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[BlackPaladin99]

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M or O
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V,W,X, or Y

[King Zultan]

BFLRW

[crazyabe]

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Q, “Orks”, beings that can only be described as “uplifted goblins” baring many of the same corruptions caused by mixing bloodlines indiscriminately, where goblins are muddled into failure, Orks take a multitude of traits not found together naturally and abuse the resulting compounding effects, their strength is that each is uniquely specialized to one task or another, their weakness is that they aren’t entirely common, with just as many of their young being born as goblins as “true blooded” Orks.
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[Empiricist]

B G K S V

+1

[IronyOwl]

Serpent's Sorcerer's Palace, Early Spring

You take a moment to examine yourself in a nearby mirror (you keep a lot of those around) to ensure you haven't become ruffled. Your dark purple robes still look regal and pristine, emanating a sense of villainy and wisdom- the kind of sage you turn to when desperate, but not before. They're also layered, giving you a more elegant appearance and making you flare out like a decorative fish when moving. This renders your lean frame fancy when moving casually and hard to pin down in battle. You may not have the titanic build of a mountain barbarian, but you're a dangerous and elegant foe nonetheless.

Several gold necklaces add to this sense of majesty, eschewing central pendants to make it harder to track if or how they're moving. Your limbs don't accommodate jewelry well, so much of your ornamentation needs to hang from your shoulders or belt.

Appearance confirmed, you are ready to meet with your most trusted lieutenant.

Her apartment is on the third (and thus highest) floor of the north wing, which she rules as a sort of petty vassal. Most of that wing is devoted to bathing and makeup as a result, but she keeps several sparring and training rooms for personal use.

On the way, a gaggle of antwomen fall in behind you in a pair of marching columns. Your preferred foot soldiers are dull but dutiful, and tend to respond to obvious hints like moving with clear purpose.

Physically, your most numerous minions can safely be described as unimpressive. Their skin is a dull, earthy red chitin, and their faces are masklike and smooth, with only a pair of pure black eyes, angled slit of a nose, and mouth that opens down and to the sides. They're a bit on the short side, but their height is nothing compared to their girth- their torsos are the thickness of an especially burly minion's thigh. As might be expected, they crumple instantly to most forms of violence.

On the other hand, you have a lot of them. Unsurprisingly, they favor spears and wave tactics, and possess as little fear as they do cunning or personality.

You consider checking in with your primary non-snake minions, but quickly decide against it. The bat ninjas are massive and hulking, but deadly silent and incredibly agile- their usual method of answering your summons is for all dozen of them to drop simultaneously from the ceiling, landing in a perfect circle around you. They are peerless killers, spies, and saboteurs, and you have little doubt of their answer to your little problem.

You also, unfortunately, have little doubt their perfectionism would complicate matters. It's not enough for them to shank a fool, they've got to pull off an absolutely perfect assassination. Those can get a bit complicated, which can give troublesome vermin a chance to wriggle free from what should have been a sure thing.

There's also the fact that they move in a team, and even a successful mission tends to be a long mission. You'd need to be absolutely certain you didn't need them for some time before sending them to deal with an issue.


That leaves you with... Niala, the Moonlight Blade. The guards open the door on your approach, with some difficulty owing to their spindly arms.

"NIALA!" you bellow, glancing through the brightly decorated halls of the north wing. The obsidian floors have been covered in fluffy white and pink carpets, the walls are adorned with tapestries and streamers, and paper lanterns in a riot of colors leave the whole place disgustingly well lit.

A fruitless investigation of her third training room coincides with a squeaking noise from further down the hall, where your most powerful minion hurries along, clutching her long but thin sheathed sword like a safety blanket. She trips over her own stupid carpets about twenty feet away, faceplanting onto her soft floor. Her sword thumps beside her.

She holds still for a moment, then bolts to her feet in one smooth motion, brushing out her fluff and pink-on-white kimono. She's surprisingly tall, but her build is impossible to discern beneath the soft white down and voluminous robe. Her face is hairless aside from some rather excessive eyelashes, and her pure black eyes and black lipstick contrast heavily with her pure white coloration. Fluffy white hair, thicker than elsewhere, sprouts from her head and down to her ankles, while a pair of fluffy antennae bob above.

Her hands are the other unfluffed part of her, being pure white chitin gauntlets. She uses these to quickly scoop up her sword.

"Yes! Um... what did you need again?"

You consider beating her for forgetting your illustrious orders, but she's too soft to tell if it's working or not.

"I have... an issue," you respond instead, motioning for her to walk with you. Ditz though she is, her grip shifts on her sword.

"I've been working on that!" she responds cheerfully.

