>>280830
We're a necromancer. We're all about the high-risk high-reward. Also, the Cimmerian is bound and we didn't summon it. It's been here the entire time, we just woke it up. The binding makes him perfectly safe, while the restraints... Do not.

>>280830
Also, I'm torn between Duncan, trying for Cain, and going with Joyce, if she still trusts us. Cain would let us make things and prepare all the cool toys, but Joyce would teach us spontaneous spellcasting.

Also, do they know how powerful Tiffany is? She's still shrouding her soul and hiding the glow, isn't she?

>>280833
I know all that; I was speaking from the assumed perspective of the random guards. Somehow I doubt that whatever rumors are flying around the clan can be relied upon to give us a fair shake. My apologies if that was not clear.

We do have arguments that we can make in our own favor, but we'll still be fighting an uphill battle for our own reputation whenever we try to accomplish anything. We should choose which fights we pick rather carefully.

It would be neat to study under Joyce, we could learn a lot of practical and applied magic, but... I firstly don't think we'd be as safe, and secondly don't think we'd gain the depth of knowledge that we will definitely need to successfully oppose Alexander. Joyce is cool, but ultimately she strikes me as too smalltime for this.

Cain could give us a very useful if specialized skillset, but I don't think we have the background to compare how useful it would be against Alexander to whatever Duncan could teach us/allow us to study. Given that, I'd rather go with the teacher who seems more positively disposed towards us already.

>>280830
There's no harm in trying a small lie on the guards. Just tell them to just toss the damn sandwich in his prison. Or just explain what 1a693f said, Tiffany's really is the only thing keeping him peaceful, though the council may perceive that as a threat. Just tell him you'll work on getting him the sandwich and calm Mulder that we can go hunting for small easy to hunt animals and get their eyes later. I'm completely expecting that now you'll be constantly asked by your new familiar for various types of sandwiches throughout your adventure.

>>280809
"I'd say ask yourself, but they probably have silencing spells; no sense panicking them further.
Getting you a Reuben shouldn't be too hard if you can give me an excuse for knowing you wanted it.

Mulder, go hang out by the kitchen and ask if they know where you can get some.
Oh, and stay outside; chefs hate intruders."

Tiffany 2011/02/14(Mon)15:09 No. 281592 ID: c44286
File 129772498467.png - (38.72KB , 700x400 , 573.png )

Ok, I'll see if I can get you some. Any idea where the prison is?

Somewhere below the castle. Your clansmen have been expanding the cellars since they got here, and didn't know when to stop. I guess you can just follow the 'No entry' signs.

Ah. I guess I'll need to see some higher-up before they let me see you, huh.

I don't think this joint does conjugal visits, sugar.

Don't call me sugar.

Sure thing, sugar.

Ugh. Anyway, do you know anything about Hakuman?

The Dreamking? Something, yes. He is one of the lords of the Underworld. Lost his marbles way back when. Pre-war.

You know why?

Beats me. Too much acid in Woodstock?

If I could roll my eyes, I'd be rolling my eyes. So... I hear accepting his blessing would be a quick route to power. What'd you think?

I seem to remember someone in your clan once doing the same. Was blessed with the gift of prophesy. You know how that turned out.

Oh.

If you think it's worth the price, hey, I'm not gonna give you funny looks.

Any chance you know how to read nxtsaa'u?

Missed the opportunity to learn it. Was too busy with, you know, fighting in a war, and the next time I rubbed noses with mortals it had fallen out of use.

Damn.

Hey, you're sitting in the middle of friggin wizard central, ask one of them.

I might. I just can't really ask anything too weird or I'll raise suspicion.

Yeah. They might think you're in cahoots with heretics and daemons. Oh. Yeah.

Har har. Look, I need you to help me put this stuff together. I can't do that by myself without getting a lot of people suspicious.

Well, shoot.

What's the Bone King?

You know the City of the Dead, right? Well, he's their big kahuna. Their chief dickwaver. The man with the biggest hat.

