"Watch the Wraith," Leonard warns, reaching out with a suddenly whiplike sword and attempting to trip the fellow in yellow robes. And here I always thought yellow was the colour of cowards.
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Looks complicated, good luck figuring everything out.
Leonard sends a long crackle of electricity down his sword, stepping towards the armored humans and reaching out to stab them.
Leonard lands quietly on the upper deck of the ship behind one of the armored fellows, sending flames down the length of Angiliath and thrusting at a gap in the man's armor.
Using haste first sounds like a good idea to me. It's not going to last longer than a fight anyway, and it probably will last for the whole fight regardless. We could sneak around their ship and find the hat, but these 8 fellows should be easy enough to deal with.
Leonard looks over the 8 heavily armored humans, deciding it's best to fly over them and remain invisible. "Vincent, you coming?"
Leonard wakes up in the dreamlands quiet and still, no familiar weight of another concious body in the back of his mind. He follows the group around groggily, everthing snapping back into focus when he straps Angiliath back on.
"Right, opposing forces getting closer." In a now familiar move, the tatoos on Leonard's left arm begin to dance, and several images extend out in all directions.
He then touches his chest and closes his eyes, a light appearing from beneath his shirt when he takes his hand away. It seems to move faintly, winking in and out of existence.
Ascending ten feet into the air, Leonard draws his wand, activates shield, then puts his wand back in the sheath.
Ascending another five feet into the air, Leonard begins to chant an ever faster rythm, a wave of power radiating out and towards his compainons.
"Haha, 43, 43!" Leonard cries, now locking eyes with Howard, who is the only other person standing. "Do you see? Does it see you? WHY!" Leonard turns to look at Angiliath, "Eyes eyes eyes eyes," he says, with rising urgency, "eyes eyes He turns away from the sword, back to Howard, suddenly smiling. "How you doin'?"
Well well well. I've sucesfully returned to college, but unfortunately left my computer charger on the bus that I took from the airport. I ordered a new one already, it should get here Tuesday, that's two days from now. I will thus be unlikely to post tomorrow or the following morning.
"Well well well well well," Leonard begins, "if it isn't a pile of nuts and fruits. It's like an oven, with wind and sky and rain. He looks at Howard and raises his hands, emploring the man, "Did you think the friend? Did you think the friend, man?" He turns away, shaking his head, "well well well."
Leonard reaches out for Vincent with his sword, "Hello, old friend," he says slowly and deliberately.
Leonard recoils, left hand glowing, tattoo dancing. A series of images expand outwards, obscuring his exact location, and then all in unison slice towards the dream with a faintly glowing sword.
Leonard wakes up, blinking at the dawn. "I wouldn't say immense," I would. but it certainly is a powerful magic sword. I used to work for the guard, back when I was a young lad," Leonard sits up, moving to a nearby chair, "and I found it while we were clearing out a den full of cultists. It was just...there...on an altar, calling to me from the moment I walked into the room." "That was a very different time in my life." Leonard looks down thoughtfully, reflecting on how he's changed over the years.
"Lead me to my great destiny? I'm destined to die in a pool of blood far from my home, I think." Leonard turns away, going back to the musician. "Got a way to immobilize the ambassador and keep her from escaping to the ethereal plane?"
Huh, cool. It's probably not particularly uncommon, I suppose.
"Right, well, any idea what the voices of the universe say about my friend here?" Leonard gestures with Angiliath at the ambassador.
Well yeah, not using painkillers during the operation would be a dumb. Likewise, if I was in constant excruciating pain that interfered with my ability to do things, I'd probably take some painkiller, despite hating it. Luckily, my face does not really hurt, so it's just not an issue. Not sleeping's kindof hard, I think it's time for me to go to sleep myself.
They used a local anesthesia, it was kindof strange. You can still feel some forms of pressure, and you can also feel warm and cold things a little bit, but there's no pain. My experience was a lot of tugging and pulling and stuff, it was unsettling. I absolutely hate painkillers, since they make my body stop working properly and also make it so that instead of feeling pain I get to feel bad about myself. Plus, I usually end up getting paranoid that I've hurt myself and not noticed, at which point I want to tear something in half. Which is exceptionally unusual for me, since I'm generally very patient and calm. It really doesn't hurt though.
