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  1. - Top - End - #151
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Xanyo's Avatar

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Asking around, you discover a variety of things that may be useful to know. First of all, the mark's proper title would be Priest Li'makka of Siamorphe, whose church is rather tightly woven into the government of this country. His home is somewhat of a mansion, located in the Noble district. Li'makka isn't a noble by blood; however, high status scions of Siamorphe are often just as high ranking as someone of noble birth, some priests even outranking most of the nobility. You hear many speculations on what work he does at night, but nothing that sounds reliable. You hear even more speculation concerning his wealth, particularly a mysterious shipment to the Priest's mansion that occured in the dead of night and didn't appear on shipment records anywhere(it's hard to keep something secret when the grounds are practically swarming with servants). Some believe it to be a vast wealth of gold and/or jewels from some secret mine, while others believe it is some kind of magic item of great value. As you wander, you get a glimpse of the building. It slightly resembles a rock that a stone giant sat on, quite lacking in good taste in architecture. You notice several patrols of guards, most continually moving, some holding still. You also notice a calico cat wearing a purple collar that almost seems to be supervising the guards, whose backs are always a little straighter when the calico is around. You notice fewer dogs than you would have expected, and they are all outside the main grounds, a wrought iron fence between them and the mansion.

    Spoiler: DontEvenAsk
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    Ingestion is just a roundabout way of getting into your bloodstream. A sedative would definitely help. Forgoing your save means you fall asleep. One of the purposes of Flaws is to encourage role-playing, which it is doing. Perhaps you may still need to make the save(with a +4 bonus) in order to stay asleep.
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  2. - Top - End - #152
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    remetagross's Avatar

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Arielle goes on her daily life, mission after mission. She keeps thinking about Valen and his plan. She is afraid that if her guild takes too long to set up a meeting with him, he will be recruited by another one. She urges Veil to find a convenient altar and a convenient time, and to quickly introduce Valen to the guild.
    The Ranger keeps hanging around the tavern, and keeps an eye open to see if the two-headed elf shows again. So far, he has not.

    One day, she is struck by inspiration: the character is heavily wanted all around the city, why not find him and sell him to his ennemies? A hefty profit is very likely to be made. She immediately tries to track him down in the city, though she knows the odds are high he does not remain within the city walls anymore.

    Spoiler: OOC: Urban Tracking
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    Here is the srd about Urban Tracking.
    Arielle has to succeed at several Gather Information checks in a row, but she does not know exactly how much. Since I've forgotten that you can't roll a die in an edited post, I'll make a double post for it.
    Last edited by remetagross; 2016-12-10 at 03:05 PM.
    VC XV, The horsemen are drawing nearer: The Alien and the Omen (part 1 and part 2).
    VC XVI, Burn baby burn:Nero
    VC XVIII, This is Heresy! Torquemada
    VC XX, Elder Evil: Henry Bowyer

    And a repository of deliciously absurd sentences produced by maddened optimisers in my extended signature

  3. - Top - End - #153
    Ogre in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Spoiler: Urban Tracking roll
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    Just in case, I'll make 10 rolls already, since up to 10 successes are needed.
    (1d20+13)[22]
    (1d20+13)[31]
    (1d20+13)[29]
    (1d20+13)[27]
    (1d20+13)[32]
    (1d20+13)[17]
    (1d20+13)[17]
    (1d20+13)[21]
    (1d20+13)[25]
    (1d20+13)[31]
    VC XV, The horsemen are drawing nearer: The Alien and the Omen (part 1 and part 2).
    VC XVI, Burn baby burn:Nero
    VC XVIII, This is Heresy! Torquemada
    VC XX, Elder Evil: Henry Bowyer

    And a repository of deliciously absurd sentences produced by maddened optimisers in my extended signature

  4. - Top - End - #154
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Spoiler: OOC
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    I rolled a 2 on the 2d4 for the number of rolls needed.


    A two-headed elf tends to be rather distinctive, and a large cloak only removes some of the suspicion. Though you had not expected the elf to remain within the walls of the city, you hear whispers of him. You learn that he may be staying at Granny Nina's house, a place where someone on the run can pay to lie low. Very low. Granny Nina lives in one of the poorer sections of the city, and you find the address with relative ease. You also hear some mentions of him possibly meeting with "Draketooth" Jergand, a smuggler and fence with interests in unusual critters. Draketooth also sometimes can be paid to arrange transportation of such items, and/or protection of them. You also hear many empty rumors with nothing to back them up, but that can always be expected.


    Veil discovers a meeting time when the leaders of the guild may be able to see Valen. In two day's time, all the important leaders will be in the area and available, if only for about an hour, half past noon. He also manages to get ahold of a slate and some chalk to assist Valen.
    Last edited by Xanyo; 2016-12-11 at 02:33 PM.
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  5. - Top - End - #155
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Kobold

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Valen wakes up, blinking as the light enters the rafters of his tenement flat. He looks at the rickety dresser next to his bed, and blinks. On it, there is a note, with an address and a time. Pinned there with a dagger.

    Wow, someone has a flair for the dramatic.

    He looks at his locks on his door, the only entrance to the room, and the boobytrap alarm he has set against the door. Both are designed to only be dismantled from the inside of the room. Nor has any of the crinkle paper on the floor been disturbed. Nor did the squeaky boards on the floor squeak when the intruder came to visit.

    There isn't a single board in this entire building that doesn't squeak. Showoff.

    At the appointed time, he is at the appointed place, with a booklet full of lecture notes in his own personal shorthand and cypher, waiting for his signal.

  6. - Top - End - #156
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    You stand in the shelter of a tight alleyway for some time while rain lightly drizzles down around you. The moment the appointed time is reached, a door opens and you see Veil within gesturing for you to follow. You enter the building and, after the door has been firmly secured, Veil opens a hidden hatch in the floor, revealing a ladder downwards. He proceeds first, having you follow. After the hatch is shut and you have reached the bottom, Veil speaks.
    "Welcome to the guild meetinghouse. It is not often that all our leaders gather in the same place, but this place is where it is done."
    The room is a little cramped(but seems to have managed to fit a chalkboard on one wall), being rather small in the first place, and crowded even more by the table within and the six people sitting around it. Veil walks around, introducing each one in turn.
    First he gestures towards a half orc with unusually handsome features given his blood. He sports short, rough blonde hair(very unusual among orcs, and even half orcs) and reddish-purple irises. A scar runs along his lip, white and certainly old. He wears a fine vest and a large sword hangs at his side.
    "This is Grarrick Kor, militant leader. He works with military when it is necessary and even has his own troops, albeit not many of them. He makes himself valuable by negotiating - sometimes forcefully - with militant and mercenary adversaries and obstacles."
    Grarrick nods to you, adjusting his vest.
    Next, Veil moves to a short human girl. Her hair is black, broken with a streak of dark blue. It hangs barely to her shoulders. She's dressed in well-fitting black clothing that sports leather straps both for protection and for holding equipment. You notice many daggers on her person, but no other weapons.
    "This is Laella, our top assassin and a highly respected member of our guild. She organizes any assassinations we may need to perform, and more often than not, executes them herself, in more than one way."
    He then waves his hand towards a very ordinary looking human male, looking to be around 24 years of age. His hair is brown and not very long. He has a small beard, but no other facial hair. His eyes are brown, making him seem even more boring. He wears brown trousers and a rough cloth tunic. You see no weapons on his person.
    "This is Morlo, our top disguise and information gathering expert. He organizes and performs infiltrations, impersonations, and general gathering of the word on the street. He's much more clever than he looks, and that's intentional."
    The next person is a tall man with white hair that reaches a little past his shoulders, the color seeming odd as his beard was black. His eyes are mismatched, one blue, one green. He wears the clothing of a scholar, but it seems a little unkempt.
    "Kemaya Norshire, our magic expert and wild magic enthusiast. He provides many services for the guild, though he no longer has much influence in the Mages' Guild."
    Then there is a dwarf with red hair and beard(a fine one, braided and reaching his knees), wearing nice clothing and sporting a gold-rimmed monocle that seems to have some purpose.
    "This would be Tornin Redgoldberd, accountant, monetary adviser, investor, and clever son of a stone. He keeps everything in order and paid for."
    He then moves to show the final member of this council. He's mostly concealed by his clothing, which includes a face covering, but you can see enough of his face to recognize him as one of those odd creatures called Elans. He sits hunched a little, and stares into your eyes.
    "And finally, we have our eldest and most influential leader, Kansaw. He has lived a long time, and has seen guilds rise and fall. He makes the most major decisions, and he is the one you need convince."
    Spoiler: Arrielle
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    If you want to show up, that's fine. Pseudonyms: Morlo, Laella, Kemaya Norshire. Real Names: Kemayas is Doralan Turstinta, but you don't know the others.
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  7. - Top - End - #157
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Kobold

