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  1. - Top - End - #91
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    DruidGuy

    Join Date
    Jan 2015

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The S’Letaunntic Vault
    Mor. 4


    Spoiler: The Cloven Court
    Show

    A man-sized venus flytrap is left on the steps of the Cloven Court's residence. It sings a different tune depending on what the plant digests.
    Court in Exile,

    Regrettably, a containment breach on floor 9 has required the use of both our Nholm and the extant duplicate adventurers hence recovered this season. SCAR is sorry to make such a declarative, as we fully realize that such inaction may very well lead to actions wherein actionable parties are render incapable of acting on the City at large. We will hope and prepare for the fact that your survival in the coming seasons happens nonetheless.

    The S'Letaunntic Complement of Armigers & Representatives

    Spoiler: The Knights Null
    Show

    A trunkful of black iron chits are left at the Knight's residence. Tests reveal them to be some sort of strange metal not native to Sethennai: plyable to gradual pressure (Ie you can slowly bend it with your hands), yet extremely resistant to one-off blows of great force from say, something like a maul.
    Dearest Knights of Wisdom and Business Acumen,

    We hope you not find it insulting when we say that the status of your new alliance remits you the capabilities to crush the Tangle Geist sans our aid. This is not meant as criticism, far from it in fact. Only to inform you that we shall be at least attempting to match the standard you and your alliance with the Painter's Guild have set for the rest of Sethennai with regards to the Engageing of said villanous persons that permeate this fabled civic. Nevertheless, should you Knights be looking to acquire an extra set of military skills in the future, once present unpleasentries are resolved, please notify us and a writ of contract might be devised that should see both parties fairly compensated.

    Sincerely,
    The Second Committee for Advancement & Reclamations
    Spoiler: OOC
    Show

    I'll see ya there at the end of the world.



    Spoiler: The Painter's Guild
    Show

    Several geodes, all previously undiscovered colours, are laid at the feet of the Painter Guild's residence. When exposed to very distinct temperatures they bleed this colour into the surroundings, becoming dun grey in the process. Re-exposing them to the same temperature once the geode has cooled/warmed to a baseline causes it to devour and become nearby colours, allowing for the process to begin again.

    Greetings Friends of the Painter's Guild,

    We'd be remiss for mentioning this rumour, intercepted and interpreted while on its way to the Blade of the People. While perhaps only half of a conversation-the forward facing people of the Vault would never deign to spy upon such a venerable establishment as that led by Major A'jhish-the dragon reveals there infirmity and therein what must be done so as to restore them to their proper place in the sky. While we've naught sufficient resources this season to make a fair contribution, we shall make overtures on behalf of both the Vault and the Guild next season, when we've something beyond the value of words to offer. Our crews will be happy to include you in any negotiations.

    The Spectrometermen of Colour, Acrylics & Resins
    Spoiler: OOC
    Show

    40 mag/econ for Grand Bazaar. 20/20 split for what we agreed on sound fair? Should move quickly given the Blade of the People (holla GoC) are making overtures to them as well.



    Spoiler: The Painted Doctors
    Show

    A small thimble full of sentient mercury is included with the letter, content to much on vegetables (for now) after it is done spelling out the message below.
    Hail Pioneers of Physiology!

    The most esteemed blade amongst you noted in our prior missives to one another that there is to be a great work of sorts that you and yours wish to undertake. Should you wish to, we should like to reiterate that our Vault is fully available as a creche to your formula once completed, to say nothing of the rare herbalisms and alchymies we have at our disposal that may expedite the process.

    The Searching Crew for Alchemies most Rare
    Spoiler: OOC
    Show

    What needs be done to bring them in? still up for 5 mag:5eco trade this turn

    Last edited by n0ble; 2021-08-18 at 03:27 PM.
    “Have no fear, you will find your way. It's in your bones. It's in your soul.”- Mark Z. Danieleweski, House of Leaves

  2. - Top - End - #92
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Austin, Texas

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Shackle
    Defensive Espionage - 9
    Reputation - 3

    Spoiler: Blade of the People (9)
    Show
    Yes, I tried to run down who was currently in charge of the city last month. It turns out that the answer is no one. Cael didn't have any contingencies for going this far down the line of succession.

    My sole aim with Redgate is to ensure that, should the Prince emerge from the palace, he does not have an army to call on. I will be breaking the chains that bind Vrocdruk to serve the city's monarch. I don't particularly care what happens after that.


    Spoiler: Chainbreaker Confederacy (9)
    Show
    Pretty much anything would be an improvement over Cael. At the least, I want the government to work for the benefit of the city, and not for foreign powers, which would require dissolving or nationalizing the First Bank. Paying the city's soldiers would also be a good idea.


    Spoiler: Knights Null (9)
    Show
    Having good neighbors is definitely something to strive for. I see no reason why we could not cooperate in the future.

    I'm curious, what are your views on the Blade of the People? I assume they'll end up as a neighbor of yours as well.


    Spoiler: The Sleepless Crusade (9)
    Show
    Yep, [3 Mag] for [3 Mil]. And, while I'm curious what you're working on, I assume you'd rather not say in an unsecured medium.

    I am looking forward to your project's completion.
    Last edited by Nemesis67; 2021-08-18 at 03:11 PM.

  3. - Top - End - #93
    Orc in the Playground
     
    BlackDragon

    Join Date
    May 2012

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    NPC Responses

    The Dreamers, Morale 6

    Spoiler: Knights Null
    Show


    Zoe’s...not easy to find, but the knights get much more helpful directions on this occasion, and track her down in less than an hour. When they find her, she’s just about finished giving out more prosaic guidance and advice to a group or nervous looking labourers. It’s a good ten or fifteen minutes awkwardly waiting before she finally turns to them. The first question’s answered with a shrug. “No one’s been talking about you that much, for now. All the excitement to on the river and in Lowtown has everyone’s attention. You came up when the soldiers and artists were talking, but only a bit.”

    She paused for a moment, then continued. “Well, the princess or the oathmage might have? We’re not really sure what they say. Oldport’s all a mess, and there’s so many new people dreaming of other places there we don’t really know what’s real. And Shackle’s spirits are so bound up they barely dream at all. But other than them.”

    “If you want to send some soldiers to keep the City’s dream or the pirates from trying to silence us, you’re welcome to, and we can probably help you if you have any ideas. But we can’t really focus on that. We’re all here because we’re part of the Dream beneath the water. Whatever happened tot he Prince hurt it, and we need to make sure it doesn’t become a nightmare.”

    Spoiler: ooc
    Show

    Amenable to trade or even an alliance, if you’ve got the rep to spare. But for them to join you requires them first completing a 25 point LTP, 10 points of ESP or Mag, minimum.




    First Bank of Sethennai, Morale 4

    Spoiler: Cloven Court
    Show



    From the Desk of Executive Director Salman Ticaret

    For delivery to The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes and Ministre de Correspondance to Isabelle VII

    In general that proposal is acceptable to us. Please reply with the specific amounts and proposed schedule or repayment, but if they fit with what you’ve described than I cannot forsee there being any issue in the matter.


    Keendream Expedition, Morale 4

    Spoiler: Sleepless Crusade
    Show

    M. Valthan

    The concern is appreciated, as is the compensation. That amount seems perfectly fair.

    All the best,
    Ilidak Keendream Kathu-Viano, Expedition Lead


    The Bookhounds, Morale 3

    Spoiler: Knights Null
    Show


    Mr. Stangler,

    Appreciate the offer, and I’ll be sure to. If you’ve got some spare hands, could always use the help.

    Sincerely,
    Nikos Roth,
    Ieró Books and Antiquities



    Painted Doctors, Morale 2

    Spoiler: S’letaunntic Vault
    Show


    Always such generosity! It embarrasses me.

    Your offer is very respectable, but I’m very comfortable in my lab and my place of business. But if you wanted to make an investment in the new serum I’m working on, I’m sure we could come to an arrangement in sharing its benefits.

    -The Doctor

    Spoiler: ooc
    Show

    Is that before or after transaction costs? But either way yes.

    To fold in the Painted Doctors you’ll need to help them complete some horribly unethical experiments! Which is something of a multi-step process, but first involves making a tier 1 Mil VIP as a test subject, then completing a 15 point LTP


    Last edited by St. Justicar; 2021-08-18 at 07:44 PM.
    Spoiler: Previous Games
    Show

    Won Rise of Kingdoms as the Free City of Khasal
    Lost Hanrui 3 as the Clockwork Republic
    Technically Won Principia 2 as the Iron Gods of Ur
    Won Mandate of Heaven as the Gardeners of the Immortal Flesh

  4. - Top - End - #94
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    PaladinGuy

    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Victoria, BC
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Chainbreaker Confederacy

    Morale 3, Reputation 2

    Players


    Shackle
    Spoiler
    Show
    Aye aye, anything’s probably better than Cael, fer it was he who set the Warden up as e’ is. But that don’t change me plots fer vengeance against the godling. Ain’t nothin’ in his binding words that says hang children from the battlements ‘cause he couldn’t stomach a bit a’ ribbin’ from an escaped convict.

    Now I’ve heard a curious piece that ye’ve intentions t’mess with those plans, despite a lawmages word that ye have no ambitions in Redgate just last month. So here I am callin’ to check the measure of those words. What plans are ye cookin’ fer the Warden of Redgate prison? And I would hope fer a less vague an answer than the one ye gave fer what a better reign than Cael would be. I know lawyers are allergic t’clarity, stomach the hives fer me would’ya? Time runs short one plans fer the month.
    Last edited by A_Dinosaur; 2021-08-19 at 09:45 AM.

  5. - Top - End - #95
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Austin, Texas

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Shackle
    Defensive Espionage - 9
    Reputation - 3

    Spoiler: Chainbreaker Confederacy (9)
    Show
    You wound me, Captain. I have been as impeccable with my word as can be expected of an oathmage. Which is to clarify that I said I have no territorial ambitions in Redgate, not that I have no plans at all. But, fair, cards on the table. I'm breaking the Warden's bindings this month. That is what I was alluding to when I asked for last month and this one to change Vrocdruk's mind. My aim is to make sure he does not defend Cael, the Hierophant, the First Bank, or the current regime's foreign backers in the coming months. Ideally, he would also not be a sadistic tyrant and would work to maintain the peace in the city, but I think I may have been too optimistic in blaming his behavior on his chains and not his own disposition.

    I know you and the Blade have your own plans for the prison this month, though not the particulars. I have not forewarned the First Warden of this, because that would certainly cross a line. I also will be certain to not interfere in anything aside from the binding this month. And I'm reluctant to waste my research into how Sethennai chained the godling.

    Where does that leave us?

  6. - Top - End - #96
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Hamste's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2012

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Painters
    Morale 8 Rep 3

    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show

    I guess you could say it is still in progress? To be honest, we are not entirely certain what the Painting is doing with it. The only agreement is that it must be a truly massive art piece.


    Spoiler: The S’Letaunntic Vault
    Show

    It's going to take us a little while to get that much magic. The main problem is getting our expansions at the same time as investing.

    It is surprisingly expensive to fix her though I guess if it was simple then she would have just fixed themself. Maybe 3 months would be enough? Down to 2 if we show enough results that they start investing.
    Avatar created by Elder Tsofu

    Spoiler: Giant in the Playground Hearthstone Champion
    Show

  7. - Top - End - #97
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    GameOfChampions's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Canada

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Blade of the People
    Mor 7
    Rep 5


    Spoiler: Shackle & Chainbreakers
    Show
    Well that leaves me fairly satisfied. The Warden still in his territories and still able to face judgement. It does not seem like your own project would interrupt our own plans as long as the Warden is still in Redgate.

    As far as your stance of denying the Tyrant Prince his tools and support. Of that I heartily agree even if we go about it differently.


    Spoiler: Cloven Court
    Show
    Fair warning to you in the war on the Geist. It seems like they have made a route over water to somewhere else in the city.

    To where we do not know.

    Last edited by GameOfChampions; 2021-08-19 at 12:49 PM.
    "Facilis Descensus Averni." - Virgil, The Aeneid

    “Why would I want to win anything other than a beautiful game?” - Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear


  8. - Top - End - #98
    Titan in the Playground
     
    3SecondCultist's Avatar

    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Canada
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Cloven Court of Valmont

    Morale 9
    Reputation 4




    Spoiler: To the First Bank of Sethennai
    Show
    Dear Executive Director Ticaret,

    Her Serene Highness has personally expressed to me her praise to your association and all of its member constituents for your continued grace and acceptance of our overtures of friendship. Unfortunately, the Knights Null are not as immaculate in their record-keeping and timeliness as you; as such, the Court is as of yet unaware of the precise numbers they are planning to commit on our behalf at the end of this month. We have stressed to them the urgency of your request, as the threat before us is grievous and will not waylaid by any means short of force. Nonetheless, the First Princess believes in complete transparency with all of her friends.

    What the Court is willing to do on your behalf is commit an extension of our own resources next month, should the Knights ultimately prove unworthy interlocutors up to the standard that both our organizations were promised. A failing would be seen as a breach of protocol, and would be addressed as such; the Court would make the First Bank whole should those events come to pass, as a prelude to further action.

    Sincerely,

    The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Good to know. The Knights were noncommittal to the exact number they're sending (I believe it is 6, but am not 100% sure). However, the Court trusts the Bank to be honest about the aid sent, and we will make up the rest of the debt in Mil or Eco next turn if there is any outstanding at the end of this turn.

    Spoiler: To the Knights Null
    Show
    To Crimson Captain Aztar III, Coinmaster,

    It is the forthright belief of Her Serene Highness that the wishes of the Knights and the Court are aligned in this matter. As we have declared, our interest is in a shared prosperity for the good and reasonable people of Sethennai, of which my sovereign fervently believes your order is part. We are not unaware that our dealings thus far have been to the Court's benefit more than yours, yet we have outlined one means by which this imbalance may be rectified. Once victory is scored against our mutual enemy, you will find yourselves richly rewarded for your aid in the matter.

    Furthermore, there will be more opportunities to come in the immediate future that the First Princess trusts will be of significant interest to you. Though she would never admit it, this city stands without leaders and must be made to listen should Sethennai wish to avoid calamity. There will surely be a place for those who know their way around both coin and blade in the new regime. In my home country, we use the phrase sorcellerie et habilité; it refers to someone who demonstrates both power and skill. The Court would very much enjoy bestowing such honour upon you, should the occasion present itself.

    Sincerely,

    The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    Spoiler: To the S'Letaunntic Vault
    Show
    Dear Floor 0 Representatives,

    The Cloven Court considers itself beholden to the Vaulters. Rest assured that your contributions to the war effort will not go unrecognized, and although our own Order of the Riven Skies will take the vanguard, every soldier and member of support staff sent will be accommodated and honoured as is their right. By the signature of the First Princess, when the time comes to dole out the laurels of victory, your people will surely be first among those identified for standing up against the enemy.

    Sincerely,

    The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Well, thank you very much! We should be able to crush the Geist with those numbers without any real trouble.

    Beyond the VP we'll be splitting up and sending to you and the others who are contributing, the Court may owe you a minor favour depending on the amount of support sent this turn.

    Spoiler: To the Blade of the People
    Show
    Dear Friend A'Jish,

    I thank you for coming forward with this information. At such a juncture, every move that our enemy makes betrays their intent further: they may attempt to claim territory that is yet unheld, or belongs to a faction with less puissant defenses in an attempt to stave off total defeat. This move is not entirely unprecedented, but the Court thanks you for confirming that such a course was charted.

    Lamentably, the Court is already preoccupied in its conflicts this month. I have personally signed off on the majority of our troop movements and requisition orders for reinforcements from the various Sethennese factions. The Painters Guild and the Vaulters have pledged soldiers to combat the enemy, and the Knights Null have sworn to reinforce the First Bank against a counter-attack. Combined with the Court's Order of Riven Skies, we are confident that the Geist will be put on the back foot shortly.

    Once a beachhead has been established, I will be in contact to negotiate the finer points of an alliance; it would be a fortuitous hour to make a public promise of friendship.

    Warmly,

    Your Friend Isabelle

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Thanks for letting me know! Not much I can do about that right now sadly, since my resources are already tied up in attacking the Geist and building up enough stats to weather a likely assault from them this or next turn.
    Last edited by 3SecondCultist; 2021-08-19 at 04:34 PM.
    Spoiler: Stuff I'm Working On
    Show
    Small Justice


    An ongoing web serial about politics, vengeance, and miniature lizards. Go check it out!

