Author Topic: QUEST SERIES: What Lurks in Shadow (Read 945 times)

Rhizome · « **Reply #20 on:** April 29, 2005, 01:55:00 pm »

//The Heretic and Anansi would like to draw your attention to the fact that we have been coordinating on these dragon quests from the beginning. The overlap you have hopefully observed thus far is not coincidence. With this in mind, we hope you realize the importance of coordinating amongst yourselves regarding both objectives. Anything less will result in less than satisfactory outcomes.
With kind regards *devilish grin*,
The Heretic and Anansi

Xandor Loriland · « **Reply #21 on:** April 29, 2005, 03:52:00 pm »

Rawkwin suggests that we find out anyone else who knows about the dealings going on with dragons. I have no experience here and feel very nervous about all of this.

Harlas Ravelkione · « **Reply #22 on:** April 29, 2005, 11:51:00 pm »

* Kobal begins to feel irritated by the bard, and answers.. *

Aye. The rock be broken alright. But perhaps the witch in the bloody svamps said it always was that way. If thats the way of things the Deepening Dark will know... and will probably know how to fix it. I think.

Anyhow. Doesn't hurt to look into the matter of fixing it ourselves. The library is a good suggestion, or the temple of Beryl in Stone.

Remember to bring some coin and probably also some weaponry or jewelry for the dragon. Might sooth it, is my guess.

Xandor Loriland · « **Reply #23 on:** April 30, 2005, 12:18:00 pm »

I was able to talk to Toman today (not an easy task). I sense I would never have found him if he didn't want me to. He gave me some details about how the Tear came to be in Jassy's hands. Appearently the lizardmen found it and their gods informed them that it was used for "seeing far". As far as Toman knew it was broken when they (the party) found it. Seems it is some type of scrying device. He said the lizards had erected an altar and a statue and were performing some form of ritual around them. Then a rival clan of lizardmen went to war with the others to get the Tear. The statue was broken while trying to find the Tear but the altar was left in tact. Toman said that there was one particular lizard that he captured and used to get the group threw the patrols. That lizardman seemed to have some knowledge of the Tear. Toman said this particular lizardman was dsigraced and could not return to his clan. He carries a big green axe and may be in the vicinity of Jassy in the swamp. He also warned that the group of lizardmen that took over the caves is stronger than you average clan. I did a quick look in the swamp for the lizard with a green axe but did not see him.

J-ser · « **Reply #24 on:** April 30, 2005, 06:45:00 pm »

Then we must find him. Simple enough.

Xandor Loriland · « **Reply #25 on:** May 02, 2005, 02:01:00 am »

The mystery is solved. It turns out that the Orn's Tear wasn't broken after all. When choosing how to deal with the red dragon Plenarius and Brisbane Ashley discerned that the Tear may not be broken at all and that it may have the ability to penetrate the haze when scrying a shadow dragon. It was offered to Fisterion as proof of the allegiance of the other chromatic dragons. He accepted it and used it before our eyes. He was satisfied and is on board with the uniting of the chromatics. Looks like we need only convince the Shadow dragon that he is in no position to bargain now that Fisterion can watch his every move and the deal should be set (I am sure easier said than done). So the bottom line is that the Tear is in the hands of the red dragon. Lets hope that doesn't bite us later.

EdTheKet · « **Reply #26 on:** May 02, 2005, 02:22:00 pm »

Ragrian looks at Rawkwin with a confused look: "So how exactly are you going to convince it that it is no longer in a position to bargain? Looks to me you still need it more than it needs you."
Jard the bartender hands another ale to Ragrian and mutters to her: "Not to mention that they still haven't gotten back into its good graces after they broke its collection of old ale and thought they'd given enough by giving it some second rank ale."

steverimmer · « **Reply #27 on:** May 02, 2005, 03:34:00 pm »

hmm so the tear is in the possession of the Red Dragon now? I though we were to use it as a bargining chip with the shadow dragon...so what really have we left to bargen with now?
Buppi

Chuckles_McChuck · « **Reply #28 on:** May 02, 2005, 04:47:00 pm »

*Lia sits down at a small table by herself not too far away from the conversation and opens a book. She then replies while still reading it*

Looks like you've dug yourselves a pretty big hole to me, but you never know, the shadow dragon may still have something for you to do, if it still thinks it can trust you. Personally I dont want to be around when you have to tell it you gave the tear to Fisterion. All I really have to say is good luck, you'll need it.

