[HoZ 4e] Heroes on a Sea of Swords - Amirah's Thread

[Shadow_Elf]

The City of God, Dhuqa the 1st of Atumeq, AF 360
The Hunters prepare to go their separate ways for the day, planning to meet up and debrief the Captain later on in the evening.

OOC: This is the personal thread for your character. If you don't have any immediate private RP to do or questions to ask, you can just continue posting the main IC thread as normal. Feel free to use this thread for Private canonical IC actions as well as OOC questions about the direction you want to take your character's story, etc.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Aye, aye, cap'n

Grey Wolf

[Grey_Wolf_c]

OOC:

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::Taps the microhphone:: Is this thing on?

I had completely forgotten we had taken one of the price bugs with us. Now that Medinah's report has reminded me, I think I ought to do something about it.

Amirah's overriding priority is to shield herself from detection, since obviously, her services as hunter are no longer restricted to the sea where she is safe. She would mostly focus on how the prince bug is tracked, and by extension what magical signature she herself is emitting - and how to hide it.

A secondary interest would be to understand the bug, and look for weaknesses, especially in the swarm itself. Amirah would find that the connection between the main swarm and the satellite ones would be a logical weak point to exploit.

Is this something I can work on? In short:
Objective 1) Hide Amirah's signature (there might already be rituals that stop you from being located; if so, this would mean Amirah developing one of them. Otherwise, same idea, but we'd also have to invent the ritual in the first place - I would imagine a HS a day may be required, or some such)
Objective 2) Learn about Abdullah's Swarm (possibly a series of Nature and Arcana checks? This is more open ended)

IC:

Amirah, Living Swarm

Captain's Quarters at the Palace

Amirah seems to be standing passively in Medinah's shadow as Medinah slowly recounts the entire trip. Under the delicate clothes, however, a fierce debate is taking place as hundreds of individuals perform complex dances. The swarm is still shaken from the confrontation with Abdullah, and being on land is disquieting. Eventually, a certain consensus is reached: they must protect the Queen, all can agree on that. Wasps and spiders primarily suggested destroying Abdullah, but lacking clear indication of where and how to do this, their voices are overruled by the ants and bees, who instead insist on shielding the Queen.

As the debate advances, Amirah's mind reaches what could be called a conclusion: the Swarm's knowledge of magic will be set to hiding the swarm from being followed. This conclusion sends a ripple of approval across all members - all of them are happy with that, and with the ramification that such action will protect the Queen, and the Captain!Queen as well. The dances' patterns change as they shift from what to how. Until now, they only had the Swarm itself, and studying it is like attempting to open a box with tools locked inside it. But now, the Swarm exults, they have a second subject to study: the prince bug, and the remains of his brothers. Surely, that will provide an avenue They can exploit.

And even as the Swarm starts focusing on the problem, there remains a small, but not insignificant, part of the Swarm that will also focus on the prince bug itself, its weaknesses, and its dangers.

To Amirah, being merely of two minds about a subject is a relief.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

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OK, I found a good ritual to use as starting base: Masking Shroud, in the Eberron Player's Guide (page 118). Not exactly what I need, since I'd like one that lasts longer than 10 minutes, and it need not cover anyone other than Amirah, but the general idea is there.

[Shadow_Elf]

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I am working on some ritual rules for the game, i.e. modding existing rituals etc. Have not settled on a method, but I think that modding an existing ritual will have a cost based on the extent of the modifications (i.e. targeting, duration etc. mods). Will let you know when they are presentable (I know Chambers is going to want these rules as well).

[Grey_Wolf_c]

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I am working on some ritual rules for the game, i.e. modding existing rituals etc. Have not settled on a method, but I think that modding an existing ritual will have a cost based on the extent of the modifications (i.e. targeting, duration etc. mods). Will let you know when they are presentable (I know Chambers is going to want these rules as well).

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Fair enough. I'll wait for those rules. That said, I went back for a second look at the Eberron ritual and it is better than I thought - I misread the casting time for the duration. Other than needing a specific mark (which I'm hoping it can be substituted for having the prince bug), it does pretty much what I want: last all day, prevent magical methods of spying from working. I believe all it needs is a few tweaks.

