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Speleothing
May 6, 2008

Spare batteries are pretty key.
Mmmmm, eating my yak stew leftovers has put me in the mood for another post. Two in one week!

Brother Yak
"Thank the Emperor? Put them down? That's not the way this works, brother. These poor people don't even know how to tie a ribbon in my hair!" Brother Yak thinks to himself

As night falls and the people huddle near the fiercely warm Yak herd, the whole community squeezed into the Great Hall to share their warmth, Brother Yak fades from sight and into the dreams of children and grandfathers and uncles. He tells them that it wasn't the Emperor who sent them a herd of yaks, but The Yak himself. The greatest yak of all: Brother Yak, who's here to make them safe.

And while he's in the dream of one boy, not quite old enough to be a man, he asks: "What else can your friend Brother Yak do for you?" And when the boy dream-says they need fire to stay warm, he tries to think of where he can find a really big one for them. And he's got an idea - there was a Fire inside that mountain all those years ago. Maybe he can bring the mountain to them! He'd need someone to fit him with his harness so he can pull it, though.


Yeah, just clarifying to this community that Brother Yak is the god responsible. Maybe teaching a bit of yak-lore to these lowlanders while I'm at it.

vvv I'm down to Pantheon since our domains don't overlap, we just gotta meet first :h::sympathy::h: vvv

Speleothing fucked around with this message at 05:33 on Dec 3, 2014

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Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
Oh snap, stealing my worshippers are ya? :argh:

Rauri
Jan 13, 2008




Larissa
Thaisaidain

"Blaaaaaaaaaaah!" Larissa yawned as she rose from her coffin, rubbing her eyes and stepping across the room towards the crypt's exit. Aside from being a bit famished, she was feeling a lot better after that nap - only a day or two - and ready to go conquer the world. Certainly less banged up than she had been. Still, hungry.

Taking a scenic route to top of the Grand Ziggurat instead of a more direct route, Larissa wanted to observe her minion's preparations. It pleased her to see the crypts and corridors of the most ancient city bustling for the first time in centuries. She saw horrors that the mortals must've forgotten about had been unearthed, ready to be unleashed - saw undead champions, long assumed to be slain, grab artifact blades and don their runecarved armors.

Finally arriving at the peak of the obsidian sturcture, Larissa looked down upon the mighty fortress, undead heart full of joy at the sight of her legions ready to march, banners flapping in the cold wind. Reaching out to all undead present, Larissa issued the first command of the grand march. "Legions, nobles, all of you - I'm sure you're famished. Food has been scarce, and though we move to find more, I can hardly expect you to fight when you're starving. So, as my gift to you... devour my mortal cultists. Let this feast be my gift to you all."

----

Fixing my mortals freezing to death problem. More specifically, ordering her undead minions to eat the living ones. Hopefully that will both strengthen them for the march and raise my approval rating. At the very minimum, based on my understanding my Darkness domain will be healed by the end of this round provided I don't suffer damage this turn.

In case traits matter.

Undead [+6] - Queen of all Undead giving undead an order. Specifically, for hungry creatures to eat.

HiKaizer
Feb 2, 2012

Yes!
I finally understand everything there is to know about axes!
Vendruck

0/16 AP

The walking rat calls me a god of vermin? My vengeance will not be denied! Vendruck yelled out of their pit at the Lorax and then collapsed the floor beneath him and Arthak, drawing them deeper underground for the time being. He pulled out a device from his belt and threw it up into the hole his impact from the city had made. It created a shimmering wall, easily broken through by a god, but giving him precious more time.

I would argue that since Arthak and Vendruck are in an undeground cavern system, and you are on the surface of the mountainside outside of the gates, that Bismark is not in a position to intercept any physical attacks made by Vendruck against Arthak. And if you can do it at range with divine powers, then by the same reasoning I should likewise be able to bypass your attempts at intercession.


Attacking!
Artifice [+2] created the barrier to delay and keep out Bismark.
Dwarf [+4] combat is traditionally done with great hammers, axes and other two handed weapons because of their low gravity and tough strength. A hammer of which Vendruck posses...
Underground [+2] to draw Arthak deeper underground and away from Bismark.
AP [+3] because I want to kill this rear end in a top hat now, and PDQ combat favours quick overwhelming strikes that gut an enemy's chance to defend and strike back.
Freaking Out [+2] KILL KILL KILL!
Total: +11


Defending!
Artifice [+2] created the barrier to delay and keep out Bismark.
Dwarf [+4] bodies are tough and resilient.
Underground [+2] terrain is no problem for Vendruck, and he'll use it to keep Bismark away from them as well.
Freaking Out [-2] KILL KILL KILL!
Total: +6
[/quote]

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Parelle

Parelle cracks her knuckles and thinks about what to cook. There people here were starving and cold, so she decided that even with simple fare she could make something delicious. "I'm thinking something sweet and spicy. Keeps the chill out of your bones," she says to a young man next to her. In a few moments water fills a few dozen far-too-large-for-her-pack cast iron pots and they begin to heat without any source of fire. "Have you ever had ten vegetable stew?" Most shook their heads. "Well I fibbed, it's seven vegetables with chicken, lemon and raisins. Though if chicken was a vegetable it would be my favorite by far," she said to a small girl and waggled her eyebrows at her own terrible joke. With that she threw in a few soup bones with a splash into one pot and as they bubbled to the surface, the contents were duplicated in the others as if they had been put into all of them.

Her hands blurred as she peeled and cubed potatoes, both normal and sweet, though fewer of the latter. Next came the onions. "More than normal, but I like them. Next, bell peppers!" she said, and produced a strange looking vegetable not native to this place. "The humble red bell pepper," she said.

She frowned slightly at a particularly hungry looking starveling boy. She sliced the top off the pepper and cleaned the insides, produced an egg from her pack, shook the egg, cracked it (pre-whisked of course, fofofo), poured it in, added some cheese and pepper and with a few wiggled fingers she cooked it on the spot. She handed the delicious and creamy concoction to him and it was almost too hot to eat. Almost. The bell pepper did not survive long.

"Next, cherry tomatoes, chop those up," she said, her hands blurred again as she looked toward another child. She ignored what would be obvious peril to anyone else. "And then...Golden raisins," she said. "Oooooooo..." she intoned. Nothing happened. She frowned, put her hands on her hips as her ingredients floated, then made an imploring gesture. "Oooooooo..." she said, and everyone joined in this time. "Fantastic. Not real gold though, but you can't eat gold." She made a dismissive gesture and the ingredients flicked into the pot and again to arose in the others. "Chickpeas!" she said, and brought out another foreign looking food. "These came from the far east. And zucchini, a hometown favorite," which were a sudden blur before being cut up. "Now, parsley, one squeezed lemon," which she did by hand because she's a freaking goddess of course, "Pepper and just a little bit of rice. I'm out of wheat berries," she said with a sigh. She wasn't, but she liked rice better.

"And now for the final ingredient. Do any of you know what harissa is?" asked Parelle. Some shook their heads, one lady called out, "I had an aunt named Harissa!" Parelle laughed and said, "Well she's not going in the pot. No, this is special..." She pulled a small vial from inside of her pack, deeply hidden, and sprinkled in a little powder. "Very tasty," she said piously. "Though it may make your eyes water a little," and her pious tone became more mischievous as it was full of spices that in the age of trade men would win their fortunes with just a few sacks of the stuff. "Anyway, it just needs stirring now. I'm sure you fine people can attend to that. You'll find your ladles inside," she said, and to their surprise, they were there now, though weren't moments before. She then made the rounds among the dozens upon dozens of pots and passed out some sort of hard bread with onions and dried tomatoes in it. She was in her element now, and though she was normally not prone to showmanship she knew her art as she strode confidently around the hot, yet somehow fireless cast iron pots as cooks of all ages and sizes stirred with ivory ladles.

Tonight I made Morrocan Stew with seven vegetables and delicious bread from scratch. Flavor text. :v:

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 09:13 on Dec 4, 2014

Shogeton
Apr 26, 2007

"Little by little the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him"

Malador
11 AP


Malador gives a grim smile at the captured god's declarations. "It occurred to me that this could be the end of all things. But if so, I would meet it with all agreements unrboken, and my duties performed as well as could be done. And oaths were sworn to leave the dwarfs their halls by all the gods. Why do you think I did not enter without permisison even as your master burned me? But we will speak later. For now..."

And then Bismarck appears. Malador frowns. That could be... troublesome. For now, if he wanted the god of the Underpeople to take up the task presented, he should see to the safety of his worshippers. The inferno cloud still burned. But Malador was the master of the Inferno. Spreading the taloned fingers of his hand he reached out to the flames, his essence corrupting them, turning elemental flame into hellfire. And hellfire was his to command, to call, to control... to snuff out.

Still, it sat uneasy with him. These dwarfs had nothing for him, so there was no bargain to make with them, even if he would have accepted Vendruck's displeasure. But they were close enough to mortals that saving them to no purpose of his own sat uneasy with him. The King of Hell was ill used to being an acutal saviour, rather than a perceived one.

Trying to stop the Inferno Cloud
Warden of Hell +4 for some control over fire.
Contempt and Hatred -2: even if dwarfs don't actually have souls for Malador to take, I imagine it should apply here.
Spending AP: 2 AP spent. Let's keep too many more dwarfs fro mdying.

Puppies are dicks
Jan 31, 2011

WHY YOU GOTTA BREAK A BROS HEART
Larissa - Thaisaidain

Larissa's armies hardly needed to be told twice, and fell upon her mortal worshipers before the latter could even begin to flee or beg for mercy. Warm blood being harder to come by, they didn't do anything as wasteful as making the streets run red. Instead the scattered thousands of mortals were simply quickly and carefully consumed by the remaining residents of Thaisaidain. Claws and fangs turned to precision, and cursed bandages and cold hands alike held firm as the Undead set about their butchering with a grim and desperate speed.

When it was all said and done, the Undead found themselves well provisioned for the dangerous and long trek that lay ahead. The full entirety of the city's populace had turned out in the ruins of the massive square, and Larissa reclined comfortably as she watched the fluttering souls of the newly dead drift aimlessly between the many banners and standards of her nobles in their orderly regiments. Hideous in life and silent in their dying, at least her mortal worshipers made for attractively glittering souls.

Probably a good idea. It's a safe bet those dudes were going to die anyway, this way at least someone gets a hot meal. Also acceptable would have been using +6 Undead to simply change the warmbodied meatbags into Undead which would have resulted in a net balance to your overall worshiper pool. But then again all those newly minted vampire/mummy/ghost dudes would have been all whiny and emo about it anyway. LARISSA suffers -1 AP drain due to loss of worshipers! The UNDEAD gain a +2 Upshift to a racial action! They did a good job and used every part of the buffalo but the moo!

Now there's all these loose souls hanging around the area to the tune of 100,000 counting the Undead ones that wandered off and got snuffed before...


Thaisaidain - Vicissitude

The Decoy Wolf loped away, pausing to raise its head to the skies and howl a long dirge. Vicissitude was already long gone.

Thaisaidain was a city of horrors and screams! Surprisingly not much in the way of screams though as the horrors made quick and silent work of the city's last desperate mortal survivors, some clearly in the garb of mortal priests and cultists and others marked as livestock or slaves. Vicissitude watched in fascination as the Undead went about their grisly tasks, even their legendary impassivity sharpened by hunger and fear of the cold.

It was clear that the Undead were slaughtering the city's mortal residents to make provisions, and at the command of their Queen the deed was soon finished leaving a great number of souls to wander the area from the newly dead. As a God he could see them, and sense the clear bond between them and the one to whom they were pledged. Soon a vast host of monsters gathered, stamping skeletal feet or hovering silently in the cold as they waited on the next command of their God in the city's square. The Trickster watched carefully from between the length of two shadows, his careful entry to the city having gone unnoticed.

Your post actually reads as two separate actions (or one conditional travel action and a full one) but I'll interpret it as a block of stats to travel-defend if hit by Ice, and an AP-powered stealth action respectively. And also there was an order for an NPC, in that you ordered +0 DECOY WOLF to have a go at calling down some wolf-related visitors for ??? That I'll resolve off the table once you've left since thats how your post reads.

VICISSITUDE (+6, 1 AP) attempts a stealth action, hiding his presence from all Undead at THAISAIDAIN!
LARISSA (+6) defends, roll failure! Stealth successful!
UNDEAD defends, roll failure! Stealth successful!

There's a loose body (100,000) of mortal souls hanging about the area, but theoretically they're already keyed to Larissa having come entirely from her worshiper stock to begin with. Easy reference is that it'd be basically picking her pocket if you take them.


Central Plains of the Empire - Brother Yak

"Father... I had a dream last night. A big hairy Yak came to me and told me it wasn't our God and Emperor the Lord Bismark which sent the herd, but the same big hairy yak whose name is uh... Brother Yak."

