Mission:Glory and Dark Tidings - Chapter Three: Trojan War Tactics
Chapter Three: Trojan War Tactics
Briefing
I am at a loss for how to proceed, warrior / friend. As I study the map, I am more and more convinced that attempting to destroy these crystals is not a problem that can be solved with standard warfare.
If these things be connected, then the speed in which we take them out would be insufficient to get them all without raising alarm.
No, what this requires is a more subtle approach. Something with more finesse and less brutality. We're going to infiltrate.
- I'm up to try anything.
Good. I have already procured the necessary change of attire for you.
Head over to this section of the city and enter this point, here, while disguised. Find out what you can and report back.
Unnecessary Solicitation
Report back when you have news for me.
Mission Objective(s)
Dicaeopolis you are not, but the chorus will be none the wiser.
- Infiltrate a Shadow Crystal tunnel
- 2 clues left to uncover
- Find any useful information
- Shatter the crystal
- Defeat the Faithful
- ???
When the dust settled, you once again had more questions than answers.
Enemies
Notable NPCs
- Transport Sentry (Nictus Greater Unbound Nictus, Ally)
- Companion of Shadow (Nictus Greater Unbound Nictus, Ally)
- Umbral Sentry (Nictus Greater Unbound Nictus, Ally)
- Shadow Crystal (Object, Ally)
- Dark Praefectus 3x (Cimeroran Traitors Praefectus Castrorum, Ally)
- The Fires of Enlightenment (Nictus Dark Nova Alpha, Ally)
- Shadowy Brood Leader (Nictus Greater Unbound Nictus)
- Hector (Ravenna Conclave Hoplite of Umbra)
- Dorjan's Faithful (Nictus Dark Nova Alpha)
Characters receive a Cimeroran Disguise on entering the mission. The appearance depends on body type: an Immunes Engineer for male, a female Centurion for female, or a Praefectus Castrorum for huge. All powers, abilities, and attacks are disabled until the Fires of Enlightenment dispels the disguise during its dialogue, which immediately turns all enemies hostile and removes the disguise.
Despite not being able to read the notes carved upon the tablet, when you ran your fingers over them, strange sensations shot up your arm. In the deepest reaches of your mind, you thought you heard whispers. Shortly thereafter, you felt like you gained a limited understanding of the notes. They felt like they might be research, but you can't be sure. You took a rubbing to bring back to Valeria.
The weapons you found in the cavern seem to have been delicately and deliberately infused with dark crystals during the smithing process. While not channeling the kind of power or malice that other Nictus might, nonetheless they looked to shimmer with energy akin to the dark ones, concentrated heavily at the grip.
As you approach the Nictus monstrosity, it trembles with anticipation.
Good... good! More soldiers to defend this endpoint. Who sends you to me on this day, noble warrior?
- I was sent by General Sideris.
- The Nictus begins to vibrate with some kind of otherworldly thrumming. After a moment, you realize it might be... laughing.
- Oh, dear soldier, it has been many years since I have laughed at someone's ignorance.
- Do you take me for a fool? General Sideris has been captured by Sister Valeria. His attempts to follow in the Elders' footsteps and broker knowledge for power got the better of him, and now he rots in a jail cell instead of strengthening the alliance. News travels quicker than ever with these crystals growing into harmony. So who sent you is less important now than... who are you?
- The Nictus reaches out with a tentacle and attempts to touch you.
- Dodge being touched by the tentacle!
- Despite your best efforts, the Nictus's appendage was too wily and elusive to be able to avoid. It makes contact with you briefly, and in a second there is a brief exchange of images and sounds, and you find yourself in your original outfit!
- Ah, a puppet of Valeria! No matter, I will cut your strings and toss you aside like a spoiled child's toy.
- Well, it would appear this disguise has failed me.
- I was sent by General Geminius.
- The Nictus begins to vibrate with some kind of otherworldly thrumming. After a moment, you realize it might be... laughing.
- Oh, dear soldier, it has been many years since I have laughed at someone's ignorance.
- Do you take me for a fool? News travels quicker than ever with these crystals growing into harmony. General Geminius failed at the hands of Imperious's cohort months ago, captured while begging for forgiveness in Vespillo Pass. A brave and mighty ally he was not, and any whelp in these lands either calls his name reverently out of ignorance or out of an apalling lack of skill in subterfuge. I rescind my question of who sent you and put forth a better one... who are you?
