As You Command OOC

[MrAbdiel]

Lamorak - who is presently trying out titles to go with the new throne, but is presently flirting with "Lord Protector Lamorak Mala'kharn" - has undergone something of a personality shift in the year and change since the disasterous attack on the capital of the Empire. A life of sociopathic self involvement received a blow so fierce it has started to turn inside out, and for the first time he is capable of considering the allies around him as real people with depth and meaning and inner lives of their own. This is an ironic turn around, because it was the devil Mala'kharn's advice to consider others tools and obstacles that has led to this new outlook. Inside the Lord Protector's cracked and welded together psyche, it makes sense to treat people as tools with personalities - since he has forsaken the name of his father and taken up the name of the devil he knew as a literal tool with personality. So this inner circle might be noticing a new intensity in how he looks at people around him. Those with a high sense motive might even be able to discern this is not Stalinist purge-o-vision looking for people to execute, but a genuine inflammation of twisted wisdom. He has selected Maiabel, Cypher and Rakshan because of...

- Maiabel's manifest devotion that preceded his great embarrassment during the Breadriot Rebellion and endured through it; and because after promising once to serve him utterly, she has conformed herself admirably to be a keen and vital instrument. It is possible there are other reasons for his selection of the woman - perhaps even genuine affection - but such sentiments are small, parasite feelings on the goliath host of his primary ambition: the need for power over the world around him, and to validate himself by carving his name on the surface of the world.
- Cypher's exceptional intellect was proven out in his dismantling of the arcane ambush forces during the Dark Miracle, but he also represents a toehold in a realm Lamorak personal has little power over - the realm of academics, and accumulated knowledge, and the power that comes not from strength and speed but from fulcrums, and hypotheses, and compounded, obscure facts. If he is going to forge a braintrust loyal to himself, it will have to issue forth from Cypher. The scholar is a two-edged blade, to him: an indispensable asset who has, however, demonstrated a willingness to betray one king already.
- Rakshan is at once the most enigmatic and predictable of the three. The monk of the tiger-devil-god is a sorcerer with alien powers and an unarmored, arcane fighting style wildly divergent from his own - but he is bound to a code of submission to his tyrant god that transposes remarkably well on the code Lamorak learned from Mala'kharn. But aside from being an exceptionally competant sorcerer and physical opponent, having a trained cook he can trust provides Lamorak with just enough of the ghost of priveledge he grew up with as to make his fall from imperial opulence that much more bearable.

Meanwhile, still debating swapping out my Moonstone Mask (which gives me +5 to Spot and Listen as well as Darkvision 30 feet). I'd probably replace it with a Periapt of Wisdom, along with an extra enhancement bonus on her main weapon and armor, and maybe something else that's cheap. Thoughts on that?

I think the Moonstone Mask would be the hardest to find "in the wild". Considering we're going to be cut off from conventional magical markets for a while, I think it'll be easier to beat up some travelling adventurers and take their armor and weapons than to find one with that specific item. But do what most pleases you! And all other things will conspire to support your choice.

As for things to do, early objectives, I've a few ideas. Off the top of my head:

- We have an "inner court" of PCs, but we're going to need an "outer court" of NPCs who are valuable but not quite as trusted. So whatever we gain or expand on, we should consider trying to attract an NPC to dedicate over it, if it's not specifically our respective jams.

- Our naval assets (Pirate mercenaries and captured enemy flagship) are present, but the pirates won't stick around unpaid for long. We probably need to develop a revenue source for them (maybe fortifying a cove to act as a Tortuga-esque pirate haven for them to live under the protection of the castle. Maybe an Outer Court "Master of the Navy" who is a pirate lord/lady with one foot in legitimate sailorship. Like Barbossa when he's working with the English. Are we not King's men?

- Our biggest asset is the castle, but it's in bad repair and the effort to repair it more fully is going to take years. I've always liked the Lyre of Building magic item, which basically turns a bard into a one man construction team - maybe we need an Master Engineer, and then get a Lyre of Building for him so he can personally crank out several hundred Man-Days of work each week, plus organizing a labor force to do the more technical work.

- We have a little land, and we have an army. We need serfs to work that land and feed that army. We can expect a trickle of dissidents fleeing from the Empire; but if there's a neighbouring kingdom going through turmoil we can poach some refugees out of, all the better. Heck, if we can find a tribe of orcs or something who are willing to take parcels of land, and don't mind an authoritarian boot grinding down on the back of their necks while they do it, we might have to make them an offer. Maybe even one they can't refuse.

- Speaking of the crappy land, a good way to get that land productive quickly would be getting a circle of druids on our side - maybe the kind who are indifferent to mortal suffering in favor of the environmental big-picture. Maybe we can find a grove of druids who are being hunted or hated, and offer them sanctuary?

- Monetizing our ability to give the mad and bad of the world sanctuary is one of our key potentials here. We might want to start paying moles in other kingdoms to disseminate the information that the Unbowed Isle is offering protection for all manner of enterprising ne'erdowells.

Do you guys have personal character projects you'd like to deliniate?