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Whybird posted:It kind of makes sense that the Empire doesn't have adventurers: the surface is so settled that there isn't enough hardship to breed that kind of exceptional individual. I'd imagine that your average mercenary in the Empire doesn't get much in the way of XP from taking bribes and roughing up the homeless. More to the point, the Empire doesn't want adventurers. It tends to frown on individualists in general. Remember, you can (or could, at least, before the war started) get thrown into Exile for something as minor as just not fitting in. You can bet that you have to be a member of the Empire Army to own a weapon or get any kind of access to martial skills (including spellcasting). Exile III shows us that the Empire's control isn't quite as absolute as they'd like, so the above is more a goal for them to aspire to than a fact of life, but that's still not the kind of atmosphere conducive to having roving bands of mercenaries.
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Jun 27, 2014 19:51
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I got the sense that the Empire we know and love is in some sense an aberration. Don't forget that this is also the same Empire that sent down the explorers to explore the caverns in the first place, and in which the current generation of Exiled egotistical arsehole wizards all grew up and learned their trade. Things were probably pretty different before Hawthorne's purge.
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Jun 27, 2014 20:11
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Fangz posted:Things were probably pretty different before Hawthorne's purge. I missed some backstory... feel free to spoiler if need be, but who is in charge now following the assassination of Hawthorne in Exile 1 and where there any major changes to the politics and workings of the Empire? Also, is Micah still king of Exile and is he grooming Karmas to be his successor since his own son is a blithering idiot?
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Jun 27, 2014 20:17
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JustJeff88 posted:I rather enjoyed the eco-statement that one of the Vahnatai made. I was intrigued by the fact that they stay active for about a millennia or so, then go into hibernation for a few centuries to let the ecosystem replenish. No real comment on that, I suppose, I just found it interesting that a species is willing to completely stop evolving, such as it is, for hundreds of years at a time out of concern for ecological balance.
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Jun 27, 2014 20:24
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JustJeff88 posted:I missed some backstory... feel free to spoiler if need be, but who is in charge now following the assassination of Hawthorne in Exile 1 and where there any major changes to the politics and workings of the Empire? We don't know who's taken over the Empire now that Hawthorne is dead (I don't consider his death a spoiler since it's part of Exile II's backstory). Likewise we have no particular information about the Empire's current political setup. Per Art's statements, Micah is still king of Exile, or at least was the last time she was in the area (presumably shortly before the barriers went up). No word on his son though. We'll have some more information about some of the above stuff later in the LP, but that would be spoilers so I'll just leave it to berryjon.
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Jun 27, 2014 21:34
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JustJeff88 posted:I missed some backstory... feel free to spoiler if need be, but who is in charge now following the assassination of Hawthorne in Exile 1 and where there any major changes to the politics and workings of the Empire? All hail her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Prazac! After the untimely assassination of her father, the much loved Emperor Hawthrone, and due to her current status as a legal minor, the Court Wizard Garzahad has taken Regency at the behest of the Imperial Court. It was at his request that the Empire declared war against the rebel province of 'Exile'. Led by 'King' Micah, and 'General' Karmas, the forces of Exile are pushed back daily, with the citizens rejoicing in the restoration of Law and Order that comes with Imperial Rule. ((that answer your question?))
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Jun 28, 2014 03:39
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Update 020 – The End of the Beginning. "I don't feel like going through yet." "Why?" "It's just a feeling that there's something left undone." "Oh, what about that Undead ceremony?" "She does have a point, Sir Ma'am." "You also have a serious case of wanderlust." "Oh, shut up." "Are you not returning to your lands?" "Just doing some follow up investigations. Oh, and did you guys know about that crazed Lich doing things in that graveyard south east of here?" "Yes, we have some of our people scrying from afar. We are pondering an appropriate response. Your concern in noted." "And that's that." "Sssso, where do we go?" "And what're those?"  "Sssnakes. Obviously." "I get that, but we're pretty far down. Why do they have colour to their skin?" "..." Did I mention that Serpents and Asps are random encounters in the western edge of the Vahnatai lands? Well, they are. "Thisss narrow strip could easssily flood."  "Cheery." "Great. I really don't like the walking carnivorous fungus.” “Those exist?” “Yes, I fought some back in the Test of Strength. Weren't you paying attention?” “No, not really.”  “While that's all fun, let's head south first.” “I am beginning to wonder at your choice of direction.” “Wanderlust. I've said this.” “Can we not try to poke holes in my psyche?” “But it's so fun!” “HEY! IS THERE A BRIDGE?” “STAY AWAY HUMANS!” “...” “There's a hole over here...” “Feels like a tomb.”  “I don't feel like grave robbing.” Not seen: Me failing horribly to pick the lock (I broke all of Mariannas) or magically unlocking the door. I think I'll have to come back here later. The things I do for you people. “Isssn't thisss where the Cryssstal Sssoulsss are kept?” “So much for investigating the scene of the crime for evidence.” “And why did they let the Hydras across the bridge?” Silly event flags not blocking random encounters on the world map. I also went back to Mancuso and bought the spells available there. For those who have forgotten, Charm Foe can temporarily switch an enemy to your side, Manna is a more efficient method of creating infinite food, while Forcefield creates a temporary one-tile barrier.  “Huh. Wasn't there a bandit problem mentioned up here?” “That confussess me. Banditry has certain sssocio-economic ssourccesss, yet where would they be in thisss culture?” “People who don't like to do what society wants of them?” “But there are ssso few.... ssurely there iz enough sspacce for othersss to find?” “I agree. There are issues here, but we don't have the resources or experience to figure them out.” “No way we're getting across here.” “If only we had flight.” “You would not believe the fight that the Tower had to put up to get the Orb from me. I'm going to have to have a 'talk' with Peregrine, the next time I see him.” “What are you expecting to find?” “Not sure, really.” “Found the path!” “And the way forward is...” “Blocked.” “Peace!” “NEVER, HUMANS!” “It seems perhaps they are training to fight us?” “And failing.” This is the best place for griding in Chapter 3, as Vahnatai bands are better XP, and have better loot than anything else. “We've walked back and forth across this cavern many times now!” “Oh, this won't be good for my fur.” “And no boat. drat.” “Why does this place remind me of a smugglers cove?” “Experience?” “Nothing here.” “Nor here.” “Forward?” “Well, where's the worst possible location this could connect to?” “The centre of the Empire Army.” “The Castle!” “The moon.” “What iz a 'moon'?” “I don't know how to explain that.”  “Hey! Watch where you're poking that thing!” “THAT'S ENOUGH!” “Oh good! A friendly face.” “Don't push it, Art. Your arrival set a lot of people on edge. Not myself, obviously.” “It is good to see a friendly face.” “Care to introdusse?” “Oh, sure. Everyone, this is Peregrine IV, Archmage in the Tower of the Magi. Peregrine, these are Kailyss, Aaarth-Tsss, Chester, Marianna and Dmurr.” “A pleasure, sir.” “Greetingsss.” “So, you're the unlucky souls being dragged around by Art?” “I wouldn't say unlucky...” “Nah, they're recruits who got swept up in this whole thing.” “So I've heard. The portal into the Tower was enough to cause the Castle defence garrison to redeploy here, which was lucky because those Barriers went down only a short while before.” “You're welcome.” “Of course you would take responsibility for all that.” “You doubt?” “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I've travelled with Art for longer than you have, hatchling. If she says she has travelled far below the realm of Exile to meet with a previously unknown species, and convinced them to side with us in war against the Empire, I would believe her.” “Your support isn't like you.” “Oh, please. We make our mark on history in different ways. You will almost be as grand as I am.” “Egotistical, much?” “He is a mage.” “I've earned that! Without me, the First Exile Escape Committee would have been floundering!” “We did have Ember.” “Who was too busy trying to set fire to everything with her mind to do any real magic.” He huffs a little. “Power and Ssskill are two different things.” “Change of subject. We've been gone for weeks. What's the current state of the war.” “The Barriers were enough to allow limited consolidation. The last of the refugees from the Abyss came into the Great Cave about a week ago, the Empire has it totally under their control. I heard there was a massive attack on Cotra as well, and the Giant Lands are still contested by everyone.” “Karmas?” “He was at the Castle, last I checked, planning a counter-offensive.” “And no, the results of your raid didn't give any more leads concerning Duncan and Rook. The Scimitar you rescued had no information, and the entire organization is about one good shake away from being folded into Unspecified Services.” “Um, I know who General Karmas is, but who are the other people?” “Art?” “Others who are leading the fight against the Empire. More covert than I.” “Says the woman who specializes in small-unit tactics.” “It was enough to get you to fall into line.” “Your interests served mine, nothing more.” “HAH!” “Something funny, fuzzball?” “Nothing.” “Ssso what do we do now?” “Yes. Peregrine, know why my Security clearance was revoked?” “After the raid and your injuries, Karmas and Anaxiamander had to fight to keep you in the Service. Micah was willing to let you go. They settled on a reduction in rank and Clearance until you could prove yourself again.” “Micah.” “He still hasn't forgiven you for that one use of the Orb.” “Speaking of, where is it?” “I know what you're going to ask, but the Orb, along with several Artefacts were removed from the Tower when the Vahnatai portal showed up. For security reasons.” “Oh, that reminds me. Did anyone tell you that Motrax was attacked?” “What? When?” “I don't know. I only found out about it while securing the region around Formello. The Empire corps that went after him was destroyed, but he's in bad condition.” He starts to look slightly angry. “I was not informed of this.” “Neither was I. There are mages there interrogating him, thinking he's going to die.” “drat them! I bet Linda is behind that. She'll do anything to get to me.” “Linda? What?” “Linda?” “That psychotic bitch thinks we should be summoning Demons to help us fight the Empire.” “She's in the Tower, under seclusion. Her knowledge of Daemonology is being used to devise anti-Demon wards. I don't suppose you happened to grab Demonslayer while visiting Motrax?” “No, it was stolen in the raid.” “Unfortunate. We could have used that weapon to research its anti-demon properties more.” “Um, you two are talking over our heads here.” “Sorry. So, any advice, Peregrine?” “Yes. Get some rest first. Then visit the Castle to explain the situation and get your clearance improved. Once that's done, you can do your thing.” “Thanks. And it was good to talk to you.” “And you.” “A moment?” “I know who you are. And so does she. She's willing to over look it because the situation is just that bad.” “I am aware of that. I have to assk. Without the Orb, can I at least be taught the spell that it is enchanted with.” “You're not powerful enough.” 
berryjon fucked around with this message at 00:28 on Jul 1, 2014 |
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Jun 30, 2014 20:40
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Good to see Peregrine again! A bit worried about what you're planning for Kai-Lyss' back story, I like that dude.
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Jun 30, 2014 23:34
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berryjon posted:
Cotra. My mnemonic was always Contra-without-the-N. Also, I'm loving the way you're interweaving the narrative here to factor in Art's previous travels. The canon answer to "why don't you have clearance" is "you're a fresh group of nobodies, in no way connected to the Exile 1 group, so of course you only start with soldier clearance because of your army membership". This is a good take on it. Curious to find out what shenanigans Art got up to that pissed off Micah, though.
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Jul 1, 2014 00:03
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Vil posted:Curious to find out what shenanigans Art got up to that pissed off Micah, though. He got sick of her barging into important council sessions to complain about random minor problems in parts of the caves that aren't even inhabited (by civilization, anyway) any more. Geeze, lady, we know there are liches and demons and drakes and so on out there! Give us a break!
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Jul 1, 2014 01:16
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I know what Art did. whether I reveal it or not directly will be up to the form of the narrative. And for what it's worth, I've planning on having Peregrine talk to the party/Art at this point, since, well, back during Exile 1.
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Jul 1, 2014 02:14
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I liked catching up with Peregrine. By the way, and I apologize if this isn't a good place to mention it, but the LPArchive for Exile 1 does not have the list of all potential characters like this post here. It's somewhat disappointing to me that that is the case. Does that post exist, and if so, would it be possible for you to put it someplace where I don't need the archives upgrade to see it?
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Jul 1, 2014 17:14
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Inglonias posted:By the way, and I apologize if this isn't a good place to mention it, but the LPArchive for Exile 1 does not have the list of all potential characters like this post here. It's somewhat disappointing to me that that is the case. Does that post exist, and if so, would it be possible for you to put it someplace where I don't need the archives upgrade to see it? Sorry, but I don't think I can do that. I do have a record around somewhere for when Art snarks in E3.
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Jul 1, 2014 19:36
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Did the Empire take advantage of the Vahatnai barriers to invade? Lucky sons-of-bitches.
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Jul 2, 2014 06:32
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Glazius posted:Did the Empire take advantage of the Vahatnai barriers to invade? Lucky sons-of-bitches. No, they had already invaded, and the Barriers were basically a 'time out!' as far as the war has been progresing. And now they're gone!