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Valen is not visibly and obviously armed for this particular encounter. Instead, he has put on his finest clothes and jewelry, supplementing it with some clever use of Shapesand into further jeweled items, so as to make a good impression. He smiles at the group, bowing, and getting out his flask of water for the presentation he will be giving.

    "Good day Gentlemen and Lady. As you no doubt know, I am Valen Hunter, magical artifice savant. Thank you for letting me be here, letting me meet you on such short notice, and hearing me out. I am here to explain to you how, with your support, we can both change the world for the better and make you and those you care about impossibly, obscenely wealthy and powerful. Incidentally, this will make much of the population far more wealthy than they could dream of, but those with appropriate foresight would still end up best placed, overall."

    He pauses for a moment and takes a small drink of water. "I know your time is valuable, so I have a presentation prepared, focusing more on the 'how' and 'what'. With your leave, I will get straight to talking, and then answer any questions you might have."

    "Before I get started in the 'how' I plan on doing this, I have a few concepts to get across. I have spent quite some time reading on the concept of economics and wealth, and when I found existing books lacking, I started using divinations to temporarily increase my knowledge on the topic and write down questions and answers and assumptions with the temporary skill. With that, I have come up with some perhaps odd concepts. For example, when I describe 'wealth in the concept of a city-state or a kingdom or an empire', I am not describing how much gold or land a kingdom has. Instead, I am directly describing how much capacity to affect change economic activities like production, work, farming, crafting, and so forth an area has. I am speaking of things like how much economic power does a person, a town, an organization hold. A nobleman may have more money than they can spend, because they run out of people they can employ to spend it on or those people can only work so much, to make so many sorts of things so quickly. The nobleman has lots of money, but very little true wealth because the area he is in is not economically wealthy. He can't use his money to push economic activity. Also, I am going to use the term 'productivity' to mean the amount of economic work a single individual can achieve."

    He continues, "Mister Kansaw, I will assume you have at least been somewhat briefed by Veil of my goals in my techniques, but I would like to reiterate them: I want to shake up and cause chaos in the economy of the region, to lower the relative power of nobility and the crown to everyone else, and throw every assumption of the economy -- like that some people farm, some people are artisans, some people are lords and tax those that farm, and use those taxes to provide order and governance, and are able to use their wealth as a means of oppressing the others so these relative differences in power don't change. I want to do this in a way that improves the availability of 'things' for those without much to their name. I want to enable a more just and equitable society -- or at least provide a chance for such a thing to be made in the first place by those with more vision than I. I want to dramatically increase the total wealth of the civilization in which I live.

    He looks down, a slight glum look for a moment, "I can certainly re-iterate my enthusiasm for the cause of social justice, and focus on these points should you wish, however I mostly came prepared to give a technical presentation of what is possible, and how, in the hopes that the promise inherent in the techniques described would speak for itself, and be impossible to ignore. I must admit that I am more a technical speaker and a subject expert than an orator or a charismatic speech-master."

    I don't actually know if Elans are really immortal or not. Well, he who dares..

    He looks the Elan straight in the eye. "No. I'm more than that. I will confidently say to any immortal who I presume actually remembers the whole period, that I have the most amount of raw, world-shaking talent and visionary ideas of any magical item crafter in the last one thousand years. If you need proof, I can start by skipping to the most immediately and obviously profitable technique I am capable of, and draw diagrams and show the math, should you wish, after a brief blessing?"

    If he gets the go-ahead for the blessing, he continues: "Now, I shall invoke the blessing and protection of various different deities who I believe would be especially supportive of these ideas and intercede on our behalf should various inter-planar entities take exception to these concepts, either now or in the future."

    Here, he takes out several pre-carved wooden symbols, the holy symbols of each deity; if not blessed in such a way to actually work as a Cleric's holy symbol, at least they should allow the deity to have some level of attention in the prayer. He presents each as he says the invocation of their blessing, setting it down when done, pausing between each request.

    "Tymora, goddess of luck, personal skill, and the use of skill to achieve one's goals, please give your blessing. Angharradh, elven goddess of hope and creativity and artistry, please allow our endeavors to bring hope to those without, and bless our mission. Corellon Larethian, elven god of art, crafts, and all aesthetic endeavors, may you understand our goals, mixed in with other goals as they are, in creating a society where all may have the time and means to pursue any arts as they wish, and provide your blessing. Dugmaren Brightmantle, dwarven deity of exploration, creativity, invention, and discovery, may the fantastic devices, foreseen and unforeseen, that we may yet make bring your blessings. Thoth, Mulhorandi god of academic innovation and debate, may these innovative ideas have your blessing. Nephthys, Mulhorandi goddess of transitions, wealth, and idealists, may our idealistic endeavor carry your blessing. Shaundakul, god of portals and negotiation and trade, may our ideas using portals and travel be cause for your blessing. Lliira, goddess of celebrations and lavish merrymaking, may our plans to spread wealth be cause for celebration and worthy of your blessing. Amen."

    After a bit of a nervous sigh, he continues, "Right. Originally, I had an hour long presentation planned, with a whole list of topics, which I would still like to give, but let me tell you first what I can actually do for you all."

    He begins to draw appropriate diagrams or words on the chalkboard as he speaks. ""There are a lot of ways you can make a magic item actually cast any particular spell and not be expended or lessened in so doing. A ring, for example, is traditional. Most of them are quite expensive to make, especially if you want it to cast the magical effect continuously, or once every six seconds. The cheapest of these, I have discovered, is the method where you don't actually try to miniaturize it in any way, typically making it emplaced or at least require set-up to work. It is a method used to trap hallways and sometimes chests or even locks with spells, and very rarely used in 'boon traps' in defensive emplacements, to bless troops usually. However, there is no specific reason it couldn't be any spell at all. Notably, I have learned that the spell Fabricate is possible for someone, somewhere, to cast as a spell of the third circle of magic, at least for them. By emulating this casting, I can trick a magic item I am making to accept that as the spell cast into it. Further, if you are making a magic item that casts spells that normally have some form of expensive material component, if it can cast that spell 14,400 times a day, you need one-hundred units of that component to go into it. Fabricate is, for example, used to take raw materials and make them into refined materials."

