Time we saw a bit of the world, let us conquer a sunken city.
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wiltingI had fun once and it was awfulRegistered Userregular
E (East)
4
&
Fortune
While I do think it's about time we explored, I'm a little concerned about our resources. Our production is painfully slow at the moment, and selling our mana isn't going to help the situation. If we want to build the Tavern or Scholar's hall anytime soon, we might want to hold onto our mana.
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AnialosCollies are love, Collies are life!Shadowbrook ColliesRegistered Userregular
I think we should build our mana reserves back up in time for the next predicted event, and our resources up just in general.
Mojo: Is overworking our peasants going to be a thing, if we select G multiple times, or is it just like "you're not doing anything else today, so work in the lumber mill instead"
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jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
Mojo: Is overworking our peasants going to be a thing, if we select G multiple times, or is it just like "you're not doing anything else today, so work in the lumber mill instead"
I'm not sure I understand the question. But if you're asking what happens if you vote g a few times in a row then the way to find out is to try
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
No need to worry; It'll just be the 50 villager situation in Age of Empires.
Our villagers will just chop down all the trees like a scourge of locusts cuts down a crop of wheat.
Skeleton Warriors Combat: 2 dice, 8+ strength, [Hard to kill]
The Apprentice [in training in his natural magic]
Sanders, The Magma Wyrm [adds +25 to fortune threshold. Improves fortunes]
[Lucky] One reroll per round
[Ranged(short)] Make one attack without retaliation before melee
[Wizard] Must spend 1 mana per round or lose 3 dice
[Swarmfighting] +1 on rolls when targeting an enemy targeted by another ally
[Hard to kill] If beaten in combat make a difficulty 8 check. On success the unit is not destroyed
Artifacts
Vulcanus
Grants Ranged(short) to the bearer
Intelligent(?)
Summary
Cinders watched the departure of Nephroditi from atop the obsidian tower. Seeing one of her former conspirators had roused some confused emotions and made this whole adventure seem rather more grounded. The five others and the idiot other one were all here; She was bound to see them all sooner or later. The trade agreement reached with the bonemancer was reflected in their entwined fortunes. For better or worse, this was not the last time that the two wizards would meet. At least they hadn't parted as enemies. The peasants had politely gathered to watch the departure of one of their betters, even from this distance, Cinders could clearly make out the fool with the broken arm. Well, no doubt he had taught the lot of them a very valuable lesson about not touching the belongings of a mage.
The Caravan of Bones slowly trundled away to the south, parallel to the beach. Nephroditi's skeletal carnival had sprung back into action as she'd entered one of the wagons, but thankfully the sound of untold tons of lava plunging into the sea and boiling it drowned that infernal drumming out. Around the edge of Glassalia, Cinders' new skeletal troops were on patrol. A brief inspection had confirmed that the bonemancy holding the together was far beyond her own limited understanding. If she wanted them to become anything other than moderately ineffective ground troops, she would need to look into just how those magics worked and how the superior school of lavashaping might enhance them.
It had been a series of long days, but for the moment, Cinders felt a relative peace (despite the underlying intermittent screaming from deeper within the tower). She sat down on her throne and looked down into the boiling destiny below.
[15 mana sold for 10 silver. Skeletons bought for 10 gold. Trade route established with Nephroditi.]
...
Cook was leading two of the others, Arcbeth and Todor, through the woods. Both of them had taken to calling him Cook too. Even he had to stop and carefully think to remember what his name had been previously these days. The lady Cinderella was a powerful force like that. Giving up his name for his life seemed a reasonable trade. Without her, they'd probably have all been eaten by wolves. Or the bone-witch. He shuddered. He hadn't liked Cinderella's old friend. He didn't like that there was talk of trade, and that she or her minions would be back.
The trees started to thin and then stopped. The three looked down a gentle slope to a very large, circular lake. Cinderella had mentioned a sunken city, this must have been it. Archbeth claimed to have heard some campfire tales about the Drowned City. The locals claimed it was the old throne of a deity. Or it was a deity. She couldn't remember. The tranquil sapphire-blue surface was broken in a dozen places by tiny pin-pricks. The tops of spires reaching out of the lake? It was too hard to tell from this distance. They would have to get closer.
Visible too was the town. It was on the opposite side of the round lake. It was nowhere near as large as Drome, but was sizeable enough to be home to a few hundred souls. Or maybe a thousand. The land beyond was a patchwork quilt of farmland, dotted with homesteads here and there. Specks of white or brown wandered some of the fields. Cook's musing was interrupted by a rustling and then a voice,
"Easy now. Hands right up where I can see them. Anything sharp just gets dropped now. Nobody wants an accident that ends with a crossbow going off and somebody else needing a stick to walk for the rest of their life. Right. There we are. All three of you, turn around, nice and slow. That's it. Beautiful."
There were five of them in total. All clad in hooded cloaks of green, grey and brown and all pointing crossbows,
"Now then. What are you three doing here? This is holy land. We have nothing against travellers, but you should follow the road. Everybody knows that."
Cook risked a glance sideways at where the man was pointing. A thin sand-coloured line arced around toward the city. A road. Todor broke the silence by leaping into an apology; he possibly went a bit far. He mentioned the shipweck and the settlement on the beach. He also mentioned Cinderella. Cook wondered how she would feel about that. The mention of the mage obviously interested the man,
"Another wizard is it? Tell me that a few days ago and I'd have called you a liar. Nowadays... Well, we've all had to accept some things haven't we? Two others we've had through Caldeot just recently. Two! First one was right strange. All bones and dancing. Did a little trading and went on her way. The one after started some trouble - At first we didn't even realise he was one of these magic types, just thought he was a bit touched. All ranting about crystals and worlds and masters and going on without a shirt. He beat more than a score of men to death with his bare hands when they tried to get him off the street. Eventually, he calmed himself down and spoke a little with the ones who were still alive. Once he heard about the other wizard, he ran off in that direction. Literally just started running. Ran like a horse, he did."
The crossbows were lowered now and all eight of them were sat on rocks and tree stumps and the like to chat,
"Look, I believe you. I do. You want to visit town, you just head a bit further south and take the path. Don't come through the trees, as you'll just spook us and that could end real nasty. Over the years we've had some trouble with people wanting to defile the Drowned City. It's a holy place but you always get some infidel insisting that it's full of treasure, looking to do some looting. We don't stand for that here. We catch you doing that and we'll hang you in these trees as a warning to the next lot."
