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[Grek]

The first night in the wilderness away from elves and outside of a settlement was last night and we still haven't told him. If we wanted to keep to that promise, we should have told him before going into town. We can't keep hiding this from Omo, and not just because it's wrong to do so. There's so many things that could go wrong if we don't tell him:

1. We keep putting it off and putting it off, only telling him one we're out of Thrimesdur entirely. As a result, we've been completely unable to get any real experimentation done, for fear of Omo finding out about us and turning us in to the humans/the rangers. As a result, we've gotten no progress with our powers and aren't strong enough to defeat Nightroar. We and Omo are both killed, taken captive or worse. Alternatively, we get ourselves killed or unlease something horrible because we're forced to try something reckless out of desperation and our powers get out of hand.

2. We don't tell Omo, but he finds out anyways, either due to an accidental surge of necromancy or because he catches us experimenting. He takes it badly and either reports us or, worse yet, tries to kill us on the spot. We've been lucky so far that we've not been caught, and that's with practicing alone in the woods. We can't hide this from Omo for long if we want to keep practicing. Omo is almost certain to take it better if we tell him than if he finds out by accident.

3. We're attacked by the undead and are forced to use our powers in order to survive. Omo, or anyone else present for that matter, blames us for causing the attack, either thinking that we raised the undead ourselves or that Nightroar sent the undead to kill us for being competetion. Alternatively, we're put in a situation where the only way to save someone from the undead is to use our powers but we can't because someone is watching and we have to let them die without helping, even if it's Omo that dies.

4. Omo doesn't figure out that we're a necromancer, but does notice something off about our behaviors. He starts to think that we're hiding something from him and draws some false conclusion about us, that we're planning to betray him, that we're guilty of a crime or something else. Even if we do eventually tell him, he's already suspicious about us and assumes the worst when we reveal that we're a necromancer and either attacks us right away or reports us in secret as soon as he gets a chance.

5. Nothing else goes wrong, but the stress from keeping these secrets hidden from absolutely everyone, without being able to trust even a single other soul about our problems or to be truly honest and open with our only remaining friend leaves us alienated and distant from others. As we travel east and face the horrors of war and the evils of necromancy gone awry for the first time, we slowly lose our sense of right and wrong without anyone to guide us back onto the right track. Eventually we start justifying things we'd never have even considered before, turning more and more evil until we become exactly the sort of monster that we're trying to defeat. We're left to face Nightroar alone and are either defeated by him or are killed soon after by the rest of the world while we're weak from the battle.

I could go on and on. But I won't; you all get the picture. If the Inn isn't safe enough, find somewhere else. Tell him while alone in the keep tower. Go outside the city for a few hours and tell him while we're alone. It doesn't matter where or how we do it, but we need to find a way to tell Omo that we're a necromancer.

[Draigh]

The first night in the wilderness away from elves and outside of a settlement was last night and we still haven't told him. If we wanted to keep to that promise, we should have told him before going into town. We can't keep hiding this from Omo, and not just because it's wrong to do so.

One hour walk from a major city is not a wilderness. We have not yet been in a location that qualifies for our promise, in my opinion.
Also, nobody is wanting to hold it from Omo. We just want to tell him at a time and place where it's relatively safe to do so. In the middle of a paranoid city, with rumors of evil necromancers all around us putting people on edge, does not seem to be a safe place for such a discussion.

Secondly, even though the forumgame has been weeks and weeks.... the storytime has been only 19 days from the beginning until now. The doom-scenarios on our moral degration are a bit far fetched in my opinion considering the time it would take. Also, we have more tools than just our necromantic powers. And we should rely on those tools. We are going to lose a direct power-confrontation with the other necromancers anyway. Even if only because they have an army, and we do not.
Nym and Omo need to trust eachother and themselves, their own wisdom, intelligence and creativity. Yes, experimentation and learning our Art is important, but we also need to develop in other areas to be able to be succesful.

In my opinion there is no such thing as "wasted time" as each experience forms us into something more than what we were before. Or at least has the potential for that, if we take the chances offered to us.

[Grek]

That's just it, though. We don't actually have any tools other than magic. We have about 9 gold, some skill at fishing and a knife. Outside of magic, we're basically a moderately wealthy peasant. Going up against the forces of darkness without relying on our necromantic powers completely misses the point of participating in a forum game with the title You are a Necromancer!

We need to train and to learn more about necromancy. We need to become stronger, strong enough to defeat the other necromancers and to save the world from evil. We need to make the best use of every oppurtunity that presents itself, especially those that show up just as we're starting on our journey. And we can't do that if we're worried about Omo getting suspicious. What happens if we get a chance to go to the library, but we can't read anything truely useful because we're worried that Omo will get suspicious about us showing up with a pile of books on necromancy? What happens when we spot an artifact that we'd need to pool our money to get, but can't tell Omo why it's so important to us? If we don't tell him, we're going to miss out on lots of chances we can't afford to miss any more, and the longer we wait, the more we'll miss out on.