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Jul 2, 2014 06:51
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Update 021 – The Tower of the Magi and the Serpent Cult “zzzzz....zzzzzZZZZzzz.....” “How long are we going to let her nap?” “I'm surprised, she seemed so awake and on top of things ever since we left Formello.” “We are ssssafe, sso why ssshould ssshe not rezt?” “Yes, but at this rate, she could sleep for a month.” “While I am accepting of good relaxation az required for good dutiesss, thisss iz excessssive. Dmurr, assisssst.” “In what?” “Flipping the bed.” “And none of you thought to stop them?” “It seemed... I don't know....” “We were so caught in the moment, dahling, that such a thing seemed reasonable.” “First good night's sleep in ages, in a properly sized bed, and you throw the bed to wake me?” “It worked, didn't it?” “I have no excusse.” “Fine, fine. The Tower has been renovated since I was last here. Let's just check things out for now, get our bearings, and maybe figure out what to do next.” “Report to the Cassstle.” “We should also go back to Formello, let them know we're alright. Even though the Barriers came down, it's polite.” “And what would you know about politeness, Farm Boy?” “More than you, it seems.” “Are they not in the sssame direction?” “No, Formello is north, the Castle is West.”  “Name isn't ringing a bell. Must be new.”  “Thisss iz not a good idea.” “Agreed. Even I can feel that.” “Already gone.”  You have to peer over the counter to find the shop's proprietor. He's back there all right, bent over double, lost among piles of items, both treasures and worthless knick-knacks. He watches you cannily. "I'm Brantford. Let me know if I can help you with anything." “Hey! I'm Chester. Man, you got a lot of stuff back here. You cleaning up or something?” "I deal in miscellany! Bric-a-brac of all descriptions. My stock changes every day, every minute even! You can purchase something you like, or sell me something you don't! You have but to ask." Ah, the 'random' store! How I've missed thee. I grab the Magic Breastplate for Art. I may come back here in an update or two, to see what's new, but like Exile 1, it's not going to be a regular occurrence. “Hello, Mage.” You meet one of the tower's mages. She doesn't look pleased to be bothered. “I am Kai-Lyss., mage.” She nods. "I am Suzanne. What do you want?" “I ssseee you deep in thought, and waz offering my sservicesss az a ssosunding board.” She sighs. "I'm supposed to be teaching people to mindduel, but I'm very busy. You can buy the spell if you want. Or you could leave and let me think about my experiment." “You engineered the spell already?” “Yes, we have. Oh, aren't you that soldier that we got most of our information from?” “Yes...” “I would be interested. Name your price.” “A bit out of our price range. We shall return later. But you mentioned an experiment?” "Nothing you could understand. Something involving fire lizard eggs, which nobody seems to be able to find. That's all." “Art, hand over the eggs.” “But I wanted a fire breathing lizard of my own!” “... really?” “No, it just seemed like a good idea at the time to keep them warm.” Remember when I grabbed these from that side dungeon back in Act 1? No? That's alright. It's not like I drew much attention to it. You hand over the egg. She looks it over, and smiles. "All right then! Whenever you want to learn Mindduel, ask me for a bargain!" “Jusst what sssort of bargain do you have in mind?” “How about....?” “Ssssold.” I just saved 7000 gold. It's good to have played this game so many times already.  “Boring.” “Front door, but not quite yet.” “Oh nice, they got rid of the prison.” “What?” “Oh, this corner used to be an emergency prison for a guy who went crazy due to exposure to Demons.” “Why would they do that?” “If you ever meet an Archmage by the name of Linda, and I'm not around, punch her in the face and say 'Art says hello'.” “You want us to punch an Archmage in the face.” “Only if I'm not around.” “There is a story there.” “One that ends in the defeat of Grah-Hoth.” “I waz not aware of that factor in your tale.” “Can we just move on?”  “So.... what was this room before the Olgai Council dropped in?” “Oh, we were experimenting with building a portal network here in Exile.” “Peregrine!” “It is good to see you up and about. So few people appreciate my genius.” “{Not the word I would use.}” “Kai-Lyss, behave.” “I've already made some arrangements. You can use this portal as much as you want. Given that the people on the other end have placed theirs in a position of power, we're not going to move this end either. It's all very diplomatic.” He sighs. “But they won't let me go through.” “What can I say? You're not an official member of the Olgai Tribe like me.” “We.” “A fact which still doesn't surprise me. I am quite interested in their crystal based magics. I especially want to see if it has anything to do with Fort Emerald.” “Isn't that the fort with the empowering magical crystal?” “Why of course it is!” His voice drips with sarcasm. “Have you moved your research to a new location yet?” “No, the presence of the new portal damaged some of my experiments. And while I cannot yet return to my research into the Orb, this inability to handle all my projects is quite vexing.” “This is why you focus on one thing at a time.” “What? And waste my talents?” “We ssshould be going.” “You are always welcome, Art. Oh, go see Kelner in the Triad's offices. I've made arrangements with him regarding your clearance.” “Thanks!”   “I wouldn't recommend going in there. There's dangerous critters in there.” Four Basilisks in tight quarters? Not kidding.  “So, our of curiosity, aside from you, why are we interested in getting a higher Security Clearance?” “To complete our mizzion.” “But to what end?” “I would think it obvious.” “It would sshow we are... trussstworthy of greater ressponsibilities.” “That too.” “Hello, you must be the Services people.” You meet a young man in mage's robes. He walks up and shakes your hands. "I'm Kelner, the tower secretary. Glad to see you're up and about." “Sorry for intruding. I hope we did not disturb anything important.” "Right now, I was writing a message to send to Solberg, telling him of your exploits among the Vahnatai. As secretary, I'm go-between between the Tower and the Exile government. I write letters, pacify bureaucrats, and pass on orders." “Solberg? We tried to appraise him of the situation with the Barriers, but could not get through to him. His tower required clearance that Art no longer has.” “drat. I had hoped to get it to him. He's currently on the Triad, but has been trapped in his Tower for some time now. Even though I'm his friend, and I know you people are trustworthy, I'm not allowed to tell you more.” Internal politics, people! For those of you who don't remember, the Triad is the ruling three Archmages in Exile. Linda has been kicked off, due to the events in the first game, and replaced with Mahdavi (who is a specialist in teleportation and portals), which will be revealed later on. X and Solberg are still in their positions, but Solberg seems to have still not left his tower. “You mentioned orders? Perhaps we can serve as messengers, given we know about the situation?” “Maybe... Occasionally, the bureacrats have something they need done which either takes a lot of magic or is near here. Then they tell me about it and stick me with finding someone to do the dirty work. Or wet work. I cannot simply give you the mission, you don't have the clearance, but I think we can help each other out. Which means I won't have to owe that arrogant