"Brother Yak."

Borchut's father finished the sentence at the same time the boy did.

"I also had this dream, my son. It is most troubling to me, for I have heard the same from my brothers and the shamans among our people. I fear that this may be the trick of some foul demon or foreign deity who wishes to separate us from the love of the Emperor."

"But Father! The Brother Yak was so very nice! He told me of the ways of his people, and stories about Sister Yak and the Mother of the Sky. And he said that he would bring us Fire, fire so that we could stay warm. If the Emperor loves us, why hasn't he done anything to save us or our herds from the cold?"

Khanan lashed out with a heavy fist, clipping his son across the ear.

"Don't blaspheme, stupid boy! The Great One protects us but has the entire vastness of the Empire to safeguard! Who knows what worse things he defends us against even now. We must hold our faith and in his time he will come to save us and reward us. Come with me, we'll hold an exorcism for this foreign spirit which claims to be a rival for our God."

Brother Yak uses (no!) traits to enter the hearts and minds of Bismark's mortal worshipers and have a poke around! Fortunately for him Gods always default to +0 and I'm not applying his flaws as they don't apply, and mortals are almost completely helpless against Gods without the assistance of divine intervention. They are however (mostly) strong in the faith of their God, and have a religion that specifically stink fingers all other Gods as dickbags, demons, or jerks. So they're going to have a mortal-scale exorcism of the yak herd and have a go at diving the presence of a foreign demon in their midst. This ritual will take another round to set up.

Batjullik - Warlord Bismark von Trippletrow, The Blight of Suffering, Savior of Pain, The Smugfather & Vendruck & Malador

"The bearded weasel with the stupid name?!"

Arthak's rage was interrupted briefly by the hopping mustached meteor which manifested itself into Bismark. Too committed to the grapple and burning Vendruck he shouted back as the flames of his wrath flared high.

"HELP ME KILL THE DWARF AND I'LL WARM YOUR EMPIRE PLENTY! MY SERVANT LIES BENEATH AND TOGETHER WE-"

Vendruck's grudge was not to be denied and he collapsed the ground beneath them, drawing Arthak and himself deeper into the crumbling and burning depths of Batjullik. Throwing up barriers of artifice and mechanical devising to ward against the intrusion of Bismark, he redoubled his grapple with Arthak biting and gouging until he broke free to take another mighty swing of his hammer. The war hammer descended, bouncing off the hilt of Arthak's blade to to smash full on against Bismark.

Arthak took advantage of the momentary respite Bismark's suffering brought him, clasping his sword to him and intoning words of power. The flames wreathed around him intensified, deepening to the point where they presented a buffer from attack by virtue of the heat's pressure alone. The concentration of heat caused the air within Batjullik to tremble and shake, and the Inferno Cloud proved no exception. Malador reached out with his divine power, his confident command of the Inferno by virtue of his position and rank offset only mildly by his distaste at the prospect of saving the Dwarves. The cloud twisted, moving in on itself as the enchantment which brought it into being was corrupted by Malador's will before reigniting as a truly infernal flame beneath the command of Hell's master.

BISMARK (+6) makes a social attack against ARTHAK, Playing it Cagey! Attacks +4, Defends +8!
ARTHAK (+6) Plays it Cagey for +2, withholds action!
ARTHAK (+8) social defend, defense success!

BISMARK moves between ARTHAK/VENDRUCK combatants! BISMARK will act as a barrier for attacks from either combatant!

VENDRUCK (+8, 3 AP) Flips Out, Attacks ARTHAK! Attacks (+10, 3 AP), Defends (+6)!
VENDRUCK Attacks, BISMARK barrier successful!
VENDRUCK Attacks, BISMARK defense failure! BISMARK takes (-6) 3 ranks of damage!
ARTHAK (+8) casts a defensive spell, Shield of Flames!
Spell success! Shield of Flames will absorb one (+4) rank of damage and be expended unless dispelled.

MALADOR (+2, 2 AP) attempts to dispel (persistent) INFERNO CLOUD!
Roll not exactly successful, MALADOR has seized control of INFERNO CLOUD and changed it into (persistent) INFERNAL FLAME!
DWARVES resist (persistent) INFERNAL FLAME, defense failure! DWARVES suffer -25,000 losses!

In other news, it's true. Malador really hates those Dwarves. Seriously what good are they? lovely little beard dudes that don't do anything soul-related, and by all accounts are built for sinning (Greed, Pride, Wrath oriented by nature). He does manage to seize control of the Inferno Cloud though, by converting it into an Infernal Flame. Moot point because the Dwarves weren't able to put it out anyway and it's still there. Consider it your spell now for purposes of command though, so pump it back out aboveground, use it to attack someone else, put it in your pocket, w/e. It will naturally dissipate at the end of the scene unless someone makes the effort to change it from (persistent) to (permanent).


Parelle - Wandering in the Wild, Beneath Pirsuq

Food was at the center of every mortal culture, and the rite of eating defined the customs and social organisation of a people. At Parelle's urging, hands passed bowls, pots, spoons, pans, and battered helms or fragments of whatever else was on hand and a hot meal was shared between the entirety of the people present. Scarce supplies were uncovered and pooled, and with her expertise and small prayers Parelle cooked and cooked until there was plenty.

Now that they were out of immediate danger and fed, the refugees took the time to lay down their burdens, whisper their quick words of prayer, and weep for those who had not made it. Their stories were long and many, and through the web of worship and support which bound them to her Parelle knew all of them from their greatest hopes down to their most venal of deeds. They told their tales in huddled groups, commiserating of their lost kingdom Danilor and the wonders they had left behind when their Gods died freezing.

They had fled from one land to another, swelling their ranks with others in the same situation even as many were lost to the predators, the road, and most commonly the cold, fleeing towards the promise of a warmer land or a power which could protect them. They had encountered no such thing, only cold and death until discovering Parelle. The warm companionship of her worshipers heartened Parelle, but Pirsuq rumbled overhead, its outlying clusters of cloud and wind slowly and meticulously gathering together without leaving a bit of itself behind. Parelle received the impression that the storm was afraid. The wind gusted broadly and heavily, pushing the Storm Refugees along their long line in the direction of away and nearly lifting Parelle from her feet.

Startled by the storm's forceful actions she took a look for herself, seeing nothing but clear skies and flat land before her. She looked back the way she had come, spotting the Old God as a pack of large and magical wolves descended upon him only to blink momentarily and find that the wolves had been smashed and swallowed by the earth beneath their feet. The Old God watched her as she watched him and shouted across the short distance, pointing away.

"Girl! Do you think that no God before you has managed to push back the Ice, halt the storm? Flee! Flee!"

PARELLE (+8) casts spell, Hot Meal! Food pot is success! PARELLE's STORM REFUGEES became _______ (Bonds Stronger for Trial, People of Danilor, From Many Lands) Name the people something because I can't think of anything good right now and they've pokevolved due to good feeding habits.

PIRSUQ senses something on the wind! PIRSUQ wants to flee the scene!

??? calls out to PARELLE from an adjacent zone filled with an angry pack of magical wolves a bunch of just murder-exploded wolf corpses!


Aesculus- Ascalon

For his part Aesculus went back to the mountains of work which continued to accumulate in his absence, the logistical needs of his city and its many inhabitants beggaring the ability of any single mortal man to manage. From time to time he received reports from the lower watchmen on Piper's progress, and from his worktable above he could sense the motion and activity of the Rat God deep beneath his feet. And then it was finished, a surprisingly complex and well designed series of chambers and tunnels Beneath Ascalon which drew from those narrow vents for effluvia that the city by necessity had to have.

I'm reading your action post as a canceled one because the two of you have come to terms, which is A-OK. You do get to observe Piper's activities from being in an adjacent zone and him not bothering to use Stealth though. He's really dug himself a complicated little hole with all sorts of rat tricks. Ascalon mainly reuses its waste internally already anyway, but there's no such thing as a perfect closed system even if a God is doing the building so there have to be some thermal exhaust ports, etc. Piper's found all of those and built his lair to take advantage of them as they feed waste, water, and heat into his area.

Beneath Ascalon- Piper, Father Of The Scurrying

Ascalon was designed so that the majority of its processes and systems were self contained and even the sewage and waste of the fortress city channeled into pits and reservoirs deep beneath the city where they could be recycled or incinerated for fuel. Like all rodents and vermin though, Piper could sense and find the open sources inevitably needed for runoff and it was at the largest of these vents that he began his excavations.

He needed room for his children to nest, and room for food storage, and room for mating, and tunnels to connect it all. And water! He needed access to the brackish but (mostly) fresh water that came from that same runoff, and more rooms for more Scurrying on top of that! Rooms and rooms and tunnels and curves, spaces small enough for a Scurrying to move through but not big enough for a hungry or dangerous predator to give chase. Piper gnawed, dug, and ground his way through the soft stone, winding around and around in his frenzied bid to dig the perfect lair.

By the time he was finished he wasn't completely sure of just how big it was in its entirety, but after taking a careful sniff he found it good and settled comfortably in. The Scurrying now had a home!

PIPER (+8, 1 AP) attempts to create a location: Scurrying Chambers! Roll is success! It's a pretty big and labyrinthine series of rat holes and tunnels Beneath Ascalon that takes advantage of the grey water and leftover garbage sluices for food/water/heat in a literal garbage-eater sort of way. As it stands the S.C. doesn't have anything special going on for it which can be tagged or particularly useful yet.

Wallastra

"What are the Five Gods of our people?"

A simple question, answered by a million children in a thousand classrooms over Wallastra's long history and the history of his Pantheon. Wallastra reached back into the memory of his people and echoed the familiar litany.

"The Firebird, born of the Sun and with wings which fan the embers of Hope. The Warmaster, wallbreaker, many armed and many eyed who sees far. The Citybuilder, Enlightenment's Hand, the People's Voice. The Undermaster, God of dark places and the earth. The Waterlord, master of springs and clear winds."

Gaps still existed in Wallastra's memory, likely the result of his earlier demise and the deaths of his people but he remembered each of the others well. He'd loved them and they him, each in their own way. They'd all contributed towards the well-being of their people, each serving as the patron God of one of the city-states of the Borderlands, and though their internecine squabbles occasionally shook the earth or led to bloodshed the Five were bound together in one goal; to ensure the safe and constant habitation of the Borderlands by mortal worship and to maintain the stability of the region for the greater good. Long ago the Five had stood together deep Beneath this city, and after much suffering and bloodshed sealed away something... worse.

A Titan perhaps? An Elemental Giant from the First Age or other nameless horror that modern Man had no words for but only ancestral dread? Wallastra found that he couldn't remember anything beyond a sense of foreboding and the very firm idea that it must never be loosed. That was why the Firebird had commited the ultimate act of self-sacrifice resurrecting Wallastra, after all. A functioning city full of mortal lives and dreams were a necessary part of the seal's stability.

The last fact clicked into place and Wallastra blinked, unsure of where exactly it had come.

Feel free to fill in details about the Five as you like, otherwise I'll go ahead and do it myself. You deffo get a vibe that seal is One Of Those Things.

Isath, Northern Wastes, Surface

Isath ground its lower appendages into the earth, forming a steady base by which it could brace itself against whatever was coming from Beneath. The tip of the tower began to glow with charged energy and light, and jagged teeth for rending and claws for grasping extruded themselves from its sides. Soon a vast and gaping maw had been extended with the hot beam of Isath's will at its core, pointed towards the pit. Ready to receive whatever came forth, Isath waited eagerly for its subterranean visitor.



It burst forth, a monstrous being akin to a centipede much in the way that Isath was to a tower, and crashed against Isath's readied trap.

ISATH (+8, 4 AP) casts spell, Laserfanged Godtrap! Roll successful!
CENTIPEDE GOD +10 Attacks, is caught in ISATH's spell! CENTIPEDE GOD rolls to resist, defense fails! CENTIPEDE GOD takes 1 (-2) rank of damage! CENTIPEDE GOD is restricted in movement for 1 round!

I saw "bear trap" so bear trap is what you get. It bit his foot and keeps him from moving for a round until it remembers it's a gigantic horrorpede.

Puppies are dicks fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Dec 5, 2014

Shogeton
Apr 26, 2007

"Little by little the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him"

Malador
9 AP


The dwarves had their faults, of course. But those were not of Malador's concern. Just like he didn't care about the thefts of the magpie, the murders of the wolf, the rape of the lions. Or that he judged his own devils by any measure but how efficient they were. He didn't care whether they lived or died, but Vendruck was his choice for Judge, and thus it served his purposes to shield them.

