"And the Koyani cried out to Ashtoreth to beg forgiveness for their transgressions during the reign of the Demon Lord, for their sins against her in setting free the Demon Lord from her binds, and yea, they did cry up into the heavens that they would gladly take again the yoke of Ashtoreth, and sing praises in her name, and give burnt offerings to her, and sacrifice the young virgins of the noble houses to her at Samhain. And Samhain came, and the sacrifices were made ready, and the Gerdo, and the Kef, and the Dryads who were kept by the Kef, and the Sahuiru, and the Akaru, and the Pyrites, and all their hosts and armies came to slay the Koyani, and the Koyani prayed to Ashtoreth to send unto them a new demon guardian, and swore that they and their children and their children's children unto the end of the demon's life would never loose his bands that the demon might become a new Demon Lord and turn against Ashtoreth as did his predecessor.

"And Ashtoreth saw the humility of the Koyani, and smiled upon them."

-The Second Waxing of the Gibbous, Chapter 8, verses 19-21

The deep pounding of the battering ram against the door atop the stairs above echoed into the chapel, accompanied by the jingling sound of chainmail as Molio descended. As he rounds the corner and comes into view, you can see the normally pale skin and bleached white hair of the Koyani people has been almost blackened by built up dirt and grime.

Well, I say that you can see it. Really, the eyes belong to the sixteen-year old girl who's about to sacrificed to you. Trained from a young age to open her mind to demonic influence, her mind is an open and willing book, though you will not be able to communicate with her or possess her body until after said body has been killed, reanimated, and reshaped by your dark power. Anxiety dominates her. She's been raised from birth to believe that her great sacrifice is a glorious and noble thing, but survival is one of those instincts that's hard to suppress. She's hardly paying attention to the conversation around her, repeating a mantra to herself over and over again to try and calm her nerves.

You can hear just fine, however. "How many are there, Captain?" asks Marvell, the Koyani man in (filthy) priest's robes next to you.

"Over a dozen, Gerdo, High Priest, but no Kef," Molio says.

"Let the guards handle it," says Benif, once the Treasurer of the Diocese, but little more than a man holding the title since they were all driven into hiding in small, underground fortresses like this one.

"No!" Marvell responds, "We've put this off long enough. It's time to summon Ashtoreth's Chosen."

"He will hardly be able to hold his own against three Gerdo, let alone a dozen," Benif says.

"If we had done this the last time, he would be able to destroy a hundred Gerdo with a wave of his hand!" Marvell shouts back, glaring at Benif.

The two stare one another down until Molio breaks the silence. "Shall I prepare for the arrival of Ashtoreth's Chosen?" he asks.

"Yes," Marvell says, and then turns to your host. "Make yourself ready," he says, "The time has come for you to meet your glorious destiny."

>What is the name of your host?
>And more importantly, what is your name, O Demon?

>>14979904

The hosts name is Ophelia.

We are Malapraxis, the Master of Shadows

>>14979933
There's probably a reference I'm not getting, but I can't think of any better names, so seconding these.

>>14979953

(Well Ophelia is obvious from Hamlet, she's the one that went crazy near the end and drowned herself. Malapraxis basically means "evil behavior" if you break it down into its etymological roots. I just pulled it out of my ass really.)

>>14979953

Mala Praxis is latin, and forms the root of "malpractice."

Marvell leads Ophelia to the sacrificial altar. "You'll regret this, Marvell," Benif says as she lies down on the altar. Her heart beats faster and faster as Marvell pulls the ritual knife from his robes, press it flat against his chest with both hands and chanting under his breath. She closes her eyes, hoping that the pain won't be intolerable. Reports from demons as to how much their hosts suffered during possession conflicted one another greatly.

Marvell completes his chants, and drives the dagger into Ophelia's heart, summoning you, Malapraxis, the Master of Shadows, into her body! Immediately her skin begins to melt, her bones snap, as you rearrange her into a new form. The more this form differs from her original, the more she shall suffer...But that's of little concern now, as she has no chance of seizing control of her old body unless your willpower is greatly taxed already. However, if the body is twisted too much out of shape, you will not be able to use it effectively. You will be able to alter your form again later on.

