Jorvik: A Land of Snow & Ice

Game Master DSXMachina

Wait wait wait, Lloyd Slate is still alive and being tortured by Maeve?

Holy poo... This could have some influence on Duana if she knew. How well known is this little piece of information?

Very well known, it is the talk of the Court the innovative tortures and Cruelties she is/has subjected him too. Winter is Cruel. :)

Although it mostly Mab doing the torturing (at least in the series she is more prominent).

Hope this isn't too much of a spoiler for the series.

It's probably worse than in the Anita Blake series where

Nah, just I thought something that important, that there's a mortal who failed Maeve at some point still alive and being subjected to a hundred thousand physical and mental cruelties for failure might be an influence on Duana. Of course, this will probably come up in later phases. Just thought it would be important to note.

Yeah... he ends up being tortured for... what? 3 years? 4? Something like that. And yes, Mab is the torturer of Lloyd Slate. I personally had an idea that since they can only have one Winter or Summer Knight, the Courts had people they called the Squires, which were people given slightly less power than the Knights, and are basically being trained to take over when a Knight dies. Just a personal canon that I use, so it's up to you. The book also suggests the possibility of 3 Knights per Court, one for The Lady, one for The Queen, and one for The Mother.

Woo. Probably good I am taking the night off of posting in character or as a GM, as I had to look away from this one and read it again after a while to get it, and I ain't had a single thing to drink tonight.

Me either, But I plan on solving that shortly! ;P

So, if I made Danny my guest star in some insignificant way, say, Duana being present at the court beside Maeve or even the Winter Knight when he was introduced as the Emissary for the Summer Court, it would be rather insignificant in the series of events for that phase, but you would take her noticing you, and say "well, I saw this dark haired girl standing beside Maeve and wondered who she was."

Is that the gist of it?

Pretty much, yes. I think you've got the general idea. (And I like that idea, actually) :)

EXCEPT, if you were guest a guest star for Danny, you would be in his 'first story' titled 'Copper Drums'. (You can see under my profile how I posted Axi's guest appearance in there.)

Now, this does not preclude our writing ourselves into the others backgrounds as you mentioned above. But I think the idea was/is for us to have some connection in an adventure setting, so we have a reason to actually know each other, if only briefly.

I hope I'm helping, not confusing,... ;P

Yeah... The book also suggests the possibility of 3 Knights per Court, one for The Lady, one for The Queen, and one for The Mother.

Yes! Thank you! (Brain Dead over here.)

I was suggesting that since Slade is still alive, and the Queen really only wants Harry to replace him, our PC could be the 'Fall Knight' or the 'Frost Knight', directly reporting to the Lady or the Mother, not to Queen Mab herself.

Wow. It's amazing what a little caffeine will do for your brain cells. ;P

Watching the NFL sunday morning football for the first time in years.

Will get back to gaming when I'm done making my husband a Sunday Morning Widower.

It's probably worse than in the Anita Blake series where ** spoiler omitted **
But Butcher has class so he doesn't go into much detail

Wait what?

Wow... I didn't know that that happened in those crappy books. Then again, I stopped reading shortly after Anita stopped being human and embraced being a soulless whore driven purely by impulse - essentially an animal, and considerably less than the monsters she slept with.

I can't say anything on the class front thus far as I've only read the one book, but it seems to me Harry suffers from the same thing all male protagonists do, that he falls for the women who literally don't need him and treat him like garbage. But, give him a female character who does, like Karen Murphy, it's all "well, she's my friend and I respect her too much," and she doesn't even register as female.

Is there ever anything more revealed about Fix and Meryl's relationship? Or was Meryl just the den marm while Fix and Axel were pawing after Lily?

Jericho Korben wrote:

Yeah... The book also suggests the possibility of 3 Knights per Court, one for The Lady, one for The Queen, and one for The Mother.

Yes! Thank you! (Brain Dead over here.)

