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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kelleris" data-source="post: 2090275" data-attributes="member: 19130">OOC - I'm not even sure our Celestia players are even playing any more.  They haven't posted since the coure fairy NPC asked them a direct question, and that was a while ago.  They should have been handling that while we do this, anyway.  So I don't know what's going on there.Hastily donning his Melavarn disguise - adding a few magical touches to complete the effect - Arion takes another moment to create a gaudy illusion to mimic a particularly colorful teleportation effect while stepping out of the shadows.Waving a hand before his face to clear away the residual wisps of bright-red smoke, Melavarn smiles at the githyanki.  "Greetings, gentlebeings!  I see you've already met my bodyguard, Su'ryuu.  Fortunately she happened to be sojourning on another plane when this tragedy occurred, and has been most helpful in fending off scavengers while I pursue my project here.  I'm not sure who else she expects to arrive, though, since we're the only one's here that I know of, and it seems most unlikely that there be anyone besides us and--"Stopping in midsentence, as though realizing that he was tangenting pretty badly, Melavarn gazes at the githyanki diplomat for a few moments before continuing.  "I am Melavarn the Resplendent, illusionist extraordinaire.  Now, I asked you to come here, though my proxy over there, so you could help me with the reshaping of this plane.  It has a lot of potential, you know!  I see a replacement for all the nasty sides of shadow magic here.  I'm willing to turn over this island of real matter to you afterwards, since it's the protomatter soup I'm interested in.  Your assistance would be a mere matter of scouting the area and providing a little extra security.  Can't have claim jumpers coming in and mucking about, can we?""I normally don't deal with githyanki, of course, you have something of a nasty reputa--  Er, you're not really in the circles I usually travel in.  But everyone else is just being terribly squeamish about taking advantage of this opportunity, and well, Su'ryuu suggested I contact you and see if we couldn't work something out.  A mutually beneficial arrangement!"Melavarn gives the githyanki a theatrical "let's keep a secret, eh?" wink with these last words, before smiling broadly and waiting for their reply to his initial offer.To the party, Arion communicates his plans.  His words are calculated to make the githyanki party seem him as worth talking to but easily manipulable before they do away with him.  With any luck, Arion plans to get the lot of them wiped out by some other group trying to exploit the Falls, thereby shifting the blame for any ensuing conflicts onto the Lich-Queen's people while we pursue our goals more quietly.Isida - [sblock] I'm casting alter self and programmed image.  I'm applying the last half of my improvisation effect to the disguise and recasting it before I reveal myself.  Half of this new pool is going to the Diplomacy check.  I'm going to leave the remaining +26 bonus from the second spell to you; Arion will use it sparingly whenever he judges that Qu'var (sp?) might see through his Bluffs.And now some skill rolls to use as you see fit.  The bardic knowledge roll will be to determine how much of the improvisation effect is necessary to put Arion's diplomatic skills comfortably in the ballpark of Qu'var's:Disguise: <a href="http://www14.brinkster.com/nadaka/DiceBoxDB.asp?Page=Find&By=Number&Value=6589" target="_blank">95 (105 with magical component)</a>Bluff 1: <a href="http://www14.brinkster.com/nadaka/DiceBoxDB.asp?Page=Find&By=Number&Value=6590" target="_blank">64</a>Bluff 2: <a href="http://www14.brinkster.com/nadaka/DiceBoxDB.asp?Page=Find&By=Number&Value=6590" target="_blank">65</a>Bluff 3: <a href="http://www14.brinkster.com/nadaka/DiceBoxDB.asp?Page=Find&By=Number&Value=6590" target="_blank">71</a>Diplomacy: <a href="http://www14.brinkster.com/nadaka/DiceBoxDB.asp?Page=Find&By=Number&Value=6591" target="_blank">70</a>Perform (Oratory): <a href="http://www14.brinkster.com/nadaka/DiceBoxDB.asp?Page=Find&By=Number&Value=6592" target="_blank">57</a>Bardic Knowledge: <a href="http://www14.brinkster.com/nadaka/DiceBoxDB.asp?Page=Find&By=Number&Value=6593" target="_blank">52</a>The Perform (oratory) check is directed at the rest of the githyanki party.  I want their diplomat-leader to take me semi-seriously as a negotiator (maybe have him wonder if I'm as foolish as I appear), and the rest of them to at least consider just attacking.  Just for a little intra-party tension, you know.  Could be explotable later. I'm obviously trying to work a lot of nuance into this dialogue, but then, what else am I going to do with these skill bonuses?    <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool    :cool:"  data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" />  [/sblock]</blockquote>

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