"Oh?" you reply, raising an eyeridge and stepping into the nearest training room.

She looks around, then begins... chirping? Making high pitched noises while pointing to some of the antwomen and positions in the room. Some of your guards scurry to positions, while Niala takes a wide-legged stance and holds her sheathed sword at her waist, like an actual sword.

With a final, trilling chirp, the guards toss small dull-colored spheres towards the center of the room.

For a moment, it looks like they're going to hit the ground, reaching waist level before Niala blurs forward and streaks of silver light spiral through the room.

You count eight fruits hitting the ground and splitting into eight even slices each. The interior is a dark blue, but if they were worth eating you'd probably have heard of them. What's more interesting is that their positioning is rather scattered- they weren't located along obvious lines or geometric patterns as far as you can tell.

You might clap if it didn't make the snakes angry. Instead you just smile with sinister intent.

"There's a certain someone..." you begin.

"Ooh, Aevian?! He's so cute!"

You glower at your minion, who shrinks down.

"Er... I just mean... if he wasn't a danger...?"

She smiles at you unconvincingly. Maybe you'll send the bat ninjas after all.


One problem proven more delicate than anticipated (you really should have recruited more talent when you had the chance), you turn your attention to your more immediate appointment.

The first and most obvious thing to consider is your own name. It is this name that shall strike abject terror into the hearts of your enemies, after all.

A. Avak Zul. Taken from a famous snake tribe sorcerer who terrorized his region of the world centuries ago, it should command fear and respect.
B. Sharish Khan. As the last of the reviled Sharish clan, you bear both their name and their malice.
C. Zariss the Learned. A wise man once told you names are earned, not given.
D. Serpentus the Vile. One of the more beautiful moments as a sorcerer is the look on an opponent's face when he realizes you are, in fact, serious.
E. Other. You may have been named just about anything by just about anyone, including yourself.


Next is what threats, prophecies, or promises to make. As an experienced sorcerer, you can fit as many maledictions as you like into a given speech.

F. People. Harming people directly is a time-honored way of informing them of your displeasure.
G. Land. Little rests easy on a poor foundation for long.
H. Armies. You'd be surprised how swiftly a poor army proves the need for a good army.
I. Money. Money is like blood- delicious, but you don't realize just how important it is until you lose it.

J. Destruction. Breaking things is a fantastic way to express your displeasure with the people who liked those things.
K. Withering. Sometimes the threat of weakness is greater than that of loss.
L. Theft. Taking things from enemies serves two very important purposes at the same time.
M. Denial. Losing access to something can be more painful than losing it entirely.

N. Other. You are very resourceful when it comes to harming your enemies.


Finally, there's your entrance to consider.

O. A burst of purple smoke. Emphasizes sorcery and allows you to appear close to the center of attention.
P. A bronze chariot drawn by hideous winged demons. Emphasizes power and allows you to show off to a large number of people.
Q. Riding a giant snake. Emphasizes control over others and allows you to bully your way through obstacles.
R. A jade carriage, accompanied by your retainers. Emphasizes wealth and allows you to show off to bystanders.
S. As a concerned nobleman, complete with a suitable gift. Emphasizes inevitability and allows you to explain your reasoning.
T. Other. There are many ways to crash a party.


"Did you want me to come along?"

Niala looks a little too eager, and appears to have changed into a fine pink silk robe. You wonder about her motives.

As for your motives, bringing someone with you- be it The Moonlight Blade, Tumbles, or any of your other minions- would set their image as an indispensable accessory to yourself. They might also be useful or get in the way, but you don't intend to cause too much havoc- this is an announcement more than an opening move.

Likewise, any nonliving possessions- weapons, jewelry, artifacts- you bring would likely come to be associated with you.

Do you bring anything else along?

[Glass]

C
FL (we've proven we're good at this one)
HKM
R
I'll abstain from the guest list.

[crazyabe]

E; "The greatest sorcerer in all the lands", our parents weren't all that creative.
FL, GK, HJ
S
Niala, and a "small" legion of antwomen

[King Zultan]

C
FL (we've proven we're good at this one)
HKM
R
I'll abstain from the guest list.

+1 Also I say we take Tumbles, he might be useful here, even if it's just to drop kick him.

[TurboDwarf]

C
HJ, FL, GM
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Niala, without her sword. Tumbles. A small contingent of antwomen.

[Egan_BW]

E: Gaius Femboyus

F H J: We're gonna fuck your shit up with fireballs.

S

Niala, a pair of antwomen legions.

