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I'm off to the mountains for some climbing. I'll be back by Monday, but with the poor weather forecast, I might be back sooner. I'm sorry to miss the ambush. Bot me if needs be.
Chimon bites his lip, seeming to reconsider his glib attitude. "I don't relish this, but it needs doing. As for hangings... that will be a hard thing indeed. It's there in the charter, so I suppose I knew, but it will be difficult to face. And yet, we're left with few alternatives. "Ah. And as for training in warfare, I haven't much. Only rudimentary drills, really. But I heard good ideas tonight. Perhaps I found a small way to improve on them? "Goodnight, Moira. I'll be along myself before too long, but I think the sky is clearing. I would sit under Desna's splendor for a while." After helping Svetlanna clean up the remnants of the meal, Chimon climbs onto the battlements and seats himself under the starry sky. Good to be away from the lights of Restov, and finally a clear night. After an hour of contemplation and prayer, he retires for the night. Spell List: Guidance Light Stabilize Longstrider [D]
Closing his eyes, Chimon mutters a brief prayer before enthusiastically digging into his stew. "MmmmmmmMMM! Sumptuous! My complements, Svetlanna." As the talk turns to planning tomorrow, Chimon seems preoccupied with his meal. Just when things seem settled, pipes up to offer a suggestion. "I don't know if holes are necessary. With the doors opened inward all of the way, we should be able to hide behind them. See how the eastern door opens against the corner of that building? For the western door, we could open it as far as it will go... and if necessary, position that cart for someone to hide behind." He grins at the others, and then reaches for the ladle and another bowl of stew. "Whoever takes the first shot up on the roof can give a shout, and we'll shove those doors closed. And if Desna smiles, it will be over before quickly."
The player's guide implies that our characters know roughly who the other parties are and where they went, although our knowledge is largely based on rumours. See the box text on page 4. Is there an actual text for the charter that we can get our hands on? Did I miss it somewhere? Or are we going to go with the following: These initial charters are simple enough: re-open the old trade routes along the rivers and scatter or defeat the bandits who have made them too dangerous to use.
In case anyone else missed it, we're under way over on the gameplay board.
"I'm glad to make your acquaintance." Chimon peers up at Oleg. "You seem tense. Please, be at ease. We mean you no harm."
"Here here, Graz. Well said, my good man. I quite agree."
Of course, the first time they hit trouble, and Yvgeni says something like, "We need to get the girls to safety," might be hilarious. lol I look forward to responding in character. It seems that Chimon and his old friend do not see eye to eye all things. Not surprising, considering the alignment gap. Let's go! Also, much ado about slavery, but nothing about building a halfing kingdom? (Well, that's a caricature.)
some are pretty brutal, others have regulations and restrictions for protection of the slaves I'll leave discussion of regulations and restrictions "for protection" for in character (unless you want to discuss that here too). ...having them not know she's a slave could lead to some interesting scenes later. Who doesn't know that Fes is a slave?
Believe it or not, I'm eager to leave politics behind for the moment and proceed with the story. (It'll be kind of funny if Chimon bites it early and this all amounts to nothing.) As long as we're not going to run into other slaves right away (please, no) then I would imagine that we could proceed with gameplay while continuing this conversation on the discussion board as necessary. Yvgeni and Chimon go way back. Cadell, Graz, and Yvgeni are already already friends (and co-conspirators from the sounds of it, to lesser or greater degrees). Moira and Chimon met in Eagle's Watch and hit it off. And Fes was sent by either Cadell's or Moira's family (or some part thereof) for protection.
