The Father of Waters

Game Master Fighting Chicken

Same here

I assumed you'd all be there - just jump into things, as Oios already has.

Onward, companions! To the next perilous conversation!

Is it sad I kind of hope Drazen doesn't open the door just so Istiel can kick it down? I might be getting too into this.

Prepping a speech here: GMBP, would you mind checking I have remembered everything correctly?

Perfect, Imix.

Awesome work, shadow king Imix.

Right now Shadeholme needs two things: A machete and a grenade launcher, and Imix is both.

I think we should start talking about next steps right?

Oios HAS to say something about the mayor being missing. He was seen to be safe after the attack but then he just kinda vanished along with his guards. What to say without inciting panic? The mayor should be the one making the speech after all.

Then it will be
* announcing rationing
* getting the able bodied to partner up with the remaining fighters to be armed
* telling the rest of the people to gather their possessions into a communal place so it can be inventoried. (Will help with getting ready to flee too)
* announcing that he will be touring around with the engineers to see how the strong walls of Shadeholme can be further strengthened.

Basically since Oios ain't exactly lovable instead getting people busy to keep their mind off things for as much as possible as well as not letting them know yet that they plan to flee while also getting them to start preparing for it.

This is an excellent plan, I especially like getting everyone ready to leave without actually telling them we're leaving. I approve of all this for the immediate future.

Imix and Naira should be able to do their own thing, unless they want to stay with Oios. Istiel and Drazen can guard Oios and hopefully the skin stealer will underestimate the three of them. It seems to have no problem with confidently attacking groups of people, though, so it may be better if we're all together? Um not sure on this one, but i do know it's getting punched.

However- what if the skin stealer does NOT attack again? How long are we going to dangle the bait? What will we do to weed it out?

Also- while we're all in a room together, could you top off our hp with a channel or two Imix? Or we go to the triage. We're still a bit beat up from yesterday.

The only thing I can think is if the skinstealer doesn't want to attack Oios with the two of best warriors left in Shadeholme and a Suriname surrounding him maybe he announces he's going to do a ritual prayer for Guidance which requires him walking into a pool of water alone and with only a loin cloth on for privacy.

The only thing I can think is if the skinstealer doesn't want to attack Oios with the two of best warriors left in Shadeholme and a Suriname surrounding him maybe he announces he's going to do a ritual prayer for Guidance which requires him walking into a pool of water alone and with only a loin cloth on for privacy.

Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it...

:-/

Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it...

:-/

Har! Rigel, what a dirty bird. Too bad about the [REDACTED].

Like what you've done with your status bar, by the way.

The only thing I can think is if the skinstealer doesn't want to attack Oios with the two of best warriors left in Shadeholme and a Suriname surrounding him maybe he announces he's going to do a ritual prayer for Guidance which requires him walking into a pool of water alone and with only a loin cloth on for privacy.

Not a bad plan! May I make one suggestion? Don't announce anything - just make sure a few people with loose lips know Oios will be doing this, and give it a couple of days for the rumors to spread.

-----------

I'm letting you all finish up. Let me know if there's anything I need to do to move things along, but it seems you've still got a little unfinished buisiness.

Next up: I assume Oios will want to make his announcements?

Any suggestions on what Oios could say about the mayor? The only thing I can think is say he's disappeared.

Ready to move forward.

You can say he was killed by Frozen forces- it's not a lie.

We might have to start our own town at this rate...the barbarian apocalypse is being thorough.

Uh, do we have any idea how much food we have?
We're going to need a few days to get this mob anywhere. I was under the impression we were almost completely out.
On the other hand, if this goes beyond a certain point, maybe we want to rip out the silk groves and plant gardens - use the magic normally used on that to grow food.
I think we've learned the folly of storing all our food in one place.
Rationing beyond a certain point will cause our people to become fatigued. We do not want to be running for it, or fighting, in that situation.

We can also stage a hit and run on the barbarians to raid for food. Might give away the existence of the tunnels though.

Uh, do we have any idea how much food we have?

Texikuk will have a census for you soon. In the meantime, if asked, she'll tell you that not all the food in the warehouse was sabotaged, and you have the grain from the granary as well.

Okay, there's an opening for Rigel to come back in if she wants.

hectic day today, I'll get us moving along tonight.

