'Jack', a.k.a. Jusuf Agyar's page

Sorry I have gone so long without posting. Life has recently gotten busier than anticipated. It doesn't help that I have best access to a computer where I don't have access to the rulebook. I will try & make a gameplay post tonight, including the relevent mechanics for Oneiromachy, Leon.

As I am presently uncertain whether that was simply a failure or a dramatic failure, I'm going to hold off until Communist has posted weighing in & possibly moving matters along somewhat. The other good news is that if it was only a failure, I should be able to make another attempt. The advantage of using the Contract of Dream rather than simple Dreamriding is that you can do more in one dream.
The disadvantage of course is that it winds up costing you Glamour...

'Well, crap!' 'Jack' expostulates as the howl begins. 'I was really hoping not to have to make a rush job of this...'
Without further explanation he flings his hands out dramatically, only to purse his lips in annoyance when nothing happens.
Forging the Dream: 4d10 ⇒ (6, 4, 1, 5) = 16, oh nice; no successes... Glamour expenditure: 1
'The good news is we should be able to leave any time...'

Ok, I know I promised another gameplay post today, but I am feeling pretty wiped at the moment & it is almost time to head for the busstop. If I don't get it out tomorrow, Saturday will be a lot better.
It's really sad that my workdays are less active than my class days...

"Well, I wouldn't do it, no." 'Jack' replies as he rattles the door assertively. "It always does this...
Greg set it up so you have to know all the wards to open the door."
"In other words, this isn't a bug, it's a feature." He smirks as he finally opens it with a flourish.
A flourish that hardly seems justified at first glance within. On the other side of the door there seems to be one of those odd exterior alcoves you sometimes find in old office buildings which have undergone significant renovations over time. Interestingly enough, the 'floor' seems to be a well raked & turned bed of earth, large enough for one of those 'pocket gardens' you sometimes hear about. Or, large enough for two people to lie down next to each other & still be comfortably certain they won't bump into one another unless one is a particularly energetic sleeper.
"C'mon, bring the bedding." 'Jack' calls as he crosses over. It's really weird...
Something imperceptible tells you he is now in the Hedge, effectively, but neither you nor any mortal witness would be able to tell just by looking at him, his Mask & Mein remain completely identical...
freak.
Of course, I don't have my Oneiromancy notes with me today...
I'll make another gameplay post tomorrow even if you don't post again Leon.

"Yes & No." 'Jack' replies. "It'll knock you out, but you're still drunk when you're asleep & you know what they say about 'driving drunk'?" Stepping up to the door, 'Jack' takes a deep breath before opening it. "Be I friend, not foe; bring me weal, not woe. I come not alone, do him no wrong; we carry our sorrows with us as we go."

GM Communist, I was figuring the clinic Hollow to really have at most one dot in Size & nothing really in anything else save Wards, that would be rated at five. It really only serves one purpose, comparatively safe Hedge 'crash space' for an Oneiromancer to 'work' from & since an Oneiromancer 'works' by sleeping, all it really requires is a reasonably soft 'bed'.

As to what it seems to be, I was figuring the 'Real World' entrance to be one of those seemingly 'closet doors' that opens onto a kind of bricked-in alleyway, maybe six feet by ten, that used to run between the buildings, but now has been victim to several decades worth of 'urban renewal'.
"Hedgeside" it looks quite similar only rather than the ends being closed by brickwork, they are clogged with various greenery, thickly clogged, the only way to access the Hedge from there (Or access the Hollow from the Hedge) is to climb up the walls to the rooftops & out.

It could also be a stage magician's convention... Which still sounds like fun come to think of it.

Cool. You two have fun. Sorry I haven't been posting much lately, I have no Internet at home & not as much time at school to post as I might like.
Dammit! I forgot to bring my books to work with me. Now I can't remember the mechanics. I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow for a gameplay post.

Never done this before...
How long has this guy been back?!.

D'oh! What is really bad is I think I knew that at the time, just for some reason posted two. Granted, I would still have preferred at least one success on the second roll...
Given that 'Jack' considers at least a 'basic' competence at dream diving/travel/manipulation to be one of those 'life skills' that all Lost should have, if he finds out you don't really have any experience he will probably insist that you accompany him, though he will likely also give you the 'keep your hands to yourself, don't agree to anything, don't accept anything & don't touch anything' spiel.

So, is it too much to suspect that Greg has a secure Hollow attached to the sleep clinic for just these kinds of occasions?