I'm sorry if I'm being a jackass about your character and your story. I need to remember that you're telling your story, and that it's not the story of all slaves. But if you claim that it's the anything but exceptional, I'll disagree. Okay. I will raise no further OOC objections to the disposition of personal property, but something else that I have to bring up is Fes' willingness to "refuse to cooperate". Again, that has an impact on just what it is that Chimon is opposing. I doubt that a slave could successfully refuse to cooperate with her master in anything but exceptional circumstances. In our world, unions often lose that battle, and they have legal protection and much more leverage. If she were to refuse to cooperate, there are many means of coercion at her master's disposal. The only lever that the slave has is her own value. By refusing to cooperate, she diminishes that value. It's self-defeating. If she puts herself in an adversarial position with her owner, she's going to lose. I don't object if that tactic has worked for Fes. My objection is to that being portrayed as the norm for slaves. It's not. It would be highly unusual. But I need to be fair: You've given a specific reason why that would work for Fes. She's very skilled, and that makes her valuable. And you've made it pretty clear that Fes is an exception, and that she hasn't been exposed to how things work for other slaves. I think that I'm mostly arguing with myself, and I'm sorry if I've caused offense.
It's easy to say you support freedom for slaves, and then do nothing for them, refusing to associate with those you think are wrong... It's not so much that Chimon would refuse to associate with slaveholders under any circumstances. You're right that it's rather hard to change someone's mind if you shun them. It's these specific circumstances that would be a problem. He's aiming to build a nation devoid of slavery. It doesn't make any sense to undertake that project along with someone who advocates slavery. If Fes advocates slavery... well, Chimon is confident that it won't be too hard to convince her otherwise. (See below.) she'd probably put most of her treasure back into the kingdom to help it grow faster I don't want to step on your toes, but when you paint this rosy picture of slavery, it impacts my character as well. Abolition is fairly central to who Chimon is, and what he's opposing is much darker than what you're portraying. As a slave, Fes doesn't own anything. All of her possessions are the property of her master back in Brevoy; she is allowed their use only by her master's leave. If Fes doesn't own her own person, how could she sensibly be considered to own anything else? As property herself, she could be denied her physical well-being or even her life on whim of her master. Given that, she could certainly be denied "her" share of the treasure. It belongs to her master. My suggestion is this: Consider having Fes spend as she sees fit to meet her immediate needs and accomplish her task of protecting whoever she is instructed to protect. For any wealth accumulated beyond that, let it be gathered to be sent back to her owner. Perhaps Fes could keep it with her to return it herself? The Stolen Lands seems like a dangerous and bandit-infested place. Sending treasure north by any means other than transporting it herself might be risky. And hopefully, but the time there's a kingdom for Fes is invest in, she will desire her freedom. And in fact, she will already be free, as will any slave who sets foot in that kingdom (or so Chimon hopes). Alternatively, don't cut Fes in on the treasure. We'll dole out whatever she needs to meet her immediate needs. Let the rest of us accumulate her wealth as our own (which would put us a bit above the wealth-by-level). But if and when she's freed, be prepared for Chimon to argue that we owe her restitution. We will have used her without justly compensating her. At that point, we pay out of our accumulated wealth, or we give her a larger cut of future treasure, until everyone is back at standard wealth-by-level. As a third alternative, perhaps Fes was instructed to use any resources that come into her possession to further her mission of protecting whomever she's supposed to protect. Better gear will probably make her a better bodyguard. Of course, if Fes has been sent to protect Cadel, we already know that he's going to be angling for a cut of (or all of) Fes' share. Maybe that's one more time to ignore what Cadel wants as per his mother's instructions? If this is too large an imposition on how you want to play your character, I will raise no further objections. Maybe Fes and her master have a unique understanding. Well, I won't object out of character, anyway.
Yvgeni and Chimon both grew up on farms in Rostland. It's not impossible that they could know one another. It's a big place, but we could go that way if we decided to. Eagle's Watch is not so far from Gronzi Forest. Chimon has been living with some gnomes in the forest during the last five years while training as a cleric of Desna. Such a stint would inevitably involve travel through the surrounding communities. He could have met Moira, although I'm not sure exactly how. Perhaps we had a mutual friend? If he had learned that Graz was a freed slave, Chimon would probably have been interested to speak with him, perhaps in a tavern somewhere. After seeing him though, I doubt that Chimon could have worked up the courage to approach Graz, hulking, scary fellow that he is. I want to be sure that I understand how he was freed: Graz is free because his master died? It was his master's will that Graz should become free upon his death? Failing all else, perhaps the party decided that they would benefit from a companion with a strong connection to the divine, or a healer? Chimon is a traveler. Maybe he was in the right place at the right time. I'd rather find a more personal connection though.