[Draigh]

Of course we are a necromancer, and magic is our strongest tool to use.
But are we a character, with many facets? Or are we a caricature, with only one side and one way to solve a problem?
My suggestion is to embrace and develop those different aspects of Nym and make it a whole that is more than the sum of it's components.

And yes, we need to tell Omo soon. I never said we should wait ages.
But there is a time and place for everything. And forcing it like this is, in my opinion, the worst thing you can do.
If you want to go telling here in the city, might I suggest to tell it in the middle of market square? Then we can get it over with and all. Because if you are aiming for the lynch mob, then at least do it with style.

[Grek]

If you want to go telling here in the city, might I suggest to tell it in the middle of market square? Then we can get it over with and all. Because if you are aiming for the lynch mob, then at least do it with style.

This is an absurd caricature of my suggestion, and I'm not going to dignify it with further response.

If someone suggests that we wait, then answer this for me please: How long do you want to wait? As a quantity like "In 4 hours", "In 3 days" or "In two weeks", not an ambigious quality like "When it is safe to do so." Time is money (or, in our case, lives saved) and I want to know exactly what people are willing to spend just to be sure nobody's listening in.

[GlyphGryph]

The first night in the wilderness away from elves and outside of a settlement was last night and we still haven't told him.

No, it wasn't. We were still in the middle of Elflands - we needed Omo to help us escape. Now, at least, he can choose to go his own way if he so wishes without dooming us to death at the hands of the elf who would, eventually, discover our powers.

Visiting the town was to /help/ him.

As far as the zombies - there is huge benefits for experimentation here. If we run into trouble, well, it will just force our hand conversation-wise, I think.

I do agree we should tell him today, but I also think we should leave the town. So here is my plan:

Since we still need to do the shopping I wanted to do earlier: Buying maps, seeing the price and availability of crystals, refilling used rations etc. and so on. Omo did the information seeking for us, at least, but it would be nice to ask a few more questions. We might want to consider a better weapon for ourselves, but those will probably be expensive right now, and our magic is a better weapon. So I argue for the following:
1 hour for breakfast, 2 hours for shopping, 2 hours for sightseeing, then we leave, head straight into the wilderness, and three hours or so out, we sit Omo down and tell him everything. 3 hours should be safe enough, I think. And the zombies may be about, but I doubt there going to be a likely encounter off the road and away from people, and if they are the irregular terrain of the wilderness (along with trees to climb) could only really work to our advantage.

In 8 hours - we'll be ready for our first night in the wilderness, and we tell Omo.

[Felius]

Let's take a few hours buy some supplies and assorted stuff we might need, and meet him by the gates after a certain time.

Also, just to put it in context, remember the one hour distance was on foot. That's maybe 5 to 10 km depending if they measure it as a leisure walk or a forced march (possibly a little bit more if elves are faster than humans). We are, at least not yet, absurdly enduring and fast, it'll take a little more before we can do an Aragorn and go 45 leagues in 4 days during a pursuit. Assuming a normal pace we probably could expect do maybe 30 km / day, maybe 45-60 in a forced march, although I don't think we could do that for many days.

Back to the subject, do tell we want to speak with him somewhere we can't be overheared. And remember him we are going deeper into human lands, we'll have more opportunities to do sightseeing.

As an excuse: If anyone not Omo asks why we are in so much of a hurry to get out of the city, we tell them it's because the city lacks life, too few plants, not enough wild life, etc.

[Deep Waters]

The first night in the wilderness away from elves and outside of a settlement was last night and we still haven't told him.

No, it wasn't. We were still in the middle of Elflands - we needed Omo to help us escape. Now, at least, he can choose to go his own way if he so wishes without dooming us to death at the hands of the elf who would, eventually, discover our powers.

Visiting the town was to /help/ him.

As far as the zombies - there is huge benefits for experimentation here. If we run into trouble, well, it will just force our hand conversation-wise, I think.

I do agree we should tell him today, but I also think we should leave the town. So here is my plan:

Since we still need to do the shopping I wanted to do earlier: Buying maps, seeing the price and availability of crystals, refilling used rations etc. and so on. Omo did the information seeking for us, at least, but it would be nice to ask a few more questions. We might want to consider a better weapon for ourselves, but those will probably be expensive right now, and our magic is a better weapon. So I argue for the following:
1 hour for breakfast, 2 hours for shopping, 2 hours for sightseeing, then we leave, head straight into the wilderness, and three hours or so out, we sit Omo down and tell him everything. 3 hours should be safe enough, I think. And the zombies may be about, but I doubt there going to be a likely encounter off the road and away from people, and if they are the irregular terrain of the wilderness (along with trees to climb) could only really work to our advantage.

In 8 hours - we'll be ready for our first night in the wilderness, and we tell Omo.

This works. Not really much benefit to extended sightseeing other than to make Omo happy, anyways. However, in this scenario, it might not be a good idea to tell Omo that we want to tell him something. He may get impatient and ask us to tell before the full five hours of travel are up. I thought of that before, but in this case it has fewer benefits- if we can get Omo to leave before the day is through, it'll be easier to keep him from attempting to extend our stay farther than we originally agreed upon, which is a large part of the reason why I suggested that idea. If we do hint to him that we wanted to tell him something, however, I suggest doing it in the way Lord Bucket suggested it.