vole Peregrine a thing.” “Excuse me?” “Sorry! I forgot you were on the Committee. Look, I'd rather go through proper channels, have you guys do a mission for me, and let you get your clearance back that way, rather than do a favour for... him.” “That bad?” “You have no idea.” “He's mellowed out quite a bit.” “How you survived months with him is beyond me. Rather, how he survived.” “Art iz capable of ssuch thingsss.” “So, about this mission? Nothing too strenuous, I hope?” “There is a serpent cult situated to the northeast. If you can slay its high priest, report back to me and I will put in a word to get you a higher clearance. It is the best I can do. Alas, we know little about the cult." “Assassination?” “Yes, but this cult is a bit more than the usual.” "Some months ago, a patrol travelling the tunnels to the northeast disappeared. Then another, then another. Spies and magical scrying revealed a band of renegade sliths, led by a powerful high priest, running some sort of perverse snake temple up there." "They're dangerous, and we need them removed. Period." “Sssuch is not in our faith. I agree.” “<I thought Snake Worship was banned?> “<It was. That they have fled this far from our waters is troublesome.>” “<So why are you so interesting in this?>” “<Pride.>”  “mgrgr.”  You meet a young, heavily built woman in mage's robes. She carries around a shod cavewood staff, but from the way she holds it you guess that it's more to clobber people than for support. “Hello.” "I'm Kayannan. You must be Kai-Lyss. <Welcome.>” “I am welcomed. You are well informed.” "I'm a teacher here. I should be at the front, but there you go." “The front?” "The Empire has no shortage of mages. I'm working day and night to help even the numbers out. But sometimes I do wish I could go fight!" "I drill the youngsters in spells as fast as I can, so they can go fight. I also teach magery to those with the money to buy the knowledge." “Are you not concerned with teaching thosse to ssismply fight, and not a proper coursse of ssstudy?” “Yes, but there is nothing I can do.” Level 5 Spells! I grab Major Haste to balance Slow Group, Fire Storm for the large AoE, and Shock Storm for the area denial. Then remember that Kai-Lyss still doesn't have Level 5 Mage Spells yet.  Vincent sells potions.  This is... well, I'll let her introduce herself. "I am Piglet the sage." She gives you an imperious look, silently daring you to comment on her name. You don't. She can identify your stuff, and sells some Alchemy recipes which aren't all that useful. Mother Clarisse here sells Level 5 Priest Spells. Which Art can cast! “YES!” “Alright, let's go wipe out a cult, and we can be back before lunch.” “I thought it waz ssupper?” “Hold on, what threat do these people represent anyways?” “Ssssnake worsship is ssseen as a prelude to Demons.” “Time to take out a cult then!” “I am so glad this road got put in here. A few years ago, you had to wind your way through a forest of stalagmites to get to the Tower.” I just wanted to show off that the bottom of Exile actually abuts the north end of the Vahnatai lands. If you looked at the whole world map, you would see that Chapter 2 takes place to the 'east' of Exile, while the Vahnatai are to the south, and wrap around this corner of the map. Just a note. “I don't know...” “More arrows! Excellent!” “It's very quiet in these tunnels.” “You expect ssignsss of life everywhere?” “Yes, actually.” “We are here.” “This doesn't look easy at all.” “You can say that again. Going North, then west is the best approach, but also has more resistance.” “We will do az you lead.” “The guards don't see us yet...” “Then let usss make sure they don't raize the alarm.” “Charge!”  “HEY! “Art can heal you, I knew the strike would not be lethal to you.” “Argue later, there's more from the north!” “Hrm, just a rest area. Nothing here.” “There ssshould be a lever nearby to open.”  “Thisss one.” “So, let's go back then.” Not pictured – a dozen Snakes and Asps. So much poison going around, it's a theme for this dungeon. “I can see why Snake Cults aren't seen as a good thing.” “And the door doesn't open!” “Perhaps from the other sside?” “No... perhapsss from under?”  “We can come back to this later.” “Is this where the other Soldiers were taken?” “Yes.” “Is there nothing we can do?” “Kill the High Priessst.” “ARGH! There must be a switch or level on the inside. We'll have to take Kai-Lyss' suggestion, and go down.” “Looks like a room on the lower-left.” “Thissss.. sound! Make it stop!” “Working on it!” Please ignore Kai-Lyss' death there. I reloaded, but didn't take a replacement picture.  “SANCTIFY!” “Thank you!” “That waz an annoyance. Your sanctification skills are admirable.” Snakes and Asps will spawn on this map at an alarming rate until the altar is hit with the Ritual. I just wish the spell wasn't 50 SP!  “I wonder if these have any special properties?” “Probably not.”  “You'll never take me alive!” “Hi! Rescue Service, courtesy Unspecified Services! I am your rescuer, Art.” You find a half-starved man imprisoned in this cell. He's been beaten. His face lights up when he sees you. He stands up confidently. He's surprisingly active considering what he's gone through. "Well met, indeed! I am Captain Brehon of the Exile army." “Sorry to interrupt, Captain. I hope we weren't getting in the way of anything important?” "Waiting to die, up 'til now. My patrol was ambushed by the sliths." "They have this bizarre cult here, as I'm sure you've seen. They feed us to the snakes, and then try to talk to them. I was scheduled to be eaten soon, but I'm still planning to escape." “...” He shows you a sword he had hidden behind his pallet. "This is my secret." “Not much of a secret, sir.” "I found it here. We weren't the last troopers to be caught by those damned lizards. Somehow one of them snuck a blade in here." It's a short sword, pitted and slightly bent, but still deadly. "With you clearing the way, I should be able to escape." “Are you sure you can escape back to the Tower without us?” "I'll follow you out. I have a sword. Sword first or feet first, I'm getting out of this place." “Good enough for me. Let's get to the killing.”  “We're behind the temple area, I think.” “Yess, they would put it az far back from the front az they could.” “Hello!” “<WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? KILL THEM!”   “That was refreshingly easy.” “I hope so, this trap looks complicated.” “Be more careful next time.” “Just some gold...” “Odd, I would have expected the lever to be in here, not just supper.” “Let me examine thisss tome.”  “I am wisser now.” “Really? Let me see!” “There's nothing here!” “We're missing something. Let's have a look at one of those portcullis' a bit more.” “...” “It obviousssly knowsss that you want to leave, and will no longer bar your path.” “Pressure plate.” “I think we better leave before Art expressed her anger.” :shake: “We're not the people you're looking for.” “You're not the people I'm looking for.” “Move along.” “Move along.” I have no idea how I managed to walk right past the enemy before he saw me. That was some pretty amazing blindness there. “<WAIT! The Prisoners are escaping!>” “It was a boring conversation anyways.” “You're back!” “The deed is done.” “Did the Captain get back?” “Yes, yes he did. Your mission was a success.” Kelner nods happily and begins writing a letter. "I am now writing the Castle to tell them of your bold deed. You should go there soon and see if you are now qualified for a higher rank. Thank you for your bold deed." “Good. Now, for something very important.” “Oh?”   “STOP FLIPPING THE BED!”