Xandor Loriland · « **Reply #29 on:** May 02, 2005, 04:56:00 pm »

Well I know we were in a stronger position to bargain with the Shadow dragon with the Tear although up until we gave it to the red we didn't really know what is did or why the Shadow dragon wanted it. Now that Fisterion has it he can monitor the shadow dragon and ensure he stays in line so the shadow is in a worse position now than he was before since his major strength (his veil of secrecy) is removed with respect to the red. We shouldn't mention this to the shadow directly because we want to play to his arrogance and not humble him although we should subtly mention that the red dragon has the Tear without indicating that we understand the position this puts the shadow in. We should play ignorant to the predicament the shadow is in. We also don't have to tell the Shadow dragon that we gave the Tear to the red. He did not know we were seeking it or that we found it. The shadow dragon had an army that got destroyed the last time people went to see him so he is offended and has no army. What I think we need to do is figure out what objective he was trying to accomplish with his army. If we can convince him that his objective (that the army was intended for) could be met through the alliance with the other dragons and give him an excuse to fall in line under the red then he may go for it. Wouldn't 5 dragons together be able to accomplish anything an army of undead could? Basically he is in a position of weakness under the red but we need to give him a reason to portray his move to join the dragons as coming from a position of strength. Give him a good reason to say it was his idea to join the red (since he must anyway now). How does that sound?

Chuckles_McChuck · « **Reply #30 on:** May 02, 2005, 05:15:00 pm »

Hmmmm, perhaps playing dumb and of course not mentioning the fact that Fisterion gaining the tear was your doing will help you all not gain the dragons ire. Tell me though, how will you convince the shadow dragon that he would have a better chance achieving whatever goals he had with his army while UNDER THE COMMAND of Fisterion?

Xandor Loriland · « **Reply #31 on:** May 02, 2005, 07:09:00 pm »

That all depends on what the shadow dragon was building up an army for. We do need to include an apology for the previous destruction of his army and maybe we could find out by volunteering to complete the task ourselves (if it is not too evil). Of course if someone already knows from the previous conversation they could just say so and we could go from there. Once we know his objective we could come up with a way to make him think he has an opportunity to accomplish it through the alliance. Another tactic may be to play off of the fact that the Shadow dragon wanted the Tear and now Fisterion has it. If we don't let on that we are responsible for that fact we could still use it as a bargaining chip in that we could convince him that joining the alliance would give him an opportunity to gain access to the artifact that he has been seeking. Maybe if he thinks he can get it from Fisterion he will join for a while. That would make it in his best interest since it seems that this Tear is one of the only ways to scry through his shadow defense. The one thing that is clear (to me at least) is that we should not let it be known that we had anything to do with the Tear or its coming into the hands of Fisterion. That would only anger him. Maybe we could use the fact that Fisterion was going to use the Tear to control the other dragons to convince the shadow dragon the best way for him to get the Tear is to join the alliance and steal it. Otherwise he will be under Fisterion's eye as long as he has it. I think it is reasonable to assume that FIsterion will not say that we brought it to him since that would admit that we helped him and that he needed us. How does that sound?

Lalaith Va'lash · « **Reply #32 on:** May 02, 2005, 07:23:00 pm »

*Kali giggles a bit drunkenly from her seat as she over hears the talk of the others*
*In a sing song voice*
Be careful what you say to the shadow, for now you will have the other watching over you when you go..

Xandor Loriland · « **Reply #33 on:** May 02, 2005, 07:56:00 pm »

That's great advice. I had totally forgotten about that. So whatever we say to the shadow it needs to hearable by the red. Ok lets start over then. We might be able to use that fact as the way to mention the fact that the red has the Tear. When we talk to the shadow just say that the red told us that he would be watching using an artifact called Orn's Tear. As long as that's all we say, that should be hearable by both parties. That should plant in the mind of the shadow that the red has the item the he seeks and that penetrates his greatest defense. Then we grovel and apologize for mistakenly destroying his army and beg his forgiveness. Those two things should put us at least back to where we were the first time the party met with him. After that we tell him that all of the others have joined and all we need is for his strength to be added to the alliance so that the full force of the chromatics can be brought to bear against Blood. That should not be offensive to the red since he has acknowledged the alliance.