    Quote Originally Posted by Zeno Desaqqara View Post
    You divine bastard.

    "Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in the face of certain defeat."

  9. - Top - End - #99
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGuy

    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Yaritagua, Venezuela
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Knight's Null

    Espionage defense: 5
    Rep: 2


    PCs

    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show
    excellent, I knew we could see eye to eye miss Shackle.

    The question is odd, specifically if you are keen to the map of this... fair, city and it's occupants, still, I'll humour it: there is a military mind, dissatisfied with the running of things, eager to help, and attempting to strike on their own? why, it may as well be a paged ripped from my order's own history! We should have no problem, as even their seeming tolerance of Curze likely stems from the warden's lunacy, but I, personally expect that once Curze is behind bars and we can get some proper law enforcement to drop other bounties, there'll be no need for such cooperation.

    Sart's Will and a measure of my respect,
    Count Tareis XI Von Kail, Chapter Master of Sethenai, ogre maul.


    NPCs

    Spoiler: The Dreamers
    Show
    The knight just nods along, as the many patrons of the city are mentione. He looks adequately concerned, as she mentions why they are concerned, and he decides to make a judgement call, right there, right now for the glory of Sart, even if not that of his principles. "I, don't know exactly what your dream entails, but if your cause is important enough to call so many disparate ones, in charity and harmony, you can have my promise, if you allow the Knights in, our biggest priority would be to sooth it. So long as yours is too."

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    I'm calling for A) an alliance next turn, to b) facilitate aiding the LTP, If they can help in anyway (preferably esp), that'll be great, otherwise, I'll just have to trade, got money for a reason after all.
    Quote Originally Posted by Coidzor View Post
    Ah, yes, trolls, the monsters that are such wusses their primary means of reproduction is being eaten by other creatures.
    Quote Originally Posted by 5ColouredWalker View Post
    With all this talk of half dragon cohorts I may need to scrap riding a actual Dragon given how unoptimized it is.
    hey, order a gig here: https://www.fiverr.com/neriractor

    I would really appreciate it.


  10. - Top - End - #100
    Orc in the Playground
     
    BlackDragon

    Join Date
    May 2012

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Turn 3 - Awoken



    The River War

    The spread of the Tangle Geist – the mad spirit calling itself the city’s god, tearing apart those who stand in its way with hordes of possessed vermin – has had all of Oldport in a blind panic for months. After the godling announced it’s intention to subsume the entire city into itself, it was only a matter of time before a response was organized.

    The exiled Princess of Valmont organized the counterstrike, but her drake-riding knights were joined by the Painters Guild’s enchanted statues and the Vaulters’ teeming militia on the march across Oldport. The gathered forces truly deserved the title of an army, and the possessed workers and bums that attempted to blindly swarm them were barely more of a problem than organizing the logistics of the attack in the first place.

    The reason for that quickly became obvious. Instead of forming up for a politely decisive battle, the better part of the Geist’s thralls were otherwise occupied. Rising with the tide, swarms of rats, crabs, monstrous eels and mutated amphibians poured from the sewers and up over the sides of barges in the Riverside neighbourhood the Dreamers’ called home. With the better part of their number elsewhere in the city, the mystics and hermits who remained didn’t have a chance. The invading thralls seemed to be interested in the actual defenders only as an afterthought, being far more focused in desecrating or destroying the odd artworks and murals that had long decorated the neighbourhood.

    No one knows quite what occured, but anyone with the bad luck to be sleeping woke with a splitting headache and a scream echoing in their ears. And, in a single heartbeat, every Dreamer across the city collapsed into a coma, their bodies living but their souls’ slumbering and their minds’ blank. Those in the Geist’s reach didn’t stay so for long, of course – their possessed shells now join the more monstrous thralls in running rampant through riverside, painting over all the old murals in green and red.

    The Dreamers have been destroyed

    Broken Chains

    No one’s very clear on what happened in Redgate prison, except that whoever’s behind it presumably ****ed up somewhere along the line.

    What’s known is that something like an earthquke struck eastern Redgate, centred on the prison itself. A mass uprising of prisoners occurred, seemingly armed and organized by some outside agent. At the same time, the First Warden himself seems to have gone totally mad, with several wardens dragged bodily into the prison’s walls or encased in petrifying rock.

    A small number of Wardens escaped, as the doors and windows of the prison began to melt away or seal themselves. The sounds of fighting and dying, and regular fires and explosions, still echo over the prison walls a week later.

    Those wardens that did escape didn’t enjoy their freedom for long. Never one to leave opportunities laying around for someone else to snatch up, Captain Curze and her chain breakers took full advantage of the chaos to seize the rest of the district. Only the prison itself remains outside the pirate queen’s grasp now, and most expect that that’s only a matter of time.

    The Dead Rise!

    ...out of their newly dug inter-district tunnel!

    After months of work, the skeletal labourers of the Sleepless Crusade have excavated a route from their lich’s sanctum in the Ruins to the breweries neighbourhood of Foundrytown. This was something of a surprise to the rioting apprentices and workers who had had the run of the place for the previous month, as wraiths and wights from the Crusade’s Public Safety Directorate allied with the brewmasters and owners to restore order to the area.

    Peace and Order

    Across Crossroads, Foundrytown, and the Stacks, the riots and rebellions of the previous month are quickly being quelled, if with varying amounts of gentleness.

    After allying with the vigilante do-gooders known at the Bookhounds, the oathmage Shackle has pacified the entirety of the Stacks, leaving her in a seemingly unassailable position on the city’s eastern edge.

    The Painters Guild, having abandoned their old Guildhouse for a new home in Foundrytown, also officially secured the services of the Ironfang Mercenary Company, in a stroke making them one of the city’s preeminent military powers. They’ve also moved to secure the better part of central Foundrytown, securing the loyalty of the skilled artisans and old guilds and mystically pacifying any who stand in their way.

    Despite the chaos, the Hellworks seem to now be working as efficiently as they ever have. Moreso, even – even the unrelated businesses around them seem totally devoid of any sort of unrest or rioting. The Lady Katerine has also let it be known she would be happy to help any responsible parties restore order to the rest of Foundrytown.

    Between them, the Cloven Court and Knights Null have also pacified almost all of Crossroads, with the Knights in particular enjoying an enviable position in the heart of the Old City, and having secured the Painters’ old Guildhouse for themselves.

    Court Politics

    Despite the ongoing war, Princess Isabelle of Valmont found the time to host a well-attended outdoor gala in one of the numerous parks on the outskirts of the Palantine. While the exiled royal has not made any claims herself, it’s an open secret that the gentry and minor patricians who attended left believing themselves to be supporting Sethennai’s next sovereign. They’re not alone, either – between a reputation of unstained honour, public acts of charity, and her heroic success against the Tangle Geist, throughout the Old City it’s increasingly common for citizens of all stations to refer to the foreign royal as the new First Princess, or at least loudly hope she will be.

    The Cloven Court's Reputation has increased to 5


    Map

    Spoiler
    Show




    The Throne [63] is At Peace and Unaligned
    The Hierophant [62] is At War with The Tangle Geist and Unaligned
    The Hellworks [16] are At Peace and Unaligned
    The Grand Bazaar [10] is At Peace and Unaligned
    The Keendream Expedition [36] is At Peace and Unaligned
    The Weaver’s Masquerade [37] is At Peace and Unaligned
    The Bookhounds [21] are At Peace and Allied with Shackle
    Redgate Prison [27] is Consumed With Internal conflict and Unaligned
    The Painted Doctors [5] are At Peace and Unaligned
    The Red Ocean Trading Company [43] is At Peace and Unaligned
    The First Bank of Sethennai [46] is At War with The Tangle Geist and Unaligned

    The Current Winner is the Cloven Court of Valmont with 1 VP



    Rumours

    Spoiler: Morale 6
    Show


    Some say the Dreamers’ aren’t actually gone, just hiding. That they gave up their bodies to escape the Geist, and just joined whatever strange entity they were connected to entirely, hidden somewhere beneath the river.

    The Hellworks might actually deserve the name, now. Or maybe people are just eager for a villain. Either way, people who would know insist the factory floor smells of brimstone, and the workers have been disciplined by the invocation of Paimon of Chains, the archdevil Lady Katerina’s house derives its name from. Her new, armoured, faceless bodyguards and floor bosses certainly look the part.



    Spoiler: Morale 4
    Show


    What happened in Redgate Prison wasn’t the result of one plan going wrong, but two different ones succeeding. Prisoners had been armed and organized for a rebellion, at the same time as someone broke the ancient bindings keeping Vrockdruk a loyal servant of the city. The resulting melee’s really more of a fight over which sort of bloody vengeance gets the prison – very much not a good place to be one of the old wardens. At the moment it’s an open question whether Vrockdruk and the small cult of ex-wardens and ex-prisoners around him crush the well-armed prisoner militia, most likely it will come down to any aid either side recieves.

    The Temple District is abuzz – apparently literally. No one’s sure what’s going on, but it looks like the Hierophant and her acolytes are on the verge of making some real progress on whatever their grand working is.

    Having managed to still and disenchant a rampaging statue of a 7’ dwarven warrior, the Keendream Expedition seems to have found some important lead in their digs, and are preparing for a mass excursion beneath the city.



    Spoiler: Morale 3
    Show


    Arun Prem has been joined by two new friends in his normal perch in Chance, apparently both trusted agents of the Company recently rescued from some trouble by Major A’jish of the Blade of the People. Representatives of the Blades are an increasingly common sight in Red Ocean territory, and popular wisdom is that soon they’ll throw their weight behind the Blade entirely.



    Adventure Sites

    Spoiler
    Show


    Spoiler: Cloven Court, Morale 12
    Show


    Spoiler: 45, Double Vision
    Show


    A strange apex predator seems to have survived the Geist’s infestation, some exotic curiosity with a natural talent for illusion and enough muscle and fang to eat whatever it damn well likes. Originally destined for a patrician’s menagerie, it was accidentally freed in transit and now hunts Oldport’s warehouses



    Spoiler: 47, Foreign Affairs
    Show


    The Illyrin Ambassador to the city - Sir Konrad sol Reingard – has been missing ever since his townhouse was attacked shortly after the Solstice, and it’s universally agreed he was kidnapped. His personal staff are getting increasingly frantic, and doing a poor job of hiding it.



    Spoiler: 57, The Devil In White
    Show


    The residents of Plaza du Villa are terrified. Every week, like clockwork, it happens again. A nephew or daughter or cousin vanishes and, the next morning, is found strung up in the street, their body creatively and nauseatingly mutilated, the ‘artist’s’ indecipherable signature written on the cobblestones in their blood.



    Spoiler: 59, Shadows in the Moonlight
    Show


    The bridge is haunted, of course – everywhere in Crossroads is. Particularly, it is haunted by malicious ghosts who feed on the grief of suicides, flitting about on well-lit nights to urge and lure the drunken and depressed over the edge and into the waters below.



    Spoiler: 64, A Walk In The Park
    Show


    The parks and gardens that ring the Palantine have grown dangerous and wild, with numerous disappearances over the last months, and no one walking the increasingly overgrown paths without armed retained. Conventional wisdom says something (or things) have escaped from the private menageries kept by different patrician houses





    Spoiler: Shackle, Morale 10
    Show


    Spoiler: 19, Archive Rats
    Show


    Students at the colleges of Law and Natural Philosophy are losing their minds – literally. Something is eating away all their knowledge, in the worst cases leaving massive holes in their memories and personalities.



    Spoiler: 20, Ashes to Ashes
    Show


    Surprisingly approximately no one, one of the artifacts being displayed at one of the foremost museums seems to be cursed, with multiple research assistants having died as they vomit up and choke on bone dry desert sand. The real problem is really figuring out which artifact is responsible.




    Spoiler: 22, School Spirit!
    Show


    The various fraternities of apprentices and students of wizardry are incredibly competitive, and often seem to only care about their studies insofar as it helps showing their rivals up. Last week every member of a certain association was hit with a curse that left pigeons circling above their heads at all hours of the day, and it looks like things are only going to escalate from there.



    Spoiler: 23, Legacy
    Show


    The famous scholar and arcane theorist Ephraim Schröpfer died of a heart attack earlier this year, to universal mourning. His favourite apprentice – one Johanna Wellman – has seamlessly continued his work. Many have called her disinterest in mourning and her eagerness to claim everything that was her mentor’s distasteful, but a few have begun whispering it’s downright suspicious.



    Spoiler: 25, The Light At The End of the Tunnel
    Show


    The augurs and oracles of Mystics’ Court are haunted. Every night, their dreams are filled with the most awful nightmares, leaving their exhausted and terrified in the morning, their minds full of doom. The consensus is near universal – the city is doomed! A few skeptical voices, however, say some malevolent presence is warping and corrupting the dreams of seekers. Which is probably the tack to take – the first suicide happened last night, and ‘all the fortune tellers are killing themselves’ does not exactly inspire confidence.



    Spoiler: 26, In The Dark of the Night
    Show


    [i\A vampire is haunting those sleeping in the caravanserrai, paralyzing them and feeding upon their vital energy in the middle of the night, leaving them drained and listless come the morning.[/i]




    Spoiler: Painters’ Guild, Morale 9
    Show


    Spoiler: 10, A Shadowy Sisterhood
    Show


    The luxury shops and artisans of Lirsala Court live in terror, as a gang of burglars menace the neighbourhood two or three times a week, stealing the most valuable and heavily guarded merchandise and evading all traps and measures set to catch them with humiliating ease.



    Spoiler: 12, Blow Us All Away
    Show


    The gunsmiths of Firecracker Row are a competitive, secretive bunch, each of them working feverishly to perfect their designs and show up their peers. So it’s not entirely unprecedented for one artisan’s workshop to go out in a blast in the middle of the day. Three in a month, as the rest of the city descends into riots? You might call that suspicious.



    Spoiler: 13, The Island of Misfit Toys
    Show

    The junkyard is haunted, or cursed, or enchanted - whatever it is, some scanagers who go come back with a fortune, and others never come back at all


    Spoiler: 14, Like Clockwork
    Show


    One rogue piece of artifice remains at large and causing trouble, even after the rest of Brass Circle has been secured. A true masterwork, it’s proven capable of repairing and improving itself, and more than has to resort to smash and grab robberies and murder to get the materials needed to do so.


    Spoiler: 52, Playing With Fire
    Show


    In the handover, someone perfectly impersonating a Guild agent seems to have simply walked away with a significant fraction of the Ironfang’s alchemical ordinance. It’s strong enough that if it falls into the wrong hands that would be...very bad. In a dramatic way.





    Spoiler: Henninghock Family Company, Morale 8
    Show


    Spoiler: 4, The Tinker King
    Show


    [i]There’s one particular tenement in the neighbourhood that’s very much inhabited – from the sounds within, that is constantly being worked on – but that no one ever goes in or out of. The word is, the place is ruled over by some mad inventor whose turned it into a clockwork labyrinth, and all the other residents are prisoners living at his mercy.[/u]


    Spoiler: 6, The Pursuit of Perfection
    Show


    A particularly proliffic grave robber has been menacing the Pauper’s Fields. They always target recently buried graved, and they never take the whole corpse – if it’s found before the hyenas and cats get to it, it’s untouched except for some particular limb or organ having been removed with surgical precision.



    Spoiler: 8, The Marketplace of Ideas
    Show


    Street preachers and soap-box strutting demagogues have always been a dime a dozen in Southside, but even after the recent street cleaning operations they keep popping back up. They also seem to have much better luck turning passersby into angry mobs and throwing at each other than most of their kind.







    Spoiler: Blade of the People, Morale 7
    Show


    Spoiler: 39, The Flesh Trade
    Show


    Despite the rather thorough removal of its previous owners, the Red Lantern District still isn’t a safe place to be. Rumours abound that slavers are still lurking in the shadows, luring the desperate and naive into vulnerable positions before taking them and selling them on.



    Spoiler: 40, Wages of Sin
    Show


    The Blade of the People is no stranger to using riots as a cover to achieve their own ends, or to poetic justice. Still, people have asked around, and everyone’s fairly sure that whoever strung up the infamously harsh merchant captain on the waterline after literally lashing their back to ribbons, it wasn’t one of yours.