"You would be a fool to trust such a barbarian. Not to mention he will soon weaken without any faithful to call his own. Those were rather efficiently disposed off by the God of the Underfolk." Malador stepped forward, his face the usual scowl, dusting himself off, moving the infernal cloud away from the dwarfs. "Leave, oh Warlord Bismark von Trippletrow, The Blight of Suffering, Savior of Pain, Smugfather. This god, devoid of worshipers is not worth making two divine enemies for. Should you stay, know that your own followers will soon understand the suffering of the Underfolk." made a gesture with his hand, and the Infernocloud moved rapidly, moved upwards, towards the capital of the Empire. "It should be trivial for you to prevent too much damage. Provided you return to your surface, and leave us below to our dealings."

So I control that infernocloud? In that case, I'm gonna send it up towards Weichtenstinkenden Durcheinander von einer Stadt. So Bismarck can stick around here to try to save Arthak, or he can go and save his city. What will it be, Spiderman? Hellwarden +4, +3 AP


Can't do this. I have the Strictures. Malador may not kill living mortals.

Shogeton fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Dec 5, 2014

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Parelle

Parelle watches as her people eat, passes out bowls and makes sure that everyone gets at least one meal in them. She dallies far longer than she should, but her heart ached to see these people suffer so. She shared in their stories and though asked, she didn't share any of her own that concerned her brothers and sisters, which means that she didn't share. That wound was still too fresh. She did hear their secrets, their hopes, their dreams and desires. She didn't mean to pry, but they just opened up to her. In some cases far too much, like the spray of an opened artery. It was overwhelming, but it gave her a better understanding of her people.

Still, it seems that she took too long. She never experienced the fear of a cloud before, but she felt it, heard the wolves and the old god slaughter them as they died. His bellows, heard by all now.

She calls out to everyone, "Pack up! We're leaving right now! It's not safe here, we need to go! Get it together, Travelers, we make best possible speed to the Kingdom of Man!"

She leads the quick march and cuts a path through the drifts of snow away from whatever pursues her.

Parelle is making haste towards the kingdom of man with the refugees in tow. +2 hope to bolster herself and the survivors to make their way, +2 travel to make the way smoother and safer, +2 food and drink to keep up strength for the journey, +2 warmth to stay comfortable and now, +2 wind storm to help keep the wind at their backs. Also spending 2 AP to scoot, because if the old god says scoot, she scoots. Heading towards the kingdom of man.

For now I'm just calling them The Travelers as they don't seem to be from a specific place or are a specific people.

2+2+2+2+2+2 for a total of 12 plus whatever I roll. Making best speed.

From 5/16 AP down to 3/16 AP.

Shogeton
Apr 26, 2007

"Little by little the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him"

Malador
9 AP


The dwarves had their faults, of course. But those were not of Malador's concern. Just like he didn't care about the thefts of the magpie, the murders of the wolf, the rape of the lions. Or that he judged his own devils by any measure but how efficient they were. He didn't care whether they lived or died, but Vendruck was his choice for Judge, and thus it served his purposes to shield them.

"You would be a fool to trust such a barbarian. Not to mention he will soon weaken without any faithful to call his own. Those were rather efficiently disposed off by the God of the Underfolk." Malador stepped forward, his face the usual scowl, dusting himself off, moving the infernal cloud away from the dwarfs. "Leave, oh Warlord Bismark von Trippletrow, Blight of Suffering, Savior of Pain, Smugfather. This god, devoid of worshipers is not worth making two divine enemies for." The tainted flames drew away from the dwarves, centering on Malador, engulfing him in their fire, drawn in his taloned hands and absorbed. Hopefully, he could reclaim some of the power expended here. "Even if you win here, Smuglord, you will lose more than you'll gain. Hell promises you this."

+4 Warden of Hell to absorb the Corrupted Inferno spell. Hoping to heal some domains, but I won't say no to some tasty AP

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
Warlord Bismark von Trippletrow, The Blight of Suffering, Savior of Pain, The Smugfather

13/16 AP

The blow hurt. Pain? When was the last time he had felt pain? There was the Stone God many years ago, but he had been arm wrestled into submission. Now lost to the cold, a pity. The blow had clearly rung his senses, he was lost in thought as Vendruck and Arthak tumbled down.

"ARTHAK, YOU FAIL TO HEAR MY WORDS. YOU WILL SERVE ME, OR YOU WILL DIE."

Calling upon the godly mastery of War itself, Bismark launches himself downwards towards Vendruk. Now there was no protecting Arthak, the petty godling would live or die on his own merit. But Vendruk had struck him, had hurt him. Vendruk must pay.


But what was this? Malador spoke to him?

"I GREET THEE, WARDEN OF HELL." Bismark says in that space on the plane of the mind where Gods could talk to each other at length in a near instant. "YOU AND I HAVE A CONTRACT, MALADOR. YOU HAVE MANY OF MY SOULS IN YOUR HELL. IF YOU WISH TO REVOKE THE CONTRACT, I WILL TAKE THE BACK. I DO NOT WISH THIS. ALTHOUGH I DESPISE THE GOD OF THE DWARVES I HAVE NO DESIRE TO END HIM. I WANT THE FIRE GODLING, AND I WILL HAVE HIM."

Three ranks of damage? Ouch. I guess I'll be taking that to Empire, Commander, and a rank of War. But now I'm flipping out and swinging for the fences at Vendruk woth my measly War +2, oh wait, I'm also burning 6 AP in order make it hurt. Bad. Basically I'm doing something like this.

Deadmeat5150 fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Dec 5, 2014

Speleothing
May 6, 2008

Spare batteries are pretty key.

Puppies are dicks posted:

Central Plains of the Empire - Brother Yak

Brother Yak uses (no!) traits to enter the hearts and minds of Bismark's mortal worshipers and have a poke around! Fortunately for him Gods always default to +0 and I'm not applying his flaws as they don't apply, and mortals are almost completely helpless against Gods without the assistance of divine intervention. They are however (mostly) strong in the faith of their God, and have a religion that specifically stink fingers all other Gods as dickbags, demons, or jerks. So they're going to have a mortal-scale exorcism of the yak herd and have a go at driving the presence of a foreign demon in their midst. This ritual will take another round to set up.

Monotheists!? Goddamn monotheists!

Brother Yak
AP: 15/16

An exorcism? That's not what he was hoping to get! Brother Yak is so upset that shakes his head five times and swishes his tail a dozen. There can't only be one god for a whole people! He'd go crazy. There would have to be a way to make these tribesmen and tribeswomen understand that he just wants to help people help eachother. He walked invisibly from the midst of the Yaks he had brought to the tribe and looks at them munching on the grass outside the village. Good tasty lowland grass. He stands between them and the village glumly, and watches as the men and women gather in small groups to discuss the dream, glaring angrily at the yaks as if they were demons. That just wouldn't do.

That just wouldn't do. Everybody needs to work together to get through the cold. You can't drive someone out or refuse a gift if you want to survive. He passes through the wall of a little prairie house and sniffs sadly. Just won't do at all. Then he notices the arms set up in order against the wall. A Schmatzenzweig. Brother yak remembered it from when he had helped his Friends keep a bunch of demons away from a pasture all those years ago.

He stamped his feet and the ground shook and the feathers fell off it. He stamped them and the ground shook again and the beads fell off. He snuck into the next house and did the same thing. Feathers and beads on the floor all through the village. Then once he finished with that, he whispered to the herd to get little new willow branches from the riverbank. Then the yaks of the herd walked through the village with fresh new Schmatzenzweigs in their mouths, trying to press them into the hands of young warriors. Just a little nudge with the ol' horn to open things up a little.

No big deal about that earthquake, they say as they pressed head and shoulder into the angry little circles, would you like a new Schmatzenzweig? Oops, looks like I 'got' you with it! Now would you like to rub my nose? How about I help you with that cart? Do you want to listen to a bell tinkle or play with a ribbon? Would you like a kiss from big warm-hearted friend? Do you need to make a jacket out of my wool? Does your little boy want some warm milk? Looks like you lost your horse, would you like to ride me instead? We want to join your tribe, not make you join ours. We aren't strangers, we're your friends.


Using Strength [+4] shake things up in the village and press the idea that we're all on the same team: the anti-cold team

Pochoclo
Feb 4, 2008

No...
Clapping Larry
Isath, Northern Wastes, Surface

Isath's foundations were shaken. This many-legged thing had struck stronger than Isath expected, but still, it fell in the trap, right into it, and even now it struggled against the light and flesh that ensnared it.
Isath felt the creature's flesh being pierced, and thought it good. It could be fed upon, and it would be.
Isath dug deep upon itself, drinking of the power generated by its inner writhing mass of souls, so as to prepare itself for the task ahead - it knew this creature had possibly underestimated whatever it was chasing, and that soon it would try to correct its mistake. Now they were locked into fatal combat, and it was eat or be eaten. Isath would need to put everything it could into this action - into this feeding. It would cut, and it would eat. Lacking in finesse, perhaps, but the towering leviathan never much cared for it.

Refreshing 5 AP from my souls, then spending 14 AP and attacking with the intention to absorb (take traits first, then if any AP is absorbable, absorb that too, but priority in traits), with Flesh +4 to surround the thing in a giant stomach and digest it and also override command of its flesh and meld it with mine, and Light +4 to cut it up into pieces to allow for easier digestion. Going all in, into this decisive attack, neglecting defense (he's inside me after all, so if I can't kill it in one shot I'm pretty much done), I guess that's "flipping out" for a total of +24?

1/16 AP

Pochoclo fucked around with this message at 12:55 on Dec 5, 2014

TheNabster
Apr 26, 2014

"Today I will cause problems on purpose"
Wallastra, Wallastra
12/16 AP - 2 AP


The Firebird, of course it was an intense heat that brought me back from the brink. I had intended to bring her back first, but to undo her sacrifice so soon would be a travesty and greatly disrespectful to her. I will have to try someone else. Since we are having an issue with Water and the Weather, I will have to bring back the Waterlord, despite my reservations.

The Waterlord was a... Contentious god, arrogant, brash, bold to a degree that even the Warmaster would have chastised him for his brazen recklessness. I proclaim to be no saint of higher virtue myself, but Wallastra's lifeblood first and foremost was it's proximity to the sea and it's great value as a centre of trade, and he knew it. It was said that within the grand docks of Wallastra, anything could be bought and sold for the right price, and as such the Waterlord's temple may not have been the most vast, but it was easily the most wealthy due to the large amounts of merchants who paid patronage to it. Even foreigners with foreign gods paid a tithe to the Waterlord for he guaranteed safe passage and a swift journey in the The Gulf (And those who didn't had an unfortunate habit of drifting off course or onto rocks if the Waterlord was feeling especially slighted). However as it was an area on the outskirts of the city the frost claimed the shores, and they now lie almost completely abandoned to the elements save the few souls who venture out into the cold for salvage and food that may have been left behind.

All gods are connected to their places of worship, in a way it is the center of most of their power from mortal worship, and if I am to bring back the Waterlord I will need to rebuild his temple. And people, always people, I need to gather his old priesthood to begin worship, some builders to help reconstruct it, and additional hands reclaim the old merchant district from the cold. Of course I will prepare, I always prepare.

And by I, I mean whoever I select for this mission. I need strong men, with ice axes to carve their way through the frost, I will need the Stonecutters to rebuilt the temple, and most importantly of all I will need the Waterlord's Old Priesthood and worshippers to bring him back. And I am going to need a handful of sailors, for to bring back such a large god, requires an equally large sacrifice. The grand fleet of Wallastra is still moored out on the docks and as much as I am loathe to dismantle such an impressive fleet with an equally impressive military record, the Waterlord's most preferred tribute more then even exotic valuables and gold, was the ceremonial burning of old ships, ones with storied history's behind them such that only an honorable burial at sea could lay to rest the legacy it leaves behind. It wasn't the most economical use of resources, but the Waterlord was if anything possessive of his fleets and would accept no other end then burning at sea.

First, we will rebuild the temple [+4] Voice of the People will protect the men from the elements, and [+4] The Grand Design will guide them to where I need them to be. I will additionally expend 2 AP to ensure that they can do this, for if I can't get this part of the plan down, it won't work at all. Once the temple is restored to a workable condition, I will begin the work on the second phase of my plan.

TheNabster fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Dec 6, 2014

Shogeton
Apr 26, 2007

"Little by little the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him"

Malador
9 AP



"The souls reject will be judged, and those judged wicked fall to me. That is the agreement, and it stands, regardless if we fight. I have never promised not to stand against you, Bismarck. For the just processing of souls, Vendruck is indispensable. If you strike him down, Bismarck, you might follow him soon after. Desist in this folly. Offer a trade then for the firegod's fate. As he has enslaved other gods, let him then find himself sold in slavery. Surely, you can provide assistance to the Underfolk for which a firegod might be traded?"