Looks like you're on stage now Oios.

Tell me if you want Istiel to glare at anyone in particular!

GREAT speech. Really liked the thrice damnation.

Hmm. I will need to think about whether Istiel will follow Texikuk (who I'm pretty sure is just going to get to work) crack some rowdy heads (I'm sure that will go well), or keep watching for more clues.

This is getting exciting :D

Where's Hamfatten right now?

Hamfatten has taken a position with you "on stage." He is not a native Shadeholmer, but has lived there for a long time (if that plays into anything anyone would say).

Hmm. I will need to think about whether Istiel will follow Texikuk (who I'm pretty sure is just going to get to work) crack some rowdy heads (I'm sure that will go well), or keep watching for more clues.

This is getting exciting :D

You could split the difference and watch yourself crack Tex's head.

Missed opportunity: I could have stopped the drizzle during the speech.

Just to confirm as weather is half my schtick, for Rain/Cold/Wind does current severity sound right at 3/3/1 as per the Weather domain rules?

Missed opportunity: I could have stopped the drizzle during the speech.

Just to confirm as weather is half my schtick, for Rain/Cold/Wind does current severity sound right at 3/3/1 as per the Weather domain rules?

Gotta run back to work, so without working with the rules, we'll say yes :)

I'm sure it lines up nicely. It is a little cold, drizzly.

Naira, Aquan Architect wrote:

Missed opportunity: I could have stopped the drizzle during the speech.

Just to confirm as weather is half my schtick, for Rain/Cold/Wind does current severity sound right at 3/3/1 as per the Weather domain rules?

Gotta run back to work, so without working with the rules, we'll say yes :)

I'm sure it lines up nicely. It is a little cold, drizzly.

Just looked, and yes, 3/3/1 is correct.

Naira is about to get a front-row seat to d6 diplomacy.

Mechanically, I should intervene, but I know it isn't my time or place right now. I am very tempted to be like, "OH WOW, a flash storm! Leave now, or I'll make it snow and add some lightning."

Naira, Aquan Architect and Riot Police.

I burst out laughing at the "I'm being repressed!"

Gets me every time.

One of the classics, alright!
I confess to spending some time trying to work out how to get Naira to give Oios a sword.

Speech incoming.

Man I don't know how many more speeches I can write. I wonder if it would have been needed if I had not confused Hamfatten with Galton (sorry Oios :( ). At least the dice cooperated....

Excellent speeches though!

Hopefully the dice will solve this problem.

And hopefully Alma can answer the question, or she will be ... Detained.

Aight I give up.

Well, Alma's scared of you.

Edited the post to account for your sense motive and the speechifying, which I forgot to include.

I don't think that's Alma. I think the skin stealer got overconfident and tried to destabilize us.

We just need to get Utzi out of the way and we'll find out, if anyone can help with that.

Whats the plan for justifying plucking up a crazy old woman on grounds that she isnt who she claims to be assuming she doesnt answer the question? We are the only ones that know of the skin stealer.

We may have to show our hand here. I'm for it because this is the only lead we have, but it's up to everyone if we should or not. Istiel would have already beat her up for disrupting the meeting if Utzi hadn't intervened.

This society is pretty okay with throwing people to the crocodiles for not 'volunteering' to help on a scouting mission. Even at times of minor crisis.

It is a complicated situation.

On your side:

- Oios made a rousing speech, then followed it up with another one. I rolled his oratory/diplomacy check, and gave him massive circumstance boni, and he did quite well. So, the crowd has been largely mollified.

- Lots of people have seen you doing really heroic stuff like saving gobs of folks and killing scores of bad guys.

- The Valley is largely very lawful, Shadeholme a little less so (people like Rigel and Drazan have the space live and work here, and some NPCs have strong independent/anti-authoritarian streaks). The town by and large will respect any legitimate authority.

Cons:

- Alma, while not exactly well-liked, is respected, especially among the working class. She's dingy and a little crazy* and she's difficult, but she's also done things, over a long period of time, for the betterment of the community. Utzi is intended to be a manifestation of this.

- Many of you are outsiders. Even those of you that have been in town for a long time (Drazan, Istiel) are on the fringes. No one is a local.