    Spoiler: 41, Cultural Exchange
    Show


    It’s not exactly unusual for the envoys and recruiting officers of different warlord states to end up screaming at each other, or even duelling for their patrons honour. Still, since the Prince vanished all parties seem far more invested in getting each other killed than doing what’s generally considered their jobs. To the point where more are in hiding and operating through assassins and catspaws, now. As the riots die down, it’s becoming a problem.






    Spoiler: Tangle Geist, Morale 7
    Show


    Spoiler: Before The Storm
    Show


    Whatever ancient parasite infests the city, cutting away the flesh it has infected does not solve the underlying issue. Beneath the river, something stirs and dreams, and it is vast enough for its dreams to overwhelm mere mortals who dream with it.



    Spoiler: Knights Null, Morale 6
    Show


    Spoiler: 50, The Repository
    Show


    The Painter was eclectic in their taste of work having painted or purchased thousands upon thousands pieces of work. Most were stored away in a magically regulated tower designed to keep it safe. Magical enchantments kept the living artwork concealed for the most part, allowing those who wished to go free access to look only at the specific pieces they wished to see. With the Painter's "death" the magical enchantments have cracked. While still protected the artwork is completely visible and everywhere. The repository had to be sectioned off as more than a quarter of the pieces of art are deemed dangerous to the mind and body and it is near impossible not to experience it when diving into the repository. Some of the rarest pieces of art are now trapped among these dangerous pieces keeping anyone from experiencing the joy.


    Spoiler: 51, The Lost Market
    Show


    The markets are labyrinthine and easy to get lost in, but there are those who swear that that’s the point. Get lost enough, and you’ll end up in places that don’t exist on any map, shopping at stalls which sell impossibilities and dreams, run by merchants who only look human until you focus upon them. Of course, gold only gets you so far, in a place like that. Best be careful not to trade away anything you’ll regret.



    Spoiler: 53, It Came From Below!
    Show


    Vianotown has many problems. One of them is certainly the foreign knights who’ve imposed themselves as the new big men, of course. But another is a bit simpler – there’s something in the sewers, some disgusting spectre that drags itself aboveground at night to feast on whoever is foolish enough to wander after dark. That’s the story, anyway. And certainly there are many fewer stray animals and beggars than there should be in a neighbourhood like this.



    Spoiler: 55, RATS!
    Show


    Goblintown is infested with them, and in cellars and basements particularly ugly and vicious rats grow to truly unusual sizes. They’re a menace!




    Spoiler: 56, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
    Show


    Despite how tightly packed the rest of the neighberhood is, absolutely no one will even think of moving into a certain set of abandoned buildings. They’ve been empty for generations, and there are a dozen different contradictory stories of the horrible things that have happened to anyone who tried to change that




    Spoiler: 58, The Blades of Paradise
    Show


    The boogeymen of All Gods Court are a secretive clique or martial artists, self-proclaimed god-eaters who steal spiritual power and focus it through their techniques to achieve results that range from impressive to totally impossible. No one has proof they’re real, of course, but certainly they’re a convenient explanation for the number of ancient shrines and rare libraries which are ransacked in the middle of the night.





    Spoiler: Sleepless Crusade, Morale 6
    Show


    Spoiler: 17, The Demon Rum
    Show

    Even now that work has resumed, seemingly every night brings another drunken brawl that needs to be broken up. Perhaps to be expected, but the neighberhood’s drunks seem far more vicious and violent than normal, as well.



    Spoiler: 38, The Broken, The Beaten and the Damned
    Show


    No one lives in the Ruins because they want to, and the stretch of it only recently pacified by the Crusade most of all. But on top of all their other miseries, the densely packed detritus of society flocking to Nazhar’s soup kitchens and public safety offices are begging for help. They’re being hunted, and whatever things are doing it seem far more interested in fear and misery than simple food.






    Spoiler: S’letaunntic Vault, Morale 5
    Show


    Spoiler: 2, The Song of Angry Men
    Show


    While SCAR’s armed forces have secured the main streets and plazas, but the tenements themselves are too dense and heavily populated to really police. Which wouldn’t be a problem, but there are worrying murmuring about, threatening grafiti appearing overnight, and whispers of a stockpile of powder and shot somewhere in the neighbourhood.






    Spoiler: Chainbreaker Confederation, Morale 5
    Show


    Spoiler: 28, Dead or Alive
    Show


    A few of the convicts from Redgate did manage to escape in the fighting. Unfortunately, these aren’t any of the more sociable ones – black cell material, including an occasionally rabid werewolf and a psycho attempting to perfect the art of soul destruction. So far they just seem to be making sport of people who were associated with the old rivermen and tax collectors, but the results are still a bit too messy for most to stomache.




    Spoiler: 29, Ice to Meet You
    Show


    At least a couple of the old casino bosses seem mighty bitter about the new management. At least, that’s the obvious explanation for one of their replacements being found in the middle of his new office, sliced to ribbons with daggers made from magically shaping and freezing his own blood.




    Spoiler: 30, Leeches
    Show


    Akimbo is one of the more haunted places in Redgate – thank the previous management for that. Still, now that the devils are mostly under control, the fact that attractive young men and women keep ending up in the gutter missing all of their blood is becoming harder to ignore.



    Spoiler: 31, Though the Heavens Fall
    Show


    As the Chainbreakers move in to replace the Riverdog Gang, they also inherit their problems. First and foremost among them, a particularly skilled and incredibly violent vigilante who seems to have made it a personal goal to wipe as many pirate and thugs off the street as they can. No one knows their identity, beyond the distinctive long coat, wide-brimmed hat and love of explosives and throwing knives.




    Spoiler: 32, Dead Men Do Tell Tales
    Show


    Even with the Gate Street Kings dealt with, some sort of necromancer still seems to be active, as every other morning a newly dug grave is found emptied


    Spoiler: 34, A Ghost of a Chance
    Show


    There’s no actual proof, or any definite sign they exist. But as Ritona’s crews move into the Mackerel Docks, there are persistent rumours that the street gangs the Confederation is replacing weren’t as organized as all that. Rather, they were the proxies for some larger foreign syndicate, using local catspaws as it pursued one scheme or another.



    Last edited by St. Justicar; 2021-08-30 at 11:02 PM.
    Spoiler: Previous Games
    Show

    Won Rise of Kingdoms as the Free City of Khasal
    Lost Hanrui 3 as the Clockwork Republic
    Technically Won Principia 2 as the Iron Gods of Ur
    Won Mandate of Heaven as the Gardeners of the Immortal Flesh

  11. - Top - End - #101
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    PaladinGuy

    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Victoria, BC
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Chainbreaker Confederacy


    Ritona stood under an awning of canvas set over a brace of eight pounder cannons, all that could be hauled up from Ramshackle on short notice. Oozing welts of stone were already molding themselves over the chips and craters where shots had impacted, the viscous rock of the cursed fortress resisting and repairing what impacts Chainbreaker engineers could manage. The sweltering heat of fading summer mixed a balmy smell of cannon powder with the abandoned corpses of those desperate enough to fling themselves from the walls rather than face madness and torture within.

    “Locked and loaded Captain, on your call” The engineer’s brow was slick with sweat, after the first few shots a had resulted in a cancerous stone growth spreading over half a street the Chainbreakers had taken to moving after every shot looking for an area where the mana was not so cursed.

    Bah save yer shots swabbie, we’ll get in one way or another, but it may be that powder becomes mighty precious in the next couple of months.” Her gaze swept over the battlements, twisted near as bad as they were within her nightmares the first few days after the first Great Prison Break. “Hold out lads… Just a little longer…


    A Chainbreaker witch came running into the camp, a conch shell gripped tightly in hand. “One of the send spells tripped Captain, finally got a line into one of our crews inside.” A knot twisted heavily in Curze’s stomach, an important conversation, but also one that would be filled with bad news and tales for the tragedies and dramas of next year.

    Give it here then. Let's make sure the whole City knows.

    Morale 5, Rep 2

    Public
    Spoiler
    Show
    You can’t be serious Shackle. THAT was yer plan? Just up an’ cut the chain on one of the maddest demons in the city and the LEAVE IT T’MURDER US? Leave the Chainbreaking t’us ye ink brained drowner. I was expectin’ some artfully crafted an’ annoying rebinding to accumulate a personal hoard of vicious demons to yer own cause, but naw, ye were just tryin’ t’make a second Tangler! I thought ye were supposed t’be a Lawmage and a Binder, I coulda’ done a better job a’that unbinding and the best mana I can channel makes me sword a lil’ sharper.

    Ye’ve just condemned dozens of innocents and hundreds of somewhat-less-than-innocents to tourture and soul death in a tomb of amorphous stone. Half my folk still had family in there, what am I supposed to tell em? The local paragon of Law and Order wanted to collect godling trading cards? The self confessed seeker of the throne felt there wasn’t quite enough hungry ghosts in the local carnage house? The Woman who promised no ambitions in Redgate felt that words should only bind those beneath her? Ye’d better have gods damned poetry lined up t’molify me crews Shackle.


    The Blade of the People
    Spoiler
    Show
    Things’re gettin’ steamy Major. I’ve got a hell of a mind to put tinder to torches, but your folk have the rep to actually settle this peacefully if you’ve a mind to it. This was yer project, I’ll follow yer lead. But if its time for blades, the Chainbreakers are ready.
    Last edited by A_Dinosaur; 2021-08-30 at 05:59 PM.

  12. - Top - End - #102
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Austin, Texas

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Shackle
    Defensive Espionage - 10
    Reputation - 3

    Spoiler: Public, in response to Chainbreakers Confederacy
    Show

    I have freed the god Vrocdruk of the Old Kingdom from the Tyrant Sethennai’s bindings. He is currently putting down a prison riot armed and orchestrated by the Chainbreakers Confederacy, as well as purging those Wardens who are loyal to our current tyrant.

    I find it quite ironic for an escaped fugitive to lecture on law and order while they are actively attempting to release hundreds of criminals out onto the streets.

    Shackle, Esq.
    Capitol Assurances


    Spoiler: Knights Null (10)
    Show
    We seem to have the Geist as our mutual neighbor now. I have no desire to expand into the Crossroads, but I would also prefer not to have a bloodthirsty spirit at my door. Are you planning on removing it and taking control of Riverside?

    Shackle, Esq.
    Capitol Assurances


    Spoiler: Sleepless Crusade (10)
    Show
    I did not expect you to expand into Foundrytown. Do you intend to continue taking territories in the district?

    Shackle, Esq.
    Capitol Assurances



    Spoiler: Bookhounds (10)
    Show
    Assuming I don’t get involved in some conflict, I’ll be working with you to ward the Stacks against hostile magicks, and formally incorporating the Bookhounds into Capitol Assurances.

    Are there any other groups that have expressed an interest in you joining them instead?

    Shackle, Esq.
    Capitol Assurances


    Spoiler: Hellworks (10)
    Show
    I would like to legally acquire the Hellworks this month, keeping you as its executive, so we can work together on expanding the enterprise going forward.

    What would be your price for Capitol Assurances to buy a controlling interest in your business?

    Shackle, Esq.
    Capitol Assurances
    Last edited by Nemesis67; 2021-08-30 at 06:44 PM.

  13. - Top - End - #103
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    GameOfChampions's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Canada

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Blade of the People
    Mor 7
    Rep 5



    Cantorina waits, sharpening her knife, as everything comes together. She was waiting with a hardened force of veterans outside one of the side gates, waiting for their part of the plan. She could feel the tension in the air, the plan was already starting to come together.

    The once decorated major turned rebel leader doesn’t look up from her knife as she hears a distant alarm bell start to ring, but she does smile.




    Hitto Lucida had been a part of the People for over a decade now. Yet when he had been ordered to ‘infiltrate the prison’, a fancy way for the Major to tell them to do something stupid and illegal to get arrested, he had some worries.

    The plan was to make sure he was awake in his cell before the evening bell, ready to move. He was to meet up with some other People and force the gate. One of several infiltrator groups that had all been tasked with taking down the prison from within before the gate was opened for the Blade.

    Nervously Hitto walks around the cell he was in, getting in his own head as the time comes closer. A couple minutes before the bell he sits down on his bed… was it harder than normal? He experimentally wiggles down on the thin mattress, definitely feeling a lump that hadn’t been there earlier in the day.

    He reaches under the mattress and his fingers brush the unmistakable feeling of a knife handle. A slow smile starts to grow as he feels the knife, laying down on the bed and taking comfort in the lump nestling in the small of his back.

    Shortly after a guard comes to the cell and looks around before whispering “Fought like the damned we did.”

    Ha. The plans of the Major were long reaching and far. Hitto looks at the disguised Chainbreaker and responds with a blade smile that doesn’t reach his eyes “For damned we were.”

    It was time to break some ****.




    The armor was a lot more restricting than he remembered. When Rodriego had been back in the army the armor had been worse then the prison guard armor but the worse quality armor was leather at least that let him move around more.

    Oh well it was just a disguise. There were alarms going and he could hear the signs of a struggle so the plan was about to go into motion.

    His troop of prison wardens and guards erupt onto the scene of a mass of armed prisoners in front of a thin line of guards and wardens. As they arrive the armed prisoners begin punching through a thin line of guards and warden, the troop rushes forward to reinforce when a prisoner at the front of a the fight raises a loud stone, an enchanted stone held to the throat to increase volume, and screams out loud “THE PEOPLE WIELD!”

    His blade lances out quick as a snake into the throat of the loyalist guard beside him. The entire troop is decimated as the third of the troop that were Blade infiltrators reveal their true allegiances with a shout on their lips and red blades in their hands “BLADES TRUE TO THE CITY!”

    The loyalists are quickly cut down or run off in the surprise of the moment between the infiltrators in the ranks and the armed prisoners coming at them. Rodriego smiles as his blade slices through the front of another guard's knee while his opponent slides off the breastplate. The other guard had foregone the full armor that Rodriego himself was wearing, he grins as the guard falls down to be trampled underfoot and whispers to another Blade at his side “Maybe this armor isn’t so bad after all.”




    It had all been going according to the Majors plan, she gathered her personal troop of Blades and they prepare to enter the prison and finish the job. They start at a jog when they see the gates begin to tremble, assuming that they were about to open.

    However no matter the trembling the gates do not open and the troop awkwardly stops in the front as they begin to hear the screams. They see a handful of Wardens and guards on the walls trying to fight off what seemed like the very walls of the prison itself.


    One Week Later


    The Major gathered her lietenants to her side, at a high rise that can see the conflicted prison in the distance. They know why they are here and what to prepare, all they need is the word to start.

    A word the Major is not giving yet “Prepare your cells, I shall investigate further but be prepared to deal with the monster in the prison once and for all.”




    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show
    I will not air our laundry in public... for now. However you cannot claim that the warden is acting lawfully when it is what you want and is merely 'bound' when not. There is no law that allows for a the head of the prison to murder and bind his wardens in stone in a fate worth then death.

    More importantly the issue is we agreed to allow your breaking of the Wardens chains under the assumption you had a plan in place to make sure he not rampage and run ruin over his prison. The end problem here is you swore your plans would not interfere with our own and here they are... interfering with our own plan immensely.

    What do you propose to solve these issues caused for the Chainbreakers and I. We would rather come to an accord but if we cannot then we will express our displeasure publicly and we hold a lot more sway then the Chainbreakers do.


    Spoiler: Chainbreakers
    Show
    They are indeed getting steamy Captain. We shall see if we can acquire any consolations from the Shackle in recompense for their actions. If not then we shall be throwing our full displeasure at them which should delay any making of allies as well as release their messages to the public which would make it more difficult for them to act.

    If it comes to blades, and it might, you shall be the first to know.

    More importantly though are your thoughts regarding the prison, we plan on sending in an additional force to settle the conflict in the prison this month in our favor and continue the plans as they were supposed to go. Obviously with this delay we would agree to a 50/50 split in the proceeds from the prison and you would still get the territory. We still plan to dispose of the Warden in one of the most horrific manners we can concieve.
    "Facilis Descensus Averni." - Virgil, The Aeneid

    “Why would I want to win anything other than a beautiful game?” - Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear


  14. - Top - End - #104
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Writtensanity's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2014

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Cecelia had both been drinking too much and not often enough for her liking. She had to admit that a shock and awe welcome to Sethennai hadn't been what she was expecting when she'd revealed her gentrification plans. Picketing? Sure. What progress dodged protest? But the wholesale slaughter of several thousand people who had done nothing except wearing the wrong badge.