Whoa there. What exactly is the City of the Dead?

The last city of the mortals that was left standing after the war. It was also the reason the whole thing started in the first place.

... Could you elaborate on that last bit?

Well... Hrm. The mortal soul has a fair bit of power. The tuaftia part, to be exact. In life it doesn't manifest in any sort of magical ability, but once the mortal it's possible to harvest that power. Put it to some use, see. The City of the Dead was built to do just that. It's an engine. An engine to harvest the dead.

>>281592
An engine of the dead? Well, that's certainly worth getting excited for.

As for nxtsaa'u, I think our best bet would be finding a spirit who knows it and binding them as our familiar, or creating a custom familiar and have that familiar do the deal with Hakuman. Compartmentalization, you know?

>>281605
There must be a reason that most mages don't have legions of familiars running around, and I suspect it's because after a certain point things start going horribly wrong when hacking bits off your soul. The Cimmerian might know. Anyway, we should definitely find out before risking it.

Conceptually that could work, but I would point out that the Kinsley family prophets are, though useful, also mad, disruptive, and hostile to the point that they need to be locked in the dungeon. I suspect that if we got a familiar with "gifts" from Hakuman it would have severe downsides well beyond being made useless for the usual familiar-ing.

It sounds more and more like we'll have to learn nxtsaa'u the hard way- years of tutelage from someone who actually knows it. Unless the Cimmerian has any other ideas for fast routes to power and knowledge.

>>281592
Harvest the dead... and, presumably, funnel their power into the mortals hanging out in the City? So if Alexander finds it- like the prophecy says he will- then he'll have sole access and get all that power for himself- the power that the gods went to war over.

This is kind of bad. I don't suppose that the Cimmerian knows of any way to find the City? Or anything else about it which will probably be vitally important once Alexander finds it and turns it on?


Bring up the immortal that Alexander has and find out how powerful it is, both relative to the Cimmerian in his current form and relative to the mages running around. My current impression is "would tear through the best of the Kinsleys like tissue paper", but perhaps it's not quite that bad. Regardless, what I got from Duncan was "the modern Kinsleys don't know shit about the immortals", so for all we know they're quite destructible if you know the proper trick.


Continuing our thoughts on finding a master, rereading the last thread it looks like Ymanye was reacting rather positively towards us; no idea what would end up happening there, but it might be worth a shot. We'd probably learn less about magic and more about politics under her- and possibly have the ear of someone with serious pull, which is always important. But she might not have been hinting that she'd take us at all; could be reading too much into it.

Tiffany 2011/02/16(Wed)12:48 No. 281947 ID: c44286
File 129788928440.png - (53.32KB , 300x700 , 574.png )

... So what would happen if Alexander flips the switch?

End of the world, kid.

What, seriously?

The Lords of the Underworld would go to war. From the looks of things you've grown fat and weak in the meantime. I doubt the Lords have done the same.

Oh crap. How do we fight back? Could you fight?

Haha, by me lonesomes? I've served in the front lines, sure, but that was me AND my homies. When the shoe drops, I'll be there, but there's only so much I can do.

What about those Immortals? Think they could turn the tide?

The Cimmerians coldness was palpable.

Did I say something wrong?

Hah. You mortals certainly thought they would, once. I'll have nothing to do with those abominations, except maybe tear them apart with tooth and claw.

Could you?

I've been wanting to find out for a long time. I-

>Owen: "Are you even listening?"

"Huh, sorry?"

>Owen: "I said Duncan wants you to drop by before the big meeting."

>>281947
Big meeting? I don't suppose you have any tips for that?

>>281947
>>281592
How... how does he even know about Woodstock? And why does he talk a gangsta? Ugh, lets go to Duncan before talking more to him. He turns everything off and that probably annoys people.

Do one of those quiet sentimental thanks yous you see in movies to Owen, you know, like after a conversation where the authority figure scolds you, it's been a little bit of time after the conversation and whatnot. "Owen, thanks for saving me from being mindraped from an Inquisitor." or some shit like that.

