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Stitia, Plane of 13 Deaths (RPG Style Saga/My First Saga)
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Mastiffa hears the flapping of wings fast approaching. Her eyes snap to the sky, and suddenly, a manticore lands in front of her, with a griffin landing nearby. The manticore walks towards Mastiffa.
"Mastiffa Oklein... my master has sent me here to speak with you."
"It has been quite some time. Did you not get the message when it was sent to you?"
Mastiffa remembers. She was making preparations to make a sacrifice. The greatest one she had ever made.
"You're late. This is a final warning. I'm not going to be light or polite about this. Khantsievth gave you life. A second chance to prove you were worth more than the dirt on your corpse. You will recruit new servants. You will draw their blood. You will kill and sacrifice the masses. As long as you are alive, you shall make yourself useful. You are a hand of Khantsievth. Remember... your free will does not exist without your devotion, and without a moment's notice, it can be taken away..." The manticore runs its paw across Mastiffa's neck. "...along with your life."
"In addition, I'm under the understanding that you are walking towards a temple... the temple of Zanletesh. Turn back now. If you make a deal with that demon, your contract will be default... you will perish."
@ElMagici What will you do?
@EnvyReaper Will you act now, or continue following Kerial?
You have recovered from your injuries. As you sit down upon your throne, looking out towards the night sky, one of your guards comes to speak to you.
"Zacarias... news from the Dawnwood! They need to speak to you immediately!"
You let them in. The High Dawnelf herself comes in, her face pale as though she had seen a ghost. She has claw marks all across her, and her dress is torn.
"Zacarias! We have a major problem in Racrion! The resident lycanthrope hunter... he's... he's dead! The Dawnwood Hometree got overrun!"
Overrun?! When you were taken to the Hometree, there seemed to be thousands of elves in the tree. How many lycanthropes were there?
"Anyways, we're going to need allies and reinforcements. They... they seemed to move in a hive mind. It seemed like every single creature in Racrion surrounded us at once. Their eyes were glowing red... they were imbued with dark magic... it was like an entire nation struck us! Oh, Sprot help us!"
Brocara is crying, and she seems incredibly distraught. If the lycanthropy problem is this serious, then you'll need to prepare for a major challenge...
There are two ways you can deal with this problem. Choose one, then make a set of five cards. At least three of your cards must be creatures.
- Attack the lycanthropes directly - At least one of your cards must be an instant/sorcery
- Prepare to defend the Great Tree - At least one of your cards must be an enchantment
Points will given based mainly on balance, realism, and syntax. Your noncreature cards don't need to be damaging in any way. Effectiveness is determined solely by score.
Each of your entries will be scored from 0-15. Any score below a 12 will count as a miss, and you will take one hit for every three points under target your total score is. You current HP is 10.
Criteria:
• 5 points for overall effect and balancing.
• 4 points for realism, following color pie, and proper rarity. You may lose a point if the effect of the card is unclear.
• 3 points for fitting the colors and themes of your character
• 2 points for proper grammar and syntax
• 1 point for flavor (text not required; mainly checking if overall fell of the card fits its art, name, etc
Can I choose to wait back and observe?
"Treyble, I knew you were a smart bussiness man, listen here...
Does it matter? I have proven to be as deadly and efficient if not DEADLIER and better than old Teegar. You have your answer, I don't need to say a word, but ask yourself this, did profits go up or down when this bunch of demonic muscle gained a brain? Now, I have a cathedral to break into, as you asked me to, so, are you gonna let me finish the job?"
You close the door behind you and Treyble. Treyble unfolds a piece of parchment, and pulls a decorated bone splinter from his tattered robe. He impales his hand with it, and leaves it to fill with dark, oily blood as its true nature becomes readily apparent. After about a minute, a miniature skull on the top hisses, and its eyes glow. He slowly pulls it out, and writes out a new contract.
"You have made it readily apparent that you aren't a pushover. However, you'll have to prove you're capable of servitude. Your soul is bound by this contract. If you are to break it, the severity of your punishment will depend on the severity of your disobedience. Know that a direct attempt to harm me will result in your demise..."
Read the contract below. It is your choice to accept it.