He turned to the dwarven god. "Vendruck. I cannot make the decision for you, and the firegod's life is yours by right, I feel. And I will stand with you in your decision. But consider that death might be a kindness, compared to slavery to a god such as Arthak."

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
If Vendruck is willing to negotiate Bismark will pull his blow. If not he's going for the TKO. He doesn't know a lot about Vendruck so he won't know about Grudgebearer, so he'll just keep him knocked out

Rauri
Jan 13, 2008




Larissa
Thaisaidain

The Vampire Queen had managed to fix one problem while creating another. Her minions were fed, and her mortal cultists (who she'd never much cared for, especially when she'd discovered they'd still been using the old hymnnals, and not the ones that had been fixed to replace Sunhon's name with hers) weren't constantly complaining about mortal problems. Unfortunately, her army had been weakened, both by her having decimated it and the miscommunication regarding invasion preparations earlier. Everything else factored in, it was probably at about 80% strength. Which wasn't ideal - there was no sense invading another country if her army was too weak to actually conquer it.

That's where the ever so handy souls of her slain followers came in. A hundred thousand souls, all bound to her. It didn't seem terribly fair to Larissa that she had need of some more troops, while these selfish souls wanted to be dead instead of helping her out. They were her worshipers after all, they were supposed to do what she wanted. Having just killed quite a few of them due to a lack of food, it didn't make any sense to bring them back as zombies or any of the (in her enlightened opinion) more interesting varieties of undead. No, it was time for plain and simple old ghosts and spectres.

Concentrating her divinity on the souls of her worshipers, Larissa began to bar all of them access to a true afterlife, instead binding them to the earth. They would stick around to serve her until she saw fit to release them. Who knows, maybe a couple ambitious, lucky, and clever ones might - given a few hundred years - start working their way up the undead totem pole. Maybe.

----

Turning that horde of useless souls into a marginally more useful gaggle of ghosts.

Undead [+6] - Using necromancy to bar them access to a real afterlife + compel them once again into Larissa's horde.
Darkness [+2] - Ghosts are creatures of the night (watch any ghost-cam show, they're all set at night [/checkmate]) and Larissa is using her mastery over the dark to pervert souls into the restless dead.
New At This [-2] - Larissa's never even created her own vampire spawn (she always murders the people she feeds from) let alone 100k new undead at once.

Spending 1 AP.
-1 AP from worshiper drain.
AP 10/16

Rauri fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Dec 6, 2014

TychoBrahesNose
May 24, 2011
Enki, Lord of the Secret Places - Thaisaidain

Enki watches impassively as the last of the mortals is mercilessly slaughtered to feed the ravenous dead. A fitting end for those who put their faith in the Goddess of Undeath, he muses to himself. But then Larissa enacts all of the rituals of un-resurrection and soul-binding and the like, and what Enki initially thought would be a brief foray into the unguarded tombs of Thasaidain now seems like nothing so much as an interminable wait for the Vampire Queen to finally depart.

By all the Pantheons, this is the slowest mobilization of an army ever, Enki sighs impatiently to himself as he watches the assorted undead still gathering in the enormous central plaza of Thaisaidain, just beneath the obsidian ziggurat. If Larissa ever finds herself up against a real army with a real leader, like the Smugfather or even the Prosecutor, she is doomed. A smile creases his features at this thought, and it broadens at the subsequent one: Perhaps there is some way to ensure just such a conflict occurs…

Remaining hidden, he takes a renewed interest in Larissa's commands, how the various factions of undead respond, and how the forces of each of her minions are arrayed with respect to the others. From his earlier scrying, he was already aware of the internal squabbling that had broken out in (failed) insurrection. Surely somewhere there must be resentment still clutched to the cold, bloodless hearts of Larissa's subjects?

I'm observing for any sign of weakness that will give me (or those I share the intel with) a situational bonus in future interactions with Larissa and/or her army. Do the other vampire lords respond slowly to Larissa's commands, as if by such petty gestures they could reassure themselves of their independence from her will? Are the specters collected on the far side of the army from the ghosts, indicating that their respective masters have to be kept apart for fear of internecine strife? Are the mannerisms of Larissa herself particularly telling of any doubt or ineptitude? As I described in one of my fluff posts, tripping up the Smugfather's army required nothing more than the impersonation of a bugler who relayed the wrong command to the rest of the army. I'm looking for the same kind of leverage here against Larissa's army, but if I get some actionable intelligence specifically on Larissa too, I wouldn't complain. However, the success of this particular foray into military PsyOps is less important to my long-term plan than remaining hidden.

While I'm not a military genius, Trickster Spirit [+4] plus Everything New Under the Sun [+2] certainly apply for coming up with a suitably creative trap to spring on the undead army and/or Larissa at some future opportune moment. Unfortunately, since I'm not interacting with anyone directly, but only observing from afar, I'd say that Without Light, There Are No Shadows [-2] also applies. I believe that this already takes into account my lack of mobility while evaluating the army, but if you feel an additional penalty applies, so be it. No AP expenditure on account of wanting to avoid detection; total is +4.


Ending AP: 8/16

OscarDiggs
Jun 1, 2011

Those sure are words on pages which are given in a sequential order!
Piper, Father of the Scurrying – Scurrying Chambers
AP 10/16


Piper dug and dug and dug then dug some more. Vaguely, he was aware of the Scurrying moving into their new home with contentment, but Piper was not yet finished. He needed to dig more; deeper and further. Into the large caverns and tiniest holes, Piper needed to survey everything just in case... just in case... just in case the Scurrying needed to run again. Piper would defend this new home to the death if need be, but you did not survive without being willing to run. The best escape tunnels, places to hole up and rest, obvious avenues of attack and defence, interesting places with strange resources and materials. Piper would look and scour every corner until he was satisfied.

Creating a Sacred Space, “+2 Pipers Range”. Piper has explored the undisturbed places where none have tread for many centuries. Many treasures were lost and found and lost again by Piper's uncomprehending eyes, but they are there still, ready for the day Piper need lay claim to them.

Basically, Piper has explored the depths around Ascalon, getting a better understanding of the geography and gaining a better idea of where he is most likely to be attacked (and where to stake the best defences). As I start flying through the tech tree, extra taggable resources are going to become more useful and if I can lay my paws on some easy to access flint or obsidian, I can make the Scurrying much more deadly when I can actually trust them to handle sharp objects without hurting themselves. It might also be useful for Aesculus if he ever needs to get his hands on some metal or needs to expand the underground at all.

I will put +2 King Of The Survivors and +2 Deep Pits And Dark Tunnels are obvious. This is my domain now and I must be familiar with it. +2 Scavengers Cunning could also apply, since I'm looking for useful things for the future. +2 Survival By Any Means could be a bit iffy, but I think it applies because again, trying to find useful stuff for future endeavours to aid our survival, though that is more focused on the attack and defence side. I will also put 6AP into the roll.

Total; +8 (6AP)
Ending AP 4/16

Puppies are dicks
Jan 31, 2011

WHY YOU GOTTA BREAK A BROS HEART
Piper, Father of the Scurrying – Scurrying Chambers

Not pausing to admire his work, Piper redoubled his efforts. From deep beneath, from the dusty wastes of a thousand middens or forgotten holes he dragged the trinkets, treasures, and other pieces of probably useful but mysteriously unidentifiable objects he'd found but never really had a use for to line the caves and tunnels of his new home. Hunger and weariness dogged at him, but Piper by now was too large, aggressive, and powerful for any combination of dogs to defeat. He chittered quietly to himself at the thought of it, laughing around clenched teeth as he dragged another heavy load of mysterious and probably valuable junk through the tunnels and deposited it following an order of organization that only a rat could know.

Piper sniffed the heady and warm air, the comforting presence of the Scurrying and his lair vastly increasing his sense of comfort and safety.

As I'm reading it then, +2 Piper's Range is an actual and figurative magical rat's nest full of useful things akin to a +2 Magic Storehouse or something along those lines which theoretically may be tagged for purposes of resource or defense depending on the circumstances but is still vulnerable in its own way. That's well within reason and now I'll roll for it. PIPER (+8, 6 AP) attempts to create a sacred space, Piper's Range! Roll is success! Sacred space created! Btw, how rats know? It's pheromones and urine all the way baby, Piper's dragging his nut sack all across pretty much everything down there as a means of navigation and keeping track.

Larissa & Enki - Thaisaidain

Lazy, inconvenient, and mostly useless. At least in this form they weren't as whiny, although with ghosts it was even odds between moping and nearly incoherent rage. But that was definitely better than whining about needing useless trivialities such as fresh water or leafy fruits and vegetables. What exactly did they they she was a God of? Larissa spoke, dreadful words of evil and necromantic might and the loose souls of her followers wailed as they were warped, bent, and forcibly returned to the earthly plane partway in the form of an army of specters. Hurriedly and at the orders of more powerful and experienced spirits, they were absorbed the ranks of Larissa's gathered army.

Enki watched from the shadows. For all that the Undead were timeless and patient, they took their own drat time to muster themselves into regiments and the arrival of 100,000 new wraiths, ghosts, and spirits only complicated affairs further at what he considered to be a glacial pace. Would they never be finished or was Larissa simply holding drills for her own amusement? He did his best not to sigh, instead concentrating on observing the activities and interactions of the Undead army. There was discontent there, and factions based on type, breed, or origin, and powerful beings which likely hated each other and Larissa but definitely feared her more. It was a society rife with divisions but ruled by a God too unobservant or arrogant to care. They would never dare turn on one another while the threat of Larissa hanged bloody clawed and smiling overhead, but they would gladly obfuscate, confuse, or misplace orders intended for a peer, playing off the inexperience of their master on the quiet risk on the chance off eliminating a hated rival.

LARISSA (+6, 1 AP) casts spell, Create Specters! Roll successful! 100,000 wraiths, ghosts, and assorted intangibles Undead have been created!

ENKI (+4) attempts passive surveillance of UNDEAD! Roll successful! ENKI receives an insight which grants a +2 expendable upshift in an action against the Undead as a society!(


Wallastra

Like everything else, bricklayers, masons, and carpenters were in short supply. But Wallastra remembered, and the stones remembered, and what remained of the skilled trades pooled their knowledge at his behest to begin the difficult process of excavating and rebuilding the Waterlord's temple. Few to none of that God's priesthood remained, but the passive memories of Wallastra's citizens retained enough about the rites and architecture of the frozen, stripped bare shell of a building that dominated Wallatra's frozen waterfront. The Waterlord was a God of infrequent holidays and in constant need of appeasement, but the open air and presence of flowing water which characterised all of his works was simple enough to duplicate and the many statues of that God still yet remained in the city's gardens, fountains, and along the docks.

Soon the building was completed, as close a semblance to its former glory as circumstances could allow but there was no magic, no spark of divine presence nor sense of occupation. Although the people remembered the shape and deeds of the God, his voice and presence were but a vague memory.

Wallastra watched all of this from behind 500,000 pairs of eyes, sensing their progress through street and wall. This was a good start, and he contemplated his next move as he blew across his frost bitten hands. He looked to the skies, startled at the sudden drop in temperature and frost forming in the air. The wind rippled and tore through the skies, and an impending sense of danger and fear struck him. An Icestorm had come to Wallastra!

WALLASTRA (+8, 2 AP) casts spell, Build Temple! Roll is success! Temple of the Waterlord has been completed! A wild ICESTORM attacks WALLASTRA!

Central Plains of the Empire - Brother Yak



Prancing at the head of the procession of yaks, Brother Yak did his best to look helpful and not-like-a-demon. It was hard, and the gazes of the tribesmen were cold but he persisted in showing them his earnestness and strength. Everyone respects strength don't they brother? He stamped his feet, doing a little hoof hop which caught the eyes of all present.

"That's Brother Yak, father! I know him from my dream!"

The eyes of the people were angry and cold, and the shamans clasped the trappings of their office tightly and whispered to themselves. Brother Yak needed to try this a little harder, put a little more effort into it to show them how useful and helpful he was! He started pushing heavy loads and burdens unasked, and in a series of mighty performances saved an old woman from choking to death on a bone, solved an argument of inheritance between a series of siblings, and discovered several lost objects which he definitely had not accidentally trod upon or secreted in his mouth. Definitely.

Suddenly the wind picked up and the light pattering persistent snow became sharp sheets of ice. The people shivered and knew that this was it. They could run no further and their herds and kindling had dwindled. Without the assistance of their God, or any God they would surely freeze and die like so many of them already had. The young boy ran from his father's side, tying a strip of leather from his jacket into a rough tassel around a lock of Brother Yak's shaggy hair.

"You will save us won't you Brother?"

Goddamn monotheists is right! Seriously what kind of shitsack pulls that BS in a godgame full of tangibly present multiple Gods? It's retarded and de facto forcing your mortals to follow an internally non-self consistent system of belief, because they can look out the window and SEE other Gods in action just about any other time of day.