That is what I was trying to say earlier.
Fixer is the Knight for the Lady of Summer, Not the Queen or Mother, ergo he is the 'Spring Knight' (I believe that is his actual title?)

I was suggesting that since Slade is still alive, and the Queen really only wants Harry to replace him, our PC could be the 'Fall Knight' or the 'Frost Knight', directly reporting to the Lady or the Mother, not to Queen Mab herself.

Wow. It's amazing what a little caffeine will do for your brain cells. ;utP

Well by the book I meant Your Story, not canon. Canonically, thete is only one Winter and one Summer Knight, the 3 Knights suggestion is to use in your own world to have players have the option of being a Knight, without stepping all over Canon's toes.

DSXMachina wrote:

It's probably worse than in the Anita Blake series where ** spoiler omitted **
But Butcher has class so he doesn't go into much detail

Wait what?

Wow... I didn't know that that happened in those crappy books. Then again, I stopped reading shortly after Anita stopped being human and embraced being a soulless whore driven purely by impulse - essentially an animal, and considerably less than the monsters she slept with.

I can't say anything on the class front thus far as I've only read the one book, but it seems to me Harry suffers from the same thing all male protagonists do, that he falls for the women who literally don't need him and treat him like garbage. But, give him a female character who does, like Karen Murphy, it's all "well, she's my friend and I respect her too much," and she doesn't even register as female.

Is there ever anything more revealed about Fix and Meryl's relationship? Or was Meryl just the den marm while Fix and Axel were pawing after Lily?

Meh, it seemed to me that it took 11 Boks before Blake/Hamilton completely lost it (but then i kind of like the (non-erotic) writing. The main point was she was quite Emo/Goth anyway, worrying about her humanity too much.

But at least Harry's romance's are better than the rest of the female protagists in the genre (AB regardless). Arrggh, i could write an essay on how much i loathe some of those books. Which is really annoy as i LOVE the genre. And i really like an interesting romance/ love sub-plot, but most of those books..... Which is why Harry is better, this is one of the Emo books, regarding romances in the series it gets (slightly) better in this regard. Although that is never the focus of the series.

Regarding the fey, well unfortunately they are never all that central in the stories. Harry does hang around them frequently but they are not as central as other characters. Which is why hopefully this game will be great, especially with this group of brilliant players :)

I'd always sorta tossed around an idea of writing something in the genre that wasn't horrid housewife schlick. You know, where vampires are actual monsters and not just cruelly misunderstood, hypersexualized beings that just really need to be hugged and made love to to understand how humans feel and then we can all hold hands together.

While that idea was kinda cool and the only thing that saved Francis Ford Coppala's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (well, besides Ron Pearlman as Renfield, but I absolutely adore Ron Pearlman), it shouldn't be every damn vampire that is in love with humanity and seeks to regain some tenuous hold on mortality when he is essentially other.

Unfortunately, when it comes down to something like world building and running anything more than a character through a certain situation, my writing ability flattens out, and I'll maybe get a half paragraph written and then read it back and figure it's not good enough and scrap the entire project.

I for one am looking forward to the challenge of portraying a fae creature who has a soul, and keeping her sexual side apparent and tasteful without it being an horrid annoyance for all involved. Most likely it'll be through daring fashion and lingering caresses when Duana feels in a playful mood,but I suspect if she's just lingering about on her own time she's probably nude more often. Well, nude save for her weapon rigs. Maybe it's just me, but if I saw a hot chick naked except for a heavy knife made of obsidian strapped to her waist, I would definitely seek to walk whichever way she wasn't to avoid pissing her off.

Ok got two aspects planned out with guest starts but dont know how GM can use them

Aspect with Duana guest star Pretty much told guard her and make sure she doesnt bring "bad rep" on maeve since hes her knight sorta playing around with idea thats where he also has to listen to duana with direct commands dunno

aspect with Danny
is introduced as danny is summer court emmisary and as only "functioning" knight will have to I dunno wwatch him as well cause hes the only one that can openly kill danny?

thoughts?