You have proven your worth so far, human, managing to outsmart my best servant and deceive me. In your attack against the wagon, you showed me you are quite brave for a mere man. And capable. I also find your audacity to dare challenge my servant delightfully twisted. You are a man of means, and you have demonstrated you are willing to do anything it takes to accomplish the task at hand. Therefore, I shall treat you fairly, and with respect, but remember. You are not just dealing with a demon. I am the the most powerful lich in all the land, and you are at my mercy.
As with Teegar before you, I promise fair pay for all of my work, which you may do with as you wish. I do not promise you work won't be laborious, or dangerous, or tolling. I make no claim that you will not die in the line of duty. However, you will be granted reasonable compensation for your duties in both monetary and material forms, and you will not be worked constantly.
If you are to turn against me, the consequences may be fatal. Know that with this contract, your life and soul are your default. Acting against my will will likely result in severe, if not fatal, consequences. In this case, your life will be your default. If you ever act against me, directly or indirectly, your soul will be default.
Lastly, I will give you a choice. Accepting this contact is not an obligation to accept this request. As with Teegar before you, I offer you a chance at lichhood, if you were to die in your duties. However, you must not waver in your duties, and upon death, you must vow to continue your services indefinitely.
What do I do?
Mister Treyble, I'm glad we can finally talk with full honesty here, as equals, that's why you must know that my real goal isn't about material wealth at all...
I play with my nonclaw hand's fingers pretending not to sign.
I am looking for a very specific group of people, clerics, am very fond of them. I want to reunite with them. As you know, powerful events have been ocurring recently, I'm afraid they are larger than you or me, you must surely know about this. So I want to gather all the power I need to ensure our safety, they are as clever if not smarter than me; I don't expect you to form an alliance with church men, it is however in our best interest to strenghten this chain in case cataclysm endangers all of us.
So, Mister Treyble, I will accept the gold and the luxury and the servants, and will gladly bring you twice the corpses Teegar could when he was himself, but what I really want from you is two things: First, I want you to help me find these people. And second, I want you to help me get my crew in line, They are doubting about their loyalty to me as we speak"
NOTE:It wasn't clear to me if the crew is already aware of who I am. If thats the case, I'll ask treyble to regain their trust with his approval, otherwise, I will ask treyble for advice on wether or not to kill them and keep the zombies.
Suddenly, Treyble snaps his finger. An arctic chill runs over the ship, and you grow weak. Your spirit recoils, barely staying in the demonic shell. You hear a series of moans and cries, followed by thuds on the ship deck. He makes a series of gestures, uttering a wicked incantation under his breath. Suddenly, blood runs from every pore in Treyble's decayed body, and creeps under the door. A glimpse through the porthole in the door, and you see Dorf rising from the ground, slowly but surely. His eyes are glowing. You feel a burning sensation on your hand, and notice a brand appearing. The burning penetrates through the material and etches itself into your soul. With the appearance of the brand, the chill rushes away, and your strength comes back twofold.
"Now, as for your friendsss... I'm what you'd consider a... neutral." Treyble grabs your shoulder again, and looks into your eyes. "Teil, was it? A cleric from... Nasita. Killed by your alliesss. I do not know whyyy you would want to meet them again, but I can aid you. Perhapsssss... you may meet them verrry sooooon." You were a cleric... from Nasita?! "Your spiritual training would of made yooou a perrrfect candidate... and sure enough, it wasn't by my will that we work together. And you just so happened to have more potentialll than I bargained or payed for."
Treyble modifies the contract to fit your constraints. "Now that we are settled... the moment you sign your name in blood... your real name... we will be squared away..."
"Excellent, I will show you my true potential is greater Teegar's, won't let you down..."
"Thank you for your... cooperation, Teil. Now. Continuuue with your mission. I won't interrupt you again."
Treyble walks out of the door, and in whispers, he disappears. You go out to your ship deck, and although they have retained their intelligence, you can tell that the entire crew has been changed by Treyble's incantation. Their eyes glow a subtle, misty white, which is hard to notice from a distance, but is obvious up-close. Their skin is devoid of life, but they are very much alive. And then you realize something. What about Arsenal?
"So... uh... what just happened?" Looks like he was included in the casualties. A small price to pay. It was him who came to you asking for safekeeping, after all.
"That doesn't matter." Dorf dusts off his clothes and looks at him. "We've got a job to do. Welcome to the crew."
