Dice [OOC] The Best Laid Plans of Gods and Men

[jaydude]

Currently working on my post, but it is a big one I'm replying to. Here's what I've got for what Shi-Vash was up to:

Spoiler

If there was one thing that Shi-Vash liked about her work, it was the thrill and challenge of extracting knowledge from within dangerous circumstances. She was engaged in one such venture right now, in a tomb that long predated the rise of the Scarlet Dynasty, and was supposedly home to things that could be of great benefit even to Heaven.

Of course, she was hardly the only one who desired to know such things.

"I'll grant that your master wasn't expecting someone like me to get involved here." she said, driving the blade of Conspirator's Glint right through the face of the Guild's mercenary. "But he could at least make this more of a challenge."

The mercenary had no reply other than to collapse onto the floor as Shi-Vash withdrew her blade, joining his two-dozen compatriots currently laying strewn throughout the tomb. The black-haired woman knelt down and wiped the blood off on the man's trousers, and turned around to continue her investigation.

"Ugh...you...wretched bitch..." another mercenary managed to gasp from his position on the floor. He couldn't do much more than that, owing to the bloody wound in his neck.

Shi-Vash raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I thought death was something to be desired to the people of Skullstone. Then again, you're probably not going to be allowed into the nobility there." she said, an amused smile on her mouth.

She walked towards him, thinking that she should at least put him out of his misery, when she saw the characters etched onto a wall that had very much been bare of such things earlier.

She sighed. This was far from one of her favourite occasions to be interrupted on, but orders from Heaven were orders. At least the tomb's secrets would remain hidden for a while, unless the Guildsman who was also interested in them was able to find a Dragon-blooded or rogue Lunar he could hire. The traps within had saved Shi-Vash the trouble of killing some of the mercenaries.

 

[Rykon]

Random Word
While finishing up Tien's sheet and filling in charm text it has come to my attention that the Sidereal's variant of the Terrestrial Circle Sorcery charm requires "Any Four Secrets Charms", and I confess I was a bit blindsided by this. Though looking at it, the non-Solar splats appear to have the same type of treatment in their own ways, I'd just never bothered to notice before.

Currently, Tien has only purchased three, (1) Efficient Secretary Technique (2) Systematic Understanding of Everything and (3) Incite Decorum. Should I embrace the technicality-loving Sidereal Spirit and count the Excellencies earned (Investigation, Lore, and Occult respectively plus Stealth for Favored) as technically charms in their own right, thus satisfying the entry requirement? Or, should I just shuffle charms to pick up something else, like Efficient Secretary Technique in Investigation or Prince of the Earth Attitude in Occult?

Aside from that I'll have my IC post up soon.

 

[Random Word]

Should I embrace the technicality-loving Sidereal Spirit and count the Excellencies earned (Investigation, Lore, and Occult respectively plus Stealth for Favored) as technically charms in their own right, thus satisfying the entry requirement?

That is technically correct, the best kind of correct, but if you could count every Excellency as a Charm it would trivialize those X Charm requirements, as you've noted. How about instead you satisfy the requirement with a Charm future. The next Charm you purchase must be a Secrets Charm, but you can start with Terrestrial Circle Sorcery.

 

[Random Word]

Who wrote this?

Your as-yet-unnamed 3 dot Mentor!

 

[jaydude]

Your as-yet-unnamed 3 dot Mentor!

Cool. Thanks.

 

[jaydude]

I'm going with Corrupted Words for my Terrestrial control spell, if only because I feel it makes sense for someone who has to shut other people up on occasion.

Also, I've added in a bit of detail about Yangmei (my mentor).

 

[Random Word]

It isn't a party if someone isn't projectile vomiting slugs.

 

[Empyreal1]

Sorry I haven't posted. The internet was down all of yesterday. We're experiencing heavy storms where I live.

 

[jaydude]

Sorry I haven't posted. The internet was down all of yesterday. We're experiencing heavy storms where I live.

It's cool. I've taken a while on my character. Hope you're otherwise not too badly affected.

 

[Empyreal1]

So I'm thinking that Cinerea's Flag might be something related to her home in Gem. Maybe she was back there, untangling a fate snarl and using the opportunity to moon over her lost love, Sonata?

