Super Squirrel
Nov 27th, '06, 09:05 AM
Last night our party got owned by a Bait and Switch tactic. I've seen bait and switch tactics used before but never like this. So, I'll share my story and I want to hear your bait and switch stories.
Disclaimer:
To fully appreciate this story, you really need to look up information on Alice's Via campaign. There is far too much about the world to explain. I'll do my best.
Background:
The first hero was Aviliel. He is heralded as having defeated the first evil wizard, Percilwin. All future heroes are descendants of the first hero with the exception of the current batch of heroes (aka us). We know now that Percilwin is alive somehow. He had been defeated but due to circumstances around his death, he was able to continue living. He is the leader behind an organization known as Order of the Wish. As souls don't die in Via, Percilwin plans on taking whatever it is behind Aviliel's soul that made him so powerful and a hero. Or something like that.
Seraphim are the divine entities that guard the heavenly realm and enforce blasphemy against the church. Seraphim are born by divine copulation with a mortal. The child born is as normal. However, when the child dies (be it old age or killed as a child) they replace an existing seraphim. When a seraphim is retired (either forced out by replacement or by choice), they appear in the place they were when they died as a mortal.
Rosehollow is a town that was destroyed 500 years ago. We heard that there was a hint in how to defeat or stop Angelique, a seraphim that is extremely powerful and almost completely nuts. We are on our way to investigate and find a clue.
The Story:
We reach Rosehollow and see destroyed buildings. As we approach the well that was the only thing that was left intact, we notice a young boy sitting on the edge of the well. His name is Al and he has been there for 5 weeks. He has no memory of who he was or how he got there. We learn a little later he was a Seraphim who has reached the end of his span as a Seraphim. We take him with us as we journey south to the middle of nowhere so that we can hide out for a couple of months.
Along the way, we encounter an Order of the Wish group. Their are five people and they are transporting a captive old man. Through some genius tactics, I infiltrate the group and get them to trust me. In the night, we overpower them and strip them of their gear. We decide to pretend to be the members of Order of the Wish and penetrate the fort. Using my disguise spell, we take in an NPC, Araldon, looking like the old man. We discover that we are required to head back out and do another loop until "the heroes discover them".
We plead to stay the night before heading back out. Then in the morning we get our disguised prisoner and head back out. Araldon informs us of the treatment he received and it does appear that the old man is legitimate. We offer to take the old man back to his home where he had been kidnapped from. He agrees.
The day before we reach his home, the old man steps out into the woods. Lina follows him and notices him cast divination spell. I use my Truth spell and ask him a series of questions. The questions come out as casual conversation about his job as a instrument maker. He does make instruments and enjoyes making the lute. But, he is lying about being a specialist in making silver and gold flutes. There are some other lies too. Finally, I ask him a blunt question. I ask him how long he has worked for Order of the Wish. He tells me, truthfully, he does not work for them. He snaps his fingers and both he and Al vanish.
Lina and I are sitting there trying to figure out what happened. If he isn't Order of the Wish who is he? Why did he take the boy? And so on. I have a way of contacting, telepathically a Seraphim. I use this contact reluctantly but this is an exception. I get some very bad news. Al was the seraphim Aviliel. This is, of course, bad. But it doesn't tell us who the old man was. While Lina and I think it over, Rastal states what we both missed.
"What if the Old Man was Percilwin?"
We had the head of Order of the Wish in our group, unarmed. And we were totally and completely owned by him. The only good news from all of this is that Percilwin had left traps to kill one of us and demoralize us as a group. We were able to save him in time, but also successfully convince Order of the Wish they killed him. But it only makes the bitter defeat taste a little less foul.
Disclaimer:
To fully appreciate this story, you really need to look up information on Alice's Via campaign. There is far too much about the world to explain. I'll do my best.
Background:
The first hero was Aviliel. He is heralded as having defeated the first evil wizard, Percilwin. All future heroes are descendants of the first hero with the exception of the current batch of heroes (aka us). We know now that Percilwin is alive somehow. He had been defeated but due to circumstances around his death, he was able to continue living. He is the leader behind an organization known as Order of the Wish. As souls don't die in Via, Percilwin plans on taking whatever it is behind Aviliel's soul that made him so powerful and a hero. Or something like that.
Seraphim are the divine entities that guard the heavenly realm and enforce blasphemy against the church. Seraphim are born by divine copulation with a mortal. The child born is as normal. However, when the child dies (be it old age or killed as a child) they replace an existing seraphim. When a seraphim is retired (either forced out by replacement or by choice), they appear in the place they were when they died as a mortal.
Rosehollow is a town that was destroyed 500 years ago. We heard that there was a hint in how to defeat or stop Angelique, a seraphim that is extremely powerful and almost completely nuts. We are on our way to investigate and find a clue.
The Story:
We reach Rosehollow and see destroyed buildings. As we approach the well that was the only thing that was left intact, we notice a young boy sitting on the edge of the well. His name is Al and he has been there for 5 weeks. He has no memory of who he was or how he got there. We learn a little later he was a Seraphim who has reached the end of his span as a Seraphim. We take him with us as we journey south to the middle of nowhere so that we can hide out for a couple of months.
Along the way, we encounter an Order of the Wish group. Their are five people and they are transporting a captive old man. Through some genius tactics, I infiltrate the group and get them to trust me. In the night, we overpower them and strip them of their gear. We decide to pretend to be the members of Order of the Wish and penetrate the fort. Using my disguise spell, we take in an NPC, Araldon, looking like the old man. We discover that we are required to head back out and do another loop until "the heroes discover them".
We plead to stay the night before heading back out. Then in the morning we get our disguised prisoner and head back out. Araldon informs us of the treatment he received and it does appear that the old man is legitimate. We offer to take the old man back to his home where he had been kidnapped from. He agrees.
The day before we reach his home, the old man steps out into the woods. Lina follows him and notices him cast divination spell. I use my Truth spell and ask him a series of questions. The questions come out as casual conversation about his job as a instrument maker. He does make instruments and enjoyes making the lute. But, he is lying about being a specialist in making silver and gold flutes. There are some other lies too. Finally, I ask him a blunt question. I ask him how long he has worked for Order of the Wish. He tells me, truthfully, he does not work for them. He snaps his fingers and both he and Al vanish.
Lina and I are sitting there trying to figure out what happened. If he isn't Order of the Wish who is he? Why did he take the boy? And so on. I have a way of contacting, telepathically a Seraphim. I use this contact reluctantly but this is an exception. I get some very bad news. Al was the seraphim Aviliel. This is, of course, bad. But it doesn't tell us who the old man was. While Lina and I think it over, Rastal states what we both missed.
"What if the Old Man was Percilwin?"
We had the head of Order of the Wish in our group, unarmed. And we were totally and completely owned by him. The only good news from all of this is that Percilwin had left traps to kill one of us and demoralize us as a group. We were able to save him in time, but also successfully convince Order of the Wish they killed him. But it only makes the bitter defeat taste a little less foul.