Standing and brushing his waxed trousers, the man continued,
"Like I said. Take the path. Carefully how you go, some of the woods here have started to get all marshy-like. It makes for hard going. It's not just hard to walk on, either. We've lost men to the heart of the swamp and people have been saying that there are lights there. If your boots start sinking, you just head back and try a different way. I don't want to say haunted, like, but there you go."
"Right, we need to get back to it. Well met, noble folk of Glassalia!"
After that encounter, Cook directed his men back toward the village.
[Remember something else is going to happen in turn 12]
Decision Time
(A letter, a number and then and specify Mana/Fortune for your vote bonus)
Peasant action: A: Build houses (shelter for 25 peasants) (costs 15 resources) B: Build a farm (+20 food) (Costs 15 resources) C: Build a tavern (+1 growth / turn) (costs 20 resources) Add a Scholar's Hall to the tower (allows research, +1 study/turn) (costs 50 resources)
E: Scout the mainland [specify south or east]
F: Train scouts (difficulty 15 check on future exploration to get a minor bonus) (costs 5 resources)
G: Send an envoy to Caldeot to establish diplomatic relations
H: Raise militia (produces a [Militia] unit, costs 5 resources and 5 peasants)
I : Work a double shift on the sawmill (produces 5+1d6 resources)
Cinders action:
1: Help the peasants (Pay 2x resource cost in mana and 0 resources on build, or pay 5 mana on production to obtain +1d6 resources)
2: Try to draw more mana from the crystal shard (difficulty 14: Success gains 2d6 mana, Failure is bad)
3: Call for an audience with Nephroditi (costs 3 mana) 4: Boil the lake to expose the drowned city (costs 100 mana)
5: Personally travel to Caldeot to establish diplomatic relations
6: Investigate whatever magic is going on in the swamp
7: Muse quietly on your throne [effectively a turn skip]
8: Attack/Annex Caldeot (specify units)
Mojo_Jojo on
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
I5 -fortune
Let the peasants stay busy while we go visit our neighbors, maybe get some more information about Punch McPuncherson the Wizard of Punching.
The whole "put in a personal appearance" thing seemed to work well for the peasants.
And we're only 12 away from whatever thing happens when we fill our Fortune bar.
Diplomatic relation to discover their treasures and weaknesses (perhaps annex when we can get a few more militia, I think Tavern for growth would help that)
Investigate swamp because it sounds like magic stuff which we might bend to our will and use to take over Caldeot.
Maybe, if we're taking the trip to Caldeot, we should bring our apprentice along?
It gives us some time alone to see what he's learned thus far, maybe provide a little more direct tutelage, while also keeping him from getting up to mischief while we're away.
I mean, we don't want to just leave him unattended in our tower.
G6 - Fortune, investigating the swamp and having diplomatic ties established seems the most prudent. I'd rather we didn't expose ourselves to these savages. City worshiping savages.
I'm thinking Turn 12 will be the appearance of our bare-knuckle bruiser friend, if he was following Nephriditi on foot.
How should we be prepared to deal with him, since we're technically something of allies for the next few turns (at least, until we recoup the cost of establishing trade)?
GNU Terry Pratchett
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
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jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
Since the ritual was interrupted by 'a bare-chested idiot' I believe the fist caster monk dude is probably the Loyalist wizard. And thus likely hostile to all us other mages? If it is indeed him in turn 12 I guess we'll find out what's up.
I think Caldeot would be more receptive to non-Mages at the moment, and figuring out whats going on with the swamp might be useful if angry naked mage is mad at us.
Skeleton Warriors Combat: 2 dice, 8+ strength, [Hard to kill]
The Apprentice, Geomancer Combat: 2 dice, 6+ strength [Adaptable] [Wizard]
Sanders, The Magma Wyrm [adds +25 to fortune threshold. Improves fortunes]
[Adaptable] During a round, one positive trait of the target is cancelled
[Lucky] One reroll per round
[Ranged(short)] Make one attack without retaliation before melee
[Wizard] Must spend 1 mana per round or lose all but one dice
[Swarmfighting] +1 on rolls when targeting an enemy targeted by another ally
[Hard to kill] If beaten in combat make a difficulty 8 check. On success the unit is not destroyed
Artifacts
Vulcanus
Grants Ranged(short) to the bearer
Intelligent(?)
Diplomacy
The Drowned Lady: Caldeot, the town by the Drowned City Relations: Cautiously respectful
Axiom: The Fistcaster Loyalist Relations: Hatred
Missing an arm
Shardless
Summary
The apprentice's ability to draw on ambient energies was frankly quite disturbing. Cinders had spent years establishing how best to channel the beating heart of the planet. How to read its pathways and direct the dual-natured power of the volcano. The power to cause the earth to shake and spit out red hot liquid rock combined with the inevitable aftermath of new creation as it cooled. Standing in her throne room, the apprentice was demonstrating the eighth meditation already, the flagstone floor was distorted and warped around where he stood, as if it had started to sink into him, fusing with his body. What had it been, a week? Tracking time was difficult, Cinders had started to suspect that perhaps a day meant something different in this world.
Time could wait for the moment, though. The meditation came to an end. The nature of his innate wizardry was becoming clearer now and he was able to weave any number of simple cantrips and a small number of more advanced works. It was a near-universal magic that the lad displayed. In the right circumstances he could probably do almost anything. With a hand pressed against the trunk of a tree, the forest was his to bend and call. Waist deep in the ocean, he could summon twisting whirlpools in that briny hell. And stood on the lavastone flags of the tower, he could shape the earth in a focused parody of Cinders' own power.
There were of course limitations. Some degree of contact was needed to attune him to an element. And for whatever reason the air would not be cowed in this way. Cinders wasn't sure if the apprentice himself knew of his weakness. For now, she held off telling him. At the moment, he seemed loyal and devoted, but she was aware how fluid these things could be from her own personal rebellion.
Still, it was time to test his mettle outside,
"That was satisfactory. We will be taking a short trip; You will be assisting me."
And with that, Cinders left the tower. Leaving her apprentice to scurry along after her.
[The apprentice is now a 2 dice, 6+ strength [Adaptable] [Wizard]. Adaptable cancels one positive trait on the targeted enemy during that round]
Cinders hated the forest, but Vulcanus seemed truly terrified. The razor-sharp disc refused to speak, and his flaming eye was small and muted. It could just have been the increased separation from its parent crystal or that the artifact was simply out of its element and responding poorly. Its alien mind was difficult to scrutinise effectively.
