Domestically, many have been put out of work by the new methods Laressa is implementing for production, causing a great deal of poverty stricken homeless. Her solution? To set up government housing shelters and open government food banks, all free of charge. This move, of course, changed her from an object of loathing among the masses to one of praise and charity almost overnight, especially as she has made sure to have her name associated with all centers centers. Army recruitment has increased from the masses as well, and even now it is swelling to great proportions and training to prepare for invasions, fueled by a patriotic fervor that has only been enhanced by the recent state-aid to the poor masses that make up most of the recruits.

Personally, Laressa seems to have begun handing off more matters to assistants as the empire expands. Required, of course, and she appears to be getting the hang of deciding what matters merit her attention and which do not, freeing her up for the occasional concert once more. Speaking of which, the musical arts have begun a sort of renissance within Melport, helped along by her generous donations and governmental tax breaks or support. Throughout the city the town is abuzz about the latest performers and who is better than who, and you are pleased to see it serves a purpose above and beyond her personal enjoyment: it seems that unrest has been greatly reduced by the prevalence of such arts, especially when combined with the.housing and food banks.

Overall, she has been quite productive and appears to be adapting to her role quite well.

>Sorry for the late start, guys. Lost track of time.

Part 1: http://archive.easymodo.net/tg/thread/14304400/
Part 2: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14309655/
Part 3: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14330103/
Part 4: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14365301/
Part 5: http://archive.easymodo.net/tg/thread/14397582/
Part 6: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14420843/
Part 7: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14452357/
Part 8: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14474488/
Part 9: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14498610/
Part 10: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14536106/
Part 11: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14605848/

Bamp. Probably my fault for starting an hour late.

Hmmm. Has the message her mother sent arrived yet? Based on their use of magic, I had assumed it wouldn't take too long but I suppose I could be wrong.

And I wonder how long until Laressa decides to invite us for a meal again.

Anon here. I'm just not sure what advice to give.
Captcha: Ever Fightt

GO AWAY GORK N' MORK

>>14638266
Interesting that she didn't just use the knife on the cook.

What's the ETA for Celedine's messenger? Don't want to miss the reaction to that.

Does it seem like the gods have gotten wise to something circumventing their curses yet?

Son of a bitch, I just started reading XI. Dammit, Vedibere!

You check on the progress of the brown-skinned elf and find that he is riding toward Melport but still a few days away. It is likely that he couldn't teleport directly to Laressa for fear of being tracked.

>>14638410
I'm glad she didn't use the knife to be honest. If she kept relying on it, she'd get kind of boring.

>>14638424
Since I think we should wait for the message to arrive and for the chef to be ready before we interact with Laressa, perhaps we should see what Stella and Laressa's old master are up to? We might find some idea on what this 400 year plan in the making is from her old master as well if we're lucky.

Hrm. Obviously we need to guide the heroes' quest in some way, but that's for planning - not for action just yet. Right now, WRT Laressa, I would like to check up on the elven entourage she's been accumulating in advance of that messenger. Look for written materials, symbols, anything that might be a lead into knowing who, exactly, they are. I have a few hunches - had a feeling Laressa was involved with espionage / assassin-type stuff - but still.

Keeping an eye out for information they might hold on the current plan - unlikely as it might be that they'd keep it lying around - is also something I'm in favour of.

Well, since we have some time to kill before the message arrives let's take a closer look at Laressa's new retinue, starting with Stella I guess since I can't remember the old guys name.

Incidentally, Vedibere, I dropped into /tg/ on a whim midway through reading the OQ XI archive. Feeling truly lucky to have gotten in on this one early, and really appreciating the effort you're putting into this - even if Your Valued Players sometimes make you headdesk with suggestions.

Don't doubt that we appreciate it and follow it assiduously.

Damnit. We really need to come up with something for Tissa, or else it'll seem like this entire mission was for naught. We can't just leave her hanging around forever or else she'll just give up on that lead and move on to something else

>>14638537
Just want to second this. I can only imagine some of the frustration you go through at times but I enjoy this quest and your writing a lot. Hopefully this new system you have in place makes things run a lot smoother for you.

>>14638547
It'll have to be done next thread so we can plot what exactly this thread I guess. I imagine we either need to send her and her band to take some lower level villians on or set someone up for her to take on.

>>14638547
We'll do the heroes next session.

>>14638547
Well, we can't drop The Grail into her hands; that's stupid. I don't think she's of the level to challenge Laressa - and I don't think we want that to happen either. We seem to have built a hero team that we don't want to put up against our primary villain - who isn't really villainous either.

We monitor the heroes, for now. If necessary, we make our original rumours true - something to delay the illness, but not cure it outright, perhaps? Direct intervention, sell the palliative recipe to someone, blah blah. Just so long as it's not a full cure.

That's my two bits.

>>14638578
>>14638573
Alright, but it has to be done quickly, I think.

We could always say that in the chaos of the recent civil upheavel, the cure was, in fact destroyed- but that the formula for it still exists, scattered in fragment- most in the hands of the looters and other bands of mauraders who ransacked the former high mages towers.

>>14638266
How is Laressa making the government afford the cost of opening tons of food banks and shelters? That kind of thing isn't exactly free. I see her spending a lot of money, being generous all over, but are her increased production methods really lucrative enough to pay for it all?

>>14638547
True. Damn; we should have arranged a quest line weeks ago. Perhaps we could set up a few rumors of archmages' hidden libraries, still untouched after all the chaos behind powerful concealing enchantments, which might contain any sort of knowledge which they once hid? Hell, there might even be some.

The problem I see here is that even now Tissa and the twins are in Kaza, where our designated villain reigns, and all indications are that they will never do anything to oppose her because Laressa is just that good and has basically completely won over both the nobility (through magical enslavement) and masses (through good PR). Do we care?

>>14638588
On the note of our heroes, we really need to do something about Laressa's eyes at some point. Either something to make them immune or take them away from her but give her something in return. Not much can stand against her at this point simply because of those and her bodyguard.

>>14638588
As for what we do in the moment, I suggest we take a little break from intrigues and the like to check out the thriving music scene. See what and who the bards are singing about. Perhaps gather some information on what's going on in the underclasses, and ferret out any Secret Societies that might catch us unawares AGAIN.

>>14638588
To be fair, when we planned for Laressa to be the villain of the story we had no idea that she was anything other than a power hungry and potentially capable adventurer. I've been thinking that we may need to mod some of our plans for the future.

>>14638606
>>14638608
Laressa comes later- right now let them think what they will
The final revelation should come after some time carefully piecing together disparate clues.

Now might be a good time to introduce that reanimated Uguntu... damnit what was his name?
Well, the reanimated warlord, reduced to a bestial shadow of himself in his undeath

>>14638615
That and the loyalty knife NEEDS to be nerfed.

It's too much of a "Lolnope" Instawin

>>14638651
Perhaps change it at this point that the person being cut has to be willing to be cut by it? That way she can still use it if she's smart but she can't just stab whoever she wants and have a new loyal servant? Of course, with that kind of change we probably should give her some warning, heh.

>>14638641
Oh, jeez, why? Can't we you just let go of a barbarian gladiator who's been HACKED IN HALF by a half-orc reanimated bodyguard thing?

Seriously. We have our fingers in enough pies as it is without having to control the actions of another undead thing.

>>14638669
>>14638615
That'd be a little hard to justify

We could have those cut by the knight becoming less and less loyal to her- going from Fanatical to merely warmly approving to finally indifferent

Say that it's powers are stretched to apply to so many people- and that with each person she inducts with it, it grows weaker still. She needs to reapply the cut to her bondsmen for it to retain it's effectiveness.

The one year mark for her first inductee should be coming soon, right? Let's put it at a year until the knives effectiveness wears off

>>14638703
KNIFE, gah not knight

>>14638703
Mmm. Having its power decrease seems the most reasonable way of doing things - though it would pose problems with the way she has her bodyguard set up. I don't think she's really using it these days, though - is she, Vedibere? Do we know about how many people are under its control? And who?

>>14638703
I'm concerned though that she can just find a sneaky way to cut any of the heroes/other villains who come across her and then she has their loyalty even to a small degree. Sure it might only last for a year but that's tons of time to do anything.

I see we meet her again after listening in on her prayer.

>>14638739
Indeed. The other alternative is to start throwing out more boons/artifacts to our other pawns but then it becomes a game of escalating gifts.

>>14638739
Well, all she would need to do would be to prick him every day- even in it's weakened state it would be able more then capable of keeping him loyal
Hah, it would be great though, her using the knife day in and day out, ordering her half orc guard around like a mule- and then one day he says "no."
Not over anything important, mind you- he just shrugs and says. "Nah, I just don't feel like doing that."
The look on her face would be priceless

>>14638615
There's no need to do anything about Laressa's eyes, she's like a medusa in that you have to actually meet her gaze in order for the power to work. And Laressa herself has no immunities, a spell of blindness powerful enough to pass her magical defenses would render the gaze useless, as would a simple globe of darkness.

Just an idea to throw out.
We need to give Larissa a truly villanous motivation and the best one I can think of is power.
She has plenty of that right now but what would drive her to want/need a lot more?
One of the things thats been hinted at is that shes in love with us.

I say we imply to her that we could never love anyone or anything not equal to us in power/strength. Suggest that what you have done for her so far is put her on a path to her elevation to godhood and she will need to do a lot more to reach her destination and warn of many dead ends.