@Duana

hey now do't forget the waist high brute of a dog following her around as well as the bodyguard she has lurking behind her lol definitely don't piss her off lol

Gelert treads his paws and tries not to look too proud with a doggy grin on his big flat muzzle. Whuff

Gabriel, why would the Frost knight have to follow Duana's orders? In my vision of her, and her particular status, she's a cockroach compared to a knight of the court. The only thing she has on you, literally, is some actual fae blood. Both of you can kill mortals, but she'll do it sloppy and painful, with her fists or a great big ugly hunk of Obsidian. She ain't got no magics of any real value, except the ability to slide in and out of Never-never.

Gelert - yeah, pretty much. I mean, if Gelert can walk around in the nude and kick ass, why can't his Mistress? They're both powerful fae creatures made for layin' the hurt on folk...

Anyway, has been a while since I looked this lady up, so I'll give her some love today as most of my other game seem to be hanging in status...

He would follow her orders cause she still is Maeve's daughter and Gabriel is Maeve's knight. Hes there to make sure she doesnt actually bring any ridicule to Maeve I dunno sorta searching for aspects and how they can affect him

So who wants to introduce a bookworm to his professor? Anyone?

So for guest stars we have (each person has two):

Duana - Gabriel & Danny
Danny -
Aximeus -
Gelert -
Jericho - Gelert & Aximeus
Gabriel - Duana & Danny

These are, of course, subject to change. & my misinterpretation of your posts.

So whilst people think up ideas. How about; well Aximeus may want Danny as a GS from the last adventure (& Visa Versa). Jericho needs someone to introduce him to his mentor (Aximeus could have been a Janitor that introduced them? or Danny with his contacts love of music (like @ begining of Hard-Boiled))

Gelert could have been wandering the streets (Littlest Hobo style) & come to help Ax., Danny or Jericho? Or been on a side quest after hearing about some 'human' with knowledge of that which he is looking for?

Sorry for the lack of progression of this, but with my RL game finished i am raring to go :)

or Danny with his contacts love of music (like @ begining of Hard-Boiled))

Hooo-boy. I haven't thought of my Hardboiled DVD in SOOO long. I bought it at an Anime expo for an exorbidant price years ago, because it was the first one I saw...

If anyone has pilfered it while I've been away, heads will explode in John Woo quib action!

... to flights of doves :P

...and the origami cranes :)

Definitely one of the best Woo movies though even his early Hollywood stuff was great - Hard Target & Broken Arrow

I do like HK films, though i prefer the period pieces. Night

I love Youtube, sometimes.

Been a while since I've seen The Killers as well.

*strokes chin* I wonder if my love for Tequila stems from Chow Yun Fat? *laughs*

Too bad guns are anti-fae, or I would definitely be all over making Chow Yun Fat like white on rice. :P

I've never seen HArdboiled, or half of those other movies. <ducks thrown items>

Hey, At least I've HEARD of them, I'm getting better! :)

OK, guest stars,
-I think Axi should go ahead and guest star in Danny's story (As already written in)

-Danny will be happy to guest star in Jerico's story,

-I think Gelert should guest star for Axi. (As suggested by DSXM above) Seeing how Axi has been played before, I see him accepting Gelert's antics/abilities without blinking. (Hilarity ensues) :)

By my count, that still leaves Danny & Axi needing one more each, And gelert still needs 2?

Ack, I'll look at it again when my caffeine kicks in! ;P

Treads his paws again and sniffs at Aximeus and gives the man-god thing a cock of his head and wags his tail a couple times to see what his reaction is. Offers one huge paw to shake

Well with Aximeus I would have two because obviously I have duana

Duana, although guns are anti-fey weapon, it would be a fun way to get up Maeves' nose by using them. Or maybe she would approve so long as you don't point them at her :)

Just to let ya'll know, I'm picking up running another AP here on the boards after our GM flaked out on us in an especially flakey display (think, like a croissant after it's be baked a little in a toaster oven)... This should not impact my current or future games negatively, as those of you who are in my game know that I'm not a hand-holding GM that drags you through content by your ears.