"Right, you're free to go for now, but we might call you back." Leonard dismisses Ammanetta. He watches Seamus talk to the musician for a moment, not having anything to add just yet, and willing to wait for Seamus to talk to the astrologer first.
Ahh, I get what you're saying, she has good posture and doesn't slouch. Makes sense, seeing as how the people in the room are all fairly high status. Surgery was the removal of a small lump on the bottom of my left jaw. It was mostly out of the way, but kindof weird looking, and possibly could have become something dangerous. Turned out to just be a lump of skin that was growing backwards, which is nothing to worry about.
"Describe what Dol Theth and Kaviriki are wearing right now in as much detail as possible." Leonard doesn't bat an eye.
Not very interesting? I know the type, something is just...missing. *Chuckles* Anyhow, I would've posted earlier, but I've been busy up till now. Had an extremely minor surgery today, but it still took a long time. Stupid hospitals.
"In fact, despite what you wish were true, she doesn't trust you. Why? Leonard turns to look at the woman, upon whom many pairs of eyes now rest.
"The catfish was always in pieces, I think it might have been fried?" Leonard looks around for a pan.
At this point, if it were real life, I'd be lying a lot and trying to get the suspect to say something inadvertently. My first reaction is to say something like "Why haven't you been successful yet? We could kill you right now if we wanted to, the target would reward us, etc." However, lying is oddly difficult in Pathfinder, so Leonard won't be doing that any time soon. And I think our next words ought to be chosen carefully if we want to leverage our skill points properly. Seamus ought to be around pretty soon, right?
"Does it take an hour?" Leonard moves the potatoes closer to the fire, "Maybe we can make it fifty minutes." "It's okay if I'm late to lunch, no big loss."
I like the accents, I'd keep using them. Accents exist in real life, they ought to exist in game too.
Leonard glances around at the others. 'Zublies?' He asks, slightly confused. "What's a 'schob'?" Someone in a position of power, one that's particularly prone to corruption. Maybe a criminal or foreign power wants the Ambassador dead?
"Can we put them in whole instead? They're good to eat that way, like apples." He opens the oven and, if she doesn't object, places a few potatoes far from the fire.
Your command of the language? "Zuch as making zure zee zublies reach zee schobs," *Scratches head in confusion.* In actual fact, if English isn't your first language I can't tell. Your descriptions of scenery are not particularly inspiring, but they are serviceable. In pretty much every other category, I give you top marks (which is to say I haven't seen you do worse than well yet). I prefer to run with rules as guidelines myself, but at least your strict adherence to RAW is consistent and clear. I agree that you're better than most GMs on the boards. Also, I wasn't suggesting that you run a live chat. I think it would be unnecessary in this game.
"Everyone has something they want us to do, but what can you expect? Our skill set is different from most people's, I suppose that makes us good for a specific set of problems." Leonard grins slightly, taking another drink. "What's an opioid hallucination like?"
