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The SG plot project - Rooks and Kings
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Loki
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Joined: 31 Jan 2008
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 1:42 am    Post subject: The SG plot project - Rooks and Kings Reply with quote

After working through a debate with players and finding some great solutions I came up with an idea. What if we ran a table top campaign within SG!?

A grand multi month plot will start soon. And you are welcome to join in via mail

Player Rules
- a new character will be created on a new or existing account.
- LoKi will set levelcapa and will enforce RP on stats skills class and everything else.
- players will mail and use thought line it's going out of style.
- Loki will provide a framework. And you as a player will grow within it.

Lokis Rules
- I won't be around all the time but I promise to respond to mails within hours. I promise to leave breadcrumbs. And to provide structured areas and rp for the group
- I expect I will be able to provide 10 hours minimum per week of avatar time. I have odd hours so EU NA and AU players are all welcome.

So does this sound like fun?

- make a toon based on the following rules

1. Whatever race you pick it must be welcome in cities. No beast races.
2. You are an aspiring member of a mercenary company. You can be L C or N. but you can't be anti getting gold for a job done and spending time in cities. Druids probably aren't a good fit unless you can explain a quadrangle around the rp.
3. Make yourself. Mail me the name you're using and I will provide further instructions. Until you receive those instructions it's not worth interacting.
4. All level caps will be set by me. And will be global.
5. Oh and I shouldn't have to say. But if you sign up. You can't interact with the plot in an alt. If you do you lose the prize.

Rp is a great reward unto itself. But when we all play Robert her we can make amazing things. I also reward heavily.

Mail me in game you created your toon.

And may the odds never be in your favor.
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Loki
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 1:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Plot!

I've removed the first write up because things moved along several different paths. Instead I've asked the players involved to do a quick write up from their perspective
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Loki
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 1:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Reserved for Future Use
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Verbannon



Joined: 30 Sep 2013
Posts: 398

PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There is a ghost talking...
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Loki
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 11:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Verbannon wrote:
There is a ghost talking...


My death was exaggerated.
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Verbannon



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PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 3:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dang, I made my character hours ago, but forgot to mail you my name until now. Oh well. I was likely going to just sit at level 6 forever anyway.
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Mister Black



Joined: 03 Sep 2016
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very happy to see something like this starting. Hope to see more like it in the future. Smile Gives me hope for an eventual return to rp focus.
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Loki
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 12:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Holidays beat us up for population on the MUD.

Id like to do more with the Rooks on Wed or Thurs. Let me know if you can make it.

Also, if more people want to join in the fun let me know.
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Loki
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 4:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The structured 'project' part of the Rooks and Kings story has been wrapped up. This is not the end of the plot by any means, just relinquishing my powers of control.

I learned a lot:

- The current meta is super powered. Making mobs that are a threat to players without being overkill is a lot harder then it used to be.
- You don't need mercenaries to have a good time, you just need friends. I don't think anyone was disadvantaged in levelling without the mercenaries and instead just worked together. Of course mercenaries are great and cool and if you're alone or have no friend making skills they are awesome, but it was great seeing people party.
- Players need to use thought more often. Much more often!
- The boards around the realm need to be used more often, as well the in game mail.

I hope people had fun.. and More plots are coming..
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Gorodir



Joined: 19 Aug 2014
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 7:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey, this is Alak's player. I really enjoyed your plot and I'd like to know how thought works, in case the information I'm requiring can be disclosed:

- Do all imms online view my thought messages when I post them, or is it just visible to those immortals actively watching the character's actions?

- Is it logged, so that if I use it when no immortals are online, they can view it once they come online?

- Should I use it for any thoughts that I consider relevant to enrich a character's roleplay, or just for the really important stuff that I want the immortals to know and react accordingly?
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Loki
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 9:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gorodir wrote:

- Do all imms online view my thought messages when I post them, or is it just visible to those immortals actively watching the character's actions?


All immortals can see it, but really only those who are working with players will care. Those who are building or fixing code will probably have the line off

Gorodir wrote:

- Is it logged, so that if I use it when no immortals are online, they can view it once they come online?


If it is, I dont know where that log is..

Gorodir wrote:

- Should I use it for any thoughts that I consider relevant to enrich a character's roleplay, or just for the really important stuff that I want the immortals to know and react accordingly?