Tiffany 2011/02/16(Wed)13:47 No. 281957 ID: c44286
File 129789285433.png - (69.97KB , 700x500 , 575.png )

"Oh right, yeah. Do you have any tips for that?"

>Owen: "Be polite, don't be tardy."

"Right."

>Owen: "Ready to go?"

"Sure. . . . Hey Owen?"

>Owen: "Yeah?"

"Thanks for not letting the inquisitor mind-rape me."

>Owen: "You're welcome, kid."

After returning the utensils to the kitchen Tiffany and Owen walked through the winding corridors in silence. Tiffany was getting a little bit more used to the place, and knew they were headed towards Duncan's room. Tiffany was lost in thought, trying to fit all of this together in her mind. What was Alexander after? He must know he was starting a war, a war that would get a lot of people killed. Did he give a damn? Would the City of the Dead give him enough power to fight the Lords? Would he gamble on that?

>>281951

It's not like stuff doesn't go both ways through the veil, right? If someone did a little demon summoning in the past twenty years the summoned minor demon would have had a chance to learn slang and news, and when it was released back our Cimmerian could have learned from it.

>>281957

He's been dead a long while. Maybe he got tired of waiting and decided to take the gamble. Maybe he's got something else lined up to help make sure he wins the war.

Tiffany 2011/02/16(Wed)15:20 No. 281968 ID: c44286
File 129789842512.png - (65.50KB , 700x500 , 576.png )

I mean... He was dead a long time. Maybe he got tired of it and decided to gamble?
Wait, that makes no sense. He's alive now, he doesn't have a reason to gamble. He probably could hide for years, knocking back piña coladas in Brazil. If he forces the conflict, he'd intentionally be sticking his neck out. He's got to have some kinda plan for winning the war.

Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better.

I personally would just do it for shits and giggles if I hated my own race. Imagine, Alexander, The Bone King, the bastard that got himself and his entire species wiped from the universe.

His ego would go through the roof. Doesn't matter what the reason is, as it might as well be that anyway, because he's bad and a threat to our lives. We're gonna give him such a pinch. Once we do learn his actual plan though we should make it backfire on his ass though, like the Cimmerian said about war and strategies.

Tiffany 2011/02/16(Wed)17:25 No. 281975 ID: c44286
File 129790591563.png - (159.97KB , 700x1000 , 577.png )

I suppose if he was just doing this to be a dick-

>Duncan: "Ah, Tiffany. Please come in."

"Oh, hey Duncan."

>Owen: "My god man, you ran away from the home again?"

>Duncan: "Nice to see you too, Owen. Please, sit down. I'm glad we have this opportunity to talk, dear child."

"Me too."

>Duncan: "I'm terribly sorry to hear about your father. He just got out of surgery."

"How is he?"

>Duncan: "The surgery itself went as well as could be hoped, but he's still in poor shape. He's in intensive care in a hospital in Liverpool. I'll be accompanying you and Owen to see him later this afternoon. I really wish I could take you there now, but this whole Daemon business... I'm sorry, but the council won't let you go before the matter is dealt with."

"It's ok, Duncan. I understand."

>Duncan: "It's a miserable state of affairs, certainly. Now, I've been keeping an eye on things, and I can tell you what the Hunters have figured out. Firstly, he seems to be what he says he is. A greater Daemon of the Cimmerian Hollows. I hadn't thought that a thing couldn't possibly have survived for so long. We have also verified that he has indeed been bound by the Curse of Earth. A properly performed one, too."

"So you know he can't hurt anybody?"

>Duncan: "Unless you give him permission, yes."

"And that the sarcophagus he's in isn't going to hold him?"

>Duncan: "I know that, too. As does the council."

"So why are they keeping him locked up?"

>Duncan: "Letting him roam free isn't really an option either. The council will decide on that."

"But-"

>Duncan: "The council will decide. Have patience."

"Oh fine."

>Duncan: "Right. You still don't have a master, hmm?"