Question:

- Will you be seen as legitimate? So far, a secret council met without any input from the community and chose Oios. That council consists of the military (respected, and only native-born Shadeholmer in the council), the law man (generally not so liked, but his authority is respected), a Frozen (most people are probably secretly terrified of Drazan, especially now), a Suriname (respected but also feared), a newly arrived noble (who is about as removed from the daily travails of your average Shadeholmer as anyone in the Valley, and has made it clear she doesn't really care about anyone), a monk from the capital who is somewhat removed from the day-to-day life of the town, the priest (respected outsider) and a Shadow, newly arrived, who by the very nature of his job is going to be seen as suspicious by some members of Shadeholme, and is now the leader.

Gilders could threaten to throw Korya to the crocodiles because he had a long history of good (or at least fair) decision-making. People were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because of his record over the years. And it didn't hurt that the object of his ire was - in the eyes of many in town - an outsider. Korya is after all, a Tooyah, and even though she's nearly a life-long resident of the town, it doesn't mean longtime prejudices don't come into play.

There's a reason that Gilders picked her, the master politician that he was: he thought she might object, and he needed to make an example of someone, to keep everyone else in line. He knew that she would be a good person to make an example of**.

* Or she's a skin stealer trying to subvert your will and sow chaos.

** Because of her "outsider" status, and her lack of many close connections. However, though no one would ever know this, Gilders never planned to have her fed to the crocodiles. Hence, why she was released later.

tldr; this is a tough choice to make. Come clean about the skin-stealer and panic the town? Detain Alma under suspicion of being more than what she appears? Let her go? Something else?

I'll move us along at lunch if no one else jumps in.

Oios can't really back down when he's trying to assert authority as that fails to effectively bait the trap for an assassin. He's committed.

But Alma was asked two questions from Imix and Isitel. Both of which she should know the answer to.

Everything turns on whether Slate can answer the two questions. If she can Oios will hit her with being confined to the triage since she's apparently oh so good at taking care of sick people. That was Imix' suggestion as the next stop anyway and should be reasonable to both anti and pro Alma people in the crowd. If not then, well, maybe the same but try and undermine Utzi's protection of her on the way there.

At least Oios' second speech turned the crowd pretty decently against Alma.

It is a beautifully complicated situation- massive accolades to BP for creating it. She is a little crazy but this is the only lead we have. I say we stick to our guns here.

I could be wrong (damn crazy people) but i think the trap has already worked. Oios was just attacked politically instead of physically.

I agree we should move her and Utzi to the triage then we can further grill her. Istiel doesn't have any social skills so it's very likely Utzi will just tell her to rakk off instead of asking Alma the questions.

Istiel and Imix can handle confirming Alma's identity or choke-slaming her against a wall, whichever comes first.

Continue with the meeting or follow along if you'd like, but Istiel will not let this go (i don't think Imix would either).

Yup, makess sense for it to be splitting time again. Oios needs to stay and help the leadership ceremony finish off.

I disagree here. I dont think she has done anything to merit beating her up or forcing her to cooperate. Its in line with torturing someone until they confess to whatever you want.

That being said, Drazan agreed passively to guard Oios and Drazsn doesnt have a reason, beyond Istiel saying that part about safety, to go after Istiel and the old bat. He doesnt suspect anything bad to come of it, though Drazan will be pretty miffed that anyone used their percieved authority to justify repressing others for any reason.

Well if she can't answer the question then she's a prime candidate for a skinwalker Drazan. If she can answer the question then she's still guilty of nearly causing a riot in a situation where everyone is one massed attack away from death.

She pretty much shouted FIRE in a crowded theatre.

From an out of character viewpoint I agree with you Drazen, it's a really poor way to go about solving problems.

However, in character Istiel's answer for just about everything is force, strength , and serving the greater good even at the cost of personal freedoms. Don't follow the law, you get a beating. Try to kill people, you get killed. She is a hypocrite- using barbaric methods of law enforcement and judgement while glorifying the rules, fairness, and greatness of the civilization.

Istiel may or may not be presented with situations and consequences that will change her viewpoints- Domhnall's influence has already caused her to be more subtle.

In any case, in her eyes Alma deserved punishment for the reasons Oios listed even BEFORE she didn't answer Imix's question. Now she suspects Alma of being a grave threat and will not let it go until the matter is settled.