I'm copying the ritual for reference ease:

Masking Shroud (original)

Level: 14
Category: Warding
Time: 10 minutes
Duration: 1 day
Component Cost 840 gp
Market Price: 4,200 gp
Key Skill: Arcana (no check)
Special Requirement: You must have the Mark of Warding feat to master and perform this ritual.
This ritual renders you and up to five allies invisible to all scrying sensors, such as those created by the View Location ritual. Although these sensors cannot perceive you, they can perceive the results of your actions, such as when you or your allies interact with the environment, fight enemies, and so on.

[Shadow_Elf]

Alright, my first basic thought is to have each modification increase or decrease the level. A modification set on a ritual is permanent, and the character only knows the ritual with that set of modifications (i.e. they cannot mix and match these effects at-will).

For you, that'd be +1-2 levels for Duration (depending on how long you want to extend it), -1 for self-only (since that's a downside), and +1 for casting it sans the correct Djinnmark (since that was a notable restriction in the original). Is that acceptable?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Alright, my first basic thought is to have each modification increase or decrease the level. A modification set on a ritual is permanent, and the character only knows the ritual with that set of modifications (i.e. they cannot mix and match these effects at-will).

For you, that'd be +1-2 levels for Duration (depending on how long you want to extend it), -1 for self-only (since that's a downside), and +1 for casting it sans the correct Djinnmark (since that was a notable restriction in the original). Is that acceptable?

Rules seem acceptable; note that I misread the original ritual - it does last 24 hours as is*, so I don't think I would need it altered in that regard. Now, I'd rather I could use HS instead of constantly having to redo ritual. Not sure how many HS are equivalent to 840 resources (can't be that many, at level 14), but I thought, just for the fun of it, that an arcana check could be used to determine how many HS it would take:

Arcana Check | Cost to recast
19 or lower - 4 HS
20-24 - 3 HS
25-29 - 2 HS
30-39 - 1 HS
40 or higher - 0 HS

(I used the check results of the level 16 ritual Farsight).

However, if that increases the level of the ritual, I'd rather just switch the mark requirement for the self-only, and call it a day.

Grey Wolf

*I quoted the ritual in full in my last post, if you want to take a look at it

[Shadow_Elf]

Alright, with just the Requirement change, then it's a level 15 ritual. I think the number of healing surges required, if you want to go that route, would need some crunching. I'll look into it.

However, having re-read the mechanics of the ritual, it really doesn't do everything you want it to. It essentially provides you invisibility to Scrying sensors; there are many way to cast a divination on you that are not scrying-based, and since only you would be invisible, anyone looking at you would still see the ship/rest of the party, and be able to see your surroundings as well. Not sure this is the one you want; I don't have access to the Compendium anymore, but I will try to find something to suit your needs.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Alright, with just the Requirement change, then it's a level 15 ritual. I think the number of healing surges required, if you want to go that route, would need some crunching. I'll look into it.

However, having re-read the mechanics of the ritual, it really doesn't do everything you want it to. It essentially provides you invisibility to Scrying sensors; there are many way to cast a divination on you that are not scrying-based, and since only you would be invisible, anyone looking at you would still see the ship/rest of the party, and be able to see your surroundings as well. Not sure this is the one you want; I don't have access to the Compendium anymore, but I will try to find something to suit your needs.

I'm a tad lost - why 15? +1 from no mark, -1 from Self-only, it would cancel itself out.

As to the effect, I thought it was close enough. It is very open ended, for one thing, but essentially, it blocks all rituals that use magic to spy from a distance. Now, obviously Amirah's creator isn't using any actually written down ritual to spy on her (unless you have gone well above and beyond in fleshing out Abdullah's details), but it if did exist, it would be a scrying ritual. Now, since Amirah doesn't want to be found, rahter than spied, the change to the effect is what becomes invisible to the scrying sensor (every scrying ritual work pretty much in the same way, creating a magical eye near the target). The original ritual renders the target invisible to the eye; I'd suggest changing that to making the environment invisible. Anyone trying to spy on Amirah would see her, but surrounded by white, impenetrable fog. They can still hear her and see her, but not obtain any information on where she is - i.e. the exact opposite effect of the original ritual: they can get information on what Amirah is doing, but not where she is.

