The Last King of Ireland

Game Master Amergin the Wise

You're avoiding the bogs, but you may end up in a quagmire!

(Sorry for the play on words, Oscar. Mind you, not quite a pun and I may have thought of it first!)

So, with how common a name Aoife is, wouldn't being introduced lead people away from believe she's a a slave? Or was it because her description had made it so far already? Or maybe her cloak?

Introduced would imply naming your clan and kingdom... My assumption is that, under the circumstances, what matters most is where you come from and what family you belong to.

As for why Aoife is recognizable: definitely the cloak!

Would using FitzStephen work the same? Saying she is from Welsh blood?

Ha! Knew it. The wolf cloak that looks like the night sky isn't something you'd see every day. Honestly I'm surprised it hadn't give rise to nicknames or such. Like She-wolf or if it would keep to where one is from She-wolf of Largay.

She could use FitzStephen and claim her Welsh heritage, but it would remain a lie – and therefore require a Bluff roll. Aoife is a slave and claiming anything else will require some level of subterfuge...

So, Aoife, what guise would you like to use?

Should Sister Cobhlaith introduce you at all in social situations?

Meta-gaming question: does the cloak add anything to your rolls? Or is it primarily a flavor feature?
edit: ninja'd by the GM!

I like the idea of the group fully supporting your slave status in its behavior, and your 'secret identity' as a warrior being a surprise if combat ensues.

I think you could still introduce Aoife, but it wouldn't be as a way to allow her to speak in social situations, it'd be more like saying "This is my slave-guard Aoife" and by doing so making it known that she goes with you everywhere as Aoife could follow you places male guards could not. If I have an understanding of history. And if given leave by their master a slave may speak openly, though this is rare and anything they say reflects upon the owner not the slave. Thus any great idea to great feat that Aoife did or does is attributed to her owner.

This is also why it was such a shock to Aoife that Nial went out of his way to thank her personally.

As for keeping her fighting a secret... That would be hard to do with the dagger and sword she carries so openly.

Actually, having a guard would be very useful to Cobhlaith, since the character has no armor or weapons beyond a dagger, which she would be carrying as an eating utensil/utility knife in any event.

This is a very squishy character.

Which is why Aoife suggested slave-guard. Cobhlaith is from a noble family, is a sister of the faith, and not very fight oriented. So having a female slave that can fight wouldn't be completely unbelievable. Rare, of course, but not outside of the realm of reason.

I like it; that's a terrific idea.

Be prepared for her noble upbringing to occasionally mean she unconsciously treats you like a slave, even though her religious beliefs are very "we are all children of God" equality.

For subterfuge purposes she will frequently treat you like a slave, but there will also be times when she "forgets herself" and does it without meaning to.

Yeah, you can't be worse than Fintan's mother so I think she can handle it! XD

And worse come to worse you can make it up to her later! :P

A slave-guard for the noble nun sounds a fine cover!

A heads up. Between Friday 1st June and Sunday 3rd June, I won't be available at all. My availability on the Thursday and Monday is also likely to be very limited.

So realistically, I'm not likely to post much from Thursday May 31st until Tuesday June 5th.

@Amergin. Sorry, struggling a little with the geography, are we heading generally north at the moment? That is only slightly off the route for Ruadhán to head 'home' right? Would it be too far off the route to just claim to be who I am and returning home?

Just answered in PM. Indeed, you could be on your way home! From where? Why? With whom?

Just got the chance to look through a beautiful reproduction of the Book of Kells – along with the engineering sketches of Leonardo da Vinci and a whole bunch of other amazing books! Like a kid in a very old candy shop!

The jelly I feel... is sooo much!!

That sounds class!

Ooh, thanks for the reminder!

I have a copy of the Book of Kells that I picked up in Ireland, but I haven't been able to think of a use of it for the game.

Slipcased, 93 pages and 6 half pages reproduced full size, Thames and Hudson printers, London, 1974.

If anyone can think of a way to use this in the game, speak up!

I have a camera copy-stand, so I can do pretty nice photographs of the pages, but I can' post them publicly on the internet.

Samples of images we see on our travels?

Covers for our unique books?

This is a simple update to all my games. My laptop is finally starting to die. It no longer can hold a charge and it is so old that it is just better to replace it. But as we're moving out of our appartment this month it might be a bit before I get one. I still plan on using my laptop, unless it totally dies, which at that point I will be using my phone which will make my posts... well lets just say the auto-correct on my phone sucks and isn't worth the space it takes up. I'll still be here! I will totally be reading, just I might be slower.

Aw, sorry to hear that. Hope you can get back online fairly soon with a full keyboard.

