Dice The Redux of the Tale of a Falling Empire - OOC

[Chowlett]

Ok, Major and Minor milestones spent; my Personal one has nothing very much it can do now.

• Minor Milestone - prespent on Close-Combat Excellency (oops)
• Major Milestone - Finesse +1, to 5
• Personal Milestone - Unspent - nothing viable atm. (New Mode, repurchase Charm)

 

[Sherwood]

Before I post IC, is Jontom present at this meeting, or am I somewhere else? Just want to make sure before I make a mistake.

 

[jaydude]

Before I post IC, is Jontom present at this meeting, or am I somewhere else? Just want to make sure before I make a mistake.

Yeah, he is. For intents and story purposes, I'm considering him a member of Kitava's Hearth.

 

[Sherwood]

Ok, thank you.

 

[Rykon]

Still here, keep getting distracted with work and holiday gatherings with the family. I'll keep my summary of what I see the character doing over the course of the skip as brief as I can.

Now that I've got my thoughts sorted out, I'll try and get an IC post in soon also.

Total milestone uses:
2 Minor: Many Attacks Technique, War 4 > 5
1 Major: Command Secondary to Primary

Manato's goal for the last year as stated in the prologue was to vastly increase the capacity of the military and garrison. Between the story of Steelscale and rumors of lurking threats like Anathema or Fae, the commander has been undertaking various campaigns to rally volunteers willing to fight for themselves, their loved ones, and their homeland in the hope that it will increase the Satrapy's overall resilience to various threats.

Most training programs for reserves I would imagine to take place after harvest when farmers aren't tending to fields or generally when seasonal labor is out of season. Of course, this would also increase the ranks for career soldiers and guards too, but again the primary objective is to increase the average Kandaran's combat capability in the event they have to defend themself. Seems like this would present a good alternative for those displaced by Kitava's reforms as well. Speaking of...

While Kitava's efforts have been abrasive to some of the nobility within Kandara's military and many of the less wealthy landowners and tenant farmers, Manato's training efforts would be leaving ties of loyalty to him personally (legitimately as a side effect of League of Iron Preparation). The contrast in public opinion between the two representatives in the realm has probably occupied the administration's spies more than it should have up to this point. In the wake of both this ongoing shift and the absence of the Empress, the commander expects a pointed conversation about the matter eventually but has found the scurrying in the shadows up to this point somewhat amusing if unnecessary.

Outside of official duties, Manato has taken to participating in various celebrations and honing his skills as a musician when his duties don't demand his attention elsewhere. Lately, he's been seen to practice more frequently. With recent trouble on the homefront, and I presume the fall of his house having taken place by now, the commander's been using both his hobby and wine to ease the sting of loss and mounting stress.

 

[jaydude]

Still here, keep getting distracted with work and holiday gatherings with the family. I'll keep my summary of what I see the character doing over the course of the skip as brief as I can.

Now that I've got my thoughts sorted out, I'll try and get an IC post in soon also.

Total milestone uses:
2 Minor: Many Attacks Technique, War 4 > 5
1 Major: Command Secondary to Primary

Manato's goal for the last year as stated in the prologue was to vastly increase the capacity of the military and garrison. Between the story of Steelscale and rumors of lurking threats like Anathema or Fae, the commander has been undertaking various campaigns to rally volunteers willing to fight for themselves, their loved ones, and their homeland in the hope that it will increase the Satrapy's overall resilience to various threats.

Most training programs for reserves I would imagine to take place after harvest when farmers aren't tending to fields or generally when seasonal labor is out of season. Of course, this would also increase the ranks for career soldiers and guards too, but again the primary objective is to increase the average Kandaran's combat capability in the event they have to defend themself. Seems like this would present a good alternative for those displaced by Kitava's reforms as well. Speaking of...

While Kitava's efforts have been abrasive to some of the nobility within Kandara's military and many of the less wealthy landowners and tenant farmers, Manato's training efforts would be leaving ties of loyalty to him personally (legitimately as a side effect of League of Iron Preparation). The contrast in public opinion between the two representatives in the realm has probably occupied the administration's spies more than it should have up to this point. In the wake of both this ongoing shift and the absence of the Empress, the commander expects a pointed conversation about the matter eventually but has found the scurrying in the shadows up to this point somewhat amusing if unnecessary.

Outside of official duties, Manato has taken to participating in various celebrations and honing his skills as a musician when his duties don't demand his attention elsewhere. Lately, he's been seen to practice more frequently. With recent trouble on the homefront, and I presume the fall of his house having taken place by now, the commander's been using both his hobby and wine to ease the sting of loss and mounting stress.

This all seems good. I should point out though that this is taking place prior to the destruction of the Tepet Legions, though that can certainly be referenced later on.

 

[Rykon]

This all seems good. I should point out though that this is taking place prior to the destruction of the Tepet Legions, though that can certainly be referenced later on.

Sounds good, this should be fine even if that hasn't taken place yet.

