Ambrosia Software Web Board: DnDing Cythera - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Thanks so much 453. My next question then is why are there earthquakes happening in the first place? They mentioned that they've been happening more frequently but is there more to it?

It's strange to think Comona sent a spy to LKH, at least on orders from the Undine considering that Omen is already there, intercepts the hero and seems to know much of what's already going on. Maybe the house was operating separately from the Undine? Maybe they were just covering their bases, or maybe there's more to see than just the hero arriving. He was also armed with Kesh, maybe an assassination attempt if he's protected from magic?

Hmmmm....

Maybe he was studying Alaric's daily routine so Pelagon could do an convincing impersonation in the bad ending. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

LKH also has connections to the Seldane (given Ayrit is underneath it as well as Magpie's presence), which might be worth considering, although I feel like it's far more likely that the guy was spying on Alaric. I have no idea why, but infiltrating the home of a powerful dude you plan on assassinating doesn't sound like the worst idea.

I don't think Ayrit is directly under LKH, I think it's closer to the Headwater Ruins, but I agree that LKH has connections to the Seldane. After all, it's an abandoned Seldane city, isn't it? (Or is it a temple? I don't know what the Seldane would worship. Chimera?)

The earthquake prompt ("There have always been minor tremors here, but as time goes on, they become more and more common.") is unique to LKH, so I don't think the quakes affect much of the rest of the island. I'm guessing LKH was structured with Seldane magic, which Alaric is no longer able to maintain.

It does seem like a spy would be unnecessary, with Omen around :\ Buzzy's explanations are better than anything I can think of.

I hadn't thought of kesh protecting one from magic beyond the sooth spells that Sacas mentioned. That's a really interesting idea, and would make kesh pretty powerful stuff. Am I just really dumb, to have never thought of this before? After all, the kesh crystals in the TSes blocked all magic. It's really too bad you can't actually drink kesh in the game, and test it out! But, if kesh protects the user from all magic, why do the kesh-addicted ruffians in the encampment have to use odd helmets to raid the harpy cave? Also, I know it's possible to use magic against Eudoxus and his cronies when rescuing Ariadne, and I'd expect that, like Antiphus, they would have consumed kesh. Or perhaps Antiphus only chugged some when he was captured?

This post has been edited by BreadWorldMercy453: 08 July 2018 - 11:26 AM

Yeah, Ayrit is definitely south of LKH. I was probably thinking of the hole in LKH that leads there. I also remembered LKH as an abandoned Seldane city, but I couldn't figure out where I got that impression at first. Then I found this Pelagon quote: "LandKing Hall was once a place of power for the Seldane, until we drove them from it, and others." So yeah, definitely a Seldane site of some sort.

BreadWorldMercy453, on 08 July 2018 - 11:23 AM, said:

I like this theory. My first impression was that it was Alaric's "bond to the land" or whatever breaking down, and then later I assumed it was Seldane-related because earthquakes are earthy and so are Seldane. Your explanation is sort of both, but makes more sense.

I always assumed that kesh and odd helmets were both made from harpy eggs since they're found in the same room and look similar, but now I'm not entirely sure. Maybe the odd helmets were just in the grotto as sort of a hazmat suit when dealing with harpy eggs/kesh? In which case, what is the "altering the magic flux of a person" effect of kesh that Palaestra describes?

It never occurred to me that odd helmets might be made from harpy eggs. I've just looked at the images of both and they do look extremely similar O_O And thinking about their functions - they both protect you from magic - this seems to make perfect sense! Dude. It's such an exciting feeling when I learn something new about Cythera ^_^ Thanks Buzzy!

I don't have an answer as to how kesh works and what exactly it does. I definitely remember killing Eudoxus with Death Strike and killing numerous ruffians at the encampment with Fireball, and I feel like all of them would have kesh in their systems. I don't know.

