Just a little meddling, and I'm done.
Really, somehow Delroy just brings out the worst in me. Or maybe his actions just allow the worst to show?
Maybe a little of both?
And so our inexperienced girl tries to help fan the flames of romance of another couple... by throwing gasoline on the spark!
I am sure Delroy will enjoy returning the favor later. (~_^)
Just a short note to say things are very busy here and I should be able to have a real post up Friday evening.
I kind of would've liked to have RJ mingle a little and make some gossip rolls (this is her metier for gossip: at parties) but it's not particularly necessary, or if you have time and are willing, it can be handled via the sideboard... My own fault for my lack of timely posting earlier in this scene.
Which reminds, same-same on sideboard, will try to post Friday evening.
At this point it's a matter of "how much do we have to keep the whole group occupied" and it's running out, I think. We can handle your surreptitious info gathering via PMs or the Sideboard, whatever you prefer.
And so our inexperienced girl tries to help fan the flames of romance of another couple... by throwing gasoline on the spark!
I am sure Delroy will enjoy returning the favor later. (~_^)
Or as Arkloyd told me: "Ultra, Natalia is promoting MISCHIEF."
Ultra, Ceallach is promoting MISCHIEF.
Then again, isn't that the subheading for this game?
Ironclaw: The Will to Power
Promoting Mischief.
Ceallach is promoting barely legal celebratory actions, not limited to but including: drinking way too much, insinuating lewd actions by members of the noble populace present, gyrating in openly raunchy fashion, and attempting to embarrass everyone.
See, the perfect way to close out this little...okay at this point I think it's just an adventure in itself.
CONGRATURATION! You unlocked the secret bonus Goal of Survive the Party!
Gimme a bit and I'll hand out a little XP and think of suitable Gifts to give y'all for surviving.
As soon as I'm done laughing.
Okay so I'm late on handing out goodies, sorry. Forgive me, please, it requires reading through everything we did to make sure I'm picking the right Gifts.
OK! I think that just about everyone lived up to their Mottos, this is a Debriefing, we hit a Chapter and ended a short adventure! I think that's worth about 5 XP. Did anyone's Flaw actually trigger? I'm not sure it did, but make a case for it if you think so! Is 5 XP just NOT ENOUGH for you? Make a case for why we deserve more I guess.
GIFTS! This is still a bit awkward, and there's so much going on here that I could really pick out anything I wanted and it'd be kosher I think. I almost just gave everyone Insider with the Merchant's Guild, but I figured there were more personalized, better choices to be made.
And if you don't like what I hand you, re-train it immediately for five more XP and buy yourself a Gift you DO like! Or some skill marks! Or...whatever! Keep in mind though that I'm usually going to hand out Gifts that are pre-requisites to higher-level things you want, or stuff that's probably useful...if not always immediately.
Delroy: Ally! You've made a friend indeed!
Natalia: Flying Fighter! Impressive show with that miscreant!
Rosza: Carousing! She makes good points over pints!
Quinn: Fast Mover! Charge those stairs like you mean it!
Ceallach: Keen Nose! Next time he won't evade you!
Javiera: Piety of Penitence! You didn't succumb to temptation and stuck to your guns!
Anyway, I think those are appropriate based on some defining moments for your characters, and the Goal was sufficiently broad that just about anything would work!
Now then. As above, if you don't like those Gifts, you can re-train them for 5 XP. If you really don't understand why I gave you the Gift I did, then ask away!
ONWARD! Let's finish up the last response or three to this scene and then I'll set up the next ones.
I am very sorry folks but my life is back in that hellbound handbasket again. I will try to get a post up sometime today but it probably won't be great or long. Sorry.
oooooooookaaaaaaaaaaay
Sorry, having to cover for the asst. dept. head who is now sick, while dealing with all of my student appointments and preparations for finals and review (which includes review and grading of other instructors' student essays). I just went from "I have a little free time." to "What is sleep, exactly?"