"No."

>Duncan: "Do you have a plan for getting one?"

"Not really?"

>Duncan: "And this Cimmerian business probably isn't going to help much, is it?"

"It's hopeless. I know."

>Duncan: "Oh don't give up yet. Binding him took guts, skill, and quite a bit of power. There are still those who can look past a bit of infamy and see worth in all this. In fact, I think I have something that might help you."

"What is it?"

>Duncan: "Comparing the relative skill and strength of magicians is tricky business, you understand. We've been trying to create a good system for that for a century and a half now. We're still far from perfect, but people are starting to pay attention to them. If you score high on the test, it might make it easier to find a master. Would you like to take it?"

"I guess. I mean, what's the harm?"

>Duncan: "Great. The test measures your ability in five areas that we've labeled Awareness, Understanding, Synchronicity, Control and Spark. The scale is zero to five, and it's meant to be exponential. A three is twice as good as a two and so on. The council members all measures four or five in all areas. Balian himself managed a clean five fives."

"What're the different areas?"

>Duncan: "Awareness measures how aware your Haftsusha is of this world. The lower it is, the harder it is for you to do any magic. It'd still be possible for you to use certain artefacts though. Understanding measures how well your Haftsushsa can grasp the intention behind your runes, incantations, so on. Synchronicity measures the degree to which you can synchronize your Haftsusha with your Tuaftia. It essentially allows you access to extra reserves of power. This is the hardest to actually learn, Balian is the only one to ever get five on the test on that. I suspect master Cain would rank even higher, if I could get him to take the test. Control measures the ability to control the Haftsusha with only your thoughts. Again, hard to learn. Hunters sometimes manage this, though I'll be damned if I know how. They score low on the test, then go and do it in the field just fine. Right, on topic. Spark measures your ability to actually channel the Haftsusha's power. It also measures the Haftsusha's actual power, but it's hard to tell those two apart. By test anyway. Ah. I can see from your glazed and vacant expression that I've been understood perfectly. Do you have any questions before we start?"

>>281975
Ask him "Does this help?" and unshroud your spark. You've been hiding it ever since Alexander told you to, haven't you?

I think it would be better to wait for the test before showing it. Sometimes a surprise is worth keeping until the last moment.

>>281975
Oh, and also ask how many people in the clan have familiars? How you got Mulder was a necromantic ritual...

>>281975
Well at least have to do any pull ups like in Gym. This does sound like that President Lincoln exam they do in there, only with magic.

In for a penny, in for a pound. Give this test your all, stop hiding your spark.

Would being mostly untrained have an impact on how people interpret the results, do you think?

>>281978
Actually she unshrouded it in order to use the spear against the wraith. It's burning all bright and shiny.

But yeah, let's take yon test. Also, I think Alexander is sparking the war in order to draw out powerful opponents and somehow control them.

>>281975
Expose your power and don't hold back. Fuck fives, we're going for nines.

It's sounding like you'll do very well on most of the test, with synchronicity being your lowest score, most likely.

It also sounds like Control is a more unconscious thing than conscious effort, so when it comes to that, don't think about it, just do it. When it comes to Spark, though, I think you could blaze a path straight to a 6 or 7, so just let it fly free. Allow it to shine and sing.

Tiffany 2011/02/17(Thu)12:02 No. 282077 ID: c44286
File 129797293628.png - (119.92KB , 700x527 , 578.png )

"Nothing important comes to mind."

>Duncan: "Let's get started, then. The process is simple enough. I'll prepare the test, you just relax. Once we begin, I will be asking you to focus on various things. It's not hard, and shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes or so."

Duncan places a sandstone disk on the table, carefully tracing the etchings with his hand. Soon he begins to chant under his breath, weaving symbols in the air. The instructions follow shortly, and Tiffany can feel a strange calm settling over her as she obeys Duncan's soft words. Tiffany loses track of time, as the trance continues.



Tiffany's current scores are as follows:
Awareness: *****
Understanding: *
Synchronicity: **
Control: *
Spark: ****

You may choose how to allocate two additional points.