[A_Curious_Cat]

C
FL, GK, HJ
S
Niala, and a "small" legion of antwomen

[IronyOwl]

Royal Capital, Liberation Festival, Early Spring

You are Zariss the Learned, and that is not a title to be taken lightly. Many claim the title of sage or scholar in these lands, but you have devoured a truly vast amount of knowledge on a staggering array of subjects. One thing you have learned through this is that knowledge begets knowledge- one who knows the edges can find the center, one who knows the beginning can trace the end, and one who carries a thousand unrelated points can connect them to the monstrous truth beneath.

So it is that you know precisely how this charade is going to go. You summon Niala and a cohort of antwomen. Tumbles shambles along just in case.

Outside your palace, the ground is rocky and grey. Your domain sits in the craggy expanse between three great mountains, sparse on both resources and beauty. What it lacks in natural charm, it makes up for in your glorious presence.

With a wave of your snakes, a hovel-sized sphere of air begins to shimmer and spin, the center resolving into a landscape of rolling green hills. You and your entourage step through to the other side. From there, it takes about ten minutes to walk to the edge of some admittedly impressive city gates.

"Make way! Make waaaay! Make way for Zariss the Learned! Zariss the Leeeeeearned!"

Tumbles shakes a lantern on a stick and admonishes passersby the entire time, which adds a nice bit of flair to the occasion.

As for the city walls, they are orangish-red clay brick affairs some thirty feet high, studded with thick, squat towers at regular and fairly close intervals. You can tell they're fairly new, both by their relatively clean surfaces and the fact that they contain very little Qi- the mystical essence that flows through all things. All things accumulate Qi, so in general the more present, the older the item.

No guards appear to be posted, so you simply walk through the large gates, under a pair of raised portcullises and several murder holes, and into the city proper.

The inside is a riot of color and sound. There are people everywhere, some dressed very brightly, some in shabby rags, but all dancing, celebrating, laughing, and indulging in food, drugs, and drink. Colored lanterns are strewn between many of the buildings, granting a decidedly festive air to the proceedings.

The buildings themselves are somewhat varied, but there's a distinct preference for a mediocre red wood in walls and mass produced blue-black roof tiles. If you're not mistaken, rich red woods are favored by the nobility and well to do, so this probably represents plentiful byproduct of royal timber operations. Most of the clay around these parts, not coincidentally, is the same tan as its common citizens, but you know there's a streak of blue-black clay not far up the river, possibly the fallout from some mass grave or ancient evil.

The cobbles are harder to place, largely because they keep shifting. Some areas are paved in wood, some in stone tiles, some in mortared irregular stone chunks, and some is just plain dirt. There appears to be a relatively consistent effort to maintain the roads of this city, but no consistency whatsoever in how it is done. Curious.


Regardless, it does not take long for you to reach the center of the city- specifically, the royal gardens surrounding the royal palace, which have been opened to the public for this display. Clusters of well-dressed noblemen wait in line for a chance to present to the king, and you calmly take your place at their rear.

"Fools! Foooooools! Do you not know whose path you block?!" Tumbles raves, shaking his lantern-stick menacingly.

The reactions from those assembled is enlightening. About half pay you little heed, no doubt unimpressed by one more well dressed sycophant. A third eye the phalanx of antwomen on each side of you warily, concerned by either their number or exotic nature. And the expressions of perhaps one in five darken, recognizing you for a sorcerer. The conversations ahead shift noticeably in your presence.


A few of these sycophants gather your attention in exchange.

The group directly ahead shift between conspiratorial whispers and outright crass threats, neither of which is hard for a serpent such as yourself to make out. Based on their conversation, they're merchants intending bloody retribution against other merchants, who enjoyed political favor under some previous order and have presumably now fallen. You do not keep close track of the economic situation within nearby kingdoms, but it's normal for them to be rather disjointed and violent.

However, the main reason this group catches your attention is that their leader is quite a bit larger than the others, surely possessed of some Bull blood. Also Niala sidles forward to inquire about his martial status.

The second item of interest is an old man in a teal robe, who looks back at you frequently and worries his beard nervously. He looks vaguely familiar, so it's possible you've had some ruinous dealings with him or his kin before, but it's also possible he just looks similar to some of the countless fools you've crushed over the years. It's likewise possible his concern over you is coincidental, but his motions speak to deeper thoughts than "oh, a wizard." You can't make out what kind of group he's associated with until they're presented to the king as a noble warrior family pledging service.

The third is a sorcerer... after a fashion. The fat catfishman is dressed as a pompous merchant, but performs a few parlor tricks to demonstrate his paltry abilities. The one thing he has going for him is a swaggering arrogance, trying to strongarm the king into making him an ally before he becomes an enemy. The king rather diplomatically maneuvers the issue to a later date, though you suspect your own performance will upend this arrangement.