Earlier I didn't have time to write about my thoughts on PbP, but I'll address that now. I think successful PbP depends mostly on the quality and enthusiasm of the GM. If the GM isn't responsive, you can't interact with anything but the other members of the party, and you can't really move forward. So basically, it all depends on the GM. Mort, you're a good GM. When looking at PbP games, I usually look into what the GM has done in the past and their experience on the boards. I was looking for games over the summer, but I didn't really go for any recruitments, even ones that purported to be for games of a sort particularly interesting to me, because I was wary of mediocre and uncommitted GMs. On at least one occasion I started making a character and later changed my mind because I didn't think the GM was going to be good enough. If the GM isn't good, the game won't work, but the GM can be good and still the game has potential to fail. The players also have to post fairly frequently, and have to keep each other interested. Out of character conversation is good for that, I think. In another game I'm in, the GM created a discord channel for us all to talk in, which is essentially a private internet chatroom. It's useful for things like asking quick questions to the GM, who often responds almost immediately, and for discussing things in ways that it's harder to do on the boards. But what I think it's most useful for is encouraging out of character and offtopic chatter, which helps us as players get to know one another a bit better. The more real the relationship between me and the other players, the more invested I will be in the game, and the more social pressure there will be for me to post frequently. I also think it's important that the characters be well developed. In another game I'm in, there is only minimal out of character conversation, and occasionally our enthusiasm wanes. But because our characters are all interesting and three dimensional, we're very invested in the game. I really like my character, and I don't want to stop playing them. Likewise, I really like the other characters, and I want to interact with them a lot. Even when the action is slow things still stay interesting. I also think that PbP needs some way to revitalize interest and enthusiasm. From time to time, everyone will get busy, and often GMs or a few players might slow down for a few days or a week. It's important to have some way to deal with this when it does happen, and get everyone to keep posting even during slow bits so that everyone knows that everyone else is still interested and enthusiastic. It's also pretty important that the players have compatible personalities and play styles. This matters a lot less in PbP than real life, I think, because the interaction is much more removed. I might come across very differently in real life than I do online, and, more importantly, it doesn't matter as much how I come across online because you aren't actually really interacting with me in a socially immediate way. Anyway, those are some decidedly disorganized thoughts.
"Right, well, how do we go about cooking them whole then? With the skin on and everything." Leonard looks around for an oven. "And do you have catfish? Catfish and potatoes, a common meal for a young boy, I ought to know how to make them myself, I should think."
Before heading into the portal, Leonard casts defending bone on a shark skull.
Leonard looks the three of them over, "I think we should start with Ammanetta, the steward." He gestures at Ammanetta and walks towards the private room. Inside, Leonard first makes sure that the party is alone with Ammanetta. "What exactly are your duties here?" He asks, fingering Angiliath's guard. as they walk into the room alone with a potential assassin, Leonard pulls out his wand, Tegere, he mutters to himself. It's not like the charges won't reset when they return home anyway.
Looking at third level spells, what's the component for storm step? Specifically, can it be used in a grapple? I think I'm also going to take irridate, which is 2d4 con damage with no save in a wide area at tenth level. I probably won't prepare it until then, though. The other spell I'm looking at is sleet storm, which is a good and versatile control spell that will do fine at later levels since it doesn't ask for a save. Always open to suggestions.
"Sure," Leonard replies, watching the herb swirl around. He takes the rum back and sips from it, "interesting flavor. Makes it burn a little more, but it's still smooth, especially at first." Leonard looks around the small room, sliding the bottle back to Vincent. "So, what's been your impression of the dreamlands so far? How do you think the Mad Prophet will react to us showing up?"
Leonard shows up the second day with Angiliath swinging at his side. His red jacket is quite out of place in the kitchen, he looks much more like the person who might be receiving a steaming platter of roast beast than the person to cook it. He places his hands together in front of him somewhat nervously, "Um, I was wondering if we could make something in particular. Are there any potatoes onboard?"
Leonard walks up next to Seamus, sword resting on his shoulder infinitely more awkwardly than hands rest on hips. [smaller]"If someone in your retinue is guilty, you probably know a great deal more than we do. Who can you trust?" Leonard looks around at the guards, taking stock of them.
I certainly don't want to hold other people up or take up too much time doing things other people aren't as interested in. It sounds like you, Mort, should keep pushing pretty hard, and I'll just try to retcon harder. I'm happy to have tried slowing down and focusing on RP, and I think that we've learned something, which is good. Leonard didn't want to share his life story with the cook because, even though he would love to share his life story with anyone who will listen, he doesn't actually feel that she will. Another aside, Vincent, Leonard asked you if you wanted some rum, because he'd love to bond with you and make the research a bit less awkward. He himself is socially awkward, but drinking with someone is such an incredibly easy way to get to know them.
I think everyone else would appreciate it if we moved ahead with the plot, yes? I don't want to prioritize my own enjoyment exclusively to the detriment of the other players, and it seems like they aren't too interested in the ship (although there's potential character growth and emotional development, I think).