    He grins, "I hope you see now where I'm going with this. Give me 100 identical units, 1000 total gold-equivalent worth of, say, platinum, gold, or silver blank disks, or uncut diamonds, or any other valuable trade material, as well as sufficient material to make the 'trap' out of, like wood or stone or iron, and, with my techniques in making magical items inexpensively, I would also need exactly 3796.88 gold pieces worth of materials directly usable in crafting wondrous items --I can give you a list--, and a place to stay and work for 13 8-hour days, as well as enough completely un-coerced volunteers, who would themselves benefit from the magic item, to donate, cumulatively between them, 81 ergs of their soul-energy or lifeforce, and I can make you a device that can, provided the hopper is kept clear, make 14,400 small pieces of art objects in a 24 hour period, each worth 30 gold as an objet d'art. Each would be identical and would, of course, have 10 gold pieces worth of copper, or silver, or gold, uncut diamond, or whatever in it's makeup, and if it was one of the metals, could trivially be melted down into a bar. The 'trap' would function indefinitely until damaged. Here's roughly what I think it would look like and what some of the basic runework would look like."

    He proceeds to take all of his Shapesand, and combines it into a small, table mockup of the device, basically a wooden pillar with runes on it, with a lever on the side, and a hopper that hinges out and, by weight, dumps something out into a bin and then resets. The device obviously has runes all along the outside. He sets the item down and then starts drawing some example runes, immediately obvious to anyone capable of crafting a wondrous item or a large amount of skill in the arts of spellcraft or generalized arcane knowledge, to be related in making and defining the function of a Wondrous Item. He also starts showing some of his work in the formulas, labeling the amounts, how it would require a 'normal' caster who had access to someone who could cast Fabricate as a 3rd circle spell into the magic item: 7500 gold of 'normal magic item crafting' materials and 15 8-hour days of work and 120 ergs of lifeforce, and showing what fractions of each he can enable via his own techniques to get his numbers he came up with for himself.

    "Of course it could look like whatever, and actually be a trap that bonked someone on the head with the fabricated item if you wanted. And this can be done with literally any spell that can be cast into a magic item, and I can, myself, get access to just about any spell of maybe third or fourth circle, arcane, divine it doesn't matter."

    Spoiler: OOC
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    Erg=5xp, I just made that up
    Last edited by Gavinfoxx; 2017-03-27 at 05:53 PM.

  8. - Top - End - #158
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    WhiteWizardGirl

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Kaer curses her rashness and the fancy-pants priesthood in every language she knows. Signing up for a heist of a ridiculously high-up priest with someone she can't even identify, when the household in question is clearly eccentric enough that infiltrating outsiders would have difficulty adjusting to the routine under short notice? Deeefinitely one of her best ideas, yupyup, not a mistake at all. She wonders if she's really sure she didn't get the hard cider rather than the sweet, and her tiredness and resultant headache is not helping her mood.

    She returns to the tavern she met Lux and the conjoined elves at and asks around for either of them. Er, any of them. Bah, at least her employers are distinctive, if confusing.

    Spoiler: Rolls
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    Gather Information: (1d20+5)[18]
    Time Roll (for both GI checks combined): (2d4+2)[5]
    Edit: So that's 5 hours for both checks, aka the amount of time she's spent out and about since getting up in the morning.
    Last edited by DontEvenAsk; 2016-12-23 at 04:27 PM.
    DontEvenAsk, no apostrophe. I play D&D 3.X/PF, and some 5e. Life has a tendency to spring surprise problems on me, leading to temporary ghosting that I usually can't predict. If I vanish, I'm probably not dropping out if your game, just swamped.

    My campaign setting. Please look, don't touch for now.

  9. - Top - End - #159
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    remetagross's Avatar

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    After Valen has finished speaking, Arielle steps forward out of the shadow where she was assigned, and places herself by Valen's side. Now, to make the bosses associate my presence with Valen's operation.


    She steels herself and decides to speak first, even before the masters have started to answer. I will get scolded for that later, but eh.

    "Hello Valen. I must say, even though I was there when you briefly explained your aim to Veil, hearing your plan is still as impressive as it was at that time. I particularly enjoyed your dedication to provide our masters with detailed figures, cost, creation times and required materials: it makes it easier for us to verify you did not swagger your affirmation below what is truly needed. Not that I think you are lying, though; I observed you very closely while you spoke, and you appeared to me as honest and forthright as possible. I also appreciated your self-confidence before the bosses: not everyone can deliver a technical speech before six of the most powerful figures of this city. It shows you have the nerves to carry out a plan as grand as you make us believe it is. And I do believe it is that grand."

    And what about my own nerves, gentlemen, speaking in front of you in spite of everything the protocol asks for?
    VC XV, The horsemen are drawing nearer: The Alien and the Omen (part 1 and part 2).
    VC XVI, Burn baby burn:Nero
    VC XVIII, This is Heresy! Torquemada
    VC XX, Elder Evil: Henry Bowyer

    And a repository of deliciously absurd sentences produced by maddened optimisers in my extended signature

  10. - Top - End - #160
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Xanyo's Avatar

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Tornin Redgoldberd shoots an annoyed look at Arrielle and stands, bringing himself up to his rather unimpressive height of 4' 6". You hear the clinking of jewelry and the sliding of fine clothing as he moves. His voice, like most dwarves, is rather gruff.
    "Valen, I certainly see an opportunity of considerable profit to the guild in your proposal, but from what I hear from you, and have heard prior to this meeting, your intention seems to be to make this wealth widely available, which doesn't seem to leave the guild any better off than the rest of the world. Additionally, I don't see why we shouldn't just cut out the middle man and have Mister Norshire produce the equipment, and keep the proceeds for ourselves."
    Kemaya looks surprised at this suggestion and sputters a bit.
    "I don't- I'm not- I can't- what???"
    Veil speaks up.
    "I believe we have already addressed this first concern, but perhaps Valen had better answer it for all of you."
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  11. - Top - End - #161
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Kobold

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Valen listens to the question intently, head tilted, slightly moving back and forth a little bit in concentration, and grins as Kemaya sputters. He straightens up, faces them, and looks the group in the eye. "Of course. And yes, if you have a Wizard or a group of Wizards working on this, if they know how to arbitrarily make a magic spell into a 'trap-like' object, and they have access to Fabricate the normal way, it will take according to my math, for the magical part of the item only.... twenty-two point five thousand gold, forty-seven consecutive eight-hour days of work, and three-hundred sixty Ergs of lifeforce. If they only know how to make it like a portable magic item, assuming they make it at cost rather than the calculated 'market' price, the magical part would be forty point five thousand gold, six-hundred seventy-five ergs of life-force, and one-hundred sixty-four eight-hour days. Of course if you spent relatively more on the 'value of the item to be copied' than a simple thousand gold, you'd make a profit more quickly there too."

    He takes another sip for a moment. "The problem is, then, that this particular idea only gives you 'more money than you can possibly spend', which puts you about equal to a well-to-do noble. It doesn't actually change anything big on it's own; it doesn't give you greater opportunity than those around you. My other fifty ideas, the ones I haven't really mentioned yet, are the ones that, when combined with this one and a lot of creativity, will help you stay on top of what is really valuable."