Well. Late night posting put this one in a discussion thread for a desert campaign. So far, merriment has not ensued.
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For those who are wondering, Cobhlaith is an Augustinian nun, an order that makes vows about community and communal control of all goods and property.

She is also used to a very strict schedule of communal prayer and activities every day.

She has been in a monastery since she was around 8 years old, so there's almost a decade of ingrained habit to her daily routine.

To have gone so long without saying her prayers in the company of others, to only hear her own voice reciting the psalms and the offices, to not attend mass, or not be in constant contact with those who share her priorities and her immersion in a strong system of belief, is leaving her feeling very disconnected.

Just to hear the words of Vespers, and knowing that she is reunited, even briefly, with other people who follow these same practices, is a relief for her.

Busy! Next post tomorrow PM... Apologies!

Cheers for the notice!

Will post tomorrow.

so, I thought that a silver was too much, but I don't know what the appropriate donation would be. Cobhlaith knows well that the cost of feeding and housing guests and their animals is a strain on the resources of any monastery, no matter how willingly offered.

What would she have available that would be a reasonable donation? A copper seemed too small, but in any case, she, of all people, would have been aware of the need for donations and bribes on this expedition.

Sorry, unfortunately having serious technical issues. Laptop has completely failed due to an update and phone has now died as well. Having to use a frustratingly slow old tablet, so posting may be sketchy until I can get a new phone. Feel free to bot me as needed.

Ouch! I hope your device issues get resolved soon.

That's awful. Hope you can figure out a solution that doesn't break the bank.

Before Columbus sailed to the New World, Europeans did not have things like beans (no cassoulet), chile peppers, sweet green peppers, tomatoes, popcorn, peanuts, squash (marrows), maple syrup, or vanilla flavoring.

Turkeys weren't known either nor were avocados, blueberries, chia seeds, pineapples, and quinoa. Tobacco was still unknown.

These 18 are probably the most familiar New World crops
18 Food Crops Developed In The New World

The potato is one that allowed a population explosion in Ireland. No small effect!

The Irish diet before the potato involved an even heavier reliance on dairy products.

I love that everyone is getting involved in research!

Sorry I didn't get to help with research, I was moving....

I hate moving. We've moved twice in two years, and we're moving again next summer. Ugh.

But it forces you to get rid of stuff, which is always liberating. And it's an occasion to discover new neighbourhoods!

All done? All good?

No we've still go little bits here and there to get. But all of the big stuff was gotten this weekend.

Also we have no water till Monday as I couldn't have it turned on without the lease and we didn't get that till 6pm on Friday and they closed at 5pm... -_-

The Irish diet before the potato involved an even heavier reliance on dairy products.

Great find! There must have been a lot of yogurt and kefir type products.

Here's a good source on what else was eaten, that uses a lot of information from medieval manuscripts
Food in early Ireland.

Apparently cheese was a big deal

Not my finest GM-ing: I realize now that, while young Nial did name Culdaff as the town to which he and his brothers were sent by their father before he rode south to battle at Leitr-Luin, Culdaff was never named as Conchobar's likely destination. Young Nial said only that his brother was going north to Tyrone, and he never did explain that Culdaff is their ancestral home.

Long story short: this information should have been conveyed to Aoife when she was speaking to young Nial, while the others were in the King's hall in Tuaim.

I know. It's a bit of a railroad. But now that you are at your destination, the path is far less clear! Do you all understand the situation and the powers that be? Do you have any questions?

I am off to the country for the weekend. I will answer your questions on Monday afternoon, and then have you all enter Culdaff.

So, we're at where we need to be? If I read this right yeth?

Amergin, would Daire be likely to know anyone in Culdaff?

Waiting to respond to see whether Daire's time in Ulster has given him any contacts in this area

You may have to rely on Ruadhan...

Sorry guys, I now have a new phone and even got the laptop fixed, but had a ridiculous day at work, so I still haven't caught up. I will tomorrow.

Take you time man! I understand that feeling.

Also just a heads up, don't be too worried if Aoife doesn't do much. She's at a point right now where she can't do too much without drawing attention to her and the is the opposite of what they need right now. So it is likely that unless one of you openly talk to her she won't be saying anything, just listening. In other words, little to no posting from me. I'm not going away, I will still be reading everything that gets posted, just have to play the character they way she is at the moment! That is all! ^_^

I assumed as much!

I am celebrating my 7 year anniversary with my girlfriend and may be somewhat unavailable for the weekend, please DMPC as needed.

Enjoy!

Have fun!

Congrats, have a great time, I also may be somewhat unavailable as taking the 3 and the 1 year old camping! This may be a disaster!

Good luck!