Ok, explain why we took Morph skill the last time only to go about and drop the whole stealth mode to implant the current group? There is no rhyme or reason to anything that is going on. It is all action for the sake of simply taking an action.
All I get from this is the ability to say "I told you so." When it all goes horribly wrong. It will go horribly wrong.
The spawnlings work for us, they are not independant creatures. and they have about as much chance of getting spotted as we do. the harpy is still asleep, it's been stated we can have free use of her motor functions till she wakes without raising an alarm from her, she'll never know. The spawnlings will help us maintain control of our current group easier. The only downside is that there's a *chance* we may be detected during the initial laying of the eggs. If that goes smoothly, then we're up a fair margin, and the next steps are obvious.
Go ahead, take your "I told you so", if it means we get to keep this going and not halt the game with this senseless bickering. Everyone here except you is okay with this plan, and willing to take the risk for the much larger gain we'll get from it. If we're wrong, then so be it, laugh about it afterwards.
Ok, explain why we took Morph skill the last time only to go about and drop the whole stealth mode to implant the current group? There is no rhyme or reason to anything that is going on. It is all action for the sake of simply taking an action.
All I get from this is the ability to say "I told you so." When it all goes horribly wrong. It will go horribly wrong.
You are aware that this is just a fun, light-hearted piece of escapism, aren't you? It's not a real-world battle plan with hundreds of lives at stake. Chill.
By the way, what's the plan once we've seeded and gained control over the other members of our little party? Are we heading straight for Runestone?
Was not expecting to return to this ! I have no problem with debate, but let's keep away from the personal attacks here.
G -Evolve Ovipositor, start egging! Then 1x, use your influence for the runestone first and foremost, but don’t expose yourself!
Dark Blessing expires! (burned out it's last energy saving you from a crit-fail on your will check)
Current Status:
Small Young Black Tentacle
Health: 40/50
Energy: 15/1500-low energy warning-
Overlord Energy 125
Abilities: Stealth I, Infest I, Symbiosis I, Aura Sense I, Perception, Influence, Ovipositor
Status: Infesting
Host: Zelari – Harpy, great condition (unaware, symbiosis active, egged)
DATA:
Time: Dawn
Allies: Hul’jet (Floor 1 Sigil Crypt); of Zelari: Cambor “Blades” & Ket (F2 North, both egged)
Known Entities: Runestone (F3 North), Purple Spawn (F2 East), Green & Blue Spawn (F1 South?), Demonic Aura (F2 West), Adventurers (F2 Southwest), Three ?? Humanoid Males (F1 South?)
You toss the problem back and forth in your mind, struggling with the voices of doubt. If you don’t make haste the purple spawn might outpace you, but if you are found your very being is at risk. If only there were a way to salvage the situation!
Looking deep within, you call upon the wisdom of the Ancient Ones. Their knowledge, the secrets of the Protean itself, were once yours, if only you could remember! Then it strikes you. With underlings you could further both goals at once! Your determination surges, and you silence your misgivings.
Time was slight compared to your plans, but it was worth a try.
You work your influence on Zelari first, tickling her mind with half-remembered scenes of obscene orgies even as hot lust courses through the tendrils connecting you. She flushes as your urging echo through her consciousness. You can feel it swirling in her mind, sinking deeper, then finally coalescing into an erotic dream.
Images reverberate across your link like the thousand broken reflections of a shattered mirror: her own need, the rough male scent of Cambor as he appears, the bouts of wild sex. With another nudge of her mind the dream changes, and suddenly Cambor is split in three! The two doubles grin ferally and move to either side of the harpy. They make their move even while she rides the original, one plunging his throbbing cock into her ass, the other taking her mouth when she cries out in surprise. Her eyes sparkling at the challenge, the harpy begins fucking all three of them at once, each motion aimed to bring them over the edge!
With a twinge of regret you rip yourself from the dream, realizing that you’ve been moving in sync with her the entire time. Her juices are flowing in torrents. It’s all the energy you need, and you channel it through the path the Ancient Ones revealed. Your tail grows longer, an orifice opening at its tip even as the end hardens into a needle-like protrusion, and you can feel something stirring inside of you. It begins moving downward, pressed towards the end by a steady contraction of smooth muscles. You plunge the appendage up against the harpy’s cervix and writhe with pleasure, forcing a small orb out into her womb.
