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[Toaster]

I'm intentionally avoiding the town for now; we probably don't want to let on just how many of us there are as of yet.  I'll check out the plains.

[syvarris]

So, the Tree Shadow is either one of several local gorilla beasts, a rock slime, or a powerful mind controller/illusionist.  Probably the last because that's how stories work.

This presents something of a problem.  Both our hunters have fairly low will, at d4 and d6.  Alternatively, Predator Saints might use illusions to confuse people, hence the use of 'trick', in which case sense is more needed than will, and both our hunters have good will sense, at d8 and d10.  Either way, the Alkahest hunters are likely just a liability if the Tree Shadow is a Predator Saint, and likely unnecessary if it's another gorilla creature. 

I'm not sure whether we're magically beaming information, but if we are, someone should ask the hunters what the merchants reported happening.  If they just disappeared or something, that sounds like a Predator Saint, but if they were brutally killed and their stuff smashed, that sounds like a much simpler gorilla.  If we can get confirmation that we aren't hunting a normal creature, then our hunters would do best to split up and hunt alone.  Numbers are unnecessary against a creature that "never raises a hand to do any killing personally."

[syvarris]

Spoiler: A lot of musing about the Tree Shadow (click to show/hide)

he's heard that it likes to hide in the trees, moving between them, and that it hunts at night.

Sounds annoying.  If it travels through the trees and doesn't just hide in them, then that might present some difficulty with tracking--though Zamia might still be capable of it.  Hunting at night is a more major concern, simply because it might mean even more waiting, and it might attack when people are asleep.  Someone with decent will should always be a sentry at night, else I fear one of the Alkahest hunters will get mind controlled and just start slitting throats.

They haven't seen the lost caravans either, only have reports of what locals found. They reported that the boats the caravans were on were overturned. Bits of the cargo were found down the length of the river and the bodies that they DID find seemed to be the victim of either a creature with great scything claws or a blade. The leader of the team says, under his breath, that he half expects this to be the work of some group of bandits using the "Tree shadow" as a cover.

That doesn't sound like something one of the gorilla creatures would be capable of, and the Boneless hunt near caves--not rivers.  The fact that the corpses look like they may have been killed by people also lends support to it being a Predator Saint.  Bandits seem doubtful--they'd have put a fair bit of work into making things look like an animal attack, at the cost of capturing usable boats and a ton of cargo.  That doesn't strike me as a wise plan, on top of conservation of detail making bandits very unlikely.


Really, I think it might be a decent idea to just ditch the Alkahest hunters, possibly even splitting up further.  The beast supposedly doesn't ever fight on its own, instead just mind controlling people--those hunters are likely much more vulnerable to that than our hunters are, and might end up needing to be executed (which would also look bad for us).

On the other hand, the creature was described as gaining power over time, eventually being able to send cities into chaos, so perhaps the hunters would act as ablative mind control protection; it could get two of us, or four of them, so traveling in a group reduces the overall percentage of power that it can control.

Gentlefish, Lupanian, and Midnightjaguar are the three people who were going to hunt it.  I'm not sure you're all paying attention to the thread, but you might want to discuss tactics

[Toaster]

Sorry; got behind.  Anyway, still surveying area.  This fortress might be a bigger city we can think about in the future.

[Toaster]

Lots of opportunity to cause mischief locally.  Also interesting events abroad.  I'll probably just keep my eye on this group.

[syvarris]

Spoiler: Toaster sighting! (click to show/hide)

* syv splutters

That's another player group!  Probably.  Either FIST or Rejinheri, as FoS doesn't have a very high-strength character.  I'm worried it's FIST because of the person being "stylized", which might mean tattoos, and because FIST is simply much worse for us.

Note that if they are players, hanging around probably gives them repeated sense checks to notice they're being watched.  You may want to prepare a cover story, perhaps even posting it in advance so that you look like an NPC, speaking immediately upon being spoken to.  At least FIST, if it is them, has hilariously terrible sense for the most part.

Edit: It's FIST, if it's players.  Exactly three FISTers posted before last turn: Derm, ATHATH (who's a servant, which explains the bughunt), and Beirus.  Only one Rejinheri player (Doc) posted, and at least two people were making actions in that group (though Doc is the muscular one).