The last is a hulking crablike entity claiming to hail from a foreign power. Your knowledge of the sea is tragically lacking, other than that it is a far, far more dangerous place than those skimming along the surface would believe. You find its probing desire for "closer relations" intriguing, and wonder what slumbering superpower or desperate fringe element would find this place worth courting.


At last, it is time for the main event. You are announced by both an official crier and Tumbles, shaking his lantern frantically at the tired-looking boy in a fancy chair.

Physically, he's not much to look at. Dull humanoid, possibly bat ancestry, small or young athletic build. He's definitely perceptive but naive, looking at you with a neutral expression tinged by a faint recognition. He can sense danger, just not right away.

You pass your gift to Niala, who sidles up a bit too close. Her back is to you, but you can see her winking by both her body language and the way the boy's expressions shifts to a very careful neutral.

"O Great Sovereign," you begin, still concealed entirely by your robes. "I grant you this golden scarab, that it may protect you from the coming darkness."

A clerkish looking individuals takes the gilded masterpiece in a pair of padded tongs, studies it through a jeweler's lense, and grimaces.

"You needn't fear its magic," you continue. "Great works are often fearful to those who do not understand them."

The boy's upright and suspicious now. "Of what darkness do you speak?" he asks in a surprisingly confident voice.

"I speak of course, O King, of the wrath... OF ZARISS THE LEARNED!"

You throw your hood back dramatically and flare your arms out, conjuring a maelstrom of dark energy around you. This is no parlor trick- even the uninitiated can sense the raw unfocused power at your command.

A squad of elite guards surround you immediately, spears pointed inwards, antwomen and Niala ignored. You laugh, adopting a casual swagger while juggling enough power to melt flesh from bone.

"I could not help but notice, boy, that the greatest sorcerer in all the lands was not invited to your celebration. Surely such an insult can bear only one response."

With that, you smirk with absolute malice. The spearmen strike as one, six elite warriors moving with the speed and strength of a lightning bolt. Their spears rip through your flared cloaks and nothing more, there is a flash of light, and six crystal spheres hover in their place. Tiny figures scramble within them.

"BEHOLD THE FATE OF YOUR KINGDOM!" you roar, spreading your snakes towards the decorations around you. "Your people, your servants, your vassals- all baubles for my collection! So sayeth Zariss! ZARISS THE LEARNED!"

The boy strikes instantly and intensely, wielding a jeweled sword and an inner flame in an overhand lunge that could make the ground shake. One he's forced to shift to a defensive parry as Niala strikes with her still-sheathed sword.

The two land apart, and Niala winks at him again. "You know, it's not too late to recruit me."

You fix her with a very particular glare. He grips his sword in determination.

She sighs and strikes him instantly with an unsheathed blade, which he blocks but is clearly caught off guard by. She casually swings a second time, arm blurring into a series of rapid strikes that pushes the warrior king back. It's not until he predicts and manages to catch her blade on his own that he's able to lock her down and shove her back, which sends her tumbling across the ground like a tossed cushion. She makes odd squeaking sounds with each bounce and lands in a heap, which the boy wisely regards with suspicion.

He instead turns back towards you.

"I am King River of the Kingdom of Maku, and I will not forgive you harming my people, sorcerer."

You grin sadistically. "Then you will not forgive very much, my king."

He scowls at that, but your attention is also drawn to some commotion approaching, apparently a group of armed individuals. Now would be a good time to leave...

...or further demonstrate your might.

A. Leave gracefully
B. Vanish just as an attack is about to hit you
C. Pretend to attack but disappear before it hits
D. Brawl!
E. Kidnap someone important on your way out
F. Duel that brat to demonstrate your superiority
G. Have Niala duel that brat to demonstrate your superiority
H. Wreak havoc with your sorcery
I. Other, you've got something else in mind


Once that's done, you'll need a plan moving forward.

J. Relax! Job well done, you deserve a break
K. Sorcery! You'll need plenty of devious rituals to properly weaken their feeble kingdom
L. Raiders! Mercenary goons are pivotal for actually getting in and grabbing stuff
M. Guards! Those fools are sure to launch reprisals sooner or later
N. Spies! You could use more information about what's going on in there
O. Emissaries! Allies are a good source of strength, and more importantly fawning
P. Talent! You could really use some powerful minions other than Niala
Q. Other! There's something else you've been meaning to take care of

[A_Curious_Cat]

BEH

KLN

[Egan_BW]

A J.

Sounds like a job well done to me, let's rest on our laurels for a few so that they can be crushed slightly more dramatically decisively.

[TurboDwarf]

I. Strike the king with our magics. Then disappear.
M