I would absolutely love to have control over this and say "No." believe me.
Hey, I know how academia works! Crunch times are crunch times, check in when you can, and we'll see you on the other side, provided you aren't swallowed whole, in which case a rescue team will be sent 24 hours after last contact.
Ghhhffffff lunch break.
And I'd forgotten that I wanted to do that gossip thing, so I tacked that on, as well as a bit of an observation-roll that hopefully makes sense. Rosza is looking for information on the Zvonimir, yes, but also for potential connections, noble, merchant and criminal...I theoretically could have probably pitched that streetwise die in there, too, but the way the nobility die came up I don't see the point. Unless it would influence the SORTS of connections she's making, which I suppose might make some sense? Pfffff. Grist for the mill.
Streetwise: [roll]1d12[/roll]
Anyway, it's hopefully meant to put a concluding note on RJ's involvement in the party and the pre-party library-raid so that others can move ona nd do their thing while I sort paper and flail about iwth red ink.
*Mumblegrumble* Forgot you can't add a roll to an extant post.
Streetwise:
How about if I use the CORRECT tags?!
working on some new scenes today, who knows when they'll be up, bear with me, etc. Also yell at me if you don't see them by like midnight tonight because that probably means I forgot to post them after hashing out details. :\
dangit i didn't post the scenes FUUUUUUUUUUU-
I'll fix that.
re: Rosza and the law...
This probably needs clarifying: I tend to think of Rosza as 'Suspicious character with a history that would cause her to be hassled by law enforcement if she weren't a noble...And even though she is a noble, she has to watch her step because that history (which I imagine likely includes unregulated dueling, some regulated dueling that nonetheless resulted in deaths and is not looked kindly upon, D&D, various assaults, suspiciously linked to some events involving highway-robbery...but not so much that she's detainable until proof comes along, unlicensed gambling, etc) WILL come up if she crosses the law otherwise (such as by assaulting another noble..>_>) and that she has a variety of outstanding fines, enough that if she comes to the attention of the law when it has its books handy she's liable to be pressured about them, but not so much that noticing her on the street will get her stuffed into debtor's prison. I.E., any officer who REALLY knows his job and looks at her record will likely be watching for her to slip up. Beyond that, the law makes her uncomfortable, she is hardly pristine-handed, and she owes money, so she has to watch her step somewhat (which she is, let's be honest, VERY BAD AT), but she hasn't got her face up on every corner on reward signs or anything like that.
So she can go in and testify (and expect to be reminded of her outstanding debts, inquiries placed unpleasantly as to when she intends to pay, etc.) but it isn't as if they're likely to say 'While you're here, let's show you your new home in cell block two.'
That's how I see it, how does that sit with you?
that's about what I thought. Sounds like an awkward relationship with the law to me.
Fodder for the comment mill AHOY!
...of course now I have all sorts of ideas about what might happen were such connections made provable somehow...
I think the court scene is actually the perfect time to purchase my noble gift. As being a witness and actively involved and claiming to be noble, a decision would have to made whether Quinn is to be considered as such or not. So I suggest this is the first time Quinn has been involved with the authorities beyond customs (if they have those yet) so now is probably when Quinn grabs her patents and shows them off to the court to settle any debate.
If that works for you anyway. (It does require selling fast mover however as I only have three xp to spare unless I can wrangle two more from somewhere.)
Hey, it's totally within your right to retrain Gifts I hand out if you don't like or want them. I'm just supposed to hand out stuff related to accomplishing the Goal.
That said, Fast Mover would help with your dual-style thing going on, enabling you to close to melee range quicker, or back off to sling spells from safety if that's your thing.
Still, your choice. If you wanna sell it and buy Nobility and be back at 3 XP left over again, go right ahead!
The question becomes though, what kind of patents would you have (I don't think Imperial China had the same kind of bloodline-proof letters going on as Europe did), and could anyone in the court read them? ...Well the latter is probably more annoying than helpful, let's just say someone will be able to.
