Before the battle

I started a new thread so we can play out some of the things the PCs do here, in-character. We can use the Defense of Flamekeep thread for OOC planning and such, or you can do that here too.

Here's some relevant information about various things which will affect your options.

Time:
The Angels are brought back around noon on the 15th of Therendor (the Eberron equivalent of March), nearly 2 months after four of them were slain (11 Zarantyr). The expectation was that the aberration army would reach Flamekeep and attack the next day, but with the help of Cedric's forces and the two dragons, they will likely be slowed down until the 17th.

Opposing forces:
Aberration army - From the reports, they number well over 20,000, perhaps up to 30,000. The vast majority of the army consists of dolgrims, with many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dolgaunts too. There are also a couple thousand pseudonatural animals of various kinds. There are also reportedly rarer aberrations such as athachs and chuuls, with spellcasting support provided by nagas and mind flayers. There are hundreds of cloakers providing air support, with some gauths and a couple dozen beholders.

Thranish forces - The defense forces have been split into two groups:
(1) Cedric is in the field with some 2500 cavalry, about 1000 of which are archers, supported by some 50 clerics/adepts.
(2) The city's defense is in the hands of about 7500 troops, about 1000 of them archers too. Besides the regular troops, there are about 200 lower-level adepts, clerics and (more rarely) arcanists. The Argent Guard, consisting of 250 particularly well-trained fighters and paladins (6-9th level), is also present. There are also 25 Wingwyrds (the special gargoyles which serve the Cathedral; CR3 each). Lastly, there are the Silver Pyromancers, an order of 25 more powerful arcanists and clerics (7-10th lvl).

Flamekeep:
The city is on an island, the center of it being a rocky, cliff-like area on which the Cathedral of the Flame stands. To its immediate west is the Palace of the Thranish royal family, but that is comparatively deserted. Three huge bridges (each over a thousand feet long) connect the city to the mainland, one each to north, south, and east. The bridge to the south is next to the House Orien train station (and area around it) for the lightning rail, which is on the mainland.
(Note: Considering the plan your PCs hatched, Cedric's suggestion is to destroy the southern bridge, causing the aberration army to attack using the eastern bridge. That will funnel them into one area, as well as putting them as close as possible to the bay where you will be trying to cause the tsunami. The area is on cliffs above the bay, but a large enough wave will be able to get over them.)

Where the PCs are going:

* Luna, Six and Gareth are heading to Stormhome, the House Lyrandar outpost, to ask for airships.

* Nameless is going to Sharn to try and gather help from the mage guilds and the adventuring guilds, as well as House Cannith (and perhaps the warforged?).

* Korm is going to the Shadow Marches to try to get help from the Gatekeepers.

Note: Someone is going to have to go to Thronehold to warn the people to evacuate part of the island, which is soon going to be missing.

Does that sound right? Let me know if there's anything else you're doing, and I'll soon put up IC posts about what happens.

Also, some questions for Gareth - are you contacting your family and/or Lalia? And if so, how? Sending spell(s), message via Nameless, or something else?

Gareth will contact Lalia and his family to warn them of the impending danger. Gareth will ask lalia to get to safety, preferably with his family. While I think it would be cool if Lalia fought side-by-side with Gareth I believe she is around level 8-9 and would die in a heartbeat.

If gareth can do a sending then he will, so Nameless does not have to (unless nameless has plenty of slots for that level).

The plans sound good. Do we have time to go back to get some help from the group of people who joined us in the dragon area (the name slips my head right now). Maybe we could get some of the people we partied with if not more. I would be willing to go (via someone teleporting me) so I can ask for help.

Gareth wrote:

Gareth will contact Lalia and his family to warn them of the impending danger. Gareth will ask lalia to get to safety, preferably with his family. While I think it would be cool if Lalia fought side-by-side with Gareth I believe she is around level 8-9 and would die in a heartbeat.

If gareth can do a sending then he will, so Nameless does not have to (unless nameless has plenty of slots for that level).

OOC: Since you're in Flamekeep, Jaela can provide a couple of scrolls of Sending for you to use.

IC: When Gareth casts the first sending to his mother and informs her where he is, the response takes a couple of minutes to come. The combination of amazement, relief, joy and concern in his mother's voice is clear, as he hears it in his head. "Gareth? Son? I thought you were dead! Where have you been? Come as soon as you can. We are still in Karrlakton. Take care. Love."

