>>23524065
Whew, suptg appears to be down and I didn't have the link to your twitter handy so I didn't know if we were still going today.

Let's go ahead and ask Olberek what sort of daemons might be stationed in Guille's Fortress, and if he knows of any anti-magic or anti-daemon methods Dominion might have developed since we've been imprisoned.

>>23524065
Well then, lets get to planning. I wonder if we should use Olberek's influence to help out our minion

So the plan is, Barry and the natives march an "army" to Guille Fortress, while we infiltrate and open the gate. I think we agreed to do that.

I also favor stealthily bringing Mari to the battle, though infiltrating the actual fortress with her will likely not be possible. Besides, Jens is clearly sick and tired of her.

Since we still haven't actually confirmed what they can do, we should ask Barry what he knows of those "blood guards" and what kind of threat they may pose.

>>23524192

https://twitter.com/MCJohnnyQuest

>>23524288
Thanks, bookmarked,

>>23524192

Olberek can't tell you much. Guille Fortress was still pretty new when he was imprisoned about three hundred years ago. That said, he knows that Golgoth does have some wizards. After your defeat, the Red Queen taught magic to a mortal named Kalen, a name you still hear a lot in Golgoth because that guy then taught magic to a bunch of other mortals. So Disciples of Kalen are an issue. They usually stayed near Golgothan heartlands when last he was awake, though.

He can tell you that Blood Guards are, it turns out, mostly religious figureheads whose main purpose is to stop superstitious soldiers from freaking out when a daemon attacks. They do various nasty things like execute dissenters and torture captured prisoners for information, but none of it is terribly unorthodox. They just do it in secret and are very quiet and menacing, which quickly leads to an aura of superstitious awe. You neglect to inform Olberek that this basically worked on you. Blood Guards are very good one-on-one combatants, and they do have some resistance against mental magic, but not enough to shrug off a proper daemon.

Olberek reasons that since all the major players out here are supposed to have already been defeated, Golgoth's major daemon allies will probably be in Golgoth itself reaping the benefits of being worshiped like gods by a civilization that owns half the region and is rapidly advancing on the rest. The ones stationed out here will probably be a just in case measure, and will probably be mostly hedge daemons and the like. Who are still a threat to the two of you in your weakened state, but not a huge deal.

>>23524430
Perfect. Looks like my fears weren't as fully realized as I had thought. Our plan to infiltrate might be pretty plausible if the only real threat to us are a couple hedge daemons.

Let's go meet with Mari and ask her what her thoughts are on joining us in the assault once the gates are open.

I like having Mari, but why do we want her at the battle? She's an asset and she's fairly loyal, but she's so fragile. Taking her to war seems like how to get her killed.

>>23524524
Because letting her use her powers (If necessary), and get some personal revenge on Golgoth will help deepen our link with her. We've kinda left her to sit around on the sidelines despite promising her chances to take Golgoth down a peg.

Sure it's dangerous and she might get hurt or killed if we aren't careful, but she has to start somewhere if we want her to grow.

>>23524587
She should not be entering the meat grinder, nor should we. Her powers aren't touch attacks. I'm not sure how far away she can use it from, but she can definitely use them from a distance.

>>23524635
Didn't say she had to, nor we. Just that we would be joining the assault. As to what measure and method we employ that in is up for discussion, but she should still be a part of the action at some point.

>>23524430
>Blood guards are basically commisars

That does, they've changed from "stay the fuck away" to being prime targets.

We should go scout the city. We aren't needed with the main army, and the sooner we get there the sooner we can come up with a plan to infiltrate, and the less likely we are for alarm to be raised for some other reason.

>>23524635
We have to enter the meat-grinder, we'd lose a protracted siege, we have to infiltrate the fortifications and open the door. Dire wolves can't build trebuchets.

Find Mari.

"It took longer to set up than I'd hoped for, but the first step of our vengeance is ready. With the aid of the "king" of the forest, the villages are to take Guille. I'm sure you'd like to join me there, right?"

>>23524490

"Hello, Mari," you say, finding her in the woods as she retrieves a few rabbits from snares, hacking off their mutant heads.

She glances briefly over her shoulder and says "hey. You're back." Her voice is kind of flat.

>What exactly do you say to her?

>>23524862

>>23524778

>>23524883

"Of course," she says, lighting up a bit, and then looks worried again and asks "what about Les?"

>>23524927

"I guess we could try lesbian experimentation...Honestly it hadn't really crossed my mind."
Then blush.

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>>23524948

>>23524948

Leson is her seven-year old brother. Which makes that response even more bizarre than otherwise.

>>23524927
"i know you won't like it, but he has to stay somewhere. At best, we can try to make that place safe. Deepwell is safe, for now"

>>23525095
Supporting this.

>>23525095

"...Okay," Mari says. "When do we leave? And where are we going? What'll we be doing when we get there?" She glances aside and says "uh, sorry."

>>23525259
"I will be leaving before long to scout out the Fortress and establish a plan for infiltrating it. Until then I need you to wait a little longer Mari. Then we will join the others. That is all for now."

>>23525432
I think the "army" intends to leave just about now, and they do not intend to bring her. We'll either have to go there with her, or hope she can find the way herself.

>>23525463

This is accurate. The army leaves at crack of dawn tomorrow, so if she's coming, she's coming with you. You won't be able to travel as fast with her, if only because you can keep walking straight through the night and she has to sleep.