 

[jaydude]

Hey all. Assuming that no-one else has anything they wish to do or discuss in the current scene, I'm going to skip ahead to the next one - taking place the following morning - with my next post.

 

[Chowlett]

I'd like to sound out my contact network as Ferala indicated; but that doesn't have to be (probably isn't) "today".

 

[jaydude]

I'd like to sound out my contact network as Ferala indicated; but that doesn't have to be (probably isn't) "today".

You can certainly get in contact with them tonight, though they might not have much information on the Snakehead situation just yet. Or are you looking to get more information on Cathak Rulang?

 

[jaydude]

Hey. I know WlfSamurai hasn't been around, but are the rest of you still following this game?

 

[Random Word]

Yup. Ferala's investigating. Jontom is drilling. Manato is reconnoitering. I didn't see anything Kitava had to do until the reports were in. Did you want me to roll for summoning demons for Manato?

 

[Sherwood]

I'm still here.

 

[jaydude]

Yup. Ferala's investigating. Jontom is drilling. Manato is reconnoitering. I didn't see anything Kitava had to do until the reports were in. Did you want me to roll for summoning demons for Manato?

Nah, I'm good regarding you not rolling. The next time you guys want some exposition, I can mention it was obtained with the help of Kitava's spirit servants.

In terms of stuff for her to do while she's waiting for her reports - which I imagine might take a while in-universe to arrive, at least in regards to the Snakehead situation - there's the matter of Cathak Rulang, but I don't know if Kitava's waiting for more information on him before questioning him. There's also the matter of the Shrouded Rose, the mysterious Wood Aspect who seeks to establish a position of power for herself within Kandara's criminal underworld for a currently unknown purpose. Is Kitava willing to let her be for the moment?

 

[Random Word]

I think Kitava considers Shrouded Rose and Cathak Rulang delegated to Ferala and Taeran. Those are both tradecraft, investigation, and interrogation problems, which strike me as their wheelhouses. Kitava could go apply the social hammer to Cathak Rulang, but some subtlety may be in order. I also think that while there's a nontrivial risk that Cathak Rulang is a Lunar Anathema, Kitava should not stand within easy reach of a potentially incredibly deadly assassin unless absolutely necessary. She is not a strong personal combatant.

 

[jaydude]

I think Kitava considers Shrouded Rose and Cathak Rulang delegated to Ferala and Taeran. Those are both tradecraft, investigation, and interrogation problems, which strike me as their wheelhouses. Kitava could go apply the social hammer to Cathak Rulang, but some subtlety may be in order. I also think that while there's a nontrivial risk that Cathak Rulang is a Lunar Anathema, Kitava should not stand within easy reach of a potentially incredibly deadly assassin unless absolutely necessary. She is not a strong personal combatant.

Fair enough, though given that WlfSamurai hasn't been around for a while, it might be some time before both those things are investigated.

Also, this is probably a minor spoiler, but I never intended to have Rulang be a disguised Lunar Anathema, if that's part of the reason you don't want to have Kitava hang around him. With the benefit of hindsight, I should have clarified that he wasn't a Lunar IC, but I didn't consider that you might jump to that conclusion. That's particularly egregious on my part, considering the existence of Essential Mirror Nature.

One of my aims for this game is to provide all of your characters with stuff to do, lest someone end up feeling left out. That being the case, you and everyone else are always free to suggest ideas and storylines for your characters if they're preferable to what I've come up with. This is a collaborative thing, after all.

 

[Rykon]

If the rest of the Hearth knows about Shrouded Rose, I'm tempted to have Manato arrange a meeting to gauge their character as a potential threat or asset. Either way, the timing is too suspicious for an upheaval in black market actors to be tolerated for long without eyes on them.

 

[Chowlett]

Yep, I'm still here (although I haven't got used to the forum's notification strategy yet!).

I'd forgotten Shrouded Rose - I'll add an addendum to my conversation with Black Fox, probably tomorrow.

 

[jaydude]

So as I'm sure most of you know by now, WlfSamurai's currently preoccupied with a lot of real-life stuff, mostly revolving around a recent promotion. I'm not going to write his character out of the game, in case he's able to return in the future. Instead, I'm going to move Taeran into the background for the time being; she'll be doing intelligence gathering and the like for the Hearth, whilst out of focus.

 

[jaydude]

Okay everyone. Got some bad news.

I'm aware that I haven't exactly been paying much attention to this game lately. And the truth is, between that lack of focus on my part and certain RL stuff, I'm not really feeling up to continuing it. So on that note, and because I like keeping my stuff organized and neat, I'm going to bring this game to a close.

This was definitely a fun learning experience for me, getting to try out Essence for the first time, and it's always nice to game with players like you lot. I only hope that all of you had a similarly enjoyable time. Even if some of you weren't around for as long as everyone else.

Chowlett D. Rex Random Word Rykon Sherwood WlfSamurai

 

[Random Word]

Thank you for running it

 

[Sherwood]

Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[Chowlett]

No worries. Thanks for the game - it's been good to get back into the world of Exalted