[Mkguild] The PAWNED master plan

[Raven Blackmane]

Michael Bard wrote:
> I have a full, and proofed, first draft of the intro story on Shifti at
> http://www.shifti.org/User:Michael_Bard/Pawned .  It even has a title now-- 
> :)
>   

Fun story! Yvarra plays the role of a self-important paladin exceedingly 
well, and I love the humor of an amoral thief getting "geased or quested 
or any of that crap." :) 

One thing you might not have been aware of: Metamor's market town, 
Euper, is at the base of the mountain ridge that the Keep rests on. The 
actual town of Metamor is up on top of the ridge, inside the outer 
curtain walls of the castle but outside the Keep proper. Part of the 
reason why caravans don't usually go up there is because of the winding 
road you have to take to get up to the castle. (Euper has a wooden 
stockade protecting it, but nothing fancier.) Some of the directions 
that characters give to Yvarra in this story seem to imply that the Keep 
is practically next door, when in fact it's a long walk up the mountain 
to get there.

Another item of note: only the Inner Keep has the non-Euclidean 
architecture. Metamor-town is built on top of the ridge, outside the 
Inner Keep. (Older layers of the Keep sit inside that ridge -- the rock 
and earth are only a relatively thin veneer over ancient and 
long-abandoned portions of the castle -- but the town is composed of 
buildings that were crafted by the Keepers themselves.)
> Okay, here is the master plan for the story arc:
>
> 1. PAWNED: Character gets hired/trapped by one of the lesser Daedra (this
> was in the original planning) to get the "Sword of Songs".  he gets zapped
> by the curse, and by the Daedra, into a female unicorn.  A female unicorn is
> foretold to be the one to close the gate.
>   
<nods> Nothing wrong with that. Given her skill with transformation 
magic, Tarathana is probably one of Klepnos's children, a daedra noble 
-- this job is too important to entrust to a mere imp.

It actually makes a lot of sense that Klepnos would be the one to deal 
with this. Not only is "The One" a thief who, at the very least, pays 
lip service to him, but he's always been the most far-sighted of the 
deities. His ability to perceive non-linear time makes him aware of 
things that the other deities haven't noticed – and since they think 
he's insane, they rarely pay much attention to his visions. Right now 
Ba'al and Kammoloth are busy with their schemes against each other, and 
neither of them is likely to listen to Klepnos. In light of this, it's 
entirely reasonable that he would take matters into his own hands, 
sending Tarathana to deal with the problem and singling out one of his 
worshipers as the tool for the job.
> - The Sword of Songs is not a magical weapon per se, but a key in the form of
> a sword.  The gate for one of the Titans is open, the sword removed, and now
> the cultists are just waiting for the right time to bring their lord though.
> Given the non-Euclidean nature of the keep's geometry, there HAS to be a
> reason for it hidden away somewhere!
> - Whether the Sword was taken out and hidden, or recovered and was being
> brought back when the cultists got the bearer, or the bearer managed to
> sneak and hide as he/she died, or the lesser Daedra magicked it to where
> needed, really doesn't matter.  Take your pick.
> - The barkeep recognizes "The One" when she sees her in full light, and
> arranges to send her to a cultist to be dealt with.
> - The symbol the cultists use is an "Elder Sign".  Any ideas for a better
> symbol?
>   
An Elder Sign doesn't feel like the right choice to me -- in the Cthulhu 
Mythos they are used as signs of protection /against/ the Ancient Ones.  
Admittedly, this is MK, and the signs could have different meanings of 
our choosing -- but if you're going to invoke the Mythos, it seems 
reasonable to stay true to its symbology. The Yellow Sign 
(http://www.miskatonic.net/pickman/mythos/ysig1.html) would  probably be 
a better choice.

> - The lesser Daedra provides a few cryptic clues.  The unicorn is the one to
> deal with the problem.  She has until "darkness eve" (the winter solstice)
> to deal with the problem.
> - The cult sets up the bath house for the watch to find the horrid murder.
> All the gold is gone but a few silvers, and the secret passage is sealed.
> The head is back near the body, the horn from the alicorn obvious.
> - The cult was lured into damnation by whispered promises of their curse
> being removed.  If anybody can do it, a Titan can...
>   
That makes sense -- an excellent motivation, no doubt!

> 2: ? : Yvarra goes to the fair of the Fall Festival disguised as a jester.
> The Sword of Songs is peace bound, and her alicorn is peace bound with an
> apple, either as a joke, or by some prick of a guard at the gate.  She picks
> some pockets, mingles, ENCOUNTERS CHARACTERS WHO WISH TO BE ENCOUNTERED, and
> then sneaks off to the keep to visit the library and try and get the symbol
> (an elder sign) identified.
> - The idea of the story arc is that Yvarra deals with it, not all the
> hyperpowerful superwarriors of the keep proper. Nobody believes what is
> really happening.
>   

No problems here. Rickkter is the only inhabitant of the Keep who has 
had any dealings with the Titans, and he's in suspended animation until 
Jagoduun is destroyed -- which, coincidentally, is also at the Winter 
Solstice, if I recall correctly. Raven and the other Lightbringers have 
problems of their own, and they're more focused on fighting daedra than 
insane entities that were imprisoned in the age before ages. :)