So what I'll add to my campaign is that the quakes are caused by Alarics deteorating connection to the land + Pelagon's attempts to drive the people from LKH. Pelagon is causing the Earthquakes (somehow though it is actually a spell) to constantly test the Land King/scare his followers into abandoning him. I'm going to assume that word got around that Alaric was reaching into the void to summon someone, since most people aren't very surprised in seeing the hero. Pelagon hearing of Alaric's plan, gets a stroke of inspiration and decides that this situation could be used to his advantage if he can turn the hero into his puppet. House Comona also hears of Alaric's plan and becomes scared of what might happen to them. Comona sends an assassin to LKH to try and kill the hero that will arrive. They do this without consent from Pelagon, thinking it would please him. After a successful meeting with the hero however, Omen discovers the assassin in the secret passage way and LKH shudders with another earthquake (via Pelagon), killing the assassin before he can attack the hero in the training room.

Nice job tying up the loose ends! Maybe when you're done, we'll end up using the DnD campaign as canon for our stories Earthquakes aren't something I would have expected a water elemental to be good at, but hey, why not?

BreadWorldMercy453, on 19 July 2018 - 11:54 AM, said:

Yeah the existence of Earthquakes is a bit odd but they are a spell, and I assume all races can use all spells? Or maybe only humans can use all spells because they are the 5th element?

I feel like there must be a cause for them, and it's too perfect that one kills the ruffian spy so it feels right for it to be caused by Pelagon. Maybe whatever Pelagon is doing to the remaining Seldane is what causes the quakes--not using water directly or whatever his magic is based in.

Liches can cast spells, including the tremor spell (which doesn't actually do anything), and I don't know if they count as "human." I've just checked to see if I could provoke any Undine characters into using magic against me, but Pelagon refuses to attack me at all, and Joppa just kinda swats at me incompetently. So I guess I don't know for sure whether Undine can use spells?

Edit: Just checked Magpie, since he's half-Undine. It was kinda weird. He used deathstrike and killed me, but I popped right back since I was wearing the Amulet and Magpie was in the triangle room, and I attacked him again. He used some other spell, not sure what, then he started saying "I'm too weak" in a speech bubble and didn't cast any more spells o_O He still attacked me physically and, after a few tries, killed me again. I guess Magpie can run out of mana? I've never seen a character say "I'm too weak" before.

Edit 2: Oh my turtle, Alaric does the same thing! :o He definitely used tremor before he ran out of mana though. I don't suppose that proves anything, since he's half-human. But did he ever, you know, study magic like humans do?

Edit 3: I got Sacas say she's too weak too, but now I'm unable to replicate it with anyone (mage, Alaric, Magpie). Not sure what the deal is.

But I really like the explanation that House Comana sent an assassin to kill Bellerophon, and Omen killed the assassin ^_^

This post has been edited by BreadWorldMercy453: 20 July 2018 - 03:50 PM

Anyone think they could get me a screen grab of the map item from inside the game? Or even the actual sprite. Not of the item within the world, not omen's map or what's already on the map.

I'm looking for the hand drawn world map that the player finds. I think it would be cool to print it out and give it to the players of my campaign.

I'll try? I don't know if it's printable quality. I also apparently don't know how to upload images to my post, so I'll post a dropbox link instead.

A much prettier Cythera map, but lacking the old-school hand-drawn look, is the map that Kat made for Dark Mirror.

I also like the look of the old, drawn game map. There's a b&w version on page 7 of the recent soundtrack liner notes which I had tried to make look more like a sketch. It didn't really come out any different than a de-saturated version of the original though.

How's the DnD campaign coming along? It's a really good idea. If the team stories are anything to go by, Cythera's scenario opens up stories in all kinds of directions.

Oh yes Nezmy, you need to download the music! You could play it in the background during your campaigns :D

Wizzy- Dude, I never actually looked at the liner notes O_O I guess I was too excited to listen to the music and forgot.. But it's so beautiful! I love how you made it with all those Cythera backgrounds and artwork! I have no idea how you did all that, but it's awesome!