>>23525463
Oh, well then tell her "We are leaving soon. Stick with me and we will camp a little ways off from the main force. Theres some infiltration I need to do before we attack, and I will lead you on from there."

>>23525478
But she can probably still move faster than an army, and we don't NEED to several days head start just to get the gate open before they run into it like retards.

>>23525498
That's fine.

OP are you waiting for something or just busy?

When Mari gets back to Jens' house, he's out with the rest of Deepwell's villagers preparing to go. As leader of the expedition (doubly so since Rin died), he's kept quite busy. "Don't tell anyone where I've gone," Mari says to Leson as she finishes digging up her dagger.

"Where are you going?" Leson asks.

"I'm not telling," Mari says.

"Why'd you tell me not to tell anyone else if you aren't going to tell me where you're going in the first place?" Leson asks.

"Just don't tell anyone anything," Mari says, sliding the dagger in her belt.

"They'll be mad at you," Leson says, "really mad."

"I'll figure that out when I get back," Mari says, "now pipe down." She grabs a large dagger, sort of an 14-inch falchion, from where Jens had left it in a chest.

"Did Jens say you could-"

"No, and if he asks you don't know what happened to it," Mari says, "he didn't bring it with him when he went to rally the other villages so obviously he doesn't fight with it. It's probably a trophy or something he tried and couldn't get the hang of." She looks at the thing. "Too bulky to hide easy and too short to be a proper sword. Probably he just gave up on it because it's a terrible idea. Better than nothing though." Leson is watching, nervous, as she pulls a traveler's cloak around her shoulders. "I'll be back in one week, maybe two," Mari says, voice softer, "everything's gonna be fine, alright? I'll see you in a while."

Then, checking to make sure no one's looking, she slips away to a small gap in the village wall she'd discovered. She can barely fit through, but fit through she can, and she slips into the night.

>>23526067
Do we know the directions to Guille's Fortress?

>>23525976

Busy. Plus, kind of long update.

Regardless, the journey to Guille Fortress is uneventful. You keep close enough to the road that you can use it to orient yourself but far enough away that patrols won't catch you, and then just keep heading west. The road still passes through the ruins of Ironborn Village, which must have been ruined ages ago because there's nothing left but a few foundations and the dilapidated remains of some stone houses. Everything wood has rotted through and nature has reclaimed the ruin. Guille Fortress is only another two days' journey further.

It's early in the afternoon when you spot it, a massive fortress stretching upwards into the sky. The walls must be fifty feet tall, and many towers close to double that. There are turrets on the wall every fifty feet, but fortunately the fortress is undermanned. From what you can see, there's only one pair of guards every other turret, leaving the others empty. The great gate of the fortress is a massive wooden door reinforced with iron bands. Opening that thing will be very difficult.

You're about two days ahead of the armies of the eastern villages, though, so you've got time to set up a cunning plan.

>>23526164
Alright, first things first. Tell Mari to feel free to practice her swordsmanship and fleshshaping, but dont stray far from the camp and dont tire herself out.

We shall observe the guard patrols for a while to get an idea of their routine, and look to see if there's a way we can approach the fortress without being spotted in shadow form.

>>23526164
I was hoping for something with a open/close mechanism like a portcullis, but we can still work something out, I'm sure. We should scout out the fortress, probably waiting until after sundown.

>>23526293

Mari doesn't know any swordsmanship to practice. She can swing a sword aimlessly but she'll have no idea if she's doing it right.

Approaching the fortress without being spotted should be trivial once night falls. There's like 80 feet of wall between each guard post and they probably won't bother putting up torches in places where there's no one there to watch. During daylight it'll be trickier. If you ascend up one of the empty turrets, there'll be two guards each fifty feet away who might see you, and you won't be able to keep track of them well enough to make proper use of Unnoticed, so you'll just have to hope they chalk up the mysterious moving shadow to a trick of the light or something.

There's a changing of the guard every six hours, like clockwork.

>>23526409
Alright, once night falls we climb one of the towers carefully. Take a peek before we go over the rampart to make sure we dont stumble into the guards, then we'll take a look down at the fortress proper and make a mental map of the area.

>>23526409
There IS a slight chance that someone from that someone in there could derive from the stories of the scared soldiers we, or someone of our kind was messing with their shit and be expecting us, but it's pretty slim I think. If they're not expecting something that literally moves as a shadow, the guards shouldn't be likely to report that there's a "shadow" cunningly sneaking around.

We should approach via the gate itself so we can inspect it, since it is our primary target.

>>23526538

A shadow that isn't being cast by any object moving about on its own is noteworthy in just about any circumstances.

>>23526457

You climb one of the unguarded turrets and examine the inside of the fortress. There are a number of small buildings within the courtyard. A blacksmith, a stable, and the like. There's also a large tent pitched, guarded by several Blood Guards. No doubt something religious, as there's no other tents pitched anywhere. The soldiers must be staying in the fortress quarters and this tent is some kind of mobile shrine that whatever pagan temple this fortress may or may not contain won't serve as a replacement for.

The courtyard is home to a number of soldiers sitting around lanterns and doing what soldiers do best: Waiting. A few of them play games of dice, some chat with each other.

There are lights within the fortress that show that it is definitely occupied. They're sporadic, though, so either some of them have the lights off (it is nighttime) or else they only light a few of the rooms. Considering how badly undermanned this behemoth is, it could go either way.