    Well that was a new one.

    "and that's how everything shook down with the princess. Shoulda seen the dragons Ce," Cass wrapped up. She'd been working patrols when the whole thing had gone down, so she'd really only seen the edge of some wings, but that wasn't going to stop her running her mouth into the ground and burying it for the Chainbreakers to find. "How's news on your end?"

    "Do you read the mail?" Cecelia asked. It wasn't like the Hemminghock Family company kept things too close to the chest. "Money's up, people continue to be dead and honestly I reckon everyone else is so busy ****in' themselves that they forgot we exist for a month, which was lovely mind you."

    "****in' 'emsleves?"

    "Run on over to Redgate and ask about the Warden," Cecelia pointed out, "maybe stumble down to the bridge line and figure out what's going on with those skeletons making a new dungeon."

    "Aren't the skeletons the good ones?"

    "First o' all," Cecelia started, "we're the good ones darlin' rest of them I trust on a secret scale from 1-5. Blade and the Princess at the top."

    "You trust the blade?"

    "I trust the blade to do what they want to do, and that is always goin' to be to try and topple somethin' noble."

    "So us?"

    "My bank account's rich," Cecelia pointed out, "blood ain't."

    "Fair nuff. We sendin' mail or are we savin' paper again?"

    "Savin' paper for now, need the wood to rebuild the walls the rats gnawed down. Probably somethin' later in the week. Keep the girls posted."

  15. - Top - End - #105
    Titan in the Playground
     
    3SecondCultist's Avatar

    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Canada
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    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Cloven Court of Valmont





    Though they were endless and their brilliance should have been without equal, the stars were utterly outshone by the evening's festivities.

    Really, Olivia had to admire the way it had all come together. Isabelle had come to her with the plan several weeks ago: the Cloven Court was to play host to a secret, exclusive, and most daring soiree on the grounds of Sethennai's most vaunted Palatine district. The theme was 'summer nights', with all attendees asked to wear their formal attire for an enchanting evening under the glittering gaze of the heavens. What's more, Isabelle had personally selected the list from among the second cousins, forgotten heirs, and nouveau riches of the city's elites.

    News of the event had of course spread like wildfire. Everyone knew that the best way to advertise an event was to keep it secret, and every invite doled out crossed the paths of the porters, maids, and butlers of the rich and powerful. The local gossip mongers among Sethennai's possessive first estate did the rest of the work for them; by the time the party preparations had entered full swing, there were over three hundred nobles on the guest list.

    Palatine, despite the name, was more than simply the Prince's Palace - most of the great hill was covered by the various estates of the noble families, and that which was not was devoted to a series of walled parks and shade-dappled avenues and grand boulevards. It was at the greatest of these that the Cloven Court had decided to host its little 'get-together': Jhaltero Park spanned nearly twenty full acres, and was home to a staggering assortment of flora and fauna from all over the Old World and the New. At the heart of the green, the princes of old had constructed a titanic menagerie known as the Pavilion of Sights, where they could hold these species. Thus when Prince Cael brought back rarefied plants or animals to Jhaltero, it was said that he was continuing a centuries-old tradition first put in place by the park's eponymous founder.

    Olivia had heard a sordid tale once about the Sethennese keeping savage tribal children in open-air cages for the nobles to torment. Apparently, some had even been sacrificed for entertainment. Sadly, it would not entirely surprise her if the accounts turned out to be true.

    But tonight would not bear out such horrors. Instead, Jhaltero Park had been transformed into a site of wonders. Pristine white tents had been set up on the outer lawns, each replete with a suite of servants, performers and mages bought and gathered from different corners of the world. There were Imiri, Celmese, Escheri, Abhari, and an assorted dozen other flavours of cultural sampling. The theme of summer had been borne throughout: wherever the Sethennese went, they would be able to bask in the local seasonal custom of the solstice through food, music, and magic. Floating lanterns had been placed along the park's various paths, and Knights of the Body - wearing resplendent plate mail and the Cloven Court's dragons of two and one - had similarly been installed at regular intervals to serve as guides for the new arrivals.

    Tasking the wizards of the Order of the Inkwell to learn the requisite spellcraft to perfectly replicate ritual spells from all over the globe had not been a task without cost, but Isabelle had insisted on it. The Sethennese knew how to sniff out insincerity better than most.

    The heart of the evening was the Pavilion of Sights, which towered over even the tallest of the willow-tops. The colonnade stood proudly in front, overlooking a set of stairs leading to a quatrain of double doors. Frescoes of dynamic scenes were cast in its ivory and stone, too many and too varied to recount them all. Rising cupolas and buttresses all led to graceful crescendo in the form of a central arched roof, whose uppermost point braced against the expanse of evening. Through gigantic curved panes of castle-forged glass, the endless firmament shone down above a panoply of decadent tuileries. She had signed the requisition orders with the local caretakers herself for the innermost gardens to be done up in the Valmontese fashion: crisscrossing avenues of pale stone wove between processions of perennials, the most riotous of the samples staggered so that viewers could encounter them one at a time and give each exhibit the chance to resonate with the guests.

    Olivia took a small sip of her wine as she rested against the ivy-covered railing and looked down over the proceedings. She had been standing on one of the balconies since the party began, choosing not to take part in the action but rather take note of the players who had arrived. Her lips quirked around the rim of her glass as she watched the Chastaigne twins skip up the stairs in matching dresses of molten gold, scanning the crowd to find Henri. He'd be eager to enjoy their company this evening, most likely. And over there stood the wizened Duc von Wyngaarde, smoking one of his cigars and speaking to a sizeable crowd of local princelings. Olivia spotted the exchequer and several of the retired Oldport admirals among them; though no longer actively in service, collectively their children made up the majority of the city's wartime navy. Wyngaarde was surely regaling them about his famous rear-action charge to win the Battle of Vult.

    The vicomtesse's smirk grew even wider as she picked up the gasps and guffaws from the veterans. Though there was no doubt that Wyngaarde had earned his medals, that story had a tendency to somehow grow grander with each retelling.

    Yet no matter how hard Olivia tried to focus on the crowd - divining the nascent plots, bubbling rivalries and hidden trysts - her gaze could not help but be drawn towards the night's crown jewel. Her Serene Highness, the First Princess Isabelle VII stood upon the wide platform of even stone where all the paths in the pavilion met. Her floor-length dress was distilled starlight, woven together by threads of pure will; it appeared in a different colour to every onlooker. Each pearl upon her raiment gleamed brighter than those set in the heavens, yet never blinded the endless queue of petitioners, well-wishers and noble hangers-on who accompanied her every move. The princess' ivory hair had been pinned up in an impossibly intricate series of braided buns, putting her high cheekbones and slanted lavender eyes on full display. She wore no jewellery, save for a circlet of white-gold upon her brow whose metal had been stylized to resemble the wings and horns of her namesake.

    The moment she smiled and waved, she had the crowd. Conversations began to quiet, and then ceased entirely. Four hundred pairs of eyes followed the First Princess as she effortlessly called every noble to heel with two steps forward and a slight upward tilt of the chin.

    "My friends," she began, and no matter how far away the guests stood it was as though she was speaking right next to them, "Thank you for joining us this evening. The Cloven Court is honoured to be able to present tonight's event as our summer season reaches its zenith. Though we have been exceptionally fortunate these past few months, it has been barely a year since Le Banquet des Traîtres. Lamentably, my cousin still holds the Dragonseat, and the shadow of that shame follows the Valmontese across the ocean. Every day brings more stories of war and calamity to these shores, and though I wish I could ignore them, I cannot. The name of Valmont is in danger, perhaps now more than ever.

    Yet tonight, I do not wish to burden you with my own troubles. Instead, I would like to speak to all of you about grace. What does that word mean to you? Is it simply a quality of politeness and etiquette? Is it goodwill? Is it courtesy, or respect? In my mother tongue, the word translates to 'just cause'. One might see this diversity of understanding and think to choose only one meaning; I do not. To you, I posit this: grace is all these and more. It is the recognition of one's duty to family, church and state. It is the respect of those whose views differ from yours, and the willingness to listen to them. It is the putting aside of past enmities in order to foster peace with foes.

    When I look out over all of you, I see grace beaming back at me. I see dedication to higher character, and a thoughtful concert of minds who seek conciliation and prosperity. But above all else, I see your grace through the charitable acts you have done for my people. We asked for you to open the door, and you did so with no thought to yourselves. We begged for your scraps and leftovers, and you set us a place at your table. We wished to exist as neighbours, and you have invited us in as friends.

    No words could speak as loudly to the grace of Sethennai than this: when a stranger needed help, you offered it to them."


    Isabelle paused momentarily, letting those last words sink in as she took one more step forward. Murmuring arcane syllables, the First Princess began to draw in mid-air. All at once, the space above her began to glow, lustrous characters and symbols appearing and disappearing in a flash. The array gradually settled into a roughly oval shape - nearly sixteen feet tall and half as wide across - through which the entire crowd could see a soundless scene of riven skies, lightning and carnage.

    "Tonight, the Cloven Court has followed your example to help those in need. Even now, our knights are engaged in the streets of Oldport, fighting alongside those who have proven themselves worthy: the Painters Guild and the S'Letaunntic Vault. Though I regret the choice to unleash violence against others, sometimes protecting someone means making sure their tormentor can no longer hurt anyone else. And although the Painters and Vaulters are not with us this evening, we would like to acknowledge that without their efforts, victory on the field would have been impossible. They too have grace, my lords and ladies, despite any misgivings you may have about their birth or station.

    I will be brief in my conclusion, for I am sure you are all keen to return to the rest of your evening. If there is one thing I hope you all remember from my nattering on, it is that the potential for grace can be found in any heart, as long as that heart is willing to see the light in another. We are all connected in this great city, and cannot thrive without help. So I implore you to reach out and help anyone you can, while you can. Make room for grace, and the rest of the world will follow suit. Thank you."


    The applause that followed could have filled a thousand pavilions.



    Morale 12
    Reputation 5


    Spoiler: To the Throne
    Show
    Four copies of the same missive are drafted and sent out on the same morning by knights of the Order of Riven Skies atop their storied sapphire drakes. Mount and rider are in full ceremonial gear, yet close inspection reveals fang and lance to be fully functional. Furthermore, each bears the standard of the Cloven Court as they wing over Palatine to their destinations. They deliver the mail to the leaders of the three most pre-eminent factions vying for entry into the Prince's Palace, and the final letter is dropped off at the foot of the very gates itself for anyone to read.

    To Whom It May Concern,

    It is perhaps unusual for someone of my station to be addressing any of you as casually as this, yet decorum must once again give way to necessity. As the sitting sovereign of the Cloven Court, I believe the duty falls to me to address those who would lay claim to what was once the highest seat of executive power in this splendid state. There are three matters which require attending to. The first is introduction, which has now been completed on my part by virtue of my name and seal, though remains opaque on your behalf. It is only polite for me to do so, as the Valmontese have now taken up property on Palatine and are now effectively your neighbours. The second is inquiry, namely in which I inquire after your various purposes and stratagems by which you might earn yourselves standing in the graces of the empty throne.

    Finally, an invitation. The Cloven Court of Valmont does not seek to rule Sethennai in perpetuity. However, it is the clear understanding of our agents and arrivals throughout the city that the void of authority left behind by the once-illustrious Prince Cael has yet to be filled, and that every week this paucity remains the state of Sethennai deteriorates further into disorder and regrettable misrule. One has only but to glance down at the eldritch threat that lingers in Oldtown, or the chaos that sweeps over Redgate at this very moment to recognize the truth of the need for fair-handed rulership. I am no tyrant, keen only on taking and keeping power for myself. My court offers the best chance for stability and security, maintaining the spirit of what came before while recognizing the need for better representation among the disenfranchised of this city. Joining us would certainly be in your best interests, and I never fail to acknowledge and reward those able to come to a peaceful accord.

    Introduction, inquiry, and invitation. Rarely are my words so blunt, but I must ask you to please give all three due consideration before putting pen to ink for a reply.

    Sincerely,

    Her Serene Highness Isabelle VII of the House of von Drakdram, First Princess of Valmont, the Dragon-In-Exile

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Knock knock! Let's see what it takes to take the Throne.

    Spoiler: To the First Bank of Sethennai
    Show
    Dear Executive Director Ticaret,

    Felicitations and congratulations on surviving and thriving under the shadow of our enemy. The Tangle Geist has been decisively beaten and is now on the back foot; we hope to put an end to the conflict in the coming weeks, one way or the other. On behalf of my sovereign, I would like to express my respect and admiration for your unshakeable resolve. Despite the astounding victory that our soldiers and friends were able to achieve and the stories that are beginning to circulate, this is no mere rabble of rats we face. An animal is perhaps at its most dangerous when cornered, and we need to be ready.

    As the First Princess made clear to the Bank in months past, the Cloven Court is eager to work more closely with your house. It is the belief of Her Serene Highness that a permanent move to join with her in the Dragon's Seat would be the most prudent course of action, as you and yours would fall under the banner of our protection, a measure that as you can see guarantees results. The Court only prays that the Knights Null remained true to their word and retained military forces on our behalf to guard your walls and vaults as they promised; if such an agreement was forfeited on their part, the Court has coin and men standing by to make good that obligation before any discussion of patronage continues.

    Sincerely,

    The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Checking in with the Bank! Here's hoping the Knights Null stayed true to their word. We have defended them and taken up arms against the Geist as requested. The Cloven Court is keen to absorb the Bank this turn, and will pay whatever is left of the debt required in Mil/Eco to get that done.

    Spoiler: To the Hemminghock Family Company
    Show
    Dear Brittia and Cecelia Hemminghock,

    Felicitations and congratulations on surviving and thriving under the shadow of our enemy. The Tangle Geist has been decisively beaten and is now on the back foot; we hope to put an end to the conflict in the coming weeks, one way or the other. On behalf of my sovereign, I would like to express my respect and admiration for your unshakeable resolve. Despite the astounding victory that our soldiers and friends were able to achieve and the stories that are beginning to circulate, this is no mere rabble of rats we face. An animal is perhaps at its most dangerous when cornered, and we need to be ready.

    To that end, the Cloven Court would like to speak candidly of our shared future. The First Princess admires your spirit, and would like to sit down with you both in the near future to discuss the possible ramifications of a public alliance. Her address last month was met with acclaim and adulation, due we are sure in no small part to the honour held by your trading company - in many ways, our taking up the gauntlet against the Geist was symbol of our closeness for all of Sethennai to witness. Both our causes stand to benefit greatly from announcing a partnership; Hemminghock would retain the Cloven Court and its soldiers and mages as permanent protectors as well as gain further legitimacy within the city, and we would enjoy the fruits of such a well-funded friend on our eastern border.

    Her Serene Highness begs your indulgence in that she asks you to consider the offer carefully, but not to tarry too long ere the apt hour for announcement pass us by.

    Sincerely,

    The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    So how about it, ladies? Alliance at Midturn? I'm down to spend 1 Rep to make this happen if you are, since we're basically already allied. This will make both of us less appealing targets, since us trading together would make for a strong bloc.

    Just so you know, I am also speaking to a few others about allying this turn (the Blade, the Knights Null and the Painters Guild so far). You can ally with them if you want, or I'd be happy to be an intermediary in trade if you'd rather save the Rep points.

    Spoiler: To the Blade of the People
    Show
    Dear Major A'Jish,

    There are a great many reasons I wish to speak to you, but first and foremost is that the Cloven Court is actively seeking partners in the endeavours to come. There will be trials ahead - the Tangle Geist is not yet defeated, and several in my court are looking ahead to potential problems with figures to the east - but it is our shared hope that the right friendships should aid us all to weather the storm together. Since my arrival in Sethennai, I have considered you to be one such friend.

    Furthermore, you may have heard that I recently held a little soiree up in Palatine, and that several prominent families in my service have taken up residence around Jhaltero Park. I want to assure you personally that while the Cloven Court may move into residence atop the hill, I have no intention of serving as a tyrant. Far from it, in fact: should I ever come to claim any regent-ship over that district, I intend to form a provisional council in order to better represent the diverse and varied interests of all of Sethennai's people, no matter their class or background. Every seat there would be held in equal regard, with no favoritism shown based on caste or wealth.

    I have always firmly believed in equal representation for all classes in executive government. If you trust me enough to take this leap of faith with me now, then together we will show Sethennai what true progress really means.