Use it for things you want responses on, or for justification for something you're about to do. If you want something more lasting or longer term I would suggest pcnotes
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Whisper



Joined: 27 Jun 2017
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 3:26 am    Post subject: Tukiko's Personal Journal Reply with quote

I arrived in Offestry with no real direction as to what to do next, just the way I like it. When I was finally able to stand up straight after my release from the tiger cage in my homelands I was given a few coins and told to make my way to this little town, make familiar with other Rooks that were to arrive, and wait for further instructions.

Some had beat me to the town and others arrived after, but we were easy to spot. We were the ones who looked like we did not belong in the city.

I first met a dwarf lord, a paladin of Helm by the name of Jarek. I had never really spoken with a dwarf at any length in the past having heard that they were dour, but sir Jarek was actually quite easy to converse with.

Not long after meeting the dwarf I met Lady Iskall. She too was a paladin, but served the goddess Auril. As warm as sir Jarek was the was cold natured, but this in no way affected her ability to lead.

Another young lady I met was Ishiko. She was sensokuan, but I found early on that she had never been to and knew nothing about our lands. She was a very reserved person and I think she was this way as a sort of self defense, but even so we became friends. She quickly became our best tool in the art of stealth.

There was also a couple of maals in our company, I did not learn their names at first. Even though the contracts we all sighed had a magical component forcing our cooperation, I still had trouble from our dealings with the maal in our home lands, but later did learn their names and would even call one of the an ally. They were called Alak and Kawame, though Kwame disappeared at some point. Alak though was steadfast and came to be one you could depend on.

Then there was Dehaka. A most unsavory individual who seemed to with every word try to belittle of irritate everyone he met. I found his every action an attempt to provoke me, but when I thought of retaliation I always because ill.

There were others, but they must have died or become lost in the contracts we acquired. Atigas as bard, and an older lady that was a psion.

Not long after we gathered in Offestry a caravan left the city. We had tried to make a contract with them for protection, but the wagon master did not seem to think they needed the help. Just outside of the village the caravan was attacked my goblins. A few of the Rooks were nearby and tried to help, but the rear wagon was destroyed and another wagon stolen. Mining and healing supplies seemed to be the only thing taken or so we were told.

After this attack the goblins were found north of the village and the Rooks removed the threat. This time the goblins used the healing supplies to keep them in the fight longer. The dirty little beasts were learning and we thought they had help at this point. Some of the corpses were even booby trapped to explode after a time and it was quite disgusting and painful.

After the second attack the goblins had learned even more. Myself, Dehaka, and the older lady psion spied a goblin messing around to the west of the city so we investigated and killed him. The green skin was rigging trip wires to cover the road to a pack. Having learned painfully from the exploding corpses I rigged my hooks from my climbing tools and a 100 feet of rope to the trip wires and then we hid behind trees at the end of the rope. I pulled and the explosion was immense. It knocked us out and destroyed the road. They now enhanced the explosions with magic.

We again met with the wagon master and he finally took our contract. Perhaps he thought we had killed the remaining goblins, or perhaps he felt his insurance was good enough, but he was taking extra precautions. It was not long after that a similar thing happened with the second caravan. The goblins brought kobolds and attacked from invisibility in the town. The western end of the town took much damage.

The little bastards made off with crates this last time so we took off in groups to track down and retrieve the crates. I went with sir Jarek and another and we found the first crate after much bloodshed. We returned the crate to the wagon master unopened. The second group also met with success and found out that the crates contained dolls. Dolls?

Our contact arrived during that time, an elegantly dressed woman with red hair and she told us to call her Red. We now had a new directive, find our way to Tabor to our new office and begin finding contracts to support our company the Rooks.

After finding Offestry, finding the larger city or Tabor was no trouble. Our office was not much, but at least it was ours and within time we met Ichibod, our new contact.

We set about finding work and training to improve our skills. I secured a contract with the elves of Synoria to help disrupt the camp of the orcs at their west entrance to their village. I was a week long contract and we were paid 30,000 gold coins for each claw weapon we took from killing the orc leader. It was very profitable.

We also learned that our original contract was still in effect. We were a mercenary company and we had competition. The most notable and the closest was the Hounds. There was also the Dragoons, the Crows, and the personal protection mercenaries to the west of Shadow.