'Jack' accepts the file before sitting down to review it in greater detail.
Intelligence/Medicine: 4d10 ⇒ (1, 3, 8, 10) = 22, Explosion: 1d10 ⇒ 9, for a total of two successes to double-check for any likely overlooked medical signs.
Intelligence/Occult(Oneiromancy): 8d10 ⇒ (4, 6, 7, 3, 1, 6, 5, 7) = 39, much the same, only from an occult/fae side. Wow, no successes on what is unquestionably my best pool, not a good way to impress the boss...

Is it possible to do a presentation on 50 shades of Grey that isn't snarky?!..

For that matter, why would you put such a presentation on in the first place?

For the record: I would like to say the drama is over, but the truth is it is simply at an abeyance. I am however, back. Ready when you are GM Communist!

Ok guys, Real Life (TM) just hit me hard. I have a family emergency which I seem to be the only effective adult for, so I suspect it is going to be several days to a week before I am in a position to post again. GM Communist, please 'bot' me as needed until I post I'm back.

Hey, since it's a new day, do we regain a point of Willpower?

edit: Or Health for that matter?

* Last Night *

"Yeah, I think I'm done here as well." 'Jack' Replies as he makes ready to follow 'Louis' out the door.
Once on the street he heads for the nearest bus-stop & heads home. Or rather, heads for the overgrown, failed neighborhood garden near his apartment where a reasonably safe Hedgegate can be found & he keeps a thermal sleeping bag concealed for just such occasions as this.

You know, a Hollow to tuck into & a Motleymate to watch my back in the meantime would really come in handy at times like this...

Settling in, 'Jack' allows himself to drift into slumber, suppressing for a time his natural inclination for hypersensitivity & alertness to potential danger so that he can once more drift into somnolence in preparation for twinning his dreams with another's...

GM Communist, as this is strictly for RP purposes, I hope it is alright with you if I forgo the rolls for making dream contact with another Lost?

With time, as he enters the deeper slumber necessary for true dream travel, 'Jack' begins his journey, sifting through the many strands & motes of the countless dreams which flow about him, seeking out the one who offered herself unwittingly the day before...
There..

'Amy.'

* This Morning *

'Jack' wakes with a bolt, much as he always does when he sleeps in the Hedge.

Well, nothing ate me. That's always a good sign...

Scrubbing the sleep from his face he quickly rolls up the sleeping bag before equally quickly making his way back to the 'Real World' side of the gate, only to be immediately accosted by Greg's text message.

Never rains but it pours. At least I can shower & shave there.

Once more concealing the sleeping bag within one of the abandoned toolboxes in the equally abandoned garden, he quickly makes his way to work, diverting only long enough to grab a fresh set of clothes to change into after making use of the facility locker-room.
Once he is properly groomed, 'Jack' makes his way to the bosses office. "You wanted to see me, boss?"

Preparing for work now, will post to Gameplay in a couple hours.

Well, if you are looking to RP, GM Communist did say that night would be coming on, so there is a strong possibility of 'Jack' attempting to dream-call her.
Once I get a response from 'Louis Cypher', that will likely be it for my actions for the day.

One thing that can definitely pull us together is a Motley Oath. Of course, even the least of those is pretty much only taken by Lost who already trust & work with/live with/trust each other. D'oh! I put trust in there twice... Actually, that might be appropriate, trust is a pretty rare thing for Lost, one of the reasons why they place so much importance on Oaths.
I suspect if we manage to survive the 'death clock', we will likely have made it to that point, but that is merely my opinion.

Nope, can't just...

"Hey!" 'Jack' blurts out before 'Luis' makes more than a half turn. "Don't know if you are aware of this already or not...
but you're marked."
"Not by me!" He quickly corrects at even a hint of antagonism on the part of 'Louis', or even simply as an instinctual precaution. "I'm here because I'm a...
Well, I'm an Oneiromancer, nobody big, but I had one of those dreams a night ago & now everyone I meet has a number, that seems to be counting down, that only I can see. You are the first person I've met who's number is lower than mine..."
"Well, except for the Vampire but I'm not certain he counts..."

Don't say it.
Don't say it,
Don't Sa-!

"Wow, you really can find those things in Crackerjack boxes!" Manages to slip out of 'Jack's' mouth before self-control cuts in.
Ducking his head & shifting his gaze from side to side in embarrassment, he continues. "So what brings a Fed to this neck of the woods? For that matter, how is it that somebody like you is a Fed?"
What do I need to roll to focus on his Mask?