The reply from Lalia when he contacts her has a lot of similarity in the tone of voice, except there is an additional tone of bitterness. She says, "I thought you dead. Return when you can. Much news. Sharn attacked but holding strong. Many losses. Tasra dead. Must stay. Join me. Help defend."

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The plans sound good. Do we have time to go back to get some help from the group of people who joined us in the dragon area (the name slips my head right now). Maybe we could get some of the people we partied with if not more. I would be willing to go (via someone teleporting me) so I can ask for help.

Time-wise, that would be next to impossible, because you guys essentially have just over a day and a half to meet people in Stormhome, Sharn, Shadow Marches, and Thronehold, as well as arrange for the destruction of a large chunk of an island, plus helping with the defense of the city. Traveling to Argonnessen would entail not only going there, finding the people, talking to them, and bringing back whoever is willing to come. That would eat a very substantial chunk of time, and you're under the gun already.

That said, you could possibly pull it off by having Korm and Gareth go to Argonnessen instead of Korm to the Shadow Marches, where he's not likely to get that much help from the Gatekeepers (who are not numerous at the best of times, and are now badly damaged by the battles).

Your call.

Admin wrote:

IC: When Gareth casts the first sending to his mother and informs her where he is, the response takes a couple of minutes to come. The combination of amazement, relief, joy and concern in his mother's voice is clear, as he hears it in his head. "Gareth? Son? I thought you were dead! Where have you been? Come as soon as you can. We are still in Karrlakton. Take care. Love."

With regards to the responses from his parents, if Gareth can do another sending "Please stay safe, and hide. I will explain what happend but now I do not have time as I am defending Flame Keep"

Admin wrote:

The reply from Lalia when he contacts her has a lot of similarity in the tone of voice, except there is an additional tone of bitterness. She says, "I thought you dead. Return when you can. Much news. Sharn attacked but holding strong. Many losses. Tasra dead. Must stay. Join me. Help defend."

Man this one is tough. I will have to get back to you on it. I am trying to think - will Gareth ditch Flame Keep for Lalia, or will Gareth stay in Flame Keep and Lalia will die (because you are an RBDM)

Admin wrote:

Time-wise, that would be next to impossible, because you guys essentially have just over a day and a half to meet people in Stormhome, Sharn, Shadow Marches, and Thronehold, as well as arrange for the destruction of a large chunk of an island, plus helping with the defense of the city. Traveling to Argonnessen would entail not only going there, finding the people, talking to them, and bringing back whoever is willing to come. That would eat a very substantial chunk of time, and you're under the gun already.

Gareth will ask Korm "If the Shadow Marches will not be able to provide us help maybe we can get to Argonnessen and try to get help there. We can probably get some people there, at least those we travelled with (ooc: i forget their names)"

Gareth wrote:

With regards to the responses from his parents, if Gareth can do another sending "Please stay safe, and hide. I will explain what happend but now I do not have time as I am defending Flame Keep"

Response: "Are still staying at Deneith Tower. Karrlakton seems safe due to Deneith forces. Flame protect you. We shall pray for you. Grandmother sends her love."

Admin wrote:

Man this one is tough. I will have to get back to you on it. I am trying to think - will Gareth ditch Flame Keep for Lalia, or will Gareth stay in Flame Keep and Lalia will die (because you are an RBDM)

OOC: Nah! Having her get killed without you present to watch it would be far too kind More seriously, it's actually not that difficult a choice. Flamekeep is being attacked right now, while Sharn probably will be sooner or later, but isn't at the moment.

Admin wrote:

Gareth will ask Korm "If the Shadow Marches will not be able to provide us help maybe we can get to Argonnessen and try to get help there. We can probably get some people there, at least those we travelled with (ooc: i forget their names)"

Korm agrees that Argonnessen could be a good idea, but also reminds Gareth that only one of the Io'lokari (Prine, the dual-wielding scout who accompanied the group to Io'vakas) actually expressed interest in coming to Khorvaire. So the visit might not produce as much help as would be preferable.

Admin wrote:

Korm agrees that Argonnessen could be a good idea, but also reminds Gareth that only one of the Io'lokari (Prine, the dual-wielding scout who accompanied the group to Io'vakas) actually expressed interest in coming to Khorvaire. So the visit might not produce as much help as would be preferable.

A high level non magic based character is what we need here. How many orc barbarians would Prine be worth?