We found out not long after that the hounds were involved in some way with the crates we retrieved. It seems the crates were again missing, Ichibod found intelligence that the dolls might be found in so called safe houses so we raided any we could find.

In the first one we found a doll and more than a few mercenaries that we were beginning to suspect were Hounds. I was given the doll to inspect when we returned to our office and found it heavily enchanted and while I held it, the doll squirmed. Not long after I heard the dolls ask "Are we safe?" Well I felt we were so I told the doll "yes, we are safe." and with that the doll disappeared in a flash and there was a drain on all of our life forces. When out vision cleared we say in place of the doll was a scared little girl. The poor thing, we fed and watered her and took her to sir Jarek's temple for care, she was so upset she really could not tell us much except to ask about the others. Did that mean all the dolls were really alive?

We were still trying to piece things together, but Ishiko and I were dining at the inn in Tabor when a hound arrived. We were not sure the Hounds were involved yet, but after the meeting we had knew. The Hound was very haughty and boastful, but Ishiko was able to anger him and he revealed a bit more than he wished. To prove to us how powerful they were he threw a broken doll onto out table and left. The broken doll was no longer magical and Ichibod confirmed that is was dead.

We raided another safe house not long after and retrieve two dolls. We showed them to Ichibod and he took them away immediately for protection he said. It was obvious to many that Ichibod knew more than he was telling.

I suppose we had been causing the Hounds more trouble than their leader wished so she sent one of her men to arrange a meeting. The meeting was to be peaceful and to negotiate the release of the rest of the dolls to us, but there was a requirement by Kava. Kava was the Hounds leader and she wanted the meeting to be at a building known as the Exchange, the headquarters of the Dragoons.

This was odd, but we really wanted to free those dolls from the Hounds. We arranged the meeting, but I told Frost, the leader of the Dragoons, to prepare for a trap. I did not trust Kava, but I was hoping I was wrong. Others of our company at the meeting with Frost stressed preparation for traps.

Some time before the meeting Ishiko and I were hunting in Deku when she was attacked from stealth by a darkly cloaked woman. We fought back and drove her off, but she followed us to Verbobone and attacked Ishi again. This time she feel to our skills and we bound her taking her back to our Office.

We tried to question this woman, but she was thrashing and yelling as soon as she was revived. She really wanted to kill Ishiko for some reason. While this was going on I noticed a Hound lurking outside out office. I went out to ask him business and found he wished to bargain for the captured woman. He was up to 150,000 gold coins when Ishiko came out to tell me that the woman had thrust herself forward onto Ishi's blade effectively suiciding. The Hound left soon after. Later we found the woman was Kava's insane sister.

Ichibod knew who the woman was and a bit more that we finally got out of him. He was from the same lands as the owners of ur contracts. They had tried to come to our lands as refugees and the ships were met in the Torm harbor and burned to the waterline, only 30 survived. They found it very dangerous to try to immigrates because someone was trying to stop them so they devised a plan to sneak more in as dolls, 500 more. They were fleeing their homelands because a mercenary group, yes the hounds, betrayed them and allowed vile beasts into the land making it unfit for a place to live.

Finally the meeting occurred at the Exchange. We arrived to be told that Kava was delayed, but on her way and a Hound arrived in the meantime with a sealed crate, the same as what we found in Offestry. Sir Jarek and Ishiko stayed outside of the meeting room on alert for ambushes and them BOOM! Or at least that is what I was told because I never heard it. One moment I was in the meeting room the next standing before Kelemvor.

I was later told that the explosion levelled the Exchange, the Dragoon leadership and many Dragoons, myself, Lady Iskall, Ishiko, and is Jarek. I woke up in the Tabor church weak as a kitten with my head throbbing. Jarek and Ishiko wanted to hurry and track the Hounds, I wanted to see straight, so those two left to do as they said. It was not much later that Ishiko was using a telepath to contract me for help.

I ran to Ishiko as fast as I could dragging Lady Iskall along with me. Ishiko was my friend and I wanted to help her if I could. The road all through the Dagger regions was full of Hounds and Ishi said that Jarek had fallen and she could not help him. We went out as a group and started killing all the Hounds we could find and then we found Jarek's body.