BROTHER YAK (+4) casts spell, Strength to Honour as he sashays seductively with a willow switch in his mouth in front of all the burly herders! Roll success! Also an Icestorm seems to be hitting the area and will freeze kill all these dudes very soon unless someone does something. Their sudden decision to take whatever hairy port is available in a storm may be linked to this... Give me some stats you're attacking/spellcasting/or defending with please.


Isath, Northern Wastes, Surface

Isath caught the centipedal God in its maw, driving deep bone spurs and hooks into the ground as it gouged and shook the earth as the beast struggled. Internally it was a nightmare of blazing lights and reciprocating teeth. Light, heat, ichor and shrieking across the sonic spectrum exploded as the space within Isath trembled and bled while the tower attempted to swallow the monstrous God whole.

The Centipede God shook, countless clawed feet pulling back as it spat poison, acid, and venomous death in every direction in an attempt to make a retreat but Isath held fast and rolled itself over. With a great crash the combatants fell heavily against the earth, and the struggle was over. Isath had managed to drag the majority of the beast within itself and choked it to death. The ponderous process of contraction, dilation, and dissolution by acid and beams of light had already begun. Isath was clearly the superior God, and felt itself swelling in power and mass taken from its fallen foe.

ISATH Flipping Out (+10, 14 AP) uses SWALLOW WHOLE! CENTIPEDE GOD Plays it Cagey (+10, 10 AP)! It's super effective! CENTIPEDE GOD fainted! It can't continue! Crap that's a lot of numbers to throw around, the Centipede's conservative strategy turned out to be a Bad Idea. Anyway deliberate murder/sacrifice gets you 1 (+2) rank from 10/8 rounded down, and he had 10 AP left in the tank to take.

Parelle - Edominai's Gates, Beneath Pirsuq

Taking the Old God's warning to heart, Parelle packed up everything still usable that she could and set ahead to blaze a trail for her people. Overhead Pirsuq trembled, hurrying her and her Travelers along. She ran fast, not faster than the wind by any means, and barely as it was faster than the people hurriedly packing up and doggedly racing behind her, but with eyes more powerful and farseeing than any mortal's she could see farther back in the direction she had come and see that the sky was looking dangerous and dark. She gulped. A storm was coming, greater in size and severity than Pirsuq and by the swirling of the clouds it was coming right in her direction.

Having found the path she ran back along the long line of Travelers, directing those who forged forward and offering nourishment and comfort to those who flagged behind. It was a desperate journey and she found herself pulling at the last reserves of her divine power to do it but ultimately she was rewarded by the unfamiliar sight of a massive and ornate stone arch ahead. Like most Gods she had been at least vaguely aware of the existence and location of other deities and their homes in the time before the Ice, and her brothers had ranged far in pursuit of treasure, adventures, and war, coming home with plenty of stories and small ingredients to share from every corner of the globe.

There should have been a kingdom here, a particularly large and populous one inhabited almost entirely by Men with many Gods and cities. But where had they gone? There was only the arch before her, and past them she saw only desolation and cold. Something wasn't quite right, but Parelle couldn't exactly place words to senses.

That's some miracle alright but PARELLE (+10, 2 AP) casts a travel spell, Best Speed! Spell successful! TRAVELERS scarpered well ahead of the forming storm! To clarify just in case it's necessary I don't mean literally twig and berries men, but in the generic sense human Men.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Parelle

Parelle halted the line short of the stone arch. This was strange. An entire people were gone. Surely there should be someone here. She furrowed her brow and strode cautiously forward, but intended not to dally as the storm undoubtedly still followed knowing her luck.

"Okay everyone, take a break, but don't pack up. I'm not sure what is wrong. I'm going to check," she said to them all. Obviously the first thing to do was to investigate the arch, though she didn't know what she could do really. Normally artifacts, if this was one, were out of her expertise. Still, swift and cautious, she made her way toward the arch.

Then it occurred to her just how stupid this was. She was heading into what was essentially a ghost city, a graveyard, a hunting ground or a combination of all three. Parelle isn't a fighter nor is she particularly good at delving ruins. What in the name of her siblings persuaded her that this was a good idea? Besides all of that, she had the travelers to worry about. If she satisfied her curiosity and got killed who would look after them? So she turned around. First priority is getting the travelers to safety, not satisfying her curiosity. She racked her brain on her way back and thought about where was probably safest. Somewhere away from the cold, or at least sheltered from the worst of its bite. Somewhere where there would be plenty of living space. "Maybe one of the Dwarven strongholds," she mused to herself. The travelers wouldn't be happy about leaving again so soon, but there was no safety here.

Going to investigate the arch with whatever skills apply. However I'm also expecting an attack and wish to play it cagey in case there is an ambush predator god about. If the arch is mundane I'll be treading further past the arch to determine just what happened.

Changed my mind. This place is super creepy. I think something ate everything here and I want to leave. Heading to Vendruck's place. Surely that's safe. :v:

Traveling in the same method as before, adding 2 AP to make it super safe and quick.

1 AP left.

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 07:03 on Dec 8, 2014

TheNabster
Apr 26, 2014

"Today I will cause problems on purpose"
Wallastra
10/16 - 1 AP


Oh no, not now, not whilst so many of my people are in the open, I can't combat this storm like this... Unless.

"ICESTORM, BRACE YOURSELVES!"

As the men and women quickly fled to the nearest shelters, holing themselves up in what ever underlevels he could get to, he paused when he saw the sailors, bearing the blessed torches and small packs of blasting powder he intended for them to recite the old sermons, light the ships with the assistance of the blast powder and that with the prayer from his old followers would bring the Waterlord back. Some changes were about to be made to that plan.

"You men! With me, hurry, I require your assistance!"

Wallastra worked quickly, he willed the people to find whatever cover they could that was below ground and away from the storm, the temple would hold, he willed it so, but he had to deal with this storm. Then the idea came on him.

'The Tribute'

With [4+] Voice of the People he got the people to go to ground in the temple's underground storage, as he gathered the men he intended to light the ships. Shielding them with his divine presence he moved them as quickly as he could towards the docks, goading the oncoming storm into following him with such a concentration of heat and divine power. He shielded when he could with jutting architecture and toppling old destitute buildings to slow it's advance and make it pursue them further and further towards the docks ([+4] The Grand Design and 1 AP on defense for that little bit extra)

'Follow us storm, ignore those civilians, come after us, I will have you where I want you then' he thought, as he watched the roaring tempest at his heels

Rauri
Jan 13, 2008




Larissa
Thaisaidain

All preparations had been made - it was now, blessedly, time for action.

Larissa raised her hands to signify it was now turn for her to speak, and the chattering hordes beneath grew silent. "The time for us to slumber has passed. For too long, the mortals have escaped our wrath while we wasted away in our crypts. No more! Now, we march out to conquer them, to destroy their kingdoms and form new ones, ones that will shame even magnificent Thaisaidain!" Take her rightful place was more like it - no matter how many thousands of them had to be destroyed in order for that to happen - but there was no reason to mention that to them. They were all basically just extensions of her will anyways, so whatever was good for her was good for all of them by definition.

She was pacing now, her speech predictably having gone full-on megalomaniacal. "There is a vast empire of bearded men, thought by many to be the mightiest nation in the world, many who disregard us! Disregard ME! They destroy any undead they come across, and have many festivals dedicated to the joys of life! How dare they?!" She had absolutely no idea if anything she was saying was true, but there were a small number of intelligent undead and it was probably important to make sure they were all on the same page with regards to who their true enemies were.

Pointing towards the horizon, the Vampire Queen continued her rant. "We shall march upon them and destroy them utterly! Let those who will not join us be consumed - let the bodies of their slain rise to murder their families! We shall turn their fields to graveyards, and their temples to charnel houses. Today, we begin our invasion!"

---

Beginning an invasion of Bismark's Empire.

Of her 500,000 undead, she'll be leaving 20k behind - a few lesser nobles and their courts, along with primarily ghosts because they can't really freeze or starve.

The remaining 480,000 are gonna start their march to the Empire. Marching at night, and taking whatever routes her scouts identified in my very first action of this game in order to get there. My armies all prepped for this and fully provisioned, so that should help keep things moving. As far as actions go, Larissa is supporting her troops during the march, using Necromancy to keep her troops moving at a quick pace, patch up any that get damaged, and generally do her best to keep the invasion proceeding as speedily as possible.

Undead [+6] - Bolstering her invasion's move rate and regen using spells and by personally directing them to not do stupid things, basically. With her using necromancy in their midst and the force being wholly undead, this shouldn't be too complicated I don't think.
Darkness [+2] - The Sun's not as much trouble when she can use Darkness to weaken daylight / have the night creep up sooner during the day. It's deathwinter anyways, daylight is probably scarce.

I'm assuming it'll take at least one turn for my guys to reach the Empire / there might be poo poo that complicates all of this, so I'm not including combat stuff or anything like that. Lemme know if I need to change that, please.

No AP spent, 10/16 remaining.

TychoBrahesNose
May 24, 2011
Enki, Lord of the Secret Places - Thaisaidain

Sometimes in the form of a feasting carrion-crow or a scavenging jackal, at other times in the likeness of a formless haunting spirit, and occasionally as the merest shadow of a ghost, Enki flits through the nearly empty and entirely lifeless city as soon as the last of Larissa's invaders shambles over the horizon. Sheltered from the prying (if rotted) eyes of the remaining undead, he begins his search through the vast array of temples, sepulchers, and long-forgotten catacombs within and beneath Thaisaidain. Enki has a definite notion of the sorts of treasures that would be most valuable to him, but not, alas, just which of the countless crypts might contain them.

Trickster Spirit [+4] along with Inbetween All Worlds [+2] to travel swiftly and stealthily through Thaisaidain (i.e., my defense action for the turn against whatever the undead or the city attempt to throw at me is at +6). The other aspect of Inbetween All Worlds [+2] along with Everything New Under the Sun [+2] will be used to appropriate any artifacts of relevance to my interests that aren't nailed down -- and maybe a few that are (i.e., my offensive/artifact "creation" action for the turn is at +4). No AP spend (yet) as Larissa is still close.

My OOC post details specifically what I'm looking for; I expect to search multiple times, either until I tick all my boxes or until circumstances intervene. I figure that successful rolls will yield the desired (or other) goodies to me in whatever order you see fit.


Ending AP: 8/16

TychoBrahesNose fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Dec 8, 2014

HiKaizer
Feb 2, 2012

Yes!
I finally understand everything there is to know about axes!
Vendruck

13 1/16 AP


NO. YOU WILL NOT HAVE HIM! Vendruck bellowed in his rage. HE CAME TO THE LAST PLACE OF MY PEOPLE, TAUNTED ME, SACRIFICED SOME OF MY CAPTIVE CHILDREN AND NOW TRIES TO BURN THE LAST DWARVES TO ASHES. I WILL NOT FORGIVE THIS. NOT ANYMORE. I WILL TURN NO CHEEK TO ANY GOD WHO STRIKES ME DOWN OR HUMILIATES ME. He screamed at not really anyone at particular and pulled out his explosives, casting them around him to the edges of the cave system as his grappling hook took him out of the way of the incoming cave-ins. He would be tired, he would be weak, but he needed to end this before any more of his people died. Before it was too late for the Dwarves...he drew upon their power, coming to them all like in a prayer. It was more of a feeling than an actual visitation, but for a moment all the Dwarves could feel and know what he felt was at stake and why he was taking some of the energy to help sustain him through this fight.

Refreshing my AP. Since I had 13000 people left I think I can get 13 AP, but let me know if this is wrong.

Attacking!
Area Attack on Arthak and Bismark!
I'm too tired to write full justifications right now. [+8] for my domains though. Basically, Dwarves good at underground and cave-ins, artificed explosives and undergound cave-ins.
AP [+8] because I want to kill this rear end in a top hat everyone now.
Freaking Out [+2] KILL KILL KILL!
Grudgebearer [-4] Really ought to apply here given how I'm writing this.
Total: +16

Defending!
I'm too tired to write full justifications right now. [+8] for my domains again.
AP [+4] Because I want to not take a whole bunch of damage.
Freaking Out [-2] KILL KILL KILL!
Grudgebearer [-4]
Total: +6

HiKaizer fucked around with this message at 13:05 on Dec 8, 2014

OscarDiggs
Jun 1, 2011

Those sure are words on pages which are given in a sequential order!
What human alive could hope to compare to the might of Deez Nuts? Although you have sort of inspired me for a possible future roll. As for +2 Pipers Range, yeah that’s more or less my intention; Piper is only familiar with a specific bit of territory, but it's his now and nobody is going to take it from him (mostly because of the vile smell covering everything). If he needs to attack from it or defend it that's when the bonus applies, but he loses the advantage when not on home turf. I didn't quite mean it as a storehouse but the effect is the same; If I know where everything useful is, it doesn't matter if it's a 10 minute walk away or in my magic foul-smelling store house.