"The key is patience? So I should take as long as possible so that the maximum amount of flavour gets imparted? Don't lots of foods burn? Leonard fries the vegetables as instructed, shaking the pan delecately and sending the sizzling onions arcing through the air. The garlic turns brown, filling the air with a warm, savory aroma and making Leonard's mouth water. How long before it's done? He asks.
"In tafod y comin, mae llawer o ffyrdd i ddweud popeth, Leonard replies. Gallech ddweud nad oes "lots of water". Ond gallech hefyd ddweud bod swm "prodigious quantity of liquid", neu "mighty sea." Rwyf wedi dysgu iaith gyda geirfa o'r fath capacious byth." "Beth bynnag, nid yw hynny'n dybiwch y bydd mater llawer, nid hyd nes y byddwch wedi dysgu lawer mwy." "A nodyn arall, gelwir y ddwy leggers y bodau humans. Wel, heblaw am y rhai sydd ddim yn ddynol." Aklo:
"In the common tongue, there's lots of ways to say everything. You could say that there's "lots of water". But you could also say that there is a "prodigious quantity of liquid", or a "mighty sea." I've never learned a language with such a capacious vocabulary.
Anyway, I don't suppose that shall matter much, not until you've learned a good deal more." "And another note, the two leggers are called humans. Well, except for the ones who aren't human."
Leonard touches his eyes. I thought it might be a little emotional, but...why am I crying? He looks up as the woman addresses him, hiding his face until she points out that he's crying. "I don't think it would be difficult to cut them, I just...is there something about them that makes one cry?" Leonard cuts with delight, the simple nature of the task somehow extremely appealing. He chats lightly with the woman, asking a lot of questions and remembering everything.
"They yn dod i'ch adnabod, os ydym yn gweithio ar y mater, er yr wyf yn amau byddwch deuant byth agos at gyfaill ichi oni bai y gallwch siarad eu language." Leonard looks around for a suitable spot to sit down, eventually leaning against the railing. "Beth yr ydych yn unig nofio mewn dŵr. Wwaatteerr, he enunciates slowly, in common. Aklo:
"They might get to know you, if we work at it, though I doubt they'll ever come close to befriending you unless you can speak their language." "What you just swam in is water. Water.
Leonard puts down his book, folding the decrepit pages with care. "Vincent, I think I'm going to stop now, until dinner. Okay? He stands up, glancing at the door.
"Pain halved indeed." Leonard smiles unconvincingly, eyes looking anywhere but the woman. After a second that drags on for too long, he turns, giving a final salute with the skulls, and walks away. "Cooking lessons? That sounds good." You just want a friend. It's good and human, you ought to take her up on it. "How?" How? You know better than I do, I suppose.
"Or gallai chi gyd fynd i nofio yn ystod y dydd. Ni fydd problem gyda'r criw, byddwn yn gwneud yn siŵr ohono." Leonard grunts slightly, "Not iawn i chi i aros drwy'r dydd ar fwrdd." Aklo:
"Or you could all go swimming during the day. It won't be a problem with the crew, I'll make sure of it."
"Not right for you to stay on board all day."
Seamus is great, but I agree that he's not the most interesting or heroic. I'm not really sure how this affects pace exactly, but you have stated that you don't mind going fast or slow. To be clear, I don't really want to go particularly slowly either. I think moving along at a slightly slower pace than we set over the past few weeks is about right for me, and would like to see where to go from there.
"Oughta get your friends out here, they deserve a swim too, don't you think? Hmm...better warn the crew first, though." Leonard looks around to see if anyone is awake. He also observes the sides of the ship to see how easily Monty can climb back up.
Leonard wavers at the door. "I've been fed properly, but I wasn't when I was a child. Malnourished and all that. Then after that I had more important things to do than learn how to cook." He nods again, awkwardly.
"Learn to throw indeed. Though I think if you did have this sword, you'd be less inclined to do so." If he had this sword, he'd rapidly learn to throw himself out a window.
