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Author Topic: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-36 Decisions, Decisions  (Read 684230 times)

Cellmonk

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #375 on: January 13, 2012, 07:44:21 pm »

Was anyone actually suggesting asking them if we could still leave? I personally don't remember that and I figured it would be good to learn how they combat our kind.

Agreed. I personally assumed that council might hold some information.
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EveryZig

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #376 on: January 13, 2012, 11:24:43 pm »

It is unlikely we can just go to them and expect the subject of the vale being closed not to come up (and they might have heard of our plans to travel from Peevo.)
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Soaplent green is goblins!

Phantom of The Library

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #377 on: January 14, 2012, 12:19:34 am »

Just got finished reading this.  Amazing.

Knowledge is power, we should try to get as much information as possible before leaving.
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Gnosis - Torn Ajar -- Text Suggestion Games.
This is what happens when we randomly murder people.

You get attacked by a Yandere triangle monster.

Repulsion

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #378 on: January 14, 2012, 01:03:00 am »

It is clear to us that we should attempt to greatly increase the speed of our learning. If one enemy necromancer has already united the pirate lords, and the other controlling a giant undead army... well, we pale in comparison. We'll have to train, attempt it to be somewhat secret, for when we will inevitably face another necromancer.

If we were allowed to train in the open, things would become much easier. So, I support the proposition to attempt to eventually tell Omo of our powers, and hope he doesn't throw too much of a fit.
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Electrum, pedophilia, and necrophilia at the same time!?

Phantom of The Library

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #379 on: January 14, 2012, 01:08:46 am »

It is clear to us that we should attempt to greatly increase the speed of our learning. If one enemy necromancer has already united the pirate lords, and the other controlling a giant undead army... well, we pale in comparison. We'll have to train, attempt it to be somewhat secret, for when we will inevitably face another necromancer.

If we were allowed to train in the open, things would become much easier. So, I support the proposition to attempt to eventually tell Omo of our powers, and hope he doesn't throw too much of a fit.
Secrecy is our best friend for the moment, in all respects.  We shouldn't tell him until we are sure that we can handle him if he does freak out, or we have no other choice.  Revealing ourselves to anyone right now is too risky.
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Gnosis - Torn Ajar -- Text Suggestion Games.
This is what happens when we randomly murder people.

You get attacked by a Yandere triangle monster.

lockman766

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #380 on: January 14, 2012, 01:53:39 am »

It is clear to us that we should attempt to greatly increase the speed of our learning. If one enemy necromancer has already united the pirate lords, and the other controlling a giant undead army... well, we pale in comparison. We'll have to train, attempt it to be somewhat secret, for when we will inevitably face another necromancer.

If we were allowed to train in the open, things would become much easier. So, I support the proposition to attempt to eventually tell Omo of our powers, and hope he doesn't throw too much of a fit.
Secrecy is our best friend for the moment, in all respects.  We shouldn't tell him until we are sure that we can handle him if he does freak out, or we have no other choice.  Revealing ourselves to anyone right now is too risky.
I agree with Phantom.
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Rockowl

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #381 on: January 14, 2012, 06:05:07 pm »

Agreeing with Phantom. Also, Omo's breakfast seems full of calories. That's great, so I say, put them to good use! Do some push-ups and such-like training. Give that sword a few swings! For the lulz, even though it should improve our stamina/health/strenght a little bit. We'll need to be fit when the torch-and-pitchfork horde chases us!

Oh, and,

*elevator music*


Best. Elevator music. Ever.
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monk12

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #382 on: January 14, 2012, 11:33:12 pm »

Technically my vote was checking out caravan and rumours and NOT waiting for the council (unless Omo fails to provide a good reason for us not to leave immediately, which we should talk to him about)
As was mine.
As was mine. though if the rumors give reason to wait for the council, then we should wait longer. but we need info.

Omo shovels some eggs into his mouth. So, what now?
Well, I've got a couple odds and ends to buy, and I'd like to hear about these Necromancers first-hand. How about I go take care of that, while you finish eating and pack up- we'll meet back here, alright?
Sounds like a plan- don't take all day though.

Shouldering your pack, you leave Omo to his meal and head deeper into the Fair. It is early, but there is already a hustle and bustle as elves move about. Many of them are going to the Caravan themselves, hoping to beat the crush. Some elves are getting the day's celebration started early, and music and song drifts through the trees.

After a few minutes of walking, you emerge from the forest into a massive clearing, and get your first sight of the Fair. The merchants travel in vehicles that are less wagons than miniature houses on wheels. Most of them are painted white, but splashes of garish color are evident throughout the assembly. Each wagon is drawn up a bit apart from the others, and is surrounded by tables and tents holding the merchant's wares. The net effect is that each wagon (or small group of wagons) operates as an island in a sea of elves, competing with one another to draw the largest crowds. Despite the early hour, many elves are already browsing the wares, and there is a general cacophony of feverish haggling, merchants advertising their wares, bellows of strange animals and the low roar of conversation and music associated with a massive group of elves.

