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

[Random Word]

jaydude Before Shi-Vash left the temple she exchanged a code word with the old monk, and his assistant brought her a small package from Yangmei. In true secrets fashion, not even I know what it is. At a suitably dramatic moment, you're free to reveal what she gave you, and how it's inexplicably incredibly useful. It's probably a book or scroll of some kind, which you'll have already read by then. If it's an Artifact, it's no more than 3 dots and it's on loan from the Division of Secrets. It could also be a letter of introduction to and codewords for an Ally of up to 3 dots, a 3 dot Connections spy network, etc. Basically it's a single wildcard usable until you're again somewhere Yangmei can be useful as a mentor, then it goes away again.

 

[Sherwood]

Does anyone know if there are any book stats for a set of Starmetal Warfans, other than a generic 3/4 dot pair? I am looking at Dreaming Pearl Courtesan Style Martial Arts, and warfans are useable as form weapons.

 

[Random Word]

Are you planning on purchasing evocations? If not, starmetal war fans are identical to any other war fans stats wise. I'm not well versed enough in the example panoply on offer to say if one of the books had any starmetal war fans. I recall some jade, though.

 

[Sherwood]

Are you planning on purchasing evocations? If not, starmetal war fans are identical to any other war fans stats wise. I'm not well versed enough in the example panoply on offer to say if one of the books had any starmetal war fans. I recall some jade, though.

At the moment, I am not planning on getting the evocations for them. I'm debating on either a whip or war fans, so if I go with the fans I am guessing that a generic 3 dot set will do.

 

[Random Word]

Yup, and you can always make up or borrow some evocations later. They still ought to have a name and a bit of history, but you don't need a charm tree you won't buy.

 

[Esbilon]

Well, well, well. Things are getting pretty real.

Was there any mention of the Ragara delegation in our initial intel?
Is either the bird or the amulet things we recognize from the maximum and moderate priority tombs?

Regarding Bright Pearl and Rough Hewn Wisdom, I don't think we want to let violence break out. Accessing him in the Immaculate compound sounds harder than picking him up at a bar or on his ship.

 

[jaydude]

Was there any mention of the Ragara delegation in our initial intel?

Not that I can see. It was mentioned in our arrival post, but I think that only one of the now retired characters spotted it.

Regarding Bright Pearl and Rough Hewn Wisdom, I don't think we want to let violence break out. Accessing him in the Immaculate compound sounds harder than picking him up at a bar or on his ship.

Hmm, that is another way of looking at it.

I suppose one other way though would be to pick up a member of his crew, if Bright Pearl himself stops being an option for whatever reason.

 

[Random Word]

Was there any mention of the Ragara delegation in our initial intel?
Is either the bird or the amulet things we recognize from the maximum and moderate priority tombs?

You have full files on the Peleps, Ledaal, Ragara, and V'Neef delegations, and I'll make up answers on the spot to any questions you have, or tell you to make up answers on the spot .
If you were very thorough and have an excellent memory (or use Efficient Secretary) you'll recall the bird and amulet are from the outer treasury of a moderate priority tomb of a Dragonblooded loyalist admiral in a secondary necropolis. The amulet manipulates weather around a ship (possibly how he managed to dodge Heaven's retribution, though it's not clear how he would have attuned it), and the bird is an advisor, navigator, and quartermaster. It's quite perceptive, but easily distracted.

Not that I can see. It was mentioned in our arrival post, but I think that only one of the now retired characters spotted it.

While highlighted in that post, you can consider all of that information available in the many boxes of briefing documents at your disposal, and thus known to all of you to the level of your character's studiousness and interest. The caste themed threads just seemed like a more interesting way to present it.

 

[Rykon]

I acted kind of impulsively in character, but I hoped it would give the fellowship time to converse before the streets erupted in a fight right out the gate.

Out of character, I do think we should take this opportunity to ground Bright Pearl in some form. For example, planting fire pearls in the hold or on one of the masts to make a show of crippling its seaworthiness. It could be used to our advantage in other ways too. Like convincing the people that his ship and crew brought back cursed goods. Among other things.