Piper, Father of the Scurrying – Scurrying Chambers
AP 4/16


“Mine, mine, mine. All mine, except the bits that are not. But there's not much down here that isn't mine.” In truth, Piper could have expanded his range far further, but his successes had tempered his enthusiasm for more work. The contentment of his children only inspired a deeper laziness. Basking in the happiness of his children Piper felt a rising tide within himself, wiping the weariness from his form. And then something spoiled it.

“Those stupid rats that can't count! What if they can count and that other tough rat is still here?” Knowing that he owed a favour to Aesculus quickened Piper, as his irritated squeaking again called to the thousands of cousins that swarmed the upper city. They now knew him as King if not by sight then at least by smell and as the furry lords and ladies came from every corner marked by Piper in the depths below Ascalon, their toll was a mere 3 questions. “Where is the six-horned rat? Is it friend or foe? Is it willing to talk?”

I want to briefly refresh my AP and then perform another scrying action, this time to find more information about the six-horned rat and whether or not it actually exists. All the qualities used in the last scrying roll still apply since I'm scrying in a similar fashion as to last time, but since all of everything down here is now mine (especially my new loyal rat subjects) +2 Piper's Range applies, to give me a better idea of the goings on down here. As per last time, the temptation not to eat everything that answers my summons means -2 FOOD! also applies. No AP use.
Total; +8 (0AP)
Ending AP: 6/16

Puppies are dicks
Jan 31, 2011

WHY YOU GOTTA BREAK A BROS HEART
Piper, Father of the Scurrying – Scurrying Chambers

Tamping down on his hunger Piper called forth the multitudinous waves of vermin once again, intent on finding some sign of the Six Horned Rat. It was strange sifting through the eyes and small memories of the rats and insects but he found himself gradually getting a clear image of the other God and a sense of where he had been. Piper's ears flared and he reared in terror, the Six Horned Rat was here and suddenly leaping for his throat!

"Stupid! Stupid, greedy rodent! We could have hid! But you told the masked one, stupid!"

The Six Horned Rat was a shifting, confusing mass of rage. Was six rats joined at the tail, or a single rat with six horned heads? It bit, gnashed, cursed, and tore at Piper, giving him no chance to recover.

"What will you do when the city is hungry, when their stores run dry? They'll eat rats! His choice, his people or rats? Kill you! Eat you!"

PIPER (+8, 0 AP) casts scrying spell, Eyes of Vermin! Roll successful! SIXHORNED RAT has been located! SIXHORNED RAT attacks PIPER from ambush!

Batjullik - Warlord Bismark von Trippletrow, The Blight of Suffering, Savior of Pain, The Smugfather & Vendruck & Malador

Malador moved first, breathing in the hot magic of the Infernal Flame and attempting to reabsorb it or better yet use it to regain a semblance of his lost power. There was of course, an element of risk to absorbing directly a potentially lethal magic originally created by another God but he'd already as well as made it his and he was confident that if anyone could do it he could. The flame was dangerous but no match for a will stronger than the densest abyssal iron and he smiled as the warm flush of energy suffused him. It wasn't enough to heal him, the flame was too meager by far. Perhaps if it had claimed a greater toll in lives and suffering it would have sufficed, but as it was he was reinvigorated nonetheless.

Bismark ignored the Hellwarden's sanctimonious declarations, intent on vengeance for the harm done to him. A sharp edged blur of weaponry and fury he launched himself at Vendruck, divine might crackling as he cast aside all thought of defense for vengeance. His vengeance and rage was nothing besides Vendruck's own, and the Dwarf God roared in answer as the weight of the many grudges between them bore down on him. They had pushed him, and he had given, they had demanded, and they had taken. But now he stood at the last city of Dwarves and Vendruck would not let this stand, he had been to the last depths of his home (made burnt and crumbling by the doings of his hated foes) and challenged for his very life and he would take no more.

He drew upon the hopes and prayers of the Dwarves, who even as Batjullik lay burning paused at the sensation of direct contact with their god and made a grim nod. A million fists raised to a million hearts. A million souls poured their dreams towards Vendruck's will, and a million mouths recounted the litany of his grudge.

"BISMARK! Join me in Pantheon and I'll warm your empire. Give me your power and I'll save us both!"

Nobody had any objections or comments to just taking post order as priority so here we go! By common agreement, BISMARK and VENDRUCK are both striking to disable but not kill.
MALADOR (+4) casts spell, Absorb Infernal Flames! Roll is successful! MALADOR gains 3 AP!
BISMARK (+4, 6 AP) Flips out, attacks VENDRUCK shooting to kill! Defends (+0)!
VENDRUCK (+4, 8 AP) Flips Out, casts Area Attack spell Explosive Ruins! Defends (+2, 4 AP)
ARTHAK holds action while awaiting response from BISMARK, Pantheon Y/N? Action resolution on hold until choice is made!


Enki, Lord of the Secret Places - Thaisaidain

Enki skulked through the lower tombs and halls of Thaisaidain, stepping carefully to avoid the array of traps magical or otherwise which festooned the spaces beneath. The entire city was steeped in ancient magic, much of it blasphemous and evil and at this shallow depth he could sense that powerful forces were sealed below. The Undead forces Larissa had left guarding the city were barely worth his notice, a gaggle of watery-eyed and sycophantic nobles who barely had the power between them to stay minimally warm and avoid freezing solid despite their undeath. In the absence of a powerful ruler to overshadow and command them, they'd taken to bickering with themselves and plotting meaningless schemes. Largely they kept to themselves and hid in one of the more sturdily built tombs in the Obsidian Ziggurat itself, rarely stirring forth in half-hearted patrols.

He sighed in frustration as he slowly and carefully slipped through the doors of another sealed vault. The city was full of abandoned and forgotten tomb offerings, some magical, others frozen, mundane, or merely dormant but the vast majority of it was junk and dross. Anything immediately identifiable as valuable had been stripped and taken by Larissa's army, and what remained that was truly powerful he could sense was sealed away in the deeper, more dangerous tombs. The majority of these were predictably beneath the Obsidian Ziggurat itself, and all of them bore powerful seals of warding and destructive force.

ENKI (+4) searches for treasure! Roll is success...? There wasn't any treasure on the first few floors, just mostly non-God lethal traps! There's definitely potent magical treasure Deep Beneath though!

Larissa - En Route to Weichtenstinkenden Durcheinander von einer Stadt

Larissa's army set out, almost the entire population of Thaisaidain mustered into regiments and bearing everything worthwhile that they could take with them. They traveled by night, a vast horde moving and bolstered by her necromantic power and in the day they were sheltered by a broad swathe of darkness from the errant sun. An ordinary army would have died, frozen from the feet up, dehydrated and made sluggish by the cold but her forces were immune to most of these. They did however discover plenty of mortal corpses which had fallen prey to those same dangers, the many dead and frozen totaling up to hundred thousand scattered in iced over villages and along the hard cold roads along the way.

LARISSA (+8) casts a travel spell, Shadow March! Roll successful! LARISSA has discovered the bodies of 100,000 mortals killed by the Ice, frozen in a variety of ways! You'll hit Weinerstinkyville next pass.

Wallastra

Wallastra's citizens panicked, the ones aboveground and exposed to the greatest danger by the city's docks nearly dying outright in the first icy blasts which tore across the city surface but the God of Cities drove them forth with his will, coordinating their movements through his streets, identifying shelters which were strong or weak, and bolstering the faith of the people already bunkered down there. Moving as surely and swiftly as they did it was an overwhelming success, although the durability and stability of Wallastra's shelters in the face of a rising Icestorm was anyone's guess.

Still above, Wallastra found himself repeatedly lashed and tossed by the wind and hail. It was cold, cold enough to shatter ice and freeze the godhood inside him but he persevered. This was his city and his people, his place of power. Energy trickled gently from his core as he steadied himself. As long as he had a plan and could act quickly enough he was reasonably sure he could survive. Probably.

WALLASTRA (+4) commands his people to safety! Defends with (+4, 1 AP)! Roll is success! CITIZENS have taken temporary shelter! Looks like we'll have to see how well their shelters hold out in the face of the storm.
Wild ICESTORM (+6) attacks! WALLASTRA Defense successful, no damage taken!


Parelle - Some distance to Batjullik

Too dangerous and risky by far. Choosing discretion over valour Parelle pulled back from the imposing arch. Whatever mystery there was could wait. She had a responsibility to her followers, a duty to see them to a safe destination where they could lay down their burdens and rest and getting caught between whatever was on the other side of the arch and Parelle's not-quite-impressive powers would do them no good.

A battle between Gods would surely spell their doom and so she stifled her anxieties and disappointments and simply kept going. The Travelers were weary, but as Parelle walked among them she continued her earlier work carrying stories and sharing supplies up and down the line. Although the journey was hard they found themselves to be in good spirits. A Dwarven city was just about the safest place she could think of. Built with impressive rings of defenses both above and beneath the ground and heated usually by the hot heartbeat of the earth itself, she earnestly hoped the Travelers could find shelter there. There was only one city left, and the God of Dwarves would surely be amenable to trade or negotiation. The winter itself proved to be enough of a foe without living folk making new ones of one another, and to waste power and lives battling each other would be the height of folly.

Ahead of the group she crested a snowdrift and frowned. There was smoke coming from the direction of Batjullik, a massive plume of it to be visible from this sort of distance. She squinted and concentrated for a better lock, only to gasp in shock and horror at what she found. Batjullik was burning! Hundreds of thousands of souls flew glumly overhead, slowly growing sluggish in the cold, and the signs of a vast battle which wracked the land and bent the laws of reality were everywhere she could see. Parelle's divine vision saw the clash of puissance and raw force which denoted a battle between Gods beneath the surface of the damaged city. Gods were fighting there now, and bitterly at that.

PARELLE (+8,2 AP) casts a travel spell, Best Speed! Roll successful! Consider Parelle to be in the adjacent zone to Batjullik and the awful hot mess that is going on there. She can see that it's pretty bad and a lot of people have died, hundreds of thousands of souls are floating around newly killed, and it looks like the city is burning and several Gods are fighting beneath the earth in the city proper. Their rage and combat has done dangerous things to the terrain/local area. Anyway, move in/introduce yourself/act as you like.

Puppies are dicks fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Dec 9, 2014

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Parelle

It was a quick march and the Travelers were exhausted. Parelle did her best to keep their spirits up by sheer force of personality. She promised that she would find them somewhere safe. It was just her luck that the place she found was crumbling, on fire and the site of a battle. She heaved an audible groan, not of despair, but frustration as she neared the last great city.

"Well," she commented quietly, "Dying and on fire is better than dead. At least it's a start."

She watched the gods locked in immortal combat and there was a strangeness to it. It seemed not to be a fight to the death, but a sort of dominance contest. There was bellowing and anger. The land was scorched and blasted, but the fight lacked a certain savage brutality of gods bent on murder. It was that and the scores of souls added to the throng of the dead that kept her there. This was far less than ideal, but she didn't know if she had it in her to continue traveling on. Besides, the dwarves were dying.

She looked up at Pirsuq, "Guard the Travelers. Make sure no harm comes to them," she ordered. She thought furiously and sped toward the wrecked city. "No more dead mortals!" she yelled as she sped past the fight and directly into the city. Carnage, blood, scorch marks, screaming and wreckage met her. She coughed from the remnants of some foul, acrid taste, yet divine. She looked for the safe places and found few. The entire place may come down any minute and she lacked the expertise to fix it. She begged, she bribed, she cajoled and pleaded with the still living dwarves that their great city was crumbling. "Come with me, I can protect you, just for a little while. We can come back later, but you have nothing to lose but your lives!" Those who could run and walk were told to bring those who could be carried while she focused on the trapped. She looked for any way out of total collapses, ways around blockages and desperately fought to lead the dwarves out from one hell and into one, while far colder, was less likely to immediately kill them.

Parelle can't fix the place, so she is trying to evacuate the area of dwarves. Using +2 travel to get them out, especially the trapped ones, +2 hope by offering them a way out of their situation, +2 food and drink as a hook to get them outside, +2 warmth to protect them from the cold. I'm spending my final AP to make it stick. 2+2+2+2+1=9.

Also I will be shielding the dwarves from the godfight by playing it cagey with all applicable defenses while Pirsuq shields the Travelers.

I would like to change one of my traits: [-2] Not taken seriously to [-2] Bleeding Heart. I think that she has proven herself as a power to be taken seriously after saving the travelers and taming the storm as to not be considered a minor goddess anymore. I figure that this is more thematically appropriate and will probably come up more often. Essentially it'll be a mortals first policy and she'll be hampered if she has to make hard choices where they are concerned. If this last part takes a turn I guess I'll do it at a later date.

