The Slave and Her Sovereign

[Manbearcat]

@darkbard Skill Challenge completed. Goal "consult with Tectuktitlay about the period following Emperor Zalthomet's reign in the Fourth Dynasty when the attempt to establish a Bantoukian Senate failed" attained.

"Come forward Time Bender," beckons the stone-faced master. "The chronopool will reveal mysteries past to you when you stare deeply into its disturbed surface."

The drop slides across the granite surface...down...ever down. It breaks with its maternal stream. Ripples reveal an ancient past to Chanvati, Time Bender.

<The sun. A roiling surface of angry plasma and magnetic loop. A massive solar storm gathering and then breaking, a loop of plasma and power sundering into a thousand pieces, falling back to the blazing surface with an eternal promise to rise again. Zalthomet prostrate, worshipping a figure out of the frame save for the head of an Omthalan staff and casting ambient light that would blind mere mortals. Radiant-regalia clad Priests of Omthala beset a singular figure of extraordinary power; The First Flame, the exarch of Omthala and leader of the church...overcome with a burning magnitude and a scorching heat ripe to bursting that demands vast distance between the being and its material servitors and laity. But the power that was sundered that day cannot be destroyed...but rather diffused to constituents only to coalesce once more in a far-flung future. One by one, each priest assassin has their mundane eyes overcome by a burning flame...the genesis of another loop...>

XP & Loot

* Level 11 SC = 600 xp

* Master Tectuktitlay's Imparted Wisdom - Single Use Consumable
Immediate Reaction - Personal
Trigger: You rely upon Master Tectuktitlay's Imparted Wisdom to make a Knowledge Primary Skill Check and succeed.
Effect: Gain 1 extra success.

---

@Nephis

3/4 Successes (0 Hard DCs available)/0 Failures/0 Secondary Skill Available

Rietka menaces "one hit wins the day...make sure it doesn't claim your life" as Yazdan appraises the beautiful partisan, feeling the weight, the leverage, the balance point of the polearm.

Abruptly, the Bladeling warrior, a veteran of disciplined phalanxes, rushes Pa'avu at an angle off Yazdan's hip that would tactically make use of his proximity and presence to provide camouflage and cover for explosive, flail-twirling advance! (1)

The Bantouk cavalryman, a bit slowed by age, only reacts after the surprisingly sudden charge by Rietka. His weight dips subtly on the back foot as he circles left a step and then back right, flanking Rietka in her barb-laden stampede. (2)

---

On (1): If you strike while she has this position of tactical cover/concealment, emerging suddenly from Yazdan's flank, make your move against the HARD DC (add +2 defense if its an atk vs AC/NAD). If you do and you succeed, gain a level 8 magic item; a ceremonial gift from Rietka due to you countering her best efforts in the duel (otherwise this conflict has no Loot rewards, just xp).

If you deploy (2), create an opening for the old man to score a hit on the young Bladeling warrior and close out the scene with a burgeoning friendship between Pa'avu and Yazdan and a smoldering, testy rivalry between Pa'avu and Rietka. MEDIUM DC per normal.

If you do something else (3 I guess!) adhering to the constituent parts of the framing above, describe it and resolve. Remember to take +2 circumstance bonus if you have a fiction-applicable Encounter Power! MEDIUM DC per normal.

 

[Nephis]

PA'AVU has barely a moment to adjust to the change in scenery wrought by the arcane apparatus - green trees, birds in flight, the scent of fresh, rushing water - before she sees movement out of her peripheral vision: a missile coming at her, hard and fast.

But she already knows this attack is upon her: the earth beneath her feet has informed her senses as it trembles, as has the dust in the air surrounding her body as the particles are blown by the current of Rietka's passage. The sound of their body rushing through space confirms her instincts, and she follows the impulse into the somersault just in time, twisting her body up and over her dangerous opponent as smoothly as one of the dancers in her gosb'tar's court.

As the goliath lands surefootedly behind her opponent, she smiles in amusement. The momentum from Rietka's bull rush takes them several feet further before the bladeling realizes they have missed their mark. Pa'avu looks around at the illusion of rain forest and mountains surrounding them. "Almost I believe it," she sighs, looking around at the familiar - if artificially created - sight.

---

* Pa'avu makes a Secondary Skill Perception check to notice Rietka's actions for a +2 bonus and uses Crane's Wings Movement Technique for a +5 power bonus to Athletics Checks to jump, both to be added to

* her Primary Skill Athletics check (training exhausted) to jump gracefully over Rietka's bull rush: r10,13 (Powerful Athelete) +11+2 SS +5 Crane's Wings = 31 vs. 29 Hard DC. Success.