>>23526723
Can we move to a dark position from which we can see the gate, or perhaps reach entirely. How well guarded is the gate?

>>23526911
Going along with this.

>>23526911

Being the closest thing this fortress has to a weakspot, the gate is heavily guarded. At least three dozen men are stationed in the gatehouse and the two turrets to either side of the gate.

>>23527074
Well shit, how the hell are we gonna manage that? Gotta think for a bit on that one.

Let's continue our observation of the Blood Guard tent, maybe try and jockey for a lower position that will let us see into the tent when someone enters or leaves.

>>23527074
Be sneaky sneaky. If there is another entrance I want to find it.

>>23527074
That's... quite a few. I was hoping we could simply delude a single watch into ordering the gate opened, but if there's others keeping watch they're just gonna ask what the hell he's doing.

And on second thought, even if that opens the gate, they may be able to close it again quite quickly. Perhaps we can find a way to sabotage the gate entirely.

For now, let's try to investigate the blood guard tent.

>>23527169
Would be kind of embarrassing. A fortress that has stood for how long now and then we just waltz in and discover the southern wall has been missing all along.

>>23527195

Wouldn't the best plan be to go in an hour or so after a shift change in the gaurd tower, delude one of the gaurds into killing the other, then kill the one remaining gaurd.

Let down a rope or something, let as many men as appropriate scale the tower, then proceed round to the gate clearing it out.

If we went in just after a shift change, wait for the next change and killed the next 2 gaurds as they arrived we'd have potentially 4 useable gaurd uniforms, which means we could bluff our way into the gatehouse, delude some gaurds into a skrimish and clean up the rest.

>>23527281
Its risky but a viable option. We need more reconnaissance on the blood guards and anything they may be hiding here though.

>>23527281
It might work. But for now we have time until anyone arrives at all, so we should get some more recon done.

No one goes in or out of the Blood Guards' tent/shrine/whatever it is. There are thirteen of them standing all around the tent, each with a torch posted next to them, preventing you from getting too close. You dimly recall this torch-posting tradition having been started when you shadow-murdered like three hundred people in one night a long time ago. The Court of Dominion was still trying to hammer Golgoth into a coherent, sovereign nation back then. Must've been five hundred years ago.

Regardless, you can't see inside of that thing. Some of the soldiers sitting outside are chatting about the fortress within earshot while you examine the gate and the shrine, however. Most of it is idle chatter about girls they'd like to fuck and officers they'd like to fuck over, but one mentions that sooner or later someone's going to have to go and investigate the rumbling in the dungeons, and he'd rather get it over with now than wait until it's too late. Responses are mostly along the lines of a sarcastic "sure thing, you first," along with a few who mention they don't have the men to risk poking around in the foundations looking for cave panthers or something, and even if they did poking around down there could bring the entire fortress down if what's rumbling is the stone itself.

>>23527277
I more meant a secondary gate or a tunnel.

>>23527369
Oh you know your plot hooks TM, you know them well.

I'll bite, let's keep an eye out for where access to this dungeon is and find out a way to slink down there unseen. Clearly something interesting is afoot.

>>23527369
Bringing down the entire fortress? That still counts as getting the job done as far as I'm concerned. And if not, dungeons could have angry people in them, also worth inspecting. Can we enter the fortress? Perhaps by one of the windows?

>cultural tradition based on counting us, specifically
Gee, we certainly made an impression. Too bad we're not done.

If we have a few days do we want to do some dickery with the locals?

Go find a pub where soldiers drink (if there is one) and get some good old stabbings going on via delusion?

Literally any chaos we can cause is a good thing, as long as it's not going to lead to heightened secuity (i.e. don't go picking off gate gaurds).

>>23527471
Not to me. We wqnt to hold the fortress so they would have to take it back.

>>23527565
The way Olberek spoke, it seemed he wanted to tear this whole place down anyway. Also these people have no way of holding this fortress, they are villagers and already have homes. The only ones who would qualify are Greatoak's people and those are women and children.

>>23527565
See, attitudes like that is exactly why the old mess is standing at all. Because no one has the guts to just tear it down when presented the opportunity. I say if it actually IS possible (it may not be at all), we damn well do it. Because it'll be FUN.

>>23527645
>>23527613
>not turning ragtag band of villages into a nation capable of defeating the court using their own tactics
Sure, their a bunch of shitty primitive villages now, but that isn't what we will need them to be in the future.

>>23527794
Well they're not going to be defeating any daemon courts, but they might just stand up to Golgotha. These villages don't seem particularly interested in being a nation however, but a sort of loose union of "village states" might be possible. Barry probably won't like it, but he doesn't even have the decency to call us friend.

Good God has it been an hour? I only meant to tab out for ten minutes...Oops.

>>23527432

Well, there's not any entrances low to the ground that are open, but several of the windows higher up aren't barred. They are, however, universally lit rooms. Presumably you're supposed to close the windows up proper when you leave a room or go to sleep. Most officers slept in tents alone, though, they're probably one to a chamber, too. If you can kill or sneak past the room's occupant, you'll be inside the main keep.

>>23527518

There aren't really any pubs or the like. Guille Fortress is just a fortress. But the soldiers still end up drinking and gambling and the like.

>>23527613

Olberek is opposed to civilization in general. You're pretty sure that his endgame is tearing the villages apart and scattering the people so that they're a hunter/gatherer society again.

