>>5671020You regard this rival male cautiously. He is young, you would wager, though still older than you. He has the aristocratic flat face and long neck of a well-bred Serpent priest, with hanging and barbed wattle aflame with colour. His eyes gleam not yellow, but gold. His brow is heavy with ridges, almost Draconic in dignity. To your surprise, he carries a weapon as well—a sacred khopesh sickle-knife, purplish in hue and iridescent with enchantment to your mystical senses. His robes are simple, by Priestly standards: black, lightly-embroidered, tight-fitting so as not to interfere in his movements. His hood’s interior bears the silver-and-black filigree of the Authority Ancient and Absolute—a servant of the deity called Lawgiver and Persecutor of the Weak, creator and maintainer of so many traditions you have spurned. He comes accompanied by many might Steeltalon warriors, and what are unmistakably (yet deniably) Silkscale assassins and spies, and several junior Serpent priest scribes and cowed, dead-eyed Degenerate slaves—a contingent enough to quickly triple the population of the Master Race in Bloodrise.
This male is an executioner’s blade, hovering over your neck, awaiting permission to fall. You sense it instantly, as surely as if you <Danger Sense> were actively declaring your imminent endangerment.
“Yes,” you say, “I am.”
The Appointed Successor bows his hea,d just enough to show respect with nary an ounce of deference.
“I look forward to traveling with you,” he says, “and to seeing what you have made of my new realm.”
The gall! You silently seethe as you gather your own contingent—Kobold Acolyte, Junio Novice, Lightning Elemental, Archer, Hawksong Princess, and Novice Fleshweaver. Your forces are a mxi of those undeniably stronger than the Successor’s more numerous coterie, and those all-to-vulnerable to him in the event of a conflict.
How shall your journey to Bloodrise proceed?
>Maintain distance from this Serpent Priest, and instruct your minions and mates to do likewise>Look for an opportunity to strike—you must eliminate this contingent of usurpers before you arrive>Attempt to build a rapport with the Successor—gauge his personality, his ability, and perhaps you can find grounds for an alliance or at least gather vital intelligence>Lead him into danger along the way—you well know the routes to and from Bloodrise by now, and can think of several means to engineer his possible demise enroute>Seek common ground with his subordinates and slaves—perhaps you can present a compelling alternative vision or the New World Order to the disaffected among them and turn his own forces against him>Write-in 