>What shape do you twist Ophelia's body into?

>>14980039
A slightly better looking woman.

>>14980056
Wait, I take it back, just the way she was will probably do fine.

>right? polite sage for double post

>>14980039

Smooth, flat black carapace-like armor with no hint of shine, ending in vicious pointed edges around the joints and clawed hands and feet. Her face is covered with an equally smooth mask with no expression save for four slitted opening for eyehole, each one with a bright red pinprick of light behind it.

(I was trying to run with the Shadow idea, sound good?)

>>14980083
We don't want to twist the form too much; we can't control it well if that happens.

>>14980069
Supporting this one. Less of a strain on us, and it lets us blend in much easier with regular mortals.

Uh, what kind of purpose were we summoned for? Are we going to be a publically-viewed figure of leadership? A warlord? A weapon?

We need to figure out our purpose before deciding on a form.

>>14980039
hmmm.....

when i think shadows, i think coal-black skin that seems to have dark smoke/mist wafting away from us, dark red glowing eyes, like those of one who stalks you at night, long shiny black hair, and clawed fingernails. essentially, a figure wreathed in smoke so that so that you can't really make out small details, but get a general impression of something very, very evil.

oh yeah, and horns, rather long, thin horns that curve at almost 90 degrees

>14980140

All that you know is that Marvell has won the favor of Ashtoreth, who has sent you to answer their prayers, and that the Koyani people have been hunted almost to extinction by their ancestral enemies, the Kef.

>>14980159

Well then sounds like we need to get shit done. I vote for this >>14980156

Intimidating as fuck, and likely to rally the remnants of our people on to glory.

Ophelia's skin is stretched and blackened, her bones groan as they lengthen from her five and a half foot frame to your imposing six foot frame. Her dark hair darkens further, and stretches downwards, and your entire body is wreathed in smoke. You hadn't noticed her eyes squeezed shut in pain until you open them again, their red glow the only illumination in the room as your wicked presence snuffs out all lanterns and torches. She's screaming in pain as the horns grow out of her head, but then the screaming turns to deep laughter rising from the back of your throat. You are in world of mortals now, a god among ants. After the transformation ends, you can still hear her, somehow, sobbing softly in the back of your mind, but you've more important things to worry about. The fullness of your demonic power has not yet manifested.

Ophelia's unique upbringing has left her equally prone to all seven sins, in order to make her a suitable vessel for any demon Ashtoreth should choose to possess her.

>Which sin do you embrace?

>>14980265

Greed. All the world's power shall be ours, no matter the means.

>>14980265
which sin? oooh, this'll be a difficult choice.......

i wanna go with lust, but i don't want to turn this into Fapquest: the ruining...

greed or pride is probably a better choice

>>14980265
Greed, doesn't give us much immediate power.
Not really feeling like Lust, either.
Envy doesn't seem to fit us either.
Pride could get us into a lot of trouble.
Sloth and Gluttony are right out.

I'm voting Wrath. We're supposed to smash the enemies of the Koyani and take vengeance upon them for their transgressions. I think it fits the best.

>>14980305
wrath, definitely wrath

>>14980305
Agreed. Wrath.

>>14980305

I second Wrath.

>>14980329
you mean you fourth wrath

Slowly, the feeling returns to the body, and for the first time you feel the cool obsidian beneath you, and the dagger driven into your heart, pinning you against it. Tentatively, Marvell steps towards you and wraps his hand around the hilt. Bracing himself, he pulls the dagger out, and instantly the obsidian stone at the hilt flies off the handle, burns through his clothes, and embeds itself into his chest, his whole form wrapped in your shadows as decades of his life are drained from him into you, fueling your Wrathful awakening. He staggers away, a frail old man where once had been a healthy one no more than thirty five. For the first time, you are free in the mortal world.