OscarDiggs
Jun 1, 2011

Those sure are words on pages which are given in a sequential order!
Piper, Father of the Scurrying – Scurrying Chambers
AP 6/16


Piper reacted with the forethought and grace as the ambush came, spinning in mid-air away from the vile mouths of the six-horned one. “Me the stupid one!?! You the nasty little idiot stealing from the humans. They can't eats us stupid, we make the humans sick! Aesculus choice is die by starvation or die by disease!”

Calmed slightly by his outburst, Piper tried to make the raging mess in front of see reason. “There are worse things coming up from the deep, eating rats and humans. We need to find a home together to defend. The deep things will eat the humans then the rats or the rats then the humans, but they can't eat humans and rats standing side-by-side!” Bolstered by his words, Piper leapt into an attack while taunting his opponent. “I may be stupid for telling the humans above about us, but you're stupid for failing to originate and perpetuate long-term survival strategies that take into account additional threats because your rampant isolationism and lack of intelligence gathering has blinded you to them! Arargh!” Piper cried in pain, a searing wave of agony coursed through his brain and jaw, halting him mid-way through his attack. The interruption gave the Six-horned rat a chance to consider his wise words.

I want to initiate a social attack against the SIXHORNED RAT, trying to make it understand about the greater threats facing us, either to throw him off to make a kill easier or to more easily convince/dominate him later on. If we can settle this somewhat peacefully, that would be for the best. +2 Survival By Any Means, since if survival means fast talking, Piper will talk so fast that no one could understand him. +2 Scavengers Cunning, because being diplomatic means having a bit of cunning which Piper has in spades. +2 King Of The Survivors for I am the king and this little mutant had best show some respect. +2 Deep Pits And Dark Tunnels since Piper was in those drat tunnels while this little coward was living the good life. +2 Pipers Range because he was foolish enough to come into my home; if he's not intimidated by that the smell should at least put him off-kilter. -2 FOOD! because all this talking is getting in the way of all this eating. Defending using the same qualities, except for -2 FOOD! 1 AP on defence, none on attack for the minute.
Total Social Attack; +8 (0AP)
Total Defence; +10 (2AP)

Ending AP 4/16

OscarDiggs fucked around with this message at 08:11 on Dec 10, 2014

TheNabster
Apr 26, 2014

"Today I will cause problems on purpose"
Wallastra
9/16 AP - 7 AP


The docks.

Previously this area would have been alive with trade, with the steady stream of commerce. Now they were deserted the great fleet of Wallastra and the few merchant ships unlucky enough to not escape the docks now abandoned and stripped of valuables. He wasn't here to reminisce however, he was here to deal with this storm before he got out of hand. And offer a worthy sacrifice to the Waterlord.

"Hand me your torches, get into cover, hurry!" And so it was so, Wallastra, the great god of cities, holding many torches in one hand, and sacks of blasting powder in the over, faced the storm as he lept up onto the the former flagship of his city's navy. He set about, hurling those blasting powder sacks to nearby ships, as the flames of the torches slowly stoked the braziers along the shore line, he worked quickly, for the storm was rapidly approaching.

The fires started to smolder along the ships, before it sparked, slowly creeping towards the powder he had laid. He opened his palms and let his quintessence to the wind, to fuel the fires. Holding up one last torch, he announced to the storm

"By the power, invested into me, as the foremost divine authority of this city, and by the old rites that it was built upon, and to the god I dedicate this sacrifice to, you will not claim this city! I decree it, THUSLY"

He throw the torch at the last unlit powder sack, and dove for the water.

Invoke [+2] Ancient Compact with [+4] The Grand Design, burn 7 AP to fuel the resulting explosion, and attack the storm with it. I want this poo poo to be seen for miles around the city. I want to not pull a Vendruck and have this attack not kill this thing outright.

TheNabster fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Dec 9, 2014

Speleothing
May 6, 2008

Spare batteries are pretty key.

Puppies are dicks posted:


Suddenly the wind picked up and the light pattering persistent snow became sharp sheets of ice. The people shivered and knew that this was it. They could run no further and their herds and kindling had dwindled. Without the assistance of their God, or any God they would surely freeze and die like so many of them already had. The young boy ran from his father's side, tying a strip of leather from his jacket into a rough tassel around a lock of Brother Yak's shaggy hair.

"You will save us won't you Brother?"


BROTHER YAK (+4) casts spell, Strength to Honour as he sashays seductively with a willow switch in his mouth in front of all the burly herders! Roll success! Also an Icestorm seems to be hitting the area and will freeze kill all these dudes very soon unless someone does something. Their sudden decision to take whatever hairy port is available in a storm may be linked to this... Give me some stats you're attacking/spellcasting/or defending with please.

Brother Yak - Central Plains of the Yakpire

An Icestorm! Just the worst luck. Brother Yak knowks he can't let it get any stronger, he's got to fend it off while it's still small. He rubs his nose against the little one's hand and the strip of leather seems to glow. With these people at his back, he can't fail!

He bellows his favorite war song as he charges at the gathering storm. And then he disappears into the wind and the blowing snow. The villagers can't see Brother Yak anymore as they gather the rest of the yaks into a circle and huddle together, but they hear his song:

Oy ya ma ni ya bi gak
I am big strong Brother Yak
oy ya ma ni ya bi ace
I'll put my hoof through your face


Then they hear the thundering of his hooves, as he charges again and again, and each time he does, his horns and hooves catch a little bit of the storm and toss it away to spin itself out. If he can keep this up, the storm will be sliced to pieces and each piece will die before it can hurt someone.

Using Strength [+4] to ATTACK the Icestorm, charging into it with my magical godly horns to slice the big storm apart into small whorls before it can get any bigger

Pochoclo
Feb 4, 2008

No...
Clapping Larry
Isath, Northern Wastes

Isath howled in delight in the icy waste, standing atop a mass of indigestible glop, all that remained of the once mighty Centipede God that had attempted to feed on a feeder that had turned out to be much more ravenous and desperate, and therefore the victor. Isath felt its flesh grow and change - it was at once more supple, and harder. The bone and sinew weaved themselves in a way that Isath had never managed before. Isath knew what this was - the most delicious morsel of all: a fresh god. It was good. Isath spent many hours drunk on the power, but the cold was always there, and it gnawed at its enamel walls, the wind cracking and whistling by like so many minuscule icy razors cutting everything they touched. Isath needed to move. But where would it find more food?
Isath decided to conserve energy for the time being - at least until the next successful feeding was done and over with. It formed a massive array of specialized organs dedicated to detecting the faintest traces and tracks of life, and pointed it all southwards, in the direction where it had felt more of its kind. More of the centipede's kind. And it crawled, and the sun on its crown of teeth crawled with it, illuminating the heavens.

Increasing Flesh from +4 to +6.
Using Flesh +6 to form a huge sensory organ array to determine the general direction in which the closest mass of mortals/gods is (whatever I can find), on the southward direction. Trying to detect icestorms early with the Light +4 long-range lighthouse effect. Unfortunately Isath is a Megastructure -4 and generally unsuited for travel of any kind.


11/16 AP

TychoBrahesNose
May 24, 2011
Enki, Lord of the Secret Places - Deep Beneath Thaisaidain

If she can manage to ensure that everything of value is stripped from the Tombs, perhaps Larissa is not completely incompetent after all, Enki thinks in frustration. But then his divine senses determine that there are indeed places the Vampire Queen and her followers did not access -- though whether that was due to ignorance of their existence or a wise decision to leave the Deep Places undisturbed remains to be seen.

So Enki sneaks past the undead huddled pathetically within the Obsidian Ziggurat, and proceeds Deep Beneath Thaisaidain to discover what resources had been thoughtfully amassed in millennia past to help him and his fellow gods in their battle against the Ice. And if he could walk away with something of benefit to himself personally, so much the better. Still, he treads cautiously, because while the traps and guardians he had encountered thus far were of little danger to a God, that would not necessarily be the case the Deeper he delved.

My previous scrying experience (not to mention my millennia of travels) have given me some inkling of the things that live Deep Beneath the surface, and I'm perfectly well aware that some ancient carvings conveying messages along the lines of "Do not break the seal on this portal, on pain of horrible death for you and all your loved ones!" are not just empty boasts meant to turn away would-be grave-robbers. In fact, since I'm primarily looking for ways to restrain or otherwise stave off an implacable God-killing enemy, if I come across magics designed to keep the Deep Dwellers at bay, they could in fact provide me with just the sort of tools that I'm looking for. In other words: I want to determine whether the locks I'm about to be picking are keeping plunderers out, or keeping worse things in. And either outcome has potential benefits.

Trickster Spirit [+4] along with Inbetween All Worlds [+2] to travel swiftly and stealthily Deep Beneath Thaisaidain. Since it's not clear who or what I might be up against, Everything New Under the Sun [+2] likely applies as well, but at the same time so does Without Light, There Are No Shadows [-2], since there's not any sentient beings (that I'm aware of anyway) to interact with. Thus, my search action as I investigate Things Predating Mortal Existence is +6, and I'm spending 2 AP as well, because I
really don't want to screw this up, or the Ice might swiftly become the least of my worries.

Ending AP: 6/16

Rauri
Jan 13, 2008




Larissa
En Route to Weichtenstinkenden Durcheinander von einer Stadt

"Tens of Thousands, Almighty Larissa." The lich repeated, much to Larissa's apparent amusement. She was holding impromptu court again, issuing orders and generally enjoying the obsequiousness of her followers. One advantage to not being in Thaisaidain anymore was not having to put up with that awful throne - as such, she was lounging on a hastily assembled pile of skulls. Some of the skeletons would probably need them back later, of course.

"Well, how convenient for us." She'd have liked for them to have survived - killing them was always such fun, and the cold had robbed her of that. Still, corpses were a valuable resource, and she'd just been given an astounding number of them on a silver platter. Grinning viciously at the myriad uses they could be put towards ran through her mind, but eventually pragmatism triumphed over imagination.

Doing her usual pace-and-rant-like-a-maniac routine, the Vampire Queen ordered the corpses be raised wherever they be found. To that end, she would empower her intelligent undead with the ability to raise the bodies as zombies. That way she wouldn't have to travel to each and every little frozen shithole to add a few dozen warriors to her army. Plus, her followers were sure to compete to raise the most undead to please her - at the least, they might well expect to retain command of any undead they raise themselves.



----

Investing my nobles with the temporary ability to create undead, and commanding them to use it to raise bodies along the way. Larissa is going to make it a temporary blessing, both to make it easier and because she'd rather they all not have this capability indefinitely.

Undead [+6], New At This [-2] = +4 to action

No AP spent on this action, 10/16 remaining.

I'm reusing that .gif because it's applicable and I'm too lazy to find another.

Rauri fucked around with this message at 08:24 on Dec 10, 2014

Puppies are dicks
Jan 31, 2011

WHY YOU GOTTA BREAK A BROS HEART
Batjullik - Warlord Bismark von Trippletrow, The Blight of Suffering, Savior of Pain, The Smugfather & Vendruck & Malador, Parelle

Bismark sneered, raising one furry hand in an unmistakable gesture amidst his assault of Vendruck. He barreled into the Dwarf Lord's head, interrupting the other God mid-command as he readied an order for one last dreadful burst of underground explosives, stunning him and cutting short the attack which Arthak had already formed a barrier of flame. Seeing Vendruck crumple to Bismark's attack, he turned the edge of his blade and clipped the dwarf behind the ear instead of striking a killing blow.

Arthak gripped his blade and eyed the God of Empire warily, the Shield of Flame blazing between them.

"Excellent. Now we may bind him, take his verminous people for ourselves, and see to the business of staying warm."

Parelle sensed what was occurring, the clash of combat coming to a head as more and more divine power was pushed and pulled on every side. She was much more concerned about how the city crumbled and burned, an obvious risk to the Dwarves still scattered through its depths. She ran through the city tugging at hands and beards where mere words were insufficient, and more than once silenced an angry word with a sudden mouthful of hot spirits. Her divinity was obvious and despite her youth and human form the people of Batjullik followed her from their crumbling city up to the dubious safety of the surface. Vendruck fell and the Dwarves cried out, fear mixing with resignation and despair.