- The Nictus reaches out with a tentacle and attempts to touch you.
- Dodge being touched by the tentacle!
- This selection loops to another branch of this conversation which is already documented.
- I was sent by Romulus himself.
- The Nictus begins to vibrate with some kind of otherworldly thrumming. After a moment, you realize it might be... laughing.
- Oh, dear soldier, it has been many years since I have laughed at someone's ignorance. And the audacity to think that I would believe you were speaking with Romulus when most do not even know where he's retreated to. You must think, as you humans like to say, that I was born yesterday. I can assure you I was born far before your mortal reckoning.
- Such wild and gutsy lies require little consideration for your wellbeing, godling. Let's see who you really are.
- The Nictus reaches out with a tentacle and attempts to touch you.
- Duck being hit with the tentacle!
- This selection loops to another branch of this conversation which is already documented.
- Nobody sent me. I seek power on my own terms.
- The Nictus begins to thrum with some kind of deep vibrations. You see the colors within his essence shift, and he turns his attention to you fully.
- Ah, dear soldier, you are either the bravest or most foolish of the conscripted. Nobody ever told you that the Path of the Dark is an invite-only affair, did they? And if so, you'd know also that your sponsor must bring you. I see no such person with you, so the question turns to... who are you?
- The Nictus reaches out with a tentacle and attempts to touch you.
- Dip away from the advancing tentacle!
- This selection loops to another branch of this conversation which is already documented.
- I sent myself here, in devotion to the Nictus!
- The Nictus begins to thrum with some kind of deep vibrations. You see the colors within his essence shift, and he turns his attention to you fully.
- Only an absolute fool would approach a being such as myself with such a jovial irreverence. Do you mock me, mortal? Or are you truly so limited in cognitive faculties that you thought strolling into a Nictus cave spouting sycophantic fanaticism would buy you into power?
- The Nictus peers at you.
- Or perhaps it's a third option... Not disrespect, not ignorance... but deception! Who do you work for, soldier? Or more interestingly, since your tunic appears to be mis-sized... who are you, and whose clothes are you trying to wear?
- The Nictus reaches out with a tentacle and attempts to touch you.
- Dive away from the incoming tentacle!
- This selection loops to another branch of this conversation which is already documented.
You came face to... face? With an oversized Nictus nova calling itself the Fires of Enlightenment. In its death throes, you were given a brief glimpse of the end of your journey with Valeria, successful in your task and being awarded accolades for your efforts. But as the vision fades, it suddenly fades back in to a new scene, looking down at ancient Europe and showing tendrils of corruption growing from the future sites of Barcelona, Prague, Stockholm, Constantinople, Berlin... and a focused dot of pure black in Italy that seems out of place.
One Nictus was overheard speaking about the homeland being secure. But what was the homeland? Kheldia? Earth? Or something else?
Ambush! Reducing the Shadow Crystal to 75% health triggers an ambush by one wave of Nictus, including the Shadowy Brood Leader.
- Shadowy Brood Leader: They found another!
- Shadowy Brood Leader: Kill them all!
Ambush! Reducing the Shadow Crystal to 50% health triggers an ambush by one wave of Nictus, as well as Hector.
- Hector: You cannot stop us, only delay us!
- Hector: No prisoners!
Ambush! Reducing the Shadow Crystal to 25% health triggers an ambush by one wave of Nictus, including Dorjan's Faithful.
- Dorjan's Faithful: The homeland is secure. Your efforts matter little to us now.
- Dorjan's Faithful: Dorjan will devour your very essence!
Dorjan's name was thrown around aggressively as the person who would rip your essence asunder and consume it in a vicious, feral fashion. Whomever or whatever he is, he's commanding enough reputation to be thrown around by his subordinates as the end-all be-all of pain and suffering, so he's got to be further up the chain of command.
Debriefing
I am greatly concerned by these Dark Ones taking up names. The Fires of Enlightenment, that creature certainly was not!
Whatever it is, or they are, they are ancient, and cunning, but still underestimating our tenacity. What truly gives me pause is the one name I hoped never to hear again, let alone have to speak it in good company.
Valeria spits as she utters the name.
Dorjan. The vile tempter who coaxed Romulus into the caves to seek out power many years ago. He who allowed him to drink from the well of evil and become a man obsessed with deposing Imperious as Emperor. He... who will not be easy to find. We need to hunt down someone with knowledge.
Return to me after you have rested. I will arrange new plans.