Admin wrote:

OOC: Nah! Having her get killed without you present to watch it would be far too kind More seriously, it's actually not that difficult a choice. Flamekeep is being attacked right now, while Sharn probably will be sooner or later, but isn't at the moment.

Fair enough "I will come when I can, I am defending Flame Keep. Please stay safe my love, and my heart for the loss of your sister"

Admin wrote:

Korm agrees that Argonnessen could be a good idea, but also reminds Gareth that only one of the Io'lokari (Prine, the dual-wielding scout who accompanied the group to Io'vakas) actually expressed interest in coming to Khorvaire. So the visit might not produce as much help as would be preferable.

"So which would you prefer to go? If the Shadow Marches can provide us help then that would be great, but if not then Prine would be good." OOC: What about the paladin?

Six of Six wrote:

A high level non magic based character is what we need here. How many orc barbarians would Prine be worth?

Good question Depends on whether he's able to flank and sneak attack or not, since that's where most of his big damage comes from, but even without it he can do pretty decent damage. Note that a fair amount of it does come from magic (his swords, for example), but it's not yet quite clear whether the Chaos Serpent can/does suppress magic affecting its foes (esp. items).

Gareth wrote:

Fair enough "I will come when I can, I am defending Flame Keep. Please stay safe my love, and my heart for the loss of your sister"

There is a long silence and then Lalia's voice in Gareth's head. A very controlled voice, which says, "Very well. I presume that seems the best decision to you. We will speak when I see you."

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"So which would you prefer to go? If the Shadow Marches can provide us help then that would be great, but if not then Prine would be good." OOC: What about the paladin?

Korm scratches his head thoughtfully and says, "I'm guessing the druids from the Marches, if we can get any, will be more helpful in taking out part of Thronehold and controlling the tidal wave. Less so in a fight. Prine should be much more helpful in an actual battle, especially against a giant snake-monster which messes up magic." He thinks for a moment and says, "I think Luna and I, with Nameless' help and your maul of the titans, can take care of Thronehold. Let's go to Argonnessen."

OOC: Nalyna, the paladin, had no interest in leaving Io'lokar, let alone come to Khorvaire.

Admin wrote:

There is a long silence and then Lalia's voice in Gareth's head. A very controlled voice, which says, "Very well. I presume that seems the best decision to you. We will speak when I see you."

OOC: Man worse then death, she is gonna get upset

With the disposition of forces, we have to modify our plans. We don’t have enough time or forces to defeat the Chaos army in detail. I thought we had at least a week to prepare. We need to firm up what it needed to be done before we leave gathering allies.
Shil do you have a game system to run the armies.

Grand
Necro magic would Mual-Tar Chaos Snake death be enough to power the seals. This can be saved for later, I just put it here to make note of it.
What is the nature of Mual-Tar’s magic negation power. It doesn’t seem to be anti magic or dispel.


Operational
Is Cerdric’s cavalry regular horse, magebred or something else.
How much time would an airship take to get the Flamekeep. If a fully loaded ship can’t get there in less than 30 hours we should look to other places.
How long would the wave take to get to the plain of Flamekeep. It would be sad if the wave arrived after the battle.
How many extraordinary troops can we lay hands on, flying lizardmen, Korm’s barbarian folks, dino riding boomerang throwing halfings, etc.
Can we get the Children of Winter to bring some oozes or vermin swarns. Are there any cells we know of non hostile to us.

Tactical
Does the snake need to be hit in sections. Is the head different than the tail. Will hitting the head do more damage.
Find out the hit points and special defensives. If we can’t use numbers, use Luna as a base. Say can it take twice the hit points of Luna, four times etc. Does it have vulnerabilities. Does it have damage resistances.
What is the minimum amount of damage an attack needs to do to have an effect. This is another way to get the DR.
What kind of terrain will be left from the tsunami attack; flooded, difficult, damp? The condition of the field will determine the type of troops we will need for the counter attack.
Do the recently revived soul bound have special properties. Will Korm, Gareth and Nameless be immune from the magic canceling effect of Mual-Tar.
Is Mual-Tar sentient. How big is this snake, colossal, bigger? How is it controlled. Is it attracted to the flame’s power.
(My guess is the snake is attracted to the power of silver flame and is animal intelligence. Tracking this down might provide an avenue of attack. If the flame could be masked and Gareth brighten it might be lured off.)
How few people do we need to kill to disperse the Chaos army, their leaders, the snake, both?

