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Valkus narrows his eyes as he takes in the sight of the encampment. "It seems we have gnomes living in our midst. Be careful, everyone. Don't let the funny hair and harmless demeanor fool you; they aren't to be trusted." With that, he warmly greets them and accepts the invitation to meet with their leader.
Valkus examines the dead body, taking time to appreciate Lorald's handiwork. "Nice shot." As Natalya disarms the sleeping fey, Valkus follows, secretly hoping she would accidentally wake one so he could ask about the party. He even goes so far as to nudge one with his foot.
"If we have use for a distraction, I think I may be able to supply one." Valkus outlines a plan involving an illusory avatar of their goddess.
My posting will return to normal after the 25th when school starts back up. Until then, it'll just be more inopportune comments from the spoony bard.
Valkus shudders and grits his teeth as his ears are assaulted by the travesty that seems to pass for an orchestra. Pressing his hands to his ears to block out the sound, he is quick to back out along with the others. "Gods be merciful, this place is terrible! It's even worse than Galt down here!"
Valkus raises his eyebrows as he allows his motes of light to wander around the room. "Now this is something to write home about! An underground chapel dedicated to some foul amphibious god!" He quickly adds, "No offense to our guide, of course."
Valkus scrunches his face up at the mustiness of the cavern. "What would they store? Soup stock? With all this fungus growing, it seems a poor place for storage." He watches Natalya's figure moving about in the darkness, staying back behind the demi-humans with his gently glowing motes of light. "What do you see?"
Stuff is hitting the fan at work. If we end up in combat, DMPC Valkus as well. I should be able to get a post up by Saturday.
Btw Valkus I think you need to update your sheet. We are 4th level now. Oh snap! Yeah, I totally missed that. Thanks for letting me know.
Valkus sullenly takes his lashings, refraining from retort. He distracts himself for a moment with Natalya's challenge. Let's see... Ode to a Tusky Frog, in D Minor. D Minor is the saddest of chords, I think. Ode to a Tusky Frog, in D Minor:
A frog with tusks is called a slurk A rhyme for that is no hard work If sung aloud, this song might irk Lorald's a jerk
But duty, I shirk
The challenge is won
Certainly not my best work, but true art is never finished, is it? Sensing his presence is perhaps unwanted, Valkus slinks back to trudge along with Eusebius Jens. There wouldn't be much to talk about with the gruff bandit, and it might keep him out of trouble. Reaching the hole, Valkus conjures glowing motes of pale yellow light. He lets them slowly swirl about the party, waiting for the go-ahead to send them into the hole, lest he act too early and send them all headlong into a perilous war with the darkness. He scoffs at the thought, but remembers a lesson from a long-forgotten class. Never make war on vague concepts. They're wonderful for commanding the hearts of the people, but they're impossible to win. And never go in against a Chelaxian when death is on the line. The memories of Taldor's ignominious fall from greatness leaves a bad taste in Valkus's mouth.
As they march, Valkus sidles up to Gareth. He keeps his voice low as he tries to comfort his friend. "Personally, I don't understand what Lorald's problem is. It's a frog! Who cares if it attacked first? Are we supposed to make a peace treaty with these mosquitoes, too?" He slaps at his neck, illustrating his point. He smears the gore on his pants, disgusted.
Valkus pauses to consider the strange creature as Natalya and the others open fire on it. He's taken off-guard as a second one erupts from the ground. As it quickly closes with Gareth, he is taken by a mood. I know not what strange manner of creature this is, but this is sure to be a story worth the telling! Pulling out his lyre, he begins strumming a melody to the tempo of the battle, timing his notes to the ebb and flow of the clashing combatants.