This will only be a start to keep Bright Pearl and others away from classified assets and facilities, but our Arcane Fate will help keep excessive heat off our backs to a degree while we work on longer-term solutions.

 

[Random Word]

"Let them be for now. Should she gain a foothold, this gives the realm leverage over the treasure, does it not? Flow like water and you will pass through the cracks in the earth, my friend."

This looks like a Persuade attempt!
I assume Tien is in the Resplendent Destiny of a local Immaculate monk RHW has in his posse? Oops, I failed at reading. No RD, okay, so just a stranger in the crowd. That's a trickier proposition. I'd say there will be a penalty to the roll for unusually familiar advice from a total stranger, say a -3 or so, but he won't remember the source succeed or fail.
I presume the 'she' is Ragara Szoraya?
This is a Major task without some overriding priority to attend to or the directive of a greater authority he recognizes, but a Minor if you can provide one of those. RHW has Resolve 4 and can boost it up to 6, and Appearance 2. You'll need to cite a Major intimacy or higher and roll the Persuade pool of your choice. If you've got relevant Charms, go ahead and declare them.

As an aside, devout monks are often not of the opinion that Ragara are faithful stewards of the good interests of the Realm, especially where it comes to Anathema artifice. RHW also clearly has some sort of history with Szoraya given his remark to her messenger.

 

[Rykon]

I presume the 'she' is Ragara Szoraya?

Yes

I'd say there will be a penalty to the roll for unusually familiar advice from a total stranger, say a -3 or so, but he won't remember the source succeed or fail.

Tien knows Easy Going Friend Approach, so he actually has a minor positive intimacy of friendship for Tien for their first meeting. I'd completely forgotten about this before making the post, but it's important for the context of whether or not a penalty applies. Note that this is a permanent effect charm with no essence cost. So I will roll with a pre-penalty assumption. If the charm isn't good enough we can drop the last three dice in the dice roller.

Full excellency for 3 dice -1TN at 4m, and a point of willpower for botch insurance cause I'd be stupid to rely on a mere six dice of natural traits.

You'll need to cite a Major intimacy or higher and roll the Persuade pool of your choice.

An Immaculate operating in a dutiful capacity is terribly predictable when it comes to holding value in the authority of the Realm and the Dragon-Blooded as well as the wisdom of Immaculate Proverbs. I think it's safe to say that while Tien was quite brief he touched on all three of these connections in some form.

This is a Major task without some overriding priority to attend to or the directive of a greater authority he recognizes, but a Minor if you can provide one of those

To clarify, Tien isn't wanting him to abandon his wishes, merely to consider adapting to a more patient and socially tactical approach than raw force of arms. If hesitation is still considered at Major level, that's fine just wanted to make sure the scope was clear.

I'll roll here. Charisma+Presence TN-1 +1auto success... Oof, with the willpower that just barely meets 4 successes, penalty or no.

 

[Random Word]

Ah, I misunderstood, so yes, a Minor task. You leverage a Defining for -3, he leverages a Minor for +2, so his Resolve is 3. The pleasant surprise of a pious citizen of Lantana quoting Immaculate scripture puts RHW in such a good mood he is persuaded to exhaust diplomatic options for persuading BP to hand over the Anathema relics before he resorts to righteous and liberal application of force.

 

[Random Word]

[This smells like an inspire action, so I'll roll Charisma + Performance. 4m Excellency for 3 dice TN-1. 8 Successes]

Purely academic, as it would only cost you one success and 7 is more than enough to beat the crowd's average Resolve of 2, but does the multiple targets penalty apply to Inspire/Performance? I'll have to look that up later. Regardless, I think you've definitely succeeded in Inspiring anger in the crowd.

 

[Random Word]

If events are left to unfold Rough Hewn Wisdom will reluctantly withdraw, fighting will break out between those of the crowd interested in braving the Eternal Storm and those who fear Anathema corruption, eventually the marines will step in to break things up and tell Bright Pearl to knock off his grandstanding, and an annoyed Bright Pearl will move on to a drinking establishment nearby with some of his crew and some of the crowd positively disposed towards him. If no one wishes to interrupt those events, we can jump to the next phase of your plan.

