Tombs! with UPDATES!!

[Heaven's Thunder Hammer]

Cody Marbach et al, read no further please.


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ok. So, my next thing is, the PC's need to find their 1st age tombs to look for a specific artifact. I've decided where the tombs are. Problem:


How can I give them clues to find their tombs? It's not like there's a big book of om my god I have it!


The Imperial Library contains a book of all solar tombs in the bowels of it's library. The PC's must stage a daring raid to retreive said book. Awesomeness ensues.


Ok, if that seems retarded, any other ideas of how they can find out where their tombs are? My main thought is past lives, but that would just let them know *where* they died.


Please see page 2 and my last post, it contains vital information on how my PC's have solved my problems for me.

 

[Kyeudo]

Re: Tombs!


Do their past lives have names or titles? Legends handed down for generations could contain clues to where they were buried, garbled by years of retelling.

 

[JadedSmile]

Re: Tombs!


there's all kinds of ways to do this. Maybe they find some records of a previous expedition that perished save for one lone survivor who went steadily insane and recorded the location amid his mad ramblings. That's a bit Cthulhuy, but it could be lots of fun. Or maybe they heard rumors of tombs in that general area from scavenger Lord's. Maybe they come across somebody who has found some minor artifacts in that general area, indicating that there might be a tomb there. If there are several tombs, maybe they could find one of them and in it there are clues to the locations of the others.


Full of possibilities.

 

[wordman]

Re: Tombs!


Two things to consider:


1) Spirits are in everything.


2) Spirits are immortal.

 

[Brickwall]

Re: Tombs!

Two things to consider:
1) Spirits are in everything.


2) Spirits are immortal.

3) Spirits are usually asleep


4) Spirits that aren't asleep can switch jobs


Note that my additions aren't saying they're a bad solution, but spirits are not close to easy to deal with. Awakening spirits takes a LOT of time, and getting what you want from ones who have been awake a while takes some effort, even if you're a Sidereal.

 

[wordman]

Re: Tombs!

getting what you want from ones who have been awake a while takes some effort, even if you're a Sidereal.

Bribes usually work fine. "Hello Mr. Spirit of Rundown First Age Building! I'm a solar exalt. I'd be happy to restore your building (and, consequently, you) to its former glory. All I need in exchange is for you to tell me happened across the street 1000 years ago. Did I mention that I'm a solar fucking exalt?"

 

[Brickwall]

Re: Tombs!

getting what you want from ones who have been awake a while takes some effort, even if you're a Sidereal.

Bribes usually work fine. "Hello Mr. Spirit of Rundown First Age Building! I'm a solar exalt. I'd be happy to restore your building (and, consequently, you) to its former glory. All I need in exchange is for you to tell me happened across the street 1000 years ago. Did I mention that I'm a solar fucking exalt?"

"Agh! Solars! I hate you people!" *dematerialize and flee*


Yes, a LOT of Gods sided with the Usurpation. And some would prefer heftier bribes than that. Like sex with your sisters or something.

 

[FluffySquirrel]

Re: Tombs!


I was under the impression the ones that sided with the usurpation were the minority. Also, having your domain renewed (which might well increase your essence back up to original levels) is much better than sleeping with most peoples sisters

 

[Brickwall]

Re: Tombs!


I'm not sure where you got that impression. The Bronze might not have the overwhelming majority among the spirits as among the Sidereals, but they have a lot of clout. It remains strong in Heaven, and gods who side against the Usurpation generally better keep quiet about it.


Besides, gods of buildings tend to be Little Gods, who aren't conscious, and thus tend to do little more than enhance the function of objects when provided adequate prayer.

 

[JadedSmile]

Re: Tombs!


granted, it would be pretty strange to have the God of a solar tomb be anti-solar. "Man, I am the God of a testament to your greatness and appeasement to your souls, and your glorious return can only be beneficial to me. I really hate your guts."

 

[Ledaal Kajiri]

Re: Tombs!


Or Kejak, being his magnificent bastardly self has careful orchestrated that all gods of Solar Tombs be assigned from among lower ranking gods who are not only staunch supporters of the Usurpation, but also mind controled to ensure such, and for whom such a position is a promotion.

 

[JadedSmile]

Re: Tombs!


always a possibility, up to storyteller discretion. But this thread is about ways to let the characters in on some information, not how to stop them.

 

[wordman]

Re: Tombs!

But this thread is about ways to let the characters in on some information, not how to stop them.

Right. My whole point is that, rather than think about it from the "it's not like there's a big book" perspective, consider that your circle is pretty much surrounded a great deal of the time by entities that have lived long enough to possibly know something (or someone) that would help you. So break out the social-fu (and possibly threats of Ghost-Eating Technique) and go to work.

 

[Brickwall]

Re: Tombs!

But this thread is about ways to let the characters in on some information, not how to stop them.

