Project Moonlight
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Notice for Marshal Saga Drakebane for consideration and advice as she deems appropriate.
@Prof-Misclick
This is a project I am putting together in light of recent information gathered on the mechanisms of how new thralls are brought into the Witch’s fold. I seek to weaponize this information against our adversary and protect the Redwood. It starts with the idea that a magical link exists between the White Witch and the Horde, the goal of this project is to find a way to break that link.
If we’re successful and we can scale up this effort to physical warding, it render Arabel’s holdings immune to coordinated attack by the Horde. If we’re not fully successful, then we still learn something about how the magic works and can work further on how to break these connections.
Proof of Concept
My proof of concept is to bring a team out to the Hullack, have a sneak creep up to an orc that is part of the black horde and take a bit of their hair. Then using a scrying spell or some other form of magical work, figure out the connection to this creature. If successful, we pass the information of this connection on to Sara, a natural casting abjurer who is all about nullifying magic.
Retainer Rismente Waldon of House Misrim will be coordinating with Sara and forming the magical backbone of this experiment, I will be coordinating and leading the tactical element. We will need security for them as they work and, above all, we must work to remain undetected during the operation.
Possible Outcomes
Acceptable:
- The orc simply dies as the kobold did.
- The magic is broken, the orc wanders around in a daze and perhaps is disoriented by what happened. Magic connection is weakened.
Not Acceptable:
- Sara is taken over by this power.
- Anyone in the team is killed.
- Nothing happens.
Concerns
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We play our hand too early and the White Witch learns of our attempt before we can turn it into a useful tool.
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We cannot scale it up.
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Someone is hurt, possessed or thralled by the White Witch.
Future Plans
If successful in breaking the connection, and we can turn this into a ward (which we would then test), we can use these wards to protect the Redwood- we would still be dealing with a large number of orcs, but if they were stalled and dazed when crossing the wards, or killed outright, we would have surprised our adversary and gained a massive strategic advantage over the Black Tribe. Then we can work up from there.
I welcome any inputs on this matter, the Retainer is leading the magical efforts but I can pass along any insights or ideas you may have to him. Tactical considerations and volunteers for the team will, of course, be welcomed.
-Aspirant Keline Hallenthen
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I support this plan. Just tell me what you need me to do!
Osco -
This post is deleted! -
Osco,
This is my revised plan, would you mind coordinating with Kaldo and maybe getting that part of it rolling? I’ll work on building us a tactical team to support the operation, and Waldon and company are ready to go as it is, we’re mostly set; we just need a target.
-Keline
Update and Adendum
In light of new information Outlined Here that suggests the enthralled members of the White Horde are not permanently and continuiously influenced, but have to have their enthrallment refreshed by an agent of the horde (from a sample size of one, gnolls seem to be the one doing the refreshing).
We have reports of kobolds breaking free from (lapsed?) enthrallment and attempting to kill the creatures that did it too them when they returned to refresh the magic, thus I think we can draw new plans and enact them quite rapidly.
The core concept of the project was to figure out what kind of magic was being used, how we can break it, and how we can use that knowledge to create wards to protect our assets and vital allies, that hasn’t changed.
New conditions make our task much simpler, here’s what I have planned:
Knolwedge Test
Using the white feather totems as our guides, we find an isolated tribe of enthralled creatures. And then we do it again with another tribe. If this proves successful and repeatable we will have more certainty on our supposition on the nature of these totems.
Actual Plan
If we find an isolated camp, we take a team out to the site consisting primarily of Retainer Waldon, Sara, and a Bedine woman named Ajaihyn and a group of fighters (how they fight isn’t important).
We assault the camp with our weapons wrapped in cloth- our mission is to subdue them so that the magic team can spend time focusing on learning about the enchantments placed upon them and begin formulating a response on how to break it.
During this time, the men at arms will keep perimeter security and an eye for Horde support. After the magic team is done, they will slay the remaining horde with the use of animal summons if the enemy host is weak (kobolds and the like) or blade and hammer if strong (Orcs and bigger). This is to cover our tracks, under the assumption that our meddling cannot be detected on a corpse. To the Witches’ Agents who come to refresh the enchantments, it will seem that they were killed by the envrionment and not deliberately.
If our team is overwhelmed we will retreat, slaying the subdued creatures once more to cover our intent. If the enthralled prove too much for us, we will also withdraw and seek out a more isolated camp. We’re not trying to win a battle of attirtion, this is information gathering only, there is no glory to be had in fighting an overwhelming number for this.
People
Kaldo has volunteered to conduct the scouting operations to find these camps, I have not had time to sit down with him and discuss our suppositions and ideas, but he is enthusiastic and motivated. I trust him, having worked and spoken with him on numerous occasions. I would have no reservations showing him our plans and designs. He is also not involved in Delilah’s work with the Black Tribe, so he is probably our best best to finding these camps.
As mentioned previously, Waldon, Ajaihyn and Sara are going to be primarily responsible for conducting the magical investigation- Sara’s ability with natural spell breaking is less studied than a wizard, but has raw power on its side that may be enough to work the magic out and disrupt it.
Long Term Considerations
Something thatt has been on my mind since the first interaction in Hillmarch is that of unlikely allies-- if we can turn these enthralled creatures against the Horde, we might stand to gain a powerful and innumerable ally which we could utilize to conduct feints and disruptive events while our primary forces act upon the Witch herself. This may be unsightly on its surface, but consider what these creatures have been put through by this Witch and the staff. They may be amenable to our cause- or at the very least- unwilling to harass us if we can break the magic.
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I'll join Kaldo and the others and use my talents to help discover whatever information there is to find.
Osco -
Perfect.
Just let us know where the camp is and we'll make ready.
Thank you.
-Keline
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I’ve discovered a very modest encampment near the Redwood/Helmlands border, it bears the totem we’ve come to expect and numerous sightings of kobolds, goblins and the occasional orc occur in the area.
I asked Kaldo to look into it, but it turns out he is a terrible sneak and got stung by wyverns in the area. We need to pick up some momentum, however, so I will be assembling a tactical team to begin carrying out this plan once I speak with our magical allies.
-Keline
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Moved from Plot Faction: Council of Twelve Peers by S Swifty Willownall
