Intermission 9 Page 6
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“You want to join us?”
“This must seem very sudden to you. For me, it’s the culmination of decades of work.”
“You see, Ricki, I believe that what you’re doing… that what you’re CAPABLE of doing… is of critical importance.”
“For the Empire. For the world.”
“I pointed you to this estate not only to test you, but also to provide you with the headquarters you would need to sustain your operation.”
“And now I want to provide you with my own expertise in battle.”
“If you doubt my motives, or question my methods, I propose that you test me in turn.”
“By all means!”
“Take me with you the next time you venture into a dungeon.”
“You’ll see what I’m capable of, and hopefully my good intentions will become clear.”
“So… what do you say?”
New friend!
I’m just gonna say, that capability doesn’t equal good intentions. But on the other hand, if this guy does have bad intentions maybe we can just friendship them out of him.
But do we get the worg too?
Hrm, I wonder what the “trigger” for this was? Would this have happened after a certain number of dungeons? After we recruited enough “other” characters? Was there some other prerequisite (e.g. a certain skill – or skill combo – Ricki had to pick)?
And while capable at e.g. fighting and whatnot does not equal good intentions, it can be a certain indicator to some extent. (If the person in question would have the skills to easily kill you but doesn’t, that probably means he doesn’t -want- to kill you. For NOW. Then again a lot of malevolent characters have one trait in common with a cat and enjoy playing with their prey….)
Much like Amadeusz’s first contact, I expect the trigger was having only one dungeon left in the area. In Goblintown we had the option of the Church or Warrens, then after one we heard about the Vault, then after another we could pick the Manor. Here, we had the Farm, Crypt, and Well, then on clearing one we heard about the Caravan, and then we could clear two more before being down to one choice.
“If you don’t trust me, take me in place of one of your trusted companions to a life-threatening area where we must trust each other with our lives!”
Take him with kamau and lara, our 2 scariest people, so he doesnt try anything funny!
Alright, if it’s a test you want – what is the capital of Mesopotamia?!
Akkad?
I would recommend that everyone who wants to know lots more about this guy read Clan Fourem: Arena Slaves, available on LSN’s ko-fi page.
Here’s the thing.
Ricki, as far as she’s aware, is a regular goblin that just so happens to have Dungeon Eyes. And this individual took an interest to us early on, like after we had done just three dungeons. Yet he claims that for him, this is the culmination of “decades of work.” What does he mean by this?
We don’t have to treat him as though he has bad intentions, but he should be prepared for us to ask a lot of questions. And if he’s too secretive then he should know it makes sense not to trust him.
Questions to ask:
-What is it about our particular party that you feel stands out or is of critical importance?
-How long have you known about us and when/how have you been watching us?
-Was the estate a dungeon that was handcrafted especially for us? How? How was it explicitly designed so that we had to complete it? Are you literally making dungeons?
-Try to figure out if he knows about Dungeon Eyes without revealing to him we have it. If it’s clear he does know, ask him if he knows anything else about it.
-What sort of work are you doing that took decades? Are you implying that we are the culmination of this work? What do you mean by that?
-What do you know about the Empire? What are their goals, particularly their goals with us?
Granted, our other party members have their own secrets and we chose to trust them so I don’t see why we have to pull double standards on this guy, particularly seeing as he appears to be some sort of benefactor. It’s just that he’s got information that’s relevant to us and he came to us willingly.
What sets him apart is that most of our party members were aimless people with nowhere to go and who came to be a part of this growing family for their own protection. This guy wields some sort of power and control over us, since he’s tested us and spied on us. It’s a very different dynamic. We can accept, but we have to let him know we’re understandably wary of him for this very reason.
Ricki knows she’s more special than just a regular goblin with dungeoneyes because of Kamau’s backstory that he gave her last intermission. The fact that the Emperor was hunting for someone just like her means she doesn’t have just a random ability – that ability itself is exceedingly special.
Possibly already D1T31:
Agreed that this was her mysterious benefactor.
The key takeaway here is that, while other party members have their secrets, this guy is coming to us with power and control over us. He tested us. He spied on us. Lara, for instance, may have been an untrustworthy arachnomancer when we first met her, but she approached us as an equal and we requested her help. She had no ulterior motives with us. She was just kind of wandering with no place to call home when we found her.
It’s not that he’s mysterious that makes us skeptical. If that were the case we wouldn’t have been so quick to accept most of the people we have into our merry little gang. It’s more that the nature of the mystery surrounding him is directly tied to fully developed motives he already has with us. So we have to hold him to a higher standard of transparency if he wants to join. I think that’s fair. I’m not opposed to the idea of him joining, but he has to meet this criteria first.
Ask if we also get the worg on the team and if it’s yes, he’s in.
For the Empire. Dangerous choice of words there.
This is, however, different than “For the Emperor”. A God-Emperor is a solid foundation for an Empire, but the problem with dictatorships is that the system tends to crumble if anything happens to the dictator. The Emperor is desperate, and while He’s a God by most reasonable definitions, He might very well be mortal as well. The Empire may need to move beyond the Emperor in order to survive, especially if the world is also at stake – perhaps the Emperor can’t manage the world by Himself, and all the other Gods need to take part if we want to keep having a world for the Empire to rule.
It’s a trap!
I5P16:
Lohk: “Ricki, you came here at the direction of a person you’ve never met or even seen, who apparently already knows about YOU, and who is offering you the exact thing that you need as long as you do what they say.”
Ricki: “Well sure, you can make anything sound bad if you phrase it like that!”