Before we could take him to his temple the Crows contacted us for a meeting. They patrol that road and were clearing it of the Hounds as well, but they could not attack the Hounds stronghold directly because of the signed truce of the region. They cold not directly intervene, but they were willing to provide us with the location of the stronghold. They also told us that their spies found that the Hounds had taken Jarek's body and revived him and were keeping him at the stronghold.

We now had three goals and made plans for the visit to the stronghold. Number one was to rescue sir Jarek, he was one of us and we owed it to him. Number two, retrieve as many dolls as we could find and number three, kill Kava and as many hounds as we could find.

The day of the raid occurred and we found the pass to the keep. It was a gauntlet to get to the gates with all the archers and skirmishers, but we got to the gate and climbed a rope to get inside. Once inside we kept meeting small numbers of Hounds, much fewer than we expected, but still we showed them no mercy. After a bit of searching we found a crate and I grabbed it.

We kept looking and found a way down into the cellars, just the sort of place they would keep prisoners. The cellar was dark and smelled very bad and then we found the pit, the pit of bodies. So many bodies and in the corner chewing on a little child's arm we found what was left of Jarek, but it was no longer Jarek. We had decided before starting the raid that if we could we would get him out, but if he was beyond that we would give him a warrior's death.

Ishi tried to talk to him as did I, but she got a bit close and he bit her. The next thing we know he was attacking us and in the process he dealt me a fatal blow. I drifted toward the fugue plains, but heard a call offering me a return to life and I accepted. Ishiko had the foresight to bring power of life and returned me to the living. Jarek's body was dead again.

The bodies in the pit started to move and quake and an arm reached up and grabbed Ishi and tried to pull her down. I slashed the clutching arms and we finally pulled Ishi free and left the pit behind. All this time a voice was taunting us and telling me to destroy the dolls. Kava of curse. Afraid to confront us, but unable to keep quiet.

We found our way to a room with a hole in the ceiling and before long a rope fell down to us. We climbed out and found our way back to our office and Ichibod. All told we retrieve 108 dolls in that crate, 111 dolls total, out of 500. The hounds killed so many, but Ichibod took the dolls and our contract was fulfilled. Turns out the contract was a form of magic called a geas, but now we were free.

The Hounds still exist, but they are a shadow of what they once were. The Rooks still exist as well, who knows what their future holds. We formed bonds that for most will continue even if we are not longer officially Rooks.
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Lujke
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the writeup. Sounds like a lot of fun!
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ViolaRose



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PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From the viewpoint of Ishiko of the Rooks:

I was late in joining the others, held up by a general inability to navigate the simplest of tasks in a world that suddenly seemed too big. But that’s a story for another day…

(Let me make one thing clear. We were a rather eclectic gathering, each drawn from different places. All with remarkably dissimilar upbringings. We all had strengths which set us apart from the average person, and we covered an array of skills. But we were each drawn from desperate situations. Were we to suddenly vanish from this world, only our debtors would care.)

The Rooks had moved on from Offestry, leaving me the only one to witness what was inside of the crates the others had tried to apprehend from the passing caravans. Dolls… that is what the following weeks would find us risking life and limb for.

Jarek was the first Rook that I met, and it was quickly revealed that he was to be our fearless leader. He was kind and ambitious, and seemed eager to put us to task. I was immediately struck by his ability to put together a plan and then storm after it in the brusque manner I’d expected from dwarves. I was relieved and pleased that my immediate future would not be left to the whims of a human, for they hold such a great capacity for cruelty and capriciousness.

Next I met Tukiko, and a lady known as the Red Rook. She did not strike me as pleasant or anyone I’d be interested in working for under normal circumstances, but my current situation left no room for disobedience. And then I met Dehaka who would be the first one to try to turn my life into a nightmare. So soon after escaping the last one.

By the time I met the last of the group (or, at least, those who would make any meaningful contribution) - Lady Iskall and Alak - I had learned that our mission was to retrieve the dolls from a rival mercenary company that was already well-established in the area, known as The Hounds. It also became evident that the dolls were more than just toys. They were people, transformed for a reason yet to be revealed. By this time, Dehaka had tried to use his seniority over me to taunt and touch me. He ended up bleeding on the floor, and that is the last we ever heard or saw of him. But this act prompted Tuk to take command of the group, as both feared what might happen should the company fall into Dehaka’s hands. Tuk was surprisingly kind and thoughtful for a man, and I began to feel at ease in his company (it helped, I would suppose in retrospect, that I was quite literally compelled to trust him and work alongside him).