Right. My whole point is that, rather than think about it from the "it's not like there's a big book" perspective, consider that your circle is pretty much surrounded a great deal of the time by entities that have lived long enough to possibly know something (or someone) that would help you. So break out the social-fu (and possibly threats of Ghost-Eating Technique) and go to work.

Little gods are stupid and sleeping. They rarely know anything that does not pertain directly to them, and their memory is not exceptional. The god of a blade of grass, even if you could manage to talk to it (likely you couldn't, see the sleeping thing), would not know any of the names of those who trod on it. Spirits of larger purviews who were greatly impacted by the building of a Solar's tomb (or the next step to getting to it) would be the only ones with a chance of having the info.


Being surrounded by gods does not mean you're surrounded by intelligence.


If you're looking for GOOD methods, ancient libraries or physical objects that have survived since the First Age are good ways (time to actually USE those Investigation dots and Charms). The value of making friends with powerful beings is not to be ignored. Other people are also looking for these, and if one finds one, you can follow their footsteps.

 

[wordman]

Re: Tombs!

The god of a blade of grass, even if you could manage to talk to it (likely you couldn't, see the sleeping thing), would not know any of the names of those who trod on it.

Even if it did, it would be of no use to you; that blade of grass wasn't around thousands of years ago. But a once important building that has? An ancient well? Even the city itself? All of these have spirits that might help you.
Location, location, location.

 

[Brickwall]

Re: Tombs!


Most things around in the Age of Sorrows were not there before the Great Contagion. Finding something that was both around then and is relevant would be almost as much of a task as finding the tomb itself.

 

[Heaven's Thunder Hammer]

Re: Tombs!


Wow. I never expected such a big argument over the use of spirits as clue givers to find the PC's tombs...


I think what I'll be going with idea is to use the past lives background (I have a houserule using 1E past lives merit as a background instead) to find their tombs (their tombs are very close to their deaths.) Some other clues will be given using in media res where they will find themselves in front of a tomb and wondering how they got there. (Gold Faction Sids with Arcane Fate helping them out) That, or a written down missive in their hand saying look in this section of the Imperial Library.

 

[JadedSmile]

Re: Tombs!


I must note, however, that solar tombs by their very nature were around since before the great contagion and date back to the usurpation. Now, maybe it's Spirit is sleepy and maybe not... but it is one avenue of possibility to explore should a storyteller wish to.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Re: Tombs!


You DO realize Solar tombs were rather luxurious things made by the Siddies and DBs to appease those they killed right? The gods guarding these things won't be small, nor really asleep. Besides, Lion Dogs and Celestial Lions are sometimes around them too, and they don't sleep. Nor will the 'little' god of the tomb. Think a bit harder on this.

 

[The zombie cat]

Re: Tombs!


First I was under the impression that the vast majority of gods where passively against the usurpation, their dint know about it in advance, they don’t support that it happened but they will keep there heads down. The usurpation involved some very wrong acts being committed against gods, the imprisonment of litec, the breaking of the mask. Siderials are not well liked and even with the corruption of heaven the /only/ thing protecting many of them from fatal ordits is that nothing can be proved.


In the age of sorrows most gods think of the lack of solars as the status quo. And most of them have made there lives at least bearable under the status quo. Anything that upsets that and doesn’t directly advantage them would be disliked, including the return of the solars. So you need to make your return in there best interest before you can get information from them


Even if none of that was true. There are spirits that do know the information and its likely that some of them are pro solar. I wouldn’t use spirits of objects myself but try for the spirit of murder that witnessed the death (it may have stuck around to see what happened to you after.


Edward

 

[The zombie cat]

Re: Tombs!


Another nice trick that just occurred to me is to summon and bind the hungry ghost of the tombs occupant. This can be done with mortal thaumatergy arts of the dead, level 1 or 2. mortal thaumaturges are easily purchasable in most of creation I you don’t have the skill yourself. If the tomb is effective the hungry ghost is sitting in the corps, just in case anybody decides to desecrate it. Once summoned I believe it knows how to get back to the body it is supposed to guard.


Edward

 

[Mempo]

Re: Tombs!


The hard part about this is dropping breadcrumbs that aren't obvious, but will still get the characters excited enough to pursue the possibilities.


- One of the PCs recognizes a sigil on a piece of junk in a marketplace: an amulet, a ceramic pot, an old minted coin, something small. He is immediately flooded with First Age memories, and realizes the sigil is his old family crest/military insignia/library card/whatever. Asking around the marketplace reveals that the assorted junk comes from a reclusive old guy who swings through town every few months: A Scavenger Lord. If they can find him, and he doesn't panic at being hunted down by crazy glowing people, he can probably lead them to the place he found it...