    He smirks, "Frankly, if you can't use the fact that you would be the gatekeepers of the ideas and resources, and the foreknowledge of exactly what the next resource to become the one that's too cheap to buy or sell, and also the foreknowledge of which things can not generally be made by these sorts of magic, to be in the right place and the right time to take power by, I don't know? Buying everyone's debt. Getting people to put up something, like land which can be legally sold, as collateral or something. Being the only group still able to provide physical security and safety and therefore the ones who run everything by default. Riding a surging wave of populism to be placed in power by the mob. Whatever, the methods don't really matter! And if you can't do this while also, with trivial effort but profound effect, increasing the quality of life for everyone as a matter of course, you are perhaps significantly less creative than I had hoped."

    He continues, "Still, for some reason, I don't think 'creativity' will actually be a problem with this particular lot. As far as what I had mentioned previously, there were two main points. Well, three if you count 'using this as a shameless power grab' as it's own point. Anyway, one was the fact that you would be the ones making this production in the first place, owning it, and shepherding what gets 'out', when, how, and where, and also controlling information flow and the means of communication as well. Or at least as much as this can be controlled, lots of the ideas are sort of a cat-out-of-the-bag variety. Even with that limit, you'd probably be able to seize most of the power here on this region of Prime Material. The second idea was that there will still, inevitably, be things that continue to have value, even as much of these ideas do eventually get out into the wild."

    He reiterates some of his comments on what would still be valuable, focusing on the aspects about 'being the gatekeeper', and then continues, "And yes, some of the things I mentioned were hints to the techniques I haven't discussed yet."
    Last edited by Gavinfoxx; 2016-12-28 at 12:37 AM.

  12. - Top - End - #162
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Xanyo's Avatar

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Mister Redgoldberd resumes his seat, and Morlo begins to stand, looking contemplative. His voice sounds so ordinary, you probably couldn't recognize it five minutes later.
    "Once deployment of these productive devices begins - as will surely be necessary to provide materials to as many people as possible - would not people grasp the general idea and begin copying it, even moving on to spells we have not begun work upon? There is, undoubtedly, a handful of people capable of - and eager to - create these devices with a variety of different spells in a similar time frame and at a similar cost. Their work could destabilize our control of the production of these 'boon traps', which would eventually lead to us having no more power than our neighbors, though we would be more famous - typically not a desirable trait for a guild of thieves. Fame does not fill your - semi-metaphorical - coffers when you're used to doing that with anonymity. In any case, you're basically asking us to give up our lifestyle to become a massively well-funded charity. If the charity had assassins and a few troops, that is."
    The wizard continues mumbling - something about not being able to make fancy shmancy magic things, and that's not his field of expertise, and, ooh, could a little extra dash of sulfur increase the temperature of his fireballs at all? Maybe a little alchemist's fire could enhance it. Certainly plausible with a little bit of wild magic thrown into the mix. Should try that sometime. Better remember the fire protection spell first this time, lost an eyebrow last time he tried something like that...
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  13. - Top - End - #163
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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Valen has prepared for this question, and promtply, eagerly responds. "That's a very good question. The main issue with that argument is that, by directly casting spells, there are limits to the sorts of things which can be done. For example, a device which most people would make for, say, Fabricate, would simply be useful to take some raw materials and make finished materials. As long as the Fabricate boon-traps are mostly kept behind closed doors, damn near no-one is going to come up with the idea to use it to make arbitrary things. Here's why: the idea that you can use Fabricate to make truly real matter ex nihilo is not a known part of the spell, becasue it isn't a part of the spell. Any description of Fabricate will not list that amongst it's capabilities, and if you look in a book for a spell that does that, you would find references to True Creation instead.

    "The only way you would figure out that you can use Fabricate to do this would be if you made a deep study of magic items from that angle, and realized that there is a generalizeable formula which allows one to use extra amounts of expensive material components in making a magical item, like a stave or a wand, that requires material components, and did the math to figure out a way that you can use it on a Wondrous Item that casts any spell with expensive material components that you could possibly want. And also have the insight to realize how that would, unexpectedly, interact with Fabricate and what that would mean! No one is doing this, and having a lot of 'traps' of Lesser Restoration or Create Food and Water or Purify Food and Drink or Mount so people don't need to sleep as much or can get however much food and pack-creatures, which may or may not themselves be edible I haven't checked, that they want doesn't necessarily lead to people figuring out the 'money' exploits.

    "And even if they do start to figure that out, you'll already be two steps ahead, with all of the other techniques that don't have anything to do with 'distributing an item which casts spells', and you will by then have ownership of all the means of gathering and distributing materials for making magic items, actually just used Fabricate traps in directly making those materials, have already started to use Lantern Archons to corner the market on items of Continual Flame, have since cornered markets on glass, iron, salt, granite, marble, alchemical acid, anything made from those components, as well as any invisible variants of all of those components, and be well on your way to using Simulacrum of Djinn to corner the market for all plant-based reagents, obscure and rare plant-based foods, alchemical components, spices, plant-based medicines, various magical woods, medicinal plants, et cetera. Not to mention the fact you'll have power over everyone whose reason for influence and power relies on controlling the means of taxing, producing, and the distribution of these items.

    "And then if people start to catch up with that, you'll already have locked in the only way to get large-scale access to Ergs of lifeforce without having to actually drain people's real lifeforce, and also the means of producing airships that aren't terrible, and actually useful golems cheaply, and floating cities, and own all of the new means of communications, the centralized infrastructure to run it, as well as own the hub-and-spoke based new teleportation infrastructure, and be the experts on the only semi-reliable ways of defending against hostile teleportation and scrying, and then you'll have done one of the ways to have infinite Wish spells with all that implies, and I can go on and on and on.

    He pauses for a moment. "Yes, people will start taking some of these ideas. But they won't, and can't, get everything, and you will be using your innate lead, natural monopoly, and pre-planning to map out exactly how you will use your foreknowledge to take ownership of everything that matters. And the reason I am just handing this to you all is not because I think you'll be great at governing, but because I think you all have a vested interest in 'rocking the boat' if the benefit is big enough, and can understand that yea, the little guy should get his slice of the pie too."

    He thinks for a bit, and grins, "Also, try Combust instead for the extra heat. It's a better base spell when applying Metamagic, which you can use with various Rods which you will soon be able to afford. Might I suggest Maximize and Empower, with something to have it work at range as well?"
    Last edited by Gavinfoxx; 2016-12-29 at 09:22 PM.

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    Kemaya's eyebrows raise as he hears your suggestion, then furrow as he considers it. Morlo sits, and a moment later you've almost forgotten what his question was. Kansaw slowly leans forward, and begins speaking in a raspy voice.
    "You... mentioned the production of... ergs of lifeforce? Is this possible? Please, elaborate."
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  15. - Top - End - #165
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    Kobold

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    He looks Kensaw in the eye and responds, "If we're discussing ways of mitigating the cost of using lifeforce in crafting, there's a number of ways. First, I, and people with crafting skills similar to mine, can drain the lifeforce out of magic items, even those created wholesale by Wish, for example. Next, there's a wondrous item known as a 'Thought Bottle'. I've not interacted with one, and don't know the long term effects of overuse, but it is supposed to be able to reset the amount of lifeforce into a person, when it is lost due to whatever reason. As near as I can tell, it let's one 'save' one's place of experience and situation in life, as a sort of combined lifeforce and psychic imprint, like a bookmark, and go back to that point. Supposedly the process is slightly, uh, lossy, by about 100 ergs. Beyond that, whether it has negative effect on memories when used with crafting is unknown. A magic item crafter, or a lifeforce donator, could use this to offset the loss, even extensive amounts of lifeforce loss. It may even be possible to use multiple bottles with a single person in a short period of time, to drain them of the same life force over and over again, but still get back to the amount of life force set by the original use of the first bottle! You'd need to set up the best sequence ahead of time once you get to three or more bottles using some math, but it's an intriguing problem--with each extra thought bottle you add, the amount of ergs a person can get out of combining them for spending 100 'real' ergs goes up exponentially! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the most proliferant magical item crafters in history weren't using one or two of these things and just not telling anyone! Or, for that matter, for a caster capable of casting Wish themselves to not pay more than 100 ergs for however many Wishes they plan on using. Still, I found an reference to an obscure sage which seemed to indicate that Thought Bottles couldn't be used to restore lifeforce from casting or crafting, though I don't see why not."