But this is just the beginning! With a final calming pulse you withdraw your tendrils, then slide out of the harpy. You feel the blessing from your encounter with Hul’jet begin to fade and scurry over to the mandragoran. With calculated cruelty you plunge a tendril into the open wound, ready to run should she wake.
When the only response is a slight pause in her shallow breathing you rejoice. The best of possible outcomes, you abandon restraint and plunge all tendrils into her at the same time as your newfound ovipositor, coaxing them all into action. Your whole body pumps back and forth rhythmically at the same time your mind reaches out to hers. The egg starts coming down its channel. You finally make contact. Her mind is a haze of pain and confusion, still muddled by the lingering effects of a control spell.
With all your will you focus on a single image, an idyllic underground glade you recall from the fields of Arborea. You send it across the link just as the egg enters her, with one twist: you place its memory not in the plane of nature, but below her!
Your work done and your energy dangerously low, you retreat back to Zelari. You’re about to re-enter when you notice her human mate’s towering erection. Weak as the action has left you, you can hardly resist the massive case of morning wood. Before you can think better of it you find yourself wrapped around his manhood, twisting up and down. You tease the head with your tail, intending to goad sustenance from it as quickly as possible. Even the scent is intoxicating. That’s right, closer, closer!
Suddenly, you feel a lurch inside of you. Another egg is coming! Panic seizes you, finally shocking you out of your trance. You look back and forth, trying to find something, anything! If they find the egg now they might realize what’s happened!
The human groans, his pulse quickening as he quickly hurtles towards consciousness. Shit! You pull yourself away from his manhood even as the precum starts to flow. It looks delicious…no! You give his cock one more squeeze with your tendrils, seizing his brief relaxation to plunge your ovipositor into his ass and spurt out an egg. With a start he awakens, bringing his partner with him just as you manage to slip back inside of her.
As the tendrils connect you’re assaulted by emotions, a mix of surprise, fear, desire, and fading dreams all at the same time. There’s a moment of confusion as you feel their eyes connect, and you realize this is your only chance to salvage the situation!
But how!?
1.) Lust! They’re both aroused now, it’s only natural!
2.) Danger! A sudden and much-needed misdirection! The Necromancer!?
3.) Calm. Even just a little, to get a handle on things.
Hrm... a control spell? Did our unfortunate mandragoran run into Blue at some point?
Tempting as option 1 is... I think 3 is a better choice. We don't want the trio to spend another few hours dozing after an orgy, after all. Maybe see if we (both the black tentacle and Zelari/Cambor) can rouse Ket enough for her to "suggest" going down a floor?
2 is really our best bet here, much as I would like to vote 1 for more sexy playtime. Fear is the most prominent emotion on display, it's much easier for us to nudge it at a goal, then to try and sway it into something else. Since it's fear and not anger, I'm pretty sure we aren't risking them running off to fight the guy, and since Ket has suddenly remembered a place they may be safe that's only a short dig away, it also serves our goal of getting them to head towards the runestone as well.
Hrrrmmmm..... Three could possibly have a chance of backfiring, but so could two. One is a waste of time, when we need to find a new energy source ASAP. It's a gamble, but a more profitable gambit then calm..... So I say 2. as well.
I feel 2 has the best chance of getting us to the runestone soonest, now that we've done all we can with the hosts for the moment. I'm also willing to use the boost for it, as I've apparently earned another one since. One for now, one for the confrontation with the necromancer?
Well I'm going to go against the majority on this one, even if it is an effort in futility. 1
Trying to rush Ket into digging could end up hurting her more, and just put us behind with our 'shortcut'. Even if we wait a bit more, I still think we have time before Purple gets close. I'll also hazard a guess that some sexual energy might speed along our lil ones, and give us a must needed pick-me-up. Lust does happen to be a tentalces forte after all.
If these 2 happen to pass back out, it will give us another chance to influence Ket into heading downward. Making that path an absolute certainty.