Lord Bucket's way of throwing pursuers off our trail is also an interesting idea, and would be a very good idea if not for one thing- any Rangers who set off after us and are senior enough to keep us from noticing them even as they're about to pounce would probably be able to track us up to the point we split and back to the city. This would buy us two days at the very most, no more, and will take up most of the current day besides. If any Rangers are pursuing us currently (and after extended thought I really believe it is an 'if'; even if they didn't have bigger things to worry about I doubt the Rangers know what to do about a pair of strange Elves jumping the border- pursuing them past Larathor without a direct order would weaken the Elf borders, and for what? Two elves that are probably either suicidal or thrill-seeking nutjobs?), it simply won't be enough- and that's not even bringing our mother, an accomplished mage, into the equation. <<;

[LordBucket]

Let's take a few hours

do tell we want to speak with him somewhere we can't be overheared

There's a group of rangers within walking distance who will be crossing the rivers to come look for us as soon as the ferryman shows up. Once they do, the town is the first place they're going to look. As rare as elves outside the vale seem to be, everyone in town who sees us will notice. It will be a completely trivial matter for the rangers to come to town, ask around, and find us.

Once they do, we will then half a pack of rangers on our tail, some who might have hundreds of years of tracking, stealth and hunting experience. Some of whom may have the ability to speak with animals, and possibly other magic abilities.

Question: If the rangers do find us, how can we ever be sure that we're alone?

We need to either create a false trail then hide out in town for a few days as I proposed, or we need to leave immediately. This "stick around for a few hours and then leave" combines all the problems of both options.

Lord Bucket's way of throwing pursuers off our trail is also an interesting idea, and would be a very good idea if not for one thing- any Rangers who set off after us and are senior enough to keep us from noticing them even as they're about to pounce would probably be able to track us up to the point we split and back to the city.

That's entirely possible. But:

1) Even if that's the case, leaving without creating a false trail doesn't improve our chances of escape. Hanging around for a few hours to give them time to definitely find us and then leaving, like some people are suggesting, is even worse.

2) Tracking our physical trail may be more difficult than you suggest. This is a town, we'll be leaving on a well traveled road. (Remember the refugees.) Distinguishing two tracks out of dozens on a dirt road is going to be way more difficult than tracking the only two humanoid tracks through a jungle.

3) Rangers are going to be experienced with outdoor stealth and tracking. Someone wearing a disguise and hiding a city is not the kind of thing they're used to dealing with. It will be easier for us to hide from them in the city than in the woods.

4) Even if they do find us in the city, it will be easier for us to notice them than if they're hiding in trees and shrubs. Them knowing where we are, but us knowing that they know where we are is preferable to them knowing where we are, and us not knowing it. We want to be alone when we have our talk with Omo. We don't want to be in the woods with a ranger hiding in the bushes to overhear that we're a necromancer and then send that information back to the elven council preparing to wage war on necromancers.

[monk12]

We never earned any xp for those spells because we only earn experience from doing necromancer things, as stated in the author's note in Chap 1, Part 1.

You level up by gaining XP- you gain XP by casting Necromancy spells.

I believe Monk did say there were other ways, but I can't quite remember- I think it was combat or something. I could probably dig it up, but not right now.

Yeah, you mainly gain XP for Necromancy specific spells. I may also award XP for dealing with life-threatening situations (including but not limited to combat.) Omo mostly gets XP for prowess in combat (your standard "he hits things, they fall over, XP!") but he can also get it for being particularly Ranger-y, if he's doing some tricky tracking or hunting or whatever.

Basically, leveling up is tied to doing your job well, not doing new things- you can learn lots of useful new skills and abilities, but if they aren't helping you be a better [insert Class here] then you aren't going to level up as a result. You are a Necromancer, not a Hedge Wizard, so general magic spells don't level you up.

Monk, can we get a price quote on human commoner clothes?

A poor peasant outfit (shirt + skirt/breeches) would run you like 2 copper, and you could probably buy a used or patched set for less if you can find a commoner in the sellers market. Nicer clothes suitable for a skilled craftsman would be more like 1 silver. Scholars tend to wear nice robes with simple embellishments worth 5 silver (including soft, library-friendly shoes, belt, cap, cloak, etc)

You aren't in any immediate danger of becoming destitute, no.


Anywho, carry on!

[Descan]

One thing I noticed, spells that seem designed to hide you from people (can't name any off the top of my head, but I -think- we've done at least one of those) don't give experience, right?

So Necromancy isn't one of those, Designed-To-Be-Hid, something that whatever created magic knew people would feel ill about and therefore sought to help in that regard. Which means it's been co-opted! And that we can succeed in our attempts to rehabilitate it!

Just a thought. :3

[killerhellhound]

so is anyone agreed on what to do?

[Grek]

I am content with GlyphGryph's plan.

[Lord Allagon]

I am content with GlyphGryph's plan.

+1

[Cellmonk]

I am content with GlyphGryph's plan.

+1

+2