 

[Manbearcat]

@Nephis SC Completed. Goal: Ferret out the Bladeling Horde's level of dissatisfaction with the sedentary state of being an occupying force in an urban setting.

XP & Loot

* Level 13 SC = 800 xp

* Gain a level 8 magic item; a ceremonial gift from Rietka due to you countering her best efforts in the duel.

---

The trio's bodies and mental faculties undergo a reorienting ritual at the Psicrafter's Guild; partaking of astral-imbued wafers and a bath in ethereal mineral waters. Though screens are offered, Rietka spares no one of her form, undresses out in the open and plunging into her basin like a child in a desert oasis. During the bathing, Rietka regales the trio of the growing discontent among the ranks of the Bladeling Horde stationed in Bantouk. They have lived a ruthless, rugged martial life of brutality and no quarter given in the wild. This "civilized city life" is beneath them or beyond them...or both.

Many have taken to Gae'al's Arena as more than just a pastime...as an obsession that borders on dereliction of duty. There is growing concern amongst the ranks of leadership that the increasingly violent sparring in the Arena will spillover into the streets of Bantouk; Vendettas, boredom, and bloodlust run amok.

Afterward Rietka takes something of her armaments and wargear, curtly presenting it Pa'avu in an almost embarrassed fashion before quickly leaving the scene.

The look that Yazdan addresses Pa'avu with silently conveys that he has concern over what Rietka has shared with them.

---

Alright @darkbard and @Nephis . Where to? To the Arena to investigate this growing situation or consult with Gae'al?

Some form of investigation into The First Flame; either the ancient historical records, interviews, the Omthala's Cathedral itself, or perhaps the primordial stages of erecting a dangerous ritual to surveil and interact with the present time loop?

A journey back to the ritual sanctum high in the mountains for a Spiritual Sojourn to gain the counsel of an Elder Primal Spirit?

Attempt (good luck!) private counsel with the young Empress?

Is there concern that this epoch's generation of The First Flame might be Ibhea and he's headed toward a path of ineffable damnation and villainy?

 

[darkbard]

Having two fully operational arms that can work a keyboard with ease, I again assume the position of amanuensis for @Nephis here, as well as record my own thoughts.

There is much, much that we wish to build on in the previous post(s) towards our stated goals. However, I think this is where we start: we return to the Arena, The Congress of Savagery. Chanvati and Pa'avu wish to see and confirm for themselves the degree and form to which the unrest among the Legion of Ruth as reported by Rietka exists. We think there is an essential argument to be made linking the incongruity of the military-minded Bladelings as urban occupiers being against their very nature and the Empress as captive being against hers. There may be some further details to this end discernible only through direct observation/interaction.

Then, we expect to leverage Bita-Bahlin (last seen as emcee of the execution)--his life spared by us, his freedom taken into our captivity but set free (again, it is incompatible with his nature not to be an autonomous actor pulling political strings) to enjoy his present function as ambassador between the Legion and the Empress's court--into effecting Pa'avu's placement in direct service to the Empress, where she can work to empower the girl to realize her own strength and act upon it. Though we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here, we're imagining a process whereby Chanvati (perhaps via psionic link: Send Thoughts Psion feature, Sending Ritual, and so on) can contribute in some way mechanically to such an obstacle. (Yes, we recognize the irony of Pa'avu relying upon another in a mission of empowering self-emancipation: we have layers of contradiction here!)

 

[Nephis]

Thank you, @darkbard ! And here i will type with a thumb, plus my utilize copy-and-paste skills!!

Bemused, PA'AVU looks down at the object placed in her hand by Rietka: a small jade figurine of a reptile. The goliath holds up the figure and turns it to catch the light. She remembers hunting with her clan-mates and catching live creatures similar to this fierce carving of green stone.

---

Jade Macetail Level 8 Uncommon

Spoiler

This green jade figurine depicts an armored reptilian beast with a spiked tail.

Wondrous Item 3,400 gp

Power (Conjuration) ✦ Daily (Standard Action)
Use this figurine to conjure a macetail behemoth that appears to be made of jade (see below for statistics). As a free action, you can spend a healing surge when activating this item to give the creature temporary hit points equal to your healing surge value.

Power ✦ At-Will (Standard Action)
The jade macetail recharges its tail sweep power.