    Grinning excitedly, he continues, "Further, there are items which actually can be used entirely in place of lifeforce for the purposes of crafting. There's two substances, both produced by strong emotional and physiological sensation. One of them is produced by, ahhh, suffering, and is probably a large part of reason many extraplanar entities have hells, lower-case H, dedicated to hosting suffering people. But I won't go into any more detail for that one. Much more exciting is Ambrosia, also known as Distilled Joy. A one-ounce vial of the stuff can be used in place of .4 Ergs of lifeforce! And it can be extracted by a spell of the same name when cast upon a creature, any living creature, it does not need to be sentient, experiencing great bliss. And of course, there are plenty of spells which can cause great 'bliss'; notably are Elation, Good Hope, and Emotion, especially when they are combined. There is a problem of the spell requiring a day to cast, but I hypothesize that this isn't truly required. For example, some skilled individuals, and many innately magical creatures, can cast spells without requiring the extensive learned skill of even a Sorcerer -- and they are known to cast spells with long casting times in but a moment. If we had the help of one of these people, especially if I were using that specific casting to put into a boon trap of Distilled Joy, the extended casting time may be bypassed. And even if it isn't, if the day is there because the extraction must take place over that period of time? Farming, oh, mice for this purpose wouldn't be unethical."
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    Grarrick stands.
    "There will undoubtedly be many people opposed to this, be it cultists, anarchists, or nobility. I only have access to a small military force, and assassins can't solve everything. How are we supposed to keep you and your equipment safe? For that matter, how will we prevent our opposition from using divinations to discover you and your methods?"
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  17. - Top - End - #167
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    Now, I can speak up.

    Arielle looks up to the Orc veteran and speaks calmly and loudly.
    "Actually, Sir, this falls under my area of expertise. Knowing how to track someone down means also knowing how to hide it away, be it by magical or mundane ways. What are we looking at here is a mechanism that would prevent anyone who got his hands on one of the crafted jewelries produced by a Fabricate trap (interrupt me if I'v understood this wrong, Valen) to trace back to the place it has been created, the exact device that produced it and thus the method of massively churning out such an item. Or worse, to trace back to the item's creator, Valen himself.
    Since we can't (and actually don't want to) prevent people from getting access to these items (since we want people to buy them), we make things a little easier for divination magic. A Scrying spell might interpret an industrialised jewelry as having belonged to Valen, and thus becomes more accurate with said item in the possession of the caster, for example.
    Fortunately, several methods exist to block divination magic. First and foremost, this kind of spell has trouble crossing planar boundaries. This is not to mean that Valen and his devices should permanently stay in a little corner of the Astral plane, for example. No, any extradimensional space can suffice, even if it is not really outside the Prime. I'm thinking of Leomund's Magnificent Mansion, for example. A Rope Trick would work too, but the spell is rather basic and does not hold enough space to set up a complete workshop. Those spells make it significantly harder for Scrying attempts to reach anything (or anyone) inside. Another layer of protection is the Nondetection spell. This spell is even more powerful if it is cast by the person that is to be shielded. Valen, I assume you would be able of replicating without difficulty this particular spell, it is a rather basic one. The third, and by far the most effective, barrier against divination magic is lead. Valen, suffice that you wear at all time a lead-linen coat that covers you completely, including a hood. I am myself wearing a garment equipped with a small lead-linen hidden pocket. It allows me to carry useful items in a very foolproof way."


    Arielle opens her hidden pocket and shows the swan boat Feather token inside it. She turns to Kemaya.
    "Sir, please cast Detect Magic on this particular area of my coat. You will see that you won't measure anything."

    The Silverbrow then resumes.
    "Operating in a room with lead-based paint applied to the walls, with magical resetting traps similarly painted or coated, is a very surefire way to prevent divination. To conclude about how to protect an area against divination magic, there is a rumored artifact among my profession, a Weirdstone. This device supposedly completely shuts down any divination and teleportation magic in a very wide area around it. Though I admit I do not know if such an item actually exists or if it is possible to craft it, stuffing one into a Leomund's Magnificent Mansion would completely ward the pocket dimension from any hazard.

    This is for the magical ways of finding Valen and/or his creations. Now, of course, mundane ways also exist, and are sometimes more effective than magical ones - or else we would all be diviners in my profession. I have to admit, I can't do much by myself about all the various magical methods I described earlier, I simply know how one should theoretically proceed. But when it comes to mundane methods, I can personally deliver. First, Valen has to be perpetually disguised, the old-fashioned way. If no one knows how he actually looks like, no one can pinpoint him as a target for assassins. Better, by changing the disguise every day, it will allow us to make our ennemies think that Valen is several persons. That can deter them from the idea of killing or detaining him as a cost-effective solution, since that wouldn't lower our producing capacity. Then, Valen has to wear an item of Pass without trace on him, such an item being a fairly cheap one. This means that to get back to him, a mundane tracker cannot rely on his footsteps and other direct physical manifestations of his passage. The tracker will have to rely on ocular witnesses everywhere. But those are the ones most easily fooled by a disguise.
    Now, I could still flush out someone under such a protection, though with much difficulty, because no one is ever safe from a prying eye behind a curtain somewhere. I could determine approximately where the mysterious foreigner that keeps hooded at all times lives. So this is the solution: Valen simply must vanish for long enough for anyone that has seen him in the city to forget him. Since he is an Azurin, a quite rare sight on town, that would take some time. I would suggest that Valen goes on a tour on an outer plane for a few months, for example. Or spends all this time in one of our bases, but this is less stimulating for creativity. Or we could send a contingent of agents all disguised as Azurins, quite looking like Valen, for a few weeks, in order to meld memories of Valen with dozens of others in people's minds. That does not prevent him from creating a few resetting traps that he could leave to us in the meatime, so that we can cover all the expenses of the preparative operation for him. And when Valen comes back, he can go full force on the productive devices."