You are a skilled combatant and a competent survivalist and thief. You may summon fire, frost, lightning and shadow to your will. You may perform minor transmutation of your own form or inanimate objects.

Performing magic requires the use of Torment, which may be gathered by harvesting the suffering of mortals. All suffering that you cause directly will increase your Torment, as will all suffering performed in your name by mortals. You are binded by Ashtoreth, and she takes 10% of all your Torment for herself. You are beholden to Baron Caim, his lord Count Andromaleus, his lord Marquis Fenix, his lord Duke Valefor, and his lord King Asmodeus. None of them are currently making any demands upon you.

>First to roll 1d6 determines starting Torment
>First to roll 2d6+3 determines starting Health
>What do you do?

rolled 99 = 99

I thought the consensus for the body image was to be close to original host or just a slightly better looking woman?

Anyway, Warht

rolled 1, 2, 6 + 3 = 12

>>14980452
Rolling 3d6+3

rolled 3 = 3

torment

>>14980457

The votes between "same as Ophelia" and "tall, dark and smoky" were even. So I flipped a coin.

rolled 4, 6 + 3 = 13

health

>>14980472
>>14980474
>>14980479
Welp.

rolled 1 = 1

>>14980457
That's what I thought, too. But we can change our form if need be, and if this form turns out to have been a mistake, it's one we can rectify.

Also, rolling for starting Torment.

Your Torment is 3/10, and your Health is 13/13. You can raise your Torment past its maximum, but it will tax your willpower to do so, and bad things may happen. The cap on both of these will increase greatly as time goes on and your full demonic powers begin to manifest.

rolled 98 = 98

>>14980477
I see...

Might have been cool to do a mix between two. Becoming shadowy, tall with horns but still recognizable as the girl Ophelia

Okay, I think the first thing we need to do is see if any armor or weapons are available to us; there's still a dozen Gerdo outside wanting to kill us, and we need to kill them first.
Perhaps we should capture one or two alive, though, in order to extract Torment from them.

Upstairs, the pounding of the battering ram finally stops, and the sounds of battle soon replace them as the four Koyani at the top fight the Gerdo. Molio, until now transfixed by your entry into the mortal realm, sprints up the stairs, drawing his sword to join the fight.

>>14980582
Can we transmute his sword so that it is more effective in battle?

>>14980595

Yes. To use magic, just specify how much Torment you'd like to spend on the effect. Typically, a minor effect (like transmuting the shape of an object, but not its materal) takes one Torment, a middle effect (like transmuting an inanimate object into a different material, increasing its mass, or transmuting living things) takes three, and a strong effect (transfiguring a living being beyond recognition) takes five. If you end up putting in more than is strictly necessary, you'll get a nice bonus for it. If you put in less, the effect will be half-assed, and possibly the incomplete effect will be worse for your purposes than no effect at all.

>>14980646
Well, we only have three Torment, so I'd suggest we spend one to make the sword as sharp as possible, and blacken it. If Molio survives, we can make him our first servant and champion.

Let's get to it. We have some Gerdo to kill/capture/torture endlessly.

>>14980582
We need to demand a sword and some armor.
We don't have enough Torment to do much, except maybe make a better sword.

As Molio ascends the stairs, you send a trail of shadow racing after him, which wraps itself around his sword, filling in the nicks and dents, sharpening it to a razor's edge, and turning it black as night. Turning to Benif and Marvell, you demand weapons and armor from them. "Down the hall, lord," Marvell says, pointing to the doorway that leads out to the hall, across which are the stairs, "In the armory."

Immediately, you go to the armory, and find a Koyani blacksmith, who turns towards you, his eyes opening wide at your appearance. He cowers back into a corner while you help yourself to what weapons and armor he's been able to fashion from the crude material available.