These are some of the areas to be addressed; please add and refine. Some questions can be answered conventionally others by magic. Since magic doesn't work on the snake, Nameless may have to contact Big Eye and ask conventionally. With the story of our return, it might be willing to talk. Otherwise break out your yes/no algorithms we have 18 questions and a lot of ground to cover.

Gareth wrote:

OOC: Man worse then death, she is gonna get upset

Yup. It's much easier to be an RBDM this way. Killing PCs is easy. Giving PCs a reason to piss off the fiancee who has been sitting at home thinking they're dead? Priceless!

And good questions, Dave. I'm off to teach in a bit, so I'll post answers later this evening.

Admin wrote:

Gareth wrote:

OOC: Man worse then death, she is gonna get upset

Yup. It's much easier to be an RBDM this way. Killing PCs is easy. Giving PCs a reason to piss off the fiancee who has been sitting at home thinking they're dead? Priceless!

Fighting a giant snake without your magic doesn't sound so bad now!

Six of Six wrote:

Admin wrote:

Gareth wrote:

OOC: Man worse then death, she is gonna get upset

Yup. It's much easier to be an RBDM this way. Killing PCs is easy. Giving PCs a reason to piss off the fiancee who has been sitting at home thinking they're dead? Priceless!

Fighting a giant snake without your magic doesn't sound so bad now!

Pfft I think Gareth is volunteering to be the first charge. Not lead it, just be it That or bring Lalia's wrath...

And now, the answers:

Six of Six wrote:

Shil do you have a game system to run the armies.

Nope. I'm going to eyeball it, with an odd d20 roll or two to account for sheer luck, and with what the PCs do (or fail to) having the major role in determining what occurs. Think the way things work in The Iliad (and in our earlier sessions vs. armies).

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Necro magic would Mual-Tar Chaos Snake death be enough to power the seals. This can be saved for later, I just put it here to make note of it.

Oooh! *note to self*

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What is the nature of Mual-Tar’s magic negation power. It doesn’t seem to be anti magic or dispel.

The best indication thus far is that it's a combination of personal near-godly immunity to magic and an aura of chaos which makes magic highly unreliable (up to a level where it's almost unusable).

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Is Cerdric’s cavalry regular horse, magebred or something else.

Mostly regular, well-trained horses, along with a small contingent on magebred horses.

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How much time would an airship take to get the Flamekeep. If a fully loaded ship can’t get there in less than 30 hours we should look to other places.

15-20 hrs, depending on tail wind.

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How long would the wave take to get to the plain of Flamekeep. It would be sad if the wave arrived after the battle.

15 minutes to half an hour.

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How many extraordinary troops can we lay hands on, flying lizardmen, Korm’s barbarian folks, dino riding boomerang throwing halfings, etc.

None, really, in the given time. Note also that essentially all of Khorvaire is facing attacks. Trying to persuade people that they need to go fight somewhere else would be akin to persuading people in Britain and the US in 1941 that they should go fight against the German attack on Russia.

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Can we get the Children of Winter to bring some oozes or vermin swarns. Are there any cells we know of non hostile to us.

They're far too small an organization to find and obtain help from in the given time.

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Tactical
Does the snake need to be hit in sections. Is the head different than the tail. Will hitting the head do more damage.

Since this is a mechanical issue, I'll answer it OOC. I don't expect to be applying anything of the kind.

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Find out the hit points and special defensives. If we can’t use numbers, use Luna as a base. Say can it take twice the hit points of Luna, four times etc. Does it have vulnerabilities. Does it have damage resistances.

This is impossible to find out without actually attacking the thing, since divinations of all kinds are useless against it. From what Luna saw in the one fight, she would guess that it can easily absorb the kind of damage that would take her down. Other reports confirm that.

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What is the minimum amount of damage an attack needs to do to have an effect. This is another way to get the DR.

It's definitely got DR in the 10+ range, but more precise details are unavailable.

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What kind of terrain will be left from the tsunami attack; flooded, difficult, damp? The condition of the field will determine the type of troops we will need for the counter attack.

Difficult. Think wet and muddy.

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Do the recently revived soul bound have special properties.

I'll consider this question 1 for the Commune. Answer: "Probably."

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Will Korm, Gareth and Nameless be immune from the magic canceling effect of Mual-Tar.

Question 2. Answer: "No."