Eventually, the ground did begin to soften and the forest's gentle smell of decay took on harsher overtones. Looking around, the trees themselves had started to sag at odd angles, as the sodden soil could no longer support them. Down below, the strands of destiny were becoming thin and frail, which was deeply concerning. Still, practical matters first. The lavashaper had no intention of getting wet and so a steaming path rose out of the muck before her. The apprentice fell in behind her on the narrow walkway of dried earth. The ragged hem of his burlap robe dragged on the ground as he walked, and his bare feet were encrusted with mud and filth. Perhaps Cinders would make him a gift of some new clothing on their return. Perhaps it was time too to start letting him out of the tower unsupervised. Was that dangerous? It might be. She would have to think on that. The robe too. Fresh, clean clothing could start giving him ideas above his station. Probably best to keep him in the burlap.
Ahead there was a faint glimmer of light in the gloom. Cinders slowed slightly, even her own destiny was starting to look ragged and uncertain here. Across the surface of the swamp, a thick layer of fog hung, masking whatever might be lurking within. Occasionally, there was a loud rumbling pop as gas escaped from the hidden depths. Otherwise, it was quiet and still.
Releasing Vulcanus from her grip, Cinders continued forward. The hissing of the steam as she prepared her path was the only really noise. The artifact hung close to her, Increasingly unsettled as the forest turned to swampland. Another light flitted beyond a few of the dead trees to her right. A colourful reddish-blue glow. Cinders made a few quick gestures in the air, not weaving a spell but inviting her apprentice to be quiet and keep his eyes open. With another few yards, the lights were a constant companion. They came in all colours: cyan-tinted ochre, purple mottled green, lantern yellow, brownish azure. But always just behind the trees, too far to really see what was causing them.
Up ahead, a large slab of uneven stone broke the surface of the marsh at a slightly odd angle. Offset from the centre was a crumbling archway, an odd doorway to nowhere, perhaps the only surviving architectural element from whatever had once existed at the heart of the swamp. Drawing closer, Cinders and her apprentice could also see a waist-high plinth. Atop it was a shining lump of uncut quartz: Another shard of The Weir.
The unexpected sight of such power distracted the both of them. The swamp vanished, replaced with an stone-floored room. The walls lined with thick tapestries of ancient triumphs. And the crumbling arch was now set into one of the thick stone walls. There was no other door. And they were no longer alone. Axion, The Loyalist Fistcaster had trapped the two of them.
"I knew one of you would come before long."
He stood before the doorway, clad only in his customary short trousers. He was hunched down and ready to spring. A sheen of sweat coated his muscled form. Those intense blue eyes, the eyes that marked his mixed bloodline, met Cinders'.
"A few missing commoners and strange lights and how could you resist? Cinderella, isn't it? You have shamed the order of lavashapers. What you did to the Institute can't be undone. Your act of thoughtless rebellion has ruined generations of careful work to preserve the fabric of reality. And now you're here, on the outside, training these animals in the ways of magic!? Does your heresy know no bounds?"
An arm extended, pointing toward the apprentice before he sank back into his combat stance. Slowly, he ran a hand over his moustachioed face and up through his face. Behind him, three figures had entered the room. Each wore an ornate purple robe and a featureless steel mask. They were Arbiters. The elite judges of the Institute. Strangely, they looked uneven and warped, as if viewed through a poorly made lens.
"I can't ask you to surrender, Cinderella. You're guilty and the only punishment is oblivion."
Vulcanus struck at that moment, it scythed down at one of the Arbiters perfectly angled to remove its head, but at the blow it simply vanished with a strange popping sound. The servants of the Masters weren't really here, they were just projections into this world. The slightest knock would send them back from whence they came. Despite, their tenuous grasp on the world, she could feel their effects as they worried at her connection to magic. They would have to be dealt with first, so Cinders did just that. The floor beneath the rightmost fountained into lava, leaving behind only the last of them and Axion himself. The tapestries caught fire almost immediately.
Axion charged, closing the distance with the apprentice. His fists inflated, became oversized, substantially larger than the rest of his body and he lashed out with a series of rapid jabs. The apprentice, fell backwards, unprepared for real combat, but managing to throw up a wall of stone between the two of them which was reduced to dust and shrapnel under the attack. Axion fell upon the apprentice in a blur of huge fists and reduced him to a bloody pulp.
Cinders turned at the muffled screams, she'd dealt with the last of the ethereal judges, but not quickly enough to save her apprentice. All of that time and effort in his training was wasted. Axion turned to face her, smiling from behind his gigantic fists. He slammed them both down, causing the floor to dance and crack, trying to put the lavashaper off-balance. She dropped to one knee to avoid falling over completely. Vulcanus struck again, hitting the fistcaster from the side and drawing a gout of thick red blood. It gave Cinders time to get back to her feet.
He'd already closed the distance and one fist caught Cinders firmly in the chest throwing her backwards into the wall. She could feel bones break. Somehow, she got back to her feet again before he had got back into reach. He'd ended her apprentice almost casually and now he was about to do the same to her. He was going to rob her of this world because of some misguided feelings that were probably more to do with being left out of the cabal than it was any kind of real loyalty. The ground boiled and melted, leaving Cinders standing on a small island in a sea of magma. Axion leapt back just in time to avoid sinking into the lava.
Once again, he sunk low into a fighting stance, before taunting the battered and broken lavashaper,
"Cinderella, I feel good. Just like old times. That's always been the problem with you elementalists, you ignore your own body and it makes you weak."
He rolled as Vulcanus attempted to strike again, and caught the razor sharp disc with an uppercut to its flat face. It rebounded awkwardly and jammed uselessly into a wall.
"I'll take your toy when I'm done with you. And then I'll do the same to the others and put the seals back in place before anything else manages to leak out into this world. Everything will be back as it was. Back as it needs to be. Sealed safely inside The Weir."
Coming back to his feet, he wrenched a huge section of stone out of the floor. He twisted and pulled away, spinning the massive piece of debis around, building speed and releasing it towards Cinders. She pushed it aside with a jet of redhot lava, failing to notice that Axion had leapt into the air after it. He collided with her and locked her into an embrace, squeezing the life from her form,
Blackness started to creep in to the edge of her vision.
No.
She would not die this way.