    Arielle examines her patrons, one after the other, biting her cheek not to appear shaking under pressure. I'm throwing a lot of weight for Valen here...I hope the reward is worth the risk and I didn't make a mistake in trusting this Azurin... She finally gazes at Kansaw, and steadies her position before affirming:
    "This is, according to your Urban Tracker's experience and knowledge, how we will prevent the opposition."
    VC XV, The horsemen are drawing nearer: The Alien and the Omen (part 1 and part 2).
    VC XVI, Burn baby burn:Nero
    VC XVIII, This is Heresy! Torquemada
    VC XX, Elder Evil: Henry Bowyer

    And a repository of deliciously absurd sentences produced by maddened optimisers in my extended signature

  18. - Top - End - #168
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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    He considers, and then puts up a finger, then presses something on the torc on his neck. By context, you can infer that's he's probably using his skill divinations. His eyes close and they seem to flutter for a bit as he thinks. "Thank you, both. It's great to have some great ideas here! As far as planar travels, I'd actually prefer the Ethereal, perhaps. The structure there mostly mirrors the Prime Material, except being a bit weird, and if we could secure a supply of Night Hag Heartstones, I should be able to use them to emulate being a Night Hag to go back and forth. The problem is they are limited use, and I'm not sure I can figure out a way to make them, myself. I was planning on using Rope Tricks as my secure sleep space, because those are absurdly difficult to pierce, the damn things are nigh impermeable. The problem with those is that I can't take extradimensional spaces into those, so I couldn't make an extradimensional pit into a workshop. So, the other idea I had was to use an Enveloping Pit as a workshop, it's a sort of large Portable Hole, which I'd have to purchase unless we can get a Kobold priest with the right sort of link to Kurtulmak to be an assistant in making the thing; I don't have the knack for that one. She's right, normal disguises would work well; one of the best ways to handle scrying is to assume that, once you have obtained the attention and annoyance of a mage, any given point in time could have you being watched by an invisible sensor with a number of senses keyed to it. As far as the first Fabricate trap, it might be a good idea to use one to make the components for magical crafting. That has a high resale value, and I use a particular salve that's also useful in my non-permanent magic item infusion techniques, but the stuff can be used as what you are painting onto or etching in something when you do magic item crafting.

    "Back to a Scrying mage, the good news is, the mage themselves probably isn't that perceptive, so as long as you have security procedures that assume that there is always a possibility of an invisible scrying sensor spying on you, the effectiveness of those things can be reduced. I'm mostly thinking of things like using word replacement ciphers and dense jargon, and maybe some stagecraft tricks and simple misdirection and misinformation to foil sensors, and things like planting false leads or having false scry rooms and so forth. I'd also actually say you probably need more lead than is simply in lead-based paint, you'd usually want to use sheeting, and you'd also want it placed to break line of sight to, say, magical runes from points in the room where a sensor could be. I'm not so keen on leaving town long enough to be 'forgotten', though. As far as things like a Weirdstone or Nondetection, while those are great, there's actually a number of things I could begin to disseminate which are a bit lower power and cheaper, to the group to make scrying tricky. Things like Protection from Evil, Detect Scrying, False Vision, Scry Trap, there's even a nasty little item known as a 'Deathglance Locket' which is useful as all hell, if you can spot the sensor. For that, things like Detect Scrying or See Invisible are useful. Of course, the only way to really be completely sure is to have the whole Guild and their families and close friends have Mind Blank running all the time, but that's well beyond my capabilities.

    I suppose what I am getting at is defense in depth, with multiple layers and techniques, are useful to foil these things. For example, Hats of Anonymity are relatively cheap, it's actually one of the 'normal' magic items that is a decent value, and I could eventually make a lot of those. There's also the related topic of defense against mental effects like compulsions and illusions, where there's a lot of overlap between that and defending against scrying. That said, the other issue is extraplanar entities with innate knowledge of aspects relating to their, ah, portfolio telling their agents what we'd be up to. We may want to spend some time to appease those who might be displeased at this, and seek the help of those gods which would be interested in this work. That's the reason I mentioned the gods I did earlier today, they're the ones I identified as maybe keen on doing this sort of thing."

  19. - Top - End - #169
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    Morlo speaks up again.
    "I can handle keeping you in disguise. I can have you looking like a different person every day, even make you look like you're not Azurin. In my opinion, the best way to defend against magical divinations is to ensure that they're never used against you in the first place. If we can craft a convincing enough lie to feed the public, that's most potential diviners dealt with already. Add False Vision and some other magical detection defenses, and you'll be invisible."
    Kansaw appears to be deliberating this new information and possibilities.
    "I am a little concerned about deific intervention, but that is a very rare occurrence, and if we get favor... we should not worry. ..."
    Kansaw draws in a breath to speak more but is interrupted as a female halfling in dark clothing peeks her head in.
    "Pardon me for interrupting, but there's some'ne snooping about the front, 'n I don' think he's up to any good. Could be an undercover lawm'n. Looks shifty enough to be."
    Laella groans, then stands.
    "I'll only be a minute. Don't stop the discussion on my behalf."
    She follows the halfling out the room. Kansaw watches them go, then continues.
    "So we should be safe from deific interference; however, there are some powerful entities not so effectively neutralized by having deific allies - I speak of powerful intellegent beasts who may take interest, people of legendary power who may give a care, and a few other powerful individuals ...and organizations that can still brush off our defenses with relative ease. They are unlikely to wish to interfere, but they could still be a concern if we enact such a major change... on such a large scale."
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  20. - Top - End - #170
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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Valen frowns and gets out some of his infusion goop, as the interruption happens, "What's the species of the one snooping around? Does 'e seem to be part of a group? I'm not in my armor, and thus feeling quite vulnerable."

    If he believes it appropriate, he might use some magic, declaring to the assemblage what he's doing before doing so, so as not to cause a panic, at this point, depending on the report.

    Regardless of the answer and what he feels compelled to do, he speaks up afterward, "You're right. Just deities being one of the 'big' threats, that's not the only problem. There's any number of fantastic local and interplanar creatures that would be keen on making a mess of things once the area seems to show a bumper crop of wealth and magical items. I'd expect it to get particularly bad, even without directly-targeted divinations, once a Legend Lore functionally pegs the region as extremely wealthy in magic items and other riches. As far as what would target the area, and therefore us, I would have to do a couple days of divinations and write up a dossier on possible species, which I could do while also crafting in a secure location, though I'd likely need to leave anything more detailed than broad power blocs, like individuals, to better spymasters and diviners than I. What I can mention off the top of my head though, is Dragons. And I can tell you right now, the best thing to prevent a dragon incursion to a particular region is the area being considered already the territory of another dragon or flight of dragons. We should, therefore, consider specifically courting the participation of appropriate members of the draconic races. I'd suggest those breeds which are known to take part in civilizaton and civilization-building, the 'socializers', perhaps? Master Norshire, do you know anything about the disposition of any Silver, Steel, Mercury, Song, or Brass dragons in the region or neighboring regions?"

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    Kemaya glances out the door.
    "It seems the one who could answer your first question has already vacated the room. Your other question; however, I can certainly answer. I know of a Steel a little ways South-East - not too close, though. There's also a Mercury just north of here, in the Dren mountains. Nice person."
    Grarrick chuckles.
    "Wasn't there a forest fire last time you went to meet him?"
    Mr. Norshire quickly - almost automatically - denies any involvement, provoking another chuckle from the half-orc.

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    The Dren mountains are small, and in a desert a few day's walk from here. To the South-East is a city - Derrinton - a little bigger than this one(which qualifies as a small city).
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  22. - Top - End - #172
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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    (Earlier)
    Valen looks at the door swinging closed, "Gods, damn it!"

    As he hears about the dragons, he looks at the Silverbrow with a raised eyebrow, as if to say, is there anything you want to add to that list?

    After considering the dragon 'list', he speaks up, "The good news is dragon, ah, politics and political boundaries don't seem to have much to do with normal politics; the two rarely intersect. You hardly ever find a council of wyrms or anything like that, dragons and bipeds usually have different, uh, tiers of interests. However, if we can use this to make the dragon politics more useful to normal politics, that could be helpful. Who nominally claims this region as their territory? Is it a chromatic? Might we want to encourage and equip a more friendly and sociable and, uh, bribe-able to be part of this sort of thing, dragon to annex the local 'dragon territory'?"
    Last edited by Gavinfoxx; 2017-01-13 at 10:57 PM.