We then seed a lot of info which will send her down a dark path to attain her goal, make her do terrible things.

In the meantime take out a contract on her with that secret society from a few sessions ago. Cover up our involvement by using our power to alter the spell they all have on them to mean they can't betray us as well as the organisation and use a proxy by placing the idea that shes bad for trade in the idea of the council leaders.

Is the dagger indestructable? Could just have it damaged in combat.

>>14638792
The thing is that no one knows about it- all heroes sent to face the Medusea DIED before the gods told Perseus the source of her power.
Should we start the rumormill? Or at the very least provide some sort of clue for our heroes?

>>14638764
Not really, as long as we offer no other powers to Laressa it would be fine.

If you're really so worried then we could reinstated that one god curse that's supposed to make the next battle laressa faces go poorly. Then we could use that to take either the knife or the bodyguard from her without ever seeming to do anything at all.

>>14638790
You DO remember that we gave her the half-orc forever, right? No need for the dagger to ensure obedience with that.

But we're looking at Laressa right now. Immediate course of action: check out the elven entourage, examine belongings, anything written especially. Then we take some time to check out what's new in the bardic scene, and pay Laressa a visit after that messenger comes 'round.

>>14638830
I agree with and second your schedule.

You approve, Laressa is doing well once again, as you knew she would. Ah, she never fails to please. But something’s off... where is she getting all of the money to pay for this? Even if the increased production could offset the cost, it hardly could be converted into liquid assets so fast. The economy is controlled by the state now and the prices of most goods are set by it, but that hardly means that the wages paid to soldiers can be discontinued or that currency in general is obsolete. Hmmm. Perhaps this is something that you can spend time on while waiting for Laressa to receive her mother’s message.

Flicking about the capital (which has been swelling with a vast influx of immigrants you note, nearly half again the size it was when you first found it) you eventually find the imperial mint. Located in a terifically secure building near the royal palace itself, it stands dark and imposing, just right for a place that holds vast amounts of gold, silver, and copper at any time.

Hopping inside past the wards, you take stock of the operation, and what you see surprises you; hundreds of frail, naked laborers hauling and forging gold and silver coins under the watchful eyes of whip-holding overseers. One end of the vast main chamber is piled with scores of gold and silver bars that they are reforging into coinage, and upon closer inspection you note that they are marked with a variety of symbols. Some are expected, such as the crests of duchies Laressa has taken over, or even the mark of the Archlords of Kaza... but others bear either no seal or markings that are completely unfamiliar to you.

Frowning, you depart. Inflation is not a concern with the state regulating prices and producing so much, provided the requirements are not misjudged. No, the problem is the unfamiliar markings. Not elven or human, and there were far more of them than there were of the other bars. Something here is amiss.

I don't think we should mess with the dagger personally. Especiallly not those she has already stabbed.

>>14638873
Dwarves?

What other races inhabit this world apart from humans elves and dwarves?

>>14638873
it's a mystery!
INVESTIGATE

Also- our elf grows more and more Nazi like with each passing moment

Using slave labor to forge currency of enemy states?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bernhard

>>14638830
Will do this next if there are no objections, add anything the most recent post has made you think of as well.

>>14638873
future currency
the new emblem is the symbol of her empire
or, try and investigate laressa's family symbol

>>14638873
...you know, I think we completely forgot about dwarves. And I think we somehow have not a single elf involved in our quest. Something to consider.

Note the markings, see if you can find a numismatist somewhere in the city, and see what information they might have in their books on these symbols.

I am still holding to the rest of my suggestions.

>>14638902
answer this too
>>14638894

Guys, we should not be nerfing the gifts that we have already given. We gave her a knife that gives her the loyalty of anyone it cuts and a killer gaze; neither of those is completely impossible to overcome. Yes, if she was a PC that would be horribly imbalanced, but she isn't a PC. She gets to be "lolnope instawin", as you said; her goal is to conquer the whole world, and the world is huge! She simply cannot feasibly cut on everyone in it, nor can she personally deal with all problems. And anyone seriously looking to take her down will research her capabilities and come up with methods of dealing with them, or they don't deserve to win anyway.

Yes, they have to become impervious to slashing weapons and not meet her gaze. Big fucking deal. Neither of those is even that hard!

>>14638902
Well, obviously while checking the entourage and examining their stuff we'll look for the symbol.

Actually I'd like to pull one of thos laborers aside and have a chat with him about who he was and where he came from before he was sent here.

>>14638919
>not a single elf involved in our quest.

wat?

>>14638949
goddamn it I meant to type dwarf
the keys are RIGHT next to each other

>>14638894
Humans, elves, dwarves, lizardfolk, mer-people, gnomes, halflings, shadow people, dragons, orcs, goblins, demons (not natural inhabitants), gods, trolls, srite, lots of minor races.

>>14638960
srite?
...
Mispelling of Sprite?

And do any of these guys have symbols matching the coins being forged?

>>14638902
Just make sure that we get to see what she does when she talks with the messenger. He seemed high-ranking... and I want to watch her reaction to his news. Should be hilarious.

>>14638809
>Should we start the rumormill? Or at the very least provide some sort of clue for our heroes?
This sounds reasonable to me. I'd go a couple nations away and pay a skilled bard a sizable sum of money to compose a popular song which tells of Laressa's conquest of Kaza, emphasizing each of the capabilities that she displayed- conveniently enough, also highlighting the things that anyone would need to overcome if they wished to take her down. Her supreme fighter bodyguard, her gaze of death, her human fanatics and elven assassin posse, her own extraordinary physical prowess. Make sure the bard knows that it's meant to be essentially warnings for anyone looking to take her on.

That should give anyone coming after her a damned good clue or twelve, if they do their research.

>>14638873
Check the building for shipping manifests, there's bound to be some paperwork for keeping track of these things. Also, check the oddly marked gold for magic we can trace.

>>14638977
Eh, I think the bardic thing can wait for the moment - but if we come across anything like that in the bardic quarter, I'm sure we can nudge the bards in the right direction. I assume that the heroes are doing the good adventurer thing and listening in the taverns and the like, after all.

Heh. Part of me was thinking we should show that dwarf god who is boss and make the strongest orc warlord in the north have equivalent knowledge or dwarf engineering and architecture. To be fair, I'm not sure if the orcs would be able to actually use that information well but if they could, that could be amusing.

We definitely need to find out where she got the extra bars though. I guess we could ask her directly if people wanted since I have no idea how we'd find out otherwise at this point. Unless Laressa's mother is involved in this somehow...

>>14638965
Srite are a sort of... well, pic related. Extremely hard bone exoskeleton, predatory and warlike, highly organized, live in the wastes on a continent to the east of Kaza.

Not pleasant things to be around, lest you be killed and eaten.

>>14639048
ohmygodilovethissetting!

>>14639048
vedibere, once this quest is over I am going to try run a game in this world.

>>14639101
Are you going to have a bored and somewhat bumbling overgod constantly poking at them for shits and giggles?

>>14639048
Which brings up another question - apart from the elves, what else is around Parthia? Anything interesting apart from the standard human kingdoms and the like?

>>14639101
>>14639069
Glad you like it.

>wat do?
So, you want to check on the elven entourage, riffle through Laressa's personal effects, and... what else?

>>14639144
The elves aren't even near Parthia. That's what makes them going to war so strange. They will have to either negotiate or fight through no less than three human kingdoms to get there. Not big ones, but still.

>>14639156
Huh. Well, fair enough. But the question still stands - what else is around Parthia?

Also: Apart from the stuff noted, I'd like to check out what bards are singing about, and maybe see if any of the numismatists in the city have information about the symbols on those gold bars. Seems like their stock in trade.

>>14639156
We really need to find out what Laressa's mother's 400 year old plan in the making is at some point... Even if the king is attacking to get rid of Laressa, there has to be more behind it than that.

>>14639145
go through the shipping manifests and such here at the mint, find out where the gold was shipped from. Should do that first as we are already here.

>>14639185
The sea to the east, with the island of Kaza somewhat close, enough so to be a rival in trade before it fell. A league of city states to the south, fairly rich and powerful though nominally neutral. To the west are a bunch of small human kingdoms that rose apart when the original Parthian Empire fell and are constantly warring, merging, and splitting. Pretty fragmented, often called the Rabble States. To the north are a couple moderately sized kingdoms (both roughly 3/4 the size of the current landmass of the Parthian empire, but mountainous and much less populated) and beyond them an extremely large republic named Orphala. Parthia is already in the east-northeast of the continent though, so Orphala is deep in the frozen north.

Dar'an is in the great forest that lies at the center of the continent, beyond the Rabble States.

>>14639192
You would have, but there are no shipping manifests for any of the blank or strangely marked bars nor any of the coins, 1/3 of which is being minted in Parthian currency and the rest in other things. You note that a /lot/ of copper is used in the 'other' coinage while the Parthian coins are minted in normal ratios.

>>14639286
where are the other coins being sent/stored?

>>14639317
If you knew I would have said. I can draw out some symbols if you want, but they will hardly mean anything to you. Once again, you aren't omniscient.

>>14639331
>>14639317
I cannot reiterate how much we need to look this shit up at a numismatist's

>>14639331
You know we could just ASK Laressa its not like she is going to refuse us answers or lie to us.

Does Laressa still eat at that one vendor? the one she favored through her rise to power?