Jade Macetail Behemeth
Large natural animate
Initiative as conjurer Senses Perception +5
HP 13; Bloodied 6
AC 23; Fortitude 23, Reflex 20, Will 19
Speed 5

⚔ Tail Bludgeon (standard, at-will)

Reach 2; +14 vs AC; 1d10+6 damage.

ᗕ Tail Sweep (standard, encounter)

Close burst 1; +12 vs Reflex; 1d10+6 damage, and the target is knocked prone if it is Medium size or smaller.

Alignment Unaligned Languages -
Str 22 (+10) Dex 16 (+7) Wis 14 (+6)
Con 18 (+8) Int 2 (0) Cha 6 (+2)

Description: When you activate a figurine, the conjured creature appears in a space adjacent to you, provided the space is large enough to contain the creature without squeezing. The creature obeys only you, responding to commands spoken in any language. The creature remains for up to 8 hours or until you use a minor action to dismiss it. The conjured creature acts on the same initiative count as you. Every action it takes costs you a minor action (which you use to issue commands), and a conjured creature cannot exceed its normal allotment of actions (a standard, a move, and a minor action) during its turn. If you spend no minor actions on your turn to command the creature, it remains where it is without taking any actions on its turn.
A conjured creature has hit points, defenses, and attacks as indicated in its statistics block. It has no healing surges and cannot be healed, though it can still benefit from temporary hit points. When reduced to 0 hit points or fewer, the conjured creature disappears and cannot be conjured again until after you've taken an extended rest. Conjured creatures lack basic attacks and therefore cannot make opportunity attacks.

 

[Manbearcat]

"These fights are not sanctioned."

Gae'al lurks like a great hulk-on-high from the open portico of the suite she occupies well above the arena floor. Her gaze is cast on the gory exchange of the arena floor, but her eyes are looking inward. Dismay, shame, simmering anger that doesn't ripen to rage. Her visual field pans across the empty stands of the coliseum as a cry and a <splurt> sound rings out below.

"The governing body that licensed this work and the warriors that partook has fled. The crowd has similarly fled as the savagery now inevitably spills from the battlefield to the stone rows above. The...elements...that come with The Legions' culture?" She turns and looks at you now.

"It’s not fit for this place." She glances at Rietka. "...and I think each and every Bladeling knows it."

Rietka stares back and doesn't protest. However, she does walk to the edge of the open, stone balcony next to the massive goliath and stare down.

"Gormandt and Grimtail are the champions in the travelling arenas of our homeland." She looks at Gae'al as a Huge scorpion, venom-bolts spat from lurking tail, ironically slays an armored figure from afar; body folding awkwardly as it succumbs to poisonous volley. "You cannot best them. They cannot be bested. They...and their...element <a deadly fight breaks out in the stands with the small viewership present>...will control your arena until our force is garrisoned outside of your city. Your <she struggles with the word due to both language barrier and disdain at fighting for money rather than merit> commerce will run dry until that date."

Gae'al now turns her gaze to the floor where the large, trident-and-net-wielding Bladeling and the massive scorpion trivially and brutally dispatch a throng of would-be Bantouk gladiators.

She does not dispute Rietka's assessment...

---

Grimtail is Huge, Artillery, Scorpion, Solo.
Gormandt is a Large, Skimisher, Leader, Elite.
There would also be a Standard Hazard.

That is a 8 standards worth of budget. You can take the steadfast Hazard with you. You can also put old-man Yazdan at risk. He will gladly follow you into battle in effort to expunge the Legions from his home. That would put you at a Level +4 combat or Level +5 if you don't want to risk Yazdan. However, if he perishes, its going to generate an ongoing complication for you guys using the Disease Template whereby Charisma checks take -2 (stage 1) and -4 (stage 2) with Bantouk citizenry until resolved. Instead of an Endurance check after each Extended Rest, it would either be a Streetwise check or you could pay 1/10 of-level gold to increase standing.

If you want Gae'al (Elite) to join you in the stead of Hazard and Yazdan, you'll have to convince her and it will be no easy task (level +4, Complexity 2 SC). She bears the scars of a loss against them already and her being slain would be a mighty blow to Bantouk's morale.

Let me know what your goal is here; if its either the above or something else.

 

[darkbard]

Okay, so as we discussed on Discord, while we (as players) relish the opportunity for combat, Chanvati had just moved public displays of violence into the private sphere in recognition that any public violence could easily ignite the charged situation in Bantouk into full conflagration. We wish to avoid this, even as we (1) empathize with Gae'al's plight and anger and (2) recognize we may not have full control over avoiding violence, especially as the Congress of Savagery is both the place for it and not currently teeming with citizens.