On the subject of zealous religious abolitionists: Chimon Quinn could probably be described fairly as a zealous abolitionist. I don't think that he's a religious zealot. I'm going to look over the backgrounds again with an eye for connections between Chimon and the others.
Sorry for the delayed post. The Fifth River Freedom denounces slavery as an abomination, and inhabitants uphold this tenet of the land as earnestly as they do any other. As a result, the River Kingdoms have become a haven for escaped or freed slaves... It's not so much that it makes me uncomfortable (although that's part of it). Mostly, I have trouble imagining Chimon joining a party that includes a slave owner or someone who chose to have a family slave along. If someone in a party with which Chimon was traveling purchased or used a slave, he would object. If that was ultimately fruitless, it's fair to say that he would have little respect left for the slaveholder, and he would probably look for others to work with. Given his objectives, as a practical matter, it wouldn't make sense to cooperate with such a person. They could not share his goals. Another practical matter: given the culture where we're going, is it a good idea to bring a slave? Would that really help to protect someone? It seems like a good way to alienate potential allies and get that person (and the rest of the party) into trouble. When I wrote him up, I was thinking about how this adventure would take place in a land that is a haven to escaped slaves, and that abhors slavery. If one of you openly endorses slavery or owns a slave, especially a slave who's present, it makes my character more difficult to play; it bringing politics to the forefront immediately, forcefully, and within the party. I was expecting discussion and debate to some extent, but not that. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, given what I wrote. To a certain extent, I brought this on myself: I should have raised it during recruitment once Fes showed up. I'm not saying that it's impossible for Fes to start as a slave with Chimon in the group. As you've been discussing, perhaps it's a (potentially unwise) move by a concerned family member. The "my mother sent her and she won't listen to me" idea sounds okay. Maybe Chimon sees this as a chance to get Fes away from her master and convince her that she's better off free? It's a risk for the party (bringing a slave to the Stolen Lands) but it's one that he's probably willing to take. However, the bottom line is that Chimon's not going to set out to build his dream by cooperating with a slaveholder or someone who strongly endorses slavery.
Checking in. I'm glad to be aboard.
We've got a couple of ranger submissions now, so I'll leave Quinn as a cleric of Desna.
Yeah, I have to say that caught me by surprise. Less surprised by the idea of not having a rogue app'ed for yet, because rogues seem to be the least-applied characters in any pbp I've ever run. I'm considering rebuilding Quinn as a druid. I think that we could really use someone who has an aptitude for dealing with wilderness. It shouldn't be too difficult as long as you're okay with druids worshiping Desna. The stars fall within her portfolio. Nature enough for you? If not, I'd have to rework the story a bit. My alignment would change from CG to NG. The Kingmaker players guide says that druids often fill the role of clerics in Brevoy. I would say that of the two traveling Desnan gnomes, one was a druid and the other a cleric, and that when Quinn went to Gronzi Forests, he trained as a druid. What say you?
No ranger, druid, or even a barbarian yet in a wilderness AP. Could be interesting.
"One day, halflings will have a homeland. In too many places, they are chattel. In others, though nominally free, they are second-class citizens: servants and menial labourers, oppressed by circumstance and prejudice. They live in human cities, adopt human customs, and see to human needs. "There is a land that proclaims 'slavery is an abomination'. That land is a wilderness, but that one truth is a seed. When that seed is protected and nurtured, that land will grow into a beacon of hope for halflings and oppressed peoples across Avistan. In that land, if halfings gather in sufficient numbers, they can meaningfully participate in their own government and build a home of their own. "That land is the Stolen Lands. That seed is the Fifth River Freedom. I will grow that seed. I will gather my people and build a nation. I will set them free." Chimon Quinn should not have been a Desnan. Born in Cheliax, a child of slaves, he should have lead a life of servitude. He should have been taught bow his head, to scrape and serve, and to woreship Hell. Circumstance and luck conspired to liberate him.
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