Mechanically...
Well, the example the book gives for that not-quite-exact situation would be Composure + Empathy. For every success you roll, you get one Glamour, plus one extra since it is the emotion associated with your court.

According to the book there are four ways of harvesting Glamour; Emotions, Dreams, Pledges & Hedge Bounty.
Court Lost have an advantage in harvesting emotion, if the emotion they are harvesting is the one associated with their Court. The exact mechanics involved are going to depend on which Emotion you try to harvest from & how you try to go about it. The other big advantage to harvesting Emotion for Glamour is that it requires significantly less set-up than the others do, particularly Pledges but Dream harvesting isn't something you just 'do when your tank is low' either.
As I implied, Dream Harvesting requires a certain amount of prep work as you can't just 'slip in' to a mortal's dream & start chowing down, generally you need either a pledge with the Mortal in question or a Contract that let's you in.
Which segue's into Pledges. In the long term, Pledges are probably the most effective & reliable means of gathering Glamour...
But again, they take a lot of prep; you have to find Mortals, you have to convince them to enter into a pledge with you & you have to keep your side of the pledge, which may or may not be worth your time...
Finally, we have Hedge Bounty.
What, you never wondered where all the Glamour that got sucked out of you if you spent too long in the Hedge went? Basically, it goes into the Hedge, but sometimes a particular area within the Hedge gets supersaturated with Glamour & the excess has to go somewhere. Oftentimes where it goes is 'fruits' of various varieties, some of which aren't even fruit if you get what I'm saying...

"You diddled their heads, got it."

Wits/Empathy: 5d10 ⇒ (1, 6, 9, 9, 6) = 31, is this guy telling the truth? Two successes.

Do I see a number on either of their hands?

"Soooo...
Any idea why the police simply up & left?" 'Jack' finally gives in to curiosity.

"I suspect I'm going to regret not donning gloves before this..." 'Jack' replies absently as his own gaze touches each spot he knows he touched a surface. "Little to do about it now, I suppose." he continues as he still proceeds to pull out a handkerchief & rub briskly at every surface he can reach. "What leads you to that conclusion?" 'Jack' asks as he finally turns to the sheet-covered corpse, flicking the sheet aside with the handkerchief.

Wait, ?body?!?

This is not good. I'm rattled enough I don't even notice a corpse?!

Studiously not responding to the 500 pound gorilla in the room, (I.E. the armed & armored Lost sitting with his feet propped up), 'Jack' proceeds to examine the rest of the scene.
Going to expend a Willpower for ?two? additional dice on my Wits/Investigation roll.
Wits/Investigation: 5d10 ⇒ (8, 6, 8, 2, 2) = 26, for two successes

I'm guessing he is not someone 'Jack' recognizes?
Wits/Investigation: 3d10 ⇒ (7, 6, 2) = 15, nada.
Is the bench inside the house or out in the yard?

Initial startlement forcefully contained, 'Jack' looks the strange Lost over, keeping his own silence for now.
Specifically, do his clothes & gear look as if he is a new arrival or has he been this side of the Hedge a while? Does he have a mantle that I might recognize? Does he look like a person for whom violence comes readily? Inquiring Lost want to know!

As it happens...

After the fact, I realized a further contributing factor was that last week was finals week for my accelerated college class. I have three five-week classes, of which one just finished, so I believe that in the interests of not having another episode like this past week, I will likely be taking another hiatus when my next final comes up in about a month.

Yes, I'm back.

Guys, I apologize but I feel I should probably take a break from PbP for a bit. I just wound up leaving a Campaign I had a great deal of time & enjoyment invested in because what I felt was a simple miscommunication snowballed rapidly & to be painfully honest, I can't tell if I was over-reacting or took to long to make the break.
I'm going to take about a week off, GM Communist, please go ahead & 'bot' me if needful.

How does 'Jack' know this is the Murder scene?

I really don't trust this...

'Jack' stands, just stands, in front of the gate for several seconds before reaching in & flicking open the latch. He waits another several seconds afterwards before stepping into the yard.

To be honest, as much as I would like to have things happening in-game, RL is picking up for me right at the moment as well.

One of these paths is full of weird and horrific creatures, and the other is the Hedge.

.

Sighing to himself, 'Jack' makes his way to the busstop, the camera carefully tucked into his inner coat pocket.

I should really consider getting a car...

Eyes narrowing, 'Jack' steps back from the Hedgegate, pulls out his watch & starts timing. Once it finally re-closes, he reminds himself how long it took & heads for the closest convenience store. Once there, he will purchase a disposable camera which he will take back to the alleyway & take a number of photographs of the area before figuring out how to get to the next closest murder scene.