>>14639338
I don't actually know what that is, but since you seem to know what you're doing I'll second.

>>14639355
Pshaw. We don't want to have to ask people for information, it makes us look poorly-informed.

Shit, we should have coopted the Tradeluminati information network. That would've been smart. May I suggest that we set some sort of information network up, perhaps amongst the bards, just so we can look this shit up more easily?

>>14639371
Numismatists are guys that trade in currency and coins.

The more you know~

>>14639378
Man, what is it with you and bards?

>>14639331
can't we just watch a coin and follow it?

>>14639402
Because back in the day when newspapers weren't a thing, bards and criers would be the ones to diffuse news throughout a kingdom. Also, as entertainers, they can go a lot of places where Johnny Adventurer wouldn't.

Basically, they are the mass media of the medieval era, and you don't discount the power of the media.

also they dress in flashy clothes and doesn't afraid of anything

>>14639331
Is there anything special about the gold itself? Enchantments, latent energies?

>>14639359
Yes. She actually hired him on as a personal retainer and he is in charge of all her lunches.

IMO we ask the tradluminati what the symbols mean.

maybe offer them information about Laressa's empire in return

>>14639355
We could just ask Laressa to explain all her plans and backstory to us, too; she probably would. But it would be much less fun that way.

>Once again, you aren't omniscient.
You know, you say this a lot, but it's practically irrelevant. We might not know everything, but knowing any given thing- particularly when we're talking about basic physical realities, like where objects are located- is just a matter of throwing some divination at it, or it should be.

I find it interesting that in a quest where the whole premise is that we can do practically everything, we are constantly annoyed by our limitations. Clearly our character's rise to omnipotence is still incomplete and he should not have been sitting on his ass for the last endless millennia.

>>14639622
No, we're truly omnipotent. It's just that when you achieve a perfect something, the meaning of that something changes. The only limitations we've encountered are those of the materials we work with. We can't take over a mind because it breaks too easily. We can't recreate something without knowing it utterly, and some things about the universe are unknowable.

That said, let's see if we can't create a being with a mind strong enough to take our commands and not turn to mush. Good side project.

>>14639522
Those Illuminati people would definitely know what the symbols are. But we don't need to tell them shit. Just drop in, ask for an explanation, then poof away.

>>14639622
Its explained several times that we are all powerful and that does not mean we are all knowing. We can learn just about anything by forcing it from anothers mind but we cant just will ourselves knowledge.

>>14639520
We should try that guys stuff.

Yep, pop in to the tradluminati and ask them about the symbols.


Make sure we don't miss that message arriving tho.

>>14639720
Eh, I'd rather they not start looking into the stuff we show interest in. If we can't find answers on our own, we look them up.

numismatiiiiissssssts

Investigation is the order of business for the day, you decide. Priorities, priorities... well, first the coins. You flick through some of the bankers in the city and fine one fairly old and experienced looking. Good. As he sits alone reviewing ledgers you rip into his mind with incorporeal claws, pulling out knowledge of currencies and national marks for it. The results are... interesting. Both of the northern kingdoms and the “common” currency of the city-state league to the south are all represented in the diluted coinage being minted, but he has never before seen the strange marking that was on a large majority of the gold bars. He is an excellent banker, however, and you are able to tear loose some fairly helpful information on the subject: The bars of are an exceptional purity from the luster and textures, and the marking looks... vaguely dwarven, resembling that of some ancient clanholds that once inhabited the mountain ranges to the north and south of Parthia well before humans were even forming proper empires. Long ago wiped out and fallen, of course.

Hmmm. Well that was most enlightening. With that you pull back and allow the meatsack to slump onto the desk, open-eyed and drooling a bit onto the ledgers, before flitting off to more important things; namely investigating your wonderful elf. Finding her retinue is not at all difficult, though there are only five of them present. Both Stella and a random blonde haired one are elsewhere, likely guarding Laressa as she goes about her daily activities. The rest, however, are lounging about her castle... much improved from the last time you were here, strangely enough.

While the bottomless pit that acts as a moat to guard the portion of the castle not backed against the sheer, smooth, magically hardened cliff-face prevents outward expansion, it is obvious that your elf has decided that /downward/ expansion is perfectly acceptable. Even now hundreds of mindslaved laborers and master stoneworkers toil away expanding down into the earth, perfectly acceptable as the pit guards against any possible attempts to breach it. The finished portions are already lavishly appointed, and it seems the rest of the castle has undergone even more of an upgrade than before. What was once simply posh is now positively royal, with servants and bellrings in every room and lavish carpets, beautiful tapestries, and no expense has been spared on any of the furnishings.

Well, back to the elves. Of the five present, three (including the only female other than Stella) are in the “war wing” where Laressa has her planning chambers, training facilities, personal armory, and other related things; two of them are sparring while the third watches, occasionally changing up. They are... very good, actually. Exceptionally so, though they rely more on speed, superior elven reflexes, and agility rather than raw power.

The fourth elf is relaxing in the library, reading a tome on ancient swordsmen and occasionally drinking from a half-filled decanter of liquor, while the fifth patrols the castle, apparently “on duty”, checking the guards and miners once every half hour. Not much information there, so you transfer to their bedrooms and begin looking through their items.

The six bedrooms of the elves turn up a few facts: One, the blonde female elf (Koria) is in a relationship with the aristocratic southern elf (Yorial Aloint) that was dispatched on the assassination mission. Two, seven elves have similar clothing that they no longer wear and clasps with the same symbol, presumably that of the Royal Shades considering you saw it on your visit to Laressa’s mother. Three, their original high-quality elven weapons have been discarded for... even better ones? Snapping back to the elves training, you confirm it. While the daggers and short blades in their rooms are of excellent quality, the ones they bear now are quite superior and much better than what you feel even the master craftsmen of Parthia can make.

Turning toward Laressa’s room, you find that it has likewise receive a lavish upgrade, and that she has had several secret passages installed leading to and from it. A personal collection of weapons and infiltration tools hangs behind a false wall, and she appears to have expanded her wardrobe quite considerably. Her private sanctuary remains as it was before, though you think the wards have improved a bit. Finally, you snap away and check her offices... all three, actually. One in her castle, one in the royal palace, and one in the tower on Kaza. In the tower office you find a note in the same elven cipher, though she has conveniently decoded it and written the message out in normal elven below the words.

“Dear Laressa,

How are you doing, my darling? I have been hearing some interesting things on your progress, and approve. It is long past time you ruled in your own right, and plans here are well underway to help you add a /true/ realm to your name. Alas, I was forced to reveal your current situation to the king, but I’m sure you can handle the preparations he is making to invade your realm. Your assassination has been ordered, so I will be sending a few of your friends and followers to help you out. Things here are going smoothly, and three of the High Lords have shown great interest in wedding you, High Lord Darlant even said he would put aside his current wife. If you have a preference for which one I choose then be sure to send it in coded form. I will not allow any dissent in the matter, it almost cost us everything last time.

Love,
Mother”

Underneath in Laressa’s hand are scrawled several very colorful variations of elven insults, translating to roughly “faggot bitch who fornicates with goats for money”, “inbred halfwit whore-son” and, “illegitimate tree-born mongrel”. You’re not sure exactly how they pertain to elven culture, but you remember seeing the third one used while you were in the elven kingdom. The resulting duel to the death was most interesting to watch.

The only other item of note you find is a half-finished coded reply, though you can't read it you have a... fairly decent idea of the contents.

>The fourth elf is relaxing in the library, reading a tome on ancient swordsmen and occasionally drinking from a half-filled decanter of liquor

Oh, this is Master Koris, by the way.

>>14639840
>The bars of are an exceptional purity from the luster and textures, and the marking looks... vaguely dwarven, resembling that of some ancient clanholds that once inhabited the mountain ranges to the north and south of Parthia well before humans were even forming proper empires. Long ago wiped out and fallen, of course.

Well, well, well. It seems someone's stumbled across a forgotten dwarven treasury. Interesting bit of information, that. And a good thing we didn't go to the Tradeluminati; that tidbit would be sure to catch their eye, along with the bits about devaluing currency.

Not much of interest from the elves, the bit about the love interest apart - file that one away - but I have the strangest feeling that Laressa might be wanting to talk to us about matters of romance after that first letter from home. And probably moreso after the second. That can wait.

Doesn't anyone else want to see the bards? :C

>>14639881
Last session I said we should take the time to learn that cipher. I said it several time actually. Going to say it again now: We should learn that cipher.

>>14640038
It's not all just one cipher, by the way. That would be insecure. There are a bunch of different ones used.

Not saying you can't learn them, but they /were/ meant to be hard to break. It will take time unless you feel like extracting the information from someone's mind.

Goddamnit.

Can we make it a constant rule that, unless spoken otherwise, we do not kill while investigating or gathering information?

Too many corpses just lying around is bad for business- not just the questions they raise, but the events they may set into motion

>>14640030
I want to see bards!

I find it highly unlikely that the paladin is goign to take offense at what laressa is doing now that she is feeding the poor, ETC.

I also believe that this is not necessarily a bad thing.


Once we have finished up with the message from her mother and the dinner party we should see about pushing the heroes into action somhow.

Untill then I suggest a timeskip to the message arriving.

>>14640078
Eh. It's not like they have CSI teams.

>>14640072
take the time to learn the cypher during the timeskip that >>14640132
Suggested.