For the most part, we've come up with some pretty bland, descriptive names. This is how you end up with names like Westmarch and Denmark. I like the move toward green, but descriptors like Emerald seem better for colloquial names and landmarks rather than formal names of nations. For example, Ireland, also known as the Emerald Isle. Emerald Isle is a great nickname, but perhaps a bit too flamboyant for day-to-day use. The name is a good way to establish what we stand for if we want to go the descriptive route. The People's Republic of Freehold or something like that could work. Or we could make up proper noun, like Pitax. We've got fantasy languages to play with, we could make up a translation for something like Carter did. I'm not terribly a fan of Pastamnorog, personally, but I like that line of thinking. Animals or items could help with theme names. Lions, ravens, dragons. Ravenwood? Swordhaven? We could take existing placenames and modify them. New Rostland might send too much of a political statement, given that I think we're playing down our Swordlord sympathies. We should save the really flamboyant stuff for cities or personal territories. The Aerie is a great name for a keep, but Westeros is better for the country.
Whoa, still here. Admittedly my activity has been lower than usual for awhile, something I'm trying to rectify, but I'm still interested. That may put me out of the running for some things, and I accept that. That said, the posting frequency should only matter if we intend to dedicate lots of time to kingdom activities outside of regular adventuring. I'm personally all for that, but it's something to keep in mind. Valkus would be interested in the Ruling Council, Spymaster, and Grand Diplomat positions, with particular interest in Spymaster. Technically, he'd be competent in anything requiring CHA, INT or DEX. There's also no reason we can't have two or three people for some jobs; switch off making the main checks monthly, but we'd each be involved to some degree or another with the jobs. For example, Valkus handling and managing the spy network while Zartana is out in the field, Miyuki and Natalya pick up the slack for the kingdom duties while Marlani is in Brevoy negotiating treaties, etc. Or maybe that's just a huge pain in the butt and we stick to one person, one position. Food for thought. Congratulations to Miyuki!
"Perhaps not. I can't help but remember the last time we waited all day for something to show up." Valkus, too, considers the strange creature.
"Besides, whatever it is, it doesn't look terribly friendly."
That doesn't look good! Thinking fast, Valkus casts the only spell he can think of that might help. A ring of fire springs up around Natalya, red and orange flames lapping at the bushes and the ground.
I've been absent for a bit as well. Things have been busy and the intermittent storms have been playing havoc with my internet connection. I apologize for my part in the slowdown.
The beast slain, Valkus exhales. Still crouched in his perch up in the tree, he tries to calm his shaking hands. Fool! Were you going to jump on the beast? What sort of plan is that?! Sighing once again, he sheathes the dagger and takes up the bow again, furiously quarreling with himself as he awaits the boar. They never should have sent you. You're too inexperienced for this sort of work. But it was never supposed to be like this! I was supposed to be lazing about at court, dancing and drinking and gossiping, not gallivanting about in the woods getting into fights with the wildlife! And whose fault is that? You were the one who volunteered, and quite readily at that, as I recall. My instructions are to work on behalf of Lebeda interests, whatever form that may take, and clearly they lie out here. In the wilderness. Not at court. The future of Brevoy is here. The future of Taldor is here! And none of that matters if your future is to be buried in an unmarked grave in uncharted territory, killed by nameless beasts in a cruel twist of fate. And if you keep on like this, that is exactly what is going to happen. If I need remind you, the next creature on the list of things that will probably kill you is a preposterously large boar that you're supposed to be hunting. Focus! Drawing another arrow from the quiver, he sets it on the bow and readies himself for the boar's arrival.
Valkus's shot goes astray, sticking into a trunk on the other side of the creature. He watches, aghast, as the creature mauls Natalya. The howling of the beast shakes the young man to his core, and he trembles as he nocks another arrow.
The arrow slips from his sweaty fingers, falling uselessly to the ground. Cursing, he casts aside the bow and wipes his palms on his shirt, taking a breath to steady himself as Gareth engages the creature.
Valkus, still perched in his tree, slowly draws back an arrow to avoid giving away his position. He trains the arrow on the beast, holding his fire until it comes closer.
Valkus stares in disbelief at the creature, watching it from his perch in the trees. I've heard stories about creatures like this...