By perception, do you mean the default Wits/Composure, or something more like Wits/Investigation; or, given that this deals with the supernatural, Wits/Occult?
Wits/Composure: 4d10 ⇒ (6, 9, 5, 1) = 21
Wits/Investigation: 3d10 ⇒ (7, 3, 9) = 19
Wits/Occult: 7d10 ⇒ (3, 6, 2, 7, 1, 1, 2) = 22
Wow! Against probability, I get better rolls on the lower pools. One success unless it's Wits/Occult.

Well, that's never a good thing... Jusuf examines the Hedgegate carefully & cautiously before committing to stepping across.

Half a block before reaching the police tape, 'Jack' will turn aside & begin examining the area carefully but casually for any signs of possible Lost, or Lost-related, activity.
I would imagine that possibly a Wits/Occult test might present me with indications if anything Fae-related?..
Wits/Occult: 7d10 ⇒ (5, 9, 10, 7, 6, 10, 3) = 50, That's three successes before re-rolling exploding dice.
Exploding dice: 3d10 ⇒ (3, 5, 7) = 15 & no additional successes; so three total, if there is anything to find I imagine he found it.

Aha! Now the lightbulb shines! If it will help things for you, feel free to call him Jusuf, just bear in mind that for right now, the only Lost who call him that is Greg Willsworth since he is Jusuf's mortal boss & to be honest, he probably just calls him Mr. Agyar or Nurse Agyar.

Once off the bus, 'Jack' makes his way as near he can to the closest of the crime scenes, intending to be certain no-one has opened any new Hedgegates. At least to begin with.

Of course I don't have my book with me to recall the dice pool to spot a dormant Hedgegate at the moment & 'Jack' doesn't have that Merit yet...

Not quite clear on what you meant by numbers might be in order...

That unpleasantness concluded, 'Jack' walks, slowly, out the door & down the street a ways before checking his bearings.
Alright, the murders took place up North...
Metro it is.

'Jack' makes his way to the nearest bus stop, pulling out his cellphone & calling work on the way. "Hey Stella, it's Jusuf. Would you let Mr. Willsworth know I'm not going to be able to make my shift tonight? I had a long-lost relative show up with an extended family problem that I have to help take care of."

"I'm listening..." 'Jack' glowers, his attitude, already irascible, not at all helped by the inevitable headache & lightheadedness accompanying losing over a pint of blood in less than a minute.
If you've ever donated blood you know what I'm talking about & that takes closer to half an hour...

Definitely a junkie...

Thinking about it more, as much as I would prefer the xp & 'Jack' distrusts 'Lord Jeremiah', I think I am going to go with the Contact idea. 'Power' from a Vampire just doesn't sound like a good idea to him/me.

Does he have to decide immediately? As implied by my last post, 'Jack' is fairly certain 'Lord Jeremiah' is, effectively, a junkie for Changeling Blood & he is experienced enough to know you don't trust a junkie. On the other hand...
a Vampire contact might be useful for the Motley, assuming we ever become a Motley.

"You've done this before?" 'Jack' blurts out in surprise before reason asserts itself. "Of course you have...
at least you would have if you genuinely were working for one of us."
"Everything is better when freely offered...
You know what, never mind, you obviously don't care about the why's of things, let's just get this over with."
Holding up a hand just before the act. "One thing straight, I feed you, nothing comes back from you but information."

Great, f@%+in' blood junkie...
One of these days I'm going to learn not to let my mouth write a check my ass can't cash.

'Jack' lowers his hand, closes his eyes & allows the tension to flow out of him as best it may.
On the bright side, 'Jack's' Wyrd is low enough this guy should not have too much difficulty maintaining control...

What little warmth there is in 'Jack's' eyes dies with 'Lord Jeremiah's' complaint. "I've done you the courtesy of not making derogatory comments about your personal & 'cultural' foibles when I know this side of nothing about them save the inconvenience they place upon me, I would strongly recommend you do the same before I show you exactly why we hew so...
pedantically,
to making certain what we say & what we mean match excruciatingly closely."
Inhaling deeply through his nostrils, he continues. "However, I will accept. Do you wish to do this privately, given that the act is likely to be something of a give-away?"

The weird thing is that they effectively built it into the mechanics of the games... Maybe not Mage, I only did one read-through when it first came out & the new Paradigm really didn't appeal to me, but practically every other venue published had something in the actual mechanical systems that practically screamed 'You can only trust your clique, everyone else is some degree of other!'