>>14980773
Spend one Torment to change them as well. I'd like to hold at least one Torment in reserve so we can use some magic on the enemy, so if we don't have enough power to alter the equipment much, appearance counts more than effect. It needs to look fearsome.

To battle.

>>14980773
Alright, we should spend another point of Torment to improve our armor. We're still far too vulnerable right now, and since our form is so distinctive, we can't just hide in plain sight.

Once upgraded, we should go up and help fight off the Gerdo.

As you ascend the stairs, you strengthen and blacken your armor. When you arrive, Molio and two more Koyani are fighting with five remaining Gerdo. One of the Koyani is wounded. This is your first look at the Gerdo. About four and a half feet tall on average, humanoid, with dark brown, leathery skin and no hair. Small tusks jut out from their mouth, and their eyes are black and beady. Their lesser intelligence has led to a primitive lifestyle, when not being pressed into service as laborers or cannon fodder by their superiors.

You decapitate one of them immediately upon your entry. One of them turns away from the wounded Koyani to fight you with his glaive, but he's only able to uselessly smack it into your armor before you cut his intestines out.

Molio and the unwounded Koyani have both killed a Gerdo, leaving only one, who attacks you. You step out of the way of his glaive, then grab it by the hilt, pulling it from his hands and sending him flying across the room as he desperately tries to hold on. Molio and the unwounded Koyani both point their swords at the Gerdo, who cowers before you and raises his hands in surrender.

>>14980990
Have the others secure the entryway while we regain Torment, using the prisoner.

>>14980990

Stick him in the gut and watch him slowly bleed to death. Maybe slice off some extremities. If that doesn't harvest Torment, I don't know what will.

>>14981035
>If that doesn't harvest Torment, I don't know what will

You have no imagination.

You stab the Gerdo in the gut, twist the blade, and then rip it out. Ignoring his pleas for mercy and offers to work, fight, etc. etc. for you, you begin sawing off his extremities. You've gone through all of his toes and fingers and have begun to hack off a foot at the ankle when he finally expires. You receive two Torment for your efforts.

Health: 13/13
Torment: 3/10

>>14981074
Heal the wounded Koyani, if it doesn't cost too much. If there are more Gerdo in the vicinity, we need to kill them as well.

What's the situations outside?

>>14981109

Outside, the area is heavily forested, and you can see that you're on the slopes of a mountain. It's not the only one in the area, either, as you appear to be in a valley. There don't seem to be any other Gerdo around.

The material required to seal even a deep wound is tiny when dealing with transmutation, but it's also living flesh and not inanimate. It will cost two Torment to heal the Koyani. Is this acceptable, Lord of Shadows?

rolled 30 = 30

>>14981160
No, don't heal anyone.

Have we defeated the immediate danger? Are there more things left to kill?

Talk to Orphelia, see how she is doing.

>>14981188

No, there's no threats in the immediate area.

Ophelia has been sobbing unobtrusively in some corner of your mind ever since you tortured the Gerdo to death. Part of the Torment harvested from its death came from her being forced to watch through your eyes.

>>14981160
Yes, I say heal the Koyani.
The Koyani are on the brink of extinction; if they die, our tie to the mortal world is cut.
We must assure the Koyani's survival.

Then I want to talk with Ophelia; her servitude to us doesn't have to be all bad.

Well, our position is secure for the moment, but we're not here to sit in a fortress and look pretty. We're here to protect the Koyani and kill their enemies.

To that end, we need to know where their enemies are, and how best to accomplish their destruction.

rolled 24 = 24

Koyani are humans, right?

>>14981229
Your presence in this world isn't directly linked to the Koyani, however Ashtoreth's purpose in sending you here was to protect them. If you do not do so, she will be very much put out.

"No, master," Ophelia says in between sobs when you speak to her, "Everything I have is to be given to you, as your host in the mortal realm. That is my destiny, and my glory." As her thoughts are now melded to yours, you can tell that she thinks you are simply testing her loyalty. Well, she HAS been brainwashed since birth to accept turning over every ounce of autonomy imaginable to a stranger. You can't expect her to be entirely healthy in the head after that.