The letters would probably be something like a copy of whatever writ or deed grants your family their position in Lu province, since all nobility in the Middle Kingdom serves at the Emperor's pleasure/sufferance, like pretty much every other part of the Bureaucracy there. Blood is slightly less important than deeds, or at least maintaining the status quo effectively.
Okay, yeah, I think I can figure out how to swing with that.
@Customs: In this time period the closest you're likely to see of "customs" are the officials collecting port taxes from incoming ships. Basically the Rinaldi hire a bunch of lettered and numbered folks who are still a bit dumber than themselves, probably a bunch of their red fox cousins, and make them meet each ship that docks in the harbor, inspect their cargo before it's unloaded, and the captain pays out a tax on the spot as a fee for using the dock.
Which is silly because the whole city thrives on trade and whatnot, but it's also a great way to keep a bottom-line city-pocket-change since there's ships coming in ALL THE TIME.
Thanon and Port Spar in Bisclavret lands probably do the same thing, though with less money and more exchange goods, or perhaps bribes or just death threats given the supposed large numbers of privateers there.
It occurs to me that Delroy is pretty mandatory at the court, too, as he's the accusing 'agent of the law' against the Zvonimir.
Let's face it, Rosza acted on his and Natalia's say-so. She doesn't KNOW about the box, doesn't KNOW about what happened with Ceallach or Quinn. She stumbled into it late.
This is one of those weird grey areas. He's specifically accusing one of them of using black magics to debilitate a mind, and the other of using elementalism to commit vandalism and harm upon persons...but as it stands you as nobility could still attempt to keep them in custody on an angle purely of unprovoked assault and theft of an ally's possessions, nevermind he's lower class than you.
So if you want to bring them up on the black magic (which necessitates a bit more work than just "hey, these two tried to screw over an ally of mine..."), Delroy will need to be there, possibly with this box (nobody looked inside yet!), and probably with a more senior member of his order to determine whether or not she has black magic abilities officially. For the record.
And if nothing else you could use the Blue Laws to filibuster the whole thing, as it were, since man-bat's attempt to rudely dislodge you could be construed as an unwanted advance in the right light. ;)
Otherwise I'm assuming that Ceallach and Quinn filled you in on the relevant details as much as possible for the sake of expediency.
Hm. Well, OOC, I'd prefer Delroy tried his case...It seems more likely to stick, and stick deeper.
IC, Rosza sure as hell doesn't want to go have a nice talk with the Constabulary without having Delroy explain EXACTLY what the HELL was going on. So that talk should probably have taken place if Delroy doesn't intend to show up and testify.
And if nothing else you could use the Blue Laws to filibuster the whole thing, as it were, since man-bat's attempt to rudely dislodge you could be construed as an unwanted advance in the right light. ;)
Right, cleaning tea out of keyboard now.
Maybe if Rosza had Fast Talk. Or maybe if Rosza's record with the Constabulary made her look a bit more innocent and harmless...But funny, yes, very funny.
We could intermix Del's two scenes, if that's cool, once we find out what's in the box, perhaps?
We can just assume you have the box actually and I could write a little bit of a flashback if it pleases m'lords and ladies. Keeps things moving, and opening up the box really isn't a "drama scene necessary" event honestly.
Whether you recognize what's in it....well...that may be another story. Probably not actually it's gonna be pretty obvious I think. Sort of. What's IN the box. Not what it might be for. Or what it is actually connected to.
Works for me. I'll need to buy some of the Synechdoche spells very very soon. This'll be a good opportunity to learn then, especially if this house is haunted in certain ways. We might be able to find a tie to it, and learn its name. If there is something there at all.
I actually don't mind the fast mover gift, but I have always intended to get the noble gift when the story presented a good logical timing. It just seemed to me that this was good timing.
whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat's up?
So some people should be seeing Gwennaelle the rat show up with some possible evidence soon, so if y'all could take that into account with your reactions, that'd be cool.