- In the midst of getting the snot pounded out of him by the PCs, the Bandit Leader yells "Ah-HA!" and pulls out a terribly dangerous-looking magical doodad... that doesn't work. If the PCs open it up to see what it is, they'll find a bundle of old papers stuffed inside. Among the tedious technical descriptions of essence batteries and wiring schematics, they'll recognize a name; either a place name or the Thaumaturge who was taking it apart. Either way, it isn't far off.


- A minor Spirit approaches the PCs. Perhaps he needs some assistance protecting his assets from a neighboring deity who's moving in on his turf - or, similarly, perhaps a Ghost wants them to save his last surviving descendant. In return, he promises information - after all, in the libraries of Stygia and Yu-Shan are many forgotten secrets. Would the PCs be interested in where their previous selves are buried? He can find that information, but it's risky... help him out, and he'll help you...

 

[Heaven's Thunder Hammer]

Re: Tombs! with Update!


Here's my players plan for the next adventure (Which references a previous threads:


viewtopic.php?f=17&t=6042


viewtopic.php?f=17&t=5846 )


This made planning the next adventure so much easier, they've written it for me! Now, how to improve on this, throw in snags any thoughts?


Primary Objective:


1. Capture the cruiser and escort it safely out of Imperial waters.


Secondary Objectives:


2. Gather information about solar (specifically our) tombs.


3. Capture other (presumably lesser) first age vessels as opportunity allows.


Tertiary Objectives:


4. Gather information regarding Lunar weaknesses, specifically the Prince of Silver *if* the information is available, which I don't really expect it to be.


5. Attack other targets of opportunity.


6. Recruit new members (especially Dragonbloods or other celestials) to the cause.


Cruiser Capture


Our primary objective is to capture the cruiser, anything else that we do cannot jeopardize that objective without a very good reason.


To capture the cruiser, we will need to create a suitable distraction. The best way to do this would be using the second age equivalent of Greek Fire, or possibly napalm, coupled with precision clockwork timing devices. Hammer should be able to craft those using his craft fire skill and the tools in the "Batcave." We can store this in barrels that are rigged to explode at the appropriate time.


The next question is that of how best to deploy the barrels. We can beach the ship in a secluded area and offload passengers and cargo on the day of the attack. We can carry the barrels into the city, or, if we can, acquire a cart. At this point, I see two potential strategies for placement.


Random placement. We scatter the barrels throughout the city, hiding them as best as we can, and placing them in areas where they would create the most chaos. If we have about 30 them exploding about two minutes apart, there will be no pattern for the guard to try and get ahead of. That will have the city guard busy scrambling all over trying to deal with the fires, and should hopefully cover our activities.


We take a page out of Grand Admiral Thrawn's book. We pick three locations somewhat around the main guard station. We time the first to explode, and give the garrison time to react to that, followed quickly by the second and third, forcing them to deploy forces to each. Then we hit the garrison itself, forcing them to draw back. While this is going on, we hit our actual target, the shipyard, and take the ship.


After the barrels are placed, we can proceed with other missions, and pull back to the ship to await the signal.


Solar tombs


While in the city, we can check the publicly accessible archives (as well as some that might not be so publicly accessible) for the locations of any known solar tombs. This will be a mission for our twilight castes, maybe working along side our eclipse castes.


First Age Vessels


There may be other first age vessels available for the taking, either in the shipyard, or we may be attacked by them as we are trying to get them out. Seeing as we are trying to build a navy, we might as well try and get our hands on these if we can. To this end, I want to try and teach Harridan to pilot the ship (get his lore skill up). I also want to have marines in reserve, both ours and the other circle's in case we need to do a boarding action. I would also like to have people who can pilot first age vessels, probably courtesy of the other circle.


Lunar Weaknesses


Cody mentioned it last time, to defeat the Prince of Silver, we're going to have to cheat. This is why I'm putting forward the idea of having our night castes raid the Wyld Hunt HQ, or possibly the Immaculate Temple while all of the excitement is going on. Those two organizations would be the most likely to have information on Lunars and any possible weaknesses that we might be able to take advantage of. Its very risky, but it might really help. Volunteers only.


Targets of opportunity


There are other targets that may come up that we might not be able to pass up. We just have to avoid drawing attention to ourselves and jeopardizing the mission.


Recruiting new members


You never know what we might find. No harm in keeping our eyes open.


Other notes


We can also rig up some barrels so that the other circle can scuttle the cruser if it comes to it, although it might be better back in Imperial hands rather than sunk. I would also like to keep a few around just for general weaponry purposes.


Comments, thoughts, suggestions, complaints?

 

[Ophion]

Oh, please. Assuming you know your previous incarnation's name:


- Summon an intelligent elemental. Ask him about your tomb.


- she doesn't know. Drat. Send her to look for an old terrestrial god who know about your tomb and have a job that keep him awake but is boring. In 30 days she will find him.


- Bribe the god.


- Done.

 

[The zombie cat]

In 30 days she will find him.

how will the elemental find the god in 30 days. i don't recall them having any such special power.


Edward