>>14640143
It's also not like the best CSI team in the world with empirical science, modern technology, and epic magic at their beck and call could find out shit about you. You are completely removed from being caught unless you let it happen on purpose. There are no traces left, at all.

>>14640143
I don't suspect us to be implicated in anyways- but, we all know the proverb of
"For want of a nail."

Unless we're trying to directly influence or shape events, we should take a minimal interference approach

>Total War crashes, after cursing a bit refresh /tg/, see omnipotence quest.
>GloriousDay!.jpg

Did someone mention bards?

You know, I'm tempted to scope the first layer of security wards on this little fortress, then create some spyish meatpuppets/warforged and have them infiltrate as if they were sent by someone who had scoped and circumvented the first layer of wards just to see how good Laressa's crew really is.

>>14640171
I dunno, Vedibere. If they take the footage, zoom and enhance, and examine the reflection in the mirror from a digital reconstruction...

Anyway, I think we have enough consensus for seeing what's going down with the bards :D

>>14640173
I agree, sure, we can't be directly caught, but killing off a knowledgeable, experienced, presumably prominent banker in an undetectable way while the empire is going through a total financial overhaul at the direction of a sneaky elf rogue who has a personal bodyguard of elven assassin spies... Gee, subtle. This definately won't cause /any/ side effects, nopenope.

So, Laressa is basically out to conquer the world entirely on her own, while her mom thinks that she'll go back and take over the oh-so-important elven kingdom by marriage. Will be interesting to see that bit happen. At a wild guess, a big part of why she likes us is that on some level it would cheese her mom off. Not exactly conducive to long-lived romances, but then, neither are we.

>>14640185
Could be amusing. We can put little notes inside each of them giving our predictions on how far they'll probably get, mostly for our own amusement as we watch her bodyguards. And have one that's really, really good have a prize inside.

>>14640290
It won't cause any side effects that change the big picture. Probably won't even cause any side effects that are worth watching.

>>14640078
I back this rule fully, but I don't think OP likes it. He likes having us be clumsy in our actions to mess with us, and leaving a trail of bodies is an easy way to do it.

Honestly, a Legend Lore spell (or equivalent) on one of those gold bars could have sufficed, if "we are not omniscient!" wasn't being constantly interpreted as "our barred school is divination!"

>>14640319
It's the devil in the details. Maybe it won't come back to bite us in the aft end. Or maybe it will.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

>>14640302
>Deals with normal golems, finds notes about how we are testing her.
>Deals with uber-stalker, finds ring inside.
>Her face
>Sees note.
>It's a ring of water breathing, just in case you ever need to go swimming.
>Our face

>>14640327
If you want to go play Omniscience quest, by all means go create it. This isn't D&D.

>>14640327
You know, if you had actually said "we should cast a Legend Lore spell to discover the origin of this symbol" back when Vedibere was asking for direction he probably would have let it happen. But you didn't for some reason. I didn't cause I don't know anything about spells and divination. What was your excuse?

>>14640319
Right, yes, killing off people who know about the economy in a way remniscent of sneaky assassin stuff while the economy is being overhauled by the government run by a sneaky assassin person who has a retinue of sneaky assassin people could not possibly change anything. No-one is going to be suspicious, it won't cause any adventurer/hero-related investigations, there'll be no major effects. Despite the fact that Ved has previously stated (and shown) that events happen even without our interference, and when we do interfere we can mess up fate quite by accident (see: deleting the cure).

It will be ruled magic or natural causes. Even if someone knows of the skills of Laressas crew they won't connect the two as those assassins use physical skill to kill.

>>14640372
STOP GIVING HIM IDEAS

>>14640401
Personally, I suspect he already had that idea, or the idea that doing this will have removed a source of valuable information for Laressa, and that's why he had us kill him when people were suggesting just talking to him.

>>14640185
>>14640302
Is this actually on the table? Cause it could be fun.

Personally, I'd try giving ourselves a goal for achieving things and then limit our power usage towards that goal. Like having a goal of having all the Gods killed off or enslaved to mortals, and only using X amount of power to do it.

>>14640453
Sure. I'm going to go do some stuff and be back in half an hour. Have something hashed out and agreed on by then or we'll just skip to the messenger arriving.

>>14640469
Hmmm, personally I'd like to delay the messenger so that he arrives right as we begin that "perfect meal" Larissa will doubtless be organising once she confirms just how good that cook is. I don't know, have him captured by some kind of monster, that doesn't actually kill things for some time, then arrange his miraculous escape? Some kind of spider, perhaps?

Alright: We'll have three teams of two, and 2 individual units. They'll all be warforged of approximate elven size and shape, with excellent agility, speed and stealth. They'll have every tool of the trade (as they are essentially large tools themselves); grappling hooks, lockpicks, stealth items, blinding powder to throw at people, etc. The team units will enter from ground, middle window, and roof each. One member will be the opener (lockpick, etc.) the other will cover by disabling guards (but NO killing. This is a test after all).

The individuals are to be given the minds of master thieves and told to break in by themselves.

The goal is to reach the office and leave a piece of paper with the words "not good enough" on the desk. If they manage to do this undetected, they'll be rewarded with true life and their freedom. Failures get annihilated.

>>14640587
And what exactly is the point of this all? No, seriously.

>>14640645
Well, somebody posted the possibility of testing her defenses, and some people liked it, and Vedibere asked for information if we're going to do it.

The point is to have fun at Laressa's minimal expense. And possibly enlighten her to weakpoints in her security that a sufficiently motivated crew of adventurers could exploit. We'll tell her it was us so that she's not freaking out.

>>14640693
I like this idea. Maybe we could make an army of undead pop up on one of her boarders.

>>14640587
Uh no offense but this is a castle fortress, not some house or some shit. There is only one way in, a steel drawbridge across a bottomless pit. It's constantly watched.

>>14640777
... That's what the dwarves thought...
Anyone feel like creating Skaven? (Or stealing them from another reality, given our omnipotence)

>>14640645
I posted the original suggestion because I wanted to see these elven assassins in action to gauge how good they are.

>>14640587
Laressa has more than one office, so they should have different objectives if they are working solo, each using the others as a diversion. Remember that only the first layer of wards should be circumvented due to pre exisiting knowledge, any others our test dummies should have to work past on their own.

>>14640777
Gliders and invisibility.

>>14640805
Larissa pretty much invented arial warfare in this world, and worked for a long time as an elite elven agent. Plus she has utilised invisible airships to deploy scouts on at least one mission. You seriously think she wouldn't take the basic precaution of having some guys with truesight around, and telling some of them to look up?

>>14640822
I like you, you're smart. Even if you do keep spelling Laressa wrong. Yes, checking you can see that the guards of the paranoid ex-assassin with the resources of an entire empire all have amulets of truesight on.

I'm just going to go ahead and write up the arrival of the messenger. If you come up with something good and still want to do it you can implement it later.

>>14640777
The castle walls don't rise to the sky, do they?

Surely our super sneaks can scale a wall and get over the ramparts under dead of night. Or masquerade as a guard. Or hide in a supply shipment in pieces that automatically assemble after 15 minutes.

Come on, it's like you've never watched Ocean's Eleven or something.

>>14640863
>scale a wall and get over the ramparts
Facepalm. The post you are quoting says there's a bottomless pit ringing the fortress with the drawbridge as the only way across. How will they even fucking GET to the walls?

>>14640645
You obviously haven't had the pleasure of breaking someone before

Could they scale down the cliff face behind the fortress by utilizing boots and gloves with a spiderclimb type enchantment? Alternatively, utilize natural camo to make their way to the edge of the pit and climb/drop down out of sight. Then use gliders to cross to the other side and climb back up?

>>14640863
These will all fail. She's a paranoid ex-assassin with a country's economic might and power behind her. What makes you think that will work? Also note, her master is in the castle. We don't know how involved he is with Security atm. If he isn't that means it's standards are up to his approval, possibly, or has taken an active role in improving it and there's probably nothing we can do....

>>14640886
A running jump with boots of jumping or something? Jump into the pit, then spread your glider and latch onto the wall?

Think outside the box for one minute, and a bottomless pit is as difficult to get around as a log on the road.

>>14640924
It doesn't matter if they fail in the end, what matters is they get far enough in to test the elves abilities.

I particularly like the idea of a disassembled warforged being brought in as a weapons shipment or something, then automatically reassembling once inside.

>>14640945
What?! dude no. That would get you spotted by the guards so fast.

>utilize natural camo to make their way to the edge of the pit and climb/drop down out of sight. Then use gliders to cross to the other side and climb back up?

This, on the other hand has potential.

>>14640950
If that's the case then best method would be just to teleport them into castle actual using some kind of method that breaches the ward. We can do it simply because we're us. There doesn't seem to be an effective method to insert an assassin otherwise and not expect everyone in the castle to die hideously.

Is there not some other method of testing/what's the point. Also out of curiosity Vedibere mentioned new magical weapons. Did we find out their source yet?

>>14640962
That has potential too. But how do we disguise the magical nature of the warforged without tipping off the person who will be in charge of inspecting the contents of the shipment. Not like we can bribe anyone, what with knife loyalty.

>>14640976
The point is it could be entertaining, and if we are continuing to portray Laressa as the villain then we need to know the skill of her henchmen so as to prepare the heroes accordingly.