Which I'd like to see, speaking of.
...*crickets*
It might not have been obvious but I am expecting you to be playin' Gwenn, Mr. Callidus, since you suggested doing so. And I think some people are waiting for her explanation...
Oh, crap, I thought I posted that. I'll get right on it.
I figured this was sufficiant. If not I'll expound upon it.
Apologies, folks. It has been a bit of a week. The good news is things will lighten up CONSIDERABLY with the arrival of summer, one week from now.
Going to see if I can finagle a post now.
*Grumble* Dozed off while writing. I am going to sleep SO much over next weekend.
Woo a response! I love responses!
Let's see some more! :D
Is uh...there anything I'm missing that I need to address? Or have I addressed things satisfactorily and people are just weighing their responses? Or waiting on other players for responses?
I don't know? It'd only been a day...?
Just commenting on a trend. There's been a slowdown as of late and I wondered if maybe people were looking for something I hadn't covered. I'm getting a wee bit obsessive about making sure I've done everything in my control to keep the motion in a forward direction.
I know that it's a busy time for a lot of people on the internet. I've got to get all my finals graded and grades entered by the end of this weekend.
And not all schools are on the same schedule, so some schools were going through that last week or the week or two before, and some this coming week, and...It's a busy time for a lot of studenty-type and teachery-type folks on the internet.
I remember the end-of-semester crazies fairly well, it was awkward as a student, I can only imagine the other side is at least as bad if not even more "fun."
I remember the end-of-semester crazies fairly well, it was awkward as a student, I can only imagine the other side is at least as bad if not even more "fun."
Welp, take whatever you turned in and multiply that by 90 students, and imagine you have to proof all of it...And you can't afford any mistakes at all.
The good news is, you get some nice, long, multi-week breaks several times during the year.
|
If only one was allowed to hold off grading essays till the nice long break right?
Truthfully I tend to be a reactive player, reacting to the events in a story rather then provoking them.
It is something I try to work on, but with classes...
That said classes are finished for a couple weeks, though my game design group now awaits.
I think most players are reactive, it's the nature of the game. They're not really opposites so much as complementary aspects. I mean, you HAVE to react to what I give you, what other players give you, etc. You don't have to make your own plots or engage in your own side-stories, though I do enjoy it when people do. As much as I like to keep things focused during "main" bits, the side-stories display important aspects of characters you don't otherwise see.
Speaking of which I think the Sideboard has lain fallow awhile, but at this point I'm not sure who wants to finish that scene or if we can just add some handwavium and an infodump.
EDIT: thing I just remembered. Rosza, did you roll to reacquire irregulars? We're in a new Chapter so they can come back y'know.
For all of you suggesting waiting for Delroy, what exactly would you elect to do in the meantime? I'm not adverse to the idea, but you could be shaving it really close in terms of time depending on how Delroy's investigation goes. You've got 12 hours at absolute most before they have to be released as per higher law. Probably a bit less than that. Would you investigate other leads? Pull yourselves back into a sub-plot while you waited? Create some new sub-plot out of thin air to amuse yourselves while in-game time ticked down?
Gimme some ideas of where you wanna go if you're not gonna be doing this scene right now. Gwenn is there specifically because Delroy's embroiled in something else at the same time that you all are there bringing the case up to the watch, so he probably won't be available in-game for awhile.
Was waiting on Natalia and there she is but now i am Crazy busy, will post tomorrow though.
coooooooooooooooool
...I just realized that Guillaume is unaccounted for thus far, and am making up all sorts of silly things in my head for him to be doing while the rest of you are talking to John Law, but then I wonder if perhaps he shouldn't be there to keep the deft hand of the law from reaching his friend?
Heisenberg would suggest that Guillaume must be somewhere, but that the more closely we attempt to define where he is, the less likely it becomes that he's actually there...
Sounds like I need to beat Heisenberg's odds then, provided I can find some interesting way to have him exist where it would be funny/fun.