Anyway, this is the write-up as I see it:

Amirah's Masking Shroud

Level: 14
Category: Warding
Time: 10 minutes
Duration: 1 day
Component Cost: 840 gp + Healing Surges (see check)
Market Price: 4,200 gp
Key Skill: Arcana
This ritual renders your location invisible to all scrying sensors, such as those created by the View Location ritual. Although these sensors can still perceive you, and can perceive your actions, such as when you interact with the environment, the environment itself is visible only as impenetrable fog surrounding you.

The warding effect lasts for 24 hours, but the ritual caster (not any assistants) can extend this duration by expending healing surges every 24 hours to sustain it, depending on the result of the arcana check:

{table]Arcana Check | Cost to recast
19 or lower | 4 HS
20-24 | 3 HS
25-29 | 2 HS
30-39 | 1 HS
40 or higher | 0 HS[/table]

If the ritual’s effect is sustained without interruption for a year and a day, the effect becomes permanent.

[Shadow_Elf]

You are right, they would cancel out.

However, the wording of the ritual isn't actually open ended at all. It very specifically blocks all forms of scrying magic. Abdullah has not necessarily been spying on Amirah visually, but rather seems to know her location. That falls under divination, and is completely unimpeded by masking shroud. Additionally, if what he was doing originally was a scrying sensor, upon finding that his scrying sensor could not see her, he would still have the option of resorting to a divination. I am also not sure where the impenetrable fog bit is coming from, since that was not in your original copy-paste.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

You are right, they would cancel out.

However, the wording of the ritual isn't actually open ended at all. It very specifically blocks all forms of scrying magic. Abdullah has not necessarily been spying on Amirah visually, but rather seems to know her location. That falls under divination, and is completely unimpeded by masking shroud. Additionally, if what he was doing originally was a scrying sensor, upon finding that his scrying sensor could not see her, he would still have the option of resorting to a divination. I am also not sure where the impenetrable fog bit is coming from, since that was not in your original copy-paste.

I wasn't aware that there was a divination category of rituals that did something other than answer questions.

OK, with my particular ignorance fixed, I found a different ritual to counter - I was using the above because it countered such rituals as "View Object", which I thought was the closest I could get to the method Abdullah might be using.

Instead, I'd need to counter the rituals that act like Magic Map (Arcane Power, 157), and any others that work in a similar fashion (i.e. by following a creature when you have a piece of it).

With that in mind, this is the new ritual text:

This ritual renders your location unknowable to all divination methods, such as the Magic Map ritual. Although these methods can still locate you, your exact position cannot be determined with a precision of less than 50 miles

Thoughts?

Grey Wolf

[Shadow_Elf]

Sure, sounds good. I'll throw on a 10% increase in the market price as well since it requires personal research and cannot be purchased (since the price is for purchasing it, not working out the kinks yourself). Expect for the party to get some magic currency soon, I didn't have the new system in mind during the last dungeon. Your paychecks will be in gold, which is no use for most things from the books.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Does Amirah recognise any of the other pirate hunters from her stints with other captains? I.e. any of them she might greet by name?

(To remind you and me, Amirah served under the following pirate hunter captains prior to Joining the Mirage: Hizu ibn Nadim & Jehan Layla)

Thanks,

Grey Wolf

[Shadow_Elf]

She recognizes two of the grizzly ones from Wake Whisper, both formerly from Hizu ibn-Nadim's vessel. The lone red-bearded one, who used to brag aboard Nadim's ship that he had dvernin blood, calls himself Haggar Gadarsson, though his actual name is Haghir bin-Gadari. He used to affectionately refer to Amirah as "Creepy-Crawler".

One of the other men she recognizes from the same vessel. Dour Mohar ibn-Salah never liked Amirah or her nature and is a superstitious man who thought she was bad luck. Aboard Nadim's ship, he took to the habit of pretending she did not exist.

[Shadow_Elf]

A new voice enters Amirah's consensus. This is not like when she uses her amulet to converse with others and receive responses, or when Abdullah was whispering in her head. It is as if a particularly eloquent member of the swarm is offering a contribution.