>Did we find out their source yet?
Shit, I think we forgot to check.

>>14640855
Hey, no love for my >>14640562 plan? I mean, we should have found some kind of sarlacc-like creature in all our time messing around with universes.

What we seriously lack here is information and all details in regarding security. If possible I'd prefer if we could observe the castle a bit more, send in probing assassins of lesser to greater qualities and see how they're stopped. Then when we more or less know a few things about their set up we can actually form a plan that will cause the elves in question to react personally to the threat.

>>14641009
Well in light of this, Vedibere does magic have any type of signature or way to trace? For example, is it possible to differentiate between cultural magics or is a generic universal system in place?

>>14640886
>bottomless pit
not truly bottomless it's something like 7 miles deep though

>>14641045
Out of curiousity would it be possible to simply dig underneath and up into the castle? common sense says Laressa may have planned for this, but with us being...well...us, can we do a check to see if she does have countermeasures in place?

>>14640989
have it included in a shipment of magical weapons, obviously. What's a guard going to do, check each and every enchantment?

>>14641045
>The castle Belgat, for its part, is an ancient and highly defensible structure set into the side of a mountain. The soaring spires and graceful -- yet extremely strong -- free-standing ramparts and bridges between towers suggests magical craftsmanship at the hands of an ancient and powerful empire, an opinion only reinforced by the ‘bottomless’ moat around it. You determine it to be only around seven miles deep, but it’s the thought that counts. That and mortal eyes being unable to see a thrown torch all the way at the bottom.

I was right 7 miles

>>14641064
When there's an item that can cause implosions the size of a house I think checks will be needed.

The days pass uneventfully, and during that time you confirm that Laressa has, indeed, found an ancient stash of dwarven gold in the mountains, deep with a sealed ancient fortress that died off thousands of years in the past. You’re still not entirely sure /how/ she found it, but there you go. An interesting find to go along with it is the weapons within it; exactly the same type her elves are using now, masterforged dwarven weaponry. Currently she has three dozen mindslaved workers clearing the place out and bringing up the haul, transporting the gold to the mint and the weapons to her personal arsenal. Sadly, the ravages of time have rendered most of the rest of the ruin useless, but your elf takes what she can get.

Eventually, however, your attention is brought back to the surface as your triggers inform you Selvaris, the latest ‘assassin’ and messenger of Lady Celedine, is approaching your elf’s fortress. Hovering overhead, you watch as he finishes the trek and answers the hails of the guards. Soon he is brought inside and welcomed warmly by the elf on duty, Koria this time. After hugs of greeting and general banter he is led to the library, where Stella waits.

“Master Selvaris!” she exclaims, catching him in a hug, “What a shock! Has something gone wrong? I thought for sure you would be needed back in Dar’an.” Returning the embrace, he soon pulls away and smiles, though it’s strained, “I’m glad to see you too Stella, but I’m afraid I have some bad news for Laressa. I’m afraid I need to speak with her immediately.”

The red haired elf nods in response and quickly shifts to a businesslike manner, leading the new arrival into a newly constructed chamber deep within the fortress... a teleportation chamber, from the looks of it. Heavily fortified and guarded at all times, with magical and physical defenses as well as a quick panic button that allows anti-teleportation wards to be activated over the space. Take no chances and spare no expense, apparently.

They step through and you follow, blinking to a similar chamber beneath the royal palace. Stella touches her forehead and then nods, “This way Master, Laressa is canceling her appointments and will meet us in the throne room.” At his nod the pair start upward and soon arrive in the grand chamber, huge columns flanking them as they stride through the grand double-doors and up to the raised throne upon which Laressa sits, flanked by Master Koris and one of the blond haired elves. As she sees them she snaps a dismissal to the retainer she was speaking to and rises, smiling.

After the man departs and none remain in the chamber but her elves (and you, obviously, though she hardly knows that.) her smile sours and she turns to Selvaris. “Master Selvaris, a pleasure. I wish I could say I was happy to see you, but Stella has informed me you bring dark news. What has happened?”

The chestnut elf nods, retrieving a small, invisible scroll case from his boot, “I am afraid so. Your mother had me send this, she asks that you memorize it and take appropriate precautions. I also hope to be of aid while I am here, as I will soon be as dead as my compatriots here.” The last bit he says with a lopsided grin, which both Stella and the blonde elf copy. Koris, however, keeps his frown and descends to stand beside Laressa, placing a hand on her shoulder, “What is it dear? I doubt your mother would have taken such a risk as sending Selvaris lightly.”

Laressa does not reply, however, instead choosing to scan through the letter in silence. Her eyes widen at first, but slowly return to normal as she continues reading, and half way through she has a tight-lipped grin beginning to form. By the end she is smiling broadly, though she tries to hide it, much to the shock of all around her. “Laressa?” begins Selvaris, “What is it? From what your mother said and the state she was in I don’t see what the....” but slowly trails off as she begins chuckling, tears in her eyes.

“Oh, nothing. It seems an... associate of mine paid her a visit.” She crumples the message and drops it on the floor, lighting it ablaze, before turning and almost skipping back to the throne, her steps light and a smile on her face. “Laressa?” asks Koris, worriedly, “What happened?”

She turns and smiles as she sits, giving a small shrug, “It seems the one I’m interested in has a bit of interest in me too.” She stretches her arms above her head and giggles, “I think I’ll take the rest of the day off. I have to go make... dinner plans.” With that she stands and walks quickly from the room, nearly jogging, followed by her bodyguard and leaving behind several mystified elves.

>>14641160
My curiousity has taken the better of me. A shame we couldn't sneak a peak of the letter...but I must know. Perhaps we could follow her and pick up clues as to the content of this later?

>>14641030
Yes, there are lots of different schools of magic and there are usually ways to identify them. School X is a school of mainly-human mages and School Y is taught at the elven academy of land Z, things like that. Likewise there are ways to conceal it, but given enough time, effort, research, and power anything can /eventually/ be traced back to a certain school. Except a few of the schools that were made with the express purpose of being untraceable, but there are few enough of those and they're regularly cross-checked anyway just because of what they are.

>>14641184
It was just a description of what happened and an exact transcript of everything that was said and actions that were taken during the meeting you had with Celedine. You know this. It was said last thread.

>>14641160
Part of me wants to just appear in front of all of them to see their reactions again but we probably shouldn't... However, it might be worthwhile appearing to at least Selvaris to see if we can try to find out more about the grandmistresses plan.

>>14641160
welp time for dinner then, yes?

I Quite liked that idea about the warforged master thief infiltrating and simply delivering a message.

Maybe we can use it on the day that prepares our dinner?
If she succeds we show surprise and congratulate her, if she fails we simply say laughing "looks like after all those years of spy training still leave room for improvement huh?"

Well son of a bitch, I now understand after reading that thread. Silly me, so with that in mind...Oh, hey here's a thought what if we created a stone golem? Or whatever material they're making the rest of the castle out of. They're building down right? Assuming they're not carving into the ground itself and using sturdier material would it be possible to enchant certain bricks to form a cohesive golem? Have it activate in the darkness of the night and rotate out with other bricks once set to an interior room and then reform? I suppose there would be wards to stop this though...

Lets give her some new armor at dinner in our favorite colors. Make it so its invulnerable to projectiles so that when she fights our heroes the Twins wont kill her in two seconds. I also assume we will make our heroes immune to her soul stealing eyes.

just planning for the future

>>14641271
Sounds fair to me. I'm interested in what she might wear to such an occasion.

I think that the warforged plan has some merit as dinner entertainment, though we should tell her not to let anything interrupt the meal. Perhaps quietly enforced by ourselves?

>>14641330
>>14641271
I'd like to stay a bit and listen to the others speculate on what they just witnessed.

>>14641328
I think not. Laressa's gaze is easily circumvented, and she has no need of special armor given what we did for her body in the first thread.

>>14641160
Well, I want to watch both what Laressa does and what her compatriots do; specifically, I'm interested in their discussion of her reaction. We don't know much about what they're thinking here, or how much she's told them about where she got her new superpowers. Nor do we know how much of their loyalty is to her and how much to her mother; this seems like exactly the sort of situation in which that distinction would come out. It'd be nice to find out, and tearing the information from their minds would be very rude to Laressa.

Watch her posse for now, and set a recorder/alert spell on Laressa so that we'll be able to review what she does and says later and not miss anything.

I want to hear what the elves have to say about how Laressa is acting. I think Selvaris in particular won't be pleased given that he has seemingly had to give up his life just to deliver a message that was apparently unimportant. I wanna see!

>>14641384
Don't forget a bodyguard who is the cream of the bloody universe.

>>14641435
Bodyguard can be assassinated. Or taken out of the picture via any number of spells.

For the dinner:

When the table is set, we wait until Laressa turns away from out seat, then we materialize and say something like "an excellent meal."

It'll spook her out of her chair.

So, let's make an inventory of the pies we're involved in here:

An elven ruler of a fairly sizeable kingdom who has a crush on us, is the daughter of an elven kingdom's king and spymistress - who was exiled for a failed coup attempt.
A barbarian pirate king who overthrew the archmages who controlled the city from which he operated [DECEASED, chopped in half]
A secret illuminati-like organization of traders with a super-secret underground lair, some top-notch assassins, and way too much money
A paladin with a magic bracer
Incestuous twins with... uh, we didn't give them anything

Also a druid and a knight who are doing things.