Flames exploded outward, prying Axion's grip on her open. His skin blistered and blackened from the heat. His hair melted onto his scalp. She unleashed the volcano on the other wizard. Lava surged upward over the two of them, enveloping them completely.
It was probably only seconds later but it felt like hours. Cinders was slumped back. Slugs of solid rock had cooled on her skin and the wall behind her was slightly soft and yielding, imprinted with her form. The floor had returned to a mostly solid state, but it was a warped and confused mess. She spotted, Axiom. He was lying face down, but already he was trying to pull himself up. This was made harder by the absence of one of his arms. His entire body was nothing but blackened flesh and yet he lived.
"N... Not.... O...ver"
The words were thick and heavy sounding, his face too badly damaged to let the sounds out clearly. His surviving arm reached down toward his trousers and clenched around something at the waistband. A flash of pure white light and magical energy and he has gone.
The walls faded, and Cinders was back on the slanted stone platform in the swamp. The crumbled form of her former apprentice lay a short distance away. She stood, and walked to the plinth. The shard of The Weir sparkled and responded as she approached. This shard had a new master now. Placing a hand onto its surface, it vanished, summoned to the Obsidian Tower.
Stooping despite her own serious injuries, she lifted her former apprentice into her arms and set off back home.
[Combat was four rounds, apprenticed died on round 2. So -6 mana total.]
[Cinders has a new shard. +3mana/turn, +1 combat dice. Drawing mana difficulty is reduced by 1 and yields +1d6 mana. You need a study to work out what other powers the shard might give]
...
The walk back through the swamp was long. Days has passed in her absence. The peasants gathered as she came into view of Glassalia, but they soon saw the broken remains of the apprentice and so stood in a silent vigil.
"Cook. What of Caldeot?"
She asked the question as she slowly loped past the man. He hesitated, but fell into step anyway and gave her a quick rundown of their findings. Caldeot was headed by The Order of the Drowned, knights who had pledged themselves to serving the Drowned City, which they did indeed see as a god. The Drowned Lady led the knights and ran the affairs of the town. She had welcomed Cook and his men, and offered them some tribute to establish a future together as neighbours. She had even suggested opening trade with Glassalia.
Most of the townsfolk seemed to at least pay lip service to the state religion, although Cook wasn't able to figure out the origins of it. It seemed a damned funny thing to pray to a city. Even one that had been flooded. The one thing that that was clear, was that at the end of the world, the city would rise above the waters and welcome the adherents into its copper-paved streets.
The town was fairly well guarded, unsurprisingly given that it was headed by a knightly order. Cook didn't believe that right now they had any intentions of launching an attack of their own on Glassalia.
[Caldeot offer tribute worth 5 silver pieces and 5 resources. There is an option to start a trade route with them. They have 10-14 dice of 5-7+ strength defenses, with unknown traits]
Up in the tower, Cinders stood in the crystal chamber. The form of her apprentice lay on the ground a little way from the two shards: The coal and the quartz.
[Remember something else is going to happen next turn]
Decision Time
(A letter, a number and then and specify Mana/Fortune for your vote bonus)
Peasant action: A: Build houses (shelter for 25 peasants) (costs 15 resources) B: Build a farm (+20 food) (Costs 15 resources) C: Build a tavern (+1 growth / turn) (costs 20 resources) Add a Scholar's Hall to the tower (allows research, +1 study/turn) (costs 50 resources)
E: Scout the mainland [specify south or east]
F: Train scouts (gives a difficulty 15 check on all future exploration to get a minor bonus) (costs 5 resources) G: Establish a trade route with Caldeot (+1 silver piece / turn) (costs 10 silver pieces)
H: Raise militia (produces a [Militia] unit, costs 5 resources and 5 peasants)
I : Work a double shift on the sawmill (produces 5+1d6 resources)
Cinders action:
1: Help the peasants (Pay 2x resource cost in mana and 0 resources on build, or pay 5 mana on production to obtain +1d6 resources) [select H/I for the peasant action]
2: Try to draw more mana from the crystal shards (difficulty 13: Success gains 3d6 mana, Failure is bad)
3: Call for an audience with Nephroditi (costs 3 mana) - See if she can bring the apprentice back 4: Boil the lake to expose the drowned city (costs 100 mana)
5: Attack/Annex Caldeot (specify units)
6: Muse quietly on your throne [effectively a turn skip]
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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wiltingI had fun once and it was awfulRegistered Userregular
edited December 2015
Well, I guess we don't need to worry about our apprentice rebelling anymore.
Why would we want to bring someone back through her methods, especially since she knows it must be important since we said no like 3 days ago
We'd have the apprentice and in addition to his potential to rebel, we'd have the potential that Nephroditi shows up at any time and takes control of him.
I was hoping that we had preempted the turn 12 event, but that doesn't appear to be the case. I have the same concerns about Neph's potential control since we are already using one of her units. However, if she doesn't have a means of control, this would most likely make the Apprentice quite grateful and hopefully more loyal.
edt: Switching my vote. I was on the fence from the beginning and I hate to miss seeing what our apprentice could have become, but our resources are low enough as it is.
Celebrim on
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AnialosCollies are love, Collies are life!Shadowbrook ColliesRegistered Userregular
I have a question about strength. Take the skeleton warriors 2 Dice, 8+ Strength. Is that:
2 rolls of 3D6 which cause a hit on 8+
2 rolls of 3D6 to beat target strength, this unit is hit when opponent rolls 8+
Roll 2d6, hit opponent on an 8+
Roll 2d6 hit opponent if this beats target strength, unit is hit when opponent rolls 8+.
It would help me when comparing units.
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Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
None of the above!
(I roll Nd10 and anything greater or equal to the target is a hit)
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
I 1 Mana
I'd rather not contact Nephroditi, if she can bring back our apprentice, the cost is likely to be beyond our current resources.
Even if we can afford to ask for her assistance, doing so makes us look weak.
Posts
4
$%&
Fortune
Time we saw a bit of the world, let us conquer a sunken city.
E (East)
4
&
Fortune
While I do think it's about time we explored, I'm a little concerned about our resources. Our production is painfully slow at the moment, and selling our mana isn't going to help the situation. If we want to build the Tavern or Scholar's hall anytime soon, we might want to hold onto our mana.
I think we should build our mana reserves back up in time for the next predicted event, and our resources up just in general.
Mojo: Is overworking our peasants going to be a thing, if we select G multiple times, or is it just like "you're not doing anything else today, so work in the lumber mill instead"
Well, If you are looking for me, you better check under the sea. Because that is where you will find me.