Calm doesn't give them a motive to head for sanctuary, unfortunately. Though we could nudge that way after they've started to calm down again, not sure. Really want to vote 1, just for more sexitimes, I had already thought of the growth boost to the eggs, but I think the emotion change is a bit to drastic to pull off subtly. 2 seems like the path of least resistance to me, and it should also be the fastest to our next goal as well.
Regardless, since I'm pretty sure we're going to have some sit-there time while events sort themselves out, so I'd like to stretch our Aura Sense a bit, see what kind of updates we can get from all of the other groups in the area. Necromancer and a green-blue update I feel are most important, but Hul'jet and any of the other groups we can find by their auras would be nice as well. Also, I'd like to check the harpy's memories. If her and Cambor are so friendly, then she probably knows something about the adventurers we previously met as well, let's see what we can find out about them.
Umm.. yeah lets do this, that, the other thing, and something else entirely all in one move. Out of all of that what are you actually trying to do? At least prioritize what you want to do. Is going for the runestone more important or less important than seeing what the harpy knows?
Being you are right on the brink of disaster, messing with the harpy more is asking for nothing but trouble.
As I said, 2 is the vote, that's what we're focusing on. Assuming that works and we aren't dead, I'm *expecting* us to have a fair bit of time during the digging process. Rather than sit idle during all that time, I'm proposing something we can do to actually be proactive about something, *if* we have the time.
Looks like there will be a little more time before you get to that point though
2 – Use fear to cloud their minds!
Current Status:
Small Young Black Tentacle
Health: 40/50
Energy: 15/1500 -low energy warning-
Overlord Energy 125
Abilities: Stealth I, Infest I, Symbiosis I, Aura Sense I, Perception, Influence, Ovipositor
Status: Infesting
Host: Zelari – Harpy, great condition (unaware, symbiosis active, egged)
DATA:
Time: Dawn
Allies: Hul’jet (Floor 1 Sigil Crypt); of Zelari: Cambor “Blades” & Ket (F2 North, both egged)
Known Entities: Runestone (F3 North), Purple Spawn (F2 East), Green & Blue Spawn (F1 South?), Demonic Aura (F2 West), Adventurers (F2 Southwest), Three ?? Humanoid Males (F1 South?)
“Wha—what!”
Cambor rolls over to his blade, swiftly rising to a crouch in anticipation of attack. Zelari is quick to follow, scanning the room for anything out of place. As her gaze focuses on the human you open the floodgates and stream the panic you’re feeling full blast, raw, unadulterated fear. Your stomach lurches as she focuses even more intently on Cambor. No, no! Not him!
Not him…her! Shifting focus like a cobra turning to strike, you fill the link with images of Ket. “Ket!”
The harpy rushes over to the resting plant-girl, crouching down to examine her and yet fully ready to lash out against any real or imagined attacker. Her cold rage takes you by surprise. The sheer intensity of it is startling, a wrathful sun incinerating those beneath it. You try to focus and fail; you lack the energy reserves to reign her in!
“Is she alright?” Cambor says, “It wasn’t that damn sorceress again was it? I swear I’ll–”
“No, it’s okay. But she doesn’t look good.” the harpy says, then pauses, coming to a decision: “We have to bring her back so I can treat her!”
No! Every delay is more time the necromancer gains! You urge your host to reconsider as much as possible without revealing yourself, struggling to get control. “You sure it’s safe to move her Zel?” her partner asks. You tell her, Cam! For once you’re actually grateful to have the human with you here. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, you support him with the most disturbing images you can muster, the mandragoran bleeding out from internal trauma, wounds opened before they realize.
You can feel it working, gnawing at your host’s resolve. The fear. The guilt. Finally she accedes. “No, you’re right. Watch her. I’ll fetch my supplies and bring them back here.” The harpy gets up to leave, then says, “And Cam?”
“Yeah?”
“Watch yourself.”
“You too.” the blade mutters, clearly not happy with the situation but knowing there’s little he can do. With a swoop of her wings Zelari is off, skimming round the corner towards the first floor.