 

[jaydude]

Is our plan still to pick up Bright Pearl somewhere? If so, I say let things play out.

 

[Random Word]

Oops, sorry! That ambiguous line was directed from the nameless Efficient Secretary to Spirited Breath. She can continue to ask relevant questions this scene, I think, rather than paying 5m for each. I think the 5m is just the summoning fee for the scene.

Zhizhu can certainly go off and investigate things for you if you'd like, though. I'm still thinking about what sort of information it should have access to and be able to find for you. Presumably the rumours flying around the college of the key, and they're probably obsessed with conspiracies, puzzles, and mysteries. I'll try to work something in soon.

 

[jaydude]

Cool. In that case, I think I might have Zhizhu keep an eye on Bright Pearl, if only so that we have an IC way of knowing where he ends up after things here inevitably go to Malfeas.

 

[Rykon]

For what it's worth I'm ok with the streets erupting in violence. I might be able to check off two flags if that happens since the squabbles about pursuing treasure in the storms will actively hinder future expeditions and creates a conflict between the local Ragara's interest with Bright Pearl and the Immaculate interests pursued by Rough Hewn Wisdom.

The real conundrum I'm considering is how best to pit Bright Pearl against the imminent Lunar incursion. While Bright Pearl can reveal a lot of helpful information for auditing purposes, he is a long-term threat to our goal here. So unless we can nearly rewrite his motivations, lethal force is likely by the end of things.

 

[Random Word]

Looks like we're stuck! Let me know if you're waiting on me - I'm waiting on even the most tenuous of outlines for a plan to kidnap Bright Pearl, as it seems that is the unanimously desired course of action. I would skip to a scene with Bright Pearl tied up on a folding chair under a harsh light in a dark warehouse, but you're not the only ones who would like a word with him, so we ought to sort out what happens.

Even just a scene you'd like to start from is fine with me, and you can backfill the planning to be conveniently appropriate. Do you want to grab him by force on the street? Con him into a dark alley and nab him there? Poison him at the bar and pretend you're helping a drunk get to bed? Lure him to a party that's going to be much less fun than you make it sound? Whatever you want, just let me know what the opening scene of executing the plan needs to have.

 

[jaydude]

I think that I was just waiting for the fighting to break out, and Bright Pearl to skedaddle, since that seemed to be the route we were going.

In terms of the actual kidnapping, two ideas I have are that we either try and grab him just as he's gotten free of the chaos in the harbor - and gotten out of sight of it - or get him out of sorts and take him away at the bar.

 

[Random Word]

I think that I was just waiting for the fighting to break out, and Bright Pearl to skedaddle, since that seemed to be the route we were going.

Can do

In terms of the actual kidnapping, two ideas I have are that we either try and grab him just as he's gotten free of the chaos in the harbor - and gotten out of sight of it - or get him out of sorts and take him away at the bar.

Once you decide on an approach, I'll know how far forward to jump.

 

[jaydude]

Hmm. I will admit that I kinda forgot about those four Ancients.

Random Word
If it comes to fighting between us and the Ancients, just how tough a battle are we looking at?

 

[Random Word]

The reports say they're mortals with war ghosts bonded to their armour. They're unusually strong, tough, can strike and see spirits, and have some other minor supernatural powers, but they're no match for a Dragonblood in single combat. In significant numbers they're quite dangerous, and there are about a thousand of them throughout the city, but taking on four of them won't challenge three Sidereals. The issue is taking them out in a way that doesn't bring further unwanted attention down on you.

 

[jaydude]

So in that case, I say we either try and isolate Bright Pearl and his escort, or try and persuade him to spill his secrets in the bar.

Anyone else have any thoughts?
Esbilon Rykon Sherwood

 

[Sherwood]

So in that case, I say we either try and isolate Bright Pearl and his escort, or try and persuade him to spill his secrets in the bar.

Anyone else have any thoughts?
Esbilon Rykon Sherwood

I have been very busy, and while most of my character is done, I still have a few things to finish up. Sorry for the delay. I'll knuckle down and get it done.