You join the mob, flowing with the crowd from stall to booth to tent, admiring the exotic wares. Fine silks from Dwarven lands are sold at a premium, as are strange spices and herbs from the Black Swamps. One booth has a wide variety of weaponry from across the world, halberds and enormous longbows from Thrimesdur hanging alongside Dwarf-made silver warhammers and steel battleaxes. A loud argument erupts between a merchant selling a fine glass figurine and the elf who (apparently) feels the Emerald dye he is offering is more than worth the cost.

But enough sightseeing- you're here for business! A bit of wheeling and dealing later sees you in the possession of 2 days of Trail Rations, your own Bedroll, 4 sheets of Parchment, 10 bits of charcoal and a plain (but sturdy) Scroll Case, all for a grand total of 3 silver and 9 copper, leaving you with 2.7 silver left over.

As you shop, you also keep your ears peeled for news of the outside world- the talk of the Caravan is all about the Thrimesdur Necromancer. After talking with a dozen merchants, laborers, and caravan guards, you learn that although few agree on his origins, all agree that Curo Nightroars first came onto the world stage when he took two dozen zombies armed with rusted old swords, pitchforks, and torches, and razed a small village in the middle of the night, shortly before the Winter Solstice. When the local Baron received word from the survivors, he sent messengers to his neighbors and rode forth to squash him- when his neighbors arrived to help, they were confronted by a small army of the undead led by the bloated corpse of the Baron. They were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the undead, and those who did not flee were slain.

As winter grew colder and harder, the various barons and counts who mustered armies were unable to march in the ice and muck- a problem that Nightroars did not suffer. He sacked several more towns before he turned his growing horde against the encamped nobility- reports indicate that they were overcome by the great number of undead as well as by crippling morale problems. By the time the Spring thaw arrived, Nightroars had razed a number of small cities on his march north from the coast. He was confronted by the Duke of Mesmmori, the son of the Emperor, commanding the Imperial Army- somehow, even lacking a distinct numerical advantage, Nightroars crushed the Imperial forces and added their corpses to his own horde.

Few who come into contact with Curo Nightroars or his undead army live to tell the tale, and with no organized resistance there is no telling which way he has gone. The popular belief is that he has marched to the Capital to dethrone the Emperor himself- others say that he is marching towards the rich cities of the Great River, and a few insist he is building himself a city of his own, the seat of a new Undead Empire.

When you redirect conversation towards the other Necromancer, you receive much less information. Nobody knows his name, only referring to him as the Pirate King. His existence has been speculated at for a few years now, as pirate raids became more coordinated and effective. He was not known to be a Necromancer until this winter, when a band of skeletons proved instrumental in a daring pirate raid that stole a dozen warships while they lay at harbor. Nobody knows his agenda or home base, but he apparently has allies among the living Pirate Lords as well a prominent band of Lizardfolk mercenaries.

Apart from that, you don't get much more than Omo gave you in his summary- banditry is rampant the world over, the monstrous races are increasingly aggressive, evil creatures of the night are arising, so on and so forth. The Caravan folk are clearly nervous about all of it, the listening elves less so- it all feels rather removed from the quiet simplicity of life in the Vale. With your new items carefully stowed away, you begin to pick your way back through the crowd, back to Omo. As you reach the edge of the Caravan, however, you catch a flash of purple out the corner of your eye. Turning, you face a low tent filled with odd statues, figurines, and books.

Against the back wall, an onyx medallion burns with Necromantic energy.

You hesitate, then duck inside. The dim interior is laden with a great many strange objects, most of them bearing the weight of ages. One other elf is examining a row of uncut gemstones on a table, and a youth gleefully inspects the skull of an exotic beast. The tent is otherwise empty, apart from the proprietor, a fat, greasy man with a scraggly beard.

Hello, hello, welcome to my shop! What catches your eye, milady elf? If it isn't in this tent, it is not worth having!
I'm sure. Actually, I was wondering about that medallion- it bears a strange engraving.
Yes indeed, yes indeed- I bought this piece from an associate of mine, who bought it from a lieutenant in the Imperial Army who, so the story goes, found it in the rubble he helped make of a goblin village.

As he speaks, the merchant lowers the medallion from its hook. Up close, it appears to have an engraving of two ravens with their talons entwined, inscribed in a neat circle. The etching appears to be inlaid with an unknown bluish metal, giving the medallion a smooth, reflective surface. To your Necromantic Sight, the eyes of the ravens blaze, as does the circle they are inscribed in. As he holds it up for your inspection, the air almost seems to pulse between you and it- or so it seems, as neither the proprietor nor the other elf take any notice.

A goblin village, you say? Surely such craftsmanship is beyond them!
I agree with you wholeheartedly, milady, and it is my contention that this is a relic of ages past. It looks dwarf-made to my eyes. A fine people, the dwarves, and fine crafts they make! When my suppositions are confirmed by the artisans of the Jeweled Coast, I'll make quite a handsome profit selling it!
I see. And how much are you expecting to sell it for?
I hope for the world, but for its obvious beauty and age alone the piece is worth a hundred gold!