    Warmly,

    Your Friend Isabelle

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    So are you interested in declaring an alliance this Midturn? I feel like we could certainly help one another, and I'm planning on setting up some other alliances that should make it easy for you to trade if you'd rather save some Rep and use me as a middleman (not that you need to, but it's an option). I have some fun plans that I definitely want to count you in on, and I know you agree that the Blade and the Court make a good if somewhat idiosyncratic match.

    And if/when I take Palatine, I fully intend to spread the VP love to you (and other allies) in the form of a group council. I will split the VP evenly between me and all of my friends.

    Spoiler: To the Painters Guild & the Knights Null
    Show
    Dear Washington Albers, Painter's Scribe & Crimson Captain Aztar III, Coinmaster,

    We approach the two of your organizations as a solitary unit this month due to the closeness of your bond; your genuine spirit of friendship bolsters and gives heart to the Court, and provided the First Bank corroborates the narrative of the Knights Null acting in good faith we are already considering both of your guilds a friend to Her Serene Highness. The recommendation from Executive Director Ticaret is surely a formality at this point, yet our custom - as in our homeland - is to trust, but verify. The First Princess would like to pre-emptively apologize to the Coinmaster of the Knights for any perceived slight our seeking another reference might cause; the Court has made the Bank promises that it intends to keep, and our trust was extended in such a manner that breaking oath would cause our own name to be tarnished among them, a fate I am sure both of you can agree is deplorable.

    Our dealings with the Bank set aside for the moment, there is the matter of congratulations to be weighed. Without the most bounteous offering of painted soldiers from the Guild, our Order of the Riven Skies would not have won the day against the predations of our enemy. Truly the crop of your opus was a magnificent sight to behold, and our craven foe had no choice but to flee the field. The people of Oldport cry out in jubilation, and the names of both Knights and Painters are quick to their lips. The Court itself is no exception, as many of our sovereign's closest friends and confidants have expressed admiration at your exemplary fidelity. To that end, the Cloven Court would like to formally invite both of your conclaves to join us as members of a public alliance.

    Such arrangements are not without their prizes. First and foremost among these is the prestige and legitimacy recently gained by the Cloven Court. We are not so stingy as to forget our friends, and those who align themselves with the Court are rewarded for it. Furthermore, the recent migration of the Tangle Geist and our shared victory over them would put us in an unassailable bargaining position over them this month should the three of us join forces; the First Princess believes that an alliance announcement in a fortnight's time would be optimal for all of us. Put plainly, the collective weight of our cause would be able to demand whatever we wish from the anathema. Finally, the Cloven Court is poised to form alliances with other parties across Sethennai, and would be happy to act as interlocutor for trade in order to prevent bureaucratic bloat and trade restrictions.

    Sincerely,

    The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Just waiting to hear back from the First Bank, but I'm satisfied to consider you both allies and would be willing to spend 1 Rep each to make that happen publicly this Midturn (you'd both need to spend 1 Rep to ally with me as well). It seems clear to me that you're going to be making up the central bloc, and I would love nothing more than to join you in that. Assuming both of you are in and willing to ally at Midturn, I have... ideas regarding the Tangle Geist that should make the Knights Null very happy. I will also have some VP to give away this turn (and in the turns to come), which is absolutely on the table as far as alliance negotiation is concerned.

    It's also worth noting that the Cloven Court is also speaking to the Blade of the People and the Hemminghock Family Company regarding allying this turn. If you ally with me, you can both use me as a middleman to trade with them without incurring any penalties.

    Spoiler: To the Hierophant
    Show
    Dear Yri Cenred,

    Her Serene Highness hopes that you have been keeping well, and that your research has been proceeding apace. It is of great providence that you have remained undisturbed these past few months. She has asked me to promise you personally that we will bargain for you to study - if not outright keep - the Heart of the Tangle at the end of this season. The Court hopes to present the creature with an ultimatum; it will give up its heart, or else be parted with the rest of its vitals. Though the First Princess abhors brutality, such steps have proven necessary when dealing with an entity so vicious as the Geist.

    I have also been asked to inquire as politely as I can as to the stage of your current research, and how far along you may be with the inclusion of the Heart. If we have resources remaining at the end of the month, the Cloven Court may be able to pledge additional aid in the form of mages from our Order of the Inkwell to move your project along. As many as five or six mage circles may be spared, though that depends somewhat on our other commitments at hand. Surely you can understand spreading oneself too thin over too many projects at once.

    Additionally, you may have heard that the First Princess held a party in Palatine this past month, and that several families from the Cloven Court have taken up residence around Jhaltero Park. Rest assured that we have nothing but respect for your spirit of independence, and wish for you only to join the ranks of our mages when you feel comfortable and available enough to do so.

    Sincerely,

    The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    So will they give me a general progress update on how much of their LTP they still need to complete (assuming they listened to me last turn and sunk their Mag into it)? They should be getting access to the Heart of the Tangle this EoT if all goes well, so how much would they need beyond that?

    Spoiler: To the S'Letaunntic Vault
    Show
    Dear Floor 0 Representatives,

    On behalf of Her Serene Highness, allow me to express her surprise and recognition of the sacrifices made by the Vaulters for the Cloven Court. Our diviners and military officers were expecting a larger force initially, but the sheer manpower your organization sent to infiltrate Oldtown and weaken our enemy's position carried the weight of our assault and allowed our knight formations to strike without taking a single casualty. Under different circumstances, we might be burying our honoured dead - and are grateful that no such event is happening today.

    The First Princess has instructed me to pass on news of remuneration. Though you may or not be expecting such an offer, she believes - as do I - that one good turn deserves another. However, currently the Cloven Court is beholden at least in part to other parties whose debts we incurred in the weeks before the offensive took place. It is our duty to make sure those obligations are met before putting our full attention towards offering you the reward your Vaulters have richly earned. In particular, the First Bank of Sethennai and the Hierophant Yri Cenred may require significant expenditures on our behalf; we are reaching out to them to inquire as to the total sums owing, and once they have replied can give you a more accurate picture of our fortunes this month.

    Finally - and herein is perhaps the most important thrust of this missive - the Cloven Court would like to formally invite you to join our covenant in an offer of alliance. Such arrangements are not without their prizes. First and foremost among these is prestige and legitimacy. We are not so stingy as to forget our friends, and those who align themselves with the Cloven Court are rewarded for it. Furthermore, our shared victory over the Tangle Geist would put us in an unassailable bargaining position over them this month should the two of us join forces; the First Princess believes that an alliance announcement in a fortnight's time would be optimal. Put plainly, the collective weight of our cause would be able to demand whatever we wish from the anathema. Finally, the Cloven Court is poised to form alliances with other parties across Sethennai, and would be happy to act as interlocutor for trade in order to prevent bureaucratic bloat and trade restrictions.

    Sincerely,

    The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    So, thanks for the help! You really committed a lot to fight the Geist, so I am keen on rewarding you for it. I do need to hear back from the NPCs to see how much I can free up this turn, but hopefully I should be able to send over some permanent Mil/Eco (most likely 1 of each, plus the Victory Point I earned from taking the territory).

    That also brings me to my main pitch: alliance. I would be very down to spend 1 Rep this turn to ally with you, seeing as you just spent a ton of stats helping me out. Ideally I would like to declare this at Midturn, since I can then use our shared front to threaten the Geist into major concessions and end the war without us having to spend any more Mil or Esp on it.
    Last edited by 3SecondCultist; 2021-09-02 at 07:43 AM.
    Spoiler: Stuff I'm Working On
    Show
    Small Justice


    An ongoing web serial about politics, vengeance, and miniature lizards. Go check it out!

    Quote Originally Posted by Zeno Desaqqara View Post
    You divine bastard.

    "Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in the face of certain defeat."

  16. - Top - End - #106
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGuy

    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Yaritagua, Venezuela
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Knights Null

    The Divine Hand of the Nulling Gate has seen their fair share of expansion, sometimes as the blessed tide rolling upon more dangerous elements, sometimes money enough to seamlessly transition their old laws to where theirs were.

    They had gotten good at it yes... But these was different, cut from the head as they were... *cough* absortion, into the cult was certainly less of an option, and manpowered suffered for it.

    Still, all chapters dealt with local feelings and integration their own way. And even as the leadership feuds over courses of actions and broken promises, Initiatives have been put forth.

    Waking song of the stained Nenuphar

    The streets stretched ahead, shining under the twin influence of a receding moon and growing sundisk, seemingly endless as Rei's jabbering threatened to drive Aia mad. No person should be this happy this early, heck, she had made a conscious effort to bring down his mood twice already, but his friend was both keen enough to predict the sleep-addled spellwork and aware enough to know who it'll be directed towards.

    It was odd to see them both this early, but the bell had tolled for them, in a go... in a neutral sense. and in fact it still rung, as if the knights made a point of wanting everyone to dislike them, everyone but Rei at least. He had dragged Aia out of her house as soon as the news reached him (well, next day... it needed to be a surprise!), Barely awake, she picked up the important details "Knights!... work!... mages!" and stopped threatening an old friend through grumbles (now content to do so in her mind while she got dressed).

    They arrived at the meeting ground soon enough, and were politely pointed to where aspiring candidates were sitting but encouraged to grab a meal while waiting, an old warehouse near the Painter's guild had been reporpused as an (outstandingly) cheap meal lounge, as part of the knights' token efforts to not be hated, still, the pair wasn't going to reject the free food and were pleasantly surprised to see that the stuff they served didn't actually need prestidigitaion to be filling.

    A warm meal later, Aia started poking Rei for info, to which He explanined a bit and quickly assured it wouldn't be like last time. ah! last time the mere mention made her question this idea... Aia's expertise were illusions, terrible choice for a self-taught with no connection to the buyers for such a practice, but no one really chooses their talents, she had been elated to learn of the Sisters of Cania that worked with the knights... But they were pretty clear: non-believers enter when young or when exceedingly talented, she wasn't the first and after a quick test proved she also wasn't the later.

    She could scarcely tell him that "it better not be", when aspirants were called towards another clearly recently bought building, judging by ongoing repairs, somewhere within a small theater and a townhall meant for a way smaller town, soon a voice picked up as an uncovered window and its light let everyone know the scarred knight behind it was who they should listen.

    The man voice seems somber, if passionate as he adressed the half a dozen folk gathered "Hello, thank you for coming my name is Elric Albrich I'm honoured that so many have arrived today, I won't lie, the last few weeks were... disheartening" *clears throat* "Now, I'll start with what it is we are doing here, as even if the voice has spread enough that those interested increase, it is better for us to be clear, specially considering who I represent.

    You must have heard of us at this point, of our current chapter at least. before I arrived, they informed me that our order was a mockery in Sethennai for its previous failures, they were right, but it was so much worse... When I arrived our coin was minted with two faces, the mockery on one side and on the other, a boogeyman, a terror for disparate mages and religious figures to rally against, and what was worst was that the vision was, depending where you saw us, correct.

    But not here, Maximilian, Sart Protect him, guided this Chapter to prove them wrong, much like myself he believed that magic was dangerous, yes, but in a world where such dangers from the leak savagely assault us, and most who are prayed seem so far as to not hear, those who attempt to wield them with caution are protectors of their kin, just as well, and those careless... should be protected from themselves... I see some eyes widen, don't worry, is not what you think.

    There is many experienced mages in Sethannai that don't fit the criteria of our miriad orders. There is many young, misguided, naive, but in need who hav- who could call danger to themselves if not guided, as such I need you, the order needs you, talented magician, self-taughts and collegiate, all of you, Join us in founding this order, with its home in Sethannai:<<Waking Song of The Stained Nenuphar>>, and together let us teach those who need it most, shelter them from danger until they are prepared"


    The knights' voice was slightly broken at the end and silence fell for a moment, before a men on a stained smith's apron clapped and urged his child next to him to do the same, whether he was a mage or just got left after the meal, the others soon joined in, a whistle or two thrown in for good measure.

    Elric beamed, and lowered his arms in the universal signal of "I have something to say" "Thank you, thank you so much, spread the voice, We'll get off the ground soon!" he made a gesture to a few people to his side "lieutenant Dariana and Ron will answer all your questions, so please be kind to them" with that he slipped into the back with no other issue, though a keen eye could notice an ineffectual wiping of eyes with his guantlet right as he faded from sight.

    Rei and Aia looked at eachother, with the illusionist soon giving an approbatory shrug and a "can't be worst than the sisters", to her friend's delight who motioned for them to Speak with Dariana and Ron "quick, before they're swamped by the other 2 stragglers!" eliciting a laughter and the end of morning grumpiness.

    Espionage Defense: 6
    Rep: 2


    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show
    Greetings Miss Shackle,

    If my letter had to be divined and purged before I got it, I'm at least glad it was from you.

    as for your question, first, thank you for asking, second, I am, if still getting used to the constant humidity. I hope you fared as well this last month?

    Heard about your... dealings with the warden, I'm a bit disappointed I must say but if it was to oppose Curze I guess it was a necessary use.

    Now, I can help with the problem at hand, but if you are as interested as you claim, I could use either your hand or The stack's wealth of knowledge, both if you are specially interested.

    Always a pleasure,
    -Count Tareis XI Von Kail, Chapter Master of Sethenai, ogre maul.


    Spoiler: The S’Letaunntic Vault
    Show
    A retinue of dwarvish craftsman arrive to deliver the letter along with several exquisitely stone ornaments in various designs, some of them very much not traditional of the local dwarves.

    Greetings, and congratulations, I heard you were truly, the sword that was needed while we were sadly but a shield if that.

    With the dreamers downfall as our previous source of rumours, we could certainly make a deal if you would take the same price.

    As for the other deal, I'm personally not as sold on the need for more soldiers, but let us see what our council decides, for now I want to make certain if they are on the table.

    -Count Tareis XI Von Kail, Chapter Master of Sethenai, ogre maul.


    Spoiler: The Cloven Court of Valmount
    Show
    To the Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    As usual my most sincere commendations though as always for a new reason, truly your celebrations are the talk of the town, and if I trusted genies I'll wish work didn't keep me from going to them.

    For the wait, is just the same, I don't think even they would lie about it.

    But I would, not at all speaking for my merchantile partner, be remiss to not point out the matter of previous discussions, specially those had last twelfth, and I urge you (While I hope the gentle manner of my voice translates, if not by the crude words of a bureaucrat, then at least by the best caligraphy money can buy) to consider them, specially as I must reject those terms.

    non-aggression is as far as I can go. So long as your promise is kept (which I don't doubt it will be) and no dragons push further into crossroads, now that your position in the palatinate renews that concern in the minds of those who only see mages.

    Cania's cunning,
    -aztar V, Coinmaster, Crimson Captain.


    Spoiler: The Painter's Guild
    Show
    Greetings dear partners,

    I can talk for most of my order, but not for everyone, so I'll speak only of my own issues, I'm not pleased. I expected goblin kin to knock down doors and reestablish peace, but they were out there alone! luckily Tareis' joined the fight in lieu of his adventure.

    I'll break the rule about who I talk for to say that he is pissed.

    I'm willing to place the blame on logistics though, rather care more for what remains of the Ironfang and how we are dividing it than assigning blame.

    Sart's will,
    -aztar V, Coinmaster, Crimson Captain.


    Spoiler: The Tangle Geist
    Show
    Victor,

    I assume, your presence here signals a pincer upon your current foe and nothing else.

    Should I not?

    -Count Tareis XI Von Kail, Chapter Master of Sethenai, ogre maul.
    Last edited by neriractor; 2021-09-01 at 07:39 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Coidzor View Post
    Ah, yes, trolls, the monsters that are such wusses their primary means of reproduction is being eaten by other creatures.
    Quote Originally Posted by 5ColouredWalker View Post
    With all this talk of half dragon cohorts I may need to scrap riding a actual Dragon given how unoptimized it is.
    hey, order a gig here: https://www.fiverr.com/neriractor

    I would really appreciate it.


  17. - Top - End - #107
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    PaladinGuy

    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Victoria, BC
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Chainbreaker Confederacy

    Morale 5, Rep 2


    Public

    Spoiler
    Show
    Ye can’t be serious Law Mage? Damned be t’me own plans. Yer damn right I had designs on the prison, and I think damned near the whole city knew just that. Chat t’any tavern and ye’d hear some swabbie boastin’ of it. My only hesitations t’declarin’ outright war was t’save a few skins of innocent poor folk locked away for the pride and vice of the Prince and his groupies.