>>23528322
look for where they keep their food. sabotaging it should ruin their morale.

>>23528322
>fortress behind large walls with a courtyard full of soldiers
>still not allowed to have the window open when you sleep
Damn these people and their paranoia. Find a room with only one person in it, try to sneak past when they're done staring at their window.

Also, Barry's plan is kinda boring. These people are primitive enough.

>>23528322
We are stopped by closed windows? Do we have to remain in the form and size of a child's shadow at all times?

Lets take some quick peeks into the lit rooms. If one of them is empty we enter and sneak along the ceiling or through natural shadows.

>>23528438

Too obvious. Starting brawls is good, getting soldiers to kill each other is good, because that can get put down to normal in-camp tension, if you sabotage food supplies that screams insurgents.

>>23528493
Let's just refrain from that as well until he we have all the intel we can gather. They might actually know that we like to do those things too.

Cunning plan: Shortly before the attack of the villagers, delude a turret crew on the wall opposite to the gate into shooting the gate open from the inside. No alert until shortly before the attack and a lot of chaos caused. Therafter, they can fire at the other turrets.

>>23528585
Wait what. I don't think there are siege weapons in the turrets.

>>23528624

There are indeed no siege weapons on the turrets.

>>23528443

You're able to find a room with what is presumably an officer inside, composing a letter with his back to both the door and the window. You slip past him.

The inside of the fortress is heavily underpopulated and very dark, making it very easy to get around. There are a lot of empty rooms that were probably used for something back when this place was actually in active use, but less so now. There are barracks where the soldiers sleep, though, plus chambers where the officers are sleeping, the great hall where they eat, and some storehouses and armories where they've unpacked their supplies. Nothing special in the armories, mostly just leather and studded leather. If these guys know how to make chainmail, they aren't handing a whole lot out to the local units. Though it seems like they're more here on a search-and-destroy mission rather than trying to hold territory, so they might be intentionally lightly equipped.

Regardless, there's also the way into the dungeon, which is not currently in use. In fact, the Golgothans are avoiding it.

>>23528585

Also, delusion is not suggestion.

>>23528826
While we're passing through the dungeon, can we find a lone soldier somewhere and delude him with "You feel stressed with high command and life in the fortress. Talking aloud to yourself about the problems will ease the pressure." I don't think that would be too much trouble to get to work, and we could get useful tactical information like any internal schisms, or the names of who's in charge of the fortress. Things like that.

>>23528826
Yes! Dungeon dungeon dungeon dungeon! Also, good that the fortress is relatively inactive. Possibly we could assassinate some commander(s) before opening the gate.

>>23528913

Well, the dungeon is explicitly empty of Golgothan soldiers, so no, you can't do it while passing through the dungeon. As for in-general, you'd have to find a soldier alone and these guys are all either in pairs or in very large groups.

>>23528926
better not alert them of our presence just yet

>>23528913
This is also worth a tr-
>>23528947
Oh.
>>23528958
Nono, only just before. If it's night and they don't get bugged constantly (why would they?), it could be done.

>>23528947
Ah, I didn't mean dungeon specifically, just in the fortress. Maybe before we go into the dungeon we can find a pair of soldiers reasonably far from anyone in charge and try a similar delusion. "You feel stressed about living in the fortress and have misgivings about the command structure. Talking to your partner might ease the sensation."

It actually works better if we find two soldiers willing to start up a conversation about things wrong with living in the fortress, since they might bring up things outside the scope of the delusion.

If they mention any weak points such as poor communication procedures and any officer names, we can start causing internal chaos so they are unprepared for an assault from the villagers right as it happens.

>>23529053

Second soldier can hear you deluding the first one, though.

>>23528826
Into the dungeon we go, there's got to be something worth checking out there if the Golgothans are avoiding it.

>>23529130
Hrm. Can't we say it once while focusing on them both to do two simultaneous delusions? Would that be very draining or just not possible? If we can't do it in either case we'll just go for a romp in the dungeon.

>>23529195
Pretty sure we can do that, but only for a few minutes. But it may be even easier if they're in a pair. "You feel stressed with high command and life in the fortress. Talking to your partner about the problems will ease the pressure." And it's possible that we won't have to maintain it further once they're actually talking.

The dungeon is abandoned and cavernous. In fact, the deeper in you go, the more it resembles an actual cavern. You're pretty sure this isn't directly underneath the fortress anymore, but instead somewhere out in the courtyard, maybe past the wall. Certainly this isn't the sort of foundation you'd want to build that keep on top of. It couldn't possibly have stayed standing for like two hundred years if this was the actual basement.

You can hear a rumbling as you probe further in, lock rocks grinding against each other. As you follow the source of the noise, it grows louder, from a soft whisper up to what's just short of howling wind. Finally, you find a pile of rocks about twelve feet long and eight feet tall, a bit taller in the middle but mostly surprisingly even. And the pile rises and falls slowly in rhythm with the grinding noise.

The rocks are breathing.

>>23529448
This is pretty new to us, right?

>>23529448
Can we tell if this is an Earth Elemental or the like? Do we even know what that is?

I'm seriously tempted to suggest we poke it till it wakes up for shits and giggles.

>>23529582
This was also my first impulse.

>>23529480

New in the sense of your having never encountered breathing rocks before. But seeing weird shit in general is pretty old hat for you.

