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Apr 12, 2022Liked by SGH

For ranked choice voting, I’ve made good use of the Condorcet Internet Voting Service many times in the past: https://civs1.civs.us/

Might be worth kicking the tires on if you plan to run more polls like this in future.

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Great idea -- I was considering something like that but couldn't find a good option within Google Forms. Thank you!

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1,4,6 are my choices. It feels like it fits the most thematically. We haven't heard much from him Cirl in some time. The idea that he is dangerous not because he is outright and brash like Brennan but cunning and meticulous I think is a nice contrast.

Having him control the beast and his subtle power feels like a specific call out to Vahid. It gives each character their own villain of sorts.

I don't envision this sorcerer as dangerous in the same ways though. Not for power or anything like that but it feels more like a test of wits, cunning, and scheming. Almost as if grooming or testing Vahid from afar. Which makes me feel like he could possibly become an ally given the right circumstances.

I'm super excited to see how this one works out especially considering how much is happening in the background.

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Ooh I like that! I replaced 4 with 5 in my voting, though, because I felt 5 played to his threat to the Maker Road (converting it briefly back into the hill-ness it overlaid?), and I also like the opening that leaves, that maybe something else arcane was behind the lightning drake.

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Great discussion here -- these votes are really changing how I think about this antagonist. He was definitely in my head as being the leader of a large and growing Hillfolk contingent, but it seems like it'll be more interesting to frame him as the leader of a secret and mystical cult. I'm excited to explore this!

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Yeah I don't see the hillfolk as a direct threat in and of themselves.

It feels like at something they were allies with the makers and things went sour. The sorcerer seems like the kind of person who may be from the hill folk but is not of the hillfolk if that makes sense.

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Ah wow - I voted exactly the same! Broadly I also saw the sorcerer as a cunning and subtle foe, unlike Brennan or the fen troll. I love the idea of the sorcerer as testing Vahid. I also like the possibility of 1+6 allowing the sorcerer to be running a spy or traitor inside Stonetop itself, and using the visions to communicate and give orders.

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Hadn't thought about that last part of it. That is a good point. Maybe part of why owain and cerys are so hostile overall could be because they are being influenced? Maybe unknowingly

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