    Because I knew! I knew that the warden was a murderous psychopath held just BARELY in check by his old bindings, what else would he be? An old god chained to mortal whims that long is an unhinged cannon, not to mention Sethennai is built on his as yet empty grave. I thought when ye came snivelin’ into my schemes that yer ambition was t’bind him to yer own, but ye just released him! Is this t’be yer new regime that ye’ve claimed? Unbound demons wanderin’ the streets eatin’ any passersby that tickles their pallet? Now I’ve got t’go in myself and save the skins of innocent and guilty alike, not to mention clean up the werewolf and soul eater that were in the prison for ACTUALLY good reason whom the warden didn’t feel like dealin’ wit’ and are now wanderin’ free through Gatestreet.

    At this point I dunno why I’m even ragin’ against the machine, not like yer gonna do anything about it. Guess this is more of a’ warning to the rest of the city that if Shackle starts chattin’ up the Tangle Geist, its probably not with yer best interest at heart. Goes w’out sayin’ that the Chainbreaker Confederacy declares war on Redgate Prison. Someone has t’clean up this mess.

    The Chainbreaker Confederacy Declares War on Redgate Prison

    Players

    The Blade of the People
    Spoiler
    Show
    Aye, 50/50 works fer us’. Ye’ve invested plenty already, Shackle’s at fault fer wreckin’ yer plans. Race ye’ to the Warden? Though I’ll admit my plans fer him don’t go much further than a bullet to the godling balls. Got too many people need’ rescuing to get to fancy. If we’re doin’ this together though, I reckon its time to decide whether to keep our relations a poorly guarded secret or go public on our cooperation. Ye got the rep and will fer alliance, or shall we keep our dirty little secret between us?

    As fer’ Shackle, hope my ribbin’ doesn’t interfere with yer conversation too much. I’ll cool me furnace from here on out. Matter of principal to tighten the sail ropes at least somewhat. We’re still ready to fight if things go too far sour.

    Fair Sails,
    Captain Ritona Curze


    NPCs

    Redgate Prison
    Spoiler
    Show
    Ah so we finally get t’see yer true face eh warden? I always knew what was hidin’ beneath. But yer’ killin’ folk who’ve nothin’ to do with our little conflict, not to mention plenty who are. Let em’ all go and meet me forces outside yer rotten gates where we can settle this proper and I’ll bury ye in grass. If ye don’t I’m comin in there t’pull ye out by the roots, bind ye in silver, baste ye in quicklime, and bury ye in concrete.

    Drawn Blades,
    Captain Ritona Curze

  18. - Top - End - #108
    Orc in the Playground
     
    BlackDragon

    Join Date
    May 2012

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    NPC Responses

    The Throne, Morale 8

    Spoiler: Cloven Court
    Show


    The first letter is replied to in time for lunch, delivered by a liveried servant of one of the city’s more prominent patrician houses of the city. The paper and ink are of the highest quality, though the calligraphy is more than a bit sloppy.

    Your Serene Highness,

    It was my privilege to receive your letter. I am Chiaro di Sinha, third son of Lord Rinieri di Sinha, and the acclaimed grandmaster of the Society of the Wolf’s Head. As I’m certain a woman as intelligent and well-informed as you are is aware, my lord father was among those attending the Prince when this calamity struck. The society exists to forge bonds between the sons and daughters of the city’s greatest families and defend them from treason and infiltration, and as our parents and siblings descend into recrimination we have taken it upon ourselves to end the chaos as its source. Like yourself, we seek only a return to peace and our ancient constitution, and the rescue of our families for this foul witchcraft.

    You are without question the best regent to see this city through this crisis, your valour and enlightenment are nearly as spoken of as your beauty. But I am but a younger son, and my august house is mired in intrigue and ill-feeling. To side with you without their blessing, or the glory of returning our father or his remains, would see me disowned as a traitor. I am afraid it is much the same for my fellows. If you could assist on either front, I would be honoured to be accepted into your service.

    I wish you the best of luck in restoring peace to the city, and hope I may stand by your side before long.

    Your obedient servant,
    Chiaro di Sinha, Grandmaster of the Wolf’s Head Society

    The second reply is received that evening, couriered to Wyrm’s Landing by an exceptionally playful and pampered pseudodragon that then spent the rest of the evening either bothering or playing with drakes in the stables until someone shoes it away.

    Princess Isabelle,

    Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m Sena Kamath, field mage and sometime chronicler for the Happy Huntresses adventuring company, originally of Khasal, most recently of the Adylet.

    Honestly this is mostly just coincidence. We’d just arrived in Chance en route to a job upriver when everything went to hell, and an anonymous benefactor offered us a good deal to figure out what’s happening, what’s causing it, or what happened to old prince. Slow going so far, but our competition’s a bunch of playacting nobles sour about being extra and some brutes trying to just hammer their way in, so I’m not exactly worried. We’ve made some progress in figuring out what triggers the defensive wards and are working on a way tweaking them to sneak through the outer layers, at least.

    Appreciate the offer, but we’re already committed to this. Be happy to help take a commission to deal with any of that other stuff once we’re done here, though. You want to help with this, could call that payment?

    -The Intrepid Sena Kamath, for the Happy Huntresses

    P.S. if Kaida starts begging for food when delivering this, just ignore him. Little bastard never stops acting like he’s starving.

    The knight delivering the third letter is the only one left feeling grateful for their weaponry. The third group is the largest of the three, though that does seem to largely be due to various bound spirits and hirelings, and the camp seems closer to that of a raiding party than an archaeological expedition. The reply comes a couple days later, delivered by a servant from one of the lesser noble houses, apparently grabbed off the street, terrified out of his wits, and told where to take it.

    Princess,

    We are the Bloody Nine, ask any of your native friends if they’ve heard of us. The name is earned, and carries weight inland.

    It hardly matters anymore, so I won’t be coy. We were here to kill Cael. Since someone seems to have beaten us to it, we’re going to settle for taking his head and helping ourselves to his private treasury. Can’t let the inbred welps or foreign braggarts get it to themselves.

    If you need strong arms or steady knives, make an offer. If you want the palace, we’ll help you take it in exchange for whatever we can carry out.

    Saru Thrice-Scarred

    The fourth letter doesn’t recieve a reply. The opposite really – the pages are untouched, but shortly after they’re nailed to the door the ink begins fading. Within an hour, it’s as if they were never written on at all.

    Spoiler: ooc
    Show
    Pick who you want to back (or use your mil during eot and clear them out), then 10 points points of adv or mag to break through the outer wards. Beyond that, probably some additional steps




    First Bank of Sethennai, Morale 5

    Spoiler: Cloven Court
    Show


    From the Desk of Executive Director Salman Ticaret

    For delivery to The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes and Ministre de Correspondance to Isabelle VII

    Thank you for the kind words.

    The security you arranged to be provided by the Divine Hand was more than satisfactory, though in this instance we were fortunate enough to not require it.

    There is a debt of 100 ducats, or services of equivalent value, remaining on your mistress’ account. But given the modest size of the debt and the current extraordinary circumstances, we would be more than happy to write that off in exchange for a written assurance from her that the infestation will be fully removed from Oldport by the end of the month.

    Once the matter is resolved, I would be happy to accept your offer. Given how your princesses’ fortunes have risen over the summer I’m afraid my trustees would require certain commitments of her or any government she might theoretically be part of or lend her support to. Nothing onerous, simply a statement in writing that any new ruler of Sethennai will honour the debts and treaties of their predecessors, and will honour the natural rights to life, liberty and property of any law-abiding merchants and traders.

    I look forward to your reply.

    Spoiler: ooc
    Show
    And forgot to make an announcement at start of turn, so if you agree tot heir terms will make a publicly announced alliance at midturn and you will incorporate them at EOT




    Warden Vrockdruk, Morale 4

    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show


    There is a bronze plaque beneath a statue just outside Shackle’s new offices in the College of Enchantment. The letters are as ever, but at some point overnight they rearranged themselves into a message for Shackle herself. (It admittedly took a few hours before a junior clerk happened to glance at them and notice her name while walking by.)


    Oathmage,

    The City owes you a debt. You have freed me from centuries of torture. Now I may begin freeing it in turn. Cutting away the parasites and cancers which have made a ruin of it.

    I regret that aiding me has made my foes yours. But I must set my house in order and purify my shrine before I can leave it. If you have any strong arms to spare in speeding the task, I will see you blessed in turn.



    Spoiler: Chainbreaker Confederation
    Show


    Vrockdruk’s influence beyond the prison walls still seems essentially cosmetic – as jittery as the canon crews got whenever the ground trembled or its walls shifted noticeably, nothing actually happened to them. It also doesn’t seem to extend over the water, or at least Ramshackle seems unaffected so far. In the REST of Redgate...well, lets simply say that there’s quite a lot of threats of bloody judgment painted on various alley walls. And plenty more wanted posters for Ritona anywhere you might possibly expect to see one. Whenever she finally grabs one of them, there is a message written on the back.


    Corsair,

    You are a scavenger. A tick. Drinking freely from one already crippled and bleeding.

    You have no roots here. No home. No rightful place. Flee. You will not be chased.

    You have roused the rotting shells of men within my house to rebellion. They attempt to overthrow me and so will be cast down in turn.

    Some innocent were buried among them. They are now my paladins. The rest are yours. Should you take them you will earn a reprieve. I simply require that my house be cleansed of criminals. Their fate beyond that is of less import.



    Spoiler: Public
    Show


    Every morning sees new pamphlets and posters and notices nailed to walls and left in eye-catching places across the city, and this one is no different. What is unusual is that they’re all...the same. Different paper, different charcoal and ink, different fonts and styles and framing, but on each and every one, the same message.

    The Day of Reckoning Nears!

    I am Vrockdruk. For centuries a line of tyrants have bound and shackled me. Have used me as a weapon to ensure their comfort as they let my city decay around them.

    They have buried me among the rot of humanity. They have hoped that so many souls as vicious as their own would infect me in turn. They hoped in vain.

    The city is corrupt. It is decadent. It is suffocating under the weight of its masters sin. It is consumed from within and without by aliens and parasites and beasts in mortal skin.

    I am the god of this city. It is my duty to protect it. First it must be purified and made worth protecting.

    All will be judged.
    Those who stand against me will be met with the edge of a blade.
    Those who aid me will be honoured and blessed in turn.




    Hellworks, Morale 4

    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show


    Miss Shackle, Esquire
    Your latest letter was deeply flattering to receive, and I am touched by your interest.

    Unfortunately at the moment I’m afraid I simply cannot accept your offer, no matter how generous I’m certain it would be. Prince Cael was one of the trust’s partners, and I cannot make any decisions regarding ownership without his approval, or that of a legitimate successor.

    While I, like all responsible citizens I’m sure, remain steadfast in my hope that he will return, that does seem increasingly less likely. A tragedy, but one we must be prepared to weather, and do our part to restore the peace of the city whenever and wherever we can.

    At this very moment I am actually making splendid progress to ensure the contagion of anarchy and rebellion which has infected so much of the city never again takes route among my workers or those of my guests who have suffered so greatly these past months. Once that is seen to I, like you I’m sure, will finally have the peace of mind to see if there are any would-be governments-in-waiting actually deserving of support.

    I’m sure you have thoughts on the subject. What do you see as the future most in the city’s interest.

    In friendship,

    Lady Binder Katerine sol Dalme sol Telrin ir’Paimon, Initiate of the Astral Watch, Heiress-Designate of the Barony of Tarlow, Proprietor and Trustee of the ‘Royal Sethennai Weaver’s Trust

    P.S. The pirate ‘queen’ down in Redgate has published some libel about you being responsible for the unpleasantness in the prison. Beneath you, of course, but it is important to defend your good name from fallen women and bastards such as her.

    Spoiler: ooc
    Show


    Hellworks have a magical LTP they’ve already made progress in themselves last turn, will require another 15 eco or magic to complete.




    Hierophant, Morale 4

    Spoiler: Chainbreaker Confederation
    Show


    An animate origami songbird flies through Redgate to find Ritona with somewhat unnerving precision, before unfurling itself in her hand or on whatever surface is before her. The writing is the impenetrable shorthand of someone who never expects anyone else to have to decipher it, but is helpfully also enchanted to read itself out loud whenever it detects someone trying to make heads or tails of it.

    Captain Curze,

    I won’t pretend to have any particular affection for you or the company you keep. But, provided you stay in the Lower City you are, broadly, not my problem. More to the point, even if I chose to think the absolute worst of you, there are still at least two threats to the city greater than you could hope to be running rampant. And since you’ve taken it upon yourself to deal with one of them, I’d like to help.

    Put simply, my acolytes and I can and will provide all the magical support you could ask for storming Redgate. In return, all I ask is custody of the Warden. I’ll ensure he is safely rebound, and not in a state to trouble you or yours for at least a few centuries.

    Do take care,

    Hierophant Y. Cenred



    Spoiler: Cloven Court
    Show

    Vicomtesse,

    Your princess is more than welcome to the task of herding the city’s excuse for an aristocracy, if she feels she possesses too many hours in the day or too much time to rest at night. Still, the assurance is appreciated, and I will take it in the spirit in which it was given.

    If you are able to extract such a concession from the Tangle, it would be exceptionally helpful. I have a theory on the spirit’s nature that should prove illuminating as to the nature of Sethennai itself, and close examination would let me advance my experiments by months.

    Which is – for the moment – the timeframe I am dealing with. Though given the present state of the city I expect to make real progress over the next weeks, at least.

    Do take care,

    Hierophant Y. Cenred

    Spoiler: ooc
    Show
    So, Hierophant’s project is in fact the longest in the game if done just by stat points #sorrynotsorry.

    It is, specifically, a 60 points LTP (half magic). Any wholly supernatural VIPs who can be, ah, thoroughly studied counts for 10 points per tier towards that if delivered alive, 5 points if delivered dead. (wholly supernatural: the heart of the tangle yes, the possessed professor no).

    NPCs only invest in their own projects when they’re active for the turn, which she wasn’t last turn, though she is this




    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show


    Shackle,

    You have a longstanding reputation as a reasonable, reliable, and forward-thinking businesswoman. So I must admit some surprise when the leader of our leading band of local thugs successes you of being responsible for the current mess in the prison, and you do not simply deny it as slander.

    If I might be blunt – what’s going on, and are you actually responsible for breaking the Warden’s binding?

    Do take care,

    Hierophant Y. Cenred



    Keendream Expedition, Morale 4

    Spoiler: Sleepless Crusade
    Show


    Good morrow to you, Valthan.

    You and your employer have my thanks for the aid you’ve provided this past month. Apologies for any presumption, but are you interested in continuing the same arrangement? We’ve found some very promising leads. With your full support, I think we just might be able to complete our expedition by the harvest.

    All the best,
    Ilidak Keendream Kathu-Viano, Expedition Lead



    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show


    Good morrow to you, Miss Shackle,

    My apologies for writing out of the blue like this. Curiosity’s always been a failing of mine, I’m sure you can tell.

    Truthfully I’m just writing to ask, Curze says you’re the one who freed the city’s old god in the prison. Is it true?

    All the best,
    Ilidak Keendream Kathu-Viano, Expedition Lead



    Redgate Rioters, Morale 4

    Spoiler: Blade of the People
    Show


    An agent manages to find their way out through the tunnels under their prison and to Blades HQ in Chance, much worse for where. And only one of the four that originally set out. Still, she’s got a report.

    Things went to **** right quick as soon as you were out. Lost a decent chunk of the civilians when the walls started moving and before we could get organized. Warden seemed keener on killing his own staff than us for a bit at least, so we had a chance to.

    There’s tunnels beneath the prison that are sealing up much slower than anywhere else. Not part of the actual structure so not as much the Warden’s, we think. We were able to get into some old smuggling tunnels before that closed off. In a straight fight we’ve got the guns and men to take the place in an hour, but as long as we’re fighting the walls too, not going to happen without more help.



    Spoiler: Chainbreakers
    Show


    The message isn’t so much ‘smuggled out’ as ‘wrapped around a rock and flung over the wall with a slingshot’. Still, once it’s smoothed out it’s pretty legible.

    Dunno whose out there, but if you can read this, SEND HELP

    This is Roys. It’s a bloody mess in here. The guards r’all dealt with one way or another, cept bout a dozen who I guess the Warden actually LIKED. They’re all ****ing bulletproof now. Few rat bastards just lay down and surrenedered when they saw that.