 

[Rykon]

I've got a post in the works at the moment, just need a little time for some setting research and I should be good for the setup angle.

 

[Random Word]

So I'm thinking that Cinerea's Flag might be something related to her home in Gem. Maybe she was back there, untangling a fate snarl and using the opportunity to moon over her lost love, Sonata?

Ah, apologies, I wasn't clear: Flags are about the future situations you want your character put in to highlight a strength, develop their personal story and character growth, or because you as a player would find really fun or satisfying. They're hints and guideposts for me to build the story around. Esbilon's flag about wanting to meet a sympathetic Ledaal NPC their character can't kill is just an immediate NPC idea I can slot in, for example, and that will in turn challenge their character's beliefs about Ledaal Dynasts, driving drama and development over time. That's an NPC who, if done right, their character (and thus probably player) will really care about. Not in the sense of liking, but in the sense of mattering.

A flag about Gem would be tricky for me to satisfy in the far West, but I could have you meet people who are from Gem, or who have visited Gem, rare though that must be with the distances involved.

This opening scene is slightly different - it's an opportunity for you to ST yourself an introduction scene for your character. You have pretty much full narrative control to show your character being awesome at what they do, and show everyone else a little bit about their personality and life.

 

[Random Word]

Below your orders there is an index of items transferred to Secure Reading Room Emerald-3 in the Forbidding Manse, naming it your collective library for the duration of this assignment. If this index is accurate, the executive summary of the contents of the room runs to 73 pages, and there are hundreds of boxes of supplementary documents.

Tien snaps at Xaos, speaking in a firm tone. "You will furnish us with sufficient resources to complete objective five, strike it from the mission, or do it yourself. I am not budging in this matter. We are agents and inspectors of heaven, not some pack of pillaging brutes."
[Tien activates Incite Decorum]

After a brief glare Tien added, "I realize I'm being overly combative here, but a job worth doing is worth doing right. This is necessary to ensure the mission is completed properly and safely."

For clarity, you have an index of boxes that have been delivered to your library, and Ydia is referring to that index. Boxes 73-80 are in the secure reading room assigned to your fellowship, and you can see their titles in your ciphered orders. Xaos is interrupting Ydia every time she tries to excitedly ramble about the contents of certain boxes outside the confines of the duly appointed secure facility containing them, and to hammer home the point that it is the official position of the Division of Secrets that no one (other than duly appointed representatives of Heaven assigned to inspect them) be allowed anywhere near those tombs, nor to learn anything about them, and thus Ydia, as the Sub-Director of Looted Tombs, has nothing to get excited about. You surmise Ydia and Xaos disagree on the subject of whether tombs have already been looted, as Xaos is very much not looking forward to the paperwork should that be true.

 

[Empyreal1]

Then I think for Cinerea, she might be starting out negotiating something. Perhaps Ryzala or Ohanlei has asked her to be a bridge between the Bureau of Heaven and some major power in the Shadow City that it would be better if the Censors weren't aware of and she pulls off the negotiation with style, flair, and a bit of even beauty in the process.

 

[Random Word]

Epiphany Empyreal1 Do you need any assistance, or questions answered? Let me know if you're too busy to post for a while - you can always join in later. Skipping a scene or two is never a problem, you were just doing something else useful off screen.

 

[jaydude]

[Visiting the secure reading room can be an explicit scene if you'd like to learn more and discuss amongst yourselves, but by default I'll have you go straight through the Gate and I'll describe things you read as they come up. You can use the library for Efficient Secretary and also as an automatic Lore Background for declaring facts about mission relevant places, people, cultures, etc.]

Your default option works for me. That being said, I'm a bit curious about how our characters all know each other. Or is that going to be up to us?

 

[Random Word]

Ah, sorry, I already said in the pitch thread that the default assumption is you're a reincarnated fellowship. You all arrived in Yu-Shan at the same time, and went through the first parts of your training together. If you want to deviate from that, it's up to you to tell everyone what they know about you.

There aren't that many Sidereals. You all know each other no matter what. You're expected to be able to work together in a professional capacity with any other Sidereals assigned to your mission.