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Jul 21, 2014 22:29
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Pretty intense poison, there, to turn a Slith into dust. Always cracks me up to be reminded that mage apprentices can't talk ever, in a crucial step in their journey toward becoming socially impaired.
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Jul 21, 2014 23:21
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Man. I'm pretty sure a few adventuring parties I've been in would do the bed-flipping thing too. I always rushed my casters to level 7s in spellskills. I don't know if they do anything other than let you cast though. I assumed they affected casting power, but maybe I was wrong? Long time ago now.
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Jul 21, 2014 23:25
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Does that count for updating the rear end in a top hat basilisk count, the rear end in a top hat wizard count, or both? Also worth noting: level 5 is pretty decent overall in both priest and mage skills, and from what I recall you could easily get through the game without going any higher. There's plenty of stronger spells, but many of them are basically just vanity for the price they're asking in mp. Also also spray fields isn't useful, but IS kind of funny.
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Jul 21, 2014 23:36
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Shady Amish Terror posted:Does that count for updating the rear end in a top hat basilisk count, the rear end in a top hat wizard count, or both? The Basilisk count does not go up, as we were properly warned (and it was behind a locked door!) that there were dangerous critters back there. As for the rear end in a top hat wizard count.... That didn't go up this update. Although I strongly suspect Suzanne's next stop is going to be the kitchen with those eggs.
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Jul 22, 2014 00:18
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Warning or no, instant-death enemies hidden in a nook of a friendly town in a game and genre that encourages exploration is, at the bare minimum, kind of funny in a dickish way, but yeah, I suppose you can give the tower mages that much credit. Strangely, I remember there being an NPC here who is a much bigger jerk than the current lot, but I may be misremembering someone from somewhere else, possibly just one of the Vahnatia. There's no shortage of Vahnatia mage jerks, ESPECIALLY if you count the undead ones.
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Jul 22, 2014 00:24
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Tylana posted:I always rushed my casters to level 7s in spellskills. I don't know if they do anything other than let you cast though. I assumed they affected casting power, but maybe I was wrong? Long time ago now. So far as I'm aware, the sole determinant of spell power is your INT score. Unless the Magically Apt trait is in E2, but I think it got added in E3. In the remakes they add a secret (i.e. not unlocked from the start of the game, you have to find trainers for it) skill that also improves spell power. I think it's called Magery or Magecraft or something. I always liked that idea (and there's other nifty secret skills that make you awesome at other things), but it's a bit of a newbie trap since it means that hoarding skillpoints until you can get access to the skill is "optimal". Not that you need it. EDIT: vvvv whelp. TooMuchAbstraction fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Jul 22, 2014 |
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Jul 22, 2014 01:07
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:So far as I'm aware, the sole determinant of spell power is your INT score. Unless the Magically Apt trait is in E2, but I think it got added in E3. Kai-Lyss has that trait.
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Jul 22, 2014 01:21
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Are Energy Potions too rare/expensive to stock up on, or have you got some of those for after Art sancts an altar with a dungeon ahead?
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Jul 23, 2014 03:47
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Glazius posted:Are Energy Potions too rare/expensive to stock up on, or have you got some of those for after Art sancts an altar with a dungeon ahead? They're the rarest and most expensive of the potions, as I recall, excepting stuff like Resurrection Balm and Skill Potions. And honestly we're still in the early game despite all that's happened; the party hasn't had access to good alchemical ingredients or recipes yet. But at this point things start opening up, so it should be possible to get a better stock if you know where to go (I don't).
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Jul 23, 2014 04:06
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I made the mistake of hiding in a secret passage in the serpent cave and long wait-ing until my priest had enough SP to cast Sanctify in my recent run through. Hoo boy was that something. Didn't resort to the editor though!
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Jul 23, 2014 04:35
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Yeah, I think I did that once. I'm pretty sure the engine will pretty happily jam monsters into just about every available tile in a dungeon, excepting secret passageways, I believe.
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Jul 23, 2014 05:02
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Glazius posted:Are Energy Potions too rare/expensive to stock up on, or have you got some of those for after Art sancts an altar with a dungeon ahead? I could have grabbed Medium Energy Potions (30SP each) for.... 650 gold? I think? At the Tower of the Magi. I should buy one or two, as there's another Altar that needs to be sanctified in the near future.
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Jul 23, 2014 06:19
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Shady Amish Terror posted:There's no shortage of Vahnatia mage jerks, ESPECIALLY if you count the undead ones. Vahnatai are all jerks. A Vahnatai mage is, like, double-jerk. The Lone Badger fucked around with this message at 12:27 on Jul 23, 2014 |
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Jul 23, 2014 12:23
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The Lone Badger posted:Vahnatai are all jerks. A Vahnatai mage is, like, double-jerk. Hey now, that's not fair, the farmers and workers are typically pretty chill, and a couple of the ponders are nice enough. Granted, they're like 1/100th of the populace we see in this game...
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Jul 23, 2014 16:03
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berryjon posted:I could have grabbed Medium Energy Potions (30SP each) for.... 650 gold? I think? At the Tower of the Magi.  Surprised you didn't nab a few on the way out honestly.
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Jul 23, 2014 16:08
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Because Strongs are overkill at this point (they restore 60SP, which is more than either of my casters have), and Mediums are more money efficient.
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Jul 23, 2014 17:18
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So, I have the next three updates ready to process. I'll work on them this weekend while I hope for no work. In semi-related news, if anyone is at Animethon this weekend, and wants to visit me at the First Aid Station (behind the Reg Desk), I'll gladly answer questions and chat about the LP!
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Aug 4, 2014 04:53
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This makes me sad that I am too poor to go to animethon... yet again.