4
$%&
Mana
My vote for the lumber mill is to get closer to affording the study.
If you are still looking for a better name than Hard To Kill, maybe Resilient.
I'm not sure I understand the question. But if you're asking what happens if you vote g a few times in a row then the way to find out is to try
Our villagers will just chop down all the trees like a scourge of locusts cuts down a crop of wheat.
Decision E(East), 4, $%&: Blowing your cash, finally exploring and taking a day off from the hustle and bustle of tyranny
Bonuses: +9 Fortune, +3 Mana
Things
Fortune: 38/50 [+0/turn]
Growth: 3/10 [+1/turn]
Peasants: 6
Population: 12
Shelter: 25
Food: 25
Resources: 7 [+1/turn]
Silver Pieces: 0 [+1/turn]
The Obsidian Tower
+5 mana / turn +1 resource / turn
[Ashvent] - Prevents scrying in the region.
Glassalia
[Fertile Farm] = +25 food
[Glass houses] = +25 shelter
[Lumber yard] = +1 resource / 10 peasants / turn)
Individuals & Armies
Combat: 4 dice, 4+ strength [Lucky] [Wizard] [Ranged(short)]
Equipment: Vulcanus
Vote bonuses: +1 Mana or +1 Fortune per vote
Militia [5 Peasants]
Combat: 2 dice, 7+ strength, [Swarmfighting]
Skeleton Warriors
Combat: 2 dice, 8+ strength, [Hard to kill]
The Apprentice [in training in his natural magic]
Sanders, The Magma Wyrm [adds +25 to fortune threshold. Improves fortunes]
[Lucky] One reroll per round
[Ranged(short)] Make one attack without retaliation before melee
[Wizard] Must spend 1 mana per round or lose 3 dice
[Swarmfighting] +1 on rolls when targeting an enemy targeted by another ally
[Hard to kill] If beaten in combat make a difficulty 8 check. On success the unit is not destroyed
Artifacts
Grants Ranged(short) to the bearer
Intelligent(?)
Diplomacy
Relations: Business-like
Trade route: +1 silver piece / turn
Summary
Cinders watched the departure of Nephroditi from atop the obsidian tower. Seeing one of her former conspirators had roused some confused emotions and made this whole adventure seem rather more grounded. The five others and the idiot other one were all here; She was bound to see them all sooner or later. The trade agreement reached with the bonemancer was reflected in their entwined fortunes. For better or worse, this was not the last time that the two wizards would meet. At least they hadn't parted as enemies. The peasants had politely gathered to watch the departure of one of their betters, even from this distance, Cinders could clearly make out the fool with the broken arm. Well, no doubt he had taught the lot of them a very valuable lesson about not touching the belongings of a mage.
The Caravan of Bones slowly trundled away to the south, parallel to the beach. Nephroditi's skeletal carnival had sprung back into action as she'd entered one of the wagons, but thankfully the sound of untold tons of lava plunging into the sea and boiling it drowned that infernal drumming out. Around the edge of Glassalia, Cinders' new skeletal troops were on patrol. A brief inspection had confirmed that the bonemancy holding the together was far beyond her own limited understanding. If she wanted them to become anything other than moderately ineffective ground troops, she would need to look into just how those magics worked and how the superior school of lavashaping might enhance them.
It had been a series of long days, but for the moment, Cinders felt a relative peace (despite the underlying intermittent screaming from deeper within the tower). She sat down on her throne and looked down into the boiling destiny below.
[15 mana sold for 10 silver. Skeletons bought for 10 gold. Trade route established with Nephroditi.]
...
Cook was leading two of the others, Arcbeth and Todor, through the woods. Both of them had taken to calling him Cook too. Even he had to stop and carefully think to remember what his name had been previously these days. The lady Cinderella was a powerful force like that. Giving up his name for his life seemed a reasonable trade. Without her, they'd probably have all been eaten by wolves. Or the bone-witch. He shuddered. He hadn't liked Cinderella's old friend. He didn't like that there was talk of trade, and that she or her minions would be back.
The trees started to thin and then stopped. The three looked down a gentle slope to a very large, circular lake. Cinderella had mentioned a sunken city, this must have been it. Archbeth claimed to have heard some campfire tales about the Drowned City. The locals claimed it was the old throne of a deity. Or it was a deity. She couldn't remember. The tranquil sapphire-blue surface was broken in a dozen places by tiny pin-pricks. The tops of spires reaching out of the lake? It was too hard to tell from this distance. They would have to get closer.
Visible too was the town. It was on the opposite side of the round lake. It was nowhere near as large as Drome, but was sizeable enough to be home to a few hundred souls. Or maybe a thousand. The land beyond was a patchwork quilt of farmland, dotted with homesteads here and there. Specks of white or brown wandered some of the fields. Cook's musing was interrupted by a rustling and then a voice,
"Easy now. Hands right up where I can see them. Anything sharp just gets dropped now. Nobody wants an accident that ends with a crossbow going off and somebody else needing a stick to walk for the rest of their life. Right. There we are. All three of you, turn around, nice and slow. That's it. Beautiful."
There were five of them in total. All clad in hooded cloaks of green, grey and brown and all pointing crossbows,
"Now then. What are you three doing here? This is holy land. We have nothing against travellers, but you should follow the road. Everybody knows that."
Cook risked a glance sideways at where the man was pointing. A thin sand-coloured line arced around toward the city. A road. Todor broke the silence by leaping into an apology; he possibly went a bit far. He mentioned the shipweck and the settlement on the beach. He also mentioned Cinderella. Cook wondered how she would feel about that. The mention of the mage obviously interested the man,
"Another wizard is it? Tell me that a few days ago and I'd have called you a liar. Nowadays... Well, we've all had to accept some things haven't we? Two others we've had through Caldeot just recently. Two! First one was right strange. All bones and dancing. Did a little trading and went on her way. The one after started some trouble - At first we didn't even realise he was one of these magic types, just thought he was a bit touched. All ranting about crystals and worlds and masters and going on without a shirt. He beat more than a score of men to death with his bare hands when they tried to get him off the street. Eventually, he calmed himself down and spoke a little with the ones who were still alive. Once he heard about the other wizard, he ran off in that direction. Literally just started running. Ran like a horse, he did."