It's kind of draining honestly.

'Jack' watches as Amy quickly turns about & almost sashays out the door.

She thinks I'm flirting...
That's a dangerous assumption to make.
For that matter, flirting isn't a good enough reason to let your guard down like that, especially when you are Winter...

Total side-rail: I had a Lost Character in a LARP Campaign who was certain that the real Winter Monarch was actually well hidden & was allowing everyone in the Freehold to think it was a particularly inane, inept & annoying PC because it aided the 'Real' Monarch to stay hidden.
Paranoid much?..

Eyes narrowing at Lord Jeremiah's 'offer', 'Jack' replies. "By this point I'm fairly certain you should have figured out we get a bit...
leery about that open-ended a deal. In the interests of not starting another round of 'let's circle around what we really mean for the sake of CYA'..."
"'Essence'... Corporeal or non-corporeal, replenishable or non?
'Worth-our-while'... Concrete, Personal, Transferable, Transformative...
or Social?"
Wits/Empathy: 5d10 ⇒ (4, 1, 3, 5, 3) = 16, to determine how 'Lord Jeremiah's' answer is a falsehood.
Not with that roll I'm not...

anasjdanasdfds That word is bloody annoying to spell.

.

Getting in good with REM... you've already got a good start, which is to say high dream contracts, and goodwill with Spring. Meeting with him/her would help, and doing notable dream deeds help even more. Telling him/her about your dream would also go a long way.

As for goodwill, having a bit in each court goes a long way to making you a reliable third party. You might have to take a roll to get hold of someone really important, but you can reliably get into contact with all of them.

.

@Amy this party is hilarious to watch. Maybe I'll change the campaign to just living on a deserted island and seeing who gets murdered first.

.

But yeah, there are reasons why a lot of published stuff with just-new Characters in nWoD specifically has them shoved together a lot harder even then you did with us. The venues are almost hardwired for distrust & dissent.

Speaking of which...
@Amy: You may or may not have realized this, but given 'Jack's' very specific wording of his request & her not-so-specific answer, she all but gave him the go-ahead to contact her through her dreams. Mostly I bring this up because he likely will do so, or at least make the attempt & if successful will start the dream with "This is why you need to be more attentive to what people say & what you say back to them. If I had been one of them you would be on your way back to the not-so-nice place right now..."

Yeah, he can be a dick.

@Terrence: Nope, 'Jack' would be the first one dead. Trust me, being the guy who spots your mistakes is much more annoying than being the guy who can't be found.

Well, I would imagine there are at least a handful of March Lords & Ladies considering we have one...

edit: Just how much oomph does one dot of Court Goodwill get me? In an absolute sense since to my knowledge nobody else has any. Basically what I am asking is can I reliably make contact with any of the courts aside from other PC's? Do I need to make a roll & if so, what should I be rolling?

Also, what am I going to have to do to get in good with REM?, speaking of which, it's Oneiromancer, not Oineromancer.

As Amy makes her way out the door, 'Jack' rests his hand on her shoulder briefly. "To clarify, you are giving us permission to get in contact with you?"
As Jack complains about Terrence's 'excessive caution', 'Jack' snickers.

Actually, any Lost can access the Hedge anywhere in the 'Real World'. All they need is a physical doorway of some kind & a willingness to do so. Most don't unless they are really desperate because once you make a Hedgegate, it's there forever & that means one more way in for the True Fae.
Int/Occult: 7d10 ⇒ (7, 10, 2, 4, 4, 5, 3) = 35 Exploding die: 1d10 ⇒ 7 one success total, to recall a possible Knighthood associated with Summer Court.

'Jack's' expression becomes more withdrawn as he ruminates on the information gathered so far. Finally, he stands up. "Are we doing more than 'spit-balling' here? Unless somebody is still spinning their wheels looking for something to do, we should be doing it." Making his way to the door, he turns. "I'll go talk with some people I know, rattle a few cages, see what happens."

"If he is what I think he is...
I'm pretty sure I know why he has no number." 'Jack', nodding toward Jeramiah, responds to Jack's suspicions. "Not here & not now." he adds. "As Amy said, we need to stop whinging."
"I...
know a guy." He admits when the subject of talking with Summer Courtiers comes up. "Personally, I'm a bit more curious as to who this new/old entitlement is coming in to town?" As he turns once more to Jeremiah, his eyebrows arched inquiringly.