>>14981340

Essentially, yes, though they all have rather pale skin and their hair is platinum blonde at its darkest.

rolled 11 = 11

How many Koyami are left? If these handful are the only ones ... well, then we can't really save their race.

>>14981303

You speak with Marvell on the subject of preserving the Koyani. He is leading a remnant of the last Koyani kingdom in the world, in a land called Artall. They were ruled for centuries by the Succubus Lira. Succubi are minor demons, far beneath your station, but even their power is awesome enough to forge a mighty kingdom. Unfortunately, Succubi are not known for their diligence, and Artall fell before the onslaught of an immortal Kef named Uriel. It is said that Uriel and his four brothers, led by the oldest Mik'Ael, defeated the last Demon Lord of the Koyani people centuries ago and were granted immortality by Ashteroth's sister Lunael. Alone among the five, Uriel has relentlessly pursued the farflung kingdoms and tribes loyal to Ashtoreth or the old Demon Lord, seeking to remove them from the Earth.

Uriel now reigns from Artallos, the capital of Artall, but mostly he directs his massive army of Kef and their allies as opposed to anything concerning policy. As a result, the kingdom has fallen into disorder. Where the law is kept at all, it is by the might of the seven paladins of Uriel and their armies.

>>14981342
i'd recomend healing the koyani, while at the same time saying to ophelia "from death, Life." or something like that. being host to an otherworldly entity has some perks, being the implication.

What is this place, how many Koyani are in it, what are its assets, and where is the nearest place also inhabited by Koyani?

>>14981469
i mainly suggest this to get her to stop sobbing in the back of our mind, as it might get on our nerves

>>14981432

Marvell informs you that there are about a hundred hiding in this fortress, and likely thousands more in other fortresses like it. It's also possible that the Koyani in conquered kingdoms were able to escape or were enslaved instead of slaughtered, but Artall has had no communication with them and Lira never had much desire to investigate. Succubi. No one should ever have entrusted a kingdom to one, not even a place as farflung as Artall.

Is it possible for us to reanimate the dead?

>>14981518
We need a map of the fortresses, and a way to communicate and coordinate guerilla actions with them against the occupiers.

We need maps of the land and intel on where the enemy is, and their strengths.

>>14981502

So long as Ophelia makes an effort not to allow her thoughts to intrude upon yours (which she is doing pretty much all the time), you'll be able to ignore her effortlessly. She is grateful for your efforts to console her however. So grateful, in fact, that her gratitude begins to be more bothersome than her sobbing, and goes on until you turn your attention away from her, whereupon she immediately shuts up and retreats back into the deep reaches of your mind.

>>14981482

This place is an emergency, hidden fortress constructed in case Uriel led his genocidal crusade into Artall. There are about a dozen men and ninety women and children in the area. They're fleeing from a small, unnamed logging town in the middle of nowhere that's been overrun by Uriel's forces.

There are over a dozen such fortresses scattered throughout Artall, maybe more, but for purposes of safety, Marvell was never told of their exact location. However, the Bishop Arvarius, being held in the local town Veridia that serves as a trade nexus for this region of Artall, will be able to lead you to all of the fortresses. One of Uriel's seven paladins remains in Veridia to "persuade" Arvarius to give the information away. Otherwise, this region is a backwoods land in a backwoods kingdom, entirely ignored by the rest of the world, Uriel included.

>>14981640
>a small, unnamed logging town in the middle of nowhere that's been overrun by Uriel's forces

Sounds like a perfect place to begin our insurgency.

Where is it, how many people are there, and what is the strength of the enemy force?

>>14981640
Sounds like we will need to rescue this Bishop.
We need his information on the locations of the other redoubts, and must ensure that the Kef do not get those locations.

We need maps of the trade hub, and if possible, floor plans of where the Bishop is being held.

