A thread for talking about things !
Hurrah! Hello, folks. I'm quite excited. :D
Hurray for the Land of the Chatterboxes!
P.S. dot :)
Stripe! Uh... I mean... DOT!
Hi! I'm looking forward to play with you, guys! ^^
How are the retainers going to be run? Completely by player or GM? Or some sort of shared control?
Shared control. Most of the time it'll be fine for you to run them, but I'll want/need to step in sometimes.
If you want me to run your retainer entirely though, that's fine too!
No! Not the stars, the evil, evil stars! XD
To make sure I've not misunderstood, Dove and Zophio are using both the 'curative cider Gimpy Leg would like to study' hook and the 'get the book from Father Crimson Zeal (I should give that thing a title, shouldn't I?)
Diabolical Meddler, I think you're right, but I don't know exactly what's Zophio's mission...
Exactly that - retrieve a book - le Chronique Pomme de Lune et Soliel - from Father Crimson Zeal and return it to to Archbishop Poetic Star. I'd understood that Midnight Dove had been having disturbed dreams of golden and silver apples dropping ripe from the trees, as phases of the moon sweep past to the sound of fluttering pages.
From this obscure information, the Archbishops scriveners have identified this particular tome in Rondel as possibly significant (amongst many others). Since you have a friend in Rondel, and the Archbishop feels it wise to make and maintain friendly relations with the Moon's Oracles, he's assigned Zophio the task of escorting you to see your friend and retrieve the book.
Father Crimson Zeal has been reluctant to release the book, citing the dangers such a rare (if formerly disinteresting) tome might face.
Oh, hey, I'm back in town. Hi all. You've been busy!
I noticed (and I did this too, myself!) that not everyone's pony seems to've been described in terms of color, marks, and such...Or if they are I'm not sure where to click to find them. It's a vibrant and colorful setting, so...
Chandni's pony half is a vibrant teal (her cutie mark, if any, is currently hidden under her foraging cloak and the simple leathers she wears just in case she runs into anything seriously hostile in the woods). Forward from her girth and back, her griffon-half is snow-white.
mine's updated, I've been meaning to get around to it. see the links in my profile for his fur/mane coloring and Talent Glyph.
Clothing-wise, all you can see is a black & dark-blue trimmed cloak with hood.
Moonstar is dark purple with a dark teal mane and tail, which have lighter streaks. Her dress is elegant yet simple, and made for traveling. It also has vest. She has a flower and moon hairpin holding back her bangs.
Midnight Dove's coat is pure white (surprise! =P). She is always wearing a chain shirt, and a grey cloak with a moon symbol on it. She is rarely wearing her hood, so the least one can say is that she isn't the best at camouflaging!
Exactly that - retrieve a book - le Chronique Pomme de Lune et Soliel.
Also, excuse me Diabolical Meddler, but... Actually, french is my native language, and the title of the book isn't correct... Would you like me to correct it? =)
A translation would be nice too, not that I have anything to do with the book, but I am nearly as curious as Littlepip.
Please!
Looks something like "Chronicles of the Apple of the Moon and Sun." Maybe.
DM, you described this setting once as 'Arthurian.' I'm not entirely sure yet if you mean classical Arthurian (which was pretty damned dark and grim) or Disney-Arthurian.
However, Garrick (in the background text) is most often paired with verbs like 'purge' and 'oppressed'...He seems easily characterizable as a tyrant or despot, even if arguably at times a benevolent one.
Given that, am I right in thinking that the proper response of the general peasantry to "I am the daughter of Garrick" is going to be bowing, scraping and groveling at breakneck speed?
Most of the peasantry will bow and scrape to any noble, and Benevolent Tyrant would certainly be a fair description of Garrick. We're doing a less-miserable version of reality (as a guideline ponies are nice, which isn't true of people) and chivalric views are widely held amongst nobles.
Moonstar Eclipse has just announced that she's the daughter of the previous king and a deceased Duchess. Garrick had a lot of children, but there are only eight Duchies, and that makes her a member of one of the ten or twelve richest and most powerful families in Valorein. Her family functions both as a corporation owning vast swathes of Spearpoint outright, and as the government of the geopolitical sub-entity of Spearpoint.
That said she's not the eldest child, nor presently in line for the throne. So... in-general she'll probably be treated as a ruling noble of one-rank lower - i.e. an Earl or Countess with ample personal wealth and a comfortable patch of land. Peasants will - as mentioned - bow and scrape. Other nobles will treat her with a high level of chivalric respect, much as they would any of their peers. It may be worth noting that her family suffered in the rebellion of the Griff Dharta, so her reaction to Griffons, and theirs to her, may differ substantially from the norms implied by their respective rank.
@Chandni: Yes! Exactly! Do you speak some french?
@Diabolical Meddler: Here is the french title: "Les Chroniques de la Pomme de la Lune et du Soleil", which is the translation of Chandni's title.