"Certainly does answer my question. Kindof odd, looking at the fabric of the universe," Leonard says matter of factly, letting his hands fall, "but it seems like you've got nothing to fear. What with being able to stay awake and all. Maybe when you die?" Leonard unsheathes Angiliath and offers it to Howard. "I might've used to know more, but not anymore. Went crazy I suppose. Speak to him yourself, if you like, though he's rather mean to people who aren't me." I'm not a "he," mortal. Mortal?
The night after they get back from Sarnath, after Howard casts Keep Watch on Leonard, he stands up and moves to the door of the cabin. Standing in the doorway, he folds his hands rather deliberately. " always wondered, Howard, why you stay up at night? If you don't mind my asking, of course," he hastens to add, already ready to back out the door.
Leonard is absolutely dogged as the two of you pursue research. He reads quickly but loosely and mutters to himself under his breath frequently. After each successful discovery, before the subsequent journey, Leonard has a measured amount of rum in celebration. After the Sarnath research is complete, he eyes you while he gets out his dwindling supply. "Want some?"
Early one morning, as the sun rises, you spy Leonard on the brow of the ship dancing with subtle, artful movements. He clearly doesn't see you, until he does, at which point he abruptly stops. "Well well well, Seamus," he begins, out of breath. "You know what they say, 'never give a man to a sword who can't dance,'eh?" His head twitches slightly, and he looks down at the deck.
What I really need is a bigger frame, to be honest. Ah well, at least I'm young. Leonard brushes his slowly greying hair back, then heads over to the refrigerator to pick up some skulls. On his way back, he notices that there's still some chowder. In an infinitely graceful movement, he snatches it off the table and downs it in a gulp, setting the bowl back on the table and smiling with his mouth closed. Well, he begins, suppose I'll be off, then. Wish I could cook like that. Wish you told me about your childhood.
"Wel, mae'n debyg gallai yn addysgu chi." Leonard continues to gaze at the stars in silence for a long time. "I think you're going to teach me how to swim." Aklo: "Well, I suppose I could teach you."
Personally, I'm a bit more interested in what happens on the ship, but I feel more obligated to post about the murder hoboing bits. I think if we had been moving slower I'd've posted more, to be honest.
"Yn anffodus, dwi ddim yn meddwl eu bod yn siarad Aklo. Os oeddech am siarad gyda gweddill y criw, fwy na thebyg dylech ddysgu cyffredin." "Mewn gwirionedd, mae'n debyg mai syniad da ni waeth beth, os ydych chi'n mynd i fod yma ychydig. Fel arall rydych yn mynd i fod i ddod i arfer â lladd pobl." Leonard looks up at the great starry abyss, silent for a moment. I could teach you. "Yr wyf yn siŵr y byddai unrhyw un ohonom yn hapus yn eich addysgu chi" Aklo: Unfortunately, I don't think they speak Aklo. If you wanted to talk with the rest of the crew, you should probably learn common. In fact, that's probably a good idea no matter what, if you're going to be here a while. Otherwise you're going to have to get used to killing people. I'm sure any of us would be happy to teach you.
Leonard takes the bowl, ignoring the urging of Angiliath. He drinks from it quite happily without waiting for a spoon, then remembers his manners and sets it down on the counter, wiping his mouth carefully with his hands. No cooking for me, I'm afraid, I've absolutely no idea how. Either I'm somewhere someone else can cook for me, or I've already purchased something I can eat cold. He watches the voluminous cauldron like a cat, tasting more chowder, this time rather daintily with a spoon. I need a bone for magical purposes, more specifically, if it's a shark's bone, it ought to be a skull.
I would actually appreciate it if we slowed down. I know we can always retcon some more rp, and I'd like to do that. But it feels like that's patching up a problem that could instead be solved more directly by simply slowing down a little bit. When we were going room to room in the manor, it was extremely important to keep pushing things, but if you push things now at the same rate, you have to push through several days of downtime/research etc between dreamlands excursions. So, personally, I'd like it if we slowed down a bit. But I also want to say that I generally feel positive about this game. I have a lot of trouble asking for things. Slowing down is what I feel will make the game best for me, and that's it. I have a feeling that you're going to get angry at me for asking for something that affects you, and I have another feeling that that's irrational. I don't know what to write here.
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