With this in mind, you proposed the following

1) Indexing both of your Minor Quests [free Empress from her shackles and convince the Empress that a new political order leads to her autonomy] and your (a) of your Major Quest [the Legion of Ruth retreats from Bantouk], name 4 Bantouk locations (including the Congress of Savagery) as seminal sites of conflict upon which the resolution of these quests pivot.

2) We'll organize this as a greater Skill Challenge with usage akin to a Mission Clock in Blades. Complexity 3 with 8 total successes required.

3) Lets sort out the difficulty (easy, medium, hard) of each of the 4 locales such that they create the equivalent of 8 ticks on a Blades Clock.

3a) An easy site of conflict would be resolved with a simple SC/Combat of level or level +1. This would net 1 x tick/success on the greater SC.

3b) Medium might be 2 x conflict as (a) above or 1 x conflict with a difficulty of level +2/+4 (SC/Combat). This would net 2 x tick/success on the greater SC.

3c) Hard would be either 2 x conflict at level +2/4 (SC/Combat) or 1 x conflict of level +4 (w/ higher complexity)/5 (SC/Combat). This would net 3 x tick/success on the greater SC

So, for instance, a scheme as below might be an example of the greater SC:

Site 1: Easy (1)
Site 2: Medium (2)
Site 3: Medium (2)
Site 4: Hard (3)

Any micro-failures or macro-failures accrue, things will get complicated and we'll see where that goes.

Okay, so we think the 4 key locations (with complexity) should be: (1) the Congress of Savagery (Medium), incorporating all of our inputs above, (2) the Empress's private chambers (Hard), (3) the Legion of Ruth's "field office" within Bantouk (Medium or Easy), and (4) The Black Stage, where pantomime actors perform for the city's elite (and, occasionally, its underclasses) (Medium or Easy); this last seems appropriate for swaying public opinion in some grand way.

Clearly, we should begin with the Congress of Savagery, but the order (and complexity of those last two) is up for grabs and whatever makes sense for the developing fiction! Just as clear is that gaining access to and persuading the Empress to claim her strength and overhaul the entirety of the political landscape is where the crux of this challenge lies.

 

[Manbearcat]

THE CONGRESS OF SAVAGERY/ARENA (MEDIUM DIFFICULTY)

Complexity 2 SC, Level 13 SC.
Goal: Surveil the Congress of Savagery to confirm the degree and form to which the unrest among the Legion of Ruth as reported by Rietka exists.
DCs 14/20/29
0/6 Successes (1 Hard DC available)/0 Failures/2 Secondary Skill Available

---

Gae'al's eyes stay fixed upon the route Gormandt and Grimtail are delivering below. She has clearly already sized up your collective. Lack of intensity in the eyes. Lack of the signature combination of tautness, limberness, and excited anxiety that portends a physical clash.

"You did not come here for battle and bloodshed. I would offer you refreshment, but, given the lack of coin flowing to our coffers, we are operating on a tight budget. That goes for dignitaries foreign and domestic, I'm afraid."

Directly across from your position, a bladeling warrior pantomiming an usher, replete with stolen garb, sees a few low caste members to their seats; a human father and young son. It is clearly a humilitating strategem as shortly thereafter a trio of drunken bladelings urinate on the father from their seats above. The father nearly rages to a physical alteration but then quickly comes to his senses, consoling his small boy from his fright and mustering himself to endure his humiliation.

"What does one do with this? I levy complaints to their steward but I get little in return. When you see enough of this, it becomes difficult to render unto boredom when sheer cruel nature appears the better fit."

Rietka's eyes flash with anger. Though her hand does not reach for the pommel of her flail, the fingers flex.

The hulking goliath registers it with the most subtle of smirks in the corner of her mouth.

---

What interests you in the scene before you? Gormandt and Grimtail's brutality and antics, playing to a crowd that barely exists? The dwindling coffers? Gae'al's accrued anecdotes to date? Her provocation with Rietka and/or Rietka's response (do you want to inflame that?)? The Legion's steward housed in The Arena. The incident across the way in the seating?

Something else?

Regardless, MEDIUM DC.

 

[darkbard]

All right, continuing here in my role as keyboardist for both of us, this is how we would like to proceed:

From Chanvati's perspective, what is imperative is keeping bloodshed from spilling past the walls of the arena into Bantouk. To this end, he will seek to parley with "the steward" Gae'al alludes to above (is that Bita-Bahlin? someone else?). The Legion must have its sport--their martial culture demands no less--but Bantouk's citizenry must be spared the worst depredations of the occupying force. However, Chanvati will not conduct this "interview" without Pa'avu's physical presence, and Pa'avu will not allow the humiliation of the bystanders described above to stand. So with that in mind...