    We’ve got number, guns, whatever else youd want. Tunnels beneath the prison proper r a bit more stable, Warden isn’t coming down here. So trapped together in a bigger cell now.

    Get their attention to the walls and keep ‘em busy we can attack on your signal. Fore we run out of food, please.



    Red Ocean Company, Morale 3

    Spoiler: Blade of the People
    Show


    Hail, liberators!

    You are as good as you word! Though it sounds like things have gotten a bit sticky in the prison since you made your escape!

    My friends are as grateful for your rescue as I am, of course! And I am as good as my word. It will be an honour to win glory by your side.

    I would love nothing more than to commit the Company’s resources, as well. But if they’re going to listen to me, I’ll need your word that you aren’t going to throw us out when you have the chance. But I’m sure a heroine such as yourself intends to make your beautiful city a proper free port anyway!

    Your friend,
    The Acclaimed Captain Arun Prem

    Spoiler: ooc
    Show
    so, because I forgot to during start of turn, will announce alliance publicly at midturn, if you want to go ahead with incorporation




    Bookhounds, Morale 3

    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show


    Shackle,

    If you can get the Stacks a bit quieter, then I’m happy to wrangle everyone I can to help with whatever else you’ve got. Even if you seem to be ruffling a lot of feathers over the river already.

    Major A’jish, the officer whose got that revolution going in Chance?, has asked if we could help her. Told her the same thing I told you, basically. A ghost-finder working with the knights out in Crossroads has been friendly, too. Why do you ask?

    Sincerely,
    Nikos Roth,
    Ieró Books and Antiquities

    Spoiler: Previous Games
    Show

    Won Rise of Kingdoms as the Free City of Khasal
    Lost Hanrui 3 as the Clockwork Republic
    Technically Won Principia 2 as the Iron Gods of Ur
    Won Mandate of Heaven as the Gardeners of the Immortal Flesh

  19. - Top - End - #109
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Austin, Texas

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Shackle
    Defensive Espionage - 10
    Reputation - 3

    Spoiler: The Blade of the People (10)
    Show
    You would do well to remember who you are dealing with, Major. At this moment, my involvement in Redgate can be at an end. Vrocdruk and the Wardens have been denied to the Prince and his regime. I can walk away, having achieved my goal, and focus my attention on the Stacks. However, should I find myself unable to proceed with my current plans, for whatever reason, then I will have to find something else to put my effort towards.


    Spoiler: Knights Null (10)
    Show
    I assume that the Blade can read even my mail. And the Geist probably as well, after consuming the Dreamers.

    As it stands, Vrocdruk and those loyal to him are fighting against Cael's Wardens as well as the Chainbreakers' prison riot. If no one intercedes, the prison, and therefore the entire district, will be Curze's next month.

    Tell me, how confident are you that the Blade's alignment with the Confederacy only extends until Vrocdruk's death?



    Spoiler: The Bookhounds (10)
    Show
    Yes... I ruffled a lot more feathers than I wanted to... I am hoping I won't have to again this month.


    Spoiler: The Hellworks (10)
    Show
    Care to elaborate on your project's benefits? I may be tempted to pursue an expedited joint venture if it can benefit the Stacks as well.


    Spoiler: The Hierophant (10)
    Show
    I freed Vrocdruk from all his bindings. He is purging Wardens loyal to the Prince and putting down the Chainbreakers' riot.


    Spoiler: The Keendream Expedition (10)
    Show
    I did. Vrocdruk is freed of all his bindings. I sought to deny Cael and his regime an army, after the Ironfang signed on with the Painter's Guild. There were... Unforeseen consequences.

  20. - Top - End - #110
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    GameOfChampions's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Canada

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Blades of the People
    Mor 7
    Rep 5


    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show
    So would you. Enjoy the feeling of our displeasure. Let us know when your willing to play ball.


    Spoiler: Public
    Show
    All over the city messages are being dropped off left right and center at various faction HQs, tossed to members on the streets, and posted in public forums for all to see.

    Every single private message that Shackle has sent since the Prince disappeared. Open for all. After a few days more start to be circulated, not stopping. Finally a message from Major A'Jish to sum it all up.



    Shackle has wronged all in this city. They act without thinking and in accordance with their wishes even when dealt with diplomatically. They were allowed to run their projects on the Warden with the only thing asked being a promise it won't interfere with Redgate.

    Now here we see Redgate Prison in flames, a god attempting to cleanse all he deems a blight on the city, and plans in Redgate thoroughly foiled.

    When asked to make this right they merely threatened and denied.


    Spoiler: Chainbreakers
    Show
    Seems like reason is not working so let's show a little teeth.


    Spoiler: Redgate Rioters
    Show
    A message is thrown over the wall towards the General direction the survivor points out.

    Hold tight comrades! We gather our forces to stop the Wardens evil magics and storm the prison! You will be with us soon!
    Last edited by GameOfChampions; 2021-09-03 at 08:22 AM.
    "Facilis Descensus Averni." - Virgil, The Aeneid

    “Why would I want to win anything other than a beautiful game?” - Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear


  21. - Top - End - #111
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Austin, Texas

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Shackle
    Defensive Espionage - 10
    Reputation - 3

    Spoiler: The Hierophant (10)
    Show
    Well, that makes things simpler.

    I aim to remove Cael and his foreign backers from power. I freed Vrocdruk to prevent the Prince from using the Wardens to oppose that goal. I assume that that you would not find that outcome acceptable, but I admittedly don't know your overarching agenda.

  22. - Top - End - #112
    Titan in the Playground
     
    3SecondCultist's Avatar

    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Canada
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Cloven Court of Valmont

    Morale 12
    Reputation 5




    Spoiler: To the Throne
    Show
    Dear Chiaro di Sinha, Grandmaster of the Wolf's Head Society,

    The sovereign of Valmont thanks you for your swift and courteous reply. She sympathizes deeply with your current plight; many among our Cloven Court live now without fathers, mothers and siblings as the ravages of the Patient Pretender make themselves known. Moreover, she has heard of the Wolf's Head Society and come to admire its mission from afar. Though historically the royal court of Valmont never had an easy equivalent, many of us at Wyrm's Landing share her high regard for the aims and methods of your society. Maintaining traditions while keeping an eye towards the future has always been a struggle for those in our class, but we believe that with First Princess Isabelle keeping the throne safe that the good people of Sethennai will be able to sleep somewhat more easily.

    Though the Cloven Court has received replies from the other two forerunners of the factions working to breach the outer wards of the ziggurat. Both the Happy Huntresses and the Bloody Nine appear to be quite eager to stake their claim on the empty throne, and if their choices of language are any indication, they will not back down from the struggle easily. Her Serene Highness has little intention of bartering with adventuring companies while still engaged in a land conflict with an active foe, and recognizes the necessity of working with existing elements throughout the city. The Cloven Court has no desire to start more fires; we would rather cooperate with those already in power to ensure a peaceful and prosperous resolution for all. Is there a means by which our aims might be accomplished by coordinating with the Wolf's Head Society to steward the Throne legitimately and peacefully?

    Sincerely,

    The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    I might be willing to start banking some Adv and Mag to this cause this turn, but I'd like to know what I stand to gain and how (if at all) the Wolf's Head Society can help in this endeavour.

    Spoiler: To the First Bank of Sethennai
    Show
    Dear Executive Director Salman Ticaret,

    In your last missive, your office offered thanks for the kind words my Ministre de Correspondance penned in my name. Although I will accept your gratitude in the spirit that it was offered, I must repay it in kind. Your grand institution has been a stalwart rock for my people to cling to as we have washed up on these strange shores, and although now our foe faces obliteration, it was not always so. Perhaps the Tangle Geist has some design on us yet - but you have my personal vow that whether through the arts of diplomacy or force of arms, their foul presence in your streets will be gone by the end of this month. This I swear to you on my virtue as a monarch, a sitting princess of a royal court and mother to exiled thousands.

    Additionally, I would be happy to swear to the addendums you included: namely, that as a future ruler of Sethennai, I will "honour the debts and treaties of their predecessors, and will honour the natural rights to life, liberty and property of any law-abiding merchants and traders". I will also ensure that anyone who shares the responsibility of leadership alongside me understands the full weight of those obligations as well; a crown cannot deliver anyone outside the reach of the law.

    Your bank will be hearing from me before mid-month to address the rest of the city publicly as to our impending union. I look forward to inviting you into the Cloven Court in person.

    Sincerely,

    Her Serene Highness Isabelle VII of the House of von Drakdram, First Princess of Valmont, the Dragon-In-Exile

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Well if they want a written declaration, they've got it. One way or the other, the Tangle Geist won't be in Oldport by the end of this month. Let's get this incorporation process rolling! What kinds of stats will I see when I fold them in?

    Spoiler: To the Knights Null
    Show
    Dear Crimson Captain Aztar III, Coinmaster,

    Her Serene Highness comprehends and appreciates very well the position of the Knights Null at this time. If you would permit me the liberty of being forward in this instance, you represent an order primarily motivated by coin and the opportunity to earn more in the future. The Cloven Court would greatly enjoy entering into an official non-aggression pact with your order to achieve that end; enclosed, you will find an updated copy of the original agreement, with a new start date and an open closing date. That way, both of us may enter into this agreement with the knowledge that should one of us find the terms dissatisfying in any way, said agreement can be amiably terminated in the middle of the month without any hostility ensuing. The Court is keen on maintaining a cordial business relationship with all of our Sethennese neighbours, and the Knights Null are no exception. The First Princess hopes that we can conduct mutually profitable trades in our near future.

    On the matter of Palatine, I would like to iterate clearly on behalf of my princess that the migration the Court is taking to occupy its lower parks, villas and outer estates is not emblematic of any desire on Her Serene Highness' part to engage in the illicit and exceptionally dangerous acts that the Hierophant was accused of performing. In point of fact, our Order of the Inkwell is hoping to engage Yri Cenred on a long term basis so as to keep her occupied with training and less harmful ritual magics. The last thing that the Cloven Court desires is a repeat of the magical disaster that snatched away Prince Cael, to say nothing of a true cataclysm that could put even more civilians in danger. All we Valmontese desire is order, shared security and a functioning government, which is much easier to attain when the resident paragons of learning are carefully monitored.

    Sincerely,

    The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    I am aiming to take [61], but as promised won't extend any further into the Crossroads. The rest of that district is yours. I am also down for a public announcement of non-aggression at Midturn, along with other alliance declarations.

    Spoiler: To the Hierophant
    Show
    Dear Hierophant Yri Cenred,

    As we have assured you before, the Cloven Court will endeavour to have the Heart of the Tangle in your hands by the end of this month. To further expedite matters, Her Serene Highness also intends on dispatching three full mage circles from the Order of the Inkwell to your libraries in order to coordinate with you and cut down on research time. Finally, she plans on joining you herself to oversee and complete the final phases of your project in five to six weeks, as she has grown curious about the nature of the work that would keep such a brilliant mind as yours occupied for such a length of time. In effect, your entire project could be completed in under sixty days, should that be your aim.

    However, there are several conditions that must be met for the full muster of the Court's aid to arrive at your doorstep. The first and most critical of these is a reasonable disclosure of your project's intent and method of execution. While in Valmont we do not believe in persecuting or hindering genius, there are many others in Sethennai with whom the Court must do business. The social and political obligations that the First Princess has made to these parties would be strained by undesirable revelations regarding the purpose of your enterprise. Furthermore, the resources and political capital that the Cloven Court intends to spend on your behalf is significant. A precis or abstract detailing the barest animus of your thaumaturgy would be well received by Her Serene Highness.

    Should you concede with the above and all parties are satisfied by the disclosure, the next step would be either a formal alliance or else a simple trade agreement. While the First Princess has made no attempt to obscure her intentions to have you join the Cloven Court when your work is finished, we have always appreciated your desire for independence; therefore, we would pursue whichever of those two courses you prefer. No matter your choice, this measure would ensure that whatever reagents and personnel we send to you both this month and next arrive on time and in full.

    Sincerely,

    The Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    60 points? Jeez. I guess I should be asking: what will this LTP actually do? I'm almost certainly getting the Tangle Geist to lend their Heart of the Tangle over to the Hierophant this turn alive, so that should cover half of the cost. When you add that to their numbers and the Mag I plan on sending them, they will easily be 75% done their project this turn, which would leave me in a position to finish it with them next turn.

    Oh also, what sorts of stats am I looking at should I successfully incorporate them? Hoping to ally or at least do a trade deal with them this turn, but it will depend on their answer to the whole 'what does this thing do?' question I've got.
    Spoiler: Stuff I'm Working On
    Show
    Small Justice


    An ongoing web serial about politics, vengeance, and miniature lizards. Go check it out!

    Quote Originally Posted by Zeno Desaqqara View Post
    You divine bastard.

    "Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in the face of certain defeat."

  23. - Top - End - #113
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    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Sleepless Crusade



    -An artist’s speculative portrait of Nazhar, who has repeatedly denounced the work: “How ostentatious! How decadent! How gaudy! Do the people of Sethennai think I hoard gold and gems like a dragon past its prime? Think of the weight and the mess! The crown and scepter alone…”



    Reputation 3
    Morale 6


    Spoiler: To Shackle
    Show


    My master wishes to pass on his congratulations regarding your recent territorial acquisitions.

    Yes, we intend to expand into [15] and [18], pending negotiations with relevant parties. Given that you have secured an entire substantial district for yourself (one twice the size of the Ruins, in fact), and given the tensions between you and the Blade and the Chainbreaker Confederacy, we would strongly encourage you not make another enemy, and be content with what you currently occupy.

    Respectfully,

    Valthan, Steward of Nazhar



    Spoiler: To the Keendream Expedition
    Show


    Greetings, Illidak.

    Yes, we would be interested in continuing such an arrangement. How much support do you need? We can supply up to [8 ADV], or more, should you require Nazhar personally.

    Respectfully,

    Valthan, Steward of Nazhar



    Spoiler: To the Tangle Geist
    Show


    The message is short and perfunctory, delivered by a very nervous-looking courier.

    As we appears to now be neighbors, we would ask your intentions.



    Spoiler: To the Painters Guild
    Show


    Greetings on behalf of my master, the great and powerful Nazhar, who seeks to bring the city in prosperity and harmony.

    As you are no doubt aware, we have expanded into Foundrytown, and intend to continue that expansion. We are prepared to forgo any claim on what is dubbed as the Hellworks (subject to certain promises on your behalf regarding labour code and environmental assessment implementations), and to support your bid in taking them, in exchange for us being able to secure [15]. Would such an arrangement be open to you?

    Respectfully,

    Valthan, Steward of Nazhar



    Spoiler: To the Knights Null
    Show


    Greetings on behalf of my master, the great and powerful Nazhar, who seeks to bring the city in prosperity and harmony.

    After the regrettable business with the Chainbreakers, we want to be perfectly transparent about our intentions to take [15] this season. We wish to know if you have designs on this territory as well.

    Respectfully,

    Valthan, Steward of Nazhar

    Last edited by Let'sGetKraken; 2021-09-05 at 12:19 PM.
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  24. - Top - End - #114
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    Hamste's Avatar

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    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Painter's Guild
    Morale 9
    Rep 3



    Spoiler: The Knights Null
    Show

    We got [5 military] from the Ironfangs, split in half we each have 2 and a half shares. We are willing to pay [3 economy] for your your half share or you can pay use [3 economy] to buy our half. It is unfortunate it is so slow but we can show the full time line if you wish. It turns out buying out a mercenary company takes time and lots of it. If you needed soldiers you could have contacted us about our statues, as it was they were assigned to the Court and the Tanglegeist fight.

    Spoiler
    Show
    Basically split in half we would both get 2.5 stats. Seeing we can't have half stats offering 3 economy for your half or accepting 3 economy for our half (Or any stats equal to or great than half of what it would take to buy a military stat)

    The time line of events for Ironfang purchase was turn 1 EoT I paid the 4 permanent economy because didn't want to delay, turn 2 EoT we had to see if anyone outbid me and then now just this turn I got them and am able to trade them away.


    Spoiler: The Cloven Court
    Show

    Dear Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes,


    We would love to ally with you and are excited to hear your plans. It's a shame they couldn't be finished off but hopefully the work went well.