>>23529582
Maybe a very bored Dominion daemon with very strange fetishes.

>>23529604
>>23529610
We are so poking this thing till it wakes up. Be ready to go shadow form if it seems hostile though.

>>23529610
Well, time for science!

"Hello."

>>23529649
this.

>not a single person is even slightly worried of this ending horribly

You guys are cool tonight.

>>23529699
If nobody else is gonna say it, I will:

It's just a pile of breathing rocks. What could possibly go wrong?

You assume corporeal form so you can start poking the rocks. When that doesn't work, you start shoving them instead. After tackling them a couple of times (ow), you finally manage to rouse the creature. As it rises to its feet with a dull roar, you can see that it's a quadruped that had been curled up, and when standing it somewhat resembles a rhinoceros made of stone and sans horn. So maybe more like a hippo, but made out of lots of rocks stuck together and thus necessarily not nearly as smooth. "Who are you?" he asks in a voice that, as you might imagine, is incredibly deep and gravelly. He turns to face you as he does so, but he's extremely slow to do so. "And...What are you doing...In my house?" he finishes.

>>23529802
"This is a house? The Golgothans upstairs have been using it as a latreen."

>>23529838
Haha I knew refreshing the page before I hit send would yield that result. Pretty much what I was gonna say, only adding a polite curtsy.

>>23529838
>>23529849
We're doing this, OP.

>>23529802
"would your house mean the fortress or did someone just pick an incredibly stupid place to build one?"

>>23529838

The creature snorts. "Mortals come...Mortals go. They matter little. And you...You still have not answered...My question."

>>23529924
You anons think it would be wise to mention one of our aliases to this thing and ask if he's a friend of Olberek by chance?

>>23529967
Olberek is a daemon of nature. This creature is not natural. I don't expect them to be acquainted. Besides, if Olberek knew him he should have told us.

>>23529924

Hmm, it's not an idiot; probably a very old daemon, best to be polite for now.

I think we can be honest here, actually. At least, there's no need to outright lie to him.

"Well I do owe you at least that much of a courtesy for waking you. Some call me the Anomaly; excuse me if I withhold my true name for the moment. I'm in your house purely by accident; I thought this was an abandoned cave. You seemed interesting, so I woke you up."

>>23530082
Let's go with this, and hope it's not too peeved at us.

>>23530082
I'm not completely sure "true name" applies to us, but we certainly should not state outright that it isn't. And that particular alias is probably not one of our least known ones.

>>23530112
Yeah kinda hoping it's not too mad we woke it up, and if it is we can apologise profusely.

>>23530138
Yeah but we had no idea this thing was even here and neither did Olberek; I get the feeling that if it's even a daemon it's not a social one and spends most of its time sleeping and not giving a fuck. Not giving out our true name is more a matter of our apparent preference for going by aliases so far; we haven't told anyone we are Rabaddon except for Olberek, and only because he knew us already. I figured being the trickster demon we are, defaulting to an alias would just be something we do even if it's still painfully obvious who we are.

>>23530253
Oh but I agree on using an alias, just not on telling this thing that we're using an alias. That's kind of defeating the point.

>>23530082

"Anomaly," the creature says, sort of rolling the name around in its mouth, trying it out. "An odd name. Hrmmm...You look like a daemon of Night. Or perhaps one of their allies...Creeping about...Like a shadow. No matter to me...Stone cares not about the struggles of Sun and Sky." He shakes his head a bit and takes a few stamping paces to the side. "So long as I'm awake...Tell me, how has that fight been going? My bet has always been on Sun to win...In the end."

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>>23530308
I like this guy

>>23530308
"Repetitive and boring as ever. The newcomers are a little more exciting, and a lot more annoying."

>>23530370
This

>>23530308
Its a three way fight now. And dominion is winning. Locally at least.

>>23530370
This. Also add in: "You appear to have me at a disadvantage though, if you would be kind enough as to tell me who you are?"

>>23530308
Ooh, politics. I'm assuming from his questions he doesn't know about Dominion. We obviously do, because they were a major court when we were sealed.

"I was put out of action inside an Oubliette until recently but last I checked the Court of Dominion has been pushing hard and doing well for themselves. They're considered a major court now. They're treading a lot on other court's toes; sealing other daemons and I suspect that at least one or two Dominion daemons are encouraging mortals to build huge cities and forts to boost their own influence. One of them is directly above us in fact."

"Though, I'm not too interested in such things truthfully. I learned some tricks here and there, but I'm of the court of Fortune, not Night."

>>23530308
"You wouldn't believe what dominion has been up to!"

>>23530421
Maybe I gave a bit too much information but I've been waiting for a discussion like this.

>>23530413
Withdrawing support from this, lets just stick with >>23530421

>>23530412

The daemon laughs. "I suppose it is...Though I owe Goralin a favor, now...Bet him that the new alliance...Wouldn't last ten thousand years...I suppose if it hasn't been that long...They'll probably last that long anyways...If they're winning now..."

>>23530413

"I...Am Girdin...A pleasure to meet you...A conversation every few thousand years...Makes the waiting more pleasant."

>>23530421
>advertising our defeat
No. Absolutely not.

>>23530478
"A bet you say? Perhaps you would like to influence the odds a little in your favor?"

>>23530515
Yes. Couldn't pick a better reply myself.

>>23530515
Exactly. He seems like the jovial sort, perhaps enticing him could give us all the brute force we need to tear down that gate...if not wreck everything.