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Aug 4, 2014 05:22
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Update – Statuses Hello everyone! This update will cover statuses. Like a great many RPGs, the statuses in this game run the gauntlet from useless through devastatingly lethal. So I'll start with what I think are the most important ones and work my way down from there. Bless / Curse These two status changes are the opposite of the other, so I will cover them both at the same time. Blessing is represented by two yellow crosses with a 'B'. Curse is represented by Black inverted crosses with a 'C'. Unlike most other statuses, these ones are stackable. I haven't observed an upper limit to how far they go. And this makes them incredibly, incredibly effective, especially when dealing with gauntlets and other long battles. So, what does it do? Well, every 'level' of Blessing inclemently improves a person's combat ability by +1. That being +1 damage (on each equipped weapon), +1 Defence (both +1 to avoid being hit, and +1 to reduction in damage), and +1 (or +5%) to hit the opponent. Doesn't sound like a lot now, does it? Well, two things work in favour of Blessing. First is the aforementioned stacking. Two Blessings is double the bonuses. Three is Triple! And they last quite long – about 20 turns to boot. Secondly is that casters such as Art, as they advance in Levels, bestow multiple levels of Blessing per casting. So at Levels 1 through 10, it's +1 levels of Blessing. At 11 through 20 it's two. 21 through 30... three. And when weapons deal less than 20 damage baseline, all those bonuses add up. Now Curses on the other hand? Take everything positive I've said and make it a negative. I will gush on and on about the usefulness of Blessings to the ends of the world. I will fight with everything I can to avoid being Cursed. Negatives across the board only make your defeat come faster. Oh, and yes, to make it certain – levels of Bless and levels of Curse cancel each other out.Slow Wait, why am I putting Slow before Haste? It's due to the way the two are programmed. It is represented by a pink 'person' with one arrow beside them on the status screen. I've mentioned before how AP in combat works, and the more you have, the more you you can move and act in combat. Well, when you Slow, your first thought would be that the target gets their AP halved, right? So from 4 to 2 per turn? WRONG. The first 'step' of Slow cancels every second turn. So in combat, the very first thing Kai-Lyss does is to move forward three steps and cast Slow Group. This means that every enemy within 10 tiles of him is going to miss their next (first!) turn. That gives every one else, except for any enemy casters that spawned a bit further back, a chance to sit back and watch as I get effectively two turns in a row. The second layer of Slow actually does what would have seemed intuitive, reducing AP by 50%. So now you're losing both alternating turns, you're also only getting half your actions. So yes, Slow is more powerful than Haste.Haste But that doesn't mean that Haste is useless. Represented by a yellow person on the status screen with three yellow arrows. Now the thing is, Haste does exactly what you would expect it to. It doubles, then triples your AP while in combat. This is a great way to over come Slow (as one proper casting of Haste cancels a casting of Slow and visa-versa), in addition to allowing your casters multiple opportunities a turn to throw out their spells. It can also be useful for our melee characters to allow them to run up past the defending meat shields and get to the squishy wizards.Poison Oh dear god poison. A green 'splotch', you need to check if the letter 'P' on the inside is in black or red. If it's black, you have some time, if it's red, you have to act! Anyways, poison deals damage over time, and degrades of the same. When a character is poisoned – by Marsh, by Alien Blade or by spell, or any other method, a hidden ticker is added to this status. Every turn, there is a chance of that character taking some damage, and that is rarely more than 10% your maximum HP for minor Poison. No, what makes poison so important to deal with is Major Poison. Green and Red means you are in for a world of hurt. Major Poison can deal up to 50% your maximum HP in damage, every second turn in combat, or move out of combat. Please note that this is related to the MAXIMUM HP, not the CURRENT. The spells that 'Cure' poison, they don't. What they do is downgrade the severity of the poison, as well as reduce the hidden duration ticker. The more Intelligence on the caster the greater the change in duration.Everything Else Dumbfounding: This status reduces the maximum spell level a caster can throw out. Recall that there are seven levels of magic, so each application of Dumbfounding reduces that by one. Restore Mind is a Tier 3 Priest spell, so you need to keep an eye on them to prevent then from being unable to restore themselves! It will be a worry later in the game, I can tell you that. Disease: Truth be told, I'm still not sure what this one does. It doesn't drain ones HP like poison, nor does it harm SP. Fangz posted:Disease is basically a longer term version of poison that inflicts you with random status effects instead. Webbing: Every level of this reduces your AP by one in combat. Click on your active character with this status to cause them to use their turn to 'Clean Webbing'. Against spiders or the like, this can be an annoyance, but don't forget Webs can block LoS, and do persist over time.rodomontade posted:Worth mentioning how webs can actually lock the game up if you've got one character left as the monsters just continually web you over and over and either you get murdered or they can't touch you so you have to eventually force-quit the game. Happens a lot if you play with a solo character like I do. TooMuchAbstraction posted:Something that's useful to know about webbing is that you can hit the Use key while next to a webbed tile to clear it without getting webbed. Otherwise you have to move into the webbing, get covered in gunk, and then spend a turn cleaning it off. (yes, you can.) Sanctuary: This one protects the person under its effects. I've never used it, but it's supposed to prevent the enemy from targeting them and reducing area-of-effect damage in the process. Damaging the enemy voids this effect. Envenomed: How do you know you'll deal Poison damage via your weapons? Well, this is the Status that shows you've got vile gunk on your weapons either through the Poison Use skill or the spell of the same name as this status. And that's it. If I've missed something, it's probably because the status is so irrelevant that it has completely escaped my mind. Naturally, I'll add follow-up comments to this Update as they come in.
berryjon fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Aug 9, 2014 |
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Aug 8, 2014 23:07
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quote:Disease: Truth be told, I'm still not sure what this one does. It doesn't drain ones HP like poison, nor does it harm SP. If any one of you can tell me, I'll edit in here! Disease is basically a longer term version of poison that inflicts you with random status effects instead. I think you've missed out Paralysis, Envenomed, and Covered in Acid, but I can't remember if those are only in Exile 3 or not. Fangz fucked around with this message at 23:26 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Aug 8, 2014 23:24
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Worth mentioning how webs can actually lock the game up if you've got one character left as the monsters just continually web you over and over and either you get murdered or they can't touch you so you have to eventually force-quit the game. Happens a lot if you play with a solo character like I do.  Also, in addition to status effects, disease can actually drain a small amount of experience. Not a huge deal since it's really easy to hit the level cap, even with a full party with lots of advantages, but still annoying. I don't know how much it ends up being but it happens.
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Aug 9, 2014 02:45
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Something that's useful to know about webbing is that you can hit the Use key while next to a webbed tile to clear it without getting webbed. Otherwise you have to move into the webbing, get covered in gunk, and then spend a turn cleaning it off. I can't remember if you can do this in the middle of combat, though.
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Aug 9, 2014 02:50
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Disease is useful for the computer and not so much for you. For random combat you're better off just popping some more curses/slows/poisons since you'll need to murder everything to advance anyways. And it takes too long and is too random to really help in dungeons. But on you it's a pain in the rear end. It can persist for a while outside of combat (and even on the main map!) and cause problems with slow or curse for your fighters or dumbfound on your casters. And yeah, having it randomly dumbfound your priest to the point he can't cure dumbfounding OR disease is a real possibility. A strong fighter can weather disease for a while though so I personally gave cure preference to casters to avoid the dumbfounding issue. Fun side effect of that is eventually all of my fighters end up dumbfounded. No biggie since they have 1 INT anyways, though having a few casters run around with some functionally retarded fighters as shields kinda fits in well with the whole 'wizards are assholes' theme of the series.  I don't know if dumbfound is a 'permanent' until magically cured condition or what but I don't think I've ever seen it actually go away on its own. Fangz posted:I think you've missed out Paralysis, Envenomed, and Covered in Acid, but I can't remember if those are only in Exile 3 or not.