 

[jaydude]

Sidereals all getting along with each other are cool. What about Garret though? Shi-Vash might be cool about working with Lunars on occasion, but that doesn't mean she'll be completely okay with having one in Sidereal Central.

 

[Random Word]

Oh. Uh. It might have been worth mentioning that earlier, when Sherwood and Epiphany proposed their plan for integrating him into the campaign . It's a bit late now, isn't it? If Amahle is one of Shi-Vash's close friends, and Garret is her husband, you're welcome to have drama with her about her relationship, but if you believe Garret would cause Shi-Vash to have serious objections to the point she would refuse to work with him, you'll need to work out with Sherwood how you can play together in the same campaign. I'd have preferred you resolve that before characters were created.

 

[jaydude]

I'll just have it so that Shi-Vash wasn't entirely trusting of him before, but she's somewhat warming up to him now. Incarnae know I don't need another bit of online drama in one week.

 

[jaydude]

Honestly though, I think it was just because I was only paying so much attention to character creation discussion. I figured that whatever Garret's relationship was with Amahle, he wouldn't be living up in Yu Shan with the rest of us, since I don't know how exactly the Sidereals feel about the Lunars in this version of the game.

 

[Random Word]

Sidereals feel very negatively about Lunars, what with all the murder and the thousands of years of open warfare. You, however, are a newly minted Sidereal. You have not had friends murdered by Lunars yet, and you met a Lunar almost as soon as you arrived in Yu-Shan in the form of Garret, who has a recommendation letter from Venus herself. Other Sidereals do not trust Garret, so your friend Amahle has a very controversial and embattled relationship in Yu-Shan. She and her husband are snubbed and ostracised regularly, and Shi-Vash may face some difficulty herself depending on whether she openly supports their relationship or simply quietly maintains the friendship. Shi-Vash's tutors and Sifus may have spoken ill of Garret, Lunars, or even Amahle, and it's up to you whether you stuck with your friend, stood up for her, or let them pry you apart.

Your friend is married to a Frenchman when England is under George III and Napoleon is running about making a mess of the continent. It's awkward. It's hard. You don't get invited to the best parties if you're seen to be associated with her. It's up to you how you roleplay that, and how your character deals with it. If you decide Shi-Vash breaks completely from her friends over it, that's just how things play out. We'll have to decide what happens then.

I considered having Garret forbidden to enter the Loom, and kept in a waiting room outside, but decided that wasn't particularly conducive to fun, and if he's an employee of the Bureau of Destiny and trusted by Venus, he probably gets permission to enter.

 

[Random Word]

I should clarify it's not like Amahle and Garret have no friends and allies among Sidereals. Some gold-leaning or particularly generous, empathetic, or kind hearted Sidereals likely believe that if Lunars could be found and brought to Yu-Shan before the Silver Pact found and indoctrinated them, that they could become valuable allies of Heaven. They're just not getting invited to tea with Kejak any time soon is all.

 

[jaydude]

In Shi-Vash's case, there's also her growing up on the Blessed Isle, but I imagine that she would have mentally ditched the Realm's propaganda after she finished her training.

She's currently leaning towards the Gold Faction - which from what I understand is a willingness to deviate from the heavenly status quo here - so I'd say she'd be willing to work with a Lunar as part of an assignment. And she's certainly not going to judge a co-worker for having a fling or two down on Creation, provided said co-worker isn't likely to be the victim in a honey trap. Bringing a Lunar boyfriend up into Yu Shan though...that'll get her to raise her eyebrows in a "why are you making this so much harder on yourself, girl" manner.

She won't make a massive fuss about it. Rather, she'll try and avoid being publicly seen with either of the two if it means protecting her career, because she's all about her duty to the Bureaucracy, while also trying to maintain her friendship with Amahle.

 

[Random Word]

We'll move on to the next scene tomorrow. It's well known, especially by Sidereals, that the shape of time is Jeremy Bearimy, so if anyone needs to reopen a previous scene because we moved without them or they forgot something, that's not a problem. I'm quite capable of carrying on in multiple timelines at once. Do still provide your introductions even if you skip over previous scenes. For any scenes a character misses out on, you can opt to declare something reasonable they were doing off screen and show up having accomplished it, rolling as necessary.