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Is Mual-Tar sentient. How big is this snake, colossal, bigger? How is it controlled. Is it attracted to the flame’s power.

Reports indicate that the snake is clearly sentient and able to act at least somewhat tactically, since it is able to respond intelligently to attacks. There are various leader-types (usually mind flayers) which seem to command parts of the army, but there's no sign of any of them commanding the snake. Sizewise it counts as colossal (mechanically), though it is far huger than that. No idea of how it's controlled or if it is being controlled at all. No indication of whether it's attracted to the Flame, but it's certainly made a beeline for it from the Shadow Marches. It has been smart enough to take the best geographical route too, or if someone is controlling it, someone else has been.

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(My guess is the snake is attracted to the power of silver flame and is animal intelligence. Tracking this down might provide an avenue of attack. If the flame could be masked and Gareth brighten it might be lured off.)

Best plan EVAH!

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How few people do we need to kill to disperse the Chaos army, their leaders, the snake, both?

Hard to say, but certainly slaying the snake and/or the leader-types would be the best way to break it up.

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These are some of the areas to be addressed; please add and refine. Some questions can be answered conventionally others by magic. Since magic doesn't work on the snake, Nameless may have to contact Big Eye and ask conventionally. With the story of our return, it might be willing to talk. Otherwise break out your yes/no algorithms we have 18 questions and a lot of ground to cover.

As mentioned above, I'm considering two of those as Commune questions, so you have 16 left. And any Divinations you want.

What we have so far. Before Shil burns some commune questions if you have any tweaks chime in please.

With our short time to prepare and the likelihood of us attacking the big snake and it’s buddies, here are some new and reordered priories.

One Arranging the Tsunami attack. We have the snake, it’s attendants and the army. The big wave looks to be the best way of separating these three.

Two Airship platform. This brings a number of options. The high magic people can operate off of it, and it is a forward mobile base. I worry about the Chaos army air force but with two dragons and an air wing of gargoyles that should be enough CAP.

Three Additional Allies. Since we can’t get quantity we need quality. Aside from Prine is there anyone of high level that you remember we can call, preferably some who works with low magic.

This will alter who goes where a little.

Answer me my question sixteen … Hee hee hee some using commune, some conventional.

Is there anything to be done to improve the cavalry’s mobility in a potentially muddied plain.

Can Nameless contact Big Eye and just chat with it, or does he have to use the contact other planes spell. Does Big Eye know the details (like dr, hit points, it’s motivation) of Big Snake. Is it inclined to tell us. The second question assumes the first but asking them both gets Big Eye’s orientation about the snake.

Are the aberrations subject to the magic scrambling effects?

The scramble effects, spells, spell like and supernatural abilities?

It is a scramble as oppose to a negation or dispel?

Did anyone notice if the snake healed?

Did the snakes attendants use any magic or magical items?

Can we ask in commune who we can ask for help? "Hey who can we tap, that is uber powerful, and doesn't suck in magic free zones"?

Six of Six wrote:

What we have so far. Before Shil burns some commune questions if you have any tweaks chime in please.

I'll provide answers, considering as few Commune questions as possible.

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Three Additional Allies. Since we can’t get quantity we need quality. Aside from Prine is there anyone of high level that you remember we can call, preferably some who works with low magic.

There are a lot of different options, but the time is the issue. A few options you could call upon:
(1) Daask in Sharn (BTW, you guys just hit the expiration date of the 6 month truce with them)
(2) House Boromar in Sharn
(3) Ghash'kaala barbarians from the borders of the Demon Wastes
(4) Servitors of the Daughters of Sora Kell in Droaam

The problem is whether anyone will agree to come at this point, as quickly as you want them to.

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Is there anything to be done to improve the cavalry’s mobility in a potentially muddied plain.

Not really, but it's certain that the muddy area won't extend in to cover the entire area occupied by the army, so the cavalry will try to hit them in areas where they can maneuver. Also, Cedric would be using his archers to try and hit the aberrations who are in the muddy area.

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Can Nameless contact Big Eye and just chat with it, or does he have to use the contact other planes spell. Does Big Eye know the details (like dr, hit points, it’s motivation) of Big Snake. Is it inclined to tell us. The second question assumes the first but asking them both gets Big Eye’s orientation about the snake.

He would need to use Contact Other Plane.

