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He should have fallen on his sword. That would have been the sensible thing to do.
Punched his ticket for Elysium right away, no waiting around.
He thought they'd only kill him.
Why did he think that? How stupid was he? Why in the world did he think that?
And now instead of his next great adventure he's flubbed a save against dominate person.
Message.
"By the way, I found out earlier that the antimagic field suppressed my cognitive enhancement in all its respects. This seemed to me like something you'd want to know."
Our mutual friends thought to think about the future, and that's the last thing I heard. I've been tasked with plotting a methodical approach to the sundry loose ends, so they can swoop in and apply their ideas. They have a list, it reads:
1 - Arkonas
2 - turtle
3 - power struggle
4 - they seemingly left this one blank on accident
5 - do something about the shadows
6 - phase door
7 - buy equipment
8 - talk with you
Cressida Kroft is wondering whether the benefits of making an institution out of low-context people randomly jumping into messes to take charge would outweigh the costs.
That isn't the list that she'd have made, but - she hadn't made a list at all.
It's clear in retrospect that she was being reactive, not proactive.
"Add 'talk to the Vault about praying to aligned gods.' Seems wise to give Them as much time and space to maneuver as we can manage."
I think the sensible order is to first defuse the standoff with the Arkonas and Ornelos's faction; I don't actually care about getting a resolution there today but we need for no one to feel like they've been backed into a corner with no choice but to fight.
...Can we get them to all take voluntary suggestions to let the matter lie and not maneuver against each other until tomorrow?
I don't think we have the suggestion capacity to get everyone, but that's a good out-of-the-box idea.
You have more ranks in the social skills and a circumstance bonus for actually having rank: can I press-gang you as the party face?
She will take a moment to center herself and think about what she wants to say.
...It turns out that there's rather a lot of it.
KORVOSA.
I would like to speak a few words.
I'm sure you've noticed that the door to the Vault has been blocked. Look at it! That stone stands between you and certain death. Between you and shadows unbound by the deaths of their of binders.
You were saved by brave Herenzia Cossus, who stood between you and esurient night. When the mansion was suppressed, Herenzia, stationed as a bulwark between you and your eternal doom, noticed the commotion and, knowing the catastrophe it might portend, barred their path within that very moment. Even after, uncertain that her spell would be enough, she stood ready to bind the first shadow to slip past - to bind it, or to be its first victim!
Herenzia is a hero of the city, and it's my strong recommendation that Queen Ileosa award her all due honors. Let's show our gratitude with a round of applause.
An hour ago, there was a committee formed to discuss the dangers arrayed against us. Here are some of the things we did in there!
We realized that the shadows are going to consume most of the souls in Chelish Varisia tonight and tomorrow.
We floated several ideas for sheltering the people or combating the shadows, and came to no resolution.
We found a way to get in and out of the Vault, even now with the door blocked, without teleportation, using a spell called phase door, which can bar access to undead.
We were honored by divine intervention. I was blessed with a holy vision from Otolmens, the Primordial Inevitable tasked with preventing the end of the world.
Otolmens chose me as Her priest, and I will do everything I can to prove worthy of it.
...And, in that committee, we brawled, to our deaths, and to the deaths of innocent bystanders.
This brawl of ours could easily have killed everyone in the Vault, if we'd slain the wrong wizard without raising a commotion to alert Herenzia Cossus.
And the destruction of this Vault would in likelihood doom all of Chellish Varisia.
I would like Melyia Arkona's oath, under truthspell, that she will bring no harm to anyone in this Vault, unless she is first attacked, and that she will not provoke such an attack, until such a time as I release her from this promise, and to willingly accept a suggestion to that effect.
She can't swear not to defend Glorio Arkona, who is her lord, if it comes up.
That'd be against other oaths she's sworn, and she's Lawful.
Melyia can bring harm to people who attack Glorio Arkona, same conditions about not provoking it.
She can give that promise.
Melyia can cast the suggestion on herself, and would prefer to, but understands if that's not considered acceptable.
Cressida Kroft considers this problem resolved. If you don't consider this problem resolved, you should bring your worries to your Vault Officer.
If Toff doesn't consider this problem resolved, he should bring his worries directly to Qualins Rachmirol, although he's of course also free to talk to anyone else including Cressida Kroft, who will do everything within her limited power as a Watch Sergeant of the Korvosan Guard to help him.
...Ileosa would have said that Toff Ornelos should find a Vault Group to join, instead of implicitly giving him the status of a Vault Captain, but it seems like a bad idea to contradict the Watch Sergeant.
Otolmens is the LN goddess of preventing the destruction of the world. Otolmens deserves universal acclaim and accolades for the tireless work She's done in obscurity; Cressida didn't even know Her name before receiving the holy vision.
How many quiet gods watch us with bated breath? Korvosa has not been abandoned.
It is a cornerstone of Kroft's system of ethics that when someone puts their trust in you, you must live up to their expectations.
There are gods going to bat for the people of Korvosa. She suspects, from her vision, that this very Vault could be the foundation on which is built the world's salvation.
So pray. Pray for guidance, and strength, and for the ability to detect evil or channel energy. The situation is changed, and clearly at least one god is choosing clerics when they didn't before. Even if you've always thought yourself unworthy, or not that kind of person, it's for the gods to decide how to spend their resources.
And Kroft can talk about Otolmens to people who are interested in learning,
Wait, really? But Otolmens is kind of a weird and obscure
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