Valkus looks taken aback. "Single combat? Gods, no! Ferocious king of the forest the swine may be, to engage on such foolish terms would surely be the death of me, though I am flattered that you find me worth preserving." He flashes Natalya a smile and replaces his sword in its scabbard. "I shall accept your suggestion of a bow and follow Lorald's lead, taking up position amid the foliage." Waving his hand about, he gestures at the tree canopy as he dismounts. "And once we depose the dreaded Tuskgutter, we shall coronate him as the new king of the forest! His noble chin shall grace our wooden nickels and the whispers of the wind will spread his edicts to every squirrel, bird and stray wolverine in the land! What say you to that, Orlovsky? The great Lorald, master of beasts, men, and beast-men alike." Collecting his own bow and taking up position in a tree, Valkus quiets himself in preparation of the hunt.
"Yes, this day the fearsome Tuskgutter will surely meet his end! Nevermore to terrorize the forest with implacable rage, the mad king's reign shall be cut short by the sword of his own injustice!" Valkus draws his sword and waves it in the air, caught up in his own speech.
The enchantment immediately canceled, Valkus nonetheless enjoys both songs, praising the creatures afterward in what he hopes is their language. "Good show, good show!"
At Natalya's last comment, Valkus immediately looks at Gareth with an I-told-you-so gleam in his eye. "And you said that spell was useless frivolity."
Valkus gladly accepts Anton's offer to share maps. "There's hardly any reason to keep it all to ourselves, is there?" In sharing their own map, he leaves off any mention of the gold mine, but otherwise reproduces it as faithfully as he is able. [OOC]Not sure we ever decided who the IC cartographer was.[/I] As they ride, Valkus tries to pump Natalya for information. "You didn't mention there would be others coming after you. Should we expect any more encounters like that? What happened between you all that fractured you so thoroughly?"
I miss Hawaii. Lived on Oahu for 5 years, did most of elementary school there. I definitely wouldn't mind another 5. Oh, the pineapple...
I agree, especially as it seems to be at least as much OOC problems as IC problems with that particular group. And I really don't like the idea of trading one of ours away.
That sounds ominous. In other news, we're approaching finals, so I'm in the middle of the final battery of tests and papers and presentations before finals. My posting rate has dropped off, and will continue to be a bit low until that's over with.
Valkus looks positively jubilant that Natalya has shown up. What with his horse being dragged off by wolves the night before, he was going to have to ride with somebody, and he didn't think Marlani had enough room for him as well as all the alcohol. He steps forward, arms wide open in welcome. "We welcome you with open arms!" Suddenly he halts, his grin contorting into a suspicious frown as he gives her an exaggerated once-over. "Hold one moment." He crosses his arms, stroking his chin as he gives consideration to an important issue. "Aren't we a bit too... noble for your taste?"
Standing from his place near the dying fire, Valkus stretches before patrolling the camp as he does every twenty or so minutes, more from boredom than vigilance.
Historical knowledge shouldn't be an issue; I doubt any of us would claim expertise, and even so, this is fantasy and we're free to make as large departures from historical accuracy as we desire and are comfortable with. I'm not against your experiment in any way; I'm enjoying the discussion that it has generated and will hopefully continue to generate. Sometimes it might feel like everybody is against you, but that's because you're the only PC that seems to have any narrative agency over this group of Arcadians which forces the rest of us to react to you and your choices for them, as reaction is the only possible means of interaction. That's not inherently problematic, but it will require you to speak for them and defend them at times. Frankly, if it that wasn't required, then the experiment would be invalid simply because it isn't being performed, because it would mean we aren't interacting with the Arcadians. You have demonstrated a willingness to work with the rest of us and you don't seem unreasonable. I had reservations initially, and I'll admit that my initial perception was colored by the tension of the prior interaction between our groups, but my mind has been put at ease. I, for one, support and endorse the continuation of the Arcadian experiment in good faith.