Commune question 3: "Does Cyaegha have information about the Chaos Serpent?" "Answer: Likely"

Commune question 4: "Would Cyaegha share information about the Chaos Serpent?" "Answer: Unknown"

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Are the aberrations subject to the magic scrambling effects?

Yes. That has been noted.

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The scramble effects, spells, spell like and supernatural abilities?

Spells and Sp abilities, mainly.

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It is a scramble as oppose to a negation or dispel?

Mostly the former, but as it gets stronger (which seems to take time and increases when closer to the snake), it becomes more like outright negation. It is possible, however, to cast spells near it which don't affect the snake, though they become less reliable too.

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Did anyone notice if the snake healed?

Yes. It does seem to have some fast healing or regeneration.

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Did the snakes attendants use any magic or magical items?

Yes. There were mind flayers and nagas that used spell. But they did so mainly at the start of battle and stopped when the snake began using its aura.

Gareth wrote:

Can we ask in commune who we can ask for help? "Hey who can we tap, that is uber powerful, and doesn't suck in magic free zones"?

No, Commune only provides Yes/No answers.

But Jaela will do a Divination about asking others for help. The answer is: "Seek not for aid outside, but look within. Flamekeep holds one of the keys to your victory. Death is not the end, nor does darkness last for ever."

Admin wrote:

[(1) Daask in Sharn (BTW, you guys just hit the expiration date of the 6 month truce with them)

But Jaela will do a Divination about asking others for help. The answer is: "Seek not for aid outside, but look within. Flamekeep holds one of the keys to your victory. Death is not the end, nor does darkness last for ever."

Great now that the world is coming to an end we don't have the opportunity to open a can of whoop ass.

As for the divination, "Keeper, do you know what this might mean? Maybe this has to do with the flame?" OOC: Can we ask the commune if the Flame is the key to victory?

Gareth wrote:

Great now that the world is coming to an end we don't have the opportunity to open a can of whoop ass.

You could always tell the Keeper that you're going off to mug some Daask people. Would be interesting to see her face

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As for the divination, "Keeper, do you know what this might mean? Maybe this has to do with the flame?" OOC: Can we ask the commune if the Flame is the key to victory?

Jaela looks thoughtful and then says, "I am not sure, but even before you were brought back I spoke to the Flame about the impending attack. It informed me that the result of this battle, for good or ill, would have a major effect on the defeat of Xoriat. If you could be brought back."

Commune question 5: "Is the Flame the key to victory?" "Answer: One of the keys, but in the war, not in the battle."

There are a lot of different options, but the time is the issue. A few options you could call upon:
(1) Daask in Sharn (BTW, you guys just hit the expiration date of the 6 month truce with them)
(2) House Boromar in Sharn
(3) Ghash'kaala barbarians from the borders of the Demon Wastes
(4) Servitors of the Daughters of Sora Kell in Droaam

Since Droaam controls Daask and one of the sisters understands the situation, a sending might prove fruitful.


“Seek not for aid outside, but look within”
Is this metaphorical or actual. Do we look inside Korm, Luna or Flamekeep. Has anyone read the Iliad or much fantasy since Shil runs along classical fantasy themes and logic. When I hear "but look within" I think of a little guy with a white goatee, followed by a training montage. If Nameless was an NPC he would be the most likely person to know where to find the "Mick" to put in this snake's "Guffin". If this was a video game the doohicky to kill the beast would be in a dungeon guarded by another beastie. So far I'm not seeing any of this.

Can the flame be moved or suppressed.

Experimentations with our soul connection.
Will divinations on the four returned that involve the big snake work. What if Gareth cast it.
Pumpitude
So how would you boost our damage. How about strengthening our connection with the various extradimensional powers. Would walking in the flame help or sticking the Xoriat gems on us.

Admin wrote:

You could always tell the Keeper that you're going off to mug some Daask people. Would be interesting to see her face

Would anyone be surprised?

Admin wrote:

Jaela looks thoughtful and then says, "I am not sure, but even before you were brought back I spoke to the Flame about the impending attack. It informed me that the result of this battle, for good or ill, would have a major effect on the defeat of Xoriat. If you could be brought back."

Thinking for a bit, "Would the Flame itself help? Would entering it confer some kind of protection or assistance vs the snake which has enormous advantages which hinder us in many ways.

Six of Six wrote:

“Seek not for aid outside, but look within”
Is this metaphorical or actual.

Ouch, cut Korm open and see what's inside?