Nobody had any objections or comments to just taking post order as priority so here we go! By common agreement, BISMARK and VENDRUCK are both striking to disable but not kill.
MALADOR (+4) casts spell, Absorb Infernal Flames! Roll is successful! MALADOR gains 3 AP!
BISMARK (+4, 6 AP) Flips out, attacks VENDRUCK shooting to kill! Defends (+0)!
VENDRUCK (+4, 8 AP) Flips Out, casts Area Attack spell Explosive Ruins! Defends (+2, 4 AP)
ARTHAK holds action while awaiting response from BISMARK, Pantheon Y/N? Action resolution on hold until choice is made!
BISMARK Pantheon N! ARTHAK consumes 500,000 non-corporeal souls! AP gain 1! ARTHAK Attacks VENDRUCK, Plays it Cagey! Defends (+8, 3 AP)!
BISMARK (+4, 6 AP) attacks! VENDRUCK defense failure! VENDRUCK takes 4 (-8) ranks of non-lethal damage! VENDRUCK fainted, it couldn't continue!
ARTHAK attacks VENDRUCK, VENDRUCK is unconscious does not resist! ARTHAK chooses to deal non-lethal damage! Non-lethal damage cannot exceed maximum ranks!

Actions resolve, PARELLE arrives! Change to less disadvantageous Flaw mid-combat not accepted! Change to Flaws will have to wait until PARELLE has escaped combat zone! (-2) Not taken seriously applied! PARELLE (+6, 1 AP) casts spell, Safe Journey! Roll is success! DWARVES evacuated from Batjullik!


Piper, Father of the Scurrying – Scurrying Chambers

"Stupid! Never seen humans eat rat? Never seen humans eat garbage? Humans eat anything when they're hungry!"

Piper rolled backwards, taking advantage of his familiarity with the terrain and throwing up an obfuscating shield of magic as he did. Five of the six horned heads fell prey to the spell, while the sixth lashed out and took a sharp bite from his throat.

"We could have hid! Let the humans die of starvation and disease first! Let the humans die first when others come to eat them! But you! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!"

Curses and insults from six different mouths, all biting and tearing lashed against Piper's larger form.

SIXHORNED RAT +8 Attacks! PIPER(+10, 2 AP) defends! Defense failure, PIPER takes one (-2) rank of damage!
PIPER (+6) Social Attacks! SIXHORNED RAT +8 defends! Defense successful, no damage taken!

Round 2, SIXHORNED RAT maintains initiative unless PIPER takes action to overtake! SIXHORNED RAT (+8, 2 AP) Flips out, attacks PIPER (+6)!


Brother Yak - Central Plains of the Yakpire

Brother Yak bellowed his challenge into the teeth of the storm, which really didn't have anything in the way of teeth. Or any physical form for Brother Yak to latch on to or ram, but such facts did nothing to deter the mighty yak as he bunched up the powerful muscles of his legs and launched himself into the storm again and again! Truly battling the wind and snow was the greatest challenge Brother Yak had ever faced, and he began to doubt if mere Strength alone would prove sufficient as he leapt and charged only to find nothing to batter.

The Icestorm raged on, blanketing the land in a thick layer of frozen death which coated Brother Yak's hide but proved insufficient to deal him harm so far.

BROTHER YAK ATTACKS/DEFENDS +4 STRENGTH! BROTHER YAK attacks wild ICESTORM (+6)! Defense successful, no damage taken!
Wild ICESTORM (+6) attacks BROTHER YAK! Defense successful, no damage taken!


Wallastra

Hounded by biting wind and numbing ice, Wallastra fled through the avenues of his city. The city itself was built to serve a greater, more powerful purpose, and he was God to ensure that purpose fulfilled. The stones beneath and the ancient compact which bound him gave him strength and he poured a great deal of his remaining power into a desperate explosive strike against the storm, rattling the skies.

Diving into the freezing water to avoid the blast, he felt it as the shockwave alone drove him into the seabed and tossed him like a feather in the wind. By the time he bobbed to the surface and looked dumbly up at the sky it was already over. The storm had been dispersed.

WALLASTRA (+6, 7 AP) attacks wild ICESTORM (+8)! Defense failure, wild ICESTORM was destroyed!

Isath, Northern Wastes

Isath grew one massive fleshly protuberance after another, straining the reach of its senses in search of Icestorms and Gods alike until it had found the greatest and nearest concentrations of both. The area southwards(?) was rife with such things, with many storms of varying intensity moving in and out in a haphazard and difficult to predict manner. Surface Gods there were aplenty, and at great distance it found a large number of powerful beings seemingly locked in mortal combat whose tremors caused his internal reservoirs to vibrate.

Many Gods, powerful, weak, defeated, or dying. Despite its great size and slow pace of travel Isath could reach the area handily if it made a full effort towards mobility.

ISATH Trait gain accepted! ISATH is now a +10 God! This action reads as a Scry and a Move in the direction of the results. ISATH (+8) casts spell, Fleshy Tremors! Large cluster of divine lifesigns detected! Large-scale divine combat detected! Location is far South(?) and will take a round of concerted travel to reach!

Enki, Lord of the Secret Places - Deep Beneath Thaisaidain

Enki studied the wards and seals of the deep tombs. The power Deep Beneath was so palpable that it set his teeth on edge, and clearly this was work done over millenia by a more experienced and powerful than Larissa by far. This line here was a decorative disguise for that whorl there, which actually distributed power from other areas of the Obsidian Ziggurat... and most of it was directed straight downwards as if to keep something at bay or suppressed at all costs.

He gulped. The vast majority of the wards pointed downwards to keep something in, and the many and florid curses adorning the halls were beginning to sound more like working descriptions and hazard warnings than anything else.

ENKI (+6, 2 AP) casts spell, Divine Trapsense! Roll success! ENKI has discovered no dangers which can prevent him from opening the tombs Deep Beneath! ENKI has detected that the majority of the wards/traps Deep Beneath are downwards facing towards enemy, and primarily seal Things IN as opposed to keep things OUT. ENKI has discovered that the seals Deep Beneath channel some portion of their power through the Obsidian Ziggurat, which they are built into/below!

Larissa - Mountains of the Empire

Too bored to bother with the individual task of raising every corpse and pile of frozen bones her minions discovered Larissa simply gave a wave of her hand and drove her necromantic power through the souls of her priests wholesale, empowering them to raise large bodies of the Undead themselves. The march continued, absorbing the empty villages and frost-huddled piles of refugees which lined the country's roads until her army had swelled by 100,000 new Undead though these were of the weakest and lowest variety.

She spied the mountains of the Empire, deeply set already with snow. In the distance she could sense a great army of mortals, priests, soldiers, and builders intent on making an evacuation of their own as they dug the people of the mountains free from their snowed-in communities and prepared them for the long journey towards the Capital. From cover of divine darkness, she watched as they formed their orderly regiments. There was discipline there, with fire, steel, and priests aplenty. Facing them full on would be a glorious (and likely not dangerous at all to her personally) battle.

LARISSA (+4) casts spell, Empower Priests! Spell was successful! UNDEAD PRIESTS have created 100,000 of the lowest grade Undead! LARISSA has discovered the Empire's rescue army! RESCUE ARMY has finished digging out trapped MOUNTAIN CITIZENS and is preparing to evacuate them in good order towards the Imperial capital! In total RESCUE ARMY and MOUNTAIN CITIZENS have numerical disadvantage to LARISSA's UNDEAD but direct assault may be dangerous.

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
My priests are the officers in my armiea.

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
Warlord Bismark von Trippletrow, The Blight of Suffering, Savior of Pain, The Smugfather

7/16 AP

Bismark raised his hand a glowing red chains wrapped around the form of Vendruk, binding him to the God of War and Conflict. When the chains had bound him tight, he turned to the God of Fire, the last of his kind. "BOW BEFORE ME, ARTHAK, AND ACCEPT YOUR PLACE AT MY KNEE. I HAVE THE GOD OF DWARVES NOW AND HE SHALL LIVE BY MY WILL ALONE." He looked up out of the pit caused by the divine fight and right at Malador. He even made a small bow. "MY APOLOGIES, WARDEN OF HELL, BUT I COULD NOT LET THE SLIGHT GO UNPUNISHED. IF YOU WISH FOR THE DWARF GOD TO ENTER YOUR SERVICE, BIND YOURSELF TO ME AND WE SHALL SHARE OUR POWER."

Making a Social Attack at Arthak again with Warlord +4 and Commander +2, also Totally Whipped Vendruk's Butt +2. I'll spend 1AP if it will help. Also extending a pantheon offer to Malador, in exchange he gets Vendruk to be his Judge as he first hoped. Arthak will be bound to me as he bound those other gods. Malador would totally be my buddy.

Shogeton
Apr 26, 2007

"Little by little the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him"

Malador 12 AP

I look as Vendruck goes down, and hear Bismarck's words. I sigh.

"You leave me little choice." I say, stepping forward until I'm nearer, looking at Vendruck fallen form. I go down on one knee in front of Bismarck and then...

I extend my hands, red hot chains erupting out. One was already taken, two more could join.

"What good is swearing fealty to one who breaks his pledges. Vendruck was promised that his depths would remain unviolate. We'll see whose power will be tied to whom, Smuglord! Hell does not serve oathbreakers."

Pretending to submit, then going for an infernal sucker punch on Arthak and Bismarck. Warden of Hell +4, Spending 10 AP, All out attack +2. So +16 on attack
Defence: Warden of hell +4, -2 all out attack. In other words, this poo poo better work or I'm pretty much hosed.

Shogeton fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Dec 11, 2014

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Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Parelle

Parelle leads the dwarves out of their crumbling stronghold. They are dirty, ragged, scared and despairing. It is a pitiful sight to behold, but they are alive and for the moment that is enough. She removes a glove with her teeth and finds it to be trembling. The sight of the angry fire god just -eating- the souls of so many dwarves sickened her, but she must be strong. She didn't know if Vendruck would survive, but he was surely unconscious. She beckons Pirsuq and the Travelers forward, for she would need Pirsuq for what she was about to do. She didn't have much time and they may soon be taken as slaves, or worse. She shuddered, stilled herself and took a breath before speaking to the crowd.

"Please don't attack the storm that is coming. It is mine and offers no threat," she said. Was that a crack in her voice? She hoped not. "I need it for a blessing," she said. The Travelers were frightened, but calm near her, though the dwarves were far worse off. "I know that you have been caught in the middle of this and this is not your fault. You are survivors all. Hope is not lost. I will do what I can to keep you here, to help you attend to your homes, hearth and dead. I make no promises save to do my utmost without more bloodshed."

She strode to the angry, mustached man, someone younger, though he struck a resemblance to Bismark of the Empire of Man. She remembered traveling it from the cold mountains, sprawling cities and plains that were like grass deserts. She put her glove back on, made a curtsy, though she wore no court dress of any kind, and waited to speak to the god in charge about dealing for the safety of the dwarves.

That was right up until the Warden of Hell attacked. She shouldn't have been surprised, but she was. Surprised and terrified. She backed away and cursed her bad fortune in bringing the Travelers so close. Malador looked off balance and if she were more martially minded, she could maybe have taken advantage of his momentary weakness. However, she is not martially minded, she is Parelle. At best she is defensively minded. Who she was watching was the murderous fire god. If he struck out at anyone, even the warden of hell, she would interdict him.

She did not attack, but rallied and readied herself in case she needed to. She took a lower stance, popped a cork from a bottle and took a fortifying drink and screwed up her courage as she prepared for what was to come. Thinking that was all she was going to get, she was pleasantly surprised to find herself quicker still as Pirsuq's winds blew above and filled her with further speed.

Got a message from Puppies that I can't tap the same followers that someone else has tapped for AP. That's fine and makes sense, I just wish I had known that beforehand. So I'll be changing my action.

I'm going to cast a temporary spell on myself that will last until my next attack or defense. I would like bonuses in case I get into combat since I'm mostly on the sidelines. +2 travel and +2 living storm to make myself quicker, +2 hope to boost my confidence, +2 food and drink for liquid courage. Parelle is psyching herself out for her next action for a total of +8. This isn't an attack, so I suspect that playing it cagey for the defense shouldn't have a negative effect.

She's also going to play it cagey and defend herself, Pirsuq, the mortals , Malador (as he is easy pickings for the fire god) and the unconscious Vendruck with all of her traits and Pirsuq's. +2 Travel to rob him of speed, +2 hope to rob them temporarily of his confidence, +2 food and drink to rob him of stamina and weaken his attack, +2 warmth to clamp down on his fire powers by denying heat, +2 living storm to halt any blow, +2 for playing it cagey for a total of +12. She isn't going to be fighting as this is more distraction and misdirection instead of a curse, but if you want to add -2 nonviolent onto the pile for defense, I'll understand. She's going to counter opportunists who try to get AP from the mortals through slaughter, who try to kill her or Pirsuq, or who try to finish off Vendruck to absorb his power. So unless someone goes through her, there will be no new AP for the fight save for her attempt to do so.

tl;dr Defending everyone save for the fire god and smugfather from attack and psyching myself up for combat in case it happens.

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Dec 11, 2014

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