07.13x: Refuge of Dreams (Part III)

The goings on of courts
Rasanam
Lunatic
Posts: 405
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:09 pm

Re: 07.13x: Refuge of Dreams (Part III)

Post by Rasanam »

Rasanam shrugs. "Probably? I was expecting we'd have to cheat, but that turned out not to be necessary."
User avatar
Joshua
Gibbering
Posts: 2987
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:59 pm

Re: 07.13x: Refuge of Dreams (Part III)

Post by Joshua »

"I think you have." He says looking at the ring. "this seems a more advanced version of the sympathetic magic wrought into my spellbook. I suppose requiring a near-artifact to open allows any artifact to do." He ponders.
Rasanam
Lunatic
Posts: 405
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:09 pm

Re: 07.13x: Refuge of Dreams (Part III)

Post by Rasanam »

"Huh. ...Now I want to take a look at that ring of yours again; come to think of it, it might actually run on some similar principles..."

Rasanam ponders that for a bit, then shrugs, and looks to Lyra. "So. Find a place for the blues. Dra'Varden* or Amber both seem like reasonable options. We should probably talk to them before just deciding, though, see what they want."

_____
* Dra'Varden, if you haven't been keeping careful track of names that have come up in passing in the Refuge of Dreams threads, is the city that Nathrezell had been sleeping under. It's populated primarily by a mix of dragonblooded lizardfolk and drow refugees (after its previous drow rulers were deposed by the efforts of the adventuring party Rasanam and Lyra were part of prior to their promotion to Amberite status.)
User avatar
ShadowOfPreservation
Lunatic
Posts: 439
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 3:43 pm
Location: Monroe, NY

Re: 07.13x: Refuge of Dreams (Part III)

Post by ShadowOfPreservation »

"Dra'Varden actually sounds like a great idea but I agree. It should be their decision." Lyra turns to Rath with a slight bow. "And our thanks for your assistance. We'll do our best to keep this world safe from the force we mentioned. It is insidious though so please be on your guard." Then she will turn to the goblin scout that lead them to the research facility and address him/her in Draconic "If you'd please escort us back to your leader, we should discuss the future of your home and your people."
User avatar
Joshua
Gibbering
Posts: 2987
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:59 pm

Re: 07.13x: Refuge of Dreams (Part III)

Post by Joshua »

To be honest, the blues are not all that fleshed out. If you want names, we can work out names.

They're naturally psionic goblins, who have been living in a place where everything is vulnerable to magic, so became wizards to defend themselves. they'd have constructed great wonders, but they don't live very long and don't have access to many materials. Existing wonders are basically lightning throwers, like the bow initially seen. No divine magic works inside the barrier... Their healers are psions.

They are lawful (with varying degrees of good and evil) out of necessity. Survival is based on everyone working together, so, there's no "for the tribe" or "for myself" inherent in the situation. If the law breaks down, they all die. If enough goblins die, everyone dies. So, cowardice and the craven aspect was bred out of them.

Convincing them to leave is difficult. Mostly because you'd have to physically pick one up and man-handle him across the barrier for them to believe it was possible. (Or similar, they don't believe the barrier is fatal, so... you might be able to do that a little simpler*.) Once you got past that, they'd be happy any place without regular attacks every 4 - 6 hours by robots.

As for placement, they are a mix of engineers (with all the robots running around), psions and wizards. After the initial shock, they'd likely fit in in any of the places suggested. With access to real materials or actual formal magic training, most could take the step to becoming powerful mages.
_______________
*: There is one more requirement for crossing, but it's fairly easy to figure out at this point.
Rasanam
Lunatic
Posts: 405
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:09 pm

Re: 07.13x: Refuge of Dreams (Part III)

Post by Rasanam »

(( For future note, the 'one more requirement' is 'you have to be touching trump'. Trump sketches work, though. ))

Rasanam will spend a bit of time with the blues. He'll leave it as Lyra's call where to put the goblins - particularly since, if they were taken to Amber, they'd end up in her court.

Once that's settled... next priority is dealing with Theotropolis' incursion. This should be largely doable using the aforementioned "paid for shadow features" - control over contents to remove the church, setting up communication barriers to block psyche-based communication into/out of the shadow, and using control over fate to move the entire shadow so that it won't encounter any more of Theotropolis' agents... or at least, not before Theotropolis' expansion can be dealt with.

There should also be another meeting with Nathrezell; Rasanam wants to float the idea of taking Rath to Amber instead of leaving him in the World of Wonders, and would like the perspective of both Lyra and Nathrezell on that notion.
User avatar
Joshua
Gibbering
Posts: 2987
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:59 pm

Re: 07.13x: Refuge of Dreams (Part III)

Post by Joshua »

(Control over contents doesn't toss real* people out of the shadow. There are several people who are willing to raze it** to the ground, with as little loss of innocent life as possible.)
________________
*: At minimum, Theotropolis counts as a construct.
** It, in this context, meaning Theotropolis' local church.
Last edited by Wyvern on Sat May 28, 2016 11:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Edited in a second footnote.
Rasanam
Lunatic
Posts: 405
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:09 pm

Re: 07.13x: Refuge of Dreams (Part III)

Post by Rasanam »

Discussion with Josh reveals the following points, which Rasanam will work out and then share with Lyra:
  1. Theotropolis has 10-15 agents in the shadow; these people are at least somewhat real and can't be edited via control over shadow.
  2. A communication barrier can be set up that will lock out Theotropolis, preventing it from empowering its agents.
  3. Unfortunately, the simple form of such a barrier will also block Trump; Rasanam has the skill needed to fix that flaw, but doing so will take some extra time.
  4. Moving the shadow to avoid further incursions from Theotropolis is doable, but is definitely not a permanent solution.
So Rasanam's suggestion would be to lock out Theotropolis now, and have Lyra (possibly with help from people like Ruby or Lazarus) deal with those 10-15 agents; potentially using Nathrezell's chessboard to make sure we don't lose track of any of them.

"...But there's still the question of what we mean by 'deal with the agents'. I don't really want to kill them... but I also don't really want them staying here, nor do I think it's wise to let them report back to Theotropolis. Do you have any ideas, Lyra?"
User avatar
ShadowOfPreservation
Lunatic
Posts: 439
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 3:43 pm
Location: Monroe, NY

Re: 07.13x: Refuge of Dreams (Part III)

Post by ShadowOfPreservation »

Lyra's expression looks a bit grim as she replies. "I think we're dealing with too dangerous a threat to approach these agents with anything less than complete determination to see Theotropolis' influence removed. We'll want to sever communication but not until just before we're ready to make our move to give them as little warning as possible. Track them all through the chessboard and strike in unison. We'll enlist help from a few groups, including Eilistraee's faithful. How we deal with the agents depends a bit on the details of who they are and how exactly Theotropolis has influenced and/or controlled them. If they still have a mind of their own and aren't complete automatons then perhaps if we cut them off, we'll be able to reason with them. I'd like to think that Eilistraee's kindness might be able to speak to them and turn them from their current path...but if not, as you said, we don't want them staying here or reporting back."
Post Reply