Also, how much Torment would it take to change our form to help us blend in?
Shadowy form wreathed in smoke with great, glowing red eyes is great for leading armies, but maybe not the best for sneaking around an enemy stronghold.

>>14981733
>Shadowy form wreathed in smoke with great, glowing red eyes is great for leading armies, but maybe not the best for sneaking around an enemy stronghold

but it would be pretty good at night

>>14981797
Yeah, it would, except for the glowing red eyes bit. Since we can't see if we close our eyes and all.
Sure it might be good for terror tactics, but not that great when we need to enter a prison and rescue a hostage.

>>14981074
Souns like my last game of Dorf Fort: The Adventuring.

>>14981833
>Since we can't see if we close our eyes and all

Unless that happens to be something we can do with magic.

>>14981468
>Uriel
>Angel of Death in the bible
>name to run away from REALLY FAST

Oh shi-

This is basically the quest version of Dominions 3, yes?

Count me in.

>>14981640
Heal the wounded, rally your troops, and search for any more of those little fuckers. We need to break out of this little fort, recruit more followers, and secure a resource base before we can do anything else.

>>14981598

A map of Artall is below. 8 on the map is Artalos, 1 is Veridia. The first level of the fortress is a guardhouse, the second a kitchen, armory, war room and other essentials (several barred shafts serve for ventilation purposes when fires are necessary, and the third floor contains store rooms and sleeping quarters.

>>14981729

Veridia is about two days northwest from where you are, one day from the village (which is one day from the hidden fortress). Its population is about a thousand, and it and the surrounding countryside is garrisoned by a few dozen Kef and a hundred Gerdo, along with some local allies from various races the Koyani had enslaved. Fortunately, the numbers of the freed slaves are low in the Veridia county, because it is not a very wealthy region.

>>14981858

Your eyes are dim to begin with. You can transmute them to be non-glowing for one Torment point, and you can transmute your skin to stop giving off smoke or change color for another. Anything further, such as changing size, adding or removing appendages (even small ones like your horns), or adding parts distinctly non-mammalian is currently beyond your ability as a transmutationist.

>>14981921
I agree we need more Torment in the short-term, but we need to rescue that Bishop before the Kef can rip the locations of the other redoubts from him.
Also, by getting those locations ourselves, we can boost our forces, something we need to do anyway.

If we go to the village first, we can rescue whatever Koyani remain there and gain Torment from prisoners. It could serve as a good jumping-off point for an assault on Veridia.

We could also go straight to Veridia and try to rescue the Bishop, before anyone gets any useful information out of him.

I'm for going to the village first.

And so long as we're in a lull, I should mention I'll be getting off about 17:00 server time, so if someone could archive this around then, that'd be appreciated.

>>14981960
Does Marvell have any intel on the Gerdo patrols?

>>14982073

It should be noted that the Bishop Artarius of Veridia has been held by the Kef for two days already, and they don't appear to have gotten the location of the fortresses out of him yet. At least, no one's yet turned up to sack this one except the Gerdo scouting party you eliminated.

I also forgot to mention in previous infodumps: The area immediately around the village is covered almost entirely in either ground too rocky to be farmed or forests. Farmland is limited, which limits the population. A lake nearby is host to a sizable population of sentient aquatic creatures called Sahuiru. Typically, Sahuiru were enslaved, raided, or just exterminated by the Koyani, but the population of the village and lake were both low enough that the two mostly ignored one another.

>>14982113

Molio can tell you that they're typically found in packs of four or twelve, and that they rarely come out this far from the village. Past that, he and Marvell know nothing.

I'm voting that we sneak into Veridia and rescue the Bishop.
If we attack the village, it could tip off the forces in Veridia and we'd face increased security.

>>14982195
Seconding this. One caveat; Butcher some high ranking members of their military while you're there, once the Bishop is secure of course. Extra torment + sending a nice message to them.

If we could leave a few skinned, faceless corpses with every single bone in their body broken strung up around the city, all the better.

rolled 67 = 67

Can we use Torment our our self to increase our physical abilities?
I vote for speed increase.