"Priestess!Queen! These servant!drones of darkness must be squashed!" comes the voice clearly through the swarm's consensus. It's not exactly helpful or useful, but it is odd that a member of the swarm would speak out so loudly.

Odder still, she can't easily determine which member of the swarm decided to shout this at her.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

With just a few second to spare before the fight breaks out, Amirah's diffuse form can't easily confer, but the ripples of thought have time to try out one possibility. An internal shout is sent out: "Is that you, shiny symbol of the sun?"

Amirah is aware it is a stab in the dark, but the swarm can't imagine what else could consider the Queen a priestess.

[Shadow_Elf]

"We are the Will of Akasha!Mother. These wasp!snakemen are enemies of Akasha!Mother. Purge their filth, Priestess!Queen!"

Amirah is now sure that this is the holy symbol speaking. How it can speak... and how it can enter the swarm's consensus is unclear.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

"We are the Will of Akasha!Mother. These wasp!snakemen are enemies of Akasha!Mother. Purge their filth, Priestess!Queen!"

Amirah is now sure that this is the holy symbol speaking. How it can speak... and how it can enter the swarm's consensus is unclear.

"We!Swarm shall purge them, Will of Akasha!Mother. Welcome to the Swarm: We are glad you joined Us. Will you help us purge these enemies!snakes of Captain!Queen and Akasha!Mother?"

Amirah is neither surprised nor particularly curious about how the medallion joined the swarm - but it feels more natural than all these single-minded individuals running around, and her short existence has had such revelations. Lacking a frame of reference, she accepts, and adapts.

[Shadow_Elf]

"We are the Will of Akasha!Mother, and these are her foes. We shall assist in this glorious purge."

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The assistance it provides is, essentially, letting you wield it and use its powers. This item has... a mind of its own, so try to stay on its good side if you want to keep enjoying the perks, yeah?

EDIT: Here's the item, in case you need to see the stats it has for reference.

Hope's Daybreak, The Will of Akasha

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That this item is powerful you have no doubt. It seems to resonate with you on a level you do not quite understand. You can determine some of its properties, but others seem to elude you. Roll a religion check.

+4 Holy Symbol
+4d6 radiant damage on a critical hit. Roll +4d8 if the target is either Evil or Male. Roll +4d10 instead if the target is both Evil and Male. This weapon does not deal bonus damage on a critical hit against good creatures or neutral Female creatures.
Property: This implement can be treated as any variety of implement with which the wielder is proficient.
Property: Increase the distance of any forced movement you generate by 1.
Power (Encounter): As the Cleric power Sacred Flame.
Power (Encounter): As the Invoker power Sun Strike.

[Shadow_Elf]

"Priestess!Queen. These evil males seek to control your Sister!Companion. Free her with the might of Akasha!Mother's glorious Sun!"

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The power Sacred Flame granted by this holy symbol provides a saving throw on a hit to an ally you can see.

[Shadow_Elf]

The holy symbol heats up a little as Amirah casts her spell over Hasnarash.

"Priestess!Queen! You must not force your will upon another, no matter how vile. To do so is against Akasha!Mother's teachings."

[Grey_Wolf_c]

The holy symbol heats up a little as Amirah casts her spell over Hasnarash.

"Priestess!Queen! You must not force your will upon another, no matter how vile. To do so is against Akasha!Mother's teachings."

"Shush, golden!bug, and observe. Neither swarm nor Queen are imposing anything. We are liberating the insect from the tyranny of the single mind."

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The spell grants access to the mind, but my intention is to RP it as a rearrange of the brain hierarchy so that it's the most primitive part of the brain in control for a few seconds. The priest will be acting like a much more basic lizard for his next turn - running around in all fours and the like - which is why I ended up deciding against the "don't prone him" idea I had.

[Shadow_Elf]

The holy symbol goes quiet for the time being, but Amirah can sense as it is a member of the swarm that it is not altogether happy with her explanation. It does not push the matter, however.

OOC:

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You hit the will attack. He has two basic attacks - a ranged attack vs. reflex that deals fire and poison damage and applies Demonblight (he tried to hit you with it on the first turn when he arrived) and a melee attack vs. fortitude which does poison damage and slows the target (save ends). The damage on the ranged attack is significantly higher, even more demonblight is taken into account.