Spoiler: My local plans (click to show/hide)

I don't think I can or should do anything significant in Zaffre until the Tree Shadow is dead.  Killing it will be an instant rep-boost with the locals, and could have unpredictable effects on the Alkis, depending upon what happens to the royal hunters and what they say.  If the Alkis like us, it might be worth starting a rebellion only to destroy it, simply to get rep with the Alkis.  Otherwise, commanding a real rebellion which entirely overthrows Zaffre's Alki leadership is prolly best, though much more dangerous long term.

Edit: First Spoiler.

[Egan_BW]

Hmm. Devastator has informed me that he's joined Cabal. In seemingly total secrecy, via PMs. Nothing to do about this, but, you know, worth knowing.

[syvarris]

I had actually been talking with him about it a few days ago, helped him set up his build.  Assuming he wasn't being manipulative--which seems to be the case--he's an invoker/empath who started with two words, and with a fairly rounded skillset.  Possibly low sense, as he specifically said he wanted to avoid illusions in Cabal.  He also looked at the very beginning of ZZ OOC, and knows we have chemical and gas (plus our other words, if he was paying attention; he only mentioned those two).  That last bit is something of my fault, as I was intentionally tempting him to look at our thread, pointing out that if he looked at it he'd be obligated to never oppose us due to the rules of the game.  I should probably PM PW the screenshots I took, to make sure Dev respects that fact, or at least can't make use of the knowledge. :\

For those unfamiliar with him, I consider Dev extremely dangerous, moreso than FIST if he decides to fight us.  FIST is statistically far stronger than any individual of course, but they're also straightforward and non subtle; Dev is very clever, and is very good at making use of asymmetrical situations.  He could impersonate an NPC and milk that for all it's worth.  He has said many times that he doesn't really intend to focus on PvP, and doesn't think he'd fight with us... but considering the nature of the game and the danger inherent to him, I fully intend to treat him as potentially hostile until proven otherwise.  Just be careful of all seemingly-NPC wizards, especially if they're invokers.

[syvarris]

Piecewise responded to my PM, and elected to volunteer information that I should not possess and did not request. :\

Alright, if he ever uses that inappropriately, I'll get the ruler out and start whacking knuckles. Though he seems to be perfectly happy as he is now, being a wandering magical girl healing the sick.

Guess that means Dev has a female character.  So, male NPCs are safer.

[Egan_BW]

[22:32] <adwarf__> on that note, dev
[22:32] <adwarf__> I'll PM the thing, it is a spoil
[22:32] <ER> send it me
[22:32] <ER> >:|
[22:33] <adwarf__> you'll realize it soon enough :V
[22:33] <Devastator> it's got to do with our secret cabal actions.
[22:33] <ER> bsh
[22:33] <adwarf__> yeah, me and dev are plotting over here

So, Dev and adwarf are scheming together. This does not seem like good news.

[piecewise]

Piecewise responded to my PM, and elected to volunteer information that I should not possess and did not request. :\

Alright, if he ever uses that inappropriately, I'll get the ruler out and start whacking knuckles. Though he seems to be perfectly happy as he is now, being a wandering magical girl healing the sick.

Guess that means Dev has a female character.  So, male NPCs are safer.

The question is: Did I tell the truth? Or am I feeding you false info because I think a paranoid war is more interesting?

[Egan_BW]

You're too lazy to do that.

[syvarris]

Yup.  Also, Dev later told me in IRC that he got lucky and started with a healing word, unprompted.  I find it doubtful that you both just made up healing by coincidence, so you're likely both honest~

[syvarris]

You may want to prepare a cover story, perhaps even posting it in advance so that you look like an NPC, speaking immediately upon being spoken to.

I knew it... Well, Toaster, it's probably best to try and make a cover story now, something general so that PW can write your speech like an NPC.  Since you already won't have answered immediately this turn, you might also want to come up with some reasoning why you didn't; maybe play a very timid NPC who just froze upon being yelled at, and took a little while to get sorted and respond.

...Or you could just try to attack them point-blank with magic.  That would be a horrible idea if you don't get surprise, thus meaning Derm can counter with his d12 punches, and likely wouldn't turn out well even if you did, since you're outnumbered... but it is an option, I suppose.

[Toaster]

Far from ideal, but it'll have to do.  Again, still not convinced this is a PC.