The crossbows were lowered now and all eight of them were sat on rocks and tree stumps and the like to chat,
"Look, I believe you. I do. You want to visit town, you just head a bit further south and take the path. Don't come through the trees, as you'll just spook us and that could end real nasty. Over the years we've had some trouble with people wanting to defile the Drowned City. It's a holy place but you always get some infidel insisting that it's full of treasure, looking to do some looting. We don't stand for that here. We catch you doing that and we'll hang you in these trees as a warning to the next lot."
Standing and brushing his waxed trousers, the man continued,
"Like I said. Take the path. Carefully how you go, some of the woods here have started to get all marshy-like. It makes for hard going. It's not just hard to walk on, either. We've lost men to the heart of the swamp and people have been saying that there are lights there. If your boots start sinking, you just head back and try a different way. I don't want to say haunted, like, but there you go."
"Right, we need to get back to it. Well met, noble folk of Glassalia!"
After that encounter, Cook directed his men back toward the village.
[Remember something else is going to happen in turn 12]
Decision Time
(A letter, a number and then and specify Mana/Fortune for your vote bonus)
Peasant action:
A: Build houses (shelter for 25 peasants) (costs 15 resources)
B: Build a farm (+20 food) (Costs 15 resources)
C: Build a tavern (+1 growth / turn) (costs 20 resources)
E: Scout the mainland [specify south or east]
F: Train scouts (difficulty 15 check on future exploration to get a minor bonus) (costs 5 resources)
G: Send an envoy to Caldeot to establish diplomatic relations
H: Raise militia (produces a [Militia] unit, costs 5 resources and 5 peasants)
I : Work a double shift on the sawmill (produces 5+1d6 resources)
Cinders action:
1: Help the peasants (Pay 2x resource cost in mana and 0 resources on build, or pay 5 mana on production to obtain +1d6 resources)
2: Try to draw more mana from the crystal shard (difficulty 14: Success gains 2d6 mana, Failure is bad)
3: Call for an audience with Nephroditi (costs 3 mana)
4: Boil the lake to expose the drowned city (costs 100 mana)
5: Personally travel to Caldeot to establish diplomatic relations
6: Investigate whatever magic is going on in the swamp
7: Muse quietly on your throne [effectively a turn skip]
8: Attack/Annex Caldeot (specify units)
Let the peasants stay busy while we go visit our neighbors, maybe get some more information about Punch McPuncherson the Wizard of Punching.
The whole "put in a personal appearance" thing seemed to work well for the peasants.
And we're only 12 away from whatever thing happens when we fill our Fortune bar.
I love boil the entire lake is an option.
Diplomatic relation to discover their treasures and weaknesses (perhaps annex when we can get a few more militia, I think Tavern for growth would help that)
Investigate swamp because it sounds like magic stuff which we might bend to our will and use to take over Caldeot.
Will diplomatic relations also allow us to determine the strength of a city's defenses?
It gives us some time alone to see what he's learned thus far, maybe provide a little more direct tutelage, while also keeping him from getting up to mischief while we're away.
I mean, we don't want to just leave him unattended in our tower.
I'm thinking Turn 12 will be the appearance of our bare-knuckle bruiser friend, if he was following Nephriditi on foot.
How should we be prepared to deal with him, since we're technically something of allies for the next few turns (at least, until we recoup the cost of establishing trade)?
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
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G6 Fortune
I think Caldeot would be more receptive to non-Mages at the moment, and figuring out whats going on with the swamp might be useful if angry naked mage is mad at us.
^^^
But then being able to check out the magic at the same time has its appeal I suppose.
I don't like not knowing the neighbours.
We need to explore our little slice before any more of the other wizards come knocking.
Decision G6: Cook goes to Caldeot while Cinders goes bog snorkling
Bonuses: +10 Fortune, +4 Mana
Things
Fortune: 48/50 [+0/turn]
Growth: 4/10 [+1/turn]
Peasants: 6
Population: 12
Shelter: 25
Food: 25
Resources: 13 [+1/turn]
Silver Pieces: 6 [+1/turn]
The Obsidian Tower
Shards: Foreseen, Loyalist
+8 mana / turn +1 resource / turn
[Ashvent] - Prevents scrying in the region.
Glassalia
[Fertile Farm] = +25 food
[Glass houses] = +25 shelter
[Lumber yard] = +1 resource / 10 peasants / turn)
Individuals & Armies
Combat: 5 dice, 4+ strength [Lucky] [Wizard] [Ranged(short)]
Equipment: Vulcanus
Vote bonuses: +1 Mana or +1 Fortune per vote
Militia [5 Peasants]
Combat: 2 dice, 7+ strength, [Swarmfighting]
Skeleton Warriors
Combat: 2 dice, 8+ strength, [Hard to kill]
The Apprentice, Geomancer
Combat: 2 dice, 6+ strength [Adaptable] [Wizard]
Sanders, The Magma Wyrm [adds +25 to fortune threshold. Improves fortunes]
[Adaptable] During a round, one positive trait of the target is cancelled
[Lucky] One reroll per round
[Ranged(short)] Make one attack without retaliation before melee
[Wizard] Must spend 1 mana per round or lose all but one dice
[Swarmfighting] +1 on rolls when targeting an enemy targeted by another ally
[Hard to kill] If beaten in combat make a difficulty 8 check. On success the unit is not destroyed
Artifacts
Grants Ranged(short) to the bearer
Intelligent(?)
Diplomacy
Relations: Cautiously respectful
Nephroditi: The Bonemancer Wanderer
Relations: Business-like
Trade route: +1 silver piece / turn
Axiom: The Fistcaster Loyalist
Relations: Hatred
Missing an arm
Shardless
Summary
The apprentice's ability to draw on ambient energies was frankly quite disturbing. Cinders had spent years establishing how best to channel the beating heart of the planet. How to read its pathways and direct the dual-natured power of the volcano. The power to cause the earth to shake and spit out red hot liquid rock combined with the inevitable aftermath of new creation as it cooled. Standing in her throne room, the apprentice was demonstrating the eighth meditation already, the flagstone floor was distorted and warped around where he stood, as if it had started to sink into him, fusing with his body. What had it been, a week? Tracking time was difficult, Cinders had started to suspect that perhaps a day meant something different in this world.
Time could wait for the moment, though. The meditation came to an end. The nature of his innate wizardry was becoming clearer now and he was able to weave any number of simple cantrips and a small number of more advanced works. It was a near-universal magic that the lad displayed. In the right circumstances he could probably do almost anything. With a hand pressed against the trunk of a tree, the forest was his to bend and call. Waist deep in the ocean, he could summon twisting whirlpools in that briny hell. And stood on the lavastone flags of the tower, he could shape the earth in a focused parody of Cinders' own power.