Just thought I would let you know.

And I had wanted to watch Hard Boiled today, too. Now I gotta do homework. Boooo.

Edit Yeah, the thought had crossed my mind, but then I'd be basically making an LKH character, essentially a hyper sexualized four-letter "c-word" armed to the teeth, and the thought of going down that path is abhorrent to me.

Big spoiler if you havent read all the books dont read this spoiler. Well, ok if you havnet read the last one Ghost story or the virginettes.

Jericho Korben wrote:

Yeah... The book also suggests the possibility of 3 Knights per Court, one for The Lady, one for The Queen, and one for The Mother.

Yes! Thank you! (Brain Dead over here.)

That is what I was trying to say earlier.
Fixer is the Knight for the Lady of Summer, Not the Queen or Mother, ergo he is the 'Spring Knight' (I believe that is his actual title?)

I was suggesting that since Slade is still alive, and the Queen really only wants Harry to replace him, our PC could be the 'Fall Knight' or the 'Frost Knight', directly reporting to the Lady or the Mother, not to Queen Mab herself.

Wow. It's amazing what a little caffeine will do for your brain cells. ;P

I would be glad to join anyone as a guest star. Or, if anyone wants to join mine; I could write an escape from Toronto; but would like to know what city we are going to play in.

I'll get a post up detailing the options for cities, but what i was going to do was list the 4-5 cities (with some advantage of each) and then have a quick vote.

I believe the choices for cities are (in alphabetical order):

-Albuquerque, NM, USA
-Colorado Springs, CO, USA
-Detroit, MI, USA
-York, England

What i will do is tomorrow put up some advantages/background for each place. Then everyone can vote (in spoilers) on where the want to play, with a primary and secondary choice. We can then decide.

Cool. Once we get a city chosen, I'll be more motivated to finish out Duana's backstory as I'll know what sort of atmosphere we're going for, and where she might have dropped into reality.

Not that I'm not motivated to work on her, just not knowing where we're going to be has me kinda antsy about finalizing things.

What sort of atmosphere/area/threat do people want? I can run & create any. I will try to put some advantages/problems with each of the 4 cities, but i am sure you are familiar with them & can google them as well as I.

I do have some ideas stated out for the begining of the adventure, but this is a co-operative game so....

As we're leaning heavily towards the winter court, I would kinda like to see those of us who are invested in it kinda sweat a little in a little brighter/warmer climate. But, yeah... Detroit to me sounds like a great idea since it's... It's freaking Detroit. I mean, everyone should be equally uncomfortable there. :P

Heh. I wasn't thinking of it in quite that way, but, yeah. Heheh, ;P

I'm a big fan of magic in general, (ergo why I luv the books so much!)
Not such a big fan of zombies in general, but like the way he handled them in his novels.

I like magic, mystery, and a little (or a lot) of mayhem. :)
Interesting twists like White vampire courts who live off of emotions other than lust would be cool.
We can almost write our own 'Green Court', (I think they are hinted at in the books as the oriental vampires, called the Jade Court?) With powers unlike the red, black or white. (I don't have a clue what that would be, not knowing a whole lot about the orient that I didn't get from a Hop-n-chop or fantasy novel) ;P

The story writing that makes everyone not what you think (or like Marcone, as bad as you think, but not for the reasons you would have thought!) Is excellent, and I like having to make tough choices. Like save the girl or the trolley of kids. (Or better yet, finding a clever way to do both!)

Enough ramble for tonight. ;p
Nighters

Well for dog boy here, my vote amid the wagging of tail and barking is on Colorado Springs, my secondary on York :)

I think ill abstain unless i really need to vote or something cause id rather be a mystery and the story unfolds to us.

