Savin's CYOA: 016

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Savin

Master Analmander
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Aug 26, 2015
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Three hours later...


"You don't have much of a singing voice," Sylvia scolds, idly plucking the strings of her instrument. "But it is your passion that counts for these things, not the artistry. That's what Neva said anyway."


You force yourself to smile, trying not to take offense. From where you're kneeling on the courtyard stones, it's easy to let yourself get distracted by the meaty curves and sexy muscles the amazon's putting on display. Focusing on her lessons has been a challenge, but you believe you've got the basics down: thrust out your will through the dirge-songs Sylvia has taught you, open yourself to the spirit-world and try to compel the geist you seek to show itself. More than anything, you must appeal to its emotions: spirits, dispossessed of their mortal coils, are creatures of raw and unbound passions. That's all they have left, and all that can sway them.

Perk Gained: Spirit-Singer
You have learned an ancient ritual of the Amazons, allowing you to sing a spell-song to conjure forth anima spirits, or those of the dead. You must pass a Charisma check to successfully summon the spirit, and an Intelligence check to temporarily bind it to your will. Both checks are modified by the level of the spirit.

The sun's come up now, rosy fingers inching over the hills and palisades. No time like the present, you suppose. You place your staff across your knees and your hands atop it, closing your eyes with a deep, heavy breath. 


"Sure you want to go through with this?" Sylvia asks, pacing around behind you. "Trying to summon an ancient warrior-queen for your first attempt is... ballsy."


"I'm sure," you answer. It's only half a lie, but... "Nobody's going to know this castle better than the Blackscale Queen. And she's the best chance I have to find out where her books are... not to mention whatever other treasure's buried in the depths of her dungeons."


Sylvia grunts, but doesn't object further. Still, her pacing keeps her closer to her axe than to you. 


You shrug off whatever doubts and lingering distractions try and snag your focus, and start to sing.


<<Charisma Check: Success (1+5 vs. 12)!>>


Though you may not have the voice for it, your desires run strong. Sylvia strums the strings of her gallichon and you belt you the dirge, as low and sorrowful as your heart can stand it. As you sing, you let your thoughts drift to your home, burned by the hobgoblins. Of your friends and family lost. Of the vengeance you still seek. Surely your ancestor can sympathize with your loss, and she herself lost in ages past? 


After the first verse, you begin to feel the same chill charge in the air. You dare not open your eyes, yet you can sense the magic gathering around you, concentrated by your focused will into a single point. Green light flashes, followed by a chill burst that makes goosebumps erupt across your flesh. You can feel a pressure against your temple -- a mirror of that welling against the world itself as the spirits press ever closer. 


"Hear me, ghost of the queen that burned the south," you say quietly, directing your voice into the abyss opening ahead of you. "Your people are long gone. Only I remain. I call upon you to aid me. Help me find the vengeance I seek. Give me your strength!"


<<Intelligence Check: Success (10+5 vs. 15)!>>


"Oh, hell," you hear Sylvia says behind you. Your eyes open, rising slowly across the black-green tear in the air that's opened in front of you... and the towering, shadowy figure stepping slowly from it. At first glance, it looks enough like a salamander -- the same powerful figure and leathery scales as you yourself possess, but as your gaze traces up her amazonian figure, past a pair of furling drake's wings spreading behind her and a crown of curling horns rising from her brow, you quickly realize that something isn't right... 


"Rise, child," an echoey voice murmurs, as if from all around you. "A salamander does not belong on her knees." 


(( Congrats, I really expected you guys to fail this one! But the Dice Gods were kind tonight. So, you have the Blackscale Queen summoned and tamed successfully -- for now. She's a semi-corporeal amazon Eldritch Knight-type. What questions do you ask her, and what actions do you undertake? Comment below! ))

Name: Remielle Syrililth
Race: Salamander
Sex: Hermaphrodite
Figure: Amazonian
Class: Mage
Stats: STR (10) CON (16) DEX (14) INT (15) WIS (8) CHA (12)
 

TheDarkMaster

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Aug 28, 2015
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Holy crap!  I was hoping and praying that we'd fail the ritual in the first place since I expected success to be were the adventure ended as we were attempting the most difficult action at the worst possible time!  I'll have to think about what we're going to do and post my questions in a bit.
 

MissBlackthorne

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Jul 9, 2016
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Can we recruit her on a mighty quest for vengeance?


In seriousness though, we should ask about her magic and how to learn it.
 

shadefalcon

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Oct 13, 2015
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It actually worked?


(So we told Remi to summon the blackscale queen...she actually did it the absolute madmander hahahahaha!)


Congratz to all the daredevils out there who actually voted for this :D


Now as to what we'll do, my proposals:


I'd like to hear her story. How she rose to power, her life, the meaning of the black scales she and Remi share and the reason as to why she has dragon wings.


After that if we haven't already gotten the answer, the whereabouts of the books. Of course we should also ask for permission to get them and eventual other treasures we stumble upon. (Now we actually have the opportunity to ask for permission. We might save ourselves the trouble of being cursed for stealing her stuff)


...and since the amazon lady was nice enough to help us, asking the queen if she knows what happened to Sylvia's friend seems like the right thing to do.
 
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TheDarkMaster

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Aug 28, 2015
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Aside from the obvious things tied to our current quest, I think we should ask her about vengeance and our future.  Does she suggest that seeking vengeance is a fools errand, or that we should be trying to create our own kingdom or civilization instead of trying to get revenge for the old one?  If yes, should we try to claim the castle or is there another place she says we should go instead?  Is there a group we should seek out to join with us for this new kingdom nearby?
 

Zavos

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May 7, 2016
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I wonder how long it will take for that ghostly drake to ask Remi to raise her tail
 

argenten

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Sep 9, 2015
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My first idea is to describe the 2 groups of being that Remi has to deal with and ask her any advice on what to do, or how to negate their musk and song respectively. Figure a salamander queen like her would have a few tricks in remaining on top with those groups.

Although, Remi could always describe what she knows of the castle so far and ask if there are any hidden artifacts or magics that Remi could gain access to with minimal risk. 

As a subset of that, secret/servant passages, where are they and where do they go? Because the previous points are useful yes, but unimpeded ability to walk the castle freely is a huge advantage.
 

TheDarkMaster

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Aug 28, 2015
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Did Sylvia impart on us any knowledge about how much time the binding is supposed to hold? Do our questions need to be snappy?

Assuming yes, our first question should be where her magic tombs are stored and how to disable any traps associated with them.  Then go down the list of the most highly rated ones.


EDIT: Second question should be about Sylvia's sister.
 
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MilitaryAaa

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Aug 30, 2015
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Assuming yes, our first question should be where her magic tombs are stored and how to disable any traps associated with them.  Then go down the list of the most highly rated ones.

Since we made a promise, and the fact we're even able to do this in the first place, the second should be about Sylvia's sister hands down. As for the others they all sound pretty good, can't really decide there.
 

TheDarkMaster

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Aug 28, 2015
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Since we made a promise, and the fact we're even able to do this in the first place, the second should be about Sylvia's sister hands down. As for the others they all sound pretty good, can't really decide there.

Good point.  I'd forgotten about that.
 

BubbleLord

Scientist
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Jun 24, 2016
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Offer Slyvia's backdoor in exchange for information. Seems legit =3=
 
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