Lalaith Va'lash · « **Reply #34 on:** May 02, 2005, 08:13:00 pm »

*Chiming in once more Kali sings*

Shadow will ask you how you got it

You can’t reply that you don’t know…

Red will watch and see you plotting You best be careful when you go..

steverimmer · « **Reply #35 on:** May 02, 2005, 09:18:00 pm »

The other problem is if you tell the shadow dragon that the red has the tear...it will wonder how you know that, since dragons are not likely to tell adventurers about their magical treasures unless they have too. It would also be highly unlikely if you didn't know he had it for him to use it in front of you, for the same reason. If you did mention that the red had it the shadow dragon might naturally come to the conclusion that you gave it to him and thats not going to make him sympathetic to our cause.
So the only safe course of action is not to mention it at all which then puts us right back into the position we were in before we aquired it.
Buppi

Xandor Loriland · « **Reply #36 on:** May 02, 2005, 09:56:00 pm »

Could we say something like, "The red dragon said he would be watching us."? Would that sound more like what he would say and still be the truth but give the shadow the knowledge of the power that red possesses? I know this dealing with dragons is tough business. I appreciate you guys letting me think out loud. I am not claiming to be an expert and I would never think to be the one that talks to the dragon (yet). I just enjoy the strategy discussion. It's like a great game of chess. Anyone else have any ideas?

Chuckles_McChuck · « **Reply #37 on:** May 03, 2005, 09:02:00 am »

It would be wise not to assume the shadow dragon is ignorant.

regnus · « **Reply #38 on:** May 03, 2005, 07:39:00 pm »

*Lo'Kiar puts down his ale and turns from the beautiful woman he is sharing his table with.*

"Excuse me my dear. I must chime in to this conversation with my opinion."

"It seems to me that a series of misteps has occurred here. And please correct me if I am wrong. First you barge into the shadow dragon's lair and take out his undead army. Then he wants this Tear to protect his secrecy and perhaps his agenda. So you obtain the Tear but rather than bargain for his cooperation, you give it to Fisterion. I am assuming this Fisterion is the red dragon you have spoken of, correct? I am also assuming that the shadow dragon and the red do not get along? So, you apparently have gotten in whatever good graces you could with Fisterion but done nothing for the shadow dragon. If anything you have taken steps backward with him. Now, I dont know exactly what has been told to the shadow dragon up until now, but it seems like what may need to be done is to humbly ask for forgiveness for past slights against him and ask him how it can be made up. What really needs to be discovered is why he had the undead army and why he needed the Tear. Was the Tear just to keep his agenda secret until it was too late or is he just jealously guarding his privacy? Is the army just to guard him from interlopers or is it for some other some other sinister purpose?"

"Now, I dont know if you are willing to take the opinion of a dark elf, but I think you have seriously offended the dragon and the only way to make it up to him is to offer your services to achieve whatever goal he was trying to achieve with his army. Not an easy task I am sure. I offer my services if I am around and able."

*Lo'Kiar turns back to the gorgeous woman he is sitting with.*

"Now my dear. Where were we?"

Xandor Loriland · « **Reply #39 on:** May 03, 2005, 08:19:00 pm »

The only point at which it seems that you missunderstand the current situation is with respect to the Tear. The shadow dragon didn't ask for the Tear. The first meeting with the shadow dragon resulted in the destruction of his army and that was placated by the giving of some magic items. The discussion that followed basically acomplished nothing. The party then visited the black dragon in an attempt to find out if there was anything that the shadow dragon might desire that we could use to influence him the next time we met. The black dragon told us that the shadow dragon had once sought the Tear. It was not clear if it was even something that he still wanted. Then the situation came up where the Tear was given to the red dragon. So as far as we know the shadow dragon has no idea about the Tear at all. I do agree that the basic gist of the next meeting needs to be to apologize and find out how we can get the shadow to join although that was what was attempted at the first meeting to no avail. Any ideas how to convince him to join up? Should we even mention the Tear at all? What else could we offer him?