There were of course limitations. Some degree of contact was needed to attune him to an element. And for whatever reason the air would not be cowed in this way. Cinders wasn't sure if the apprentice himself knew of his weakness. For now, she held off telling him. At the moment, he seemed loyal and devoted, but she was aware how fluid these things could be from her own personal rebellion.
Still, it was time to test his mettle outside,
"That was satisfactory. We will be taking a short trip; You will be assisting me."
And with that, Cinders left the tower. Leaving her apprentice to scurry along after her.
[The apprentice is now a 2 dice, 6+ strength [Adaptable] [Wizard]. Adaptable cancels one positive trait on the targeted enemy during that round]
Cinders hated the forest, but Vulcanus seemed truly terrified. The razor-sharp disc refused to speak, and his flaming eye was small and muted. It could just have been the increased separation from its parent crystal or that the artifact was simply out of its element and responding poorly. Its alien mind was difficult to scrutinise effectively.
Eventually, the ground did begin to soften and the forest's gentle smell of decay took on harsher overtones. Looking around, the trees themselves had started to sag at odd angles, as the sodden soil could no longer support them. Down below, the strands of destiny were becoming thin and frail, which was deeply concerning. Still, practical matters first. The lavashaper had no intention of getting wet and so a steaming path rose out of the muck before her. The apprentice fell in behind her on the narrow walkway of dried earth. The ragged hem of his burlap robe dragged on the ground as he walked, and his bare feet were encrusted with mud and filth. Perhaps Cinders would make him a gift of some new clothing on their return. Perhaps it was time too to start letting him out of the tower unsupervised. Was that dangerous? It might be. She would have to think on that. The robe too. Fresh, clean clothing could start giving him ideas above his station. Probably best to keep him in the burlap.
Ahead there was a faint glimmer of light in the gloom. Cinders slowed slightly, even her own destiny was starting to look ragged and uncertain here. Across the surface of the swamp, a thick layer of fog hung, masking whatever might be lurking within. Occasionally, there was a loud rumbling pop as gas escaped from the hidden depths. Otherwise, it was quiet and still.
Releasing Vulcanus from her grip, Cinders continued forward. The hissing of the steam as she prepared her path was the only really noise. The artifact hung close to her, Increasingly unsettled as the forest turned to swampland. Another light flitted beyond a few of the dead trees to her right. A colourful reddish-blue glow. Cinders made a few quick gestures in the air, not weaving a spell but inviting her apprentice to be quiet and keep his eyes open. With another few yards, the lights were a constant companion. They came in all colours: cyan-tinted ochre, purple mottled green, lantern yellow, brownish azure. But always just behind the trees, too far to really see what was causing them.
Up ahead, a large slab of uneven stone broke the surface of the marsh at a slightly odd angle. Offset from the centre was a crumbling archway, an odd doorway to nowhere, perhaps the only surviving architectural element from whatever had once existed at the heart of the swamp. Drawing closer, Cinders and her apprentice could also see a waist-high plinth. Atop it was a shining lump of uncut quartz: Another shard of The Weir.
The unexpected sight of such power distracted the both of them. The swamp vanished, replaced with an stone-floored room. The walls lined with thick tapestries of ancient triumphs. And the crumbling arch was now set into one of the thick stone walls. There was no other door. And they were no longer alone. Axion, The Loyalist Fistcaster had trapped the two of them.
"I knew one of you would come before long."
He stood before the doorway, clad only in his customary short trousers. He was hunched down and ready to spring. A sheen of sweat coated his muscled form. Those intense blue eyes, the eyes that marked his mixed bloodline, met Cinders'.
"A few missing commoners and strange lights and how could you resist? Cinderella, isn't it? You have shamed the order of lavashapers. What you did to the Institute can't be undone. Your act of thoughtless rebellion has ruined generations of careful work to preserve the fabric of reality. And now you're here, on the outside, training these animals in the ways of magic!? Does your heresy know no bounds?"
An arm extended, pointing toward the apprentice before he sank back into his combat stance. Slowly, he ran a hand over his moustachioed face and up through his face. Behind him, three figures had entered the room. Each wore an ornate purple robe and a featureless steel mask. They were Arbiters. The elite judges of the Institute. Strangely, they looked uneven and warped, as if viewed through a poorly made lens.
"I can't ask you to surrender, Cinderella. You're guilty and the only punishment is oblivion."
Vulcanus struck at that moment, it scythed down at one of the Arbiters perfectly angled to remove its head, but at the blow it simply vanished with a strange popping sound. The servants of the Masters weren't really here, they were just projections into this world. The slightest knock would send them back from whence they came. Despite, their tenuous grasp on the world, she could feel their effects as they worried at her connection to magic. They would have to be dealt with first, so Cinders did just that. The floor beneath the rightmost fountained into lava, leaving behind only the last of them and Axion himself. The tapestries caught fire almost immediately.
Axion charged, closing the distance with the apprentice. His fists inflated, became oversized, substantially larger than the rest of his body and he lashed out with a series of rapid jabs. The apprentice, fell backwards, unprepared for real combat, but managing to throw up a wall of stone between the two of them which was reduced to dust and shrapnel under the attack. Axion fell upon the apprentice in a blur of huge fists and reduced him to a bloody pulp.
Cinders turned at the muffled screams, she'd dealt with the last of the ethereal judges, but not quickly enough to save her apprentice. All of that time and effort in his training was wasted. Axion turned to face her, smiling from behind his gigantic fists. He slammed them both down, causing the floor to dance and crack, trying to put the lavashaper off-balance. She dropped to one knee to avoid falling over completely. Vulcanus struck again, hitting the fistcaster from the side and drawing a gout of thick red blood. It gave Cinders time to get back to her feet.
He'd already closed the distance and one fist caught Cinders firmly in the chest throwing her backwards into the wall. She could feel bones break. Somehow, she got back to her feet again before he had got back into reach. He'd ended her apprentice almost casually and now he was about to do the same to her. He was going to rob her of this world because of some misguided feelings that were probably more to do with being left out of the cabal than it was any kind of real loyalty. The ground boiled and melted, leaving Cinders standing on a small island in a sea of magma. Axion leapt back just in time to avoid sinking into the lava.