The real question lies in identifying what is meant by "fair treatment". Are they expecting license to roam at will, freedom from taxation without responsibility for maintenance of the kingdom at large, freedom to not support the kingdom militarily, freedom to use any and all land as they see fit, freedom to seize land in use by others, etc.? I'm not making accusations of any kind, but it's important to delineate the particular needs that you're looking to have fulfilled. Besides, the kingdom rules don't seem to care one whit about this type of issue and it's all just roleplay. So this is purely any issue of our own creation, for the sake of having an issue. There's nothing wrong with that, but we should be aware that we could completely ignore all of this without any change to the mechanics. We could actually grant total freedom and exclusively overriding land rights to the Arcadians to use as they see fit, and our mechanical kingdom would not notice the difference.
Historically, a lot of the ethical issues arise when we consider who was there first, and if that means anything. There are two very different paradigms at play, one that recognizes the concept of land ownership and one that does not. These two paradigms do not play well with one another. Regardless of one's personal stance on the history of the Native Americans (and any other aboriginal peoples that came into contact with colonial settlers from expansionist nations), one must recognize the fact that these are two irreconcilable schools of thought. If they are to coexist, there must be give and take on both sides. In the case of our campaign, Brevoy has laid a claim to the Stolen Lands for many decades and simply never did anything about it until now. On top of that, these 200 Arcadians are not native to the area and have no legitimate claim based on time spent in the area or ancestral holdings. Furthermore, if they truly reject the notion of land ownership, there's no ground for grievance, as neither party can tell the other what to do with the land. Assuming that the land is already in use by one party or the other, the only paradigm that is equipped to handle conflicting views on usage of the land is that which recognizes the concept of ownership. And to head off one particular argument, there have certainly been many cases where aboriginal groups had conflict with each other based on land usage (call them territory disputes, border wars, disagreements, whatever you like) and recognized the division of the land in one fashion or another. If that weren't the case, then it would be very difficult to actually delineate who is the aggressor and who is the victim as far as the starting points are concerned. If we're going to have a bunch of wandering Arcadians roaming free in our borders, there's no way there won't be some problems one way or the other. One question I have, why are they nomadic? The River Kingdoms aren't vast prairies and plains where herds of sustenance-providing animals follow migratory patterns. It's a lot of rolling hills and woodlands, which could certainly support the wandering pastoral activities of shepherds and the like, but unless I'm grossly mistaken about the underlying causes of nomadism in any form that is comparable to Native Americans (who actually formed many diverse cultures and civilizations, not all of which were nomadic), there doesn't seem to be a need to force this issue. Admittedly, I'm much more familiar with the midwestern groups than the Pacific north-westerners as I've grown up in the Great Plains, so I welcome the opportunity to be further educated on the subject. CWE, I'll acknowledge your claim to narrative agency over these Arcadians (unless the GM has something overriding to say about it), but I'll admit to being at least a little confused by the particular direction you seem to be going with it.
Well, if you get into the really specific nitty gritty stuff, some of our patrons are outside of the canon and so there's no official word on how that would normally work. At this point, our game is sufficiently different from the normal assumptions that whatever meta-game information we have on the canon of the politics is probably irrelevant. However, whatever the political climate, I imagine that, while they wouldn't be able to openly oppose it, the Swordlords would be very displeased to find that the leadership of their puppet kingdom is in the hands of people who would support the Surtova claim to the throne. I don't think the temple of Erastil would care one way or another as long as we bring stability to the region. One thing to note about the leadership positions is that they must be filled by somebody actively working the job for at least one week out of every month. We can change positions as often as every month without any mechanical penalties, assuming the GM doesn't impose any house rules that affect that. The only benefit to a PC for being in a leadership position at all is that the kingdom gets bonuses. Now, there may be some roleplaying stuff that goes along with things, but unless the GM adds more house rules, there's really no mechanical reason for a player to be upset that they don't have a leadership position, as there is no advantage conferred for holding one. If anything, it's more of an annoyance because it cuts into adventuring time. That said, I very much hope to hold the position of spymaster. If we actually get to roleplay the jobs, I can't imagine any of the others being more fun. Given all of this, I have no problems with keeping the monarchy system, regardless of who is in charge. I also have no strong opinion on whether we should have one kingdom or many. Valkus's agenda can be satisfied in most any case. If anything, I look forward to the roleplaying when it comes down to actually deciding things like what type of government we should hold to. I'm not playing a Taldan bard for nothing!