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    Kemaya doesn't seem to notice your raised eyebrow. He narrows his eyes a little and scrunches his brow as he thinks.
    "I, ah, actually don't think there is any dragon that claims this area. Pretty strange, now that I come to think of it. It's like we're just a little gap between territories that nobody acknowledges the existence of. Practically everywhere is claimed by some dragon, whether they ever visit the area or not. Kansaw? Do you remember any dragons ever claiming this area?"
    Kansaw stares off into space for a moment, thinking, then replies.
    "Strange. I do not recall any dragons even visiting this area in the last millennia. My memory gets a little fuzzy that far back... but... no, I do not believe I have ever encountered a dragon - or even heard of one's presence in this area."
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    Valen's eyes light up with discovery, "Weeell. Now isn't that something interesting. There's some force, or spell, maybe a super-ninth circle spell or an artifact or something, or deity, or conspiracy, or whatever that has successfully managed to divert every category of dragon, one of the most diverse and powerful class of entities in existence, from even acknowledging the entire region? Or perhaps make people think that has happened. No, that's unlikely, have to remember complexity penalty in predictions. Hmmm. Does it impact half-dragons? At what level of dragon blood does it seem to cause change? Does the area seem to be unusually lacking in greater concentrations of dragon blood, those above silverbrows and long-distant dragon heritage sorcerers? Is the area unusually lacking in Draconic creatures, for example?"
    Last edited by Gavinfoxx; 2017-01-14 at 03:30 PM.

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    Kansaw pauses a moment, then replies.
    "Hmm... I know I've seen Draconics and Half-Dragons, and I seem to recall an air drake passing through. Far fewer than in other regions though. Hmm... I think a Silver was once invited to a major event by the Grand Priest of Siamorphe, but he refused. Twice. So whatever it is, it seems to primarily affect True Dragons, but has some effect on lesser dragons. ...of course, the relative lack of thereof could simply be a side effect of the absence of other like creatures. Come to think of it, the nearby kobold tribe has never in my memory produced a Greater kobold, which typically happens in a tribe that size around once every 750 years."
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    Greater kobold = Dragonwrought Kobold
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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Valen sighs exaggeratedly, "Oh gods, don't remind me. When I started looking up the ethnology of dragon and dragon-derived races, there were pages and pages and books and more books of ivory tower academics arguing about whether Greater Kobolds were True Dragons! Still, discovering the mechanism by which True Dragons are kept out of the city, so as to take it under our control, as well as any other strange wards and important bits of secret infrastructure will have to go on the to-do list. But anyway, we are getting distracted; I have the greater part of my presentation to continue, more of the techniques I have not yet discussed. But before we get to that, we can pause for some questions. I have one of my own, even -- I've made references to needing specific individuals to achieve interesting capabilities that I myself do not have, like someone who can cast lengthy spells 'innately', and has the means of switching to a different spell, for Distilled Joy, or a presumably kobold priest of Kurtulmak, the sort with expertise in crafting relics of his, or obtaining access to a regular supply of Night Hag Heartstones. Would this organization be helpful in obtaining that sort of thing, or should I put those plans I can not easily do myself in the 'look into later' file?"

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    I could actually write up his entire lecture, or I could summarize it and what it describes and move on. Either will be fine, but the lecture would actually BE the full lecture, and it'd be an epic wall of text -- even for me!

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    Arielle remains purposefully motionless when Valen glances at her; just as she has done for the previous twenty-one yeats whenever someone has raised the possibility that she might have some draconic ascent. Now, she knows her leaders are no fools, and have been knowing her particular ancestry for a long time. But reflexes remain.

    The Ssilverbrow won't withhold any relevant information she has, though, and she speaks up when she finds she can add something to the conversation.
    "As to myself, as a supplicant of Astilabor, dragon goddess of wealth and hoard, I have never seen a true dragon paying hommage to her altar. The place is rather deserted, as are altars of other minor dragon deities. However, I have encountered, at four occasions, a Kobold in prayer. I don't personally know any priest of Kurtulmak, but I can either track one down or, even best, try to peacefully contact one by getting in relation with any Kobold that I can find in the city praying to any of the dragon gods altars.
    Kobolds in town are very rare and usually heavily disguised, because they fear being recongnised and chased down. They don't usually linger in place: they came because they had one important business that could not avoid taking place into the city, and then leave quickly. But since I share my faith with them, I'm confident I can not only find one, but also striking a peaceful bargain with him. That should cover this area of need for you, Valen."
    VC XV, The horsemen are drawing nearer: The Alien and the Omen (part 1 and part 2).
    VC XVI, Burn baby burn:Nero
    VC XVIII, This is Heresy! Torquemada
    VC XX, Elder Evil: Henry Bowyer

    And a repository of deliciously absurd sentences produced by maddened optimisers in my extended signature

  28. - Top - End - #178
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Veil smiles as Valen asks his questions.
    "We're a thieve's guild. Obtaining things is what we do. As for locating people of particular capabilities, Morlo and his team can covertly ask around. If there's anyone of these talents in or near a city, they'll find them."
    Morlo nods in agreement.
    Redgoldberd speaks up.
    "So, what contraption will you be working on first? And what are we going to do with it?"
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  29. - Top - End - #179
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Kobold

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    Valen considers for a moment, then responds, The very first thing I need is a secure, discreet, large, well-ventilated, workshop and living space, where I can make noise and work with heat without disturbing others. And I would need a large amount of lead delivered to this location, already pressed into lead sheets if possible, but that's not completely necessary, if you can get me some heavy rollers; otherwise I'll have to pound it, which might take a while. Also, several very discreet and brawny assistant types, to help harden the place against scrying with the lead. Getting a variety of tools, shelves, and various workspaces, and so forth would be useful. Further, the good news is that thin sheets of lead are also great for soundproofing areas. If this need be portable, I could work with the right sort of priest of Kurtulmak to set it up in a series of Enveloping Pits. Everything said not to combine Bags of Holding and Portable Holes or similar items, but I haven't been able to find a single thing that talks about what happens when you combine two portable holes, or for that matter, two Enveloping Pits, or even two Bags of Holding! Nothing ever mentions identical items! I'd have to test to see if they nest safely. Still, even a single Enveloping Pit, even purchased on the open market, might be enough to make a workshop, with proper supplies and cranes and such to build in it."


    He continues, "Second, as far as which thing to make, I'd like to try to 'de-couple' my production from the local economy as much as possible, to minimize problems from pissing off local crafts guilds. To do this, I'd need a device to casat Unseen Crafter, and Fabricate devices of a few things: Shapesand, Alchemically-treated Blueleaf wood known as 'Bluewood', as well as my Infusion salve. For the latter, there is a wide variety of substances that can be used to make magic items. Things like oils, minerals, herbs, spices, crushed gems, rare metals, and so forth. I have a substance, an ointment made of a mix of those, which I use for Infusions, which are my method of casting spells. It's also, with my method of crafting, viable as the 'valuable component' in most sorts of magic items. So as to not make an excessively large, traceable purchase in the local magic item creation economy, I think a Fabricate device to create this substance, which is also relatively easy to sell to magic item crafters, and does not spoil, would be a good investment. Other useful items would be one of these devices that makes large quantities of Shapesand, since that can be used to make tools and structures in an ad-hoc way as needed.

    "Next, would be a device to cast Unseen Crafter, to make assistants for making mundane items, and then something to make a valuable basic crafting material. Since my mundane crafting skills focus mainly in wood, and Blueleaf wood, when treated with the right alchemical substances, is the only wood I know of that can actually make as-good-as-steel chainmail, I'd need a large supply of the stuff to make very intricate items--even Bronzewood can't go that intricate. By directing a flock of Unseen Crafters with Shapesand tools, I should be able to outfit the entire guild with better-than-masterwork items, while I'm working on some other magical item, though I might not want to do this so early.