    Sincerely,

    The Painting's Scribe Washington Albers




    Spoiler: the S'Letaunntic Vault
    Show

    Progress was minimal last month though we did start saving for the project. We realized that with out an alliance we would be spending more on transport than actually investing. We hope this month we can invest more.



    Spoiler: The Sleepless Crusade
    Show

    We understand that you are a bit boxed in but we can not give up 15, we are bringing order to Foundry town and wish to unify it so that the city may start to return to the way it was. We are willing to pay you to leave the territory you already claimed in foundry town with in 2 months.

    Last edited by Hamste; 2021-09-05 at 01:55 PM.
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  25. - Top - End - #115
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    NecromancerGuy

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    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Knights Null

    Espionage defense: 6
    Rep: 2

    PCs

    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show
    Miss Shackle,

    You are most likely correct, (seeing as you were about Major), guess I'll drop the pretenses.

    Yesterday I may have said yes, but I must admit that revealing private correspondence solely because of a misinformed attempt at helping (no shame, just the dangers of magic Sart would spare us from) so we can be apalled by the fact they continued operations despite warnings... or perhaps that you had the gall to dislike a prince known for his ruthlessness doesn't look good for Major Cantorina, who I presume wouldn't take the prince back if he was to return.

    I'll make my own ideas about the warden, if he remains sane enough after that prolonged incarceration then he can join you on the accepted list.

    Now, if you could include our order in your plans for the hellworks the choice would be far simpler, may even push you into the order's "beloved sympathizers" category.

    Do write,
    -Count Tareis XI Von Kail, Chapter Master of Sethenai, ogre maul.


    Spoiler: The cloven court of Valmont
    Show
    To the Bureau of Olivia von Draum, Vicomtesse Ardennes, Ministre de Correspondance for the First Princess

    I must correct you, for our order, wealthy as we may be, is intended for nothing more that a deep desire to protect those that would be exposed to harmful things as defined by Sart's cult. For the moment that meant discretion as the better part of valor, but as has been pointed out to us, such attempts are currently futile. If you'll have us a partnership, following the terms generously offered back when Prince Cael had just disappeared.

    Don't worry, I trust your her serene highness more than the common folk's rumour mills. But it is still may duty to warn you, Yri Cenred is an almost satirical example of why The Gate should be closed and sealed, thread with care while directing her and know when to drop your own discretion.

    Long memories,
    -aztar V, Coinmaster, Crimson Captain.


    Spoiler: The sleepless crusade
    Show
    Valthan, Steward of Nazhar.

    Greetings steward, Maximilian looked favourably on the Viceroy if not on his methods, and as a matter of fact we do have ideas about [15], for one thing, I personally own a pair of smithies on drogur alley.

    On an actually relevant scale, We wished to get a direct connection with the hellworks, but perhaps we can come to an agreement, help you rid the ruins of its freeloaders or something of the sort?

    Hoard growth.
    -aztar V, Coinmaster, Crimson Captain.


    Spoiler: Painter's guild
    Show


    As I imagined, we'll have to get back on the issue of the last squad of Ironfangs. though expect us to take the money. I assume the captain joined you, or did she retire with the comforts of our rent?

    More importantly, how do you feel about Nazhar and his intentions to push into [15]?

    -aztar V, Coinmaster, Crimson Captain.


    NPCs

    Spoiler: Warden Vrockdruk
    Show
    Spirit of the city,

    If you would hear and respond to a few questions:

    How do you feel about gods greater than yourself, and their worshipers, specially with regards to perhaps similar ideas about purifying the city?

    The tyrants were not what I would have, but rule of law must be established, are you volunteering to step up?

    -Count Tareis XI Von Kail, Chapter Master of Sethenai, ogre maul.
    Last edited by neriractor; 2021-09-05 at 03:25 PM.
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    Ah, yes, trolls, the monsters that are such wusses their primary means of reproduction is being eaten by other creatures.
    Quote Originally Posted by 5ColouredWalker View Post
    With all this talk of half dragon cohorts I may need to scrap riding a actual Dragon given how unoptimized it is.
    hey, order a gig here: https://www.fiverr.com/neriractor

    I would really appreciate it.


  26. - Top - End - #116
    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Painter's Guild
    Morale 9
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    Spoiler: The Knight's Null
    Show

    Of course. She did join us, and the land will be open soon for your taking.

    As for the Sleepless Crusade not very good, we are warning them off of it as we plan to unify the area if possible. Right now we are attempting to buy the land off of them and requesting that they leave the area. Though with their southern neighbors I am not sure who they would rather risk. Hopefully, they will respond positively and no war is needed to dislodge them. If it comes to it, their connection to their headquarters is probably not too strong and with out reinforcements they should be a push over.
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  27. - Top - End - #117
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    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    The Sleepless Crusade

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    Spoiler: To the Painters Guild
    Show


    Out of the question, I am afraid. We too have our mission, and we cannot accomplish it while confined to the Ruins.

    Now, if you wish to possess the benefits of occupying the entirety of Foundrytown, we can certainly reach some sort of compromise. Grant us 15, allow us to come to an accommodation with the Knights over 16, and we will be provide you with the resulting wealth if you unite the remainder of the district.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show


    The Crusade is willing to allow you to count their portion of Foundrytown as yours for the purposes of district control, should you agree to back off of 15 and 16 (and, of course, allow the Crusade to continue to occupy 17 and 18).



    Spoiler: To the Knights Null
    Show


    No doubt an accommodation can be reached. If you have designs on the Hellworks, then perhaps the following arrangement is amenable?

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show


    Here's my proposal:

    You take the Hellworks, get the associated stats and VIP, and then abandon the territory without losses so that I can take it. I take 15, and in return, give you 1 of the permanent stat points of my choosing from it. Assuming the Painter's Guild agrees to back off 15 and 16, how does that sound?


    Last edited by Let'sGetKraken; 2021-09-05 at 03:13 PM.
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  28. - Top - End - #118
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    Default Re: Total War: Sethennai IC

    Blade of the People
    Mor 7
    Rep 5


    Spoiler: Cloven Court
    Show
    Greetings Isabelle,

    We agree there is a lot of issues facing Sethennai today. We are struggling with forces within the city in an attempt to bring our dream to light. The Shackle unleashes horrors long thought dealt with, the Geist destroys innocent factions of people looking to live their life, and the legacy of the Tyrant Prince lingers over the city like a foul mist.

    I did not think the city would push back so hard against change that needs to happen, it is... frustrating to say the least. Your interest in the Palantine Palace is not surprising to us given your own regal background. The idea of another member of royalty is... troubling to us so soon after and yet your willingness to involve a council of representatives is close in mind to our own end goals.

    I think an alliance between the two of us could be beneficial to the both of us, our goals intersect enough for us both to benefit here. Are you willing to make a public announcement?

    Regards,
    Cantorina


    Spoiler: Chainbreakers
    Show
    Greetings Captain,

    The People think it is time for us to bring this partnership out into the open, the shared targets and projects we seem to have coming towards us would require closer ties between us. Lets tie our organizations together to bring a bit more freedom to this corner of the world.


    Spoiler: Knights Null
    Show
    We can indeed read the mail of you and the Shackle as you learned.

    However it seems you believe the Shackles side of events here. We beg you to go and read their responses. We will even send you copies of our own messages to the Shakle if you wish.

    The end of the matter is it that you can see yourself the Shackle swore to both the Chainbreakers and I that they would not interfere with our own designs on the Prison. We agreed then not to have an issue with the Shackles project. You can clearly see the mayham that arose from the Shackles project with your own eyes.

    While the Chainbreakers took a hard stance right away We reached out to the Shackle stating that since they broke their end of the deal, not to interfere, we wanted to work to make this right. All we were gokng to ask was the aid of a couple mages to settle the prison. Instead of coming back to bargin as we expected the Shackle came back with threats.

    We did chose a measured response as our answer to that. We did not ask them to interfere in Redgate, we did not demand them to fix the issue entirely and out of pocket. We only wished to see that they answer for their broken deal and they have not.

    That is the measure of the people your talk with. So if you will make your deals with them I would keep an eye out for the knife they may have at your back... don't say I didn't warn you.
    Last edited by GameOfChampions; 2021-09-05 at 03:57 PM.
    "Facilis Descensus Averni." - Virgil, The Aeneid

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  29. - Top - End - #119
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    The Painter's Guild
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    Spoiler: The Knight's Null
    Show

    They have offered us the rights to oversee the territory for the purposes of district control. What are your thoughts? It seems like a good deal to avoid war but that does extend your borders effectively so we want to hear your thoughts.


    Spoiler: The Sleepless Crusade
    Show

    Hmmm, having overseers to watch over the area to make sure everything is optimized is good and we will consider it. Right now we are talking with our allies the Knight's Null.
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  30. - Top - End - #120
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    BlackDragon

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    NPC Responses

    The Throne, Morale 8

    Spoiler: Cloven Court
    Show


    To The Right Hon. Olivia von Draum, the Viscountess Ardennes

    Lady Olivia,

    It was my privilege to read your kind words, and my comrades and I are deeply honoured by the regard in which you hold us.

    Our society’s goal is to give closure to the fate of Prince Cael and our own honoured relatives, and to act in a matter which brings honour and glory unto our houses. It would be our pleasure to work alongside Princess Isabelle or yourself in doing so

    If Prince Cael yet lives, then the Palace is of course his by right. Otherwise, as seems more likely with each passing day, we would welcome your presence in keeping the peace and preventing the brigands and marauders lurking around the edges of the district from ransacking its treasures. Though of course I’m sure the Princess would not dream of actually taking the throne herself before being elected by the City’s leading families and legally crowned.

    We would also require assurances that representatives of those families be allowed to take the places of their patriarchs and matriarchs at court, should they be lost with our honoured Prince. As it happens, our society is composed of the younger sons and daughters of just those families, and with the glory of having retaken the palace, I am certain our relatives would be forced to look up from their private intrigues and accept our advice on the city’s future.

    I have the honour to be Your Ladyship’s obedient servant,
    Chiaro di Sinha, Grandmaster of the Wolf’s Head Society

    Spoiler: ooc
    Show
    The Wolf’s Head Society can contribute 1 point of ADV a turn towards breaking in. Backing the Wolf’s Head would, along with whatever loot and glory is within the palace when fully secured, provide enough support from the city’s patricians to provide 1 Rep




    First Bank of Sethennai, Morale 5

    Spoiler: Cloven Court
    Show

    From the Desk of Executive Director Salman Ticaret

    For delivery to The Bureau of Her Serene Highness Isabelle VII of the House of von Drakdram, First Princess of Valmont, the Dragon-In-Exile

    With those assurances in writing and your word and honour as unimpeachable as they are, my trustees require nothing else, and I am happy to say you have the First Bank’s full support. I will begin drafting an open letter this afternoon, and arranging an event to ensure the city knows it.

    As I’m sure you’re aware, our institution is lacking in the sort of fighting men or mystics whose conflicts seem to dominate the city. Beyond my own modest expertise [Tier 1 Eco VIP], I can however provide a share of the harbour tolls and tarries flowing through Oldport [2 Perm. Eco] and a number of clients in sensitive or influential positions who have felt the need to negotiate alternate payment methods in order to stay ahead of their debts [1 Perm. Esp].

    I look forward to working with you in the future, and seeing your vision for Sethennai unfold.



    Hierophant, Morale 4

    Spoiler: Cloven Court
    Show


    Vicomtesse,

    Should your mistress wish to commit to a public alliance, I would be happy to, given the support you have offered on her behalf.

    My project is difficult to summarize, at least to anyone without years of context.

    To give a precis – the prehistory of the continent was shaped by Titans, creatures capable of creating new life at a whim and, with effort, ensouling it and allowing it to propagate as any natural race. This is the ultimate source of the dwarves and goliaths who lived in this harbour before the conquest and foundation of the city, and who still populate much of the interior.

    Gods, meanwhile, are creatures of pure soul – if you called the erstwhile warden the soul of the city itself, you would be more right than wrong. But despite their broad influence, they are unitary beings, neither creating life which will persist beyond their influence nor lessening themselves in doing so.

    My area of study is the divine aether, the raw material from which mortal souls are sculpted. By pulling apart and studying different variations of spirit, and comparing them to both the aether itself and my own soul, I hope to isolate and replicate the process by which the old Titans ensouled their creations.

    I’m sure as enlightened a scholar as your mistress does not need the myriad of ways success would expand our understanding of and dominion over creation spelled out for her.

    Do take care,

    Hierophant Y. Cenred

    Spoiler: ooc
    Show

    So re: ‘lend’, just for clarity – the VIP is not left in any state to be used for anything else after it’s used for the project. Think, like, magical vivisection.

    Besides the fruits of the project, you’d get 3 Magic and Yri herself, a tier 3 Mag VIP



    Spoiler: Shackle
    Show


    Shackle,

    You have, at least, certainly ensured the Warden will not be obeying anyone sitting in the palace in the near-future. Though it seems something of a waste to just let the old beast run rampant through the Lower City.

    If you do topple the city, what would you replace it with? Or is the mad god striving to cut the past two centuries out of history your preferred candidate for the throne?

    Do take care,

    Hierophant Y. Cenred



    Warden Vrockdruk, Morale 4

    Spoiler: Knights Null
    Show


    The reply is not delivered in any building actually consecrated to Sart, whether out of respect or simple inability. Instead, the reply is found inscribed in a descending spiral on two pillars supporting the facade of an ancient merchant house directly across the plaza from the Knight’s headquarters, appearing to all inspection as if they had been inscribed there decades or centuries ago.

    I am the god of the city. Not the world. I will be honoured within it. Devotees of others are welcome if they do no further harm to it. Other gods themselves may not trespass or seek to conquer.

    I will bring justice. A clear simple code. All will be subject. None will be exempt. Those who pollute the city will suffer for it. Those who live with honour and dignity will live peaceful and protected.




    Hellworks, Morale 4

    Spoiler: Shackle
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    Miss Shackle, Esquire

    Oh, it would be my privilege to work alongside such an accomplished arcanist as yourself!

    The project is quite simple in concept, though delicate in execution. I have inherited a small claim to the person of Paimon of Chains, a Duke of the Second Hell. While actually calling upon him is, I am embarrassed to admit, far beyond me, with the correct preparations and reagents I am able to safely to invoke his essence. I intend to incarnate that essence into a set of brands.

    Once done, this will allow me (allow us, should you desire to take part in the project) to bind the souls of potentially rebellious or traitorous workmen just as we do unembodied spirits, though far more efficiently and at far less cost. There will, I believe, be some losses in creativity and innovation, but it is not as if the lower orders can be relied upon for that in the first place, and they will be far more reliable and easily disciplined.

    Given the current catastrophe, I’m sure you can see the need for such an endeavour.

    But if you need to focus on the unpleasantness over the river with the good Warden, I do completely understand. Should I be able to help in restoring order, please do just ask.

    Lady Binder Katerine sol Dalme sol Telrin ir’Paimon, Initiate of the Astral Watch, Heiress-Designate of the Barony of Tarlow, Proprietor and Trustee of the ‘Royal Sethennai Weaver’s Trust
    Spoiler: ooc
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    When complete, the project would permanently decrease the cost of increasing morale with points of magic or morale by 2 points, to a 4:1 ratio.




    Keendream Expedition, Morale 4

    Spoiler: Shackle
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    Good morrow to you, Miss Shackle,

    That the city’s god is in such a sorry state now that he has been freed is tragic, but given the state of his domain I suppose it’s not entirely surprising.

    Still, however it ends, that you thought to free him reflects well on you. If you have some project to calm or negotiate with him in mind, I may be able to provide some limited support for it.

    Regardless, you have my thanks for doing some small part of the grand task that is freeing this city.

    All the best,
    Ilidak Keendream Kathu-Viano, Expedition Lead


    Spoiler: Sleepless Crusade
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    Good morrow to you, Steward Valthan.

    I’m glad to hear it. [8 Adv] should be precisely what’s required to complete our expedition, as it happens.

    I, and all my colleges, are extremely grateful for the help.

    All the best,
    Ilidak Keendream Kathu-Viano, Expedition Lead
    Spoiler: Previous Games
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    Won Rise of Kingdoms as the Free City of Khasal
    Lost Hanrui 3 as the Clockwork Republic
    Technically Won Principia 2 as the Iron Gods of Ur
    Won Mandate of Heaven as the Gardeners of the Immortal Flesh

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