Valkus takes a swat at some mosquitoes buzzing near his ear. "You said there were other things in the forest, too. Tatzlwyrms and boars and such. But what was that about your brother? Is he somebody we should watch out for?"
Valkus perks up at the last bit. "Wicked brothers and frog people! This story might be salvageable after all..." Valkus steps forward next to Gareth, making no sudden movements and trying be as nonthreatening as possible. "I'm sure we're very interested in purchasing some of your wares, but can you tell us a bit more about what's happening with the boggard tribes?"
Valkus whispers to Marlani out of the side of his mouth, out of earshot of the hermit. "Between you and me, I was hoping he'd be a bit more mad."
Sorry, it's been a crazy week for me. I'm also willing to contribute to the party healing fund. I'll try to not get killed as much, too.
Convening with the others, Valkus raises his concerns. "The group that attacked the bandit camp has not been heard from. We don't have any intelligence about the status of the bandits in the area, and if they failed to remove the bandit threat, we need to deal with it immediately. We could bring a contingent of the Brevan guards with us; I'm sure Oleg could spare a few to ensure the ongoing safety of the region.
Valkus furrows his eyebrows, alarmed at hearing that the third team hadn't been heard from. "How long ago did they set out? It must have been over a week ago! Are they even still alive?!"
"Speaking of other teams, what has become of the assault on the bandit camp? Have they been heard from?"
Add far as I know, nothing's changed. I'm still willing to have her.
OK; I will post a sign on the board detailing the claim.
Valkus takes a place near the fire, happy to be out of the elements for the moment. "Sweet civilization! Food! Ale! Beds! How I have missed thee."
Valkus takes the shiny rock, holding it up to the sun to examine it. He flicks it and holds it up to his ear, listening closely. Grabbing another rock from the ground, he rubs them together. Finally, he licks it before nodding to himself in satisfaction. "Just as I thought," he says sagely.
Sounds like a good plan. I'm in favor on letting Natalya join us. I'll admit to getting curious about what happened to Hithil, so I looked at her post history to see if she was still alive. It turns out she jumped ship awhile back and joined up with Team Darkness. I agree that we've got a good thing going here; I'm sure the other groups can see that as well. Natalya seems to be trying to leave because she's realized the other group isn't a good fit for her. If it turned out she doesn't fit in with us either, I suspect she would leave again. It would give her opportunities to explore her character's feelings toward nobles, and I'm not convinced that she would interrupt our team dynamic so thoroughly as to break us up. If she wants rescuing, I say we rescue her.
Valkus stares at Hunter's strange, aquatic visage as he considers the undine's words, marveling at how somebody so different could be capable of giving him such perfect words of wisdom. Clapping Hunter on the shoulder and giving it a squeeze, he says, "Thank you, friend. That may be just what I need. I will dwell on that." His dwelling is short-lived, though. At the mention of a party, his attention is thoroughly diverted. He perks up, jerking his head around, looking for these rumored festivities."Party? I love parties! Drinks all around!" The disappointment of battle unjoined has now left him completely, and Valkus joins in the frolicking and merriment. Over the course of the evening, he takes the opportunity to swap songs and stories with some of the kobolds. At one point during the party, he finds himself in the uncomfortable position of offering relationship advice to a forlorn young male. Undoubtedly, time will prove the unfortunate kobold to have been left worse off for it. When morning breaks, Valkus is sad to leave. "Until next time, Sootscales!" He waves goodbye to his new friends and tries to stay awake in his saddle as he rides away. |