Six of Six wrote:

Can the flame be moved or suppressed.

Now that would be scary. But maybe there is something underneath the Flame? Maybe it is covering something that can aid us?

Six of Six wrote:

Since Droaam controls Daask and one of the sisters understands the situation, a sending might prove fruitful.

Jaela provides a scroll of Sending so that Gareth can send a message to Sora Teraza (the blind seer) about the situation. Her response is swift. "Situation complicated here, but can send you some elite shock troops. You must transport them directly to Flamekeep. If coming here, warn us first."

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“Seek not for aid outside, but look within”
Is this metaphorical or actual. Do we look inside Korm, Luna or Flamekeep.

Metaphorical. Jaela's fairly certain it means to look within yourselves and rely primarily on your own abilities.

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Has anyone read the Iliad or much fantasy since Shil runs along classical fantasy themes and logic. When I hear "but look within" I think of a little guy with a white goatee, followed by a training montage.

Heh! I promise I'm not intentionally drawing on classical fantasy/myth, though of course my reading might inflect my ideas.

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If Nameless was an NPC he would be the most likely person to know where to find the "Mick" to put in this snake's "Guffin". If this was a video game the doohicky to kill the beast would be in a dungeon guarded by another beastie. So far I'm not seeing any of this.

Hah! I really promise not to do the Fedex quest thing here.

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Can the flame be moved or suppressed.

No. It's not something that can be controlled by anyone outside, including the Keeper. The Cathedral was actually built around the site of the Flame.

The Flame, however, is supposed to be the physical manifestation of something that has existed long before the Silver Flame as a faith really began.

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Experimentations with our soul connection.
Will divinations on the four returned that involve the big snake work. What if Gareth cast it.

Gareth - and Jaela - can attempt divinations on the four, but nothing involving Mual-Tar provides any information.

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Pumpitude
So how would you boost our damage.

You guys do have access to a fair number of damage-boosting spells, esp. from Gareth (Righteous Might, Recitation, Righteous Wrath of the Fathful, etc).

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How about strengthening our connection with the various extradimensional powers.

What did you have in mind?

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Would walking in the flame help or sticking the Xoriat gems on us.

No, to the first. I'd mentioned during the game that the Xoriat gems actually had to be used to bring you guys back. Their connection with Xoriat was very influential in the process.

Gareth wrote:

Thinking for a bit, "Would the Flame itself help? Would entering it confer some kind of protection or assistance vs the snake which has enormous advantages which hinder us in many ways.

Nope. The Flame would actually burn you guys up eventually.

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Now that would be scary. But maybe there is something underneath the Flame? Maybe it is covering something that can aid us?

The Flame is just a giant pillar of silver flame, which appeared on the spot where Tira Miron sacrificed herself to help a couatl imprison a powerful rakshasa which had escaped. It doesn't actually stand on anything, and previous excavations have revealed it to go as far down as anyone has gone.

Admin wrote:

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“Seek not for aid outside, but look within”
Is this metaphorical or actual. Do we look inside Korm, Luna or Flamekeep.

Metaphorical. Jaela's fairly certain it means to look within yourselves and rely primarily on your own abilities.

So we need to think and cooperate, we're doomed. Can I bring loaded dice?

Admin wrote:

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Has anyone read the Iliad or much fantasy since Shil runs along classical fantasy themes and logic. When I hear "but look within" I think of a little guy with a white goatee, followed by a training montage.

Heh! I promise I'm not intentionally drawing on classical fantasy/myth, though of course my reading might inflect my ideas.

Aside from the BoS Six has, is there a sensei around. A janitor kicking the crap out of some thugs or a praying mantis opening up a can of whoop ass on a bird.

The Argonessen group should consider Droaam instead. There is some elite shock troop waiting there. We don't know there size or power but Sora Teraza speaks well of them.

Six of Six wrote:

So we need to think and cooperate, we're doomed. Can I bring loaded dice?

Why not? You could bring the "That's easy" button too, for moral support

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Aside from the BoS Six has, is there a sensei around. A janitor kicking the crap out of some thugs or a praying mantis opening up a can of whoop ass on a bird.

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The Argonessen group should consider Droaam instead. There is some elite shock troop waiting there. We don't know there size or power but Sora Teraza speaks well of them.

Korm would be fine with going to Droaam instead of Argonnessen, and would agree with Six that it's probably a better option. Is Gareth fine with the two of them going there instead?