---

PA'AVU cocks her head with disbelief at Gae'al's dismissal of the shameful activity now permitted in the Congress of Savagery. Has her hero fallen so far, cowed by her defeat at the hands of Gormandt and Grimtail? Is she just inured to the insult? Or biding her time for proper justice? No, it is that her l'pagb'gin has weakened with the occupation and needs buoying.

"This will not stand."

"Come, boy," she growls in her gravely voice to Hazard, and the two ascend in bitter determination a nearby staircase--Pa'avu taking three stairs at once with each great stride--to where the three drunken Bladelings laugh and congratulate themselves on their antics. Chanvati races behind to keep up with the pair.

The three straighten up to meet the challenge of her approach. Pa'avu stops within a hand's breadth from the tallest of the Bladelings and looks down into its purple face, flecked with red. The Half-giant looms without speaking for a moment, then two, a full foot taller than the biggest of her antagonists. The silence is broken as Hazard growls behind her.
"It is not unheard of among my people to urinate upon a foe after vanquishing some great enemy. We respect displays of dominance. But these people are civilians. You dishonor what it means to be a warrior. Make restitution to the father, now, so that his son will not grow up with a model of weakness in his head."

---

Pa'avu makes a Primary Skill Intimidate check to cow the Bladelings into shame at their behavior, r15+13=28 vs 20 Moderate DC. Success.

I believe you would like the opportunity to change the fiction before we proced further, but the greater goal here, linking directly to the goals of the SC, is for Chanvati to follow this move up with some kind of check (probably Insight but maybe Arcana) to read these foot soldiers among the Legion of Ruth in sussing out how the common, "enlisted" soldier feels about the state of affairs during occupation, irrespective of what is reported to or by officers and other commanders.

 

[Manbearcat]

1/6 Successes (1 Hard DC available)/0 Failures/2 Secondary Skill Available

---

Gae'al detects the subtleties of Pa'avu's disappointment and the slightest hint of crestfallen disposition creases her brow (1).

"I'll fetch the steward you were about to say." The smallest Dragonborn you have ever seen emerges from the stairs leading to the innards of the colosseum. Brass and orange of scale, white of swept horn and frill, its heavy gray robes bear a purple baldric housing a book of stewardship which directs the office-bearer on all matters. "I am called Naaphid, appointed by esteemed Legate Bita-Bahlin to..." (2)

His voice trails off as Pa'avu directs her attention, and presence, to the matters in the stands (perhaps Chanvati turns to the steward and raises a "just a moment" gesture before quickly following Pa'avu?).

<Cut to the stands>

Palpable tension hangs suspended in the air for a few moments before the will of the Bladelings breaks like a crystalline goblet freshly fallen from a table. No words are exchanged. Only the signal of furrowed brows now softened, and too-relaxed bodies now stiffened as Pa'avu's harsh words and imposing presence sober up the trio.

Down they tread to the boy and his father. They muster a formal address that explains to the boy that his father possesses both courage to come here at all but also sound judgement to not engage with the pathetic chiding of drunken soldiers. Let this be a lesson in strength for the small boy. The lead bladeling gifts the father a pauldron signifying a station that will rebuff any further harassment like this; "Legion-friend."

An enraged shout from below.

"REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE SPECTACLE OF MY GLORY! ALL PRESENT MUST HAVE UNOBSTRUCTED VANTAGE!"

On the arena floor, Gormandt eviscerates a foe and heaves the torso like a child hefts the lightest boomerang. It spins sidelong, threatening to spill gore and a trail of blood on the boy and his father (3)...while violently striking the back of the Bladeling leader who is issuing the apology and obstructing their vision to the Gormandt's brutality (4).

---

Do you intercede physically or with arcana to protect the Bladeling leader from the impact of the torso or do you let this play out (4)? HARD DC.

Do you intercede physically or with arcana to protect the boy and his father from the blood and gore or do you let this play out (3)? HARD DC (or MEDIUM if you protect the Bladeling leader and are successful...you can proceed directly to this move upon success).

Do you take the measure of Gae'lal' immediately after the successful resolution of the bullying episode (1)? MEDIUM DC. Failure here = move forward to another move but take -2 forward as the steward will supersede her authority and issue a situation-complicating protest.

Is it straight back to the Steward for parlay/consort and let 3 and 4 above play out? MEDIUM DC on your first question/move.