Un petit peu! But it was MANY years ago and I only had 6 months of classes. In this case it was not hard for me because almost all of the words are similar to their English counterparts: Chroniques = chronicles, la Lune = the Moon (Luna), du Soleil = the Sun (Sol). And I was lucky enough to remember that 'pomme' was apple. :) I always thought it funny because potatoes are called 'earth apples' (pommes de terre). So I remember those two and probably not much else of the lessons on vegetables. XD
Okay, I haven't got a lot of time this afternoon. I will try to get Chandni's post up, but if I don't get it right now I will definitely have time (late) tonight.
I understand what you mean! It's true that some french words are terribly funny... Personnaly, I always laugh everytime I hear the word "patate" (= familiar noun, which stands for for "pomme de terre")! Don't even know why... I just find its pronunciation hilarious!
I might sound strange, right now! xD
Rough time at work at the moment. Posting will likely be limited for the next week or so, but I'll do my best.
Ah, okay, I confess I was waiting to see if you had any reaction in the Inn to Eclipse's announcement, but since you're busy we'll just move on, I think, as the Eclipse/Chandni sequence is mostly inter-character without need for NPCs.
No problem, DM. :)
I also just noticed those initials. Heh.
Good call on the game. I'd figured she'd grabbed them for herself, but (since she can eat pony fare as well as meat) she had seen the opportunity to make a little coin.
How you doing, DM? Any good word(s)?
I'm at a conference with terrible internet. My presentation was today, and well received (thank goodness), so I'm a bit less pressured. Managed to get a new post up for you guys at least, luckily... the internet at the hotel seems a little better tonight, thankfully.
Congratulations on your presentation!
And I know the conference is priority, RL always is, but thanks for getting back to us, too. :)
No problem, DM. :)
I also just noticed those initials. Heh.
http://xkcd.com/516/
"Man, my (plot) hooks need to get a lot less subtle..."
On the other hand, you're probably better off being oblivious to my humour.
Swiping more bits of ancient Eastern tack to drape over the griffons, "Bey" was a very low rank in old Turkish/Persian/Ottoman terms. Something any military captain might have, i.e., not too dissimilar to, oh, "Knight."
Not a hereditary title, certainly. Just something exotic and distant and important-sounding to young pony-ears...
That's fine. It is a shared writing experience anyway.
Is it just me or are Chandni and I stealing the show?
Only because I was too busy the last week to post for Crimson Zeal... I'll try and pull things together a bit soon. But the spotlight can shine on different characters in different moments, and that is fine and to be expected. Plus I just wrote a long post (actually, for the second time... internet ate it last night and I had to redo from scratch).
Yup, what DM said. And my sympathies on the post.
Shub is laying low and trying not to gather attention to himself which is why he's just listening in to the tavern discussions and trying to direct conversations to things he'd be interested in. He thought about spying on you guys, but too much risk for questionable profit.
That happened to me so much in the beginning, I always [ctrl+A, ctrl+C] before I post anything now. That way if it gets eaten I can just [ctrl+V] it back where it was.
I sincerely recommend installing Lazarus: Form Recovery or something like it. It auto-saves webforms so you don't need to worry about losing posts.
Quick question: Does being sun-born or moon-born have any bearing on when one sleeps? I.e., are moon-born ponies nocturnal?
No. But moon-born ponies are more likely to stay up and sleep in late. Sun-born ponies tend to rise early and become tired easily at the end of the day. How much of this is divine, biological, or simply learned behaviour is entirely up for debate. For example, a parent might let a moon-born child sleep in, believing it to be 'normal' whilst insisting a sun-born child get up.
Is everypony okay? Anyone waiting on a post from me?
Shub is still gathering information in the tavern about Chandni, and if anyone's seen his targets Sapphire Treats and Treasured Heart, but they were busy with getting their princess on so he's just quiet for now.
Also, I can't find any mention of Pavise Rain in the document, but maybe you meant Pavise Sky?
Im not waiting on you just yet, though I am hoping the story sidetracks my quest soon.
Shub is still gathering information in the tavern about Chandni, and if anyone's seen his targets Sapphire Treats and Treasured Heart, but they were busy with getting their princess on so he's just quiet for now.
Also, I can't find any mention of Pavise Rain in the document, but maybe you meant Pavise Sky?
Probably...
So, as to gathering information, you're talking to ponies in the Inn? Anypony in particular?
Yup, ponies in the inn. Nopony in particular, and actually spreading it out between ponies so he doesn't seem too nosy. If they're talking about what he wants, like on the princess and Chandra, he'd simply listen in.
Should I make a diplomacy (gather information) roll?
Why not!
I think I'm waiting on Chandni, unless I missed something.
Folks I am getting really, reallyh ammered hard. Having to fill in for someone else at work this past week and next it'slooking like, AND some unexpected family troubles that cropped up just in time for Thanksgiving. I will try to have something up in the next day or two but seriously, at this point I need to get some sleep more recent than Thursdaynight.
You mean I'm not the only one with those troubles!? :)
I understand having experienced the same thing all week (only two nights of sleep over the last week).
Why do the gamers always get saddled with extra work? :)
That's fine! Thanks for letting us know!
Midnight Dove, I'm afraid you don't have the de la Pomme... you were sent to collect it from Father Crimson Zeal, at the Archbiship's request. Zeal had refused to ship it, citing the dangers of the road (which may or may not have been merely prevarication).