>>282077
Boost Synchronicity and Control. We should be able to learn Understanding manually.

One in understanding and one in control.

>>282077
Two points in spark.
POWER OVERWHELMING!

Understanding comes with time, Control comes with practice, and Synchronicity comes with what I would expect to be meditation.

Spark measures your reserves and how much of that you can tap. You can improve your ability to tap your reserves through practice, but I don't think there's much you can do to boost the size of the reserve itself.

Also? Pulling a 6 would be a major feather in her cap, since it would mean she has twice as much raw power as the most powerful known.

If we can't boost any stat above 5, then +1 to Spark and Synchronicity.

Spark and Synchronicity

I am liking the two in spark.

Two in spark.

Two in Awareness. Her Haftsusha is so aware it talks to other people on its own. :V

2 points to spark.

>>282101
Uh, no. It's (level 1)*2^x, not... whatever that is. Looks like it squares the value each step, so... Starting at level 4 it's 5^(2(level-3)). Which is silly.

The way it really works is, if 4 was 5 power units, then 5 would be 10, and 6 would be 20.

Suggestion 2011/02/17(Thu)13:52 No. 282106 ID: 45df4f
File 129797954184.jpg - (28.09KB , 461x480 , timallen.jpg )

2 to Spark.

MORE POWER *grunts obnoxiously*

More Power. MORE SPARK. Who needs finesse when you can blow up daemons!

>>282107
>A three is twice as good as a two and so on.
256 is not twice as good as 16. Also, 1 squared is not 2, and starting at 0 completely ruins everything because the ratio between 0 and any other integer tends to be infinite. Your math is all fucked up.

Also, yes, y=a*2^x is an exponential function. Look it up.

Two into Spark.

>>282107
No. It is a mathematical function. That means the input is x, not the previous f(x) value. Multiplicative is k*x, exponential is k^x.

2 for Awareness

>>282134
Yes, twice into awareness, or once awareness and once for power. Then we're not insanely powerful enough to give people more reason to be scared of us and it'll be so aware that it can help us improve as a two-way thing.

>>282077
+2 Spark if five isn't a hard limit. Otherwise, +1 Spark and +1 Understanding; all the power in the world is only good if we can get our Haftsusha to understand what the fuck we're trying to tell it to do- and while we can learn that with time, we might not have a ton of time in which to do so.

>>282129
You don't understand math, apparently. You should go find this quest's /dis/ thread if you want to argue about it, though.

Two in spark, maybe?

Tiffany 2011/02/18(Fri)18:04 No. 282438 ID: c44286
File 129808104144.png - (32.21KB , 700x600 , 579.png )

Overwhelmingly voted for two in Spark.
itt people stumbling over basic math
quest author is a math major
and facepalming so hard

>Duncan: "Hmm. It would seem your Haftsusha is unusually aware of it's surroundings. Understanding, Synchronicity and Control are all coming along nicely, slightly better than most new apprentices. Let's see now. . . . Hmm, I must've messed something up, I beg your pardon. Let me try again."

"Is something wrong?"

>Duncan: "Uh. Huh. I'm not really getting a good measurement of your Spark. If this is accurate, you'd be well above five. That can't be right. Wait, you were prematurely awakened, isn't that right?"

"Umm... Did I do something bad?"

>Duncan: "No, no. It just must be messing with my measurements. I'd like to run some additional tests if that's at all possible."

"Sure."









And then they all synchronized.

>>282438
Aw, chapter end? But we were just getting rolling again after so long of nothing! Dammit.

>>282443
The thread was getting too xboxy for my tastes, will probs continue with a fresh chapter, don't worry.

>>282438
Kitty!

>>282445
My joy upon hearing this is finite but large. This is still one of the best quests, when it's moving.

>>282459
Makes me glad to hear you say so. Will be devoting my Saturday for updates.
Well, unless I get interrupted by the Girl having plans.
Some updates will be had regardless.