Did I miss anything?

You continue watching the elves. A few seconds after she leaves Selvaris turns and begins to follow her, but Koris catches his arm and shakes his head. “Don’t bother. She wouldn’t listen anyway right now. I believe she has... some sort of powerful benefactor, which she has become rather attached to. I assume that’s who paid Celedine a visit.” At this Selvaris’s eyes narrow, and after a few seconds he heaves a sigh. “Well, I suppose that’s fine then. It’s not as if I will be gone for long, though I suggest you send a message back to Celedine so she doesn’t run herself ragged attempting to find who is interfering in her plots. You know how she can be.”

Koris nods, “I’ll do that, I have a few ways to get messages to her set up. For now let’s get back to the fortress and find a room for you. Stella?” The young elf nods and holds out her hand toward the door, “This way, Master. We also have some excellent facilities, perhaps you could go over some drills with the other journeymen and I? We were having a argument about the best way to disarm someone when they attacked using--” You stop paying attention, and the elves all follow downward into the teleportation room while making idle chatter.

>Will be accepting suggestions for the lead up to dinner in the next thirty minutes. There will of course be interaction during the dinner as well.

>>14641586
How much time do we have before the dinner?

I have an idea on how to get our heroes and villianess to interact. After the dinner, we reward Laressa with a miracle, cure-all artifact that works on any kind of disease. Before we leave, we tell her the next time she wants to see us, she'll have to do something really impressive, like taking down one of those pesky gods that's been cursing her lands. We also drop hints that there may be an orb of divinity lying around somewhere in the lands that she's conquered.

Then, when we go back to our heroes, we disguise ourselves, and start planting rumors that the King's unofficial visier may have taken the source of the Kaza miracle cure for herself. And then we watch and wait.

Make ambrosia available to the cook. If she can surprise us with something, give her a supply of the stuff.

It'll be a gift to her AND Laressa, to be able to have the stuff regularly.

When we have our dinner with Laressa, ward the room so that no one who isn't Laressa can perceive us. Make it look to everyone but her (and any of the staff who must see us for things to go on well, but mask their actions from others too) like she's eating alone, in spite of the fact that she obviously ordered it to be set for two and believes herself to be hosting a fine meal before a treasured guest.

Massive trollface afterward.

>>14641700
Ehh. It's a little too convenient, you know? Besides, what if she just synthesizes it, or outright gives it to the paladin? I think that a partial cure would be a better idea unless we REALLY want a clash right now. And I'm not in favour of it, simply because what's going on is interesting enough as it stands.

>>14641756
I'm not sure we should be feed ambrosia to the mortals. When we offered it to Laressa during our first meeting with her it made her poison detection ring shatter. I think it's just a little to strong for mortals in this setting. Besides, I want to see what Laressa believes is a meal fit for an interplanar being.

>>14641811
It's a table covered in really, really good sammiches and platters of excellent cheeses. Calling it now.

>>14641756
Maybe after the meal is over. For now, Laressa probably went to a lot of work to plan this; let's not mess with her workings. Our only meddling should be with those who are not involved with the meal, or possibly by having other things happen while the meal is ongoing.

By the way, make sure that we're wearing something different from last time, but in generally the same color scheme and in a level of quality/formality which matches whatever Laressa has set up. Just to be polite.

I think she'll be calling us from the shine, and I doubt she'll want to introduce us to the others, so we won't really have to make a big entrance. We're in the kings palace now right? Maybe we should look around for unattended letters and dispatches and do some light reading?

>>14641891
Find the dungeon and unlock a random occupied cell. See what happens.

The finest chef in the world deserves the finest ingredients.

For the main course, a roast bird of some kind. Perhaps a Roc - seasoned in the blood of a dragon, gold specifically. Stuffing within the bird includes a combination garlic mashed potatoes that have been seived so finely as to have the consistency of melted butter, bread crumbs from bread cultivated from the finest yeast giving the slightest alocholic twang even a day after being baked, and a simply amazing blend of dried fruits. All of this is of course, perfectly cooked in such a way that neither the bird nor the stuffing is either over nor undercooked as is so often the case with common cooking.

That's just one dish.

>>14641923
Red dragon steak sauteed with myconid shavings and a succubus blood sauce was the best that one rich hotel in Kaza could do. I still say we ought to try the meat pies made by that one vendor. Laressa eats that stuff every day, despite the skill of the other chefs she has access to. It has to be decent at least.

>>14641923
Actually, she's getting chinese food (or the fantasy equivalent). The plan is that, 10 minutes after the meal ends and we leave, we'll re-appear and say "hey, I suddenly want more."

...Captcha, that's not a symbol found on my keyboard.

>>14641923
That's a nice plan... but Laressa is hosting this, not us. Setting it up is entirely on her. If we want to manage future events we can, but not this one; that would ruin the whole point of telling her that she needed to prepare it to please us when we came.

When Vedi ask for suggestions for the "lead up" to dinner did he mean stuff for us to be doing while we wait for Laressa to call us or things to talk to Laressa about after she calls us while we are waiting for the first course to be served?

>>14642085
Considering that Laressa hasn't called us yet, the former seems the only reasonable possibility.

>>14642059
I wasn't suggesting we do anything. Just felt like giving Vedibere ideas for the actual food.

>>14642059
I'm pretty sure that was a guess as to what the meal would consist of, not suggestions of what we should provide. If /we/ were providing the food, given we are an omnipotent dark lord, it would probably consist of Cthulu steaks, lemon pepper Dagon, and Jar Jar Binks spit roast ( just because we can), washed down with the tears of tormented gods.

make an artifact level puzzle box that starts as some what difficult to open, and impossible to brake or see in side of. the puzzle box when opened contains some sort of gift (ex. one dose of cure-all). each time the box is opened the next time it closes the puzzle gets harder and the prize is renewed.

>>14642157
...That's actually not a bad idea. We should have seen some pretty hard puzzles in our time, so assuming we paid them any attention and didn't just "lolnope" them, we could probably make some rather fiendishly difficult puzzles. Hell, even if we didn't, we were an insanely powerful and creative (wizard? sorceror?) prior to our ascension, so yeah.
Of course, the question is, where will we put said box to lure heroes and adventurers...

>>14642259
Underneath one of the serving trays to be served to our elf of course.

You flick over to Laressa’s castle and begin observing her preparations. The first thing she does is quite expected, having Arina summoned. It’s what comes after that is interesting.

“Arina, how are you feeling?” She asks, smiling warmly at the poor cook, still shrinking and mousey. “I... am doing well, Lady. T-thank you for taking me in, and...” she begins to tear up, but controls herself, “Thank you for trying to help Kladus, and for avenging my family. I’m sure the gods will bless you.”

Laressa smiles once more and nods, “Thank you, but as I said I didn’t do it alone. Tonight I am having dinner with the man who orchestrated it all, and a dear friend of your dear Kladus. He was just as grieved as you to hear of his death, and aided me greatly in the overthrow of that demonic man. I was hoping you would make a great meal for him, to help him forget the pain of the past. In memory of your dear Kladus, and your family.” At this Arina’s eyes water, but her face becomes resolute. She nods sharply, her chin chopping down, “Yes. Please let me. I... I know what he must be going through, and I know that if I can ease his spirits just a bit with my cooking, like it eases mine....” She draws up and looks Laressa in the eye, regaining a fraction of the noble bearing she once must have had. “I will do everything I am able. As my thanks to him, and my hope to make him forget the past... even if for just a bit.”

With a final satisfied smile your elf nods and dismisses the cook, who immediately heads for the kitchens and begins spitting out a dizzying array of ingredients to be retrieved from Laressa’s immense stasis lockers. Laressa, on the other hand, heads back to her room and summons her entire maidstaff. A thorough bath and cleaning, followed by, smallclothes. (Black translucent lace, eh? Bold.) The next few hours are spent cycling through the vast array of dresses she has amassed, finally settling on a deep purplish-blue floor-length gown that almost shimmers as she moves in it; you admit, it complements her well, clinging to her and accentuating her form while the clasped slits up the sides show off her long toned legs. It is set off by elegant fingerless gloves that reach up just past her elbows and in the same fabric as the dress, obviously made as a pair. One of the maids mentions the price offhandedly and you raise an incorporeal eyebrow. Spare no expense, indeed.

The dress chosen, she moves on to styling and accessories. A renowned slave-attendant is brought in to work with her hair, snipping and styling it so that it falls perfectly over her ears and to her jaw, hanging lose but remaining both out of the way and perfect. Following this, she picks a pair of demure rings and a sparkling diamond bracelet, followed by an exquisitely thin woven mithril necklace sporting three perfect sapphires that match her eyes exactly, likely to have cost more than a small trading guild. Lastly she dons her badge of rank, a thin circlet of silver and gold set upon her brow, modestly secreted under her hair and only peeking out in front.

By this time several hours have passed and she sends to the kitchens as her maids offer various shoes and gloves that match her dress. The report, however, leaves her attendants scolding her for frowning as they apply light makeup, it seems that “perfection” takes time, and though the table is set Arina is still fussing over the final touches. Laressa, however, makes no mention of a need to hurry. Quite the opposite, in fact, telling Arina to take her time and ensure that each course is done at the proper time to be brought up perfectly cooked and fresh. Instead, Laressa waits, occasionally smoothing her gloved hands down her legs or standing to pace nervously and almost biting her nails several times before a maid can stop her from chipping the purplish-blue enameling. Eventually, however, the long-anticipated moment arrives and the message is received: The first course shall be served in fifteen minutes.

