Post-Glitterpuss Plans

[Tahlvin]

[Tahlvin]

[Tahlvin]

[Tahlvin]

And just a reminder, we're still using Sending to contact Sandpoint/Fort Rannick every few days to keep them updated.

[Zen]

My order of preference:
1. At least scout it out and see how formidable it is and if we think we can take it. We do have a reputation to maintain as Dragon Slayers, after all... (And... it's an ELECTRIC DRAGON! Practically a cousin! Why wouldn't I want to kill that beotch!)
4. Let my husband show off his plant wrangling skills if he so chooses.
2. Just because that sounds interesting AF...
6. But only when we feel we are READY... as in ... level 18... maybe 19... 20 would be really good...

[Mike]

Okay, are we just here to clean up the demi-plane as all around good guys? Are we just seeking to eliminate the Karzoug threat? Are we looking for potential allies? Looking to weaken possible Karzoug supporters before we go in for the kill? Just scouting for more info?

I'm presuming it's some combo of all of the above.

1. "Lightning" probably means Blue. But it could also be Bronze or Sky or Cloud. Might be a helpful dragon.

2. Yetis feel like possible allies.

3. Heptaric Locus creeps me out and seems bad.

4. I'm actually thinking this might be a good early choice. I'm curious about Morgiv's characterization of the plants as "evil". This may a good place for a base of operations.

5. Storm Giants tend to be good. Cloud giants can be good or evil, so if they are hanging out with storm giants, maybe they're more likely good? I say the giants are a good place to look for powerful allies. They may not be friendly, but they probably aren't fond of Karzoug.

6. Yeah... after we've done some of the others.

[Tahlvin]

I think it's a combination of looking for allies, eliminating Karzoug's allies, gathering intel, and (a bit of meta-gaming here) gaining XP and increasing our level before we need to face Karzoug.

[Mike]

Oh shit. Heptaric Locus. I don't think heptaric is a real word, but even still... "seven-sided or seven-faceted place". That's got sihedron written all over it.

I just now figured that out.

[bralbovsky]

Location, Location, location...let's see that rough guide.

I cannot imagine there are helpful creatures left, given that the population of former slaves, and some low level giant/ogres were our best bets so far. There may be some value to be had from posing as Karzoug's minions on a mission, but Sam and Hal likely have issues with that.

The plant place is worth a look, given they avoid it, but if they avoid it there's likely something terrible in there. Druid assessment would be helpful either way, and I submit that a vegetable evil has the quality of at least not being urgent. They generally advance slowly. If it's intractable badness, perhaps we can find a way to create some gradual desertification and eliminate it, again, if it can't be neutralized or tamed.

The dragon is probably Karzoug's pet. No idea if it's old old old, or a new addition, but I'd suggest it might be helpful to leave that for near last., although, if we plan on leaving and coming back geared for a final push, its hoard would make upgrades easier.

Hep whatever... one danger here is mission creep. Each of these segments seems to be a herculean task, maybe a module in itself, and while that's absolutely Paladin territory, Kay is on a clock. We're balancing our desire to empty this place and our desire to end our mission without a TPK, so we have to use the environment to build up enough strength to succeed. This is runeforge writ large. and we failed our will save as far as being thorough there.

At this stage I suggest that we are fully behind enemy lines. It might not be a bad idea to figure out a strategy where we basically enter a section and follow a cloudkill or something similar with mop-up action or AOE and march toward our objective. We should probably find a chokepoint where we can deal with inevitable backlash (good news actually. It means we're doing enough damage to be threatening).

Biggest pitfalls:
unifying the bad guys. (To this end, I'd suggest we find sections to carve out discreetly, so as not to be a row of tanks, but more like a squad of snipers)
Mission creep. (where we end up in the swamp and get bogged down in the meat grinder instead of making progress. Generous use of AOE should help this)
Getting surrounded or ambushed. (Sooner or later, we will be expected. prepared for, double teamed. We need a trigger and space and order for retreat.
I think we are in an area where none of us is individually a match for what we're facing. Teamwork is essential.

[Mike]

I contend that there can be allies to be found and that Karzoug's dominion over this land is not as complete or as unified as you seem to assume. The giants we met were mostly looking to get out from under the thumb of the overseers. Morgiv's folks seem to be good people yearning to be free, not of Karzoug, but of an opportunistic undead horror. Having an absentee landlord for a hundred centuries means there's still a cadre of true believers, and they might even be mostly in charge, but Karzoug's been incommunicado for 10,000 years. Who can maintain complete totalitarian authority over a kingdom for that long? Especially when you're dead?

Stone giants are neutral, and they seemed to be glad for our help, even if they aren't reciprocating yet. Storm giants are good as are half of the cloud giants. I think we've only seen one area, and the idea of using cloud kill to agent orange the place seems a bit much when we've seen that there are innocents here among the perils.

I say we prioritize the value of each field trip here and let's go recon the most important one. Then reassess and recon #2. Repeat til we develop a solid course of action.

Clearly the best laid plans.

[Tahlvin]

FYI, waiting for DMDarcs's response to the questions in the first post before posting the poll on next step. Stay tuned!

[DMDarcs]

Sorry, I've been dealing with the morass that is quarantine grading. I had to consult a mathematician, and I am know proficient in both abacus and slide rule. A map shall be posted as soon as I can create it.

[DMDarcs]

Please let me know if the image isn't up. I never post images, so I'm sure I've done it wrong.

[DMDarcs]

Karzoug's lair is not within in the cit. It is at the top of the mountain, past the city. In the Death Zone.

[Mike]

You have posted correctly!

[Tahlvin]

I'm not seeing the image. Mike, if you see it, is there any way you can save it somewhere on the NPR site and link to it there?

[Mike]

Fixed.

[Tahlvin]

Poll has been added to the top of the thread. I've sorted the options by how close we are to them on the map. Take through the weekend to vote, and whatever is leading on Monday will be where we head during Thursday's session, so DMDarcs has at least a few days to prepare.

[Eliahad]

Not to add an option, but could we take a few days and scout a little? We're in a safe(ish) place and Illian still has his cloak of elvenkind, and he's been practicing his stealth. A little more information about the different districts might be nice. Especially if we have some tunnels to help us get around.

After that, I think we should take these things in order of getting ourselves closer to the far end of the city. So, yetis!

[Phoebe]

The only thing is really don't want to do is go straight for hunting Karzoug. In game terms, so much about how to approach him remains unknown. We went on such a long quest just to build adequate weaponry to deal with him. But what about techniques? Allies? It might take not just us alone but more of an army to defeat him. We need Intel about this region, about him, etc.

In meta-game terms, I also need time to update my damned character sheet and I don't think it would hurt to add experience dealing with other baddies before we try a massive task. I still feel... Weak? I'm worried.