"Teegar- no... Teil?... man... I got knocked out pretty hard, didn't I?" Arsenal stumbles, holding his head as he approaches you. "Listen. I don't know what just happened, but... I think I might want to put my other endeavors on standby. I think it would be better if I just devote my efforts to one client, you know what I mean?" You know exactly what he means. You still have that assassin to worry about, but maybe bringing Arsenal on board wasn't such a questionable idea after all.
"Remember. In the eye of the world, this pal of ours is still Teegar." Ringer reminds him. "So, boss. Should we get going?"
Now that this problem has been solved, it is time to finalize your plans. Reevaluate your options, and give the final say-so on how you will approach the heist.
Blueprints:
Plan 1: Use a sleep potion to ambush from within. This will be the best way to ambush the ceremony. However, with Khantsievth's people out to get you, who's to say you'll ever wake up, or that you'll make it to the church?
Plan 2: Infiltrate. Less effective ambush with higher risk, but least expensive with minimal preparations. You'll just need to find a way up, even if it means braving your way through. (You could use your spiritual power here)
Plan 3: Blitzkrieg. Highest risk, but highest payoff. If you already have to clear the way through, you won't have to worry about an ambush during your escape.
Plan 4: Disguise as a member of the church, using your spiritual power to posses one of its members. Lowest risk. This would boil down to safely securing the vehicle bringing in the corpses.
"Listen, people. Given these new conditions, the optimal way to succeed has become the following:
I will infiltrate the church and secure the vehicle without creating much revolt, if anything goes south, I will need you storm in at my signal and break this place in half, run the hell out of there and leave this place before any reinforcements come for us. So, be vigilant and nearby, be discreet and be ready to strike!
I also need you to take care of this body while I'm away in this mission, Even though my spirit form is much more flexible, this body is a valuable tool".
Lucky isn't even the half of it. If it weren't for that single moment, when you took this demon's body, you could of been much worse off. You could be wandering the streets, trying to avoid capture by spirit hunters or necromancers. You could even be dead for good. But instead, you're on a ship, with a loyal crew, getting paid, and if your spirit were to bite the dust, you have a lifeline to keep it from happening. While your crew assesses the situation, you take a moment to practice your technique. To try isolating your spirit from Teegar's body. It's much more difficult than it was with your own, this gargantuan behemoth still being alive and healthy, but you manage it. For good measure, you decide to momentarily possess one of your undead servants to ensure you won't struggle when it comes time, and you effortlessly slide into the rotting shell, controlling it with ease. Once again, you separate your spirit from it, and it falls to the deck of the ship, then gets back up, its will to perform its duty undeterred by your actions.
The day of the heist
This could be a whole lot harder than you thought. A recent innovation has taken place in Nasita. Other regions refuse to partake in it, but the vehicle is unlike any other. It's been called many things, but one name has stuck; the locomotive.
"So, boss," Ringer say as he smiles. "Looks like you get to play with one of Khantsievth's new toys. The corpses will be brought in with somethin' called a train. According to our survey, the train can only operate along railways. There's a single railway leading through every city in Nasita, and one of its stops just so happens to be a few blocks away from the cathedral. There, they load them into a steam powered wagon that literally goes in a straight line from the station to the cathedral. Only members of the cathedral are able to load, unload, or operate the wagon, and there's only one person able to operate the train." Ringer pulls out a detailed sketch of a demon with two sets of horns. "He's a real Prince Charming."
"So, pretty self explanatory. Ideally, you'd want control of the train. There's a station by the port of Soth, and two in Daemot. I went ahead and made a map of the train route. If you get the train before they unload the corpses, all you'll have to do is get the train to the port, and we can pull up the boat and unload it in an instant! Plus, since we'll already have attention from, you know, missing a stop, some of us can ride the train as 'passengers' until we get to our destination, then boom! We already have a crew on land ready to do this thing! Here's the map, anyways. We're here, the route's in red, stations are dots, blah blah blah, and don't mind the stain in the corner. I might of been drunk, hahahah!"
(Image shrunk for convenience. Click the image to get it full screen.)
The map is barely legible, but you can make out the important details based on what Ringer said. The train will arrive at the station. You'll have to intercept it, disguised as a member of the cathedral operating the steam wagon, and then, the song and dance begins. You'll need someone to help you fake death as the cathedral member, so the sudden lifelessness of the victim doesn't seem suspect. Then, while the crew is distracted, you will make your way onto the train and possess the conductor. Once you do that, you'll need to find out how to operate the train, and fast, so you can get it to the port of Soth, the next station.