Laressa quickly dismisses her maids and walks over to her ‘shrine’, stopping at the door and taking a deep breath. Releasing it, she disarms the wards and unlocks it, for the first time calling another inside, her bodyguard, to place a gold-tasseled velvet cushion in front of the altar. After he leaves, she kneels down upon it and closes her eyes, clasping her hands in front of her chest and bowing her head. “My lord, I call upon you once more. I have prepared a great feast for your delight, that we may dine together. Please hear my call and come, I beseech thee.”

>>14642296
Hmmm. Part of me is very tempted to manifest directly behind her wearing boxers and looking like she just woke us up, just to see what she does.

Another part is suggesting we manifest basically humanoid, but with a few "eldritch horror" touches: slightly blurred edges, looks like something else out of the corner of your eye, maybe some slightly longer fingers with an extra joint or two and only 4 fingers, that kind of thing. Might be interesting to see how she handled it.

However, I think I'll agree with >>14641858 in that we should just turn up normally wearing something that goes well with the decorations. Whether we go with the idea in >>14641767 too, well...

>>14642381
This, as well as our voice echoing throughout her mind, telepathy perhaps.
"Dear, Laressa. Know that this altar is entirely unnessecary, as I am no god, nor anything even close to something so... limited."
something like that i dont know i am not good words with

>>14642410
I think we've mentioned that before, she just doesn't really have any better way of contacting us.

Lets just avoid all this "Dear Laressa", "My little pet," and "darling" crap. No open displays of favoritism during attendance.

Manifest. "Nothing so overly formal required. A simple request would do. So, been quite busy, haven't you."

Also, as an aside. Those Srites have me interested. We should do something with them soon, once we set the heroes to have a proper motivation again.

>>14642410
"I am not a god, nor any being of the divine. An alter, while appreciated, is not necessary. I can hear you, if my attentions are not otherwise disposed, regardless of it."

I think I'm going to call it here tonight, as the dinner will likely be long, involved, and involve a lot of back and forth from both sides, as well as being the closest thing you've had yet to a truly major plot point.

Continue with how you'll handle things, in general, until the start of dinner and first few courses. From what you saw this is going to be a 12-course meal.

>>14642410
>>14642410
We don't do telepathy. We break minds when we try.


>>14642381
It's so tough to say, since she went to all this trouble. we could show up in our usual, then when we take in what she's wearing we shift our outfit to compliment? Huh. Not sure, not sure...

In any case, we should appear on the side of the altar opposite her. Maybe extend a had to help her up, as she is kneeling.

>>14642473
Errr, by this what I mean is the formalities and how you're going to handle yousrelf. For instance: There was mention above of an artifact puzzle box as a gift, and a gentleman calling upon a lady in the middle ages usually brought gifts like that. On the other hand, you are omnipotent and it could be said she is "calling on" you.

So, basically, I'm asking you for your demeanor, if you bring a gift, your responses to any flirting (because she will almost assuredly do some), if you do any yourself, things like that... basically how you're going to play this.

>>14642546
>a gentleman calling upon a lady in the middle ages usually brought gifts like that. On the other hand, you are omnipotent and it could be said she is "calling on" you.

we asked her to do that so I think that a gift would be appropriate

>But. Should you come across a chef capable of crafting true delicacies, suitably finery, and sufficient entertainment to please me... speak as you have the past few months, and I will see and hear.”

>>14642546
We should give her a minor gift, something interesting or pretty but essentially useless. She has enough power already and she should have to work for information.
WRT to flirting we should be somewhat receptive, but hard to get. She has made the right first step, but if she wants it she's going to have to work for it.

Oh, of course a gift. But what we give should be more clever than a puzzlebox. Something that's potentially double-edged - we haven't been giving enough of that sort of gift, seriously. The classic would be "show the greatest threat" which has a tendency to create self-fulfilling prophecies; I would think a gift of information - about, say, that trade illuminati, or the gods who were attempting to curse her rule - would be more appropriate, along with some fancy, impressive - but in the end, decorative - piece of jewelry or the like.

I'm also tempted to leave a mark on her somewhere where it wouldn't show. After all, she has shown a certain degree of devotion to us; it's the least she could allow. Maybe imbue it with the ability to ping our attention, like the stone we gave to Sir What's-His-Name.

Throwing those out there.

>>14642296
Show up behind her, because that's fairly traditional at this point, and laugh. "When you ask so nicely, how can I refuse?" Look classy enough to match her, in our usual colors of black with gold and red with silver. We can steal our exact fashion from someplace in another multiverse that we liked- make it something subtly different from anything that she'll have seen before, but not too outlandish.

Our overall attitude should be more friendly than previous encounters but not overly indulgent or flirtatious; make sure that we comport ourselves in a fashion which subtly states at all times that we are in charge here and that our presence through this evening is a gracious gift from us to her. That said, if she does serious flirting don't brush her off; she is, after all, providing the company this evening- which is just as much part of the entertainment as the food or drink. I hope she's good enough at conversation to make it enjoyable. And we, of course, should strive to be as witty and charming as thousands of years of experience can make us- with the caveat that we're in this for our own pleasure and feel no compunction to act otherwise. Still, express approval when things are good and when we must criticize- because there will doubtless be myriad imperfections- making our lack of pleasure known subtly will, I suspect, be more than enough for her to take our hints.

>>14642654
Topics of conversation include what she's been up to, mostly; assure her that we have been following her actions with approval and interest. Perhaps casually mention that she's been the most interesting person we've come across thus far, because it's true- we certainly have no need to lie or dissemble. Imply that we've occasionally subtly helped her, though not much. Show interest when she fills in details about what she's been doing, and particularly why she chose to do it, how she came up with plans; at the center of our focus on her is, after all, the clever ways that she chooses to pursue her planned world conquest. If she feels like sharing her backstory, that's fine, too; we can probably have a laugh about how her mother blatantly lied and tried to manipulate us from the moment her daughter came up. Even play her mom's conversation with her assassin posse like hologram, if we're feeling particularly amused and think she'd enjoy seeing it. If she asks why in the world we'd go talk to her mom in the first place, the answer is obvious: First, she's been a delightful enough actor in our drama here to warrant looking into her life further, and second, it was amusing to watch her mom jump.

>>14642546
>>14642638
>>14642647
personally I like the puzzle box that gets more difficult to open each time it is opened, as long as it has a single dose of cure-all each time it's opened. also the box should be immune to being magic'd or god power'd open to prevent cheating.

>>14642676
Any and all gifts should be reserved for the end of the meal, when we are departing, but we should definitely have one prepared. Personally, my preference for a gift would be a small painting that shifts to show her any god which she asks of it, with their image and surroundings framed in such as fashion that it will tell her what they think of her- and express symbolically if they're taking any action due to those thoughts. When she's not looking, it would shift to any god who is using power on her or hers that she hasn't viewed in a while. After we've given it to her, we can lift our suppression of their divine influences and see how she copes with them on her own, knowing what she's up against. Oh, and if she ever tries to use it to see us it'll act like a mirror until it changes again, but give the faint impression that someone is watching her from behind its frame. Also it'll ping us so that we actually can, if we feel like it.

Might be too useful for a gift- but I don't really want to be shielding Laressa from the divine end of things anymore, and this would definitely send the message that we're expecting her to step up her game in the future.

Note: You will likely be asked for a less formal method of address than "My lord" during the evening.

Do you wish to give a name? If so, what? If you agree that you want to but can't agree on what I'll make one up.

>>14642684
This, I like. Especially if we protect the mirror from any divine interference: don't want the gods shoving an illusion over it or something.

>>14642676
>If she asks why in the world we'd go talk to her mom in the first place, the answer is obvious:
Clearly the reason is that we are looking into various sources of amusement, and Elven politics is always worth a laugh.

Also, we should probably (subtly) point out that she is not the only source of amusement we have in this world, just the best, and that remaining that way will likely bring future rewards (this may or may not be true, of course. Not like she can tell if we're lying).

3-d self updating realtime map of her empire

>>14642709
Not that it really matters, but do we remember our original name? If so, we may as well go with that, not like security is a risk for us. If not, anyone favour Alpharius? (Literally that name, which will likely be utterly meaningless in any language Laressa knows)
That's assuming we do give her a name, which I suppose depends on how amusing she is. Anyone else have a preference?

>>14642709
I think that "master" is a classic, heh. (Might be a bit of a tall order for her, although... who knows...)

We don't have a name. It's been lost to the millennia; we've taken ten thousand names and discarded each in turn as we ceased to be the person that they represented. If she really wants a name, I would tell her that and then ask what name she would use for us. Imply from our tone that even allowing her to consider it is a great honor for her (and that the above wouldn't be entirely inappropriate). But whatever she says, unless it's something actually insulting or otherwise wildly inappropriate, I'd be willing to go with it- as far as she is concerned, anyway.

>>14642647
the main reason I like the puzzle box is I think it would frustrate our paladin, what with having the cure in hand but not being able to get at it. the reason I think it should be a gift to our elf is so rumors spread about it and the difficultly of the puzzle would be ridiculous by the time the paladin could possibly get her hands on it.

>>14642770
>I think that "master" is a classic, heh. (Might be a bit of a tall order for her, although... who knows...)

