Death of an Artist - Game Thread

[PhaedrusXY]

"Very well. Hold onto your hats everyone. We're going for a ride! YEE-HAW!" As Eddie's maniacal scream echoes off the surrounding hillsides, the ship leaps into the air, leaving those standing on the deck lurching and grabbing for something to keep their balance. The statue under Eddie's control begins pantomiming riding a horse that's out of control, it's stone body rocking back and forth wildly with the ship's violent motions.

As they head aloft, Eddie says to Cyril "You owe me your life, boy. Twice. I'll collect the debt later."

And then he says "So how about you have your friend Murray there fill me in on how to operate our big broadcast rock, Nax? He can skip the rudimentary stuff, as I think I'm fairly well-versed in psi-tech. Just fill me in on the tricky parts."

[Bozwevial]

"I suppose I do, come to think of it. Hopefully you won't be collecting the debt by turning me into one of your servants." Cyril smiles nervously. Eleanor shoots him a smirk, as if to say that it's a distinct possibility.

[Kuroimaken]

Throughout the "gallop", Nax made sure to hold onto his top hat; other than that, he didn't seem to have that much trouble keeping himself up.

"Well, Murray, you heard the ship. Instruct them on the monolith's operations." Nax commands simply, tapping his cane on the floor

[Bozwevial]

"The operation of the monolith's communication array is rather simple for someone with a basic aptitude for psionics. Once the parameters of the communication are determined, the message is simply relayed by speaking, and the targets hear it telepathically. The selection method is similar to scrying. The less selective you are, the easier the calibration will be." Murray rattles off the instructions tonelessly.

[PhaedrusXY]

"Great. So a psionic monkey could do it. Too bad Mikkey Dee doesn't have any psionic abilities... "

[Kuroimaken]

"Murray? Please develop a speaking personality. You can pretend you're an invincible demonic skull, if it helps."

[Bozwevial]

Murray cocks his head, then bellows, "HA HA HA HA! RIEDRA! THE WRATH OF HEAVEN AND HELL IS UPON YOU IN A BLAZE OF FURY!"

He turns to Nax and asks, in his previous voice, "How was that, master?"

[Kuroimaken]

"Considerably better than the monotone. However, you should consider developing a lower tone as well. Can't have you screaming your head off every five seconds, don't you agree?" Nax turns to Eleanor. "My apologies, Miss Eleanor. It seems my new servant will require a few adjustments. The process that turns one into a Dread Warrior tends to rob them of both intelligence and personality, I'm afraid."

[Bozwevial]

"Most necromantic procedures do, or so I've heard." Eleanor smiles, watching Murray with interest.

[Kuroimaken]

"That is a common misconception. Most necromantic methods actually rob the individual of his capability to think entirely. Others, while allowing the newly unliving to think, wipe them clean of their abilities... this spell I developed seeks a balance between both. But it could do with some adjustments."

[PhaedrusXY]

Eddie says "I kind of liked his new, vibrant personality... as long as he doesn't shout like that all the time. It makes me feel like we're a ship full of pirates... "

A translucent flag with a skull and crossbones suddenly appears above the ship, and a glowing pirate hat appears upon the statue's head, along with a cutlass in its hand, which it begins waving around menacingly as Eddie starts barking commands at his "crew" in a strange voice. He says "Avast there you hardies! Batten down the hatches! Weigh the anchor and hoist the mizzen, or ye shark bait will soon been headin' down ta Davy Jones' locker!"

[Kuroimaken]

"True. Murray, from this point onward, that setting is known as the "pirate" setting."

[Bozwevial]

"Pirate setting acknowledged, master." Murray nods respectfully.

As the ship passes through the mountain range, Eleanor asks Lemmy, "So how is this going to work? Or do we have a plan?"

[Bozwevial]

Lemmy seems temporarily distracted by the passing landscape, so Eleanor looks up at the ceiling. "What did you have in mind, Eddie?"

[PhaedrusXY]

"Murray, once we start broadcasting, how long should we have before all of the Hell that Rierdra can muster comes down upon us?

And are there any special defense mechanisms around this broadcast monolith that we should know about? Or weaknesses that the Rierdrans could exploit, for that matter?"

[Bozwevial]

"There will be a bit of a delay, but I believe there will be agents on the scene within minutes, at most. The monoliths are high-security objects, so they will not be left unguarded. The security may be tighter than normal, or it may be relaxed for the construction workers. I am afraid I cannot be sure.

As for the monolith itself, the upper levels should be unfinished and open to the surrounding air. The construction crews enter at ground level, if you were thinking of entering that way."

[Kuroimaken]

"Hmmm. We should probably endeavor to make sure those minutes take longer than they would hope for. The best way to do so, of course, is with a distraction. I say we storm both ends. The ground level with undead, preferrably the self-replicating kind, and the top with Eddie. With any luck, by the time they arrive they'll focus on the first wave, rather than us."

[PhaedrusXY]

"Well... I think I might be a bigger draw than you think... If I land on top of the monolith, I think they're going to focus their defenses on me... but maybe I flatter myself...

We could however send in a "stealthy" team through the top, with a more obvious attack by undead and my minions on the ground. Or vice versa, I could be the distraction on the top, along with an undead invasion, while a stealthy team goes in from the ground.


He ponders for a moment, then says:

Hmm... or how about this... We let them know of the Kalashtar take over at the other location, and let THAT be our distraction. Then their defense teams won't even be in the correct vicinity of the real danger at this new monolith... We can have our team there go in as stealthily as possible and start broadcasting.

I think using a distraction is probably a good idea, but the second prong of our "attack" should be less obvious, to buy us more time.

I can actually be fairly stealthy when I want... So hiding "the ship" is possible too, if we desire. I could also make the weather nasty around me, to hinder their defense efforts."

"So to summarize, I think we should somehow let them know about the Kalashtar take over at the other site. The Kalashtar there can stay and fight as long as they deem it possible, and maybe have some plan of retreat for when they can't hold out any longer.

He quietly mutters "Or they can all die there... like I'd care..."

Then continues on in his normal voice "While this is happening, I land nearby the second site and conceal myself, and also bring on some bad weather to cover the entrance of our team. You guys sneak in and start broadcasting. I can act through Probe to give you as much support there as I can, and if things get too crazy I'll come land on top of the damned thing to draw their fire and pick you up."

[Kuroimaken]

"If we use the bodies of the site that got taken over to create the undead, that should be a fairly strong sign that it was attacked. Considering it stopped reporting quite a while ago, there's a chance they're already there, in fact. The drawback, of course, is that reinforcing the defenses of what places HAVEN'T been attacked is the course of action I'd go for here."

[PhaedrusXY]

"Mmm... yes, using their own animated dead against them. I like it. Anna! Get ready to make some new friends! I guess I do keep you alive for a reason...

Can you create the kind of undead that spawn their own kind, Nax? They would make a nasty invasion force... as long as we can keep them from hindering the living among our own allies, that is."