as one of our servants while she is near us. I don't know if there is a chance of the demon breaking out of the contract, but if it does, assure her that her destiny is to be worse than death.
-Kill the other two. Ask around with Dean or Tiv if someone wants to buy the corpses.

EDIT: accept them too

With Syzzik:
-Agree to go to the basement, I guess. We can always decline the offer and train the orcs at Groghall.

With the shitstom:

Change the subject of the discussion to Glen's imprisoned family. Inquire about Rothwell, say that we may have a plan to rescue his family.
(we can use both Gregory and his children to negotiate some kind of interchange. We can always threaten to kill the rest of Cromwell's family).

About the prisoners, we say that we want as much information as possible from them, so we want them as prisoners right now. If Horton protests, call upon Sylvester's name about how he always had vision and planned things. That will hurt him and calm him down.



Plan B:
We retcon things and accept all the demons, and let them loose upon the soldiers. This is the fun alternative, but not the one I want.

IronyOwl

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #218 on: April 18, 2016, 05:27:39 pm »

THANK YOU FOR HELPING, DEAN

THANK YOU FOR HELPING, JOY

THANK YOU FOR HELPING, GLEN

THANK YOU FOR HELPING, REDDING


I don't the locket is the sole reason Gregory has been working with us. Even if it was, he would still be threatened by Charlie. I think we should shift the relation from threatening one to a positive one so we can have him be more willing to work with us rather than Charlie in case he has to choose between the two of us for some reason.
Charlie has his children. That won't work. He will choose Charlie, unless we can free those children fom her grasp. And right now I don't see a reason to have a better relationship with the corrupt mayor. Goodwill works with honest people.
This is more or less my feeling. I'd like a healthier relationship with Gregory, but he's openly corrupt and probably a terrible person otherwise; I don't think graciousness is going to get nearly as far as rank terror. And, as mentioned, even if it did he'd be under a different master's thumb anyway.


Test of Faith
THANK YOU DEAN THAT IS VERY HELPFUL. If he doesn't want to I guess he's out unless we really need him, though if he's so quick to shove one of our other heirs in the way he ought to be more than happy to get us more. I say we tell him he can ascend as soon as he has two or more heirs on the way, and passively-aggressively mention why.

I'm also 100% cool with trying to breed him with a demon (we have 1-3, though none of them are exactly traditionally attractive) or one of those half-demon apprentices, even though the result would not be terribly heir-ish.

Speaking of poor ideas and demonic meddling, I'm in favor of letting Fortune or Joy do it. Joy's going to be downright pissed at us if we refuse, and if Fortune likes the idea we could make her impressively strong. We should ask Fortune about it, but she might be worried about it interfering with her awesome destiny.

As a reminder, Trance's domains are Demons, Espionage, Sabotage, Religious Fanaticism. This is not terribly good Duchess material, except for the Religious Fanaticism part which would fit Joy like a glove. And possibly the other three for countering or controlling them.

Otherwise, Joy's already set up for divine casting, so she'd be proficient at both using and excusing any illegal Orcish Divine Magic she might use. Powering up and keeping on our heir's good side are both noble goals, and this would make for an even stronger bond than Dean.

As mentioned, I don't think Clan Ivy wants to cross us on this, and if they do they'll end up regretting it more than we do.


Miscellany
Accept all three demon offers. We lose nothing from the daughter or star beast (beyond corpse materials) and the tentacle beast sounds useful enough in battle to be worth a few enemy peasants.

Dublin's insane. We should consider the possible consequences of fishing with an inquisitor present; presumably it's far less than doing so on our own, but that doesn't rule out nasty surprises. We should also probably get him into bondage or something before he gets himself eaten and puppeted around by a demon because it's thrilling.

Poor Wednesday. Let's tell her to start snooping around for any druids or divine casters, especially of Tetha or Trance.

Yeah, let's go to the basement. We might want to revoke Syzzik's fear curse or make a move on him, since he can't quite do it himself.


!!Shitstorm!!
Major shitstorm damage control:

"Glen.  That is enough.  Please control your temper.  And you as well, Redding.

There shall be no further violence here today.  That is an order.

Uncontrolled vengeance is not in our best interest.  Nor, as much as we miss our husband, is it grounds for harm to be pragmatic in war.  We must not make hasty judgements.