Also danny the jade court only operates in china/japan haha they so secret they ninja vampires lol so unless we chose hong kong or Tokyo would be awkward lol

I dunno, while the Jade Court is Japan/China-centric, I could see them expanding. It's nice to have at least one faction that hasn't been outlined in the books at all. Anyhow, I'm voting Detroit and York. Good stuff.

Just was my understanding of the books

anyways my vote is for 1.Colorado Springs and 2.York if voting is started I mean

Alright, at last i have a bit of free time. So here is a small breakdown of the cities and the possible feels i have for them. Sorry, if you aready know all these 'facts', just trying to give a quick feel. (Disclaimer: this is no way meant to disparage any city)

Albuquerque
Feel: Expansion Whilst the Core Fades
Population:500k
Spanish Influence, rapid population growth, desert with the Rio Grande rift,Distinctive Pueblo architecture, ghost towns & ghost stories.

Colorado Springs
Feel: Cold, High up & Hi-Tech, Impersonal
Population:400k
Good winter court style area, cold mountains, gold mining, Native American tribe, Tesla Experiments & Scientific Industries, Military Bases (inc. Cheyenne Mountain), Low Crime rate.

Detroit
Feel: Beauty of a Fading Flower
Population:700k
Lakefront, Motor city, blue collar, high unemployment, crime rates & illiteracy, music and motor industries.

York
Feel: Convergance of Powers
Population:200k (smallest but densest population)
Oldest city, Vikings, Harrying of the North, olde worlde feel, affluent, tourism,convergance of rivers, lots of supernatural (ghosts), proximity to other cities (inc. Birthplace of Dracula), least multi-cultural (highest minority are Asiatic descent)

Anyway this is just a quick synopsis of the cities. If we can choose one soon (next couple of days then we can get the Guest Stars done and the IC thread before the end of the week (22nd ish?)

I vote for Detroit.

My Reasons - Detroit on the decline. I think that our particularly fae heavy group would do exceptionally well there as "the Rustbelt" which was once a huge industrial center in America is fading into obscurity. All the crumbling factories and high unemployment, projects and urban unrest represent a decline in civilization which fae hate with a passion (or don't they in Dresden universe?). All the human misery, I believe, would attract the Winter Court more than the weather in Colorado Springs.

So we have
Colorado 2* 1st Choice
Detroit 2* 1st Choice
York 3*2nd Choice

Valegrim, Ragadolf, your thoughts?

Wow. That's Tough. Hmmm,...

<Considers thoughtfully, googles a little bit, ponders, deliberates, and finally flips a coin in exasperation>

I'm going with York as 1st choice, (mainly because I really want to visit, even if only in a game!) ;P Because I think that ANY place in Europe is ripe for potential in the Dresdenverse.

And I'll go with Colorado Springs as 2nd choice. I know a little bit about the area. And the tidbits mentioned above make it a compelling possibility. (I'm wondering if those early semi-scientific Tesla experiments interfered with, or were a part of, some mystic phenomenon?)
:)

There you go! :D

Alright, i think that we just might set it (mainly) in York. The concensus is that this seems to be acceptable. I know i can certainly do it justice.

The theme and threat can be tailored to give whatever feel we think would be good.

The IC thread will start before the end of the week, to stop this from stalling. Even if all the guest stars and mechanical parts of the characters are not completed, we can still work on them in this thread.

Cool. Now that we got a location set, I'll start working on fleshing out what Duana would be doing in her guest star phases and what not.

Oh, do you want a physical description on our profiles, or would introducing ourselves be enough?

Introductions will be enough, although if you feel like a short profile description it would be cool.

I think Duana might need at least a 'human guise' description.

Roger, Duck Dodger. I have a human guise in mind already. Just a matter of putting type to form.

Cool &

Does anyone have any specific Campaign Aims or Goals or stories for their characters? (the type of story you want you character to tell)

Specifically i am thinking of things like; to reclaim their humanity, redemption, overthrow the white council rather than 'help people', 'become rich & famous' or 'find the lost treasure of Xanos'.