> - This is to be a bit of a fun story, nothing more.
> - Fox Cutter's character is in the library and finds some information
> (Yvarra can't read) but doesn't believe it.  It is legends, tales, long
> dealt with.
>
> 2a: If some time needs to be killed, and/or there is a local "Thieve's
> Guild"  that isn't run by major existing characters, she tries to make
> contact.  Turns out the guild IS the cult and they go after her.  She gets
> away with a trail of bodies.  The cult sets up the watch to start going
> after her seriously as a mass murderer.  To the keep at large, this is a
> minor thing, maybe a topic of talk, but not of major importance compared to
> the threat of the Lutins and the evil archmage.
>   

The lutin threat has been largely dispelled at this point; the tribes 
abandoned Nasoj after the failure of last year's Winter Assault. 
Individual tribes may still raid the valley from time to time, but on 
the whole they've retreated to lick their wounds. The Keepers have been 
taking the war to Nasoj throughout the summer and fall, so people are 
likely focused on news of that campaign. Lilith's servants in the Murk 
have also been causing some concern, since they "liberated" Nasoj's 
mining town of Lik and have been working to build alliances with the 
humans in the surrounding towns. There is some worry that the Vampire 
Queen's agents are trying to take advantage of the power vacuum in the 
Giantdowns to carve out an earthly kingdom for their dark goddess. There 
hasn't been much in the way of open conflict between Keeper allies and 
Lilith's people -- border skirmishes, at most -- but the situation is 
making some people uneasy.

All of this, combined with rumors of wars to the south, will be just as 
effective in drawing attention away from the cult as anything that Nasoj 
might once have done. :)
> 3+ Running fight with the cult in the town as time passes and she tries to
> find out where to go.  Are there catacombs underneath where they lair that
> she can begin to explore?  Ancient tombs under the old town from ages ago?
>   
Well, as noted, the entire ridge houses a labyrinth of old passages of 
the Keep itself, long abandoned and forgotten by most people. There are 
some passages that reach far, far beyond the ridge and into the 
surrounding valley; Matty's characters used one of these to get away 
from Metamor during the Winter Assault. It's possible that the cultists 
might have found an entrance to the labyrinth and made use of it, though 
you'd have to come up with an explanation for why Kyia didn't know they 
were there. We know that magic exists that can render part of the Keep 
"dead"; perhaps the gods and daedra struck a bargain with Kyia in the 
distant past to turn part of her structure into a prison for the Titan. 
This area might have been rendered "dead" specifically to prevent anyone 
from using space-warping magic (like the Key) to access it. After ten 
thousand years, though, perhaps a hole has opened up somewhere -- or the 
cultists excavated until they were able to open up a hole for themselves.
> The watch gets more involved, Yvarra goes into hiding.  Gets black dye,
> something else from an alchemist to hide?  (Character alchemist maybe -- 
> there is one in the town as I recall).  Likely more than one story here as
> it gets written.
>   
Pascal is the Keep's alchemist; I don't know if there is another one in 
Metamor's town. It seems unlikely that Euper would have one, given its 
role as a market town, but I guess anything's possible.
> - MAYBE some of the big characters get involved in the hunt for the mad
> unicorness.  But they don't find her (after all, they would win given their
> power level -- but a powerdripping frontal attack on the cult stronghold
> won't work)
>   
I'm assuming this is because there /is/ no cult stronghold to speak of. 
:) These sorts of groups only survive by being sneaky...
> 4 Finale: Winter Solstice.  Yvarra sneaks her way through the catacombs as
> the chants echo.  Goes deep.  Finds the Deep Ones that Raven mentioned?
>   
Possible; it makes sense that the zanash-ka would be behind this. 
They're all insane by human standards, but they have varying degrees of 
cogency. It's likely that some of them are clever enough to disguise 
themselves with magic and then enlist the help of desperate Keepers to 
release their dark master.
> Maybe being pursued by some big character from the keep out for her head,
> hacking his/her way through what she's snuck back.  Reaches the summoning
> chamber, lots of horrible stuff, she shoves the sword into the hole and
> seals the gate, big fight.  Either she gets away, the cultists are eaten by
> their cursing lord, they are killed by whoever is prusing her, she loses her
> alicorn as she seals the gate, lots of possiblities.  She gets her payment
> and is freed from her task.
>
> So...
>
> Thoughts?  Comments?  Is there a thieve's guild?  Anybody want to meet the
> thieving unicorn and lose a free coins?  Any other ideas?  Is this master
> plan workable?
>
>   
I definitely like the story line! These are some threads of the MK 
tapestry that have been hanging loose for too long, so I'm glad 
someone's playing with them. And it's fun to think that one of Klepnos's 
apparently-crazy missions is going to save the world. :)

Cheers,

Raven

-- 

"I love science, and it pains me to think that so many are terrified of 
the subject or feel that choosing science means that you cannot also 
choose compassion, or the arts, or be awed by nature. Science is not 
meant to cure us of mystery, but to reinvent and reinvigorate it." 
--Robert Sapolsky