    He considers, "Then, I'd work on the items to replace life-force, so we don't have to use volunteers to donate lifeforce. Hopefully you'll have found someone who can cast Distilled Joy, which is a spell of the third circle of magic which a Wizard can cast, in a way more similar to how a magical creature casts spells. I'd combine this with repeat-item-crafting spells of Elation, Good Hope, and Emotion, and probably quite a lot of small animals in cages, to extract Distilled Joy for crafting."

    Continuing, "From here, I'd make two Dedicated Wrights, which are a sort of crafting Homunculus, and test to see if I can bypass the 'only work on one magic item for a given 24-hour-period' limit by having parallel workers that are tied to my soul, but still have their own spark of sentience and personality, which I don't think anyone has ever tested before. Hopefully it can, but even if I can't, my only constraint at this point is time and which spells I can successfully emulate or purchase a scroll of. And once I've reached that point, everything would really take off!

    "At this point, I'd want to work on a couple of items for things like defense, escape, resisting mental effects, stopping scrying, and overall improve my survivability and that of people in the Guild. Hells, I might not even want to outfit you all in above-normal 'mundane' gear until this point, though I could be persuaded otherwise. I'd also look into improving guild communications with access to a neat spell called 'Whispering Sand'."

    "With this, the rate of magic item production should speed up by quite a lot, but even so, I'd want to try a few other things: The next thing I'd want to do would be to mostly make some scrolls, or possibly once-a-day cast-a-spell magic items, and set up a location for Lesser Planar Binding, with a wide variety of spells to make doing that more, uh, sane. I'd start by testing my precautions with Lantern Archons, so you all can corner the market on normal, that is not Heightened and not cast with extra amounts of magical power, Continual Flame items. Then, I'd Lesser Planar Bind a Mirror Mephit, which supposedly can make Simulacrums of things if my research is accurate, and compel it to make a Simulacrum of itself loyal to me, then dismiss the original. This Simulacrum, I'd then educate it about genies if necessary, and tell it to make a Simulacrum of a normal Djinn. If I have to, I'd Planar Bind a normal Djinn first, if it has to see a thing to copy a thing, which I am not sure if it does or not. With that, you all can begin to squeeze any trade of valuable vegetable matter as part of a take-over. Exotic foods, spices, exotic woods, medicinals, drugs, linen, et cetera."

    "Hereafter, the sky's the limit -- and the idea is we come 'out of the gates' running, as it were. Fabricate devices that make currency and trade goods, to go with the ones from the Djinn Simulacrum. A Homunculus that is fantastic at stringed instruments, with a Lyre of Building with a few other 'upgrades' to it, that it can never fail to keep activated if it is not panicked. Portable versions of things which cast useful spells, to go to a 'local' location, and cast useful spells like 'Wall of Iron', 'Wall of Salt', which I also need to investigate if it can make the non-edible 'salts' used in alchemy, ah, 'Transmute Metal to Wood', 'Wood Shape', 'Ironwood', 'Wall of Stone', 'Stone Metamorphosis', 'Water to Acid', 'Transmute Sand to Glass', 'Shape Metal', and 'Stone Shape', so as to disrupt local markets to buy them out. Decanters of Endless Water and Decanters of Endless Sand, to use with the above spells. Smaller, 'traditional wondrous items' versions of some of the original traps, to use with the above or other spells for doing stuff, like 'Move Earth' or 'Soften Earth and Stone' or 'Nature's Rampart.' Mixing Ring Gates with Bags of Holding to transport goods long distances, for example. Especially if Bags of Holding can be nested!"

    "And from then, we could start letting some things 'into the wild'. A basic combination to set up in some Commons land, for improving quality of life and the amount of stuff people could do, for both the disruption and actually improving people's lives would be, say: Mount, which I still have to check if they are slaughter-able and edible or not, and make a custom version if need be, a custom version of Prestidigitation which adds olfactory illusion, but only on food, like with Programmed Image, that lets people flavor and scent food for the duration of the spell in addition to the other benefits and which will bestow the capabilities on a target; Endure Elements, Create Food and Water, Purify Food and Drink, Make Whole, Lesser Restoration, which I think can let someone stay awake indefinitely, I'll need to do some testing; Panacea, Lesser Vigor, Superior Darkvision, Low-Light Vision, Unseen Crafter, and my custom Unseen Laborer. And of course, ahem, Bestow Curse keyed to Infertility and next to it, uh, Remove Curse."

    "Finally, I'd hope to branch out into constructs, sentient magical items and airships, set up a hub-and-spoke communications and cargo delivery network using Aspect Mirrors and Ring Gates with Bags of Holding, start researching Lair Wards and other ways to detect and shunt teleportation or scrying to prepared locations, look up ways of making blocks of stone float permanently, research a spell which I only have knowledge of by name and vague references to immortality, with no actual description, known as 'Kissed by the Ages', investigate Druidic Reincarnation and how it interacts with obscure spells, and a few other interesting research projects I have in mind."
    Last edited by Gavinfoxx; 2017-01-18 at 11:08 PM.

  30. - Top - End - #180
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    remetagross's Avatar

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    Default Re: [3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

    ...Wow...He has really seen this through...

    Arielle is at a lack for words. What Valen described in a methodical, rigorous way amounts to no less than a new era for the global civilisation. She speaks slowly, concentrating to find her words.
    "Ah, Valen, I must say...I'm deeply impressed to see the extent to which you planned your project. I have to admit, what you are offering to do is beyond the scope of what I initially imagined...actually, how much of your lifetime have you devolved to the preparation of all this?"

    But then her awareness of where she stands and what is at stake for her own advancement suddenly rushes back.
    Damn it, i must not seem impressed or non-rational here! Shake you up, Arielle!
    "Not that it really matters, actually. What I can say, is that all of this that you have planned will take time to pan out. And since it is composed of many successives stages, and thus frequent changes of setup, movements of commodities, etc, there are high chances that the operation will leak out at some point. What I suggest we should do now is that we map out a precise planning for this. In particular, we will have to think about how to camouflage the important flux of resources that this will generate. This means not only preventing our rivals to realise we are onto something to which we will devolve a non insignifant amount of time and money, but also ensuring that the intel does not trickle down too much within our own ranks. What we are planning to do is so enormous that it would probably sway the loyalty of many among us that would remain loyal when entrusted with the secret of a more classical operation. From what I understand, Valen, you actually do not need a lot of workforce, mostly time and materials. A handful of people, using extradimensional spaces, would be enough to bring you all the amount of resources that you would need. Less people also means less leaking data, and a lesser need for surveillance and double-checking. We have to study this more thoroughly, and this is not my primary field of expertise but at first sight I would say that squeezing in less than fifteen people in the secret of the operation seems doable - and what is my field of expertise, however, is that keeping a large-scale operation secret becomes exponentially difficult once you get to double-digit figures of people involved. So, if we take the time to reduce the needed manpower to its bare minimum, that should fit."


    Hey, that last part was better thought-out. Keep on mustering your best!
    VC XV, The horsemen are drawing nearer: The Alien and the Omen (part 1 and part 2).
    VC XVI, Burn baby burn:Nero
    VC XVIII, This is Heresy! Torquemada
    VC XX, Elder Evil: Henry Bowyer

    And a repository of deliciously absurd sentences produced by maddened optimisers in my extended signature

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