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Aug 9, 2014 07:34
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Update 022 – Mertis and the Grim Cavern "Oooooh, Magic Lockpicks!" Lock Picks are used with the Lock Picking Skill, except that the Magic version can't break in case of failure! It was also in this screencap that I finally realized what Encumbrance also does – it also reduces Accuracy by 5% per point. Huh. "We ssshould get a couple energy potionsss. They will provide... duration." "What does that mean?" "Oh come now, Farmboy! They are like healing potions, save for the energies required for spellcraft." "I think he's questioning why we are getting them now, as they could have proved useful in the past." "Perhapsss they were not available in the passst?" I just want to point out that Medium Energy Potions cost 300GP, and restore 30SP. They are the most efficient means to replenish SP, especially now that the bottles of potion stack. The Tower is the best and most reliable place to get them. So like an idiot, I only buy two for the coming dungeon. "Sir Ma'am?" "Yes?" "May I make a request?" "Yes?" "Can we swing by Mertis? I got folks over there." "... Maybe." "It is on the way back north, we could touch base with the Mayor of Formello. Remind him that we did take care of the Barriers." "I think he would knowsss by now." "It would be... polite." "Fine. Mertis, Silvar, Cotra, Formello." "What... happened here?" "Stupid people doing stupid things that I had to clean up." "Demonsss were here." "Yep." "Will you tell the tale?" "Nope." "Why not?" "Because it involves killing Sss-Thsss and Grah-Hoth." "Then it is a tale worth telling!" "Don't pry." "I have to agree. You cannot force such things to happen." "But how will all know of her deedssss?" "Not all talesss are meant to be Glorioussss."  "Even I can tell you that distance seems wrong." "Perhaps it is a security tactic, to mislead Empire Spies?" "No comment." "..." "Kill the desecrators!" So yes, Asps and Slith Warriors as Random encounters near the Tower. "Sir, Ma'am, this isn't the way to Mertis." "I know. Just checking on something." "Why would yo be checking on Ogres?" "Why wouldn't she be?"  "Hello." "They ssseemed afraid of you." "They really did, like they expected you to do something mean and nasty to them." "Eh, it's all in the past." "The sssite of another of your talesss?" "Not really." "Wow, they must be brave." "But their selection is low." "If we haven't scavenged better stuff, this would be a good place for improved weapons." "Exccept for you, there's no arrows." "... I don't see why not. The economy of scale!" "Now I'm nervous." "Oh?" "Just, you know, coming home and all that." "Just hold your head high. You'll be fine." "Thanks." "And dust yourself off. You need to look presentable." "Well, these are the neighbours..." "Thanks for the food!" "Even I know this is the wrong direction." "Oh, shut up." "Although, I think there is some alchemical ingredients this way..."  "Excellent." "I didn't know about these guys." "We're all over the place."  "PEACE!" "Art? Can you help?" "Sure." "..." "Hrm, let me invessstigate."  I need a plot device to do this properly. "Aww, nuts. That cave is in an uproar again." "What cave?" "There's a cave full of Undead to the north." "Why hasn't some one cleaned it out yet?" "Oh, adventurers come by every year or so. This seems worse than years previous." "..." "Come on then. We're going to finish that." "What do you mean?" "Just what I said." "Sir, Ma'am, you don't have to do this." "Is she thinking what I think she's thinking?" "Oh, probably." "But first, a quick stop for supplies." "Ah, Mertis, home!" "Best not speak too loudly, son. The walls have ears." "Hello! Anyone around?" "Only the usual crew. Not in Army cloth, I see. You couldn't have washed out." "No, I got diverted form the regular Army to Unspecified Services. This is Art, my tema leader." "Hello, Private." "Captain. Welcome to Mertis." "Thank you." "Um, that's a question I have." "Yes?" "How can tell her rank? She's not wearing a standard uniform." "Red hair, two swords, Unspecified Services. I know who she is, as I pay attention to the briefings." "Good." "There are briefings about us?" "No, just the Captain in particular." "Well, thanks." "You're welcome. And keep your nose clean." "Thisss placess is indefensssible." Meet the new Mertis. Same as the old Mertis. "All right, everyone else is at the Inn. And I get to wander around by myself. Why did I want to come back again?"  A huge, greatsword bearing warrior sits behind an amusingly small desk, shuffling around piles of paper with hands like hams. "Hello." "Well, if it isn't our wayword son. You've gotten your folks sick over you up and leaving your farm. I've already heard about your posting, so while I'm dissapointed, I'm not angry." "Hello Commander Lynn. What's going on, if I may ask?" "I look after the prisoners, and shuffle papers." She looks at her desk in distaste. "Wait. Prisoners? But we're a farming community! Did someone create a still?" "I shouldn't be talking to you, but the Services interact a bit hazy with the rest of the Army. We're being used as a behind-the-lines prison. The yard to the north is for grunts. The cells to the east are for detainees with special information." "A detainee? But wouldn't the Castle or Almaria be better?" She shakes her head. "Sorry. There's a VIP, a Very Important Prisoner, in there, and nobody gets in to see her without orders, no matter what clearance they are." "I don't make the rules. I just kill those who try to break them." She pats her greatsword meaningfully. "Sure, sure. Anything else?" "Papers this, forms that. I'd rather be going out on missions. Instead, I assign them!" "We've done some missions for other places before. I'm sure we can do something for you too." She smiles. "I'm glad you asked. There's a bunch of bandits hiding in the Honeycomb. They have some sort of mage helping them - we can find their lair, but we can't get in. Get in there and wipe them out and you'll be rewarded." "Sounds like something the.... Captain would do."  "Better not."   The bar is tended by a short man with long curly hair and a friendly face. "Hey Cronan. How's the inn?" "Chester! Oh, the usual. Hauling shrooms across Exile. You can buy mugs of mushroom mead for 3 gold. You can also get a room for 5 gold. You'll be in the commons, though. The private room is occupied. I gotta charge you since you moved out." "No, that's fair. The private room is occupied?" "Some mage is in there. He goes to where the prisoners are, then come backs here. Does it three times a day. He seems a weirdie, but it's none of my business."  "I just knocked! I didn't expect the door to swing open!" No, it's locked. Marianna picked it. There is a figure sitting cross-legged in the shadows of this darkened room. You look closer - it's a thin man in mage's robes. "Sorry for interrupting, I was hoping to knock first. I'm Chester..