Once again, he sunk low into a fighting stance, before taunting the battered and broken lavashaper,
"Cinderella, I feel good. Just like old times. That's always been the problem with you elementalists, you ignore your own body and it makes you weak."
He rolled as Vulcanus attempted to strike again, and caught the razor sharp disc with an uppercut to its flat face. It rebounded awkwardly and jammed uselessly into a wall.
"I'll take your toy when I'm done with you. And then I'll do the same to the others and put the seals back in place before anything else manages to leak out into this world. Everything will be back as it was. Back as it needs to be. Sealed safely inside The Weir."
Coming back to his feet, he wrenched a huge section of stone out of the floor. He twisted and pulled away, spinning the massive piece of debis around, building speed and releasing it towards Cinders. She pushed it aside with a jet of redhot lava, failing to notice that Axion had leapt into the air after it. He collided with her and locked her into an embrace, squeezing the life from her form,
Blackness started to creep in to the edge of her vision.
No.
She would not die this way.
Flames exploded outward, prying Axion's grip on her open. His skin blistered and blackened from the heat. His hair melted onto his scalp. She unleashed the volcano on the other wizard. Lava surged upward over the two of them, enveloping them completely.
It was probably only seconds later but it felt like hours. Cinders was slumped back. Slugs of solid rock had cooled on her skin and the wall behind her was slightly soft and yielding, imprinted with her form. The floor had returned to a mostly solid state, but it was a warped and confused mess. She spotted, Axiom. He was lying face down, but already he was trying to pull himself up. This was made harder by the absence of one of his arms. His entire body was nothing but blackened flesh and yet he lived.
"N... Not.... O...ver"
The words were thick and heavy sounding, his face too badly damaged to let the sounds out clearly. His surviving arm reached down toward his trousers and clenched around something at the waistband. A flash of pure white light and magical energy and he has gone.
The walls faded, and Cinders was back on the slanted stone platform in the swamp. The crumbled form of her former apprentice lay a short distance away. She stood, and walked to the plinth. The shard of The Weir sparkled and responded as she approached. This shard had a new master now. Placing a hand onto its surface, it vanished, summoned to the Obsidian Tower.
Stooping despite her own serious injuries, she lifted her former apprentice into her arms and set off back home.
[Combat was four rounds, apprenticed died on round 2. So -6 mana total.]
[Cinders has a new shard. +3mana/turn, +1 combat dice. Drawing mana difficulty is reduced by 1 and yields +1d6 mana. You need a study to work out what other powers the shard might give]
...
The walk back through the swamp was long. Days has passed in her absence. The peasants gathered as she came into view of Glassalia, but they soon saw the broken remains of the apprentice and so stood in a silent vigil.
"Cook. What of Caldeot?"
She asked the question as she slowly loped past the man. He hesitated, but fell into step anyway and gave her a quick rundown of their findings. Caldeot was headed by The Order of the Drowned, knights who had pledged themselves to serving the Drowned City, which they did indeed see as a god. The Drowned Lady led the knights and ran the affairs of the town. She had welcomed Cook and his men, and offered them some tribute to establish a future together as neighbours. She had even suggested opening trade with Glassalia.
Most of the townsfolk seemed to at least pay lip service to the state religion, although Cook wasn't able to figure out the origins of it. It seemed a damned funny thing to pray to a city. Even one that had been flooded. The one thing that that was clear, was that at the end of the world, the city would rise above the waters and welcome the adherents into its copper-paved streets.
The town was fairly well guarded, unsurprisingly given that it was headed by a knightly order. Cook didn't believe that right now they had any intentions of launching an attack of their own on Glassalia.
[Caldeot offer tribute worth 5 silver pieces and 5 resources. There is an option to start a trade route with them. They have 10-14 dice of 5-7+ strength defenses, with unknown traits]
Up in the tower, Cinders stood in the crystal chamber. The form of her apprentice lay on the ground a little way from the two shards: The coal and the quartz.
[Remember something else is going to happen next turn]
Decision Time
(A letter, a number and then and specify Mana/Fortune for your vote bonus)
Peasant action:
A: Build houses (shelter for 25 peasants) (costs 15 resources)
B: Build a farm (+20 food) (Costs 15 resources)
C: Build a tavern (+1 growth / turn) (costs 20 resources)
E: Scout the mainland [specify south or east]
F: Train scouts (gives a difficulty 15 check on all future exploration to get a minor bonus) (costs 5 resources)
G: Establish a trade route with Caldeot (+1 silver piece / turn) (costs 10 silver pieces)
H: Raise militia (produces a [Militia] unit, costs 5 resources and 5 peasants)
I : Work a double shift on the sawmill (produces 5+1d6 resources)
Cinders action:
1: Help the peasants (Pay 2x resource cost in mana and 0 resources on build, or pay 5 mana on production to obtain +1d6 resources) [select H/I for the peasant action]
2: Try to draw more mana from the crystal shards (difficulty 13: Success gains 3d6 mana, Failure is bad)
3: Call for an audience with Nephroditi (costs 3 mana) - See if she can bring the apprentice back
4: Boil the lake to expose the drowned city (costs 100 mana)
5: Attack/Annex Caldeot (specify units)
6: Muse quietly on your throne [effectively a turn skip]
I 1 Mana
That apprentice needs to be brought back.
Why would we want to bring someone back through her methods, especially since she knows it must be important since we said no like 3 days ago
We'd have the apprentice and in addition to his potential to rebel, we'd have the potential that Nephroditi shows up at any time and takes control of him.
I was hoping that we had preempted the turn 12 event, but that doesn't appear to be the case. I have the same concerns about Neph's potential control since we are already using one of her units. However, if she doesn't have a means of control, this would most likely make the Apprentice quite grateful and hopefully more loyal.
edt: Switching my vote. I was on the fence from the beginning and I hate to miss seeing what our apprentice could have become, but our resources are low enough as it is.
2 rolls of 3D6 which cause a hit on 8+
2 rolls of 3D6 to beat target strength, this unit is hit when opponent rolls 8+
Roll 2d6, hit opponent on an 8+
Roll 2d6 hit opponent if this beats target strength, unit is hit when opponent rolls 8+.
It would help me when comparing units.
(I roll Nd10 and anything greater or equal to the target is a hit)
I'd rather not contact Nephroditi, if she can bring back our apprentice, the cost is likely to be beyond our current resources.
Even if we can afford to ask for her assistance, doing so makes us look weak.