The merchant puts the medallion back on its hook, and tries to interest you in a vial of perfume- you humor him to deflect suspicion, but your mind is whirling. If that medallion is dwarf made, then the sky is green- dwarves are given to angles and hard lines, and the engraving is almost entirely composed of curves, spirals and circles. Whoever made it, you'd wager anything that a Necromancer came into contact with it at some point. Could this be one of the Artifacts of Power that Ari Wetdawn alluded to, but for Necromancers?

What to do now? You can still sense the medallion, even when not looking at it, and it seems to beckon with a promise of power. But how could you get it? You can't afford a tenth of his asking price! Perhaps it would be best to try and force the medallion from your thoughts, and just leave as planned. Although you haven't seen Elana, or anyone else you know yet for that matter...

Spoiler: You (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Spells (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Omo Thunderjaw (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notable Figures (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Planned Experiments (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Maps (click to show/hide)

Repulsion

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #383 on: January 14, 2012, 11:42:14 pm »

It would obviously be extremely useful to gain that artifact. It might give us the temporary edge we need to hold our on, or do something even more exotic. I say we go for it, although it will be difficult to get it. We could try stealing it... or perhaps somehow influence it with our necromantic energies from afar, as to attempt to see what it does?

It might not be too difficult to steal it, but the man might have special guards around it, as well.

Overall, scout around a bit more, see if you can spot any weaknesses, but also be careful of the special object. Who knows what it does.
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Elvisdogs

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #384 on: January 15, 2012, 12:02:19 am »

Well we are a hot elf. When all else fails seduction could work here. A flirty here, a drink there, a few "medicinal" herbs in his drink other there and that thing is ours.
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RAM

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #385 on: January 15, 2012, 12:24:15 am »

Or hire someone to steal it, or perhaps it would be easier to steal the money and buy it. Leaving town anyway makes it easier to avoid an investigation. A couple of unguarded windows and an animated safe might award sufficient coinage to purchase the item and be off into the wilderness...

For the moment I would recommend completing any other business first and attending to the artefact when departure is otherwise immediate...
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Vote (1) for the Urist scale!
I shall be eternally happy. I shall be able to construct elf hunting giant mecha. Which can pour magma.
Urist has been forced to use a friend as fertilizer lately.
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fergus

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #386 on: January 15, 2012, 12:29:36 am »

Well we are a hot elf.
Since when? Anyway, I doubt he will fall for that over something so valuable.

For the moment I would recommend completing any other business first and attending to the artefact when departure is otherwise immediate...
Definitely.
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BY THE GODS! THIS QUOTE MADE MY SIG BOX HAVE A SCROLL BAR! HAPPY DAYS INDEED!
BY THE GODS! YOU HAVE TOO MANY SIGS!

GlyphGryph

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #387 on: January 15, 2012, 12:33:14 am »

Ask the merchant for details on when and where we could meet up with him again if we were interested in purchasing it. If needed, write it down! Addresses, dates, names. And then, when that's done, put it out of your mind and focus on the job at hand.
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Elvisdogs

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #388 on: January 15, 2012, 12:41:23 am »

Well we are a hot elf.
Since when? Anyway, I doubt he will fall for that over something so valuable.

Well we are an elf. I'm just assuming by every elven racial stereotype that elves look good.
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Grek

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Re: You are a Necromancer!
« Reply #389 on: January 15, 2012, 01:09:15 am »

At first, I was planning to argue for why stealing the medallion would be a terrible idea. But then I realized that we're probably going to end up trying to get it regardless, so I may as well propose an cunning plan that lets us do that without getting ourselves arrested.

The first thing to note is that the medallion is almost certainly not worth 100 gold. The merchant doesn't know who made it, how old it is, where it's from or even that it's magical. He's clearly bluffing. Chances are we can talk the price down quite a bit if we try. The second thing to note is that we have a good way to make money: Mana potions. If we get Pevo to teach us how to make these, and he's already agreed to do so, we can raise the money to buy the medallion legitimately without anyone wondering why we were desperate enough to steal it.

At this point, you're probably asking yourself, "Isn't the merchant going to leave before we can get the money for the medallion?" The answer to this is no. Why? Because we're going to go with the merchant, that's why! After we learn to make mana potions, we can go to the merchant (who's name we should learn, by the way) and ask him to sneak us out of the Vale in exchange for us coming with him and brewing valuable mana potions for him to sell. We can even invite Omo along on our adventure, if we think he'd be up for it.

So, here's the plan: Ask the merchant's name and if he'd be willing to meet us back here tonight, after his shop's closed down for the night, to discuss a business deal. Then we go learn to make mana potions. Once we're done, go visit Elana, let Omo know that we're going to crash at our mother's tonight in order to escape his snoring and then meet up the merchant and offer him the deal. If he accepts, we're golden. If not, we can always try one of those other plans.
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