If you want to have him attack one of his allies, the symbol is not going to believe your story about freeing him from his single mind-state. If you want a chance at hitting an enemy without pissing off the symbol, you can pick a number for everyone on deck (exclude yourself and your pets, if you want) and roll to determine your target randomly - he'll still provoke AoOs either way.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

OOC:

I'll probably have it spitting at the empty side of the boat, then, in paroxysm as the protolizard brain fights for control with the evolved self-aware brain.

That said, I fail to see why I'm suddenly operating under a morality limitation. An important advance of 4e was dropping the absurd idea that some attacks are more inherently evil than others. Why is getting your enemy to attack an ally is more inherently evil than slamming him with a mace and setting him on fire, or even insulting him to death.

If this is going to be the regular contribution of the pendant, I'll probably just have to drop it over the board, because it is definitely not an enjoyable use of my time.

Grey Wolf

[Shadow_Elf]

OOC:

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The holy symbol is an artifact. Some actions increase its concordance - giving you access to more powers and abilities - while others decrease it - limiting what it grants you. Like any other artifact in the rulebooks (this one is made up), it has its own idiosyncrasies and buttons to push.

The artifact rules are pretty clear that you don't necessarily know the artifact's concordance number, and that you figure out what makes it tick through trial and error rather than getting a list up front.

That being said, the last thing I want to do is frustrate you and make the game unfun - the Voice of Akasha is part of the story I have planned for Amirah, though she is a thinking being and may, of course, reject the story. If you prefer to emphasize the mechanical aspect, I can tell you about concordance triggers as you hit them, so you can navigate them in the future.

You know that it started at 10 (out of a possible 20) concordance, and that leveling up gives you +1d10 concordance (but I roll it and you won't be sure how much you get when you level). These things are true of all artifacts.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

OOC:

OK, this is what would have happened, had I been able to play my cards without interference from amulet or immobilization effects:

The priest's proto-brain, the "most ancient" part of his brain and closest to that of Amirah would have been "liberated". With no understanding of advanced hierarchy concepts, it would have seen a rival male in a position of authority over him for female dominance (i.e. a more fit lizard), and would have charged at him. Amirah would not have been involved in the decision at all for RP purposes, because it fits in her general "summon the beast, and then let them be" that she has going on with most of her summons.

I thought this would have been a cool interpretation of the effects of the attack - a full refluff, that didn't touch on the effects. Except pulling that now is cheapened because it sounds like a dodge to get around the annoying hypocritical pendant. Essentially, I feel that my RP choice now is negated, and instead I need to find loopholes that will keep the pendant happy while still fulfilling my combat role. Which I probably can, but I just don't want to be bothered, because it is one of the things I was happy to leave behind with 3.5.

Now, this is the first I have heard of concordance or artifacts in 4e. I wasn't even aware that fake moral choices would be grafted on top. But if that is the case then I don't want to half-play this. I'd rather have Amirah throw the pendant overboard, and go back to her old one, under the fairly solid reasoning that a swarm member that thinks itself more wise than the swarm is not a team player and does not belong in the swarm. From OOC perspective, a slightly increased crit damage and a slight increase in push distance is not worth the limitations.

Grey Wolf

[Shadow_Elf]

OOC:

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That'd be a shame, but I understand your reasoning. However, I don't see the symbol as hypocritical - it's at least internally consistent in its thinking.

Here are the artifact rules (I misremembered the starting value as 10 - it is 5:

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An artifact’s concordance score measures the artifact’s attitude toward its wielder. The scale ranges from 0 (angered) to 20 (pleased).

When a character takes possession of an artifact, it starts with a concordance of 5. (The owner’s race, class, or other characteristics might adjust this starting concordance.) Various actions and events increase or decrease this score as long as the character possesses the artifact. When the artifact is pleased with its wielder’s actions, its concordance goes up. When the wielder acts contrary to the artifact’s desires, its concordance decreases.

The wielder knows of the factors that alter the concordance—it’s in the artifact’s best interests to communicate its desires and expectations. But keep the artifact’s concordance score a secret, telling the player only if the artifact’s powers or properties change. The player shouldn’t ever know exactly how close the artifact is to changing its attitude.