>>23530540
If that doesn't work, I was thinking we could explain to him how the masters of the mortals above are of Dominion, and that they will absolutely not leave him alone as long as they control the keep above.

>>23530597
Also, Stone supposedly is slightly less neutral towards Dominion than they are to everything else. If this is also true for this dude, it should be an easy sell.

>>23530515

Girdin shakes his head. "I do not bother the world...The world does not bother me...When the rest rots away, stone will be here...We are always the last to crumble."

>>23530743
"That may be about to change, I have heard from above that these soldiers plan to investigate the source of this rumbling your slumber makes. Once they find out you are here, they and their Dominion masters will not cease to bother and try to win your allegiance. Else they will seal you away like they did my brothers."

>>23530743
Plan B is a go.

"But my friend, the world is bothering you right now. Far better be it that Fortune should visit you, than the daemons of Dominion whose puppets have settled right above you. For once they summon the courage to search this cave, their masters, paranoid and controlling as they are, will not rest until you are removed from this place."

>>23530802
I agree with this.

>>23530743
"the dominion will settle for nothing less than complete mastery. what they can't own they'll lock away. what they can't defeat they'll ...bother."

>>23530802

"They may try," Girdin says, "but rock...Is eternal...Unchanging...In ten thousand years...They may hope to cut a river...But Dominion never had the patience of Water...Or of Sky."

>>23531088
"So you do not know of the large structures they have built where the stone used to be? Like the one right outside your cave?"

>>23531088
"That may be, but Dominion has grown massive in the last ten thousand years my friend. They have raised an empire of a size that has never yet been seen. Vast cities mined from your life-stone and landscapes stipped bare of resources to make monuments to their excess. It is a mockery. They sit on their thrones worshiped by mortals as gods, and imprison any daemon that does not side with them."

"To side with them...is to be utterly ruled by them. What right do they have to claim power over the Earth itself? There has been no evidence that their progress will ever halt, and their machinations grow stronger every day to upset the balance."

>>23531135

"What large structures?" Girdin asks, a bit disdainfully, "beavers make dams...Humans make huts...But a few stray rocks does not concern the mountain."

>>23531195
Also add in "And my friend, you must see these transgressions to truly believe it. I imagine you have been penned up here for such a long time, even if by your own volition. The world outside has changed."

>>23531198
"come outside"

>>23531198
Use >>23531195
except without the first sentence.

>>23531260
Yeah, I didn't realize he'd reply so quickly. Supporting this still, let's press the "vast cities" issue.

>>23531224

Girdin snorts with derision and begins trundling towards the dungeon proper, rambling as he goes. "You've been good company," he begins, "so I will indulge you...Let us see these...Grand halls that...Somehow threaten Stone...A pretty pile of rocks, I'm sure...The mortals are no doubt terribly impressed...With themselves for assembling it...No doubt they would worship anyone who can...Manage such a magic trick...They are short-sighted little creatures...Aren't they...More than once I've-" he stops, suddenly, looking around. You've been in the dungeon proper for a few seconds but it seems to have taken Girdin a few moments to process the transition.

"This is new," he says finally, "how long...Have they been at this? How long...Did this take?"

>>23531399
"A mere handful of years, if I recall. They have built much more...indulgent...displays than this in the Golgothian heartlands. The people here are still reverent of the land and respect those that govern it, but the poor mortals under Dominion's sway have forgotten that courtesy at their urging."

>>23531399
"Shorter than you would believe. Only a few years i think."

>>23531399
how long does it take to make a fortress? rabaddon probably knows but i don't.

anyway if he looks like he's going to start something we should tell him to wait for the wolves and shit.

>>23531399
"Under the guidance of their Dominion masters, a structure such as this was most likely assembled in less than a decade. Of course, you haven't actually seen the structure yet, you're only in the dungeon."

>>23531462
Er, by people here specify the villages surrounding this Fort. This is just an edifice to gain control of this region, and that more of this "architecture" will surely follow if they press onward unchallenged.

>>23531465
"I am sure you see the threat. At this very moment, Olberek as well as a warhost of mortals more respectful of the land march to destroy this place and remove Dominion from the premises. Were you to stay your wrath until then, our combined efforts would crush them completely"

>>23531462

Girdin turns his head towards you relatively quickly, in that it takes him just under a second to turn his head about 70 degrees to the right. "A few years? Impossible," he says, "not in the Sky's...Wildest dreams could this much be stone be moved...In only a few years."

>>23531683
"And you have only seen the tip of the mountain. What lies above is far more unnerving."

>>23531719
This. Add in what >>23531599 said too, to caution him.

>>23531683
That's what happens when several hundred, or several thousand, humans get to work. Although human legend does say that at least one of your sort helped. No idea how accurate that bit is though.

>>23531719

Girdin turns towards you. "You're lying," he says, "a trick...To get me involved...It must have taken longer...Much, much longer."

>>23531822
this one I think a decade but not more, and I think it was a bit less, of course they have been building things like this for at least a few centuries so they have some practice at it

>>23531822
"It's not a trick. I didn't even know you were here"
I guess we can explain the logistics to him if he's got the patience.

>>23531822
"Friend, I would not let you slumber in ignorance over what Dominion has wrought now that I know the breadth of your inactivity. I do not wish to deceive you, merely tell you of the injustices they have done and let you judge their actions.