-" "I am Caelen." (Pronounced Kalin) "I've heard of you, envoys to the Vahnatai. If you weren't who you are, I wouldn't forgive your intrusion on my privacy. Instead, you may be able to help me, and us all. I'm here to find out about the passes." "We know about those. We've found a couple Red passes up north." "Good. I am here to question the prisoners to find out about Empire passes. The passes are scrolls given out by the Empire forces down here, which let you into different areas they control. They are, worst to best, Red, Blue, and Gray." "I want to find a gray pass, and I think a prisoner here knows where it is." "And this prisoner is..." "Yes. In one of the cells in the building to the east. The damned bureaucrat in charge, however, won't let anyone in to see him. I keep trying, but she just won't budge. But if someone stealthy and strong, like you, could find one of the gray passes, they could get far into Empire lands!" This is where you officially find out about the nature of the Empire Passes. We'll have to come back to Mertis later on to 'interrogate' this guy, once we have the necessary plot-wordage. "The usual."  "Also the usual."  "Hey, old man!"  You meet an old man with sparse hair. His clothes look heavily worked in, with many stains and small rips. He shakes your hands firmly. "Chester! Word has it you're back in town." "Still running the Auction?" "Yep! Coming back for good?" "Sorry. My unit is passing through." "Well, good luck with that. Thankfully we haven't been attacked yet. I've heard that Cotra got raided a couple weeks back." "We're headed up that way. Anyone you want me to check up on?" "Nah, it's good. Have a nice day!"  "Ah, the Bazaar."   "Chester!" A lovely woman sits behind the counter, playing with a young boy, maybe two years old. They are both surrounded by arrows and tools of fletching. She looks up. "Hello. I'm Tina, and this is Nikko." She waves her baby's hand at you. "Wave hi, Nikko!" "Hey Nikko!" "Oh! Chester! I didn't recognize you!" "Hey! How goes the archery?" "Fletching. And good! You coming home?" "Not yet, I'm afraid. Still on the job. Say, can I buy some stuff for the team archer?" "Your money is always good here!" "Just some Iron Arrows, and a lot of normal ones, please." "Thanks for the business!" "Hey Chester." "Hey Matt. Saw the wife and kid." There is a thin man sitting behind the counter, carefully chipping an obsidian spear head. "You ain't been away that long, kid. Heard you're in town for business." "Yes, sir." "Are you boys moving to the front?" "Not sure sure. Unspecified Services does things differently than the Army." "Well Chester, between brigands, nephilim, undead, Empire patrols and rogue sliths, they need all the help they can get." Matt sells Stone weapons. Unless you are literally out of money and equipment, then you shouldn't be buying here. "Chester." There is a woman sitting behind the counter, concentrating amazingly intently on mixing some reagents. You looks closer. She's making poison. She finishes what she's doing, and turns her attention to you. "Anhara." She begins preparing some poison glands as she talks. "I make tools and poisons for the merchants now. Buy something or get out." Nothing worth buying here.  "Oh, how I've missed these sermons."  It's hard to figure out what's most memorable about this priest - his wild hair, wild gaze, or huge mallet at his belt. "Welcome, child! I am Rhoads!" He slaps you on the shoulder with one hand, and keeps the other near his mallet. "Hello, Father Rhoads." "Have you been preaching the word of Elgar?" "No..." "He is a mighty warrior deity! One with the wisdom to realize that knowledge is best let into a skull after cracking it first! It's not subtle, but it gets the job done!" "Plus, he teaches us great warrior magic! Incantations to crush your vile foes. We long to spread this wisdom! I can teach you the ritual, for a small fee." "Let me go get the... Captain." Here is where Priests get Smite. Art picks it up, then doesn't get to use it as much as I would like. "Fun time is over, let's go."   "And here we are. The Grim Cavern." Not pictured: Me realizing I don't have Dispel Barrier yet, and running all the way back to Elgi in the Vahnatai Lands for some Piercing Crystals to do the job instead. See? That's the nearest place to get them. "Used to be the kids would see how close they could get before they ran away. Even now, it scares me." "There is an oppressiveness here, that I have not felt in a long time." "I know. First time I was here was... five years ago. Couldn't finish the job then. Now I can." "Iss thissss something we ssshould know about?" "Fine. Let me tell you of the Grim Cavern.. At the time, it was called the Dark Pit." "Honestly, we just needed some time to relax. We were under stress, and everyone agreed that we should beat up some undead to relax." "I heard there was a group of adventurers who came in here before us." "This is... fresh. We may be able to catch up to them." "Thissss place drainsss all light." "There is a malevolence here. It's my goal." "Why did you not dessstroy it when you were here then?" "Because I didn't know enough. I was too focused on my goal at the time, and this place was essentially a vacation." "A vacation." "Not all heroic deedssss are made equal. Ssssome are larger talesssz than otherssss." "Thisss darknesss comes in wavez." "I'm pretty sure this was supposed to be in the south-west corner, not the north-east. Oh well. Anyways, we didn't really learn about the history of this place until a bit later. Sure, we had clues, but at the time, we thought it was just the usual necromatic magics." "There are... usual Necromatic magics?” “There are more.... sssstandard onessz.” “Like those skeletons we just passed?” “Yesss.” “It turned out that this was the last stand of a group of explorers who came down here before the first Exiles arrived.” “They had pissed off Motrax, pissed off the Sliths, and the Demons, and even a certain Lich. The latter three just kept chasing them.” “How did that happen?” “Oh... them.” “Who?” “You have not heard? Then lisssten.” “They holed up here, seeking shelter, but all they did was trap themselves.” “Dumb of them.” “I'm worried that we haven't seen those other adventurers yet.” “And none of these bodies seem fresh enough.” “The details are sketchy, but it seems like the Undead were the ones to attack the cave.” “Our hissstory sssayz that the Slithzerikai camped outsside with the Demonsss to prevent esscape.” “Thanks. The Lich, Drath, cornered the humans in the bottom of the pit. The mage of the party killed himself to cast a barrier to protect the remainders of the expedition.” “But the Lich was able to work its magics from the outside. As they died, they were raised as undead within the central cavern.” “...” “Untill all are dead. Requiescat in Pace.” “Oh no.” “...” “Here is where the last of the First Expedition died.” “Here is where Demonslayer was broken.” “Here is where we grabbed one of the Pendants that now adorn the necks of the Mayors of Exile to allow them to communicate with one another.” “And this is where I left them behind.” “To rot.” “To lay fallow.” “But today, that changes.” “I keep my promises.” “Though it may take me to the ends of the world and beyond.” “I'm sorry. Forgive me.”    “We ssshould prepare ourssselvesz. Not all the undead are at resst.”         “I feel up for a nap.” There is no reason to come here, save for the XP. And a sense of closure for those who have gone through Exile 1.
berryjon fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Aug 10, 2014 |
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Aug 10, 2014 18:04
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