My first actual mission with the company in regards to the dolls was to raid a safehouse. Jarek led the way, with me and Tuk following, and we smoothly made our way through the house, killing all and gathering the dolls we could find. When we returned to our small hall, a man named Ichibod awaited us. It was he who held our contracts, and he gathered the dolls. His emotional response to the dolls made it clear he had some attachment to these dolls. After he left, a representative of the Hounds showed up and said Kava, Commander of the Hounds, wanted to negotiate.

We arranged a meeting at the Exchange, with the Dragoons presiding over it. By this time I was getting very frustrated that we had no leverage in this situation. The Hounds had us at a major disadvantage having something we wanted. Ichibod was not telling us anything that could be helpful. I sought to find something, anything, that might give us a leg to stand on as we prepared to go into negotiations with Kava. I sought cities and streets seeking any signs of them and found nothing.

I thought we found it in the form of a crazed lady who tried to kill me on Deku. Tuk and I managed to bring her back to the hall for questioning, and in that time a Hound showed up to barter for her life. He offered to pay for her release, but I felt sure that if the Hounds wanted her so badly, they shouldn’t get her on top of every other advantage they already held over us. Tuk left me with the decision. When it became clear they wouldn’t trade any dolls for her, and because she kept saying she would come back and hunt me and torment me and make my life hell once free, I slit her throat. In the end she looked grateful for the release. Lucky bitch. But here we were, once again empty handed.

Ichibod arrived and identified her as Orelia Kava, estranged sister of the Hound’s commander. He also finally took the time to tell us his connection to the dolls. He told us who he was, and what the dolls were. He told us of an island named Serakii, and the terrible fate that befell it at the hands of the Hounds. He told of us the curse that would ravage everyone, and of the refugees who were burned on the docks of Torm. I suppose what I felt for him then could be called compassion, he was such a lonely old man. So desperate, he used the last of his resources to put together our group, to bind us here with magic, and all we’ve managed to do time and time again is fail him.

Our meeting finally came to pass. It was clear from the beginning that this would be a trap - the only one who seemed to think otherwise was Commander Frost, and we entrusted him with securing the area. It was, after all, his area. He stood to lose the most. The man was a fool, and for that we all suffered. Kava never showed, and the Hound who did - much like Orelia - wanted to find release. The explosion was massive. Although Jarek and I waited outside, we fell as quickly as the others. The entire building and most of the Dragoon Squad had been wiped clear from this world.

We gathered again to lick our wounds at the cathedral of Tabor. We were broken, hurt, bloodied - but Kava was still out there. Jarek was ready to smite her. I, as I often do in these situations, understood that there was very little to lose at this point. Life being just odd and often miserable moments that only lead to imminent death. So Jarek and I limped off while Iskall and Tuk stayed behind.

We found the Dagger Road lined with Hounds - but these ...things… they weren’t human anymore. Their flesh was rotting and their eyes glowed. We fought them as best we could, but Jarek and I became separated. He barreled ahead and by the time I realized it, he had fallen. I called out to Tuk for help, and he answered immediately. But it was too late. They’d dragged off Jarek’s corpse. I could have saved him… I should have. But I hesitated and I was afraid. Now his blood forever stains my hands…

The Crows pulled aside for a meeting after that and told us they were unable to interfere in events, despite the number of their soldiers which were AT THAT VERY MOMENT being slaughtered by the Hounds, because of some pact they signed - the same pact the Dragoons had signed. The same one Kava refused to sign. I was more than angry about their unwillingness to act, eased only in knowing they had tried, but ultimately failed - losing many of their own in the process - to rescue Jarek. They also agreed to let us know the location.

Days passed, weeks.. Each moment I knew Jarek suffered in the care of his tormentors seemed like a year. We met Kaiju, Open Wing of the Crows. Each day that passed where he had no new information brought me closer to sending his limbs to his superiors until we were given our answers. Tuk disallowed it. In retrospect, I am happy Kaiju remains in one piece. We’re friends now.