For now, we would order that the appellants be confined while we make our decision.  They are not to be deprived of necessities, such as food and water at regular intervals."
This is pretty good. I might prefer something like:

"Redding, I would thank you not to attack my vassals. No doubt my daughter and heir will be able to rest easier knowing her one true love isn't harming her best interests.

Glen, so good to see you. You may release the prisoners now; I have their word that they will not try to escape or harm any members of my household until I pass judgement on them. If it pleases you, we could discuss your status as general now rather than after the sentencing."


With the shitstom:

Change the subject of the discussion to Glen's imprisoned family. Inquire about Rothwell, say that we may have a plan to rescue his family.
(we can use both Gregory and his children to negotiate some kind of interchange. We can always threaten to kill the rest of Cromwell's family).

About the prisoners, we say that we want as much information as possible from them, so we want them as prisoners right now. If Horton protests, call upon Sylvester's name about how he always had vision and planned things. That will hurt him and calm him down.


Plan B:
We retcon things and accept all the demons, and let them loose upon the soldiers. This is the fun alternative, but not the one I want.
Everything in this post confuses me.

-Does Glen have any imprisoned family? I thought he was the eldest of Archibald Horton's bastards, based out of a jungle mansion?
-Archibald is the one that butchered the Rothwells, why would Glen want to save them from Charlie? Are you proposing we trade Gregory's children to Glen in exchange for the traitors, instead of just declaring them innocent/not killable?
-The only Cromwell I know of is Snakeyes, and I didn't think we knew anything about her family. Did you mean Rothwell, as in murdering Gregory's children then trying to keep him in line by threatening to murder his priestly brother or something?
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Tomcost

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #219 on: April 18, 2016, 05:42:40 pm »

Everything in this post confuses me.

-Does Glen have any imprisoned family? I thought he was the eldest of Archibald Horton's bastards, based out of a jungle mansion?
-Archibald is the one that butchered the Rothwells, why would Glen want to save them from Charlie? Are you proposing we trade Gregory's children to Glen in exchange for the traitors, instead of just declaring them innocent/not killable?
-The only Cromwell I know of is Snakeyes, and I didn't think we knew anything about her family. Did you mean Rothwell, as in murdering Gregory's children then trying to keep him in line by threatening to murder his priestly brother or something?

Oh, god I read everything wrong. It's Virgil's wife that is captive, not Glen's.


And I meant Rothwell instead of Cromwell. As in, we can use the fact that we have control over Clarence's family to do something about him, maybe negotiate.

But I confused everything. Damn, I'm so bad at names.


EDIT:

Suggestions for the info Dump:
Either the different schools of magic and how they work (I have doubts about how divine magic works) or the particularities of the different races.

VoidSlayer

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #220 on: April 18, 2016, 09:35:15 pm »

Okay so I see nothing wrong with this guy as our high inquisitor.

Nothing at all!  :D

We should take the sorrow's child and Star Beast.  Free demonic loot?  Count me in.  We should negotiate that it can not kill anyone while it searches on the weekends.  Edit: (And needs to be banished back to it's lord with it's share of the loot when it is done.  No staying around.)

The beast seems a bit too much though.  It would forever be a last trump card and in exchange it needs to go high profile mass murdering.  Yeah...

We should sell the corpse for a quick cash infusion instead.

« Last Edit: April 18, 2016, 09:45:44 pm by VoidSlayer »
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IronyOwl

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #221 on: April 18, 2016, 10:26:16 pm »

Oh. We should let Redding (assuming it's still relevant after this debacle) get his son to protect Joy, but then have Wednesday tail him for a bit. Not just to check if he's sending ominous letters directly to Prince Rubicon, but to see if he's happy to be living among orcs, if he cheats at cards, and otherwise get a solid read on what kind of person he is. If Redding wants him watching over Joy he can't be that bad, but some good constant surveillance should give us a better read.

For the info dump... maybe undead or demon types?


We should take the sorrow's child and Star Beast.  Free demonic loot?  Count me in.  We should negotiate that it can not kill anyone while it searches on the weekends.  Edit: (And needs to be banished back to it's lord with it's share of the loot when it is done.  No staying around.)

The beast seems a bit too much though.  It would forever be a last trump card and in exchange it needs to go high profile mass murdering.  Yeah...

