Judgement Day: EVIL (Good stay out)

[Pyrex]

OOC:
Given the terrain, approximately how large is Maleign? 10,000 people? 100,000? 1,000,000? More?

Do the maps show any other cities/villages near Maleign?

Given that Maleign is within a mountain range, where do they get their food? Are their farmlands listed on the map?

Does the map show any rivers/lakes leading into Maleign? (i.e., where do they get their fresh water?

~IC~
"Most scrying magics only allow for viewing a small area around a specified individual. Sending a small number of aerial scouts may be a more effective way of filling in the gaps in these maps."

 

[Rkhet]

"We should go ourselves. Properly prepared, there is virtually no chance of discovery in a city this size. If we could find a chance to assassinate this priestess, then all the better."

"And if the city does not have the means to block the functioning of our crystals, we could use them right in their midst."

 

[Albedo]

OOC: There are three cities neighboring yout target. They are named Arbosh, Calentation, and Bornt. The source of the cities food supply is unknown. The size of the city was last estimated at around 500,000.

 

[Pyrex]

Aethan shakes his head, "The leaders are obviously our primary targets, but we need more information before entering the city ourselves. Aside from the priestess we don't even know the names of the Lord of the city or that of its Commander of Arms. I suggest we start with these three cities. They'll be much easer to sneak into to collect information about Maleign. From there one or more of us can sneak into Maleign with a trade caravan as necessary."

 

[Wrahn]

"So the general plan is to gather information at one of these other cities, barring discovery of something completely unexpected, we enter Maleign and slay the leaders, while the city is in disarray, we summon the army with the crystal?"

 

[Pyrex]

Aethan nods, "In essence that is so. But that hinges largely on the number of assassinations that will be required as well as our ability to enter and move about the city undetected; which is not yet certain."

 

[Rkhet]

"If the plan goes well, after the leaders are dead, I could disguise myself as one of them, and assume command of Maleign's army. Stage a rout, and I will lead the entire army in pursuit - right into a trap."

"Of course, many things could go wrong with our plan. There are too many unknowns. But no plan is perfect. We shall cross that bridge when we come to it."

 

[Bialaska]

"Awww, you silly boys, all you had to do was ask..." The girl of air snickers, casting a glance over each of the others, before she turns serious again.

"Jonathan is the name of the Commander of the Guard. He believes himself to be a holy knight, giving his prayers to Andre, rather than spend his time praying to someone of importance. He, together with the ancient High Priestess Alise are both members of the City Council. This council consists of 7 members. Two of these members are the Commander and the High Priestess, the remaining 5 are less talented, being politicians or students of little more than cantrips." She pauses after saying this, smirking, then she goes on.

"To get back to our plan, then I think the most efficient plan would be to destroy the High Priestess and her consort and then win the other 5 council members to our side. Then with control over the council, it should not be a problem to make a few rules in the beginning that looks like they're for the better good of the city, even if it hurts the religion a bit, to 'protect' the remaining council against 'assassins'. And then it's simply a matter of swaying the public to be favorable of us."

"Or we could just storm through the city gate and start killing everything in our path. It'll be more violent, but will also be much faster. But I guess it all depends of what our host had in mind."

 

[Rkhet]

"If the council is as useless as you say without the leadership of Alise and her consort, I doubt they will be able to retain their power after their downfall, much less act against the interests of Alise's church. It is, I assume, a powerful force within the city. At any rate, it will be risky to tarry too long just to meddle in local politics. If we make our presence known, the self-righteous will be drawn to us like locust."

"This is all moot if we are unable to slay the priestess and her consort, of course. Let us do this first. We can decide what comes next when they are dead."

 

[Pyrex]

"Here's another interesting thought. Instead of assassination, what if we were to outright replace them. If done properly we could have complete control of the city for weeks before anyone noticed anything was amiss, by which time it would be too late. Plus, by keeping them alive we needn't worry about them being raised to come after us.

I'm thinking we'd need to work in pairs to capture Alise and Jonathan. Alosat, you would need work with Lady Gwyneth to subdue Alise long enough long enough to trap her soul and switch bodies via a Magic Jar enchantment while Harkuf helps me subdue and inhabit Commander Johnathan."