Community

I realize that I can now explain what was going on at Bormophan (purely in a metagame way):

Sim Taylor was the 'hooded' woman. She cast the Silent Image of the 'arrow' shot at the Kingpriest.
Isarn was the 'gully dwarf'
Brack was Brack
Taylor was the 'drunk' (so her host wouldn't remember the event), she cast the Veil

Thyanel and Regis were absent (defected from the group)
The thief girl was an illusion (with the 'theft' of the coin being faked in order to provide a quick distraction) -> Major Image cast and concentrated on by Taylor until she was ready to Veil you.

I think Taylor already explained the drunk part, the Veil part, and the thief coin illusion.

'Watch the rooftops' said by Sim Taylor was a reference to a backup programmed image which was a bunch of elves on rooftops. It didn't come up but was a backup on Taylor's part in case the PCs didn't flee early enough. It would reinforce the idea of hostile elves while ensuring the party got away as the Scata dealt with the new elves. It was later referenced at the inn when Taylor left her Sim to escape by herself by playing off humanity's lack of understanding of elves.

I hadn't intended on revealing Sim Taylor's existence for a while yet, but somebody's nosy cat found out ...
None of the other NPCs have mentioned the Sim because her existence is kept secret even from them. She wasn't brought back in time (otherwise they'd know) and was created by Taylor in this timeline.

She has a reputation "You can't catch Taylor Leighton". Her simulacrum has a lot to do with that. A simulacrum of someone else would be only situationally useful, but a simulacrum of herself is infinitely useful. It's only half her level but adds a lot to her ability to confuse/deceive!

Again metagame, but the Simulacrum's whiny personality comes from thinking about what Taylor would be like if she were suddenly under control of another Taylor. Completely loyal (as all simulacra must be) but endlessly whiny. Plus they have to share clothes to keep up the deception.

I hinted at previous Simulacrums. In my notes I have basic info on the previous ones. The most recent one (from her timeline) helped her channel the power of the destroyed Tower of Daltigoth into powering time travel. That one had to bond with the Tower for a year due to it being in ruins. That started right after the Godpriest's ascension and her visit with Arlan. In effect it was a sacrifice of her favorite sim. That was why Taylor was crying afterwards like Regis mentioned. I've hinted at their mental communication so I can imagine that being in near constant mental contact with someone who thinks like her would create a strong emotional bond.

Some of the others were sacrificed to save her own skin. What better way to make people stop chasing you than to have them believe they have already caught you? Besides having access to a book reserved for the Masters of the Towers, Taylor's best kept secret has always been her use of simlacra of herself.

I admit I still have a phobia of using familiars, mostly due to the 3rd edition xp loss when they died.

Oct 31, 2012 -- 11:05AM, Nightdrifter2 wrote:

Will update later today (hectic week!). Sorry for the delay!

Ditto! I will try to get something up and posted tonight.

I agree with Guido, how deliciously devious! I was on the wrong track, figuring Taylor was creating a paradox by bouncing around in time; sort of a Star Trek type of theme. My bad! This makes much more sense.  

I hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween. Now it is time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am going into a decorating frenzy this weekend.

EDIT:  Wow! Great posting Nightdrifter!!!  

Pretty swamped this week but will be able to post something friday evening.

Last week of the semester coming up so things have been pretty busy. Just finished marking lab exams. Still have a hectic week coming up but after that things should be in the clear.

Not looking forward to using my parent's internet in a few weeks. Dad keeps telling me how he's got better internet. Out in the boonies the internet is horrible. His upgrade is essentially from "this is connected to the internet ... right?" to "I can almost watch a youtube video".

Will try to get a post in sometime today. Should be an interesting fight coming up ...