It is true that I stand against Dominion, but my cause is a just one. I care for the other courts Dominion has figuratively spat in the face of, and wish to make things right."

>>23531822
"I only have the words of the different mortals i have talked to. They all say it only took a few years but they might have exaggerated. It may even have taken as long as a decade."

>>23531822
Laugh at his accusation. "You have slumbered far too long, Stone. These are not the mortals you once knew. Dominion has shaped them in their image, and now domination is their craft. Domination of stone, metal, magic, you name it. The world is a very different place now, and these mortal change it very fast."

>>23531957

Supporting.

>>23531957
Yeah, this is what I was trying to get across. Backing this.

>>23531957
This

>>23531957

He glares at you a moment, and then says "wait here," before trundling off towards the entrance that leads into the rest of the fortress.

>wait there?

File: 1362537933176.jpg-(27 KB, 294x294, ItBegins.jpg)

27 KB JPG

>>23532205
Do what the big scary stone-daemon says, until we start hearing screams and shit at least.

>>23532205
>>23532252

If he moves already, the surprise effect will be completely lost!

>>23532252
And at that point we enter shadow form and follow.

>>23532205
do we have any idea if he's actually able to take the dudes in the fortress by himself?

anyway go follow lol

>>23532328
They will in any case have a hard time hurting him without siege weapons. But I have the feeling that this will not help the villager army.

>>23532205

Given Girdin's traveling speed, it takes surprisingly little time for the first shriek to go up, a panicked cry followed by the raising of an alarm, and you scurry off to follow. Then you hear Girdin stamping back down into the dungeons. "Mortal," he says, "how long did it take you...To build this place?"

"We didn't build it, the Dorriki did," the soldier says, backing cautiously away from Girdin, who is blocking the stairs back up.

"These Dorriki...Are mortals, or daemons?" Girdin asks.

"M-mortals so far as I know," the soldier says.

"And how long...Did it take them to build...This place?" Girdin asks again.

"Ten years, maybe twenty?" the soldier says, "I don't know exactly, I swear, it's been here for centuries!"

>wat do?

>>23532761

Wait for him to talk.

>>23532809
Pretty much this, let him keep going on and we'll react as necessary.

>>23532761
I think this might be a good time to go murder whoever's in charge.

>>23532809
>>23532816

Yes, when we said "a few yearsd" we don't know what Girdin heard; he might have been thinking two or three, else two or three hundred. Also for the fact that these particular soldiers didn't build it might work against us. We COULD try turning it to our advantage.

Ask him "what of Golgoth? How much has it expanded its cities, its fortresses, in the past few years? How did it become the empire it is today?"

Hopefully he'll say Golgoth expanded rapidly and built lots of shit over the things it burned. But we don't know for sure that's the case and it might be the opposite; because Golgoth has been ransacking villages they've actually diminished civilisation as a whole.

>>23532882
True, we need to exploit whatever advantage we can. The problem is, did Girdin tell us to stay behind so we cant twist the truth to our advantage? If so by revealing we tailed him that might upset him

>>23532914
Then yes, it's best to simply wait.

>>23532914
the soldiers are probably going to attack him anyway. and he knows dominion is behind this because they're the guys who deal with mortals.

Are we really turning into an anti civiliation crusader? But tribals are boring.

>>23533088
No, we're not. They're just convenient allies.

>>23533088
Dominion fucked with our shit, we want to fuck up theirs.

>>23532944

Girdin is quiet and motionless for about five minutes solid, until the soldier begins edging back towards the door. Girdin stamps a foot down hard enough to crack the stone floor of the dungeon, and the soldier freezes in place. "Stay here until dawn, mortal...And you will be safe," Girdin says. He then walks back to where he asked you to wait. "Very well, Anomaly...I see you have spoken truthfully...Do you have a plan...To make them leave?"

>>23533178
Phew, patience wins the day. Anyone for having Girdin "hide" in his lair until we are ready to attack? I'm sure as a stone daemon he has some sort of stone-meld so he can just blend in.

If so, let's fill him in on our allies plan and tell him that we would appreciate his help in bringing down the gate so that our allies can slaughter the Golgothans inside. He can feel free to help us tear down the place afterwards if he wants.

>>23533254
He might be able to shake up the ground enough to bring the entire structure down. This place is pretty much the foundation, after all.

>>23533296
I had considered that, but the issue lies in letting our allies have a hollow victory. I think we need to meet back up with the army once we finish talking to Girdin and discuss if we want to just have him try and level the place so we wont suffer casualties.

>>23533178
bunch of dire wolves coming this way. knock open the gate.

>>23533178
(big smile) "do I have A plan.... I have dozens, and step one of all of them is making sure the mortals above are brought to the fruition of there morality,

So, there has been a lot of talk about turning the kid into a darth vader type figure and beating the dominion at there own game. Are we actually taking any steps to accomplish that?

Tell him of our plan of attack. We'd need him to break open the gate. When the guards spot our "army" and everyone rushes for the wall, he needs to strike, trying to get as close to the gate as possible while attention is focused outward. He smashes the gate, the wolves pour in. Afterwards, have him go after those Blood Guards. |

When the fortress is cleared, he can take it down, brick by brick and wall by wall.

>>23533178

Tell him we were planning to have the mortals start infighting (which is why we were sneaking around in the first place) and trick them into opening their main gate, so Olberek's wolves can just walk on in. Of course, if his power is great enough to collapse one of their outer walls, then there would be no margin for error.