Finally Kiera of the Crows showed up and told us what we needed to know. Our plans to sneak in and out unnoticed was foiled immediately, but we were able to fight our way through the decrepit, rotting halls. At the end of one we found a crate, and down the stairs we found Jarek. He was just another monster-thing sitting atop the piles of corpses - thousand of rotten, stinking corpses - and he was gnawing on an arm. He bit me. He killed Tuk. He died. I would like to think his soul is at peace now, but I doubt it. He was beyond anywhere Helm could touch him.

Our business here finished, we turned to leave - but one of the corpses latched onto my leg. I struggled against it, but each movement only worked to pull me further under, under...into that putrid pile of disease and death. I told them to go find Ichibod, complete the contract, but they stayed. They saved me (even Iskall helped despite our differences, and it should be mentioned that this was not the first time that frigid bitch saved my life).

We made our way back to our hall where Ichibod awaited us. We gave him the crate of what dolls remained, and he released us from our contracts. For the first time in my life I am truly free, and I am terrified. I do not know where we go from here. I’ve left the Rooks for now until I’ve figured out where - and who - I’m supposed to be.
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Loki
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 6:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perspective of a Hound..


My name is Inecris, and I am a Hound. Hate me if you want, spit on me if want, but don’t you dare judge me. That night on Serakii, at the battle of Karon'dale, I don’t know what happened there. I don’t want to know. I just know five thousand Hounds rushed bloodied and battered to the docks and sailed away, never to see our homes and families again. Now you folks don’t understand contracts like we do. Contracts on Serakii are old magic. Abandon a contract and you die, fail a contract and you die. We all were dead men the moment we left the island. Ahead of us were refugees.. Our customers. On the waters the first of us fell to the geas and there were rumblings of a plan. If we stay alive until reaching the shores, follow the refugees, and kill them. The caster of the geas would be among them, we would be free. Our healers kept on us daily, kept the geas at bay..

The first refugees died in a city called Torm, flames on the water, dirty work but it was needed. Even the intervention of local heros did nothing. The rest of the refugees kept in their fleets and hid on the ocean moving around. We took work in Tharis for an upstart Duke. That didn’t fare well.

There was something else wrong though. Kava started acting erratically. Men stopped dying from the geas and the healers started dying instead. We spied monsterous figures parlaying with the commander and I started to have nightmares.

Word came that more of the refugees had been found. They had tricked us, moved as transmuted dolls using an old spell instead of as people… Could have slipped right by if not for some goblins that Kava had bribed. We should have send the heavies and dogs, but instead she trusted the goblins and their kobold leaders..

Some idiots calling themselves Rooks intervened, mercenary company they called themselves. Fought more between each other than with us at first. Again, should have used the dogs.. But Kava was too far gone by then to think clearly. We toyed with them instead, handing some of the dolls to hired blades while we waited for the Rook’s puppetmaster to show themselves.

I miss my home. I miss the smell of wheat on the fields south of the black fortress. I miss sleep, now that all sleep is consists of tortured nightmares. The men changed too, limbs slack, eyes hollow. Whatever keeps the geas from killing us is sucking the life out of us. I stayed close to my captain, Koroth Keeper of Dogs, he seemed the sanest of the commanders, the least... infected. I asked why we didn’t destroy the dolls, if the caster was in there. I was told he wasn’t.. The dolls were a lure to call out the caster, the Chancellor of Karon'dale himself Ichibod Cosette.

The hired blades had lost several dolls and we learned nothing new till Kava’s sister arrived. She was never a Hound, but her company failed their contract that night too.. She was out for blood and thought the sameas us: Kill the caster, end the geas. She went after the Rooks instead and lost. I heard Koroth sent a man to negotiate for her, figured we could use Orelia to nudge some sanity back into our commander. That didn’t go well.

We tried a trap, hoping the chance to meet and get the dolls would call out the Chancellor. Instead we managed to take out the Rooks, the Dragoons, and half the dolls. I wish they let me go. Death would taste sweet now.

I hear the alarms ringing… Crow assassin on the wall, Rook force on the roads, battle is coming. No time for tricks now, no time for prayer. Who would even answer it? The old gods? Or whatever Kava sold my soul to?

This won’t be the end of the Hounds. The captains have spread out… tendrils in every crack, hands in every pocket. If we can’t have peace, we’ll burn the realm. Forgive me Karon'dale, forgive me Serakii… But I was dead the moment I left that dock.
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