CONCORDANCE
Score Artifact’s Attitude
16–20 Pleased
12–15 Satisfied
5–11 Normal
1–4 Unsatisfied
0 or lower Angered

After review, it does say that the artifact makes its desires clear, so I will give you the list of its concordance triggers and you can decide from there. It may only be +1 attack/damage, +crit damage and +forced movement now, but it also gives you a couple of powers and will give you more bonuses as you increase its concordance.

User Gains a Level: +1d10 concordance. The artifact is pleased that the wielder is making progress.

Positive Triggers:
User Is Female (once only, of course)
User frees a creature from a Domination condition (max 2/day)
User gets the killing blow on an evil male creature (max 1/day)
User completes a task in the service of Akasha

Negative Triggers:
User is Male (once only, of course)
User dominates another creature or makes it take an action against its will
User attacks a neutral female or good creature (max 2/day)

Akasha is the goddess of freedom, sun and the sacred feminine. She opposes slavery in all its forms - hence the symbol's prohibition against forcing others to take actions. I get that you thought of the fluff for your domination power before the symbol voice its opposition, but that also basically circumvents one of the amulet's only negative triggers. I would like for the symbol to stick around, so I will try to think of a way to reconcile the fluff and the crunch.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

OOC:I don't see the symbol as hypocritical - it's at least internally consistent in its thinking.

No, it is hypocritical. The moral effects, if any, of the dominance effect are in practice indistinguishable from the moral effects of summoning a creature to fight for Amirah. Summoning is worse, in fact, since dominance lasts only a few seconds, or until the dominated mind throws it off, while none of the summons can ever be free until unsummoned or killed. Amirah can force a summon to walk past enemies and take their OAs, to jump into danger or kill themselves. And yet the symbol didn't have a problem with them.

This is because the difference is not in the actual effect, but the name of it. It has a problem with "dominance" but not "summon". Unfortunately, that distintion is bull****. This kind of stupid moral distinction is what killed 3.5 spell morality for me: the gods of good are fine with you enchanting swords to attack intelligent, self-aware creatures to death, but if you instead enchant a bunch of old bones into doing the same, oh, you have crossed the line that must not be crossed and you are now damned forever.

Finally, a goddes (or symbol) that thinks that forcing its followers to follow its orders under threats of retribution is not morally conflicted with their declaration that minds cannot be forced to act against their wills is the kind of shoddy morality I will have no part in.

Positive Triggers:
User Is Female (once only, of course)
User frees a creature from a Domination condition (max 2/day)
User gets the killing blow on an evil male creature (max 1/day)
User completes a task in the service of Akasha

So a trigger predicated on Amirah being a striker, and a trigger predicated on Amirah being a leader. Plus one that might require Amirah to follow orders against her will, just for the extra flavor of inconsistency. If I min-max and OOC this, the chances of me getting any of the triggers is so remote as to not make it worth the cost of having to retrain my latest power. If I RP it, Amirah will not put up with it for the same reason she rejected Abdullah's offer. And if I try to square the circle, it will be only by twisting myself into loops.

I would like for the symbol to stick around, so I will try to think of a way to reconcile the fluff and the crunch.

I will wait to see what you come up with, but my current position is to throw it into the sea. Promise of future powers that I do not see ever acquiring in exchange for making my already not particularly optimised character even less able to fulfill its combat role and requires me to second-guess myself rather than just fluffing however I want is simply not going to cut it.

I can offer suggestions of alternative moral dilemmas if you want, but I would at first suggest that you stay away from arbitrary tags on powers such as "dominated is evil, but pushing someone off a cliff with wind is fine".

I know this throws a massive wrench in your plans, and it is making me quite upset.

Yours,

Grey Wolf

[Shadow_Elf]

I am reviewing the HoZ page on Akasha (it has been a long time since I read the setting info, even though I helped write a lot of it) and I am rewriting the symbol's concordance triggers and modding its personality. There is definitely a less offensive angle I can take and have it still be a symbol of Akasha - I was originally going for the "overzealous misinterpretation of Akasha's teachings" angle for the item, but the last thing I want to do is frustrate you. Will have the new Concordance triggers up shortly.