We should sell the corpse for a quick cash infusion instead.
We already know it's not going to budge on its offer. It doesn't sound bad to have around and its mission shouldn't involve any unnecessary murder, though, so I'm not sure why we'd be concerned about it.

The tentacle demon sounds like a really powerful combatant. Poisonous multi-armed mind-reading hippo? Might as well be a mobile siege engine. In exchange it gets to eat a few peasants and woodsmen in enemy territory, which is a far better enemy:bystander ratio than we're likely to get from Charlie or Glen. Hell, once hostilities get underway it might just be able to feast upon the slain.

And yes, it's illegal, but we're a known Bonedust allied with orcs opposing a prince-turned-Duke with the Crown's backing. A single tentacle demon reported to be fighting alongside our forces isn't going to bring in any more heat than we already have. Well, maybe an inquisitor or two, but we're possibly dating one and a relative is married to their leader, so that shouldn't be too hard to deal with.
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The kitchenette mold free, you move on to the pantry. it's nasty in there. The bacon is grazing on the lettuce. The ham is having an illicit affair with the prime rib, The potatoes see all, know all. A rat in boxer shorts smoking a foul smelling cigar is banging on a cabinet shouting about rent money.

StrawBarrel

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #222 on: April 18, 2016, 11:04:23 pm »

Add on for deescalating the situation:
Order everyone to withdraw their arms and ill intentions as they're shall be no bloodshed among compatriots. Actually to be on the safe side don't say this. Fortune says either Dunlap or Greywing will die from following our order. It might not be this order, but I guess just addressing Redding and Glen like in the other posts seems sufficient enough to calm all the other combatants down. Instead make sure we do not give the general mass an order, only to specific people not named Dunlap or Greywing.

Private Meetings:
Have Virgil tell us everything.
Have Lindwurm tell us everything.
Have Glen tell us everything.
Everything: What has happened to your county since Rubricon took over? Your family? What have you been doing? What are your plans? How did the imprisonment occur? Let them rant, cry, speak to us diplomatically because we need all the info we can get.
We should mainly listen and extract information from them so we can give a response regarding their concerns, problems, successes, and whatever.

Not immediate stuff:
Don't kill the Tentacle Demon or Starling.
IronyOwl's plan to have Wednesday spy on and search for people.
Not sure who take the test of fate yet, but we still have time and should continue stewing on it.
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VoidSlayer

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #223 on: April 19, 2016, 12:16:14 am »

You, both of you, come into my home under the banner of peace and start fighting?  Is that what Sylvester would have wanted?  His trusted advisor and son in law making a battlefield on top of his children?  Destroying the alliance that has a hope of bringing down his murderer and those who support him?

Dean, Joy, secure the prisoners and (pointing to Redding and Glen) both of you will come with me and explain yourselves in private.


As for what to say, maybe Glen would buy that the Strongcurrents are working with us to feign loyalty to the prince until they are in a position to strike.  Count Virgil Gulf was in on no such plan though, he is a reluctant traitor who should be executed AFTER we get what we can out of him. 

Better to hold onto our alliance with the Strongcurrents with a bargaining chip then get a deposed count.

Don't forget to call Redding an idiot in private for massively insulting Glen with the thing he wants to execute people for while he had lots of armed soldiers nearby.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2016, 01:03:24 am by VoidSlayer »
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IronyOwl

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Re: (SG) Widow: A Duchess Scorned
« Reply #224 on: April 19, 2016, 03:09:49 am »

I feel like trying to arrest Glen might be pushing our luck. We do have exceedingly high Deception skill if we want to lie through our nose to Glen about the Strongcurrents being moles or the Gulfs being deposed for secretly supporting us or something, but remember that lies tend to work best at first and fall apart later on.

We probably should call out Redding on escalating the situation (in private), but I'd go with a more "you're supposed to be the schemer on my side, please try not to lose your temper around the obviously murderous psychopath technically in my employ" speech.
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A hand, a hand, my kingdom for a hot hand!
The kitchenette mold free, you move on to the pantry. it's nasty in there. The bacon is grazing on the lettuce. The ham is having an illicit affair with the prime rib, The potatoes see all, know all. A rat in boxer shorts smoking a foul smelling cigar is banging on a cabinet shouting about rent money.
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