I'm sure we've picked up enough languages over the years that we can give her our name as "master" in one of them. But yes, letting her pick a name is... fair enough. It's more IC than my Alpharius suggestion, so points for that.

>>14642747
think marauders map but a room and no crappy password.

>>14642654
>>14642676
>>14642684

Damn, you are awesome. I don't disagree with anything.

>>14642789
It's so bloody cliche, though. I mean, it's been around since at least 2e D&D. Thirty years! And it's not even a good lure for the paladin - who's going to hear about the puzzle?

I do like the mirror idea, but I think she should have a more permanently accessible way of pinging us. After all, we gave the throwaway knight a stone; the least we can do for her is the same.

No guarantee of answer, though.

>>14642676
Er, this painting idea, rather, not mirror.

>>14642840
why wouldn't a puzzle box with re-spawning cure-alls not be a good lure for the paladin looking of a cure-all?
>It's so bloody cliche, though.
that's because it pisses people off.

>>14642880
>why wouldn't a puzzle box with re-spawning cure-alls not be a good lure for the paladin looking of a cure-all?
plus it's the sort of crap a mage might make and the last think the paladin heard about cure-alls was the island mage-lords had some.

>>14642840
Ral got a token to contact a devil. Something we can be fairly sure he wouldn't be inclined to do. Laressa, on the other hand, wants a relationship with US. We don't want to give her the impression that we are on call. The picture will be fine. I like the idea of it turning into a mirror if she calls for us, so she can see if we're standing behind her.

Thread archived, don't forget to vote!

>>14642891
If you want to dangle a cure-all producing puzzle box in front of Tissa there's no need to give it to Laressa now. Instead we'll lead her on a quest to get it, then have it stolen out from under her nose by an elf who will drop something with Laressas crest.

>>14642915
At which point, of course, we shift into a tiny form and appear behind the mirror.

>>14642958
>by an elf who will drop something with Laressas crest.

>pic related.
Really? The elf kingdom is gearing up for war with Laressa, and you think someone pulling off that obvious a tactic is going to be believed?

Well, I'll still check the thread for a couple more hours and in the archives. Next thread is on Friday at 18:00, as always.

>>14642967
Considering the paladin we're talking about? Yeah.

we are going to a dinner so bring a rare bottle of wine it's the sort of thing you do at dinners.

>>14642290
surprisingly similar

>>14643058
Huh, indeed. Though Laressa's dress doesn't have the titty window or sleeves, and the gloves are more like this, but purple. Also the girl is totally wrong, but hey, I don't expect to find a perfect picture or anything. It's astonishing how close that dress is, though.

>>14643009
Given she figured out the fact that supposed paladin was actually crooked, and that she has the twins to be horribly suspicious of everything for her, unlikely.

>>14643050
We're getting her to give us a meal fit for a being of our stature, or to attempt to anyways, and we already basically provided the chef (and, more indirectly, the castle and just about everything in it).
No.

>>14643151
>Given she figured out the fact that supposed paladin was actually crooked, and that she has the twins to be horribly suspicious of everything for her, unlikely.

given that the twins have basically no knowledge about most of the world I wouldn't count on their interference.

>>14643157
Well they might not be much help in determining who actually did it, but I'd think they'd be the first to ask questions like "So, why are we trying to break into this very heavily defended place based on the fact someone dropped a thing with a picture based on it again?"

>>14643187
When those komada assassins were after them the first thing they did after the fight was look for identifying symbols. They'll totally buy it.

>>14643230
>When those komada assassins were after them

>I misread it as komodo
>mfw

I dunno, guys. I'm kind of fond of both our heroes and Laressa - well, okay, the twins and Laressa. Why do they have to be antagonists? Just because we initially set her up to be a villain doesn't mean she has to stay that way. There's always raising up a Sauron or the like for the benevolent despot and the ragtag adventurers to band up against, right?

As an aside, does anyone else think a wiki would be useful for looking up some of the information we've gotten in the past - as well as keeping character names straight?

I can throw together something in like 2 minutes, if so.

>>14645726
Wasn't that basically what we were doing with crazy god-orb guy and crazy god-orb guy mk2: the Druid edition. Oh, and "I made a deal with a demon for largely unspecified favours, but hey, what could go wrong?" guy.

>>14645726
Because PLOT

Really though- Laressa is being set up as a fairly innocuous BBEG

It would be a shame to miss out on the strife

Too bad we don't have any drawfags haunting the thread, though; would be cool to have some decent illustrations of the characters. Give 'em more personality, like.

>>14642915
How about the reverse of that, then - a mark that we can use to get her attention? Not that it's strictly necessary, mind you, but if we also use it to monitor her general status, that would be clever.

>>14647396
seconding this

>>14647435
...Why the hell would we need such a thing? That is basically useless. Put some kind of ward on our characters that pings us if bad/interesting/FUN! shit happens to them, yes, but making it a gift to her? That would just make us look pathetic. "Oh, hey, previously I've just manifested wherever I damn well pleased, or pulled you into a pocket universe with it's own timeflow, but now I have to rely on having a little walky-talky stuck in you. In a related note, that omnipotence I had? Turns out it had an expiry date!"

>>14647802
omnipotence isn't omniscience stupid

>>14647838
Ah, clearly my inferior stupid brain is failing to understand your infinitely clever idea. So please, explain to me oh wise master, why exactly do we need to be omniscient to talk to someone, again?

>>14647957
>pocket universe
we can't make a pocket universe because we don't understand how to build one in can up in the first thread.

>>14647992
plus we are truly omnipotent and there is not way of getting rid of it short of willing our self out of existence.

>>14647957
I never said it had to be as a gift. After all, we're in a position to make demands with all that she owes us - and it's not as though we would have to explain what it does.

Mark of ownership, or something?

>>14648038
the only thing she owes us is an interesting time, and she is providing it.

>>14647992
We don't need to build one, there's plenty of other worlds out there. What do you think our office is?

>>14648022
Even if we did make one, why would we get rid of it, instead of just transporting things in and out of it? Plus, we can get rid of stuff we make, so long as we don't break any of our rules doing it.

>>14648038
That one's already been suggested, but it could be amusing. Doesn't seem a lot of point to it, though, and it migh get her thinking we care about her more than we do.
Which, again, could be amusing, but still.

Anyways, we certainly don't need to use the mark to contact her, though as stated we should be setting up something to ping us in case of trouble on all our pawns, if only so we can eat popcorn as we watch their horrible death/death-defying heroics. It probably shouldn't be anything as obvious as a mark, though, at least not on any but Laressa, just a hidden background effect.


>SOLUTION echips
...Captcha, I think you have misunderstood. /Larissa/ is providing the meal, /we/ are /eating/ the meal. We don't need that solution.

Unless you were suggesting we force the gods into a game of russian roullete, because that sounds fun.

>>14648038
Oh, and just in case you thought the sarcasm was directed at you, it was directed at the anon who apparently misunderstood your suggestion/my response to it, and tried to bring omniscience into something it had nothing to do with.

>>14648211
Fair enough. Having the mark pulse warmly when we're around and incarnate might not be amiss, though.

And we definitely need to look at what the twins are toting around at some point. I'm curious about those vanishing daggers...

we should make some Srite highlanders, say about 6

>>14648271
Meh, if we /want/ to draw her attention to us, we can. Having something that does it itself seems like it'll come back to bite us later, probably when we forget it and pop up to do something amusing, then get apprehended.
>mfw

Well, it might be interesting to take a look, but it seems we don't want to actually find shit out, because that would ruin the surprise when we... Find shit out.
Also, given our past record, we'd probably make 9/10ths of the items explode or something.

>>14648362
>Using Srites later
>I'mokwiththis.jpg
>Making undead-looking Highlanders
>Excusemewtfareyoudoingcat.jpg

>>14648422
>Extremely hard bone exoskeleton, predatory and warlike, highly organized
not undead, and by highlander I just mean decapitation + power theft. give each of the 6 different powers and when one is killed the killer gains the killed's power and a new highlander replaces the dead.

>>14648582
In short, they'll mill around on their continent shithole or whatever for a while, then one of them will manage to aquire enough powers from stealing from others that they can effortlessly face-rape anything. We might want to put some limits on that, or not have them be replaced on death...

And I said undead-looking, based off the picture he showed for them, not actually undead.

>>14648582
Also, anyone else seeing a problem with having to cut the heads off of creatures with powers and extremely hard exoskeletons to kill them?

>>14648582
Why, exactly, do we need highlanders? Just find one with leadership potential, give him a little more toughness and a little more luck, and let things stew.

>>14648770
That said, I am all for creating a massive gateway between this realm and an alternate scotland in the dwarven realms, and letting the sheer overflowing levels of drunken aggressiveness cause a massive war between the two, ending in the inevitable rise of an Elven William Wallace to beat the shit out of that annoying Dwarf god.

>>14648770
>Why, exactly, do we need highlanders?
we don't but remember this quest is about making life interesting for our Omnipotent being. so while it isn't "lol randum" quest we need to some times make new threats for our chosen entertainment to deal with.

>>14648862
We haven't even finished setting up the ones we are making now, yet, and Vedibere hates us skipping around so much. Stop trying to shove as much crap in as you can, at least for now. When we do make some more toys, we'll keep them at a manageable number, not have them popping out all over the damn place.