>>14982263

With more skill, you could transmute yourself into something faster. If you knew enchantment, you could craft an item that would make you faster. Also, there is a question I believed I failed to answer some time ago, concerning necromancy: Binding allows you to bind lesser demons to the world through various objects. Inanimate corpses are a popular choice whenever a living sacrifice like Ophelia cannot be obtained.

>>14982290
So no true resurrection, then?

On the other hand, instead of leaving corpses around as a message, creating a bound, undead army sounds like a better use of the dead.

>>14982305
The only magics you currently know are transmutation and evocation. Your skill in the former is rather limited, as well. And no, there is no method available to demonkind to bring back the dead, but it is said that the Light can sometimes resurrect its greatest champions. According to their scripture, a day will come when "the Cycle is broken and all men shall be resurrected." Some interpret it as "all good people" based on context or mistranslations. There's also some debate as to whether resurrection means literal, physical resurrection or some kind of spiritual purification, and since the exact nature of "the Cycle" is never fully explained, there's some debate over that, too. The general consensus is that it's the cycle of life and death, however.

rolled 92 = 92

Right.

How does Demon Lord become stronger at his stuff? (except collecting Torment)
Where does he learn new spells? How does his transmutaion become stronger?

If you max out your Torment, you may spend all of it to increase your power.

>>14982380

Also, reading spells is a good way of learning them.

rolled 31 = 31

>>14982410
Sweet.

Anyway. Lets go and rescue Bishop. Would be awful if he broke down and gave the information away

>>14982410
So in order to become more powerful, we need more Torment.

Gentlemen, I believe our course is clear: we must take prisoners alive whenever possible rather than killing them, and create great Torment Engines.

But for our current plans, we seem to have a majority which wants to sneak towards Veridia to rescue the Bishop.

It appears the consensus is to head to Veridia immediately. Will you be going alone, Lord Malapraxis?

>>14982447
Ask if there is anyone amongst the Koyani here who has lived in, or visited frequently, Veridia. Having a local guide will be very important.

>14982442

An important note concerning that plan: Although it is a good longterm strategy, going too far above your Torment cap will cause immediate problems. Generally speaking, you should never go higher than 10% above your Torment cap unless you're prepared to risk some backlash. At your current level, 10% above your Torment cap is just 11, and the backlash could cause you to be permanently weakened if you're particularly unlucky.

>>14982463

One of the women is the widow of a trader who was also a member of the village's militia, killed by the Kef when they passed through to drive out the Koyani. Most of their forces moved on immediately afterwards. She visited Veridia with her husband often enough to be generally familiar with it.

>>14982485
Good. We will take her with us.
Also, any local trappers, lumberjacks, or hunters? Someone who could help us navigate the area without us depending on patrolled roads?

One city guide and one wilderness guide should be the two we will need. Make sure they are properly provisioned, and then we make our way towards Veridian.

Oh, the session has been archived as requested:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14979882/

A few notes concerning Torment: It's possible to gain much more Torment from emotional trauma than from physical pain. There also comes a threshold past which no more Torment can be harvested from someone, simply because they've become too much a broken shell of a person. They'll also be traumatized to the point of being utterly useless to the population in general by that time, except perhaps as manual labor. You can squeeze a lot more out of someone with longterm torture than with a torturous death, however.

Some creatures are worth more Torment than others. Animals aren't worth anything at all unless you're particularly creative, in which case you might be able to squeeze one out of them. Stupid creatures like the Gerdo are typically worth just one or two (you got as much from Ophelia's suffering as from the Gerdo's during the execution). The Koyani and Kef are worth much more. Others, like Dryads, Pyyrites, and Akaru, occupy a space between Kef and Gerdo. In the more intelligent peoples, emotional torture is worth far more than physical.

Do not try this at home.

>>14982580

Thank you. I'm leaving now, but will be back in about...Six hours to start a new thread.