Ideally, you want to make sure your boat isn't seen anywhere near this train, or people may grow suspicious, since it seems like everyone and their mothers know Teegar. Therefore, you'll need a vehicle to wheel the corpses to the boat.
Heist - Preparation Phase
You will need:
- A Land Vehicle to transport the corpses in safely and discreetly. (Spending limit is up to you, but nothing too extravagant. We plan on ditching this thing anyways! [Oh yeah! Maybe include a way to ditch it so we won't leave any evidence!])
- A creature card or two to represent the crew members that will accompany you on board the train. See the color section of criteria for info.
Here’s your crew again for reference. You could also hire a goon (automatic pass for crew-member tasks, with a 5% chance of betrayal), but it will take away from your pay. (Anyone intelligent is italicized):
- Teegar
- Three Demons, bound to you by pact
- Arsenal, bound to you by pact
- Four Devils [One of them is not intelligent], bound to you by pact
- Three Humans, bound to you by pact
- Three Undead Slaves (Human)
- Ten Undead Slaves (Human Werewolf)
Points will given based mainly on balance, realism, and syntax. Your noncreature cards don't need to be damaging in any way. Effectiveness is determined solely by score.
Each of your entries will be scored from 0-15. Any score below a 10 will count as a miss, but their consequences won't surface until they become relevant... You current HP is 10.
Criteria:
• 5 points for overall effect and balancing.
• 4 points for realism, following color pie, and proper rarity. You may lose a point if the effect of the card is unclear.
• 3 points for fitting the colors and themes of your character (Dimir) / Faction (For cards representing your crew members, treat this as Rakdos)
• 2 points for proper grammar and syntax
• 1 point for flavor (text not required; mainly checking if overall fell of the card fits its art, name, etc
To Everyone, from now on, if you are idle for 2 weeks (2 weeks without an action and you are not waiting for someone else), your character will become autonomous [an NPC] until you return. I will make decisions for you, to the best of my ability, and semi-randomly resolve events that would normally lead to a challenge. I will try to make sure you live, but the dice can be cruel, and I can't make any guarantees...
@EpicBoss99 I gave the panel the benefit of the doubt. Since it's been pretty much a full week, I'll go with what we've got, and get the story written up tomorrow.
The following characters will become autonomous if the players do not submit a response before Monday the 28th:
@DrakeGladis
@EmolgAn
The following characters will become autonomous if I don't get a response before Wednesday the 30th. Timing is about to become critical.
@Derain2
Another note
@KorandAngels : What you do next could have a significant impact on the overall story. While you will not become autonomous, your scenario will be auto resolved if you do not respond before Monday.
http://forums.mtgcardsmith.com/discussion/comment/162286/#Comment_162286
(Do I make an updated Ishka with this promotion? I have the art)
(That wasn't actually an accident.)
"I'm glad to see you are willing to put your trivial matters to rest in the name of what is right. Kin of our kind, embrace the future that is soon to come, and lead Hitcherald to its rightful destiny."
Before you appears a traditional symbol of the Hexist religion. A Triscepter. However, it seems to be imbued with otherworldly energy.
"This will give you the ability to call upon our power directly. Use it wise."
You thank the pantheon as you attempt to pick up the Triscepter. It feels unbearably heavy, and you cannot budge it.
"Have faith in the gods. The weight of the world is in your hands, but with faith, that weight is nothing compared to the weight of failure."
Faith. Faith... this entire time, you've been working in the shadows against the will of the Six. Do you have any true faith in them? Even an ounce? Nonetheless, you have taken this oath, and even if your dealings go against them, you will carry out your duty to the greatest extent you can. You put all of the heart you can into your efforts, and finally, the Triscepter is being held in your grasp. You thank the Six again, and leave their chambers, but as you walk out the door, you hear whispers.
"Between you and me, I know you have content with our rule." It's Nohel. He's communicating with you through telepathy. "I do not second guess you. I... don't like to admit it, but there's something bothering me about Conse's rule as Decider. I won't go on much further, but he's starting to become more forceful upon his will. Thank you for bearing through your distrust to accept that position. As long as you have your will, you are safe from him. But had you not accepted his oath, I am afraid of what may of happened..."
I will get to the next leg of your adventure tomorrow. I am severely late getting to bed, and I can barely see right now.