Disaster was averted, and maybe this could prove to be an opportunity. You consider that if your host is right, this is the fastest way to revive the mandragoran. And in the meantime…
Outcry from your own body interrupts your reverie. The energy! The hunger! There’s nothing stopping you now, she’s all alone! The cacophony of bound souls threatens to override your rule, a rising tide more and more difficult to stem with each crashing wave. You gird your will and resist, probing for something to hold it back. Something to latch on to, something to feed off of, anything!
What do you find?
1.) If you can occupy the voices it will be easier to hold them back. Set them to work probing the harpy’s consciousness for more information (list what if you want to know something specific)
2.) As you ascend the stairs you realize that you’ll soon pass the crypt. With but a signal it will open for you. Perhaps Hul’jet can provide temporary relief, and diverting your host shouldn’t be difficult, just a little fear of ambush along the other path…
3.) Why resist? Energy is what you need right now. Keep it to a minimum, a steady trickle of influence, and it shouldn’t harm anything.
4.) You do need energy, but it will be easier to exert your influence once your current goal is reached. It will be simple to bargain the voices into silence until you’re securely on your way back to Ket.
5.) Reaching through your link, you find Zelari’s mind tempered by iron resolve. Use it, let it flow to you through the link! Leave her in charge for now while you focus on your own problems.
So, fun story. I just spent all my spare time re-reading every post Tora has made since they introduced the necromancer (Who is clearly stated to be male, and thusly not a sorceress) and his prisoner, and not only is this latest post the first one where anything is hinted about the prisoner's abilities, this is actually the first post they have even used the word 'Sorceress' in the entire CYOA. Link me to one if i'm wrong, the closest I could find was a "Damn mages!" said by either Cambor or the Harpy when relating to Ket's wounds, which incidently were caused by a rusty sword, most likely used by one of the undead. The trio of adventurers consist of two males, and one female in full plate armour, again, likely not any sorceresses there. Or, the sorceress could be an entirely new entity, which we haven't previously encountered. Not exactly sure what you're trying to prove, your original votes were thoughtful and inventive, but you seem to have changed. Perhaps you're simply the soul of a troll we once ate. *Shrugs*
Anyways, forearmed with both this new knowledge and that re-read I mentioned, here's some theories I came up with. The necromancers prisoner is obviously a sorceress now, making her by far the most likely candidate to be hosting the Purple spawn, if it is indeed inside of either of them, and not simply following them around. I think purple made a deal with the necromancer, who gave it the woman for energy and is helping it to the runestone, in return for something, I'm not sure yet. Maybe some sort of magical boost, explaining how simple skeletons could be so powerful against what seemed like trained adventurers?
The control magic we sensed on Ket was likely the sorceress' work, trying to defend herself against the skeletons. Ket's injury likely snapped it out of her control, and she fleed while the sorceress was captured, the three other adventurers arriving too late to help in the initial fight, so they started one of their own.
Not sure how any of that helps us, yet, just throwing it out there as something to munch on collectively, see if we can squeeze out some advantage. For our current decision, my vote rests on 5, i believe. going through the options:
1: It's been suspected many times that searching the harpy's mind draws attention to us, though never confirmed. However, i don't like the idea of letting an unknown but rather large number of energy-hungry souls go romping about in there, just on the off chance that it is noticable.
2: We drained the font there with the Dark Blessing, so if theres any energy to be had, it will be A) From Hul-jet himself, or B) Convincing the Harpy to stop and read the runes, the trap making her fall victim to her own lusts. Not a very good plan, in my opinion.
3: I actually sort of like this one, but I'm not sure if we can take what we need to silence the clamour without being too noticable, or that we won't simply give in and feast, which would be bad. We're holding off for now, we should be able to maintain that until we get a less troublesome option.
4: Another likely one, but the wording of it sounds like we'd be making a deal, and if these souls are barely powerful enough to demand something from us as one entity, then our pride would likely condemn that option right there, them being lesser souls in our eyes.
5: What i think is probably our best option. Zelari seems like an incredibly willful individual, this may let us benefit from that as well as work against it. By that i mean, if we are focusing her willpower to aid us, she's using less to resist us, if that makes any sense.
! I have no problem with debate, but let's keep away from the personal attacks here.