>>23533392
It's part of the plan, but it's difficult because she's very useless right now. She needs to learn some skills; when we're done here I think we may curry enough favour from the villagers to ask them to teach her archery or some such.

>>23533334
I agree in not just levelling the place outright. At least not until after Golgoth has been kicked out; then we can negotiate with Girdin and the army about what to do. The army may want to claim it, they may not; Girden may want to level it, or simply wants the mortals kicked out of his home.

>>23533486
he's probably going to tolerate some of the native army holding it if they're told of his presence and not to fuck with him. unless it's whole existence offends him somehow in which case, meh.

"I have waited ten thousand years," Girdin says, "a few more days...Won't make much difference." And then he settles down to sleep again.

>>23533933
Time to leave while we can, with the alarm going up we should probably be getting away from the dungeon pronto. Stealthily of course.

>>23534027
the alarm seems like a problem.

we could delude the soldier into thinking he just got spooked by something or something

>>23534027

On your way out of the dungeon, you see a patrol of a dozen or so Golgothan soldiers marching towards it.

>>23534134
Explain the giant cracks from where Girdin stamped?

>>23534164
Stand still and use unnoticed till they pass, or hide on the ceiling above the doorway (if its not just a square shaft) until they pass then sneak on by.

>>23534172
make him believe the cracks just appeared and that was what scared him. they fear the dungeon too much to look into it, probably.

Doesn't seem to be much in the way of consensus, so let's roll for deluding the guard or just sneaking away.

>>23534406
Can we delude the guard before they get here, and then sneak away?

Rolled 75

>>23534406
deluding

Rolled 100

>>23534446
Supporting this is the question I asked above is true.

Rolled 69

>>23534479
Oh wow. Of course I would waste my favor with the dice gods reinforcing a roll.

>>23534433

Well, yes. This is more a question of whether you want to delude and then sneak away or just sneak away.

Also, if you're deluding, as usual you need to come up with an actual delusion, and keep in mind that you must speak aloud to delude people.

>>23534497
"you didn't see a stone daemon. the cracks just appeared and you freaked out raised the alarm."

that works, right?

>>23534497
Welp. Might as well give it my best to live up to a 100. Assuming the guard is alone we whisper: "Those cracks in the ground were definitely caused by some freak shift in the foundations, you know how unstable the architecture is here after all. It's late, you're probably seeing things and need to get some rest."

>>23534547
I was gonna say something like that but I figured it would be too contradictory for the delusion to make him completely forget that event. Better to make him think up a more probable solution and believe the daemon was some shit he imagined because he's fucking tired.

>>23534497
I say we sneak away. We have absolutely no reason waste time deluding guards here; up until now people have assumed that the foundation was unstable and Girdin can handle himself anyway.

You can't actually outrun the guards. So you arrive about three seconds ahead of them, spit out a delusion, and are interrupted midway through by the arrival of the dozen or so guards who begin questioning the guard, and that is itself interrupted by Girdin waking up in the corner and charging them.

After reducing about half the patrol to a red smear, he settles down to sleep again.

>wat do?

>>23534939
shit works better if they don't know about him. and we have time.

>>23534959
note to self: remember to think ahead

let's go kill the guy in charge of the fortress now to cause some chaos.

>>23534970
Well,

>>23534959
Now they don't know about him.

We go pick up Mari and rendezvous with the army; ask them if they'd like the fortress intact by the end of the fight. If anyone asks about Mari tell them she will be important in the future, and refuse to elaborate.

>>23535018
it'll take them a few (two?) days to get here

>>23534998

Actually ignore >>23534998 we should indeed go and cause some chaos. Use delusions to tell people there's spies in the ranks, that there's major security faults that are purposely being ignored; grab someone who's recently spoke to the commanding officer and make him believe he was told to send a message to the gate controllers to open the gates as an important convoy is expected soon.

>>23535065
Yes didn't realise that until after I posted. I try to post too quickly sometimes.

>>23535018
See "about half". As in the rest ran away. Let's get out of here and hopefully the people here realize some dumbass woke up an earth spirit and got it cranky enough to kill some people and go back to sleep. Then leave it alone and hopefully dont seal it off.

>>23535103
Fuck I meant ignore this >>23535018

Time to learn to proofread. If someone makes a stupid post it's probably me.

Skulking about the fortress a while longer you're eventually able to determine that the place has four or five different captains answering to the commander. The commander is accompanied everywhere he goes by a double, and in fact you're reasonably certain that they trade off giving the commands every so often. Following them into their room, you find them talking as equals. Curious.

You should probably kill both of them, given this. Maybe knock off the captains, as well. But how?

>>23535396
they have to sleep sometime, i suppose?

>>23535462

Sure, but they have guards.

>>23535462
Yeah lets pull the same trick that we did in the camp before and murder them in their sleep if we're able to.

>>23535396
You know how the Blood Guards ring their tent in torches?

Let's remind the commander and his captains why that tradition started.

>>23535559
in the same room? we can just wait there with unnoticed.

>>23535559
How risky is it to jump on their shadow and keep pace with them like we do Mari? We can "follow" them into their room like that

Oh, dear, it is about an hour later than I thought it was. I must be going, now. Tomorrow we should be able to wrap up Guille Fortress, though. See you then.

>>23535660
Archived, see you tomorrow OP.